DE29724103U1 - Connection cable, including low-voltage power supply, data line and / or telephone line - Google Patents

Description

Connecting cable, including low voltage power supply. Data line and/or telephone line

Devices that require a low-voltage power supply and/or a data line and/or telephone line are currently connected with separate cables. For example:

Answering machines, fax machines, laptops or printers. The laptop must be connected directly to the printer, each additional computer needs its own direct connection to the printer. A connection across different rooms is difficult to achieve. An additional power socket must also be provided for each device. In offices and private households, this large number of cables is cumbersome and confusing.

The utility model specified in claims 1 to 7 is based on the problem of reducing the number of cables required and thereby simplifying the connection of additional devices.

The cable described in claims 1 to 4 includes a core group for a low-voltage power supply (1) and one or more core groups for a telephone or data line (3). It can also include one or more high-frequency data lines (5), which is referred to as a broadband coaxial cable.
The individual wire groups can be surrounded by their own inner sheath (2,4,6). These sheaths can consist of several layers, each of which is electrically conductive or insulating.

The spatial arrangement of the core groups does not necessarily correspond to that shown in Figures 1 to 5. The cable is round or elliptical in its cross-section, depending on the type and number of core groups used. If the cable contains two coaxial cables, the long axis of the ellipse can be determined by twice the diameter of the coaxial cables.

An electrically conductive layer of the inner sheath (2) of the low-voltage power supply core group (1) serves to retain the electrical fields generated by the core group. Likewise, a layer with low ohmic resistance, e.g. copper braid, can serve as a common negative line for several circuits. In this way, a partial limitation of the magnetic fields generated by the current flow is achieved. This also reduces the number of cores required. An electrically conductive layer of an inner sheath (4) of a core group for a

.40 Telephone or data lines(3), on the other hand, serve to shield the group of wires from external electrical fields.

The electrically conductive layer can be represented by a copper braid shield, aluminum foil, a conductive coating on a plastic carrier or a combination of these.

Since these are inner sheaths, the electrically conductive layer can also be the outer layer of the respective inner sheath. In addition to cost savings, this offers the advantage that the shields come into electrical contact with each other and thus a potential equalization is achieved. All shields should always be related to earth potential.

_ _ — _ ——. * &ogr; _ &agr;&Lgr;&Lgr; a BA A

The diameter and number of wires in a wire group are determined by the intended use.

The core group of the low-voltage power supply can, for example, consist of three core pairs to provide three supply voltages. The core diameter is determined by the highest permissible heat development at maximum load. In order to enable the best possible heat conduction from the core group to the outside, it can also be advantageous, especially if the core groups of the telephone/data line have their own shielding, for the core group of the low-voltage power supply (l) to not have its own inner sheath. This can also help to reduce manufacturing costs.

The number of wire groups and the wires they contain for a telephone or data line also depends on the intended use and the availability of options for expanding the use. For example, 4 or 5 wire pairs, twisted in pairs as is usual for data lines, can be advantageous for a wire group.

The high frequency lines (5) contained in the cable can be used for the transmission of both digital and high frequency analog signals. In order to enable the distribution of signals from one or more sources to one or more recipients, two is a suitable number of high frequency lines. One line can be used to combine the signals from several sources at a central point. The other line can then be used to distribute the combined signals to various recipients.

All wire groups are surrounded by an outer sheath (7). This can also consist of several layers, each of which is electrically conductive or insulating.

Since a cable containing all the wires of all groups is heavy and inflexible due to its thickness, it is primarily suitable for fixed installations. For the cable leading directly to a device, a selection should be made based on the functions and supply voltage actually required for this device. This can be done using suitable plugs/sockets on permanently installed connection boxes.

The low-voltage supply is only able to supply consumers with a power requirement of a few 1 OW. For devices with a higher power consumption, e.g. computers or large printers, the cable does not offer a connection option on its own, but the data part can be used for these devices.

Since the total power consumption in such a network is difficult to predict in terms of expansion options, it is advisable to divide it into supply cells. In each of these cells, a low-voltage power supply is provided by its own power supply unit. Between these cells, the diameter of the wires in the low-voltage power supply wire group can be small, e.g. similar to that of the wires in a data line wire group, since the wires here only serve to equalize the potentials between the individual cells. Since only one wire is required for the potential of all negative lines, which should be related to earth potential, the unused wires can be used to establish a control connection between the individual power supplies. This can, for example, enable joint switching on and off or monitor the functionality of all power supplies from a central point. Here, too, internal shielding of the low-voltage power supply wire group can be dispensed with if the telephone/data line wire group A(3) has its own shielding.
The telephone/data line wire group(s) connect the individual supply cells and thus enable cross-cell use of devices, e.g. a printer.

In principle, a decision should always be made as to which wire groups actually need to be shielded, taking into account the manufacturing costs and the environment in which the cable is used.

Possible favorable designs of the cable are shown in claims 5 to 7. They show:

Fig.l a cable containing a core group for a low-voltage power supply (l) and a core group for a telephone or data line (3). Core group (3) consists of at least one core pair. (2) and (4) designate the inner sheaths of the core groups.

Fig.2 shows a cable like Fig.1, but this cable contains another wire group for a telephone or data line, also consisting of at least one wire pair. Each of the wire groups can have its own inner sheath (2,4). Either the wire group of the low-voltage power supply (l) or at least one of the wire groups for a telephone/data line should have a shield made of an electrically conductive material.
20

Fig. 3 shows a cable like Fig. 2, but this cable contains two additional coaxial cables^) for a high frequency signal line. This group of wires can also have its own inner sheath (6).

Fig.4 shows a cable that contains two groups of wires for a telephone/data line (3). Only one of the two groups has its own inner sheath (4). The advantage of this design is that it reduces manufacturing costs. This is possible because a group of wires for conducting telephone signals does not necessarily have to be shielded. The same applies to a group of wires for transmitting digital signals at low transfer rates.

Furthermore, the cable contains two high-frequency signal lines (5) which are not combined by an inner sheath.

The cable also contains a core group for a low-voltage power supply (l), which has its own inner sheath (2).

Finally, Fig. 5 shows a cable that consists of a group of wires for a telephone/data line (3). This group of wires is surrounded by its own inner sheath (4), which also contains an electrically conductive layer to shield the group of wires from disruptive influences caused by electric fields.

The cable also contains a core group for a low-voltage power supply (l), which does not have its own inner sheath.
The cable also contains two high-frequency data lines.

Claims (7)

1. Connecting cable, containing several groups of wires, characterized in that the cable contains a group of wires for a telephone or data line, consisting of at least two wires, and a group of wires, consisting of at least two wires, for a low-voltage power supply. The wires of a group of wires have the same cross-section, but the individual groups can be different from one another. 2. Connecting cable according to protection claim 1, characterized in that the cable contains more than one group of wires for a telephone or data line. 3. Connecting cable according to protection claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the cable additionally contains a wire (group) consisting of one or more high-frequency signal lines. 4. Connecting cable according to protection claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that one or more of the wire groups has/have its own inner sheath. The sheath can also consist of several components, each of which can be electrical insulators or conductors. 5. Connecting cable according to protection claim 4, characterized in that in particular the core group of the low-voltage power supply has its own inner sheath. The inner sheath contains or consists of an electrically conductive component. 6. Connection cable according to protection claim 4, characterized in that the low-voltage power supply core group has no inner sheath or only has an inner sheath consisting of an insulating component. The cable contains at least one core group for a telephone or data line. This has/have an inner sheath which contains at least one electrically conductive component. 7. Connecting cable according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that the cable additionally contains one or two high-frequency lines.