DE29912926U1 - Sleeve body - Google Patents

Description

Applicant: Paul Jordan-SLG Verbindungstechnik GmbH

Our file: 50003 Al/Gr

Sleeve body I. Area of application

&iacgr;&ogr; The invention relates to sleeves which are used to seal the electrical connection point between two underground cables in the ground against the ingress of moisture. This can be an extension of an electrical underground cable or a branch cable branching off from a main cable.

II. Technical background

A common form of sealing consists in a sleeve body around the electrical contact point, which usually ends in a so-called clamping ring in which the stripped ends of the cable wires are electrically connected. After the electrical connection has been made, the inside of the sleeve body is filled with a hardening or non-hardening casting compound to such an extent that the non-insulated parts of the connection are completely sealed by the casting compound. In order to prevent the casting compound from leaking out and also to prevent moisture from entering later, the sleeve body, which usually consists of two sleeve half-shells, must be sealed, i.e. the individual parts of the sleeve body must be sealed against one another and the sleeve body must be sealed against the cables at the cable entry points.

Since the assembly, i.e. first the creation of the electrical connection and at the same time or afterwards the arrangement and filling of the sleeve - often has to take place under difficult spatial conditions in a narrow underground work space, the simple and safe handling of the sleeve body, among other things, is of great importance. In this context, it is known to create sleeve bodies from two separate half-shells, with one half-shell being placed under the electrical connection to be created and, after this has been created, the upper half-shell being placed on top and screwed or locked. The casting openings for

The filling holes for the casting compound are then located in the upper half-shell and can then be closed with separate lids. There is usually a casting opening and a vent opening for the air displaced by the casting compound in the socket body to escape.

The cable inlets and outlets are often sealed against the sleeve bodies using pre-formed sealing bodies, which are inserted into the receiving spaces provided for this purpose in the sleeve half-shells.

III. Description of the invention a) Technical problem

It is therefore the object of the invention to provide a sleeve body which is easy and safe to handle despite being inexpensive to produce.

b) Solution to the task

This object is achieved by the features of claims 1 and 16. Advantageous embodiments emerge from the subclaims.

The articulated connection of the half-shells reduces the number of parts that have to be handled individually, and the dual function of the closure of the casting opening as a closure of the socket body reduces the overall number of individual parts.

When all parts of the socket body are made as one piece, the individual parts cannot be lost and the manufacturing costs are reduced, as the film hinges are a very cost-effective hinge solution. The socket can be assembled very quickly by locking the closure of the socket half shells against each other.

The vertical arrangement of the contact plane means that the opened sleeve body can be laid out underneath before the electrical connection is made, then positioned and the sleeve closed. Two electrical contacts spaced lengthways apart mean that even when the sleeve body is installed at an angle lengthways, the casting opening can be selected that causes the casting compound not to flow directly onto the electrical contacts, such as the clamping ring, but to the side into the interior of the sleeve, so that the casting compound rises from below towards the electrical contacts. This prevents air bubbles from becoming trapped at the electrical contact points, which otherwise pose a risk of short circuits due to water later entering these air bubbles. By arranging the snap lock over the entire length of the opening joint of the sleeve body, a mechanically very secure and stable closure of the sleeve is achieved. By sealing the socket half shells using tongue and groove joints, which are particularly integrally formed on the socket half shells and seal sufficiently without additional separate sealing material, the number of individual parts required is reduced. By using an analog tongue and groove joint between the closure covers and the socket half shells, in addition to sealing, positioning and

Centering of the closure cover relative to the rest of the socket body is achieved, especially with wedge-shaped cross-sections of the tongues or grooves used.

In order to improve the tightness, the tongue and groove connections between the socket half-shells on the one hand and the closure cover and the rest of the socket body on the other hand preferably do not butt against each other, but are offset longitudinally in such a way that when the socket is installed, the tongues of the two tongue and groove connections rest against each other with their flanks.

&iacgr;&ogr; By using a plastic for the production of the socket body as an injection-molded part, which despite sufficient mechanical stability still has sufficient elasticity, for example for the tight interlocking of tongue and groove connections and the locking of locking connections, for example polypropylene, a high degree of tightness of the socket body is achieved.

By using a transparent plastic, the transparency of which can be further increased by polishing the outside, it is possible to check by visual contact before filling the sleeve with casting compound that the clamping ring and the electrical contact points do not lie on the inside of the sleeve in order to enable subsequent all-round casting of the electrical contact points.

