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T/8-7 Issue 11
Shorting Fold
Belden’s patented Beldfoil
and special fold options
provide a premium product Drain Wire
that allows for maximum Isolation
electrical capability. The Fold
Beldfoil provides 100
percent shield coverage
for improved protection
against radiated emissions
Insulated Aluminum
and ingress at audio
and radio frequencies. Conductor
Insulating Film
Beldfoil® Multiple The Beldfoil Z-Fold Shield By folding the edges, the unique Z-Fold
Pair Individually shield forms an electrically continuous
Belden pioneered the development of an aluminum tube around the conductors; the
Shielded Cables aluminum/polyester foil for use as a cable Z-Fold shield not only protects the desired
shield and was awarded a patent for the signal from external interference, it also
Beldfoil design. Beldfoil is a laminated tape minimizes signal radiation problems. The
of aluminum foil bonded to polyester film. Z-Fold also improves voltage break- down
The aluminum foil provides electrostatic characteristics when compared to ordinary
shielding, while the polyester film adds shorting folds. It is specified for many critical
strength and extra insulation. Since a Beldfoil applications, including instrumentation
shield is lightweight, strong, flexible and thin, systems, tracking station equipment,
yet extremely effective, it is ideally suited computer and data processing systems.
for multiple pair individually shielded audio,
communication, and data cables. It provides
100 percent shield coverage for improved
protection against radiated emissions and Advantages Associated
ingress at audio and radio frequencies. With Beldfoil
Z-Fold shields are a Belden shielding • Beldfoil foil provides 100 percent physical
innovation that employs both a shorting shield coverage. Other shield types
fold and an isolation fold. The shorting fold (e.g., wire braid and wire serve) do not
provides metal-to-metal contact, while the afford complete coverage without costly,
isolation fold prevents adjacent shields bulky, heavy, inflexible double layers.
from shorting to one another. Z-Folds can
be applied in different ways to meet the • A Beldfoil shield includes bonus insulation.
requirements of specific applications. The layer of polyester film makes it
possible to achieve isolation between
shields in multiple pair cables since it shielded pair and the green-shielded pair blue-4 in this inner layer, first remove a short
provides its own separate jackets over are next to each other throughout the length of the jacket, the paper tape and any
the individual pairs. Therefore, Beldfoil length of the cable, the green-shielded binders. Gently twist the cable in the opposite
foil makes it possible to reduce a cable’s pair can be used as a reference. direction of the twist. This will loosen the
overall diameter or to include a greater pairs and allow those in the inner layer to
number of conductors in a given area. As a further example, consider Beldfoil be counted. Now locate the green-shielded
multiple pair individually shielded cable pair in the inner layer and count away from
• Beldfoil shields are flexible. Even such as Belden 8773, depicted in Figure it until you reach blue-4. Pull out blue-4, and
after repeated flexing, Beldfoil foil 2. In a given layer, start counting from the you have located the pair you want without
maintains greater shield coverage green pair in the direction of the first blue disturbing any other pairs in either layer.
and shield effectiveness than (blue-1). (Remember, there is only one blue
braided or served shields. next to the green because the red-shielded In addition to the Beldfoil shield color code,
pair is on the other side of the green). This each pair is color coded by the insulation
• Cross-talk is minimized. Because each system cannot be read backward. Continue on the individual conductors. Suppose
pair is individually shielded, cross-talk counting in the same direction (from green to you were working with Belden 8773 cable,
between pairs and interference from blue to blue), and the second blue shielded and started your operation by randomly
outside sources are significantly reduced. pair is blue-2, the third blue-3, and the removing a pair, stripping the Beldfoil
fourth blue-4. To locate blue-3 anywhere shield, stripping the insulation around each
• Individual pairs are isolated. The along the length of the cable, just strip conductor and terminating both conductors.
nominal voltage breakdown between away the jacket at the desired location, Now you want to remove the same pair
adjacent pair shields is 1500 volts. start from the green shielded pair and from another place in the cable length for a
count blue-1, blue-2, and finally, blue-3.
• Shields on adjacent pairs can be utilized
with differences in potential up to
50 volts (rated working voltage).