Wire Routing Device Through Walls With Fire Seal
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for routing wires through walls often compromise fire and structural integrity, require skilled labor, and incur high costs, leading to work-arounds that pose safety and aesthetic concerns.
Innovation Solution
A device comprising a first and second member configured for threaded or compression mating, forming a channel through which wires can be routed while maintaining structural integrity and providing a seal to ensure fire integrity, using flanges, extensions, and gaskets to secure the channel between structural elements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional methods are used to route wires through walls, then fire and structural integrity can be maintained, but the process requires skilled labor and incurs high costs
Solution Approach 1:
The device is divided into multiple segments: a first member with a first opening, a second member with a second opening, and an intermediate member that connects them. This segmentation allows the system to maintain fire and structural integrity while enabling easier installation without requiring highly skilled labor, as each component can be independently installed and assembled.
Solution Approach 2:
An intermediate member is introduced as a mediator between the first and second members. This intermediate member includes a channel that allows wire passage while maintaining the fire barrier, and it simplifies the installation process by providing a pre-formed connection path, reducing the need for skilled labor compared to traditional direct penetration methods.
2Ease of operation
If wires are routed around walls instead of through walls, then installation complexity is reduced, but safety concerns and aesthetic issues arise
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of routing wires along the surface of the wall (two-dimensional path), the device creates a three-dimensional channel through the wall structure. The intermediate member provides an internal passage that allows wires to travel through the wall thickness, maintaining both safety and aesthetics while keeping installation relatively simple.
Solution Approach 2:
The wire routing channel is nested within the wall structure itself, with the intermediate member positioned inside the wall cavity. This nesting approach allows the wire path to be concealed within the wall, maintaining aesthetic appearance and safety, while the modular design keeps installation complexity manageable.
3Reliability
If a fire rated isolating member is provided around inserted members, then fire integrity is maintained, but the process becomes more involved and costly
Solution Approach 1:
The fire rating function is merged into the intermediate member itself, which is designed to provide both the fire barrier and the wire passage channel. This consolidation eliminates the need for separate fire rated isolating members around individual wires, reducing overall device complexity and material requirements while maintaining fire integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The intermediate member serves multiple functions simultaneously: it provides the fire barrier, creates the wire passage channel, and structurally connects the first and second members. This multi-functionality reduces the number of separate components needed, simplifying the overall system while maintaining fire integrity.
Data Source
AI summary
Devices, systems and methods for routing wires or other inserted members thru walls or other structural elements are described. For at least one embodiment, a device, for forming a channel between two structural elements, includes a first member configured for insertion into a first hole, and a second member configured for insertion into a second hole. The first member may be configured for mating with the second member while the second member is being inserted into the second hole such that a channel is formed by the first member mated with the second member. The channel facilitates routing of an inserted member into and thru the first hole, thru the channel formed by the first member mated with the second member, and thru and out of the second hole.