IES20000190A2

IES20000190A2 - An external termination unit

Info

Publication number: IES20000190A2
Application number: IE20000190A
Authority: IE
Inventors: Liam Patrick Collins
Original assignee: Liam Patrick Collins
Priority date: 2000-03-10
Filing date: 2000-03-10
Publication date: 2001-08-22
Also published as: GB2360145B; IE20010235A1; GB0106077D0; GB2360145A; IES20010236A2

Abstract

An external termination unit (ETU) (1) in the form of a casing having an access door (9) mounted by hinges (8). The access door (9) carries connectors (12) for cable. By mounting the connectors (12) on the access door (9) when the access door (9) is opened easy access is provided to the connectors (12). <Figure 2>

Description

The present invention relates to an external termination unit (ETU) for electrical connectors. Such an ETU unit is of the general type comprising an enclosed casing aving a cable inlet, a cable outlet and an access door. The unit containing terminal onnectors. Such ETU units are used for the interconnection of electrical power, whether it be mains or electrical power into a building, telephone wires, or indeed nany forms of connectors. -h5- -4) ί ' ’« 2 σ y I u g c - Generally speaking such ETUs are either mounted directly above the ground, in the ground, or indeed in external walls of buildings. Such ETU units can be manufactured in many constructions and indeed very often are provided with doors which have seals and the like to prevent the ingress of moistures. Usually the inlets and outlets are provided by weakened portions which can be broken to provide inlet and outlet holes. However, the main problem with such ETU units is the difficulty being experienced by most workmen, operators and maintenance personnel who have to open the ETU unit to access the terminals are usually mounted permanently within the unit so that anybody trying to work on them is restricted by the size of the casing of the ETU unit. This can working on terminals and connectors within the unit both time-consuming difficult and in some instances dangerous. Probfems do arise in that very often connections are not adequately made during such maintenance operations.

The present invention is directed towards providing an improved construction of such an ETU unit.

Statements of Invention According to the invention there is provided an ETU unit of the type comprising an enclosed casing having a cable inlet, a cable outlet and an access door, the unit containing terminal connectors, characterised in that the terminal connectors are mounted on the access door. By mounting the connectors on the access door, when the access door is opened the terminals are easily accessible and forexample when IE000190 - 2 the ETU is mounted in a vertical wall, the person working on the terminal has sufficient space to allow the work to take place in an efficient manner.

Ideally the door is pivotal from the closed position to a horizontal position to facilitate operation.

Ideally when pivotal from the horizontal position, the access door is supported on the casing. In this way a very rigid and secure platform is provided.

In one embodiment of the invention, the access door is provided with reinforcing ribs to provide a steady work platform and a solid support for the terminals.

Further the reinforcement of the door protects the terminals from impact damage or indeed damage from traffic when the unit is sited in the ground.

The terminals may be I DC connectors. These are particularly suitable for example for telephone cables and other in feed cables to dwelling houses and other buildings.

While we have referred to an ETU unit in the above, it is more strictly speaking a connector box. However, it will be used in most instances as an ETU box.

Detailed Description of the invention The invention will be more clearly understood from the following description of an embodiment thereof given by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a plan view of the ETU unit in the open position; Fig. 2 is a front view of the ETU unit in the open position; Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the ETU unit along the lines Ill-Ill of Fig. 1; and - 3 IE000190 Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the ETU unit in the closed position.

Referring to the drawings there is provided an ETU unit indicated generally by the reference numeral 1 comprising a casing indicated generally by the reference numeral 2 having side walls 3, end wail 4 and top and bottom walls 5 and 6 respectively. The side walls 3 and the top and bottom walls 5 and 6 extend into a peripheral rim 7 carrying by means of pivot hinges 8 an access door 9. The access door 9 comprises a base 10 forming an external facing having a plurality of upstanding ribs 11 on which are mounted IDCs 12 of conventional construction, only two of which are shown each mounted on a DIN rail 13. A cable feed in pipe forming an inlet 14 is provided in the bottom wall 6 and the side walls 3 and end wall 4 and top wall 5 are provided with weakened portions 15 which can be broken out in conventional manner to provide access holes as the ETU unit will generally be manufactured from a suitable plastics material. Suitable locking means are provided by keyways 20.

In use the particular construction of ETU unit is mounted on a vertical wall and the cables are led into and out of the ETU unit. When the cables are being interconnected by the IDCs 12. This can be easily seen in Fig. 3 where the access door 9 is pivoted downwards to the IDCs.

It is envisaged that when the ETU is to be used for mounting in a horizontal surface that a suitable hinge will be provided that will allow the door to pivot through 180° so as to lie on the ground for ease of access.

The unit may also be used as an enclosure and access point for water mains stopcocks and other services.

Needless to say the unit does not have to be recessed fully or at all into a structure. This may not always be possible with existing structures where mechanical fixing or adhesives may be preferable.

Similarly the shape of flanges, dimensions and material of construction may be IE000190 - 4 varied in accordance with good engineering practice depending on the use to which the unit is being adapted.

The unit will be sufficiently robust to endue the weight of traffic for example cars, 5 trucks, buses, etc. when the unit is placed in a roadway or indeed in the ground anywhere.

In the specification the terms “comprise, comprises, comprised and comprising” or any variation thereof and the terms “include, includes, included and including” or any variation thereof are considered to be totally interchangeable and they should all be afforded the widest possible interpretation and vice versa.

The invention is not limited to the embodiment hereinbefore described, but may be varied in both construction and detail within the scope of the claims. cj\spec2-2000\s0370.mar IE000190

Claims

1. An external termination unit (ETU) for electrical connectors of the type comprising an enclosed casing having a cable inlet, a cable outlet and an 5 access door, and means for mounting terminal connectors therein, characterised in that the means for mounting the terminal connectors are on the access door.

2. An ETU as claimed in claim 1 in which when the ETU is mounted on a vertical 10 wall the door is pivoted from the closed position through approximately 90° to a horizontal position.

3. An ETU as claimed in claim 2 in which when pivoted from the horizontal position the access door is supported on the casing.

4. An ETU as claimed in claim 1 in which the access door is pivotal through 180° and the ETU is adapted for mounting on a horizontal surface.

5. An ETU substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying 20 examples and drawings