Mini-coaxial cable splice connector assemblies and wall mount installation tool therefor

[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part patent application of Ser. No. 10/885,246, filed Jul. 6, 2004 for COAXIAL CABLE SPLICE CONNECTOR ASSEMBLIES by Randall A. Holliday, now U.S Pat. No. 7,059,900, and of Ser. No. 11/111,198, filed Apr. 20, 2005 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,159,695 for ADAPTER FOR COAXIAL CABLE WITH INTERCHANGEABLE COLOR BANDS by Randall A. Holliday, now U.S. Pat. No 7,156,695, and both incorporated by reference herein.

[0002] This invention relates to coaxial cable connectors; and more particularly relates to splice connectors for splicing the ends of coaxial cables together.

[0003] In coaxial cable installations, it is often necessary to splice the ends of two cables together. In the past, this has been done by exposing the conductor portions at the end of each cable and attaching special connectors to each end; and the special connectors in turn are then interconnected to opposite ends of a common connector body in such a way as to establish an electrical connection therebetween. Accordingly, there is presently an unmet need for a splice connector which will eliminate special end connectors on the end of each cable as well as to achieve a highly secure connection with minimal signal loss. This is of importance in home entertainment systems in creating improved connections or splicing between mini-coaxial cables as well as wall connections for the min-coaxial cables either manually or with the aid of a tool of the type customarily employed for crimping of a connector to a cable.

[0004] It is therefore an object to provide for a novel and improved splice connector for coaxial cable installations.

[0005] It is another object to provide for a splice connector which is adaptable for use in different applications to establish secure interconnection between ends of a pair of min-coaxial cables to be joined together while avoiding the use of threaded fasteners.

[0006] It is another object to provide for a novel and improved method and means for interchangeably connecting different colored bands to a coaxial cable splice connector according to its intended application.

[0007] It is a further object to provide for a novel and improved splice connector conformable for use in the interconnection of a pair of min-coaxial cables in various applications, such as, wall mounts and which eliminates parts as well as requires less space in the installation or assembly of the cable and connector into a wall.

[0008] It is still another object to provide for a novel and improved connector body incorporating a starter guide extension for a pin conductor to facilitate blind insertion of the cable into one end of the connector body so as to be precisely centered for insertion of another pin conductor at the end of a second coaxial cable and wherein the connector body is readily conformable for use with different types of RGB connectors including but not limited to BNC, RCA and F-connectors.

[0009] In one aspect, a splice connector has been devised for electrically connecting pin or wire-like connectors at ends of each of a pair of cables, the connector comprising a tubular connector body including an insert with a socket end portion in combination with an adapter sleeve therein for insertion of opposite ends of the cables, the adapter including an electrically conductive portion to receive one of the conductors, the guide being axially advanced into centered relation to the adapter, and another of the conductors being inserted into a recessed portion at the socket end of the insert.

[0010] In another embodiment, the splice connector includes a special wall mounting clamp which is snap-fit with a tool onto a non-circular external surface portion of the connector body prior to mounting in the wall of an electrical outlet box, and an opposite end of the connector body protrudes from the wall mounting clamp for connection of the second cable with a color ring mounted on the opposite end in accordance with a standard color code for the industry so as to be visible externally of the wall plate. Typically, the RGB connector body would be a BNC, RCA or F-type socket connector and the second cable would be terminated with a corresponding male connector end in which the conductor extends from the male connector for insertion into a recessed portion at the socket end of the insert.

[0011] In a further embodiment, a corresponding type of splice connector body is employed with a resilient band or ring on its external surface which is color-coded to signify the intended application of the splice connector. The band can be attached to the body after one cable is connected to one end of the insert and the insert is crimped into position in the connector body, after which a second cable is inserted into the opposite end of the splice connector body to complete the connection to the selected electronic component. The color-coded band or ring is manually stretchable over the connector body and releasable to contract into close-fitting engagement with a groove on the body, and in wall mounting applications the band or ring is mounted in a groove externally of the wall mount installation so that it is visible after the installation is completed.

[0012] The above and other objects, advantages and features of the embodiments described will become more readily appreciated and understood from a consideration of the following detailed description when taken together with the accompanying drawings in which:

[0035] FIGS. 1 to 22 illustrate embodiments of the present invention which are specifically adaptable for use with smaller diameter coaxial cables, customarily referred to as mini-coaxial cables which are on the order of 2.5 mm. to 4 mm. in diameter and are utilized with RGB splice connector bodies including but not limited to the BNC and RCA connector bodies.

[0036] In FIGS. 1 to 5 a wall mount splice connection is comprised of an RCA socket-type connector 10 having a barrel portion 12 which is enlarged at one end to provide a hexagonal surface portion 15; and an external circumferentially extending groove 13 is provided which may, for example, accommodate a color band B shown in FIGS. 10 and 12 and selected from one of a set of different colored bands which are furnished for the installation. Each band B may be composed of an elastic material and sized to fit over the connector body and then released to contract into the groove 13. Thus, the user can identify the specific application after installing a given size and frequency of cable into the connector 10. A series of grooves or slots 14 are provided on the hexagonal portion 15 for insertion of a seal to be hereinafter described.

[0037] An inner concentric sleeve 16 is composed of an electrically non-conductive material and mounted within the barrel 12 to receive an insert 30, and the sleeve 16 extends from an end of the connector body 9 to a stop 10′ at the end of the barrel 12. In addition, an external rib 11 is mounted on the barrel 9 for a purpose to be described; and the body 12 is in the form of a standard universal compression connector adapted to accommodate different sized cables and includes first and second tapered sleeves S1 and S2 in stepped relation to one another and interconnected to form a first external shoulder therebetween. The first sleeve S1 also forms an external shoulder at one end which terminates in a groove 17. The sleeve S2 is provided with inner sealing ribs 18, the sealing ribs 18 being axially spaced along the inner wall surface of the sleeve S2 to effect a positive sealed engagement with a cable member inserted therein.

[0038] A crimping ring 20 is preassembled over the sleeve S2 and is comprised of a main body 22 which is composed of a plastic material of limited compressibility, such as, DELRIN®. The leading end of the body 22 which fits over the sleeve S2 has an inner, tapered wall surface which terminates in an internal shoulder 24 at its leading end, the end 24 being of a diameter slightly less than the external diameter of the distal end of the sleeve S2 so that the shoulder 24 can be forced over the distal end until it extends beyond the sealing rings 18 and is then free to expand into engagement with the external surface of the sleeve S1. The body 22 is undercut along its outer surface to receive a reinforcing liner 25 which will fit snugly over the body 22 and limit expansion of the body 22 when it is subsequently advanced over the sleeve S2 during the crimping operation to be described.

[0039] In order to splice the exposed ends of a pair of mini-coaxial cables M and M′ together, an insert 30 is shown in various stages of assembly in FIGS. 6 to 9 and is made up of an elongated tubular portion 32 of an electrically non-conductive material and which is undercut at one end 34 to receive the end of an adapter sleeve 36 of electrically conductive material. The sleeve 36 diverges into relatively thick arcuate end portions 38 which are separated by longitudinally extending slots 40 and have internal teeth 41 as illustrated in FIGS. 7 to 9 for the RCA connector version herein described. The opposite end of the tubular portion 32 has an inner wall surface 42 which diverges into a thin-walled annular end retainer 44. The retainer 44 is longitudinally slotted at circumferentially spaced intervals to form an internal bore 48. The tubular portion 32 receives a first socket end portion 50 which has a hollow, thin-walled cylindrical body 52 and which terminates in an annular end wall 54. The socket end portion 50 fits snugly within the tubular portion 32 with the end wall 54 abutting inner shoulder 33 as best seen from FIGS. 7, 8 and 9.

[0040] Referring to FIG. 9, the second socket end portion 56 includes a tubular end 58 provided with spaced longitudinal slots 59 and terminates in a nose 60 at an opposite end with longitudinal slots 62 dividing the end of the nose 60 into arcuate segments, and the hollow interior of the nose 60 communicates with a central bore 48. When the nose 60 is advanced into the bore 64, an external shoulder 66 on the nose will force the end retainer 44 to expand until the shoulder 66 moves into mating engagement with the end portion 46.

[0041] Each of the mini-coaxial cables M and M′ is of standard construction and made up of a central conductor pin or wire E, a dielectric layer F, an outer braided conductive layer G, an insulating jacket H, and typically a foil layer is interposed between the layers G and H. The end of each cable M and M′ is prepared by removing a limited length of the jacket H and an even shorter length of the dielectric F so as to expose the end of the conductor pin or wire E; and the conductive layer G is peeled away from the dielectric layer F and doubled over the end of the jacket H. The socket end portion 50 is dimensioned to fit snugly over the exposed dielectric layer G with the pin E extending through the central bore 48 and nose 60, as best seen from FIGS. 8 and 9.

[0042] The assembled insert 30, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 9, is advanced through the hollow connector body 12 to center the second socket end portion 56 with respect to the inner sleeve 16, and the socket end portion 56 will continue to advance until the slotted hollow end 58 abuts the end wall of the sleeve 16 and the end retainer 44 is seated in the body 9.

[0043] It should be noted that the crimping ring 20 must be preassembled onto the end of the sleeve S2 before the insert assembly 30 and the connector body 12 are assembled as described. Thus, when the crimping ring 20 is advanced from the open position shown in FIG. 1 to the closed position shown in FIG. 2 will exert a radially inwardly directed crimping force on the sleeves S2 and S1 in succession which will force the arcuate segments 38 into positive uniform crimping engagement with the braided layer G and jacket H.

[0044] Again, the insert 30 reinforces the conductor E and facilitates blind insertion of the cable M into the connector body 12 and assures alignment of the doubled-over portion of the braided layer G and underlying jacket H with the internal teeth 41 along the metallic segments 38. Once the crimping ring 20 has been advanced to securely crimp the end of the cable M in position, the socket end portion 56 will act as a centering guide and extends through the sleeve 16 and terminates adjacent to the leading end of the barrel 10′.

[0045] FIGS. 10 to 13 illustrate the RCA socket connector 12 of FIGS. 1 to 9 and demonstrates its use or application in a wall mount assembly for an electrical outlet box P having a wall plate W, as shown in FIG. 13. To this end, a mounting clamp 78 has a square inner body 80 provided with a hexagonal opening 82 which is dimensioned to fit snugly over the hexagonal nut portion 15 of the connector body 12. The previously referred to band B is inserted into the slot 13 to designate the intended application, such as, a connection to a particular terminal on an electrical device, and the clamp 78 is mounted on the nut portion 15 so that the inner circumferentially spaced ribs 83 in the opening 82 are aligned with and inserted into the aligned slots 14 on the hexagonal nut portion 15.

[0046] The clamp 78 shown in FIGS. 10-13, 18 and 19 is open-sided and includes a pair of upper and lower clamping plates or legs 84 and 85 spaced apart a distance just greater than the spacing between upper and lower edges of the opening V in wail plate W so that the plates 84 and 85 have to be pressed toward one another at their free ends to enable insertion into the wall plate W until shoulder portions 86 and 87 on the upper and lower plates 84 and 85 move into abutting relation to the wall plate W. It will be noted that the upper clamping plate 84 is joined to the body 80 by inclined connecting portion 88; however, the lower mounting plate 85 extends at right angles to the base of the body 80 so as to establish the proper spacing or distance between the plates 84 and 85 in relation to the size of the square opening V in the wall plate W. Further, locating tabs 68 are offset both laterally and downwardly from opposite sides of the upper plate and lower tabs 69 are laterally offset only from opposite sides of the lower plate 85 in order to cooperate with the shoulders 85, 86 in mounting the clamp 78 in the wall plate W. The modified form of clamp 78′ shown in FIGS. 20 and 21 is identical to that of FIGS. 18 and 19 but additionally includes opposite sidewalls 90 with shoulders 91 to engage the sides of the wall plate opening V.

