WO2007089060A1

WO2007089060A1 - Connecting device for cable

Info

Publication number: WO2007089060A1
Application number: PCT/KR2006/002754
Authority: WO
Inventors: Sung-Yun Kim; Seung-Ik Jeon
Original assignee: Ls Cable Ltd.
Priority date: 2006-02-03
Filing date: 2006-07-13
Publication date: 2007-08-09

Abstract

A connecting device for connecting a pair of cables is provided. The connecting device comprises a plug connected to a conductor of the end of one cable, one or more engaging projections protruding from the outer circumference of the plug so as to be resiliently forced in a radial direction of the plug by a resilient member, a counter plug connected to a conductor of the end of the other cable and having a hollow with an inner diameter corresponding to an outer diameter of the plug such that the plug is inserted therein, the hollow having on its inner circumference fixing grooves into which the projections are fixedly inserted, and an insulator surrounding the ends of the cables, whereby the pair of cables is easily connected to each other, and the electric conductivity between the cables connected by the simple structure of the connecting device is increased.

Description

[DESCRIPTION] [Invention Title]

CONNECTING DEVICE FOR CABLE [Technical Field]

The present invention relates to a connecting device for cable, and more particularly to a connecting device which easily connects a pair of cables and is capable of improving electric conductivity. [Background Art]

Generally, power transmission cables are prepared to have a certain length, and then the respective ends of two cables are connected to each other. In connecting the cables in this manner, the cables should be easily connected, and the electric conductivity between the cables should be high.

USP No. 5,316,492 discloses a conventional cable connector. FIG. 1 is a sectional view of the cable connector disclosed in USP No. 5,316,492.

Referring to FIG. 1, the cable connector includes a plug 120 and a counter plug 122 each connected to the ends of a pair of cables 110 and 112, projections 124 and 125 protruding from the plug 120 and the counter plug 122 so as to be resilientIy forced by springs 126 and 127, respectively, a fitting part 130 into which the projections 124 and 125 are fixedly inserted, and an insulator 140 surrounding the fitting part 130.

In specific, the plug 120 and the counter plug 122 are respectively coupled to the ends of the pair of cables 110 and 112 to be connected, and a pin protruding from the end of the plug 120 is inserted into a groove 123 formed in the counter plug 122. The plug 120 and the counter plug 122 are coupled to each other such that the projections 124 and 125 resilientIy forced by the springs 126 and 127 are respectively and fixedly fitted into grooves 132 and 134 of the fitting part 130. The insulator 140 insulates the fitting part 130 in which the cables 110 and 112 are connected to each other.

However, in connecting the pair of cables to each other using such conventional cable connector, the projections of the plug and the counter plug should be precisely aligned with the grooves of the fitting part, so that it is difficult to easily assemble. In addition, since the pair of cables are fixed to the grooves of the fitting part by the projections of the plugs, when the cables are twisted in different directions from each other along the circumferences of the cables, causing stress due to a distortion load, the connector is possibly fractured. Further, the conventional cable connector has complicated connection part for cables, thereby causing a problem of degradation in electric conductivity between the cables.

[Disclosure]

[Technical Problem]

Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above- mentioned problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a connecting device for cable having a simple structure that easily connects a pair of cables and is capable of improving electric conductivity between the connected cables.

[Technical Solution]

In order to accomplish the above object, there is provided a connecting device for connecting a pair of cables, the connecting device comprising: a plug connected to a conductor of the end of one cable", one or more engaging projections protruding from the outer circumference of the plug so as to be resilientIy forced in a radial direction of the plug by a resilient member; a counter plug connected to a conductor of the end of the other cable and having a hollow with an inner diameter corresponding to an outer diameter of the plug such that the plug is inserted therein, the hollow having on its inner circumference fixing grooves into which the projections are fixedly inserted; and an insulator surrounding the ends of the cables.

Herein, a ring spring may be further provided in the hollow of the counter plug so as to, at both ends thereof, come into contact with the conductor of the other cable and the plug, respectively, such that upon the insertion of the plug into the hollow, the spring resilientIy forces the same opposite to the insertion direction. The ring spring increases a contact area between the both cables, thereby improving the electric conductivity therebetween.

