Track Engaging Cable Hanger for Ceiling Track Organization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing solutions for suspending equipment from ceiling tracks often result in unsightly and disorganized cabling, which is time-consuming and obstructive, requiring skilled installation and non-optimal lengths.
Innovation Solution
A hand-manipulable, track-engaging barrier plate that blocks cable passage through the track slot, featuring a plate with a fingerhole for easy manipulation and radial disuniformities for enhanced control, allowing the cable to rest atop the plate within the track, thus keeping it organized and hidden.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If cables are suspended visibly from hangers or stretched across the ceiling area, then electrical power and signals can be provided to suspended equipment, but the cabling becomes unsightly and disorganized
Solution Approach 1:
The cable management system nests cables within the track structure itself. The track serves as a container that holds and organizes cables, preventing them from being exposed on the ceiling surface. This nesting approach eliminates the unsightly appearance while maintaining electrical connectivity to suspended equipment.
Solution Approach 2:
The track acts as an intermediary structure between the ceiling and suspended equipment, providing a concealed pathway for cables. Instead of cables being directly suspended or stretched across the ceiling, they are routed through the track, which mediates their placement and maintains an organized appearance.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If cables run through flattened rubberized cable runners to the floor, then tripping hazards are minimized, but installation becomes time-consuming and the runners are obstructive
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the cable routing function from separate cable runners and integrates it directly into the track structure. By taking out the need for external cable management components, the system eliminates installation time associated with separate runner installation while maintaining safety by keeping cables concealed within the track.
Solution Approach 2:
The track structure merges multiple functions: structural support for suspended equipment, concealed cable routing, and cable organization. By combining these functions into a single integrated system, the invention eliminates the need for separate cable runners, reducing installation time and removing obstructive elements from the environment.
3Reliability
If traditional hangers are used to suspend equipment from tracks, then equipment can be suspended securely, but installation requires skill and time
Solution Approach 1:
The track system provides self-service cable management by incorporating integrated cable routing capabilities. The track automatically organizes and conceals cables as equipment is suspended from it, eliminating the need for skilled manual cable routing and arrangement. The system serves itself by design, reducing installation complexity while maintaining secure suspension.
Data Source
AI summary
A barrier plate for supporting a cable within the internal channel of a ceiling mounted track having a pair of inwardly projecting parallel rails separated by a bottom slot. The barrier plate can be inserted completely into the internal channel and manipulated using a fingerhole through the plate to block downward movement of the cable through the slot. The plate can have radial disuniformities to frictionally bear against the pad of a user's finger to allow greater control of the plate orientation while engaged in the track channel.