Electric cable for use in a welding device

Abstract

An electric cable includes at least one current line having first and second ends, including several wires, a first plug connector and at least one second plug connector arranged on the first and second ends, respectively. At least one plug connector includes a material having A) 98.0% to 99.8% by weight of a polymer selected from the group consisting of polyurethane (PU), styrene-butadiene block copolymers (SBS), perfluorocarbons and mixtures thereof, and B) 0.2% to 2.0% by weight additives. The total of components A and B results in 100% by weight. A first connection nut and at least one second connection nut are arranged on the first and second plug connectors, respectively. At least one light source is arranged in a first plug connector and/or in a second plug connector and is configured in order to be supplied with electrical energy by at least one wire of the current line.

Claims

1. An electric cable, comprising: at least one current line having a first end and a second end, comprising several wires, a first plug connector which is arranged on the first end of the current line, and at least one second plug connector which is arranged on the second end of the current line, wherein at least one plug connector comprises a material having A) 98.0% by weight to 99.8% by weight of a polymer which is selected from the group consisting of polyurethanes, styrene-butadiene block copolymers, perfluorocarbons and mixtures thereof, and B) 0.2% by weight to 2.0% by weight additives, wherein the total of components A and B results in 100% by weight, a first connection nut which is arranged on the first plug connector, and at least one second connection nut which is arranged on a second plug connector, and at least one light source which is arranged in the first plug connector or at least one light source which is arranged in the second plug connector, wherein the at least one light source is configured in order to be supplied with electrical energy by means of at least one wire of the current line.

2. The electric cable according to claim 1, wherein the additives were added to polymer A as a master batch which contains no flame retardants.

3. The electric cable according to claim 1, wherein the material of the plug connector is transparent.

4. The electric cable according to claim 1, wherein the at least one light source is an LED.

5. The electric cable according to claim 1, wherein each wire has a wire insulation and all wire insulations are surrounded by a mutual coating, and wherein the wire insulations and the coating each comprise a material which is selected independently of the other, from the group consisting of silicones, perfluorocarbons, cross-linked polyolefins, mica, glass fibres, ceramic fibres and mixtures thereof.

6. The electric cable according to claim 5, wherein the wire insulations and the coating comprise the same material.

7. The electric cable according to claim 5, wherein the coating contains a flame retardant.

8. The electric cable according to claim 5, wherein the silicones are fluorosilicones and/or the copolymers thereof.

9. The electric cable according to claim 1, wherein connection nuts each comprise a perfluorocarbon.

10. The electric cable according to claim 1, wherein the perfluorocarbon is selected from the group consisting of polytetrafluoroethylene, perfluoroethylene propylene and mixtures thereof.

11. The electric cable according to claim 1, wherein the polyurethane is based on a polyester, a polyether or a polyester ether.

12. The electric cable according to claim 1, wherein the plug connectors each comprise a material that has a hardness of at least Shore 50D.

13. The electric cable according to claim 1, wherein the current line comprises four wires.

14. The electric cable according to claim 1, wherein the wires each comprise tin-plated copper.

15. A control line for a welding device comprising the electric cable according to claim 1.

16. The electric cable according to claim 1, wherein the at least one light source comprises a first light source arranged in the first plug connector and a second light source arranged in the second plug connector.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Exemplary embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the drawings and are explained in more detail in the subsequent description.

(2) FIG. 1 shows a side view of an electric cable according to one embodiment of the invention.

(3) FIG. 2 shows a side view of an electric cable according to another embodiment of the invention.

(4) FIG. 3 shows a side view of an electric cable according to yet another embodiment of the invention.

(5) FIG. 4 shows a longitudinal cut through the current line of an electric cable according to one embodiment of the invention.

EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

(6) The resistance of cables to welding conditions was investigated in comparative examples (VB1 to VB7) and examples according to the invention (B1 and B2) of electric cables. The structure of such an electric cable is shown in three embodiments in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. FIG. 4 shows a longitudinal cut through the current line 1 of this electric cable. The current line 1 comprises four wires 11a, 11b, 11c, 11d. Each wire, 11a, 11b, 11c, 11d has a wire insulation 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d. All wire insulations 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d are surrounded by a mutual coating 13. A first plug connector 2 is arranged on the first end of the current line 1. A second plug connector 3a, 3b, 3c is arranged on the second end of the current line. The second plug connector can be embodied as a linear plug connector 3a, as an angled plug connector 3b or as a Y-plug connector 3c. The plug connectors 2, 3a, 3b, 3c are each crimped onto the current line 1. A first connection nut 4 is arranged on the first plug connector 2. A second connection nut 5 is arranged on the second plug connector 3a, 3b, 3c. An LED is arranged as a light source 6, 7a, 7b, 7c in each plug connector. This is moulded into the material of the plug connector and is supplied with electrical energy by means of the wires 11a, 11b, 11c, 11d.

(7) The wires 11a, 11b, 11c, 11d consisted in all examples of tin-plated copper and each had a cross-sectional area of 0.34 mm.sup.2. The materials M12 of the wire insulations 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d, the materials M13 of the coatings 13, the materials M2/3 of the plug connectors 2, 3a, 3b, 3c and the materials M4/5 of the connection nuts 4, 5 are listed in Tables 1 and 2:

(8) TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 # M12 M13 M2/3 M4/5 resistant VB1 PVC PVC 99% PU + 1% master batch PTFE no VB2 PVC TPE-E 99% PU + 1% master batch PTFE no VB3 PP PU 99% PU + 1% master batch PTFE no VB4 PTFE FEP PVC PTFE no VB5 silicone silicone PVC PTFE no VB6 PTFE FEP 99% PU + 1% master batch steel no VB7 silicone silicone 99% PU + 1% master batch steel no VB8 PP glass 99% PU + 1% master batch steel no

(9) TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 # M12 M13 M2/3 M4/5 resistant B1 PTFE FEP 99% PU + 1% master batch PTFE yes B2 silicone silicone 99% PU + 1% master batch PTFE yes

(10) Here, PVC stands for polyvinyl chloride, PP for polypropylene, PTFE for polytetrafluoroethylene, PU for polyurethane, FEP for perfluoroethylenepropylene and TPE-E for a thermoplastic polyester elastomer.

(11) PVC Y17 (Shore hardness 90-95A) was used as a PVC for the wire insulation. PVC YM3 (Shore hardness AB0-B5) was used as a PVC for the coating and for the plug connectors. PP9Y (Shore hardness 54D) was used as a polypropylene. TPU 11YH1 (Shore hardness 54D) was used as a PU for the coating. Transparent Elastollan 1154D (Shore hardness 53D, tensile strength 50 MPa, elongation at break 450%, tear resistance 150 N/mm, abrasion 30 mm.sup.3) of the company BASF, Ludwigshafen, Germany was used as a PU for the plug connectors 2, 3a, 3b, 3c. Teflon of the company E.I du Pont de Nemours, Wilmington, USA was used as a PTFE and Teflon FEP as an FEP. A flame retardant-free coloured granulate was used as a master batch. The percent specifications each refer to 100 percent by weight of the total material of the polyurethane and master batch. In the examples according to the invention B1 and B2, cables of the company Berger Spezialkabel, Henstedt-Ulzburg, Germany were used as a current conductor 1.

(12) All investigated cables were used as a control line in an intrinsically known welding device in 62,200 consecutive welding cycles. Only the electric cables according to the invention of examples B1 and B2 withstood these experimental conditions without at least one of the wires thereby being exposed. Consequently, these have a particularly high resistance to welding conditions.