Cable harness breakout and method for its assembly

Abstract

A cable assembly comprises a plurality of electrical or fiber-optic cables, a spacer, and a collar. The cables are arranged lengthwise in a bundle, which includes a segment having a cross-sectional arrangement organized into a plurality of columnar sections of contiguous cables. Each columnar section has at least one cable. The spacer is disposed between adjacent columnar sections of cables and thus forms a dividing line between the adjacent columnar sections. The spacer spans substantially entirely across a cross section of the segment of the bundle in one direction. The collar is disposed entirely around the bundle and the spacer along at least a portion of the segment. The collar is sufficiently tight such that the collar and the spacer cooperate to hold the adjacent columnar sections in substantially fixed relative positions within the cross-section of the bundle.

1 . A cable assembly comprising: 
 a plurality of electrical or fiber-optic cables arranged lengthwise in a bundle including a segment having a cross-sectional arrangement organized into a plurality of columnar sections of contiguous cables, each columnar section having at least one cable;    a spacer disposed between adjacent columnar sections of cables, the spacer forming a dividing line between the adjacent columnar sections, the spacer spanning substantially entirely across a cross section of the segment of the bundle in one direction; and    a collar disposed entirely around the bundle and the spacer along at least a portion of the segment, the collar being disposed around the cables and the spacer with sufficient tightness such that the collar and the spacer cooperate to hold the adjacent columnar sections in substantially fixed relative positions within the cross-section of the bundle.    
   
   
       2 . The cable assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the arrangement is a rectangular array of cables.  
   
   
       3 . The cable assembly of  claim 2 , wherein the columns have a width of one cable.  
   
   
       4 . The cable assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the spacer is a single, unitary piece.  
   
   
       5 . The cable assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the spacer is approximately rectangular and sheet-like in shape and lies in a plane generally parallel to the lengthwise direction of the cables in the segment.  
   
   
       6 . The cable assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the spacer and the collar are separate pieces.  
   
   
       7 . The cable assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the spacer is a contiguously solid piece.  
   
   
       8 . The cable assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the spacer is formed of a plasticized cardboard.  
   
   
       9 . The cable assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the collar comprises a heat-shrink tube along the segment.  
   
   
       10 . The cable assembly of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 a piece of adhesive tape sticking to one or more of the cables and the spacer, the piece of tape being surrounded by the collar.    
   
   
       11 . The cable assembly of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 a spacer positioned between the collar and one of the columnar sections.    
   
   
       12 . A method for assembling a plurality of electrical or fiber-optic cables into a cable harness breakout, the method comprising: 
 arranging segments of a first subset of the plurality of cables into a contiguous first group;    placing a substantially rigid spacer along a side of the first group;    arranging segments of a second subset of the plurality of cables into a contiguous second group and placing a side of the second group along the spacer, so that the first group and the second group have an arranged configuration; and securing the first group, the spacer, and the second group together in the arranged configuration.    
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the first and the second groups of cables are rows of N cables each, where N is a natural number.  
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising: 
 placing spacers on opposing sides of the first and second groups of cables.    
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the securing step comprises: 
 taping the first group, the spacer, and the second group together in the arranged configuration.    
   
   
       16 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising: 
 surrounding the first group, the spacer, and the second group in the arranged configuration with a collar.    
   
   
       17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the surrounding step comprises: 
 placing a heat-shrink tube around the first group, the spacer, and the second group in the arranged configuration; and    heating the heat-shrink tube so as to constrict around the first group, the spacer, and the second group in the arranged configuration.    
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the step of placing the substantially rigid spacer is performed before the step of arranging segments of the second subset of the plurality of cables into the contiguous second group and placing a side of the second group along the spacer.  
   
   
       19 . A cable harness breakout comprising: 
 a plurality of cables at least coextensive segments of which are arranged in a rectangular array having N rows and M columns, where M and N are natural numbers;    a set of spacers demarking the interior boundaries of the N rows; and    a collar surround the cables and the set of spacers.    
   
   
       20 . The cable harness breakout of  claim 19 , wherein the set of spacers comprises N-1 separate pieces.  
   
   
       21 - 26 . (canceled)