Patent ID: 6186821
Filing Date: 2001-02-13
Classification: H01R

Abstract:
A connecting device for connecting an electrical cable, which includes a plurality of wires, to another electrical cable, said device comprising a housing having an open side for insertion of the electrical cable into said housing, said housing having a connecting end, which is sized and shaped so as to be removably connected to a connecting end of a second connecting device, and an opposite end, which includes first receiving means for receiving at least a portion of the electrical cable inserted into said housing, said opposite end of said housing including an end wall, said first receiving means including a slot formed in said end wall, said slot having an open end adjacent said open side of said housing for receiving the electrical cable inserted into said housing, said housing including second receiving means, located adjacent said connecting end, for receiving a plurality of connecting blades sized and shaped so as to engage connecting blades of said second connecting device and to receive the plurality of wires of the electrical cable inserted into said housing; and a cover for covering said open side of said housing, said cover including a first end, which is pivotally connected to said connecting end of said housing, and a second end, which is located opposite said first end, said cover being pivotally movable relative to said housing between an open position, in which said open side of said housing is unobstructed by said cover for insertion of the plurality of wires of the electrical cable into said blades, and a closed position, in which said open side of said housing is closed off by said cover, said first receiving means being unobstructed by said cover when said cover is in its said open position, whereby the electrical cable inserted into said housing can be laid in said first receiving means while said cover is attached to said housing and then secured to said housing in response to the pivotal movement of said cover from its said open position to its said closed position, said open end of said slot being unobstructed by said second end of said cover when said cover is in said open position and being abutted by said second end when said cover is in said closed position; and gripping means for gripping the electrical cable inserted into said housing in a strain-relieving manner in response to pivotal movement of said cover from said open position to said closed position.