Jacketed Ribbon?

[kbeach-2]

Have any enhancements been made in Creo2 Cabling for Jacketed Ribbon (see jacketed_ribbon.jpg) and/or bundled ribbons (see bundled_ribbon.jpg) in a single spool?

I have been able to graphically represent a bundled ribbon, but it required running 2 different ribbons from one spool, then creating an additional spool for a bundle. In this scenario, the BOM will show a part number for the cable (with wrong lengths since it was run twice) and another part number for the bundle, when in reality, it all should be only one part number. Thanks in advance for your input.

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[BrianMartin]

Hi Kevin...

No and no. That was easy.

What do you mean by "wrong lengths for the cable because it was run twice"? I understand the bundle dilemma but Creo cabling just doesn't do complex bundle schemes. I mean... you're looking for a flat packaged cable (or a ribbon but I'd probably just go with flat) that's enclosed by a sheath... and then another sheath. This is irrelevant to the cabling application. There are so many bundling schemes, it would be a big job to handle all of them.

Before they got to handling complex bundling, I'd lobby for support for twisted pairs. I think those are infinitely more common. You can always give your cable the physical characteristics of the largest outer sheath and then work the mass properties to give accurate mass and CG. Then, massage the BOM to remove the excess bundling from the table. Finally, create a small model showing all of the intricate details of the cable and the various bundling (like you did in your two JPEGs). Show those models as details on your cabling assembly drawing. That way you've communicated what the cable will look like in the real world but you've also worked within the current limitations of the software.

Until we have a major overhaul to the way bundling and sheathing is handled, I think that's the best we can do. I wouldn't count on any major overhaul anytime soon. I think the budget for enhancements to the cabling package is pretty much zero. We can always hope!

Thanks...

-Brian

[kbeach-2]

Brian,

Thanks for your opinion, but in this industry, flat jacketed cables are probably as prevalent or more prevalent than twisted pairs in copper wiring industries.

Ultimately, if we could show just the inner ribbon(s) and the outer jacket (without the intermediate layer), it would still be a step in the right direction - I don't think that would be a far stretch from the current round cable functionality available today.

Giving the cable the physical characteristics of the largest outer sheath, mass properties, etc. sounds like a great idea until you start to route it because the sheath/bundle is still shown as round. Flat cables route differently than round cables - we have to show this routing in the design process due to space constraints in our products.

Massaging the BOM also works great when you aren't passing your BOM directly to WT BOMs in Windchill then on to an MRP system, etc, etc.

Thanks for your suggestions.