Patent Publication Number: US-9887021-B2

Title: Tensile conducting monofilament and conducting wire and manufacturing method thereof

Description:
The current application claims a foreign priority to application number 201610089916.8 filed on Feb. 17, 2016 in China. 
     FIELD 
     The present disclosure relates to an illumination wire, and more particularly to a tensile conducting monofilament, a conducting wire, and a manufacturing method thereof for an illumination wire. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Electric wires used for illumination or decorative string lights must have a certain tensile strength because the wires are provided with decorations. Preferably, they should meet the requirements of U.S. UL 588 for the tensile strength of conducting wires. In general, a conducting wire is composed of a conducting core wire and an insulation cover to wrap the conducting core is wire. A conducting core wire used for string lights may be composed of sixteen conducting monofilaments (bare copper wires) which are stranded together. 
     In the prior art, the number of the tensile threads are increased to improve the tensile strength of the conducting wire. One way to increase the tensile threads is that the tensile threads and the conducting core wire composed of multiple metal monofilaments are disposed in an insulation cover. Another way is that the tensile threads are directly stranded with the conducting core wire. The way to strand the tensile thread and the conducting core wire is that the tensile thread and the multiple conducting monofilaments of the conducting core wire are stranded together, or the multiple conducting monofilaments are wound on the tensile thread for directly connecting with the conducting wire of a decoration light. A layer or multiple layers of multiple conducting monofilaments are formed on the tensile thread. 
     However, the conducting wire that the tensile threads and the conducting core wire composed of multiple monofilaments are disposed in an insulation cover has some shortcomings. First, the production efficiency of this conducting wire is less 30% than that of a normal conducting wire. Secondly, during production, the tensile thread may wrap the conducting core wire to bring a non-conducting phenomenon. Thirdly, the multiple tensile threads may scatter and won&#39;t be connected with the contact terminals of the lamp socket, without providing the tensile effect. Fourthly, the conducting wire is too hard, which influences the production efficiency of string lights. 
     The stranding procedure of the tensile thread and the conducting core wire may influence the conductivity of the conducting core wire. In general, the conducting core wire is first stranded and then annealed, such that the diameter of the conducting core wire won&#39;t change so as to ensure the resistance of the conducting core wire and the safety of the electric wire. But, the conducting core wire is first annealed and then stranded with the tensile is thread. This cannot ensure the size of the conducting core wire and the demand for the resistance of the conductor. Accordingly, the inventor of the present disclosure has devoted himself based on his many years of practical experiences to solve these problems. 
     SUMMARY 
     The present disclosure is to provide a tensile conducting monofilament and a conducting wire manufactured by using the tensile conducting monofilament. The tensile conducting monofilament has greater tensile strength. The conducing wire meets the standard of U.S. UL588. 
     In order to achieve the aforesaid object, the tensile conducting monofilament of the present disclosure comprises a conducting filament and at least one tensile thread. The conducting filament is a flat conducting filament. The flat conducting filament is wound on the tensile thread. 
     Preferably, the flat conducting filament is spirally wound on the tensile thread or the flat conducting filament is coiled to form a cylinder. The tensile thread is disposed in the cylinder of the flat conducting filament. 
     Preferably, when the flat conducting filament is spirally wound on the tensile thread, the flat conducting filament wraps the tensile thread fully, and the tensile thread won&#39;t be seen from the appearance. 
     Preferably, the flat conducting filament is wound on the tensile thread about 15-20 laps per 1 cm. 
     Preferably, the flat conducting filament has a thickness of 0.06-0.08 mm and a width of 0.4-0.5 mm. 
     Preferably, the flat conducting filament has a thickness of 0.07 mm and a width of 0.35 mm. 
     Preferably, the tensile thread is one of a nylon thread, a synthetic fiber thread, and a PVC (polyvinyl chloride) thread. 
     Preferably, the tensile thread has a diameter of 0.2-0.3 mm. 
     Preferably, the tensile thread has a tensile strength of not less than 5 kilograms. 
     The present disclosure further provides a conducting wire. The conducting wire comprises a circular conducting monofilament, at least one tensile conducting monofilament, and an insulation cover. The at least one tensile conducting monofilament and the circular conducting monofilament are wrapped in the insulation cover. The tensile conducting monofilament is the aforesaid tensile conducting monofilament. The circular conducting monofilament is a normal conducting wire, which is a bare metal wire. 
     Preferably, the circular conducting monofilament is a copper wire. 
     Preferably, the conducting wire is composed of the at least one tensile conducting monofilament and 13-15 circular conducting monofilaments which are stranded together. 
     Preferably, the at least one tensile conducting monofilament and 13-15 circular conducting monofilaments are stranded with a lay length of 0.6-0.7 cm. 
     The present disclosure further provides a method to manufacture a tensile conducting monofilament. The method comprises the following steps of: 
     step 1: a circular conducting monofilament being flattened to a flat conducting filament; 
     step 2: the flat conducting filament being wound on at least one tensile thread. 
     Preferably, the flat conducting filament is wound on the tensile thread, or the flat conducting filament is coiled to form a cylinder and the tensile thread is disposed in the cylinder of the flat conducting filament. 
