EP0170352B1 - Manufacture of telecommunications cable core units - Google Patents

Manufacture of telecommunications cable core units Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0170352B1
EP0170352B1 EP19850303196 EP85303196A EP0170352B1 EP 0170352 B1 EP0170352 B1 EP 0170352B1 EP 19850303196 EP19850303196 EP 19850303196 EP 85303196 A EP85303196 A EP 85303196A EP 0170352 B1 EP0170352 B1 EP 0170352B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
feedpath
moving means
guide
conductor
position changing
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired
Application number
EP19850303196
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
French (fr)
Other versions
EP0170352A3 (en
EP0170352A2 (en
Inventor
John Nicholas Garner
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Nortel Networks Ltd
Original Assignee
Northern Telecom Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Northern Telecom Ltd filed Critical Northern Telecom Ltd
Publication of EP0170352A2 publication Critical patent/EP0170352A2/en
Publication of EP0170352A3 publication Critical patent/EP0170352A3/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP0170352B1 publication Critical patent/EP0170352B1/en
Expired legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01B—CABLES; CONDUCTORS; INSULATORS; SELECTION OF MATERIALS FOR THEIR CONDUCTIVE, INSULATING OR DIELECTRIC PROPERTIES
    • H01B13/00—Apparatus or processes specially adapted for manufacturing conductors or cables
    • H01B13/02—Stranding-up
    • H01B13/04—Mutually positioning pairs or quads to reduce cross-talk

