JPS617512A - Manufacture of electric communication cable core - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] Industrial applications The present invention relates to the manufacture of communication cable cores.

Traditional technology communication cables consist of multiple twisted units.
ted units) of conductors, each unit usually being a mated pair of conductors. The cores are typically eg 50 or 1
It can be formed as a single core unit of 00 matched pairs or as a larger core, e.g. up to 4200 matched pairs, each comprising a plurality of core units. . For example, a matched pair is made by putting the sides together (stranding) (str
and-ing), the six pairs of conductors are assembled together by a predetermined twist of Lee)' (prgdgter
mintrd lead to the twist
t), ie the distance along said pair for each conductor to complete one revolution along its path, forming a core unit which is twisted together.

This distance will be referred to herein as the twist ray of the pair. The angle that each conductor makes with the longitudinal axis of the conductor unit as it extends along its mating path is the angle of twist (at
Jla of twist 1ay). The six pairs have a particular lay and are laid adjacent to other pairs of different lays.
Different twist trays are given for the pairs. Care should be taken wherever possible to ensure that pairs of equal or substantially equal twist trays are separated from each other. The reason for this arrangement is to maximize the communication performance of the communication cable, that is, to maximize the communication performance of the communication cable.
o-pair) carrier/mother interaction and reduce crosstalk between the pair.

However, the use of different twisted trays for different pairs reduces the mutual capacitance (mwtua) between the conductors of the pairs.
l capacitances) present their own problems as they are affected by the twist tray. In pairs with short twisted trays, the mutual capacitance between the conductors tends to be much higher than in pairs with long twisted trays. This change in mutual capacitance is believed to be caused by the degree of compression of the insulation between the conductors, which for short twisted trays brings the paired conductors closer together. Although conductors with plastic insulation show some reciprocal capacitance variation for different twisted trays, the larger variation is due to the plastic insulation, which is also highly compressible under a given load. Found by conductors with insulation.

It is particularly important to strive towards providing communication cables that minimize the difference between the mutual capacitances of the conductors in different conductor pairs, and both empirical data and theoretical considerations suggest that the mutual capacitances should be equalized ( eq%αl
It has been shown that such a trend in the direction of increasing conductors results in smaller changes in other electrical properties of the cable, such as inductance, impedance, and attenuation between conductors and pairs. Deviations between these electrical characteristics and desired or standard values will be small.

Typically, the six pairs of conductors are twisted together in an operation completely separate from forming the twisted pairs into the core unit. The six pairs of conductors are twisted together in a high speed lysting machine in which the two conductors are held on reels that are freely rotatable in a reel cradle. The two conductors are fed from their reels, collected together in a common path, and mated into pairs by rotating a flyer. Next, the matched pair is immediately wound onto another reel after being matched. This reel is removed from the folding machine and stored until it is necessary to form it into a core unit. In the production stage it is equipped with a supply stand (tsrbpply 5tan) for the core unit forming means together with a matched pair of other reels.
d) and the core unit is assembled.

The problem with this process is that large inventory counts and storage for reels of matched pairs of insulating collars and twist trays (different conductor r-jers) are required in one unit and the r-jers in pairs in the next unit. This means that it is necessary to create a core unit that can be different in color or in the arrangement of the twist trays. As an illustration of inventory and storage of twisted pairs for one cable design, a cable core of 600 twisted pairs of pulp insulated conductors can be manufactured in up to 25 different lengths to produce the core unit. Twist pitch may be required.

The present invention provides a method and apparatus for core unit manufacturing in which inventory and storage of twisted pair reels is avoided. In the present invention, a plurality of listing machines are provided with core unit forming and take-off means (co
re unit forming and
at least one fryer arranged in tandem with take-up means) and at least one fryer in which the fryers of at least some of the ricering machines can have different rotational speeds than other fryers and independently of the speed of the other fryers; is driven at a rotational speed of

According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided an apparatus for making a core unit for a communications cable from twisted units of individually insulated conductors, the apparatus comprising a plurality of listing machines. , each holding a plurality of reels of insulated conductor, and each having a twist
a plurality of rysting machines having a flyer that is rotatable to introduce a wire into the conductor and twist the conductor to form a twisted unit; 1, and means for varying the rotational speed ratio of at least two of the fryers; unit forming and pulling means; the core unit forming and pulling means 9 having pulling means for drawing the twisting unit into the nucleating and pulling 9 means;

In practice, means are provided for varying the rotational speed ratio of more than two fryers, and preferably of all of the fryers.

72 ears can be arranged into groups according to their rotational speed. The speed ratio of this group can be changed. However, each 72-year can be driven independently to change its rotational speed to any other 72-year. Preferably, this can be varied without affecting the velocity of the ear, so that the velocity ratio K to any other 72 ear can be varied. This is made possible by providing individual and variable speed drives suitable for each fryer, such as mechanical drives with manually or automatically selectable gear ratios. I can do it. In practice, it is advantageous to provide each of the listing machines with its own side variable speed drive motor, and this is advantageously an alternating current motor.

The angle and length of the twisted tray of any twisted pair are, of course,
It is influenced by the relationship between the rotational speed of the fryer and the feed speed of the conductor through the listing machine; the latter is influenced by the linear speed of the core unit being formed.

By use of the present invention, the rotational speed ratio of the fryer can be changed after the core unit has been manufactured, thereby changing the relationship between the pairs of twisted trays, resulting in a subsequent core unit of specific design. Following this, the present invention creates a plurality of twisted pairs and then forms a core unit in tandem with the twisting operation, thereby using two distinctly separate processing steps for these operations. and, as a result, provides an apparatus that avoids the need for inventory and storage of twisted trays and reels of twisted conductor pairs of different colors. Furthermore, in providing for variations in the speed ratio of the fryer, the present equipment is capable of producing many distinct twisted trays from each listing machine to provide the ability for variations in core unit design. It has universal application for manufacturing.

In order to precisely control the twist trays of each force-twisted pair, means are provided for measuring the linear velocity of the core unit being made, and the signal sent from the measuring means influences the rotating means for the fryer. , and change the rotation of the flyer according to any change in the linear velocity of the core unit.

According to yet another aspect of the invention, there is provided an apparatus for making a core unit as defined above, and the apparatus includes a speed of the fryer during operation of the means for driving the core unit forming and withdrawal means. Means are provided for varying the ratio.

The flyer speed is varied by continuous variation or cycling between the upper and lower limits for the angle of the twist tray, e.g. between 2 inches and 5.1 inches. Preferably, it is possible. It is possible to provide a complete cycle of angular changes of the twist tray between the upper limit and the lower limit across different lengths of the core unit for different twisted nine pairs, but this 1 point over) (c
rosa-over point), thus resulting in equal twist tray angles for different pairs at specific locations along the core unit. Since the occurrence of such phenomena must be minimized as much as possible, all cycles are preferably of the same length and out of phase with each other.

The invention also provides that: each conductor unit has a single directional twist along its length, and in any cross-section of the core unit,
Twisting the insulated conductors together into a plurality of twisted, insulated conductor units in a twisting station to provide different twist-ray angles between the conductor units, and forming the twisted conductor unit. controlling the angle of each twist tray of the conductor unit while changing the angle of at least some of the twist trays of the medium twisted conductor unit; transferring the twisted conductor unit from the twisting station to the core unit; A method of making a core unit of a plurality of twisted insulated conductors includes moving the twisted conductors to form a core unit, the body units being moved downstream into a core unit forming and pulling means to draw the body units together. I'm here.

The method of the present invention preferably provides for the orientation of other conductor units in which, at any location along the core unit, the lay angle is different from or has the same twisted lay angle as the lay angle of the other conductor unit. and controlling the angle of each twist tray of the conductor unit to vary in different directions. It is also preferable to continuously change the twist tray angles of at least some of the units.

In a particular method, the angles of all twist trays of a conductor unit are varied continuously in cycles having substantially equal length, amplitude and cycle shape. Using this particular method, the average twist lay of each unit is substantially equal to the average twist lay of each individual binit, thereby allowing for variations in mutual capacitance due to each conductor unit having a different twist lay. wo practically decreases to zero.

The angle of the twist tray of the twisted conductor unit can be changed continuously, but if the twist tray of some of these units is outside the limits of the changing lay, then one of the twisted conductor units or more ray angles may remain unchanged.

Further, the present invention comprises a plurality of insulated conductors formed into twisted conductor units, each conductor unit having a single directional twist along its length, and A communication cable in which the angle of the twist trays of at least some of the conductor units varies along the length of the core unit and is different from the twist tray angles of other conductor units in any cross section. Contains the core for.

Preferably, in the above core unit structure, the twist tray angle changes continuously, and in the actual arrangement, the angle changes in a cyclic manner between the upper limit and the lower limit, and every lay Preferably, the angle is such that in any cross-section of the core unit it is different from other conductor units having the same twisted tray or varies in a different direction from other conductor units.

