Multi-conductor cables have enjoyed widespread use in the electronics industry. One such multi-conductor cable, commonly referred to as flat or ribbon cable, includes plural wire conductors contained in a common plane and electrically isolated from each other by electrically nonconductive insulation. The insulation may be of various materials such as polytetrafluoroethylene (Teflon) which characteristically is quite slippery and difficult to grip firmly without damage to the insulation or relatively fine wire conductors. Ribbon cable utilized for high speed signal transmission as in computers and other electronic equipment may have, for example, 64 signal wires and 128 ground wires within a cable width of 3.25 inches.
For convenience in connection to and disconnection from other electrical devices, various types of electrical connectors such as multiple pin-out connector plugs (sockets) have been employed to terminate the ribbon cable or, more particularly, the cable conductors at respective contacts (either male or female) for electrical coupling to respective contacts of another electrical device. Because of the relatively small size and closely packed relationship of the conductors and contacts and the usually relatively fragile electrical and mechanical junctions between respective conductors and contacts, the electrical connectors are usually provided with some form of strain relief protecting the electrical junctions, contacts and/or conductors from breakage during manipulation of the cable termination assembly.
One practice has been to mold a strain relief body directly about a part of the cable and the electrical junctions as well. The molded strain relief body would serve to dissipate forces tending to separate the cable from contacts which also may be anchored in the molded strain relief body.