Claims
- 1. A post-insulated wire splice including
- a conductive connector and an insulating member surrounding said connector,
- said connector including a ferrule crimped around at least two wires, said ferrule having a generally smoothly curvd exterior surface and having outer and inner ends defined with respect to said wires, said wires extending externally beyond said ferrule inner end and being terminated adjacent said ferrule outer end,
- said connector having a separation portion extending beyond said ferrule outer end, including an exterior surface continuous with a portion of said ferrule exterior surface and a sheared edge remote from said ferrule,
- said separation portion being deformed from a shape coincident with a portion of the projection of said ferrule exterior surface to displace said sheared edge inwardly of said projection of said ferrule exterior surface toward said wires,
- said insulating member comprising a generally tubular sleeve of insulating plastic material,
- said insulating member fitting closely around said connector, and said connector sheared edge being spaced inwardly from said insulating member.
- 2. The splice of claim 1, wherein said insulating tubular sleeve is crimped and closed around said extending wires beyond said ferrule inner end.
- 3. The wire splice of claim 1 wherein said sleeve is at least partially closed externally of said ferrule outer end.
Parent Case Info
This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 600,208, filed July 30, 1975, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,999,273. Its invention relates to post-insulated wire splices, each assembled splice having first a connector crimped around the wires, and next, insulation formed therearound.
Such insulated wire splices are employed, for example, in preparing stators or other similar workpieces having multiple windings. Such a splice must provide a good electrical connection between the spliced wires, and must be completely insulated from other wires. Both the splice and the insulation must be able to withstand motion and flexing incidental to normal use of the workpiece.
Insulated splices have hitherto been difficult and expensive to make and often unsatisfactory in use. Some splices have been assembled by hand by an operator who winds insulating tape around the splice, or slips an insulating sleeve over the splice. A splice insulated with wound tape has been found to be less satisfactory, as gaps or breaks may appear in the wound insulation during the lifetime of the workpiece. Sleeves slid over the splice are often insufficiently securely attached to the splice and may loosen and be lost during later use of the workpiece.
Additionally, splices are formed of metal connectors, which are often supplied on a carrier strip, from which each is severed during the same operation in which the connector is crimped around the wires to be spliced. Such severance frequently results in a connector with a rough or burred edge, which thereafter damages the insulation and ultimately results in the possibility of electrical contact through the resulting break in the insulation. This terminates the useful life of the insulated splice.
In some splices previously used, heat-shrinkable insulating sleeves have been assembled by hand to each splice, and the entire workpiece has then been transferred to an oven for shrinking the sleeves. However, heat-shrinkable sleeves are in general less heat-resistant than sleeves of the kind usable in the splices of the present invention, and splices using heat-shrinkable sleeves have therefore not been entirely satisfactory. Furthermore, such splices require added time to complete, and additional labor as well.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a post-insulated wire splice that is easily assembled and is reliable and durable.
it is a further object to provide such a splice that has a good electrical connection through the spliced wires with a closely fitting seamless insulation therearound.
According to the invention, a post-insulated wire splice includes a conductive connector and an insulating member surrounding the connector. The connector includes a ferrule crimped around at least two wires; the ferrule has a generally smoothly curved exterior surface and has outer and inner ends defined with respect to the wires. The wires extend externally beyond the ferrule outer end and are terminated adjacent the ferrule outer end.
The connector has a separation portion extending beyond the ferrule outer end, including an exterior surface continuous with a portion of the ferrule exterior surface and a sheared edge remote from the ferrule. The separation portion is deformed from a shape coincident with a portion of the projection of the ferrule exterior surface to displace the sheared edge inwardly of the projection, toward the wires.
The insulating member comprises a generally tubular sleeve of insulating plastic material, which fits closely around the connector, while the sheared edge is spaced inwardly from the insulating member.
In preferred embodiments, the sleeve is crimped and closed around the extending wires beyond the ferrule inner end and is at least partially closed externally of the ferrule outer end.
US Referenced Citations (3)
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
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600208 |
Jul 1975 |
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Patent Grant
4074065
