JPH0997520A - Multi-core cable and its manufacture - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To facilitate the connecting operations of a multi-core cable with a connector by allowing easy judgement of the same cores at two ends of the cable. SOLUTION: On a band-shaped elastomer sheet 2 a plurality of core wires 3 are joined with the same pitch as connector pins are arranged. The elastomer sheet 2 is wound or folded zigzag, and round it a holder tape 4 is wound, which is further covered with an insulation sheath 5.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a multi-core cable used as a connector cable for connecting a computer body and peripheral devices, and a method for manufacturing the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, with the downsizing, diversification and multi-functionalization of computer input / output devices, the connector cable connecting the computer main body and the input / output device has a multicore, small size and high performance. Things are required. FIG. 19 is a schematic diagram showing an example in which a conventional multi-core cable is applied to a SCSI cable. The SCSI cable has, for example, 50-pin flat connectors 58 at both ends, and the pins 58a of these connectors 58 are connected by a multi-core cable 50. The multi-core cable 50 includes a plurality of core wires 53 and an insulating jacket 55 that covers the periphery of the bundle of core wires 53. If necessary, a shield mesh wire is used between the bundle of core wires 53 and the outer cover 55.

The SCSI cable is the multi-core cable 5
0 is cut into a desired length, a reinforcing member 56 made of a cylindrical insulating resin and a metal shield fitting 57 are attached near both ends, and the outer cover 55 at the end is stripped off to expose the core wire 53, This is completed by electrically connecting the conductor of each core wire 53 to the pin 58a of the connector 58 and then attaching a connector cover (not shown).

The reinforcing member 56 mechanically reinforces the end portion of the cable, and the shield metal member 57 prevents noise from entering from the connecting portion between the multi-core cable 50 and the connector 58. Furthermore, as the core wire 53,
Generally, insulated stranded wire is used. Multi-core cable 5
The connection between the core wire 53 of 0 and the pin 58a of the connector 58 is
For example, pressure welding is performed. That is, as shown in FIG. 20, a slit 58c is provided on one end side of the pin 58a with a width slightly smaller than the diameter of the conductor 53b of the core wire 53, and after the core wire 53 is aligned with the slit 58c and arranged. , The core wire 53 is pressed in the depth direction of the slit 58c. Then, the core wire 53 is formed by the wall of the slit 58c.
Of the insulation coating 53a of the slit 58c and the wall of the slit 58c and the core wire conductor 53b contact each other, and the core wire conductor 53b and the pin 58a.
And are electrically connected.

[0005]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional multi-core cable, it is impossible to visually identify the same core wire at both ends of the cable. Therefore, when connecting the core wire to the pin of the connector, There is a problem that it is complicated since it is necessary to press-connect after confirming the continuity of the core wire at both ends of the multi-core cable. In particular, when the number of core wires is large or when a connector cable having a complicated shape in which the other end is branched into two or more is created, the number of work steps becomes enormous and the work takes a long time.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the conventional example, and provides a multi-core cable capable of easily discriminating the same core wire at both ends of the cable, and a manufacturing method thereof. That is the purpose.

[0007]

Means for Solving the Problems The above-mentioned problems are solved by covering a sheet in which a plurality of core wires are arranged in parallel with each other on a surface thereof, wound in the arrangement direction of the core wires, and the circumference of the wound sheet. The multi-core cable is characterized by having an insulating outer cover. In the present invention, a plurality of core wires are arranged in parallel with each other and joined to each other on the surface of the sheet, and the sheet is covered with the outer cover in a rolled or folded state. As a result, when the outer cover of the cable end is stripped and the exposed sheet is unfolded, each core wire can be distinguished from other core wires according to the order of arrangement from the sheet side end. Therefore, in the multi-core cable according to the present invention, it is not necessary to check the continuity of the core wire when connecting the cable to the connector or the like, and the workability at the time of connecting the multi-core cable and the connector is significantly improved.

[0008]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. (First Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a first embodiment of a multi-core cable of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows a state in which an outer jacket of the end portion of the cable is stripped off and a sheet is spread. It is a schematic diagram.

