Patent ID: 7946031
Filing Date: 2011-05-24
Classification: H01B,Y10T

Abstract:
1. A method of forming a cable, the method comprising: feeding twisted wire pairs into an extruder, each wire of the twisted wire pairs including a conductor and an insulator surrounding the conductor; extruding a jacket over the twisted wire pairs to form a jacketed cable from the extruder, the jacketed cable containing the twisted wire pairs disposed in a cavity defined by the jacket; storing the jacketed cable on a spool before passing the jacketed cable through dies; unspooling the jacketed cable; heating the jacketed cable after unspooling the jacketed cable; and passing the jacketed cable through the dies while the jacketed cable is still hot from the heating to form a helically corrugated jacket, wherein at least one of: the helically corrugated jacket is corrugated such that cored ridges extend outwardly from the axial center of the cable to form an air gap that extends from the cavity, or at least one of the insulators is corrugated such that cored ridges extend outwardly from the conductor to form an air gap that extends from the conductor associated with the insulator.