COUPLEURS DE CABLE

CABLE COUPLERS

Abrégé français

Dispositif de couplage de câble (10) pour câble électrique à plusieurs âmes. Ce dispositif comporte un ensemble à cage d'extrémité (20) formant une série de logements de terminaison électrique (19) disposés symétriquement autour d'un axe de couplage de câble longitudinal pour que des isolateurs à montage terminal (13) s'y engagent en adoptant une position bloquée. Des broches terminales (11) associées aux âmes du câble se prolongent dans les extrémités ouvertes d'isolateurs à montage terminal (13) auxquelles elles peuvent accéder pour établir une connexion. La section d'un logement (21) se prolonge vers l'arrière jusqu'à un ensemble d'extrémité de câble (30) soutenant coaxialement et en position bloquée le câble électrique (51).

Abrégé anglais

Cable coupling means [10] for a multi core electrical
cable is provided which has an end cage assembly [20] forming
a plurality of electrical termination recesses [19] arranged
symmetrically about ~ longitudinal cable coupling axis for
terminal mounting insulators [13] engages captively therein.
Terminal pins [11] of respective cable cores extend into open
ends of the terminal mounting insulators [13] where they are
accessible for making a connection. A housing portion [21]
extends rearwardly to a cable end assembly [30] which
captively and coaxially supports the electrical cable [51].

Revendications

11
THE CLAIMS DEFINING THE INVENTION ARE AS FOLLOWS:-
1. Cable coupling means for a multi core electrical cable
including:-
an end cage assembly having a front mounting face;
a plurality of electrical termination recesses extending
through the end cage assembly from the mounting face and
arranged symmetrically about a longitudinal cable coupling
axis;
terminal mounting insulators engageable captively in
respective said electrical termination recesses and able to
receive and support terminal pins to which the respective
cable cores are connected;
a housing portion extending rearwardly from the end cage
assembly and having a plurality of cylindrical passageways
extending therethrough and arranged symmetrically about said
longitudinal axis, the passageways corresponding to the
electrical termination recesses in said end cage assembly,
and
a cable end assembly connectable to the rear end of said
housing portion for captively supporting the electrical cable
coaxially with the longitudinal axis of said housing portion.
2. Cable coupling means as claimed in claim 1, wherein the
end cage assembly provides three symmetrically arranged
electric termination and includes a flanged front end

12
portion and a rear extension portion of complementary
internal and external cloverleaf-sections.
3. Cable coupling means as claimed in claim 2, wherein the
rearward extension of the end cage assembly is relatively
short and accommodates only a leading portion of the terminal
mounting insulators and the housing portion is detachably
secured to the end cage assembly and is adapted to clamp the
terminal mounting insulators into said end cage assembly.
4. Cable coupling means as claimed in claim 2, wherein the
end cage assembly and the housing portion are formed
integrally and the terminal mounting insulators are held
captive in the end cage assembly by retaining means engaged
within the front face of the end cage assembly.
5. Cable coupling means as claimed in any one of the
preceding claims, wherein the cable end assembly is removably
secured to the housing portion and upon release therefrom is
able to be slid along the cable.
6. Cable coupling means as claimed in any one of the
preceding claims and including terminal pins adjustably
securable to respective cable cores and retained between
opposite ends of a retaining passage in each said terminal
mounting insulators by a circlip at the leading end of said

13
retaining passage.

Description

CA 02232072 l998-03-l3
"CABLE COUPLERS"
This lnventlon ralate~ ta cable couplers for multl-core
~lectrlcal cable. In partlcular lt relates to cable couplers
for hlgh voltage cable~ ~uch as 19 used ln mlning operatlons.
However it 1~ not limlted to ~uch appllcatlons and may be
u~ed ln low voltage appllcatlon~ if deslred.
In my earller Au~tralian Patent No. 6545~7, there 19
de6crlbed a cable cou~l~r whlch utlli~8s a multi-component
constructlon ln order to malntaln the cable cores ln thelr
correct orlentatlon ln the coupler houslng whlch 19
earthed/grounded. Thls i8 achieved ~y havlng a cloverleaf-
sectloned houslng formed at on~ ~nd wlth a complementary
flanged. lnsert ~hlch support~ the connector~ ln a ~ymmetrical
array and into whlch the respectlve cables are secured. In
additlon, the cablee are led to the connectors through a
tapered element which maintAins the cables ln thelr
~ubstantially symmet~ical at~ltude.
Whlle these couplsr~ are effective ln U813, thelr
o~erative placeMent at the end of a cable 1~ ~omewhat tlme
consuming and cumbersome and the cost of manufacture ther~of
1~ rel.atlvely hlgh beceuse of the conf lguratlon of the
coupler.
For hlgh voltaye appllcatlons 5UC*S as over 6,600 volts,
el~ctr~cal stres6es ~e~ulpot~ntlal and flux l~nes) becom~
crltical such that it 19 most de~irsbl~ to malntaln the cable
cores wl~hln the housing, ln the symmetrlcal radlal geometry

