AU612822B2

AU612822B2 - Connection device for telecommunications

Info

Publication number: AU612822B2
Application number: AU33095/89A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Robert Allen Fitzgerald
Original assignee: Krone GmbH
Current assignee: ADC GmbH
Priority date: 1987-09-10
Filing date: 1989-04-17
Publication date: 1991-07-18
Anticipated expiration: 2007-12-31
Also published as: EP0308635A3; DE3875896D1; EP0308635B1; AU3309589A; DE3730662A1; DE3730662C2; EP0308635A2; ES2036241T3; AU8318787A; AU610845B2

Description

4 COMMO N W EA LT H 0OF AU S TRA L IA PATENT ACT 1952 COMPLETE SPECI FICATION 612 82 2

(ORIGINAL)

FOR OFFICE USE CLASS INT. CLASS Application Number: Lodged: Complete Specification Lodged: Accepted: Published: Priority: Related Art-: NAME OF APPLICANT: ADDRESS OF APPLICANT: KRONE AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT Beeskowdamn 3-il D-1000 Berlin 37 FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY NAME(S) OF INVENTOR(S) ADDRESS FOR SERVICE: ROBERT FITZGERALD DAVIES COLLISON, Patent Attorneys 1 Little Collins Street, Melbourne, 3000.

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR THE INVENTION ENTITLED: "CONNECTION DEVICE FOR TELECOMMUNICATIONS" The following statement is a full description of this invention,~ including the best method of performing it known to usi la arrangements to mtiple terminal devices.

0 0 o The invention relates to a connection device for use in telecommunications, and finds particular Mu° application in connecting jack connection elect arrangements to mically connected witiple terminal devices A connecting device of the generic type concerned is disclosed in the KRONE advertising pamphlet "Rapid Sconnection techniques". In this connecting devicenal ot terminal strips are placed on the rows of lugs of a mounting bow. A jack strip is screwed on to the 10 bottom surface of the mounting bow. Further jack strips are secured to separate mounting bows.

Multi-pin connecting elements can be inserted into S o the jack strips. The contacts of the jack strips are electrically connected with knife-edge terminal contacts of the terminal strips. For this purpose a plurality of cables is installed beneath the assembly bow and connected to a series of knife-edge terminal contacts of each of the terminal strips and to

I

L -2contacts of the associated jack strips. The outgoing cable conductors are connected to a second row of knife-edge terminal contacts of each terminal strip. On the insertion of a multi-pin plug into a jack strip an electrical connection is established between the cable condictors of the multi-pin plug and the outgoing cable conductors of the associated terminal strip. On the withdrawal of the plug this connection is broken again.

A disadvantage here is that the connection between each terminal strip and the associated jack strip must be produced with a plurality of cable conductors. In the case of a 50-pin plug it would therefore be necessary to install and conmect 50 cable ror ,conductors. There is, moreover, the disadvantage that 50 knife-edge terminal contacts are wired to the terminal strip, so that no outgoing cable conductors can be connected to these contacts.

The invention is therefore based on the problem of providing a connecting device of the generic kind in which electrical connections between terminal contacts °I of a multiple terminal device and the r. itacts of jack connection arrangements are o o produced in a simple manner and in v iich all terminal contacts so connected to a jack o o connection arrangement are available tor outgoing cable conductors.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided electrical °oconnection between terminal contacts of a multiple terminal device and contacts of at least one modular jack, the connecting assembly comprising: a support member having opposed pairs of lugs, a multiple terminal device which can be supported on at least one pair of said opposed pairs of lugs, and a circuit board having connection holes therethrough at least some of which holes are electrically connected with each other by means of at least one conductive track on the circuit board, wherein at least one terminal contact of said terminal device and at least one contact of said at least one modular jack are provided with engagement means which in use engage said holes of the circuit board so as to be electrically connected by means of said at least one track and thereby provide iV *1*i ~910412,vrsspc.007,krnc ,2 i;ir:;ii-- i i -3 electrical connection between said at least one terminal contact of said multiple terminal device and said at least one contact of said modular jack.

In embodiments according to the present invention, conductive tracks of the circuit board form the connections between the terminal contacts of the multiple terminal device and the contacts of the modular jacks, so that no connecting cables have to be installed. The connection of the terminal contacts and the contacts of the modular jacks to the conductive tracks is conveniently effected by means of contact pins which engage in connection holes in the circuit board which can be electrically connected to each other by way of the tracks.

~When a multiple terminal device is mounted on lugs of an assembly bow, the 41 a I S0 forces which can occur on wiring the terminal contacts of the terminal device, 0 0 particularly where knife-edge terminal contacts are concerned, cannot, moreover, act on the circuit board, since the terminal device is supported on the lugs of the assembly bow.

