Splice housing apparatus

Splice housing apparatus are provided on its interior with spacers or spacing members for engaging the splice or splices contained by the apparatus and for maintaining the splice or splices substantially out of engagement with the interior of the apparatus and generally suspended therein whereby a body of material for preventing water damage to the splice or splices can substantially surround the splice or splices and prevent water damage thereto.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates generally to splice housing apparatus for housing 
one or more splices between electrically conductive wires contained in 
cables, particularly, communication cables, and in particular this 
invention relates to splice housing apparatus suitable for burying in the 
ground and for protecting a cable splice or splices from water damage 
which can be caused, for example, by ground water. 
Various apparatus are known to the art for housing or containing one or 
more cable splices and certain of these apparatus are known for being 
burled underground where there is a tendency for water to enter the 
apparatus and cause damage to the cable splices. Various bodies of 
material are known to the art for preventing water damage to such splices. 
Such bodies of material are also known for being placed in splice housing 
apparatus which is buried underground. 
A problem known to splice housing apparatus for being buried underground is 
that the splice or splices contained in the apparatus tend to contact the 
interior surfaces of the apparatus and such contact prevents the body of 
water damage preventing material contained in the apparatus from entirely 
surrounding the splice or splices and exposes the unsurrounded splice or 
splices to water damage. 
Accordingly, there exists a need in the art for new and improved splice 
housing apparatus, particularly apparatus for being buried underground, 
which includes means for maintaining the splice or splices contained in 
the apparatus substantially out of engagement with the interior of the 
apparatus and generally suspended within the apparatus, whereby a body of 
water damage preventing material contained in the apparatus can 
substantially fully surround such splice or splices and prevent water 
damage thereto. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The object of the present invention is to satisfy the foregoing need in the 
splice apparatus housing art. 
Splice housing apparatus embodying the present invention and satisfying 
such need is provided on its interior with spacing means for engaging the 
splice or splices contained by the apparatus and for maintaining the 
splice or splices substantially out of engagement with the interior 
surfaces of the apparatus and generally suspended therein, whereby a body 
of material for preventing water damage to the splice or splices can 
substantially surround the splice or splices and prevent water damage 
thereto.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a first embodiment of splice 
housing apparatus of the present invention which is indicated by general 
numerical designation 10, and which includes a first or top housing member 
12 and a second or bottom housing member 14. It will be generally 
understood that the housing member 12 is slightly larger than the housing 
member 14 and that the housing members 12 and 14 are for being assembled 
together by placing the housing member 12 over the housing member 14 and 
by moving or forcing, with manual pressure, the housing member 12 
downwardly, in the direction of the arrow 15, over the housing member 14 
whereby the housing member 14 is inserted generally within the housing 
member 12. 
The housing member 12, FIG. 2, includes a base 16 circumscribed by an 
outwardly extending wall 18, and the housing member 14, FIG. 1, includes a 
base 20 circumscribed by an outwardly extending wall 22. Upon assembly of 
the housing members it will be understood that the bases 16 and 20 are 
placed in an opposed and spaced apart relationship and that the interior 
surfaces of the bases 16 and 20 and the interior surface of the wall 22 
provide in combination an interior chamber for receiving a splice or 
splices between the electrically conductive wires or conductors W (FIG. 1) 
contained in cables 24 and 25; cables 24 and 25 may be, for example, 
communication cables. The wires or conductors W are typically covered by a 
layer of insulation and the wires are typically spliced, or spliced 
together, by suitable splicing members known to the art which engage and 
mechanically and electrically interconnect the wires or conductors W and 
provide splices therebetween with such splices being contained within the 
splicing members; such prior art splicing members are indicated by the 
letter S in FIG. 1. Various splicing members S known to the art can 
provide splices between such wires or conductors whether such wires are 
covered with a layer of insulation or not. The cables 24 and 25 typically 
comprise radially inwardly an outer protective cover P, an electrically 
conductive ground shield G and a plurality of the aforementioned wires or 
conductors W. Typically, as is known, prior to splicing the wires W, 
portions of the outer protective covers P are removed to expose portions 
of the electrically conductive ground shields G. 
