Abstract:
An electrical connector housing is shown which is profiled for use as a splicing enclosure for telephone cable. The enclosure is adapted to accommodate two different sized cables, two 2-twisted pair cable or two 6-twisted pair cable. Two separate strain relief devices are provided for gripping retention of the two cables. The enclosure is embodied as a bi-partite housing having two hinged housing halves which can be folded over to form the enclosure. The two separate strain relief members are located at opposed positions within different housing halves, and include a plurality of gripping edges formed to grip and retain the cables.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to the field of electrical connections and more particularly to enclosures for spliced cable connections such as telephone wires. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     It is common in the telephone industry, where cable splices need to be made along the path of distribution, that splices be made which will include some type of an electrical connection to splice the individual wires of the cable and environmentally seal them in a connection enclosure to prevent degradation to the connection. This type of splice could be either a so-called drop wire splice or could be a buried splice in the case of underground cable. It is also common to have both two or six pairs of twisted wire which comprise the telephone cable. 
     As in almost any electrical connection device, where a cable is involved, and where an individual wire or a plurality of wires are interconnected to terminals or like wires, a so-called strain relief mechanism is desirable, such that tension or force outwardly on the cable is not transmitted to the electrical connection of the wires, but rather the force as transmitted to a housing into which the cable is being terminated. Various strain relief mechanisms exist in the marketplace and in the prior art for transferring the forces to the connector housings. 
     One such device is shown in the Tyco Electronics (AMP Division) commercial product known as the CERTI-SEAL wire splice enclosure where the housing is formed as a shell of two similar halves, where one of the halves includes upstanding posts. The cables to be spliced are brought in from opposite ends and the cables are laced around the posts in a meandering fashion. The individual wires are then interconnected to one another by splice connection blocks known as TEL-SPLICE (also a commercial of Tyco Electronics) for making the individual wire splices. 
     While the above-mentioned connection assembly is adequate for its intended use, it would be, however, advantageous to provide such a splice enclosure which could either be used for a buried drop wire splice, or a so-called aerial drop wire splice interchangeably. In addition to being interchangeable between the specific application, it would also be advantageous to have a splice enclosure which can accommodate more than one cable size, in order that the enclosure can accommodate at least the two most common splice cable sizes, that is, the two pair and six pair as discussed above. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The objects of the invention have been accomplished by providing an electrical connector housing having first and second housing parts movable between open and closed positions, where the first and second housings cooperate to define a cable receiving opening into the housing. The first housing part has a first strain relief member positioned adjacent the opening, for gripping a cable of a first dimension, and the second housing part has a second strain relief member positioned adjacent the opening for gripping a cable of a second dimension, whereby alternative cables of either first or second dimension may be positioned through the opening. 
     Preferably, the connector housing is profiled for splicing at least two cables, the housing having two cable receiving openings extending into the connector housing. The connector housing is also preferably a clam shell style which, when in the closed position, is substantially cylindrical in configuration. 
     The enclosure is also profiled such that the first strain relief member is profiled to overlap the second strain relief member. In this configuration, the first strain relief member is defined by upstanding side walls and a transverse wall section interconnecting the side walls. Preferably, the first strain relief member is defined as a plurality of individual upstanding side walls. Also preferably, the upstanding side walls have barbed edges for gripping the cable. The transverse wall sections are progressively lowered, from a position adjacent to said openings, to an inner position of said housing and the second strain relief member is receivable between the upstanding side walls. In the preferred embodiment, the second strain relief is formed as a sinuous slot. In this embodiment, the upper surfaces of the second strain relief member are reversely progressed to conform to the profile defined by the transverse wall sections, whereby, when the first and second housing parts are in a closed position, the top surfaces and transverse wall portions cooperate to define a cable receiving channel therein. 
     In another aspect of the invention, an electrical connector housing is provided for encasing individual wires of cables to be spliced. The housing has openings therein for receiving the cables, where the housing further includes bi-partite housing members, where a first housing member includes strain relief devices positioned adjacent to the openings for retaining cables to be spliced, and wherein a second housing member includes urging members positioned adjacent to the cable strain relief members when the first and second housing members are in the closed position, to urge the cables into the strain relief device. 