The multi-core cable 1 includes a conductive soft thin film elastomer sheet 2, a plurality of core wires 3, and a restraining tape 4.
And an outer cover 5. The core wires 3 are arranged and joined in parallel with each other on one surface of the elastomer sheet 2. The arrangement pitch of the core wires 3 is set to be the same as the arrangement pitch of the pins of the connector. Further, the elastomer sheet 2 is wound in a spiral shape in cross section around one end side in the width direction. A restraining tape 4 is wound around the peripheral surface of the wound elastomer sheet 2 so that the elastomer sheet 2 does not spread. Furthermore, the periphery of this restraining tape 4 is covered with a jacket 5
Coated with

Hereinafter, the case of applying the multi-core cable of this embodiment to a SCSI cable will be described with reference to FIGS.
This will be described with reference to FIG. First, as shown in FIG. 3 (a), after cutting the multi-core cable 1 into a desired length, a tubular reinforcing material 6 made of an insulating resin and a metal-made material are formed in the vicinity of both ends of the multi-core cable 1. The shield metal fitting 7 is fitted and arranged.

Next, as shown in FIG. 3B, the outer cover 5 outside the shield fitting 7 is stripped off and the exposed elastomer sheet 2 is spread. Then, the tip end portion of the elastomer sheet 2 is cut off, and the core wire 3 is slightly projected from the tip end of the elastomer sheet 2. Next, as shown in FIG. 3C, the tip ends of the core wires are aligned with the press contact portions of the pins 8a of the connector 8, and the core wires 3 are collectively attached to the connector pins 8a (or one by one). ) Press it. Then connector 8
Attach the cover (not shown). This makes SC
SI cable is completed.

In the multi-core cable 1 of this embodiment, when the outer cover 5 is stripped off and the elastomer sheet 2 is expanded, the core wires 3 are arranged at the arrangement pitch of the connector pins 8a.
Therefore, each core wire can be easily distinguished from the other core wires in the order of arrangement from one side end of the sheet 2 without checking conduction. Further, in the cable of this embodiment, since the core wires 3 are joined to the elastomer sheet 2 at the arrangement pitch of the connector pins 8a, each core wire 3 and the connector pins 8 are connected.
A and a can be pressed together. As a result, it is possible to obtain the effect of significantly improving the workability of the pressure welding work.

Further, in this embodiment, since the thin film elastomer sheet 2 is used, the flexibility of the cable 1 is good, and since the elastomer sheet 2 has conductivity, the shield mesh wire or the like is used. There is also an effect that the shield effect can be obtained even without the presence. FIG. 4 (a),
(B) is a schematic diagram which shows the manufacturing method of the multi-core cable which concerns on this form.

The rotary shaft 11 is driven by a driving device (not shown) to rotate. This rotating shaft 11
A cylindrical take-up drum 12 has a central axis as the rotary shaft 1.
It is fixed so as to coincide with the central axis of 1. This drum 1
A belt-shaped elastomer sheet 2 having an adhesive applied to the surface thereof is continuously supplied to the peripheral surface of the sheet 2 from a sheet supply device (not shown).

A plate-shaped wire rod guide 14 is arranged near the peripheral surface of the drum 12. This wire rod guide 14 is provided with a plurality of holes 14a arranged in a row along the axial direction of the rotary shaft 11 at a constant pitch, and each hole 14a is provided with a core wire supply device (not shown). The core wire 3 thus supplied is inserted. The pitch of the holes 14a is set based on the arrangement pitch of the pins of the connector.

In the cable manufacturing apparatus thus constructed, the rotating shaft 11 is driven to rotate the drum 12 in the direction indicated by the arrow in the figure. Then, while winding the elastomer sheet 2 around the drum 12 while maintaining a constant tension, the core wire 3 is inserted into the hole 14a of the wire rod guide 14 and supplied to the surface of the elastomer sheet 2, and the core wire 3 is fed. Bond to the surface of. The elastomer sheet 2 to which the core wire 3 is joined is wound around the winding drum 12 as the winding drum 12 rotates.

Thus, as shown in FIG. 5, a kind of flat cable in which a plurality of core wires 3 are arranged parallel to each other and at a predetermined pitch on the surface of the belt-shaped elastomer sheet 2 is obtained. . Next, the elastomer sheet 2 to which the core wire 3 is joined is unwound from the drum 12,
As shown in (a), one end side in the width direction is wound as a center, and the outer circumference is made substantially circular. After that, as shown in FIG. 6B, the restraining tape 4 is spirally wound around the peripheral surface of the elastomer sheet 2 to restrain the spread of the elastomer sheet 2.

Next, the periphery of the restraining tape 4 is covered with a jacket 5 made of an insulating resin. As a result, as shown in FIG. 6C, the long multicore cable 1 can be obtained.
In the present manufacturing method, since the interval between the core wires 3 is kept constant by the guide 14, the arrangement pitch of the core wires 3 can be made equal to the arrangement pitch of the connector pins, and the pitch can be changed only by changing the guide 14. Can be easily accommodated. Further, it is possible to easily deal with a change in the number of core wires.

When the cable is joined to the elastomer sheet, the adhesive is not applied to the entire one surface of the elastomer sheet, but the adhesive 15 is applied as shown in FIGS. 7 (a) to 7 (c). The coating may be applied linearly, in a zigzag pattern, or in a broken line pattern at regular intervals along the longitudinal direction of the sheet 2. In this case, there is an advantage that it is possible to prevent the flexibility of the cable 1 from being impaired by the curing of the adhesive.

Further, generally, the core wire 3 is shown in FIG.
An insulated stranded wire 16 in which a plurality of conductors 16a as shown in (a) are twisted and covered with an insulating material 16b is used.
As shown in FIG. 8 (b), two insulated stranded wires 17a, 17
You may use the twisted pair wire 17 which twisted b. (Second Embodiment) FIG. 9 is a sectional view showing a second embodiment of the multi-core cable of the present invention. Multicore cable 2 of this embodiment
As shown in FIG. 10, 0 is obtained by superimposing two elastomer sheets 22a and 22b, to which the core wire 23 is joined, and winding the elastomer sheets 22a and 22b.
The peripheral surface of 22b is covered with a restraining tape 24 and a jacket 25.

This multi-core cable 20 can be separated into two sheets 22a and 22b by stripping off the jacket 25 at the cable end, as shown in FIG. When applying this multi-core cable 20 to a SCSI cable,
First, after cutting into a predetermined length, the reinforcing material 26 is provided near the end.
And the shield metal fitting 27 is attached. Then, the outer sheath of the cable end is stripped off to remove the elastomer sheets 22a, 22
After unfolding b, as shown in FIG. 12, the sheets 22a, 2
Each core wire 23 on one side of 2b is pressed against a connector 28 in which pins are arranged in two rows, and the core wire 23 on the other side of the sheets 22a and 22b is pressed against two connectors 30 and 31.
This makes it possible to obtain a connector cable in which the other side is bifurcated.

In the cable of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 13, two connectors 32 and 33 are connected to one side and two connectors 30 and 31 are connected to the other side. , Both ends can be applied to a bifurcated connector cable. Similar to the first embodiment, this embodiment has an advantage that the pressure welding step can be significantly reduced and that the invention can be applied to a branch cable as shown in FIGS.

In this embodiment, the case where two sheets are wound in a roll has been described, but three or more sheets may be wound in a roll. In this case, a connector cable branched into three or more can be obtained. (Third Embodiment) FIG. 14 is a view showing a third embodiment of the multicore cable of the present invention. In the present embodiment, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 15A, the elastomer sheet 42 having the core wire 43 joined thereto is folded along a broken line parallel to the core wire to make a fold, and further, as shown in FIG. The restraining tape 44 is spirally wound, and the periphery thereof is covered with an insulating jacket 45 as shown in FIG.

When manufacturing a connector cable using this multi-core cable 40, first, as shown in FIG. 17 (a), the multi-core cable 40 is cut into a desired length, and then the both ends of the cable 40 are close to each other. Reinforcing material 46 and shield fitting 4
7 is attached. After that, as shown in FIG.
The outer covers 45 at both ends of the cable 40 are stripped off and the elastomer sheet 42 is expanded. And the elastomer sheet 42
After cutting off the end portion of each core wire 43 and slightly projecting the end portion of each core wire 43 from the tip end of the elastomer sheet 42, align the tip end of each core wire 43 with the pressure contact portion of the connector in the same manner as in the first embodiment. , The core wires 43 are collectively pressed against the pins of the connector.

In this embodiment as well, the same effect as in the first embodiment can be obtained, and in addition, since the cable 40 has a flat cross section, it is more flexible than the cable of the first embodiment. Has the effect of being present. Also in this embodiment, it is possible to apply an elastomer sheet having core wires joined to each other by stacking them in a double or triple stack and folding them, and to apply the same branch connector cable as in the second embodiment.

In each of the above-described embodiments, the case where the core wires are arranged at a constant pitch has been described, but a pin (hereinafter NC) to which the core wires are not connected to the connector is described.
If there is a pin), as shown in FIG. 18, NC
It is also possible to form an multi-core cable by winding (or folding) an elastomer sheet in which the core wire 3 is not provided in the portion corresponding to the pin. In this case, in the cable manufacturing process shown in FIG. 4, the core wire of the portion corresponding to the NC pin may not be supplied.