Referring again to FIG. 1, and to FIG. 1A, the splice housing apparatus 10 
may further include an electrically conductive member or clip indicated by 
general numerical designation 28, which clip includes a first set of 
spaced apart and upwardly extending members 31, 32 and 33, and second set 
of spaced apart and upwardly extending members 34, 35 and 36. The 
electrically conductive member 28 is provided with an opening 37, note 
FIG. 1A, and is mounted to the housing member 14 by being forced 
downwardly, as indicated by the arrow 39, in FIG. 1, to insert an upwardly 
extending pin 40 provided on the base 20 into opening or hole 37. Pin 40 
and hole 37 are dimensioned to provide an interference engagement and a 
force fit therebetween. A plurality of upwardly extending members, note 
FIG. 1, are provided on the housing member 14 certain ones of which are 
indicated by numerical designations 41-46. The housing member 14, FIG. 1, 
is further provided with a first entrance indicated by general numerical 
designation 50 which entrance includes a pair of upwardly extending 
semi-circular portions 51 and 52 which are generally complementary in 
shape to and for engaging the outer circular surfaces of the protective 
covers P of the cables 24 and 25. 
Upon the clip 28 being mounted to the housing member 14, the cables 24 and 
25 are placed over the entrance 50 and forced downwardly in the direction 
of arrow 39 of FIG. 1 to place the splice members S, and the splices 
contained therein between the electrically conductive wires W, into the 
interior of the housing member 14, to force the protective covers P of the 
cables 24 and 25 between and into forced or wedged engagement with the 
upwardly extending members 31 and 32 and 32 and 33 and to force the ground 
shields G between and into forced or wedged engagement with the upwardly 
extending members 34 and 35 and 35 and 36. As may be noted from FIG. 1, 
the opposed surfaces of the sets of upwardly extending members 31-33 and 
34-36 of the electrically conductive member 28 may be serrated to enhance 
the engagement with the protective covers P and ground shields G of the 
cables 24 and 25. Thus it will be understood that the pairs of opposed 
members 31 and 32 and 32 and 33 are gripping members for gripping and 
mounting the cables 24 and 25 substantially stationarily with respect to 
the housing member 14 and for substantially preventing axial withdrawal of 
the cables 24 and 25 from the housing member 14 upon an outward pulling 
force being applied to the cables 24 and 25. It will be further understood 
that the pairs of gripping members 34 and 35 and 35 and 36 are for 
gripping and electrically interconnecting the ground shields G of the 
cables 24 and 25. Since the electrically conductive member or clip 28 
performs the dual function of electrical interconnection and gripping it 
is a combination member. It will be still further understood that upon the 
electrically conductive member or clip 28 being mounted to the upwardly 
extending pin 40 the clip is generally surrounded by the upwardly 
extending members 41-46 which, upon outward pulling forces being applied 
to the cables 24 and 25, engage the clip and prevent rotation from being 
imparted to the clip and the upwardly extending members between the 
mounted clip 28 and the entrance 50, only upwardly extending members 41, 
44 and 45 being shown due to the breakaway view of FIG. 1, cooperate with 
the mounting pin 40 to further prevent axial displacement of the clip 28 
and the cables 24 and 25 from the housing member 14 upon such outward 
pulling forces being applied to the cables 24 and 25. 
To substantially prevent the splicing members S, and the splices between 
the wires W contained therein, from engaging the interior surfaces of the 
housing members 12 and 14 and the interior surface of the wall 22, the 
base 20 of the housing member 14, FIG. 1, is provided with a plurality of 
outwardly extending rib-like members 54 and 55 and the base 16 of the 
housing member 12 is provided with a plurality of outwardly extending 
cylindrical or conical members 57. Upon assembly of the housing members 12 
and 14, the rib-like members 54 and 55 and the conical members 57 extend 
outwardly towards each other and are placed in an opposed and spaced apart 
relationship. The rib-like members 54 and 55 and cylindrical or conical 
members 57 are for engaging the splicing members S and for maintaining the 
splicing members S, and the splices between the wires W contained therein, 
substantially out of engagement with the interior surfaces of the opposed 
bases 16 and 20 and the interior surface of the wall 22 of the housing 
member 14, and are for maintaining the splicing members S, and the splices 
between the wires W contained therein, generally suspended within the 
interior chamber provided by such interior surfaces. Thus, it will be 
understood that the rib-like members 54 and 55 and the conical members 57 
may be considered to be spacers or spacing members. 