     Preferably, the urging members include second strain relief members, for alternatively gripping cables of a different dimension than the first strain relief members. The connector housing can be a clam shell style which, in the closed position, is substantially cylindrical in configuration. Preferably, the first strain relief member is profiled to overlap said second strain relief member. In this embodiment, the first strain relief member is defined by upstanding side walls and a transverse wall section interconnecting said side walls. Preferably, the first strain relief member is defined as a plurality of individual upstanding side walls, and the upstanding side walls have barbed edges for gripping the cable. In this embodiment, the transverse wall sections are progressively lowered, from a position adjacent to the openings, to an inner position of the housing. Also preferably, the top surfaces of the second strain relief member are reversely progressed to conform to the profile defined by the transverse wall sections, whereby, when the first and second housing parts are in a closed position, the top surfaces and transverse wall portions cooperate to define a cable receiving channel therein. Preferably, the second strain relief is formed as a sinuous slot. 
     In yet another embodiment of the invention, an electrical connector for connection with a cable, has an insulative housing having at least one connection device therein for connection to a wire of the cable, the housing comprising an opening therethrough for receipt of the cable and a strain relief device proximate the opening, the strain relief device including a plurality of tandemly arranged walls having a longitudinal cable receiving slot therein, the walls having barbed edges for gripping the cable. 
     In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the electrical connector walls define side walls and transverse wall sections, and the slot is sinuous in the longitudinal direction. Also preferably, the insulative housing is comprised of bi-partite housing members, with an opening at each end, with strain relief members adjacent each opening. 
     In one embodiment, the insulative housing is comprised of bi-partite housing members, with a first strain relief member on a first bi-partite housing member, for accommodating a cable of a first diameter, and a second strain relief member on a second bi-partite housing member, for accommodating a cable of a second diameter, whereby alternative cables can be terminated. Preferably, the first strain relief device at least partially overlaps said second strain relief device, when in the closed position. Also preferably, a top surface of said tandemly arranged walls of said second strain relief device is positioned adjacent to said transverse wall sections of the first strain relief device, when in the closed position, and form urging surfaces for urging the cable into the slot. Also preferably, upper surfaces of the second strain relief member are reversely progressed to conform to the profile defined by the transverse wall sections, whereby, when the first and second housing parts are in a closed position, said top surfaces and transverse wall portions cooperate to define a cable receiving channel therein. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the enclosure for the spliced cable according to the preferred embodiment of the invention; 
     FIG. 1A is an enlarged view of the end of the enclosure shown in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 2 is an enlarged upper plan view of one end of the enclosure; 
     FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view through lines  3 — 3  of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view through lines  4 — 4  of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 5 is a combination of the cross sections of FIGS. 3 and 4 when in the closed position; 
     FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a two-pair cable spliced and poised for receipt in the enclosure; and 
     FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing two six-pair cables spliced and poised for receipt in its respective enclosure. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     With respect first to FIG. 1, an enclosure according to the preferred embodiment of the invention is shown generally at  2 , which is a bi-partite cover member comprised of housing members  4  and  6 . The housing members  4  and  6  are generally comprised of strain relief members  8  and  10 , and a central splice area defined by sections  12  and  14 . With reference now to FIGS. 1 and 1A, the housing members will be described in greater detail. 
     As shown best in FIG. 1, each of the housings  4 ,  6  are semi-cylindrical and include semi-cylindrical surfaces  16  and  18 . The housing portion  4  includes end walls  20  at opposite ends thereof, whereas housing member  6  includes end walls  22 . The housing member  4  includes a perimetral surface  24 , whereas housing member  6  includes a perimetral surface  26 . The two housing members  4 ,  6  are interconnected together by hinges  28  allowing them to be rotated relative to each other. A sealing wall  30  extends upwardly from the perimetral surface  24  which corresponds with a slot  32  in perimetral wall  26 . Housing  6  further includes a sealing wall  34  with an offset latching wall at  36  defining therebetween a slot  38 . Latching wall  36  defines latching surfaces  40  and housing  4  includes a sealing wall  42  having individual latch members  44  which correspond with latching surfaces  40  when in the closed position. Similarly, latch members  46 , as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, correspond with latching recesses  48  (FIG. 2) when the housing members  4  and  6  are in the closed position. Finally, the housing members  4 ,  6  include sealing dams  49 , which will be described herein. 