CA 02232072 1998-03-13
ln whlch they are dlspos~d in the cable. In the present
couplers the tap~red element and the complementary
cloverleaf-sectloned hou~lng are cast and thus lt i.~
dlf~lcult to mass produce the couplers and maintaln the
tapered ele~ent a~ a sym~trlcal slide-ln ~lttlng withln the
co~plementary shaped houslng.
The proaen~ lnvention al~ to allevlate at lea~t one of
the above dlsadvantages and to provlde cable coupllng mean
whlch wlll be rellable and efficlent in U9~3.
Wlth the foregolng i~ vlew, thls lnventlon ln one a pect
resides broadly ln cable coupllng means for a multl core
electrlcal cabls lncludlng;-
~n end cage asseMbly adapted to be coupled to a
complementary mounting whlch may be the end cage as~em~ly of
a corr2~pondlng cable coupllng means:
a plurallty o~ electrical termlnatlon rece~6e6 extendlng
through the end cage asse~nbly from a mounting face thereof ~o
the re~r facs thereof and arranged ~ymmetrlcally about a
longltudinsl axls;
terminal ~ountlng lnaulators engageabl~ captlvely ln
respective ~ald electrlcal termlnatlon recesse~ and able to
rece~ve and support terminal. pln3 to which the resp~ctlve
cable corea nlay be connected;
a hou~ing portlon extending rearwardly from the end cage
assembly and havlng a plurallty of cyllnd~ical passageways
ex~ending thero through ~nd srranged ~nme tric~lly about said

CA 02232072 l998-03-l3
longitudlnal axls, the passageway~ correspondlng to the
electrlcal termlnatlon rece~ses ln ~ald end cage as~embly,
and
a cable end assembly connectable to the rear end of sald
heuslng portlon for captlvely supporting th~ electrlcal cable
coaxially wlth the longltudinal axl~ of ~aid housing portlon.
The end c~ge asfieMbly ls suitably formed wlth a mounting
flange extendlng at rlght angles to the longitudlnal axls and
~elng apertured or recessed for bolted connection to a
comple~entary ~ounting~ The end cage assem~ly could be
formed of ~ plastlc3 material but preferably it 15 formed of
metal ~uch as aluminlum, ph~sphor b~onze or stalnless steel.
Slmllarly lt i~ preferred t~at all the external parts of the
cable coupling Means be formed from metal and ~uitably as
castlngs.
In a preferred embodlment the cable coupllng mean~ is
adapted for co~pllng a three cor~ cable and the end cage
assembly comprl~e~ a flanged front end portlon and a rear
extension portion of complementary lnternal and external
cloverleaf-section~ providlng ter~lnation recesses ln the
form of cyllndrlcal passages whlch open to co-axlal
cyllndrical p~sageway~ ln the heusing portlon, whlch 19
preferably of slmllar clover leaf section.
The rear extenslon of the end cage assembly may be
suf flclontly long to accommodate th~ termlnal mountlng
insulator~ ~ut preferably lt ls relatively s~ort and

CA 02232072 1998-03-13
accommodates onl~ a leadlng portlon thereof and ln whlch the
ends of termlnal plns supported thereby are exposed.
Suitably the trallln~ port~on3 of the t~rminal mountlng
lnsulator~ extend rearwardly beyond the end cage a~embly and
are accom~odated wlthin the houslng portlon.
The houslng portlon and the end cage a~sembly may be
formed lntegrally, ~uch a3 to prov~d~ a lighter constructlon
but preferably the housing portion bolts to the end csge
a~sembly and the pas~a~eway~ ln the hou~lng portlon hold the
termlnal mountlng in6ulatorq captive ln the end cage.
Preferably the end of the houslng portloll whlch abuts
the end cage as~elnbly la adapted to co-op~rate with
respectlve collar6 on the ter~lnal mounting in3ulators for
capt~vely securing them withln the end cags as~embly and free
spac~ 1~ provided abo~t the portlans of the termlnal mountlng
ins~lators withln the houslng portlon whlch may be fllled
wlth a sultable filler of known type.
Where the end cage as~eMbly and the houslng portion are
formed integrally it ls preferred that the ~ermlnal mountlng
lnsulator~ are held captlve ln the end cage a~.qembly by
retainlng means engaged wlthln the front face of the end cage
A~sembly .
It is al~o preferred that the càble end assembly i~,
prlor to final asssmbly, able to be slid along the cable such
that the cable cores may be ~ep~rated and made off to the
aorrect length and fltted into respectlve termlnal plns whlch

CA 02232072 1998-03-13
pas~ lnto and ars ~ecured ln the termlnal mountlng lnsulators
prlor to movlng ~he cabla end asse~ly to an ope~atlve
positlon connected to the houBlng portlon and clamped about
the cable.
In order ~hat this t nvention may be more readily
understood and put lnto pr~ct~ cal effect, reference wlll ncw
~e made to the accompanylng drawlng~ which lllustrate a
typlcal smbodlment of the lnventlon and whereln:-
FIG. 1 provlde~ an exploded slde ~levation of one
embodlment of the lnventlon sultable for use wlth r~bber
tralling electrlcal cable;
FIG. 2 i6 an exploded perspectl~e vlew of the Fig. 1
embodlment:
FIG. 3 19 ~ cro~-sectional vlew of the assembled ca~le
ooupler lllustrated ln Flg, l;
FIG. 4 ls a slde vlew of a sln~le term~nated cable core;
F2G. 5 19 a front end vlew of the Fig. 1 embodlment;
FIG. ~ 1~ sn cro~s-sectlonal view of a rear end portlon
o~ the hou~lng portlon;
FIG. 7 lllustrate6 altorn~te l~youts of flange
mountlngs;
FIG. 8 lllustrates the arrangemant of the cable end
assembly for use wlth paper ins~lated lead or ~lngle
wlre armoured electrlc~l cable:
'25 FIG. 9 lllustrate~ a further varlatlon o~ th~ i.nventlon;
FIGS. 10 to 13, and FIGS. 14 and 15 lllustrate alternate

CA 02232072 1998-03-13
llghtwelght con~tructlons suit~ble for underground use
and correspondlng to the embodlments lllu~trated ln
Fig~. 1 to 6 and Flg. 8 respectlvely.
Referring lnitlally to Flg~. 1 to 6 o~ the drawlngs, the
cable coupllng mean~ 10 i9 adapted :eor providlng a
termlnation ln the ~orm of accessible pln9 11 for three core
ru~er tralllng electrical cable 12. These plns 11 extend
through terminal mountll-g lnsulators 13 and have a threaded
connector head 14 ln whlch the length of the cable may be
adJusted and ~et prlor to ~olderlng.
The opposite end portlon o~ the plns 11 are formed wlth
a circllp groove for a clrcllp 15 whlch ls secur~d ln place
after the pins have ~een pas~ed through the loc~tlng
ap~rtures 16 ln the tormlnal mountlng lnsulators 13.
Sultably one end of r~spectl~e double ended female connector~
26 p~s~e~ lnto the open end 27 of each lnsulator to m~ke the
contact with the protruding accesslble pln 11. Boltlng
flanges ~8 are providod for securln~ the coupling.
The ln~u~ators 1~ are provlded with a shallow external
flange 17 about thelr out~r end whereby the~ may be held
captive betwoen a collar 18 on the lnside face of each
termlnatlon recess 19 ln th~ ~nd cage a6sembly 20 and the
adJolnlng end of the hou~lng 21, a~ lllu~trated in Fig. 3.
The c~llndrlcal termln~tlon recesses 19 and the
complementary pa~sagsways 22 ln the houslng 21 e~tend co-
axlally snd are di~po~ed in a cloverleaf conflguration

CA 02232072 1998-03-13
symmetrloally about a longltudlnal axls of the cable cou~llng
moana 10. Typlcally, the end cag~ a~mbly 20 is supplied
through-~olted to th~ housll~g 21 with cap ~cr~w~ 23 wlth th~
termlnql mountlng ln~ulator~ 13 secur~d thereb~tw~en The
S c~ble ond ~s~e~bly 30 1~ Earmed ln thr~e parto comp~l~ing a
rubber gl~nd fittlng 31, an end cap 32 and a clamp~ng ring
a~sembly 33. All theee coMpononts can be fltted alldably
over the c~ble 12 80 ~h~ the~ mo~ be push~d ~long the c~ble
away rrOm tho made off ~nd~ of tho conductors 25.
10The m~de off end~ ur~ secured ln re~p~ctlvo termln~l
plns 11 after the cahle 19 strlD~ed of it~ outor she~ths and
~h~ etre~ rell~vin~ 1~ done ln thc crutch ln oonvention~l
m~nner 1~ ~he form of wrapplng tape and coro ~ackers 40
provla~a at t~eir ents~ance ~o the hou~lng 21 ln order to
15malntaln the cables Wlthlll the houslng ex~endlng
sub~tantially p~rallel to lt9 longl~udl~al axi~.
A~ter th~ cabl~ cor~ h~v~ be~n ma~e off and conn~c~ed
to the plns 11, thc conductor~ may b~ ~d through th~
r~pectlve p~agQway~ 22 ln the houslng 11 with the l~adlng
2~ portionJ of tho pln-~ 11 pa~slng through the locatlng r~c~
16 ln tho terminal ~ounting lnsulatora 13. Th~re~fter the
clrclipo :m~y bo fltted in the groovo~ to socure the plns ln
ths lnouletor~ 13. Tho end cap 32 ma~ then bo slld ~long the
housin~ forclng the yl~nd ~ittlng thoren~ong untll lt may be
25 ~ecured to the rear end of thc hou~lng 21 b~ ~urther cnp
~crews 35 ~as~lng through th~ end ~lange at the rear of the

