US3303266A - Electrical connector for small insulated wires - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 7, 1967 w, THOMPSON 3,303,266

ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR FOR SMALL INSULATED WIRES Filed Oct. 25, 1964 FIE-ILA :EII3 "5 INVENTOR.

WILLIAM A. THOMPSON ATTORNEYS United States Patent O 3,303,266 ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR FOR SMALL INSULATED WIRES William A. Thompson, 5264 Dent, San Jose, Calif. 95118 Filed Oct. 23, 1964, Ser. No. 406,062 2 Claims. (Cl. 174-84) This invention relates to an electrical connector for making electrical connections between a pair of relatively small insulated conductors without having to strip the insulation therefrom.

An object of this invention is to provide an improved electrical connector in the form of a bendable member having opposed surfaces which are provided with staggered insulation piercing pointed contacts adapted to pierce the insulation of a relatively small wire to make contact therewith and to provide electrical connection between a pair of such wires clamped between said opposed surfaces.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved electrical connector a plurality of which may be used side by side for splicing the conductors of a multiple conductor branch cable to the conductors of a main multiple conductor cable without necessitating the cutting of any of the conductors of the main cable and without necessitating the stripping of insulation from any of the conductors.

Still another object of this invention is to provide an improved electrical connector which may be clamped around the small conductors of cables for connecting these conductors together without stripping the insulation or cutting the conductors, said electrical connectors being arranged side by side and being provided with insulation jackets to prevent the electrically conducting parts of adjacent connectors from making electrical contact.

A further object of this invention is to provide an electrical connector that may be used for splicing the conductors of one cable to those of another cable, said connectors being constructed so that they may be used efiiciently with small wires such as are used in telephone cables without requiring the stripping of insulation from the wires thus resulting in substantial savings in time and labor required to splice such cables.

Other and further objects of this invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art to which it relates from the following specification, claims and drawing, in which, briefly:

FIG. 1 is a side view of an electrical connector of this invention in the open position;

FIG. 2 is an end view of the open electrical connector;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 1 showing the manner in which the small insulated conductors are positioned on the insulation piercing contact points of the electrical connector;

FIG. 4 is a view of the electrical connector of this invention clamped with a pair of small insulated wires clamped therebetween to electrically connect the wires; and

FIG. 5 is a view of a multiple conductor main cable having the conductors of a branch cable connected thereto by a plurality-of the electrical connectors of this in- 3,303,266 Patented Feb. 7, 1967 in the opposed surfaces are preferably staggered so that when a smallelectrical conductor 12 is positioned and clamped between these opposed surfaces, the likelihood of the conductor being lodged between the points 11 is prevented and instead the insulation [13 thereof pierced by a sufficient number of the points to make good electrical contact with theconductor 12. The staggering of the points 11 is important whereelectrical conductors 12 with diameter smaller than the distance between adjacent points 11 are clamped between the opposed surfaces so that electrical contact is made with the conductors by several of the points 11. Conductors of such small size are encountered in telephone cable, for example, such as thecables 17 and 19 shown in FIG. 5. The points 11 may be formed in thebendable member 10 by passing the material forming this member through a suitable die that is the shape of a roller or the like.

A reinforcingmember 14 which is provided with a suitableplastic coating 15 of insulating material is attached to themember 10 by bending themarginal parts 14a of thismember 14 around the edges of themember 10, as shown in FIG. 3. Theends 15a of the insulation material extend beyond both themember 10 and themember 14, as shown in FIG. 1, to form borders of insulation material which prevent metallic contact between adjacent electrical connectors when a plurality of such connectors is employed for connecting conductors of a branch cable such as thebranch cable 19 with the conductors of themain cable 17. In splicing theconductors 20 ofbranch cable 19 to theconductors 18 of themain cable 17, the individual insulatedconductors 20 ofcable 19 are paired with the individual insulatedconductors 18 of themain cable 17, with which they are to be connected and the electrical connectors of this invention are clamped over these paired conductors as shown in FIG. 4 in the case of theinsulated conductors 13 and 16. The paired conductors are connected by clamping the electrical connectors with a hand tool such as a pair of pliers so that the points 11 of each connector pierce the insulation of the paired conductors and electrically connect these conductors together. This procedure facilitates the connecting theconductors 20 ofcable 19 to theinsulated conductors 18 ofmain cable 17 and results in considerable saving in time and labor since it is not necessary to strip the insulation off of the conductors, nor is it necessary to twist the b-ared conductors together and solder the joint.

