Electricity: conductors and insulators – Conduits – cables or conductors – Combined
Patent
1998-03-02
2000-08-22
Kincaid, Kristine
Electricity: conductors and insulators
Conduits, cables or conductors
Combined
174 77R, 174 75C, 174 72C, H02G 1502
Patent
active
06107571&
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to cable seal for sealing between a cable and a casing enclosing part of the cable. The casing may comprise a cable slice closure casing, and consequently the invention further relates a cable splice closure including one or more cable seals. The casing may alternatively be for attaching to, and sealing, an end of a duct, and consequently the invention additionally relates to a duct sealing apparatus including one or more such cable seals. The term cable is meant to include a telecommunications cable (either conductive or optical fiber), an electrical cable or other conductive cable, a wire or an optical fiber.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,857,672 and 4,822,954 each disclose a cable closure end cap which may be adapted to accommodate more than one cable extending into an end of a cable closure. The end cap comprises first and second end cap members positioned against one another and forming a wall member which has at least one longitudinal cable bore. Each cable bore is defined by a plurality of substantially concentric substantially cylindrical ring members spaced from one another by transverse wall sections. The concentric ring members can be selectively cut out to accommodate a range of sizes of cable.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a seal for sealing between a cable and a casing enclosing part of the cable, comprising: portions which may be selectively removed to provide a cable aperture of required diameter through the wall member; and around a cable extending through the cable aperture in the wall member; wherein, in use, when a removable portion of the wall member is removed, a corresponding portion of the sealing material is also removed, preferably automatically, thereby providing a cable aperture of the required diameter through the sealing material.
The seal according to the invention has the advantage that, in addition to each wall member, it includes sealing material retained by the wall member, and when a removable portion of the wall member is removed, a corresponding portion of the sealing material is also removed, preferably automatically, thereby providing a cable aperture of the required diameter through the sealing material. This is advantageous because it provides a seal which is able to accommodate a range of sizes of cable while providing a substantially watertight seal around the cables by virtue of the sealing material. It has the further advantage that the seal is provided with a sufficient amount of sealing material for sealing any of a range of sizes of cable, and in order to adapt the seal to fit a particular size of cable, the installer merely needs to remove the appropriate amount of sealing material.
The seal may have one or a plurality of cable apertures extending through it. If two or more such apertures are present, preferably each aperture has its own series of substantially concentric removable portions. The seal according to the invention may or may not be supplied with one or more cable apertures already extending through it, i.e. the installer may or may not have to remove a portion of the seal in order to obtain an aperture. If the seal is supplied with one or more cable apertures already extending through it, it is preferably also provided with a plug for each aperture, in case one or more of the apertures will not contain a cable.
Preferably the seal further comprises a second wall member substantially parallel to the first wall member and having a plurality of substantially concentric removable portions corresponding to the first wall member and which may be selectively removed to provide a corresponding cable aperture of required diameter through the second wall member, the sealing material being retained between the two wall members. Advantageously, in use, the wall members may be forced towards each other, thereby applying compression to the sealing material and displacing some of it laterally inwards against a cable ext
REFERENCES:
patent: 4704499 (1987-11-01), Faust
patent: 4822954 (1989-04-01), Rebers et al.
patent: 4857672 (1989-08-01), Rebers et al.
Kincaid Kristine
Mayo, III William H
N.V. Raychem S.A.
LandOfFree
Cable seal does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Cable seal, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Cable seal will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-583340