EP2410535A1 - Cable with a tactile marking and method and device - Google Patents

Abstract

The cable (10) has a marking field (38) equipped in a cable cover (12) and comprising a base (26) that is arranged at distance around an inner radius from a middle axle (22) of the cable. The inner radius is shorter than outer radius around penetration depth. Cover elements (32) are provided on the base. Individual marks (34) are defined by the penetration depth and arranged in a series along cable length direction, where height of the cover elements corresponds to the penetration depth. Independent claims are also included for the following: (1) a method for manufacturing a cable provided with a marking (2) a device for performing a method for manufacturing a cable provided with a marking.

Description

The invention relates to a cable with a tactile marking in particular for visually impaired persons and to a method and a device for producing the cable provided with the marking.

From the publication DE 10 2008 003 995 A1 For example, a cuff system that is mountable to a cable is known, which has a labeling field. The reusable cuff system consists of a flexible plastic claw and an elastic cable sleeve, which has a nubbed cable guide into which the cable is inserted. After inserting the cable into the cable sleeve, the plastic claw is placed around the cable sleeve in order to close and fix it. The cable sleeve serves as a label carrier for labels which are provided with an optically or scan readable font. A braille reading that can be read by scanning can also be punched directly into the plastic claw. By scanning the braille inscription provided on the label or the plastic claw, visually impaired persons gain access to the information about the marked cable.

However, this solution has several disadvantages. The cuff system consists of different parts, which must be manufactured separately with appropriate effort. In this case, an assortment of sleeve systems with different dimensions is to be provided, from which a sleeve system can be selected, which corresponds to the diameter of a present cable.

The selection and installation of the sleeve system, either after the cable production or at the installation site, as well as the Making and applying the labels, if necessary, the punching of the plastic claw, also cause considerable effort and expense.

The described cuff system is also not firmly connected to the cable, so this can be damaged by force and disconnected from the cable. It should also be noted that e.g. due to confusion erroneous labels can be made.

The cuff system is slipped onto the cable and thereby partially enlarges the circumference of the cable. This is at the installation of the cable, for example when laying in cable ducts or when pulling the cable in installation pipes disadvantage. As mentioned, the cuff system may become detached from the cable when hitting an obstacle.

In addition, when winding a provided with one or more sleeve systems cable disturbing force effects on the sleeve system or on the cable may occur, which can lead to damage to the sleeve system or the cable sheath.

The present invention is therefore an object of the invention to provide an improved cable with at least one mark, which can be advantageously scanned and read by visually impaired people. Furthermore, a method and an apparatus for producing the marked cable are to be specified.

With the method and the device, the markers should be able to be applied to the cable in an automated process.

Marked cables should be easy to install and install in the same way, so that it is easy to retract the marked cables into a pipe system possible without occasional damage or loss of markings.

This object is achieved with a cable, a method and a device, which have the features specified in claim 1, 9 and 14 respectively. Advantageous embodiments of the invention are specified in further claims.

The cable comprises at least one electrical and / or optical conductor, which extends in the cable longitudinal direction and is enclosed by an outer cable sheath whose outer surface is spaced by an outer radius of the central axis of the cable.

According to the invention, at least one marking field is incorporated in the cable sheath, which has a base which is spaced by an inner radius from the central axis of the cable, which is shorter by a penetration depth than the outer radius. Sheath elements are provided on the base, the height of which preferably corresponds to the penetration depth and by means of which individual characters of a character set are defined, which are arranged in at least one row along the cable longitudinal direction and are suitable for tactile scanning.

The sensing jacket elements protrude from the base and are preferably laterally exposed portions of the shell, the top surfaces of which preferably have the same consistency as the exterior surface of the cable jacket. If the outer jacket has a protective layer or even a luminescent layer, the jacket elements on the upper side are also provided with this layer.

By incorporating the marking field directly into the cable sheath, the information is inherently and permanently connected to the cable. For example, it can not be detached from the cable or mistakenly exchanged by the action of force. In addition, when the marking field material of the cable sheath is removed or displaced by means of a tool, which is why the cable learns at the point in question little or no significant change in the cable diameter. Furthermore, the cable has an unchanged flexibility even at the marking points. The drawing of the marked cable in a conduit is therefore easily possible.

