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A ribbon cable (also known as multi-wire planar cable) is a cable with many conducting wires running parallel to each other on the same flat plane. As a result the cable is wide and flat. Its name comes from its resemblance to a piece of ribbon. Ribbon cables are usually seen for internal peripherals in computers, such as hard drives, CD drives and floppy drives. On some older computer systems (such as the BBC Micro and Apple II series) they were used for external connections as well. The ribbon-like shape interferes with computer cooling by disrupting airflow within the case and also 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 are increasingly being used internally as well. == History == The ribbon cable was invented in 1956 by Cicoil Corporation, a company based in Chatsworth, California. The company's engineers figured out how to use a new material, silicone rubber, to 'mold' a flat cable containing multiple conductors of the same size. Since the cable looked like a flat ribbon or tape, it was named a ribbon cable. The ribbon cable allowed companies like IBM and Sperry/Univac to replace bulky, stiff round cables with sleek, flexible ribbon cables. The early ribbon cables were used in the mainframe computer industry, on card readers, card punching machines, and tape machines. Subsequently ribbon cables were manufactured by a number of different companies, including 3M. Methods and materials were developed to simplify and reduce the cost of ribbon cables, by standardizing the design and spacing of the wires, and the thickness of the insulation, so that they could be easily terminated through the use of insulation displacement connectors (IDC). Due to the simplicity of ribbon cables, their low profile, and low cost due to standardization, ribbon cables are used today in most computers, printers, and many electronic devices. During the 1960s and 1970s the company provided flat cables for NASA and the US Government. In the 1990s Cicoil developed a unique extrusion process to make ribbon cables and flat flexible cables out of wires, hollow tubing, coaxial cable, and fiber optics. These cables are used in applications including missiles, satellites, semiconductor manufacturing equipment, and medical equipment. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ribbon cable」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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