GB2030348A - High Friction Cable Sheath - Google Patents

High Friction Cable Sheath Download PDF

Info

Publication number
GB2030348A
GB2030348A GB7837370A GB7837370A GB2030348A GB 2030348 A GB2030348 A GB 2030348A GB 7837370 A GB7837370 A GB 7837370A GB 7837370 A GB7837370 A GB 7837370A GB 2030348 A GB2030348 A GB 2030348A
Authority
GB
United Kingdom
Prior art keywords
cable
sheath
head
cutting
plastics
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.)
Granted
Application number
GB7837370A
Other versions
GB2030348B (en
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.)
STC PLC
Original Assignee
Standard Telephone and Cables PLC
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 Standard Telephone and Cables PLC filed Critical Standard Telephone and Cables PLC
Priority to GB7837370A priority Critical patent/GB2030348B/en
Priority to JP54114754A priority patent/JPS6043605B2/en
Priority to FR7923194A priority patent/FR2437052A1/en
Publication of GB2030348A publication Critical patent/GB2030348A/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of GB2030348B publication Critical patent/GB2030348B/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
    • H01B7/00—Insulated conductors or cables characterised by their form
    • H01B7/17—Protection against damage caused by external factors, e.g. sheaths or armouring
    • H01B7/18—Protection against damage caused by wear, mechanical force or pressure; Sheaths; Armouring
    • H01B7/184—Sheaths comprising grooves, ribs or other projections
    • 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
    • H01B13/0009—Apparatus or processes specially adapted for manufacturing conductors or cables for forming corrugations on conductors or cables
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
    • H02G—INSTALLATION OF ELECTRIC CABLES OR LINES, OR OF COMBINED OPTICAL AND ELECTRIC CABLES OR LINES
    • H02G1/00—Methods or apparatus specially adapted for installing, maintaining, repairing or dismantling electric cables or lines
    • H02G1/12—Methods or apparatus specially adapted for installing, maintaining, repairing or dismantling electric cables or lines for removing insulation or armouring from cables, e.g. from the end thereof
    • H02G1/1202—Methods or apparatus specially adapted for installing, maintaining, repairing or dismantling electric cables or lines for removing insulation or armouring from cables, e.g. from the end thereof by cutting and withdrawing insulation
    • H02G1/1248—Machines
    • H02G1/1265—Machines the cutting element rotating about the wire or cable

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
  • Insulated Conductors (AREA)
  • Manufacturing Of Electric Cables (AREA)
  • Removal Of Insulation Or Armoring From Wires Or Cables (AREA)
  • Extrusion Moulding Of Plastics Or The Like (AREA)
  • Electric Cable Installation (AREA)

Abstract

In order to minimise slipping of a submarine cable with respect to a linear cable engine during cable laying or recovery, the outer surface of a plastics cable sheath is uniformly roughened, by for example cutting close pitched helical grooves therein, to improve the grip of the tyred wheels of the linear cable engine on the cable.