     Preferably, the tensile conducting monofilament has a diameter of 0.45-0.5 mm. 
     Preferably, the tensile conducting monofilament formed by the flat conducting filament to wind on the tensile thread or formed by coiling the flat conducting filament has a diameter of 0.45-0.5 mm. 
     The present disclosure further provides a method to manufacture a conducting wire. The method comprises the following steps of: 
     step 1: manufacturing a tensile conducting monofilament according to the aforesaid method; 
     step 2: stranding at least one tensile conducting monofilament and a circular conducting monofilament to be disposed in an insulation cover. The method for the tensile conducting monofilament and the circular conducting monofilament to be wrapped in the insulation cover is the prior art and won&#39;t be described hereinafter. 
     Preferably, the at least one tensile conducting monofilament and 13-15 circular conducting monofilaments are stranded with a lay length of 0.6-0.7 cm. 
     The beneficial effects of the present disclosure are described hereinafter. First, because the tensile conducting monofilament is manufactured separately, the tensile conducting monofilament and the other circular conducting monofilaments of the conducting wire can be manufactured synchronously, not influencing the production efficiency. Secondly, the tensile thread is fully wrapped and stranded with the flat conducting filament, which won&#39;t change the follow-up manufacturing technology of the conducting wire. There is no need to modify the equipment. Therefore, it won&#39;t influence the production efficiency of the follow-up manufacturing technology. Thirdly, the appearance of the tensile conducting monofilament is a conducting wire. After the tensile conducting monofilament and the other circular conducting monofilaments are stranded, the resistance of the conducting wire won&#39;t be influenced. But, its tensile strength is enhanced greatly. The minimum of the tensile strength is 26 kilograms, meeting the safety requirement of U.S. UL, 24 KG. Fourthly, the tensile conducting monofilament is a conducting wire. The hardness of the conducting wire having the tensile conducting monofilament is appropriate so as to ensure the production efficiency of the installation of string lights. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic view showing the structure of the tensile conducting monofilament according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic view showing the structure of the tensile conducting monofilament according to a third embodiment of the present disclosure; and 
         FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view of the conducting wire. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , a tensile conducting monofilament  100  according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure is composed of a flat conducting filament  1  and at least one tensile thread  2 . There are three tensile threads in this embodiment. As shown in the drawing, the three tensile threads become one-piece. The flat conducting filament  1  is wound on the tensile thread  2  in a winding manner by means of a high-speed lapping machine. (The winding way of the flat conducting filament  1  in the drawing is only illustrative. In order to show the tensile thread and the flat conducting filament, the tensile thread is not fully wound by the flat conducting filament.) The flat conducting filament is wound on the tensile thread about 15-20 laps per 1 cm. 
     The flat conducting filament has a thickness of 0.06 mm and a width of 0.4 mm. The flat conducting filament is formed by flattening a circular conducting filament through a calendar. 
     The tensile thread is a nylon thread. 
     The tensile thread has a diameter of 0.2 mm. 
     The tensile thread has a tensile strength of not less than 5 kilograms. 
     At least one tensile conducting monofilament  100  and thirteen circular conducting monofilaments  200  are stranded together and disposed in an insulation cover  300 . There are three tensile conducting monofilaments  100  in this embodiment. As shown in  FIG. 3 , the circular conducting monofilaments  200  are copper wires. The flat conducting filament  1  is formed by flattening the circular conducting monofilaments. 
     A second embodiment is substantially similar to the first embodiment with the exceptions described hereinafter. The flat conducting filament has a thickness of 0.07 mm and a width of 0.35 mm. The tensile thread is a synthetic fiber thread. The tensile thread has a diameter of 0.25 mm. Three tensile conducting monofilaments  100  and thirteen circular conducting monofilaments  200  are stranded with a lay length of 0.6 cm. 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , a tensile conducting monofilament  100  according to a third embodiment of the present disclosure is composed of a flat conducting filament  1  and at least one tensile thread  2 . There are four tensile threads in this embodiment. As shown in the drawing, the four tensile threads become one-piece. The flat conducting filament  1  is coiled to form a cylinder so as to sleeve on the tensile thread  2 . The axial opening of the cylinder can be sealed or not. (The tensile thread and the flat conducting filament in the drawing are only illustrative. The thickness of the flat conducting filament and the diameter of the tensile thread are subject to the following values.) 
     The flat conducting filament has a thickness of 0.08 mm and a width of 0.5 mm. 
     The tensile thread is a PVC (polyvinyl chloride) thread. 
     The tensile thread has a diameter of 0.3 mm. 
     The tensile thread has a tensile strength of not less than 5 kilograms. 
     Two tensile conducting monofilaments  100  and fifteen circular conducting monofilaments  200  are stranded together and disposed in an insulation cover  300  (not shown in the drawing). 
     The circular conducting monofilaments  200  are copper wires. The flat conducting filament  1  is formed by flattening the circular conducting monofilaments. 
     The aforesaid embodiments show and describe the basic principle and main feature and advantages of the present disclosure. Although particular embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail for purposes of illustration, various modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the present disclosure is not to be limited except as by the appended claims.