[kgwgk]

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/patchboard

patchboard

: a switchboard in which circuits are interconnected by patch cords

First Known Use

1934, in the meaning defined above

[ziml77]

I find it far more likely that patches--in terms of fixing problems with small, targeted changes--derives from the use of the term for fixing holes in cloth by sewing on another piece of cloth.

[kgwgk]

Everything is about patching up clothes or other things. I was just commenting on the “patch-cable seems to be way younger” remark.

[tiahura]

Hence patch cable.