While I have shown and described a preferred form of the invention, it will be apparent that the invention is capable of variation and modification from the form shown so that the scope thereof should be limited only by the proper scope of the claims appended thereto.

What I claim is:

1. An electrical connector for connecting small insulated wires together without stripping insulation therefrom comprising a thin metallic member of electrically conducting material bent upon itself to provide opposing surfaces thereto which are adapted to be further bent toward each other to clamp small insulated electrical conducting wires therebetween, said opposing surfaces having sharp points facing each other pressed therefrom in staggered rows, said sharp points being spaced apart by distances not exceeding the diameter of the small insulated wire clamped between said surfaces so that said small wire cannot be clamped between said surfaces without at least several of said staggered points penetrating the insulation thereof to make contact with the wire, insulating material positioned on the outside of said thin metallic member to cover said member when said member is clamped on said wires, said insulating material extending beyond the sides of said thin metallic member to prevent adjacent ones of said members from contacting each other when a plurality of such members is employed in side by side relation in "a cable joint, and a reinforcing member clamped around said thin metallic member, said reinforcing member being substantially coextensive with said thin metallic member and side portions of said reinforcing member being folded over edge portions of said thin metallic member.

2. An electrical connector as set forth in claim 1, further characterized in that said insulating material com- 4 prises a coating of plastic, the side portions of which are clamped in the folded over portions of said reinforcing member.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,242,256 3/1966 Jugle 17484 LEWIS H. MYERS, Primary Examiner.

Claims (1)

1. AN ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR FOR CONNECTING SMALL INSULATED WIRES TOGETHER WITHOUT STRIPPING INSULATION THEREFROM COMPRISING A THIN METALLIC MEMBER OF ELECTRICALLY CONDUCTING MATERIAL BENT UPON ITSELF TO PROVIDE OPPOSING SURFACES THERETO WHICH ARE ADAPTED TO BE FURTHER BENT TOWARD EACH OTHER TO CLAMP SMALL INSULATED ELECTRICAL CONDUCTING WIRES THEREBETWEEN, SAID OPPOSING SURFACES HAVING SHARP POINTS FACING EACH OTHER PRESSED THEREFROM IN STAGGERED ROWS, SAID SHARP POINTS BEING SPACED APART BY DISTANCES NOT EXCEEDING THE DIAMETER OF THE SMALL INSULATED WIRE CLAMPED BETWEEN SAID SURFACES SO THAT SAID SMALL WIRE CANNOT BE CLAMPED BETWEEN SAID SURFACES WITHOUT AT LEAST SEVERAL OF SAID STAGGERED POINTS PENETRATING THE INSULATION THEREOF TO MAKE CONTACT WITH THE WIRE, INSULATING MATERIAL POSITIONED ON THE OUTSIDE OF SAID THIN METALLIC MEMBER TO COVER SAID MEMBER WHEN SAID MEMBER IS CLAMPED ON SAID WIRES, SAID INSULATING MATERIAL EXTENDING BEYOND THE SIDES OF SAID THIN METALLIC MEMBER TO PREVENT ADJACENT ONES OF SAID MEMBERS FROM CONTACTING EACH OTHER WHEN A PLURALITY OF SUCH MEMBERS IS EMPLOYED IN SIDE BY SIDE RELATION IN A CABLE JOINT, AND A REINFORCING MEMBER CLAMPED AROUND SAID THIN METALLIC MEMBER, SAID REINFORCING MEMBER BEING SUBSTANTIALLY COEXTENSIVE WITH SAID THIN METALLIC MEMBER AND SIDE PORTIONS OF SAID REINFORCING MEMBER BEING FOLDED OVER EDGE PORTIONS OF SAID THIN METALLIC MEMBER.

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