One embodiment of the present invention will be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the equipment for manufacturing twisted-pair strand core units of 100 conductors consists of four machines with 25 machines in each bank. The device consists of a device for twisting conductor pairs including 100 twisters 10 arranged in a straight puncture 12. The device has speeds up to 600 ft/min and optionally 6
Cable core units can be manufactured at speeds in excess of 1,000 ft/min. A core unit forming and take-off means is located away from one end of the four punctures 12. This is the conventional structure of stranding machine 1.
4. The forming and take-off means typically also include a closing head 16 and a binder 18 for pulling the twisted conductor units together. The stranding machine includes one helper cap 7 to aid in pulling the conductor pairs through the head 16 and binder 18 in forming the core unit 23.
A strand flyer 17 having a stand 19 is provided. The main tensioning means comprises a take-off reel 21 with its drive motor 20. The structure of the forming and taking off means is conventional and will not be further described.

Each twister 10 includes a cabinet 22 (FIG. 3) which together form a rectangular bank 12 in FIGS. 1 and 2. Within each cabinet 1-- as shown in FIG. An enabling reel cradle 24 is positioned.

Each twister can be of conventional construction to allow the conductors to be pulled from a reel and twisted together as they pass through and outward from the twister. . However, in this embodiment, each twister has a J, Howffard, Δ.

Dwmoulin and E. D. Lederhose
, filed on December 23, 1983, with
The name of the invention is “Twisting Machine”
“XX Co-pending Canadian Patent Application No. 444.294
This is the structure described in No. As indicated in that specification, each twister uses a balanced rotary structure, avoiding conventional counterweights.
ionalstruc'ture) 2
There are two flyers 28 and associated pulleys.

The two conductors 30 removed from the reel 26 travel downwardly together and then through only a selected one of the flyers 28, as described in the above specification. As the conductor advances through the flyer, the flyer is rotated to apply twist to the conductor by drive motor 31. Drive motor 31 is a separate AC motor mounted on top of frame structure 32 and drivingly connected to the flyer by pulley 34 and pulley wheel 36. AC°
Each of the electric motors is a variable speed drive motor and provides a means for varying the rotational speed of the fryer in accordance with features of the invention as described.

As can be seen from Figures 1.2.3.4 and 5, each twisted pair 38 is attached to the line of its associated bank 12 of the twister as it emerges from the top of the twister. and proceed towards the stranding machine 14.

This device was developed by J. Bouffard, A. Dnmou.
lin and M., the name of the invention for which Seguin is the applicant is "Forming C'able Core"
It also includes tension equalization means and tension reduction means such as those described in co-pending Canadian patent application Ser. No. 444.295, filed Dec. 23, 1983. A plurality of such means 40 are provided, one on the downstream end of the machine 10, as shown in FIGS.
As can be clearly seen from the figures, the equalization means have been omitted from FIGS. 1 and 5 for clarity.

(7) 'Forming Cable Co.
re Units, each tension equalization means consists of a shaft 42 extending from side to side of the supply path for the twisted pairs, the shaft having its end One end of the shaft enters an upright housing 44 and has a pulley 46 engaged by a drive belt 48 which includes five groups of shafts 420 each having a pulley 46. One of the drive shafts in each of the five groups is
It is driven by a drive motor 50 via a drive member 52. A tubular member 54 is supported in bearings about each shaft 42 in sliding driveable engagement with the shaft in that the tubular member 54 will rotate at substantially the same angular velocity as that shaft if it is unconstrained. .

Bearings supporting the tubular member may be sufficient for this purpose, but the inside of the tubular member may be packed with grease to hold it in more positive driving engagement of the shaft 7. Each member 54 extends below a feed path of twisted pairs of conductors.

Each drive motor 50 records the speed of the core unit through the core unit forming and withdrawal means (regτ5t
ers) means (not shown). For convenience, rotor pul
This recording means, seγ), is of conventional construction and will not be further described. electrical coupling
), the speed of the drive motor 50 is such that it provides a circumferential speed of the unrestrained tubular member that is slightly in excess of the pulling speed of the twisted pair to the strander. , the circumferential velocity of the unconstrained tubular member is a matter of choice depending on the tension reduction effect required.

It has been found in practice that the circumferential speed of the tubular member 540 should exceed the speed of the twisted units to the stranding machine by up to 5 orders of magnitude, preferably 2% to 3 orders of magnitude.

