Buried splice enclosure

Details Buried splice enclosure Buried splice enclosure

2003-06-27

2004-11-16

Mayo, III, William H. (Department: 2831)

Electricity: conductors and insulators

Conduits, cables or conductors

Combined

C174S07700S, C174S08800C

Reexamination Certificate

active

06818829

ABSTRACT:

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
None.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
None.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to underground cable splice enclosures. More specifically, the invention relates to the kind of buried splice enclosures which protect the splice by immersing it into a sealant and securing it within a shell which contains the sealant
Telecommunications lines are oftentimes buried beneath the ground. It is oftentimes necessary to connect or reconnect wires using a splice. A splice is a way of electrically connecting two wires. The end of each wire is connected to the other. When such a splice is completed, it is necessary to protect it from the underground environment. This is because moisture intrusion can cause corrosion and other degradation of the wires and other associated equipment. While it is important to prevent against moisture intrusion, it is also desirable to create a splice that holds the wires securely together so that they may not be pulled apart. This is important as cable may be unintentionally snared once placed in service.
The prior art has dealt with these problems by creating an enclosure having a plug and a sleeve. In such a system, the cables are first assembled and attached on the plug, and then the plug is inserted into a sealant-containing enclosing sleeve. This causes the splice to become buried in the sealant. The sealant completely encapsulates the unjacketed portions of cable so that it will not be exposed to the underground elements when it is used in the field.
One example of a conventional encapsulating device is shown in prior art FIG.
1
. Referring to the figure, the prior-art assembly
100
has two parts. The first part is a splice-supporting plug
102
. The second part is a tubular sleeve
104
.
Plug
102
has an encapsulating end
113
and a cable driver end
114
. Cable driving end
114
is used to receive and secure the spliced portions of the cables (not pictured) in a forked collar
118
. Driver end
114
is stabilized using cross members
116
. Intermediate the driver end
114
and encapsulating end
113
is an arm portion
110
. Arm
110
is the thinnest portion of the plug
102
. On arm
110
is a plate receiving snap-lock
112
. Snap-lock
112
is used in conjunction with an aperture (not shown) bored through arm portion
110
. Snap-lock
112
and the aperture are used to secure two plates which are meshed together around the wires used in the splice in a manner known to those skilled in the art.
Encapsulating end
113
comprises a pair of arms
106
each having female threads
120
on an inside surface thereof. Also on encapsulating end
113
is an outer plug surface
108
.
Tubular sleeve
104
comprises a closed end
124
and an open end
126
. On the sleeve
104
is generally cylindrical at the open end
126
to the left of an annular rib
128
(see smooth surface
132
). To the right of the annular rib
128
, however, a handle portion
134
has a hexagonal cross section.
The two spliced wires are admitted into sleeve
104
via passageways which are formed by a plurality of proposed wire conforming jaws
136
as can be seen on the plug
102
in FIG.
1
. Throughout, one side view showing conforming jaws
136
is shown in
FIG. 1
, it should be understood that the other side his identical structure. When the device
100
is used to bury a splice, the two cables to be spliced are attached to plug
102
. This is done by inserting a first wire in the passageway created by opposing jaws
136
and then the arm portion
110
. This is done by clamping the wire to the plug using clamping plates (not. pictured) which are secured to plate receiving snap-lock members
112
. On the other side of plug
102
, the identical set of clamping members on the other side create a passageway for a second wire which is then held to the arm portion
110
by an opposing plate on the opposite side of the plug, said opposing plate being held by another snap-lock (all not pictured). The forked collar
118
is what receives the actual spliced cable and supports it. This collar
118
is what is used to drive the splice into the sealant. The sealant (not pictured) is contained in the shell
104
.
In order to create a water seal and protect the splice in its buried environment, plug
102
is screwed into sleeve
104
. This is done by taking the plug
102
with the splice already installed on it and inserting it into forked collar end
118
first. When the splice held within forked collar
118
is pushed deeper into shell
104
, the bare wire (unjacketed) is driven into the sealant (not pictured) within shell
104
. Once plug
102
has penetrated a significant depth into shell
104
, female threads
120
on plug
102
will engage male threads
122
on shell
104
by twisting plug
102
in a clockwise manner. This will cause the splice to be driven deep within shell
104
. As plug
102
is screwed in, projection
130
will pass through the female threads
120
on each of the arms
106
, and will, at least partially, prevent the plug
102
from later being unscrewed. This design, however, has proved inadequate for preventing removal of the plug because the user can easily manipulate the arms or simply unscrew with force to defeat the projection
130
, and remove the plug.
The removability of the plugs in conventional devices has proved problematic. This is because such spliced devices are not designed to be reused. It has been the experience that-technicians in the field will oftentimes attempt to make a quick fix of a faulty cable splice by simply removing the plug
102
, reconnecting the wires, and then reinserting the same plug into the same shell
104
rather than make a replacement of the splice using a new enclosure with fresh sealant. This temporary shortcut, however, on the whole has proved to be very costly. This is because, though the technician may save minutes by reusing an enclosure, the reused enclosure will never be as protective as would a new enclosure with fresh sealant. Significant cost is tied into making repeat calls to fix failed splices that are due to such “quick fix” repairs in which the technicians simply reuse the old device intended for replacement. Though these devices are very inexpensive to replace, the cost of a repeated call of a technician is much more expensive. Therefore, there is a need in the art for a buried splice enclosure with the sealing properties of device
100
, however, with a closure system that is not easily defeated.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides an enclosure having a cap that is nearly impossible to remove. This is accomplished by providing a container having a closed end at one end and an opening at the other end. The container has protect sealant exposed inside of it. A splice-supporting member is received through the open end of the container. Once inserted into the container, the splice-supporting member immerses the splice within the sealant so that the splice will be protected from its underground environment. More specifically, this invention provides a locking mechanism is provided which prevents withdrawal of the member from the container. The mechanism comprises a number of wave-shaped annular protrusions located on the inner surface of the container, and a reciprocating number of accommodating channels located on an outside engaging surface of the splice-supporting member. These channels accept the wave-shaped protrusions and thus prevent the member from being removed.


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patent: 5023402 (1991-06-

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