GB2343302A

GB2343302A - Watertight connector cover

Info

Publication number: GB2343302A
Application number: GB9820031A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Graham Pielow
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1998-09-16
Filing date: 1998-09-16
Publication date: 2000-05-03
Also published as: GB9820031D0

Abstract

An electrical system comprises two electrical power cables 2,6 which are joined by mutually engagable connectors 4,8. The connectors 4,8 have a cover 14 adapted to encase them when they are engaged and to sealingly engage and grip the cables 2,6. The cables 2,6 have two conductors passing therethrough and one cable 2 has a connector for connection to an electrical power supply which is preferably mains power. The cover 14 can be held together by a nut and bolt arrangement which can pass through holes 30f,30m in the cover 14. The bolt holes 30f,30m define bosses 84f on the inside of the cover 14 which can engage with grooves (30m, fig 4) which may be provided in the connectors 4,8. Ribs 79f,80f may be provided at the entrances to the cover to allow a seal about the cables 2,6. The bodies 20f,20m of the connectors 4,8 are of insulating material.

Description

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM The present invention relates to an electrical system requiring a connection between at least two cables and more particularly to an electrical lighting system.

In many applications, it is necessary to electrically connect one component to another (e. g. a power cable to a device to be powered) and it is generally desirable to ensure that the electrical connection is not easily broken. It may also be desirable to ensure that the electrical connection is protected against contact with water, particularly in outdoor applications where contact with water is likely.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved electrical system in which a connection between two cables is resistant to accidental disconnection and in which the connection is less susceptible to problems caused by the inadvertent presence of water.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electrical system comprising: (i) an electrically insulated power supply cable having first and second conductors passing therethrough from a first end to a second end, said second end being provided with means for connecting to an electrical (preferably mains) power supply, (ii) a second electrically insulated cable having first and second conductors passing therethrough from a first end to a second end, (iii) a complementary pair of mutually engageable connectors, each connector comprising an electrically insulating body having first and second electrically conducting terminals secured thereto, each terminal of one connector being mutually engageable with a respective terminal of the other connector, each of the connectors being engaged with and secured to a respective one of the first ends of the power supply cable and the second cable, such that each terminal of each connector is in electrical contact with a respective one of the conductors of the cable to which the connector is attached, and (iv) a protective cover adapted (i) to encase the complementary pair of connectors when the latter are mutually engaged and (ii) to sealingly engage and grip the cables to which the complementary pair of connectors is secured.

Thus, in such an electrical system, mutual engagement of the complementary pair of connectors enables an electric current to pass from the power supply cable to the second cable in use, and the protective cover (i) grips the power supply cable and second cable so as to assist in preventing separation of the complementary pair of connectors, and (ii) substantially prevents ingress of water to the terminals.

Preferably, the system is a lighting system, with the second cable having spaced apart light sources (eg. LED's or preferably bulbs) along its length connected by the conductors. The light sources are preferably provided in the second cable and are visible through a wall of the second cable which is suitably transparent. Such a second cable is commonly known as a rope light.

Preferably, the protective cover comprises two cover parts which are adapted to mutually engage in use to form a seal. Preferably, each cover part is provided with a first part-annular rib at each end, with each partannular rib of one cover part cooperating, in use, with the corresponding part-annular rib on the other cover part to form a first annular seal around the respective cables. More preferably, a second part-annular rib is provided spaced apart from each first annular rib which in use cooperate to form a second annular seal.

Preferably, each connector is provided with at least one external groove which is adapted to receive a portion of the protective cover in use so as to locate the protective cover with respect to the connector. Preferably such a groove is provided on each side of each connector.

In the case where the protective cover comprises two cover parts, at least one passage is provided which passes through each part and which is capable of receiving a fixing element (eg. screw or bolt) for securing the cover parts together. More preferably, the passage is formed in the portion of the protective cover which locates in the external groove of each connector.

Preferably, the mutually engageable terminals are a male and female pair.