As can be seen from the above description, there are 25 tension equalization means along each bank 12 of the twister. The equalization means furthest from the strander supports only one twisted pair 38, ie that from the furthest twister. The number of twisted pairs supported by the equalizer increases from equalizer to equalizer along each bank 12 until 25 pairs are supported by the equalizer closest to the strander. increases.

Guide means in the form of idle rods 56 are provided for holding the twisted pairs 38 spaced apart from each other as the twisted pairs extend across the /S link 12 of the twister. , thus this prevents the tension in one pair from influencing the tension in the other pair. Conveniently, these rods 56 are positioned proximate but slightly downstream from each of the tubular members 54 and are connected to support brackets ( (not shown) held in place (held 5tationary).

As the twenty-five twisted pairs of conductors emerge from the downstream end of each of the punctures 12, they pass through a tension reduction means for the purpose of reducing the tension in the twisted pairs. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and the said co-pending application'
Forming C'able C'oreUnits
As more fully described in ``The tension reducing means comprises two driven cylinders 58 and 60 for each punch 12 of the twister, around each of which cylinders the conductor is stranded. The two cylinders 58 and 60 are of substantially equal diameter and have a common drive (not shown).
has. The said application “Forming C”able
C'ore Units'', the drive motor for the cylinder 58 slightly exceeds the pulling speed of the twisted pair of conductors to the stranding machine.
and 60 are electrically actuated by the linear velocity of the core unit within the forming and withdrawing means to provide a circumferential velocity of each of 60 and 60. The degree of this speed overload is selected depending on the design, but in this particular machine it is up to 5 mm, preferably in the region of 3 mm.

It is important to understand that the two cylinders 58 and 60 do not operate to pull the twisted pair along their feed paths at the circumferential speed of the cylinders. cylinder 5
8 and 60 provide sufficient frictional grip to pull the twisted pair out of the twister without the aid of tension on the twisted pair downstream of the cylinder provided by the rotation of reel 18. does not engage each of the twisted pairs along a sufficiently long contact arc. This downstream tension provided by motor 16 actually pulls the twisted pair out of the twister.

By doing so, it pulls the twisted pairs toward the cylinder surface, increasing the frictional contact so that the cylinder frictionally pulls the twisted pairs at a speed substantially the same as the pulling speed of the reel 18. It is possible to drive. Therefore, if the stranding machine is omitted, cylinder 58
and 60 would not be able to pull the twisted pairs from the twister. While this downstream tension is maintained,
The cylinder will provide drive to the twisted pair with some slippage due to the excess circumferential speed of the cylinder.

During use of the device, there is tension in each of the conductors caused by the pull of the motor 20. This tension, which is different from one pair to another, is governed, at least in part, by the resistance to rotation of each reel 26 and flyer and the resistance provided by the guide pulleys or other surfaces with which the pair contacts.

If these tension differences still exist when the twisted pair reaches the forming and pulling means, then
They result in different tension states in the core unit,
This results in variations in electrical properties. Also, the finished core unit twists along its length, which makes further processing of the cable difficult or impossible. The tension equalization means overcomes this problem, and the tension reduction means reduces the tension in the pair to allow the stranding machine to operate without undue distortion, and for the stranding operation.
It is possible to pull the entire twisted pair.

As the twisted pairs advance across and are supported by the tubular member 54, they will be twisted depending on their position and path length in the cable core anneal V formed by the forming and pulling means. Move at different speeds. Because of the faster driven circumferential speed of the tubular members, there is a tendency for the tubular members to force the twisted pair in a forward direction.

However, for each tubular member 54, there is a slip drive engagement between the tubular member and their shaft 42.
ping driving engagement
) because of 2. The effects of the upstream tensions in the twisted pairs and their relative speeds together reduce the speed of rotation of the tubular member to the speed affected by these tensions and the relative speeds of the wire pairs. At this speed of the members, the tension in the pair increases from the upstream side to the downstream side of each member, with a greater decrease in tension in the higher tensioned pair than in the less tensioned pair. can be changed to

There is therefore an effect towards equalizing the tension in the pairs moving across each tubular member, and this equalizing effect increases as the pairs move towards the final member 54. In each tubular member after the farthest upstream of the twister puncture 12, the twisted pairs of conductors are connected directly from the adjacent twister and by guide pulleys such as pulley 62 shown in FIG. If you bring it over the parts, it will be done. The tension in this twisted pair, which may be relatively high at this stage, is immediately reduced by the influence of the tension in the other pair due to the intervention of the tubular member.

At the downstream end of each puncture 12, the pairs of conductors having their relative tensions substantially closer than those at the upstream position are
approaching and passing through the tension reducing means; As the twisted pairs advance through the cages of cylinders 58 and 60 and through guides (not shown) toward the closing die 16, the tension by the stranding machine is applied to the surfaces of the cylinders. Increases the frictional contact of the twisted pairs.Although these cylinders are rotating at a circumferential speed that is greater than the rate of advancement of the twisted pairs into the strand toy tn, the degree of their grip on the wire pairs is Because of the small arc of contact between the cylinder and the twisted pair, the circumferential velocity of the cylinder is insufficient to pull the pair out of twisting.If anything, the degree of drive by the cylinder is the friction grip on the cylinder by the wire pairs that increases or decreases in proportion to the downstream tension created by the stranding machine pull.
lgrip). Therefore, the cylinder drive on the six pairs is not purely frictional and acts to reduce the tension in the twisted pairs. Any slight increase in tension downstream from the cylinder improves the frictional engagement of the cylinder with the pair, thereby reducing the tension on the cylinder. As a corollary, the tension in the twisted pair upstream of the cylinder (eg, up to 3 bonds) is reduced downstream to an acceptable level (eg, about 1.0 bonds) for pulling into the stranding machine. It is emphasized that the driving force applied to each twisted pair is dependent on the downstream tension in that pair. Therefore, cylinders 58 and 6
0 drives each twisted pair at its own individual speed independent of the speed of the other pairs at any time. The velocities for the pairs must of course be different from each other since the path lengths they will occupy in the core unit are different. Operation of cylinders 58 and 60 thus conveniently allows this.

It is a particularly important aspect of the invention that each of the drive motors 31 can be driven independently at a speed that imparts a particular twist lay to the conductor pairs formed by the associated machine 10. This twist tray can be completely independent from the other pairs of twist trays and can be used during pair twisting and core unit formation or after the pair twisting and core unit formation after the formation of one core unit. Can be changed before operation.

FIG. 6 shows the control means for controlling the rotational speed of the fryer. This control means is an ioo microprocessor 6.
6, ie one microprocessor for each motor 31. Computer 68 is connected to each of the microprocessors by address bus 70. Conventional means provided for measuring the actual linear velocity of the core unit as it is drawn into the stranding machine are connected to each of the microprocessors by a line 71 to continuously output a frequency signal. These signals correspond to the actual core unit linear velocity.

The computer controls its associated AC motor 31 to drive the flyer of the twisting machine at the appropriate speed and to provide the necessary twist to the conductor pairs being twisted by the machine. It includes instructions (1fLstruction) issued to each processor. These instructions correspond to the specific or actual linear velocity of the core unit being created. The computer addresses the computer via address bus 70 and sends the above instructions to each microprocessor in the form of a digital signal corresponding to the required twist tray produced by that particular twister.

This signal is stored in the microprocessor memory means until it is replaced by a new digital signal sent by the address bus. The signals are then passed along line 72 by each microprocessor to an AC inverter drive.
Sent to 74. The second signal is an AC signal with a frequency corresponding to the digital signal sent by the address bus, but it is modified to control the appropriate motor 31 to generate the twist tray required for the actual linear velocity of the core unit. The receiver on line 71 is an AC signal that is influenced by the frequency signal relative to the linear velocity taken so as to produce a linear velocity. Upon receiving the signal, the AC inverter driver 74 converts the incoming signal to a DC current and scrambles it (scrα-mbles) to drive the AC motor 31 at the desired speed. This frequency is the preferred frequency to feed the motor 31 to the AC output signal at the required frequency.

Therefore, by means of this control means, a signal for the initiation of the core unit forming operation can be sent from the computer to the respective microprocessor, and the angle of twist produced by each of the twisters can then be determined by each AC drive motor 31. The rotation speed is controlled as desired. Thus, at the end of manufacturing the core unit, new instructions are provided to the computer to signal the microprocessor for its next operation to have a different twist tray angle than the previously formed core unit. Twisted pairs can form core units.

Therefore, the control means enable the device to be used with an individual AC drive motor to produce twisted pairs wound on reels of conductors of different gauges, colors and lay angles. reeled twisted
avoids the traditional need for storage and inventory of pαir). As seen with respect to the apparatus of the present invention, core units of different designs, different lay angles, different conductor gauges, different colors and different types of insulation simply transform the reel 26 into a new reel in the twisting machine. Replacements can be made by providing the computer 68 with different instructions for controlling the microprocessor.

