Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US5315489?ie=ISO-8859-1&dq=Frischling
Timestamp: 2014-03-07 18:41:27
Document Index: 128631919

Matched Legal Cases: ['arts 47', 'arts 47', 'art 47', 'art 48', 'arts 47', 'arts 47', 'arts 47']

Patent US5315489 - Pressure clamp for telecommunications closure - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Sign inAdvanced Patent SearchPatentsA telecommunications closure (1) includes a pressure clamp (21) for sealingly clamping mating parts (47, 48) of the closure together so as to form a water tight seal. The clamp member requires no tools during installation and creates no uncertainty as to the generation of appropriate clamp pressure on...http://www.google.com/patents/US5315489?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US5315489 - Pressure clamp for telecommunications closureAdvanced Patent SearchPublication numberUS5315489 APublication typeGrantApplication numberUS 07/988,619Publication dateMay 24, 1994Filing dateDec 10, 1992Priority dateDec 10, 1992Fee statusPaidAlso published asCA2151478A1, EP0673513A1, WO1994014095A1Publication number07988619, 988619, US 5315489 A, US 5315489A, US-A-5315489, US5315489 A, US5315489AInventorsDonald Del Fava, Lowell I. Koht, Mark McCall, Thomas WongOriginal AssigneeRaynet CorporationExport CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManPatent Citations (6), Referenced by (10), Classifications (23), Legal Events (4) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetPressure clamp for telecommunications closureUS 5315489 AAbstract A telecommunications closure (1) includes a pressure clamp (21) for sealingly clamping mating parts (47, 48) of the closure together so as to form a water tight seal. The clamp member requires no tools during installation and creates no uncertainty as to the generation of appropriate clamp pressure on a sealing O-ring when installed. The pressure clamp includes an over-center latch which is rotatable between a first unlatched position and a second latched position, a clamping pressure generated by the latch increasing to a maximum value as the rotatable latch is moved from its first position to an intermediate position between the first and second positions and then decreases from this maximum value as the latch is moved from the intermediate position to the second position so as to generate a predetermined appropriate clamping pressure when in its second position so as to appropriately compress the O-ring disposed within a groove between the closure parts at their mating area.
7. The clamp of claim 6, the angle being between 4
11. A telecommunications closure (1), comprising:a closure base plate (48); a closure dome (47) mateable with the base plate; a sealing ring (25); a card cage (51) disposed within the dome and connected to the base plate, the card cage including a plurality of circuit boards (67) therein having electrical circuits (68) thereon; a pressure clamp (21) for sealingly connecting the dome to the base plate, the clamp including: a circumferential clamp member (22, 23) which encircles the sealing ring disposed within a circumferential cavity (26) formed between the base plate and the dome, the clamp member having first and second confronting ends (31, 32) which are separated in an unclamped state from one another, the clamp member having first and second legs (27, 28) extending radially inwardly around its circumference, an interior surface (29, 30) of the legs being shaped so as to be slideable over radially extending mating engagement surfaces (49, 50) of the closure parts; means (24) for urging and latching the first and second confronting ends together so as to urge the clamp member legs over the engagement surfaces to maintain compression on the sealing ring to provide a pressure seal between the closure mating parts; the urging and latching means including an over-center rotatable latch (38) rotatably moveable between a first open unlatched position and a second latched position, an attractive force exerted between the first and second clamp member confronting ends increasing to a maximum as the rotatable latch is moved from its first position to an intermediate position between the first and second positions and then decreasing from the maximum as the latch is moved from the intermediate position to the second position. 12. A pressure clamp (21) for a telecommunications closure (1), comprising:a circumferential clamp member (22, 23) which encircles a sealing ring (25) disposed within a circumferential cavity (26) formed between mating parts (47, 48) of the telecommunications closure, the clamp member having first and second confronting ends (31, 32) which are separated in an unclamped state from one another, the clamp member having first and second legs (27, 28) extending radially inwardly around its circumference, an interior surface (29, 30) of the legs being shaped so as to be slideable over radially extending mating engagement surfaces (49, 50) of the closure parts, the interior surfaces of the legs and the mating engagement surfaces of the closure parts being angled so as to form an angle less than 14 connecting opposite ends of the sealing ring; means (24) for urging and latching the first and second confronting ends together so as to urge the clamp member legs over the engagement surfaces to maintain compression on the sealing ring to provide a pressure seal between the closure mating parts. Description
