Abstract:
A cable restoration harness is provided for splicing wires of an active cable for communicating a telecommunications service without causing an interruption in the service. The harness may include two splice modules connected by a set of harness wires. The harness may be connected to the cable to create a half-tap splice such that a telecommunications service carried by the cable is routed over the harness wires and around damaged wiring by making an electrical connection of the harness wires between the top of a first splice module and the bottom of a second splice module or by making an electrical connection of the harness wires between the tops of both splice modules.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
       [0001]    In the telecommunications industry, field technicians utilize a cable restoration harness to “cutover” or switch circuits being carried by the wires of one cable to another cable. Typically, cable restoration harnesses consist of splicing modules designed to splice corresponding pairs of wires in two cables. A typical three layer splicing module usually includes a base member or index strip, a body member, and a cover member or cap. The body member consists of upper and lower segments to capture contact elements and the segments are welded together. The harness includes splice wires placed in grooves in the base and in grooves of the lower segment of each splicing module. Cable wires that are to be spliced or “cutover” are then placed in the upper segments of the splicing modules. The cover is then placed over the upper surface of the upper segment on each splicing module to complete the splice. 
         [0002]    While current cable restoration harnesses are useful for splicing cable wires, the splice cuts through existing wiring making the harness unsuitable for cutting around active cable wires carrying a telecommunications service without interrupting the service. Thus, when an active cable is partially cut or damaged resulting in a combination of active wires and inactive wires in the same cable, the entire cable must be taken out of service when splicing with existing harnesses, resulting in customers connected to the active wires being taken out of service. It is with respect to these considerations and others that the various embodiments of the present invention have been made. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0003]    This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter. 
         [0004]    Various embodiments utilizing the techniques described herein address the above and other problems by providing a cable restoration harness for splicing wires of an active cable for communicating a telecommunications service without causing an interruption in the service. The harness may include two splice modules connected by a set of harness wires. The first splice module may include a body member having conductive contacts for making an electrical connection with wires from the cable and a set of harness wires. The first splice module may also include a cover member or cap having slotted openings in contact with the top of the body member to form a wire junction with the set of harness wires. The first splice module may also include a base member or index strip having wire retaining members for holding the cable wires to be spliced. The index strip is adapted to connect to the bottom of the body member. 
         [0005]    The second splice module also includes a body member having conductive contacts for making an electrical connection with the cable wires and the harness wires. The second splice module may also include a base member or index strip which is connected to the bottom of the body member. The index strip has wire retaining members for holding the set of harness wires which are also connected to the first splice module. The second splice module may also include a cover member or cap having slotted openings adapted for connection with the top of the body member to form a wire junction with the cable wires extending from the first splice module. 
         [0006]    The cable harness may be utilized to create a three-way or half-half tap splice between damaged wires in the cable, undamaged wires in cable, and the harness wires such that a telecommunications service carried by the cable is routed around the damaged cable wires using the harness wires, without an interruption of service. This may be accomplished by making an electrical connection of the harness wires between the top of the first splice module and the bottom of the second splice module or by making an electrical connection of the harness wires between the tops of both splice modules. 
         [0007]    Other systems and/or methods according to various embodiments will be or become apparent to one with skill in the art upon review of the following drawings and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods, and/or computer program products be included within this description, be within the scope of the present invention, and be protected by the accompanying claims. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0008]      FIG. 1  is a partially exploded view of a cable restoration harness showing connected splicing modules, a base member or index strip, and a cap, in accordance with various embodiments of the invention; 
           [0009]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view showing the wires of a telecommunications cable laying on top of the base member or index strip of a splicing module, in accordance with various embodiments of the invention; 
           [0010]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view showing a half-tap splice connection created using a cable restoration harness consisting of a fully assembled first splice module spliced to the wires of a telecommunications cable and connected to a partially assembled second splice module, in accordance with various embodiments of the invention; 
           [0011]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view showing a cable restoration harness consisting of a fully assembled first splice module and a partially assembled second splice module and showing the wires of a telecommunications cable laying on the top of the body member of the partially assembled second splice module, in accordance with various embodiments of the invention; 
           [0012]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view showing a cable restoration harness consisting of a fully assembled first splice module and a partially assembled second splice module and showing the wires of a telecommunications cable crimped onto the top of the body member of the partially assembled second splice module, in accordance with various embodiments of the invention; 
           [0013]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view showing a fully assembled cable restoration harness consisting of first and second splice modules and showing a wire cutoff tool for cutting off cable wires extending from the bottom of the first splice module; and 
           [0014]      FIG. 7  is a partially exploded view of a cable restoration harness showing connected splicing modules and two base members or index strips, in accordance with various alternative embodiments of the invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0015]    As briefly described above, embodiments of the present invention are directed to a cable restoration harness for splicing wires of an active cable for communicating a telecommunications service without causing an interruption in the service. In the following detailed description, references are made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which are shown by way of illustrations specific embodiments or examples. These embodiments may be combined, other embodiments may be utilized, and structural changes may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. The following detailed description is therefore not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents. 
