Data Cable

Abstract

A data cable (1) for transmitting data in the fields of telecommunications, information transmission, or computer technology is provided, the data cable (1) comprising two wires (2), each wire (2) comprising a conductor (3) and an insulating layer (4), wherein the insulating layer (4) of each wire (2) contains the same color additive containing the same colorant. To improve signal transmission despite the wires (2) being different colors, the invention provides that an outer region (11) of the insulating layer (4) of one wire (2) further comprises an additional color additive containing another colorant, while the outer region (11) of the insulating layer (4) of the other wire (2) does not contain the additional color additive and does not contain a different color additive.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a data cable for transmitting data in telecommunications, messaging or computer technology, comprising: Each wire is a conductor; -Insulating layer Two wires including The data cable relates to a data cable in which the insulation layer of each wire has the same color additive containing the same colorant. [Background technology]

[0002] Data cables, especially those with high data transmission rates, usually comprise one or more pairs of wires and are used as a connection between a transmitter and a receiver to transmit signals (electromagnetic waves) that are then further processed. In most cases, bidirectional communication is possible, meaning that the transmitter becomes the receiver and the receiver becomes the transmitter.

[0003] Signals may be transmitted by differential signaling, which is symmetrical transmission with signals in opposite phase, or by in-phase signaling, which is symmetrical transmission with signals in the same phase.

[0004] Each wire pair in a data cable comprises two conductors and two insulating layers, each surrounding one of the two conductors. To allow fully automatic further processing of the wire pairs, the two wires of the wire pair must have different colors (on the outside), and the insulating layer is then coated with a corresponding coloring layer. However, the different colors used in the coloring layers have different dielectric values ​​due to their components, particularly color pigments, which cause signals in the two wires to propagate at different speeds and be attenuated differently. As a result, the signal propagation in the two wires becomes asymmetrical or time-shifted relative to each other over the length of the data cable. This means, among other things, that the signal transit times are different, which affects the signal or data transmission. This is called mode conversion and is usually a measure of how good the signal transmission quality is.

[0005] U.S. Pat. No. 5,187,329(A), U.S. Pat. No. 1,968,903(A), WO 2018 / 197365(A1), U.S. Pat. No. 5,281,764(A), and U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2010 / 307790(A1) all disclose cables having two cores, wherein the insulating layer of each core is surrounded by a colored layer, and wherein the colored layers of the two cores each have a different color. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a data cable for transmitting data in telecommunications, messaging or computer technology that overcomes the drawbacks of the prior art and allows for improved signal transmission despite wires of different colors. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The object of the present invention is a data cable for transmitting data in telecommunications, message transmission or computer technology, Each wire is a conductor; -Insulating layer Two wires including 1. A data cable in which the insulation layer of each wire has the same color additive containing the same colorant, the outer region of the insulating layer of the core further comprises additional color additives, including other colorants; The outer region of the insulating layer of the other core does not contain additional color additives, which is achieved by the data cable not containing another color additive.

[0008] In the data cable according to the present invention, the insulation layers of each wire contain the same color additive, including the same colorant. Furthermore, the outer regions of the cores contain additional color additives, including colorants other than those contained in the color additives added to the insulation layers of each core. The outer regions of the other cores do not contain additional color additives, including other colorants, and are free of all additional color additives, including other colorants and / or additional colorants. This means that the outer regions of the insulation layers of the other wires do not contain additional color additives. Therefore, the outer regions contain only the color additive and no other color additives in addition to it.

[0009] The outer region of the insulating layer is therefore the radially outermost region in the cross section of the data cable according to the invention.

[0010] Adding the same color additive to the insulation layer of each core ensures that the core's characteristics, especially its attenuation characteristics, remain the same, thereby standardizing or synchronizing the cores. Adding an additional color additive to the outer region of one wire's insulation layer ensures that one wire in a data cable according to the present invention is visible in a color different from the other wires, ensuring fully automated further processing. However, because the additional color additive is added only to the outer region of one wire's insulation layer (the outer region of the other wire's insulation layer contains no additional color additive or a different color additive), the signal transmission characteristics, especially its attenuation characteristics, of this one wire are substantially unchanged or only slightly changed compared to the other wire. In other words, in a data cable according to the present invention, the signal transmission characteristics of the wires are matched to each other as much as possible despite the visibility of the two different colors between the wires, resulting in a substantial improvement in signal transmission compared to the prior art. That is, coloring the outer region of one wire's insulation layer is sufficient to ensure fully automated further processing while at the same time minimizing the effect on signal transit time shifts.