Prior art pressure clamps for clamping and creating a seal between first and second parts of a telecommunications closure utilize a nut and bolt arrangement whereby the clamp is tightened by torquing the nut to get an apparent mechanical advantage of the pitch of bolt threads to enable a clamp to be tightened without an inordinate amount of work by a craftsperson. Such prior art clamps are disadvantageous since they require tools, are not particularly user friendly, and there is a substantial amount of uncertainty when tightening the nut as to when sufficient clamp pressure has been generated so as to result in a water tight seal and also result in an arrangement whereby the pressure is still low enough to prevent mechanical parts of the clamp from being unduly stressed which can result in premature failure of the clamp. Furthermore, prior art clamps are generally made of metal and hence are subject to corrosion, and are relatively expensive. Finally, prior art clamps generally utilize clamp legs which have an angled interior surface equal to or greater than 20 closure parts. Though such large angles result in requiring minimum movement of the clamp when tightening the nut to generate sufficient clamp pressure, such large angles are disadvantageous since in low temperature conditions the closure parts tend to contract radially creating a significant possibility that pat of the seal generated by the clamp may be broken on a side of the clamp from which the closure parts retract.
FIG. 8 illustrates details of a clamp lock 24 illustrated in FIG. 5, with the clamp lock 24 in FIG. 8 being in its open first position whereat first and second ends 31, 32 of the clamp member are separated a predetermined distance. When the ends 31, 32 are so separated, the first and second clamp legs 27, 28 are slideably engaged with the mating engaging surfaces 49, 50, and a base 34 of a channel formed by the legs 27, 28 is separated from an outer circumferential surface 36 of the closure mating parts 47, 48 a predetermined amount. As will be appreciated by those having ordinary skill in the art, urging the clamp member confronting ends 31, 32 together by the structure constructed according to the present invention will cause the diameter of the pressure clamp 21 to decrease and hence urge the channel base 34 radially inwards and towards the outer circumferential surfaces 36 of the closure parts 47, 48. Doing so results in transverse forces being imposed on the closure part 47 in the downward direction and on the closure part 48 in the upward direction in FIG. 4 so as to compress the O-ring 25 and create a pressure seal between the closure parts 47, 48. Preferably, the pressure clamp and closure parts are dimensioned so that an optimum transverse clamping pressure is maintained on the O-ring 25 when the clamp lock 24 is latched in its second closed position, shown in FIGS. 5, 10. Optimally, in this position, the channel base 34 and outer circumferential surfaces 36 are in contact all the way around the closure parts 47, 48, with surfaces 44 of the pressure clamp members 22, 23 being spaced from the closure parts so as to not impose any undue loads on the clamp member legs 27, 28. Accordingly, the pressure clamp can be made of a plastic material as can the closure parts, rather than metal, and yet generate sufficient hoop forces and forces transverse to these hoop forces so as to maintain a water tight pressure seal. Experiments have shown that an interior pressure of 5 psi within the closure can be maintained over temperature cycling between -40 clamp member is constructed of filled polyester having a glass filling of approximately 20% (i.e. polybutylene teraphalate), with the closure parts being made of polypropylene using an O-ring made of ethylene polypropylene, 60 shore hardness, sized to create a gap of about 40/1000 of an inch between surfaces 99 of the closure parts prior to exerting sealing pressure on the pressure clamp. Optimally, when the clamp lock is in its second position, the closure part surfaces 99 are in contact with one another. According to a preferred embodiment, the clamp member can have various percentages of glass fillings, i.e. 5%-50%, preferably 10%-25%, i.e. 20%.
