Electrical connector including insulating boots and associated methods

An electrical connector for a plurality of electrical cables comprising:

• an electrically conductive body having a plurality of spaced apart cable-receiving passageways for receiving respective electrical cable ends therein, each cable-receiving passageway having a cable inlet opening;
• said electrically conductive body also having at least one respective fastener-receiving passageway intersecting each of the cable-receiving passageways;
• an insulating cover on said electrically conductive body and comprising an integrally molded respective tubular cable inlet aligned with each of the cable inlet openings and an integrally molded respective tubular fastener inlet aligned with each of the fastener-receiving passageways;
• a respective insulating boot to be received in each of said tubular cable inlets and comprising a thermoplastic elastomer (TPE), each of said insulating boots further comprising
• a tubular sidewall having progressively increasing stepped diameters to an open outer end thereof,
• a closed inner end connected to said tubular sidewall opposite the open outer end thereof,
• a removable boot closure cap for removable positioning in the open outer end of said tubular sidewall and comprising a flange and a gripping member extending outwardly therefrom, and
• an integrally molded tether connecting said removable boot closure cap to said tubular sidewall;
• a respective removable fastener inlet closure cap for each of said tubular fastener inlets;
• and
• a respective tether connecting each fastener inlet closure cap to said insulating cover.

A method for making an electrical connector for a plurality of electrical cables comprising:

• forming an electrically conductive body to have
• a plurality of spaced apart cable-receiving passageways for receiving respective electrical cable ends therein, each cable-receiving passageway having a cable inlet opening, and
• at least one respective fastener-receiving passageway intersecting each of the cable-receiving passageways;
• forming an insulating cover on the electrically conductive body and comprising an integrally molded respective tubular cable inlet aligned with each of the cable inlet openings and an integrally molded respective tubular fastener inlet aligned with each of the fastener-receiving passageways;
• positioning a respective insulating boot in each of the tubular cable inlets, each of the insulating boots comprising
• a tubular sidewall having a progressively increasing diameter to an open outer end thereof,
• a removable boot closure cap for removable positioning in the open outer end of the tubular sidewall, and
• an integrally molded tether connecting the removable boot closure cap to the tubular sidewall;
• forming a respective removable fastener inlet closure cap for each of the tubular fastener inlets;
• and
• forming a respective tether connecting each fastener inlet closure cap to the insulating cover.