Sealing closure for a cable splice

Claim 1

Cable having a jacket and a splice region and a closure for the splice region, the closure having a plastic moulding around the cable jacket with avoidance of fusion between materials of the moulding and the jacket and a fluid-tight seal between the plastic moulding and the jacket, the seal comprising: a layer of compressibly deformable material surrounding and in contact with the jacket; at least one layer of resilient tape material wrapped around the deformable layer in a stretched resilient condition circumferentially of the jacket to apply a radially inwards compressive force upon the deformable material and hold it in intimate contact with the jacket surface to form a first annular seal region; and the deformable layer having an annular portion which directly engages the plastic moulding, said portion fused to the plastic moulding to form a second annular seal region.

Claim 6

A method of forming a closure around a splice region of a cable which has a jacket wherein, after electrically connecting conductors to form splices, formation of the closure includes: applying a layer of compressibly deformable material in surrounding and contacting relationship with the cable jacket, the deformable material being compatible for fusion purposes with plastic material to be moulded around the jacket; wrapping at least one layer of resilient tape material around the deformable layer while an annular portion of the deformable layer remains uncovered by the resilient material, the resilient tape material being longitudinally stretched as it is being applied to radially inwardly compress the layer of deformable material to deform it into intimate pressure contact with the jacket surface and form a first annular seal region; and forming a plastic moulding around the jacket and the layers at a moulding temperature and with heat retention within the mould insufficient to fuse the materials of the moulding and jacket together and insufficient to soften the resilient tape material to cause it to relax from its stretched condition while at a temperature and with a heat retention sufficient to fuse the moulding material to the annular portion of deformable material to form a second annular seal region.

Claim 7

A method of forming a closure around a splice region of a cable which has a jacket wherein, after electrically connecting conductors to form splices, formation of the closure includes: applying a layer of compressibly deformable material in surrounding and contacting relationship with the cable jacket, the deformable material being compatible for fusion purposes with plastic material to be moulded around the jacket; wrapping at least one layer of resilient tape material around the deformable layer while an annular portion of the deformable layer remains uncovered by the resilient material, the resilient tape material being longitudinally stretched as it is being applied to radially inwardly compress the layer of deformable material to deform it into intimate pressure contact with the jacket surface and form a first annular seal region; and forming a plastic moulding around the jacket and the layers at a moulding temperature and with heat retention within the mould insufficient to fuse the materials of the moulding and jacket together and insufficient to soften the resilient tape material to cause it to relax from its stretched condition while at a temperature and with a heat retention sufficient to fuse the moulding material to the annular portion of deformable material to form a second annular seal region.