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 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.
Tue Jan 01 2013
colinbrannigan<at>aol.com
Bowden Cables
Bowden Engineers ltd moved to LLanelli Wales in 1963, motorcycle cable
manufacturing ceased in 1967, in 1969 the name was changed to Bowden Controls
ltd and cable manufacturing for cars, trucks, aircraft, ships, MOD, power
stations etc continued.
The 1921 involvment was a "clip on" engine for bicycles; in the Muuseum of Speed at Pendine is an original 1905 Bowden motorcycle
given to the museum by the company before the closure in 2006, thus ending 109 years of cable making.
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