Unitary woven jacket and electrical transmission cable and method for production

• US 4,559,411 A
• Filed: 06/28/1984
• Issued: 12/17/1985
• Est. Priority Date: 02/15/1983
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Woven Electronics Corporation
• Original Assignee: Woven Electronics Corporation
• Inventors: Piper, Douglas E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Grimley, A. T.
• Assistant Examiner(s): NIMMO, MORRIS
• Application Number:
  US06/625,660
• Time in Patent Office: 537 Days
• Field of Search: 174/36, 174/117 M, 29/857, 139/425 R
• US Class Current: 174/117.00M
• CPC Class Codes: H01B 11/1033 composed of a wire-braided conductor
• CPC Class Codes: H01B 7/083 Parallel wires, incorporated in a fabric
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49174 Assembling terminal to elongated conductor

Abstract

A unitary woven jacket electrical transmission cable and method are disclosed which include weaving a continuous length of cable structure (10) which includes jacketed sections (A), non-jacketed sections (B), and cut-line sections (C). In the jacketed section (A), the cable structure includes a woven transmission cable (14) which is surrounded by a woven cover (12) which is made integral with the cable by weaving. In the non-jacketed section (B), the woven cover, which is tubular in the jacketed section, is closed and woven in a flat weave (32) with the electrical conductors (16a, 16b) being unwoven and floated on the outside of the flat weave structure. The cut-line section C is woven in the form of a short length of jacket section (A). In the method, the conductors and cable structure is cut across the cut-line sections (C) to make a number of individual woven jacketed electrical transmission cables. The cables so produced include a non-jacketed section on each end followed by a short cut portion of section C. The conductors (16a, 16b) are bound in the first portion of section (C) but may be freed for termination by severing section (B). The woven cover (12) is closed at (34) by the criss-crossing the conductors and flat weave structure. The closure of the tubular weave improves the termination of the cables so that the epoxy potting material (42) normally used in a terminal connector (38) does not flow back into the open tubular woven cover.

Claims

1. A jacketed woven transmission cable comprising:

a woven electrical transmission cable including a number of warp conductor elements for transmitting electrical signals interwoven with a cable weft element;

a tubular woven cover about said woven electrical transmission cable in an open tubular configuration which includes cover warp elements interwoven with a cover weft yarn element around said woven cable;

said woven cover and woven transmission cable being connected together by weaving said cable and cover together at predetermined picks of one of said weft elements to provide a unitary construction;

a non-jacketed section at each end of said cable wherein said cover warp and said cover weft elements are woven in a closed flat weave structure which closes said tubular configuration of said woven cover at the beginning of said non-jacketed sections; and

said warp conductor elements being woven through said flat closed weave structure of said woven cover at said non-jacketed sections lying on either side of said flat weave structure in a separated unbound configuration so that said conductor elements may be terminated and said woven cover is closed,

where said warp conductor elements are terminated.

2. The cable of claim 1 wherein said cover weft yarn element and said transmission cable weft element consist of a single common weft element.

3. The cable of claim 1 including a stiffening warp member woven in the woven transmission cable at outermost edges thereof having a heavier gauge than the remaining of said transmission cable warp elements and around which said cover weft yarn element passes in said construction to oppose the tendency of said cover weft yarn element to pull in the sides of said cable.

4. A method of producing individual woven jacketed electrical transmission cables comprising:

weaving a continuous length cable structure which includes a plurality of said jacketed cable sections and a plurality of non-jacketed cable sections;

weaving said jacketed cable sections by weaving a woven cable having a number of warp conductors for transmitting electrical signals together with a weft element, simultaneously weaving a tubulr woven cover in an open tubular configuration by weaving cover warp and cover weft elements around said woven cable, and interweaving said woven cable and woven cover at selected points of weaving to provide a one-piece construction;

weaving said non-jacketed cable sections by reducing the weaving of said woven cover from an open tubular weave to a closed flat weave and breaking out said warp conductors through said woven cover and floating said warp conductors on either side of said flat weave in a separated unwoven configuration in said non-jacketed cable section; and

severing said cable structure across selected sections of said cable structure to produce the individual woven jacketed transmission cables.

5. The method of claim 4 including weaving a number of cut-line sections in said continuous length cable in which said warp conductors are bound, and severing said continuous length cable across said cut-line sections.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein said cut-line section is woven in the form of a jacketed cable section.

7. The method of claim 4 including weaving a number of jacketed cable sections in said cable structure having a length corresponding generally to a desired length of an individual one of said jacketed electrical transmission cables being produced;

weaving a number of auxiliary cut-line jacketed cable sections in said cable structure having a minor length; and

severing said cable structure across said auxiliary cut-line cable sections to produce said individual jacketed electrical transmission cables.

8. The method of claim 4 including:

weaving a number of main jacketed cable sections in said cable structure having a length corresponding generally to a desired length of an individual one of said jacketed electrical transmission cables being produced;

weaving said non-jacketed cable sections in spaced-apart pairs of adjacent non-jacketed cable sections along the length of said cable structure;

weaving an auxiliary cut-line jacketed cable section between each of said adjacent non-jacketed cable sections in said space therebetween; and

severing said cable structure across said auxiliary cut-line jacketed sections.

9. The method of claim 4 wherein said woven cover and woven cable are interwoven together by weaving a common weft element through said cable and cover.

