Reusable closure for wire splices

A two piece housing for a spliced portion of multi-conductor copper core electric cable includes housings adapted for two, three, or four wire cable. A bottom mated structure (31) and a top mated structure (30) are predetermined to accept screws (15) for clamping the two structures together. The housing interior surface (28) includes mortised frusto-conical shaped openings (23) with grooves (26) at right angles and contiguous to the cable passage (24) for accepting and locking wire nuts (12) over wire splices (6). Opposing jaws (17),(18), and (19), adjacent to the point of cable entry/exit (25) inside the cable passage (24) engage a two, three, or four wire cable (20),(8),(22). The opposed jaw configuration includes a curved, wedge shaped inner lip (27); a wedge shaped flange (13); and a curved overlapping lip (14).

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
 Not Applicable
 STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
 Not Applicable
 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
 1. Field of the Invention
 The present invention relates generally to reconnecting, enclosing,
 clamping, and locking wire splices from a multi-wire electric cable into
 an enclosure housing and more specifically to a reusable, improved
 enclosure for wire splices.
 2. Description of the Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37
 CFR 1.97 and 1.98
 Previous methods of wire splicing require multiple pieces for clamping a
 cable in a bushing and for attaching the bushing to a housing. If a liquid
 tight seal was required, a sealing material was added to a cavity in the
 bushing after the cables were installed, or a portion of the bushing was
 hermetically sealed to the cable.
 BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
 (a) The main object of the present invention is to provide a reusable
 protective enclosure for a spliced electric cable, which enclosure may be
 reopened for an additional splice, or reused with another cable;
 (b) to provide an enclosure that eliminates the labor intensity of
 heretofore known protection for wire splices;
 (c) to eliminate some plurality of parts;
 (d) to provide a molded rigid support, for wire splices, made with a
 non-conductive plastic;
 (e) to provide a less costly than heretofore known wire splice protecting
 device, but equally effective.
 The invention is a reusable enclosure for reconnecting, clamping, locking,
 and enclosing wire splices. The enclosure is formed of a two piece housing
 having an interior surface and an exterior surface, screws clamping
 together the two pieces of the housing, and a cable passage defined
 between the two pieces of the housing. The housing defines mortised
 frusto-conical shaped openings with grooves for locking frusto-conical
 wire nuts into the housing, and a predetermined opposed jaw configuration
 for enclosing the cable at the point of entry/exit into the cable passage.
 Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a
 consideration of the drawings and ensuing descriptions.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
 The following reference numerals are used throughout the drawings and
 specification:
 6 copper core wire splice
 8 three wire cable, showing outer cover
 9 green wire with cover
 10 white wire with cover
 11 black wire with cover
 12 wire nut
 13 wedge shaped flange
 14 curved overlapping lip
 15 screw
 16 three wire housing
 17 two wire voids in two wire jaw configuration
 18 three wire voids in three wire jaw configuration
 19 four wire voids in four wire jaw configuration
 20 two wire cable
 22 four wire cable
 23 mortised frusto-conical shaped wire nut reception recess
 24 cable passage
 25 entry/exit point of cable
 26 wire nut reception recess with wire nut grooves
 27 curved wedge shaped inner lip
 28 interior surface
 29 exterior surface
 30 top mated structure
 31 bottom mated structure
 32 rounded corners
 33 two wire housing
 34 four wire housing
 FIG. 1 is a fully assembled three wire splice enclosure housing 16 on a
 three wire cable 8 showing the wire nut openings 23, wire nuts 12 (prior
 art), and screws 15 on an exterior surface 29 of the top mated structure
 30.
 FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a fully assembled three wire enclosure
 housing 16 for wire splices on a three wire cable 8, showing a
 predetermined three wire opposed jaw configuration 18. The curved wedge
 shaped inner lip 27 opposes the wedge shaped flange 13 while being
 overlapped and held together as a hinge mechanism by the curved
 overlapping lip 14, in a closed position with the cable tightly enclosed
 at the point of cable entry/exit 25 by a three wire predetermined opposed
 jaw configuration 18.
 FIG. 3A is an exploded perspective view of a three wire, two piece
 enclosure housing 16; a three wire cable 8 spliced and covered with wire
 nuts 12; a three wire jaw configuration 18; a curved, wedge shaped inner
 lip 27; a wedge shaped flange 13; and a curved overlapping lip 14 on the
 interior surface 28 of the bottom mated structure 31.
 The grooves 26 for locking the frusto-conical wire nuts 12 securely in the
 mortised frusto-conical shaped wire nut reception recesses 23 of the top
 and bottom mated structures 30, 31, respectively, are visible in the
 bottom mated structure 31. The relationship of the wire nut reception
 recesses 23 to the cable passage 24 is shown in FIG. 3A. Each recess 23 is
 elongated along an axis extending transversely or perpendicularly with
 respect to the longitudinal dimension of the passage 24 and is offset to a
 side of the passage.
 The three wire voids in a three wire jaw configuration 18 located at each
 end of the cable passage 24 are visible in both top and bottom mated
 structures 30, 31, respectively. The rounded corners 32 for preventing
 drag are visible in top and bottom mated structures 30, 31, respectively,
 (SEE FIG. 3A).
 FIG. 3B is an exploded perspective view of a two wire enclosure housing 33;
 a two wire cable 20, spliced and covered with wire nuts 12 (prior art); a
 two wire jaw configuration with voids defined by arcs 17 intersecting each
 other at cusps; a curved wedge shaped inner lip 27; a wedge shaped flange
 to oppose it 13; and a curved overlapping lip 14 to complete a hinge
 mechanism. Top and bottom mated structures 30, 31, respectively, are
 completely separate but molded to slot together as a single unit when
 sandwiching a two wire cable 20.