Description

SPECIFICATION High Friction Cable Sheath This invention relates to a cable sheath, suitable for a submarine cable, having a high coefficient of friction and to methods of manufacture thereof.
Submarine cables may be laid in, and recovered from, the sea or other water by means of linear cable engines on cable ships. During laying of a submarine cable a braking force must be applied to the cable by the linear cable engine in order that the cable payout rate remains steady at a predetermined figure such as to lay slack in the submarine cable system. Uncontrolled payout can result in twisted or knotted cable, insufficient cable to complete a particular link, or taut cable which makes recovery for repair virtually impossible with existing cable recovery equipment.
Many submarine cables have a sheath of plastics material which is applied by an extrusion process and, therefore, has a substantially smooth outer surface. The degree of adhesion between the tyred wheels of a linear cable engine and the cable sheath is, therefore, not very high and slipping can occur, with the result that the required braking force is not applied to the cable.
It is an object of the present invention to improve the adhesion between the linear cable engine and the cable sheath.
According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a cable having an exterior plastics sheath with an outer surface which is roughened along its length whereby to increase its coefficient of friction in a direction longitudinally of the cable in comparison to an unroughened sheath outer surface.
According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of making a plastics sheathed cable including the step of passing the cable through apparatus which is such as to form one or more close-pitched helical grooves in the surface of the sheath.
An embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings which shows, somewhat schematically and in exploded form, apparatus for cutting helical grooves in the surface of the plastics sheath of a submarine cable, the cable being omitted from the central position for clarity.
The adhesion between a linear cable engine and a submarine cable can, we have found, be improved by "roughening" the cable surface in a controlled manner such that its coefficient of friction is increased relative to an unroughened cable sheath and is uniform along the length of the cable. One such "roughening" method comprises cutting a close-pitched helical groove, in the cable sheath, which may for example be of the order of 0.020" in depth, and 0.050" in width with five grooves per inch of cable. Other dimensions may be employed, for example those given in the following ranges: depth 0.010" to 0.025", width 0.030" to 0.060", with from 2 to 10 grooves per inch of cable. The groove cross section may be U-shaped or V-shaped, for example, and the grooves may be arranged in pairs or trios rather than being equi-spaced with respect to the length of the cable.These figures would be applicable to the 0.990", 1.47" and 1.7" submarine cables which we currently manufacture.
In order to provide such a close-pitched helical groove the groove cutting apparatus shown in the accompanying drawing may be employed. It comprises a servo-controlled cable positioner 1, a stator 2 having a bore 3 therethrough which is a loose fit on a submarine cable 4, a groove cutting head 5, and an eccentricity and servo control head 6. The positioner 1 has a bore 7 through which the ungrooved cable 4 extends into the apparatus and is provided with means whereby to adjust the relative position of the cable 4 with respect to the stator 2 and the cutting head 6 in response to control signals produced by head 6 through bore 8 of which grooved cable 9 leaves the apparatus.The cutting head 6 is shown having three cutting tools 10, thus providing for triple start helical grooves, although other arrangements are possible, and it is rotated about the cable for example as a belt driven rotor.
Control head 6 may include an eccentricity sensing circuit comprising two pairs of opposed electrodes at right angles arranged with respect to the grooved cable such that with the cable conductor grounded an eccentricity signal comprising a capacitance unbalance signal is detected which is applied to a bridge whose output signal has an amplitude depending on the degree of unbalance and an instantaneous polarity depending on the sense of the unbalance.
A phase discriminator converts the bridge output signal to a unidirectional signal having a magnitude dependent on the input amplitude and a polarity dependent on the phase of the bridge output signal relative to an oscillator output voltage, which signal is used to control the position of the ungrooved cable 4 relative to the stator 2 and the cutting head 5 by means of corresponding movement of the cable positioner 1.
Other methods of providing such a grooved or roughened cable sheath surface can be envisaged such as, for example, passing the cable whilst the sheath is still hot and soft from extrusion, or after heating it by means of an auxiliary localised heating arrangement, through or between suitably grooved or patterned sets of rotating dies arranged relative to a longitudinal direction of cable travel such as to imprint helical grooves or other uniform patterns of grooves and lands, or raised elements, such as those provided circumferentially around vehicle tyres, on the surface of the sheath whereby to increase the friction developed between a cable sheath and the tyred wheels of a linear cable engine. A further method comprises shot blasting the surface of the cable sheath such as to produce a consistent roughness over its entire circumference. The maximum tension that a grooved cable can hold without slipping in the linear engine is improved by a factor of two in comparison with an ungrooved cable.