Definitions

  • This invention relates to the manufacture of telecommunications cable core units.
  • a telecommunications cable is constructed with a core comprising one or more core units, each having a multiplicity of twisted units of conductors, each unit conventionally being a twisted pair of conductors.
  • a core may be formed as a single core unit of twisted pairs, e.g. 50 or 100 pairs, or larger cores, i.e. up to 3,600 twisted pairs, and comprises a plurality of core units.
  • the twisted pairs are stranded together to form a core unit with the conductors of each pair twisted together with a predetermined lead to the twist, i.e. the distance taken along the pair for each conductor to complete a single revolution along its path. This distance will be referred to in this specification as the "twist lay" of a pair.
  • twist lays provided for the twisted pairs in a core unit with a pair having a particular twist lay being adjacent to other pairs of different twist lays. Care is taken, so far as is practicable, to ensure that pairs of equal or similar twist lays are separated from each other. The reason for this arrangement is to attempt to maximize the communications performance of the cable, e.g. to lessen pair-to-pair capacitance unbalance, to reduce crosstalk between pairs and to lower the coefficient of deviation of mutual capacitance of pairs in the cable.
  • the twisted conductor pairs retain their positions relative to other pairs, within certain limits.
  • the pair-to-pair capacitance unbalance and crosstalk between pairs is dependent to a large degree upon the distance of the two pairs from one another.
  • suggestions have been made to move the conductor pairs relative to one another as they progress towards a stranding machine for stranding them into a core unit so that in the finished core unit, the conductor pairs change in relative positions and distances apart.
  • the conductor pairs enter a guide arrangement which comprises a system of horizontal guides movable horizontally and located in vertically tiered fashion.
  • the pairs are distributed throughout the tiers and relative horizontal movement of the guides changes the relative positions of the pairs as they move downstream.
  • This method was first suggested by NASAd Norblad of Makaktiebolaget LM Ericsson, in a paper entitled “Capacitance Unbalance Telecommunications Networks" read before the International Wire and Cable Symposium in 1971.
  • the conductor pairs need to be controllably arranged together in their changing relative positions preparatory to their passage into a closing die, in which they are drawn together to form the core unit.
  • Controllable arrangement of the pairs should be possible by passing them from their various positions partly around rollers.
  • extreme height of the Ericsson machine even for changing positions of twenty-five pairs, is such that severe change in angles of feedpaths of some of the conductor pairs is required for them to pass around the rollers.
  • Such a severe change can cause damage to either the conductors or to their insulation, particularly if the insulation is made from pulp, and will also induce large tension variations between conductor pairs.
  • a core unit forming apparatus which changes the relative positions of conductor units along the core unit.
  • a guide means is included to maintain separation of the conductor units until they move downstream to a position changing means for the conductor units.
  • a core unit forming take-up means lies downstream from the position changing means.
  • Each position changing means includes a conductor guide and has means to vertically reciprocate the guide across the conductor unit feedpath.
  • the present invention concerns an apparatus for making core units involving changing the relative positions of conductor units before they are brought together to form a core unit and in which the change in angle between conductor units is minimized as they move onto rollers to controllably arrange the conductor units.
  • the present invention provides apparatus for forming a core unit from telecommunications conductor units, each formed of twisted together insulated conductors and in which the relative positions of the conductor units are changed along the core unit, the apparatus comprising in order, downstream along a feedpath for the unit,
  • the overlapping arrangement of the position changing means ensures that the dimensions of the apparatus are reduced to a minimum in the direction of the separation of the conductor units, these dimensions sufficient to enable the unobstructed alignment of each guide for passage of its respective conductor unit.
  • This construction thereby allows for the angle subtended between the furthest apart of the conductor units and arrangement rollers to be reduced to a minimum.
  • each reciprocating means comprises an endless moving means having its associated guide secured to one flight of the moving means and all of the guide carrying flights of the moving means are non-aligned to provide the unobstructed passage of the conductor units.
  • the guide carrying flights are disposed substantially horizontally, then the two groups of endless means are disposed vertically one above the other, and the guide carrying flights in each group are vertically displaced progressively in one direction from one endless moving means to the next.
  • the flights are preferably disposed so as to approach each other progressively downstream from moving means to moving means.
  • the guides of the two groups which are furthest apart lie at the upstream ends of the groups and are furthest removed from the arrangement rollers.
  • twenty-five conductor pairs 10 are drawn from twenty-five reels 12 of the conductor pairs, in conventional fashion, for forming into a core unit 14.
  • the core unit 14 is formed at the downstream end of the apparatus by passing the conductor pairs through a closing die 16 which draws the conductor pairs together, and a binding head 18 at which position a binding material is closed around the drawn together conductor pairs to hold them together in conventional manner.
  • a stranding machine 20 forms part of a core unit forming and take-up means which also includes the closing die 16 and binding head 18.
  • the stranding machine is of conventional construction and comprises a motor driven core unit take-up reel 22. As the stranding machine structure is conventional, no further description is required.
  • a position changing means 24 for conductor pairs Upstream from the closing die 16 is a position changing means 24 for conductor pairs. Further upstream from the position changing means is a guide means to ensure that conductor units are not stranded together as they move downstream from the guide means.
  • This guide means comprises a roller 26 which is freely rotatably mounted upon a machine frame 28 (see Figure 9) and the roller is provided with a plurality of annular grooves 30, one for each conductor pair.
  • the conductor pairs are passed from the reels 12 towards the position changing means 24 by disposing each conductor pair in its own individual groove 30 so as to maintain the conductor pairs separate from one another as they approach the position changing means 24.
  • a plurality of position changing means 32 are provided for the conductor pairs, one position changing means for each pair.
  • the position changing means are all housed within the straight sided frame 33.
  • the position changing means are disposed in two groups, one vertically above the other, with the position changing means in each group lying in series with one another along the feedpath for the conductor pairs.
  • Each position changing means comprises a guide 34 for a conductor pair (see Figure 4).
  • Each guide has a guide passage 36 and is formed with two side wings 38 by which it is attached, for instance, with rivets 40 to an endless moving means of a reciprocating means for the guide, the endless moving means comprising a flat plastics belt 42 through which the rivets 40 pass.
  • the endless moving means also comprises a chain 44 which extends between ends of the belt 42, as shown by Figure 7.
  • Each endless moving means has a horizontal flight 45 formed by the belt 42 and carrying the associated guide 34, the belt mounted around two pulleys 46 at the sides of the machine frame to proceed as two flights 48 towards a sprocket 50 around which the chain 44 passes for reasons to be described.
  • the two groups of position changing means are mounted with their reciprocating means overlapping one another in a view taken along the feedpath (see Figure 3 particularly) and the arrangement is such that each guide is aligned with an unobstructed passage for its conductor pair as the pair moves along the feedpath.
  • This clear passage for movement of a conductor pair through each guide is achieved by disposing the horizontal flights 45 of the belts 42 of each group of position changing means at different vertical levels, as shown by Figure 3.
  • the horizontal flights are displaced progressively vertically upwards from one position changing means to the next in a downstream direction of the feedpath by locating the pulleys upwardly from each position changing means to the next on supports 55. This is shown in the larger scale detail of Figure 5.
