It is well known to use a flexible material for environmentally enclosing and/or sealing an elongate object. For cable splices materials such as rubber, gel and gel/rubber combinations are used. Examples of such use are disclosed in WO 97/09391 (Raychem), WO 97/08797 (Raychem) and EP 0 880 212 (Raychem).
Usually a strip of sealing material is wound around the elongate object and is subsequently compressed by applying tape or a hard-shelled closure body.
In some applications it is difficult to wind a strip of material around an elongate object. In antenna poles for mobile telephone systems, for instance, the coaxial cable feeding the antenna is often mounted very close to the post, leaving little room for winding a strip of sealing material around the antenna connector. However, as it is normally undesirable to remove or even disconnect such a connector for the purpose of installing an enclosure, the enclosing device has to be of the “wrap-around” type.
In the case of antenna poles, as in other applications, it is advantageous if the device to be installed has few separate parts, as parts can easily be dropped and/or lost.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds