US1925403A - Connecter - Google Patents

Description

Sept 45, 1933.A w. R. POUNDER 1,925,403.;

CONNECTER Filed June 14. 19:50

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CONNECTER Wilburgfltlounder, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Hubbard & Co., Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application June 14, 1930. Serial No. 461,220

3 Claims. (Cl. 173-273) This invention relates to a connecter for connecting a plurality of individual wires or taps to a.

f main wire. t

In an electrical distributionzsystem, main Wires 5 are tapped at frequent` intervals'by individual wires leading to devices drawing power from the main wires. For example, a main primary Wire is tapped at frequent intervals by wires leading to the transformers which reduce the voltage down to the value at which it is delivered to the customers premises. Similarly, the secondary mains are tapped by drop wires leading into customers premises. The connecter of my invention is serviceable for making connections of this type. i

In alarge distribution system, it frequently happens that at one of the points at which the main Wires are tapped there are a plurality of individual wires to be connected to the main wire. go For example, at a transformer pole there may be a group of three or four individual sets of transformers having a tap connecting it primarily to the main primary. Because of the multiplicity of connections to be made to the main primary wire and the necessity of soldering such connections if they are merely Wrapped around the main wire, it is customary to supply a clamping type connector for connecting such connections. This eliminates the necessity of soldering the' drop wire onto the main wire and consequent danger of burning and annealing the main wire and thereby reducing its tensile strength.

Clamps of this type are old in the art, and my invention may therefore be considered an improvement over the devices of the known prior art.

In the preferred embodiment of my invention l'. provide a connecter comprising a body having a slot into'which the main primary wire is placed 40 and clamped by a clamping member in the slot and a nut threaded onto the outside of the body.

1 For convenience in handling I attach the clamping member xedly to the nut so that Athe two may be handled as a single unit, thereby reducing the possibility of delay occasioned by the lineman dropping the clamping member or nut.

The` connecter bodyv has a plurality of studs projecting from it, each to receive an individual wire leading to the power consuming device. In

` the preferred embodiment of my'invention, each stud is provided with a nut andwasher for clamp-V ing the wire that is wound around that stud to the connecter body independently of the other wires so connected to it. From this arrangement,

the service connection to a customer may be connected to the main Without disturbing the service connections to other customer'swhich happen to be extended through the same connecter.

In so far as I am aware, the devices of the prior art employed through bolts which connected to individual Wires to the main wire,`an arrangement which prohibited clamping a second individual Wire to the connecter without disturbing a rst individual wire held thereto by the same bolt.

Further objects of my invention notspeciflcally mentioned here will be apparent froma reading of the detailed description and claims which follow.

Figure 1 is an elevational View of a preferred embodiment of my connecter attached to a main wire and having individual wires attached to it;

Figure 2 is a cross sectional viewi of the connecter taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1';

Figure 3 is a plan view looking down on the connecter as shown in Figure l with the nuts that hold the individual wire to it removed;

Figure 4 is a cross sectional view through the connecter showing the arrangement for clamping the main wire to it; and

Figure 5 is an elevational view of the washer employed to hold the individual wires to the con necter.

Referring to the drawing now in more detail, the connecter comprises a main thin nat sided body 1 the edge of which emerges into a threaded cylindrical portion 2 disposed at the top of it. 'Ihis cylindrical portion has a longitudinal slot 3 into which the main wire 4 is disposed when the device is in service. The slot has its sides substantially parallel to the ilat sides of the body so that the upper edge of the flat body portion serves as the bottom of the slot to secure a clamping surface which extends a considerable distance along the conductor. The Wire 4 is held in the slot by a clamping member 5 which is T- shaped and is tted into the slot 3.

The lower face of the clamping member 5 is concave, as shown at 6, to conform to the Wire 4- 100 and contains a downwardly projecting boss 7 disposed centrally of that portiontof the member. The bottom of the slot 3 contains a concave depression 8 which registers with the projection -7 of the clampingmember, the two to 105 gether serving to dent or deform the main wire 4 and to thereby rigidly hold the connecter against movement longitudinally of it. This feature is optional.

The outside of the cylindrical portion 2 is pro llo vided with threads 9 upon which the nut 10 is threaded to force the clamping member 5 down against the Wire 4 in the bottom of the slot 3. The upper end of the clamping member 5 is flared out at 11 over the upper surface of the nut to attach the clamping member to the nut so that the two members may be handled as a single unit. This reduces the likelihood of the lineman being delayed by dropping the clamping member or the nut when he is attaching the connecter to a main wire.

The lower portion of the body 1 of the connecter comprises a section 12 having transverse flanges 13 and 14 disposed on opposite sides of it. y The flange 14 is provided with slots 15 and 16 through which the individual wiresl'l and 18 are extended. The portion of the body l2 is provided with outwardly extending studs 19 and 20 which are threaded to receive nuts 21 and 22 by which the wires 17 and 18 are separately removably attached tothe connecter.

On the reverse side of the portion 12 are similar projecting studs 23 and 24, which are also threaded to receive nuts 25 by which additional wires 26 are attached to a connecter, and, also, there are slots in the flange 13 through which these wires 26 are passed.

