Patent Application
20070243016
Currently, when building a structure, a builder or electrician designs and installs all of the communication media outlets for the structure before the walls of the structure are completed. If the structure is later rewired after the walls of the structure are completed, the rewiring is normally expensive and time consuming due to the problems involved with threading a wire or cable through the interior of an existing wall. It would be desirable to develop a product and method to quickly and inexpensively rewire a structure after the walls of the structure are completed. Additionally, it would be desirable to develop a product and method for accurate determination of a location of an end of a communications medium behind walls, floors or other structural elements when rewiring a structure.
The present disclosure is directed to a flexible conduit blanket to facilitate installation of a communication outlet connected to a communication medium at any point on a wall after a structure has been built. The present disclose is additionally directed to a cap to facilitate external detection of a communication medium behind a wall, floor, or other structural element.
One embodiment of the flexible conduit blanket 104 is shown in
The flexible conduit blanket 104 typically comprises one or more semi-rigid enclosures 112 that are operable to receive a communication medium such as a coax cable, a fiber optic cable, a telephone wire, or any other type of cable or wire known in the art, and direct the communication medium through the enclosure in response to an external force on the communication medium. The enclosures 112 may be solid or flexible tunnels that run through at least a portion of the flexible conduit blanket 104. Further, the enclosures 112 may be filled with air or a “jelly” substance. During operation, an installer may access the enclosure 112 of the flexible conduit blanket 104, feed a portion of the communication medium into the enclosure 112, and then place an external force on the communication medium to thread the communication medium from a first point on the wall 100 to a second point on the wall 100. The installer may create the external force by pushing the communication medium into the wall 100 or by using a device such as an air compressor or rod to create the external force on the communication medium.
The flexible conduit blanket 104 may be placed along a wall 100 so that a communication medium is directed horizontally along a wall 100 or vertically along a wall 100. Further, in one embodiment, the flexible conduit blanket 104 may comprise a first set of enclosures 114 that direct a communication medium vertically along a wall 100, and a second set of enclosures 116 that direct a communication medium horizontally along a wall 100. By making a hole in the conduit blanket 104 to the set of horizontal enclosures, a communication medium can be threaded horizontally through the conduit blanket to a particular position in the structure, and then threaded vertically through the conduit blanket 104 by threading the communication medium vertically through the set of vertical enclosures. The communication medium may be threaded from the set of horizontal enclosures to the set of vertical enclosures by creating an aperture between the two sets of enclosures. It will be appreciated that the flexible conduit blanket 104 may be placed along a wall 100 so that a communication medium is directed vertically along a long distance such as between stories of a structure.
The flexible conduit blanket 104 may be placed on exterior or interior walls, one wall, one sub-floor, one ceiling, a whole house, or any sub-set thereof, depending on structure design requirements or the desire of the structure owner. In one example, the flexible conduit blanket 104 would be placed on one major outside wall during a construction phase of the structure. Dimensions on a typical wall covering a basement to a roof area of a three-story home that may be covered by the flexible conduit blanket 104 are 36′ by 22′. In another example, a conduit blanket 104 comprising a first set of enclosures to direct a communication medium vertically along a wall and a second set of enclosures to direct a communication medium horizontally along the wall is wrapped around a structure. In yet another example, the conduit blanket 104 may be wrapped around a structure so that a communication medium can be sent from an interior of one room to an interior of another room. In this example, the communication medium can be inserted into the conduit blanket 104 and accessed by simply creating holes in the inner walls of the structure.
During rewiring of a structure, after an installer drills a hole through the structure of a wall to a flexible conduit blanket 104 and creates a hole in the flexible conduit blanket 104, the installer may insert the flexible extension tube 118 into the hole of the wall and the hole of the flexible conduit blanket 104 such that the end of the flexible extension tube 118 is in communication with an enclosure 112 of the flexible conduit blanket 104. In one embodiment, the flexible extension tube 118 additionally comprises a rigid penetration structure that overlays an end of the flexible extension tube 118 to protect and guide the end of the flexible extension tube 118 as it is inserted through the structure of the wall to the flexible conduit blanket 104. The installer may then insert an end of a communication medium into the enclosure 112 of the flexible conduit blanket 104 via the flexible extension tube 118 or pull an end of a communication medium from the enclosure 112 of the flexible conduit blanket 104 via the flexible extension tube 114.
In one embodiment, the flexible extension tube 118 comprises a multi-layer high strength flexible material such as Plastic, vinyl, Kevlar, “Tyvec”rt or any similar material known in the art that will prevent the flexible extension tube 118 from ripping. Additionally, the end of the flexible extension tube 114 in communication with the enclosure 112 of the flexible conduit blanket 104 may be dimensioned to be substantially the same as a hole in the flexible conduit blanket 104.
At any point before or after drilling a hole in the wall 402, creating a hole in the conduit blanket 404, placing a portion of a communication medium into the enclosure of the flexible conduit blanket 406, and placing an external force on the communication medium 408, the installer drills a second hole in a wall to access the flexible conduit blanket 410. The installer creates a second hole in the flexible conduit blanket and inserts a flexible extension tube in the second hole such that the flexible extension tube is in communication with the flexible conduit blanket 412. It will be appreciated that the second hole may be made in the same wall as the first hole, or the second hole may be made in a different wall than the first hole.
After placing the external force on the communication medium 408 and creating the second hole in the flexible conduit blanket 412, the installer pulls an end of the communication medium through the second hole in the flexible conduit blanket 414. The installer connects the end of the communication medium to a communication outlet 416 and mounts the communication outlet to a wall 418.
It will be appreciated that the above-described method may be used to feed a communication medium from one point on an external wall to another point on an internal wall, from one point on an external wall to another point on an external wall, or from one point on an internal wall to another point on an internal wall.
The flexible conduit blanket 504 comprises a flexible material such as a multi-layer high strength flexible material that will prevent ripping to allow the flexible conduit blanket 504 to be wrapped around an entire structure within the exterior siding 502, or a portion of a wall within the exterior siding 502, during construction. While the flexible conduit blanket 504 is within the exterior siding 502, the flexible conduit blanket preferably does not support the exterior siding 502 or any other portion of the wall 500 in any way.
The flexible conduit blanket 504 typically comprises one or more semi-rigid enclosures 512 that are operable to receive a communication medium such as a coax cable, a fiber optic cable, a telephone wire, or any other type of cable or wire known in the art, and direct the communication medium through the enclosure in response to an external force on the communication medium. As described above, the enclosures 512 may be filled with air or a jelly-like substance. Similar to the embodiment described above with respect to
When rewiring a structure using the conduit blanket described above, it may sometimes be difficult for an installer to know where an end of the communication medium is behind a wall, floor, or other structural element of a structure due to the fact the enclosures of the conduit blanket may not be wrapped exactly horizontal or vertical along a wall or due to the fact the conduit blanket may shift over time.
The detection cap 600 generally comprises a first section 602, a second section 604 separated from the first section 602 by a seal 606, and a chamber 608 operative to receive an end of a communication medium 610. The first and section sections 602, 604 are operative to each hold a different liquid element that does not normally emit a signal. However, when the seal 606 between the first and second sections 602, 604 is broken, thereby activating the detection cap 600, the liquid elements stored in the first and second sections 602, 604 mix together and emit a signal detectable by a hand-held detector.
In one embodiment, the liquid elements stored in the first and second sections 602, 604 may be an iodine isotope. Typically, the liquid elements are non-toxic, and not harmful to humans or animals. Further, once mixed together, the liquid elements typically emit a signal for a limited period of time.
The detection cap is then placed on an end of the communication medium 704. It will be appreciated that activating the detection cap 702 and placing the detection cap on an end of the communication medium 704 may be separate actions, or steps 702 and 704 may be one action in that the act of placing the detection cap on an end of the communication medium causes the seal between the first and second areas of the detection cap to break to activate the detection cap. The end of the communication medium with the detection cap is inserted into the conduit blanket and threaded from a first point in a wall to a second point in a wall 706 as described above with respect to
It will be appreciated that the disclosed flexible conduit blanket, method for installing a communication outlet on a wall comprising a flexible conduit blanket, and detection cap provide the ability to quickly and inexpensively rewire a structure after the walls of the structure have been built. It is therefore intended that the foregoing detailed description be regarded as illustrative rather than limiting, and that it be understood that it is the following claims, including all equivalents, that are intended to define the spirit and scope of this invention.
