Hybrid cable with central line and supplementary conductors

Details Hybrid cable with central line and supplementary conductors Hybrid cable with central line and supplementary conductors

1998-06-09

2001-03-27

Kincaid, Kristine (Department: 2831)

Electricity: conductors and insulators

Conduits, cables or conductors

Conductive armor or sheath

C174S1060SC, C174S1130AS

Reexamination Certificate

active

06207900

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Technical Field
The invention relates to a hybrid cable with a central line, in particular a coaxial line, and supplementary conductors running parallel to the central line.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is often necessary to combine a cable of a predetermined construction, for example a coaxial line, with supplementary conductors. In the presence of a central signal line, the supplementary conductors can be used for supplying power to a terminal or to an intermediate amplifier, or as supplementary signal lines. Applications include, for example, the cable of a satellite receiver antenna with a low noise biconverter requiring connection to a power supply as well as signal transmission, or coaxial cable networks for television programs to provide supplementary signal lines to enable users to simultaneously access a telephone connection.
The simplest way to manufacture a hybrid cable of this time is to insert supplementary strands in the jacket of the central line. However, especially for a small number of supplementary conductors, the shape of the cross-section of the resulting hybrid cable can deviate from the advantageous, mostly circular cross-section of the central line, making it more difficult to store and handle the cable. Moreover, the total cross-sectional area of the hybrid cable increases significantly and possibly also asymmetrically due to the required cross-section and insulation of the supplementary conductors. In the unexamined application DE 37 33 747, there is described a coaxial cable capable of transmitting with the help of supplementary conductors several signals at different potentials. However, this cable also has a complex construction and a relatively large diameter. It is also impractical because of the high costs to lay several individual cables.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore the object of the invention to obviate these disadvantages and to develop a hybrid cable with a total cross-sectional shape which corresponds to the shape of the cross-section of the central line and which has a minimum total cross-sectional area.
According to the basic concept of the invention, the supplementary conductors are in the form of layers wherein the layer surface is oriented parallel to the surface of the central line. Preferably, the layer-shaped conductors are positioned flat on the surface of the central line and arranged underneath the cable jacket; the layers are therefore frequently curved. Due to the layered structure, the supplementary conductors have a minimal thickness for a predetermined cross-section, thereby minimizing the total cross-section of the hybrid cable. The cross-sectional shape is also essentially identical to the shape of the central line. The symmetric cross-section makes the hybrid cable particularly easy to handle and store. The hybrid cable comprises preferably at least two supplementary conductors to make possible circuits which are completely separate from the central line. The hybrid cable is preferably manufactured by placing the supplementary conductors on the surface of the central line before or at the same time when the jacket is extruded, making the manufacture simple and inexpensive.
In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the supplementary conductors are arranged so that only a portion of the circumference of the central line, for example a semi or quarter circle, i.e. a surface sector, is enclosed by an individual supplementary conductor. It is then possible to place all supplementary conductors at the identical constant spacing from the axis of the central line. If the number of supplementary conductors increases, the conductors could also be placed in an overlapping relationship, e.g. in several layers.
The supplementary conductors are preferably metal foils made from, e.g., aluminum or copper, which make possible an inexpensive manufacture of the hybrid cable.
To prevent the supplementary conductors from making contact with each other or with a bare outer conductor of the central line, at least one surface of the supplementary conductors is provided with an insulation. The supplementary conductors can then be placed with their insulation directly onto each other or onto the central line without making electrical contact. The supplementary conductors are preferably constructed of a coated support foil or of a composite foil having a metal layer and an insulating layer, e.g. a plastic material.
If the edges of adjacent supplementary conductors abut each other and only one side of the supplementary conductors carries insulation, then electrical contact can occur. To prevent such electrical contract, it is proposed to fold the edges of the supplementary conductors parallel to the axis in such a way that the insulation is disposed on the outside of the fold. The supplementary conductors can then be juxtaposed in abutting relationship even if the insulation is applied only to one side to reduce costs.
Alternatively, another suitable insulation can be formed by placing an insulating foil between the central line and the supplementary conductors, instead of or in addition to an insulating coating.
The supplementary conductors can contacted with the help of clamping contacts. The clamping contacts can either be placed on the surface of the supplementary conductors after removing the cable jacket, or the clamping contacts can puncture the cable jacket so as to contact the supplementary conductors.
In the following section of the description, an embodiment of the invention is described in more detail with reference to the schematic drawing.


REFERENCES:
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patent: 31 41 636 (1981-10-01), None
patent: 37 33 747 (1987-10-01), None
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