Rackless Cable Tie Head With Metal Teeth for Tight Bundling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Prior art cable tie arrangements with periodic raised elements result in poor or loose bundling due to tension inconsistencies, as the spacing between these elements determines the strap tension.
Innovation Solution
A cable tie arrangement featuring a continuous strap with a smooth planar surface and a separate locking head with metal teeth that engage the strap to prevent movement in one direction while allowing it in another, ensuring optimal bundling by gripping the strap's surface.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If periodic raised elements are used on the strap to engage the locking head, then the strap can be engaged and locked, but the tension in the strap is determined by the spacing between the raised elements resulting in poor or loose bundling
Solution Approach 1:
The invention removes the periodic raised elements from the strap surface, extracting the feature that constrained tension control. The smooth planar surface eliminates the fixed spacing limitation, allowing the locking element to engage at any position along the strap width, thereby resolving the contradiction between reliable engagement and precise tension control.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the engagement parameter from discrete periodic positions (raised elements) to continuous positions (smooth surface). This parameter change allows the locking element to engage the strap at the optimal position for achieving the desired tension, improving both bundling security and tightness control.
2Manufacturing precision
If a smooth planar surface is used on the strap, then optimal tension adjustment is possible, but the strap surface cannot be engaged by traditional raised element mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of making the strap engageable through raised elements, the invention inverts the approach by making the locking element actively engageable through its own engagement features (teeth or gripping elements). The smooth strap surface becomes the passive element, while the locking head contains the active engagement mechanism, resolving the contradiction between smooth surface and engagement capability.
3Reliability
If the opposed teeth extend towards one another in the opening, then the end section and supply section are pressed together securely, but the locking element structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The invention merges the functions of strap engagement and strap compression into a single locking element structure. The opposed teeth that engage the smooth surface also serve to compress the end section and supply section together, eliminating the need for separate compression mechanisms and resolving the contradiction between gripping security and structural complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A cable tie arrangement for bundling one or more elongate members, and which includes a continuous strap having a planar surface free of any racks and a separate locking head defining an opening and having a metal locking element with a pair of opposed teeth extending into the opening and arranged to engage the strap in the opening. In use, a looped section of the strap bundles one or more elongate members on a first side of the locking head, and the looped section has an end section and a supply section extending through the locking head to a second side of the locking head in a first direction. Further, the opposed teeth are arranged to engage the planar surface of the end section and the supply section to prevent movement of the end section and the supply section in a second direction opposed to the first direction and to allow movement of the supply section in the first direction, and wherein the opposed teeth extend towards one another in the opening to press the end section and the supply section together in the opening.