Patent Application
20140342597
None.
Electronic products, such as televisions, DVD and other disc players, cable/satellite set-top boxes, audio equipment, etc., often include many physical input and output ports. In the case of a set-top box for cable or satellite, there can be upwards of 15 or more separate ports. As anyone who has ever installed equipment in a home entertainment system can attest, plugging in each separate plug into the correct port can be very difficult and time consuming. The multitude of ports, plugs, wires, and colors can be confusing, and are often difficult to work with. For home installation, these issues often become a headache.
For example, common ports on home video equipment are the Component Video (RGB) output of a set-top box. Component Video consists of three separate RCA ports—red, green and blue. Plugging in three separate RCA cable plugs requires three separate operations. However, when using Component Video, no audio is transmitted. Therefore, two additional RCA cables are needed for stereo sound, and must be plugged into the corresponding ports. Thus, in this configuration, at least five ports and cables are used. Additional ports may also be used.
This leads to additional problems for the original manufacturer and after-market services centers, which are responsible for screening, testing, repairing and/or refurbishing such products. For these companies, large volumes of equipment are continuously tested, requiring various cables and plugs to be plugged into and unplugged from ports as needed. Each plug/port requires a certain amount of time for an operator to attach/detach the respective cables. The need to individually plug in numerous plugs and cables is time consuming, and slows the testing process. Indeed, the time required to attach and detach cables connecting the device-under-test to the test equipment can be a significant portion of the overall test process time.
The present invention relates to embodiments of a multi-connector block device for retaining audio/visual (A/V) cable plugs for easier insertion and removal from corresponding ports in electronic devices. In one embodiment, the device includes a body portion with a cable end and a plug end. The cable end preferably has a cable hole therein, although the cable end may have individual holes for each A/V cable to be retained by the device. The plug end preferably has at least two plug holes therein—one for each A/V cable plug to be retained by the device. The body portion has a hollow which extends from the (at least one) cable hole to the plug holes. The device also includes at least two plug-retaining sections formed by the hollow. The plug-retaining sections are each sized and shaped to retain an A/V cable plug, such that a connector prong of the plug extends from the corresponding plug hole of the body when the plug is retained by the corresponding plug-retaining section. When an A/V cable plug is retained within a plug-retaining section, the A/V cable extends back through the hollow and out the (at least one) cable hole of the body portion.
The body portion may be comprised of material which is flexible and deforms substantially elastically, such as urethane rubber or silicone rubber. Such an embodiment preferably has a hardness of between about 40 and 80 Shore A, and more preferably between about 60 and 80 Shore A. This flexibility may allow an A/V cable plug to be inserted and withdrawn from a plug-retaining section. Alternatively, the device may be comprised of material which is relatively rigid.
Where the body portion is flexible, the material which makes up the body portion preferably isolates each plug-retaining section from an adjacent plug-retaining section near the plug end of the body portion. Preferably, a gap is present through the material of the body portion between adjacent plug-retaining sections. This allows for increased flexibility of the body portion between the plug-retaining sections, so as to allow A/V cable plugs housed within the respective plug-retaining sections to deflect laterally by about 1 to 2-mm. Alternatively, where the body portion is relatively rigid, the plug-retaining sections are preferably sized and shaped to retain an A/V cable plug loosely therein, such that an A/V cable plug may move laterally within the plug-retaining section by about 1 to 2-mm. This helps to account for slight variations in port spacing on devices. In such an embodiment, the device may be over-molded around the A/V cable plugs to secure same permanently within the body portion.
The body portion preferably also includes at least one indentation toward the cable end of the body portion, and the body portion may be substantially transparent.
While the disclosure is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawing and will herein be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the drawings and detailed description presented herein are not intended to limit the disclosure to the particular embodiment disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims.
Referring to the drawings particularly by reference numbers wherein like numerals refer to like parts,
Further, as shown in
As shown, block device 100 includes a body portion 105, and has a cable end 110 and a plug end 115. A cable hole 120 is present at the cable end 110 of body portion 105, while three plug holes 125 are present at the plug end 115 of body portion 105. Three RCA plugs 40, 50, 60 are positioned within the body portion 105 such that the pin and ring connector portion 45, 55, 65 of plugs 40, 50, 60 extend out through the three plug holes 125. Similarly, three RCA cable wires 42, 52, 62 extend out of the body portion 105 via cable hole 120. Thus, body portion 105 includes a hollow which connects the cable hole 120 with the plug holes 125. As can be seen, block device 100 may further include at least one, and preferably two opposing indentations 140 which help a user grip the block device 100 for easier insertion and removal.
Further, as can be seen, toward the plug end 115 of the body portion 105, two cutout gaps 130 are present between the three RCA cable plugs 40, 50, 60. These two gaps 130 define three separate plug-retaining sections 135A, 135B, 135C which retain the three RCA cable plugs 40, 50, 60. Preferably, and as shown in
In operation, as shown in
However, it is recognized that not all electronic devices have the same orientation of ports, or even the same spacing between ports. For example,
As noted above, body portion 105, 205 is preferably comprised of a material which is flexible, and which deforms substantially elastically. Thus, body portion 105, 205 itself allows for some level of adjustment of the position of plugs 40, 50, 60, 70, 80. Further, gaps 130, 230 preferably further assist in allowing for proper alignment of plugs with ports, even where the distance between ports is not consistent. As can be seen in
In a different embodiment, the body portion may be relatively rigid. In such an embodiment, in order to allow for varying distances between ports, the plug-retaining sections preferably loosely retain the various plugs. As above, preferably 1-2 millimeters of adjustment of the plugs within the plug-retaining sections is provided for in such an embodiment. Further, in any embodiment, the body portion may be overmolded around the plugs permanently, or may be structured such that plugs can be inserted and removed from the plug-retaining sections as desired. Further, the body portion, plug-retaining sections, plug holes, etc. may all be sized and structured to retain other types of cables and plugs, such as HDMI cables, fiber optic cables standard audio cables and any other type of cable as would be recognized.
Thus, there has been shown and described an embodiment of a novel multi-connector block device. As is evident from the foregoing description, certain aspects of the present invention are not limited by the particular details of the examples illustrated herein, and it is therefore contemplated that other modifications and applications, or equivalents thereof, will occur to those skilled in the art. The terms “having” and “including” and similar terms as used in the foregoing specification are used in the sense of “optional” or “may include” and not as “required”. Many changes, modifications, variations and other uses and applications of the present invention will, however, become apparent to those skilled in the art after considering the specification and the accompanying drawings. All such changes, modifications, variations and other uses and applications which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention are deemed to be covered by the invention which is limited only by the claims which follow.
