Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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Description
Splice Enclosure For Electrical Wires
Technical Field
The invention relates to an enclosure for
providing environmental sealing, insulating and
strain relief of a splice in electrical wires
including insulations and conductors.
Background Art
Splices Ln electrical wires are commonly used in
the manufacturing of electrical wire assemblies. In
the automotive field, for example, there may be
numerous splices in one wire assembly in order to
transmit electrical energy to outlying lights and
various accessories. A common method of splicing
electrical wires is to strip the insulation from the
wires to be spliced exposing the bare conductors.
The bare conductors are then welded together.
An alternative method of splicing electrical
wires is to strip the insulation from the wires to be
spliced exposing the bare conductors. The bare
conductors are then placed in a crimped band and
subsequently joined and secured by crimping the band
about the conductors.
Before the wire assembly containing spliced
wires is put into service, the bare conductors must
be insulated against undesired short circuits and
sealed against contaminants. This has previously
been done in the past by wrapping the splice with
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dielectric tape~ Tape, however, left the splice
vulnerable to damage due to foreign objects or stray
conductors puncturing the tape. ~lso, the conductor
joints sustained damage due to excessive bending
s while the spliced wires were in transit.
An alternative to taping is to wrap a deformable
material having sealing properties about the splice.
Such a method provides a sufficient seal but does not
protect the splice from damage occurring from objects
puncturing the material or from excessive bending of
the splice.
An alternative to taping or wrapping the splice
with a deformable sealing material is to use a
sealing insulator made of PVC molded directly onto
the splice. However, installation of PVC covers
requires that the wires be moved to another
workstation for a subsequent molding process, thereby
increasing the production time and cost of wire
assemblies. secause a cover constructed of PVC is a
relatively rigid material, it may not provide
sufficient sealing of the spliced conductors from the
environment when the wires are in service. Also, the
intermediate handling of the spliced wires between
the splicing process and the molding of the PVC cover
at a separate workstation may result in occasional
damage or breakage of the spliced conductors.
Preformed covers usually made of plastic have
been used to provide an alternative to the molded-in-
place covers made of PVC. However, the preformed
plastic covers alone do not provide a sufficient seal
about the splice. As a remedy, various sealants have
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been injected lnto the cover after the cover has been
installed on the splice. Although the injectable
sealant provides a sufficient seal, the step of
injecting sealant after the installation of the
preformed covers increases production time and cost.
Disclosure of the Invention
An object of the invention is to provide a
simplified, yet effective arrangement for
environmentally sealing, insulating, and strain
relieving spliced conductors of insulated electrical
wires.
Another object of the invention is to
provide apparatus to seal, insulate and strain
relieve spliced conductors at the same workstation
where the conductors are spliced.
A further object of the invention is to
provide an arrangement for protecting the splice from
damage due to stray objects coming into contact with
the spliced conductors.
A still further object of the invention is
to provide an arrangement for protecting the
structural integrity of the spliced conductors from
potential loads that may be applied to the splice.
In accordance with the invention there is
provided an enclosure for providing environmental
sealing, insulating, and strain relief of a splice
joining electrical wires that are surrounded by
insulation which is stripped away for the splice
characterized by:
a) a molded housing comprising two halves
having opposing internal faces and
containing a plurality of cavities which
are the mirror image of cavities in the
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other half, a first pair of said
cavities defining, when said halves are
joined, a wire conductor void for
receiving said spliee and seeond and
third pairs of cavities eaeh defining
when the two halves are joined together,
a cylindrical insulation reeeiving void
for grasping the perimeter of insulation
on eaeh side of said spliee;
b) hinge means joining the two halves on
one side of the eavities for allowing
the two halves to be pivotally joined
together
c) mastic sealer adhered to at least a
portion of each internal face for
providing a seal around the insulation
and the splice as the two halves are
joined; and
d) cooperating loeking means for locking
said two halves together.