In a preferred embodiment, the marking provided on the cable is provided with at least one jacket element, preferably with a group of jacket elements, by means of which the cable can be identified in an application-specific manner. If identical cable connections are to be created in a building from one distributor to several consumers, then, for example, parts of a cable according to the invention are laid which have identical marking fields and are additionally characterized by removal of a corresponding number of jacket elements. For example, the consumers are numbered on the installation plan. As a result, the individual cable sections are marked according to the associated consumers at one end or at both ends or provided with a unique code. The cable ends can be conveniently provided with the required marking. It is particularly easy, if the optional removable jacket elements are arranged at certain positions or even provided with colors. If, for example, three sheath elements with the colors red, green and blue are provided, two mutually corresponding sheath elements are removed before the cable is pulled in at both ends, after which sheath elements of the same color remain at both ends. The cable ends can therefore easily be assigned to the corresponding consumers in the distributor.

The inventive solution is therefore not only for visually impaired people, but for any task can be used in which a cable with little effort is reliable to identify.

The marked cables can also be scanned and / or visually read by users who are not or only temporarily visually impaired. Cables according to the invention can also be advantageously installed, for example, in locations which are difficult to access and therefore barely visible. With cables, places that are difficult or impossible to see, or in dark surroundings, an otherwise normal-sighted person can scan the marking and obtain the required information.

The arrangement of the marking fields in the longitudinal direction of the cable allows convenient scanning and reading of the characters. The hand is guided along the cable, whereby the intended line of Braille can be scanned.

Safe scanning is ensured when the penetration depth of the marking field is in the range of 0.1 mm - 5 mm. Particularly preferred is a penetration depth in the range of 0.5 mm - 1 mm. As a result, the jacket elements stand out clearly from the surrounding area and can be scanned without problems. Good readability is achieved, in particular, when contact with the base between the jacket elements results during the scan. In this way, it is possible to identify the individual characters properly.

The assignment of the jacket elements to characters and information can be based on existing or user-specific conventions. In a preferred embodiment, a jacket element forms a character of the character set. This results in robust jacket elements, which also increased Withstand stresses. In addition, the choice of the material intended for the production of the cable sheath material is not critical in this embodiment of the sheath elements. Alternatively, several jacket elements can be assigned to one character of the character set. The inventive method makes it possible to work out any scannable fonts or characters from the cable sheath. It may be a braille such as Braille, in which several shell elements give a character or a relief font such as the Moon alphabet, in which usually a shell element results in a character of the character set. An already known or a newly developed character set can be used. Further, the user may specify a proprietary code to impress information in the cable or to provide a basis for custom designating the cable, for example, by removing individual jacket elements.

For example, 6 or 8 positions are reserved on the base for a character at which at least approximately cylindrical shell elements can be provided corresponding to the selected character. The local jacket elements preferably have a diameter of about 1.1 mm - 1.9 mm. In this case, the reserved positions are arranged in two rows extending in the cable longitudinal direction, which have a mutual distance which corresponds at least approximately to the distance of adjacent position within the rows. This distance is preferably in the range of 2 mm - 3.5 mm. This makes it possible to create Braille characters according to the Marburg medium pressure and the Marburg large print, which serve as a standard for Braille. Alternatively, sheath elements can be provided at all positions, which are removed user-specifically in order to identify the cable individually. So that the jacket elements, the application-specific marking serve, they can be easily removed, they may be provided with a vulnerability.

In a further preferred embodiment, a screening with lines and / or points is provided on the basis of the marking field, whose height is less than 1/5 of the penetration depth. Through the screening, the visually impaired person recognizes that the jacket elements to be scanned are located in the vicinity.

The marker fields with the jacket elements contained therein are preferably arranged serially at first intervals of typically 0.3 m - 1 m along the cable. This ensures that the desired information is available at short intervals and thus accessible. Preferably, two series of marking fields are provided, which are arranged offset along the cable circumference by at least the arc length n / 2 against each other. If the cable is in contact with a series of the marker panels on a wall, ceiling or floor, the second series is exposed and can be scanned.

The marker fields located at various locations along the cable sheath may contain the same or different information. If the cables are assembled for a specific installation location, the desired information can be provided at the corresponding points on the cable.

So that the marking field can be well scanned on cables with a relatively small diameter, it covers approximately one quadrant of the cable sheath. In order to ensure a good readability or a proper identification of the characters, a minimum distance of at least 1 mm between the jacket elements and the edge of the marking field is also provided.