0 0 000000 o, Further advantageous embodiments of the invention will become apparent from the subsidiary claims.

Embodiments of a connecting device according to the invention are explained !o in greater detail below, by way of example only, by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIGURE 1 shows a plan view of a connecting device; FIGURE 2 shows a front elevation view of a connecting device in accordance with the present invention; FIGURE 3 shows a side view of the connecting device of Figure 1; FIGURE 4 shows a longitudinal section along the line IV-IV in Figure 1 through the conductor plate of the connecting device with the terminal and jack strips in position; FIGURE 5 shows a cross-section through a terminal strip; I 91041vrsspe.007,kron,3 4. 911 5 vrsspc.O7,bn,3 -4- FIGURE 6 shows plan and side views of a first embodiment of a connecting device in accerdance with the present invention; FIGURE 7 shows a plan view of a second embodiment of the connecting device; FIGURE 8 shows plan and s.de views of a third embodiment of the connecting device; and FIGURE 9 shows a view from below of the first embodiment of the connecting device.

Figure 1 shows a connecting device comprising an assembly bow 1, a plurality of tcrminal strips 2, a plurality of jack strips 3 and a conductor plate 4.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, the metal assembly bow 1 is U-shaped and has a 0 a plurality of lugs 11 which are disposed in two rows 5, 6. A plurality of terminal strips 2 are locked in each case one beside another on two lugs 11. Each terminal strip 2 comprises a lower section 7 and an upper section 8 locking with this, and also o bifurcated terminal contacts 9, as described in greater detail in 0000 0°oo German Patent 28 04 478, to which reference is explicitly made.

Referring to Figure 5, unlike the form of the prior art, each terminal contact 9 has two arms, on one arm 17 of which a contact pin 10 is provided which protrudes o"0o, downwards out of the lower section 7 and through a base plate 18 of the terminal strip floi. 2. Electrical connection between the two arms is normally made by a spring connection S91041 2,vrsspe.007,kronc,4 Referring to Figures 1;3ad4, below the terminal strip 2 a conductor plate 4 is disposed between the rows 5, 6 of the assembly bow 1. This conductor plate has a plurality of strip conductors 12 with boreholes 14. Beside the terminal strips 2 the jack strips 3 are secured to the conductor plate 4 by means of screws 13. The jack strips 3 are comparable in length to the terminal strips 2 and have contacts accessible above which extend downwards as contact pins 16 through the boreholes 14 of the conductor plate 4. The bifurcated terminal contacts 9 of the terminal strips 2 are also inserted with their a 4, contact pins 10 into boreholes 14 in the conductor plate 4. The boreholes 14 for the contact pins 16 of 0 15 the jack strips 3 are connected electrically with the 00g0 oo06 associated boreholes 14 for the contact pins 10 of o0 o the terminal strips 1 by way of the strip conductors o"po. 12 of the conductor plate 4. All contact pins 10, 16 are firmly soldered in the boreholes 14. An electrical connection thus exists between each o"^o bifurcated terminal contact 9 of the terminal strips 0o 0 2 and the associated contacts 15 of the jack strip o0 D 3. Cable conductors, which are not shown, can be DO 0connected to the bifurcated terminal contacts 9 of the terminal strip 2. Multi-pin connecting elements, which are not shown, can be inserted into the jack go strips 3. By merely inserting or withdrawing the U..1 connecting element it is thus possible to effect connections or disconnections of the cable conductors connected in each case to the connecting element and the cable conductors connected to the termin?l strip. With a 50-pin connecting element it is thus possible simultaneously to connect or disconnect cable conductors. Alternatively, by inserting or ,J'r o -6r emoving an insulating element (not shown) between the two parts of a selected spring connection 40, it is possible to connect or disconnect a single pair of cable conductors.

Figure 2 is an end view of a terminal strip 2 and associated conductor plate 4 when mounted on lugs of an assembly bow 1, such a mounting being possible whether jack strips 3 are mounted on the conductor board 4, as described hereinbefore in relation to Figures 1, 3 and 4, or modular jacks 30 are included, as will be described i hereinafter with reference to Figures 6 to 9.

