Twisted Aluminum Wire Conductor for Flexible Flat Cables
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional flat cables with rectangular conductors have low flexibility in the width direction, making them rigid and difficult to bend, which limits their workability and space-saving properties.
Innovation Solution
An electric wire conductor with a wire strand of twisted elemental wires, featuring a flat cross-section with a vacancy ratio of 17% or higher, allowing for increased flexibility and space-saving capabilities, while maintaining a large conductor cross-sectional area.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If a rectangular flat conductor is used to reduce space occupation, then the area occupied by the conductor is reduced, but the flexibility in the width direction deteriorates making the conductor too rigid to bend easily
Solution Approach 1:
The conductor is divided into multiple elemental wires (typically 7-19 wires) twisted together to form a wire strand. This segmentation allows each individual wire to deform independently, providing flexibility in the width direction while maintaining the overall flat rectangular shape for space-saving installation
Solution Approach 2:
The conductor uses a composite structure combining multiple metal wires (copper or copper alloy) with different orientations and deformations. The elemental wires are arranged and twisted to create a flat cross-section with varying deformation ratios, achieving both rigidity for space-saving and flexibility for routing
2Reliability
If the cross-section of the flat portion is made larger to increase conductor area, then the electrical conductivity is improved, but the flexibility deteriorates due to increased rigidity
Solution Approach 1:
By dividing the conductor into multiple thin elemental wires twisted together, the patent achieves large total cross-sectional area for high electrical conductivity while maintaining flexibility. The twisted structure allows the wires to move relative to each other, enabling bending despite the large overall conductor area
Solution Approach 2:
The patent controls the deformation ratio of elemental wires and the vacancy ratio (17-40%) to optimize both electrical conductivity and flexibility. By adjusting these parameters, the conductor achieves the required cross-sectional area for conductivity while maintaining adequate flexibility through the twisted wire strand structure
3Ease of operation
If the vacancy ratio is increased to improve flexibility, then the ease of operation is improved, but the electrical conductivity deteriorates due to reduced conductor area
Solution Approach 1:
The patent optimizes the vacancy ratio to a specific range (17-40%) to balance flexibility and electrical conductivity. This controlled vacancy provides space for wire movement and deformation (improving flexibility) while maintaining sufficient metal cross-sectional area for adequate electrical conductivity
Solution Approach 2:
The segmented wire strand structure with controlled vacancies allows flexibility through wire movement in the vacancy spaces while maintaining high overall conductivity through the combined cross-sectional area of multiple elemental wires
Data Source
AI summary
A wiring harness comprises a first covered electric wire, and a second covered electric wire. The first covered electric wire comprises a first electric wire conductor made of aluminum or an aluminum alloy and an insulator covering the first electric wire conductor. The first electric wire conductor comprises a wire strand of a plurality of elemental wires twisted together, and has a flat portion where a cross-section of the wire strand intersecting an axial direction of the wire strand has a flat shape. The second covered electric wire comprises a second electric wire conductor made of copper or a copper alloy and an insulator covering the second electric wire conductor. The second electric wire conductor has a lower flatness and a smaller conductor cross-sectional area than the first electric wire conductor of the first covered electric wire.