JPS6112322B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a new marking device for electrical wires. More specifically, the present invention relates to a marking device which is a tubular body made of an elastic material such as synthetic resin and is particularly suitable for thin electric wires, conducting wires, etc. The tubular body is placed over the line and the symbol is usually displayed on the outer wall of the body.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,534,777 discloses a marking device of the general type described above. This general type of marking device includes an expansion sleeve that has a generally flat upper outer surface for marking and a bellows-shaped lower portion that allows the sleeve to expand. As disclosed in that patent specification, these sleeves have a diameter of
Can be attached to wires from 0.6 mm (23 mils) to approximately 16 mm (5/8 inch). This wide range of application is due to the fact that the effective inner diameter of the marking sleeve varies depending on the degree of expansion of the bellows portion. However, it is also due to an extension, which is a flange or equivalent, which projects inwardly to support the thin wire laterally.

Over the past ten years, the demand for marking sleeves has increased rapidly in various industrial fields.
Moreover, as is well known, many are aiming to attach them to small circuits and components. These two factors have created a need to label very thin electrical wires. One way to solve this problem is to miniaturize known marking devices of the type disclosed in the above-mentioned US patents. but,
It soon became clear that this was a very unsatisfactory method. If the marking sleeve is made smaller, the size of the marking will inevitably become proportionally smaller and will be below the limit of being readable without the use of a magnifying glass. Naturally, this was not practical, so attempts to miniaturize wire identification devices were taken a step back.

The use of prior art marking sleeves on very fine lines creates new practical problems: As is well known, for various reasons, it is common to bundle a large number of these thin wires in parallel to form a wire bundle. If each of the wires in such a bundle were to have marking sleeves of the general type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,534,777, these sleeves would surround the wires. In this case, the diameter of the electric wire is small at the minimum of the usable range of the sleeve. In other words, the cross-sectional area of the wire occupies only a small fraction of the cross-sectional area of the marking sleeve, so that the marking device is bulky compared to the cross-sectional dimensions of the wire and cannot be attached to all of the wires in the bundle. That becomes completely impossible.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The object of the present invention is to provide a marking device which can be used on thin wires and eliminates the above-mentioned drawbacks.

That is, according to the present invention, there is provided a symbol for electric wires, which is suitable for attachment to fine electric wires and similar articles, and has a deformable tubular body made of extruded deformable plastic and integrally connected in the circumferential direction. In the marking device, when the wire marking device is attached to the thinnest electric wire, the marking device is attached at an angle of substantially 180° or more so that it can surround substantially 1/2 or more of the circumference of the thinnest wire. a first portion having an extending tubular inner wall and having a substantially arcuate cross-section under undeformed conditions; and a second portion formed integrally with the first portion, the second portion being integrally formed with the first portion; a second portion of the electrical wire, comprising two flange-like projections projecting generally radially outwardly and interconnected at their projecting outer ends, at least one of the flange-like projections being labeled; The marking device can be used for a wide range of wires with different thicknesses, and the first
The portion is formed to extend over at least half of the circumference of the thinnest electric wire among the wide range of electric wires having different thicknesses, so that when the wire marking device is attached to the thinnest electric wire, The two flanged projections are substantially parallel so that the inner wall retains the wire marking device on the wire, and when the wire marking device is deformed, the first portion and the A wire marking device is provided in which the flange-like protrusion deforms into a sleeve having a circular cross section so as to surround the thickest wire in the wide range of wires.

In summary, the marking device or marking sleeve for fine wires or conductors according to the invention contains a circumferentially interconnected tubular body extruded from a resilient material. This tubular body is placed over electric wires, etc., and due to its elasticity, it can be used for wires having different diameters within a certain range. The symbol is displayed on the outer surface of the tubular body.
Marking devices with this general feature have been known for some time. According to the main features of the invention:
When the marking device is not attached to a line, the device consists of a first part, an arcuate part, and a second part, a flange-like projection, which is integral with said first part. The first portion has a substantially arcuate cross section, and the length of its inner wall is set to be at least half the circumference of the smallest diameter wire to which the device can be attached. The ends of the first part are connected to a second part of the device, the second part substantially forming two radially projecting flanges;
End edges of the two flanges opposite to the first portion are connected to each other. Symbols appear on the outside of these flanges.

