Highly flexible, shielded, multi-conductor electrical cable

Abstract

A highly flexible, shielded electrical cable having exceptional pliability and limpness is provided for connection to devices such as hand-held medical instruments to minimize the resistance to movement of such devices imposed by such cable. The normal stiffness of shielded cables caused by a braided wire shield is minimized by eliminating the frictional resistance to relative movement between the shield and the dielectric covering of the conductor assembly inside the shield. This is accomplished by loosely braiding the shield around the dielectric covering so as to impose no transversely inward force on the dielectric covering. Preferably, a clearance is formed between the shield and the dielectric covering, and the density of the braided shield is maximized to render it self-supporting. The outer dielectric jacket of the cable likewise loosely encircles the braided shield to eliminate frictional resistance to relative movement between the shield and jacket.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.