In the telecommunications industry telephone cable is introduced to individual telephone sites such as residences, mainly through use of a splice of the signal wires of the cable to respective house wires at a junction located outside the house. The junction is housed within a protective enclosure which is mounted usually to an outside wall of the house. One example of an assembly of a splice terminal block and enclosure therefore is sold by Raychem Corporation under the product identification D'TERMINATOR XB2 (trademark of Raychem Corporation), and the product has the capacity to crossconnect one or two separate telephone lines within the enclosure. Ends of the house cable and the drop cable from the transmission line enter the enclosure; each of the pair of signal wires of each cable is prepared to be spliced to its respective counterpart in the other cable; and the prepared wire ends are then placed within a terminal which is manipulated to penetrate the insulation of both wires to engage the conductors and thus interconnect them. Terminal blocks also provide dielectric protective structure around the splice, and together with the enclosure provide protection from the environment, especially from water, dust, and other contaminants and also from insects and animals. Such enclosures must be capable of being reopened to expose the terminal blocks for service and repair as needed. One type of terminal block for interconnecting a pair of wires is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,006,077 and discloses a tubular terminal rotatable to pierce the insulation of a pair of wire ends inserted into slots thereof to engage the conductors and thus electrically interconnect the wires.
It would be desired to provide a crossconnect enclosure which is adapted to be mounted to a vertical pole or panel and enable insertion of cables thereinto and conductors of the cables to be crossconnected in respective terminal blocks.
It would also be desirable for such enclosure to have a lid which is pivotably connected thereto and which upon being opened remains secured thereto in a position not interfering with wire termination or servicing activities within the opened enclosure.
It is desirable to provide a joint between one member and another enabling pivoting of one member with respect to the other.
It is also desirable to provide a durable hinge joint which is formed integrally to a first member to include an arcuate bearing surface enabling pivoting.
It is further desirable to provide such a hinge joint which includes an integral means for retaining a rod or rodshaped second member adjacent the arcuate bearing surface.
It is yet even further desirable to provide such a hinge joint which is moldable of plastic.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds