Differential Signal Cable Shield Folded Spiral Winding
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional differential signal transmission cables experience sudden attenuation in high frequency bands and instability when bent, due to the 'suck-out' effect in spirally wound metal foil composite tapes, and structural issues in lengthwise wrapped tapes lead to warping and manufacturing challenges.
Innovation Solution
A differential signal transmission cable with a shield layer formed by folding and spirally winding a metal foil composite tape, where the metal foil is outside and the folded portion is located at the spiral overlapped region, ensuring continuous electrical contact and reducing the risk of warping and corrugation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If a metal foil composite tape is spirally wound around the insulated electric wires to form a shield layer, then the cable provides shielding against electromagnetic interference, but the cable experiences sudden attenuation in high frequency bands due to the 'suck-out' effect
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the physical structure of the metal foil composite tape by introducing longitudinal folds that create overlapping regions. This structural parameter change ensures continuous electrical contact between adjacent turns of the spiral winding, eliminating the periodic insulation effect that causes the suck-out phenomenon. The fold width and overlap width are specifically controlled to maintain electrical continuity while preserving the spiral winding configuration.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses a composite structure consisting of a metal foil layer adhered to a plastic tape substrate. The metal foil provides electromagnetic shielding while the plastic tape provides mechanical support. The longitudinal folding creates a composite effect where the metal foil layers contact each other through the overlap regions, forming a continuous conductive path that combines the benefits of spiral winding with continuous shielding.
2Reliability
If a metal foil composite tape is lengthwise wrapped around the insulated electric wires to avoid the suck-out effect, then signal attenuation is reduced, but the cable becomes prone to warping and corrugation when bent
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the metal foil composite tape structure by introducing longitudinal folds that create discrete overlapping regions along the length of the tape. This segmentation allows the shield layer to accommodate bending stresses at the fold locations while maintaining continuous electrical contact for shielding effectiveness. The segmented structure prevents warping and corrugation by providing controlled flexibility at the fold regions.
Solution Approach 2:
The longitudinal folds in the metal foil composite tape create a curved or folded geometry that allows the rigid-appearing spiral wound shield layer to flex and bend without warping. The curvature introduced by the folds enables the cable to bend while maintaining the integrity and shape stability of the shield layer, preventing corrugation that would occur with a flat lengthwise wrapped configuration.
3Ease of manufacture
If the metal foil composite tape is wound without folds to simplify manufacturing, then the manufacturing process is simpler, but the cable exhibits instability and warping when bent
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates the longitudinal folds into the metal foil composite tape during the manufacturing process, before the tape is wound into the spiral configuration. This preliminary action of pre-folding the tape ensures that the folds are properly formed and positioned, making the subsequent winding process straightforward. The pre-formed folds provide built-in flexibility that prevents warping during cable bending, while the manufacturing process remains relatively simple as the folding can be done using standard tape processing equipment.
Data Source
AI summary
A differential signal transmission cable includes a pair of insulated electric wires disposed to be parallel with each other, and a shield layer formed of a metal foil composite tape spirally wound around the pair of insulated electric wires collectively. The shield layer is formed by folding the metal foil composite tape along a longitudinal direction of the metal foil composite tape such that a surface on which a metal foil is provided is located outside to provide a folded portion, and winding the metal foil composite tape around the pair of insulated electric wires such that at least a part of the folded portion is located at a spiral overlapped region of the metal foil composite tape.