Claims (14)

Claims
1. A cable having an exterior plastics sheath with an outer surface which is roughened along its length whereby to increase its coefficient of friction in a direction longitudinally of the cable in comparison to an unroughened sheath outer surface.
2. A cable as claimed in claim 1 having one or more close pitched helical grooves provided in the outer surface of the cable sheath.
3. A cable as claimed in claim 1 having a friction improving pattern of grooves and lands provided in the outer surface of the cable sheath.
4. A cable as claimed in claim 2, wherein the grooves have been provided by cutting.
5. A cable as claimed in claim 2 or 3 wherein the grooves have been provided by means of dies whilst the plastics sheath was sufficiently hot and soft.
6. A cable as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sheath outer surface is roughened by shot blasting.
7. A method of making a plastics sheathed cable including the step of passing the cable through apparatus which is such as to form one or more close-pitched helical grooves in the surface of the sheath.
8. A method as claimed in claim 7, wherein the apparatus includes a cutting head carrying one or more cutting tools, one for each groove, which is rotatable around the cable.
9. A method as claimed in claim 7 or 8, wherein the grooved cable is passed through an eccentricity measuring head which provides a control output signal, the output signal serving to control the relative position between the cable and the cutting apparatus and thus maintain the cable concentric in the cutting apparatus.
10. A method of grooving the cable sheath of a submarine cable substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawing.
11. A cable with a sheath grooved by a method as claimed in any one of claims 7 to 10.
12. Apparatus for roughening the sheath of a plastics-sheathed cable comprising a rotary cutting head, means for positioning the cable so that the cable is located within the head, means for moving the cable lengthwise through the head, and means for rotating the cutting head such that the head cuts one or more close-pitched helical grooves in the surface of the sheath.
13. Apparatus as claimed in claim 12, comprising an eccentricity measuring head arranged to control the relative position between the cable and the cutting head to maintain them concentric.
14. Apparatus for roughening the sheath of a plastics sheathed cable substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawing.
GB7837370A 1978-09-19 1978-09-19 High friction cable sheath Expired GB2030348B (en)

Priority Applications (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB7837370A GB2030348B (en) 1978-09-19 1978-09-19 High friction cable sheath
JP54114754A JPS6043605B2 (en) 1978-09-19 1979-09-08 Submarine cable and its manufacturing method
FR7923194A FR2437052A1 (en) 1978-09-19 1979-09-18 CABLE SHEATH WITH HIGH FRICTION COEFFICIENT AND METHOD AND DEVICES FOR MAKING SAME

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB7837370A GB2030348B (en) 1978-09-19 1978-09-19 High friction cable sheath

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
GB2030348A true GB2030348A (en) 1980-04-02
GB2030348B GB2030348B (en) 1982-10-13

Family

ID=10499778

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
GB7837370A Expired GB2030348B (en) 1978-09-19 1978-09-19 High friction cable sheath

Country Status (3)

Country Link
JP (1) JPS6043605B2 (en)
FR (1) FR2437052A1 (en)
GB (1) GB2030348B (en)

Families Citing this family (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JPS63112707U (en) * 1987-01-14 1988-07-20
GB9111546D0 (en) * 1991-05-29 1991-07-17 Bicc Plc Manufacture of electric cables and the like
DE9203386U1 (en) * 1992-03-13 1992-05-21 Auto-Kabel Hausen GmbH & Co. Betriebs-KG, 7862 Hausen Electrical power cable, device for processing the outer insulating layer of an electrical power cable made of thermoplastic material and device for coating the electrically conductive core of a power cable

Family Cites Families (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US1956951A (en) * 1932-05-03 1934-05-01 Pyro Products Corp Characterized electric conductor and the like
DE853305C (en) * 1945-02-18 1952-10-23 Felten & Guilleaume Carlswerk Device for the production of grooved or corrugated cable sheaths
BE679705A (en) * 1965-04-20 1966-10-19
AT318733B (en) * 1971-08-07 1974-11-11 Messerschmitt Boelkow Blohm Line for the transport of electrical signals

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
GB2030348B (en) 1982-10-13
FR2437052B1 (en) 1983-08-26
FR2437052A1 (en) 1980-04-18
JPS6043605B2 (en) 1985-09-28
JPS5543791A (en) 1980-03-27

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Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
732E Amendments to the register in respect of changes of name or changes affecting rights (sect. 32/1977)
732E Amendments to the register in respect of changes of name or changes affecting rights (sect. 32/1977)
PE20 Patent expired after termination of 20 years

Effective date: 19980918