GB1324878A - Electric cables - Google Patents

Abstract

1324878 Filled cable PIRELLI GENERAL CABLE WORKS Ltd 13 Oct 1771 [15 Oct 1970] 49013/70 Heading H1A [Also in Division D1] An unsheathed cable core is fully filled with, e.g., petroleum jelly in a relatively liquid state which is subsequently cooled to a non-viscous state whilst the cable passes continuously along a straight line path. As shown, a telecommunications cable passes through evacuation chambers 26b and 26a, and then into filling vessel 12. Petroleum jelly is heated to about 90‹ C. and passes, possibly under pressure, through line 22 to the cable; the surplus being drawn off through line 24. The filled cable passes into chamber 20 where it cools, possibly by feeding in carbon dioxide under pressure and allowing it to expand; thereby extracting heat from the core. A line 21 may make good any loss of jelly occurring during passage of the cable through the chamber. The core may then be wound with tape insulation and reeled on to a drum for later sheathing; or sheathing may take place in tandem with the above operations. Seals 32, 34, 36, 38 may comprise annular members which encircle the cable and are arranged to inflate against it. An alternative seal comprises bunched resilient fibres defining a central hole through which the core passes. Lubrication of the seals is described, and pipe 37 feeds heated petroleum jelly on to the core to form a wipe of jelly which lubricates seals 32 and 34. Seals 36 and 38 are directly lubricated by leakages from the vessel 12.