Preferably, the complementary pair of connectors is a male and female pair, with a sleeve at a first end region of the body of the female connector being adapted to receive a correspondingly shaped projection at a first end region of the body of the male connector. Preferably, the male connector body is provided with at least one annular locating rib on the projection and the female connector body is provided with a corresponding number of annular grooves in an inner sidewall of the sleeve, the positioning of the rib (s) and groove (s) being such that when the male and female connectors are correctly mutually engaged, the rib (s) is/are located in the groove (s).

Preferably, the terminals of the male connector are female terminals and the terminals of the female connector are male terminals.

Preferably, a seal (eg. an O-ring seal) is provided which, in use, is located between mutually engaged connector bodies to prevent ingress of water to the terminals.

Preferably, each connector body has a sleeve at a second end region defined by an annular sidewall within which the cable to which it is to be secured is a push fit.

Preferably, the second cable is provided with an additional connector at its second end. More preferably, the connectors at the first and second ends of the second cable are a complementary pair of the male and female connectors. Thus, it will be understood that two or more similar cables may be connected serially.

Preferably, a protective end cap is provided which is adapted to be removably engageable with the connector secured to the second end of the second cable. The provision of such a removable end cap reduces the risk of accidental electric shock, but allows the connector at the second end of the second cable to be exposed for connecting to a further cable.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an extension kit constructed and adapted for use with a system in accordance with the first aspect of the present invention, said kit comprising: (i) at least one further cable having the complementary connectors secured at respective opposite ends, and (ii) at least one of the protective covers.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig 1 is a schematic representation of part of an electrical rope-light system in accordance with the first aspect of the present invention, Fig 2 is a schematic representation of part of the system shown in Fig 1 part assembled, Fig 3 is a part-sectioned view of a female connector, Fig 4 is a part-sectioned view of a male connector, Fig 5 is a part-sectioned view of a male and female connector mutually engaged, Fig 6 is a part-sectioned view of an end cap, Figs 7 to 9 are a plan view, an end on view in part section and a longitudinal section view respectively of one part of a protective cover, and Fig 10 shows another part of the protective cover in place on the connection shown in Fig 5.

Referring to Figs 1 and 2, the electrical rope-light system comprises a mains power supply cable 2 fitted with a male connector 4 at a first end 2a and a mains plug (not shown) at a second end, a second cable in the form of a flexible rope light 6 (interior details such as spaced bulbs and conductors are per se known and are not shown) having a female connector 8 at a first end 6a and a male connector 10 at a second end 6b, an end cap 12, and a pair of protective covers 14 (Fig 2, only one shown) each of two-piece construction (described in more detail below).

As shown in Fig 2, the rope light 6 is connected to the mains cable 2 by mutual engagement of the male and female connectors 4, 8 at the respective first ends 2a, 6a of the mains cable 2 and the rope light 6. The end cap 12 is engaged with the male connector 10 at the second end 6b of the rope light 6 in a similar manner. Each protective cover 14 consists of a male cover part 14a and a female cover part 14b which are mutually engageable (described in more detail below). The male and female cover parts 14a, 14b of one protective cover 14 are bolted together over the mutually engaged male/female pair of connectors 4,8. The second protective cover (not shown) encases the mutually engaged male connector 10 and the end cap 12.

The protective cover 14 serves to retain the relative positioning of the cable 2 and rope light 6, thereby preventing unwanted disconnection and also prevents ingress of water to electrically conductive components (described in more detail below). The provision of the end cap 12 ensures that no electrically conductive parts are exposed at the second end 6b of the rope light.

The system shown in Figs 1 and 2 can easily be extended by the removal of the second protective cover and the end cap 12 and by connecting an additional rope light (not shown) fitted with male and female connectors to the now free male terminal 10 of the rope light 6. The end cap 12 is then fitted to the free male terminal of the additional rope light (not shown).

Referring to Figs 3 and 4, each connector 4,8,10 comprises an electrically insulating body 20m, 20f made from PVC and a pair of metallic terminals 22f, 22m (m indicates a feature on a male part whilst f indicates a feature on a female part). Each connector body 20m, 20f is constructed from two parts which are moulded together (see below) to form the connector body 20m, 20f as described hereinafter. A first end region of the body 20m, 20f is in the form of an annular sleeve 24m, 24f. An outer surface 26m, 26f of the sleeve 24m, 24f has a slight inward taper towards its free end 28m, 28f.

The sleeve 24m, 24f is provided with parallel linear grooves 30m, 30f of part-circular section which extend perpendicularly to the extent of the sleeve 24m, 24f. On an opposite side of an internal partition wall 32f, a second end region of the body 20f of the female connector 8 (Fig 3) is also in the form of a sleeve 34. An inner wall 36 of the sleeve 34 is provided with a pair of mutually spaced annular grooves 38. A free end surface 40 of the wall 36 is inwardly chamfered. A small alignment rib 37f is provided on an outer wall 39 of the sleeve 34 extending from the free end surface 40. On an opposite side of an internal partition wall 32m, a second end region 42 of the body 20m of the male connector 4,10 (Fig 4) is cylindrical and of smaller diameter than the partition wall 32m thereby defining an annular abutment surface 44 between the partition wall 32m and the end region 42. Two mutually spaced annular ribs 46 are provided on a surface of the cylindrical end region 42. A small alignment rib 37m is located on an outer peripheral surface of the partition 42.

Each terminal 22m, 22f is an elongate member having a generally tapered first end region 50m, 50f made up of a series of frustoconical portions, an annular abutment surface 52m, 52f being defined between each adjacent pair of frustoconical portions. A second end region of the male terminal 22m is in the form of a split pin 54 (Fig 3) and a second end region of the female terminal 22f is a sleeve 56. Between the split pin 54 and tapered end region 50m of the male terminal 22m and between the sleeve 56 and tapered end region 50f of the female terminal 22f is a middle region 58m, 58f which is stepped to define facing annular surfaces 60m, 60f.

The pair of male terminals 22m are spaced apart and the tapered end 50m of each male terminal 22m is embedded in the end 6a of the rope light 6 and is soldered to a respective one of the conductors. As well as the soldering joint, the abutment surfaces 52m help prevent detachment of the male terminals 22m from the rope light 6. The two parts of the female connector body 20f are then moulded around the male terminals 22m and the end 6a of the rope light 6, such that the middle regions 58m of the terminals 22m are secured within the middle region 32f of the connector body 20f, the split pins 54 extend into the sleeve 34 of the second end region of the female connector body 20f and the sleeve 24f of the female connector body 20f is formed around the end 6a of the rope light 6, the sleeve 24f and rope light end 6a being a close fit. The opposing annular surfaces 60m on the male terminals 22m help prevent dislodgement of the terminals 22m from the connector body 20f. Securement of the female connector 8 to the rope light 6 is enhanced by heat sealing the sleeve 26f to the rope light 6. As an alternative, the sleeve 26f may be glued to the rope light 6.

The male connectors 10,4 are each assembled and secured to the second end 6b of the rope light and the power cable 2 respectively in a similar manner. In the embodiment shown, the power cable 2 is conveniently a standard cable and is fitted with an adapter (not shown) at its first end 2a to make it the same diameter as the rope light. This allows a single size male terminal to be used for the first end 2a of the power cable 2 and the second end 6b of the rope light 6 and allows the same protective cover 14 to be used to protect the connection between the power cable 2 and the rope light 6 and between the rope light 6 and an additional rope light.

