Flat-flexible cable and apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9460831-B2
Application number	US-201514796283-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 10, 2015
Priority date	Jul 11, 2014
Publication date	Oct 4, 2016
Grant date	Oct 4, 2016

Abstract

A cord reel assembly described herein comprises a cord reel including a flat flexible cable that comprises a ribbon of generally parallel power transmission and data transmission wires embedded in a non-conductive polymeric matrix. Each data transmission wire is spaced and insulated from any adjacent wire by the polymeric matrix. The power transmission wires are flattened relative to the data transmission wires, and have a larger gauge than the data transmission wires. The FFC comprises non-shielded end regions flanking a shielded middle region that includes a shielding layer on at least one side of the cable, and a non-conductive coating covers the shielding layer.

First claim

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A retractable cord reel assembly comprising a cord reel including a spiral coil of flat flexible cable (FCC) in operable connected to a spool of round cord material for data and power transmission;
wherein the FCC comprises:
a ribbon of generally parallel wires embedded in a non-conductive polymeric matrix, the FFC having two ends, an end to end length, a width perpendicular to the length in a plane defined by the wires, and a thickness in a direction perpendicular to the length and width;
the embedded wires comprising two or more power transmission wires and two or more data transmission wires; each data wire in the FFC being spaced from any adjacent wire by a portion of the polymeric matrix;
the FFC comprises non-shielded end regions flanking a shielded middle region that includes a shielding layer on at least one side thereof; and
a non-conductive coating over the shielding layer;
wherein the shielding layer comprises a metal-containing coating, foil, or film, and optionally is in electrical contact with at least one of the data transmission wires at one or more spaced locations along the length of the FFC; the polymeric matrix is absent in a portion of the non-shielded end regions; the power transmission wires have a larger cross-sectional area relative to the data transmission wires; and the power transmission wires are flattened in the plane defined by the wires such that they have a greater width than thickness; the power transmission wires in the FFC are operably connected to power transmission wires in the cord material and the data transmission wires of the FFC are operably connected to data transmission wires in the cord material, such that the cord and FFC together form a single power and data transmission pathway; and
wherein:
the cord reel is defined by a first generally circular plate spaced from a second circular plate by a hub; the first and second plates having substantially the same diameter and being substantially parallel to each other, with a collar projecting from the first circular plate away from the hub and along the axis of rotation thereof, such that the collar rotates with the reel;
the cord reel is rotatably mounted in a housing such that the reel is rotatable about an axis centered on and running through the hub;
a length of the cord material is wound around the hub, one end of the cord material being attached to the hub;
one end of the FFC is attached to the collar with the FFC spirally wound around the collar, and the other end of the FFC is attached to a circuit board mounted on or in the housing, such that when the reel rotates, the number of spiral turns of the FFC increases or decreases depending on the direction of rotation;
the cord reel is biased by a spring such that when a tension is applied to the end of the cord material that is not connected to the hub, the cord reel rotates against the bias of the spring as the cord material is unwound, and when the tension is released, the cord material is re-wound onto the cord reel due to the bias of the spring;
a latch mechanism mounted to the housing, which is operably connected to the reel, the latch mechanism being is selectively operable to latch the reel in a stationary position to prevent rewinding of the cord material; and
a pilot mechanism mounted to the housing, which is operably engageable with the latch mechanism to prevent the latch mechanism from operating.

2. The cord reel assembly of claim 1 , wherein:
the cord reel includes an internal gear portion on the second plate;
the latch mechanism comprises a direction sensor operably arranged with a gear wheel, the direction sensor and the gear wheel being operably arranged such that the direction sensor is engageable with the internal gear portion of the reel to achieve latching of the reel; and
the pilot mechanism is moveable between a first and second position, wherein in the first position the pilot mechanism prohibits the functioning of the latch mechanism, and in the second position the latch mechanism is operable.

3. The cord reel assembly of claim 2 , further comprising a gear catch, the gear catch being operably arranged with the gear wheel to permit the gear wheel to incrementally move between a first position and a second position; wherein when the gear wheel is in the first position, the direction sensor can engage the internal gear portion of the reel to activate the latch mechanism, and when the gear wheel is in the second position, the reel is free to rotate with respect to the latch mechanism in a retraction direction for winding the cord material back onto the reel.

4. The cord reel assembly of claim 1 , wherein the FFC adopts an ovoid spiral configuration when the FFC is loosely wound around the collar.

5. The cord reel assembly of claim 1 , in which a curved partition is included within the housing for the FFC to deflect the FFC into an ovoid spiral configuration when the FFC is loosely wound around the collar.

6. The cord reel assembly of claim 1 , wherein the FFC comprises two to six power transmission wires and two to ten data transmission wires.

7. The cord reel assembly of claim 6 , wherein the data transmission wires and the power transmission wires of the FFC are symmetrically disposed across the width of the FFC.

8. The cord reel assembly of claim 1 , wherein the shielding layer is present on only one side of the FFC.

9. The cord reel assembly of claim 1 , wherein the shielding layer comprises a metal-containing coating or paint.

10. The cord reel assembly of claim 1 , wherein the shielding layer comprises a coating of silver paint.

11. The cord reel assembly of claim 1 , wherein the polymeric matrix comprises two or more polymer sheets laminated together around the data transmission and power transmission wires.

12. The cord reel assembly of claim 1 , wherein the polymeric matrix comprises a polyester.

13. The cord reel assembly of claim 1 , wherein the shielding layer electrically contacts at least one of the data transmission wires of the FFC through one or more aperture that is partially cut through the polymeric matrix to the data transmission wire on the same side of the FFC as the shielding layer.

14. A flat flexible cable (FFC) comprising:
a ribbon of generally parallel wires embedded in a non-conductive polymeric matrix, the FFC having two ends, an end to end length, a width perpendicular to the length in a plane defined by the wires, and a thickness in a direction perpendicular to the length and width;
the embedded wires comprising two or more power transmission wires and two or more data transmission wires; each data wire in the FFC being spaced from any adjacent wire by a portion of the polymeric matrix;
the FFC comprises non-shielded end regions flanking a shielded middle region that includes a shielding layer on at least one side thereof; and
a non-conductive coating over the shielding layer;
wherein the shielding layer comprises a metal-containing coating, foil, or film, and optionally is in electrical contact with at least one of the data transmission wires at one or more spaced locations along the length of the FFC; the polymeric matrix is absent in a portion of the non-shielded end regions; the power transmission wires have a larger cross-sectional area relative to the data transmission wires; and the power transmission wires are flattened in the plane defined by the wires such that they have a greater width than thickness.

15. The FFC of claim 14 , wherein the FFC comprises two to six power transmission

Assignees

• Panasonic Avionics Corp

Inventors

• Ledwith Jon G

Classifications

• H01B7/0838 Primary

  Parallel wires, sandwiched between two insulating layers · CPC title

• H01B7/04

  Flexible cables, conductors, or cords, e.g. trailing cables · CPC title

• B65H75/4428

  acting on the reel or on a reel blocking mechanism · CPC title

• H01B7/0861

  comprising one or more screens · CPC title

• B65H75/4449

  Arrangements or adaptations to avoid movable contacts or rotary couplings, e.g. by the use of an expansion chamber for a lenght of the cord or hose · CPC title