Since - in the case of branch joints - the joint is not symmetrical across the longitudinal extension, the hollow central area of the joint body usually extends to different distances from the two longitudinally spaced casting openings. By arranging a ventilation channel between the casting opening with the greater distance and the part of the central area adjacent to it, which opens at a high point of this casting opening, air can escape from this part of the central area, particularly if the casting is carried out through the other casting opening.

The air displaced by the casting compound escapes through the sealing tongue and groove connections, which are accordingly sufficiently tight to prevent the viscous to tough casting compound from passing through, but are not airtight. Air can also escape through the sealing bodies on the front opposite the incoming and outgoing cables.

By arranging support tabs at the cable entry openings, especially outside the front sides of the joint main body, even cables with a comparatively small diameter can be handled safely:

With such small cable diameters there is otherwise a risk that when the relatively heavy casting compound is poured onto the cables inside the sleeve, these cables will press the front sealing bodies together downwards, causing leaks in the upper contact area between the sealing bodies and the sleeve body. This is avoided by supporting the cables with support edges directed from below against the cable cross-section. The support edges can, for example, be the lower edges of recesses in the support tabs that protrude inwards transversely to the longitudinal direction, i.e. the direction in which the cable passes through, with the recess being designed in particular in a semicircular shape. The support tabs protrude inwards from each of the two sleeve half-shells transversely to the contact plane of the half-shells and parallel to the front surfaces of the sleeve body, are preferably integral with them and connected via film hinges and can accordingly be folded away from this parallel position or completely removed by breaking off or cutting off if no support tabs are required due to the use of relatively large cable diameters.

c) Examples of implementation

An embodiment according to the invention is explained in more detail below using the figures as an example. They show:

Fig. 1: a longitudinal section through the almost closed socket

body,

Fig. 2: a cross-section of the closed socket body,

Fig. 3: a front view of the opened socket body,

Fig. 4: a top view of the opened socket body, and

Fig. 5: Detailed representations of the tongue and groove connections.

Fig. 1 shows the almost closed sleeve in a longitudinal section in the viewing direction I of Fig. 2, while Fig. 2 shows a cross-sectional view of the completely closed sleeve in the viewing direction II of Fig. 1.

In contrast, Figures 3 and 4 show the same sleeve in the open, i.e. unfolded, state, in which the contact planes 10 of the sleeve half-shells are aligned with each other in the front view (Fig. 3) or in the plan view transverse to the longitudinal direction 11 with a view into the interior of the sleeve (Fig. 4).

Figures 5 are detailed representations of the transition of the tongue and groove connections 12 and 13 respectively.

As can best be seen from Figures 1 and 2, the sleeve body consists of two largely symmetrical half-shells 1a, 1b, which together with the closure covers 2a, 2b and the locking covers 25a, 25b, 25c are manufactured in one piece as an injection-molded part from transparent or partially transparent polypropylene.

For reinforcement, the half shells have integrally formed outer ribs on the outside, which run radially around the longitudinal direction 11, in particular

especially in the front end areas 5a, 5b, in which - when the sleeve body is folded up - the through-openings 15a, 15b for the entry of the underground cables - not shown in the figures - are located. Particularly high stability is required there in order to avoid a connection of the sleeve body, since otherwise leaks can occur at these through-openings, as there is insufficient contact between the cables passing through and the sealing bodies enclosing the cables, not shown in the drawings, or between these sealing bodies and the surrounding parts of the sleeve half-shells in the areas provided for this purpose.

β annular receiving spaces 8a, 8b of the closed sleeve body is no longer provided. The receiving spaces 8a, 8b are limited at the front by inwardly projecting ring walls or projections in order to prevent migration in the longitudinal direction 11 of the sealing bodies to be inserted.

The half-shells 1a, 1b are - as can best be seen in Figures 3 and 4 - connected to one another via a film hinge 4a which runs along the entire length in the longitudinal direction 11, while the closure covers 2 and locking covers 25 are all arranged on the same half-shell 1a, also via film hinges 4b.

The sleeve is mounted in the orientation shown in Fig. 2, i.e. with an approximately vertical contact plane 10 between the half-shells 1a, 1b, so that the film hinge 4a connecting the half-shells is located at the lowest point and the casting openings 3, which also extend over the contact plane, protrude upwards above the essentially rotationally symmetrical main space 9 of the sleeve body and are closed there by the closure cover 2a, 2b, which

- simultaneously serves to fix the half shells 1a, 1b against each other. Outside the longitudinal areas of the two longitudinally separated closure covers 2a, 2b, the two half shells 1a, 1b are additionally pressed against each other via locking covers 25a, 25b, 25c both in the area between the closure covers and in the area in the longitudinal direction outside the closure covers up to the front ends 15a, 15b, all of which, like the

Closure covers 2a, 2b have the same snap-in closure 6, consisting of a hook-shaped curved locking lug 6a at the free end of closure covers 2a, 2b or snap-in covers 25a, 25b, 25c, which snap into place over a corresponding edge and behind it the snap-in recess 6b of the opposite half-shell 1b, as can best be seen in Fig. 2 and 3.

