AU3258800A

AU3258800A - Protection connector for a telecommunications equipment item

Info

Publication number: AU3258800A
Application number: AU32588/00A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Klaus-Dieter Burmeister; Norbert Gaertner; Johann Georg Hajok
Original assignee: Quante GmbH
Current assignee: 3M Deutschland GmbH
Priority date: 1999-06-02
Filing date: 2000-05-08
Publication date: 2000-12-07
Anticipated expiration: 2020-05-08
Also published as: PL200033B1; DE50003697D1; EP1059703B1; RU2279744C2; ZA200002319B; DE29909701U1; EP1059703A1; ES2201966T3; AU762700B2; BR0002175A; PL340483A1

Description

1

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT Name of Applicant: Actual Inventors: Address for Service: QUANTE AG Klaus-Dieter BURMEISTER Norbert GAERTNER Johann Georg HAJOK CULLEN CO., Patent Trade Mark Attorneys, 239 George Street, Brisbane, Qld. 4000, Australia.

PROTECTION CONNECTOR FOR A TELECOMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT

ITEM

Invention Title: The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us la Protection Connector for a Telecommunications Equipment Item Field of the Invention The invention relates to a protection connector for an item of telecommunications equipment.

To protect electronic components and equipment mostly connected by strip-type or block-type configured telecommunications connecting means from excessive electric currents and/or overvoltages, protection connectors are typically used which are plugable into an open side of the housing of the connecting means and comprise the components needed for protection. In this arrangement the protection connectors are usually designed for the protection of a pair of conductors in each case, i.e. they are tapping pair-wise the adjacent contacts of the incoming and outgoing side and electrically connecting them to the protection components.

Prior Art In the protection connector as it reads from DE 39 09 783 C1 the tap contacts are configured on a circuit board inserted in the fitted condition between the tags of the contacts configured as break contacts of the corresponding edge connector. The conducting path taps the contacts at the incoming and outgoing side and conducts the current via wired protection components which are soldered to the circuit board. Having use a circuit board to tap the contacts of the connecting means is already a disadvantage since it adds to the costs, since a circuit board involves a separate fabrication method and it requires more manufacturer expense because the individual wired components need to be soldered to the circuit board. In conclusion, these extend practically vertically from the circuit board. They are arranged on the top of the circuit board and result in this known protection connector requiring a comparatively large housing. This means that in the region of the edge connector a lot of room is taken up above the contacts.

In the protection connector as known from EP 0 471 167 Al a three-pole overvoltage arrester, which is not wired, is connected to a circuit board via a sheet-metal part disposed inbetween. In making use of a non-wired overvoltage arrester in this arrangement less room is taken up. However, due to it needing a circuit board the fabrication expense of this known protection connector is still a disadvantage.

Known from DE 38 13 889 C1 is a protection connector including non-wired protection components in which the electrodes of the protection components are connected to contacts which tap the contacts of the edge connector. In this case the protection components are held clamped in the housing by hooks springingly directed towards each other.

A protection connector is known from DE 91 01 599 U1 in which multiply bent tap contacts provided with notches are oriented closely juxtaposed and contacting various protection components. It is especially as regards facilitated assembly and an uncluttered arrangement in the assembled condition that this known protection connector is also in need of improvement.

.o DE 34 12 452 Al describes a protection connector for distributor strips, in which unwired protection components can be inserted to be removable from the open upper side. There is no additional possibility for the provision of wired protective components in this known protection connector.

EP 0 405 337 A2 describes a corresponding protection connector for a distributor strip, which is adapted for the plugging in of wired protective components. In this case as well, the individual chambers are open to the upper side, and wired *.overvoltage arresters are inserted in this direction and are contacted to be directly electrically conductive with the tap contacts. The overvoltage arresters, however, are disposed in one plane above the tap contacts, so that substantial space is required for this known protection connector. In addition, in this case there is no possibility of the additional insertion of unwired protective components.

