Methods and apparatus for terminating and interconnecting flat power cables.

摘要

A terminal or pair of terminals (20) is terminated onto the end of a flat power cable (12) by punching a plurality of holes through a cable end section placing an apertured terminal plate section over or under the punched cable end section, placing solid copper inserts (182) in the aligned hole arrangements, with insert ends protruding above and below the top and bottom surfaces of the stacked package (180) and staking the insert ends by punches to enlarge them into heads securing the package (180) together and enlarging the insert diameters to tightly fill the holes and apertures forming a plurality of gas-tight electrical connections. Support members (24,26) above and below the cable can be formed of strips of cable cut from the end thereof and having holes punched therein. A tap cable can be interconnected to a main cable, either in a parallel tap or a T-tap, or two cables spliced together, in a similar manner. Apparatus containing the punches includes a series of cams in the lower die assembly to move both upper and lower punches simultaneously against the insert ends by a single downstroke of the upper die assembly.