Cutlery – Means for cutting elongate – strand-encircling sheath – Helically wound metal sheath
Reexamination Certificate
2003-03-27
2004-08-24
Payer, Hwei-Siu (Department: 3724)
Cutlery
Means for cutting elongate, strand-encircling sheath
Helically wound metal sheath
C030S090200
Reexamination Certificate
active
06779273
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to preparation of coaxial cables and, more specifically, to cutting tools for removing portions of a coaxial cable prior to the attachment of a connector.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1A
schematically shows a representative unprepared coaxial cable
102
including two conductors, i.e., a wire core
104
and a shielding mesh
108
. Cable
102
also has (i) an inner insulation layer
106
that electrically insulates core
104
from mesh
108
and (ii) an outer protective jacket
110
that encloses core
104
, insulation layer
106
, and mesh
108
.
FIG. 1B
schematically shows cable
102
(labeled
102
′) after it has been appropriately prepared for the attachment of an electrical connector. More specifically, cable
102
′ has a “stepped” cable end
112
, which exposes core
104
and mesh
108
to meet the requirements for the selected type of connector. In particular, inner insulation layer
106
, shielding mesh
108
, and outer jacket
110
are removed from a first predetermined length of cable
102
to expose core
104
, and outer jacket
110
is removed from a second predetermined length of cable
102
to expose shielding mesh
108
. As a result, the connector can be properly attached to stepped cable end
112
of cable
102
′ as known in the art.
Preparing stepped cable end
112
may present significant problems for cable
102
having a relatively large diameter, e.g., over 1 inch. In particular, specialized tools developed for preparation of coaxial cables having a relatively small diameter are not sufficiently robust to perform similar operations on larger cables. As a result, technical personnel are often forced to use non-specialized tools such as hack saws and knives, which is inefficient in terms of time and often results in a poor-quality stepped cable end.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The problems in the prior art are addressed, in accordance with the principles of the invention, by a coaxial cable cutting tool that can be used to form a stepped cable end prior to the attachment of an electrical connector to a coaxial cable. In one embodiment, the cutting tool has a blade assembly supported inside a housing on a pair of cams. A coaxial cable is inserted into the cutting tool and the housing is rotated about the cable to push the blade assembly along spiral tracks in the cams. According to one embodiment of the invention, the blade assembly has three blades, each blade sized and positioned to make a cut of the corresponding appropriate depth in the coaxial cable thereby forming the desired stepped cable end. Cutting tools of the invention may be adapted for preparation of large-diameter (e.g., over 1 inch) coaxial cables.
According to one embodiment, the present invention is a tool designed to form a stepped cable end in a coaxial cable, comprising: a blade assembly supported in a housing by a first cam and a second cam, wherein: each cam is rotatably connected to the housing and has a spiral track; the blade assembly is adapted to move along the spiral tracks; and the motion of the blade assembly forms one or more cuts in the coaxial cable, said cuts corresponding to the stepped cable end.
According to another embodiment, the present invention is a method of forming a stepped cable end, comprising rotating a blade assembly about a coaxial cable, wherein: the blade assembly is supported in a housing by a first cam and a second cam; each cam is rotatably connected to the housing and has a spiral track; the blade assembly is adapted to move along the spiral tracks; and the motion of the blade assembly forms one or more cuts in the coaxial cable, said cuts corresponding to the stepped cable end.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4730391 (1988-03-01), Wood
patent: 4731928 (1988-03-01), Jackson
patent: 4945636 (1990-08-01), Takizawa
patent: 4979299 (1990-12-01), Bieganski
patent: 5398413 (1995-03-01), Chen
patent: 5487220 (1996-01-01), Saitou
patent: 6079104 (2000-06-01), Krampe
patent: 6415499 (2002-07-01), Holland et al.
patent: 6467171 (2002-10-01), Tarpill
patent: 6510611 (2003-01-01), Edwards et al.
patent: 2004/0020054 (2004-02-01), Liaw
Clifton Mark B.
Pawlenko Ivan
Samson Larry
Lucent Technologies - Inc.
Payer Hwei-Siu
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