Cables, wires, connectors

Electrical cables and wires are used for power transmission or for signal transmission. Wire usually refers to a central electrical conductor surrounded by a layer of insulation, while cable generally refers to a central conductor surrounded by insulation, with a second conductor of foil or braid surrounding the first layer of insulation and a second layer of insulation surrounding the second conductor. Wire" and cable are often used interchangeably. Electrical cable is used for many applications, such as power cords, telephone lines, speaker cables, power lines and many other applications. For either power cables or signal transmission cables, two basic cable types are known: round and flat. Most electrical cable in use today uses cylindrical conductors which are round in cross-section. Electrical cables and particularly electric power cables for medium and high voltages are composed of a plurality of polymer layers extruded around the electric conductor. The electric conductor is usually coated first with an inner semiconducting layer followed by an insulating layer, then an outer semiconducting layer. Coaxial cables are used in a variety of applications including the delivery and distribution of television signals, electronic communications, distributed data networks, and etc. Coaxial cables comprise inner and outer conductors disposed in spaced concentric relationship with a nonconductive insulating material disposed uniformly therebetween. In the electrical and electronics industry, twisted electrical wires are often used to connect terminals of equipment. The advantages in using twisted wires include more compact wiring and the minimization of inductance effects between the wires. Electrical cable assemblies are used in a variety of applications and may extend from various panels, circuit boards or other electrical components. Electrical connectors are used in a wide variety of applications. Some connectors simply are used to transmit power from a power source to an appropriate appliance. Some electrical connectors are used to interconnect signal transmission lines to printed circuit boards. Generally, electrical connector assemblies include a pair of connectors or connector components mated or mounted together for running circuits through a connector interface. An electrical connector, which establishes electrical connection between a daughter card and a mother board, is commonly called a card edge connector.