Thus, the present apparatus is intended to produce core units with different twist lay angles to the conductors, but where the lay angles vary in one or more pairs as they extend along the core unit. It is also within the scope of this equipment to manufacture core units for which the Variations in the twist-tray angles may have an adverse effect on the communication performance of the cable core due to the influence that the twist-tray angles of various pairs can have on each other in an electrical or magnetic sense. There will be a tendency to reduce or eliminate the impact. By use of the apparatus described and according to preferred aspects of the invention, one or all of the twisted pairs can have twist lay angles that are different from each other, and these angles preferably have an upper twist angle and a lower limit. The twist angle varies on a continuous periodic basis. Although it is possible to have twisted pairs within the core unit that are widely spaced and have substantially the same twist-ray angle, the device may It is possible to provide a varying twist-ray angle that is different from each other, or two of the twist-ray angles are at a cyclic cross-over point where the twist-ray angles change in opposite directions to each other.
rpaints) can be identical to each other over very short distances. This is done by issuing appropriate commands via the computer 68 to rotate the fryer 28 at various speeds so that they are at the same upper and lower limits but are actually out-of-phase with each other.
This can be effectively provided by creating a twist tray angle that cycles between these limits in the relationship.

As an example of manufacturing the 100 pairs of core units 23 described above, the out-of-phase cycling twist tray angle (
out-of-phase cyclingtwis
t lay angles ) is given. Eight of the above phases can each be applied to eight conductor pairs and the remaining four phases can each be applied to nine conductor pairs.

In the graph of FIG. 7, the 12 cycling twist-ray angles represent the equivalent twist-ray that would result from that angle at a point on the cycle if each of these angles were used unchanged. is expressed on a vertical scale. for example,
Each cycle has a twist tray angle cycling between an angle represented by the upper limit of the twist tray of 4.9 inches and an angle represented by the lower limit of 2 inches. A complete cycle for each twisted pair occurs over a distance of approximately 100 meters of the finished core unit. Thus, the cycles of the pairs of twist tray angles have substantially equal lengths, amplitudes and other cyclic characteristics, resulting in substantially equal average twists in the units, thereby causing an effect on the twist tray angles. minimize the difference in mutual capacitance between a single pair.

In a stranded core unit, all conductor pairs with the same cycle twist-ray angle are spaced apart from each other to ensure good pair-to-pair leakage performance and pair-to-pair capacitance imbalance.
-7) αia capacitancelLnbal
ance ). Briefly, as shown by the chart in FIG. 7, over a sensitive short distance along the length of the core unit, each cycling phase of the twist tray angle produces an angle equal to the angle of the other phases; There one twist tray angle is increasing in the cycle and the other is decreasing. For example, for cycle 76, this cycle has the same twist lay and lay angle values as cycles 82 and 84 for different conductor pairs at points 78 and 80, respectively. If the twin twist-ray angles are equal at these crossover points on the chart, these points represent a very short distance along the core unit, which has very little effect on the electrical properties of the finished cable. has only a small effect on In order to ensure that these crossover points are as short as possible, the method of producing various lay angles may be better in one direction along a shorter length of the core unit than in the other direction.
This ensures that the motor 31 is driven in such a way as to produce along-cycle motion between cycle limits in one direction.

For example, as shown in Figure 7, the variation from 4.9 inches to the Z finch of each corresponding twist tray (and thus the lay angle variation) is very short for the core unit compared to the variation along the cycle in the opposite direction. Happens over a long period of time. This rapid increase ensures that each crossover point, eg 78 or 80, is as short as possible.

FIG. 8 is a graph representing 25 possible out-of-phase cycles of lay angles. As shown in FIG. 8, various twist tray angles are represented by upper and lower twist tray limits of 2 inches and 5.1 inches, and each cycle occurs over approximately 100 meters.

As discussed, FIGS. 7 and 8 illustrate cycles of twist-ray angles having substantially equal length and amplitude.

However, substantially equal average twist-rays in the conductor pairs can be produced by having varying cycle lengths and amplitudes in the cycles of twist-ray angles in the six pairs. But of course this would be more difficult to achieve.