In a particularly preferred embodiment, the cable sheath is reinforced in the region of the marking field by a layer of material. This layer of material can be applied to the cable sheath before or after incorporation of the marking field. Particularly advantageous, a reinforcement of the cable sheath can be achieved during the extrusion process. After incorporation of the marking field, preferably only a very thin protective layer of plastic is applied, which has very good chemical resistance and good mechanical strength values.

The cable sheath serves to protect and insulate the cables enclosed therein. The reinforcement of the cable sheath in the area of the marking fields ensures that these functions are retained even with an increased penetration depth. This ensures that even a minimum level of insulation prescribed by standards is not undershot at any point on the cable sheath. Due to the local reinforcement of the cable sheath in the field of marking fields, the sufficient material thickness is ensured, so that it is possible to dispense with an overall increase in the diameter of the cable sheath and the corresponding cost of materials. By reinforcing the cable sheath in the area of the marking field, the wall thickness of the cable sheath required by standards and specifications can therefore also be maintained in the area of the marking field. In addition, the visually impaired person is indicated by the reinforcement of the sheath that there is tactile information in this area. Overlooking a marking field, which is possibly on the opposite side of the cable sheath, is thereby prevented.

According to the invention, in the method for producing a cable according to the invention, a part of a cable blank is axially aligned and held firmly or displaceably. The Marking field is incorporated with a tool in the cable sheath so that a reaching to the base of the marker field depression results in a specified depth of penetration. Scannable mantle elements that form characters of a font set in at least one row along the cable's longitudinal direction are exposed within the marker panel. By aligning and holding the cable blank, a marking field with jacket elements contained therein can be incorporated at a predetermined position in the cable.

Preferably, the marking field is incorporated by applying a mechanical, chemical or thermal process in the cable sheath. In this case, material of the cable sheath is displaced or removed in such a way that the sheath elements are exposed. The said methods make it possible to precisely expose the jacket elements at the intended positions in a designated form. For example, material of the cable sheath is removed by means of a laser beam or by means of a milling head or displaced by means of a pressure wheel. A laser or a milling head provides high flexibility and very high accuracy when incorporating shell elements. This meant that various information could be incorporated into the cable sheath as needed. Preferably, a rasterization is simultaneously implemented on the basis of the marker field, which indicates to the scanning person that the marker field has been found. The impressing of the marking field by means of a pressure wheel, however, is less expensive to implement, however, a new pressure wheel is required for each changed marking. At elevated temperature of the cable sheath or the pressure wheel, the wells can be easily and permanently impressed into the cable sheath. The impressing of the marking field is therefore preferably after the extrusion of the cable sheath, as long as it is still heated.

In a further preferred embodiment, a mask corresponding to the mask or the mask is applied to the cable sheath and the cable sheath then applied with a substance, are removed by the uncovered by the mask parts of the cable sheath. The underlying elements are protected by the mask from being released from the cable sheath.

In order to carry out the above-described methods for incorporating a marking field of the cable sheath in the cable sheath, a device is used which has a holding device with which a cable blank can be detected and held. Further, an electronically controllable tool, such as a laser device, a milling device, or a printing device, is provided, by means of which the cable sheath of the cable blank can be processed. Furthermore, at least one drive device is provided, by means of which the cable and / or the tool is displaceable. The tool and the at least one drive device are connected to a control unit through which programmed operations are carried out to incorporate the marking field or corresponding recesses or depressions in the cable sheath. By at least one drive device, the cable blank and / or the tool are thereby positioned so that marker fields are incorporated at the intended locations in the cable.

