In the weak current cables widely used in the above mentioned applications, the electrical cables, or the insulation-covered electrical conductors, are usually arranged in a flexible protective sheath, for which a steel-armoured or fabric-filled plastic sheath is generally employed. The fittings which give the cable coupling mechanical strength under tensile load and which make the electrical connection between the conductors are joined to the end of the protective sheath.
Many designs of sheathed cable couplings of the abovementioned kind are known and have been used in mining for many years (DE 3012292 A1, DE 3721304 C2, DE 8135428.2 U1, DE 8435743.6 U1). In these sheathed cable couplings, the mechanical coupling of the sheathed cables with the mating connectors is usually effected by means of U-shaped plug yokes inserted in grooves in the connectors. Sheathed cable couplings which have proved in practice to be especially effective are those in which the electrical conductors led out of the end of the protective sheath into the coupling boxes or sleeves are embedded in a sealing compound consisting of e.g. synthetic resin, and are connected by their bared free ends protruding from the sealing compound to the electrical contact elements consisting of metal contact pins and/or contact sockets arranged on a contact support made of plastic material which is fitted into the coupling sleeve as an insert and secured therein.
Sheathed electrical cable couplings which are known and commonly used have separate components for the mechanical connection of their coupling halves to the protective sheath and for the mechanical and electrical connection to the mating coupling halves. Consequently, being made of many parts, they are relatively complex and expensive to produce, and in many cases also to assemble.