Heating cable connector for railroad switch heating system
OwnerDaniel A. Santagatainventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A heating cable assembly includes a connector having a sleeve, and a heat-absorbing electrically conductive core member within the sleeve. The assembly also includes a heating cable having an electrical resistance heating wire extending from the core member out a first end of the sleeve, and a water-proof, heat conductive, spirally fluted tube encasing the heating cable. According to one embodiment, the connector further includes an electrically conductive expansion joint extending from the core member opposite said heating wire. According to an additional embodiment, the assembly includes a weld connecting the spirally fluted tube to the first end of the sleeve.
Claims6
A connector for joining first and second wires, at least one of which is periodically subject to elongation, the connector comprising:
- a protective sleeve having a first end for receiving the first wire and a second end for receiving the second wire;
- a heat-absorbing electrically conductive core member received within said protective sleeve for connection to the first wire;
- a butt crimp received within said protective sleeve for connection to the second wire;
- and
- an electrically conductive expansion joint extending from the core member to the butt crimp.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.