To substantially prevent water damage to the splices between the wires W 
contained within splicing members S, particularly upon the splice housing 
apparatus being buried in the ground and exposed to water especially 
ground water, the housing member 12, prior to assembly with housing member 
24, may be filled with a body of suitable water damage preventing 
material, encapsulant or gel indicated in FIG. 1 by numerical designation 
58. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention such water damage 
preventing material 58 is included with the splice housing apparatus of 
the present invention and may be suitably contained or sealed within the 
housing member 12 by a suitable removable seal 59 which, for example, may 
be a layer of polyester film suitably sealed to the top of the wall 18 of 
the housing member 12 as shown in FIG. 1; a portion of the removable seal 
59 may extend outwardly of the end portion 60 of the housing member 12 to 
provide a pull-tab for ready removal of the seal 59. Prior to assembly of 
the housing members 12 and 14, the seal 59 is removed, and during assembly 
as the housing member 12 is moved or forced over the housing member 14 to 
insert the housing member 14 generally into the housing member 12, the 
water damage preventing material 58 is placed or forced into surrounding 
engagement with the splicing members S. 
Referring to FIGS. 1-4, and again to housing member 12, it will be 
understood that the end portion 60 of the housing member 12 may include 
end or membrane portions 60A and 60B (FIG. 3) which are defined, 
respectively, by the pairs of grooves 61 and 62 and 63 and 64 extending 
inwardly into the wall 65. It will be understood from FIG. 3 that the end 
portions 60A and 60B are provided with a reduced wall thickness as 
compared to the thickness of the end wall 65 whereby upon the cables 24 
and 25 being mounted to housing 14 as described above and with the housing 
member 12 being manually forced downwardly in the direction of the arrow 
15 in FIG. 1 and over the housing member 14, the end or membrane portions 
60A and 60B forcibly engage the outer protective covers P of the cables 24 
and 25 which engagement causes the end or membrane portions 60A and 60B 
(FIG. 3) to rupture or break-away from the end wall 60 along the grooves 
61 and 62 and 63 and 64 (FIG. 3) and fold outwardly from the end wall 60 
as shown in FIG. 4 to provide generally rectangular openings or apertures 
66A and 66B (FIG. 4) for receiving portions of the cables 24 and 25 (FIG. 
1) at their entrance into the entrance 50 of the housing member 14. 
To prevent unwanted and easy disassembly of the housing members 12 and 14, 
or the unwanted or easy withdrawal of the housing member 14 from the 
housing member 12, the inner surface of the wall 18 of the housing member 
12 (FIG. 2) may be provided with areas of pluralities of ratchet-like 
teeth, only areas 67 and 68 being shown in FIG. 2, and the outer surface 
22 of the housing member 14, FIGS. 1 and 5, may be provided with a 
plurality of pawl-like members for engaging the ratchet-like teeth thereby 
substantially maintaining the housing members 12 and 14 together upon 
assembly thereof; a single pawl-like member 69 is shown in FIG. 1 and 
pawl-like members 69, 69a and 69b are shown in FIG. 5. It will be 
understood that the areas of ratchet-like teeth and the pawl-like members 
are equal in number and placed in corresponding positions on the 
respective housing members 12 and 14 such that they engage during assembly 
of the housing members; the last tooth of each area of the ratchet-like 
teeth to be engaged by a pawl-like member may be larger or longer than the 
other teeth of the area to provide a more positive lock and a tactile 
indication, to the person assembling the housing members 12 and 14, of 
complete assembly of such housing members. 
Referring now to a further embodiment of the splice housing apparatus of 
the present invention indicated by general numerical designation 70 and 
shown in FIG. 6, it will be understood that for convenience of 
presentation and understanding, elements shown in FIG. 6 which are the 
same as elements shown in FIGS. 1-5 are given the same numerical 
designations and will not be re-introduced and their structure will not be 
specifically described again; only the new elements shown in FIG. 6 will 
be introduced and their structure specifically described. Generally, it 
will be understood that splice housing apparatus 70 of FIG. 6 differs from 
splice housing apparatus 10 of FIG. 1, in that the splice housing 
apparatus 70 of FIG. 6 is for housing splices between the electrically 
conductive wires W of any combination of three cables, namely cables 24 
and 25 and 72. Housing member 14A is provided with a pair of opposed 
entrances indicated by general numerical designations 50 and 74 with 
entrance 50 for admitting cables 24 and 25 into the housing member 14A and 
with entrance 74 for admitting entrance of cable 72 into the housing 
member 14A. Splice housing apparatus 70 includes an electrically 
conductive member or clip indicated by general numerical designation 75 
including a first set of spaced apart and upwardly extending members 76 
and 77, and a second set of spaced apart and upwardly extending members 78 
and 79. It will be understood that electrically conductive member or clip 
75 is mounted to housing member 14A and prevented from rotation with 
respect to the housing member 14A and prevented from withdrawal from the 
housing member 14A in the same manner that electrically conductive member 
or clip 28 of FIG. 1 is with regard to housing member 14, and that members 
78 and 79 are gripping members for gripping the protective cover P of 
cable 72 and that the members 76 and 77 are for engaging and electrically 
interconnecting to the ground shield G of cable 72. The splice housing 
apparatus 70 of FIG. 6 may further include an electrically conductive 
shorting bar 81 for being received within the housing member 14A and for 
engaging and electrically interconnecting the electrically conductive 
members 75 and 28, thereby electrically interconnecting the ground shields 
G of the cables 24 and 25 and 72. It will be understood that the end 
portion (not shown) of the housing member 12A, FIG. 6, opposite the end 
portion 60, may include an end or membrane portion which has the same 
structure and functions in the same manner with regard to cable 72 as the 
end or membrane portions 60A and 60B of FIG. 1 do with respect to cables 
24 and 25 (FIG. 1) to provide a generally rectangular opening or aperture 
for receiving the cable 72 at its entrance into the entrance 74 of the 
housing member 14A. The housing member 12A may be provided with a 
plurality of outwardly extending conical members, not shown, in the same 
manner that the housing member 12 of FIG. 2 is provided with a plurality 
of outwardly extending conical members 57. Further, the housing member 12A 
may be filled with a suitable water damage preventing material, such as 
water damage preventing material 58 of FIG. 1, and such water damage 
preventing material may be suitably sealed in the housing member 12A by a 
suitable seal (not shown) such as seal 59 shown in FIG. 1 and described 
above. It will be understood that suitable splicing members S, not shown 
in FIG. 6, may be utilized to make splices between certain wires or 
conductors W contained in any combination of cables 24 and 25 and 72. Upon 
such splices being made, and the cables 24 and 25 being inserted into the 
entrance 50 of housing member 14A, and upon the cable 72 being inserted 
into the entrance 74 of the housing member 14A, the housing members 12A 
and 14A are assembled in the same manner as described above with regard to 
housing members 12 and 14 shown in FIG. 1 with the water damage preventing 
material contained in the housing member 12A being placed or forced into 
surrounding engagement with the splicing members S containing splices 
between the cables 24 and 25 and 72. It will be understood that if desired 
only one cable may be inserted into entrance 50 and the wires W contained 
therein spliced to the wires W contained in cable 72. 
