GB2273398A

GB2273398A - Multiple cable wall gland

Info

Publication number: GB2273398A
Application number: GB9225419A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Charles Sydney Thompson; Roy Frederick Thompson
Original assignee: AC Egerton Ltd
Current assignee: AC Egerton Ltd
Priority date: 1992-12-04
Filing date: 1992-12-04
Publication date: 1994-06-15
Also published as: GB9225419D0

Abstract

Sealing gland assembly for a plurality of tubes/cables (62) with a hollow gland body (41) arranged to seal (56) with a wall (47) in conjunction with an opening (46) in said wall, two sleeve members (49, 50), with at least partially dosed ends (51, 53) and containing sealing material (58), are located within the gland body in an aligned arrangement such that in the uncompressed state cables and/or tubes can be passed through the sealing material (58) and on compression of the gland assembly the sealing material (58) is pressurized and forms a seal around the said tubes/cables (62). The sealing material (58) may be a gel or grease. The assembly may include bore holes for the tubes/cables (62) and rods (64) may be used for sealing unrequired bores. <IMAGE>

Description

MULTIPLE CABLE WALL GLAND This invention relates to a multiple cable wall gland.

It is often required with cables and/or tubes of various kind, such as telecommunication and cabletelevision cables, to be able to pass them through a bulkhead or a wall such as a wall of a waterproof jointing box or a connector compartment for example, in such a manner that the entry opening through the wall is sealed with respect to the wall and the cable and/or tube whereby passage of liquid or gas from one side of the wall to the other is prevented.

This has previously been achieved, with respect to single cables, by means of a gland member sealingly surrounding the cable or tube, and sealingly connected to the wall around the entry opening therethrough.

It has also been proposed to provide a single wall gland for a plurality of cables and/or tubes utilising a single wall opening, the plurality of cables and/or tubes passing, within a hollow gland member, individually through appropriate bores in a sealing member arranged to be compressed and seal about the plurality of cables and/or tubes.

There is a particular problem with such glands where optical fibre cables are utilised and are to be sealed therethrough. Pressure on such optical fibre cables exerted by an elastomeric member for sealing purposes can cause macro bending of the fibres and damage their transmission function.

It is an object of the present invention to enable the provision of a convenient and easy to use sealed gland for such a plurality of cables and/or tubes and to overcome the just mentioned problem.

In accordance with one aspect of the invention there is provided a gland assembly for enabling a plurality of cables and/or tubes to pass through a wall in a sealed manner comprising a hollow main gland body sealingly connectable directly or indirectly to the wall at an opening therein and extending generally transverse, in use, from the plane of the wall, from an inner end to an outer end; an inner disposed sleeve member and outer disposed sleeve located within the main gland body in line with each other between the inner and outer ends of the main gland body, the inner and outer sleeve members being at least partially closed ended at their inner and outer ends respectively; sealing material disposed within the two sleeve members; the assembly being capable of adjustment to a first disposition such that little or no force in the inner/outer direction is imposed upon the sleeve ends which are then in an aligned separated disposition; the main gland body, the two sleeve ends and the sealing material being capable of having cables and/or tubes passed therethrough between the outer and inner ends thereof when the sleeves are in an aligned separated disposition; and the assembly being capable of a further adjustment to a second disposition such that force in the inner/outer direction is imposed upon the sleeve ends so as to urge the sleeves together and exert pressure on the sealing material in the inner/outer direction whereby to provide a seal about cables and/or tubes passing therethrough.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention there is provided a gland assembly for enabling a plurality of cables and/or tubes to pass through a wall in a sealed manner comprising a hollow main gland body sealingly connectable directly or indirectly to the wall at an opening therein and extending generally transverse, in use, from the plane of the wall, from an inner end to an outer end; an inner disposed sleeve member and outer disposed sleeve member located within the main gland body in line with each other between the inner and outer end of the main gland body, the inner and outer sleeve members being closed ended at their inner and outer ends respectively by means comprising an elastomeric member extending across the sleeve ends; the sleeve members enclosing a sealing member, at least a portion of which, full width across at least one sleeve member, is of a gel or grease sealing material; the closed ends of the sleeve members comprising the elastomeric members and any solid portion of the sealing member being provided with bores therethrough in an inner/outer direction; the main gland body being capable of outward movement to a first disposition such that in use no force in the inner/outer direction is imposed upon the sleeve ends which are thereby in an aligned separated disposition and the gel or grease material are caused not to totally fill the space provided for it in each sleeve for the insertion of cables and/or tubes in the bores; and the main gland body being capable of inward movement to a second disposition such that, in use, force in the inner/outer direction is imposed upon the sleeve ends so as to urge the sleeves together and cause the gel or grease material to fill the space provided for it in the or each sleeve member and provide a seal about the cables and/or tubes passing therethrough.

It is to be understood that by the word "gel" as used herein is meant that material comprising an elastic semiliquid sealant having the property of regaining, or tending to regain, after disturbance, its original disposition.

The sleeve members may be cylindrical and the sealing material may be disposed throughout the sleeve members, or may be provided as a succession of gel or grease material portions and non-elastomeric relatively rigid portions.

Again the seal member may comprise a plastic central cylinder of a relatively rigid nature, with gel or grease material portions at each end thereof.

The main gland body may be connectable directly to the wall about the opening therein, for example by means of a threaded upstanding annular skirt formed about the opening.

Alternatively, the main gland body may be connectable to a separate annular skirt member secured within and sealed with respect to a simple opening in the wall.

The skirt or skirt portion upstanding from the wall may be internally threaded, and may in practice mate with an externally threaded portion of the main gland body which is itself conveniently of a right cylindrical nature. In this case inward and outward movement of the main gland body may be by screwing in and out on the skirt or skirt portion.

The skirt or skirt portion of the wall may be provided with a radially inwardly directed shoulder arranged to bear against the inner sleeve member adjacent the closed end thereof, and the outer end of the main gland body may be provided with a radially inwardly extending shoulder engaging with the closed end of the outer sleeve member.

The ends of the sleeve members, and any rigid parts of the sealing member, may be pre-drilled with a predetermined number of bores, those not required for use at any time being filled, for sealing purposes, with rods passing therealong which can then, in use of the sealing gland, be sealed therewithin.

The main gland body may be sealed against the skirt or skirt portion of the wall by means of a sealing ring disposed on an outwardly inclined surface around the outer periphery of the inner sleeve member, which is engagable directly or indirectly by the inner end of the main gland body and the skirt or skirt portion.

The ends of the sleeve members facing each other may be plain square cut ends for making contact with each other, or may be arranged for a telescopic sliding arrangement one within the other, and/or may be provided with castellations or similar matching projections and depressions.

The bores through the sleeve ends and sealing member may be of any convenient configuration for the cables and/or tubes to be accommodated. Thus, they may be circular in section, or oval in section, or, for example where cables associated with cable-television, are to be passed through the gland, they may for example be of a figure of eight configuration so as to take the combined television and telecommunication cables associated with cable-television. In such a situation the configuration of the array of bores will be chosen through the sealing member to provide optimum capacity of cable passage, with satisfactory sealing properties.

The rods for sealing unwanted bores may initially be formed as plastic rods interconnected at one end fitting within all of the bores provided through the ends of the sleeves and any rigid portions of the sealing member, whereby on use of the gland assembly the required number of rods can be broken away and removed.

In order that the invention may be more readily understood a number of embodiments thereof will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of one embodiment of a sealing gland in accordance with the invention in its non sealing configuration coupled to a cylindrical surround to an opening in a wall; Figure 2 is a similar sectional elevation of the gland of Figure 1 but with the gland in its sealing configuration; Figure 3 is a sectional elevation of a second embodiment of a gland in accordance with the invention coupled to a cylindrical surround to an opening in a wall; Figure 4 shows an array of bores through the sealing member of Figure 1; Figure 5 shows a configuration of bores through a sealing member alternative to that of Figure 4; and Figure 6 shows an alternative to the skirt portion of the wall of Figure 1.

Referring now to Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings it will be seen that the main cylindrical gland body 41 is arranged to engage at its inner end 42 by means of external threading 43 with internal threading 44 on an upstanding cylindrical skirt 45 surrounding an aperture 46 through a wall 47. Limit to screwed engagement of the main gland body 41 with the skirt portion of the wall is provided by means of an annular shoulder 48 on the main gland body 41.

Disposed within the main gland body 41 are two cylindrical sleeve members 49,50, an outer one 50 being closed at its outer end by means of an elastomeric multiholed grommet 51 co-moulded with or adhered to the end of the outer sleeve 50 and held within the gland body 41 by means of a radially inwardly directed shoulder 52 at the outer end thereof.

The inner sleeve member 49 is closed ended by a grommet 53 in the same manner as the outer sleeve 50, and is held by a radially inwardly directed shoulder 54 surrounding the aperture 46 below the skirt portion 45 surrounding it.

It is to be observed that in the fully screwed in position of the gland body shown in Figure 2, the two sleeves 49,50 mate with each other. In addition, an outwardly inclined surface 55 of the outer wall of the inner sleeve locates a resilient elastomeric "0" ring 56 forced outwardly on the inclined surface 55 by a washer 74 located below the inner edge 57 of the main gland body so as to form a seal between the skirt 45, the main gland body 41, and the inner sleeve 49, thereby providing a seal around the inner sleeve member 49 with respect to the other side of the wall 47 remote from the gland assembly.