As best shown in Fig. 4, the casting openings 3a, 3b are located in the longitudinal direction 11 outside the middle, i.e. the central area 9, of the sleeve, in the cavity of which the clamping ring of the electrical connection is located in the fully assembled state. The casting openings 3a, 3b are located near the end areas, in the longitudinal direction 9 directly at the inner end of the receiving spaces 8a, 8b for the sealing bodies, so that the delimiting inner web walls for the receiving spaces simultaneously form the walls of the casting openings 3a, 3b.

Fig. 3 also shows that the two closure covers 2a, 2b and the locking covers 25a, 25b, 25c arranged between them and outside the closure covers are only separated from one another by narrow gaps in order to be opened and closed independently of one another, but otherwise cover the entire longitudinal extent of the socket body. Fig. 3 also shows the ventilation channel 19, which extends from the central region 9 in both socket half-shells 1a, 1b, i.e. on both sides of the contact plane 10, from the nearest highest point of the central region 9 into the upper region of the adjacent casting opening 3a, namely at the casting opening in which the central region 9 protrudes less far upwards and thus does not reach as close to the casting opening 3a.

Likewise, the film hinges 4a and 4b extend essentially over the entire length of the sleeve body.

Fig. 3 also shows the tongue and groove connection 12, with which the half shells 1a, 1b are sealed against each other in the closed state. The tongues

12a protrude from the half-shell 1a in one piece, essentially perpendicular to the contact plane 10, beyond the latter in the direction of the opposite half-shell 1b, and - for reasons of easier insertion and removal from the mold - usually have a cross-section tapering towards the free end.

In this case, a first section 12a1 - slightly offset inwards from the outermost edge of the socket body - extends from one casting opening 3a to the other casting opening 3b and there merges into the tongue and groove connection 13 × between the closure cover 2a, 2b and the socket bodies, which will be explained in more detail below.

A second section 12a2 extends in the area closest to the film hinge 4a from one receiving space 8a to the other receiving space 8b. A third and fourth section 12a3 and 12a4 of the spring 12a extends on the front side and on the side facing away from the film hinge 4a from the respective front receiving space 8a or 8b to the nearest tongue and groove connection 13 between the closure cover 2a or 2b and the rest of the sleeve body.

Together with the sealing bodies (not shown) sealing the cable inlet in the receiving spaces 8b and the tight connection of the closure covers 2a, 2b with respect to the rest of the sleeve housing, the sleeve body is completely sealed all around in the closed state, as shown in Fig. 2.

The sealing of the closure covers 2a, 2b is achieved on the one hand by the connection via film hinges 4b to one half-shell 1a of the socket body and transversely thereto by springs 13a which project from the closure covers 2a, 2b in the direction of the interior of the socket and preferably run parallel.

The edge of the closure cover 2a or 2b opposite the film hinge 4b is adequately sealed by the snap-in closure 6 arranged there over the entire length of the closure cover.

All springs 12a1 to 12a4 engage in correspondingly arranged grooves 12b1 to 12b4 of the other socket half-shell 1b, and the springs 13a of the closure covers 2a, 2b engage in corresponding grooves 13b which are located in alignment with one another in both socket half-shells 1a, 1b, running transversely to the contact plane 10 and thus also to the opening joint 7.

The transition between the tongue and groove connections 12 and 13 from Fig. 4 is shown enlarged in Fig. 5b. In order to make this transition between the tongue and groove connections, which meet in a T-shape, sufficiently tight, the tongues 12a4 and 12a3 of one locking connection are offset in the longitudinal direction 10 relative to the tongues 13a of the other locking connection - and of course also the grooves arranged analogously to this - so that the flanks facing each other touch in the assembled state and in particular in one tongue, e.g. 12a, there is a recess 26 for receiving part of the cross section of the other tongue 13a in the front end region of this tongue 12a4.

Fig. 3 and 4 also show the guide projections 20, 21 present on both half-shells 1a, 1b, which also protrude vertically above the respective contact plane 10, which protrude from the walls of the sleeve body which meet the contact plane 10 and protrude into the corresponding opposite wall of the other half-shell into recesses present there, so that when the sleeve body is closed, the inwardly directed surfaces 22 of the guide projections 20, 21 merge flush into the inner surfaces of the receiving spaces 8a, 8b.

