Ribbon type of cable is mostly used in computer and network systems.
This solid type of wire conductor has unnoticed impacts in networks.
The properties and the technical facts about this cable made it so unique.
solid wire cable
A cable having numerous conducting wires running parallel to each other on the same flat plane is referred to as a ribbon cable.
This type of cable is also referred to as multi-wire planar cable.
As a direct consequence of this, the cable is thin and wide.
It was given its name because of the likeness it bore to a piece of ribbon.
In most cases, the internal peripherals of a computer, such as the hard drives, CD drives, and floppy drives, are the ones that require ribbon cables.
They were also utilized for the purpose of external connection on certain earlier computer systems, such as the BBC Micro and Apple II series, respectively.
The ribbon-like shape impedes computer cooling by disrupting airflow within the case.
Additionally, the shape makes the cables awkward to handle, especially when there are a lot of them.
As a result, round cables have almost entirely replaced ribbon cables for external connections, and they are increasingly being used internally as well.
Cicoil Corporation, a firm with headquarters in Chatsworth, California, is credited with inventing the ribbon cable in the year 1956.
The engineers of the company worked out how to use a new material called silicone rubber to'mold' a flat cable that has numerous conductors of the same size.
This was a big accomplishment.
The cable was given the moniker "ribbon cable" due to the fact that it resembled a flat ribbon or duct tape.
Ribbon cables enabled businesses such as IBM and Sperry/Univac to swap out their cumbersome and inflexible round cables for more streamlined and bendable ribbon cables.
The mainframe computer industry was one of the earliest adopters of ribbon cables, which were utilized on card readers, card punching machines, and tape machines.
After then, many different firms, including 3M, began producing ribbon cables.
3M was one of these companies.
By standardizing the design and spacing of the wires, as well as the thickness of the insulation, in order for them to be easily terminated through the use of insulation displacement connectors, methods and materials were developed to simplify and reduce the cost of ribbon cables.
This was accomplished by standardizing the design and spacing of the wires (IDC).
