Synthetic plastic end fitting for brake cable assemblies

An end fitting is disclosed for mounting a brake cable assembly in an opening contained in a fixed support, which brake cable assembly includes an inner cable member and a tubular concentrically arranged outer sheath member. The fitting includes a tubular body member formed of synthetic plastic material and containing a longitudinal through bore for receiving the inner cable member. At one end, a first counterbore is provided for receiving one end of the outer sheath member, annular seal means being provided at the other end of the body member for concentric engagement with the periphery of the inner cable member. In one embodiment, the annular seal means has a tubular configuration, and in another embodiment, the seal means comprises an O-ring. Convergent annular scraper means may be provided at the aforementioned other body member end for scraping engagement with the periphery of the inner cable member.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART 
End fittings for mounting brake cable assemblies within an opening 
contained in a support are well known in the prior art, as evidenced by 
the prior U.S. Patents to Brickman No. 2,954,248, Benham No. 3,101,205, 
Swick No. 3,221,572, Sevrence No. 3,366,405, Chatham No. 3,415,549, 
Hamilton No. 3,542,980, Kraus No. 4,074,945 and Gordy et al No. 4,131,379 
(the latter being assigned to the same assignee as the instant invention). 
In the aforementioned Hamilton Patent No. 3,542,980, the fitting includes a 
one-piece body member molded from a synthetic plastic material, and the 
use of resilient grommets or sleeves is taught by Swick and Chatham. The 
sleeve of Swick is provided with a flashing lip portion which retains 
grease on the cable for lubricated movement thereof relative to the 
concentrically arranged outer sleeve member. Furthermore, the use of 
annular seal means in combination with scraper for sealing the space 
between an inner rod member and a concentrically arranged outer sleeve 
member is broadly disclosed in the U.S. Patent to Muntjanoff et al No. 
4,093,241. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention was developed to provide an improved economical brake 
cable end fitting that not only affords a greater sealing capacity of the 
annular space between the inner cable and concentrically arranged outer 
sleeve components of the brake cable assembly, but also is easily 
connected with, and more positively retained within, an opening contained 
in a fixed support. 
Accordingly, a primary object of the present invention is to provide an 
improved end fitting that includes a rigid body member formed of a 
suitable synthetic plastic material (such as nylon) that contains a 
through bore one end of which is counterbored to define a first 
counterbore for receiving one end of the outer sleeve member of the cable 
assembly when the protruding end of the inner cable member is inserted 
through the bore. Annular seal means (formed of a resilient material such 
as rubber, neoprene or the like) are mounted in the bore concentrically 
about, and in engagement with the periphery of the inner cable member, 
thereby to retain grease or other lubricant in the annular space between 
the cable assembly components, and to prevent particles of impurities from 
entering this space. In one embodiment, these seal means are mounted in a 
second counterbore at the other end of the body member, a seal-retaining 
cover member being connected with said other body member end by a snap-fit 
connection to retain the seal means in place. In another embodiment, the 
annular seal means are initially molded in place within the bore during 
the molding of the end fitting body member. 
In accordance with a more specific object of the invention, scraper means 
are provided at the said other end of the body member for scraping 
particles of dirt and contaminates from the inner cable member, thereby 
cooperating with the annular seal means to prevent impurities from 
entering the annular space between the inner cable and outer sleeve 
components of the brake cable assembly. The scraper means comprise an 
annular convergent frusto-conical scraper portion arranged concentrically 
about the inner cable member, which scraper portion has a minimum diameter 
that is generally equal to that of the inner cable member. The scraper 
portion may be formed either integrally with the tubular body member, or 
on the seal-retaining cover member that is connected with the body member 
by a snap-fit connection. 
According to a further object of the invention, retaining means are 
provided for positively retaining the fitting in a support opening. To 
this end, the body member includes an outer circumferential flange for 
engaging one surface of the support, retaining fingers being provided at 
the other end of the body member for engaging the other support surface. 