10. A method of producing individual unitary woven jacketed electrical transmission cables comprising:

weaving a continuous length of cable structure which includes a plurality of said individual jacketed cable sections and a plurality of non-jacketed cable sections;

weaving said jacketed cable sections to include a woven cable in which a number of cable warp conductors for transmitting electrical signals are interwoven with a cable weft element, weaving a woven cover about said woven cable by interweaving a plurality of cover warp elements and a cover weft element, and connecting said woven cable and woven cover by interweaving said woven cable and woven cover at selected points of weaving;

weaving said non-jacketed cable sections by weaving said cover weft and warp elements in a closed flat weave structure, and weaving said cable warp conductors outwardly through said flat weave structure so that said warp conductors are floated unbound on either side of said flat closed cover structure;

weaving a plurality of cut-line sections in said continuous length cable structure in which said cable warp conductors are bound in the weave; and

severing said continuous length cable structure across said cut-line sections producing a number of individual woven jacketed transmission cables.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein said cut-line section is woven in the form of said jacketed cable section.

12. The method of claim 10 including:

weaving a pair of said non-jacketed sections, a first of said non-jacketed sections being at the ending of a jacketed section and a second of said pair of non-jacketed sections being at the beginning of an adjacent jacketed section to define a pair of adjacent non-jacketed sections with a space therebetween; and

weaving said cut-line section between each said pair of non-jacketed sections in said space.

13. The method of claim 10 wherein said cable weft element and cover weft element consist of a single weft element.

14. The method of claim 10 wherein said non-jacketed section includes the cover weft elements and cable weft elements woven together in said closed flat weave structure.

15. The method of claim 10 including:

crossing said warp conductors and said cover warp elements in said flat woven structure to provide a closure of the interior of said open tubular cover;

terminating said cable by affixing a terminal connector adjacent said non-jacketed section at said closure of said woven cover.

16. A method of constructing a unitary jacketed woven electrical transmission cable of the type which includes a woven cover and an inner woven electrical transmission cable having a plurality of warp elements including a number of elongated electrical conductors extending in a warp direction of the cable comprising:

weaving said transmission cable warp elements and a first weft yarn element together to form said inner woven electrical transmission cable;

simultaneously weaving a plurality of cover warp elements including warp yarns and a second weft yarn element to form said outer woven cover about said inner woven transmission cable while said transmission cable is being woven;

interweaving one of said weft yarn elements with one of said warp elements so that said inner woven electrical transmission cable and said outer woven cover are simultaneously woven and attached together as one-piece; and

weaving a plurality of longitudinal non-jacketed sections at terminal ends of said cable in which said woven cover is reduced from a tubular weave to a close flat weave and said elongated electrical conductors are broken out of said woven cover and floated freely on each side of said close flat weave of said woven cover.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein said first and second weft yarn elements are woven together with said cover warp yarns in said longitudinal non-jacketed section.

18. The method of claim 16 wherein said first and second weft yarn elements consist of a single weft yarn element.

19. The method of claim 16 including terminating said electrical conductor elements which are floated freely on each side of said closed flat weave by affixing said conductors to a terminal connector, and attaching said terminal connector to said non-jacketed section of said cable at a closure of said woven cover whereby the interior of said woven cover in said jacketed section is closed to said terminal connector.

20. The method of claim 16 including terminating the ends of said elongated conductors in said non-jacketed sections by fixing said ends to a terminal connector.

21. The method of claim 16 including:

crossing said electrical conductors and said cover warp elements in said flat woven structure to provide a closure of the interior of said open tubular cover;

terminating said cable by affixing a terminal connector adjacent said non-jacketed section at said closure of said woven cover.

22. A method of producing individual woven jacketed electrical transmission cables comprising:

weaving a continuous length cable structure which includes a plurality of said individual jacketed cable sections, a plurality of non-jacketed cable sections, and a plurality of auxiliary cut-line cable sections;

weaving said jacketed sections by weaving a woven cable which includes a number of warp conductors for transmitting electrical signals bound with a weft element, simultaneously weaving a tubular woven cover including cover warp and weft elements in an open tubular configuration around said woven cable, and interweaving said woven cable and woven cover at selected points of weaving to provide a one-piece construction;

weaving said non-jacketed cable section by reducing the weaving of said woven cover from an open tubular weave to a closed flat weave and breaking-out said warp electrical conductors through said woven cover and floating said warp conductors on either side of said flat weave in a separated unwoven configuration;

weaving said auxiliary cut-line sections by weaving said warp conductors in a bound configuration;

weaving said jacketed cable sections, non-jacketed cable sections, and cut-line cable sections in the following order;

(i) weaving a cut-line cable section,

(ii) weaving a non-jacketed cable section,

(iii) weaving a jacketed cable section;

(iv) weaving a non-jacketed cable section,

(v) weaving a cut-line cable section, and

repeating steps (ii) through (v) along the length of said continuous cable structure generally for each individual jacketed cable being produced; and

severing said continuous length cable structure across said cut-line sections to produce individual jacketed electrical transmission cables.

23. The method of claim 22 including crossing said warp conductors and said cover warp elements to close the open interior of said woven cover at the juncture of said non-jacketed sections;

and

terminating said cable by fixing a terminal connector at said non-jacketed cable sections to said jacketed cable section so that the open interior of said woven cover is closed at said terminal connector by said crossing warp conductors and warp elements.