Closing device

Buckles – buttons – clasps – etc. – Bale and package ties – hose clamps – With tighteners

Patent

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Details

24271, 24273, B65D 6300, B65D 4500

Patent

active

058291067

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to closing devices of the over-centre type, particularly for closing housings, especially cable splice closure housings, either as part of the housing itself or as part of a clamp for fastening together first and second parts of the housing.


BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

EP 0 094 848B (Raychem) discloses an enclosure for protecting cable joints from the environment. The enclosure comprises two parts e.g. a closure and a base. The two parts are held together by a clamping ring which forces flanges on the two parts together. No details are given of the clamping ring.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,059,748 (Raychem) discloses a butt splice cable splice closure comprising a dome and base held together by a clamping ring. The ring is in two parts, which are hinged together at their ends opposite the hinge by a threaded bolt acting in threaded portions adjoining the ends of the parts of the rings.
GB 2 193 605A discloses a cable joint comprising a two part hollow sleeve and two end caps which can be clamped together by a clamping ring at each end. The clamping ring is in two parts hinged together with the ends remote from the hinge being provided with threaded portions which enable them to be brought together by means of a bolt.
Cable splice closures, for example for optical fibre cables, in which a base and a cover are fastened together by means of a clamp, e.g. a split ring clamp, which is closed in its clamping position by means of an over-centre closing device are commercially available.
A problem with conventional clamps is that it is often difficult for an engineer in the field to close a clamp around a cable splice closure housing, particularly when the clamp and/or the housing is/are new. Often the engineer has to resort to hitting the clamp with a hammer or a mallet (which may damage the housing and/or the cables, and generally makes installation difficult) in order to close it sufficiently so that the lever of the over-centre closing device of the clamp can be operated to close the clamp fully. It would therefore be desirable to make the initial stage of closing the clamp easier.
It is often necessary to re-open cable splice closure housings in order to gain access to the cable splices. Conventional cable splice closure clamps often suffer from the problem that they are difficult to remove from the housing of the closure once they have been closed, particularly when they have been closed for some time. At present, the engineer who opens a housing often has to use a separate tool (which, at least in some cases is a specially designed tool) to help him to open the clamp and remove it from the housing. It would desirable to remove the need for the use of such tools.


SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an over-centre closing device for closing together first and second parts of an article, comprising a lever pivotally attached to an arm which is pivotally mounted to the first part of the article, the lever having an engagement surface which engages the second part of the article and fastens the two parts of the article together when the lever is in its over-centre position in use, wherein the lever has an extension which extends beyond the engagement surface and which may cooperate with the second part of the article to provide initial closing leverage during an initial stage of closing the article and which allows the engagement surface to contact the second part of the article to provide final closing leverage during a final stage of closing the article.
The first aspect of the invention has the advantage that because the lever has an extension which may cooperate with the second part of the article (the article may, for example, comprise a clamp, or a housing itself) to provide initial closing leverage during an initial stage of closing the article, this initial stage of closing the article is made easier and normally avoids the necessity of hitting the clamp, thereby solving the first problem mention

REFERENCES:
patent: 1518479 (1924-12-01), Brewer
patent: 2628811 (1953-02-01), Lockhart
patent: 2752174 (1956-06-01), Frost
patent: 2775806 (1957-01-01), Love
patent: 4969923 (1990-11-01), Reeder et al.
patent: 5129537 (1992-07-01), Bordner et al.

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