Seal for a joint or juncture – Process of static sealing – Pipe – conduit – or cable
Patent
1996-12-02
1998-07-07
DePumpo, Daniel G.
Seal for a joint or juncture
Process of static sealing
Pipe, conduit, or cable
277606, 277627, 174 65SS, 174151, 174152G, F16J 1500
Patent
active
057757020
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a sealing arrangement for sealing an annular space around one or more elongate objects, to an adaptor for a sealing device and to a method of sealing.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Annular spaces around elongate objects, for example wires, cables or pipes, commonly need to be sealed from the environment. Such annular spaces may, for example, be the ends of cable splice closures, cable or pipe ducts, or spaces in walls etc. through which pipes or cables must extend (commonly referred to as `feedthroughs`). The present invention is particularly applicable to cable (either optical fibre cable or metal wire cable) splice closures, but it may also have utility in ducts and feedthroughs and indeed any annular space around elongate objects which needs to be sealed. The expression `annular space` as used herein is given a broad meaning as generally being any space bounded by an outer and an inner object. One or both of those objects may generally be substantially circular in cross-section (e.g. in the case of a cable splice closure) but the expression is not, at least in its broadest meaning, limited to spaces defined by circular boundaries.
Over many years a wide variety of solutions to the problem of sealing annular spaces containing elongate objects have been proposed. A particularly successful solution to the problem is that disclosed in International Patent Application No. WO 90/05401 (Raychem B161) which discloses a closure assembly having a cable seal formed from a substantially rigid portion and a sealing material, for example gel, retained by the rigid portion. The rigid portion comprises two end parts that can be moved towards one another thereby providing a compressive force on the sealing material, each end part comprising an inner part and one or more outer parts. A port for a cable is provided partly within the inner part and partly within the outer port, the part thereby having a substantially closed cross-section. The two end parts may be moved towards one another by means of a bolt extending through the end parts and the sealing material.
International Patent Application No. WO 92/22114 (Raychem B207) discloses an improvement of the cable seal described in WO 90/05401, comprising a sealing material, a resilient member that can be biassed to apply compression to the sealing material to cause it to form a seal, and stops means for limiting the biassing of the resilient member in a configuration in which the biassing can be increased by movement of the sealing material. This improved cable sealing has the advantage that the installer can tighten the resilient member until he feels a stop, knowing that the correct degree of tightening has been applied. In addition, displacement of sealing material may be accommodated, e.g. due to creeping of the material under the applied bias or due to thermal expansion.
International Patent Application No. WO 93/26069 discloses a cable sealing device comprising a housing and a seal, the seal comprising a sealing material between first and second plates. The housing has a cavity within which the seal can slide axially inwardly and outwardly with respect to the housing, in response respectively to excess external and excess internal pressure, and having first and second stop means which can engage respectively the first and second plates of the seal. The cable sealing device has an advantage in that excess pressure within or outside the closure can add to axial pressure on the sealing material and reinforce the seal. In addition, since the seal is free to move between the stop means, it can respond to excess pressure and deform, thereby reducing the extent to which its seal is in peel.
Another solution to the problem of sealing cable splice housings is disclosed in International Patent Application No. WO 92/05609 (Walter Rose WR140). This document discloses a sealing device comprising a sealing plate formed by a central inner disc element which has openings in its outer edge, and outer ring elements which can
REFERENCES:
patent: 2586892 (1952-02-01), Weber et al.
patent: 3569608 (1971-03-01), Ance
patent: 4251680 (1981-02-01), Germann
patent: 4267401 (1981-05-01), Wilkinson
patent: 4377291 (1983-03-01), Albertini
patent: 4622436 (1986-11-01), Kinnan
patent: 4627490 (1986-12-01), Moore
patent: 4993724 (1991-02-01), Hauff
patent: 5278357 (1994-01-01), Yamanashi
patent: 5290073 (1994-03-01), Chen
patent: 5313018 (1994-05-01), Meltsch et al.
patent: 5442140 (1995-08-01), McGrane
Demesmaeker Marc
Laeremans Etienne
Burkard Herbert G.
DePumpo Daniel G.
N.V. Raychem S.A.
LandOfFree
Sealing arrangement does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Sealing arrangement, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Sealing arrangement will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-1197820