The guide projections serve to guide the sealing body inserted into the receiving spaces 8a, 8b, which is usually made of foam or at least deformed.

modifiable material in order to avoid jamming of the sealing body between the sleeve half-shells 1a, 1b outside the receiving spaces when closing the sleeve body, which would lead to an undesirable distance and thus leakage of the sleeve half-shells 1a, 1b from each other. In each receiving space 8a, 8b there are therefore corresponding guide projections 20 and 21, respectively, and both on the side adjacent to the film hinge 4a (e.g. 20a2) and on the side opposite the film hinge with respect to the direction of passage for the cables, e.g. 20a1, and at each of the above-mentioned locations there are two guide projections adjacent to each other in the longitudinal direction

Ø e.g. 20a1, 20b1 are arranged alternately on one of the half shells 1a, 1b, which cover more than half, preferably almost the entire extension of the receiving spaces 8a, 8b in the longitudinal direction.

Figures 1 and 3 further show support tabs 16a, 16b, wherein a pair 16a, 16b of support tabs is shown arranged in front of each of the front end faces of the sleeve main body parallel to the front face and thus transversely to the passage direction of the cables and transversely to the contact plane 10.

The support tabs 16a, 16b each protrude into the through-opening 15a, 15b of the main sleeve body, but not beyond the contact plane 10. In the direction of view in Fig. 3, i.e. viewed in the longitudinal direction, the support tabs 16a, 16b are each fork-shaped with a semicircular recess in the free end and are arranged symmetrically to the center of the through-opening. At the end edge opposite the free end, the support tabs 16a, 16b are each integrally connected to the outer end face of the main sleeve body via film hinges 4c and can therefore be bent away from the shown approximately parallel position to the end face of the main sleeve body, and when bent outwards by 90° or more, they also remain in a position that no longer protrudes into the through-opening 15a, 15b. Complete removal by breaking or cutting off the film hinges 4c is also possible. The area of the semicircular edge of the recess 18a, 18b located at the bottom in the assembled state of Fig. 2 acts as

Support edge 17a, 17b, on which the cable passing through the sleeve rests, and thus does not place too much load on the elastic, not shown sealing bodies in the receiving spaces 8a, 8b due to gravity.

LIST OF REFERENCE SYMBOLS

1a, 1b Socket half shells 14 Outside 2a. 2b Cover cap 20 15a, 15b Passage opening 3a, 3b Casting opening 16a, 16b Support tabs 4a, 4b, 4c film hinge 17a, 17b Support edge &iacgr;&ogr; 5a, 5b front end 18a, 18b Recess 6a. 6b Snap closure 19 Ventilation duct 7 Opening joint 25 20a, 20b Leadership advantage 8a, 8b Recording rooms 21 Leadership advantage 9 Central area 22 Area 15 10 Contact level 23 Inner surface 11 Longitudinal direction 24 Outer ribs 12 Tongue and groove connection 30 25a, 25b, 25c Snap-on lid 13 Tongue and groove connection 26 Recess

Claims (19)

