Hybrid carbon nanotube shielding for lightweight electrical cables

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9685258-B2
Application number	US-201213673063-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 9, 2012
Priority date	Nov 9, 2012
Publication date	Jun 20, 2017
Grant date	Jun 20, 2017

Abstract

A cable comprising hybrid carbon nanotube (CNT) shielding includes at least one conducting wire; at least one insulating layer covering at least one of the at least one conducting wire; a metallic foil component configured for lower frequency shielding function; and a CNT tape component configured for higher frequency shielding function.

First claim

We claim:

1. A cable comprising:
a hybrid mechanical-electrical architecture configured to provide better shielding effectiveness than either of the two components through a frequency range of approximately 50 megahertz (MHz) to approximately 1 Gigahertz (GHz), the hybrid mechanical-electrical architecture further configured to provide greatly reduced weight, the hybrid mechanical-electrical architecture comprising:
at least one conducting wire;
at least one insulating layer covering at least one of the at least one conducting wire;
a metallic foil component configured for lower frequency shielding function; and
a CNT tape component configured for higher frequency shielding function, the CNT tape component further configured to perform a mechanical function of holding the metallic foil component in place.

2. The cable of claim 1 , wherein:
a connector is crimped over at least one of the CNT tape component and the metallic foil component to terminate the cable.

3. The cable of claim 2 , wherein:
the connector is a subminiature version A (SMA) connector.

4. The cable comprising hybrid CNT shielding of claim 1 , wherein the CNT cable comprises one or more of a single conductive wire, a multiple conductive wire, and a coaxial cable configured for one or more of information, control, power, and data communication.

5. The cable comprising hybrid CNT shielding of claim 1 , further comprising:
a reinforcing member.

6. The cable comprising hybrid CNT shielding of claim 5 , wherein:
the reinforcing member substantially runs the full length of the cable.

7. The cable comprising hybrid CNT shielding of claim 5 , wherein:
the reinforcing member comprises a staycord.

8. The cable comprising hybrid CNT shielding of claim 5 , wherein:
the reinforcing member comprises metallic braid/strand or metallic coated braid/strand.

9. The cable comprising hybrid CNT shielding of claim 8 , wherein:
a connector is crimped over the CNT tape component and the metallic foil component to terminate the cable.

10. The cable comprising hybrid CNT shielding of claim 8 , wherein: a connector is soldered to the foil and/or soldered to a CNT tape that has been metalized for soldering, then crimped to terminate the cable.

11. The cable comprising hybrid CNT shielding of claim 9 , wherein:
the connector is a subminiature version A (SMA) connector.

12. The cable comprising hybrid CNT shielding of claim 9 , wherein:
a glue is placed under the crimp to hold in place at least one of the reinforcing member, the metallic foil, and the CNT tape.

13. The cable comprising hybrid CNT shielding of claim 12 , wherein:
the glue is epoxy.

14. The cable comprising hybrid CNT shielding of claim 12 , wherein:
the glue is silver-loaded epoxy.

15. The cable comprising hybrid CNT shielding of claim 1 , wherein:
the shielding effectiveness of the cable comprising hybrid CNT shielding exceeds the shielding effectiveness offered by the CNT tape alone.

16. The cable comprising hybrid CNT shielding of claim 1 , wherein:
the shielding effectiveness of the cable comprising hybrid CNT shielding exceeds the shielding effectiveness of the metallic foil component alone.

17. The cable comprising hybrid CNT shielding of claim 1 , wherein:
the cable comprising hybrid CNT shielding has superior specific shielding effectiveness relative to conventional conducting cable.

18. The cable comprising hybrid CNT shielding of claim 1 , wherein:
the cable comprising hybrid CNT shielding has substantially a lower weight per unit length relative to conventional conducting cable.

19. The cable comprising hybrid CNT shielding recited in claim 1 , wherein the cable comprising hybrid CNT shielding further comprises a conducting wire, an insulating layer applied directly upon the conducting wire; and a reinforcing member wrapping at least one of the metallic foil component and the CNT tape component, wherein at least one of the metallic foil component and the CNT tape component are coated upon the insulating layer.

20. A coaxial cable, comprising:
a hybrid mechanical-electrical architecture configured to provide better shielding effectiveness than either of the two components through a frequency range of approximately 50 megahertz (MHz) to approximately 1 Gigahertz (GHz), the hybrid mechanical-electrical architecture further configured to provide greatly reduced weight, the hybrid mechanical-electrical architecture comprising:
at least one coaxial cable;
at least one insulating layer covering at least one of the at least one coaxial cable;
a metallic foil component configured for lower frequency shielding function;
a CNT tape component configured for higher frequency shielding function;
a reinforcing member; and
a subminiature version A (SMA) connector crimped over at least one of the CNT tape component and the metallic foil component to terminate the cable, wherein

silver-loaded epoxy is placed under the crimp to hold in place at least one of the reinforcing member, the metallic foil component, and the CNT tape component, the CNT tape component further configured to perform a mechanical function of holding the metallic foil component in place.

21. A cable comprising:
a hybrid mechanical-electrical architecture configured to provide better shielding effectiveness than either of the two components through a frequency range of approximately 50 megahertz (MHz) to approximately 1 Gigahertz (GHz), the hybrid mechanical-electrical architecture further configured to provide greatly reduced weight, the hybrid mechanical-electrical architecture comprising:
at least one conducting wire;
at least one insulating layer covering at least one of the at least one conducting wire;
a metallic foil component configured for lower frequency shielding function surrounding the at least one insulating layer;
a CNT tape component layer configured for higher frequency shielding function surrounding the metallic foil component; and
a reinforcing member wrapping at least one of the metallic foil component and the CNT tape component, the CNT tape component further configured to perform a mechanical function of holding the metallic foil component in place.

22. A cable comprising:
a hybrid mechanical-electrical architecture configured to provide better shielding effectiveness than either of the two components through a frequency range of approximately 50 megahertz (MHz) to approximately 1 Gigahertz (GHz), the hybrid mechanical-electrical architecture further configured to provide greatly reduced weight, the hybrid mechanical-electrical architecture comprising:
at least one conducting wire;
at least one insulating layer covering at least one of the at least one conducting wire;
a braided conductor component configured for lower frequency shielding function; and
a CNT tape component configured for higher frequency shielding function, the CNT tape component further configured to perform a mechanical function of holding the braided conductor component in place.

23. A cable comprising:
a hybrid mechanical-electrical architecture configured to provide better shielding effectiveness than either of the two components through a frequency range of approximately 50 megahertz (MHz) to approximately 1 Gigahertz (GHz), the hybrid mechanical-electrical architecture further configured to provide greatly reduced weight, the hybrid mechanical-electrical architecture comprising:
at least one conducting wire;
at least one in

Assignees

• Northrop Grumman Systems Corp
• Minnesota Wire & Cable
• Minnesota Wine & Cable

Inventors

• Silverman Edward M
• Grant James
• Kukowski Thomas
• Matuszewski Michael
• Voigt Kevin
• Swanson Thomas
• Hayes Phillip

Classifications

• H05K9/0088

  comprising a plurality of shielding layers; combining different shielding material structure · CPC title

• H05K9/0084

  comprising a single continuous metallic layer on an electrically insulating supporting structure, e.g. metal foil, film, plating coating, electro-deposition, vapour-deposition · CPC title

• H01B13/26

  by winding, braiding or longitudinal lapping · CPC title

• H01B13/0165

  of the layers outside the outer conductor · CPC title

• H01B11/1869

  Construction of the layers on the outer side of the outer conductor · CPC title