Western Electric Company, Inc.

At&t Technologies, Inc.

At&t Bell Laboratories

At+t Corp.

American Telephone and Telegraph Company, At&t Technologies, Inc.

Charles McGonigal

Monty J Edwards

George F DeVeau

Wing S Liu

James E Voytko

Robert J Brown

Douglas R Fernandez

Denis Edward Burek

Edwin C Hardesty

Eugene Raymond Cocco

Byron Lee Small

Raymond A Levandoski

Daniel Marion Steinert

Gordon Foreman Bloxham

Chauncey M Horton, Jr

Claude Paren Brezeale

Robert L Sweatt

E Walton Horne, Iii

Floyd J Garner

Herbert H Bierenfeld

John M Amein

John A Kelsey

A protective shell for a splice closure or the like has a flange base member and a flange cover member. A triangularly shaped ridge extends along each flange which hold triangularly shaped clamps in place against displacement, yet, in conjunction with the clamps, create room for the insertion of mounting hardware in the clamps. The closure is supported within the shell so that it is surrounded by space for an encapsulant. The supports for the closure are configured to permit passage of liquid encapsulant into the space between the-bottom of the closure and the base member.

Protective shell for cable connection module

An optical fiber splicing device includes a clip (20) which aligns and secures cylindrical rods (28, 30 and 32) utilized within a three-rod optical fiber splicing device. The clip (20) is a generally cylindrically shaped component which is made of a resilient material and is positionable so as to encase three cylindrical rods (28, 30 and 32). The clip (20) comprises a circular body portion (22) and two protruding leg portions (24 and 26) which extend from an point on the outer periphery of clip body (22). The two leg portions (24 and 26) are constructed and oriented such that they may be manipulated to controllably expand the inner diameter of clip body (22). To facilitate an optical fiber splice or connection, the clip (20) of the present invention allows the clip body (22) to be expanded to loosen the grip on rods (28, 30 and 32) held therein, thereby allowing the optical fiber ends to be inserted between the rods. Additionally, the inner periphery of clip body (22) is adapted with a plurality of dimple pairs precisely aligned to assure proper longitudinal alignment of the three rods for an efficient and effective splice.

Rod-securing clip for use in optical fiber three-rod connectors

Optical fiber three-rod connector having a rod-securing clip

A protector module (30) for protecting the conductors of a telephone loop cludes a pair of protector assemblies (40-40') which are supported within a common housing (32). A gas tube voltage protection subassembly (42) of each protector assembly is connected electrically to a grounding subassembly (44) for causing current associated with excessive voltage surges to be conducted to ground. A first electrode includes a portion which extends through annular dielectric and metallic members and an opening of an open-ended metallic container (93) to engage a shunting element (62) of a current protection subassembly (41). The superimposed annular members are held in engagement with the first electrode at a substantially constant pressure by axial forces applied by turned-in portions (109--109) of a side wall of the metallic container. The shunting element is supported at one end of the line pin in an initial position by a fusible material. A spring (43) between the container of the voltage protection subassembly and the housing maintains the voltage protection subassembly in engagement with the shunting element. When current flow exceeds a predetermined level that is sufficient to melt the fusible material, the spring is effective to cause the shunting element to be moved to engage the grounding subassembly to establish a fault current path to ground. The excess voltage arcs across the wide gap to ground, or in the event that a gas in the gap has vented, the voltage arcs across openings in the dielectric member to ground in a fail-safe mode.

Voltage surge limiter with grounding assembly

A slotted beam contact element (13) for an electrical connector is constructed by forming an opening in a metallic strip (31) and then, if necessary, reshaping at least one portion of the strip which defines the opening. Then a bifurcated beam (14) is formed in the strip with the opening being disposed between at least portions of inner edge surfaces of the furcations (15--15) of the beam after which the furcations are moved toward each other. Forces are applied to the furcations at locations (38--38) along a major surface (35) of the strip adjacent to outer edge surfaces (37--37) of the furcations to cause the inner edge surfaces to define a slot having a predetermined configuration.

