Electricity: conductors and insulators – Conduits – cables or conductors – Combined
Patent
1995-03-13
1996-05-07
Nimmo, Morris H.
Electricity: conductors and insulators
Conduits, cables or conductors
Combined
29872, 174 74R, 174 84R, 174DIG8, H01R 422, H01R 402, H01R 4302
Patent
active
055148360
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention relates to electrical connectors for forming electrical connections between elongate conductors.
Simple electrical connectors which contain a screw thread, enabling wires and the like to be connected by screwing them into the connector are well known. Whilst these simple connectors provide a quick and easy method of producing an electrical connection, they often suffer from unreliability due to the connection not being secure; wires and the like often work loose over a period of time, due to strain on the connection. In addition, these types of connectors are often not sealed from the environment and this leads to corrosion. In order to overcome these problems, more sophisticated connectors have been proposed, such as for example the types of connectors described in international patent application No. WO 92/00616. These connectors contain, in addition to a screw thread connector, a quantity of solder which provides a permanent soldered connection once the connector has been heated for a sufficient period of time for the solder to melt. The connectors are also environmentally sealed by means of a heat recoverable sleeve which may additionally contain thermoplastic sealing rings. Whilst these connectors perform excellently, in order to form the solder connection they require a degree of heating which is either inappropriate or too time consuming for some applications.
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a device for forming an electrical connection between a plurality of elongate electrical conductors, which comprises an electrically insulating sleeve, and contained within the sleeve a resiliently deformable tapering coil and a quantity of fusible polymeric material, the device being arranged so that the elongate electrical conductors may be connected by twisting them into the coil so that at least part of the coil is deformed and heating the device so that at least some of the fusible polymeric material melts and then, when solidified, substantially binds the coil in its deformed state.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of forming an electrical connection between a plurality of elongate electrical conductors, which comprises: coil of a device according to the invention so that at least part of the coil is deformed; material melts; and solidifies and substantially binds the coil in its deformed state.
The device and method according to the invention generally enable the formation of reliable electrical connections since deformation of the tapering coil by twisting elongate electrical conductors into it normally causes the coil to grip the conductors due to its resilience. Because of this, the coil may be referred to as a `gripping coil` or a connecting coil`. The coil may, for example, be deformed in this way by at least part of it being radially expanded. Alternatively or additionally the deformation may comprise axial extension of at least part of the coil. It is believed that substantially binding the coil in its deformed state by the solidification of the polymeric material normally causes the coil's grip on the elongate conductors to be maintained; it also normally renders the coil substantially rigid. These two effects appear generally substantially to prevent the elongate conductors working loose from the coil over a period of time and hence normally lead to reliable electrical connections.
According to one preferred embodiment of the invention, at least some of the fusible polymeric material that is contained within the sleeve of the device is located between the internal surface of the sleeve and the exterior of the coil. When, in use, the polymeric material is melted, at least some of the molten material normally flows and conforms to the exterior of the coil and therefore, when solidified, substantially binds the coil in its deformed state. The fusible polymeric material of this preferred embodiment of the invention may, for example, be in the form of an insert having any one of a variety of shapes, such as for
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Delalle Jacques
Lamome Alain
Burkard Herbert G.
Nimmo Morris H.
Novack Sheri M.
Raychem S.A.
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