Fig. 1

ein erfindungsgemässes Kabel 10 mit mehreren Leitern 14 und einem Kabelmantel 12, in den ein Markierungsfeld 38 eingearbeitet ist, welches mehrere Gruppen von freigelegten Mantelelementen 32 umfasst, die je ein Zeichen 34 eines abtastbaren Zeichensatzes, z.B. der Brailleschrift bilden;

Fig. 2

einen Längsschnitt durch das erfindungsgemässe Kabel 10 im Bereich des in Figur 1 gezeigten Markierungsfeldes 38, indessen Bereich durch Materialentnahme eine Vertiefung 24 mit einer Basis 26 und freigelegten Mantelelementen 32 vorgesehen ist;

Fig. 3

das erfindungsgemässe Kabel 10 von Figur 1 in einer vergrösserten Schnittdarstellung von vorn, mit zwei Markierungsfeldern 38, die einander radial gegenüberliegen;

Fig. 4

das Kabel 10 von Figur 1 in einer vorzugsweisen Ausgestaltung mit einer Vorverstärkung 40, die bei der Herstellung des Kabels 10 realisiert wurde;

Fig. 5

das Kabel 10 von Figur 1 mit einer Nachverstärkung 42, die nach der Einarbeitung des Markierungsfeldes 38 auf das Kabel 10 aufgetragen wurde;

Fig. 6

das erfindungsgemässe Kabel 10 von Figur 1 mit zwei Markierungsfeldern 38, in denen die freigelegten Mantelelemente 32 seriell in eine Richtung ausgerichtete Zeichen 34 unterschiedlicher Zeichensätze bilden;

Fig. 7

das erfindungsgemässe Kabel 10 von Figur 1 mit zwei Markierungsfelder 38 mit Mantelelementen 32 welche der anwendungsspezifischen Kennzeichnung des Kabels 10 dienen;

Fig. 8

das erfindungsgemässe Kabel 10 von Figur 1 mit Mantelelementen 32 welche der anwendungsspezifischen Kennzeichnung des Kabels 10 dienen und Mantelelementen 32 einer Referenzzeile 46;

Fig. 9

die schematische Darstellung einer Vorrichtung, welche der Herstellung erfindungsgemässer Kabel 10 dient.

The invention will be explained in more detail with reference to drawings. Showing:

Fig. 1

a cable 10 according to the invention with a plurality of conductors 14 and a cable sheath 12, in which a marker field 38 is incorporated, which comprises a plurality of groups of exposed sheath elements 32, each forming a character 34 of a scannable character set, such as Braille;

Fig. 2

a longitudinal section through the inventive cable 10 in the region of in FIG. 1 marking area 38 shown, while area by removal of material, a recess 24 is provided with a base 26 and exposed shell elements 32;

Fig. 3

the inventive cable 10 of FIG. 1 in an enlarged sectional view from the front, with two marking fields 38, which are radially opposite each other;

Fig. 4

the cable 10 from FIG. 1 in a preferred embodiment with a preamplification 40, which was realized in the manufacture of the cable 10;

Fig. 5

the cable 10 from FIG. 1 with an amplification 42 applied to the cable 10 after incorporation of the marker field 38;

Fig. 6

the inventive cable 10 of FIG. 1 with two marker fields 38 in which the exposed jacket elements 32 form serially aligned characters 34 of different character sets;

Fig. 7

the inventive cable 10 of FIG. 1 with two marking fields 38 with jacket elements 32 which serve the application-specific marking of the cable 10;

Fig. 8

the inventive cable 10 of FIG. 1 with jacket elements 32 which serve the application-specific marking of the cable 10 and jacket elements 32 of a reference line 46;

Fig. 9

the schematic representation of a device which is used to produce cable 10 according to the invention.

FIG. 1 shows a cable 10 according to the invention with a marker field 38 which can be scanned by persons to obtain information contained therein. The cable 10 comprises a cable sheath 12 and a plurality of electrical or optical conductors 14 enclosed therein which extend in the cable longitudinal direction and typically each have a conductor sheath 16 which serves as an insulation layer.

The cable sheath 12 and the conductor sheath 16 each consist of a plastic compound, such as polyvinyl chloride PVC or polyurethane PUR.

The marker field 38 can be provided for persons who are permanently or only temporarily visually impaired. For example, the marker panel 38 may serve blind persons to identify various cables 10 by scanning. For example, in the case of poor lighting or cables 10 that are not directly visible, the obstructed user may scan the cable information on the marker panels 38. It should be noted, however, that the marker fields 38 are particularly robust and can also be changed by manual intervention. This allows the user to insert application-specific information in the marker field 38. If, for example, six jacket elements 32 are reserved for the application-specific information, the user has 6 data bits available to mark the cable 10. Based on six jacket elements 32, it is therefore possible to identify 64 cables 10 individually. The jacket elements 32 can also be marked by means of colors, so that the non-visually impaired installer can identify them even more easily.

