Method for manufacturing ribbon cable and transposed cable

• US 4,888,071 A
• Filed: 07/28/1986
• Issued: 12/19/1989
• Est. Priority Date: 07/24/1984
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Phelps Dodge Industries Incorporated (Freeport-Mcmoran Copper & Gold Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Phelps Dodge Industries Incorporated (Freeport-Mcmoran Copper & Gold Incorporated)
• Inventors: Kauffman, John C., Westenfeld, Richard A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Dawson, Robert A.
• Application Number:
  US06/890,099
• Time in Patent Office: 1,240 Days
• Field of Search: 29/469.5, 29/245, 29/825, 57/212, 57/213, 57/215-217, 57/233, 156/50, 156/51, 156/269, 156/180, 156/204, 174/34, 174/113 A, 174/117 F, 174/117 FF, 174/129 R, 174/129 S, 428/375-378, 428/397
• US Class Current: 156/50
• CPC Class Codes: H01B 7/0853 Juxtaposed parallel wires, fixed to each other without a support layer
• CPC Class Codes: H01B 7/306 Transposed conductors
• CPC Class Codes: H02K 2203/15 Machines characterised by cable windings, e.g. high-voltage cables, ribbon cables
• CPC Class Codes: H02K 3/04 Windings characterised by the conductor shape, form or construction, e.g. with bar conductors
• CPC Class Codes: H02K 3/14 with transposed conductors, e.g. twisted conductors
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 156/1015 Folding
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 156/1084 of continuous or running length bonded web

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for manufacturing an improved ribbon cable comprising a plurality of insulated wires juxtaposed in fixed relationship to each other and an improved transposed cable in which each conductor of the cable of the invention is in the form of a continuous helix. The electromagnetic device of the invention has the ribbon cable of the invention as its magnetic windings.

Claims

1. A method of making ribbon cable comprising the steps of:

providing one or more elongated conductors, superimposing on each of said conductors a relatively thin, flexible and generally continuous and concentric coating of insulating material, wrapping each of said conductors obliquely around an elongated mandrel of sheet material having opposed spaced apart edges and generally flat and parallel surfaces to form each conductor into a helix, said conductors defining an angle with the axis of said mandrel, compressing said helices together axially of said mandrel, said helices being side by side, flattening said helices transversely of said mandrel axis and generally perpendicularly of said mandrel surfaces, bonding said helices together in the compressed and flattened state thereof, thereby forming an integral ribbon of juxtaposed laterally flattened helices, and severing said ribbon at opposite ends transversely of said mandrel axis thereby to expose a plurality of conductor ends.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein each of said conductors forming said helices has upper segments and lower segments, said upper segments being oblique to the longest dimension of said ribbon and at adjacent angles to said lower segments of said conductors, and said lower segments of said conductors are oblique to said longest dimension of said ribbon and at adjacent angles to said upper segments of said conductors.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein said ribbon comprises a plurality of conductors, the width of said ribbon and the direction of said flattening is essentially equal to the number of conductors in said plurality multiplied by the outside diameter of said conductors and divided by twice the cosine of the acute angle between said conductors of said laterally flattened helices and the longitudinal axis of said ribbon.

5. The method of claims 1 further comprising:

folding said ribbon cable against a first straight edge defining a first fold, said first fold being angularly disposed to the axis of said conductors, said axis of said ribbon cable before and after said first fold defining an angle between 0° and

90°

with the axis of said cable, paying out an amount of said ribbon cable equal to the width of said ribbon cable divided by the sine of said angle, folding said ribbon cable against a second straight edge defining a second fold, said second fold being angularly disposed to the axis of said conductors, said axis of said ribbon cable before and after said second fold defining the same angle as before and after said first fold, positioning said folds to define the longitudinal boundaries of a folded ribbon cable, and repeating said paying out and said second folding and said positioning steps over and over again until a desired length of cable is formed, said straight edges being parallel and spaced apart a distance equal to the desired width of the cable, and severing said folded cable at opposite ends transversely thereof to expose a plurality of conductors.

7. The method of claims 1, 4, 5 or 6 wherein said conductor layers are bonded together.

8. The method of claims 1, 4, 5 or 6 wherein said coating of insulation material is in accordance with ANSI/NEMA MW1000 Standards excepting the dimensional and dielectric standards, said dimensional and dielectric standards being equal to ANSI/NEMA MW1000 Standards or less.

9. The method of claims 1, 4, 5 or 6 wherein said conductors are chosen from the group consisting of aluminum and copper conductors.

10. The method of claims 1, 4, 5 or 6 wherein said conductors are provided in a number greater than thirty-one.

11. The method of claims 1, 4, 5 or 6 further comprising the step of superimposing an essentially continuous and concentric coating of flexible bonding material on said coating of insulating material.

12. The method of claims 1, 4, 5 or 6 further comprising the steps of placing bonding material in the interstices between said conductors, said bonding material generally defining the exterior configuration of said ribbon cable with said conductors.

13. The method of claims 1, 4, 5 or 6 wherein said conductors are chosen from the group consisting of aluminum and copper conductors, and said bonding material is the same material as said insulation material.

