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US-12620506-B1 - System, composition and method of application of same for reducing the coefficient of friction and required pulling force during installation of wire or cable

US12620506B1US 12620506 B1US12620506 B1US 12620506B1US-12620506-B1

Abstract

A composition and method for reducing the coefficient of friction and required pulling force of a wire or cable are provided. A composition of aqueous emulsion is provided that is environmentally friendly, halogen free and solvent free. The composition is compatible with various types of insulating materials and may be applied after the wire or cable is cooled and also by spraying or submerging the wire or cable in a bath. The composition contains lubricating agents that provide lower coefficient of friction for wire or cable installation and continuous wire or cable surface lubrication thereafter.

Inventors

  • William T. Bigbee, JR.
  • Sheri H. Dahlke
  • Ronald A. Raedeke
  • Jason Drew Gillen
  • Melvin Glenn DeBord

Assignees

  • Encore Wire Corporation

Dates

Publication Date
20260505
Application Date
20250118

Claims (18)

  1. 1 . An electrical cable, the electrical cable comprising: at least one conductor wire; an insulating material composition over the at least one conductor wire, wherein the insulating material is cooled after application to the conductor wire; a lubricating composition applied to the insulating material subsequent to the cooling of the insulating material, the lubricating composition comprising: 0.5-5 weight % based on the total weight, of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) emulsion; and 0.01-4.50 weight % of polyacrylamide polymer.
  2. 2 . The electrical cable of claim 1 , wherein the polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) emulsion has 1.5-3.0 weight % based on the total weight.
  3. 3 . The electrical cable of claim 2 , wherein the 1.5-3.0 weight % based on the total weight of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) emulsion is about 1.88 weight % based on the total weight.
  4. 4 . The electrical cable of claim 1 , wherein the 0.01-4.50 weight % of polyacrylamide polymer comprises 0.01-0.10 weight % based on the total weight of polyacrylamide polymer.
  5. 5 . The electrical cable of claim 1 further comprising salt of polyacrylic acid polymer.
  6. 6 . The electrical cable of claim 5 , therein the salt of polyacrylic acid polymer comprises between 0.2-0.10 weight % based upon total weight of salt of polyacrylic acid polymer.
  7. 7 . The electrical cable of claim 5 , wherein the salt of polyacrylic acid polymer comprises potassium salt of polyacrylic acid polymer.
  8. 8 . An electrical cable, the electrical cable comprising: at least one conductor wire; an insulating material composition over the at least one conductor wire, wherein the insulating material is cooled after application to the conductor wire; a lubricating composition applied to the insulating material subsequent to the cooling of the insulating material, the lubricating composition comprising: 5 weight % or less based on the total weight, of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) emulsion and polyacrylamide polymer.
  9. 9 . The electrical cable of claim 8 , wherein the polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) emulsion has 1.5-3.0 weight % based on the total weight.
  10. 10 . The electrical cable of claim 9 , wherein the 1.5-3.0 weight % based on the total weight of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) emulsion is about 1.88 weight % based on the total weight.
  11. 11 . The electrical cable of claim 8 , wherein the polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) emulsion has a viscosity between about 1000 CST to 20000 CST.
  12. 12 . The electrical cable of claim 8 further comprising salt of polyacrylic acid polymer.
  13. 13 . The electrical cable of claim 12 , therein the salt of polyacrylic acid polymer comprises between 0.2-0.10 weight % based upon total weight of salt of polyacrylic acid polymer.
  14. 14 . The electrical cable of claim 13 , wherein the polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) emulsion has 1.5-3.0 weight % based on the total weight.
  15. 15 . The electrical cable of claim 14 , wherein the 1.5-3.0 weight % based on the total weight of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) emulsion is about 1.88 weight % based on the total weight.
  16. 16 . The electrical cable of claim 14 , wherein the polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) emulsion has a viscosity between about 1000 CST to 20000 CST.
  17. 17 . The electrical cable of claim 12 , wherein the salt of polyacrylic acid polymer comprises potassium salt of polyacrylic acid polymer.
  18. 18 . The electrical cable of claim 8 , wherein the polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) emulsion has a viscosity between about 1000 CST to 20000 CST.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 18/670,350, filed May 21, 2024, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 12,300,404, issued May 13, 2025, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/900,202, filed Aug. 31, 2022; now abandoned, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/380,605, filed Jul. 20, 2021, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 11,456,088, issued Sep. 27, 2022, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/780,807, filed Feb. 3, 2020, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 11,101,053, issued Aug. 24, 2021, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/364,122, filed Mar. 25, 2019, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 10,580,551, issued Mar. 3, 2020, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/057,613, filed Aug. 7, 2018, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 10,276,279, issued Apr. 30, 2019, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/251,975, filed Aug. 30, 2016, now Issued as U.S. Pat. No. 10,062,475, issued Aug. 28, 2018, which is a continuation of Ser. No. 14/927,277, filed Oct. 29, 2015, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 9,458,404, issued on Oct. 4, 2016, which claims benefit of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/150,246, filed Jan. 8, 2014, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 9,200,234 on Dec. 1, 2015, which claims benefit of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/909,501, filed on Oct. 21, 2010, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,658,576 on Feb. 25, 2014, which claims priority to and benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/253,728, filed on Oct. 21, 2009, all of which are hereby incorporated by reference. STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT Not applicable. REFERENCE TO A MICROFICHE APPENDIX Not applicable. BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 1. Field of Invention This invention relates to wire and cable. More specifically, it relates to a systems, composition and method for applying the composition to wire and cable for all applications requiring a reduction in coefficient of friction and pulling force required for installation. 2. Description of Related Art A wire or cable generally consists of one or more internal conductors and an insulator that envelopes internal conductors. The insulator may be made of insulating materials such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or polyethylene (PE). During installation of these wires or cables, increased effort is required to pull the wires or cables through the conduit due to friction between the materials involved. This friction also may result in damage of the wire or cable during the installation process. Currently, various methods are used to minimize the coefficient of friction on the surface of the wire or cable to reduce the amount of pulling force required. One method involves incorporating lubricating agents into the insulating material during the manufacturing process of the wire or cable, specifically, prior to cooling of the insulating material. However, this method often requires lubricating agents to be impregnated or infused into the insulating material at a high temperature, which adversely affects the chemical, physical, and electrical properties of the wire or cable. Another method involves hand application of lubricating agents by hand prior to installation of the wire or cable at a job site. But this method is time consuming, labor intensive, and requires additional material to be on the job site during cable installation. Therefore, a need exists for a composition and method for reducing coefficient of friction in a wire or cable that does not require mixing, impregnation, or infusion into the insulating material and has minimal impact on the chemical properties of the surface material. BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A composition and method for reducing the coefficient of friction and required pulling force of a wire or cable are provided. A composition of aqueous emulsion is provided that is environmentally friendly, halogen free and solvent free. The composition is compatible with various types of insulating materials and may be applied after the wire or cable is cooled and also by spraying or submerging the wire or cable in a bath. The composition comprises lubricating agents that provide lower coefficient of friction for wire or cable installation and continuous wire or cable surface lubrication thereafter. A process for making a finished wire and cable having a reduced coefficient of friction and pulling force required during installation, the process comprising providing a payoff reel containing at least one internal conductor wire; supplying the internal conductor wire from the reel to an extruder; providing at least one extruder, wherein the least one extruders applies an insulating material over the internal conductor wire; providing a cooling device for lowering the temperature of the extruded insulating material and cooling the extruded insulating material in the cooling device; provid