Abstract:
Disclosed is a cable gripping device used for manually gripping a coaxial cable to install a coaxial connector on the coaxial cable. According to an exemplary embodiment, the coaxial gripping tool includes a first half portion and a mating and/or hinged second half portion, wherein the mating/hinged portions provide a longitudinal bore configured to grip the coaxial cable.

Description:
[0001]    This is application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/993,042, filed May 14, 2014, by Edward L. Merical et al., entitled “CABLE GRIPPER TOOL”, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    Attaching electrical connectors to a coaxial cable has always been a tedious task. Typical of such connectors are those known as PL-259 UHF connectors or Type N connectors. These connectors have an internally threaded body which must be attached to the outside casing, which is usually made of rubber or a like material, of a coaxial cable. To effect the attachment, the body of the connector is placed adjacent to the casing and is grasped by the user and turned to actually cut threads into the coaxial cable casing material. Alternatively, one can turn the connector and cut threads in the coaxial cable casing. Care must be taken so as not to thread the connector too far onto the cable because such could well damage the connector. 
         [0003]    U.S. Pat. No. 8,701,278, issued Apr. 22, 2014 by Edward L. Merical and entitled “METHOD FOR ATTACHING A CONNECTOR TO A PREPARED COAXIAL CABLE” and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0201987, published Jul. 24, 2014, by Edward L. Merical and entitled “DEVICE FOR ATTACHING A CONNECTOR TO A PREPARED COAXIAL CABLE” provide a method and device to attach connections to a coaxial cable with minimal effort. However, a need exists for a device which can be used to manually grasp a coaxial cable in order to prepare the coaxial cable to attach a connector and/or manually grasp the coaxial cable in order to attach the connector. 
       INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE 
       [0004]    U.S. Pat. No. 8,701,278, issued Apr. 22, 2014 by Edward L. Merical and entitled “METHOD FOR ATTACHING A CONNECTOR TO A PREPARED COAXIAL CABLE” and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0201987, published Jul. 24, 2014, by Edward L. Merical and entitled “DEVICE FOR ATTACHING A CONNECTOR TO A PREPARED COAXIAL CABLE”, are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. 
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION 
       [0005]    In one embodiment of this disclosure, described is a coaxial cable gripping device comprising: a body including an internal longitudinal bore configured to receive a section of coaxial cable, the body including a first half portion and a mating second half portion, wherein one or more of the first half portion and second half portion include an external gripping surface disposed on the outside of the body and an internal gripping surface disposed on the internal longitudinal bore and configured to grasp an outer surface of the coaxial cable. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0006]      FIG. 1  is an exploded perspective view of a prepared cable, connector component and connector tool. 
           [0007]      FIG. 2  is a sectional view of the device taken substantially along line  2 - 2  of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0008]      FIG. 3  is a view like  FIG. 2  showing the connector in the device. 
           [0009]      FIG. 4  is a view like  FIG. 3  but showing the connector in the device and attached to the cable. 
           [0010]      FIG. 5  is an elevational view of the connector on the cable. 
           [0011]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view of a cable gripper tool according to an exemplary embodiment of this disclosure. 
           [0012]      FIG. 7  is a perspective view of one mating part of the cable gripper tool shown in  FIG. 6 . 
           [0013]      FIG. 8  shows various detail views of one portion of a cable gripper tool configured to accept RG8 coaxial cable according to an exemplary embodiment of this disclosure. 
           [0014]      FIG. 9  shows various detail views of a second portion of a cable gripper tool configured to accept RG8 coaxial cable according to an exemplary embodiment of this disclosure. 
           [0015]      FIG. 10  shows various detail views of one portion of a cable gripper tool configured to accept RG8X coaxial cable according to an exemplary embodiment of this disclosure. 