In one embodiment, the retaining fingers are carried by the seal retaining 
cover, and in the preferred embodiment, the retaining fingers are formed 
from a tubular metal sleeve that is embedded in the synthetic plastic body 
member.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
Referring first more particularly to FIGS. 1-5, the end fitting 2 is 
adapted for mounting in an opening 4 contained in a fixed support 6, which 
end fitting includes a body member 8 formed of a rigid synthetic plastic 
material, such as nylon (i.e., high impact base type 66 nylon), DuPont 
Zytel, Teflon or the like. The body member 8 contains a through bore 10 
that receives the inner cable member 12 of a brake cable assembly 14. As 
is customary in the art, the inner cable member includes a center metal 
strand portion 12a, and a protective liner portion 12b formed of synthetic 
plastic material, such as acetal resin (Celcan), Delrin, or the like. At 
one end, the body member contains a first counterbore recess 16 that 
receives (preferably with an interference fit) the end portion of the 
outer sleeve member 18. At its other end, the body member contains a 
second counterbore 20 that receives a resilient tubular seal member 22 
formed of natural or synthetic rubber, neoprene or the like. The seal 
member 22 is retained in the second counterbore 20 by a synthetic plastic 
(i.e., nylon) annular cover member 24 that is connected with said other 
end of the tubular body member 8 by a snap-fit connection including 
annular rib 26 on the cover member, and a corresponding annular groove 28 
contained in the outer periphery of the body member 28. The bore 30 of the 
cover member 24 is slightly greater than the diameter of the inner cable 
member 12. 
As shown in FIG. 5, the tubular resilient seal member 22, which has an 
internal diameter equal to that of the inner cable member 12, is provided 
on its inner surface with a plurality of annular recesses 32 having 
divergent walls that define longitudinally spaced annular ridges 34 that 
circumferentially engage the outer periphery of the inner cable member 12, 
thereby to retain lubricant in the annular space between the inner and 
outer cable members, and also to prevent undesirable particles of 
impurities from entering this annular space. 
As is known in the art, the end fitting 2 is retained in the support 
opening 4 by the cooperation, on the one hand, of annular flange portion 
8a, which extends circumferentially about the body member 8, with one face 
of the support 6, and, on the other hand, a U-shaped resilient clip member 
38 having leg portions 38a that extend in a corresponding external groove 
40 on the body member 8, which clip member cooperates with the other 
surface of the support. 
Thus, in the embodiment of FIGS. 1-5, the synthetic plastic fitting affords 
an efficient seal for the space between the inner and outer cable members, 
which fitting is positively retained in place by the U-shaped resilient 
clip 38. 
Referring now to the embodiment of FIGS. 6-9, the synthetic plastic 
seal-retaining cover member 124 is connected with the right-hand end of 
synthetic plastic body member 108 by a snap-fit connection defined by the 
cooperation between annular rib 126 on the inner circumference of the 
cover member, and external rib 129 on the body member 108, thereby 
retaining the resilient seal member 122 within the second counterbore 
recess 120. In this embodiment, the means for retaining the end fitting in 
the support opening 4 includes an annular flange 108a on the outer 
circumference of the body member 108, and a plurality of outwardly 
extending retaining fingers 124a that are integral with the cover member 
124 and extend outwardly generally axially toward the left-hand end of the 
body member 108 for engagement with the corresponding surface of support 
6. Therefore, the circumferential flange 108a and the retaining fingers 
124a engage opposite sides of the support 6 to retain the end fitting in 
the support opening 4. 
It will be noted in FIGS. 7 and 9 that the right-hand end of the cover 
member 124 is provided with a frustoconical portion 124b that converges 
toward the inner cable member 12. In the illustrated embodiment, the 
minimum diameter of the frustoconical portion is slightly greater than the 
diameter of the inner cable member 12. As will be developed in greater 
detail below, if the minimum diameter of the frustoconical converging 
portion approximates the diameter of the inner cable member, a scraping 
action is produced to remove particles from the inner cable member 12 and 
thereby further isolate the annular space between the inner and outer 
components of the brake cable assembly. 
In the modification of FIGS. 10 and 11, the tubular seal means 122 of the 
embodiment of FIG. 7 has been replaced by a conventional resilient O-ring 
222 that is retained in a corresponding second counterbore in the 
right-hand end of the synthetic plastic body member 208 by the synthetic 
plastic cover member 224 that is connected with the body member by a 
snap-fit connection. 
