CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority of provisional U.S. Application No. 61/132,698 filed June 23, 2008, which is incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to a communications cable which is provided with a fabric sleeve installed on the cable at the factory or in the field just before the cable is installed into a conduit. Such a sleeve makes it easier to install cables into a conduit already having a cable therein without damage to either cable.

BACKGROUND ART 5 Positioning cables in underground communication conduits which extend for several thousand feet has long been a problem. Such is particularly true when it is desired to position an additional cable or cables into a conduit that already has a cable in it. That cable, particularly because of its plastic jacket, provides a great deal of friction to the new cable as it is attempted to be o inserted into the conduit. As a result, the new or the existing cable may be easily damaged due to that friction. Such is particularly true when the cable in the conduit is ungulating which causes the cable being introduced to take a sinuous, fraction-laden path.

An extremely successful solution to this problem is a fabric innerduct 5 sold under the trademark MAXCELL® by TVC Communications, LLC and shown in U.S. Patent No. 6,262,371 which is incorporated by reference for whatever details may be necessary to understand the present invention. This innerduct is first positioned in a conduit and divides the conduit into longitudinally extending compartments. When a cable is positioned in one of o the compartments, a pull tape or rope that is in another compartment is utilized to pull a second cable into that compartment. Because there is fabric between the cables, the friction is not on the cable jacket but on the fabric which makes installation easier. However, a problem can exist when using these innerducts in small diameter conduits which extend long distances. In these small conduits, the fabric innerduct takes up much of the space in the conduit and the tape or rope may tend in lock up in the innerduct thereby impeding the ability to pull in a cable.

As a result, the need exists for a more efficient manner in which to install a cable into a conduit, particularly a small diameter conduit.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION It is thus an object of one aspect of the present invention to provide a cable with a pliant sleeve.

It is an object of another aspect of the present invention to provide a cable and sleeve assembly which is easy to insert both into an empty conduit or into an innerduct within the conduit. It is an object of an additional aspect of the present invention to provide a method of forming a cable with a pliant sleeve and introducing the cable and sleeve assembly into a conduit.

These and other objects of the present invention, as well as the advantages thereof over existing prior art forms, which will become apparent from the description to follow, are accomplished by the improvements hereinafter described and claimed.

In general, an apparatus to be introduced into a conduit made in accordance with the present invention includes a cable having a length and a pliant sleeve positioned around the cable for substantially the entire length. The present invention also relates to a method of introducing a longitudinally extending cable into a conduit which includes the steps of wrapping a pliant material around substantially the entire length of the cable and thereafter introducing the wrapped cable into the conduit.

Preferred exemplary cable and sleeve assemblies according to the concepts of the present invention are shown by way of example in the accompanying drawings without attempting to show all the various forms and modifications in which the invention might be embodied, the invention being measured by the appended claims and not by the details of the specification. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Fig. 1 is a schematic view showing the manner in which a conventional cable is wrapped with a fabric sleeve and inserted in to conduit.

Fig. 2 is an end view of a fabric sleeve made in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary top plan view of the sleeve of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of a cable and sleeve of the present invention showing the sleeve of Figs. 2 and 3 wrapped around the cable.

Fig. 5 is an end view of an alternative version of a fabric sleeve made in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary top plan view of the sleeve of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view of a cable and sleeve of the present invention showing the sleeve of Figs. 5 and 6 wrapped around the cable.