[0047] FIGS. 14 and 15 illustrate a BNC/RGB socket-end splice connector assembly for use with min-coaxial cables M and M′ which substantially corresponds to the RCA connecter body 12 and accordingly like parts are correspondingly enumerated. The end wall 10′ of the RCA connector is eliminated but an external flange 92 on the barrel facilitates connection of a standard BNC socket extension 94 on the end of the barrel with a bayonet slot which is slidable on the flange 92 in a conventional manner. Also, the extension 94 has an internal guide 96 with a tapered central opening 98 for insertion of the extension tip 100 of a pin conductor E′ of the cable M′. For the purpose of illustration but not limitation the cable M′ is mounted in a standard RGB connector, such as, Part No. FS RCA 1 RGB manufactured and sold by ICM Corp. Of Denver, Colo. Accordingly, the socket end 58′ is reduced in diameter from that of FIGS. 1 to 9 for snug-fitting engagement with the extension tip 100 on the end of the pin E′.

[0048] In use, the first cable M and its socket end 50 which are located in the electrical outlet box B are inserted into the connector body 12 and the crimping ring 20 is then advanced over the outer sleeves S1 and S2 to securely crimp the end of the cable M in position with the leading socket end portion 58 extending through the inner body or barrel portion 12 and terminating just short of the distal end of the barrel 12. The clamp 78 is mounted on the connector with a compression tool T, as shown in FIGS. 16, 17 and 22 and wherein the tool itself may be of the type set forth and described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,293,004 for LENGTHWISE COMPLIANT CRIMPING TOOL and U.S. Pat. No. 6,708,396 for UNIVERSAL CRIMPING TOOL, both assigned to the assignee of this patent application. Referring in particular to the U.S. Pat. No. 6,708,396, the tool is made up of an elongated body 102 having a yoke 104 at one end defining an end stop and in facing relation to a receiver 106 across a generally channel-shaped recess or opening 108 in the body 102. The receiver 106 is in the form of a spring clip having circumferentially spaced resilient tabs and is mounted on the plunger 110 which is axially advanced through bushing 112 by a lever arm 114. The receiver 106 is anchored to the end of the plunger by a shaft 116 having a base plate 118, and when the shaft is inserted into a bore at the end of the plunger 110 the receiver 106 is sandwiched between the base plate 118 and the end of the plunger 110.

[0049] Typically, the tool T is primarily intended for use with a plurality of different length tip extenders which can be releasably inserted into the receiver 106 for the purpose of engaging one end of a connector body and enable compression of a crimping ring onto the opposite end of the connector body into crimping engagement with a cable. For the purpose of mounting the clamp 78 onto the nut 15, in place of the tip extender, a hollow cylindrical attachment 120 has one end 122 of slightly reduced diameter and of external concave configuration which is complementary to the receiver tabs for releasable, snug-fitting insertion into the receiver 106, and a clip-engaging end 124 of increased outside diameter terminates in a circular rim 125 which is sized to engage the end surface 85 of the body 80. The body 80 is loosely mounted on the end of the connector body 12, as shown in FIG. 16, so as to bear against the rim 125. When the lever arm 114 is depressed from the open position shown in FIG. 16 to the closed position shown in FIG. 17, the fitting 120 will force the clamp 78 to slide in an axial direction over the nut 15 until the corner ribs 83 are aligned with the slots 14 in the nut 15. The lever arm 114 is then retracted and the connector body 10 along with the cable M is removed from the tool.

[0050] Preferring to FIG. 13, after clamp 78′ is inserted into the opening V and the wall plate W is fastened to the electrical outlet box P, the color ring B is mounted in the external groove 13 so as to be visible externally of the wall plate after the installation has been completed. The cable M′ which is mounted in a standard BNC/RGB connector R, such as, Part No. FS BNC 1 RGB is inserted into the end of the connector body 12 with the conductor pin E′ and an extension tip 100 aligned for advancement into the socket end portion 58, as shown in FIG. 15. The socket end portion 58 is dimensioned to be slightly smaller than the extension tip 100 so that the slotted end 59 will undergo a slight expansion to receive the extension tip in snug-fitting relation and resist any tendency of the extension tip to accidentally escape from the socket end portion. The connection can be made in the same way as an RCA connector, for example, as illustrated in FIG. 5.

[0051] It is therefore to be understood that while different embodiments and aspects are herein set forth and described, the above and other modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims and reasonable equivalents thereof. For example, virtually any type or size of coaxial cable connector may be attached in place of the cable M′ into the min-coaxial cable splice connection assembly with or without the wall mount attachment.