JP2007305479A - Electric cable - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electric cable endowed with mechanical strength and flexibility without increasing its outer diameter or weight. <P>SOLUTION: The electric cable 10 comprises a plurality of wires 11 and a sheath 12 at their outer periphery. Each wire 11 is made up by twisting a plurality of conductor wires 14 around a high-strength tensile-strength wire 13 and forming an insulating layer 15 around them. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an electric cable including a plurality of electric wires such as a power supply line and a signal line, and more particularly to an electric cable having mechanical strength and flexibility suitable for routing in a place where a lot of vibration and bending are applied.

  With the electrification of automobiles, electric cables equipped with power supply lines and signal lines are being routed where they are subject to much vibration and bending of automobiles.

  Electrical cables routed under the floor of automobiles and around the wheels are subjected to great tension due to vibrations and snowfall during traveling, so that mechanical strength that can withstand them is required. At the same time, since many bending motions are applied to the electrical cable, flexibility is required to cope with the bending motions.

As an example of a conventional electric cable, there is one in which a plurality of electric wires serving as a power line and a signal line are twisted around a tension member made of a steel twisted wire or a tensile strength fiber, and a sheath is formed around the wire. Since the tension applied to the electric cable is supported by the tension member, the mechanical strength of the entire electric cable is increased (for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2003-229029 A

  In the configuration in which the tension member is put together with the plurality of electric wires in the sheath of the conventional electric cable, there are problems that the outer diameter of the electric cable is increased and the weight is increased.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an electric cable that can have excellent mechanical strength and flexibility without increasing the outer diameter and weight of the electric cable.

  In order to achieve the above object, an electric cable according to the present invention includes a plurality of electric wires including a tensile wire, a plurality of conductor wires twisted around the tensile wire, and an insulating layer covering the periphery, and an outer periphery of the plurality of electric wires It is characterized by comprising a sheath.

  An electric cable having excellent mechanical strength and flexibility can be realized without increasing the outer diameter and weight of the electric cable.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment)
(Configuration) FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of an electric cable of the present invention. The electric cable 10 includes a plurality (seven in this embodiment) of electric wires 11 serving as power supply lines or signal lines, and a sheath 12 covering the outer periphery thereof. The seven electric wires 11 are bundled by twisting six electric wires around the central electric wire.

  FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional view of an electric wire serving as a power supply line or a signal line. The electric wire 11 is obtained by forming an insulating layer 15 around a stranded wire obtained by twisting a plurality of conductor wires 14 (six in this embodiment) around a tensile strength wire 13.

  The conductor wire 14 is formed by twisting a plurality of metal strands or a single metal strand. As the metal wire, an annealed copper wire, a silver-plated annealed copper wire, a tin-plated annealed copper wire, a tin-plated copper alloy wire, or the like is used. The number and diameter of the strands that form the conductor wire 14 and the number and diameter of the conductor wires 14 that form the stranded wire to be an electric wire are set according to the use such as the power supply line and the signal line and the required characteristics. .

  The tensile strength wire 13 is made of a copper alloy wire having higher strength than the conductor wire 14. A copper tin alloy wire can be suitably used as the copper alloy wire. The mechanical strength and electrical conductivity of the tensile strength wire 13 can be adjusted by adjusting the amount of tin added in accordance with the mechanical strength required for the electric cable 10. The tensile strength wire 13 is preferably composed of a stranded wire of a thin copper alloy wire in order to improve flexibility.

  The mechanical strength of the tensile strength wire 13 is set in accordance with the mechanical strength required for the electric cable 10. Since the tension applied to the electrical cable 10 is shared by the plurality of electric wires 11 of the electrical cable 10, the mechanical strength of the tensile strength wire 13 is the mechanical strength (K) required for the electrical cable 10. It is set to be larger than the value (K / N) divided by the number (N) of the electric wires 11.

  The insulating layer 15 is made of a resin such as polyethylene, vinyl chloride, or ETFE, and has a substantially circular cross section.

  The sheath 12 is made of a rubber material such as EPDM and a resin such as polyurethane, and has a substantially circular cross section.

  You may provide a winding around the outer periphery of a some electric wire. An electric shield layer for shielding electromagnetic waves may be provided between the plurality of electric wires and the sheath. The electric shield layer is formed by winding a metal wire braid formed by crossing metal wires, a horizontally wound shield layer horizontally wound with metal wires, or a metal tape such as an aluminum tape.

  (Operation) In this embodiment, each of a plurality of electric wires such as a power supply line and a signal line included in an electric cable has a configuration in which a conductor wire is twisted around a tensile strength wire, and the mechanical strength is increased. . The tension applied to the electric cable is shared and supported by each of the plurality of electric wires. Thus, the required mechanical strength can be realized without adding a tension member to the electric cable and increasing the outer diameter and weight of the electric cable.

  Further, the required flexibility can be realized by forming the tensile strength wires and the surrounding conductor wires with stranded wires of thin strands. The flexibility can be adjusted by the diameter of the strand and the twist pitch.

  Moreover, by using a copper alloy wire as the tensile strength wire, the tensile strength wire can be energized together with the mechanical strength.

(Modification)
The present invention is not limited to the electric cable of the above-described embodiment, but can be applied to the shape, size and number of electric wires such as a power supply line and a signal line, the arrangement of electric wires in the sheath, etc. designed according to the application purpose. .

(Application examples)
The electric cable of the present invention can be used as an electric cable connected to a movable device of a robot or an automobile. In automobiles, the present invention can be applied to electric cables that are frequently subjected to vibration and bending, such as electric brake harnesses and harnesses for in-wheel motors.

It is sectional drawing of embodiment of the electric cable of this invention. It is sectional drawing of electric wires, such as a power wire and a signal wire | line of embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Electric cable 11 Electric wire 12 Sheath 13 Tensile wire 14 Conductor wire 15 Insulation layer

Claims (8)

Multiple wires,
Each of the plurality of electric wires is composed of a tensile wire, a plurality of conductor wires twisted around the tensile wire, and an insulating layer covering the tensile wires and the plurality of conductor wires,
An outer sheath of the plurality of electric wires;
An electrical cable comprising:   2. The electric cable according to claim 1, wherein the tensile strength wire is made of a copper alloy wire having a strength higher than that of the conductor wire.   2. The electric cable according to claim 1, wherein the tensile wire is formed by twisting a plurality of copper alloy wires having higher strength than the conductor wire.   4. The electric cable according to claim 2, wherein the copper alloy wire is a copper tin alloy wire.   The mechanical strength of the tensile strength wire is set to be larger than a value (K / N) obtained by dividing the mechanical strength (K) required for the electric cable by the number (N) of the plurality of electric wires. The electric cable according to claim 1.   6. The electric cable according to claim 1, wherein the conductor wire is formed by twisting a plurality of metal strands.   The electric cable according to claim 6, wherein the metal element wire is an annealed copper wire, a silver-plated annealed copper wire, a tin-plated annealed copper wire, or a tin-plated copper alloy wire.   The electric cable according to claim 1, wherein the electric cable is an electric brake harness or an in-wheel motor harness.

Images