An electrical wire / cable having an improved sheathing

Abstract

The present invention provides an electrical wire / cables (100A, 120A) having an improved sheathing (100, 120). The electrical wire / cable (100A, 120A) comprising at least one conductor core (10, 100A) and at least an improved insulating sheathing (100, 120) enclosing the conducting core (10, 100A), wherein the insulating sheathing (100, 120) comprising a flexible film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500) having longitudinal edges (200a, 200b), is folded to enclose the conductor core (10, 100A), wherein the longitudinal edges (200a, 200b) are in a weld zone (Z) and are sealed / welded / bonded to each other, with or without a sealing strip (300), by any of overlapping of slanted edges configuration, overlapping of edges configuration, butt joining of edges configuration, to configure the improved sheathing (100, 120). The improved sheathing (100, 120) also offers more effective and secure anti-counterfeiting features like "Hologram" to avoid duplicity of the product.

Description

AN ELECTRICAL WIRE / CABLE HAVING AN IMPROVED SHEATHINGFIELD OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to electrical wires / cables. More particularly, it relates to an improved insulating sheathing over a conductor core of an electrical wire / cable. The improved insulating sheathing is made from a flexible film / laminate by joining two longitudinal edges of the film / laminate strip with each other, with or without a sealing strip. The folded flexible film / laminate strip encloses at least a conductor core to form a sheathed single core electrical wire / cable or plurality of single core electrical wire / cable to form a sheathed multi-core electrical wire / cable.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Sheathing is a critical component in the field of electrical power and signal transmission wires and cables, as it plays a vital role in protecting the conducting core of the electrical wires / cables from contact, shorting and various environmental and mechanical stresses. It allows workmen to touch live electrical wires / cables during wiring or repairing and avoids conductor shorting. Sheathed electrical wires / cables, also known as protected wires / cables, in which the conductor core is encased in an insulating outer layer, offers increased durability and resistance against external factors such as moisture, abrasion, and UV rays. This makes them ideal for outdoor applications with high levels of mechanical stress. The sheathing protects and avoids inadvertent damage to the conductor core(s) inside the sheathing.

[0003] Extrusion is commonly used to sheath the conductor core, whereby the layer of the molten polymer is applied around the conductor core. The conductor core is made of solid metal or plurality of flexible metal strands or made of flat strands of polymeric metal composite, braided / bunched / twisted together to form a single core electrical wire / cable or the conductor core is made of plurality of single core electrical wire / cables, bunched / twisted collectively to form a multi-core electrical wire / cable.

[0004] It is difficult to configure plurality of layers of different polymers in extrusion process, as per usage conditions and polymer properties. Moreover, layers formed by molten polymers are cooled inline after sheathing, leaving no scope for printing or holography on the layers, which are crucial features to avoid product imitation or counterfeiting. Hence, it does not offer a good anticounterfeiting feature to avoid product imitation.

[0005] Further, the electrical wires / cables, which are commercially available in the market, use printing only on the outer surface of the electrical wires / cables for brand identification, to avoid counterfeiting and to ensure brand authenticity.

[0006] Furthermore, the electrical wires / cables, which are commercially available in the market, have a thick sheathing layer(s) which makes the electrical wires / cables stiffer. Such electrical wires / cables are not very flexible, thus adding difficulty during laying. Further, there is no provision to have printing on any layer other than outer layer of the sheathing.

[0007] Generally, the sheathing is made of PVC, which is hazardous and carcinogenic.

[0008] Thus, to solve the above mentioned problems and overcome their drawbacks, there is a need for an improved sheathing for electrical wires / cables, which offers flexibility of sheathing design in single layer and in multiple layers, can configure anti-counterfeiting features and printing in one or more layers, which is less hazardous and non-carcinogenic and improves the flexibility of the electrical wires / cables.

[0009] The present invention provides an electrical wire / cable having an improved sheathing.OBJECT OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

[0010] It is an object of the present invention to provide an electrical wire / cable having an improved sheathing to sheath at least a conductor core having solid single metal wire or plurality of flexible wires of metal such as copper, aluminum, steel etc., or plurality of polymeric metal composite flat strands, individually or in a combination thereof, braided / bunched / twisted together, or to sheath plurality of single core electrical wires / cables, bunched / twisted together, in a predefined size and numbers .

[0011] It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an electrical wire / cable having improved insulating sheathing formed from a flexible film / laminate strip having at least one layer or plurality of layers having an inner surface and an outer surface, with specific properties and sealing characteristics.

[0012] It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an electrical wire / cable having improved sheathing formed from a film / laminate strip in which the inner surface and the outer surface are sealable to each other.

[0013] It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an electrical wire / cable having improved sheathing made from a flexible film or laminate strip, which is folded around the conductor core, whose longitudinal edges are in a weld zone and are sealed or welded or bonded to each other, by using at least one configuration(s) selected from overlapping of slanted edges configuration, overlapping of edges configuration, butt joining of edges configuration, to form the improved sheathing, thereby enclosing the conductor core.

[0014] It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a flexible film / laminate for theimproved sheathing, having a thickness ranging from 200 microns to 3,400 microns.

[0015] It is yet another object of the present invention to provide additionally a sealing strip in any of the selected sealing / welding / bonding configuration(s), having a thickness ranging from 20 microns to 100 microns for the electrical wires, however, for larger electrical cables the thickness of the sealing strip may go up to 2,500 microns and a width ranging from 2 mm to 5 mm for the electrical wires and may go up to 25 mm for larger electrical cables, sealed over the bonding area of the two longitudinal edges of the film / laminate strip, to provide additional strength to the joint after the sealing of the longitudinal edges of the film / laminate strip.

[0016] It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an electrical wire / cable having a thin and more flexible improved sheathing for electrical insulation, protection, color coding and markings.

[0017] It is yet another object of the present invention to avoid the use of PVC, which is hazardous and carcinogenic, by using other polymers which are less hazardous and non-carcinogenic.

[0018] It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an electrical wire / cable having improved sheathing which can offer more effective and secured anti-counterfeiting features like hologram, unigrams, latent image, lenticular patterns, Fresnel lens, optical patterns etc. to avoid duplicity of the product.

[0019] It is yet another object of the present invention to provide printing in one or more layers of the film / laminate of the improved sheathing.

[0020] It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an improved sheathing having one or more layers of the film / laminate and / or the sealing strip comprising of functional additives.

[0021] It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an electrical wire / cable having an improved sheathing made from a film / laminate, and a sealing strip wherein any one layer or combination of layers of film / laminate strip and / or the sealing strip comprise recycled polymer, partially or fully.SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

[0022] The present invention provides an electrical wire / cable having an improved sheathing, comprising at least one conductor core and at least an insulating sheathing enclosing the conductor core. The present invention provides the electrical wire / cables having the improved insulating sheathing, comprising a film / laminate strip having longitudinal edges, is folded to enclose the conductor core, wherein the longitudinal edges are in a weld zone and are sealed / welded / bonded to each other, by using at least one configuration(s) selected from overlapping of slanted edgesconfiguration, overlapping of edges configuration, butt joining of edges configuration, to configure the improved sheathing, thereby obtaining the electrical wire / cable. Any of the selected configuration(s) may further comprise a sealing strip, to configure the improved sheathing. The longitudinal edges of the film / laminate strip are joined by suitable sealing / welding / bonding method(s), with the help of the sealing strip (if required). Further, the electrical wire / cable is at least one of a single core electrical wire / cable, and a multi-core electrical wire / cable.

[0023] The conductor core for a single core electrical wire / cable may comprise of a solid single metal conductor having a cross section of round, square, or any other shape or a bunch of multiple flexible metals wires having a cross section of round, square, or any other shape , or made of plurality of polymeric metal composite flat strands, individually or in combination thereof, braided / bunched / twisted together, in a predefined size and numbers. The metal used in the solid metal wire or in the flexible metal wires or in the polymeric metal composite flat strands may be made of at least one of Copper, Aluminum, Steel, Nickel, Silver, Gold, Cadmium, Tungsten, or their alloy in any combination thereof. The metal of the conductor core may be bare or coated with Tin or Silver or Gold or coated with any other metal.

