Electricity: conductors and insulators – Conduits – cables or conductors – Combined
Reexamination Certificate
1999-05-19
2001-04-17
Kincaid, Kristine (Department: 2831)
Electricity: conductors and insulators
Conduits, cables or conductors
Combined
Reexamination Certificate
active
06218620
ABSTRACT:
THE NATURE OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a telephone line splice enclosure which with little change is suitable for use with buried cable, underground conduits or suspended cables. Telephone cables may each include many wires and sometimes many cables are involved in a single splice. The enclosure of the present invention is preferably made large enough to accommodate splices of any sizes and provides sufficient openings for receiving multiple cables at each end.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
For many years splicing of telephone cables has been a job requiring accuracy and the patience of a skilled technician. Particularly if the splice of the connected cables is to be buried, special precautions need to be taken to make sure that the many electrical connections made within the splice are protected from moisture, dirt and atmosphere which might attack and destroy one or more of the connections. Any such failure can cause problems requiring unearthing the splice, repairing interrupted connections and redoing the splice protection.
In order to minimize problems, prepared splice enclosures have been developed having disk-like end walls which preferably are made of rubber and have holes into which the cables are fit, usually through lateral self-closing slits. Once the splice is completed, it is carefully wrapped and placed within an enclosure extending to and wrapped around the end walls through which the cables pass. Various materials are used to impregnate the splice by pouring insulating fluid or semi-fluid material intended to keep the splice covered and exclude water from the splice enclosure and keep its various connections dry. The splice may be further wrapped if desired, particularly if it is buried. Even though such a splice is done very well by highly skilled people, its life expectancy is very short, and replacement is commonly required within a year or two years.
THE NATURE OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
The present invention relates to a greatly improved protective enclosure for a splice of telephone lines, and the like. The splice itself is made in a conventional way and the enclosure can be used over a new or an old splice. The enclosure is a preformed housing of a molded thermoplastic resinous material, which may be preferably a resin of the Olefin family, a high density polyethylene or possibly polypropylene. The housing consists of mating hollow parts which may, or may not, be joined together by an integral hinge along adjacent elongated edges of each of the mating pieces. The elongated hollow housing part are brought together to enclose the completed splice. The housing parts are sealed together preferably by a continuous resilient gasket which provides a sealing ring between the opposed edges of the mating parts around the entire periphery of the housing including integral side by side tubular grommets at each end. Opposed housing edges are formed at the ends with scalloped edges which provide openings to receive multiple grommets molded together in the side by side position which seal against the cables, through adjacent round openings, intermediate sized grommets or plugs. The grommets are integral and with the rest of the gasket. A grommet tube in the gasket if too large to seal against a cable may employ an intermediate grommet between it and the cable. If a particular tube is unused it may be plugged. Where multiple cable bundles are involved each cable is preferably provided with its own preformed grommet passage, usually through one of multiple adjacent openings in the ends of the housing. Cables are placed in the grommets through lateral slits which permit opening the grommet to insert the cables. During use, the grommets are held tightly around the cable by pressure from the housing parts which serve to compress the gaskets against the cable and seal each access slit fluid tight. Alternatively, the scalloped form of the ends of the housing may be avoided by using and oval structured integral gasket with separate grommet tunnels for the individual cables, each accessed by lateral slits, but such structures are more awkward in use.
At least one port opening, and preferably two, located at opposite ends of the housing, is provided to permit pouring of insulating fluid material into the housing to fill the space within the housing and all voids in the cable splice. The fluid material is commonly a thermoset rubber which may be a polyurethane material which will solidify within a short time, commonly about half an hour, and up to an hour at colder temperatures. This material later can be easily broken up for access to the splice, as is well-known in the art.
In non-buried application, as will be explained below, filling every space between the conductors and in the splice may not be necessary. But in buried applications and often in others pressurizing the fluid to fill the voids is needed. For this purpose, the port closure may be a pressure applying piston.
A piston is preferably provided at each filling port opening to fit snugly within the port opening. The opening preferably presents a generally cylindrical surface over at least a piston operating portion near the outer edge into which pistons move. These pressure applying pistons, or plungers are moved inward against pressure of the insulating fluid by screws or similar adjustable connectors extending across the housing. Each screw connector draws fastener draws the pistons into the housing and in the process presses the fluid within the housing into voids within the splice.
A gauge may be provided to indicate when adequate pressure has been achieved. A novel pressure gauge can be built into the thermoplastic walls of either the piston or the housing. Such a gauge may consist of a sheet of resilient material fixed wall portion of the housing over a hole in the wall or may be a flat inwardly protruding bubble in the thermoplastic material of the housing. The gauge which is forced to bow outwardly by the pressure. When applied by the piston the bubble is part of the housing, it is normally thinner than the rest of the housing. In either event the nature of the material, and particularly its thickness, size, and strength will be so selected that it will be driven outwardly at a designed pressure sufficient to force the fluid into the voids between conductors in each cable to cause the bubble to protrude outwardly so as to be easily observed. Alternatively, a gauge may employ other material, typically resilient rubber-like which is substituted in a hole through the wall. It is of considerable advantage to locate designed pressure detectors in the piston so that will be recessed within the port where it is more protected from possible outside damage, such as back filling in buried applications.
More specifically, the present invention concerns a telephone line spice enclosure for excluding moisture from the enclosed splice. The enclosure comprises a two part hollow housing sufficiently large to enclose the splice. The two parts of the housing fit together for enclosing the splice of multiple telephone lines from two or more cables passing through cable openings provided in the enclosure, normally at opposite ends of the housing. An elastomeric resilient gasket is designed to fit between cooperating edges of the two housing parts and extends around the full periphery of the cooperating edges such that compression of the gasket between the two parts will seal the interior of the housing. The gasket preferably includes integral grommet members at cable openings in the housing for accommodating passage of cables and sealing them in place. Clamp means are used to bear against the housing parts and urge them together against the gasket to complete a seal.
Preferably the housing is composed of molded resinous material, such as high density polyethylene. In a preferred embodiment the hollow opposing housing parts and a connecting hinge are molded as an integral piece. The opposing parts have opposed mating edges between which a resilient sealing gasket of rubber, or like resilient material, is provided. In
Dann Dorfman Herrell & Skillman
Dorfman, Esq. John C.
Kincaid Kristine
Nguyen Chau N.
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