Electrical connectors – With selectable circuit – e.g. – plug board – Including three or more contacts adapted to be selectively...
Reexamination Certificate
1998-11-19
2001-02-06
Abrams, Neil (Department: 2839)
Electrical connectors
With selectable circuit, e.g., plug board
Including three or more contacts adapted to be selectively...
C361S827000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06183265
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention concerns a device for connecting conductors of a power cable to conductors of a distribution cable.
Located at the various nodes of a distribution network are devices with which one or more power cables can be connected to one or more distribution cables in order to create spurs of the network.
These devices are referred to, depending on their level within the network, as distribution boxes, distribution or splitter terminals, interior or exterior subdistributors, and distributors.
In each case, at least one power cable and at least one distribution cable arrive at the device, where they are connected in appropriate fashion, each conductor of the power cable, or power conductor, being connected to a conductor of the distribution cable, or distribution conductor, via a linking conductor also referred to as a “jumper.”
In existing communication networks, the cable heads are arranged vertically one above another, mounted on trusses which are constituted by vertical formed sections.
A plurality of trusses are generally placed alongside one another so that the set forms a two-dimensional distributor in which the cable heads are distributed in rows and columns.
The power cable terminates at certain cable heads, and the distribution cable terminates at other cable heads, and the jumpers link the cable heads two by two by passing within the distributor along the lines and columns of the latter.
The conductors can be electrical conductors, i.e. generally copper wires, or optical conductors, i.e. optical fibers.
In the first case, the jumpers are constituted by segments of electrical wire, while in the second case they are segments of optical fiber.
In both cases, the arrangement in rows and columns of the cable heads demands the use of jumpers having lengths which differ from one pair of conductors to another.
This is detrimental to the general organization of the distributor, and does not allow easy visual identification of the various jumpers linking the power cables to the distribution cables.
A particular problem arises when one wishes to modify a connection by changing only the distribution conductor connected to a power conductor.
The reason is that the jumpers are generally so intermingled with one another that it is impossible to displace one of the ends of a jumper in order to connect it to another distribution conductor.
It is thus preferable to cut the two ends of the jumper and leave it in place, then to add a new jumper between the power conductor and the new conductor of the distribution cable.
Work must therefore be performed at regular intervals on the distributor to revise all the connections and eliminate the jumpers that have become superfluous.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The purpose of the present invention is to furnish a device which eliminates the above disadvantages in particular while being easy to manage and maintain and particularly simple and economical to implement.
The object of the present invention is a device for connecting the conductors of a power cable to conductors of a distribution cable, the ends of the conductors being mounted in stationary fashion on the device and being capable of being linked to one another via jumpers which are each connected on the one hand to a conductor of the power cable and on the other hand to a conductor of the distribution cable, wherein the ends of the conductors of the power cable and/or of the distribution cable are distributed around a hub on which the jumpers which each link two conductor ends can be wound.
In other words, the invention consists in arranging the ends of the conductors which are linked to one another via jumpers not along rows and columns, as in the existing art, but around a hub.
In a particular embodiment, the ends of the power and/or distribution cable conductors are distributed substantially along a circle.
According to the invention, the term “substantially along a circle” is understood to mean that the ends of the power and distribution cable conductors are located in the vicinity of an open or closed line drawn around the hub; this line can be not only a circle but also an oval, an ellipse, a square, or a rectangle, this list not being limiting.
All the jumpers can thus have an identical length which is similar to the diameter of the circle or to the greatest width of the line along which the conductor ends are distributed.
This may prove extremely interesting from a practical point of view, since such identical-length jumpers can be prepared in advance in a factory.
In the case of optical conductors in particular, this advantage eliminates the need for on-site cutting, stripping, and splitting of the optical fibers constituting the jumpers, which is a delicate operation.
In the device according to the invention, removal of a jumper which has become superfluous presents no problem, since the jumpers are not entangled with one another.
In addition, the device according to the invention does not necessitate the presence of a truss but requires simply a support, for example a panel or a wheel, on which the conductor ends can be placed around the hub.
It can nevertheless be adapted to an existing distributor using a specific support that is adaptable to a truss.
The fact that the conductor ends are placed around a hub according to the invention also makes it possible to achieve a connection density much greater than that which can be achieved with a traditional distributor. The overall dimensions of the distributor can thus be reduced.
In a particular embodiment of the invention, the device has a panel, the power and distribution cables being situated on one side of that panel, the conductor ends being distributed on the panel substantially along a circle, the jumpers being situated on the other side of the panel where they link the ends of the conductors to which they are connected through said panel.
This embodiment facilitates maintenance of the device by making it possible, for example by tilting the panel, to work on the couplings of the power and distribution cable conductors without having to access the rear surface of the device.
It is evident that it is particularly easy to displace only one of the ends of a jumper to connect it to another conductor without thereby needing to detach its other end. Displacement of the end of the jumper is accomplished by simply rotating the jumper segment extending from the hub to the end of the jumper to be displaced.
Advantageously, the hub exhibits an appropriate cross section for facilitating organization of the jumpers.
The hub may thus have a truncated conical shape which allows jumpers to be collected in the vicinity of the panel as necessary.
The hub can also have several compartments, thus preventing tangling of the jumpers.
In this case, the diameter of the hub can vary from one compartment to another in order to compensate for the increase in the distance to be covered by the jumper due to the axial offset of the compartment. For example, the diameter of the hub can decrease with increasing distance from the panel on which the conductor ends are arranged in a circle.
The diameter of the hub is of particular importance in cases where the conductors are optical fibers, since it guarantees a minimum radius of curvature for the jumpers.
Advantageously, the device has a means for holding the jumpers on the hub, for example a circular comb situated inside the circle along which the conductor ends are distributed.
The terminal portions of the jumpers are then wedged between two teeth of the comb, which holds them in place.
In a preferred variant, the device has a means for guiding end portions of the jumpers which ensures that they are positioned in a direction that is substantially radial with respect to the hub, so as to facilitate their engagement in the teeth of the comb.
This guiding means can furthermore serve as a support for the jumpers, preventing those which are too long from interfering with access to the jumper ends where the latter connect to the ends of the power and distribution cable c
Chopin Franck R.
Dillat Michel Louis Romain
Abrams Neil
Oliff & Berridg,e PLC
Proptic
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