CA2097595C - Electrical cable - Google Patents

Electrical cable Download PDF

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Publication number
CA2097595C
CA2097595C CA002097595A CA2097595A CA2097595C CA 2097595 C CA2097595 C CA 2097595C CA 002097595 A CA002097595 A CA 002097595A CA 2097595 A CA2097595 A CA 2097595A CA 2097595 C CA2097595 C CA 2097595C
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CA
Canada
Prior art keywords
cable
shield
thread
jacket
pull
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Fee Related
Application number
CA002097595A
Other languages
French (fr)
Other versions
CA2097595A1 (en
Inventor
Stanley Michael Norden
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Raychem Ltd
Original Assignee
Raychem Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Raychem Ltd filed Critical Raychem Ltd
Publication of CA2097595A1 publication Critical patent/CA2097595A1/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of CA2097595C publication Critical patent/CA2097595C/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Fee Related legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • HELECTRICITY
    • H01ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01BCABLES; CONDUCTORS; INSULATORS; SELECTION OF MATERIALS FOR THEIR CONDUCTIVE, INSULATING OR DIELECTRIC PROPERTIES
    • H01B7/00Insulated conductors or cables characterised by their form
    • H01B7/38Insulated conductors or cables characterised by their form with arrangements for facilitating removal of insulation
    • H01B7/385Insulated conductors or cables characterised by their form with arrangements for facilitating removal of insulation comprising a rip cord or wire

Landscapes

  • Insulated Conductors (AREA)
  • Organic Insulating Materials (AREA)
  • Ignition Installations For Internal Combustion Engines (AREA)
  • Communication Cables (AREA)
  • Inorganic Insulating Materials (AREA)
  • Removal Of Insulation Or Armoring From Wires Or Cables (AREA)
  • Manufacturing Of Electric Cables (AREA)
  • Electrical Discharge Machining, Electrochemical Machining, And Combined Machining (AREA)
  • Endoscopes (AREA)

Abstract

An electrical cable comprises one or more insulated elongate electrical conductors (1,2), a metal electrical shield (5) surrounding the conductors and a pull-thread (7) that extends along the cable under the shield so that the shield can be cut longitudinally by pulling the thread. The cable can be stripped of shield and jacket simply by pull-ing the thread and then tearing the end of the shield and jacket off. If desired a second conventional pull thread may be located between the shield and jacket in order to allow the jacket to be removed and the shield exposed.

