High visibility cable
View Patent ↗An electrical cable includes a plurality of conductors forming a conductor core, one or more insulation layers at least partially surrounding at least one of the plurality of conductors, an outer jacket surrounding the conductor core and a film applied to the exterior surface of the outer jacket. The film includes high visibility particles. Methods of forming electrical cables are also described herein.
1. An electrical cable comprising: a plurality of conductors forming a conductor core;
one or more insulation layers at least partially surrounding at least one of the plurality of conductors;
an outer jacket surrounding the conductor core, the outer jacket comprising an exterior surface; and
a film applied to the exterior surface of the outer jacket, the film comprising from about 10% to about 20%, by weight, of high visibility particles; and
an easy clean layer applied over the film applied to the exterior surface of the outer jacket, the easy clean layer comprising a polymeric resin and optionally a fatty acid amide; and
wherein the film further comprises an adhesive configured to adhere the film to the exterior surface of the outer jacket.
2. The electrical cable of claim 1 , wherein the high visibility particles have an average particle size of about 0.5 micron to about 300 microns.
3. The electrical cable of claim 1 , wherein the film comprises a substrate layer, the substrate layer comprises one or more of polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene, chlorotrifluoroethylene, polyvinylidene fluoride, acrylic, polypropylene, siloxane, polyester fabric, polystyrene, and paper cloth.
4. The electrical cable of claim 3 , wherein the high visibility particles are attached to the substrate layer.
5. The electrical cable of claim 1 , wherein the film has a thickness of about 1 micron to about 500 microns.
6. The electrical cable of claim 1 , wherein the adhesive comprises one or more of acrylic, epoxy, urethane, ester, and silicone.
7. The electrical cable of claim 1 , wherein the film further comprises a transparent layer.
8. The electrical cable of claim 1 , wherein the high visibility particles are light reflective particles or luminescent particles.
9. The electrical cable of claim 8 , wherein the high visibility particles are light reflective and comprise one or more of aluminum coated ceramic particles and glass beads particles.
10. The electrical cable of claim 8 , wherein the light reflective particles are selected from the group consisting of reflective particles, retro reflective particles, and combinations thereof; and the luminescent particles are selected from the group consisting of fluorescent particles, photoluminescent particles, phosphorescent particles, bioluminescent particles, electroluminescent particles, and combinations thereof.
11. The electrical cable of claim 1 , wherein the outer jacket and the film are mold-cured.
12. The electrical cable of claim 1 , wherein the film is helically applied to the exterior surface of the outer jacket and the film covers about 80% or less of the outer jacket.
13. The electrical cable of claim 1 , further comprising one or more shielding layers, each of the one or more shielding layers surrounding one of the one or more insulation layers.
14. The electrical cable of claim 1 , further comprising at least one grounding conductor.
15. The electrical cable of claim 1 , wherein the conductor core has a flat, round, or trapezoidal profile.