Tyco Electronics Raychem Nv

Dirk Deroost

Valere Buekers

Dirk Roosen

Filip Vandeputte

Christiaan Radelet

Thomas E McNeal

Els Timmermans

Jean-Marie E Nolf

Johan Legrand

Peter Bos

David Arthur Wittmeier

Methods for providing a cable closure enclosing a cable splice include wrapping a flexible wrap including a gel layer and a flexible support layer around the cable splice with the gel layer adjacent the cable splice. The gel layer may have an adhesion-reducing substance applied on at least part of a surface of the gel layer facing away from the flexible support layer and a removable cover layer may be applied to a surface of the gel layer facing away from the flexible support layer on which the adhesion-reducing substance is not applied. The wrap is gathered into overlapping wrinkles around at least one longitudinal end of the cable splice without applying heat, other external energy source or catalytic agent to allow the gel layer to seal the at least one longitudinal end of the cable splice.

Methods for cable sealing

A flexible wrap () for enclosing a cable splice () without external heating includes a gel layer () and a support layer (). The wrap has sufficient flexibility to be manually gathered into wrinkles around the smaller parts of the cable-to-splice transition with the gel sealing the resulting enclosure. The support layer (), which is preferably made of low density polyethylene, provides mechanical strength and facilitates the application of the wrap (). A vapour barrier layer (), preferably made of aluminium, may be applied on the support layer (). A protective layer () may be applied on the vapour barrier layer (). An adhesion-reducing substance () may be applied on at least part of the side of the gel layer () facing away from the support layer () to allow adjustment of the wrap () when applied on the cable splice (). Elastic or rubber tape () maybe wound around the applied wrap () to compress the gel. A re-enterable closure having a long sealing length may be obtained.

Cable sealing

A tape for enclosing and sealing an object, such as a cable splice, includes both a gel layer and a rubber layer. Due to the elastic properties of the rubber layer, the gel can be put under compression, which may result in an excellent sealing action. Advantageously the rubber layer may be wider than the gel layer, which may allow adhesive strips to be accommodated adjacent the gel so as to facilitate the application of the tape and to further improve its sealing action.

Gel wrap tape

A sealing arrangement is provided including a first housing and a second housing and a sealing member positioned therebetween. In various embodiments, one housing includes a channel shaped portion and the other housing includes a tongue shaped portion movable in an axial direction into the channel shaped portion to compress the sealing member therebetween in a transverse direction relative to the axial direction. In further embodiments, both housings include a channel shaped portion and the sealing member extends into each channel shaped portion and is compressed within each channel shaped portion in a transverse direction.

Sealing arrangement

A closure is provided including a casing part having at least one opening configured to receive an elongate object within the casing part. A sealing chamber defined by the casing part is positioned adjacent the opening so as to receive the elongate object in the sealing chamber and a sealant material is positioned in the sealing chamber. A relatively displaceable wall part of the casing part in provided in various embodiments which communicatively contacts the sealant material and is coupled to another part of the casing part by a flexible hinge part so as to allow movement of the relatively displaceable wall part relative to the other part of the casing. A compression means may be provided for applying a compressive force to the sealant material through the relatively displaceable wall part. In further embodiments a displaceable plunger is provided defining a wall of the sealing chamber and an externally operable shaft threadably engages the plunger so as to displace the plunger to adjust a volume of the sealant chamber.

Growing community of inventors

Baal-Tremelo, Belgium

Dirk Deroost