Therefore, in a cable comprising a core unit made in accordance with the method described above and also in accordance with the present invention, the average twist rate of each conductor unit is substantially equal to that of all other units; , substantially completely avoiding differences in mutual capacitance and mutual indamance between conductor units that are affected by twisted trays.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the main part of an apparatus for forming a stranded core unit of 100 twisted insulated conductor pairs. FIG. 2 is a side view of the apparatus of FIG. 1 in the direction of the arrow ▪ in FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a plan view of the twister and tension equalization means forming part of the apparatus shown on a larger scale than in FIG. 1; FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line WW in FIG. 2 of the tension equalizing means shown on a larger scale than in FIG. FIG. 5 is a view of the twisting machine shown on a larger scale, as seen in the direction of the arrow ■ in FIG. FIG. 6 is a control circuit for rotating the flyer of the twister at different speed ratios. FIG. 7 is a chart showing changing twist tray values in the core unit. FIG. 8 is a chart similar to FIG. 7 for other core units. In the figure, 10.........Twisting machine, 1
4・・・・・・・・・Stranding machine, 17...
・・・・・・・・・Strand flyer, 20...
...... Drive motor, 21...
...Takeover reel, 22...
...Cabinet, 23...Core unit, 26...Reel, 28
・・・・・・・・・・・・Flyer, 30・・・・・・
...... Conductor, 31... Drive motor, 34... Pulley, 36.
...Pulley wheel, 38...
・・・・・・・・・Twisted pair, 42・・・・・・・・・
... Shaft, 54 Old and old ... Tubular member, 5
0・・・・・・・・・・・・Drive motor, 58.60・
・・・・・・・・・・・・Cylinder, 66・・・
・・・Microprocessor, 68・・・・・・・・・
. . . Computer, 70 . . . mark/address bus bar, 74 . . . AC inverter drive device. Patent applicant: Northern Telecom Limited Drawing n"g (no change in content) Figure 3 N'-be L'"℃ ('y'Ship's mouth 〇 Proceedings amendment (〕bin)) July 1985 25th Japan Patent Office Commissioner Michibe Uga 1. Indication of the case: Patent Application No. 271666 of 1982 2. Name of the invention: Manufacture of telecommunications cable core 3. Relationship with the person making the amendment: Name of the patent applicant: 7- Zan Telecom Limited 4, Agent
Address 1-9-15 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-5 Date of amendment order June 25, 1985 (shipment date) 6 Drawing subject to amendment 7 Contents of the amendment An engraving of the drawing (as shown in the attached sheet) (No change in content)

