Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
PCT/GB94100351
WO g4/~,2195
~ 6 6 1 &
TFT.FCOMMUNICATIONS CABI.E SLEEVF KIT
This invention relates to a kit for the creation of a
telecommunications cable sleeve, the kit comprising a housing body
and a lid, cable inlet and outlet apertures in the housing body, and
contacting and distributing elPments inside the housing body. The
invention is particularly concerned with provi-ling a kit with a minimllm
number of parts, which can be assembled by the end user in two or
more different ways dep~n(ling on the end use to which the cable
sleeve is to be put.
Cable sleeves with various housing designs are know~ To na_e
a few ~ les here: DE 26 26 510-C, DE 24 27 677-A, DE 30 29 848,
and DE 33 20 916-A.
There are applications where it is desirable to make a sleeve
available to the consumer (for ex~mple a teleco!"r"ll-,ications
company) which can not only take multiple loads but can also be used
for various uses, e.g. it can act either as a so called butt sleeve that is
the end sleeve of a cable layout, or as a so-called in-line sleeve which
has incoming and outgoing cables entering and exiting on opposite
sides of the sleeve. Dep~nlling on the intended purpose or
application of the cable sleeve, at least two different sleeve bodies
have previously been necessary . Either a sleeve provided with cable
inlets and outlets on both end faces (for an in-line splice) was
required, or a sleeve provided with both cable inlets and outlets on
one face (for a butt splice). In the previously proposed sleeves it was
also necessary for the corresponding contacting elements for the
individual purpose to be correspontlingly mounted at the
appropriate position on the inside of the sleeve. Thus different
sleeves with different contact configurations were needed by the end
user dep~ntling on the use to which the sleeve was to be put.
The purpose of the present invention is to provide a sleeve kit
or a sleeve which can be used for varying purposes while using a
small number of individual elements . The same sleeve kit or sleeve
according to the present invention can thus can be configured by the
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end consumer, according to his or her wishes. Inventory is therefore
reduced.
The present invention provides a telecommunications cable
sleeve kit comprising (i) a sleeve housing body closable by a lid, (ii)
cable inlet and outlet apertures and (iii~ contacting and distributing
elements inside the sleeve, characterised in that the sleeve housing
body has at least three, preferably four side walls, and that at least
three of the side walls of the sleeve housing body are provided with
(a) apertures for receiving cables of varying diameter and (b) guide
pieces for attaching fixing elements and sealing bodies .
The kit according to the invention preferably also comprises
one or more, preferably two (or more) of the said fixing elements and
one or more, preferably two (or more) of the said seali~lg elements.
The said fixing elements are provided to fix, and preferably to
strain relieve entering and exiting cables, and sealing bodies are
provided to block and seal apertures in sides of the housing that are
not to be used in a particular applicatio~ Sealing bodies may also be
provided at the apertures where the fixing elements are, in order to
seal around the entering of ~iting cables
t is a consequence of the design of the present application
(b~ing such that a single housing body can be used for multiple
applications) that usually some, but not all the apertures in the sides
of the sleeve body housing will be used by entering or exiting cables,
and some apertures will not be used, and will need to be blocked
The side walls of the housing body are preferably straight sided,
preferably substantia~ly flat planar. Preferably the housing body is
substantially rectilineAr, for example substantially rect~ngular, or
substantially square in plan view, and preferably also substantially
rectangular or square in longitudinal and cross section.
An advantage of the invention is that it makes it possible for
the end user to assemble the s~me pieces of kit in various ways to
make varied assembled cable sleeves according to the desired end
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application. Access to the sleeve is possible through cable inlets on
different side walls of the sleeve housing body, which are provided
with fixing elements, se~ling elements, or cover pieces to
accommodate cables, or to seal non-used inlets dep~ntling on what is
required. Thus, for example, a butt sleeve can be formed, by arr~nging
cable inlet or outlet areas in one side of a rectangular sleeve housing
body and blocking the apertures in the other sides of the sleeve
housing body. This is achieved by appropriate positioning of the
fixing elements in the said one side of the sleeve body, and sealing
elements and cover pieces over any apertures on other sides of the
housing body As a second example, to form an in-line sleeve,
opposite sides of a rectangular sleeve body, for example, can be
provided with the appropriate fixing elements to receive cables, while
sealing el~ments and cover pieces cover the apertures in the other
sides of the sleeve body.
In a preferred embo-linlent the sleeve housing body is subst~nti~lly
box shaped being rectangular in plan view, and apertures are provided
on three of the four flat sides of the box shaped housing. Preferably
each flat side is provided with two apertures to receive two cables.
