I recently had occasion to separate the wires of a length of lamp (zip) cord, then later wished to rejoin the pair. Of course this could be done using electrical tape, shrinky tubing, etc. But maybe there's a better way?
I propose that zip cord, and in fact all forms of multi-wire sheathless cable be manufactured in a version wherein each conductor would have insulation extruded with Ziploc-style edges, one each male and female per conductor.
In this way, multi-wire cables could be non-destructively separated and recombined as necessary.-- csea, Mar 13 2015 Well, it would cause a whole host of other problems, but there's certainly the occasion that it would come in handy (+)-- normzone, Mar 13 2015 This, I think, is an excellent idea. [+]-- MaxwellBuchanan, Mar 13 2015 [normzone], What sort of problems do you see?-- csea, Mar 13 2015 Why was I thinking of bungie-jumping cord when I read this title?-- RayfordSteele, Mar 13 2015 Well, let's see.
Somebody would have to redesign and control the specifications for ALL connector interfaces to account for the change in dimension / shape of the insulation.
And have you ever attempted to get an uncooperative ziplock to "thread" and begin mating? It's a technology that works great when it's working and is butt-stubborn when it's not perfectly lined up at the start, and becomes increasingly grumpy once it's been mis-threaded.
And of course it will voluntarily mate and become one every time you intended it to remain single.
The interface zone will collect small particle debris over time, leading to the advertised mate-ability being unreliable when you decide you need it.-- normzone, Mar 13 2015 We're not going to be zipping and unzipping this every hour. It just has to unzip when necessary; and if the rezipping is a bit of a fiddle, you can live with it.
Can I suggest a compromise? You don't want the cord to unzip unintentionally. So, have the two zipped strands held together with a thin web of material (just like a regular cord). On the rare occasion that you want to unzip part of the cord, the webs tear (again, as with a regular cord) and the zip unzips. The unzipped cord can then be rezipped - it won't be as strong against unzipping as before, but it'll be OK.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Mar 13 2015 I am usually open to compromise, but in this case, will stick to my ... insulation. How about hexagonal cross-sections, with alternating bumps and fissures, so that either flat or circular geometries can be made?
Could also be formed in spiral patterns (like licorice sticks) to minimise dust collection. This might spin off a related idea: licorice construction kits ? But maybe this would be too sticky.-- csea, Mar 14 2015 A simpler alternative would be to just make sure that a really, really high current is passing through the conductors at all times. In which case, they will stick together magnetically.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Mar 14 2015 random, halfbakery