Abstract: The car industry increasingly uses plastic optical fibers whose protective sheathing (4) is made of a polyamide. As unmodified PA poorly adheres to the fluoropolymers often used as the material for the fiber cladding (3), the plastic optical fiber (2, 3) moves in relation to the protective sheathing (4) when the temperature varies. To suppress this effect referred to as “pistoning”, the connectors and holders of the optical fibers must apply very large clamping forces to the protective sheathing (4) and the plastic optical fiber (2, 3) arranged therein, resulting in an increased signal attenuation. The use of a modified PA can clearly improve the adherence of the protective sheathing (4) to the cladding (3) of a plastic optical fiber which is made of a fluoropolymer.

Abstract: A hybrid cable with optical fibers and metallic conductors has a cable jacket with a first slot (14) for reception of optical fibers (121, 122) as well as a second slot (24) for reception of the electrical conductors (221, 222). The parts (1, 2) of the cable jacket forming the slots are connected to one another with a crosspiece. The cable has a preferred bending line, which is formed by the symmetrical axis (4) of the cable. The cable is especially suited for optical signal transmission in combination with the transmission of electrical data signal or supply voltage.