1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electrical cable connectors, and more particularly to a connector for electroluminescent cable having coaxial conductors.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electroluminescent cable (EL-cable) is a cool to the touch, bendable, vinyl coated wire that emits a pleasant 360-degree softly glowing neon light. EL-cable is a flexible wire cable having a solid copper center conductor surrounded by a material which is luminescent in an electric field. Two thin filaments or wires which are shorted together and helically wound around the luminescent material. The assembly is covered with one or two layers of vinyl or other plastic insulating material.
When an alternating current is conducted through the center conductor and the two filaments, the alternating electromagnetic field between the conductors causes the luminescent material to glow. Although the EL cable may be powered directly from the A.C. power mains, frequently the cable is powered by a D.C. inverter connected to a battery. The color emitted by the cable may vary with the frequency of the A.C. voltage or current. Usually the voltage must exceed a minimum threshold voltage before the EL-cable will glow.
EL technology is relatively new and only within the past few years has EL-cable become available in consumer products, specifically applications requiring lengths of glowing lights, applications which previously employed, LED or other lamp technologies. An efficient and effective method for connecting EL-cable either to other strands of EL-cable or to a pair of copper wires has not been adequately addressed.
In general, connectors for electric cables are not new and the technology is well represented by devices for splicing wires together and for connecting wires to electronic devices. U.S. Pat. No. 4,921,451, issued to R. Carlson in May of 1990, discloses in-line fuse holders for two-bladed fuses which can be fastened in series to an electrical wire by severing the wire in which the holder is to be incorporated, inserting the severed ends of the wire into the holder, and mechanically fastening the wire securely in the holder.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,007,855, issued to O'Brien et al. in 1991, discloses a cable connector having a pair of electrically conductive jumper elements with a pair of spaced sharp protrusions that are electrically connected. U.S. Pat. No. 5,055,071, issued to Carlson, deceased et al. in October of 1991, describes a cable connector in which two cables' conductors are each engaged by a slotted conductor, both of which engage with a common conducting bridge.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,702,262, issued to Brown et al. in December of 1997, discloses a housing having connectors in coaxial alignment with a pair of barrels. In U.S. patent application Publication No. 2002/0182934, published in December 2002, Endo et al. describes a coaxial connector having a central contact, an insulating housing, a grounding shell and a clamp. A crimp barrel serves as a conductor-connecting portion that is crimped into contact with the central conductor of the coaxial cable once the central conductor is inserted into the central contact.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe a connector for EL-cable as claimed. Thus a simplified electroluminescent cable connector solving the aforementioned problems is desired.