Coil Cords for Power Applications
MEGA Electronics specializes in making coiled power cords, particularly for the medical industry. Cords can come in a variety of colors, lengths and with or without terminated ends.
STEP ONE: Jacket material selection: For the North American market TPE material is used, which is a thermoplastic elastomer. It is a cross between PVC and rubber and holds up performs extremely well. For the European market BQF cable is used, which is a Polyurethane material.
STEP TWO Wind the cable onto a rod. During this process the coiled cord starts to look like the final product. The cable is wrapped around a rod the can be a small as 1/4 of an inch to a large as 3 or 4 inches in diameter. The size of the rod creates the inside diameter (ID) of the coiled cable. A small ID creates a coiled cord with more spring action and a larger ID creates less spring action. If the ID of the coil is too small the cord will have difficulty retaining the shape. The length of the coiled rod is controlled not the number of coils.
STEP THREE Heat treating. The outer jacket materials can be softened with heat, however too much heat will melt the material and too little won’t change anything. The goal is to heat the material JUST hot enough and for JUST the right amount of time to get it to stay in the coiled shape. This requires experience and know how because if it isn’t done right then the coiled cord won’t perform correctly.
STEP FOUR Reverse winding. During heat treating the material on the outside of the coil cord is lengthened and the material on the inside is shortened. When the coil cord is reverse wound, or turned inside out, the force pulls the coils together giving the coil cord the spring action.
STEP FIVE Molding of plug and connector. For North America we offer the standard NEMA 5/15 plug and the hospital grade version with the option of including a light which indicated when power is reaching the plug. For the export market the cord can be built with the appropriate plug for the final destination country.
Please complete the form below with your needs and we will be pleased to have a sales person discuss your particular needs.
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