Abstract:
An assembly includes: a cable; a first connector attached to the cable; a second connector that mates with the first connector to form an interface; a sealing boot that encloses the interface, the sealing boot including a cable section that fits conformably over the cable; a conduit that circumferentially overlies a portion of the cable adjacent the first connector, the conduit including a plurality of first corrugations; and a protective cover that overlies the corrugations of the conduit and the sealing boot, the cover including at least one second corrugation on an inner surface thereof that interdigitates with one of the first corrugations.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    The present application claims priority from and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/192,311, filed Jul. 14, 2015, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention relates generally to protection of electronic equipment, and more particularly to protection of the transition area from cable to a remote radio unit (RRU), antenna or the like. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    Cables are typically attached to electronic equipment such as RRUs and antennas via mating connectors, one of which terminates the cable, and the other of which is mounted on the electronic equipment. The interface between the connectors can be vulnerable to precipitation and other environmental conditions. As such, in many instances a protective cover or boot may enclose the interface to protect it. Exemplary boots are discussed in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2015/0136439, filed Apr. 4, 2014, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein in its entirety. 
         [0004]    In the design of a cable assembly it is often required that the separated cables be protected from certain birds, in particular cockatoos, that tend to damage the cables through unwanted pecking. To “bird-proof” the cables, a protective conduit is typically used. The protective conduit is generally greater than 19 mm in diameter to prevent the birds from pecking at and damaging the cables. However, the covers or boots may still be susceptible to damage from birds. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0005]    As a first aspect, embodiments of the invention are directed to an assembly, comprising: a cable; a first connector attached to the cable; a second connector that mates with the first connector to form an interface; a sealing boot that encloses the interface, the sealing boot including a cable section that fits conformably over the cable; a conduit that circumferentially overlies a portion of the cable adjacent the first connector, the conduit including a plurality of first corrugations; and a protective cover that overlies the corrugations of the conduit and the sealing boot, the cover including at least one second corrugation on an inner surface thereof that interdigitates with one of the first corrugations. 
         [0006]    As a second aspect, embodiments of the invention are directed to a protective cover for a sealing boot of a coaxial connector interface, comprising two mating halves, each of the halves including a coupler section at one end, an intermediate section that merges with and is smaller in diameter than the coupler section, and a conduit section that merges and is smaller in diameter than the intermediate section, wherein the conduit section has an inner surface with a corrugated profile. 
         [0007]    As a third aspect, embodiments of the invention are directed to an assembly, comprising: a cable; a first connector attached to the cable; a second connector that mates with the first connector to form an interface; a protective barrier that encloses the interface, the protective barrier including a cable section that fits conformably over the cable; a conduit that circumferentially overlies a portion of the cable adjacent the first connector, the conduit including a plurality of first corrugations; and a protective cover that overlies the corrugations of the conduit and the protective barrier, the cover including at least one second corrugation on an inner surface thereof that interdigitates with the first corrugations. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 
         [0008]      FIG. 1  is a side section view of an interface between a remote radio head and a coaxial cable protected by a sealing boot, with a conduit in place over the coaxial cable. 
           [0009]      FIG. 2  is an end view of a protective cover for the interface and sealing boot of  FIG. 1 , with the cover in an unassembled condition. 
           [0010]      FIG. 3  is a side view of the unassembled protective cover of  FIG. 2 . 
           [0011]      FIG. 4  is a side section view of the interface and sealing boot of  FIG. 1  protected within the cover of  FIG. 2 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0012]    The present invention is described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which certain embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments that are pictured and described herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. It will also be appreciated that the embodiments disclosed herein can be combined in any way and/or combination to provide many additional embodiments. 
         [0013]    Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms that are used in this disclosure have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. The terminology used in the above description is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used in this disclosure, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will also be understood that when an element (e.g., a device, circuit, etc.) is referred to as being “connected” or “coupled” to another element, it can be directly connected or coupled to the other element or intervening elements may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly connected” or “directly coupled” to another element, there are no intervening elements present. 
         [0014]    Referring now to the figures, a cable-equipment interface, designated broadly at  10 , is shown in  FIG. 1 . The interface  10  includes a cable  12  terminated with a connector  14 . A piece of electronic equipment  16 , such as an RRU or antenna, includes a connector  18  mounted thereon that mates with the connector  14  of the cable  12 . In the illustrated embodiment, the connectors  14 ,  18  are secured with a coupling nut  20 . 