Referring to Fig 5, the female connector 8 attached to the first end 6a of the rope light 6 and the male connector 4 attached to the first end 2a of the power cable 2 are connected by aligning the respective male and female terminals 22m, 22f (this is facilitated by the alignment ribs 37m, 37f which are positioned to indicate correct alignment of the connectors 4,8) and pushing the cylindrical end region 42 of the male connector body 20m into the sleeve 34 of the female connector body until the ribs 46 of the cylindrical end region 42 of the male connector body 20m become located in the annular grooves 38 on the inner sidewall 36 of the sleeve 34 of the female connector body 20f. At the same time, the split pins 54 of the male terminals 22m become located in the sleeves 56 of the respective female terminals 20f, thereby effecting good electrical contact between the rope light 6 and the power cable 2. Over-insertion is prevented by abutment of the free end surface 40 of the sidewall 36 of the female connector body 20f with the abutment surface 44 of the male connector body 20m. An O-ring seal 62 is provided between the abutment surface 44 and the chamfered inner free end surface 40.

Referring to Fig 6, the end cap 12 is a female connector body in which the first end region is a solid cylinder 64 rather than a sleeve 24f (similar parts to the female connector 8 are accorde the same reference numerals). No terminals are provided. The end cap 12 is connected to the male connector body 10 at the second end 6b of the rope light in an analogous way to the connection of the male and female connectors 4,8 except that no orientation of terminals is required.

Referring to Figs 7 to 9, the protective cover 14 is of two piece construction. The male cover part 14a has a part cylindrical sidewall 72m in a middle region which tapers inwardly towards first and second ends 75m, 76m. First and second longitudinal free edges 77m of the sidewall 72m each extend between the first and second ends 75m, 76m of the sidewall 72m. Each free edge 77m is provided with a locating rib 78 along its length. A first part-annular sealing rib 79m is provided on an inner surface 82m of the sidewall 72m at each end 75m, 76m of the sidewall 72m, with a second part-annular sealing rib 80m provided on the inner surface 82m spaced from each first sealing rib 79m. A pair of hollow cylindrical bosses 84m spaced either side of the longitudinal axis A of the cover part 14a extend from the sidewall 72m perpendicularly to the longitudinal free edges 77m at opposite ends of the middle region of the sidewall 72m, and a hole 86m (Fig 8) is provided where they meet the sidewall 72m so as to define bolt locating passages 88m. An annular seating surface 90m (Fig 8) is defined in each passage 88m by an inward step in each cylindrical boss 84m, which serves in use to seat a screwthreaded bolt head (not shown).

Referring to Fig 10, the female cover part 14b of the protective cover 14 is shown in position over the connection shown in Fig 5. Similar features on the female cover part 14b will be accorded the same reference numeral as their counterpart on the male cover part 14a with the designator f instead of m. The longitudinal free edges 77f are each provided with a locating groove 92 along their length which is arranged to receive the ribs 79 of the male cover part 14a. A region 94 of the sidewall 72f which surrounds the seating surface 90f is hexagonal so as to be able to receive a nut (not shown).

Each cylindrical boss 84f locates in one of the grooves 30m, 30f provided in the male and female connector bodies 20m, 20f and the part-annular sealing ribs 79f, 80f at each end 75f, 76f of the sidewall 72f abut the respective first end regions 6a, 2a of the rope light 6 and power cable 2.

When the male cover part 14a is placed on the female part 14b, the locating ribs 78 are received in the grooves 92. In this position, the cylindrical bosses 84m of the male part 14a are aligned with the corresponding cylindrical bosses 84f on the female part 14b. When the two cover parts 14a, 14b are bolted together, each corresponding pair of part annular sealing ribs 79m, 80m at the first end 75m, 75f of the parts 14a, 14b grips the rope light 6 and forms a continuous annular seal and each corresponding pair of part annular sealing ribs 80m, 80f at the second end 76m of the parts 14a, 14b grips the power cable 2 and forms a continuous annular seal. The locating rib 78 and groove 79 arrangement forms a seal between the two cover parts 14a, 14b of the protective cover 14 and the ingress of water to the electrically conductive parts is prevented. The O-ring seal 62 is provided as a back up in case of failure of the protective cover 14. The gripping action of the annular sealing ribs 79m, 79f, 80m, 80f and the location of the cylindrical bosses 84m, 84f in the grooves 30m, 30f of the connector bodies 20m, 20f reduces the possibility of the electrical connection being accidentally broken.