Disposed within the two sleeve members 49,50 is a sealing member 58 which comprises a resilient body of gel material.

The inner and outer sleeves 49,50 are provided with an internal thin walled lining tube 77 of a length corresponding to combined closed lengths of sleeves 49,50 to prevent extrusion of gel into the gaps between the sleeves when in the disposition of Figure 1.

It is to be appreciated that the main gland body 41, and the two sleeve members 49,50 may all be formed of an appropriate generally rigid plastics material such as nylon, whilst the lining tube may be of a metal material.

In the configuration of the gland shown in Figure 1, before screwing into the skirt portion 45 surrounding the opening 46 in the wall 47, the sleeves 49 and 50 are somewhat separated one from the other and the gel material of the sealing members does not totally fill the sleeves leaving gaps 75,76 at each end, and is not therefore subject to comprehensive force. Whilst in this condition, it is possible to pass cables such as 62 through the bores 63 through the end grommets 51,53 of the sleeves 49,50 and also through the gel of the sealing member 58. One configuration of such bores is illustrated in Figure 4.

It will be appreciated that unused bores can, in order to enable full sealing of the gland assembly with only some bores occupied by cables, be filled with appropriate rods 64 as shown in Figures 1 and 2.

In practice it is convenient in a totally unused gland assembly, to provide a full complement of rods, possibly joined lightly at one end, all fitting one within each of the bores through the end walls of the sleeves and through the sealing members.

Bores to receive cables of varying configuration can readily be provided, and Figure 5 for example illustrates schematically bores 65 through the sleeve end grommets 51,53 and the configuration adapted to take the dual cable 66 required for cable-television provision, comprising a television cable of a coaxial nature connected by means of a web to a telecommunications cable.

For use, the gland assembly as shown in Figure 1, with the gel of the sealing member 58 in a relaxed condition, and with the sleeves 49,50 separated one from each other, is prepared by removing appropriate closure rods 64 and replacing them with cables 68 pushed through the gland assembly, and the main gland body 41 is screwed into the skirt surround 45 to the opening 46 in the wall 47 to the configuration shown in Figure 2. On screwing in the main gland body 41, the "0" ring seal 56 is compressed in the gap between the washer 74 at the inner end 57 of the main gland body 41, the inner periphery of the skirt portion 45 of the wall 47, and the inclined outwardly directed surface 55 of the outer wall of the inner sleeve member 49.

In addition, the screwing in of the main gland body exerts a force in an inner/outer direction on the gel of the sealing member 59 which now completely fills the two sleeve members 49,50. At this disposition, the gel provides secure seals about each of the rods 64 and cables 62 passing therethrough.

In practice, a small overfill of the gel will initially be provided for the sleeves 49,50, the first tightening of the gland leading to extrusion of excess gel around cables 66 and rods 64 through grommets 51 and 53.

It will be appreciated that instead of cables, hollow tubes of appropriate wall strength can be used alternatively where there is a requirement for such.

It is to be appreciated that multi-holed grommets 51 and 53 act as a wiping membrane for the gel on removal of rods 64 or cables 62.

The gland assembly of Figure 3 is very similar to that of Figures 1 and 2 except that in this case the lining tube 77 is not incorporated and its function is fulfilled by telescopic inner ends 78,79 of the sleeves 49,50. In addition, the multi-holed grommets 80,81 (acting as wiping membranes) instead of being directly secured to the ends of the sleeves 49,50 are supported between correspondingly holed rigid plastic discs 82,83 (each secured to the sides of the respective sleeve), and correspondingly holed rigid end members 84,85 to sleeves 49,50 respectively.

It is to be appreciated that, for the embodiments of Figures 1 and 2, and Figure 3, to ensure no tendency of the sleeves 49,50 to twist during tightening of the body 41, which might damage the cables, especially fibre optic cables, in a manner not shown a thin walled flat annular elastomeric washer may be provided between the lower wall of the lower sleeve 49 and the inner wall of the shoulder 54 surrounding the aperture 46 to prevent rotation of sleeve 49, and the junction between the sleeves 49 and 50 may be provided with interengaging castellations to prevent rotation of sleeve 50.

In Figure 6 there is illustrated an alternative to the skirt portion 45 surrounding the opening 46 in the wall 47 as illustrated in Figures 1, 2 and 3. In this case a skirt is provided in the form of a double cylinder member 67. This can be mounted directly within a straightforward circular opening 68 in a wall 69 by means of a nut 70 fastened about an externally threaded portion 71 of the double cylinder 67 of a somewhat reduced diameter, sealing of the double cylinder 67 being provided by means of an "0" ring gasket 72. The wider portion 73 of the double cylinder is, as can be seen, directly comparable in dimensions, configuration, and effect, as the skirt surround 45 of Figures 1, 2 and 3.