From DE 40 05 942 Al an overvoltage protection connector for separating strips is known, in which the overvoltage protection components are placed on a support plate, which is provided with bulges. The existing printed circuit board leads to comparatively high costs.

This disadvantage applies in the same way to the subject of DE 198 11 455 C1, in which a printed circuit board is also equipped with protection elements.

Summary of the Invention The invention is based on the object of providing a protection connector for an item of telecommunications equipment having an uncluttered, straightforward configuration for low-cost fabrication and comprising at least one non-wired protection component and permitting at the same time reliable protection for those components and items of equipment incorporated dowstream of the connecting means provided with the protection connector.

How this object is achieved reads from the features of claim 1.

Accordingly the protection connector in accordance with the invention comprises a housing and multiple tap contacts which tap the contacts of the telecommunications equipment item and are configured at least sectionwise as elements in the form of strips of sheet metal. Configuring the tap contacts like this is, for one thing, simple, and, for another, due to the parallel arrangement of the tap contacts at least sec- S "tionwise in accordance with the invention it provides for two planes which are defined in the protection connector in accordance with the invention. In accordance with the invention the protection components, including at least one non-wired protection component and one wired component, are arranged between the planes defined by the tap contacts and contacting the tap contacts as well as a ground contact.

In other words, the tap contacts are formed at least sectionwise so that they are opposite each other and define inbetween the space in which all protection components are arranged. This permits achieving a particularly uncluttered and straightforward configuration of the protection connector, and facilitated assembly is achieved since the space with the protection components is defined and limited by the tap contacts.

This arrangement is in addition extremely space-saving. More particularly, as compared to the usual method used of mounting "on" a circuit board, the dimensions of the protection connector and the space required for its accommodation are reduced.

Furthermore, directly contacting the protection components with sections of the tap contacts and ground contact now does away with an expensive circuit board with its disadvantage in handling. As compared to circuit boards as used coventionally, making use of elements in the form of strips of sheet metal as the tap contacts has the salient advantage that the live contacts can now be configured solidly. Configuring these conductors solidly, i.e. providing a certain conducting cross-section, is necessary 4 for guiding the currents occurring. On the circuit boards used hitherto the conductors could only be configured comparatively thin, for technical reasons, thus greatly restricting the live cross-section. By making use of elements in the form of strips of sheet metal to which the wires of the wired components are directly and electrically conductive-connected, an advantagous solid design of these conductors now materializes.

In addition to this, the protection connector in accordance with the invention is not restricted to an embodiment serving to protect electronic components and items of equipment connected by means of a sole, dedicated pair to a connecting means. Instead, the configuration as described above may also be configured as a so-called multi-core protection connector fitted with the components as needed for protecting electronic items of equipment or components connected via several different pairs to the connecting means provided with the protection connector. In this case the protection connector could also be designed as a magazine due to it accommodation of ••go protection components for multiple pairs. However, preferably the protection connector in accordance with the invention comprises two tap contacts or two pairs of tap contacts so that it is designed for protecting a single pair.

Advantageous further embodiments of the protection connector in accordance with the •invention read from the further claims.

For the tap contacts and/or the ground contact it is good practice to design these comprising contact tags extending from the strip-shaped portions and forming a contact with the protection component, as a result of which the functions of the protection connector in accordance with the invention can be realized by particularly advantageous ways and means.

In this arrangement particular advantages are offered as regards a better surface contact of the protection components and particularly reliable contacting when the tags are slightly inclined relative to the surfaces of the protection components such that linear contact with the surface of the protection component is achieved. It may happen in this arrangement that the edge of the tag even slightly bites into the surface of the protection component to thus achieve a particularly reliable electrical contact.

For the protection connector in accordance with the invention an embodiment is currently preferred furthermore in the interior of which a chambered dielectric is provided in which, more particularly, the non-wired components are accommodated, these chambers ensuring greatly facilitated assembly of the protection connector.

When use is made of tap contacts and/or a ground contact comprising the tags configured thereon it is particularly of advantage that these chambers can be combined in that the walls of the chambers feature recesses receiving and guiding the tags to thus achieve a particularly precise location of the tap contacts and/or ground contact as well as facilitated assembly.