According to a preferred embodiment, an angle α which the clamp legs 27, 28 each make with a diameter of the closure parts should be kept relatively small, i.e. less than 20%, to minimize transverse loads imposed along a direction perpendicular to the closure parts diameter as the closure parts expand and contract during temperature cycling. The angle α can be as low as 0 embodiment a small angle α is preferred to make the pressure clamp more user friendly since without any angle initial transverse pressure must be imposed on the closure parts 47, 48 manually to initially compress the O-ring 25 to allow the clamp legs 27, 28 to be disposed over surfaces 49, 50. With a small taper angle, lead-in of the legs over the surfaces 49, 50 is easily facilitated by hand with no transverse external pressure being required, with all transverse pressure during the clamping operation then being conveniently applied via hoop forces generated by the clamp lock 24 whose construction details will be explained further. Preferably, the angle α is between 0 between 4 and 14 optimally between 5 angle has been shown to generate sustainable transverse forces on the clamp legs during temperature cycling.
Patent CitationsCited PatentFiling datePublication dateApplicantTitleUS3557299 *Feb 10, 1969Jan 19, 1971Minnesota Mining & MfgSealed cable closureUS4097683 *Sep 15, 1976Jun 27, 1978Coil Sales & Manufacturing Co.Terminal housing for buried electrical cables and method of expanding sameUS4183601 *Oct 2, 1978Jan 15, 1980Northern Telecom LimitedTerminal postUS4725921 *Jun 3, 1986Feb 16, 1988Siemens AktiengesellschaftHinged labeling panelUS5069516 *Nov 21, 1989Dec 3, 1991Raynet CorporationTelecommunications closuresWO1991008574A1 *Nov 21, 1990May 22, 1991Raynet CorpCard cage* Cited by examinerReferenced byCiting PatentFiling datePublication dateApplicantTitleUS5695347 *Jun 7, 1995Dec 9, 1997Seiko Epson CorporationConnection assembly for electronic devicesUS6259024 *Aug 9, 1999Jul 10, 2001Avaya Technology CorpIntegrated base fixture for a telecommunications enclosureUS6300562Jul 29, 1999Oct 9, 2001Avaya Technology Corp.Self-sealing telecommunications enclosureUS6366464 *Aug 16, 1999Apr 2, 2002Marconi Communications, Inc.Card cage for circuit cards in an optical network unitUS6463203Jul 29, 1999Oct 8, 2002Avaya Technology Corp.High pressure sealed telecommunications equipment enclosureUS6728459 *Jul 17, 2001Apr 27, 20043M Innovative Properties CompanyFilament organizerUS6942153 *May 25, 2004Sep 13, 2005Unitech Electronics Co.,Inc.Handheld computerUS7072559 *Jul 9, 2004Jul 4, 2006Tyco Telecommunications (Us) Inc.Multiple hinged tray cable connecting joint and method of using sameWO1996033922A1 *Apr 23, 1996Oct 31, 1996Clits PatrickClosing deviceWO1996041401A1 *May 17, 1996Dec 19, 1996S Mos Systems IncConnection assembly for electronic devices* Cited by examinerClassifications U.S. Classification361/801, 361/823, 361/802, 174/40.0CC, 439/717, 361/752, 174/665, 174/50International ClassificationG02B6/44, G02B6/24, F16B2/08, H02G15/076, G02B6/00Cooperative ClassificationG02B6/4442, G02B6/4444, G02B6/4428, F16B2/08, H02G15/076European ClassificationF16B2/08, G02B6/44C8A2H, G02B6/44C6B1, G02B6/44C8A2H2, H02G15/076Legal EventsDateCodeEventDescriptionNov 23, 2005FPAYFee paymentYear of fee payment: 12Nov 21, 2001FPAYFee paymentYear of fee payment: 8Sep 30, 1997FPAYFee paymentYear of fee payment: 4Dec 10, 1992ASAssignmentOwner name: RAYNET CORPORATION, CALIFORNIAFree format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST.;ASSIGNORS:MCCALL, MARK;DEL FAVA, DONALD;WONG, THOMAS;AND OTHERS;REEL/FRAME:006347/0326Effective date: 19921210RotateOriginal ImageGoogle Home - Sitemap - USPTO Bulk Downloads - Privacy Policy - Terms of Service - About Google Patents - Send FeedbackData provided by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services©2012 Google