Cables

A cable is two or more wires bound together which may be bare or covered or insulated. It may be protected by a jacket sheath which protects all.

Cables may be made more flexible by stranding, usually twisting or braiding. Smaller individual wires allows more flexibility. Bunching small wires before concentric stranding adds the most flexibility.

Cable

Cables By Brand


Bowden cable

Invented by Frank Bowden, a bowden cable is a type of flexible cable used to transmit mechanical force or energy by the movement of an inner cable (most commonly of steel or stainless steel) relative to a hollow outer cable housing. The cable housing is generally of composite construction, consisting of a spiral steel wire, often coated with plastic, and with a plastic outer sheath.

The linear movement of the inner cable is generally used to transmit a pulling force, although for very light applications over shorter distances (such as the indexed shifting system on a bicycle, or the remote shutter release cables on mechanical film cameras) a push may also be used. Usually provision is made for adjusting the cable tension using an inline hollow screw (often called a "barrel adjuster"), which lengthens or shortens the cable housing relative to a fixed anchor point. Lengthening the housing (turning the barrel adjuster out) tightens the cable; shortening the housing (turning the barrel adjuster in) loosens the cable.

Additional information and source: Cable