Description

1i 0 92/ 10840 PCT/GB91 /02136 r. ,,:: 2 ~ 9 '7i 9 ~ .
This invention relates to electrical cables, in particular to cables that are provided with a screen, for ezample to prevent or reduce electromagnetic interference.
Commonly employed screened cables include coaxial cables in which a single elongate electrical conductor is surrounded by a dielectric and a conductive screen. Other screened cables employ one or more insulated conductors, eg. in twisted pair configuration, the IO conductor or conductors being enclosed in a single common screen.
Where screened cables are used it is often necessary to cut the screen back in order to expose a length of the underlying insulated coaductor(s), for example so that the conductors can be terminated, I5 eg. in an electrical connector or in a black boz with appropriate termination of the screen. The conventional method of terminating a cable with a braided screen comprises (i) forming a nick or slit in the jacket by means of a knife and pulling off the jacket, and (ii) pushing the exposed end of the braid axially toward the rest of the braid to cause it to bulge radially and then cutting the braid at the appropriate point with a pair of snips.
This operation has the serious disadvantage that it requires the use of a knife. The use of knives in cable termination and harness formation is discouraged, and in many harness shops knives are not permitted in view of the danger of unintentionally damaging the wire or cable insulation of parts of the harness not being worked upon. In addition, in some cases it is difficult to cause the braid to bulge radially by pushing it axially. For example in one form of shielded cable the cable shield is formed from monofilaments having a substantially flat cross-section in order to reduce the cable profile and to reduce the weight of the cable, and this form of cable shield is very difficult or impossible to expand radially by pushing it axially.
According to the present invention there is provided an electrical cable which comprises one or more elongate electrical conductors, a layer of insulation surrounding the or each electrical conductor, and a braided metal electrical shield formed from flat filaments surrounding the conductor or conductors and the insulation, the cable including a pull-thread that extends along the length of the cable under the shield so that the shield can be cut longitudinally by pulling the thread.
We have found that it is possible to cut through a cable shield formed from a metal braid by pulling the pull-thread or stripping thread along the cable without undue expenditure of effort. Indeed the effort needed to cut through 2a a braid and cable jacket may not in some instances be substantially greater than that needed to cut through the cable jacket alone even though the thread is being employed to cut through a significant thickness of metal. While it is not always necessary for the cable to include a cable jacket, this is preferred since the cable jacket will hinder or prevent movement of the VO 92/108.10 N ~ J r ~ ~ J PCT/G891/021361 <::;~ _3_ braid filaments when the braid is cut by the thread. Preferred jacket materials include polymers such as Polyolefins, eg. ethylene homopolymers and copolymers with alpha olefins, halogenated polymers, eg. tetrafluorethylene, vinylidene fluoride, hezafluoropropyiene and vinyl chloride homo or copolymers, especially ethylene/tetrafluoroethylene copolymer, polamides, polyesters, polyimides, polyether ketones, eg, polyarylether ketones, aromatic polyether imides and sulphones, silicones, alkene/vinyl acetate copolymers and the like. The polymers may be used alone or as blends with one another and may contain fillers, eg, silica and metal osides, eg. treated and untreated metal oxide flame retardants such as hydrated alumina and titania.
While the present invention is applicable to cables having only a single central conductor surrounded by a dielectric such as coaxial cables sad single screened wires, it will more usually be applied to screened muliticonductor cables, eg. a screened twisted pair cables. It has hitherto been relatively difficult to cut back the screen of such cables in the case of flat filament braids, not only because it is di~cult ~ or impossible to cause the shield to bulge by pushing it toward the remainder of the shield but also because of the undulating surface of the cable caused by the helical geometry of the insulated conductors or wires. Ia the case of multiconductor cables it is possible for the pull thread to be layed up in the cable in the manner of an additional wire so that when it is pulled it will cut through the shield and jacket in a helical path. This may not be particularly easy or convenient for an operator to perform manually, and so it is preferred for the pull thread to extend substantially axially along the cable in order that it may be pulled along the cable at a substantially uniform orientation.
3~
In principle the invention may be employed with cables having a variety of screens although normally the screen will be in the form of a braid, and the invention is particularly suited to cables having braids formed from flat filaments. Such flat braids appear to be cut very mu y2/~ps-so PCT/GB91/02136 ~~'a easily by the thread and it is believed that this ease of cutting according to the present invention and the difficulty of stripping flat braided cables by the conventional method are, in fact, related: The braid filaments cannot easily slide over one another but tend to remain fixed when subjected to a force distorting the braid. In the conventional stripping method this prevents the braid being caused to bulge, and in the cable according to the invention this same tendency prevents any accommodation of the stress applied by the thread as it cuts through the filaments.
The pull thread is preferably electrically insulating and more preferably formed from a polymer. The most preferred material is based on an aromatic polyamide for example as sold by Akzo under the trademark "Kevlar'". It will normally be in the form of a relatively large number of monofilaments.
The cable may be provided with more than one stripping thread.
For example the cable may be provided with one thread under the shield and a second thread under the jacket but over the shield so that 2D part of the shield can be exposed by stripping the jacket only.
A shielded cable in accordance with the present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a shielded twisted pair cable;
and Figure 2 is a schematic side view of a cable at a number of 30 stages during the stripping process of the invention.
Referring to the accompanying drawings a screened twisted pair cable comprises a twisted pair of wires 1 and 2 each comprising a stranded tinned copper conductor 3 and a single wall or dual wall 4V0 92/ 1 Ut3:lU N ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ PCT/GB91 /02136 _~_ .
insulation 4, formed for example from polyethylene and/or polyvinylidine fluoride.
A shield 5 is provided in the form of a braid of flattened tinned ~ copper filaments followed by an eztruded outer jacket 6 formed form an ethylene tetrafluoroethylene copolymer.
A pull thread ? formed from a number of monofilaments of an aromata.c polyamide (sold under the trademark "Kevlar") eztends azially along the length of the cable underneath the cable jacket 6 and the shield 5.
In order to cut back the shield 5, the pull thread ? is simply pulled perpendicularly to the cable causing it to cut through both the shield 5 and the jacket 6 until the shield and jacket have been severed to the appropriate length. The shield may then be terminated in any appropriate manner.
Figure 2 shows a number of side views of a screened twisted pair cable at various stages during the termination process. The cable comprises a pair of insulated conductors 1 and 2 enclosed by a braided shield 5 and a jacket 6. The cable has two pull-threads, one thread ?
located under the shield 5 and the second thread 8 located under the jacket 6 but over the shield. The threads ? and 8 will normally have different colours or patterns in order to distinguish them.
In order to strip the cable for termination a small length 9 of the cable, eg. a few centimetres, is cut off by means of a pair of snips. This operation will not normally sever the threads 7 and 8 due to their strength and ao a short length of each thread will be exposed as shown in Figure 2a. Thread 7 is then pulled in order to slit the jacket 6 and shield 5 to the point at which the shield 5 can be tidied up with a pair of snips to form the cable as shown in Figure 2b. Then the thread 8 is pulled back in order to slit the jacket 6 by the amount it is desired to WO 92/ 10l3~t0 PC1'/GB91 /02136 expose the shield 5. The end of the jacket 6 can be torn off circumferentially and tidied by means of snips to form the cable as shown in Figure 2c. The ezcess lengths of pull-thread can be cut off at any convenient point.

