MODULAR DEVICE FOR GATHERING CONNECTING CABLES OF

ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC APPARATUSES AND METHOD

FOR REMOVING A CONNECTING CABLE

Technical Field The present invention relates to a modular device for gathering connecting cables for electrical and electronic apparatuses and to a method for removing a connecting cable.

The invention is intended particularly but not exclusively for office equipment, for the home, but also in any structure or room that accommodates inside several electronic apparatuses that must be mutually connected by means of a cable.

Background Art

It is known that the connection of electronic apparatuses to each other by means of a cable often entails the drawback that the connecting cables can become twisted and can also become mutually entangled. In particular, once they have been connected, if relocation is necessary or even only for ordinary cleaning operations, disconnection or control for example of a particular cable with respect to all the others is difficult due to the fact that they are left haphazardly, generally poorly gathered in output and in input to the apparatuses.

It should also be noted that cables arranged haphazardly accumulate dust, compromising the electrical seal of such cables and at the same time increasing the amount of dust that accumulates in such places, requiring particular and constant cleaning, often in tight spaces. Likewise, the sight of such mass of cables is extremely unpleasant, especially in installations of particular quality.

In conventional interior decoration, it has been found that devices for organizing the cables of electronic apparatuses have long been known.

For example, US 2005189453 Al (Deguevara) discloses a plate provided with a plurality of recesses in which the cables that exit from a

workstation are accommodated, such plate being fixed to the desk on which the workstation rests.

US6809266 B l (Hoi et al.) substantially discloses a tube that gathers all the cables and comprises a series of clips that can be opened in order to make the individual cable exit from such tube depending on its length.

CA2515659 (Alvarino) discloses a perforated plate to which it is possible to apply a series of pins at the user's discretion; for example, the cable, as a function of its length, can be wound around two pins or just one.

DE4446676 (Hoffmann et al.) discloses a modular device in which the various modules are connected in series as a function of the length of the contained cables.

Finally, WO2007064979 (Hybiske et al.) discloses again a modular organizer in which the various modules are connected in series and are constituted by cones that are fitted on a vertical axis, each containing a wound cable.

All this considered, it is therefore reasonable to assume as known:

- organizers for cables of electronic apparatuses;

— organizers for cables of modular electronic apparatuses whose modules each contain a cable, where such modules are mutually connected in series.

The solutions mentioned above seem to solve effectively the problem of organizing the containment of the interconnection cables of electronic apparatuses, but they have a series of drawbacks.

First of all, known modular devices are mutually connected in series, and therefore if one wishes to disconnect a cable it is necessary to disassemble the entire device or at least the set of modules that directly precedes and directly follows the module of the case being considered, indeed because of the fact that the modules are assembled in series.

Likewise, the modules that allow to contain a partially wound cable are unable to contain it in an orderly fashion, but do so in a disorderly

manner, a circumstance which in any case can cause the twisting of the cable.

A further drawback relates to the aesthetic factor, since apparently none of the known devices has a screen, a hood or a generic covering that provides a minimum of protection and at the same time prevents visual impact with the cables accommodated therein.

Therefore, businesses in the sector have the need to identify optimum solutions to achieve the subsequent intended aim and objects. Disclosure of the Invention The aim of the present invention is to provide a device which allows easy and quick replacement of at least one cable accommodated in the device, since the modules of which it is composed are arranged mutually in parallel and not in series as in the background art.

Within this aim, an object is to provide a device in which the winding of the cable on each module upon installation is more tidy and avoids possible twisting and tangling of said cable; this occurs particularly if the winding axis of the modules is horizontal as in the case of the present invention.

Another object is to provide a device in which the number of components that constitute the device is extremely low, thus simplifying and facilitating the management of inventory codes.

Another object is to provide a device that is particularly pleasant from an aesthetic point of view, since the modules that compose it are not visible thanks to a removable covering that is applied externally. Another object is to provide a device that is more practical in use, facilitates maintenance and replacement interventions, contains the phenomenon of dust accumulation, and is cheap to manufacture with a limited number of inventory parts.

This aim and these and other objects, which will become better apparent hereinafter, are achieved by a modular device for gathering the

connecting cables of electronic and electrical apparatuses, and a method for removing a connecting cable that comprises a plurality of modules, where each module organizes one or more cables, said modules being removable independently of each other from said modular device, characterized in that the modules are mutually arranged in parallel. Brief description of the drawings

Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will become better apparent from the following detailed description of some preferred but not exclusive embodiments thereof, illustrated by way of non-limiting example in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a top view of a device according to the invention without the protective hood applied to it;

Figure 2 is a front view of the device according to the invention without the protective hood applied to it; Figure 3 is a side view of the device according to the invention, with the protective hood applied and divaricated in order to be applied;

Figure 3a is a side view of the device according to the invention, with the protective hood applied;

Figure 4 is an exploded perspective view of the device according to the invention in a disassembled condition;

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the device according to the invention, with the protective hood adjacent but not applied;

Figure 6 is an exploded perspective view of an embodiment of the device according to the invention in a disassembled condition; Figure 7 is a perspective sectional view of the embodiment of Figure

6 of the device according to the invention.