Referring now to the embodiment of FIG. 12, the seal means 322 is of the 
tubular configuration and is retained in the second counterbore recess 320 
by the snap-fit cover member 324. In this embodiment, the retaining finger 
means are defined by integral fingers 350a that are partially punched 
outwardly from a metallic spring steel tubular member 350 that is embedded 
in the synthetic plastic body member 308. Thus, the retaining finger means 
350a--that are circumferentially spaced about the metal tubular member 
350--extend outwardly generally axially toward the left-hand end of the 
tubular body member 308, thereby to engage the surface of support member 6 
that is on the opposite side of the surface that is engaged by 
circumferential flange 308a of the body member 308. The metallic sleeve 
350 is provided with inwardly bent tab portions 350b that retain the 
metallic sleeve member against axial displacement relative to the 
synthetic plastic body member 308. The structure of the metallic sleeve 
member 350 is similar to that which will be described below with reference 
to FIGS. 20-23. 
The embodiment of FIGS. 13-15 corresponds generally with that of FIGS. 6-9, 
the only difference being that instead of having a plurality of retaining 
fingers provided on the cover member 424, a conventional U-shaped 
resilient clip 38 is provided for retaining the end fitting within the 
support opening 4. The snap-fit cover member 424 retains the resilient 
tubular seal member 422 within the second counterbore recess 420. 
Referring now to the embodiment of FIGS. 16 and 17, the annular seal means 
522 comprises an O-ring formed of resilient material, such as Neoprene, 
rubber or the like, that is maintained against the end wall of the second 
counterbore recess 520 by an annular central projecting portion 524c on 
the cover member 524. Thus, when the cover member 524 is brought into 
snap-fit connection with the synthetic plastic body member 508, the 
central annular projecting portion 524c of the cover member 524 forces the 
O-ring seal member 522 into the bottom of the second counterbore recess 
520, thereby positively maintaining the seal means 522 in a position to 
isolate the annular space between the inner and outer cable components 
against particles of impurities and other contamination. 
Referring now to the embodiment of FIGS. 18 and 19, the synthetic plastic 
body member 608 is of integral one-piece construction that is maintained 
in position within the support opening 4 by the cooperation between 
circumferential annular flange portion 608a on the one hand, and U-shaped 
spring clip 38, on the other hand, that engages external groove 640 on the 
body member for engagement with the opposite surface of support member 6. 
In this embodiment, the O-ring seal member 622 is embedded within the 
tubular body member 608 during the initial molding thereof. In this 
embodiment, the right-hand extremity of the body member 608 terminates in 
a converging frustoconical portion 608b the minimum diameter of which 
corresponds with the diameter of the inner cable member 12, whereby the 
converging frustoconical portion serves as a scraper device for scraping 
from the inner cable member scale and other accumulated particles of 
impurities. Thus, both the scraper portion 608b and the resilient O-ring 
seal member 622 serve to retain lubricant within the space between the 
inner and outer components of the cable assembly, and also to isolate this 
annular space from external particles of impurities. 
Referring now to the embodiment of FIGS. 20-22, the fitting body 708 is 
formed of synthetic plastic material and has embedded therein a tubular 
seal member 722 formed of a suitable resilient material such as Neoprene. 
Also embedded concentrically within the fitting body 708 is a metallic 
retaining sleeve 750 that is formed of spring steel or the like, which 
retaining member is generally of the configuration illustrated in the 
aforementioned Gordy et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,131,379. More particularly, the 
retaining sleeve member includes circumferentially-spaced outwardly 
extending retaining fingers 750a that extend toward the left-hand end of 
the fitting for engagement with the rear surface of support member 6, 
thereby cooperating with the annular circumferential flange portion 708a 
of the fitting body to retain the fitting in the support opening. At its 
left-hand end, the metallic retaining sleeve 750 includes 
circumferentially-spaced radially outwardly extending tab portions 750b 
that prevent axial displacement of the metallic sleeve member relative to 
the synthetic plastic fitting body 708. 
Referring now to the embodiment of FIG. 23, the fitting body 808 is again 
of integral one-piece construction and is initially molded to have 
embedded therein the O-ring seal member 822, the inner diameter of which 
corresponds with the diameter of the inner cable member 12. In this 
embodiment, the right-hand end portion 808b of the fitting body is of 
convergent frustoconical configuration, the minimum diameter of 
frustoconical portion 808b corresponding with the diameter of inner cable 
component 12. Consequently, the scraper portion 808b will scrape scale and 
other contaminates from the inner cable component 12, and thereby 
cooperate with the seal member 822 to prevent particles of impurities from 
entering the annular space between the inner and outer components of the 
cable assembly. 
While in accordance of the provisions of the Patent Statutes, the preferred 
forms and embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and 
described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various 
changes and modifications may be made without deviating from the inventive 
concepts set forth above.