[0011] For example, a data cable according to the present invention may include two wires, both of which have the same color additive, including a white colorant, in their insulation. Furthermore, the outer region of the insulation of one of the wires contains an additional color additive, including a green colorant. The two wires appear visually different colors. One wire appears white and the other appears green, although other color combinations are of course possible.

[0012] In this context, the term "colorant" refers to a substance that imparts color. For example, the colorant may be a colored pigment that is substantially insoluble in the application medium (in the insulating layer in the context of the present invention) and exists as solid particles, and the coloring is produced by absorption and diffuse reflection (scattering or reflection) of specific frequency components of visible light.

[0013] Of course, the color pigment may be a mixture of "different" color pigments to achieve a particular color tone. Furthermore, it is also possible to use (liquid) colorants that are soluble in the application medium, such as polymers.

[0014] The color additive causes at least the insulating layer to be colored with the color of the colorant, but both the color additive contained in all insulating layers and the additional color additive may also contain other additives in addition to the colorant, allowing the insulating layer to be optimally adapted to the respective application.

[0015] For example, in addition to the colorant, a color additive may contain a carrier material, an anti-aging agent, a dispersant, a filler, a compatibilizer, a light stabilizer, a processing aid, or a lubricant and / or a nucleating agent. The carrier material may be a polymer or a mixture of polymers that is typically the same as the application medium. Alternatively, the carrier material may be a polymer or a mixture of polymers that is compatible with the application medium and does not substantially adversely affect its properties. Antioxidants are typically used as anti-aging agents to prevent or reduce the degradation of the carrier material or all other components of the color additive during processing and use. Dispersants improve the miscibility and dispersibility of the colorant in the carrier material, while fillers, typically mineral powders, increase the opacity of the color additive and improve their economical manufacturability. Compatibilizers are used to increase the compatibility of the color additive with the application medium and / or the colorant with the carrier material. Light stabilizers are UV stabilizers that prevent or reduce the degradation of the polymer and / or colorant. Processing agents or lubricants can reduce the "production pressure" in the machine and allow for better processability. Nucleating agents, also called nucleating agents, affect the product properties of the final product. As can be easily understood, the addition of additional additives such as antistatic agents, antiblocking agents, optical brighteners, effect pigments, etc. cannot be excluded.

[0016] Of course, it is not excluded that the data cable according to the invention has more than two wires, for example the data cable may have three, four, five, six or even more wires, in which case the outer region of the insulation layer of at least one wire further comprises an additional color additive comprising another colorant, and the outer region of the insulation layer of at least one other wire does not comprise the additional color additive and does not comprise another color additive.

[0017] One factor that influences both the visibility of different wire colors and the improvement of signal transmission is the thickness of the outer region of the insulating layer, especially the outer region of the wire(s) that also contains additional color additives. On the one hand, the outer region must be thick enough to allow for the addition of a sufficient amount of additional color additives, especially other colorants, so that they can be properly distributed. On the other hand, the outer region must be thin enough so that the addition of additional color additives has as little effect as possible on the signal transmission characteristics, especially the attenuation characteristics, of the wire. Therefore, in one design variant of the present invention, the outer region of the insulating layer of each wire has a thickness of 5 μm to 200 μm, preferably 25 μm to 100 μm, and particularly preferably 40 μm to 60 μm. These thickness ranges are optimal for adequately coloring a single wire while slightly delaying the passage of signals.

[0018] In order to achieve sufficient coloring of the wire for fully automated further processing, another design variant of the invention provides that the total composition of the insulation layer of the wire contains no more than 5% by weight, preferably no more than 3% by weight, and particularly preferably no more than 1.5% by weight of additional color additives. These amounts represent the optimum for sufficient visibility, while only slightly affecting the signal transmission properties, especially the attenuation properties, of the wire.

