Bulkhead penetrator and method for separating cables from a bulkhead penetrator
First Claim
1. In a bulkhead penetrator comprising a housing, a first grommet plate having peripheral recesses therein and adapted to be received by said housing, a grommet for disposition adjacent said first grommet plate in said housing and having bores therein alignable with said recesses, a second grommet plate for disposition adjacent said grommet in said housing and having peripheral recesses alignable with said bores of said grommet, and a retaining ring for connection to said housing to lock said second grommet plate, said grommet, and said first grommet plate in said housing, said second grommet plate recesses and said grommet bores and said first grommet plate recesses being adapted to receive and retain cables extending from outside said bulkhead, substantially axially through said penetrator, into a compartment defined in part by said bulkhead, an improvement wherein:
- said retaining ring comprises a plurality of discrete annular sections, each of said sections being mountable on said housing upon disconnection from said housing, being movable away from said cables in directions transverse to an axis of said penetrator; and
said grommet comprises a plurality of discrete portions, each of said grommet portions having one of said bores therein, and a slit therein extending from said one bore to a periphery of said grommet, each of said portions having a peripheral edge comprising, a portion of a circle, and first and second edges extending from a center of the circle radially outwardly to said peripheral edge, each of said grommet portions being movable along only one of said cables and being movable radially outwardly from the axis of the penetrator.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
In a bulkhead penetrator comprising a housing, a first grommet plate having peripheral recesses therein and adapted to be received by the housing, a grommet for disposition adjacent the first grommet plate in the housing and having bores therein alignable with the recesses, a second grommet plate for disposition adjacent the grommet in the housing and having peripheral recesses alignable with the bores of the grommet, and a retaining ring for connection to the housing to lock the second grommet plate, the grommet, and the first grommet plate in the housing with the second grommet plate recesses and the grommet bores and the first grommet plate recesses being adapted to receive and retain cables extending from outside the bulkhead, through the penetrator, and into a compartment defined in part by the bulkhead, an improvement wherein the retaining ring comprises a plurality of discrete sections, each of the sections being mountable on the housing, and the grommet comprises a plurality of discrete portions, each of the grommet portions having one of the bores therein. There is further contemplated a method for separation of cables from such a penetrator.
17 Citations
2 Claims
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1. In a bulkhead penetrator comprising a housing, a first grommet plate having peripheral recesses therein and adapted to be received by said housing, a grommet for disposition adjacent said first grommet plate in said housing and having bores therein alignable with said recesses, a second grommet plate for disposition adjacent said grommet in said housing and having peripheral recesses alignable with said bores of said grommet, and a retaining ring for connection to said housing to lock said second grommet plate, said grommet, and said first grommet plate in said housing, said second grommet plate recesses and said grommet bores and said first grommet plate recesses being adapted to receive and retain cables extending from outside said bulkhead, substantially axially through said penetrator, into a compartment defined in part by said bulkhead, an improvement wherein:
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said retaining ring comprises a plurality of discrete annular sections, each of said sections being mountable on said housing upon disconnection from said housing, being movable away from said cables in directions transverse to an axis of said penetrator; and said grommet comprises a plurality of discrete portions, each of said grommet portions having one of said bores therein, and a slit therein extending from said one bore to a periphery of said grommet, each of said portions having a peripheral edge comprising, a portion of a circle, and first and second edges extending from a center of the circle radially outwardly to said peripheral edge, each of said grommet portions being movable along only one of said cables and being movable radially outwardly from the axis of the penetrator.
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2. A method for separating cables from a bulkhead penetrator in which the cables are disposed, the penetrator comprising a housing, a first grommet plate disposed in said housing and having peripheral recesses therein, a grommet comprising a plurality of pie-shaped discrete portions, each of said grommet portions having a bore therein, said grommet being disposed in said housing adjacent said first grommet plate with said grommet bores being aligned with said first grommet plate recesses, a second grommet plate disposed in said housing adjacent said grommet and having peripheral recesses therein aligned with said grommet bores, and a retaining ring connected to said housing and adjacent said second grommet plate and locking said grommet plates and said grommet in said housing, said retaining ring comprising a plurality of discrete sections, and each of said cables extending through only one of said retaining ring sections, one of said recesses in said second grommet plate, one of said bores in one of said grommet portions and one of said recesses in said first grommet plate, the method comprising the steps of:
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removing sections of said retaining ring from said housing and from around said cables by moving said sections away from said cables in directions transverse to an axis of said penetrator, until all of said retaining ring sections are removed from said housing and from around said cables; bowing said cables outwardly from the axis of said penetrator to free said cables from said second grommet plate; removing said second grommet plate from said housing; sliding one of said portions of said grommet in which one of said cables is disposed along the cable disposed therein, and moving said one grommet portion radially outwardly from the axis of the penetrator, to remove said one grommet portion from said housing and said one cable, and moving remaining portions of said grommet by sliding the remaining portions of said grommet radially outwardly from the axis of the penetrator and off their respective cables; spreading said cables outwardly and removing therefrom and from said housing said first grommet plate; and removing said cables from said housing.
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Specification