Patent Application
20080309104
1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to hand tools, and more particularly, to the operation and use of a hand tool configured to route wire through substantially inaccessible spaces such as behind dashboards or under the lining of a vehicle's interior.
2. Background
Traditionally, car audio installation technicians and enthusiasts struggle with routing the necessary cables to their appropriate destination when installing the many aftermarket components manufactured in the industry. This struggle may arise due to the relatively tight space constraints that one is to work within while installing or troubleshooting these components. At present, one of ordinary skill in the art must be immensely creative in fashioning a tool that would allow them to route a wire through a dashboard's many crevices, harnesses, and other obstacles. As such, there is a need in the art for a tool that would easily allow one to attach the needed cable at one end of a tool, use the tool to route over and under the various obstacles, and pull through the cable in order to readily connect it to the appropriate component.
One aspect of a wire routing tool is disclosed. A wire routing tool includes a guiding tip, a malleable shaft having a first end operatively connected to said guiding tip and a second end, and a guiding head having a first end operatively connected to said second end of said malleable shaft and a second end including a connector.
Another aspect of a wire routing tool is disclosed. A wire routing tool includes a malleable shaft having first and second opposite said first end, means, located at said first end of said malleable shaft, for guiding said malleable shaft, and means, located at said second end of said malleable shaft, for supporting a connector.
One aspect of a method for routing wire through a substantially inaccessible space with a wire routing tool is also disclosed. The method includes acquiring a wire routing tool having a guiding tip, a malleable shaft having a first end operatively connected to said guiding tip and a second end, and a guiding head having a first end operatively connected to said second end of said malleable shaft and a second end including a connector, connecting a wire to said connector, routing said wire through said substantially inaccessible space by guiding said guiding tip through a first opening in said substantially inaccessible space, and pulling said guiding tip from a second opening in said substantially inaccessible space.
These, as well as other objects, features and benefits will now become clear from a review of the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments and the accompanying drawings.
Aspects of the present invention are illustrated by way of example, and not by way of limitation, in the accompanying drawings wherein:
The detailed description set forth below in connection with the appended drawings are intended as a description of various embodiments of the invention and is not intended to represent the only embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. The detailed description includes specific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understanding of the invention. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention may be practiced without these specific details.
In addition, the guiding head 106 may also have an aperture 204 that allows a user to insert a small gauge wire that may need to be routed. One of ordinary skill in the art may appreciate that the size of the aperture 204 is only limited by the size of the guiding head 106. The larger the aperture 204, the larger gauge wire that one would be able to insert into the aperture 204. The term aperture may be construed as hole, opening, orifice, or any other means so as to allow small gauge wire to pass through the aperture. Generally, the guiding head 106 may readily incorporate an aperture 204 that will accept wire with a gauge of greater than 8 AWG (American Wire Gauge) without substantially reducing the effectiveness that the guiding head 106 may have in navigating through obstacles.
Likewise, one may want to route small gauge wire that does not have RCA-type connector ends, in which case the user may insert the small gauge wire 302 through the aperture 204 on the guiding head 106. The user may then tie a knot at the end of the wire 302 so as to prevent the wire from slipping out of the aperture 204. Although tying a knot at the end of the wire 302 may prevent it from unintentionally slipping out of the aperture 204, one of ordinary skill in the art may just as easily use tape or other similar adhesive in lieu of tying a knot in order to accomplish the same thing.
Once the user has successfully routed the entire wire routing tool 200 through the substantially inaccessible space, the user may manually disconnect the wire 108 from the connector 202 and connect the newly routed wire 108 to the audio or video device to be installed. Similarly, the user may manually untie or cut the knotted portion of the small gauge wire 302, remove from the aperture 204 and connect the newly routed small gauge wire 302 to the respective device.
While the specification describes particular embodiments of the present invention, those of ordinary skill can devise variations of the present invention without departing from the inventive concept. Also, the previous description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the various embodiments described herein. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein, but is to be accorded the full scope consistent with the language of the claims, wherein reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless specifically so stated, but rather “one or more.” All structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the various embodiments described throughout this disclosure that are known or later come to be known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the claims. Moreover, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly recited in the claims. No claim element is to be construed under the provisions of 35 U.S.C. § 112, sixth paragraph, unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase “means for” or, in the case of a method claim, the element is recited using the phrase “step for.”