Several important advantages result from displaying the symbol on the radially extending flange instead of on the outside of the top as in the prior art. The area on which the symbol is displayed is no longer limited by the diameter of the wire, and can be made to any size. This area is equal to the axial length of the tubular body line multiplied by the radial length of the flange. Both of these dimensions can be increased without affecting the arcuate first portion of the marking device. This is true when placed over a wire whose diameter is at the minimum of the effective range. When the device is used on a wire of maximum diameter and fully expanded, the portion marked with the symbol naturally no longer points in the radial direction, and together with the arcuate portion of the tubular body forms a tubular sleeve surrounding the wire. It comes to adhere closely to the periphery of. Another advantage of the other embodiments is that
As explained below, by displaying the symbol on two radially projecting flange surfaces, the effective symbol area is doubled.

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
An example will be explained.

The illustrated marking device for electrical wires, ie marking sleeve 1, contains an arcuate section, ie a first section 2, with a substantially arcuate cross-section and a second section consisting of two flange-like projections 3, 4. The length of the arc formed by the first part 2 must be at least half the circumference of the thinnest wire for which the device can be used. As can be seen from the drawings, in this embodiment the arcuate portion 2 for receiving the wire substantially encloses an angle of more than 180°. In reality, the arcuate portion 2 has a shape close to a perfect circle.

The ends of the arcuate portion 2 are provided with flanges 3, 4 having flat inner and outer walls that are substantially parallel to each other. symbol 5
is marked on the outer surface of one or both flanges.

FIG. 2 shows a wire bundle, each wire having a marking sleeve as shown in FIG. 1 attached thereto. The sleeve is applied to the radially expanded portion of the bundle at the point where it connects to, for example, a multi-pin or plug.

Figures 3 and 4 show symbol sleeve 1 on thin wire 7.
A chisel-shaped probe 6 is used to make it easier to attach the probe. In the first step, shown in FIG. 3, probe 6 is inserted between flanges 3 and 4 to open arcuate portion 2 and facilitate reception of wire 7. Thereafter, the probe 6 is pulled out as shown in FIG.

The present invention has made it possible for the first time to attach a marking device to a thin electric wire. As stated in the first half of this specification, prior to the invention, thin lines were not usually marked in this way.
Therefore, even if a failure occurs in a device that uses many thin electric wires, it is usually impossible to quickly identify a specific wire, and it is often necessary to switch all the wires at once. Since the invention allows for easily distinguishable markings on even very thin wires, the markings on the wires no longer have to be done directly or indirectly by means of tubular sleeves or rings. The inconvenience has been resolved. It should be noted that when the marking device according to the invention is attached to a wire at its effective minimum radius, the flanges 3, 4 project substantially radially from the wire. Therefore, the flange can be placed on the outside of the wire bundle, which reduces the effective cross-sectional area of the bundle and makes the symbol easier to read.

It has been mentioned above that the symbol is displayed on the outer wall of one or both of the substantially flat flanges 3 and 4. When marking both flanges, the symbol may be the same for both flanges, or it may be divided into two parts and given to each half. As an example of how the division may be done, one side may be labeled with alphanumeric characters indicating the group name of the wires, and the individual wires within each group may be labeled with numerical symbols on the back of the flange.

The accompanying drawings are for illustrating the idea of the invention, and the spirit of the invention is not limited to the dimensions shown. For example, the wall thickness of the arcuate part 2 is
It can also be made thicker to help the sleeve hold very fine lines.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an enlarged perspective view of a marking device according to the invention, and FIG. 2 is a substantially full-scale perspective view of a wire bundle, showing the marking device according to the invention attached to each individual wire. The figures shown in Figures 3 and 4 are diagrams showing one method of attaching the present device to a thin electric wire. 2... Arc-shaped portion, 3, 4... Flange, 5...
Symbol, 6... chisel type probe.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. Symbol for electric wires having a deformable tubular body made of extruded plastic and integrally connected in the circumferential direction, suitable for attachment to fine electric wires and similar articles. In the device, when the wire marking device is attached to the thinnest wire, substantially the circumference of the thinnest wire
The first tube has a tubular inner wall that extends at an angle of substantially 180° or more so as to surround more than 1/2 of the tube, and has a substantially arcuate cross section when not deformed.
and a second portion integrally formed with the first portion, the second portion projecting generally radially outwardly from the first portion and having two flange-like projections interconnected at projecting outer ends. at least one of the flange-like protrusions includes a second portion in which a symbol is attached, the wire marking device can be used for a wide range of wires having different thicknesses, and the wire marking device has the inner wall. The first portion is formed to extend over at least half the circumference of the thinnest wire among the wide range of wires having different thicknesses, and the wire marking device is attached to the thinnest wire. when the two flange-like projections are substantially parallel and the inner wall retains the wire marking device on the wire, and when the wire marking device is deformed, the first A wire marking device in which the portion and the flange-like protrusion deform to form a sleeve having a circular cross section so as to surround the thickest wire in the wide range of wires.