Long life to the Cable Tie! Hail to Maurus C. Logan, Robert Thomas and Hobart Betts!

Yes. That's exactly what you're reading. This article today is not talking about personal goals, or about some event, or even event planning and operation. The topic today is more important than all that. I am going to talk about an important, and I would even say, necessary instrument in events around the world. I would even say that without him, the life of the event, party, logistics, security producer, etc; would be MUCH more complicated. It's impossible that no matter where you live or work, you've never seen a Cable Tie. Whether for leisure, passing through that unpretentious queue at the cinema, or going to the amusement park with friends, or at the airport, waiting in the boarding line, I'm sure you've come across a cable tie.

Depending on the region, the Cable Tie can have different names or nicknames: Zip Tie, Ty-Rap, Hellerman Tape, Clippers, Clamps, Hangaman, etc. Regardless of the name, the Cable Tie is a simple article, made of plastic or metal, small or long, in white, blue, orange, green, yellow, red or black, with an ingenious format, which serves to join and fix objects, in order to guarantee the union, sealing or fixing of one item to another. Look how much function and possibility is a simple piece! When I come across a Cable Tie I always think “Who could have had this brilliant idea to create this item?”. I don't know about you, but every time I see a bag full of these items, I also want to take them home, because you never know when you're going to need them. And look, I always do.

Creators

Maurus C. Logan, Robert M. Thomas and Hobart D. Betts. If I could I swear I would promote a music or sports festival just to honor these guys. They were responsible for the creation of this magnificent object. In 1898, Thomas & Betts, two young engineers from Princeton University (USA), founded an agency for selling conduit to electrical distributors during a time when incandescent electric lighting was first introduced to New York City. ?But only in 1958, Maurus C. Logan did create this magic item: the cable tie. The idea was to facilitate assembling wire harnesses in airplanes. Two years before, in 1956, while touring a Boeing aircraft manufacturing facility, Logan faced a problem. Aircraft wiring was a cumbersome and detailed undertaking, involving thousands of feet of wire organized on sheets of 50-foot-long plywood and held in place with knotted, waxcoated, braided nylon cord. Each knot had to be pulled tight by wrapping the cord around one's finger which sometimes cut the operator's fingers until they developed thick calluses. Logan was convinced there had to be an easier, more forgiving, way to accomplish this critical task. For the next couple of years, Logan experimented with various tools and materials. On June 24, 1958, a patent for the Ty-Rap cable tie was submitted. Little did he know the revolution they were about to create at that moment. It has recently expanded its product offerings through the acquisition of leading brands in the power protection industry specifically focused on critical infrastructure.

Design & Use

Over the years, the design has changed and been extended and developed into numerous spin-off products.?One example was a self-locking loop developed as an alternative to purse-string suture in colon anastomosis. The major commons Cable Ties consists of a flexible nylon tape with an integrated gear rack, and on one end a ratchet within a small open case. Once the pointed tip of the cable tis has been pulled through the case and past the ratchet, it is prevented from being pulled back unless a large amount of force is applied. The resulting loop may only be pulled tighter. This allows several cables to be bound together into a cable bundle and/or to form a cable tree. Simple and brilliant, isn't it? Oh! And don't forget to cut the excess, or the tail, which was exposed. This can lead to cuts or minor incidents. Here's the tip!?

The fixing and efficiency of the Cable Tie is so good that even in several countries some security agents always have some to restrain prisoners. Cable ties are also sometimes used to prevent hubcaps?(also known as wheel trims) from falling off a moving vehicle, and some are sold specifically for this purpose. I myself have used it for several random activities, such as, for example, tying Croud Control Barriers (CCBs), as a key ring, attaching face masks, attaching clothes, securing production items, attach visual material to grids and, even, a seat belt.

Reuse

Cable ties are generally single-use devices, I confess that reusing them is not an easy task. It needs a certain skill, and I would say even half ninja. However, they can be reopened. With little or no damage by inserting a small flat object between the ratchet and the pawl and pulling the pawl out. Some models have a mechanism to release the pawl and allow re-use. And of course, don’t forget to after using and cutting him, discarding it in a garbage destined to plastic or metallic bin (this will depend on the material in which it was produced). We can never forget the importance of this.

So that's it folks, whether or not you work in the events area always remember these names: Maurus C. Logan, Robert Thomas and Hobart Betts. You certainly had no idea, but they are our real heroes. Thank you, comrades! Long life to the cable tie. Or Zip Tie! Or Ty-Rap! Or Hellerman Tape! Etc. Etc. Etc.