[0019] In order to be able to produce the data cable according to the invention efficiently, in particular in an economically efficient way, another design variant of the invention provides that the insulating layer of each wire is produced by extrusion, which makes it possible to produce a wide variety of shapes without much effort and to process different materials reliably.

[0020] In another design variation of the present invention, the insulation layer of each wire is made of polypropylene. Polypropylene is advantageous because its molecular structure, average molecular weight level, molecular weight distribution, crystallinity, and spherulitic structure can be varied within a wide range, thereby affecting its properties. Furthermore, polypropylene has a high dynamic load capacity, which makes it suitable for a wide range of applications. Furthermore, its dielectric constant and loss factor are almost independent of temperature.

[0021] In another design variant of the invention, the insulating layer of each wire is an inner insulating layer at least partially covering the outer surface of the conductor; and an outer insulating layer at least partially covering an outer surface of the inner insulating layer, The provision is made that the outer insulation layer includes an outer region. That is, the same color additive containing the same colorant is added to both the inner and outer insulation layers of each core. Furthermore, the outer insulation layer of one wire includes an outer region of the insulation layer, which further includes an additional color additive containing another colorant. In particular, the outer insulation layer consists of the outer region of the insulation layer.

[0022] The outer insulating layer provides stability to the data cable according to the invention and serves as environmental protection.

[0023] In particular, if part of the insulating layer is at least partially formed of a foam material, it may be necessary to separate the foam material from the conductor. Therefore, in another design variant of the invention, the inner insulating layer of each wire is an inner skin layer at least partially covering the outer surface of the conductor; and Provision is made to include a main layer at least partially covering the inner skin layer.

[0024] It is therefore conceivable that the main layer is at least partially made of a foam material and the inner skin layer is made of a different material, the inner skin layer serving to separate the conductor and the main layer, thus separating the main layer from the conductor, providing a degree of stability and conforming accordingly to the conductor.

[0025] The main layer of foam material ensures optimal transmission properties of the data cable according to the invention.

[0026] In another design variant of the present invention, the data cable is a shielded twisted pair data cable. This variant of the data cable according to the present invention has a shield that very effectively prevents interference from entering (or leaving) the cable. Furthermore, the wires of at least one wire pair are crossed, twisted, or twisted. The advantage of a crossed, twisted, or twisted wire pair is that external noise or interference signals are coupled as evenly as possible to both wires of the wire pair. The coupled interference alters the signal on the wire, but only slightly changes the difference between the signals. The combination of braiding and shielding has proven very effective in reducing internal and external electromagnetic influences.

[0027] In another design variant of the invention, the data cable is a shielded parallel pair data cable, where the wires of at least one wire pair run substantially parallel to each other, and at the same time, a shield is provided. The advantage of this design variant is that the data cable is very flexible due to the parallel wires, which makes installation easier.

[0028] In another design variant of the invention, the data cable is an unshielded twisted pair data cable. This variant of the data cable according to the invention has twisted wires in each wire pair but no shield. This is the "simplest" version of a twisted pair cable, and its advantage is particularly its economical manufacturability.

[0029] The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to exemplary embodiments. The drawings constitute examples and are intended to illustrate the concepts of the invention, but are not intended to limit or be exhaustive of the concepts of the invention. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0030] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a wire pair of a data cable according to the prior art; [Figure 2] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a mode conversion curve of a data cable according to the prior art. [Figure 3] 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a wire pair of a first exemplary embodiment of a data cable according to the present invention; [Figure 4] 2 shows a schematic mode conversion curve of a first exemplary embodiment of a data cable according to the present invention; [Figure 5] 4 is a schematic diagram of a wire pair of a second exemplary embodiment of a data cable according to the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0031] 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a wire pair, i.e., two wires 2, of a data cable 1 for transmitting data in telecommunications, messaging, or computer technology according to the prior art. Each of the two wires 2 has a conductor 3 and an insulating layer 4, which includes an inner insulating layer 5 and an outer insulating layer 6 formed by an outer region 11 of the insulating layer 4, the inner insulating layer 5 covering an outer surface 7 of the conductor 3, and the outer insulating layer 6 covering an outer surface 8 of the inner insulating layer 5. That is, the inner insulating layer 5 is disposed between the conductor 3 and the outer insulating layer 6.

