Cable organizing and protection system and method

Abstract

Multiple conductor cables are connected to horizontally distributed component equipments within a vertical array inside a cabinet. The cables are brought into the cabinet through or near the bottom and a clear space is provided within the cabinet generally parallel to the arrays. Each array has a plurality of cables, each consisting of a plurality of conductors. Starting with the lowermost, the cables to connect to a given equipment are collected into a bundle by retainer means, preferably a resilient U-shaped clip which can be sprung to fit into a hole in a plate along a cabinet wall. The cables are terminated in connector means which are plugged into horizontally distributed mating connectors for each component equipment supported on a stress relief panel supported by the cabinet. The clip for each bundle of cables is generally at the level of the component equipment to which it attaches so that it carries most of the weight of the cables. The lowermost component equipment is connected first and its retainer is supported on the cabinet closest to the array. Later component equipments are connected in sequence from the lowermost to the uppermost and their cable retainers are supported on the cabinet in a pattern progressively further from the strain relief panel but always close to the level of the component equipment to which they connect.