Designing With Flexible Flat Cables

Oct. 24, 2012
Silicone cable is designed specifically for motion control and automation where flexibility, strength and space economy carries a premium.

An Extruded Silicone cable is a collection of wire conductors that has been encased in a silicone jacket by means of a special extrusion process. The most typical form factor for these cables is that of a flat cross section with conductors lined up in parallel. But cables can be extruded in other shapes to handle specific needs, such as to snug-fit into a wiring channel. Extruded cable technology is unique to Cicoil. The basic technology of encasing conductors in silicone jackets has been in use for over 50 years and can be found in diverse applications ranging from jet fighters to industrial motion control equipment.

A recent development is the ability to manufacture silicone-jacketed cable in continuous lengths through use of a proprietary extrusion process. This reduced costs, improved precision, and made it possible to manufacture long cable lengths that were impractical with older methods. These older methods involved molding wires in silicone, and curing the resulting cable for up to two days.

In this white paper Robert Repas, electrical engineering editor for Machine Design, will discuss flat vs. round cables, extruded silicone vs. other cables, and design considerations. You will also take a look back on Cicoil's history of mission-critical applications.

Silicone cable is designed specifically for motion control and automation where flexibility, strength and space economy carries a premium.

An Extruded Silicone cable is a collection of wire conductors that has been encased in a silicone jacket by means of a special extrusion process. The most typical form factor for these cables is that of a flat cross section with conductors lined up in parallel. But cables can be extruded in other shapes to handle specific needs, such as to snug-fit into a wiring channel. Extruded cable technology is unique to Cicoil. The basic technology of encasing conductors in silicone jackets has been in use for over 50 years and can be found in diverse applications ranging from jet fighters to industrial motion control equipment.

A recent development is the ability to manufacture silicone-jacketed cable in continuous lengths through use of a proprietary extrusion process. This reduced costs, improved precision, and made it possible to manufacture long cable lengths that were impractical with older methods. These older methods involved molding wires in silicone, and curing the resulting cable for up to two days.

In this white paper Robert Repas, electrical engineering editor for Machine Design, will discuss flat vs. round cables, extruded silicone vs. other cables, and design considerations. You will also take a look back on Cicoil's history of mission-critical applications.