Cross-Reference to Related Application

The present application relates to and claims the benefit of commonly-owned, co- pending U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/971 ,604 entitled "LIQUID-TIGHT STRAIN RELIEF," filed on March 28, 2014, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference.

Technical Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a strain relief and, more particularly, to a liquid- tight, co-molded strain relief for cables, wires, tubing, rods and other elongated objects.

Background of the Prior Art

Liquid-tight strain reliefs are affixed in a liquid-tight manner in orifices of work pieces. The liquid-tight strain reliefs enable cables, wires, tubing or rods to be passed through them in a locked and liquid tight engagement, while providing strain relief protection. Liquid-tight strain reliefs are described in U.S. Patent Nos. 5,405,172 and 8,398,419, which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety. Liquid-tight strain reliefs are also described in pending U.S. Patent Application No. 14/459,495, filed August 14, 2014, published as U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0048614 on February 19, 2015, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Disclosure of the Invention

A liquid-tight strain relief includes a tubular-shaped bushing and a dome-shaped gland co-molded with the bushing. The bushing includes a flange, a centrally-located aperture, a plurality of resilient outer fingers, and a plurality of resilient inner fingers extending from an inner wall and positioned within the aperture. The gland includes a head having a centrally-located membrane. The head of the gland is co-molded with and encapsulates the flange of the bushing, thereby resulting in a strain relief having a unitary construction. The strain relief is inserted within an orifice of a work piece, such as a panel, and the outer fingers frictionally engage the work piece. A cable is inserted within the strain relief by piercing the membrane, which stretches and provides a seal against the cable. The cable is inserted through the aperture of the bushing and the resilient inner fingers of the bushing flex outwardly to enable the cable to pass through, while engaging and digging into the cable to clasp it and provide strain relief. Brief Description of the Drawings

FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of a liquid-tight strain relief constructed in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the liquid-tight strain relief shown in FIG. 1 ;

FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view of the liquid-tight strain relief shown in FIG. 1 ;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of the liquid-tight strain relief shown in FIG. 1 ;

FIG. 5 is a side cross-sectional view, taken along lines A-A and looking in the direction of the arrows, of the liquid-tight strain relief shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of the liquid-tight strain relief shown in FIG. 1 ; FIG. 7 is a side cross-sectional view, taken along lines B-B and looking in the direction of the arrows, of the liquid-tight strain relief shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 8 is a top perspective view of the liquid-tight strain relief shown in FIG. 1 but with a cable positioned within it;

FIG. 9 is a top plan view of the liquid-tight strain relief shown in FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a bottom plan view of the liquid-tight strain relief shown in FIG. 8;

FIG. 11 is a side elevational view of the liquid-tight strain relief shown in FIG. 8;

FIG. 12 is a side cross-sectional view, taken along lines D-D and looking in the direction of the arrows, of the liquid-tight strain relief shown in FIG. 9;

FIG. 13 is a side elevational view of the liquid-tight strain relief shown in FIG. 8; and

FIG. 14 is a side cross-sectional view, taken along lines E-E and looking in the direction of the arrows, of the liquid-tight strain relief shown in FIG. 9. Best Mode For Carrying Out The Invention

Referring to FIGS. 1 through 7, in an embodiment, a liquid-tight strain relief 10 includes a tubular-shaped bushing 12 and a dome-shaped gland 14 attached to the bushing 12. In an embodiment, the gland 14 is co-molded with the bushing 12 in a manner that will be described hereinafter. In an embodiment, the bushing 12 is made from a thermoplastic material, while the gland 14 is made from a thermoplastic elastomer (TPE). In other embodiments, the bushing 12 and the gland 14 may be made from other suitable materials known in the art. With continued reference to FIGS. 1 through 7, in an embodiment, the bushing 12 includes a cylindrical-shaped housing 16 having a first end 18 and second end 20 opposite the first end 18, a peripheral flange 22 extending outwardly from the first end 18, and a centrally-located aperture 24 that extends from the first end 18 to the second end 20. The housing 16 of the bushing 12 further includes an inner wall 26, an outer wall 28, and a pair of diametrically opposed cutouts 30 extending from the inner wall 26 to the outer wall 28 (one of which is shown in FIG. 6). Each of the cutouts 30 includes a pair of spaced-apart and parallel, longitudinally extending slots 32a, 32b. Each of the slots 32a, 32b includes a first end 34 and second end 36 opposite the first end 34. The first ends 34 of each of the slots 32a, 32b are connected by a corresponding transverse slot 38. Each pair of the slots 32a, 32b and the corresponding transverse slot 38 define and surround a resilient outer finger 40. The outer finger 40 includes a first end 39 attached integrally to the housing 16, and an opposite free end 41. In an embodiment, the bushing 12 includes two of the outer fingers 40 that are diametrically opposed to one another. In other embodiments, the bushing 12 includes more or less than two of the outer fingers 40. Each of the outer fingers 40 includes an outer surface 42 having a plurality of elongated ribs 43 for frictional engagement with a work piece, which will be described hereinafter. In other embodiments, the outer surface 42 of the each of the outer fingers 40 may include other frictionally-engaging features known in the art.