It is preferred for the contacting of the wired protective component that at least one part of the tap contacts and/or the ground contact each comprises at least one clamping slot for clamping the corresponding wire of the wired protection component :"in such a way that the wire extends in the direction of the clamping slot. In other words, the two legs defining between them the clamping slot run parallel to the wire of the protection component introduced into the clamping slot.

In this case, handling considerably benefits from making use of the dielectric as described above when the tag comprises guides for the wires of the wired protection component so that by means of the guides the location of the wires relative to the clamping slots can be precisely defined to thus ensure a reliable electrically conductive connection.

In making use of the protection connector in accordance with the invention it is furthermore good practice to provide ports in the housing through which test points of the tap contacts are accessible from without to thus enable the necessary tests to be implemented with no problem.

For equipping with the protection components it is preferred for the protection connector in accordance with the invention that it comprises an overcurrent protection, preferably in the form of a thermistor and/or an overvoltage protection in the form of a gas arrester and/or an overvoltage vernier protection preferably in the form of a vernier protection diode or a solid-state arrester. One such electronic arrester comprises to advantage a tight response tolerance. By means of the components or combination thereof as described above both overcurrent protection and overvoltage protection can be achieved to advantage.

6 For defining the tap contacts in the housing of the protection connector it is of advantage when the contacts comprise a double-bend bracket by which they are supported in the housing or shell half thereof.

Brief Description of the Drawings An example embodiment of the invention will now be detailed with respect to the attached drawings in which Fig. 1 is an exploded view in perspective of the connector in accordance with the invention; Fig. 2 is a rear view in perspective of the connector as shown in Fig. 1 partially assembled; o Fig. 3 is a front view in perspective of the protection connector in accordance with S "the invention in a further assembled condition; and Fig. 4 is a front view in perspective of the protection connector in accordance with the invention in another assembled condition.

Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments of the Invention Referring now to Fig. 1 there is illustrated the protection connector identified in all by the reference numeral 10 comprising a housing 12 which in the finish assembled condition houses the protection components and contacts arranged in a dielectric 14.

The protection components provided in detail in the example embodiment shown are an overvoltage protection in the form of a gas arrester 16, two overvoltage vernier protection devices in the form of vernier protection diodes 18 and two overcurrent protection means in the form of thermistors 20. In the example embodiment shown the vernier protection diodes 18 and the thermistors 20 are non-wired whilst the gas arrester 16 is wired and comprises three wires 22.

In assembling the protection connector 10 in accordance with the invention the wires 22 are inserted in the corresponding wire guides 24 provided in the dielectric 14 made of a plastics material. Two first tap contacts 26 and 28 are arranged on the rear side of the dielectric 14 in the fitted condition, the bottom sections of which as shown in Fig.

1 tap the contacts of the telecommunications equipment onto which the protection connector 10 is plug-mounted in use.

In the example embodiment shown the two tap contacts 26, 28 comprise, on the one hand, a mainly strip-shaped portion 30 from which contact tags 32 as well as pairs of contact legs 34 extend in each case into the interior of the dielectric 14, the legs 34 defining between them a contact slot. In the finish assembled condition, to be explained in more detail later, the tags 32 connect the surfaces of the thermistors Furthermore, introduced into the corresponding contact slot between the legs 34 in each case is a wire 22 of the gas arrester 16 such that the wire 22 extends in the direction of the contact slot and parallel to the front sections of the legs 34. To precisely define the location between the wire 22 and legs 34 a slotted recess adjoins each wire guide 24 on both sides to the top and bottom in the dielectric 14, into which one leg 34 each is introduced. As regards the tap contacts 26 and 28 it is furthermore to be noted that these comprise in their lower portion a bracket 36 formed by a double bend in each case. In conclusion, the two contacts 26 and 28 extend in the direction of the upper side of the housing 12 to such an extent that the topmost tips of the tap contacts 26, 28 are accessible as test points through suitable ports 38 in the housing 12.

