Cable Assemblies Then and Now

As the Industrial Revolution provided for increased production capabilities in factories, the development of the machines of the time required ingenuity in how they addressed apparently the smallest of challenges: how to secure the cable assemblies of wires running throughout the insides of the machines.

Machines were not the only place where massive numbers of wires and cables required harnessing. As telecommunications became more prevalent after the turn of the 20th Century, technicians and installers quickly discovered the need to control the miles of thick and thin wires required to transmit data.

Likewise, as electrical power supplanted gas for certain applications in both the home and the new, emerging industrial factories, techniques were developed that if not adhered to would see the quick demise of cables and wires required for a facility to operate properly.

The art of cable lacing has probably been around in some form or another since the days sailors worked ships on the high seas. Many of the knots that were initially used within the industrial applications of lacing together wiring harnesses were of nautical decent.

As technologies produced new requirements for size of cables, the amount of data required to be transmitted and the power necessary for industrial mechanisms to operate properly, the need for stronger, more resistant lacing materials grew.

Where there might be increased requirements to decrease potential movement of the cable assemblies in a moving vehicle such as a plane or car, the harnesses had to ensure little to no vibrations would allow for the potential damage to the wires within the harness.

Knowledge and research done on data transfer showed that certain amounts of protection needed to be built into not only the individual cables which surrounded a single data wire, but the entire bundles of these wires. By harnessing larger numbers of cables, the potential for energy loss or negative data interactions had to be dealt with.

The manufacturing processes in place today provide for heavy duty creation of cable assemblies. From custom molded harnesses to military specification of plugs and other end pieces, being able to build rock solid cable harnesses is an important part of any factory or industrial application.

Most people do not realize the types and styles of assemblies required within industrial and other areas of business. For those working in the white collar world, the concept of Ethernet cabling is usually well known. Even if one is unfamiliar with the name of the wire that has to be plugged in to their computer in order to ensure access to the local network, cabling is there.

Within the computer even is flat wire, or ribbon cables which require harnessing in order to allow for proper operations. This same concept is in play in the largest of industrial applications also.

The factories that make the cars we drive often require heavy duty cable assemblies in order to efficiently manufacture our vehicles. Even the planes we fly in have miles and miles of wires and cables running from nose to tail, all of which are harnessed in efficient bundles. Without the power and technology associated with these many of the world’s current luxuries (and necessities) would be impossible.