     With respect now to FIGS. 1A and 2, the strain relief members  8  will be described in greater detail. With respect first to FIG. 2, it should be appreciated that the strain relief member  8  is comprised of individually upstanding walls shown at  50 ,  52 , and  54 . As shown in FIG. 2, the upstanding wall  50  includes a wall section  56  having an inner surface defined by a gripping surface, preferably by barb members  58  thereby defining inwardly facing gripping edges at  60 . The upstanding wall  50  further includes two transverse wall portions at  62  which also include barb members  64  defining inwardly facing gripping edges  66 . On the opposite side of wall section  56  are support walls at  70  which support an upstanding wall at  72  having barb members  74  defining inwardly facing gripping edges  76 . With reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, the intermediate upstanding wall  52  includes upstanding walls  80  and  82  and transverse wall portions  84 . As shown in FIG. 3, the upstanding wall  82  has barb members  86  and  88  defining inwardly facing gripping edges  90  and  92 , while the walls  84  define gripping edges at  94 . Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 2, upstanding wall  80  includes a barb member  98  having an inwardly facing gripping edge  100  and a barb member  102  having inwardly facing gripping edges  104 . 
     Wall section  54  includes an upstanding wall portion  110  having barb members  112  forming inwardly facing gripping edges  114 . Upstanding wall member  54  further includes transverse walls  116  (FIG.  3 )defining inwardly facing gripping surfaces at  118 . Further, the wall  54  is comprised of upstanding support walls at  120  supporting a wall section  122 . The wall section  122  has barb members at  124  defining inwardly facing gripping edges at  126  (FIG.  3 ). With respect now to FIGS. 1A and 3, the top surfaces of walls  50 ,  52 , and  54  define the contour as shown in FIG. 3, where the wall  50  includes top surfaces  130  and  132 ; wall  52  includes top surfaces  134  and  136 ; and wall  54  includes top surfaces  138  and  140 . With reference to FIG. 2, it should be appreciated that the cable receiving slot, which is formed by the various upstanding walls and barb members, is contoured as a sinuous slot bounded by the inwardly facing gripping edges. 
     With respect now to FIGS. 1A and 4, the strain relief member  10  is comprised of a plurality of upstanding walls  150 - 160 , where the walls generally comprise upstanding wall portions  170 - 180 , and transverse wall portions  190 - 200 , thereby defining inwardly facing gripping edges  210 - 220  and upstanding and inwardly facing gripping edges  230 - 240 . As shown best in FIG. 4, the wall portions  190 - 200  progress in height from inside to outside, the purpose of which will be described in greater detail herein. 
     The enclosure  2  further comprises cable-receiving openings into each end of the enclosure. For example, with respect to FIG. 1A, end wall  20  includes an opening section at  250  with a complementary opening section  252  extending through end wall  22 . It should be appreciated that when the enclosure housing members  4  and  6  are fully closed, the two opening sections  250  and  252  cooperate to form a substantially rectangular opening. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, this opening is profiled to receive a six-pair, twisted pair drop wire cable, when the cable width is lying in the horizontal plane. With respect still to FIG. 1A, the end wall  22  further includes an opening section at  254 , which, together with opening section  250 , is profiled to receive a two-pair drop wire cable while on its edge, as described further below. 
     With the enclosure as described above, the application and operation of the enclosure will now be described. With reference first to FIG. 6, the enclosure can be used to enclose and seal two cables having two twisted pairs,  300  and  302 , with individual wire connectors  304 . The individual wire connectors  304  can be any type of electrical connector, as is known in the art, but those shown are TEL-SPLICE electrical connectors, as described above. These electrical connectors  304  will terminate like conductors of the twisted pair from each cable, that is, individual wires such as  306  and  308 . 