Washers are interposed between the nuts and the adjacent portion of the connecter, these washers preferably comprising cupped disks 28 having projecting ears 29 which t into the slots 15 and 16 to lock the washer and prevent rotation of the washer about the axis of the threaded studs 19, 20, 23 and 24. The cup shape of the washer permits it to be flexed sufficiently to draw down tightly against the wires that are clamped between it and the planar portion l2 of the connecter, the tension in the cup washer also serving as a lock to prevent the nut from being readily loosened. The cupping or coning of the wash-- ers 28-28 tend to restrain or prevent spreading or uncoiling of the end of the wire where the corresponding nut, such as 21 or 22, is drawn tight upon the same. The pressure of the conical inner surface of the washers tends to force the conductor or wire radially towards the stud in stead of away from it. The concave formation of the ears 29 has a useful function in that the edges ofthe ear drop down below the edges of the flanges 13-14 before the central part of the ear engages the conductor and its loose end. Thus the ear is definitely held in the slot of the flange and is kept from turning. A further important feature resides in said curvature of the ear in that it secures a strengthening of the ear against bending upwardly as the nut is drawn down against the washer. By thus forming the Washer with the concaved under face as to both the main body and the ear, the thickness of the body portion 12 of the connecter may be greatly reduced, since it is not necessary to form the same thick enough to support a recess for each stud. This is particularly advantageous in the present construction where two studs are in alignment on opposite sides.

In the manufacture of connecters of this type, I prefer to form the connecter as a brass forging with the studs 19, 20, 23 and 24 integral therewith and shaped and threaded as shown in the drawing. This construction may, of course,

j be modified within the teachings of my invention readline ring staking, or both. Brass is the preferred metal to be used in the construction of this connecter, although bronze, copper, or any other preferred metal may be substituted therefor within the teachings of my invention.

A connecter thus formed affords a quick and easy method of making a rigid and tight electrical connection to a main wire, the connecter being of such a design that the lineman can easily handle it on the pole without danger of dropping it. The connecter is applied to the main conductor 4 without the necessity of cutting the conductor. The body of the connecter can be gripped by a suitable tool such as a pair of pliers or wrench applied to the flat parallel sides of the flanges 13 and 14 and a wrench applied to the nut 10 to draw that nut tightly down on the thread 9, thereby vsecurely clamping the main wire in the connecter.

The arrangement of individual threaded studs 19, 20, 23 and 24 permit attaching a wire to the connecter without in any way disturbing any of the other individual wires connected to it. If, for example, it is desired to connect the wire 17 to the stud 19 while a wire 26 is already connected lo@ to the stud 23, obviously the loosening of the nut 21 and its removal from the stud 19 in no way affects the clamping of the wirel 26 by the nut 25 on the stud 23. This arrangement oi individual studs for connecting the individual wires to the connecter further aids the making of a tight joint at this point for the reason that it is unnecessary to apply a wrench to thecompanion stud when the nut on a stud is being tightened. For example, when the nut on the stud 19 is being tightened, it is not necessary to hold the stud 23 by applying a wrench to the nut thereon as would be necessary in the case of a through bolt such as has been used in the devices of the prior art. If desired, the main body of the connecter n can be gripped by a suitable wrench while the nuts on the studs 19, 20, 23 and 24 are being tightened; however, when the main wire 4 is of appreciable size, the connecter is mounted with suiiicient rigidity to render unnecessary the holding of it during the tightening of the nuts on the studs.

Although I have chosen to show a 'preferred embodiment of my invention, I have done so by way of example only, as there are many modifications and adaptations which can be made by one skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention, and I am not therefore to be limited by the specirk: disclosure but only by the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A connecter for joining a main conductor with one or more branch conductors, comprising a relatively thin and wide plate member having one edge disposed longitudinally of the main conductor to contact therewith, integral parallel extensions proceeding from the sides of the plate at said one edge, said extensions forming a slotted stud, said stud being threaded to receive a clamping nut, said edge of the plate having a conductor receiving groove of substantially greater length than the diameter of the stud extending through the slot of the stud for locating and clamping the main conductor, a clamping piece, 145 of a length greater than the diameter of the stud and substantially equal to the length of the said groove on the edge of the plate, lying in the slot under the clamping nut, and clamping studs extending from the flat sides of the plate for 150 clamping said branch conductors.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination of a at body portion having a stud formed integral With and merging into the upper edge of the body portion, said stud being of a diameter substantially in excess of the thickness of the body portion and having a slot therethrough in alignment with the edge of the body portion whereby the body portion supports the bottom of the slotted stud, said stud being threaded, a clamping member lying in the slot, means cooperating with the threads on the stud for pressing the clamping member toward the bottom of the slot, said body portion having a ange extending from opposite sides of the lower edge, threaded studs rigid with the body portion and extending in alignment with each other from` opposite sides of the body portion said flanges having notches therein adjacent the studs, a nut on each of said latter studs and a concave washer with its cupped side toward the side of the body portion for each of said latter studs, said washers having integral ears arched in cross section to permit their edges to extend over a conductor and at the same time to engage the edges of the notch.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination of a at body portion having a threaded stud formed integral with and merging into the upper edge of the body portion, said stud being of a diameter substantially in excess of the thickness of the body portion and having a slot therethrough in alignment with the edge of the body portion whereby the body portion supports the bottom of the slotted stud and provides a bearing surface of greater length than the diameter of the stud, a clamping member lying in the slot, means cooperating with the threaded stud for pressing the clamping member towards the bottom of the slot, said body portion having iianges extending from opposite sides of the lower margin thereof, the central part of said flanges being in `longitudinal alignment with said stud and providing a suitable engaging portion for a wrench, there being a notch through each flangev on opposite sides of said central portion of the anges, aligned pairs of studs disposed on opposite sides of the body portion, said studs being disposed adjacent the notches in the flanges,

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