Wire connector and method

A coupler for use in swivably independently securing the remote ends of a monofilament or wire, which wire is constantly in a cantilever bending motion at its remote end when folded and necessitates a freedom of rotation. The connector itself has a preferably cylindrical body having two tapered elongate nesting pockets which are separated from each other by an interior stop at the mid-portion of the connector cylindrical body. The elongate pockets are characterized by a taper which is dimensioned to receive and friction fittingly engage the remote ends of a wire or monofilament a spaced distance from the central stop of the connector cylindrical body. The method contemplates forming such a connector, and then after the wire or monofilament is coiled and slop fittingly engaged with the entire skin of the enclosure, placing one end of the connector over one free end of the wire or filament, and then bending the other end into alignment with the first fitted end and the opposite elongate pocket and inserting the same into the second pocket.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to a swivelable double connector for spring 
wires or monofilaments, and more particularly a connector which is used 
for a wire or monofilament which is coiled to provide the frame for a 
self-erecting shelter. 
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 
The present invention is directed to self-erecting enclosures such as 
exemplified in the two Norman patents U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,960,161 and 
3,990,463 and also as exemplified in McLeese patent U.S. Pat. No. 
4,858,634 and Ivanovich, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,163,461 and specifically 
FIG. 2 of the subject Ivanovich patent U.S. Pat. No. 5,163,461. 
In the self-erecting shelters as identified above, one or more resilient 
wire-like or monofilament structural members are employed in which the 
remote ends are looped through the interior structure of the enclosure and 
then joined by a connector. The one specifically shown in FIG. 2 of the 
Ivanovich patent U.S. Pat. No. 5,163,461 is a sleeve of relatively 
constant interior diameter and exterior diameter which is swedged 
permanently to one end of the wire or monofilament, and permits the other 
end to penetrate beyond a mid-portion of one-half of the interior and 
allegedly to swivel. With the McLeese patent U.S. Pat. No. 4,858,634 there 
is no showing of such a connector, but one is necessarily employed. 
With the connector structures of the prior art which invariably are swedged 
to one end of the wire or monofilament and permit the other to find their 
own location interiorly, there is always the risk that the free end will 
engage the swedged end and become locked to each other which inhibits the 
free swiveling motion which is necessary. Moreover, with swedging the 
connector may loosen and slide off the end of the wire loop. Finally, 
swedging can only be done with a metal wire. 
Indeed, for the efficient assembly of such an enclosure structure it is 
important that both ends of the wire or monofilament be capable of 
rotating or swiveling each independent of the other. In the course of 
opening and closing the enclosure, the movement of the monofilament or 
wire ends can be any motion of one end without the motion of the other. 
The reverse is true where the opposite end rotates and the remaining end 
holds steady. However, most commonly, during portions of the erecting and 
closing steps, both ends swivel independently in the connector, which is 
the most desirable. 
Thus it is highly desirable to develop a connector structure which will 
nestingly receive the ends of the monofilament or wire for a self-erecting 
enclosure in such a manner that each can swivel independent of the other, 
and the connector can migrate to various positions interiorly of the 
enclosure without losing its nesting relationship to both ends of the wire 
or monofilament. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention is directed to a coupler for use in swivably 
independently securing the remote ends of a monofilament or wire, which 
wire is constantly in a cantilever bending motion at its remote end when 
folded and necessitates a freedom of rotation. The connector itself has a 
preferably cylindrical body having two tapered elongate nesting pockets 
which are separated from each other by an interior stop at the mid-portion 
of the connector cylindrical body. The elongate pockets are characterized 
by a taper which is dimensioned to receive and frictionally fittingly 
engage the remote ends of a wire or monofilament a spaced distance from 
the central stop of the connector cylindrical body. The taper is such that 
when the monofilament wires or cables are inserted it will engage the ends 
at their otherwise abrupt corners and modify the end structure slightly to 
the end that it attempts to chamfer or radius the otherwise clean-cut end 
of the wire or monofilament so that the chamfer will frictionally rotate 
interiorly of the connector in the elongate pocket at a distance desirably 
at least 10% of the way from the bottom of the pocket to the exterior 
opening of the connector. The method of the invention contemplates forming 
such a connector, and then after the wire or monofilament is coiled and 
slip-fittingly engaged with the entire skin of the enclosure, placing one 
end of the connector over one free end of the wire or monofilament, and 
thereafter bending the other end into alignment with the first fitted end 
and the opposite elongate pocket and inserting the same into the second 
pocket. 
In view of the foregoing, it is a principal object of the present invention 
to provide a unitary molded connector for use with wires or monofilaments 
in a self-erecting enclosure which can be economically molded because of 
tapers and uniformity of exterior and interior configuration, and yet 
which provides a free double swivel relationship between the two ends of 
the wire or monofilament. 
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a connector 
achieving the advantages set forth above which has a smooth exterior and 
can migrate to various positions interiorly of the enclosure structure 
without impeding the efficient function of the enclosure in its 
self-erecting function, or the take down function. 
A further and important object of the invention is to provide such a 
connector which is equally friendly to glass pultruded monofilament or a 
capped wire.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
With reference to FIG. 1 of the drawings, it will be seen that an enclosure 
10 having a skin 11 is formed to coact with a wire or monofilament 12 
which monofilament is continuous and forms one single convoluted loop for 
insertion into sleeves 15 in the skin. The invention is directed to a 
connector 20 which serves to connect the two ends of the monofilament 12 
after the same is inserted through the plurality of sleeves 15 to form the 
support for the skin 11. 
In the function of self-erecting, the wire 12 when secured to a connector 
20 intends to operate in several directions. With a fiberglass type 
monofilament, the action at both ends of the monofilament is somewhat 
torsional in 360.degree. in addition to a longitudinally inspired thrust 
and cantilever action. 
With the prior art such as FIG. 2 of the Ivanovich patent U.S. Pat. No. 
5,163,461, one end of the monofilament or wire is rigidly secured by 
swedging to the connector, and the other end is permitted in an 
uninhibited fashion to wander around through the other interior portion. 
When in deep thrust, this puts the two ends of the wire or monofilament in 
rotational contact which can result in the two wires actually freezing one 
against the other, and inhibiting, if not eliminating, the ability of 
either or both ends. 
The connector 20 of the present invention addresses this problem by 
providing for a unitary connector body 21 which is formed in essentially a 
cylindrical fashion, optionally having an exterior taper and mandatorily 
having an interior taper where the interior provides for two deep pockets 
22 which extend towards each other but have a pocket end wall stop 24 
which precludes the ends of the wire or monofilament 12 from contacting 
each other. 
As best shown in FIG. 3, it will be seen that diagrammatically when the 
wire is placed inside the pocket 22 of the connector 20, desirably an end 
cap 25 slips over the end of the wire which permits a frictional fit and 
rotation interiorly of the pocket 21. When a monofilament is employed, 
this is unnecessary. Best results have been achieved with a monofilament 
which is a pulltruded glass rod covered with a vinyl ester polymer. With 
the monofilament as just described, the sharp circumferential end portions 
become slightly radiused in use thereby contributing to the smooth 
friction fit which will permit either end of the monofilament to swivel 
independently of the other end, or both to swivel simultaneously without 
being dislodged from the connector. 
The connector is made of a polycarbonate, and more specifically Lexan which 
is a trademark of General Electric Plastics. The desirable length on a 
commercial embodiment is 4.5 inches, with 0.200" separation between the 
end portions of the tapered pockets. The diameter of the cylindrical body 
21 of the connector 20 approximates 0.700 inches, with the taper 
throughout the 2.150 inch pocket going from an exterior diameter of 0.400 
inches to an interior diameter adjacent the bottom of the pocket of 0.320 
inches. The exterior portion as shown has a radius 26 which approximates 
0.050 inches at both ends. This radius accommodates a monofilament having 
a diameter in the range of 0.196 to 0.300 inches which will normally 
penetrate to a depth of 2.100 inches interiorly of the tapered pocket 21. 
The taper of the pockets is desirably in the range of 1.degree. to 
5.degree. per side. Optionally the body of the connector 20 tapers on the 
outside to a maximum diameter which is at that portion surrounding the 
endwall stop 24. 
In the method of manufacturing, the monofilament is woven through the 
various sleeves 15 of the skin 11 until the two remote ends 14 are brought 
together. Thereafter the connector can be manually slipped over one end, 
and with the help of a jig, the other end aligned with the first end and 
the remote end of the monofilament is inserted into the connector 20. The 
nature of the operation of the monofilament or wire is such that it will 
tend to seat itself into the connector 20. The risk of dislodgement is 
minimal. On the other hand, by providing complete freedom of swiveling of 
each end interdependent of the other end, the self-erecting function is 
enhanced, and the closing function is also enhanced. 
Although particular embodiments of the invention have been shown and 
described in full here, there is no intention to thereby limit the 
invention to the details of such embodiments. On the contrary, the 
intention is to cover all modifications, alternatives, embodiments, usages 
and equivalents as fall within the spirit and scope of the present 
invention, specification and appended claims.