14. The method of claims 1, 4, 5 or 6 wherein said conductors are provided in a number greater than thirty-one and said bonding material is the same material as said insulation material.

15. The method of claims 1, 4, 5 or 6 wherein said conductors are chosen from the group consisting of aluminum and copper conductors and said bonding material is softenable by the application of heat.

16. The method of claims 1, 4, 5 or 6 wherein said conductors are chosen from the group consisting of aluminum and copper conductors, and said bonding material is softenable by the application of solvent.

17. The method of claims 1, 4, 5 or 6 wherein said conductors are provided in a number greater than thirty-one and said bonding material is softenable by the application of heat.

18. The method of claims 1, 4, 5 or 6 wherein said conductors are provided in a number greater than thirty-one and said bonding material is softenable by the application of solvent.

19. The method of claims 1, 4, 5 or 6 further comprising the step of wrapping said ribbon with an elongated sheet of exterior insulation material and spooling the same for shipping, storage or handling.

20. The method of claims 1, 4, 5 or 6 further comprising the step of wrapping said ribbon with an elongated sheet of exterior insulation material, and spooling the same for shipping, storage or handling, and wherein said ribbon is spirally wrapped with said exterior insulation material.

21. The method of claims 1, 4, 5 or 6 further comprising the step of wrapping said ribbon with an elongated sheet of exterior insulation material, and spooling the same for shipping, storage or handling, and wherein said ribbon is longitudinally wrapped with said exterior insulation material.

22. The method of claim 1 wherein said compressing and flattening steps are accomplished simultaneously.

23. The method of claim 22 wherein said compressing and flattening steps are accomplished by differentially transporting said conductors to compress said wires together in their direction of transport and simultaneously flattening said helices transversely of said mandrel axis and generally perpendicularly of said mandrel surfaces.

24. The method of claim 1 wherein said compressed and flattened and bonded helices define longitudinally extending ribbon cable boundaries, said boundaries being rolled to define the exterior edges of said ribbon cable.

25. The method of claim 5 wherein said folding steps are accomplished about a mandrel, said mandrel having two opposite straight edges, the distance between said edges being greater than the transverse dimension of said edges.

27. The method of claim 5 or 6 wherein said mandrel is rotated as said folding steps are accomplished.

28. The method of claim 5 or 6 wherein said ribbon cable is rotated as said folding steps are accomplished.

29. The method of claims 1, 25 or 26 wherein the lateral dimension of said mandrel is about equal to the number of conductors in said plurality multiplied by the outside diameter of said conductors divided by twice the cosine of the acute angle between said conductor axes and the longitudinal axis of said cable.

4. A method of making ribbon cable comprising:

providing a plurality of elongated first conductors, superimposing on each of said first conductors a relatively thin, flexible and generally continuous and concentric coating of insulating material, placing said first conductors side by side with the axis of said first conductors extending parallel to each other and defining a common plane with the insulating coating of adjacent conductors being contiguous, providing a plurality of elongated second conductors, superimposing on each of said second conductors a relatively thin, flexible and generally continuous and concentric coating of insulating material, placing said second conductors side by side with the axis of said second conductors extending parallel to each other and defining a common plane with the insulating coating of adjacent conductors being contiguous, placing said first conductors and second conductors side by side, bonding said first conductors together and bonding said second conductors together to form an integral ribbon cable having generally straight longitudinal boundaries, generally flat upper and lower surfaces and a generally rectangular cross section essentially, defined by said first and second conductors.

30. The method of claim 4 wherein said first and second conductors define two or more layers of conductors superimposed on each other.

31. The method of claim 30 wherein each of said layers is insulated from the other layers.

32. The method of claim 30 wherein the axis of said conductors of each of said layers is angularly disposed with the axis of said conductors of adjacent layers.

6. A method of making ribbon cable comprising:

providing a plurality of elongated conductors, superimposing on each of said conductors a relatively thin, flexible and generally continuous and concentric coating of insulating material, placing said conductors side by side with the axis of said conductors extending parallel to each other and defining a common plane with the insulating coating of adjacent conductors being contiguous, bonding said conductors together to form an integral ribbon cable having generally straight longitudinal boundaries, generally flat upper and lower surfaces and a generally rectangular cross section essentally defined by said conductors, folding said ribbon cable against a first straight edge defining a first fold, said first fold being angularly disposed to the axis of said conductors, said axis of said ribbon cable before and after said first fold defining an angle between 0° and

90°

with the axis of said cable, paying out an amount of said ribbon cable equal to the width of said ribbon cable divided by the sine of said angle, folding said ribbon cable against a second straight edge defining a second fold, said second fold being angularly disposed to the axis of said conductors, said axis of said ribbon cable before and after said first fold, positioning said folds to define the longitudinal boundaries of a folded ribbon cable, and repeating said paying out and said second folding and said positioning steps over and over again until a desired length of cable is formed, said straight edges being parallel and spaced apart a distance equal to the desired width of the cable, and severing said folded cable at opposite ends transversely thereof to expose a plurality of conductors.

26. The method of claim 6 wherein said folding steps are accomplished about a mandrel, said mandrel having two opposite straight edges, the distance between said edges being greater than the transverse dimension of said edges.