Claims (7)

CLAIMS:
1. An electrical cable which comprises one or more elongate electrical conductors, a layer of insulation surrounding the or each electrical conductor, and a braided metal electrical shield formed from flat filaments surrounding the conductor or conductors and the insulation, the cable including a pull-thread that extends along the length of the cable under the shield so that the shield can be cut longitudinally by pulling the thread.
2. A cable as claimed in claim 1, which includes a cable jacket located over the electrical shield.
3. A cable as claimed in claim 1 or 2, which includes a plurality of insulated elongate conductors.
4. A cable as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the pull thread extends substantially axially along the cable.
5. A cable as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the pull thread is electrically insulating.
6. A cable as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the pull thread is formed from a polymer.
7. A cable as claimed in claim 5, wherein the pull thread is formed from an aromatic polyamide.
CA002097595A 1990-12-13 1991-12-03 Electrical cable Expired - Fee Related CA2097595C (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB9027110.7 1990-12-13
GB909027110A GB9027110D0 (en) 1990-12-13 1990-12-13 Electrical cable
PCT/GB1991/002136 WO1992010840A1 (en) 1990-12-13 1991-12-03 Electrical cable

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
CA2097595A1 CA2097595A1 (en) 1992-06-14
CA2097595C true CA2097595C (en) 2001-10-23

Family

ID=10686982

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
CA002097595A Expired - Fee Related CA2097595C (en) 1990-12-13 1991-12-03 Electrical cable

Country Status (13)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0561829B1 (en)
JP (1) JPH06503200A (en)
AT (1) ATE129092T1 (en)
AU (1) AU8935291A (en)
BR (1) BR9107161A (en)
CA (1) CA2097595C (en)
DE (1) DE69113812T2 (en)
FI (1) FI932679A0 (en)
GB (1) GB9027110D0 (en)
IE (1) IE69361B1 (en)
IL (1) IL100351A (en)
NO (1) NO310324B1 (en)
WO (1) WO1992010840A1 (en)

Families Citing this family (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0872858A3 (en) * 1997-04-17 1999-02-24 Alcatel Multiple parallel conductor for windings of electric devices and machines
DE19856814A1 (en) 1998-12-09 2000-06-15 Siemens Ag Cable with a cable core, a cable jacket and a tear thread
EP2784788A1 (en) * 2013-03-28 2014-10-01 Alcatel-Lucent Shanghai Bell Co., Ltd. Cable and method of manufacturing a cable
CN109935418A (en) * 2017-12-15 2019-06-25 湖南华菱线缆股份有限公司 A kind of aerospace ultralight data bus cable structure and preparation method
EP3745425B1 (en) * 2019-05-31 2022-12-21 Aptiv Technologies Limited Communications cables for autonomous vehicles
CN112670016B (en) * 2021-01-13 2022-04-05 陕西通达电缆制造有限公司 Environment-friendly high-temperature-resistant shielding fireproof flexible cable
RU204917U1 (en) * 2021-02-02 2021-06-17 Общество с ограниченной ответственностью Научно-Исследовательский Институт «Промышленные и Электрические Решения» CABLE FOR CONTROL AND CONTROL CIRCUITS

Family Cites Families (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
FR1404549A (en) * 1964-05-20 1965-07-02 Trefimetaux Metallic braid, its manufacture and products equipped with this braid
FR2519797A1 (en) * 1982-01-14 1983-07-18 Labinal Novel configuration for screened cable - uses insulating core with edge groove carrying bare conductor which is exposed to physical contact with braided screen
DE3917088A1 (en) * 1989-02-03 1990-08-09 Kabelmetal Electro Gmbh Cable with electrical and/or optical fibre conductor - has projective sleeve with line of weakness formed to aid removal
DE9003135U1 (en) * 1990-03-17 1990-06-07 kabelmetal electro GmbH, 3000 Hannover Electrical or optical cable with tear threads

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
IE914356A1 (en) 1992-06-17
EP0561829A1 (en) 1993-09-29
DE69113812T2 (en) 1996-06-20
AU8935291A (en) 1992-07-08
WO1992010840A1 (en) 1992-06-25
CA2097595A1 (en) 1992-06-14
BR9107161A (en) 1993-11-03
GB9027110D0 (en) 1991-02-06
EP0561829B1 (en) 1995-10-11
IL100351A (en) 1996-03-31
DE69113812D1 (en) 1995-11-16
NO932144D0 (en) 1993-06-11
FI932679A (en) 1993-06-11
ATE129092T1 (en) 1995-10-15
NO310324B1 (en) 2001-06-18
NO932144L (en) 1993-06-11
JPH06503200A (en) 1994-04-07
FI932679A0 (en) 1993-06-11
IE69361B1 (en) 1996-09-04
IL100351A0 (en) 1992-09-06

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