[0032] To enable the wires 2 to be processed fully automatically, the wires 2 have different colors: one of the two wires 2 is visible as green (the wire 2 on the left in FIG. 1 ) and the other of the two wires 2 is visible as white (the wire 2 on the right in FIG. 1 ).

[0033] To achieve different visibility of the two wires 2, a green colorant is added to the insulating layer 4 of one wire 2 (represented by dots in the insulating layer 4) and a white colorant is added to the insulating layer 4 of the other wire 2. This means that for both cores 2, both the inner insulating layer 5 and the outer insulating layer 6 contain different colorants.

[0034] These different colorants have different dielectric values, which cause the signals in the two wires 2 to propagate at different speeds and to be attenuated differently. This means that the propagation of signals in the two wires 2 over the length of the data cable 1 is not symmetrical, which means, among other things, that the signal transit times are different. This is called mode conversion.

[0035] 2 shows the mode conversion curve of a prior art data cable 1. Here, the TCTL (Transverse Conversion Transfer Loss) parameter is plotted against frequency, and the TCTL parameter is a measure of the asymmetric attenuation (i.e., mode conversion) of the data cable 1. That is, the lower the TCTL parameter, the better the attenuation characteristics of the data cable 1 and the better (more symmetrical) the signal transmission between the wires 2 of the data cable 1.

[0036] FIG. 2 shows three lines: the TCTL parameters 13 of each of the two wires 2 of the prior art data cable 1, and a limit line 12. To ensure good signal transmission, the TCTL parameters 13 of both wires 2 should be adjusted to be below the limit line 12 over the entire frequency range. From FIG. 2, it can be seen that this is not the case for the prior art data cable 1. Between 20 MHz and 30 MHz, the TCTL parameters 13 of both wires 2 exceed the limit line 12 and then remain permanently above the limit line 12. This means that at frequencies above 20 MHz and 30 MHz, the TCTL parameters 13 exceed the limit line 12. Therefore, in the prior art data cable 1, there is a significant delay in the signals on the two wires 2 in the higher frequency range, i.e., asymmetric signal transmission occurs.

[0037] Figure 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a wire pair, i.e., two wires 2, of a first exemplary embodiment of a data cable 1 of the present invention. The structure of the first exemplary embodiment of the data cable 1 of the present invention, in particular the structure of the insulating layer 4, substantially corresponds to the structure of the prior art data cable 1 shown in Figure 1. Although only two wires 2 are shown in Figure 3, it is not excluded that the data cable 1 has more wires 2, for example, three, four, five, six or more wires 2.

[0038] However, the coloring of the insulating layers 4 is different. In a first exemplary embodiment of a data cable 1 according to the present invention, both the insulating layers 4 of the two wires 2, i.e., the inner insulating layer 5 and the outer insulating layer 6 formed in the outer region 11 of the insulating layer 4 and having a thickness of substantially 50 μm in the first exemplary embodiment, each have the same color additive, including the same white colorant. In addition, the outer insulating layer 6 of one of the two wires 2 (the left wire 2 in FIG. 3 ) includes an additional color additive including a green colorant. The outer insulating layer 6 of the other of the two wires 2 (the right wire 2 in FIG. 3 ) does not include an additional color additive and does not include another color additive. Therefore, one wire 2 is visible as green (the left wire 2 in FIG. 3 ), and the other wire 2 is visible as white (the right wire 2 in FIG. 3 ).

[0039] In this design variant, the overall composition of the insulating layers 4 of the two wires 2 each contains 1% by weight of a color additive, including a white colorant. Furthermore, the overall composition of the wire on the left side of FIG. 3 contains 1.78% by weight of an additional color additive, which in this case consists of equal amounts of white and green colorants. This means that the additional color additive contains not only green colorant but also equal amounts of white colorant. Therefore, the data cable 1 according to the present invention can be further processed fully automatically, and, on the other hand, the influence on the signal transmission properties of the wires 2 visible as green is minor compared to the wires 2 visible as white.

[0040] The insulating layer 4 of both wires 2 of the first exemplary embodiment is made by extrusion of polypropylene.

[0041] Figure 4 shows the mode conversion curves of a first exemplary embodiment of a data cable 1 according to the present invention. Again, the TCTL parameters are plotted against frequency, as in Figure 2. In Figure 4, three lines are shown: the TCTL parameters 13 for each of the wires 2, and the limit line 12 described for Figure 2.

[0042] 4 shows that in the data cable 1 of the present invention, the TCTL parameters 13 of both wires 2 are well below the limit line 12 across the entire frequency range. Thus, the signal transmission characteristics of the two wires 2 of the first design variant of the data cable 1 of the present invention match well with each other despite their different color visibility (one wire 2 is visible as green and the other wire 2 is visible as white), resulting in a significant improvement in signal transmission compared to the prior art.

[0043] 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a wire pair, i.e., two wires 2, of a second exemplary embodiment of a data cable 1 of the present invention. The second exemplary embodiment is identical to the first exemplary embodiment of the data cable 1 of the present invention, except that the inner insulating layer 5 of the two wires 2 has an inner skin layer 9 and a main layer 10, and the inner skin layer 9 is disposed between the conductor 3 and the main layer 10. The inner skin layer serves to separate the conductor 3 and the main layer 10 and provides stability.

[0044] Both the first exemplary embodiment of the data cable 1 according to the present invention and the second exemplary embodiment of the data cable 1 according to the present invention may be embodied as a shielded twisted pair data cable 1, a shielded parallel pair data cable 1, or an unshielded twisted pair data cable 1. [Explanation of symbols]

[0045] 1 data cable 2 wire 3 Conductors 4. Insulation layer 5 Inner insulation layer 6 Outer insulation layer 7 Outer surface of conductor 3 8 outer surface of inner insulating layer 5 9 Inner Skin Layer 10 Main layer 11 outer region of insulating layer 4 12 Limit Line 13 TCTL parameter of one of wires 2 of data cable 1

Claims

1. A data cable (1) for transmitting data in telecommunications, message transmission or computer technology, Each wire (2) A conductor (3), an insulating layer (4) Two wires (2) including A data cable (1) in which the insulating layers (4) of each wire (2) have the same color additive containing the same colorant, the outer region (11) of said insulating layer (4) of one wire (2) further comprises additional color additives, including other colorants; A data cable (1), characterized in that the outer region (11) of the insulating layer (4) of the other wire (2) does not contain the additional color additive and does not contain another color additive.

2. 2. A data cable (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the outer region (11) of the insulating layer (4) of each wire (2) has a thickness of 5 μm to 200 μm, preferably 25 μm to 100 μm, particularly preferably 40 μm to 60 μm.

3. 3. A data cable (1) according to claim 1, wherein the total composition of the insulating layer (4) of one of the wires (2) comprises not more than 5% by weight, preferably not more than 3% by weight, particularly preferably not more than 1.5% by weight, of the additional color additive.

4. Data cable (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the insulating layer (4) of each wire (2) is manufactured by extrusion.

5. Data cable (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the insulating layer (4) of each wire (2) is made of polypropylene.

6. The insulating layer (4) of each wire (2) an inner insulating layer (5) at least partially covering the outer surface (7) of the conductor (3); an outer insulating layer (6) at least partially covering the outer surface (8) of the inner insulating layer (5); Data cable (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the outer insulating layer (6) comprises the outer region (11).

7. The inner insulating layer (5) of each wire (2) comprises: an inner skin layer (9) at least partially covering the outer surface (7) of the conductor (3); 7. A data cable (1) according to claim 6, characterized in that it comprises a main layer (10) at least partially covering the inner skin layer (9).

8. The data cable (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the data cable (1) is a shielded twisted pair data cable.

9. The data cable (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the data cable (1) is a shielded parallel pair data cable.

10. The data cable (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the data cable (1) is an unshielded twisted pair data cable.

Images