How the Ty-Rap® was invented

First developed to solve the problem of bundling the hundreds of feet of wiring found inside commercial aircraft, Ty-Rap cable ties can now be found virtually everywhere - from Nascar racing engines to backyard tool sheds.

Self-fastening and basically indestructible, the ground-breaking design of the Ty-Rap cable tie demonstrates how to solve a complex problem with a simple technology.

“My dad didn't have a lot of formal education, but he was the most ingenious person I have ever met," said Robert Logan, Maurus' son. "He never thought the customary way of doing things was good enough and when he looked at anything he thought about ways to improve it. The invention of the cable tie is an excellent example of how he worked.

For the cable tie, the proverbial light bulb came on over Logan's head while touring a Boeing aircraft manufacturing facility in 1956. 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 or "hamburger hands."

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 longlasting, easy-to-use Ty-Rap cable tie was submitted. The rest, as they say, is history.

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