Further, in each of the above-described embodiments, the case where each core wire is joined to the elastomer sheet has been described, but the present invention is not limited to the elastomer sheet, and various types of flexible sheets can be used. Sheets can be applied. If the shielding effect is unnecessary, the surface of the sheet does not have to be conductive.

[0028]

As described above, in the multi-core cable according to the present invention, since the plurality of core wires are arranged in parallel to each other in the width direction of the sheet, each core wire is arranged in order from the side edge of the sheet. The core wire can be easily distinguished from other core wires. Therefore, it is not necessary to check the conduction at both ends of the core wire as in the conventional case, and the workability when connecting to a connector or the like is significantly improved.

In particular, the multi-core cable manufactured by winding (or folding) a plurality of sheets is extremely suitable for a connector cable having a complicated shape such as a branch connector cable. Further, in the method for producing a multi-core cable according to the present invention, while winding the sheet around the rotary drum, the plurality of core wires are supplied to the sheet in a state in which they are parallel to each other and are joined to the surface of the sheet. A multi-core cable can be easily manufactured. Further, according to this method, the arrangement pitch of the core wires is accurate, and it can be easily applied to the manufacture of a multi-core cable having a desired number of core wires.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a first form of a multi-core cable of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing a state in which an outer cover of an end portion of the multicore cable of the first embodiment is peeled off and a sheet is spread.

3A to 3C are diagrams showing a method of manufacturing a SCSI cable using the multicore cable of the first embodiment.

4 (a) and 4 (b) are schematic views showing one step of a method for manufacturing the multicore cable of the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a view showing an elastomer sheet in which a plurality of core wires are joined on the surface.

6 (a) to 6 (c) are schematic views showing another step of the method for manufacturing the multi-core cable of the first embodiment.

7 (a) to 7 (c) are diagrams showing adhesive application patterns on the surface of a sheet.

8A and 8B are diagrams showing an insulated stranded wire and a twisted pair wire used as a core wire.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view showing a second mode of the multi-core cable of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a schematic view showing a state of two elastomer sheets that form the multi-core cable of the second embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a state in which the jackets of both ends of the multicore cable of the second embodiment are stripped off.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example in which the multicore cable of the second embodiment is applied to a connector cable whose one end is bifurcated.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example in which the multicore cable of the second embodiment is applied to a connector cable whose both ends are bifurcated.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a third mode of the multi-core cable of the present invention.

15 (a) and 15 (b) are views showing one step of a method for manufacturing a multicore cable of the third embodiment.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing another step of the method for manufacturing a multi-core cable according to the third embodiment.

17 (a) and 17 (b) are views showing a manufacturing process of a connector cable using the multi-core cable of the third embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an elastomer sheet to which core wires are joined when applied to a connector having NC pins.

FIG. 19 is a schematic diagram showing an example in which a conventional multi-core cable is applied to a SCSI cable.

FIG. 20 is a schematic diagram showing a method of pressing a core wire onto a connector pin.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 20, 40, 50 Multi-core cable 2, 22a, 22b, 42 Elastomer sheet 3, 23, 43, 53 Core wire 4, 24, 44 Restraining tape 5, 25, 45, 55 Outer cover 6, 46, 56 Reinforcing material 7, 47, 57 Shielding metal 8, 28, 30, 31, 32, 33, 58 Connector 8a Connector pin 11 Rotating shaft 12 Winding drum 14 Wire rod guide 15 Adhesive 16 Insulated stranded wire 17 Twisted pair wire

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of core wires are arranged in parallel to each other on a surface, and a sheet is wound in the arrangement direction of the core wires, and an insulating outer cover is provided to cover the circumference of the wound sheet. A multi-core cable characterized by that. 2. A sheet having a plurality of core wires arranged in parallel with each other on a surface thereof, folded by a fold line parallel to the core wires, and an insulative outer covering covering the periphery of the folded sheet. A multi-core cable characterized by having. 3. The multi-core cable according to claim 1, wherein the core wire is partially joined to the sheet by an adhesive selectively attached to the surface of the sheet. . 4. The multicore cable according to claim 1, wherein at least one surface of the sheet has conductivity. 5. A sheet having an adhesive applied to one surface thereof is wound on a rotary drum, and a plurality of core wires are supplied in parallel to each other toward the surface of the sheet to bond the core wire to the sheet. A method for manufacturing a multi-core cable, which comprises the step of: