Electricity: conductors and insulators – Conduits – cables or conductors – Combined
Reexamination Certificate
1998-01-21
2001-06-12
Reichard, Dean A. (Department: 2831)
Electricity: conductors and insulators
Conduits, cables or conductors
Combined
C174S08400S
Reexamination Certificate
active
06246003
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to devices for enclosing portions of elongate objects, for example electrical wire connectors, and sealant material, preferably gel, to protect the said objects against contamination.
2. Brief Description of the Background Art
Gel-containing enclosures for many purposes are known, for example from EP-A-0108518 (MP0838) and many subsequent patents. The present invention is concerned with new forms of enclosure devices which have outstanding advantages, especially in certain arrangements hereinafter described.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention accordingly provides a device for enclosing portions of elongate objects and sealant material, comprising at least two (preferably only two) casing members closeable together to enclose the said portions of the objects in use, at least one of the casing members having a floor portion and upstanding walls forming a receptacle (preferably substantially leakproof) capable of receiving settable fluid sealant material and retaining it (preferably all of it, although some leakage may be acceptable in some circumstances) until set, wherein at least one of the said upstanding walls is arranged for displacement by contact with one or more displacing parts of the other said casing member upon closure.
This invention has the advantage that a relatively thin flat layer of sealant can be conveniently formed in the casing members, even when the sealant material has a low initial viscosity and a long setting time (for example the polysiloxane gels described in the aforementioned EP-A-0108518), and can then be used to seal around elongate objects extending from the device substantially parallel to the surface of the sealant, thus making it possible to maintain a low (preferably substantially flat) profile for the objects and the device. Without such displacement, the walls needed to retain the sealant until it has set would interfere with the extending objects on closure of the sealing device about them. The displaceable walls also have advantages of greater robustness in manufacture and use of the sealing enclosure device than would be achievable by frangible walls thin enough to be broken by lateral pressure of the objects on the top of the walls on closure of the device. This displacement of the displaceable wall could in some circumstances allow the sealant to flow around the enclosed objects or into other desired positions, but it is usually preferable that the sealant be substantially non-flowable, especially preferably in a gel state, prior to the closing of the device which displaces the wall.
References herein to the settable fluid sealant material include materials which are initially in a fluid molten state and subsequently set in the said receptacle by cooling, for example greases, mastics, or thermoplastic gels, especially oil-extended styrene-hydrogenated alkylene-styrene triblock copolymer gels with added polyphenylene ether for improved temperature performance as described in WO-A-8800603 (RK308). Materials which set by chemical reaction, preferably polysiloxane gel-forming materials, may, however, be preferred, especially for some high-temperature uses such as protecting wiring connections in the hotter parts of automotive wiring harnesses and assemblies.
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Search Report for German Application No. GB 9515502.4.
Ferris Ian
Lowe Maxwell
Mayo, III William H
Reichard Dean A.
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