[0024] The conductor core for the multi-core electrical wire / cable may comprise of a predefined number of plurality of single core electrical wire / cables bunched or twisted together. Further, the single core electrical wire / cable(s) in the multi-core electrical wire / cable can be a conventional electrical wire / cable(s) with conductor core of solid metal or metal wires / strands, or the single core electrical wire / cable(s) made of polymeric composite flat strands, which are bunched / twisted together, individually or in a combination thereof. , Any one or all the single core electrical wire / cable, are sheathed by insulating polymer(s) by extrusion process or sheathed by the improved sheathing of the present invention to enclose its conductor core and these single core electrical wire / cables are collectively sheathed by the improved sheathing of the present invention to obtain the multi-core electrical wire / cable.

[0025] The film / laminate strip of the improved sheathing has a thickness ranging from 200 microns to 3,400 microns and has two longitudinal edges and comprises of at least one layer having two surfaces: an outer surface and an inner surface, forming an outer surface and an inner surface of the improved sheathing, respectively.

[0026] According to the present invention, the substrate of the improved sheathing can be a film / laminate strip having at least one or a combination of suitable single or multilayer polymeric films, or laminate in various combinations of layers of single or multilayer polymeric films, thereof. Further, a typical substrate can be a laminate in which single layer and / or multilayer films can beused with other layer(s) of polymers, wherein the outer surface of the film / laminate strip may be surface printed or the inner surface of the outer layer is reverse printed or both, with color coding lines, text, pattern alone or in any combination thereof. Suitable adhesive can be used for lamination with the other layers.

[0027] Further, an outer layer or any layer of the film / laminate strip may be colored.

[0028] According to the present invention, one or more layers of the film / laminate strip and / or the sealing strip may comprise any of a functional additive(s) such as nucleating agents, flameretardants, smoke-retardants, antioxidants, UV Stabilizers, Heat Stabilizers, anti-static, lubricants, processing aids, antioxidants, plasticizers, individually or a combination thereof.

[0029] According to one aspect, the film / laminate strip of the improved sheathing may comprise films of specific polymers made by using processes, such that they shrink in one or both directions (Transverse Direction and Machine Direction), when heat is applied.

[0030] The sealing strip of the improved sheathing may be a single or multi-layer polymeric film / laminate suitable for sealing / welding / bonding with the outer surface of the film / laminate strip, to enclose the conductor core, thus, to form the insulating sheathing of the electrical wire and cable. The sealing strip comprises at least a layer having two surfaces: a top surface and a bottom surface. The sealing strip is provided on the outer surface of the film / laminate edges, has a thickness ranging from 20 microns to 100 microns for electrical wires however for larger electrical cables, the thickness of the sealing strip may go up to 2,500 microns and width ranging from 2 mm to 5 mm for the electrical wires and may go up to 25 mm for larger electrical cables.

[0031] According to an aspect of the present invention, the sealing strip is additional, sealed / welded or bonded with the outer surface overlapping the longitudinal edges of the film / laminate strip, close to each other or touching or overlapping each other, with or without sealing / welding or bonding of the longitudinal edges.

[0032] According to yet another aspect of the present invention, the sealing strip may be fixed on outer surfaces of flexible film / laminate strip edges after configuring the edges close to each other or touching or overlapping. Further, the bottom surface of the sealing strip is heat-sealed, ultrasonic welded or High Frequency welded or bonded with suitable adhesive with the outer surface of the film / laminate strip, overlapping the longitudinal edges, thereby forming the improved sheathing.

[0033] According to the present invention, to enclose the conductor core(s), the improved sheathing is configured by sealing / welding / bonding of the longitudinal edges of the film / laminate strip in a weld zone, by any of suitable sealing / welding / bonding configuration(s) selected from overlappingof slanted edges configuration, overlapping of edges configuration, butt joining of edges configuration, with or without the sealing strip, depending upon the surface characteristics of the film / laminate strip and / or the structure of film / laminate strip or may be designed as per the type of welding / sealing / bonding configuration / joint to be adopted.

[0034] According to the present invention, the electrical wire / cable comprises at least a conductor core and an improved sheathing configured by using any of sealing / welding / bonding configured on(s) as described below, to enclose the conductor core:(a) The overlapping of slanted edges configuration comprises the longitudinal edges of the film / laminate strip shaved at an included angle of 10° ~ 45° with respect to the outer surface at one edge and with respect to inner surface at the other edge of the film / laminate strip, to make the cross section area of the longitudinal edges slanted, which offers more surface area than the perpendicular cross section and ease of sealing by pressing the overlapping slanted edges. Such film / laminate strip is folded around the conductor core to form a tube by configuring the longitudinal edges having slanting ends overlapped in weld zone, sealed / welded / bonded at the slanting surfaces of the cross section of the edges, to enclose the conductor core inside the folded film / laminate strip to form a sheathed electrical wire / cable with the improved sheathing. A sealing strip may be additionally provided on the outer surface, covering the joint of the edges.(b) The overlapping of edges configuration comprises the longitudinal edges of the film / laminate strip folded around the conductor core to form a tube by configuring the longitudinal edges such that the longitudinal edges of the film / laminate strip overlap and inner surface near one edge seal / weld / bond with the outer surface near the other longitudinal edge in the weld zone, to enclose the conductor core inside the folded film / laminate strip to form a sheathed electrical wire / cable with the improved sheathing. A sealing strip may be additionally provided to cover the overlapping joint and provide extra strength to the joint.(c) The butt joining of edges configuration comprises the film / laminate strip folded around the conductor core to form a tube by configuring the longitudinal edges of the film / laminate strip, each longitudinal edge having a cut perpendicular to the outer or inner surfaces, to make the cross sectional area of the longitudinal edges right angled to the outer and inner surface, such that the cross section of the longitudinal edges of the film / laminate strip face each other in a butt joint configuration, sealed / welded / bonded to each other to enclose the conductor core inside the folded film / laminate strip, to form a sheathed electrical wire / cable with the improved sheathing. A sealing strip may be additionally provided on the outer surface overlapping both the edges of the film / laminate strip, to form a sheathed electrical wire / cablewith the improved sheathing.

[0035] According to the present invention, the longitudinal edges, are sealed by welding / sealing / bonding by any of the methods such as heat sealing, hot air, heat and pressure, ultrasonic welding, hot air & pressure, laser sealing, induction sealing, pressing & cooling, or any other suitable sealing method or any combination of such methods, thereof.

[0036] When the sealing strip is applied by sealing / welding, the polymer of the bottom surface of the sealing strip is sealable with the outer surface of the film / laminate strip.

[0037] Alternatively, the sealing strip can be applied by bonding, the bottom surface of the sealing strip may be pre coated with an adhesive and protected by silicon or butter paper or any other protection layer or suitable adhesive is dispensed at the interface between the outer surface of the edges and the sealing strip.

[0038] Yet another aspect of the present invention is to provide an electrical wire / cable having the improved sheathing with the same or better insulation using polymer like PE, having better electrical insulation properties. Further, the improved sheathing can be designed using different polymers for the electrical wire / cable as per usage conditions and polymer properties. The sheathing thickness may be reduced to provide more flexible electrical wire / cables maintaining other insulating and electrical properties, by using specific polymer(s) in the film / laminate.

[0039] Yet another aspect of the present invention is to provide the electrical wire / cable having the improved sheathing that offers, anti-counterfeiting and security features, to avoid duplicity by providing the hologram, Unigram, optical patterns, latent images, Fresnel lens, laser engraving, laser etching for patterns, Lenticular patterns, text, markings etc., individually or in any combination, unregistered or registered with each other or with printing or any marking along the length, all over the surface or at predefined pitch / location or configured randomly.

[0040] The foregoing illustrative summary, as well as other exemplary objectives and / or advantages of the invention, and the manner in which the same are accomplished, are further explained within the following detailed description and its accompanying drawings.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0041] FIGS. 1A-1C are schematic views of a single core electrical wire / cables (100 A) having an improved sheathing (100) made by film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500), by using different types of seal / weld / bond configurations, in accordance with the present invention;

[0042] FIG. 2A-2B are schematic views of a multi-core electrical wire / cables (120 A) having an improved sheathing (120) made by film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500), by using different types ofseal / weld / bond configurations, in accordance with the present invention;

[0043] FIG. 3 is schematic view showing layer structure of a typical multilayer film strip (400), which can be adopted to form an improved sheathing (100, 120) in accordance with the present invention; and

[0044] FIG. 4 is schematic view showing the multilayer structure of a laminate strip (500), which can be adopted to form an improved sheathing (100, 120) in accordance with the present invention.DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

[0045] For a thorough understanding of the invention, reference is to be made to the following description in connection with the above-mentioned drawings. Although the invention is described in connection with exemplary embodiments, the invention is not intended to be limited to the specific forms set forth herein. It is understood that various omissions and substitutions of equivalents are contemplated as circumstances may suggest or render expedient, but these are intended to cover the application or implementation without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Further, it will nevertheless be understood that no limitation in the scope of the invention is thereby intended, such alterations and further modifications in the figures and such further applications of the principles of the invention as illustrated therein being contemplated as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention relates. In other instances, detailed descriptions of well-known methods, layout and procedures, and devices are omitted so, not to obscure the description of the present invention with unnecessary detail. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.

[0046] Further, reference herein to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” or “another embodiment” means that a particular feature, characteristic, or function described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Furthermore, the appearances of such phrases at various places herein are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. Furthermore, the appearances of such phrases at various places herein are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. The terms "a" and "an" herein do not denote a limitation of quantity but rather denote the presence of at least one of the referenced items.

[0047] Further, the term “wire / cable” can be a conventional single core electrical wire / cable made of solid single or multiple flexible wires of metal conductor core or it can be an electrical wire / cable made of polymeric metal composite flat strands, braided / bunched / twisted and enclosed by a sheathing.

[0048] Furthermore, the term “wire / cable” can also be used for multi-core electrical wire / cable, having a plurality of single core electrical wires / cables, bunched or twisted and enclosed by a sheathing, collectively. Further, the single core or multi-core wires / cables can also be conventional electrical wire / cables, or polymeric metal composite wires / cables.

[0049] The term “conventional electrical wire / cable” is used for any single core or multicore electrical wire / cable having a conductor core which is insulated by a sheathing made by way of polymer extrusion process.

[0050] Further, the term “conductor core” is used for both, the single core and multicore electrical wire / cable. However, for the multicore electrical wire / cable, this “conductor core” is the plurality of single core electrical wire / cables, each of which has its own “conductor core” covered in its own insulating sheathing.

[0051] Further, “polymeric metal composite” term is used with reference to “a web of polymeric- metal composite comprising a base film / laminate made of polymer with one side or both sides having conductive metal coating / metal foil or metal deposition / plating one over the other”.

[0052] Further, the term “Hologram” or “Holographic Embossing” refers to Hologram, Unigram, optical pattern, latent images, Fresnel lens, laser engraving, laser etching for patterns, Lenticular patterns, text, markings etc., individually or in any combination, unregistered or registered with each other or with printing or any marking along the length, all over the surface or at predefined pitch / location or configured randomly.

[0053] Further, the term “desired information” refers to information like text, color coding, printed design, color-coding line, markings for length, dimensions, description, make, and / or graphics individually or in any combination thereof.

[0054] Furthermore, the term “sheathing” or “improved insulating sheathing” or “improved sheathing” refers to same component.

[0055] The present invention provides an electrical wire / cable (100A, 120A) having an improved sheathing (100, 120), respectively. The improved sheathing (100, 120) of the present invention is made by a film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500) by using different types of seal / weld / bond configurations to enclose at least a conducting core (10, 100 A) to form electrical wire / cable (100 A, 120 A), in accordance with the present invention. Further, the electrical wire / cable can be a single core electrical wire / cable (100A) or it can also be a multi-core electrical wire / cable (120A).

[0056] FIGS. 1A-1C has three schematic views of a single core electrical wire / cables (100A) and FIGS. 2A-2B has two schematic views of multicore electrical wire / cable (120 A), having an improved sheathing (100, 120) made by film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500), with or without a sealing strip (300).

[0057] The electrical wire / cable (100A, 120A) having the improved sheathing (100, 120) comprising at least a conductor core (10, 100 A) and at least an improved insulating sheathing (100, 120) enclosing the conductor core (10, 100A), wherein the improved insulating sheathing (100, 120) comprises a flexible film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500) having longitudinal edges (200a, 200b), that is folded around the conductor core (10, 100A) to form a tube to enclose the conductor core (10, 100 A), wherein the longitudinal edges (200a, 200b) are in a weld zone (Z) and are sealed / welded / bonded to each other, to obtain the sheathed electrical wire / cable (100A, 120A). The longitudinal edges (200a, 200b) are sealed / welded / bonded to each other, by using at least one configuration(s) selected from any of overlapping of slanted edges configuration, as shown in FIG. 1A, overlapping of edges configuration as shown in FIGS. IB & 2B, butt joining of edges configuration as shown in FIGS. 1C & 2 A, to configure the improved sheathing (100, 120) of the electrical wire / cable (100 A, 120A). Further, any of the selected configuration(s) of the improved sheathing (100, 120) may further comprises a sealing strip (300).

[0058] As shown in FIGS. 1A-1C, the single core electrical wire / cable (100A) comprises at least a conductor core (10) and at least an insulating improved sheathing (100) enclosing the conducting core (10). Further the flexible improved sheathing (100) comprising a film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500) having longitudinal edges (200a, 200b) and comprises at least a layer, having an outer surface (202, 400a, 500a) and an inner surface (204, 400b, 500b), wherein the film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500) is folded to form a tube and place the longitudinal edges (200a, 200b) in a suitable sealing / welding / bonding configuration(s) in a weld zone (Z) and sealed / welded / bonded to each other to enclose the conductor core (10) inside the folded film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500) tube, to form the single core electrical wire / cable (100 A). Further, the selected configuration(s) may further comprise the sealing strip (300).

[0059] The sealing strip (300) is additional, and comprises at least a layer having two surfaces, i.e. a top surface (302) and a bottom surface (304), wherein the bottom surface (304) is heat-sealed, ultrasonic welded or High frequency welded or bonded with suitable adhesive to the outer surface (202, 400a, 500a) of the film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500) of the improved sheathing (100, 120).

[0060] The sealing / welding / bonding configuration(s) in the single core electrical wire / cable (100 A) can be any one of overlapping of slanted edges configuration, as shown in FIG. 1A,overlapping of edges configuration as shown in FIGS. IB, butt joining of edges configuration as shown in FIG. 1C, to form the improved sheathing (100, 120), depending upon the characteristic of the surface of the layer(s) (202, 204, 400a, 400b, 500a, 500b) of the film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500) and / or the structure of film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500) of the improved sheathing (100, 120) or may be designed as per the type of weld / seal / bond joint, to be adopted for the electrical wire / cable (100A, 120A).

[0061] According to an embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1A, the electrical wire / cable (100A, 120A) having the improved sheathing (100, 120) which is configured by overlapping of slanted edges configuration, comprising the longitudinal edges (200a, 200b) of the film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500), shaved at an included angle of 10° ~ 45° with respect to the outer surface (202, 400a, 500a) at one edge (200a) and with respect to inner surface (204, 400b, 500b) at the other edge (200b) to make the cross section area of the longitudinal edges (200a, 200b) slanting, which offers more surface area than the perpendicular cross section area. Such film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500) is folded around at least a conductor core (10, 100A) to form a tube, by configuring the longitudinal edges with slanted ends (200a, 200b) overlapped for the joint in a weld zone (Z) and sealed / welded / bonded to each other, at the slanting surfaces of the cross section of the longitudinal edges (200a, 200b), to enclose the conductor core (10, 100 A) inside the folded film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500), to form the electrical wire / cable (100A, 120A).

[0062] According to this embodiment, the cross section of the longitudinal edges (200a, 200b) of the film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500) are shaved / cut at the included angle as mentioned above which has the effect of increasing the lateral contact surface of the film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500), for slanted cut edges (200a, 200b), overlapped in the weld zone (Z). Such configuration also enhances the quality and strength of the joint.

[0063] According to another embodiment of the present invention, for the overlapping of slanted edges configuration of the improved sheathing (100, 120), the longitudinal edges with slanted ends (200a, 200b) overlapped for the joint in a weld zone (Z) and sealed / welded / bonded to each other at the slanting surfaces of the cross section of the longitudinal edges (200a, 200b) may utilize a sealing strip (300) which is provided on the outer surface (202, 400a, 500a), covering the joint of the longitudinal edges (200a, 200b). This provision of the additional sealing strip (300) requires bottom sealing surface (304) of the sealing strip (300) and outer surface (202, 400a, 500a) of the film / laminate (200) having polymers suitable for sealing / welding / bonding, to enclose the conductor core (10, 100A) inside the folded film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500), thus forming an electrical wire / cable (100A, 120A).

[0064] According to another embodiment of the present invention as shown in FIG. IB & FIG. 2B, the electrical wire / cable (100A, 120A) having the improved sheathing (100, 120), which is configured by the overlapping of edges configuration, comprises the longitudinal edges (200a, 200b) of the film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500) placed in an overlapped configuration in a weld zone (Z), and seal / weld / bond the inner surface (204, 400b, 500b) over the outer surface (202, 400a, 500a) near the longitudinal edges (200a, 200b), to enclose the conductor core (10, 110A) inside the film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500) to form an electrical wire / cable (100A, 120A). This configuration may also be formed with or without the sealing strip (300), (not shown), as explained earlier.

[0065] According to this embodiment, the film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500) is folded around the conductor core (10, 110A) to form the tube by configuring the longitudinal edges (200a, 200b) of the film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500) such that the longitudinal edges (200a, 200b) overlap with the inner surface (204, 400b, 500b) near one edge (200a or 200b), sealed / welded / bonded with the outer surface (202, 400a, 500a) near the other edge (200b or 200a), to enclose the conductor core (10, 110) inside the folded film / laminate strip (200), to form an electrical wire / cable (100A, 120A).

[0066] According to the present embodiment, the improved sheathing (100, 120) is configured by joining the inner surface (204, 400b, 500b) with the outer surface (202, 400a, 500a) of the longitudinal edges (200a, 200b) directly without any sealing strip (300), as shown in FIG. IB & FIG. 2B. This embodiment is possible when the polymers of outer (202, 400a, 500a) and inner surfaces (204, 400b, 500b) are sealable with each other.

[0067] However, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure, in certain film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500) structures, wherein the outer and inner surfaces (202, 400a, 500a and 204, 400b, 500b) are sealable to each other, may also utilize the sealing strip (300), provided over the weld zone (Z) on the outer surface (202, 400a, 500a) of the film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500), to cover the overlapping joint and provide extra strength to the joint. The sealing method, utilized for such sealing, may be heat sealing or other known means, ultrasonic sealing / welding, High frequency sealing / welding or by any other sealing method known in the art.

[0068] According to another embodiment of the present invention as shown in FIG. 1C & FIG. 2 A, to form the electrical wire / cable (100A, 120) having the improved sheathing (100, 120) configured by the butt joining of edges configuration, wherein for the butt joining of edges configuration, cross section of each longitudinal edges (200a, 200b) of the film / laminate (200, 400, 500) has a cut perpendicular to the outer (202, 400a, 500a) or inner surfaces (204, 400b, 500b), to make the crosssectional area of the longitudinal edges (200a, 200b) right angled to the outer (202, 400a, 500a) and inner surface (204, 400b, 500b) and sealed / welded / bonded to each other at the right angled cross sectional area having a cut perpendicular to the outer or inner surfaces (202, 400a, 500a, 204, 400b, 500b). The film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500) is folded to form a tube around the conductor core (10, 110A), such that the cross sections of the longitudinal edges (200a, 200b) of the film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500) face each other in a butt joint configuration in weld zone (Z) sealed / welded / bonded to each other, to enclose the conductor core (10, 100 A) inside the folded film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500). This configuration may also be formed with or without sealing strip (300). The sealing strip (300) is provided over the outer surface (202, 400b, 500b), overlapping both the sealed / welded / bonded edges (200a, 200b) of the film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500), to form an electrical wire / cable (100A, 120A).

[0069] This configuration can also be used when the outer and inner surface (202 400a, 500a), and (204, 400b, 500b ) of the film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500) edges, are not sealable with each other to configure the improved sheathing (100, 120), due to the polymer properties of the polymers at the cross section of longitudinal edges (200a, 200b). In this aspect, the inner surface (204, 400b, 500b) is joined with the outer surface (202, 400a, 500a) by fixing the sealing strip (300), overlapping said edges (200a, 200b) to configure the conductor core (10, 100 A) inside the improved sheathing (100, 120) to form an electrical wire / cable (100A, 120A). The bottom surface (304) of the sealing strip (300) is heat-sealed, ultrasonic welded or High Frequency welded or bonded with suitable adhesive, with the outer surface (202, 400a, 500a) of the film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500).

[0070] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the conductor core (10) of the single core electrical wire / cable (100A) comprises any of single solid metal wire having cross sections of round, square, rectangle or any other shape, a bunch of plurality of metal wires having cross sections of round, square, rectangle or any other shape, plurality of polymeric metal composite flat strands, individually or in a combination thereofbraided, or bunched or twisted together, each in predefined size and numbers. The metal used in solid wire or in the flexible metal wires or in the polymeric metal composite flat strands may be at least one of Copper, Aluminum, Steel, Nickel, Silver, Gold, Cadmium, Tungsten, or their alloys in any combination thereof. The metal of the conductor core (10) may be bare or coated with Tin or Silver or Gold or with any other metal.

[0071] According to another embodiment, the conductor core (10) of the single core wire / cable (100 A) can be at least one solid metal core along with plurality of polymeric metal composite strands, braided / bunched / twisted together.

[0072] FIGS. 2A-2B are schematic views showing a multi-core electrical wire / cable (120A) havingan improved sheathing (120) to enclose a plurality of single core electrical wire / cable (100 A), which work as a conducting mean, to form the multi core electrical wire / cable (120 A), typically a three-core as shown in FIG. 2A and eight-core electrical wire / cable as shown in FIG. 2B, in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention. The number of single-core electrical wire / cable (100A), in the muti-core electrical wire / cable (120A) may vary from more than two (2) and up to any number, depending upon the design of the multi-core electrical wire / cable (120 A).

[0073] The multi-core electrical wire / cable (120A) comprises one or more conductor core (100A) and the improved insulating sheathing (120) enclosing the conductor core (s) (100A). The conductor core (100A) herein for the multi-core electrical wire / cable (120A) means a predefined number of plurality of single core electrical wire / cables (100A), each of which comprises any type of conductor core (10) as explained above and insulated by its own improved sheathing (100), bunched or twisted collectively. The improved sheathing (120) comprises a film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500) having longitudinal edges (200a, 200b) and at least a layer having an outer surface (202, 400a, 500a) and an inner surface (204, 400b, 500b). , which is folded to from a tube by configuring two longitudinal edges (200a, 200b) in any one of suitable sealing / welding / bonding configuration(s) selected from a group consisting overlapping of slanted edges configuration as shown in FIG. 1A, overlapping of edges configuration as shown in FIG. 2B, butt joining of edges configuration as shown in FIG. 2A, in the weld zone (Z) and sealed / welded / bonded to each other, as explained earlier with respect to FIGS. 1A-1C, to enclose the predefined number of plurality of single core electrical wire / cables (100A), bunched or twisted collectively, inside the folded film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500) to form the multi-core electrical wire / cable (120A).

[0074] Additionally, a sealing strip (300) may be provided over the outer surface (202, 400a, 500b) overlapping the longitudinal edges (200a, 200b) in weld zone (Z).

[0075] . Further, as shown in FIGS. 2A-2B, any or all the single core electrical wires / cables (100A) in the multi-core wire / cable (120A) may comprise the improved sheathing (100) configured by any one or a combination of sealing / welding / bonding configuration(s) as shown and explained in FIGS. 1A, IB and 1C, with or without the sealing strip (300) to enclose their own conductor core (10).

[0076] The single core electrical wire / cable (100A) in the multi-core electrical wire / cable (120A) may have any of a solid metal wire or multiple metal wire conductor core (10) or conductor core (10) made of polymeric metal composite flat strands, individually or in a combination thereof, which are braided / bunched / twisted together and sheathed by at least a layer of insulating polymer.

[0077] Further, the conductor core (10) in the single core wire / cable (100A) of the multi-core wires / cables (120A) can be at least one solid metal conductor core, along with plurality of polymeric metal composite flat strands, braided / bunched / twisted together.

[0078] In another embodiment, none or any number of the single core electrical wires / cables (100A) in the multi-core electrical wire / cable (120A) may comprise an extrusion insulating sheathing done by extrusion. The single core electrical wire / cable (100 A) can be conventional wire / cable sheathed by extrusion having metal wires conductor cores, or it can be a wire / cable comprising conductor core of polymeric metal composite flat strands or individually or in a combination thereof.

[0079] According to the present invention, the electrical wire / cable (100A, 120A) having the improved sheathing (100, 120), preferably has a circular cross section. However, the electrical wire / cable (100A, 120A) having the improved sheathing (100, 120) may also have any of circular / round, oval, square, rectangular or polygonal cross-sections, depending upon the arrangement of the conductor core (10) and the single core electrical wires / cables (100 A) inside the sheathing (100, 120).

[0080] According to the present invention, the film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500) of the improved sheathing (100, 120) has a thickness ranging from 200 microns to 3,400 microns.

[0081] However, the width of the film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500) of the improved sheathing (100), for sheathing the single core electrical wire / cable (100 A), depends on the diameter of braided / bunched / twisted conductor core (10), which depends on the current carrying capacity of the electrical wire / cable (100), which is ensured by suitable number of metal wires or polymeric metal composite strands of the conductor core and their size and structures.

[0082] In case of sheathing multi core electrical wire / cable (120A), the width of the film / laminate strip (200) of the improved sheathing (120) depends on the diameter of bunched / twisted single core wires (100A) collectively, which depends on the number and current carrying capacity of the singlecore electrical wires / cables (100A) bunched / twisted collectively, to form a multi-core electrical wire / cable (120A).

[0083] FIGS. 3 & 4 are schematic views showing the structure of a multilayer film strip (400) and the structure of a multilayer laminate strip (500), which can also be adopted in place of the film / laminate strip (200), to form the electrical wire / cable (100 A, 120 A), in accordance with the present invention. Before going into the details, the substrate of the sheathing (100, 120) can be a film / laminate (200, 400, 500) or a film (200, 400) or a laminate (200, 500) and the substrate as film / laminate strip (200) having at least a layer with two surfaces (202, 204) is explained herein.

[0084] According to one embodiment, the flexible film / laminate strip (200) of the improved sheathing (100, 120) may either be a mono layer or a multi-layer film (200, 400) or a laminate (200, 500) of polymers thereof. The laminate (200, 500) may be made by laminating a mono layer film or multi-layer film (200, 400) with at least one mono layer film or multilayer film, in any combination, using any or combination of the methods known to a person skilled in the art.

[0085] According to the present invention, the single or multilayer polymeric film of the film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500) may comprise polymeric insulating polymer(s) selected from the group comprising of Polyethylene (PE), Polypropylene (PP), Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET), Ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), Rubber, Thermoplastic rubber (TPR), Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), Polycarbonate (PC), Polyamide (PA), Fluorinated Ethylene Propylene (FEP), Polyurethane (PU), Thermoplastic Elastomer (TPE), Ethylene-vinyl alcohol (EVOH), Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC), or any other polymer including biodegradable polymers, individually or in any combination or blend.

[0086] According to the present invention, the film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500) may be a heat shrinkable film / laminate strip or comprises films of specific polymers that shrink in one or both directions (Machine Direction and Transverse Direction), when heat is applied. The shrinkable film / laminate (200, 400, 500) comprises any polymer selected from the above-mentioned group of polymers, individually or in any combination thereof.

[0087] According to the present invention, the film / laminate strip (200, 400) and / or the sealing strip (300) of the improved sheathing (100, 120) can be any of blown film, cast film and extruded film.

[0088] According to the present invention, the film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500) may comprise one or more layers of foamed polymer.

[0089] According to the present invention, the outer surface (202, 400a, 500a) of the film / laminate strip (200) may be surface printed with desired information. Additionally, or alternatively, the inner surface (204, 400b, 500b) of the film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500) can be reverse printed with desired information, provided that the outer surface (202, 400a, 500a) is transparent, to see the printing from outer surface (202, 400a, 500a) side.

[0090] The film / laminate strip (200) with at least one layer (film strip) or at least two layers (laminate strip) structure, each having two surfaces (202, 204) and that must be considered as a nonlimiting example, as shown in FIGS. 1 & 2. In various other embodiments of the present invention, the film / laminate strip (200) may comprise more than two layers, as shown in the film / laminate strip (400, 500) in FIGS. 3 & 4.

[0091] If the longitudinal edges (200a, 200b) are overlapping in a weld zone (Z), then the inner surface (204, 400b, 500b) must be sealable with the outer surface (202, 400a, 500a). Further, if a sealing strip (300) is to be used, then the bottom surface (304) of the sealing strip (300) is heat- sealed, ultrasonic welded or High frequency welded etc. as explained earlier, with the outer surface (202, 400a, 500a) of the film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500).

[0092] Alternatively, suitable adhesive may be used between the bottom surface (304) of the sealing strip (300) and outer surface (202, 400a, 500a) of the film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500), to bond the sealing strip (300) with the outer surface (202, 400a, 500a) near the longitudinal edges (200a, 200b) of the film / laminate strip (200, 400a, 500a).

[0093] The sealing strip (300) may be a mono or multiple layer polymeric film or laminate in various combinations of layers of single or multilayer polymeric films, thereof, which is suitable for sealing / welding or bonding with the outer surface (202, 400a, 500a) overlapping the longitudinal edges (200a, 200b), close to each other or touching or overlapping each other, with or without sealing / welding or bonding of the longitudinal edges (200a, 200b) of the film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500), to configure the improved sheathing (100, 120).

[0094] By no way limiting the scope of the present subject matter, the sealing strip (300) may be a mono layer film of Polyethylene (PE), Polyamide (PA), Polypropylene (PP), Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET), Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC), etc., or the sealing strip (300) may be a multi-layer film with the combination of any of PE, PA, PP, PET, PVC, Ethylene- vinyl alcohol (EVOH), etc. or a laminate of single layer and / or multilayer films made of these polymers.

[0095] According to the present invention, the sealing strip (300) has a thickness ranging from 20 microns to 100 microns for the electrical wires (100 A, 120 A), however for larger cables (100 A, 120A) the thickness of the sealing strip may go up to 2,500 microns. The width of the sealing strip (300) may range from 2 mm to 5 mm for the electrical wires (100 A, 120 A) and may go up to 25mm for larger cables (100A, 120A). However, without departing from the scope, the width of the sealing strip (300) may vary according to the product design and process needs.

[0096] According to the present invention, at least one surface (202, 400a, 500a) of any layer of the film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500) and / or of the sealing strip (300), may optionally be configured with embossed optical pattern, latent images, Fresnel lens, Lenticular patterns, Holograms, Unigrams, laser engraving or laser etching for patterns, text, markings etc., individually or in any combination, unregistered or registered with each other or with printing or any marking, along the length, all over the surface or at predefined pitch / location or configured randomly.

[0097] The sealing strip (300) may be metallized or non-metallized.

[0098] The film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500) and / or sealing strip (300) may be printed or unprinted. Further, the film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500) and / or sealing strip (300) may be opaque or transparent.

[0099] According to the present invention, any one layer or combination of layers of the film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500) and / or the sealing strip (300) may comprise recycled polymer, partially or fully.

[0100] According to the present invention, the film / laminate strip (200) may be a film (200, 400) or laminate (200, 500) comprising more than one layer, as shown in FIGS. 3 & 4. Typical examples of the film strip (400) and laminate strip (500) having more than one layer are presented herein for the purpose of understanding, and the disclosure in any way may not be considered to be limited to these structures only.

[0101] As shown in FIG. 3, the multilayer film (400) is shown to configure the improved sheathing (100, 120) for the electrical wires / cables (100A, 120A). The multilayer film (400) includes three layers, which are an outer layer (402), a middle layer (403) having one or more layer; and an inner layer (404).

[0102] Further, the inner surface (400b) means the inner layer (404) may be optionally reverse printed with desired information, provided the middle layer (403), tie layers (403a, 403c) and outer layer (402) are transparent to see the reverse printing from the outer surface (400a) side. However, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure, printing of the desired information may be performed on the outer surface (400a) as surface printing. Registered or unregistered holograms, optical patterns, latent images, as mentioned earlier “Hologram”, as anti-counterfeit feature or for aesthetic purposes may be provided on any one surface (400a) or both the surfaces (400a, 400b). The inner surface (400b) may be provided with metallization to highlight the “holographic embossing”. The holographic embossing may be performed by cast and cure method using UV coating known in the art. Further, if the embossing is done on the outer surface (400a), with or without printing, the outer surface (400a) is coated with a suitable transparent hard coating to protect the embossing and / or printing from abrasion and scratch. However, both reverse printing and surface printing, may be done.

[0103] As shown in FIG. 3, the middle layer (403) is configured between the inner surface of the outer layer (402) and inner surface of the inner layer (404). However, the middle layers (403) may comprise plurality of layers of more than one of suitable polymers depending upon the electrical and mechanical properties desired in the improved sheathing (100, 120). If the polymers of these three layers (402, 403, 404) are not fusible with each other, then one or more tie layers (403a, 403c) ofsuitable polymer are used between the layers (402, 403, 404), to configure the multilayer film strip (400). The polymer of the tie layers (403a, 403c) has good adhesion capability of forming the bond between the layer surfaces, which otherwise are not fusible with each other, when co-extruded.

[0104] The outer layer (402) includes all the features of the outer layer (202) of the film strip (200) and the inner layer (404) includes all the features of the inner layer (204) of the film strip (200) and are not described herein again for the sake of brevity.

[0105] The multilayer film strip (400) for the film strip (200) has an overall thickness ranging from 200 microns to 3,400 microns, depending upon thickness and number of layers.

[0106] As shown in FIG. 3, a typical example of multilayer film (400) for the film strip (200) may be surface printed, additionally or alternatively reverse printed, on an inner surface (400b) with color lines, text, pattern individually or in any combination. However, the multilayer film strip (400) may be printed or unprinted. Further, the multilayer film strip (400) may be opaque or transparent.

[0107] Referring now to FIG. 4, a typical example of a multilayer laminate strip (500) for the laminate strip (200), to configure the improved sheathing (100, 120) of electrical wire / cable (100A, 120A), is illustrated. According to this typical example, the multilayer laminate strip (500) includes three layers, an outer layer (502), a middle layer (503), and an inner layer (509). The outer layer (502) may optionally include reverse printing (505) on its inner surface (502b) with desired information like text, color coding, printed design, color-coding line, markings for length, dimensions, description, make, individually or a combination thereof. However, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure, printing of the desired information as explained above, may alternatively be performed on the outer surface (502a) as surface printing, which forms the outer surface (500a) of the laminate strip (500).

[0108] Registered or unregistered holograms, optical patterns, latent images, Lenticular patterns, Unigrams Fresnel lens, as mentioned earlier “Hologram”, as anti-counterfeit features or for aesthetic purposes, may be provided on outer surface (502a) or any surface of any other layer in the laminate (500) structure, provided all the layers above the Hologram embossing (507) / , towards outer layer (502) are transparent, fully or partially. However, in this example Hologram embossing (507) is shown on outer surface (503a) of the middle layer film (503L) of the laminate strip (500). In this case the outer layer (502) must be transparent, fully or partially, so that the holographic embossing (507) is visible through it.

[0109] Reverse printing and surface printing both may be done on surfaces of any layer combination, in the multilayer laminate (500). However, the multilayer laminate (500) may be printed or unprinted. Further, the multilayer laminate (500) may be opaque or transparent.

[0110] The middle layer (503) from its metalized hologram embossing side (504) or from the non- metalized hologram pattern embossing side (507), as the case may be, is configured to the reverse printed side (505) of the outer layer (502). For obtaining the metalized hologram or optical pattern or Fresnel lens, etc. the middle layer (503) includes a metalized layer (504) over the Hologram embossing (507). Alternatively, metallization may be performed on the inner surface (503b) of the middle layer film (503L). In another embodiment the outer surface (503a) of the middle layer film (503L) is pre- metallized and then embossed with the “Hologram” etc.

[0111] All the said layers in the laminate (500), such as the outer layer (502), the middle layer (503), and the inner layer (509) are laminated together by suitable adhesive layers (506, 508) or by hot extrusion lamination or a combination thereof, as shown in the FIG. 4.

[0112] Specifically, the outer layer (502) and the middle layer (503) are laminated to each other by the adhesive layer (506). Further, the middle layer (503) and the inner layer (509) are laminated to each other by the adhesive layer (508) to configure the laminate (500). Any or all the adhesive layers (506, 508) may be replaced with hot extrusion lamination using suitable polymers. Further, the middle layer (503) may comprise more than one layer of middle layer film (503L) of suitable polymers having the outer surface (503a) and inner surface (503b), depending upon the electrical and mechanical properties desired in the improved sheathing (100, 120).

[0113] The outer layer (502) includes all the features of the outer layer (202) of the film / laminate strip (200) and the inner layer (509) includes all the features of the inner layer (204) of the film / laminate strip (200) and are not described herein again for the sake of brevity. Further, any layer (502, 503,509) of the multilayer laminate (500) can be monolayer or multilayer.

[0114] The multi-layer laminate strip (500) for the laminate strip (200) has an overall thickness ranging from 200 microns to 3,400 microns.

[0115] As shown in FIG. 4, a typical example of laminate (500) for the laminate strip (200) may be unprinted or may be optionally reverse printed with color lines, text, pattern individually or in any combination, if done on the outer layer (502) or inner layer (509), or reverse printed or surface printed with color lines, text, pattern individually or in any combination, on any other layer, provided the layers over the printing towards outer layer (502) are transparent.

[0116] According to the present invention, one or more layers (502, 503, 509) of the laminate (500) of the laminate strip (200) may or may not comprise any of functional additives such as nucleating agents, fire retardant, UV stabilizers, anti-static, smoke-retardants / low smoke, Heat stabilizers, lubricants, processing aids, antioxidant, plasticizers or a combination thereof. Similarly, one or more the layers of the film / laminate strip (200, 400) may or may not comprise any of the afore-mentioned functional additives or a combination thereof.

[0117] One or more layers of the sealing strip (300) may or may not comprise any of the above- mentioned functional additives or a combination thereof.

[0118] Various insulating polymers used in different layers of mono, or multi-layer film (200, 400) and laminate (200,500) may be halogen free.

[0119] According to the present invention, at least one layer of the film strip (200, 400) may comprise of any of filler such as CaCO3;Lithopone, Barium Sulphate, Nano Clay, Kaolin, Talc, Titanium dioxide etc., individually or in any combination thereof.