1. Joint body for enclosing the contact points of two electrical underground cables with 1. two socket half shells ( 1 a, 1 b), 2. at least one cover for the casting opening ( 3 a, 3 b) and 3. a closure for the socket half-shells ( 1 a, 1 b) against each other, characterized in that the socket half-shells ( 1 a, 1 b) are connected to each other in an articulated manner and the closure of the half-shells ( 1 a, 1 b) is at the same time the closure cover ( 2 a, 2 b) for the casting opening ( 3 a, 3 b). 2. Sleeve body according to claim 1, characterized in that the sleeve half-shells ( 1 a, 1 b) are formed together in one piece and/or the at least one closure cover ( 2 a, 2 b) on a sleeve half-shell ( 1 a) and is connected thereto in particular via a film hinge ( 4 a). 3. Sleeve body according to claim 2, characterized in that the closure cover ( 2 a, 2 b) can be locked relative to the sleeve half-shell ( 1 b), with which it is not directly connected in one piece. 4. Sleeve body according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the sleeve body in the installed state has a substantially vertical contact plane ( 10 ) and the at least one potting opening ( 3a , 3b ) for the potting compound is arranged in the longitudinal direction ( 11 ) at a distance from the position for the electrical contacts, in particular the clamping ring, and in particular two potting openings are arranged near the front ends ( 5a , 5b ) of the sleeve body. 5. Sleeve body according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a snap closure ( 6 ) extends substantially along the entire opening joint of the sleeve body. 6. Sleeve body according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the sleeve half-shells ( 1 a, 1 b) have receiving spaces ( 8 a, 8 b) for sealing bodies on the end faces for sealing the cables entering or exiting there from the sleeve body and along the essentially remaining outer areas the sleeve half-shells ( 1 a, 1 b) are sealed against each other via a tongue and groove connection ( 12 ), of which one half-shell ( 1 a) has only the grooves ( 12 b) and the other half-shell ( 1 b) has only the tongues ( 12 a). 7. Sleeve body according to claim 6, characterized in that the tongue and groove connection ( 12 ) ends in the front area in the receiving spaces ( 8a , 8b ) for the front sealing bodies. 8. Sleeve body according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that the tongue and groove connections ( 12 ) in the region of the closure covers ( 2a , 2b ) merge into a tongue and groove connection ( 13 ) between the closure covers ( 2a , 2b ) and sleeve bodies ( 1a , 1b ), wherein in particular the grooves ( 13b ) are formed in the sleeve bodies ( 1a , 1b ) and the tongues ( 13a ) are formed on the closure covers ( 2a , 2b ). 9. Sleeve body according to claim 8, characterized in that the springs ( 12a ) of the tongue and groove connection ( 12 ) between the sleeve half-shells ( 1a , 1b ) are axially offset from one another in the longitudinal direction ( 11 ) relative to the springs ( 13a ) of the tongue and groove connection ( 13 ) between the closure cover ( 2a , 2b ) and sleeve bodies ( 1a , 1b ) such that these springs ( 12a , 13a ) directly adjoin one another in the longitudinal direction ( 11 ). 10. Sleeve body according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the sleeve body consists of polypropylene (PP), in particular of transparent polypropylene and is polished on the outside ( 14 ) at least in the central region ( 9 ), in which the electrical contacts, in particular the clamping ring, are located, to improve the transparency. 11. Sleeve body according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the central region ( 9 ) of the sleeve body extends at different distances from the two casting openings ( 2a , 2b ) arranged near the end faces and the region which extends less closely is connected to the adjacent filling opening via a vent channel ( 19 ). 12. Sleeve body according to claim 11, characterized in that the ventilation channel ( 19 ) is formed as a groove in both half-shells ( 1a , 1b ) across the contact plane ( 16 ) of the sleeve half-shells ( 1a , 1b ). 13. Sleeve body according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that in the region of the receiving spaces ( 8a , 8b ) for the front-side sealing bodies at each transition between the sleeve half-shells ( 1a , 1b ) there is at least one guide projection ( 20a , 20b , 21a , 21b ) extending beyond the contact plane ( 10 ) into the region of the other sleeve shell ( 1b , 1a ) in order to avoid jamming of the sealing body between the half-shells ( 1a , 1b ). 14. Sleeve body according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the guide projection ( 20 a, 20 b, 21 a, 21 b) extends over more than half the longitudinal extent of the receiving space ( 8 a, 8 b) and in particular at each contact point there are two mutually directed, axially offset guide projections ( 20 a1, 20 a2, 20 b1, 20 b2, 21 a1, ...). 15. Sleeve body according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the inwardly directed surfaces ( 22 ) of the guide projections ( 21 , 20 ) are aligned with the inner surfaces ( 23 ) of the receiving space ( 8a , 8b ) of the opposite sleeve shell ( 1a , 1b ). 16. Joint body for enclosing the contact points of two underground electrical cables with 1. two socket half shells ( 1 a, 1 b), 2. at least one cover for the casting opening ( 3 a, 3 b) and 3. a closure for the socket half-shells ( 1 a, 1 b) against each other, in particular according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that
the sleeve half-shells ( 1 a, 1 b) have support tabs ( 16 a, 16 b) on the front side in the region of the passage openings ( 15 a, 15 b) for the cables, which are arranged in particular in one piece and via film hinges ( 4 c) with the respective outer front side of a sleeve half-shell ( 1 a, 1 b) and protrude inwards transversely to the longitudinal direction ( 11 ). 17. Sleeve body according to claim 16, characterized in that each support tab ( 16 a, 16 b) has a support edge ( 17 a, 17 b) pointing towards the passage direction for the cables and lying under the cable, in particular in the form of a recess ( 18 a, 18 b) pointing towards the passage direction, in particular in the form of a semicircular recess ( 18 a, 18 b). 18. Sleeve body according to one of claims 16 or 17, characterized in that the support tabs ( 16a , 16b ), which in the initial state protrude into the passage opening ( 15 ) of the sleeve half-shell ( 1a , 1b ), can be bent out of this by at least 90°, in particular about a pivot axis which is transverse to the longitudinal direction ( 11 ) and parallel to the contact plane ( 10 ), and remain in this position automatically.