Grommets for holding cables

{
  "publication_number": "US11923109B2",
  "country": "US",
  "kind": "B2",
  "title": "Grommets for holding cables",
  "abstract": "The present disclosure describes a grommet formed of a polymeric material and adapted for securing a cable within a cable hanger. The grommet includes a main body having a generally cylindrical profile surrounding an interior cavity, the main body further having a length, a thickness, and a longitudinal axis, a slot extending the length of the main body which provides an entry point for the cable to be inserted into the interior cavity, a plurality of flex retention members extending into the interior cavity configured to grip and secure the cable within the interior cavity, and one or more grip enhancement features residing between an inner surface of the main body and the flex retention members. The grip enhancement features are configured to provide additional support to the flex retention members when a cable is inserted into the interior cavity.",
  "claims": [
    "1. A grommet formed of a polymeric material and adapted for securing a cable within a cable hanger, comprising: a main body having a generally cylindrical profile surrounding an interior cavity, the main body further having a length, a thickness, and a longitudinal axis; a slot extending the length of the main body which provides an entry point for the cable to be inserted into the interior cavity; a plurality of flex retention members extending into the interior cavity configured to grip and secure the cable within the interior cavity; one or more grip enhancement features residing between an inner surface of the main body and the flex retention members, wherein the grip enhancement features are configured to provide additional support to the flex retention members when a cable is inserted into the interior cavity; and two arms extending radially outwardly from the main body, one arm extending from a bottom edge of the main body and the other arm extending from a top edge of the main body, wherein each arm includes a flanged edge configured to engage the cable hanger when an excessive load force is applied to the cable.",
    "2. The grommet of claim 1, wherein each of the one or more grip enhancement features are coupled to or integral with a respective flex retention member and extend radially outwardly therefrom.",
    "3. The grommet of claim 2, wherein each grip enhancement feature is configured to engage or contact the inner surface of the main body when a larger diameter cable is received within the interior cavity of the grommet.",
    "4. The grommet of claim 1, wherein each of the one or more grip enhancement features are coupled to or integral with the inner surface of the main body and extend radially inwardly therefrom.",
    "5. The grommet of claim 4, wherein each grip enhancement feature is configured to engage or contact a respective flex retention member when a larger diameter cable is received within the interior cavity of the grommet.",
    "6. The grommet of claim 1, comprising one or more pairs of grip enhancement features, each grip enhancement feature extending from the inner surface of the main body to a respective flex retention member.",
    "7. The grommet of claim 6, wherein each grip enhancement feature in a respective pair of grip enhancement features is configured to buckle toward the other grip enhancement feature when a larger diameter cable is received within the interior cavity of the grommet.",
    "8. The grommet of claim 1, wherein the grip enhancement features have an arcuate shape.",
    "9. The grommet of claim 1, wherein the grip enhancement features have a cone or triangular shape.",
    "10. The grommet of claim 1, wherein the flex retention members have an arcuate profile and extend the length of the grommet.",
    "11. The grommet of claim 1, wherein one or more of the grip enhancement features include an aperture.",
    "12. The grommet of claim 1, wherein the grommet comprises two pairs of arms extending radially outwardly from the main body, one pair of arms extending from a bottom edge of the main body and the other pair of arms extending from a top edge of the main body.",
    "13. The grommet of claim 1, wherein the position of the top arm on the top edge of the main body is circumferentially spaced apart approximately 180 degrees relative to the position of the bottom arm on the bottom edge of the main body.",
    "14. The grommet of claim 1, wherein the arms of each pair are spaced apart approximately 180 degrees, and wherein the position of the top pair of arms on the top edge of the main body is circumferentially staggered relative to the position of the bottom pair of arms on the bottom edge of the main body.",
    "15. The grommet of claim 1, in combination with the cable, wherein the cable resides within the interior cavity of the main body.",
    "16. The grommet of claim 1, in combination with a cable hanger, wherein the cable hanger has opposable arms, and wherein the grommet is held between the opposable arms.",
    "17. The grommet of claim 1, in combination with a cable hanger, wherein the cable hanger has opposable arms, and wherein the grommet is held between the opposable arms.",
    "18. A grommet formed of a polymeric material and adapted for securing a cable within a cable hanger, comprising: a main body having a generally cylindrical profile surrounding an interior cavity, the main body further having a length, a thickness, and a longitudinal axis; a slot extending the length of the main body which provides an entry point for the cable to be inserted into the interior cavity; and a plurality of flex retention members extending into the interior cavity configured to grip and secure the cable within the interior cavity, each flex retention member having a center segment and opposing end segments, wherein each end segment has a greater thickness than the center segment for a respective flex retention member.",
    "19. A grommet formed of a polymeric material and adapted for securing a cable within a cable hanger, comprising: a main body having a generally cylindrical profile surrounding an interior cavity, the main body further having a length, a thickness, and a longitudinal axis; a slot extending the length of the main body which provides an entry point for the cable to be inserted into the interior cavity; a plurality of flex retention members extending into the interior cavity configured to grip and secure the cable within the interior cavity; and one or more grip enhancement features residing between an inner surface of the main body and the flex retention members, wherein the grip enhancement features are configured to provide additional support to the flex retention members when a cable is inserted into the interior cavity, and wherein each of the one or more grip enhancement features are coupled to or integral with a respective flex retention member and extend radially outwardly therefrom."
  ],
  "description_excerpt": "The invention relates generally to grommets for holding cables.\n\nUntil recently, antenna towers have typically employed RF coaxial cables for power and/or signal communications. Such cables are often mounted to the tower via cable hangers, which capture the cable and mount it to the tower. One popular variety of cable hanger is a “stackable” hanger, which has the capacity to mount via snap latches to another hanger, thereby enabling multiple cables to be mounted in a “stack”; an exemplary stackable hanger is the Snap-Stak hanger, available from CommScope, Inc. (Joliet, Illinois). Snap-in hangers are often desirable due to their ease of use, although cable hangers that are not stackable are often employed also.\n\nOperators have begun to replace traditional RF cables on towers with fiber optic and/or hybrid fiber/power cables. These new cables (especially the hybrid styles) can have a slightly irregular shape. Also, fiber optic and hybrid fiber/power cables are typically heavy (in some instances three to four times the weight per unit length of traditional RF cable). In addition to being of a slightly irregular shape, the diameter over (DOJ) of a cable can be vastly different from traditional RF cables.\n\nAs a result, in practice some operators use standard hangers in combination with grommets to hang fiber or hybrid fiber cable. The grommets are a fairly soft polymer (e.g., EPDM, nylon, or the like). The outer diameter of the grommet may be sized to fit in the hanger, whereas the inner diameter is configured to grip the fiber/hybrid fiber cable.",
  "cpc": [
    "H02G 3/32",
    "G02B 6/4422",
    "H01B 17/586"
  ],
  "ipc": [
    "H01B 17/58"
  ],
  "assignees": [
    "Commscope Technologies LLC"
  ],
  "inventors": [
    "Ronald A. Vaccaro",
    "Aviral Joshi"
  ],
  "filing_date": "2022-03-15",
  "publication_date": "2024-03-05",
  "grant_date": "2024-03-05",
  "priority_date": "2021-04-20",
  "application_number": "US-202217695131-A",
  "family_id": "83601577",
  "cited_by_count": 2,
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}