           [0016]      FIG. 11  shows various detail views of a second portion of a cable gripper tool configured to accept RG8X coaxial cable according to an exemplary embodiment of this disclosure. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0017]    A connector installation device according to U.S. Pat. No. 8,701,278, issued Apr. 22, 2014 by Edward L. Merical and entitled “METHOD FOR ATTACHING A CONNECTOR TO A PREPARED COAXIAL CABLE” and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/221,557, filed Mar. 21, 2014, by Edward L. Merical and entitled “DEVICE FOR ATTACHING A CONNECTOR TO A PREPARED COAXIAL CABLE” is indicated generally by the numeral  20  in  FIG. 1  and is used to assist in connection of an electrical connector, generally indicated by the numeral  21 , to a prepared coaxial cable generally indicated by the numeral  22 . 
         [0018]    Coaxial cables  22  are known in the art as having a central wire  23  and a wire sheath  24  spaced from wire  23 . A plastic or other insulating sleeve (not shown) is positioned between wire  23  and sheath  24  to electrically isolate the same. Sheath  24  is covered by a durable casing  25  made of rubber or a like plastic or synthetic material. 
         [0019]    The connector  21  shown in  FIG. 1  is a conventional uhf connector, known in the art as a PL-259 connector, which includes a shell generally indicated by the numeral  26  and a connector body generally indicated by the numeral  27 . Shell  26 , which is sometimes known in the art as a barrel, is in the form of a hollow cylindrical tube  28  which can have an outer textured surface  29  for ease of gripping. Connector body  27  is hollow and includes a generally cylindrical base portion  30  of an internal diameter approximating the external diameter of cable casing  25 ; a cylindrical intermediate portion  31  communicating with the base portion  30  and having an internal diameter approximating the external diameter of the cable sheath  25 , and a cylindrical tip portion  32  communicating with the intermediate portion  31  and having an internal diameter approximating the external diameter of the cable central wire  23 . The front face (not shown) of intermediate portion  31  is provided with a dielectric seal extending from the outer surface of tip portion  32  to the inside surface of intermediate portion  31 . It is important that this seal not be broken as could often happen if connector body  27  were over tightened onto cable  22  by methods of the prior art. 
         [0020]    The base portion  30  is provided with internal threads  33  which, as will hereinafter be described in more detail, are adapted to engage cable casing  25 . Intermediate portion  31  is provided with a hole  34  so that when cable sheath  24  is positioned therein, sheath  24  may be soldered to connector body  27 . Similarly, tip portion  32  has an open end  35  so that the cable wire  23  positioned in tip portion  32  and exposed at open end  35  may be soldered to tip portion  32 . 
         [0021]    The end of base portion  30  adjacent to intermediate portion  31  is provided with an externally threaded collar  36 . Connector shell  26  is provided with internal threads  37  ( FIG. 4 ) which may engage threaded collar  36  and be attached to connector body  27  as shown in  FIG. 5 . The intermediate portion  31  of connector body  27  is typically provided with flanges  38  having a knurled outer surface  39 . In a conventional connector such as connector  21 , flanges  38  can be gripped and connector body  27  turned to allow the threads  33  of base portion  30  to cut threads into the cable casing  25  to attach the connector body  27  to the casing  25 . However, flanges  38  of a conventional connector are no longer necessary in view of the device  20  now to be described. 
         [0022]    Connector installation device  20  can be made of a metallic material and is formed with a body having a generally cylindrical outer surface  40  at least a portion  41  of which may be textured for ease of gripping. The body of device  20  is provided with a generally axially extending bore therethrough having a section of first diameter  42  and a section of second diameter  43 . At least a portion of the first diameter bore section  42  is provided with threads  44 . A doughnut shaped stop surface  45  is located generally at the surface of bore sections  42  and  43  and extends around the second diameter bore section  43  and into axially the first diameter bore section  42 . 
         [0023]    Installation device  20  is used very simply to attach a connector body  27  to an end of a cable  22 . After shell  26  has been telescoped onto cable  22 , cable  22  may be inserted into connector body  27  until threads  33  begin to engage casing  25 . Connector body  27  is then inserted into the first diameter  42  end of the bore in device  20  and body  27  is attached to device  20  by the engagement of threads  36  and  44  via relative rotation of device  20  and body  27 . Alternatively, connector body  27  may be threaded into device  20  before it is initially attached to cable  22 . As shown in  FIG. 3 , body  27  is threaded into the bore until the axial end of intermediate portion  31 , at outer flange  38 , bottoms out and engages stop surface  45 . At this point the end  35  of tip portion  32  extends through the second diameter  43  of the bore and thus extends out of the body of device  20 . The connector body  27  is now ready and in position to be attached to the casing  25  of cable  22 , as now to be described. 