In an alternative embodiment (not shown), each cover part is provided with a locating rib on one longitudinal free edge and a corresponding groove on the other longitudinal free edge.

Claims

CLAIMS 1 An electrical system comprising: (i) an electrically insulated power supply cable having first and second conductors passing therethrough from a first end to a second end, said second end being provided with means for connecting to an electrical (preferably mains) power supply, (ii) a second electrically insulated cable having first and second conductors passing therethrough from a first end to a second end, (iii) a complementary pair of mutually engageable connectors, each connector comprising an electrically insulating body having first and second electrically conducting terminals secured thereto, each terminal of one connector being mutually engageable with a respective terminal of the other connector, each of the connectors being engaged with and secured to a respective one of the first ends of the power supply cable and the second cable, such that each terminal of each connector is in electrical contact with a respective one of the conductors of the cable to which the connector is attached, and (iv) a protective cover adapted (i) to encase the complementary pair of connectors when the latter are mutually engaged and (ii) to sealingly engage and grip the cables to which the complementary pair of connectors is secured.
2. A system as claimed in claim 1, which is a lighting system wherein the second cable has spaced apart light sources along its length connected by the conductors.
3. A system as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the protective cover comprises two cover parts which are adapted to mutually engage in use to form a seal.
4. A system as claimed in claim 3, wherein each cover part is provided with a first part-annular rib at each end, with each part-annular rib of one cover part cooperating, in use, with the corresponding partannular rib on the other cover part to form a first annular seal around the respective cables.
5. A system as claimed in claim 4, wherein a second part-annular rib is provided spaced apart from each first annular rib which in use cooperate to form a second annular seal.
6. A system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein each connector is provided with at least one external groove which is adapted to receive a portion of the protective cover in use so as to locate the protective cover with respect to the connector.
7. A system as claimed in claim 6, wherein such groove is provided on each side of each connector.
8. A system as claimed in claim 6 or 7, wherein the protective cover comprises two cover parts, at least one passage is provided which passes through each part and which is capable of receiving a fixing element for securing the cover parts together, and the passage is formed in the portion of the protective cover which locates in the external groove of each connector.
9. A system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the complementary pair of connectors is a male and female pair, with a sleeve at a first end region of the body of the female connector being adapted to receive a correspondingly shaped projection at a first end region of the body of the male connector.
10. A system as claimed in claim 9, wherein the male connector body is provided with at least one annular locating rib on the projection, and the female connector body is provided with a corresponding number of annular grooves in an inner sidewall of the sleeve, the positioning of the rib (s) and groove (s) being such that when the male and female connectors are correctly mutually engaged, the rib (s) is/are located in the groove (s).
11. A system as claimed in claim 9 or 10, wherein the terminals of the male connector are female terminals and the terminals of the female connector are male terminals.
12. A system as claimd in any preceding claim, wherein a seal is provided which, in use, is located between mutually engaged connector bodies to prevent ingress of water to the terminals.
13. A system as claimed in any preceding claim, whereion each connector body has a sleeve at a second end region defined by an annular sidewall within which the cable to which it is to be secured is a push fit.
14. A system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the second cable is provided with an additional connector at its second end.
15. A system as claimed in claim 14, wherein the connectors at the first and second ends of the second cable are a complementary pair of the male and female connectors.
16. A system as claimed in any preceding claim, further including a protective end cap which is adapted to be removably engageable with the connector secured to the second end of the second cable.
17. An extension kit constructed and adapted for use with an electrical system as claimed in any preceding claim, said kit comprising: (i) at least one further cable having the complementary connectors secured at respective opposite ends, and (ii) at least one of the protective covers.