ribbon cable
A thin, flat, multiconductor cable that is widely used for internal peripheral connections in electronic systems. In a PC, a 34-wire ribbon connects the floppy drive (if present) to the motherboard. A 40-wire cable connects the IDE (ATA) CD drive, and an 80-wire cable is used for the IDE (ATA) hard disks.
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| Ribbon Cables |
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| These are the common ribbon cables used internally in a PC to connect hard disk, CD and floppy. For external connections, round-shaped cables are preferred over ribbon ones. |
| (hardware) | ribbon cable - A type of flat multicore cable with cores
positioned side-by-side, making it quick and relatively easy
to clamp an Insulation Displacement Connector (IDC) across
all cores.
Ribbon cables typically have grey insulation with cores on a
0.050" pitch and a red stripe marking Pin 1. They are less
resilient than screened, multicore cable and are usually used
inside equipment where little movement or plugging and
unplugging are expected. A common use is connecting a disk drive to the motherboard in a PC. | |