Referring to FIGS. 5 and 7, in an embodiment, the bushing 12 includes a plurality of resilient inner fingers 44. Each of the inner fingers 44 includes a first end 46, which is attached to the inner wall 26 of the bushing 12 proximate to the first end 18 thereof, and a second, free end 48 opposite the first end 46, which is positioned within the aperture 24 of the bushing 12. In an embodiment, the first end 46 of each of the inner fingers 44 is integral with the inner wall 26. In an embodiment, each of the inner fingers 44 extends obliquely from the inner wall 26 of the bushing 12 within the aperture 24. In an embodiment, the second end 48 of each of the inner fingers 44 includes a pointed tip 50. It will be apparent to those of skill in the art that the plurality of resilient inner fingers 44 may include varying quantities of inner fingers 44. In an embodiment illustrated in FIG. 7, the bushing 12 includes two of the inner fingers 44 that are diametrically opposed to one another. In another embodiment, the bushing 12 includes three of the inner fingers 44. In another embodiment, the bushing 12 includes four of the inner fingers 44. In an embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 3, 13 and 14, the bushing 12 includes two of the inner fingers 44 that are diametrically opposed to one another and two of the outer fingers 40 that are diametrically opposed to one another, and a diameter defining the diametric opposition of the two inner fingers 44 is offset by a right angle from a diameter defining the diametric opposition of the two outer fingers 40.

Referring back to FIGS. 1 through 7, in an embodiment, the gland 14 includes a domed-shaped head 52 having a convex outer surface 54 and a concave inner surface 56, which meet to form an annular lip 58. A centrally-located, substantially circular- shaped depression 60 is formed within the outer surface 54 of the head 52, which culminates at a centrally-located membrane 62. In an embodiment, the membrane 62 includes a thickness that is sufficient for the membrane to be pierced, which will be described hereinafter. In an embodiment, the gland 14 is co-molded with the bushing 12 such that the flange 22 of the bushing 12 is encapsulated within an annular interior portion 64 of the head 52 of the gland 14. When the gland 14 is co-molded to the bushing 12, the membrane 62 resides within the aperture 24 of the bushing 12 proximate to the first end 18 of the bushing 12.

It will be known to those of skill in the art that when items are described as being "co-molded" to one another, reference is made to a fabrication process whereby items made of different materials are fabricated simultaneously within a single mold. For example, when the bushing 12 and the gland 14 of the exemplary liquid-tight strain relief 10 are described herein as being co-molded to one another, those of skill in the art will understand this description to mean that the bushing 12 and the gland 14 are made of different materials that are formed within the same mold at the same time. As discussed above, these materials may include a thermoplastic forming the bushing 12 and a thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) forming the gland 14.

In use, the liquid-tight strain relief 10 is sized and shaped to be affixed in a liquid- tight manner within an orifice of a work piece, such as a panel or other structure (not shown in the Figures). When the strain relief 10 is installed within the orifice in the work piece, the ribs 43 on the outer fingers 40 frictionally engage the work piece to facilitate the fixation of the strain relief 10 therein. In an embodiment, as the strain relief 10 is inserted into the orifice of the work piece, the ribs 43 are compressed to fit within the orifice. Once the strain relief 10 is secured within the orifice of the work piece, the annular lip 58 of the gland 14, which acts on the engaged surface of the work piece, forms a liquid-tight seal thereon.

Referring to FIGS. 8 through 14, when a cable C (or a wire, tubing, rod and other elongated object) is inserted in the strain relief 10, it pierces the membrane 62 of the gland 14 (see FIGS. 8, 12 and 14). In this regard, the membrane 62 stretches and forms a liquid-tight seal around the cable C. In another embodiment, the cable C may first be installed through the strain relief 10, after which the strain relief 10 may be engaged in position along the cable C and then affixed within the orifice of the work piece. When the cable C is further inserted through the aperture 24 of the bushing 12, the cable C engages the inner fingers 44 which flex to allow the cable C to be inserted therethrough. As a result of the resiliency of the inner fingers 44, they are movable outwardly towards the inner wall 26 of the bushing 12 from a first, disengaged position to a second, engaged position, in which the pointed tips 50 of the inner fingers 44 dig-in and clasp the outer surface of the cable C to provide strain relief (see FIGS. 12 and 14).

It should be understood that the embodiments described herein are merely exemplary and that a person skilled in the art may make many variations and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, all such variations and modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the embodiments described herein as defined in the appended claims.