The marking field 38 provided in the cable sheath 12 comprises a recess or recess 24 with a base 26, which is preferably 0.5 mm-1 mm lower than the surrounding outer surface 30 of the cable sheath 12. Sheath elements 32 are exposed within the recess 24, which were excluded during processing of the recess 24 of the processing. The jacket elements 32 thus protrude from the base 26 and can be easily scanned.

The jacket elements 38 arranged in the marking field 38 have a distance of at least 1 mm from the surrounding edge of the depression 24. This distance allows a clear scanning of the jacket elements 32. The marker panel 38 preferably has a rectangular shape that is parallel to the central axis 22 of the cable 10. The marker panel 38 is therefore scanned by passing the hand along the cable 10.

The jacket elements 32 form individually or in groups depending on a scannable character 34 a font, especially a braille.

Braille is a scripture that can be read by the blind. The reading takes place through tactile perception with the sense of touch of the fingers. There are two basic variants of Braille, the relief font, in which normal Latin letters or simplified graphic patterns are made palpable. An example of this is the Moon alphabet. The second variant is the point font, in which the letters consist of individual points arranged in a grid. The individual points are provided according to a code either at positions of the grid or not. One of the most important pamphlets is Braille.

In Braille or Literaturbraille, 64 different characters 34 are encoded with up to six points. It There are also variations on Braille, such as the Eurobraille, or Computer Braille, which consists of up to eight points, by means of which an extended character set of up to 256 characters 34 can be formed.

Even the Moon alphabet knows a representation with points, namely the Dotty Moon alphabet. Other well-known Braille are the Fakoo alphabet and the Quadoo alphabet. It can be defined for the marking of cable 10 and a tactile character set, which is specifically geared to the needs of the visually impaired or the industry.

With the jacket elements 32 exposed in the marked field, characters 34 are defined, for example, of a character set which, for example, has the number n of different characters 34. If each of these n characters 34 is formed by a single jacket element 32, then n different jacket elements 32 result. In this way, for example, the moon alphabet can be represented. If each character 34 are formed by a plurality of jacket elements 32, preferably identical jacket elements 32 are provided at the corresponding positions of the sign 34. The identically designed jacket elements 32 are preferably designed in a cylindrical shape, which can widen in the region of the base 26 in order to ensure a stable connection to the cable sheath 12. With these identical jacket elements 32, for example, the Braille script can be realized.

The mark 34 provided in the mark 34 are arranged in a row which is aligned parallel to the cable longitudinal direction. Such a series forms a scannable text line. It can also be arranged in a marker field 38 a plurality of rows of characters 34 above or below each other. Especially with a large-scale cable 10, this can improve the readability of the information. The recess 24 provided in the marking field 38 is worked in with a tool 44, which displaces material of the cable sheath 12 by mechanical, chemical or thermal treatment or removes it. The tool 44 is adjusted so that a penetration depth 28 in the range of 0.1 mm - 5 mm results. That is, the base 26 of the marker panel 38 is located around this value of the insertion depth below the outer surface 30 of the cable sheath 12. In order to achieve a good tactility, the insertion depth should be chosen appropriately. If the penetration depth 28 is too low, characters 34 can often not be identified beyond doubt since contaminants can be troublesome. If the insertion depth is too high, there is no contact with the base 26 during scanning, which prevents the reading flow.

FIG. 2 shows a longitudinal section through the inventive cable 10 in the region of in FIG. 1 It can be seen that within the recess 24 provided in the cable sheath 24 a plurality of jacket elements 32 have been exposed and protrude from the base 26. On the base 26 a fine screening 36 is provided, which was realized simultaneously with the exposure of the jacket elements 32. The exposure of the jacket elements 32 serving tool 44 is preferably performed sequentially in lines that are parallel to each other at a small distance of one or more tenths of a millimeter. As a result, not only is material removed, but also the grid 36 is inserted into the base 26. As a result, there are fine lines or dots which can also be scanned and indicate to the user that the marker field 38 is being scanned.

The screening 36 is dependent on the tool 44 with which the recess 24 is incorporated. In order that the screening 36 can be clearly distinguished from the jacket elements 32, the screening 36 should be smaller than 1/5 of the penetration depth 28, normally so be less than 1/5 of the jacket elements 32. When machining with a milling head as a tool 44, fine lines are formed, while a line-shaped or dot-shaped screening 36 is produced during laser processing.

