US3546660A

US3546660A - Electrical connector with insulation piercing means

Info

Publication number: US3546660A
Application number: US798075A
Authority: US
Inventors: Klaus Wilhelm; Bodo Bottcher
Original assignee: Vereinigte Draht und Kabelwerke AG
Current assignee: Vereinigte Draht und Kabelwerke AG
Priority date: 1968-02-10
Filing date: 1969-02-10
Publication date: 1970-12-08
Anticipated expiration: 1987-12-08
Also published as: BE728018A; NL6901873A; GB1238007A; DE1690464B1; SE343435B; CH495638A; FR2001692A1

Description

Dec; 8,1970 K. WILHELM ETAL Y 3,546,660

. ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR WITH INSULATION PIERCING MEANS Filed Feb. 10, 1969 Fig. l

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5 2 Mou flL-horneg United States Patent Ofi ice US. Cl. 339-94 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A connector arrangement for cables having an electrical conductor and insulation surrounding the conductor, the connector arrangement incorporating two half-shells each having an inner surface which engages the insulation of a cable between the half-shells. The half-shells have inwardly extending, pointed prongs which, during placement of the half-shells on the cable, penetrate the insulation and pierce into the electrical conductor. The half-shells have external threads at their ends, so that, when the two half-shells are in place, they together form a composite tubular body which is externally threaded at each end. Two cap screws are provided, each having an internally threaded tubular portion, these cap screws being threaded onto opposite ends, respectively, of the composite tubular body constituted by the half-shells. Sealing means are provided between the cap screws and the composite tubular body constituted by the half-shells.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to cable connectors for use with cables of the type having an insulated electrical conductor, made, for example, of an alkali metal such as sodium. The connectors themselves are made, at least in part, of elements which themselves are made of a material which is a good conductor of electricity and which are indirect contact with the electrical conductors.

There exists a conductor arrangement in which the connector is provided with a sleeve, closed at one end, within which there is arranged a corkscrew-like thread which is threaded into the electrical conductor. The drawback of this arrangement is that it is either not possible, or possible only with great difliculty, to seal a, cable which is equipped with this type of connector. A further drawback of this type of connector arrangement is that, in order to secure it to a cable, one has to use a special crimping tool. Yet another drawback of the described arrangement is that, while it is suitable for being connected to one cable end, it can not be converted for use as a connector to join two cable ends to each other, nor can it be converted for use as a connector to tap a branch 01f the cable; instead, if two cable ends are to be joined to each other, two connectors are required, and if a branchtype connection is to be made, three connectors are. required. This, in turn, means not only that a relatively large number of connector elements have to be used, but also, that special care must be taken to make certain that the connectors are themselves in proper electrical contact with each other.

It is, therefore, the primary object of the present invention to provide a connector arrangement which overcomes the abovedescribed drawbacks.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION With the above object in view, the present invention resides, basically, in a connector arrangement for cables having an electrical conductor and insulation surround- Patented Dec. 8, 1970 ing the conductor, the connector arrangement incorporating two half-shells each having an inner surface which engages the insulation of a cable between the half-shells. 'Ihe half-shells have inwardly extending, pointed prongs which, during placement of the half-shells on the cable, penetrate the insulation and pierce into the electrical conductor. The half-shells have external threads at their ends, so that, when the two half-shells are in place, they together form a composite tubular body which is externally threaded at each end. Two cap screws are provided, each having an internally threaded tubular portion, these cap screws being threaded onto opposite ends, respectively, of the composite tubular body constituted by the half-shells. Sealing means are provided between the cap screws and the composite tubular body constituted by the half-shells.

The cap screws may be made of insulating or non-insulating material; if they are made of plastic, the sealing means may be integral with the screw caps.

According to another feature of the present invention, the ends of the composite tubular body may be cylindrical or they may be conical.

According to still another feature of the invention, one of the cap screws may extend as far as the other cap screw, and surround and be in threaded engagement with this other cap screw.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING embodiment of a cable connector according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawing and first to FIG. 1 thereof, the same shows the end 1 and 2 of two cables which are to be connected to each other. The cables themselves are made, for example, of a metallic conductor such as sodium, surrounded by insulation such as a polyolefin. The connector arrangement comprises two

cap screws

3 and 4 and associated

sealing rings

5 and 6 which are slipped over the respective cable ends. The latter are then brought into alignment with each other and moved into a position where they almost touch each other, there being suitable sealing means between the cable ends, such as a sealing ring 12 which is placed between the end surfaces of the cable ends, or a foil (not shown) which is wound about the two cable ends. Two half-

shells

7 and 8, each made of metal or other material that is a good conductor of electricity and provided with internally extending, conical prongs 9, are then pressed, from the side, against and into the cable ends, such that the points of the prongs 9 penetrate through the insulation 10 and pierce into the conductor 11. Thanks to the conical configuration of the prongs '9, there is established both excellent electrical contact with the conductors 10 as well as an excellent seal with respect to the outside.

