Twist-on connector with a heat-shrinkable skirt
US6478606B1 · kind B1 · utility
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 21, 2000 |
| Grant date | Nov 12, 2002 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 21, 2020 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH01R4/726
- WIPO fieldElectrical machinery, apparatus, energy
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A twist-on or wire-nut electrical connector having a rigid, electrically insulative shell, a flexible, heat-shrinkable, electrically insulative skirt, and a coil spring within the body for gripping wires which are inserted therein. The provision of a flexible, heat-shrinkable electrically insulative skirt allows for a safer, more secure connection into which more wires or wires with larger diameter insulation can be inserted. When heat is applied, the skirt will shrink around the inserted wires forming better insulation from moisture, providing a more secure mechanical connection, providing a better electrical insulation for wires with their own electrical insulation removed to insert into the connector, and allowing more or larger diameter wires to be inserted and secured. Unlike prior art connectors, the lower skirt either entirely contains or is directly adhered to the open end of the shell and is heat shrinkable.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.