Patent Application
20190069669
This invention relates generally to cable management.
Organization of cables at desks, tables, workbenches, and shelves is a general problem wherever a plurality of cables is required. Organization of these cables is accomplished in various ways, but one of the most successful is to use trays. However, most cable trays are insufficient for easy, day to day use. Cable trays that are easy to use and keep organized for day to day use are needed.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,934,201, to Diffrient, teaches a table with a wire manager. The folding table has two C-leg assemblies and a wire tray either in the legs or behind the legs and under the back edge of the tabletop. The present disclosure differs from this prior art disclosure in that the wire tray extends along the length of the tabletop, not just between the legs, uses an access door rather than having the entire wire tray open, has a piano hinge for the access door, and other differences apparent to those of normal skill in the art. This prior art disclosure is pertinent and may benefit from the devices disclosed herein and is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for all that it teaches.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,640,912, to Diffrient teaches a foldable table with a detachable wire management tray. The foldable table has a wire management tray that is removable for convenience when the table is folded. The present disclosure differs from this disclosure at least in that the wire tray is removable, the wire tray attaches by hooks on pins, the wire tray does not span the entire distance between table legs, the wire tray is not hinged, and other differences apparent to those of normal skill in the art. This disclosure is pertinent and may benefit from the devices disclosed herein and is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for all that it teaches.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,003,447, to Cox, et al., teaches a folding table with a removable wire gallery. The wire gallery, or wireway, is removably attached to the leg braces. The present disclosure differs from this disclosure in that the wireway is not directly below the tabletop and requires an additional cover, the wireway is removable, the wireway is not hinged (the hinge referenced as attached to the wireway is for attaching a screen), and other differences apparent to those of normal skill in the art. This disclosure is pertinent and may benefit from the devices disclosed herein and is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for all that it teaches.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,609,465, to Kolavo, teaches a multiple purpose table for use with tower-style desktop computers. The present disclosure differs from this disclosure in that the cable tray disclosed consists of a trough attached to a vertical panel, with no cover or hinges. This disclosure is pertinent and may benefit from the devices disclosed herein and is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for all that it teaches.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,769,514, to Brown, et al., teaches a ready to use foldable computer desk. A cable tray is used for power and other computer cables. The present disclosure differs from this disclosure in that the cable trays are not hinged and do not extend from table leg to table leg. This disclosure is pertinent and may benefit from the devices disclosed herein and is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for all that it teaches.
A cable organizing device is disclosed. A tray, mountable adjacent an underside of a working surface, comprises opposed side walls and a distal back wall joined by a tray floor, the tray floor comprising a U-shaped trough along a proximal side forming a front side wall of the tray. The distal back wall comprises notches along its upper edge opposite the floor. A distal portion of the side walls comprises mounting tabs comprising an eccentric hinge point around which the tray rotates elliptically, rotating the back wall of the tray away from the underside of the working surface. As the tray is rotated away from the underside of the working surface an opening is formed above the back wall to allow electrical cable components to pass the notches into the tray and loose cable components in the tray slide into the U-shaped trough.
The working surface may comprise a desktop, a tabletop, a seat of a chair, a workbench, or a shelf. The desktop may be mounted on two parallel crossbeams which are mounted on two legs. The tray may be mounted between the two parallel crossbeams. The tray may be shaped to match an underside profile of the working surface when the tray is closed. The desktop may be further mounted on a perpendicular crossbeam, the U-shaped trough aligning with a bottom portion of the perpendicular crossbeam. A distal wall of the perpendicular crossbeam may be proximate to an interior of the cable tray, the distal wall comprising one or more holes through which cables are passed. The two legs may comprise motors which automatically raise and lower the desk, and the cables for the motors pass through the cable tray via the perpendicular crossbeam. The tray may be prevented from opening when the desk is lowered.
The U-shaped trough may comprise an attachment apparatus that holds the tray closed by attaching to the underside of the working surface. The latching apparatus may comprise a hook, a latch, a hasp, a slide bolt, a magnet, pins, or combinations thereof. The latching apparatus may further comprise a lock.
The cable organizing device in a fully-open position may be substantially perpendicular to the cable organizing device in a fully-closed position. The rotation of the hinge points may be hindered such that the tray rotates opens slowly.
A fan may be provided mounted through at least one sidewall to cool electrical components stored in the tray.
The tray floor may comprise hook and loop, double-sided detachable tape, Pedalboard® tape, or combinations thereof, to which electrical components are removably attached.
One or more motors may rotate the tray around the hinge points.
One or more electrical sockets may be mounted to the distal back wall. A power cable for the one or more electrical cables may pass through a gap in a lower portion of the distal back wall.
In order that the advantages of the invention will be readily understood, a more particular description of the invention briefly described above will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments illustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that these drawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are not therefore to be considered limiting of its scope, the invention will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through use of the accompanying drawings, in which:
It will be readily understood that the components of the present invention, as generally described and illustrated in the Figures herein, could be arranged and designed in a wide variety of different configurations. Thus, the following more detailed description of the embodiments of the invention, as represented in the Figures, is not intended to limit the scope of the invention, as claimed, but is merely representative of certain examples of presently contemplated embodiments in accordance with the invention.
The term “cable organizing device,” when used herein, also refers to trays, cable trays, wire trays, wireways, wire runs, cable runs, wire galleries, cable managers, wall trays, Panduit®, cable protectors, wiring ducts, snake races, snake trays, wire races, wire baskets, ladder trays, ventilated trays, raceways, runways, cable trunks, cable chains, cable ducts, or other cable and wire management systems.
The term “desk,” when used herein, also refers to tables, work benches, or other horizontal surfaces.
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
Tray 110, mountable adjacent an underside of a working surface (see
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
In some embodiments, the working surface comprises a tabletop, a seat of a chair, a workbench, or a shelf. In some embodiments, the tray is prevented from opening when the desk is lowered by one or more stops mounted on one or more of the two legs. In some embodiments, the stops comprise a crossbar support, pegs, pads, protrusions, or combinations thereof
In some embodiments, the latching apparatus comprises a hook, a hasp, a slide bolt, a magnet, pins, or combinations thereof. In some embodiments, the latching apparatus further comprises a lock.
In some embodiments, rotation of the hinge points is hindered such that the tray rotates opens slowly. This hindered rotation can be provided by soft-close or soft-down style hinges. These are hindered by springs, gas struts, or combinations thereof.
In some embodiments, a fan is provided mounted through at least one sidewall to cool electrical components stored in the tray.
In some embodiments, the tray floor comprises hook and loop, double-sided detachable tape, Pedalboard® tape, or combinations thereof, to which electrical components are removably attached.
In some embodiments, one or more motors rotate the tray around the hinge points. In some embodiments, one or more electrical sockets are mounted to the distal back wall. In some embodiments, a power cable for the one or more electrical cables passes through a gap in a lower portion of the distal back wall.