A still further embodiment of the splice housing apparatus of the present 
invention is illustrated in FIG. 7 and indicated by general numerical 
designation 90. For convenience of presentation and understanding, 
elements shown in FIG. 7 which are the same as elements shown in FIGS. 1-6 
are given the same numerical designations and will not be re-introduced 
and their structure will not be specifically described again; only the new 
elements in FIG. 7 will be introduced and their structure specifically 
described. Generally, it will be understood that splice housing apparatus 
90 of FIG. 7 differs from that shown in FIGS. 1-6, in that apparatus 90 is 
for housing splices between the wires or conductors W of a single cable 72 
inserted within entrance 74 and the wires or conductors W contained within 
a single cable 92 inserted within the entrance indicated by general 
numerical designation 94. Splice housing apparatus 90 may include an 
electrically conductive member or clip indicated by general numerical 
designation 96 mounted to, prevented from rotation with respect to, and 
withdrawal from the housing member 14B in the same manner as the 
electrically conductive member or clip 28 is with regard to the housing 
member 14 of FIG. 1. The members 98 and 99 are for gripping the protective 
cover P of cable 92, and the gripping members 101 and 102 are for gripping 
and electrically interconnecting with or to the ground shield G of cable 
92. Each of the opposed end portions of the housing member 12B, FIG. 7, 
may be provided with an end or membrane portion, only end or membrane 
portion 104 is shown in FIG. 7, which end or membrane portions have the 
same structure and function in the same manner with regard to cables 72 
and 92 as membrane portions 60A and 60B of FIG. 1 do with respect to the 
cables 24 and 25 at their respective entrances into the housing member 14. 
The housing member 12B may be provided with a plurality of outwardly 
extending conical spacing members, not shown, in the same manner that the 
housing member 12 of FIG. 2 is provided with the plurality of outwardly 
extending conical members 57. The housing member 12B may be filled with 
suitable water damage preventing material in the same manner that the 
housing member 12 of FIG. 1 is provided with water damage preventing 
material 58. Assembly of the housing members 12B and 14B is performed in 
substantially the same manner as assembly of the housing members 12 and 14 
of FIG. 1 and 12A and 14A of FIG. 6 to generally surround the splicing 
members S, not shown in FIG. 7, and the splices contained therein, with 
water damage preventing material. 
As is known to those skilled in the art, a splice between a pair of cable 
wires or conductors can be made without the use of splicing members, such 
as splicing members S of FIG. 1, and can be made, for example, by twisting 
exposed or bare wires or conductors together to mechanically and 
electrically interconnect the wires or, a splice may be made between such 
bare or exposed wires by the use of solder or other electrically 
conductive adhesive means. Accordingly, it will be understood that the 
splice housing apparatus of the present invention may be used to contain 
and support one or more splices between electrically conductive wires of a 
cable whether such electrically conductive wires are spliced together 
directly or spliced together using splicing members such as splicing 
members S of FIG. 1. 
Referring again generally to the splice housing apparatus 70 of FIG. 6 and 
the splice housing apparatus 90 of FIG. 7, it will be noted that the 
entrances 50 and 74 shown in FIG. 6, and the entrances 94 and 74 shown in 
FIG. 7, are oriented in an opposed relationship or oriented angularly with 
respect to each other at 180.degree.; however, it will be understood that 
such pairs of entrances may be oriented with respect to each other at 
angular orientations other than 180.degree., such as for example 
90.degree.. 
The water damage preventing material, e.g. water damage preventing material 
58 of FIG. 1, preferably is an extrudable material so as to enhance or 
facilitate placing or forcing of the water damage preventing material into 
surrounding engagement with the splicing members S. Referring now to FIG. 
5, an exterior view of the bottom base 20 of housing member 14, it will be 
understood that the base 20 may be provided with a plurality of circular 
apertures or openings 106 extending therethrough and a plurality of oblong 
apertures or openings 108 extending therethrough; these openings are not 
shown in FIG. 1 for clarity and simplicity of presentation. The openings 
106 and 108 permit portions of the water damage preventing material to be 
extruded therethrough upon assembly of the housing members 12 and 14 with 
hand or manual pressure to assure that the splicing members S have been 
substantially surrounded with such material and to provide a visual 
indication thereof to the person assembling the housing members 12 and 14. 
