Electricity: conductors and insulators – Conduits – cables or conductors – Combined
Patent
1992-08-06
1994-01-11
Nimmo, Morris H.
Electricity: conductors and insulators
Conduits, cables or conductors
Combined
29859, 29861, 29871, 174 84C, 174 84S, 174DIG8, 403273, 439750, 439932, H02G 15115
Patent
active
052783545
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention relates to the connection of electrical wires.
A number of devices exist for the connection of electrical wires, for example, the wires may be connected by means of a crimp and the crimped connection may be sealed from the environment by means of a plastics sleeve, e.g. a dimensionally heat recoverable sleeve. In other applications different forms of device may instead be employed. For example, the wires may be connected by a solder containing connection device comprising dimensionally heat-recoverable sleeve that contains a quantity of solder so that an insulated and sealed solder joint may be formed in a simple manner by positioning the sleeve over the wires and heating the device to recover the sleeve and fuse the solder. Such devices are sold commercially by Raychem Corporation of California USA under the trademark "Solder Sleeve".
However, in some applications none of the existing products are satisfactory, for example when it is desired to form a semi-permanent connection that is sealed from the environment but which can be disonnected and reconnected a number of times.
According to one aspect, the present invention provides an electrical connection between a pair of electrical wires, which comprises a pair of associated connectors each of which has a connection part that is connected to a wire, and a mating part that is engaged with the other of the pair of connectors, each connector having a sealing jacket for sealing the connection between its connection part and a wire connected thereto, and one of the connectors having a heat-recoverable skirt, which extends over at least part of the sealing jacket of the other connector, the skirt having a layer of adhesive on its internal surface and having been recovered about the sealing jacket of the other connector so that the engaged connectors are sealed against moisture ingress by the sealing jackets and the skirt.
According to another aspect the invention a method of forming an electrical connection between a pair of wires which comprises: each connector having a connection part to enable it to be connected to the wire and a mating part for engagement with the other of the pair of connectors and each connector having a sealing jacket for sealing the connection between its connection part and the wire connected thereto, and one of the connectors having a heat-recoverable skirt that has a layer of adhesive on its internal surface; extends over at least part of the sealing jacket of the other connector; and connectors against moisture ingress.
In the broadest aspect of the invention any adhesive may be employed with the heat-recoverable skirt although it should be a non-curable adhesive and preferably one whose adhesive strength decreases on heating. The adhesive is most preferably a hot-melt adhesive. Such an arrangement of connectors enables a semi-permanent electrical connection to be formed between a pair of wires which is sealed from the environment but which can be disconnected and reformed once or preferably more than once. In the connected state the skirt extends over, and is recovered onto, part of the sealing jacket of the other connector thereby sealing the connection from the environment. If, however, it is necessary to disconnect the connectors, the region of the skirt that overlaps the sealing jacket of the other connector is heated to soften it and to soften or fuse the adhesive, and the connectors may then simply be pulled apart. The connection may be reformed in a similar manner simply by heating the skirt again to soften it and to soften the adhesive, and pushing the connectors into engagement again, the softened or fused adhesive acting as a lubricant to facilitate sliding of the skirt over the sealing jacket of the other connector. Normally sufficient adhesive will remain in the overlapping region to provide an adequate seal against moisture ingress after several reconnections of the arrangement. If necessary the skirt may be heated again briefly to ensure complete recovery around the other connector.
Normally the electr
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Burkard Herbert G.
Nimmo Morris H.
Novack Shri M.
Raychem SA
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