For an in-line splice ,fixing el~m~nt~ are secured on the two parallel
flat sides of the housing body that contain apertures, and se~ling
elements are provided on the third side of the housing body that
cont~ins apertures. For a butt splice fixing elements are preferably
provided on the said third side, and se~ling el~nnents on the parallel
aperture-cont~ining sides of the housing body.
Further refinements of the invention can be found in the sub-cl~im~.
The fixing el~ment preferably provide strain relief . The elements are
preferably designed as multi-part elements which can lock into the
basic body, for exAmple by me~n~ of tongue and groove joints. Such
an arrangement makes it possible to insert either a comparatively
thick multi-conductor cable or a multiplicity of individual conductors
or cables with a small number of conductors. The se~ling elements
can take the form of elements which can be inserted into recesses in
the housing wall, either as multi-part elements or as individual
elements.
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WO 94/22195 PCT/GB94/00351
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In ~ litiQn to the fixing elements or sealing elements which can
be inserted or attached to the side walls of the sleeve body,
attachable protective covers or clip-on or attachable covers can also
be provided.
The housing lid and the elements to be fixed in the sleeve body
are preferably provided with bevelled clamping surfaces facing
outwards over which fix~ng elements can engage.
An embodiment of the present invention will now be described,
by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings,
wherein.
Fig. 1 is an exploded view of a kit accor-ling to invention
Fig. 2 is a butt sleeve created using the kit of Figure 1, in open
configuration
Fig. 3 is the butt sleeve of Fig. 2 in closed configuration with
incoming and outgoing cables, and
Fig. 4 is an exploded view of an in-line sleeve kit
The kit numbered 1 in all the diagrams consists of an essentially
rectiline~r, (for example essentially box shaped ) housing body 2
which can be closed by a lid 3. In the example shown in Fig. 1, the
longitudinal side wall 4 of the housing body is provided with two
apertures 8 and 9 that are each fitted with a fixing element 5 for
fixing incoming cables or cable conductors (not shown in detail)
entering through apertures 8 and 9. The fixing ~l~m~nts 5 can be
inserted into notched or ridged guide pieces 6 (e.g. by tongue and
groove fittings) in the side wall 4 of the housing body 2.
The side wall 4, like the shorter side walls 7 of the housing body
is equipped with an aperture 8 for a large-diameter cable, and with
an aperture 9, of different ~lim~n~ion, for a multiplicity of individual
conductors or cables with smaller diameters.
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The fixing elements 5 in the side wall 4 of the housing body are
equipped with appropriate pressing bodies, 10 and 11 for pressing
down onto the incoming cables or cable conductors entering the
fixing elements 5. This advantageously may provide strain relief.
The apertures 8 and 9 in the side walls, are closed by inserted
sealing bodies 12 and 13. They may take the form of rubber sealing
elements or, for example, they can also be separate insertable pieces
with a rubber seal (not shown in detail).
If the cable inlets 8 and 9 in the side walls 7 are not fitted with
incoming or outgoing cables or cable inlets, the cable inlets apertures
8 and 9 may be covered by protective covers 14. These protective
covers can be inserted i~to the guides 6 on the external faces of the
side walls, in a simil~r fashion to the manner in which the fix~g
el.om~nts 5 are secured on guides 6
As shown in Figure 1, additional protective covers 15 ca~ be
provided on the cover 3. The fixing el.oments 5 may be positioned in
the covers 15, and both the protective covers 15 may be positioned
on the longitudinal side of the lid 3 covering the housing body.
To secure all the elements of the kit to one another, at least the
protective covers 14 covering the apertures 8 and 9 are equipped
with sloping or bevelled gripping pieces 16. The cover 3 can also be
fitted with contact strips 17 which have gripping slopes 16. Cl~mping
elements 18 can be pushed over the gripping slopes to fasten
adJacent elements of the kit to one another.
Inside the housing body, the kit 1 comprises contacting or
distributing el~m~nts 19 which are provided on divided pivotable
molmting plates 20 in a modular fashion. It is possible to move the
divided pivotable mounting plates 20 (by me~n.~ of a hinge 21) from
the parallel layout of the contact elements 19 shown in Fig. 1 or 2 to
the end-to-end layout of Fig. 4. This movement can be carried out by
the consumer in order to alter the assembled sleeve from one
suitable for a butt splice to one suitable for an end-to-end splice.
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Naturally, the specific exemplified embodiments of the invention
described can still be altered in many ways without departing from the
basic concept. Thus, in particular, the invention is not restricted to
the type of fi~nng bodies 5 or sealing bodies 12 and 13 illustrated, nor
to the type of contacting elements 19 shown here on thc divided
pivotable mounting plates 20, or the form of grip slopes 16 and
suchlike.
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