         [0016]    Referring now to the drawings, in which like numerals represent like elements through the several figures, various aspects of the present invention and an illustrative computing operating environment will be described. Referring now to  FIG. 1 , a partially exploded view of a cable restoration harness  100  in accordance with various embodiments of the invention will be described. As shown in  FIG. 1 , the cable restoration harness  100  includes a splice module  20  connected to a splice module  20 A via harness wires  30 . The splice module  20  may consist of a body member  5 , a cover member or cap  10 , and a base member or index strip  15 . The top and bottom surfaces of the body member  5  may consist of conductive contacts adapted to make electrical connections. In particular, the conductive contacts making up the top surface of the body member  5  are in contact and make an electrical connection with the harness wires  30 . The cap  10  may include slotted openings which connect the cap  10  to the conductive contacts making up the top surface of the body member  5 . The body member  5  also forms a wire junction with the cap  10  for retaining the harness wires  30  which extend from the connection of the cap  10  and the body member  5 . The index strip  15  may consist of wire retaining members  25  and is adapted to connect with the bottom surface of the body member  5 . The wire retaining members  25  may be utilized for retaining wires to be spliced in a cable. 
         [0017]    The splice module  20 A may consist of a body member  5 A, a cover member or cap  10 A, and a base member or index strip  15 A. The index strip  15 A is connected to the bottom surface of the body member  5 A. Similar to the index strip  15 , the index strip  15 A may also consist of wire retaining members which are utilized to hold the harness wires  30  extending from the splice module  20 . The cap  10 A includes slotted openings for connection to the conductive contacts making up the top surface of the body member  5 A. The cap  10 A is also adapted to form a wire junction with the body member  5 A for retaining the cable wire to be spliced (not shown). 
         [0018]    It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the cable restoration harness  100  may be constructed using a modified  710  type half-tap splice module which is currently manufactured and marketed by 3M CORPORATION of St. Paul, Minn. It should be understood that the cable restoration harness  100  described herein, and in accordance with various embodiments, may be utilized to splice wires in an active cable carrying a telecommunications service (such as telephone service) without creating a service interruption, as will be discussed in further detail below with respect to  FIGS. 2-6 . 
         [0019]      FIGS. 2-6 , discussed below, are illustrative of a method for utilizing the cable restoration harness  100  discussed above with respect to  FIG. 1 , in accordance with various embodiments, among others, utilizing the technical features described herein. Referring now to  FIG. 2 , an active cable  40  is shown comprising undamaged wires  42  and damaged wires  44 . It should be understood that the active cable  40 , according to various embodiments, is being utilized to carry a telecommunications service to one or more customers in a telecommunications network. It should be further understood that the damaged wires  44  represent at least one but not all of wires in the active cable  40 . The damaged wires  44  are incapable of carrying the telecommunications service as a result of any number of events including, but not limited to, water damage to the cable or a cable cut. In splicing the active cable  40  using the cable restoration harness  100 , the undamaged wires  42  on the left side of the damaged wiring  44 , may be placed in the wire retaining members  25  of the index strip  15  to hold the wires. 
         [0020]    Referring now to  FIG. 3 , the cable restoration harness  100  is shown with the splice module  20  creating a three-way electrical connection or half-tap between the undamaged wires  42 , the harness wires  30 , and the damaged wires  44 . The half-tap connection may be made by crimping the connected body member  5  and the cap member  10  from the cable restoration harness  100  to the cable wires being retained in the index strip  15 . In particular, as the conductive contacts making up the bottom surface of the body member  5  are crimped to the wires being retained by the index strip  15 , an electrical connection is established. 