         [0024]    With connector body  27  positioned as shown in  FIG. 3 , the textured portion  41  of the body of installation device  20  is preferably gripped by the user and then the end of cable  22  is inserted into the mouth of the hollow base portion  30  of body connector  27 . If connector body  27  has not already been loosely attached to cable  22 , as previously described, cable  22  may be held steady and device  20  may be rotated while urging it toward cable  22 . Continued rotation causes the threads  33  of base portion  30  to cut threads into, and thus fully engage, casing  25  of cable  22 . Rotation of device  20  continues until wire  23  appears at the open end  35  of connector tip portion  32 . Such is shown in  FIG. 4  which signals the user that the installation is complete and that no further rotation of device  20  is necessary or desirable. At this time, reverse rotation of device  20  releases connector body  27  from device by the interaction of threads  36  and  44 . Connector body  27  thus remains attached to the end of cable  22  and the soldering operations may take place at hole  34  and tip open end  35 . Then shell  26  may be threaded onto connector body  27  by the interaction of threads  37  and threads  36  to provide the finished product as shown in  FIG. 5 . 
         [0025]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view of a cable gripper tool according to an exemplary embodiment of this disclosure. The cable gripper tool is used to grasp a coaxial cable sheath  25 , as shown in  FIG. 1 , for example. The cable gripper tool includes a top half portion  602  and a bottom half portion  604  which can be together (not shown) or completely separable. 
         [0026]    To operate the cable gripper tool, a user simply places the two portions, i.e., halfs, of the tool over a coaxial cable to be prepared for installing a connector, etc. As will be further described below, a gripping pattern along an internal bore surface of the tool provides enough friction and/or clamping to enable a user to work with the coaxial cable using less effort than simply grasping the cable with the user&#39;s hand. In addition, the cable gripper tool provides a means to straighten a length of cable to prepare the cable for attachment of a connector as previously described. 
         [0027]    The gripper tool disclosed herein can be manufactured from a variety of materials, including rubber, PVC (polyvinyl chloride), ABS (acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene), coated metal, etc. 
         [0028]      FIG. 7  is a perspective view of one mating part of the cable gripper tool shown in  FIG. 6 . As shown, the cable gripper tool includes a longitudinal bore  702 , pins/protrusions  704  and pin/protrusion receiving/sockets  706 . In addition, the cable gripper tool includes finger recesses  708  which can be used to separate the mating parts of the tool. 
         [0029]      FIG. 8  shows various detail views of one portion  602  of a cable gripper tool configured to accept RG8 coaxial cable according to an exemplary embodiment of this disclosure. As shown, the cable gripper tool includes a patterned surface  802  which provides gripping for a user of the device to work with a gripped coaxial cable. 
         [0030]      FIG. 9  shows various detail views of a second portion of a cable gripper tool configured to accept RG8 coaxial cable according to an exemplary embodiment of this disclosure. The second portion illustrated mates with the first portion shown in  FIG. 8  where the mating of pin/protrusions and receivers/sockets provide alignment of the first and second portions. In addition, this mating arrangement enables a user to push/pull, i.e., handle, the cable without the gripper tool separating. 
         [0031]      FIG. 10  shows various detail views of one portion of a cable gripper tool configured to accept RG8X coaxial cable according to an exemplary embodiment of this disclosure. As shown, the longitudinal bore dimensions will vary to accommodate a respective size of coaxial cable. 
         [0032]      FIG. 11  shows various detail views of a second portion of a cable gripper tool configured to accept RG8X coaxial cable according to an exemplary embodiment of this disclosure. 
         [0033]    It will be appreciated that variants of the above-disclosed and other features and functions, or alternatives thereof, may be combined into many other different systems or applications. Various presently unforeseen or unanticipated alternatives, modifications, variations or improvements therein may be subsequently made by those skilled in the art which are also intended to be encompassed by the following claims.