AU2017100431A4 - Cable with improved waterproof seal - Google Patents

Abstract

A cable with improved waterproof seal includes a protective tube having a first end; at least one core wires penetrating through and received inside the protective tube, a portion of the at least one core wires exposed out of a first end of 5 the protective tube such that the core wires divided into a concealing section inside the protective tube and an exposure section exposed out of the protective tube; an auxiliary protective member formed to have one end sealingly enclosing the protective tube and another end thereof sealingly enclosing the first end of the protective tube and a portion of the exposure section of the core wires at the same 10 time. Accordingly, the auxiliary protective member allows the seal of the core wires and protective tube to be maintained under external forces such that the waterproof seal of the present invention is significantly improved. h/ c u/~ ,

Description

2017100431 19 Apr 2017

TITLE: CABLE WITH IMPROVED WATERPROOF SEAL (a) Technical Field of the Invention

The present invention is related to a cable, in particular, to a cable structure 5 capable of improving the effect of waterproof seal. (b) Description of the Prior Art

As shown in FIG. 1, currently, the cable 1 (such as power cable or signal cable) used by most of the electronic devices nowadays mainly comprises an insulative and protective tube 10 (such as a plastic tube) with at least one core wire 12 (such 10 as enameled wires) received therein, and the quantity of the core wire 12 depends on the specification, type or transmission requirements of the cable 1. In addition, the cable 1 typically also includes a Strain Relief (SR) arranged on the protective tube 10. As shown in FIG. 2, the strain relief member 11 typically includes an attachment portion, such as a locking slot 111, a protruding rib or threads, formed 15 on the housing 20 of the electronic device in order to facilitate the installation of the cable 1 and to prevent damages of the core wires 12 during the pulling of the cable 1. In general, the core wires 12 of the cable 1 inside the housing 20 are eventually connected to a circuit board 21 of the electronic device.

Nevertheless, as shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, two ends of the strain relief 20 member 11 on the aforementioned cable 1 typically cover the protective tube 10 only while the portion of each core wire 12 extending out of the protective tube 10 1 2017100431 19 Apr 2017 (i.e. the intersection area 13 between the core wires 12 exposed out of the protective tube 10 and the protective tube 10) is still exposed at the external of the strain relief. As a result, for an electronic device with the use of such known cable 1, despite that a waterproof gel (not shown in the drawings) is filled into or covered at 5 the intersection area 13 and the surrounding thereof for the purpose of waterproof, a gap can still be generated between the core wires 12 and the waterproof gel when the core wires 12 are bent due to external pulling and twisting forces exerted thereon such that the sealing and waterproof effects thereof are adversely affected. Consequently, the invention seeks to provide an improvement to overcome the 10 aforementioned drawbacks effectively.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the aforementioned drawback of the known cable, an objective of the present invention is to provide a cable structure capable of improving the 15 waterproof seal thereof.

To achieve the aforementioned objective, the present invention provides a cable with improved waterproof seal, comprising: a protective tube having a first end; at least one core wires penetrating through and received inside the protective tube, a portion of each one of the at least one core wires exposed out of a first end 20 of the protective tube such that each one of the at least one core wires being divided into a concealing section concealed inside the protective tube and an exposure 2 2017100431 19 Apr 2017 section exposed out of the protective tube; an auxiliary protective member formed to sealingly enclose an outer of the protective tube and the at least one core wires, and the auxiliary protective member having one end sealingly enclosing the protective tube and another end thereof sealingly enclosing the first end of the 5 protective tube and a portion of the exposure section of the at least one core wires at the same time.

According to an embodiment of the cable with improved waterproof seal, wherein a quantity of the at least one core wires is more than two.

According to an embodiment of the cable with improved waterproof seal, 10 wherein the exposure sections of the at least one core wires are arranged spaced apart from each other.

According to an embodiment of the cable with improved waterproof seal, wherein the auxiliary protective member is a strain relief (SR) member.

Based on the above, the auxiliary protective member is able to provide an 15 additional sealing effect for all of the core wires and the protective tube such that when the core wires are bent due to external pulling or twisting forces exerted thereon, the sealing state of protective tube and the core wires enclosed by the auxiliary protective member can be maintained without any adverse impacts; therefore, the waterproof seal of the present invention can be significantly 20 increased. 3 2017100431 19 Apr 2017

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing the structure of a known cable; FIG 2 is a schematic view showing the known cable installed and positioned inside the housing of an electronic device; 5 FIG 3 is a schematic view showing the gap likely to occur due to the bending of the core wires at the intersection of the core wires and the protective tube of the known cable; FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing the structure of the present invention; and FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing the change of the gap that is prevented 10 from occurring due to the bending of the core wires at the intersection of the core wires and the protective tube of the known cable;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As shown in FIG. 4, according to an embodiment of a cable with improved 15 waterproof seal of the present invention, the cable with improved waterproof seal comprises: A protective tube 3; the protective tube 3 is a hollow tubular member, and the protective tube 3 includes a first end 31. In a specific embodiment, the protective tube 3 can be a plastic tube. 20 At least one core wires 4; each one of the at least one core wires 4 penetrate through and are received inside the protective tube 4. The actual quantity of the 4 2017100431 19 Apr 2017 core wires 4 can be adjusted and varied according to the specification, type and transmission requirements of the cable, and the present invention is not limited to any particular quantity thereof. Accordingly, wherein a portion of each one of the at least one core wires 4 is exposed out of the first end 31 of the protective tube 3 5 such that each one of the at least one core wires 4 can be divided into a concealing section 4a concealed inside the protective tube and an exposure section 4b exposed out of the protective tube 3. It can be understood, that the concealing section 4a and the exposure section 4b of each one of the core wires 4 can be connected to each other integrally. In addition, in a specific embodiment, the core wires 4 can be 10 conductive wires made of metal conductors, such as copper wires, or can be conductive wires covered with an insulative layer at the outer of the metal conductors. In other words, the core wires 4 can be electric wires or enameled wires commonly available in the market. It can also be understood that the possible types of the core wires are not limited to the aforementioned examples. 15 An auxiliary protective member 5; the auxiliary protective member 5 is formed to sealingly enclose an outer of the protective tube 3 and each one of the at least one core wires 4, and the auxiliary protective member 5 includes one end sealingly enclosing the protective tube 3 and another end thereof sealingly enclosing the first end 31 of the protective tube 5 and a portion of the exposure 20 section 4b of each one of the at least one core wires 4 at the same time. In other words, for the exposure section 4b of each one of the core wires 4, the portion of 5 2017100431 19 Apr 2017 the section relatively adjacent to the first end 31 of the protective tube 3 is covered by the auxiliary protective member 5 while the rest of the portion is exposed. In the present invention, the phrase “sealingly enclosing” refers to the state where no gap is formed between the enclosure article and the article being enclosed. In addition, 5 in a specific embodiment, the auxiliary protective member 5 can be a strain relief (SR) member, which can be used for installing and positing the cable of the present invention onto the housing of an electronic device. Furthermore, the auxiliary protective member 5 can be formed on the outer of the protective tube 3 and the core wires 4 via the appropriate method of molding along with plastic injection 10 formation technique. The software and hardware equipment as well as parameters related to the plastic injection formation and molding technique shall be well known to a person skilled in the art in this field as common knowledge; therefore, details of such technique is omitted. It can be understood that when the quantity of the core wires 4 is more than two, during the formation of the auxiliary protective 15 member 5, the exposure section 4b of each one of the core wires 4 can be preferably arranged spaced apart from each other, rather than gathered together or wrapped into one bundle, such that a greater sealing effect between the auxiliary protective member 5 and each one of the core wires 4 can be achieved.

As shown in FIG. 4, with one end of the auxiliary protective member 5 20 sealingly enclosing the first end 31 of the protective tube 3 and a portion of the exposure section 4b of each one of the core wires 4 at the same time, the auxiliary 6 2017100431 19 Apr 2017 protective member 5 is able to provide an enhanced sealing and waterproof effect for the core wires 4 and the protective tube 3. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 5, when each one of the core wires 4 is bent due to external pulling or twisting force exerted thereon, the sealing state of the protective tube 3 and the core wires 4 5 covered by the auxiliary protective member 5 is maintained without impacts; consequently, the effect of waterproof seal of the present invention can be significantly increased. 7

Claims (4)

1. I CLAIM:

   1. A cable with improved waterproof seal, comprising: a protective tube having a first end; at least one core wires penetrating through and received inside the protective tube, a portion of each one of the at least one core wires exposed out of a first end of the protective tube such that each one of the at least one core wires being divided into a concealing section concealed inside the protective tube and an exposure section exposed out of the protective tube; an auxiliary protective member formed to sealingly enclose an outer of the protective tube and the at least one core wires, and the auxiliary protective member having one end sealingly enclosing the protective tube and another end thereof sealingly enclosing the first end of the protective tube and a portion of the exposure section of the at least one core wires at the same time.
2. 2. The cable with improved waterproof seal according to Claim 1, wherein a quantity of the at least one core wires is more than two.
3. 3. The cable with improved waterproof seal according to Claim 2, wherein the exposure sections of the at least one core wires are arranged spaced apart from each other.
4. 4. The cable with improved waterproof seal according to Claim 1, wherein the auxiliary protective member is a strain relief member.