     When the two cables,  300  and  302 , are terminated as shown in FIG. 6, the two cables,  300  and  302 , can be positioned such that the outer insulation of the cables  300  and  302  is positioned over respective strain relief members  8  at opposite ends of the enclosure  2 . The cables  300  and  302  can now be positioned within the strain relief members  8  between respective walls  56 ,  72 ;  80 ,  82 ; and  110 ,  122  shown in FIG.  2 . It should also be appreciated that the distance between respective barb members, such as  58 ,  74  of individual wall  50 , are sized and spaced such that the cable outer insulation of the cable  300  and  302  is interferingly received between the barb members  58 ,  74 . The same holds true with other respective pairs of barbed members in the individual upstanding walls  52  and  54 . This places the individual wire connectors  304  in the central splice area  14  and with respective cables  300  and  302  extending from opposite ends of the enclosure. It should be appreciated that the enclosure halves, that is, items  4  and  6 , can now be closed to form a complete assembly. In some applications, it may be desirable to provide a sealing grease or sealing gel within the enclosure to provide for a completely water-tight environment for the individual wire connectors. In such applications, it is common to insert a sufficient quantity of sealing material, such as a gel or grease to cause the gel or grease to flow towards the individual connectors so as to fill any air pockets therearound. Advantageously, the sealing wall  30  with its associated slot  32 , together with the sealing wall  42  in its associated slot  38 , once latched, will prevent the flow of this highly viscous fluid out of the side wall seams about the perimetral wall  26 . Sealing dams  49  also inhibit the flow of the sealing material towards the strain relief area, keeping it confined around the connectors  304 ,  314 . With the two cables  300  and  302  fully terminated and positioned in the complete enclosure as described above, force or strain, such as F 1  or F 2  as depicted in FIG. 6, will be taken up by the cable insulation through the gripping edges, such as  60  of strain relief wall  50 , so that the strain is not transferred into the individual conductors such as  306  and  308 . 
     Alternatively, the identical enclosure  2  can be used to terminate two cables having  6  twisted pair conductors as shown in FIG.  7 . When the enclosure  2  is used to splice two 6-twisted pair conductor cable, the cables  310  and  312  are positioned intermediate the pair of upstanding walls  150 - 160  (FIG. 1A) with the individual wire connectors  314  positioned in the central opening  12 . In this application, the strain relief device  8  assists in the strain relief of the cables  310 ,  312 . As shown best in FIG. 5, the individual walls which form the strain relief device  8 , that is, individual walls  50 ,  52 , and  54 , are profiled such that they are receivable intermediate the individual walls  150 - 160 . 
     Furthermore, the contour of the top surfaces of the walls  50 - 54  assist in urging the cable into the associated transverse gripping edges  210 - 220  (FIG.  4 ). As shown best FIG. 5, the contour of the top walls,  132 ,  136 , and  140 , cooperates with the individual gripping edges  210 - 220  to form a sinuous-shaped pathway P as shown in FIG.  5 . It should be appreciated that the distance between the contoured top surfaces  132 ,  136 , and  140 , together with the complementary gripping edges  210 - 220 , form an interference fit with the outer insulation of the cable to grip the cable, but the interference is not so great that the gripping edges  210 - 220  pierce the cable insulation. It should also be appreciated that the side-to-side spacing of the gripping edges  230 - 240  on complementary upstanding walls  150 - 160  (FIG. 1A) is such that there is a gripping interference on the side edges of the cables  310  and  312  to take up strain associated with pulling either of the cables, so that the strain is not transferred to individual conductors such as  316 ,  318 . 
     Thus, as shown above, the enclosure  2  provides for increased strain relief for drop wire splice applications. Furthermore, due to the inclusion of two different cable strain relief devices, two different cable sizes can be terminated and enclosed in the enclosure  2 . Further advantageously, as the strain relief member  8  is receivable within strain relief member  10 , and in fact assists in the strain relief of cables  310  and  312 , the total profile or envelope of the enclosure is kept relatively small.