[0120] Master batches may be added in at least one layer of the film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500) to provide desired color, special effect such as pearl effect, glitter effect metallic effect or marble effect, individually or a combination thereof. However, the film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500) may not have any color or special effect master batch in any layer.

[0121] Similarly, Color master batches may also be added in at least one layer of the sealing strip (300) to provide desired color, special effect master batches as described hereinabove in respect of film / laminate (200, 400, 500) and may be added in at least one layer of the sealing strip (300), individually or in any combination thereof. However, the sealing strip (300) may not have any color or special effect master batches in any layer.

[0122] As shown in FIGS. 1A to 1C and in FIGS. 2A to 2B, the film / laminate strip (200) having two surfaces (202, 204) is illustrated for the improved sheathing (100, 120) of the electrical wire / cable (100A, 120A). However, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure, configuration of the improved sheathing (100, 120) may be configured by utilizing any of the above film or laminate structure (400, 500), with or without the sealing strip (300), by using any of sealing / welding / bonding configuration(s), as described herein above and other structures of the film / laminate as known in the art.

[0123] According to another embodiment, the improved sheathing (100, 120) configured from heat shrinkable film / laminate (200, 400, 500) specifically processed to achieve heat shrinking properties, using specific polymers, is heat shrunk, to hold the conductor core (10, 100 A) tightly inside the sheathing (100, 120).

[0124] The design of the sealing strip (300) is defined considering the sealing properties, mechanical strength, security / anti counterfeit features and appearance requirements. Depending on the method of application and the properties to be provided, there may be various types of sealing strips (300) which may be used in accordance with the present invention: The sealing strip (300)may be weldable / sealable and may comprise a single layer film of polymer sealable with the outer surface (202, 400a, 500a) of the film / laminate (200, 400, 500). Alternatively, the sealing strip (300) may be a multilayer film or laminate with bottom surface (304) of a polymer sealable / weldable with the outer surface (202, 400a, 500a) of the film / laminate (200, 400, 500).

[0125] The foregoing descriptions of specific embodiments of the present disclosure have been presented for purposes of illustration and description. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the present disclosure to the precise forms disclosed and obviously many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the present disclosure and its practical application, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the present disclosure and various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is understood that various omission and substitutions of equivalents are contemplated as circumstances may suggest or render expedient, but such are intended to cover the application or implementation without departing from the spirit or the scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.REFERENCE NUMERALS

Claims

CLAIMS1. An electrical wire / cable (100A, 120A) having an improved sheathing (100, 120), comprising: a) at least one conductor core (10, 100A); and b) at least an improved insulating sheathing (100, 120) enclosing the conductor core (10, 100A); wherein the improved insulating sheathing (100, 120) comprises a flexible film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500) having longitudinal edges (200a, 200b), folded to enclose the conductor core (10, 100 A); wherein the longitudinal edges (200a, 200b) are in a weld zone (Z) and sealed / welded / bonded to each other, to obtain the electrical wire / cable (100 A, 120A).

2. The electrical wire / cable (100 A, 120A) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the longitudinal edges (200a, 200b) of the film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500) are sealed / welded / bonded by using at least one configuration(s) selected from overlapping of slanted edges configuration, overlapping of edges configuration and butt joining of edges configuration, to configure the improved sheathing (100, 120).

3. The electrical wire / cable (100 A, 120A) as claimed in claim 2, wherein any of the selected configuration(s) further comprises a sealing strip (300), to configure the improved sheathing (100, 120).

4. The electrical wire / cable (100A, 120A) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the electrical wire / cable (100A, 120 A) is a single core electrical wire / cable (100A), or a multi-core electrical wire / cable (120A).

5. The single core electrical wire / cable (100A) as claimed in claim 4, wherein the conductor core (10) comprises of a single solid metal wire having a cross-section of round, square, or any other shape or a bunch of multiple flexible metal wires of round, square, or any other shape, or plurality of polymeric metal composite flat strands, individually or in combination thereof, braided / bunched / twisted together, in a predefined size and numbers.

6. The single core electrical wire / cable (100 A) as claimed in claim 5, wherein the metal used in the solid metal wire or flexible metal wire(s) or the polymeric metal composite flat strands comprises at least one of Copper, Aluminum, Steel, Nickel, Silver, Gold, Cadmium, Tungsten, or their alloy in any combination thereof.

7. The single core electrical wire / cable (100A) in claim 6, wherein the metal of the conductor core (10) is bare metal or coated with Tin or Silver or Gold or coated with any other metal.

8. The multi-core electrical wire / cable (120A) as claimed in claim 4, wherein the multi-core electrical wire / cable (120A) comprises of a predefined number of plurality of single-core electrical wire / cables (100A), bunched or twisted together and has the improved sheathing (120), to collectively enclose the plurality of single-core electrical wire / cables (100A).

9. The multi-core electrical wire / cable (120A) as claimed in claim 8, wherein any or all the single core electrical wires / cables (100A) having the improved sheathing (100) is configured by using any of the configuration(s) as claimed in claim 2.

10. The multi-core electrical wire / cable (120A) as claimed in claim 8, wherein none or any number of the single core electrical wire / cable (100A) comprises an insulating sheathing done by extrusion to enclose the conductor core (10), in place of the improved sheathing (100).

11. The multi-core electrical wire / cable (120A) as claimed in claim 8, wherein the number of single core electrical wire / cable (100A) is more than two.

12. The electrical wire / cable (100A, 120 A) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the electrical wire / cable (100A, 120A) with the improved sheathing (100, 120) has any of circular, oval, square, rectangular or polygonal cross-sections, preferably circular.

13. The electrical wire / cable (100 A, 120A) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500) is any of a monolayer polymeric film (200), a multilayer polymeric film (400) and a laminate (200, 500) in various combinations of layers of mono or multilayer polymeric films (200, 400), or a combination thereof.

14. The electrical wire / cable (100A, 120A) as claimed in claim 13, wherein the film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500) comprise any of insulating polymer(s) such as Polyethylene (PE), Polypropylene (PP), Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), Ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), Rubber, Thermoplastic rubber (TPR), Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), Polycarbonate (PC), Polyamide (PA), Fluorinated Ethylene Propylene (FEP), Polyurethane (PU), Thermoplastic Elastomer (TPE), Ethylene-vinyl alcohol (EVOH), Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC), or any other polymer including biodegradable polymers, individually or in any combination or blend.

15. The electrical wire / cable (1 OOA, 120A) as claimed in claim 13, wherein the film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500) is heat shrinkable.

16. The electrical wire / cable (100A, 120A) as claimed in claim 14, wherein the insulating polymers in different layers of mono or multi-layer film strip (200, 400) or laminate strip (200, 500), are halogen free.

17. The electrical wire / cable (100A, 120A) as claimed in claim 13, wherein the film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500) comprises one or more layers of foamed polymer.

18. The electrical wire / cable (100 A, 120A) as claimed in claims 1 and 3, wherein any one layer or combination of layers of the film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500) and / or of the sealing strip (300) comprises of recycled polymer, partially or fully.

19. The electrical wire / cable (100A, 120A) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500) has a thickness ranging from 200 to 3,400 microns.

20. The electrical wire / cable (100A, 120 A) as claimed in claim 2, wherein for the overlapping of the slanted edges configuration, the longitudinal edges (200a, 200b) are shaved at an included angle of 10° ~ 45° with respect to the outer surface (202) at one edge (200a) and with respect to inner surface (204) at the other edge (200b), overlapped in a weld zone (Z) and sealed / welded / bonded at slanting surfaces of the cross section of the longitudinal edges (200a, 200b).

21. The electrical wire / cable (100A, 120 A) as claimed in claim 2, wherein for the overlapping of edges configuration, the longitudinal edges (200a, 200b) are overlapped with inner surface (204) near one edge (200a), sealed / welded / bonded with the outer surface (202) near the other edge (200b) in the weld zone (Z).