 FIG. 3C is an exploded perspective view of a four wire enclosure housing
 34; a four wire cable 22, spliced and covered with frusto-conical wire
 nuts 12 (prior art); a four wire jaw configuration with voids defined by
 arcs 19 intersecting each other to form cusps; a curved wedge shaped inner
 lip 27; a wedge shaped flange 13 to oppose it; and a curved overlapping
 lip 14 to complete the hinge mechanism; and screws 15 to clamp the top and
 bottom mated structures 30, 31, tightly together, sandwiching the cable 22
 and providing a generally tamper-resistant seal.
 FIGS. 4A to 4C show the end view of predetermined opposed jaw
 configurations with voids of a two, three, and four wire configuration 17,
 18, 19, respectively. In each view, a curved wedge shaped inner lip 27, a
 wedge shaped flange 13 to oppose it, and a curved overlapping lip 14
 completes a hinge mechanism. Screws 15 that clamp the top and bottom mated
 structures 30, 31 together surrounding the cable are visible, along with a
 two, three, and four wire cable, 20, 8, and 22, respectively.
 FIGS. 5A to 5C show the cable preparation necessary to use the three wire
 enclosure housing. The three wire cable 8 (See FIG. 5A) is prepared to be
 spliced by cutting the outer cable 8 away and exposing the internal wires
 (See FIG. 5B) approximately three inches. FIG. 5C shows how the short,
 medium, and long cuts on the internal wires 9, 10, and 11--green, white,
 and black wire, respectively--oppose each other and are twisted together
 in a splice 6 to space neatly in a row inside a three wire enclosure 16
 (See FIG. 3A), and fit into the mortised frusto-conical shaped openings 23
 with grooves 26 that lock the wire nuts 12 (prior art).
 FIG. 5D shows a three wire cable 8, with the wire splices accepting wire
 nuts 12. Wire nuts are prior art.
 FIG. 5E is the fully assembled three wire enclosure housing 16 on a cable
 8, with wire splices 6 enclosed, showing a curved wedge shaped inner lip
 27, a wedge shaped flange 13 to oppose it, and a curved overlapping lip 14
 to complete the hinge mechanism of a three wire jaw configuration with
 voids 18.
 The cable to be spliced is opened to free the wires inside the outer cover
 of a three wire cable 8 (See FIG. 5A). Enough of the outside cable is cut
 away, approximately three inches, to allow the preparatory cuts on the
 wire inside the cable to create the wire splices 6 (See FIG. 5C).
 One color wire, for example, white 10, is cut short, approximately 5/8 inch
 beyond the cable cover on one side, where the cable cover is removed from
 cable 8. The short cut of the white wire 10 completely severs one wire in
 the cable. Another color wire, such as black 11, is cut short on the other
 side of the cable, where the outer cover had been removed, also
 approximately 5/8 inch away from the cover (SEE FIG. 5B).
 The third wire, green 9, is cut exactly in half or medium length. The three
 wires in the cable are now completely severed (SEE FIG. 5b). One half of
 the cable 8 has a long white wire 10, a short black wire 11, and a medium
 length green wire 9. The other half of the cable 8 has a short white wire
 10, a long black wire 11, and a medium length green wire 9. By staggering
 the cuts of the internal white 10 and black 11 wires, and the green wire 9
 cut medium length to be the middle splice; the same color wires line up
 evenly in a row when spliced together and placed in a three wire enclosure
 16 (SEE FIG. 3A).
 Approximately 3/8 to 1/2 inch of the cover of the white 10, black 11, and
 green wire 9 is stripped off the end of the wire. The copper ends twist
 into the wire splices 6 (See FIGS. 5B and 5C).
 If you are splicing a two wire cable 20, the cuts on the internal wires are
 long or short; there is no need for a medium length cut on a two wire
 cable 20, in a two wire enclosure 33 (See FIG. 3B).
 On a four wire cable 22, four different length cuts are necessary: long,
 short, medium long, and medium short. The four lengths allow four colored
 wires to be staggered and line up in a row, with the same color wire under
 wire nuts 12, in a four wire enclosure 34 (See FIG. 3C).
 Finally, FIG. 5E shows the fully assembled three wire enclosure 16 on a
 cable 8 with the screws 15 that clamp the enclosure top and bottom mated
 structures together, 30 and 31, respectively, providing a generally
 tamper-resistant seal.
 Accordingly, the reader will see that the reusable enclosure for wire
 splices can be used to enclose and reconnect wire splices easily and
 conveniently. The reusable enclosure can be removed just as easily without
 damage to the cable, wire splice, or enclosure, and can be reused to
 splice another cable without requiring a new enclosure.
 it provides an enclosure with fewer parts;
 it provides an enclosure made of a nonconductive plastic;
 it provides a rigid support for wire splices withstanding heavy work
 stress;
 it provides an enclosure with a tight seal for the cable;
 it provides an enclosure almost any lay person can apply; and
 it provides an enclosure that is less labor intensive, less costly, but
 equally as effective as heretofore known wire splice enclosures.
 Although the description above contains many specificities, these should
 not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention but as merely
 providing illustrations of some of the presently preferred embodiments of
 this invention. For example, the enclosure can have other shapes, such as
 oval, circular, square, etc.; the screws to clamp the two piece housing
 together can be bolts or reusable connectors, etc. Thus the scope of the
 invention should be determined by the appended claims and their legal
 equivalents, rather than by the examples given.