Ways of carrying out the Invention

With reference to the figures, the reference numeral 1 generally designates a modular device for gathering the connecting cables of electronic apparatuses (Figures 1, 2 and 3).

The modular device 1 is constituted by a footing 10, by brackets 1 1 which are perpendicular to the footing 10 for accommodating modules 2 arranged in parallel to each other, by means 12, 23 for positioning each module 2 in the respective seat between two brackets 1 1 , by a covering hood 3 for protecting the modular device 1 that accommodates the modules 2.

The footing 10 can be fixed under a desk or even on it, by way of conventional fixing means, such as for example screws, through holes 13 provided at the footing 10. The modular device 1 shown in the figures, merely by way of non- limiting example, comprises four modules 2, each accommodated between two brackets 1 1 ; the brackets 1 1 , in addition to delimiting the receptacle of each module 2, constrain the position of each module 2, i.e., prevent any rotation thereof about a generic vertical axis. Each module 2 is constituted by a central core 21 that is shaped like a spool, around which each cable to be organized is wound, and by two lateral end faces 22, which contain the cable or wire wound around the central core 21.

The positioning means 12, 23 are constituted in the case being considered, which is non-limiting but merely exemplifying, by an upper element 23, which is fixed to one lateral end face 22 of each module 2, which is capable of fixing itself jointly to a corresponding lower element 12 that is instead fixed to the footing 10.

The positioning means 12, 23 are applied to at least one lateral end face 22 of each module 2; the positioning means 12, 23 can be constituted by two simple interlocks, by two magnets, by hook-and-loop elements such as for example Velcro and/or equivalent solutions.

The modules 2 shown in the figures are represented as spools, i.e., have the annular lateral end faces 22 and the cylindrical central core 21. In one embodiment, shown by way of non-limiting example in

Figures 6 and 7, the lateral end faces 22 conveniently have a lower flat portion 24 for abutment against the footing 10.

Further, the upper elements 23 are advantageously provided by means of locking teeth 25, which are provided on locking tabs 26 that are flexible and integral with the lateral end faces 22 and are arranged at the ends of the central cores 21.

The lower elements 12 conveniently are provided with complementary teeth 14 provided in seats 15 for the locking tabs 26, formed on the brackets 1 1. The locking teeth 25 and the complementary teeth 14 are adapted to engage each other when the module 2 is arranged in its seat between the brackets 1 1 in order to contrast their separation.

The covering hood 3 is conveniently tunnel-shaped, with end walls 31 that are provided integrally with fixing tabs 32 provided with fixing teeth 33 adapted to engage the complementary teeth 14 of the end brackets 1 1 of the footing 10 in order to retain thereat the covering hood 3.

However, it is specified that the sectional shape of the central core 21 can be any, even for example with a rectangular cross-section, and so can the shape of the lateral end faces 22, since such modules do not have to rotate about the axis of the central core 21. The covering hood 3, in the specific non-limiting but merely exhaustive case, is constituted by an open cylinder, which of course duplicates the shape of the perimeter of the extreme lateral end faces 22 of each module 2. If the lateral end faces 22 of each module 2 have a different shape, the covering hood 3 might have a different shape with respect to an open cylinder.

The operation of the device according to the invention is as follows.

Upon installation of electronic apparatuses that are mutually connected by cables, each cable is wound around a module 2 removed beforehand from the footing 10 and then, once the cable has been unwound around the central core 21 , the module 2 is repositioned in the

corresponding seat delimited by the brackets 1 1.

In this manner, therefore, if the user needs to remove a specific cable in order to disconnect one apparatus from another, he/she merely has to remove the corresponding module 2, unwind the cable and reposition the module 2 in the corresponding seat.

In particular, for example with reference to such embodiment, in order to extract one module 2 from the footing 10, the user removes the covering hood 3, divaricating from the brackets 1 1 the fixing tabs 32 in order to disengage the fixing teeth 33 from the complementary teeth 14. The user then releases the module to be extracted from the footing 10 by divaricating the locking tabs 26 from the brackets 1 1 to disengage their locking teeth 25 from the complementary teeth 14.

In this manner, the module 2 is free to be removed from its seat between the brackets 1 1. The covering hood 3 is designed to protect from dust the modules 2 and also hide them from unsightly viewing.

The disclosures in Italian Patent Application No. TV2008A000066 from which this application claims priority are incorporated herein by reference. Where technical features mentioned in any claim are followed by reference signs, those reference signs have been included for the sole purpose of increasing the intelligibility of the claims and accordingly, such reference signs do not have any limiting effect on the interpretation of each element identified by way of example by such reference signs.