High-Voltage Cable Collet Assembly for Flexible Watertight Routing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Routing high-capacity electric cables in large moving work machines is challenging due to their thickness and stiffness, which makes it difficult to conform them to the space and compartment requirements while ensuring robustness against environmental conditions.
Innovation Solution
A cable assembly comprising a cable with a conductive core, insulating and shield layers, and a collet with an inner and outer sleeve, allowing for efficient bending and routing of cables by folding the shield layer and compressing the outer sleeve over the inner sleeve to create a watertight connection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If robust high-capacity cables are used to handle high voltage electric power, then the cable provides sufficient current capacity and environmental protection, but the cable becomes difficult to route and conform to space requirements due to thickness and stiffness
Solution Approach 1:
The cable assembly is segmented into distinct functional sections: a first section with the shield layer folded back to expose the insulating layer, and a second section with full shielding. The collet is segmented into an inner sleeve and outer sleeve that can be independently positioned and compressed, allowing the stiff cable to be divided into flexible and protected segments for easier routing.
Solution Approach 2:
Different sections of the cable have different structural qualities tailored to their specific functions. The first section has exposed insulating layer for flexibility and connection purposes, while the second section maintains full shielding for environmental protection. The collet provides localized reinforcement at the connection point without making the entire cable stiff.
2Ease of operation
If the shield layer is folded back to expose the insulating layer, then the cable can be more easily routed and connected, but the cable becomes more vulnerable to environmental conditions at the exposed section
Solution Approach 1:
The collet acts as an intermediary protective device that surrounds the exposed insulating layer section. The inner and outer sleeves of the collet create a protective barrier against environmental factors such as moisture and abrasion, while still allowing the insulating layer to be exposed for connection purposes. The seal between the sleeves prevents environmental contaminants from reaching the cable core.
3Reliability
If a collet with inner and outer sleeves is used to secure the cable, then the cable connection becomes more robust and watertight, but the assembly process becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The collet structure uses nesting with an inner sleeve placed inside an outer sleeve. The cable passes through both sleeves, with the shield layer positioned between them. This nested arrangement provides multiple layers of protection and securing in a compact configuration, achieving robust watertight connection without excessive complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The inner and outer sleeves of the collet are combined into a single integrated component that functions together to secure the cable. The compression mechanism merges the protective and securing functions into one action, where compressing the outer sleeve simultaneously secures the cable and creates the watertight seal, simplifying the assembly process despite the dual-sleeve structure.
Data Source
AI summary
A cable assembly for a work machine, includes a cable and a collet. The cable includes an electrically conductive core, an insulating layer covering the core; an electrically conductive shield layer covering the insulating layer over a first length of the cable, and the insulating layer is exposed over a second length of the cable. The shield layer is folded back over a fold length, and the fold length includes two layers of the shield layer. The collet includes an inner sleeve and an outer sleeve extending over a portion of the inner sleeve at an end of the collet. The two shield layers of the fold length are arranged over the inner sleeve and under the outer sleeve, the insulating layer is arranged under the inner sleeve, and the second length of the cable extends through the inner sleeve.