It will be further understood that the respective sizes of the interiors 
of the housing members 12 and 14 are such that the volume of water damage 
preventing material provided in the housing member 12, FIG. 1, is greater 
than the interior volume of housing member 14 upon the housing member 14 
housing or containing at least one splice or splicing members S; this 
relationship assures that upon assembly of the housing members 12 and 14 
as described above, water damage preventing material will completely fill 
the housing member 14, substantially surround the splice or splicing 
members S and any air entrapped within the assembled housing members 12 
and 14, and that portions of such material will be extruded out of the 
openings 106 and 108 (FIG. 5) to provide the visual indication noted 
above. It will be further understood that the volume of the water damage 
preventing material 58 contained in the housing 12, FIG. 1, is sufficient 
to assure that at least a portion thereof will be extruded outwardly 
between the cables 24 and 25 and the end portion 60 of the housing member 
12 providing the rectangular openings 66A and 66B, FIG. 4, to further 
assure that the splice or splicing members S contained in the assembled 
housing members 12 and 14 have been surrounded and that any entrapped air 
has been expelled. A portion of such water damage preventing material will 
reside between the cables 24 and 25 and the end portions 60 of the housing 
member 12, FIG. 4, to provide a seal between the cables and the end 
portion 60 of the housing member 12 defining the openings 66A and 66B. 
Referring again to the oblong openings 108 and circular openings 106 
provided in the base 20 of the housing member 14, FIG. 5, it has been 
discovered that by using both oblong openings and circular openings, and 
by placing such openings in the pattern shown in FIG. 5, that the 
extrusion of the water damage preventing material through such openings is 
enhanced and enabled by the use of only manual pressure applied by a 
person in assembling the housing members 12 and 14. Similarly, water 
damage preventing material is forced into surrounding engagement with the 
splices and splicing members interconnecting the wires W in the 
embodiments 70 and 90 of the present invention shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. 
Clean handling and assembly of the various embodiments of the splice 
housing apparatus of the present invention described above and shown in 
the drawings may be accomplished by the inclusion of a transparent plastic 
bag in which the splice housing apparatus embodiments of the present 
invention may be packaged. By way of example with regard to splice housing 
apparatus 10 of FIG. 1, upon the cables 24 and 25 being mounted to the 
housing member 14 as described above, the housing member 14 may be placed 
in such plastic bag with the cables 24 and 25 extending outwardly through 
the bag opening. The seal 59 for the water damage preventing material 58 
may be removed from the housing member 12 and the housing member 12 
inserted into the bag whereafter the actual assembly of the housing 
members 12 and 14 as described above may be performed within the plastic 
bag by manual pressure or forces being applied to the outside of the bag 
by the person assembling the housing members. Thus, assembly of the 
housing members 12 and 14, and the extrusion of the water damage 
preventing material as described above, may take place inside of the 
plastic bag whereby the excess or extruded water damage preventing 
material will be contained in the bag and the hands of the person doing 
the assembly will remain clean. Thereafter, the plastic bag surrounding 
the assembled housing members 12 and 13 may be buried with them to provide 
further water damage prevention to the splices or splicing members S 
contained within the assembled housing members. 