Located behind the two tap contacts 26, 28 in the finish assembled condition (as shown in Fig. 1) is the ground contact 40 comprising at its lower section a portion by which it is grounded in the condition in which it is applied to the telecommunications equipment item. The keyway 42 configured in the form of an inverted T serves to define the location on the dielectric 14 comprising at the rear side a corresponding inverted T-shaped key. In its upper portion the ground contact 40 comprises, for one thing, a pair of contact legs 34 defining between them a contact slot into which in the finish condition the middle wire 22 of the gas arrester 16 is inserted. For another, two contact tags 32, each serving to contact one of the vernier protection diodes 18, are provided in the topmost section of the ground contact For this purpose the two vernier protection diodes 18 are introduced into the corresponding chambers 44 of the dielectric 14 in the assembled condition. Likewise located in the lower portion of the dielectric 14 are chambers 46 for each of the thermistors 20. Inserting the vernier protection diodes 18 into the chambers 44 and the thermistors 20 into the chambers 46 is achieved through corresponding lower section openings facing the front side (as shown in Fig. 1) of the protection connector 10. To ensure in the inserted condition a reliable contacting of the surfaces of the last-mentioned non-wired protection components 18, 29 as well as reliable guidance of the two further tap contacts 48 and 50, the chambers 44 and 46 comprise recesses 52 receiving and guiding the tags 32 of the tap contacts 48, 50. The two upper chambers 44 comprise recesses 52 configured as side openings whilst the two lower chambers 46 comprise strip-shaped recesses in the two outer sidewalls. In addition, the chambers 44 and 46 are also open to the rear (as shown in Fig. 1) with openings which will be explained below with reference to Fig. 2. These openings facing the rear side serve in the case of the vernier protection diodes 18 for contacting by sections of the ground contact 40 and in the case of the thermistors 20 for contacting by the two further tap contacts 26 and 28.

It is to be noted that preferably all tags 32 are oriented slightly inclined relative to the surfaces of the vernier protection diodes 18 and thermistors 20 so that linear contact with the surfaces is configured. In conclusion the two tap contacts 48, 50 comprise sections 54 extending to ports 38 in the housing 12 so that test points accessible from without are defined thereby. As already evident from the exploded view as shown in Fig. 1, in the finish assembled condition all protection components 16, 18, 20 are located between the tap contacts 26, 28, 48 and 50, thus making for a particularly uncluttered and compact arrangement of the protection connector 10 in accordance with the invention.

Referring now to Fig. 2 there is illustrated a first assembled condition in which the one tap contact 26 has already been inserted into the dielectric 14 from the rear. The second tap contact 28 is shown in a partially inserted condition, making it clear that guiding the tags 32 is done in each case by a suitable recess 52 provided in the dielectric 14. This applies the same as for the tags 32 of the ground contact 40 provided in the upper portion for which a recess 52 is provided in the form of a strip-shaped groove or guideway in the dielectric 14.

Again referring to Fig. 2 there is illustrated in conclusion the configuration of the dielectric 14 in the region in which in the finish assembled condition the wires 22 of a wired component and the thus contacted legs 34 are located. Adjoining a circular curved recess 56 at the top and bottom in each case is a portion defining the location of the contact legs 34 so that in the finish assembled condition a reliable introduction of the wires 22 between the legs 34 is assured.

Referring now to Fig. 3 there is illustrated a further assembled condition making it evident how the ends of the legs 34 extend through slotted recesses open to the front, between which, as guided by the corresponding configuration of the dielectric 14, each wire 22 of the wired component 16 is introduced.

Referring now to Fig. 4 there is illustrated how the two tap contacts 48 and 50 are applied to the dielectric 14 after mounting the wired component 16 and arrangement of one of the non-wired components 18 and 20 (see Fig. 1) in each case, of which only the one on the left of the two vernier protection diodes 18 is evident in Fig. 4. In the example embodiment shown the tags 32 are each guided by suitable recesses 52 of the chambers 44, 46 in which the non-wired protection components 18, 20 are located. In all, the two strip-shaped sections 58 of the tap contacts 48 and 50 define a first plane.

