EP0547656A1
Expired / Lapsed
EP
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Enclosure assembly for elongate cylindrical objects such as electric cable splices
Assignee: Pirelli and C SpA
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Filing: 1992-12-01
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2012-12-01
Abstract
Abstract The enclosure assembly particularly, but not exclusively, conceived for spliced electric cables, comprises a sleeve (2) of an elastomer material, a support (3) whereover the sleeve (2) is fitted in a state of elastic expansion, said sleeve (2) being adapted to shrink about the elongate cylindrical objects upon removal of the support (3). The support (3) comprises a tubular body (16,17) formed of a strip of a strong flexible material wound into a helix having mutually bonded adjacent turns, the turns being separable by applying a pull force along a substantially longitudinal direction to an end portion of the strip unravelled from the adjacent turns and taken through the interior of the tubular body (16,17) along a substantially axial direction and out through the opposite end of the tubular body. The tubular body (16,17) comprises at least two regions wherein the helix has different pitches, a fine pitch region (30,31) and a coarse pitch region (26,27); a fine pitch region (30,31) is provided at the locations of specified portions of the elongate cylindrical objects for which the enclosure assembly is intended.
Inventors
- 👤 Francesco Portas
- 👤 Ubaldo Vallauri
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-01 16:34
CPC Classifications
H; H02; H02G; H02G15/00; H02G15/08; H02G15/18; H02G15/182; H02G15/1826; H02G15/1833; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S174/00; Y10S174/08; Y10S428/00; Y10S428/906; Y10T; Y10T428/00; Y10T428/13; Y10T428/1328; Y10T428/1352; Y10T428/139
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 20
Claim 1
Independent Claim
179 words
Enclosure assembly for elongate cylindrical objects, comprising a substantially tubular support, a sleeve of an elastomeric material fitted over the support in a condition of elastic expansion and adapted to shrink about the elongate cylindrical objects upon removal of the support, wherein the support comprises a tubular body consisting of a strip of a strong flexible material wound into a helix having mutually bonded adjacent turns, the turns being separable by application of a pull force along a substantially longitudinal direction to an end portion of the strip unravelled from the adjacent turns through the interior of the tubular body along a substantially axial direction and out through the opposite end of the tubular body, characterized in that the tubular body has at least a first region with a first helical pitch and at least a second region with a second helical pitch, said first helical pitch being shorter than said second helical pitch, and said regions being fine pitch and coarse pitch regions, respectively, with a fine pitch region being arranged at predetermined locations on the tubular body.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
53 words
Enclosure assembly for elongate cylindrical objects according to Claim 1, wherein a fine pitch region is provided at least at the location of one end of the tubular body, said region having at least the same axial extent as the end portion of the strip unravelled through the interior of the tubular body.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
27 words
Enclosure assembly for elongate cylindrical objects according to Claim 2, wherein two fine pitch regions are provided at the locations of either ends of the tubular body.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
42 words
Enclosure assembly for elongate cylindrical objects according to Claim 3, wherein prior to unravelling the end portion of the strip through the interior of the tubular body, the two fine pitch regions of the tubular body are substantially symmetrical in axial extent.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
31 words
Enclosure assembly for elongate cylindrical objects according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the support comprises a single tubular body having at least the same axial extent as the sleeve.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
26 words
Enclosure assembly for elongate cylindrical objects according to Claim 5, wherein a fine pitch region is provided at the central portion of the single tubular body.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
87 words
Enclosure assembly for elongate cylindrical objects according to any of Claims 1 to 4, wherein the support comprises two substantially cylindrical, tubular bodies having mutually abutting ends in coaxial continuation relationship, the mutually abutting ends being provided at an inward location with respect to the longitudinal extent of the sleeve, at least one turn of the strip of each tubular body at the mutually abutting ends being unravelled and taken through the interior of the tubular body and out through the opposite end of each tubular body.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
73 words
Enclosure assembly for elongate cylindrical objects according to Claim 1, for installation over spliced electric cables, each having at least one conductor and an insulative covering, wherein a length of the insulative covering is removed from the cable ends and the respective conductors are spliced together using a means of electric connection, characterized in that the support has one or more fine pitch regions over the longitudinal extent of the spliced bare conductors.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
26 words
Enclosure assembly for elongate cylindrical objects according to Claim 1, characterized in that the fine pitch length is within the range of 0.5 to 1.5 mm.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
66 words
Enclosure assembly for elongate cylindrical objects according to Claim 1, characterized in that the turns are defined by a helical groove cut in the wall of the tubular body to a depth leaving a residual thickness which can be ruptured by application of a pull force to the strip, the fine pitch being in size no smaller than the minimum residual thickness of the tubular body.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
26 words
Enclosure assembly for elongate cylindrical objects according to Claim 10, characterized in that the fine pitch is in size no less than twice the residual thickness.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
30 words
Enclosure assembly for elongate cylindrical objects according to Claim 1, characterized in that the fine pitch size varies between 20% and 50% of the wall thickness of the tubular body.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
37 words
Enclosure assembly for elongate cylindrical objects according to Claim 1, characterized in that the coarse pitch does not exceed in size the minimum clearance between the elongate cylindrical object and the inner surface of the tubular support.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
26 words
Enclosure assembly for elongate cylindrical objects according to Claim 1, characterized in that the coarse pitch size is within the range of 2 to 6 mm.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
32 words
Enclosure assembly for elongate cylindrical objects according to Claim 1, characterized in that the coarse pitch size is within the range of 75% to 200% the wall thickness of the tubular support.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
120 words
A tubular body for maintaining a condition of elastic expansion in an elastomer material sleeve of an enclosure assembly for elongate cylindrical objects, being of a type which comprises a strip of a strong flexible material wound into a helix having mutually bonded turns, the turns being separable by applying a pull force along a substantially longitudinal direction to an end portion of the strip unravelled from the adjacent turns and taken through the interior of the tubular body along a substantially axial direction and out through the opposite end of the tubular body, characterized in that it comprises at least two regions wherein the helix has different pitch lengths, namely a fine pitch region and a coarse pitch region.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
43 words
A tubular body according to Claim 16, comprising a fine pitch region at one end of the tubular body, which region has an axial extent at least equal to the end portion of the strip unravelled through the interior of the tubular body.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
19 words
A tubular body according to Claim 17, comprising two fine pitch regions at either ends of the tubular body.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
34 words
A tubular body according to Claim 18, wherein the two fine pitch regions have substantially symmetrical axial extents prior to unravelling the end portion of the strip through the interior of the tubular body.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
20 words
A tubular body according to Claim 16, having a fine pitch region at the central portion of the tubular body.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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