Meanwhile, the engaging projection may be formed to gradually protrude in a direction away from the end of the plug, so that the plug is easily inserted into and hardly detached from the hollow. [Description of Drawings]

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of a conventional cable connector;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a connecting device for cable according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention!

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the assembled connecting device for cable shown in FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along lines IV-IV in FIG. 3 (in FIG. 4, an insulator is depicted for convenience of explanation which is not illustrated in FIG. 3). [Mode for Invention]

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a connecting device 100 according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, parts of which are separately connected to the ends of a pair of cables 2 and 4, respectively.

Referring to FIG. 2, the connecting device 100 according to the invention includes a plug 10 connected to the end of one cable 2, a counter plug 20 connected to the end of the other cable 4, and an insulator 40 (See FIG. 4) surrounding the counter plug 20 to insulate it.

In specific, the plug 10 is connected to a conductor 6 of one cable 6, a cladding of which is removed. The plug 10 is securely connected to the conductor 6 by means of welding and the like. The plug 10 is made of electrically conductive material, so that upon connecting to the conductor 6 of the cable 2, it electrically communicates with the conductor 6. The plug 10 has preferably a cylindrical shape, the end of which is connected with the conductor 6 of one cable 2.

The plug 10 is provided on its outer circumference with one or more engaging projections 12. The engaging projection 12 is resilient Iy forced in a radial direction of the plug 10 by a resilient member 14 (See FIG. 4), such as a spring, located thereunder. Thus, the engaging projection 12 protrudes outside the plug 10 by resilient force of the resilient member 14. Preferably, the engaging projection 12 gradually protrudes in a direction far from the end of the plug 10. As will be described later, the engaging projection 12 shaped above is more easily inserted into a hollow 22 of the counter plug 20 when the plug 10 is inserted into the hollow of the counter plug. In addition, it allows the plug 10 to be hardly detached from the counter plug 20. Regards this, the description will be made later in detail.

Meanwhile, the counter plug 20 is connected to the other cable 4. The counter plug 20 is connected to a conductor 8 of the other cable 4, a cladding of which is removed, by means of welding and the like. Similar to the plug 10, the counter plug 20 is made of electrically conductive material, so that it electrically communicates with the other cable 4.

The counter plug 20 is provided with a hollow 22 having an inner diameter corresponding to an outer diameter of the plug 10 such that the plug 10 is inserted into the hollow. The hollow 22 is provided with fixing grooves 24 along its inner circumference, into which grooves the engaging projections 12 of the plug 10 are fixedly inserted. Thus, in the case that the plug 10 is inserted into the hollow 22 of the counter plug 20, when reaching the positions of the fixing grooves 24, the projections 12 protrude outside by the resilient force of the resilient member 14 and are fixed to the fixing grooves 24, thereby fixing the plug 10 to the counter plug 20.

Meanwhile, a ring spring 30 is installed in the hollow 22 so as to increase the electric conductivity upon the insertion of the plug 10. In specific, the ring spring 30 is made of electrically conductive material, and is installed so as to come into contact with the conductor 8 of the other cable 4 in the hollow 22. When the plug 10 is inserted into the hollow 22, the ring spring 30 resiliently forces the plug opposite to the insertion direction of the plug 10, so that both ends thereof are compressed between the ends of the conductor 8 of the other cable 4 and the plug 10, respectively. Like this, the ring spring 30 comes into direct contact with the conductor 8 of the other cable 4 and the plug 10 to thus increase the contact area therebetween, thereby improving the electric conductivity between the both cables 2 and 4.

FIG. 3 is the connecting device 100 of FIG. 3, parts of which are assembled, and FIG.4 is a sectional view taken along lines IV-IV in FIG.3. In FIG. 4, an insulator 40 is illustrated for convenience of explanation.

With reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, the process of connecting the cables 2 and 4 using the connecting device 100 will now be explained.

