Connector construction for high voltage shielded cables

Claim 1

In an electrical connector having component parts capable of being assembled in the field at the terminus of high voltage shielded electrical cables for providing a connection between first and second such cables, said cables each having a conductor surrounded by an insulating jacket within a conductive shield: a pair of housing members of elastomeric material, said housing members each having an inner portion of electrically insulating elastomer and an outer portion of electrically conductive elastomer, said inner and outer portions of each housing member being joined along a generally continuous and void-free juncture; said housing members having corresponding portions at corresponding terminal ends thereof for cooperating with one another in watertight relationship, said corresponding portions including an axially extending plug at one end of the inner portion of one of said pair of housing members, the plug having a root spaced axially from the terminal end of said one housing member and a continuous, generally cylindrical surface extending axially from the root to the terminal end of said one housing member with an external diameter different from the overall diameter of the outside surface of the remainder of said one housing member such that a generally laterally extending surface extends from the root of the plug to said outside surface, and an axially extending receptacle at the corresponding end of the inner portion of the other of said pair of housing members, said receptacle having an open end adjacent the terminal end of said other housing member, a bottom spaced axially from said terminal end and a continuous, generally cylindrical surface extending axially from said open end to said bottom with an internal diameter corresponding to the external diameter of the plug, said internal diameter being smaller than the overall diameter of the outside surface of the remainder of said other housing member such that a generally laterally extending surface exTends from the open end of the receptacle to said outside surface of said other housing member; the juncture between the inner and outer portions of each respective housing member following a continuous contour which extends essentially to the generally cylindrical surface of the plug and the receptacle, respectively, such that the pattern of electrical stress across the confronting corresponding ends of the joined housing members is generally continuous and the voltage gradient along the corresponding laterally extending surfaces of the housing members is reduced to a minumum.