From a different aspect, and in aceordanee
with the invention, there is provided an eleetrieal
joint whieh eomprises:
a) a plurality of eleetrieal wires eaeh
having a central conduetor and
surrounding insulation and said central
conductors being joined to form a
splice;
b) a preformed housing made of injected
molded plastic, the housing having
internal and external faces, edges, and
a longitudinally extending living hinge
means defining two housing halves that
swing together around the hinge;
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c) a plurality of mirror imaged cavities
located equidistant from the living
hinge means having a pair of insulation
voids of a predetermined radius based on
the radius of the wire including
insulation for receiving and grasping
the perimeter of the insulations of the
wires, said insulation voids being
connected by a conductor void for
receiving the conductors and the
conductor splice;
d) mastic sealer adhered to at least a
portion of the internal faces of the
housing for providing a seal around the
insulation and the splice formed when
the two halves are joined, and
e) means for locking the enclosure about
the conductor splice and the insulation
of the electrical wires to secure the
insulations of the wires to the housing,
whereby the housing in combination with
the means for locking the enclosure and
the mastic sealer will allow potential
loads to be passed from one wire to
another wire without passing through the
connector splice connecting said wires
and the joint will be environmentally
sealed and insulated.
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Brief Description Of The Drawings
The Figure is an exploded perspective view of
the enclosure and spliced wires positioned to be
secured within the enclosure.
Best Mode For Carrying Out The Invention
The Figure illustrates the preferred embodiment
of the present invention. Therein enclosure 34
includes housing 26 which is molded of a sufficiently
rigid, plastic material capable of protecting splice
36 yet sufficiently pliable to allow for easy
installation of enclosure 34 and that may also have
insulating qualities. Preferably housing 26 is
molded as a single body which has edges 32 and 24,
internal face 30, and external face 28. Housing 26
also has a centrally-located, longitudinally-
extending integral living hinge 20.
Housing 26 has a plurality of mirror-imaged
cavities 38 located equidistant from living hinge 20.
Each cavity 38 has a pair of insulation voids 4 of a
predetermined radius for receiving and restraining
the insulations 12 of the spliced wire 36. The
insulation voids 4 are connected by conductor void 6
sized to receive conductors 10 and the conductor
splice 8.
Mastic sealer 2 covers and is adhered to a
portion of interr.al face 30D The mastic sealer 2 may
be adhered to the entire internal face 30~ The
outward facing portion of mastic sealer 2 may be
covered with release paper 14 to minimize the amount
of nuisance bonding to undesired objects during
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packaging and storage of enclosure 34. Release paper
14 is removed prior to installing the enclosure 34
upon spliced wire 36.
When the enclosure 34 is closed, securing
spliced wire 36 therein, end wall 22 of insulation
void 4 abuts against insulation 12 which prevents
undesired longitudinal movement of enclosure 34 with
respect to the spliced wire 36 along the axis of the
wire. Opposite end wall 23 prevents undesired
longitudinal movement of the enclosure 34 with
respect to the spliced wire 36 in the opposite
direction.
A preferred means of locking enclosure 34 about
spliced wire 36 is to have a plurality of locking
tabs 18 projecting from the internal face 30 and
located in close proximity to the edge 24. When the
enclosure 34 is in the closed position locking tabs
18 are secured in a corresponding number of cutouts
16 which are located in close proximity to edge 32 of
the housing 26.
By locking the enclosure about the splice, the
splice will be insulated, sealed, and enjoy strain
relief from axial or bending loads that may be
applied to the splice while the wires are in transit
or in service. The strain relieving is obtained by
the voids being of a preselected size that allows for
the mastic sealer to fit between the housing and the
wires yet being of a size that restrains the
conductors and insulated portions of the wires from
bending loads and from axial separation by the
housing being locked about the splice. The locking
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causes sufficient radially-directed forces to be
applied against the splice and the wires to offset
bending loads or axial forces that may be applied to
the splice. The mastic sealer acts to insulate the
S splice.
Although the invention has been shown and
described with respect to a detailed embodiment, it
will be understood by those skilled in the art that
various changes in form and detail thereof may be
made without departing from the spirit and scope of
the invention.
