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US 8,575,490 B2Granted
Spacer for use in a flat cable
AssigneeApple Inc.
InventorsEdward Siahaan, Cameron Frazier
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
This is directed to a cable for use with an electronic device. The cable can be substantially flat, such that all of the conductive wires of the cable are substantially in the same plane. A spacer can be placed between the wires to ensure that wires conducting signals remain a minimum distance apart to avoid signal degradation. The spacer can also control the bending of the cables to favor bending in a preferred direction while reducing or limiting bending in a less preferred direction.
Claims19
A cable for carrying electrical signals, comprising:
- a plurality of wires substantially disposed in a plane;
- and
- a spacer positioned in the plane between two of the plurality of wires, wherein:
- the spacer comprises a first spacer element and a second spacer element;
- the first spacer element maintains the two of the plurality of wires at no less than a minimum distance apart from one another along a first region of the length of the cable;
- the second spacer element maintains the two of the plurality of wires at no less than the minimum distance apart from one another along a second region of the length of the cable;
- the first spacer element provides the first region with a first resistance to bending in a first direction with respect to the length of the cable;
- the second spacer element provides the second region with a second resistance to bending in the first direction with respect to the length of the cable;
- the first resistance is different than the second resistance;
- and
- the first region and the second region are different regions along the length of the cable.
8 more elements
A cable having a rectangular cross-section, comprising:
- a first set of wires having a first diameter, the first set of wires disposed in a first plane;
- a second set of wires having a second diameter larger than the first diameter, the second set of wires disposed in the first plane;
- and
- a spacer member disposed in the first plane, wherein the spacer member maintains the centers of two of the first set of wires apart by at least a spacer distance along a first length of the cable, and wherein at least one of the material of the spacer member and the shape of the spacer member varies along the first length of the cable for varying a resistance to bending in a first direction of the cable along different regions of the first length of the cable.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.