The invention is concerned with a cable the core of which is surrounded by an external extruded sheath, which core comprises at least one transmission element for the transmission of electrical current or telecommunication signals. The invention also is concerned with a method of manufacturing of such a cable.
The word “cable” also stands for the word “line”. “Cable” can be an electrical or optical cable with any design of the core which is surrounded by a sheath of insulating material. “Transmission elements” can be metallic electrical conductors or optical waveguides. Such cables have a protective outer sheath of insulating material with different characteristics depending on the type of the cable and the field of use of the same. The thickness of the sheath is variable depending on the mentioned characteristics. The amount of material for forming the sheath of such cables normally is high. The portion of the sheath to the weight of the complete cable is considerable.
WO 98/52197 describes a power transmission cable with an outer coating made of expanded polymer material. The coating shall be capable of protecting the cable from accidental impacts. A separate metal armor shall not be needed. The coating therefore has special mechanical characteristics to absorb impacts. The used material has a degree of expansion from 20% to 3000% and a flexural modulus between 400 MPa and 1800 MPa. Such a material is expensive. Its weight is lower compared to the not expanded version. But for the purpose of impact protection the coating of expanded polymer material needs an adequate thickness and flexural modulus together with a great mass. Therefrom the weight of the sheath still is high. Such a coating therefore only is useful with cables which normally have a metal armor and then can be manufactured without such an armor.
WO 98/52197 also mentions documents which describe cables for the transmission of signals with a layer of expanded insulating material. Such a material shall be useful only for the increase of the transmission speed of the signals. A hint for impact protection shall not to be found in these documents.
From GB specification 1 339 561, an electrical cable is known, preferably a telecommunication cable, which also shall be protected against mechanical stresses, like impacts, without a special armoring. The core of the cable is surrounded by a layer of expanded insulating material which is surrounded by a layer of not expanded insulating material. The expanded layer has a greater thickness then the not expanded layer. This known cable is comparable with the cable of WO 98/52197.
It is an object of the invention to provide a cable, and a corresponding method of production with a reduced weight and a reduced amount of extruded material for the outer sheath with normally used materials while its core design is maintained.
According to the invention the sheath comprises at least one flexible layer of a conventional, expanded material, this material having a tensile strength between 10.0 MPa and 50.0 MPa.
Such a cable has a lower weight than a cable with the same core, because the sheath with the same thickness is lighter depending on the enclosed gas bubbles. For the same reason, the amount of sheathing material is reduced and the complete cable is more cost effective. Because of the reduced amount of sheathing material the incendiary load is reduced, as well as a danger for the environment. In case of fire, the amount of smoke and the heat release also are reduced. A special advantage of this cable is the fact that for its manufacturing conventional materials can be used without special treatment. It is not necessary to consider a high transmission speed for signals and an increased impact resistance also is not needed. The sheath of the cable only must guarantee the protection of the enclosed core also then when the cable is drawn under increased forces.
The cable can be manufactured in conventional technique with unchanged designs of the core. The sheath also can be applied in conventional technique by extrusion. A chemical blowing agent can be added to the material before extrusion. It also is possible to use the method of gas injection for expanding the sheathing material without chemical additives.
The cable of the invention in a prefered embodiment is a house wiring cable, which is installed in buildings for illumination purposes and for power supply of electrical devices. Such cables are used in great volumes all over the world. The advantages of the invention are extremly interesting with such cables. That is true not only for weight and amount of sheathing material but especially for the low incendiary load and the reduced formation of smoke and release of heat.
Examples of and prefered embodiments of the invention are shown in the drawings, wherein:
The cable of
Any material can be used for the sheath M. But it is necessary that the material of the sheath M can not hinder the flexibility of the cable and the tensile strength of the same must be between 10.0 MPa and 50.0 MPa, to guarantee the demanded function of protection. In a prefered embodiment a Polyvinylchloride comprising a plasticizer is used for the sheath M, that means a relatively soft and flexible Polyvinylchloride. It also is possible to use e.g. Polyethylene, Polypropylene or Polyurethane as sheathing material.
According to
For a sheath M comprising two layers 2 and 3 as basis material e.g. Polyvinylchloride (PVC) is used, e.g. as follows:
For the production of a cable according to
Of influence to a constant rate of expansion of the sheathing material is the handling of the cable behind the extruder. The cable then is guided through a cooling system with a special volume of cooling water, depending on the dimensions of the respective cable. By using pressure reducing valves it is possible to keep the water volume at a constant value. The volume of the water can easily be controlled by use of a V-shaped cooling trough 8 according to
The layer 3 of the sheath M which is made of not expanded material can be applied in the same production step as the layer 2. That can be done by coextrusion in a common extrusion die. It is also possible to use a second extruder behind the first one and to apply the two layers 2 and 3 in tandem technique.
A sheath M in one layer 2 of
The cable of
For an additional reduction of weight and costs of the cable also the insulation of the wires within the core 1 of the cable in general and the filler 7 of the cable of
Instead of the electrical transmission elements of the described embodiments of the invention at least one optical waveguide can be comprised within the core 1 of the cable. The sheath of such an optical cable can be the same as described above for the sheath M.
According to the description above the sheath M comprises either one layer 2 or two layers 2 and 3. It also can comprise more than two layers. That is true also for the layer 2 of expanded insulating material alone, wherein different layers of the same e.g. can have different degrees of expansion.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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01402742.9 | Oct 2001 | EP | regional |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20030079903 A1 | May 2003 | US |