Electricity: conductors and insulators – Conduits – cables or conductors – Combined
Patent
1998-03-02
2000-09-12
Kincaid, Kristine
Electricity: conductors and insulators
Conduits, cables or conductors
Combined
174 92, H02G 1502
Patent
active
061180769
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to improvements in the sealing of sealed cable closures having openings for the entry of cables (which term includes electrically conductive cables, optical fiber cables, wires or other conductors, optical fibers or the like).
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
It is known to provide closures comprising two substantially rigid casing members, e.g. a base and a cover, which are fitted together when the closure is formed and in which the joint between the two parts is sealed by a sealing strip in the form of an O-ring. Such closures are used for example to protect splices in telecommunications cables which may contain metallic conductors or optical fibers. Such closures must be provided with means for allowing entry of one or more cables into the closure, and for sealing the closure at the point at which the cable enters.
One way in which this has been done, as disclosed in UK patent application GB-A-2261960, is to provide an opening in the wall of the base of the closure, in the form of a recess which intersects a surface of the base which abuts against a surface of the cover of the closure. A rubber insert is provided with one or more central apertures into which a cable can be inserted. The rubber insert is then introduced into the recess, where it contacts the walls of the recess and corresponding parts of the cover and an O-ring gasket which seals between the base and the cover. The insert has a flat peripheral surface at the point at which it comes into contact with the gasket. A slot may be provided in the insert to allow it to be opened to insert a cable laterally into the central aperture. A similar system is also disclosed in European patent application EP-A-0511147.
The arrangements disclosed in GB-A-2261960 and EP-A-0511147 suffer from the problem that their seal inserts (termed "sealing gaskets" in GB-A-2261960), being formed from rubber or like elastic material, do not normally provide an adequate seal unless they are coated by hand, prior to closing the casing, with a grease or the like. This is time consuming for the installation engineer and also requires him consistently to provide an adequate coating of grease for each insert each time he installs a cable splice closure, and it is consequently unreliable. Furthermore, even with an adequate grease coating, the inserts may not provide an effective long-term seal. The rubber inserts also suffer from the disadvantage that they are unable to accommodate cables over a significant range of sizes or shapes.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
There is a need to provide a cable seal insert which does not, for example, require the manual application of grease before use, which is able to accommodate a significant range of cable sizes, and which provides a better seal than the prior art inserts. A purpose of the invention is to provide a cable seal insert, and a cable splice closure including such an insert, which is easy to install, and which provides an excellent seal around a cable in a cable entry aperture in the casing of the closure.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, a cable seal insert is provided for sealing a cable entry in a closure, the insert comprising: therethrough at least one aperture for a cable; and parallel to the or each cable aperture is substantially planar, and at least one of the plates is formed from non-elastomeric material.
According to a second aspect of the invention, a cable seal insert is provided for sealing a cable entry in a closure, the insert comprising: therethrough at least one aperture for a cable; and parallel to the or each cable aperture is substantially planar, and, in at least one of the plates, there is an opening at each laterally extreme edge of the substantially planar peripheral surface thereof, into which opening, at least in use, some of the sealing material extends.
According to a third aspect of the invention, a cable seal insert is provided for sealing a cable entry in a closure, the insert comprising: therethrough at least one aperture
REFERENCES:
patent: 4287386 (1981-09-01), Scahill et al.
patent: 4332975 (1982-06-01), Dienes
patent: 4387268 (1983-06-01), Morel et al.
patent: 4492816 (1985-01-01), Morel et al.
patent: 5302779 (1994-04-01), Morel et al.
patent: 5675124 (1997-10-01), Stough et al.
Brusselmans Jacques
Damm Jesper
Graulus Hendrik
Hissenhoven Michel van
Nolf Jean-marie Etienne
Kincaid Kristine
Mayo, III William H
N.V. Raychem S.A.
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