  • the horizontal flights of the upper group are displaced progressively vertically downwards in a downstream direction of the feedpath.
  • the arrangement is such that, as shown by Figure 2, the horizontal flights of the two groups oppose each other across the feedpaths and approach each other progressively in a downstream direction along the feedpath.
  • the distance apart of the uppermost and lowermost guides is minimized by the fact that the guides are displaced vertically by a minimal amount, which merely ensures that each of the guides is unobstructed for passage of its conductor pair.
  • the reciprocating means of the position changing means in each group overlap from one end of the group to the other, then the height is not increased unduly by the position changing means.
  • This minimal displacement for unobstructed view of the guides is shown in Figure 3, in which the guides are clearly unobstructed by horizontal flights of the belts.
  • each reciprocating means is operable to move its guide independently of the movement of other guides.
  • each position changing means is provided with its own individual drive means in the form of a reversible stepper motor 52 ( Figures 2 and 3). All of the stepper motors 52 are mounted remotely from the horizontal flights by being attached to upper and lower panels 54 of the machine stand. Each motor is directly drivably connected to a sprocket 50. As the succeeding changing means are closely adjacent to one another, then it is necessary for the motors 52 to be displaced from one another laterally of the feedpath, as shown in Figure 6, to provide space for them to be mounted.
  • each of the endless moving means in each group is different from the others, as shown by Figure 3.
  • the motors 52 may be drivable at the same speed as each other, whereby the guides 34 move along their horizontal flights at the same speed but out of phase with each other.
  • the drive motors are driven at speeds which are slightly different from each other, so that the positional relationship of all of the guides is continuously changing while reducing the possibility of a set pattern of movement of the guides 34.
  • Each drive motor 52 is provided with a reversing means so as to cause the belts 42 to reciprocate, thereby moving the guides from side to side of the machine stand.
  • the reversing means for each direction of movement of the belts 42 comprises a magnetic field producing means in the form of a magnet (not shown) carried in one leg of a U-shaped head 58, the other leg carrying a magnetic field receiving means in the form of a coil (not shown) affected by inductance of the magnetic field created by the magnet.
  • Each coil sends signals into an electrical circuit (not shown), the strength of the signals dependent upon the strength of the magnetic field induced in the coil and produced by the magnet.
  • the reversing means also comprises a magnetic field interference means for each direction of movement of the belt 42.
  • This interference means comprises a trigger device in the form of an arm 60 which is secured to and projects sideways from the chain 44 so as to be aligned with the gap in the head 58, as shown by Figure 8.
  • the position of the arm 60 on the chain on each flight 48 of the endless moving means is dictated by the position required to influence the magnetic field, i.e. by location within the gap, when the guide is at the end of its movement on the horizontal flight of its belt in the appropriate direction.
  • the conductor pairs 10 are fed to the position changing means in the manner described with reference to Figure 1.
  • Each conductor pair upon reaching the machine frame 24, is passed through a respective guide 34 and proceeds from there around two in-series arrangement rollers 62 prior to passing through the closing die 16.
  • the independent motors 52 rotate at their own fixed speed, possibly controlled by computer, so as to move the belts 42 to reciprocate the guides horizontally.
  • each of the conductor pairs passes both over and under horizontal flights of the belts 42 of position changing means in its own group, as shown by Figure 2. In this figure, the paths of three conductor pairs 10 only are shown for clarity.
  • Movement of the guides independently of other guides continuously changes the relative positions of all of the conductor pairs as they pass through the position changing means.
  • their positions in the plane of contact with the rollers are dependent upon the positions of the pairs at any particular time moving through the guides 34.
  • the relative positions of the conductor pairs on the roller also continuously change, thereby changing the relative positions in a continuous fashion in the pairs as they enter the closing die 16.
  • the position changing means described above is effective in providing constant change in relative positions of the conductor pairs in the finished core unit, which is wound onto the drum in the stranding machine.
  • a main advantage with the apparatus according to the invention and as described in the embodiment is that because the reciprocating means of the position changing means of the position changing means overlap each other, then the total height of the position changing means is minimized.
  • the height of the machine stand for changing position of the twenty-five conductor pairs is approximately 122 cm (48 inches) and the width is approximately 51 cm (20 inches), with the depth along the feedpath being of the order of approximately 76 cm (30 inches).
  • the horizontal flights of the belts 42 are displaced only sufficiently to enable each of the guides to be unobstructed for the passage of its conductor pair, then the height between uppermost and lowermost guides is minimized. This distance, i.e.
  • the upstream end of the two groups of position changing means is approximately 18 cm (7 inches). Because of this and as the guide means of the two groups approach each other in a downstream direction of the feedpath, then the uppermost and lowermost guides are furthest from the two arrangement rollers 62 so that the angle subtended between the conductor pairs from the guides to the rollers is minimized. On the other hand, if the positions of the guides were reversed in the downstream direction so that the guides of the two groups which were furthest apart were at the downstream end of the machine frame, then a greater angle would be produced between the conductor pairs passing through those guides and the rollers 62.
  • the apparatus according to the invention and as described in the embodiment produces an arrangement for changing positions of conductor pairs in which the vertical height across the pairs in the position changing means is minimized, thereby reducing any tendency for insulation to be damaged by the arrangement rollers. Also, the minimized angle subtended between the conductor pairs and the arrangement rollers serves to minimize tension variation between the pairs.
  • each reciprocating means comprises a rigid member or bar 64 which extends across the feedpath for the conductor pairs and carries a guide 32 of similar construction to that described in the first embodiment.
  • the guide 64 depends from two upwardly extending ends 66, one of the ends having an aperture to slidably receive a mounting spindle 68 secured to the machine frame.
  • the other end 66 is provided with a nut 70 which is in screw-threaded engagement with a screw-threaded shaft 72, which is rotatable in the machine frame and is drivable, possibly through gearing, by an electric stepping motor 74.
  • the connection between the motor and the spindle 72 is shown diagrammatically.
  • the motor 74 is reversible and rotation in either direction moves the bar 64 in the appropriate direction through the screw-threaded shaft and nut.
  • Reversing means is provided for moving the bar 64 in the opposite direction upon limit of movement in either direction.
  • This reversing means comprises at each end of the bar, a magnetic field interrupter arm 76 (one only being shown) which moves with the bar to interfere with the magnetic field produced by a magnet provided in one leg of a head 78.
  • the heads 78 are mounted upon the frame at each end of the bar.
  • These heads are of the same construction as described in the first embodiment and include, in addition to the magnet, a coil in the other leg of the head for sensing when the magnetic field is interrupted by the presence of the arm 76 in the gap of the head. As discussed with regard to the first embodiment, upon the coil sensing the presence of the arm, a signal produced results in the drive of the motor 74 being reversed to move the bar 64 in the opposite direction.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
  • Manufacture Of Motors, Generators (AREA)
  • Processes Specially Adapted For Manufacturing Cables (AREA)
  • Wire Processing (AREA)
EP19850303196 1984-07-27 1985-05-03 Manufacture of telecommunications cable core units Expired EP0170352B1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CA000459921A CA1239278A (en) 1984-07-27 1984-07-27 Manufacture of telecommunications cable core units
CA459921 1984-07-27