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. An apparatus for manufacturing a core unit for a telecommunications cable from twisted units of individually insulated conductors, comprising a plurality of twisting machines (10), each twisting machine having an insulated conductor. for supporting a plurality of reels (26) of conductors (30), each of which introduces twist into said conductor and twists said conductor to form a twisted unit (38). a plurality of twisting machines (10) comprising flyers (28) rotatable to rotate each of the flyers and for varying the ratio of rotational speeds of at least two of the flyers; Means (31,
35, 36); and core unit forming and pulling means (14, 16) in tandem with the twisting machine for pulling the twisted units together and forming a core unit (23).
, 18), pulling means (19, 20, 21) for pulling the twisted unit to the forming and taking-off means.
Core unit forming and taking-off means (14, 1
6, 18). 2. Each of the flyers is rotatable by the rotating means at a speed that is variable independently of at least some flyers of other twisting machines. The device described. 3. At least some of the twisters are each equipped with an AC drive motor (31) for rotating the flyer of the twister independently of the flyers of the other twisters. An apparatus according to claim 1. 4. The device includes a control means (66) for controlling the speed of each motor.
, 68, 70), the control means generating a signal corresponding to the desired angle of the twist tray of the twisted unit to be formed by the twisting machine so that the AC motor of the device 4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that it causes each flyer to rotate at a speed appropriate to the linear velocity to produce a twisted tray of the desired angle. 5. The control means includes a computer (68), a microprocessor (66) for each AC motor (31);
the computer is connected to each microprocessor and is adapted to send a first signal to each microprocessor corresponding to a desired angle of twist tray at a given linear velocity of the device; a memory for storing the first signal, and the control means includes a measuring device for measuring the actual linear velocity and for sending a second signal corresponding to the actual linear velocity to each microprocessor. and the microprocessor emits a basic control signal corresponding to the stored first signal and modified by the second signal to control the drive speed of the associated AC motor to achieve the desired speed at the actual linear velocity. 5. Device according to claim 4, characterized in that it is capable of providing a twist tray with an angle of . 6. An AC inverter driver (74) is disposed between each microprocessor (66) and its associated AC motor (31), said basic control signal being an AC frequency control signal, and said inverter driver (74) Claims characterized in that the drive device is capable of converting the basic control signal into a final control signal, the final control signal being an AC frequency control signal and received by the AC drive motor to control its drive speed. The device according to item 5. 7. The means for changing the rotational speed ratio of the fryer,
Apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that it is operable during the operation of said pulling means for pulling twisted units to said forming and taking-off means. 8. The first signal sent to the at least one microprocessor can be varied during the operation of the AC motor for rotating the fryer and during the stranding of the core unit. The device according to item 5. 9. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the first signal sent to each microprocessor is variable. 10. The first signal sent to each microprocessor can be varied so that at any particular time, the AC motor associated with that microprocessor rotates that fryer at a different rotational speed than all other fryers. 6. A device as claimed in claim 5, characterized in that it is such that it is driven at a speed of . 11. Each first signal is periodically varied such that the rotation of its flyer causes the angle of the twist tray of the associated twisted unit to increase or decrease continuously between upper and lower limits. 11. The device according to claim 10, wherein the device is capable of: 12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the value of the first signal changes in one direction during the cycle at a rate different from that in other directions. 13. Apparatus according to claim 10, characterized in that the first signals sent to the microprocessor can vary in cycles of the same length and all out of phase with each other. 14. A method of manufacturing a core unit of twisted insulated conductor units, comprising twisting the insulated conductors together at a twisting station into a plurality of twisted insulated conductor units;
giving different twist-ray angles between the conductor units in any cross-section of the core unit, each conductor having a unidirectional twist along its length, and at least some of the twisted conductor units controlling the angle of the twist trays of each conductor unit while varying the angle of the twist trays during their formation, and transporting the twisted conductor units downstream from the twisting station and to the core unit forming and take-off means. A method comprising moving and pulling the twisted units together to form a core unit. 15. When the conductor units are formed, the angles of the twist trays of all the conductor units are continuously varied so that in the core unit, over a particular length of the core unit, the average twist tray of each other unit is substantially the same. 15. The method of claim 14, further comprising providing an average twist tray in each unit that is equal. 16. The method of claim 15, comprising periodically changing the angle of the twist tray by cycles having substantially the same characteristics, amplitude, and length. 17. The method of claim 14 including changing the angle of the twist trays of all conductor units simultaneously as the conductor units are being formed. 18. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that the angle of the twist tray is continuously changed. 19. Periodically changing the angle of the twist tray by cycles formed at specific times of substantially the same length and out of phase with each other. The method described in section. 20. Continuously and periodically changing all of the angles of the twist tray by all cycles of substantially equal length and out of phase with each other. the method of. 21. Form the angles of the twist tray by passing the insulated conductor through the flyers at each twisting station with each flyer being rotated by an individual AC drive motor, and each angle of the twist tray is A
15. The method of claim 14, further comprising varying the drive speed of the C drive motor. 22, providing the angle of the twist tray by substantially the same path of cyclic variation, and including that along each cycle path, the angle of the twist tray increases at a rate different from its decrease. Characteristic claim 1
The method described in Section 9. 23. A core unit for a telecommunications cable, the core unit comprising a plurality of insulated conductors (30) formed in twisted conductor units (38), each conductor unit having a plurality of insulated conductors (30) along its length. the conductor units have a unidirectional twist, and the angle of the twist trays of at least some of the conductor units varies along the length of the core unit (23) and that of the other conductor units in any cross section. A core unit characterized by a different twist tray angle. 24. A core unit according to claim 23, characterized in that the angles of all twist trays of the conductor unit vary along the length of the core unit. 25. The core unit according to claim 24, characterized in that the angle of the twist tray varies continuously and in a cyclical manner. 26. Claim 2, characterized in that in any particular cross-section of the core unit, the cycles are of substantially equal length and are out of phase with each other.
Core unit according to item 5. 27, the angle of the twist tray varies along the length of the core unit such that for each conductor unit, the angle of the twist tray is substantially equal to the average twist tray of each other conductor unit along a particular length of the core unit; 24. A core unit according to claim 23, characterized in that it provides an average twist lay equal to . 28. The angle of the twist tray in each conductor unit varies continuously and in cycles, and the cycles of different conductor units have the same characteristics, amplitude, length and phase offset from each other in any particular cross section of the core unit. 28. A core unit according to claim 27, characterized in that: 29. A core unit according to claim 27, characterized in that the conductor pairs are stranded together.