Electrical cable accessories configured for lubricated installation

In a cable accessory to be installed at the terminus of an electrically shielded cable by using a lubricant to ease the installation, the cable having an outside diameter falling within a predetermined range between a smallest diameter and a largest diameter, the cable including a conductor, insulation surrounding the conductor, and a conductive shield surrounding the insulation, the cable having a portion of the shield removed to expose the insulation thereof beyond a terminal region of the shield, and having a portion of the insulation removed to expose the conductor beyond a terminal region of the insulation, the terminal region of the exposed insulation being positioned between a terminal region of the exposed conductor and the terminal region of the exposed shield:

• a sleeve-like member of essentially solid elastomeric material having an open end through which the terminus of the cable is to be passed and an axially-extending opening for receiving the cable terminus, the opening including a resiliently dilatable insulation-gripping portion for firmly gripping the insulation and an inlet passage extending between the insulation-gripping portion and the open end of the sleeve-like member;
• the inlet passage being flared radially outwardly in the direction from the insulation-gripping portion toward the open end such that the inside diameter of the inlet passage at the open end is substantially larger than the largest diameter of said predetermined range, the inlet passage including a first axially-extending portion tapering downwardly from a maximum diameter at the open end to a first prescribed diameter spaced axially from the open end, and a second axially-extending portion tapering downwardly from the first prescribed diameter to a second prescribed diameter located adjacent the insulation-gripping portion of the opening;
• the sleeve-like member having a substantial wall thickness at the second axially-extending portion of the inlet passage, the substantial wall thickness being provided by the solid elastomeric structure of the sleeve-like member;
• the inside diameter of the inlet passage at the open end being large enough to permit the lubricant on the cable to enter the opening during installation, and the first and second prescribed diameters being such that the relative dimensions of the second axially-extending portion of the inlet passage and a cable having an outside diameter within said predetermined range, together with the substantial wall thickness provided by the solid elastomeric structure of the sleeve-like member at the second axially-extending portion, will assure that the surrounding conductive shield of the cable will be gripped firmly at a location along the second axially-extending portion of the inlet passage, the first prescribed diameter being spaced axially from the second prescribed diameter so as to enable the terminal region of the shield to be located axially anywhere thereinbetween, the second axially-extending portion being adapted, by virtue of said relative dimensions and said substantial wall thickness, to grip radially the terminal region of the shield so as to substantially reduce any voids between the inlet passage and the terminal region of the shield while compensating for a variation in the axial location of the terminal region of the shield relative to the terminal region of the insulation and the terminal region of the conductor.