By means of the invention we have provided an integral sealing gland assembly capable of being easily fitted with the required number of a plurality of cables or tubes to pass therethrough, and where the sealing effect is readily achieved simply by screwing the main gland body into a skirt or skirt surround at the relevant wall opening without risk of functional damage to the cables, especially fibre optic cables, and this screwing in being done without any risk of twisting of the relevant plurality of cables or tubes.

It is to be understood that the foregoing is merely exemplary of cable sealing glands in accordance with the invention and that modifications can readily be made thereto without departing from the true scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A gland assembly for enabling a plurality of cables and/or tubes to pass through a wall in a sealed manner comprising a hollow main gland body sealingly connectable directly or indirectly to the wall at an opening therein and extending generally transverse, in use, from the plane of the wall, from an inner end to an outer end; an inner disposed sleeve member and outer disposed sleeve member located within the main gland body in line with each other between the inner and outer end of the main gland body, the inner and outer sleeve members being closed ended at their inner and outer ends respectively by means comprising an elastomeric member extending across the sleeve ends; the sleeve members enclosing a sealing member, at least a portion of which, full width across at least one sleeve member, is of a gel or grease sealing material; the closed ends of the sleeve members comprising the elastomeric members and any solid portion of the sealing member being provided with bores therethrough in an inner/outer direction; the main gland body being capable of outward movement to a first disposition such that in use no force in the inner/outer direction is imposed upon the sleeve ends which are thereby in an aligned separated disposition and the gel or grease material is caused not to fill totally the space provided for it in each sleeve for the insertion of cables and/or tubes in the bores; and the main gland body being capable of inward movement to a second disposition such that, in use, force in the inner/outer direction is imposed upon the sleeve ends so as to urge the sleeves together and cause the gel or grease material to fill the space provided for it in the or each sleeve member and provide a seal about the cables and/or tubes passing therethrough.

2. A gland assembly as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the sleeve members are cylindrical and the sealing material is disposed throughout the sleeve members.

3. A gland assembly as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the sleeve members are cylindrical and the sealing material is provided as a succession of gel or grease material portions and non-elastomeric relatively rigid portions.

4. A gland assembly as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the sleeve members are cylindrical and the seal member comprises a plastic central cylinder of relatively rigid nature, with gel or grease material portions at each end thereof.

5. A gland assembly as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the main gland body is connectable directly to the wall about the opening therein by means of an upstanding annular skirt portion formed about the opening.

6. A gland assembly as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 4 wherein the main gland body is connectable to a separate upstanding annular skirt member secured within and sealed with respect to a simple opening in the wall.

7. A gland assembly as claimed in Claim 5 or 6 wherein the skirt or skirt portion upstanding from the wall is internally threaded such as to mate with an externally threaded portion of the main gland body, the latter being of a right cylindrical nature.

8. A gland assembly as claimed in Claim 7 wherein inward and outward movement of the main gland body is achieved by screwing in or out on the skirt or skirt portions.

9. A gland assembly as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the skirt or skirt portion of the wall is provided with a radially inwardly directed shoulder arranged to bear against the inner sleeve member adjacent the closed end thereof, and the outer end of the main gland body is provided with a radially inwardly extending shoulder engaging with the closed end of the outer sleeve member.

10. A gland assembly as claimed in Claim 9 wherein the ends of the sleeve members, and the sealing member, are pre-drilled with a predetermined number of bores, those not required for use at any time being filled, for sealing purposes, with rods passing therealong which can then, in use of the sealing gland, be sealed therewithin.

11. A gland assembly as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the main gland body is sealed against the skirt or skirt portion of the wall by means of a sealing ring disposed on an outwardly inclined surface around the outer periphery of the inner sleeve member, which is engageable by the inner end of the main gland body and the skirt or skirt portion.

12. A gland assembly as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the ends of the sleeve members facing each other may be plain square cut ends for making contact with each other or may be arranged for a telescopic sliding arrangement one within the other.

13. A gland assembly as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the ends of the sleeve members facing each other are provided with castellations or similar matching projections and depressions.

14. A gland assembly as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the bores through the sleeve ends and sealing member have an appropriate cross sectional configuration for the cables and/or tubes to be accommodated.

15. A gland assembly as claimed in Claim 14 wherein the configuration in cross section of an array of bores is such through the sealing member as to provide optimum capacity of cable passage with satisfactory sealing properties.

16. A gland assembly as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the rods for sealing unwanted bores are initially formed as plastic rods interconnected at one end fitting within all of the bores provided through the ends of the sleeves and the sealing member, whereby on use of the gland assembly, the required number of rods can be broken away and removed.

17. A gland assembly substantially as shown in and as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1, 2, 4, 5,and 6 of the accompanying drawings.

18. A gland assembly substantially as shown in and described with reference to Figure 3 of the accompanying drawings.