First, a cladding of one cable 2 is removed, and the plug 10 is fixed to the conductor 6 exposed by the removal of cladding, by means of welding and the like. Similarly, a cladding of the other cable 4 is removed, and the counter plug 20 is fixed to the conductor 8 exposed by the removal of the cladding.

After fixing the plug 10 and the counter plug 20, the ring spring 30 is installed in the counter plug 20. In specific, the ring spring 30 is installed in the hollow 22 such that it comes into contact with the conductor 8 of the other cable 4.

After installing the ring spring 30, the plug 10 is inserted into the hollow 22 of the counter plug 20. Upon the insertion of the plug 10 into the hollow 22, when reaching the fixing grooves 24 of the hollow 22, the engaging projections 12 of the plug 10 protrude outside by the resilient member 14 and are fixed therein. Meanwhile, while the plug 10 is resiliently forced opposite to the insertion direction of the plug by the ring spring 30 previously installed in the hollow 22, the engaging projections 12 are fixed in the fixing grooves 24, thereby being securely fixed thereto. Meanwhile, as described before, the fixing grooves 24 are provided along the inner circumference of the hollow 22 of the counter plug 20. Thus, when the plug 10 is fixedly inserted into the hollow 22 of the counter plug 20, it needs not to align the positions of the engaging projections 12 with specified positions. That is, upon insertion of the plug 10, the engaging projections 12 are easily fixed in the fixing grooves 24 formed along the circumference of the hollow 22.

In addition, since the fixing grooves 24 are provided along the inner circumference of the hollow 22, the engaging projections 12 of the plug 10 are fixed in a longitudinal direction of the cables 2 and 4, but are not restricted in the circumferential direction of the cables 2 and 4. Thus, even when the both cables 2 and 4 are applied with twisted force opposite to each other, the cables can rotate in counter directions from each other so that the connecting device 100 cannot be fractured by a distortion load.

Meanwhile, upon the insertion of the plug 10 into the hollow 22, the engaging projections 12 gradually protrude in a direction away from the end of the plug 10, so that the plug 10 is easily inserted into the hollow 22 due to an inclined part of the projections 12. On the contrary, upon the application of the force to detach the plug 10 from the hollow 22, the engaging projections 12 are securely supported by the fixing grooves 24, so that the plug 10 is hardly detached from the hollow.

After the plug 10 is fixedly inserted into the hollow 22, the ends of the cables 2 and 4 are surrounded by the insulator 40, thereby finally completing the assembly of the cable connector of the present invention.

Although preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims. [Industrial Applicability]

As set forth before, according to the connecting device of the present invention, the engaging projections of the plug are fixed in the fixing grooves provided along the inner circumference of the hollow of the counter plug, thereby easily connecting the pair of cables.

Further, according to the connecting device of the invention, the pair of cables is fixed to each other in the longitudinal direction thereof, but is not restricted in the circumferential direction thereof, thereby preventing the connection part from being fractured by distortion load.

Furthermore, according to the connecting device of the invention, the ring spring installed in the hollow of the counter plug increases the contact area between the both cables, thereby improving the electric conductivity therebetween.

Claims

[CLAIMS] [Claim 1]

A connecting device for connecting a pair of cables, the connecting device comprising: a plug connected to a conductor of the end of one cable; one or more engaging projections protruding from the outer circumference of the plug so as to be resilientIy forced in a radial direction of the plug by a resilient member; a counter plug connected to a conductor of the end of the other cable and having a hollow with an inner diameter corresponding to an outer diameter of the plug such that the plug is inserted therein, the hollow having on its inner circumference fixing grooves into which the projections are fixedly inserted; and an insulator surrounding the ends of the cables. [Claim 2]

The connecting device as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a ring spring provided in the hollow of the counter plug so as to, at both ends thereof, come into contact with the conductor of the other cable and the plug, respectively, such that upon the insertion of the plug into the hollow, the spring resilientIy forces the same opposite to the insertion direction. [Claim 3]

The connecting device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the engaging projection is formed to gradually protrude in a direction away from the end of the plug.