Fig. 8 is an end view of another alternative version of a fabric sleeve made in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 9 is a sectional view of a cable and a sleeve of Fig. 8 wrapped around the cable.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION One form of a cable and sleeve assembly made in accordance with the present invention is indicated generally by the numeral 10 and includes a communications cable 11 and a sleeve generally indicated by the numeral 12. Cable 11 is a conventional item and, as such, typically includes a plurality of conductive wires encapsulated within a plastic jacket. Sleeve 12 may be made of a pliant material such as the fabric described in U.S. Patent No. 6,421 ,485, and can be in the form of a longitudinally extending sheet 13 of material having a fastening system formed on opposed edges thereof. Such a system could be glue or some other adhesive, or it could be the VELCRO® hook and loop fastening system shown. Thus, one edge on one side of sheet 13 may be provided with a hook connector 14 and the opposed edge on the other side of sheet 13 may be provided with the companion loop connector 15. The width of the sheet between the connectors 14 and 15 generally corresponds to the circumference of cable 11 such that when sleeve 12 is positioned on cable 11 , as shown in Fig. 4, connectors 14 and 15 may engage each other to tightly hold sleeve 12 on cable 1 1.

An alternative cable and sleeve assembly is shown in Fig. 7 and generally indicated by the numeral 20. There, the conventional cable 11 is shown as receiving a spring-loaded sleeve of fabric or thin plastic material generally indicated by the numeral 21 which is formed of a sheet 22 having opposed edges 23 and 24. As shown, edge 24 circumferentially overlaps a portion of sheet 22 to provide a tight grip on cable 11.

Another alternative cable and sleeve assembly is shown in Fig. 9 and generally indicated by the numeral 30. There, the conventional cable 11 is shown as receiving a fabric sleeve generally indicated by the numeral 31. Like sleeve 12, sleeve 31 may be formed of a pliant or fabric material and provided in the form of a longitudinally extending sheet 32. As best shown in Fig. 8, one side of sheet 32 can be provided with an adhesive 33. The width of sheet 32 generally corresponds to the circumference of cable 1 1 such that when sheet

32 is placed on cable 11 with its adhesive 33 side facing the plastic jacket of cable 11 , sheet 32 firmly engages the plastic jacket of cable 1 1 as shown in Fig. 9.

The cable sleeve assemblies 10, 20, or 30 may be manufactured and assembled at the factory and shipped on rolls to the underground conduit construction site. Typically, such rolls could have two thousand or more feet of assemblies 10, 20, or 30 thereon to be played out and inserted into an underground conduit by conventional systems.

Alternatively, a sleeve 12 or 21 could be applied to the cable 11 in the field as schematically shown in Fig. 1. In this instance, a roll 40 of cable 1 1 and a roll 41 of a sleeve 12 or 21 are provided at the site for installation into a conduit. The cable 11 and sleeve 12 in the condition shown in Figs. 2, 3 or 8 or the sleeve 21 in the condition shown in Figs. 5 and 6, are fed to a device 43. In the instance of operation with a sleeve 12 or 31 , device 43 is a folder which wraps sleeve 12 or 31 around cable 11 as they simultaneously pass through device 42 to form assembly 10. In the instance of operation with a sleeve 21 , device 42 can be a spreader which opens sleeve 21 so that the cable 1 1 may pass between edges 23 and 24. The spreader then releases sleeve 21 to allow sleeve 21 to snap back to its original condition and now forming assembly 20. The resulting cable and sleeve assembly 10, 20 or 30 may then be pulled into a conduit by a conventional rope or pull tape or may be provided to a conventional cable pushing/blowing machine 43 which includes tractor-like devices 44 to grip assembly 10 or 20 and push it into and through a conduit (not shown) to the right in Fig. 1. The pushing movement of devices 44 can be assisted by the blowing of air into the conduit as is known in the art.

By wrapping a cable with a pliable material which has less friction than the jacket of a cable, assemblies 10, 20 or 30 can be more easily installed into a conduit which does not have an innerduct therein. As a result, the cost of the innerduct is saved. On the other hand, if the conduit does have an innerduct already positioned therein, the cable sleeve assemblies 10, 20 or 30 are also more easily inserted into a compartment of the innerduct.

As a result, a cable sleeve assembly 10, 20 or 30 manufactured and used as described herein accomplishes the objects of the invention and otherwise substantially improves the art.