The outer surface 30 of the cable 10 is in FIG. 2 around an outer radius 18 away from the central axis 22 of the cable 10. The mean value of the base 26 of the recess 24, which is provided with the grid 36, is removed from the central axis 22 by an inner radius 20. The difference between outside radius 18 and inside radius 20 results in the penetration depth 28. If the jacket elements 32 are machined only laterally and not frontally by the tool 44, their height corresponds to the penetration depth 28. The outer surface 30 of the shell elements 32 in this case corresponds to the outside surface 30 of FIG Cable sheath 12. If the cable sheath 12 has a protective layer or luminescent layer, then this protective layer or luminescent layer is also present on the upper side of the sheath elements 32.

FIG. 3 shows the inventive cable 10 with two identical marking fields 38, which are arranged radially offset from one another. In the embodiment shown, the marker fields 38 each comprise approximately one quadrant, and between the marker fields 38 there is likewise approximately one quadrant each. In this way, regardless of the position of the cable 10 each one of the marker fields 38 on the one or the other side can be easily scanned. The arrangement of the marker fields 38 is particularly dependent on the total circumference of the cable 10. For example, with a small circumference of, for example, 15 mm, only one marking field 38 is placed on the cable sheath 12, while in the case of a cable 10 with a large circumference of, for example, 200 mm, two or more marking fields 38 are preferably distributed over the circumference at equal intervals.

FIG. 4 shows the cable 10 according to the invention with a reinforcement in the region of the marking field 38, which was preferably realized already during the extrusion of the cable sheath 12. The preamplification 40 can be achieved, for example, by changing the speed of the extrusion process and is preferably radially between 0.5 mm - 1 mm, which typically corresponds to the penetration depth 28. In this way, it is ensured that the enclosed in the cable sheath 12 conductors 14 remain well protected even after the incorporation of the marking field 38 and the associated material removal.

FIG. 5 shows the inventive cable 10, in which the cable sheath 12 has been reinforced after the incorporation of the marker field 38. The material used for the reinforcement settles over the surface in a layer that is as even as possible, so that the previously incorporated jacket elements 32 can be further clearly scanned. Preferably, only a thin protective layer is applied. So that the size of the exposed jacket elements 32 does not change, they are preferably made with a reduced diameter. After applying the protective layer, these in turn receive the same size and can therefore be scanned without problems. The protective layer preferably has a significantly increased mechanical and chemical resistance compared to the cable sheath 12, so that the sheath elements 32 can easily withstand a corresponding load and are not abraded.

FIG. 6 shows the inventive cable 10 with two marking fields 38, in which identical information with different characters 34 are shown. On the one hand, it is shown that by exposing the jacket elements 32 any characters 34 can be displayed. On the other hand, it may be advantageous if marker fields 38 are provided with different character sets.

FIG. 7 shows the inventive cable 10 with jacket elements 32 which serve the application-specific identification of the cable 10. The jacket elements 32 are preferably connected to the cable sheath 12 so that they can be removed if necessary as residue-free and clean. By removing individual jacket elements 32, for example, a cable 10 can be marked at the two ends. The usual today marking a cable 10 or conductor 14 with a colored isolation or by the imprint of letters or number combinations can be replaced or supplemented, for example, not or difficult to see places and in dark surroundings, by coding with tactile shell elements 32.

The coding with jacket elements 32 can of course already be made during the cable production process. But it is also possible to make the coding by removing jacket elements 32, for example, only during the installation of the cable 10 in a building or vehicle.

FIG. 8 shows the inventive cable 10 with jacket elements 32 which serve the application-specific identification of the cable 10. In this case, a reference line 46 is used with jacket elements 32 which are not intended for removal. The reference line 46 makes it easier, especially in tactile perception inexperienced persons to decipher the coding of the cable 10 easier. Each position of a removed sheath element 32 can be compared with a reference sheath element 32 located in close proximity.

FIG. 9 shows a device according to the invention, with which the inventive cable 10 is manufactured or processed. The device comprises a holding device 48, by means of which a cable blank 10 is received, axially aligned, held and optionally moved in the longitudinal direction.

Furthermore, a tool 44 serving for machining the cable blank is provided, by means of which the marking field 38 is worked into the cable sheath 12 of the cable blank.

