Cable ties have long been advantageously used to bundle elongated articles together
Cable ties have long been advantageously used to bundle elongated articles together, such as electrical cables, wires, pneumatic hoses, etc. Waxed string was one of the earliest devices used to simply tie electrical wires together. Eventually string was replaced by the plastic cable tie which today is preferably made of a highly resilient thermoplastic material, such as Nylon.RTM. or Halar.RTM..
The present invention generally pertains to cable tie fasteners used for example, for tying bundles of electrical cables and wires together, and more particularly to a unique one-piece cable tie fastener having an integral loop for use in conjunction with a cable management bar for not only tying the bundled cables together, but also for securing the wires/cables to a cable management bar or the like.
In general most commercially available cable ties consist of an elongated flexible strap having a pointed or rounded tip at one end and a locking head at the opposite end. The locking head receives the opposing end and a portion of the strap to form a noose or loop of variable size to secure cables therein. Typically transverse teeth extend between the longitudinal edges on at least one side. The locking head usually has a pawl designed to engage the transverse teeth and retain the strap once wound around the cable bundle. When inserted into the locking head, the strap is tightened to the desired degree of tension by pulling the strap through the pawl either manually or with a locking tool specifically designed for this purpose. When tight, the end of the strap is released causing the locking head to engage one or more of the transverse teeth thus preventing the strap from being released. In the case of nonreleasable ties, once the strap is locked in place, the loose end of the strap is often cut off to prevent it from interfering with placement of the wire/cable bundle. This again is performed manually either with wire cutters or with a specially designed multifunctional cutting tool.
A principal object of this invention is the provision of an inexpensive cable tie of one-piece construction having an auxiliary integral loop for securely receiving the post of a cable management bar and securing the cable bundle to a fixed location.
An important feature of the present invention is that such a cable tie design provides a flat article conducive for easy high-volume/low cost injection molding. (It has no slides or lifters which is important for tool life, reliability and ease of construction.)
In general most commercially available cable ties consist of an elongated flexible strap having a pointed or rounded tip at one end and a locking head at the opposite end. The locking head receives the opposing end and a portion of the strap to form a noose or loop of variable size to secure cables therein. Typically transverse teeth extend between the longitudinal edges on at least one side. The locking head usually has a pawl designed to engage the transverse teeth and retain the strap once wound around the cable bundle. When inserted into the locking head, the strap is tightened to the desired degree of tension by pulling the strap through the pawl either manually or with a locking tool specifically designed for this purpose. When tight, the end of the strap is released causing the locking head to engage one or more of the transverse teeth thus preventing the strap from being released. In the case of nonreleasable ties, once the strap is locked in place, the loose end of the strap is often cut off to prevent it from interfering with placement of the wire/cable bundle. This again is performed manually either with wire cutters or with a specially designed multifunctional cutting tool.
There are many variations of this basic strap design depending upon the particular application or function desired. For example, some of the locking heads have exotic mechanisms for releasing the pawl out of engagement with the teeth on the strap to produce a releasable and thus reusable cable tie, e.g., see U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,193,250 and 3,991,444. There are many variations of the basic locking mechanism to simplify construction, to provide superior pullout resistance or to provide a multitude of other advantages, e.g. see U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,193,251 or 4,490,887.
Present day cable ties are often used in the electrical industry to secure the multitude of cables and wires found extending from the rear of rack or cabinet mounted electrical apparatus. Another cable management device in use today is the rack-mounted cable manager. Its principal function is to provide a location for securing cable bundles (such as a wiring harness) via a cable tie to a desired location relative to electrical equipment in the rack. Another type of cable management device is the cable-mounted cable tie, e.g., sometimes seen on power cords of electrical consumer devices. Such devices are fine for home use and are economical. However, being attached to the cable itself is a bit of a disadvantage in attaching certain types of cables in certain applications, e.g., network/communication cables. The attachment tie is often hard to find in a large bundle of cables, and there is no easy way of attaching the tie to a mounting post, whether in close proximity or not to the point of attachment of the cable tie.
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