         [0015]    The interface between the cable  12  and the equipment  16  is protected by a sealing boot  22 . As can be seen in  FIG. 1 , the sealing boot  22  includes a generally cylindrical interconnection section  32 . A flange  34  is mounted to the interconnection section  32  via a short trunk  36 . A generally cylindrical main section  38  merges with the interconnection section  32  opposite the trunk  36 . The main section  38  is smaller in diameter than the interconnection section  32 . A tapered transition section  40  merges with the main section  38 ; in turn, a generally cylindrical cable section  42  merges with the transition section  40 . Thus, the hollow, generally coaxial sections of the boot  22  define a continuous bore  46 . 
         [0016]    The boot  22  may be formed of any number of materials, but is typically formed of an elastomeric material, such as rubber, that can recover to its original shape after significant deformation. The boot  22  is typically formed as a unitary member, and in particular may be formed via transfer, compression or injection molding. Those skilled in this art will recognize that other boot configurations may be suitable. 
         [0017]    Still referring to  FIG. 1 , a conduit  26  is positioned over the cable  12 . The conduit includes circumferential corrugations  28 . The conduit  26  is formed of a material such as nylon that is sufficiently hardy to resist damage from birds. The conduit  26  in the illustrated embodiment is 19 mm in diameter, but may be sized differently (e.g., larger than 19 mm) as desired or needed. 
         [0018]    As can be seen in  FIG. 1 , the conduit  26  does not protect the boot  22  from exposure to birds. As such, the boot  22  may be vulnerable to damage from birds. 
         [0019]    Referring now to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , a hollow protective cover for the boot  22 , designated broadly at  100 , is illustrated therein. The cover  100  includes two halves  102 ,  104  that are connected with three hinge strips  106 . Each of the halves  102 ,  104  has a coupler section  108  at one end, an intermediate section  110  that merges with the coupler section  108 , and a conduit section  112  that merges with the intermediate section  110 . As can be seen in  FIG. 3 , the conduit section  112  has corrugations  122  on its inner surface. 
         [0020]    The cover  100  may be formed of a number of different materials. The cover  100  may be formed of a polymeric material with sufficient flexibility to enable the hinge strips  106  to serve as “living hinges”. Exemplary materials for the cover  100  are nylon and high density polyurethane. 
         [0021]    The halves  102 ,  104  can be mated to form the cover  100 . The hinge strips  106  are sufficiently flexible that the edges of the halves  102 ,  104  can be brought together to mate in facing relationship. Alignment pins  114  are present on the edges of the half  102 ; corresponding holes  116  are present in the edges of the half  104 . When the halves  102 ,  104  are brought together, the pins  114  are inserted into the holes  116  to secure the halves  102 ,  104  into a hollow enclosure. Those skilled in this art will appreciate that other securing features (e.g., latches, clips and the like) may be employed to secure the halves  102 ,  104  together. 
         [0022]    To protect the boot  22 , the cover  100  can be mated as described above over the boot  22  and conduit  26  (see  FIG. 4 ). The cover  100  is positioned so that the corrugations  122  of the conduit section  112  are interdigitated with the corrugations  28  of the conduit  26 . This interdigitation helps to secure the cover  100  in place over the conduit  26 . The intermediate section  110  of the cover  100  overlies the main section  34  of the boot  22 . The coupler section  108  overlies the interconnection section  32  of the boot  22 . Thus, the cover  100  generally surrounds the boot  22  and protects it from damage due to avian activity. 
         [0023]    Those skilled in this art will appreciate that other forms of protective barriers of the cable-equipment interface, such as vinyl and/or butyl mastic tape, may be suitable for use with covers of the present invention. 
         [0024]    In addition, those skilled in this art will appreciate that cover  100  may take other forms. For example, the halves  102 ,  104  may be separate components, rather than being connected via the hinge strips  106 , or may be connected to each other by some other means (for example, a wire or string). Also, the halves  102 ,  104  may be secured to each other via other means, such as adhesive, hook-and-loop strips, screws, or the like. Moreover, the corrugations  122  may be circumferentially discontinuous about the inner diameter of the cover  100 , and/or a single corrugation (rather than a plurality) may be present. Other variations will be apparent to those of skill in this art. 
         [0025]    The foregoing is illustrative of the present invention and is not to be construed as limiting thereof. Although exemplary embodiments of this invention have been described, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that many modifications are possible in the exemplary embodiments without materially departing from the novel teachings and advantages of this invention. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of this invention as defined in the claims. The invention is defined by the following claims, with equivalents of the claims to be included therein.