Methods of and apparatus for making slotted beam contact elements

An electrical connector which is capable of being used to interconnect insulated conductors in the field or in a factory during in-line processing includes a frame and contact element. The contact element which is used to establish an electrical connection between the conductors includes a center portion and two opposed bifurcated beams. A portion of each beam is upstanding from the plane of the contact element. Furcations of each beam define a slot for receiving one of the conductors to be interconnected. The contact element is attached to the frame which includes at least one deformable tang at each end. End portions of conductors to be connected are each positioned across an end of the frame. The tangs are wrapped about the conductors, the conductors are moved into the slots of the beams, and excess portions of the lengths severed. The tang at each end cooperates with an offset portion connected to the frame and which is interposed between the tang and the upstanding portion of the adjacent bifurcated beam to mechanically secure the conductor at that end and provide strain relief therefor.

Methods of making an electrical connector

An electrical connector which is capable of being used to interconnect insulated conductors (21--21) the field or in a factory during in-line processing includes a base (22) and contact element (24). The contact element which is used to establish an electrical connection between the conductors includes a center (24) portion and two opposed bifurcated beams. A portion of each beam is upstanding from the plane of the contact element. Furcations of each beam define a slot (47) for receiving one of the conductors to be interconnected. The contact element is attached to the base which includes at least one deformable tang (31) at each end. End portions of conductors to be connected are each positioned across an end of the base. The tangs are wrapped about the conductors, the conductors are moved into the slots of the beams, and excess portions of the lengths severed. The tang at each end cooperates with an offset portion (33) of the base which is interposed between the tang and the upstanding portion of the adjacent bifurcated beam to mechanically secure the conductor at that end and provide strain therefor.

Electrical connector

A slotted beam contact element for an electrical connector is constructed by forming an opening in a metallic strip and applying forces to at least one portion of the strip adjacent the opening to reshape said portion. Then a bifurcated beam is formed in the strip with at least portions of the furcations of the beam encompassing the opening after which the furcations are moved toward each other to cause the portions encompassing the opening to define a slot of predetermined width characteristics suitable for receiving an insulated conductor and for establishing electrical contact between the conductor and the furcations. For some uses of these kinds of contact elements, selected portions of the furcations may be coated or plated and/or heat treated prior to moving the furcations to their final closed position.

Apparatus for making slotted beam contact elements

A plurality of groups of mandrels are arranged for movement successively through a plurality of workstations with each group being worked on at a station while other groups are being worked on simultaneously at other stations to produce continuously automatically groups of retractile cords. Cordage is fed from a supply into clamping engagement with each of the mandrels in the group in a cord-loading position and then wound helically in a plurality of spaced-apart convolutions on each of the mandrels of that group after which the wound cords are severed from the cordage supplies. The wound cords are advanced incrementally through a heating zone, wherein the cords are exposed to radiant heating supplemented by preheating of the mandrels, while cordage is being wound on the next successive groups of mandrels. The wound cords in each group are advanced through a cooling zone and then to an unloading station where they are removed from the mandrels while the pitch of the helices of the convolutions is reversed and the tendency of the convolutions to enlarge is minimized.

Method of making retractile cords

A terminal strip assembly of an electrical conductor terminating system includes a first insulating terminal support block having an essentially M-shaped configuration, with a transverse bight portion, rows of electrical conductor guide portions projecting in a first direction from the same side of the bight portion, and resilient side legs projecting in a reverse direction from locations adjacent an opposite side of the bight portion. A row of U-shaped terminals is mounted on the first support block and each terminal includes bifurcated legs which extend within respective adjacent ones of the guide portions to receive electrical conductors inserted between the guide portions. A connector plug assembly for use with the terminal strip assembly includes a second insulating terminal support block having a row of essentially J-shaped electrical conductor terminals mounted thereon. One leg of each of these terminals extends within a pair of respective adjacent electrical conductor guide portions of the second support block. A second leg of each of the J-shaped terminals projects into a channel in the second support block so that the second leg is received in a respective one of the bifurcated terminal legs of the U-shaped terminals in the first support block when the connector plug assembly is plugged onto the terminal strip assembly. Releasably mounted members on the terminal support blocks retain the U-shaped terminals and the J-shaped terminals on the support blocks.

Electrical conductor terminating system

Growing community of inventors

Grayson, GA, United States of America

Charles McGonigal