The inventive device can be integrated directly into the cable production process (on the flight). For example, the device is switched on after the stage in which the cable sheath 12 is extruded and optionally provided with reinforcements 40. The cable 10 can thus be provided without further wrapping with the markings.

In the holding device 48, the cable 10 is mounted for example on rollers or balls and thus well fixed for processing by a tool 44, at the same time a further transport of the cable 10 is made possible.

As a tool 44, various devices may be used, for example a milling device with a controllable milling tool or a laser device with a controllable laser beam. With a fine milling tool, the jacket elements 32 can be arbitrarily shaped and exposed. With a laser beam, the cable sheath 12 can be displaced or vaporized except for the previously defined base 26. These two tools 44 allow a great deal of flexibility during processing. In this case, for each marker field 38 to be incorporated, the information and the character set to be selected can optionally be specified. This makes it possible to incorporate current data of the production process with optically readable or scannable characters 34 in the marker field 38.

As a further tool 44, a pressure wheel can be used, which with a defined pressure at a preferably elevated temperature in the cable longitudinal direction is rolled over the cable 10. In this case, the jacket elements 32 are embossed as negatives in the print wheel. The pressure wheel allows a quick and cost-effective incorporation of the recesses 24 and sheath elements 32 in the cable sheath 12. However, the print wheel is limited in the length of the information to the own scope and the information can not be flexibly changed.

It is also possible to produce the depressions 24 with a substance which at least partially decomposes a part of the cable sheath 12. In this case, that part of the cable sheath 12 which should remain unprocessed is covered with a mask and protected. This mask may also be, for example, a lacquer or an applied protective layer. Thereafter, the part not covered by the mask is decomposed with, for example, an acid. The decomposition process must be stopped in good time, for example by cleaning the resulting recess 24.

Further, the tool 44 may apply tactile shell elements 32 in the form of an additional layer on the cable 10. The jacket elements 32 are applied in a marking field 38 on the cable sheath 12. This process is similar to printing with an inkjet printer. Individual dots of, for example, a dot font are applied through nozzles of the printer. The points have a spatial extent and can thus be felt by a visually impaired person.

By means of a drive device 50, the cable 10 can be further transported. There may be provided a drive device 50 which both drives and rotates the cable 10 axially. The drive device 50 can also drive the tool 44, or move in its position. Depending on the design of the device, the tool 44 both along the axis or the circumference of Cable 10 are moved. In particular, in the case of a milling head and a pressure wheel, the tool 44 can be moved radially to and fro on the cable 10 as a further movement axis. In the case of a laser as a tool 44, a mirror deflection unit and optionally a focusing unit is driven. It is also possible to provide separate drive units 50 for the cable 10, the tool 44 and the holding device 48.

When moving the tool 44 and the cable 10 by the drive device 50, a particularly efficient processing of the cable 10 can be achieved. In addition, additional degrees of freedom result from the rotation of the tool 44 or the cable blank, allowing for precise machining of the cable 10. The more axes of movement the device has, the faster the cable 10 can be provided with a marking field 38. Furthermore, jacket elements 32 can be shaped as desired.

The device further comprises a control unit 52, by means of which the tool 44 is controlled. Preferably, sensors are provided by means of which position data are determined, by means of which the tool 44 and the drive device 50 can be controlled. An application program processes all relevant data and calculates the control signals necessary for processing the cable 10.

By an additional control unit 54 such as a video system with image recognition software, the marker field 38 can be checked on the cable 10 in the production process.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

10

electric wire

12

cable sheath

14

ladder

16

conductor shell

18

outer radius

20

inner radius

22

central axis

24

deepening

26

Base

28

penetration depth

30

outer surface

32

jacket element

34

character

36

scanning

38

checkbox

40

preamp

42

amplification

44

Tool

46

reference number

48

holder

50

driving device

52

control unit

54

control unit

Claims (15)

Cable (10) with a marking in particular for visually impaired persons and at least one electrical and / or optical conductor (14) which extends in the cable longitudinal direction and is enclosed by an outer cable sheath (12) whose outer surface (30) is defined by an outer radius (18 ) is spaced from the central axis (22) of the cable (10), characterized in that in the cable sheath (12) at least one marking field (38) is incorporated, which has a base (26) around an inner radius (20) of the central axis (22) of the cable (10) is spaced by a penetration depth (28) is shorter than the outer radius (18) and on the base (26) jacket elements (32) are provided whose height preferably the penetration depth (28 ) and by means of which individual characters (34) of a character set are defined, which are arranged in at least one row along the cable longitudinal direction and suitable for tactile scanning. Cable (10) according to claim 2, characterized in that the penetration depth (28) in the range of 0.1 mm - 5 mm, preferably in the range of 0.5 mm - 1 mm and / or that a jacket element (32) a Character (34) of the character set forms or that several jacket elements (32) form a character (34) of the character set. Cable (10) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that in the marking field (38) at least one jacket element (32) is provided which serves the application-specific identification of the cable (10). Cable (10) according to claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that for a character (34) 6 or 8 Positions are reserved on the base (26) at which, corresponding to the selected character (34) at least approximately cylindrical shell elements (32) are arranged, which have a diameter in the range of 1.1 mm - 1.9 mm and the reserved positions in two rows extending in the cable longitudinal direction are arranged, which have a mutual distance in the range of 2 mm - 3.5 mm, which corresponds at least approximately to the distance of the adjacent position within the rows. Cable (10) according to any one of claims 1-4, characterized in that on the base (26) of the marking field (38) a screening (36) is provided with lines and / or points whose height is less than 1/5 of the penetration depth (28). Cable (10) according to claim 1-5, characterized in that the marking fields (38) with the jacket elements (32) contained therein are arranged serially at first intervals of preferably 0.3 m - 1 m along the cable (10) and / / or that at least two series of marking fields (38) are provided, which are arranged offset along the cable circumference by at least the arc length n / 2 against each other. Cable (10) according to Claim 6, characterized in that the marking field (38) covers approximately one quadrant of the cable sheath (12) and / or that the distance between a sheath element (32) and the edge of the marking field (38) is at least 1 mm , Cable (10) according to any one of claims 1-7, characterized in that the cable sheath (12) in the region of the marking field (38) is reinforced by a layer of material, before or after the incorporation of the Marking field (38) is applied to the cable sheath (12). A method of making a marked cable (10) as defined in any one of claims 1-8, characterized in that a part of a cable blank is axially aligned and held in a fixed or slidable manner, the marking panel (38) being provided with a Tool (44) is worked into the cable sheath (12) in such a way that a depression (24) reaching to the base (26) of the marking field (38) results with a penetration depth (28) in the range of 0.1 mm - 5 mm, are exposed within the cladding elements (32) forming scan-readable characters (34) of a character set arranged in at least one row along the cable longitudinal direction. A method according to claim 9, characterized in that the recess (24) is incorporated by application of a mechanical, chemical or thermal process in the cable sheath (12), is displaced or removed in the material of the cable sheath (12). A method according to claim 10, characterized in that material of the cable sheath (12) is removed by means of a laser beam or by means of a milling head or that material of the cable sheath (12) is displaced by means of a pressure wheel, wherein the pressure wheel and / or the cable sheath (12) in front the incorporation of the marking field (38), possibly by the previously carried out extrusion process, preferably were heated. A method according to claim 10, characterized in that a jacket corresponding to the jacket elements (32) or the mark (34) is applied to the cable sheath (12) and the cable sheath (12) subsequently with a Substance is applied, are dissolved out by the uncovered by the mask parts of the cable sheath (12). Method according to one of claims 9 - 12, characterized in that in the for the incorporation of the marking fields (38) provided areas of the cable sheath (12) prior to incorporating the marking fields (38) during the extrusion process or thereafter a pre-reinforcement (40) is provided and / or that after incorporation of the marking fields (38) on this an amplification (42), such as a protective layer is applied. Apparatus for carrying out the method according to claim 9, characterized in that a holding device (48) serving to receive and hold the cable blank, a tool (44) serving to machine the cable blank, - At least one drive device (50) by means of which the cable (10) and / or the tool (44) is displaceable, and a control unit (52) by means of which the drive device (50) and the tool (44) are controllable in order to work the marking field (38) into the cable sheath (12), are provided. Apparatus for carrying out the method according to claim 9, characterized in that the tool (44) is a laser device with a controllable laser beam, a Milling device with a controllable milling element, or a printing device is.

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