Publications (3)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0170352A2 EP0170352A2 (en) 1986-02-05
EP0170352A3 EP0170352A3 (en) 1987-08-05
EP0170352B1 true EP0170352B1 (en) 1990-09-05

Family

ID=4128411

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP19850303196 Expired EP0170352B1 (en) 1984-07-27 1985-05-03 Manufacture of telecommunications cable core units

Country Status (5)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0170352B1 (ja)
JP (1) JPS6139417A (ja)
CA (1) CA1239278A (ja)
DE (1) DE3579526D1 (ja)
FI (1) FI82321C (ja)

Families Citing this family (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CA1235288A (en) * 1985-05-28 1988-04-19 John N. Garner Manufacture of telecommunications cable core units
CN113529455B (zh) * 2021-06-21 2022-09-09 广东坚朗五金制品股份有限公司 密封索防划伤导向捻制装置

Family Cites Families (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2530726A (en) * 1948-12-16 1950-11-21 Bell Telephone Labor Inc Cable stranding machine
US3001353A (en) * 1959-03-02 1961-09-26 Okonite Co Method of and apparatus for manufacturing dynamically balanced, stranded electrical conductors
US3978275A (en) * 1974-02-08 1976-08-31 Nippon Telegraph And Telephone Public Corporation Telecommunication cable and method and apparatus for manufacturing the same
GB1490532A (en) * 1974-09-19 1977-11-02 Standard Telephones Cables Ltd Apparatus for manufacturing telecommunication cable

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
JPS6139417A (ja) 1986-02-25
EP0170352A3 (en) 1987-08-05
EP0170352A2 (en) 1986-02-05
FI852912A0 (fi) 1985-07-26
FI82321C (fi) 1991-02-11
FI82321B (fi) 1990-10-31
DE3579526D1 (de) 1990-10-11
FI852912L (fi) 1986-01-28
CA1239278A (en) 1988-07-19

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