Electricity: conductors and insulators – Conduits – cables or conductors – Combined
Patent
1994-08-19
1997-04-29
Kincaid, Kristine L.
Electricity: conductors and insulators
Conduits, cables or conductors
Combined
174138F, 174 93, H01R 422
Patent
active
056251670
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a method and article for forming a cable seal, in particular for forming a ready access butt closure for a telecommunications cable splice.
Cable splices have to be sealed against the environment to prevent damage to the cable conductors and connectors joining them. When a cable splice is made, cable jacket is stripped back from the ends of the cables to be spliced to expose the conductors to be connected. After the splice is made a so-called splice case, or splice closure, is built up around the splice.
In certain instances it is desirable for the splice to be of butt, rather than in-line configuration. This means that two or more cables lying side-by-side with their ends pointing in the same direction are spliced together. An advantage is that a housing comprising a domed cover can be slid over the resulting splice. A single seal then has to be made where the cables leave an outlet of the housing. In the case of an in-line splice (made between ends of cables that face one another) two seals need to be made, one at each end of a generally cylindrical housing that surrounds the splice. Also, the housing of a butt closure need not be of the wrap-around type and can still be removed.
Various cable splice closures have been proposed in the past, a few of which will be reviewed below.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,194,082 (Campbell) disclosed a generally dome-shaped closure having a heat-shrinkable end that is shrunk down around an ingoing cable. As a result of heat-shrinkage, a seal is made around the cable, isolating the inside of the closure from the environment.
WO 90/05401 (Raychem) discloses an in-line splice closure that can avoid the use of heat-shrinkable materials. A sealing material, for example a gel, is provided as part of end seals that seal gaps between in-going and out-going cables of a splice case, a central part of which comprises a generally cylindrical housing. The end seals comprise the gel between structures that can be brought together to deform the gel to seal it to the cables and the central housing.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,701,574 (Shimirak et al) also discloses a closure which includes a cable end seal and a central generally cylindrical housing. The end seals have an outer convoluted surface that mates with a convoluted surface of the cylindrical housing. In this way the end seals are retained in appropriate positions at the ends of the housing.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,984,623 (Worden) discloses a cable splice housing having a hollow, tubular, plastics body, an end of which carries a plug, the opposite end being blind. A clamp is provided around the hollow body for clamping the body around the plug. The housing is filled with grease.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,771,502 (J H King et al) discloses a splice closure comprising an elongate housing, each end of which has clamping means for gripping therein outwardly-turned tabs of the jackets of the cables being spliced. This provides axial pull-strength across the splice; load is carried by the housing rather than by connectors and conductors of the cable. A resilient compressible bushing seals each end of the closure and is connected to the gripping means by a bolt.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,688,651 (J Blake) discloses a cable joint protector comprising a tubular enclosing sleeve for positioning over a cable joint with the cables extending out of each end of the sleeve. The sleeve having at each end a sealing arrangement comprising an external thread on the sleeve, and an end cap having an internal thread such that the cap can be screwed onto an end of the sleeve. A resilient plug having a hole for the cable, is slid along each cable into the end of the sleeve. The cap is then screwed onto the sleeve causing the plug to be deformed into sealing engagement with the cable and the inside of the sleeve.
This disclosure of each of the above-mentioned patent specifications is incorporated herein by reference.
Whilst satisfactory seals can be made using the techniques described above, each has its drawbacks. Many of them are complex and expensive and take time t
REFERENCES:
patent: 2264803 (1941-12-01), Jacobs
patent: 2357591 (1944-09-01), Kleinfelder
patent: 2688651 (1954-04-01), Blake
patent: 2771502 (1956-11-01), King et al.
patent: 3984623 (1976-10-01), Worden
patent: 4079193 (1978-03-01), Channell
patent: 4194082 (1980-03-01), Campbell
patent: 4484022 (1984-11-01), Eilentropp
patent: 4501927 (1985-02-01), Sievert
patent: 4625073 (1986-11-01), Breesch et al.
patent: 4701574 (1987-10-01), Shimrak et al.
patent: 4721832 (1988-01-01), Toy
patent: 4839473 (1989-06-01), Fox et al.
patent: 5059748 (1991-10-01), Allen et al.
patent: 5151239 (1992-09-01), King, Jr.
patent: 5278355 (1994-01-01), Read et al.
patent: 5322972 (1994-06-01), Fitch et al.
patent: 5446823 (1995-08-01), Bingham et al.
Petersen Tommy
Van Noten Lodewijk C. M.
Burkard Herbert G.
Kincaid Kristine L.
Machtinger Marc Diamant
N.V. Raychem S.A.
Zahrt II William D.
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-707963