The half-

shells

7, 8 are provided, at their respective outer ends, with threads which mate with internal threads with which the tubular portions of the

respective cap screws

3, 4 are provided. The ends of the shells, and the associated threading, may be cylindrical, as shown in FIG. 1, or conical, with the threading tapering toward the tips, as shown in FIG. 2 where one of the two cap screws is indicated at 103 and the half-shells at 107 and 108.

When the two half-

shells

7, 8 are pressed into the cable ends until their inner surfaces almost engage the outer surfaces of the insulation 10, they form a composite tubular body which is externally threaded at each end. The two cap screws 3 and 4, together with their

sealing rings

5 and 6, are threaded onto the composite tubular body constituted by the half-shells, thus pressing the prongs 9 into the conductor 11. If the half-shells are conical as shown in FIG. 2, they will be pressed even more tightly against the insulation 10. The longitudinal gap at between the half-shells will then be closed, i.e., the half-shells will be pressed until their longitudinal edges engage each other, or if there is still a space between the half-shells, the same will be filled by the material of the insulation 10, or the foil which is wound about the cable may be pressed into the gap. In this way, the connection as a whole is provided with a seal in addition to that afforded by the

rings

5, 6.

The

cap screws

3, 4 may themselves be made of metal or other material which is a good conductor of electricity. Alternatively, the cap screws may be made of plastic, as shown in FIG. 2, in which case the sealing means 105 may be integral with the cap screw 103. One significant and practical advantage of making the cap Screws of plastic is that the same may initially be made without any hole in the bottom, since it is very simple to provide an otherwise finished cap screw with whatever diameter hole is needed to accommodate the particular cable with which the cap screw is used, and this, in turn, reduces the necessity of maintaining an extensive inventory consisting of prepunched cap screws having holes of various diameters. Here it will be noted that cap screws having no hole in their bottom will serve to close oif a cable end completely and can thus be used as a terminal cap. Terminal caps made of metal, on the other hand, have the advantage that they can easily be provided with a connecting stud prior to being assembled in the connector arrangement.

FIG. 3 shows a modified embodiment of the present invention in which the cap screw 204 is provided with a tubular extension 204a, the latter being internally threaded at least in the region of its free end, this thread mating with an additional external thread on the tubular portion of the cap screw 203, so that the cap screw 204 canactually be threaded onto the cap screw 203. In this way, a still greater axial pressure can be exerted, thereby producing a still better seal between the parts being connected.

It will be appreciated that, thanks to the abovedescribed arrangement, there is provided a connector arrangement which is composed of individually uncomplicated parts. The half-shells may be readily configured so as to be suitable for use as a means for joining two cable ends to each other, or as a terminal connector, or

as a branch connector.

It will be understood that the above description of the present invention is susceptible to various modifications, changes and adaptations. For example, the embodiment shown schematically in FIG. 3 may incorporate any of the structural features shown in and described in connection with either or both of FIGS. 1 and 2, e.g., the arrangement shown in FIG. 3 may be used in conjunction with half-shells having cylindrical or conical ends, or the cap screws themselves may be made of plastic and have the sealing means integral therewith, or the cap screws may be made of metal with separate sealing rings being provided.

We claim:

1. A connector arrangement for cables having an electrical conductor and insulation surrounding the conductor, the connector arrangement comprising, in combination:

(a) two half-shells each having an inner surface which engages the insulation of a cable between said halfshells, said half-shells having inwardly extending pointed prongs which, during placement of said halfshells on the cable, penetrate the insulation and pierce into the electrical conductor, said half-shells having external threads at their ends, said half-shells together forming a composite tubular body which is externally threaded at each end;

(b) two cap screws each having an internally threaded tubular portion, said cap screws being threaded onto opposite ends, respectively, of said composite tubular body constituted by said two half-shells; and

(c) sealing means between said cap screws and said composite tubular body constituted by said halfshells.

2. A connector arrangement as defined in claim 1, wherein said cap screws are made of a material which is a good conductor of electricity.

3. A connector arrangement as defined in claim 2, wherein said sealing means comprise sealing rings each interposed between the inner bottom surface of a respective cap screw and the corresponding ends of said halfshells.

4. A connector arrangement as defined in claim 1, wherein said cap screws are made of insulating material.

5. A connector arrangement as defined in claim 4, wherein said insulating material is a plastic and said sealing means are integral with said cap screws.

6. A connector arrangement as defined in claim 1, wherein said ends of said composite tubular body are cylindrical.

p 7. A connector arrangement asdefined in .claim 1, wherein said ends of said composite tubular body are conical and taper toward the tips of said composite tubular body.

8. A connector arrangement as defined in claim 1, wherein the tubular portion of one of said cap screws is externally threaded and the tubular portion of the other of said cap screws extends axially to surround the tubular portion of said first cap screw and. is in threaded engagement with the external thread of said first cap screw.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,488,636 4/1924 Geiser 339-98 1,980,893 11/ 1934 Walde 33997X 2,725,545 11/1955 Gordon 339-99 3,041,575 6/1962 Schneider 339-268X 3,417,195 12/1968 Shlesinger 339-X FOREIGN PATENTS 1,495,934 8/1967 France 339-97 MARVIN A. CHAMPION, Primary Examiner I. A. CALVERT, Assistant Examiner US Cl. X-R.