Termination apparatus for heaters in hazardous environments

Claim 1

Termination apparatus for terminating an elongate electrical heater having an outer metal sheath, the apparatus comprising (1) a junction box having an entry port through which an elongate heater having a metal outer sheath can be passed for termination within the junction box; (2) a connection member which is secured to the entry port and which comprises (a) a first compression member which surrounds a heater passing through the entry port, (b) a second compression member which surrounds a heater passing through the entry port, the first and second compression members defining between them a chamber having walls spaced apart from a heater passing through the compression members and the entry port, (c) compression means for drawing the first and second compression members towards each other, without rotating the members relative to each other, along the axis of a heater passing through them, thus reducing the size of the chamber defined by the first and second compression members, and (d) a grommet which is adapted to be placed within the chamber defined by the first and second compression members, which is composed of lead and is split axially into at least two parts, which has a passageway therethrough conforming generally to the shape of a heater to be passed through the passageway, and which can be deformed into close conformity with a heater passing through the passageway by drawing the first and second compression members towards each other, the grommet having frusto-conical end sections and the compression members having complementary inverse frusto-conical heating surfaces which bear upon said frusto-conical end sections.