CA 02232072 1998-03-13
hOUQ1ng 21.
The gland flttlng 31 ls then expanded by pulllng lt up
tlght agaln~t the rear face 37 of the end cap 32 uslng cap
screw~ 36 whlch engage thre~dedly with the lnnermost one of a
palr o~ steel rlngs 3B di~po~ed at opposlte sides of the
rubber grommet portlon 39. Thls actlon causes the rubber
grommst portlon to expand inwardly lnto flrm engage~ent wlth
th~ outer sheath of the cable.
The end cap 32 18 al80 provlded wlth an aperture closed
by a flller plug in whlch convent~onal 8ettable materlal may
be lntroduced lnto the ~ousl.ng to encap~ulate the component~
held theraln. A rubber boot 42 19 provlded for closing the
houslng ~nd spllt clamp whlch 1~ also screwed to the end of
the houslng to further secure the eable 1~ ln place.
Ths alternate form of cable end as~embly lllustrated
ln Flg. 8 provldes an open houslng 45 to whlch an cap 46 ls
bolted and whic~ la formed wlth a conlcal end face 47 against
whlch th~ armourlng shesth 4B may be captured by a holdlng
rlng 49 whlch i~ located on studs which extend rearwardly
fro~ the houYing 45 through the flange 49 of th~ cap 46.
Securlng nuts on these studs may be ussd to draw the rlng 49
towards the conical face 47 and thu~ clamp the armourlng of
the cable to the cable end assembly.
An alternate arran~e~ent 1B illustrated in Flg. 9
wherein the end cap assembly 50 is constltu~ed by a ~ouldlng
formed ln-~ltu encapsulating the cable end 51 and the splayed

CA 02232072 l998-03-l3
armourlng 52. Sultably ~he encapsulatlon 19 ~ormed by
lnJ ecting a settable re91n lnto a relatlvely llght welght
pla~tlcs moulding a~ 9hown ln dotted outllne at 53. This
mouldlng extends about a ~upportlng rlng 54 whlch may be
bolted to the housing 55. Prlor to encapsulstion, earth
straps may ~e arranged to connect the Armour to the hou~lng
55.
In the embodllnent9 60, 61 and 62 lllustrated ln FIGS. lO
to 13, and FIGS. 14 ~nd 15 the component~ mostly correspond
to the embodlments de9crl~ed wlth reference to ln Flg~. 1 to
6 and Flg. ~ re~pectively. For ease of refer3nce
correspondlng parts are glven slmllar reference numerals.
~owever ln both of these embodlMent~ the end cage 20a 19
formed lnte~rally wlth the housing 21a and suitably of
alumlnlum to minlmlse welght.
The inslde face of each termlnetlon rece~s l9a ls formed
wlth an lnwardly protrudlng collar 63 whlch provide6 a stop
for the external collars 18a on the ln~ulators 13a whlch are
lnserted through the front openlng of the recesses l9a.
The front face 64 of the end cage 20a 18 recessed to
recelve a flush fltted ap~rtured retalnln~ plate 65 secured
by cap screws a~ lllustrated. The aperture~ 66 ln the plate
65 each have B stepped lnternal ~ace 67 whlch flt~ closely
over the end recess 68 formed ln the lnsulators 13a whereby
~5 the plate 65 ef~ects a clamp on the insulator~ 13a ~etween
the colla~ 63 and the ~tep 68.

CA 02232072 1998-03-13
It wlll of course be reallsed that the above has been
glven by way of lllustratlve example of the lnvention and
that all such modiflcatlons and variation~ thereto a~ would
be apparent to persons ~killed ln the art are deemed to fall
S within th~ broad scope and am~lt of the lnventlon as 19
deflned ln the appended claims.

Dessin représentatif