         [0021]    Referring now to  FIG. 4 , the cable restoration harness  100  is shown with the undamaged wires  42  to the right of the damaged wires  44  placed on the top of the body member  5 A of the splice module  20 A. As will be discussed in greater detail with respect to  FIG. 5 , the undamaged wires  42  may be crimped onto the conductive contacts making up the top surface of the body member  5 A to make an electrical connection between the undamaged wires  42  and the harness wires  30  in the splice module  20 A. 
         [0022]    Referring now to  FIG. 5 , the cable restoration harness  100  is shown with the undamaged wires connected to the top surface of the body member  5 A to establish an electrical connection between the harness wires  30  (which may be pre-spliced to the bottom of the splice module  20 A) and the undamaged wires  42 . The electrical connection may be made by crimping the undamaged wires  42  onto the conductive contacts making up the top surface of the body member  5 A in the splice module  20 A. It should be understood that as a result of crimping the undamaged wires  42  to the splice module  20 A, the damaged wires  44  are cutoff from the splice module  20 A. 
         [0023]    Referring now to  FIG. 6 , the cable restoration harness  100  is shown with a cap (such as the cap  10 A) crimped on top of the body member  5 A of the splice module  20 A. A wire cutoff tool  50  is also shown attached to the splice module  20 . The wire cutoff tool  50  may be utilized to cutoff the other end of the damaged wires  44  from the splice module  20  by pulling the wire cutoff tool  50  across the splice module  20  to trim off the wires. 
         [0024]    It should be appreciated that by establishing a half-tap connection in the manner described above with respect to  FIGS. 2-6  (i.e., by utilizing the cable harness  100  having the harness wires  30  being connected between the top of the splice module  20  and the bottom of the splice module  20 A), a telecommunications service currently being carried by the undamaged wires  42  is not interrupted. Thus, the cable restoration harness  100  enables a technician to cut around damaged wiring without affecting service in an active cable. 
         [0025]    Referring now to  FIG. 7 , a partially exploded view of a cable restoration harness  200  in accordance with various alternative embodiments of the invention will be described. As shown in  FIG. 7 , the cable restoration harness  200  includes a splice module  80  connected to a splice module  80 A via harness wires  90 . The splice module  80  may consist of a body member  60 , a cover member or cap  70 , and a base member or index strip  75 . The top and bottom surfaces of the body member  60  may consist of conductive contacts adapted to make electrical connections. In particular, the conductive contacts making up the top surface of the body member  60  are in contact and make an electrical connection with the harness wires  90 . The cap  70  may include slotted openings which connect the cap  70  to the conductive contacts making up the top surface of the body member  60 . The body member  60  also forms a wire junction with the cap  70  for retaining the harness wires  90  which extend from the connection of the cap  70  and the body member  60 . The index strip  75  may consist of wire retaining members  85  and is adapted to connect with the bottom surface of the body member  60 . The wire retaining members  85  may be utilized for retaining wires to be spliced in a cable. 
         [0026]    The splice module  80 A may consist of a body member  60 A, a cover member or cap  70 A, and a base member or index strip  75 A. The top and bottom surfaces of the body member  60 A may consist of conductive contacts adapted to make electrical connections. In particular, the conductive contacts making up the top surface of the body member  60 A are in contact and make an electrical connection with the harness wires  90 . The cap  70 A may include slotted openings which connect the cap  70 A to the conductive contacts making up the top surface of the body member  60 A. The body member  60 A also forms a wire junction with the cap  70 A for retaining the harness wires  90  which extend from the connection of the cap  70 A and the body member  60 A. The index strip  75 A may consist of wire retaining members  85 A and is adapted to connect with the bottom surface of the body member  60 A. The wire retaining members  85 A may be utilized for retaining wires to be spliced in a cable. It should be understood that the cable restoration harness  200  may also be utilized to splice wires in an active cable carrying a telecommunications service (such as telephone service) without creating a service interruption by connecting the harness wires  90  between the top surfaces of the body members  60  and  60 A in the splice modules  80  and  80 A. 
         [0027]    Based on the foregoing, it should be appreciated that various embodiments of the present invention are directed to a cable restoration harness for splicing wires of an active cable for communicating a telecommunications service without causing an interruption in the service. It will be apparent by those skilled in the art that various modifications or variations may be made in the present invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. Other embodiments of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein.