Composite Cable Tube Thickness Optimization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional composite cables for transmitting optical signals and supplying electric power face challenges in durability against heat generated by power cables, leading to increased material consumption, production costs, and handling difficulties.
Innovation Solution
An optical and power composite cable design featuring power lines with central conductors and insulating coatings, surrounded by an optical fiber unit within a tube with a specific thickness-to-diameter ratio, tensile strength, and elongation range, along with a braided shielding layer, to enhance heat resistance and material efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If single-core copper wires with coating are aggregated to surround the optical fiber unit, then the optical fiber unit is protected from heat, but material is unnecessarily consumed and cable volume increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple copper wires without individual coatings into a single aggregated copper wire structure. This merging approach eliminates the need for redundant coating materials on each individual wire while maintaining the heat shielding function around the optical fiber unit, thus reducing material consumption without compromising protection.
Solution Approach 2:
The aggregated copper wire structure serves multiple functions simultaneously: it provides heat shielding for the optical fiber, maintains cable structural integrity, and enables power transmission. This multi-functional design replaces the need for separate coated wires, reducing overall material usage while achieving the same protective effect.
2Reliability
If single-core copper wires with coating are aggregated, then heat protection is provided, but cable volume increases making handling and installation difficult
Solution Approach 1:
By merging multiple thin coated wires into a single aggregated copper wire structure, the patent reduces the overall cable volume. The consolidated structure occupies less space compared to multiple separate coated wires, while still providing effective heat protection around the optical fiber unit.
3Reliability
If loose tube structure with central tension wire and rigid portion is used, then heat influence on optical fiber is decreased, but cable outer diameter increases and production complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and eliminates unnecessary structural elements such as the central tension wire and rigid portion from the loose tube design. By removing these redundant components, the cable structure is simplified while maintaining adequate heat resistance through the optimized tube wall thickness and aggregated copper wire configuration.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent optimizes the tube wall thickness parameter to achieve the required heat resistance without needing additional structural components. By carefully selecting the thickness parameter, the cable maintains durability against heat while reducing overall structural complexity and outer diameter.
4Reliability
If tube wall thickness is increased to improve heat durability, then heat resistance improves, but material consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent optimizes the tube wall thickness parameter to achieve the minimum required heat durability. By carefully selecting and adjusting this parameter, the design achieves adequate protection against heat from the copper wires while minimizing material consumption and avoiding excessive thickness that would increase costs and reduce flexibility.
Data Source
AI summary
An optical and power composite cable includes a plurality of power lines adjacently arranged in a cable, each power line having a central conductor and an insulating coating layer surrounding the central conductor; at least one optical fiber unit arranged together with the power lines, each optical fiber unit having at least one optical fiber and a tube surrounding the optical fiber; and a cable sheath surrounding the power lines and the optical fiber unit, wherein, assuming that the thickness of the tube is t and that the outer diameter of the tube is D, the ratio of the thickness of the tube to the outer diameter defined as t/D is 8% to 20%.