22. The electrical wire / cable (100A, 120A) as claimed in claim 2, wherein for the butt joining of edges configuration, each longitudinal edge (200a, 200b), has a cut perpendicular to the outer or inner surfaces (202, 204), such that the right angled cross-section of the longitudinal edges (200a, 200b) face each other in weld zone (Z), sealed / welded / bonded to each other.

23. The electrical wire / cable (100A, 120A) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the longitudinal edges (200a, 220b) are sealed / welded / bonded by any of sealing / welding / bonding methods such as heat sealing, hot air, heat and pressure, ultrasonic welding, hot air & pressure, laser sealing,induction sealing, pressing & cooling, or any other suitable sealing method or a combination thereof.

24. The electrical wire / cable (100 A, 120A) as claimed in claim 3, wherein the sealing strip (300) is additional, sealed / welded or bonded with the outer surface (202, 400a, 500a), overlapping the longitudinal edges (200a, 200b) of the film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500), close to each other or touching or overlapping each other, with or without sealing / welding or bonding of the longitudinal edges (200a, 200b).

25. The electrical wire / cable (100 A, 120A) as claimed in claim 3, wherein the sealing strip (300) is any of a single layer polymeric film, multi-layer polymeric film, a laminate of single layer and / or multilayer films, or a combination thereof.

26. The electrical wire / cable (100 A, 120A) as claimed in claim 25, wherein the sealing strip (300) is metallized or non-metallized and comprises any of polymers such as Polyethylene (PE), Polyamide (PA), Polypropylene (PP), Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC), Ethylene-vinyl alcohol (EVOH), individually or a combination thereof.

27. The electrical wire / cable (100 A, 120 A) as claimed in claim 24, wherein the sealing strip (300) comprises at least a layer, having a top surface (302) and a bottom surface (304), wherein the bottom surface (304) is heat-sealed, or ultrasonic welded or High frequency welded or bonded with adhesive, with the outer surface (202, 400a, 500a) of the film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500), overlapping the longitudinal edges (200a, 200b).

28. The electrical wire / cable (100A, 120A) as claimed in claim 1 and 3, wherein the film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500) and / or the sealing strip (300) is printed or unprinted.

29. The electrical wire / cable (100A, 120A) as claimed in claim 1 and 3, wherein the film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500) and / or the sealing strip (300) is opaque or transparent.

30. The electrical wire / cable (100A, 120A) as claimed in claim 28, wherein the outer surface (202, 400a, 500a) of the film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500) is surface printed and / or the inner surface (204, 400b, 500b) is reverse printed, if the outer surface (202, 400a, 500a or 502a) is transparent, with the desired information.

31. The electrical wire / cable (1 OOA, 120A) as claimed in claim 30, wherein the desired information is Text, color coding, printed design, color-coding line, markings for length, dimensions, description, make, and / or graphics, individually or in any combination thereof.

32. The electrical wire / cable (100A, 120A) as claimed in claim 13 and 25, wherein one or more layers of the film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500) and / or of the sealing strip (300) optionally comprises any of a functional additive(s) such as nucleating agents, flame-retardants, smokeretardants, antioxidants, UV Stabilizers, Heat Stabilizers, anti-static, lubricants, processing aids, plasticizers, individually or a combination thereof.

33. The electrical wire / cable (100A, 120A) as claimed in claim 13 and 25, wherein at least one surface (202, 400a, 500a, 302) of any layer of the film / laminate strip (200) and / or of the sealing strip (300), is optionally configured with any of embossed Hologram(s) comprising any of holograms, unigrams, optical pattern, latent images, Fresnel lens, Lenticular patterns, laser engraving, laser etching for patterns, text, markings, etc., individually or in any combination, unregistered or registered with each other or with printing or any marking along the length, all over the surface or at predefined pitch / location or configured randomly.

34. The electrical wire / cable (100A, 120 A) as claimed in claim 3, wherein the sealing strip (300) has a thickness ranging from 20 to 100 microns and a width ranging from 2 to 5 mm for the electrical wires (100 A, 120A).

35. The electrical wire / cable (100A, 120 A) as claimed in claim 34, wherein the sealing strip (300) has a thickness ranging from 20 to 2,500 microns and a width ranging from 2 to 25 mm for the larger electrical cables (100A, 120 A).

36. The electrical wire / cable ( 1 OOA, 120A) as claimed in claim 13 , wherein the multilayer film strip (400) comprises an outer layer (402); an inner layer (404); and a middle layer (403) having one or more layers of suitable polymer(s), configured between the outer layer (402) and the inner layer (404).

37. The multilayer film strip (400) as claimed in claim 36, wherein one or more tie layers (403 a, 403c) of suitable polymers are used between the layers (402, 403) (403, 404), to configure the multilayer film strip (400).

38. The multilayer film strip (400) as claimed in claim 37, wherein the inner layer (404) is reverse printed, provided the middle layer (403), tie layers (403a, 403c) and the outer layer (402) are transparent, to see the reverse printing on the inner layer (404) from the outer surface (400a) side.

39. The multilayer film strip (400) as claimed in claim 38, wherein the inner surface (400b) is provided with metallization.

40. The multilayer film strip (400) as claimed in claim 30 and 38, wherein a transparent hard coating is provided over the outer surface (400a), if the embossing and / or printing is done on the outer surface (400a).

41. The electrical wire / cable (100 A, 120A) as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one layer of the film strip (200, 400) is comprised of any of fillers such as Calcium Carbonate (CaCCL) Lithopone, Barium Sulphate, Nano Clay, Kaolin, Talc, Titanium dioxide individually, or a combination thereof.

42. The electrical wire / cable (100 A, 120A) as claimed in claim 13 and 25, wherein at least one layer of the film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500) and / or the sealing strip (300) is comprised of master batches to provide color, special effects such as pearl effect, glitter effect, metallic effect or marble effect, individually or in any combination thereof.

43. The electrical wire / cable (100A, 120A) as claimed in claim 42, wherein none of the layers of the film / laminate strip (200, 400, 500) and / or the sealing strip (300) comprises any color and / or special effect master batch(es).

44. The electrical wire / cable (100 A, 120A) as claimed in claim 13 and 25, wherein the film strip (200, 400) and / or the sealing strip (300) is any of blown film, cast film and extruded film.

45. The electrical wire / cable (100A, 120A) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the multilayer laminate strip (500) comprises three layers: an outer layer (502); a middle layer (503); and an inner layer (509).

46. The multilayer laminate strip (500) as claimed in claim 45, wherein the middle layer (503) comprises more than one layer of a middle layer film (503L) of suitable polymers having an outer surface (503a) and an inner surface (503b).

47. The multilayer laminate strip (500) as claimed in claim 45, wherein any of the layers (502, 503, 503L, 509) is monolayer or multilayer film.

48. The multilayer laminate strip (500) as claimed in claim 45, wherein an outer surface (502a) of the outer layer (502) or any surface of any other layer is configured with any of the embossed Hologram(s) as claimed in claim 32, provided all the layers above the embossed layer, towards the outer layer (502), are transparent, fully or partially.

49. The multilayer laminate strip (500) as claimed in claim 48, wherein the middle layer (503) includes a metalized layer (504) over the Hologram embossing (507) or on the inner surface (503b) of the middle layer film (503L), to obtain a metalized Hologram(s).

50. The multilayer laminate strip (500) as claimed in claim 49, wherein the outer surface (503a) of the middle layer film (503L) is pre-metallized and then embossed with Hologram(s) as claimed in claim 33.

51. The multilayer laminate strip (500) as claimed in claims 45 and 46, wherein the outer layer (502), the middle layer (503) and the inner layer (509) are laminated with each other using an adhesive layer (506, 508) or by hot extrusion lamination using suitable polymer or a combination thereof.

52. The multilayer laminate strip (500) as claimed in claim 45, wherein the outer surface (502a) of the outer layer (502) is surface printed and / or the inner surface (502b) of the outer layer (502) is reverse printed (505), with the desired information, as claimed in claim 31.

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