Referring now to a further embodiment of the splice housing apparatus of 
the present invention indicated by general numerical designation 100 in 
FIG. 8, it will be understood that for convenience of presentation and 
understanding the elements shown in FIG. 8 which are the same as elements 
shown in the earlier described FIGS. are given the same numerical 
designations and will not be re-introduced and the structure will not be 
specifically described again; only the new elements shown in FIG. 8 will 
be introduced and their structure specifically described. Particularly it 
will be understood that splice housing apparatus 100 of FIG. 8 differs 
from splice housing apparatus 10 of FIG. 1 in that the splice housing 
apparatus 100 is provided with a rotatable externally threaded member or 
bolt 110 and an internally threaded insert 112 for providing mechanical 
advantage in assembly of the housing members 12D and 14C beyond that which 
may be obtained typically by the hands or fingers of a person merely 
pressing the two housing members together for assembly and forcing the 
water damage preventing material into surrounding engagement with the 
splicing members 5 as described above. Splice housing apparatus 100 is 
particularly useful when the water damage preventing material contained in 
housing member 12C (not shown in FIG. 8 but shown and identified in FIG. 1 
by general numerical designation 58) is of relatively high viscosity and 
assembly Of the housing members takes place at lower temperatures such as 
encountered outside in the winter. The threaded member or bolt 110 is 
inserted through an opening 111 formed in the housing 12C to threadedly 
engage the internally threaded insert 112 which is mounted fixedly or 
stationarily, in any one of several manners known to the art, within the 
opening 116 provided in the boss 118 extending upwardly from the base 20 
of the housing member 14C. For convenience, and to prevent physical 
separation of the housing 12C and the threaded member or bolt 110, the 
bolt 110 may be mounted rotatably within the boss 120 in any one of 
several manners known to the art. The threaded bolt or member 110, in one 
embodiment, was threaded 20 turns per inch and was provided with a 
hexagonal head 114 permitting the threaded member or bolt 110 to be 
tightened by a commonly carried wrench known to the art as a "can" wrench 
or by a tool known in the art as a "216 tool." Also, in the embodiment of 
FIG. 8, the housing member 14C, instead of being provided with the spacing 
members or ribs 54 and 55 of FIG. 1, is provided with a plurality of 
upwardly extending cylindrical or conical spacing members 57 which may be 
the same as the conical or cylindrical spacing members 57 provided on the 
inner surface of the base 16 of the housing member 12 as shown in FIG. 2; 
similarly the housing member 12C may be provided with a plurality of 
outwardly extending conical spacing members such as members 57 shown in 
FIG. 2. The boss 118, which may be formed integrally by being molded with 
the housing member 14C, may be provided with a predetermined height so as 
to contact the inner surface of the housing member 12C as the housing 
members are assembled and the water damage preventing material forced into 
the housing member 14C to prevent over-tightening of the bolt 110 and 
possible crushing or other damage of the assembled housing members. The 
housing member 14C may be provided with a plurality of holes 106 to permit 
portions of the water damage preventing material to be extruded 
therethrough upon assembly of the housing members 12C and 14C to assure 
that splicing members contained between the housing members, such as 
splicing members S in FIG. 1, have been substantially surrounded with such 
water damage preventing material and provide a visual indication thereof 
to the person assembling the housing members 12C and 14C. It will be 
understood that the underside of the housing member 14C may be provided 
with a plurality of outwardly extending ribs (not shown) adjacent the 
holes 106 to enable the housing member 14C to be placed down on a flat 
surface without the holes 106 being blocked off by the surface thereby 
facilitating extrusion of water damage preventing material out of the 
holes 106. 
Another embodiment of the splice housing apparatus of the present invention 
is illustrated in FIG. 9 and indicated by general numerical designation 
200; it will be understood that for convenience of reference and 
understanding elements shown in FIG. 9 which are the same as elements 
shown in the earlier described FIGS., particularly FIGS. 1, 6, 7 and 8, 
are given the same numerical designations and will not be re-introduced 
and their structure will not be specifically described again. Only the new 
elements shown in FIG. 9 will be introduced and their structure 
specifically described. More particularly, it will be understood that the 
splice housing apparatus 200 shown in FIG. 9 is similar to splice housing 
apparatus 70 of FIG. 6 in that splice housing apparatus 200 is for housing 
splices between electrically conductive wires W of any combination of 
three cables such as for example cables 24 and 25 and 72 shown in FIG. 6 
and described above. In this embodiment, the opposed end portions 128 and 
129 of housing member 12D are provided with opposed entrance openings 130 
and 131, only the opening indicated by general numerical designation 130 
is shown in FIG. 9 but it will be understood that end portion 129 has a 
corresponding opening 131 (not shown) formed therein; the opening 130 is 
for admitting the entrance thereinto of a pair of cables, such as cables 
24 and 25 shown in FIG. 6, and with the opening 131 not shown but formed 
in the end 129 portion for admitting a single cable such as cable 72 shown 
in FIG. 6. The opposed end portions 134 and 135 of the housing member 14D 
are provided with a pair of opposed openings indicated by general 
numerical designations 138 and 139 for admitting, respectively, cables 24 
and 25 and cable 72 as shown in FIG. 6. End portion 134 of housing member 
14D provides a slot 141 for receiving a grommet 143 and the end portion 
135 provides a slot 146 for receiving a grommet 148. 
