AUTOMATED ASSEMBLY SENSOR CABLE

Abstract

An automated assembly sensor cable has a generally wide and flat elongated body and a registration feature generally traversing the length of the body so as to identify the relative locations of conductors within the body. This cable configuration facilitates the automated attachment of the cable to an optical sensor circuit and corresponding connector. In various embodiments, the automated assembly sensor cable has a conductor set of insulated wires, a conductive inner jacket generally surrounding the conductor set, an outer jacket generally surrounding the inner jacket and a registration feature disposed along the surface of the outer jacket and a conductive drain line is embedded within the inner jacket. A strength member may be embedded within the inner jacket.

Claims

1. An automated assembly sensor cable has a generally wide and flat elongated body and a registration feature generally traversing the length of the body so as to identify the relative locations of conductors within the body for ease of automated attachment of connectors and circuit assemblies to lengths of the sensor cable, the automated assembly sensor cable comprising: a conductor set of insulated wires; a conductive inner jacket generally surrounding the conductor set; a conductive drain line embedded within the inner jacket; an outer jacket generally surrounding the inner jacket; and a registration feature disposed along the surface of the outer jacket.

2. The automated assembly sensor cable according to claim 1 wherein the conductor set and conductive drain line are linearly arranged and regular spaced so as readily land on a corresponding series of flexible cable conductors.

3. The automated assembly sensor cable according to claim 2 wherein the registration feature is a machine-readable groove running the length of the sensor cable.

4. The automated assembly sensor cable according to claim 3 wherein the outer jacket and inner jacket are semi-pressure co-extruded PVC.

5. The automated assembly sensor cable according to claim 4 wherein the conductor set comprises a pair of emitter wires for transmitting drive currents to sensor LEDs and a pair of detector wires for receiving currents from sensor photodiodes.

6. The automated assembly sensor cable according to claim 5 wherein the regular spacing of the conductor set and conductive drain line is 0.050 inches.

7. The automated assembly sensor cable according to claim 6 further comprising a strength member embedded within the inner jacket.

8. The automated assembly sensor cable according to claim 7 wherein the strength member is a high-strength cord of Kevlar strands

9. The automated assembly sensor cable according to claim 6 wherein the outer jacket incorporates Kevlar fibers for strength

10. A sensor cable automated assembly method comprising: providing a generally wide and flat elongated cable having a plurality of linearly-aligned, regularly-spaced conductors; cutting the cable to a length compatible with an optical sensor circuit; preparing at least one end of the cable so as to expose the conductors; detecting a registration feature disposed along the length of the cable relative to the location of at least a particular one of the conductors within the cable; positioning the exposed conductors relative to a plurality of contacts of the optical sensor circuit according to the registration feature; and attaching the conductors to the contacts so as to provide electrical communications between the conductors and a plurality of optical components mounted on the optical sensor circuit.

11. The automated assembly method according to claim 10 wherein preparing comprises: identifying an outer jacket and an inner jacket of the cable; cutting away a portion of the outer jacket and the inner jacket around the conductors; removing insulation from the conductor ends; and tinning the conductor ends.

12. The automated assembly method according to claim 11 wherein detecting comprises mechanically sensing a groove disposed along the length of the cable.

13. The automated assembly method according to claim 11 wherein detecting comprises optically sensing a printed line disposed along the length of the cable.

14. The automated assembly method according to claim 12 wherein positioning comprises locating the exposed conductors relative to a plurality of flexible circuit pads according to the registration feature.

15. The automated assembly method according to claim 14 wherein locating comprises: aligning a detector pair of conductors and an emitter pair of conductors with corresponding pairs of the flexible circuit pads; and soldering the detector pair of conductors and the emitter pair of conductors to the flexible circuit pads.

16. An automated assembly sensor cable comprising: a generally wide and flat elongated body; a conductor set means disposed within the body for transmitting drive currents to sensor LEDs and for receiving currents from sensor photodiodes; a registration means for identifying the relative locations of the conductor set means so as to automate attachment of connectors and circuitry; an inner jacket means for mechanically surrounding and electrically shielding the conductor set; a conductive means embedded within the inner jacket for draining electrical charge from the body; and an outer jacket means for enclosing and protecting the body generally surrounding the inner jacket means.

17. The automated assembly sensor cable according to claim 16 wherein the conductor set means are linearly-arranged at regularly-spaced intervals.

18. The automated assembly sensor cable according to claim 17 wherein the conductor set means comprises a plurality of color-coded emitter conductors for transmitting the drive currents and a plurality of color-coded detector conductors for receiving the photodiode currents.

19. The automated assembly sensor cable according to claim 18 further comprising a strength means embedded within the inner jacket for adding strength to the body.

20. The automated assembly sensor cable according to claim 18 further comprising a strength means embedded within the outer jacket for adding strength to the body.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013] FIGS. 1A-B are assembled and exploded views, respectively, of a prior art pulse oximetry sensor;

[0014] FIGS. 2A-B are cross-section and side cutaway views, respectively, of a prior art pulse oximetry sensor cable;

[0015] FIGS. 3A-G are top, side, bottom, end, top perspective, bottom perspective and enlarged end views, respectively, of an automated assembly sensor cable embodiment;

[0016] FIGS. 4A-B are top perspective and enlarged end views, respectively, of another automated assembly sensor cable embodiment having an embedded strength member;

[0017] FIGS. 5A-C are top, top perspective and detailed top perspective views, respectively, of an automated assembly sensor cable soldered to a sensor flex circuit; and

[0018] FIG. 6 is a generalized sensor manufacturing flowchart incorporating an automated assembly sensor cable.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0019] FIGS. 3A-G illustrate an automated assembly sensor cable 300 embodiment having a relatively flat and wide body 301 with linearly-arranged conductors sets 310, 320 and a machine-readable registration feature 360 so as to facilitate automatic location and attachment of specific conductors to specific connector pins or pads, as described with respect to FIGS. 4-6, below. In a particular embodiment, the sensor cable has a PVC semi-pressure extruded outer jacket 350 and a co-extruded conductive PVC inner jacket 340. The inner jacket 340 surrounds the conductor sets 310, 320 and an embedded drain line 330. The inner jacket 340 acts as a conductor shield, replacing conventional braided wire shielding. In an embodiment, Kevlar fibers are added to the outer jacket 350 for strength. In an embodiment, the registration feature 360 is a centralized groove formed in the surface of the outer layer during extrusion. In another embodiment, the registration feature is a printed line on the outer jacket 350 surface. In an embodiment, the conductors 310, 320 and the drain line 330 are linearly arranged and regularly spaced so as to facilitate automated assembly. In an embodiment, the conductor and drain line spacing is 0.050 inches. In an embodiment, the conductors 310, 320 are a copper core disposed within polypropylene insulation 312, 322.

[0020] FIGS. 4A-B illustrate another automated assembly sensor cable 400 embodiment having an embedded strength member 410 molded into the cable. Advantageously, the strength member transfers the considerable manufacturing-process cable loads off of the sensor cable conductors. In an embodiment, the strength member is a high-strength cord of Kevlar strands or the like.

[0021] FIGS. 5A-C illustrate a sensor circuit assembly 500 having an automated assembly sensor cable 400 soldered to a sensor flex circuit 700. The regular spacing of the cable conductors 310-330 along an axis across the sensor cable 400 advantageously allows the cable to easily land on a series of pads 710 on a flex circuit 700 or PCB. In an embodiment, the cable conductor insulation is color coded for ease of visual identification and placement verification. In an embodiment, one of the emitter conductors 310 is coded orange and the other is coded red, and one of the detector conductors 320 is coded white and the other is coded green.

[0022] FIG. 6 illustrates a sensor manufacturing method 600 utilizing an automated assembly sensor cable 300-400 (FIGS. 3-4). In an embodiment, sensor manufacturing starts with a roll of sensor cable or similar contiguous cable supply. A section of the sensor cable suitable for a particular use is measured and cut to length 610. The cable ends are prepared 620 by trimming predetermined lengths of the outer jacket 350 (FIG. 3G), the inner jacket 340 (FIG. 3G) and the various conductors 310-330 (FIG. 3G). Further, conductor insulation is stripped to length and conductors are pre-tinned accordingly. The registration feature 360 (FIG. 3F-G) is detected and the cable is positioned over flex circuit pads 710 (FIG. 5C) of a sensor flex circuit or PCB accordingly 630. The sensor circuit 700 (FIGS. 5A-C) is then soldered or otherwise mechanically and electrically attached to the sensor cable 400 (FIGS. 5A-C) leads 640. The opposite end of the sensor cable is similarly cut, trimmed and soldered so as to attach a sensor connector 650. The process is repeated for each sensor cable. In an embodiment, proper attachment of the sensor cable to the sensor circuit is visually verified 660 by the color coded emitter 312 and detector 322 (FIG. 5C) insulation.

[0023] An automated assembly sensor cable has been disclosed in detail in connection with various embodiments. These embodiments are disclosed by way of examples only and are not to limit the scope of the disclosure herein. One of ordinary skill in art will appreciate many variations and modifications.