A second plane is defined by the strip-shaped portion 30 (see Fig. 1) of the two contacts 26, 28, of which only the upper ends are evident from Fig. 4. In referring to the exploded view as shown in Fig. 1 it becomes additionally clear that the cited stripshaped sections are each arranged at the rims of the protection connector 10 so that all protection components 16, 18, 20 are located in a uncluttered arrangement between the tap contacts 26, 28, 48 and 50 for simple means of insertion and reliable electrically conductive contacting. It is to be noted in addition that as compared to the assembled condition as shown in Fig. 4 the protection connector 10 is complemented by also the tap contact 50 being fully brought into the position of the tap contact 48 as shown, after which the housing 12 is mounted from above to thus achieve a compact configuration of the protection connector 10, with the test points being readily accessible through the ports 38 in the housing 12. In addition, the housing 12 ensures the reliable closure of the protection connector in accordance with the invention. In other words the protective components cannot be accessed or removed without difficulty, and on the contrary it is intended that they should remain permanently in the compactly designed protection connector.

Claims

1. A protection connector (10) for an item of telecommunications equipment including: a housing (12), multiple tap contacts (26, 28, 48, 50) which tap the contacts of said telecommunications equipment item and are configured at least sectionwise (30, 58) as elements in the form of strips of sheet metal, said tap contacts (26, 28, 48, 50) being arranged at least sectionwise parallel to each other, resulting in two parallel planes being defined, at least one ground contact (40) connected to ground in the fitted condition, at least one non-wired protection component (18, 20), and at least one wired component (16), with all protection components (16, 18, 20) being arranged between said planes defined by said tap contacts (26, 28, 48, 50) and being directly con- tacted to said tap contacts (26, 28, 48, 50) and, where necessary, said ground contact

2. The protection connector as set forth in claim 1, characterized in that said tap contacts (26, 28, 48, 50) and/or said ground contact (40) comprise tags (32) by which said protection components (18, 20) are contacted.

S.3. The protection connector as set forth in claim 2, characterized in that said tags S (32) are set inclined to the surface of said protection component (18, 20) such that linear contact with the surface of said component (18, 20) is achieved.

4. The protection connector as set forth in any of the preceding claims, characterized in that a dielectric (14) is provided comprising chambers (44, 46) in which said protection components (18, 20) are accommodated.

The protection connector as set forth in claim 4 and claim 2 or 3, characterized in that walls of said chambers (44, 46) comprise recesses (52) in which said tags (32) are accommodated.

6. The protection connector as set forth in any of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least one of said tap contacts (26, 28) and/or said ground contact (40) comprises at least one clamping slot in which the wire (22) of said wired component (16) is clamped oriented such that it extends in the direction of said clamping slot.

7. The protection connector as set forth in claim 6 and claim 4 or 5, characterized in that said dielectric (14) comprises wire guides (24).

8. The protection connector as set forth in any of the preceding claims, characterized in that said housing (12) comprises ports (38) through which test points of said tap contacts (26, 28, 48, 50) are accessible from without.

9. The protection connector as set forth in any of the preceding claims, characterized by it comprising an overcurrent protection, and/or an overvoltage protection in the form of a gas arrester (16) and/or an overvoltage vernier protection.

10. The protection connector as set forth in claim 9, characterized in that said overcurrent protection is provided in the form of a thermistor

11. The protection connector as set forth in claim 9 or 10, characterized in that said vernier overvoltage protection is provided in the form of a vernier protection diode (18) or a solid-state arrester.

12. The protection connector as set forth in any of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least one tap contact (26, 28) is configured by a double-bend bracket (36) by which said contact is supported in said housing (12).

13. A protection connector substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. DATED this 8 th day of May 2000 QUANTE AG By their Patent Attorneys CULLEN CO.