The grommets 143 and 148 may be made of a commercially available resilient 
closed-cell foam plastic material. The grommets may be pre-cut, 
respectively, to have cylindrical slugs 151 and 152 and 153 retained 
therein and which slugs may be pushed out manually to provide the grommet 
143 with two holes or passageways for receiving two cables and to provide 
the grommet 148 with a single hole or passageway for receiving a single 
cable. The grommets may be provided with side cuts or slots 155 for 
permitting the cables to be conveniently inserted into the grommets from 
the side. 
The splice housing apparatus 200 of FIG. 9, including the foam plastic 
grommets 143 and 148, is particularly useful upon the water damage 
preventing material being, for example, a two component encapsulant of the 
type known to the art. As is known with such two component encapsulant, 
the two components comprising the encapsulant are typically liquid, or 
semi-liquid, and are mixed together and react to later produce a 
substantially solid encapsulant upon reacting or hardening. 
Upon cable splices, such as cable splices S shown in FIG. 1 being present 
in housing member 14D of FIG..9, such two component encapsulant in the 
liquid or semi-liquid stage may be poured into the housing member 14D to 
surround such splices and fill the housing member 14D. The foam plastic 
grommets 143 and 148 will form barriers or seals to prevent the liquid or 
semi-liquid encapsulant from freely flowing out of the opposed open ends 
138 and 139 of the housing member 14D upon the housing members 12D and 14D 
being assembled and before the encapsulant hardens. However, upon the 
housing member 12D being assembled to the housing member 14D as described 
above, particularly using the mechanical advantage provided by the 
threaded member or bolt 110 and threaded insert 112, any excess 
encapsulant in the liquid stage will be squeezed out of or through the 
closed-cell foam plastic grommets 143 and 148 to provide a visual 
indication that the splices have been surrounded and encapsulated; also 
any air entrapped in the assembled housing members will be expelled. 
Referring again generally to the FIGS., and the embodiments of the splice 
housing apparatus of the present invention shown in the FIGS. and 
described above, it will be noted that the housing members of each 
embodiment include relatively enlarged and outwardly extending portions to 
provide room for the splicing members S, and the splicing members 
contained therein, to be spread outwardly to enhance the maintaining of 
the splicing members S out of engagement with the interior surfaces of the 
housing members as described above and generally suspended within the 
chamber provided by such interior surfaces. It will be further noted that 
the other portions of the housing members are relatively small, and this 
permits the use of a smaller quantity of water damage preventing material 
than would be required were the housing members to be uniformly circular 
or rectangular. 
It will be further understood that the housing members shown in the FIGS. 
and described above may be molded, such as for example by suitable 
injection molding, and may be made of a suitable plastic, such as for 
example polypropylene. Further, the electrically conductive members 28, 75 
and 96 shown in the FIGS. and described above may be made of pre-tempered 
stainless steel. Further, it will be understood that the ends or membrane 
portions 60A and 60B of FIGS. 1 and 6, and 104 of FIG. 7, may be made or 
formed by molding the portions of the end walls of the housing members 
defining such end or membrane portions to be substantially thinner than 
the remaining portions of such wall and to have the grooves such as pairs 
of grooves 61 and 62 and 63 and 64 shown in FIG. 2 whereby such thin 
portions are readily rupturable along such grooves upon engagement with 
the respective cables to provide the openings for receiving such cables as 
described above. 
It will be understood that the water damage preventing material 58 may be 
any one of several such water damage preventing materials, gels or 
encapsulants known to the art and may be, for example a suitable petroleum 
based gel or grease, such as for example VASELINE.RTM. brand petroleum 
jelly sold by Cheeseborough Ponds Inc. of Greenwich, Conn. 06830. 
Lastly, it will be understood that many variations and modifications may be 
made in the present invention without departing from the spirit and the 
scope thereof.