'i The conductor plate 4 has approximately the width of the inner distance between two opposite lugs 11 of the assembly bow 1. The length of the conductor plate 4 corresponds to the length needed to receive the necessary terminal strips 2 and' jack strips 3 or modular jacks 30. Otherwise, the conductor plate 4 is made of known conductor plate material and provided with the strip conductors 12 necessary for connecting two boreholes 14 together. The conductor plate 4 acts almost like a ribbon i i cable and now bears the jack strips 3 or modular jacks 30, but iot the terminal strips i 15 2, which are received exclusively by the. lugs 11 of the assembly bow 1 with respect to force. The entire weight of the terminal strips 2 is also supported by the lugs 11 p" a °of the assembly bow 1. In addition, the forces involved in the connection of cable 4° conductors to the bifurcated terminal contacts 9 are exerted only on the assembly bow 1, but not on the conductor plate 4.

The jack strips or modular jacks may also be disposed on the underside of the conductor plate 4. This increases the closeness of the arrangement of terminal strips 0 0 2 on the front side of the conductor plate 4.

o0 o ID Referring to Figure 6a, a first embodiment of the connecting device in accordance with the present invention comprises a single terminal strip 2, a plurality of modular jacks 30 and a conductor plate 4.

Each modular jack 30, sometimes also referred to as a jack, comprises a short strip or series of contacts 15, numbering in this case eight contacts 910412,vrsspe.07,kronc,6 0$ 7 in each modular jack. The contacts 15 are arranged in a straight line along one edge only of the jack rather than in two central, lines as in the jack eescr (arler ref(a-hv +0 -r Fiure strips 3 of the irst embodiment of the Invention, shown in Figure 1.

Referring to Figure 6b, again the contacts extend downwards through the modular jack 30 to pins 16 which protrude through boreholes 14 of the conductor plate 4 in two parallel rows, the contacts 15 being bent so that the pins 16 associated with alternate contacts 15 extend into alternate, parallel rows in the conductor plate 4.

o a In this embodiment, each terminal contact 9a of 00 the terminal strip 2 has only one arm, the single arm S 15 having a bifurcated contact at the top, to which a cable conductor can be connected, and a pin 10 at the o bottom. The pin 10 protrudes as before through a borehole 14 of the conductor plate 4. The terminal contacts 9a are arranged in two parallel and electrically separate rows. Thus in this embodiment 0o0 it is not possible to connect or disconnect a single o o o cable conductor by making or breaking a connection between two arms of a single selected terminal 0or" contact 9. However, it is possible to connect or disconnect a selected group of cable conductors by inserting or withdrawing a multipin connector element 0 o (not shown) from a selected modular jack, or several such elements from a plurality of modular jacks.

The configuration of terminal strip 2 and modular jacks 30 shown in Figure 6 comprises a 2 x 20 way terminal strip 2, there being a series of forty terminal contacts 9a (indicated only in dotted outline in Figure arranged in two rows, and an 8 position modular jack 30, there being eight contacts to each jack Referring to Figure 7, the configuration of terminal strip 2 and modular jacks 30 may be varied.

In this instance, the single terminal strip 2 comprises a 2 x 18 way version, there being a series of thirty-six terminal contacts 9 (indicated only in dotted outline in Figure combined with six "6 position" modular jacks 30, these having only six contacts 15 apiece.

Referring to Figure 8, jacks may be arranged on both sides of a single terminal strip 2, in this case the jacks again comprising modular jacks 30 having only a short strip of four contacts 15 per jack IO Referring to Figure 9, a connecting device 00 0 15 comprising a single terminal strip and five modular b0000 0oo0 jacks has strip conductors 12 which connect the 00 O 0o ocontact pins 10 of the terminal strip with pins 16 of 0o, the modular jacks. (In this figure, the two parallel rows of jack pins 16 produced by the bent contacts 16 of each modular jack 30 can be clearly seen.) o° Different configurations of strip conductors 12 00 can clearly be used to create connections between different combinations of jack pins 16 and contact DV. pins 10 of the terminal strip. Further, not all the 2 contacts 15 of each modular jack 30 necessarily extend into boreholes 14 of the conductor plate 4 to 00 a pin 16, some of the contacts 15 for instance being cut short above the conductor plate 4.

Although the bifurcated terminal contacts 9, 9a described above provide a particular two-way connection facility, between a cable conductor and a jack connection arrangement, other contact configurations may also be found useful, as long as the contacts are provided with contact pins 10 or the a like for making electrical connection by means of the boreholes 14 of a conductor plate 4. Although bifurcated terminal contacts 9, 9a are described, these may be replaced for instance by undivided, knife-edge contacts, or other contact types.

LIST OF REFERENCE SYMBOLS 1. Assembly bow 2. Terminal strips 3. Jack strips 4. Conductor plate 5,6. Rows of lugs 7. Lower section $i 8. Upper section 9 *4 I 15 9,9a Bifurcated terminal contact 10. Contact pin 0 11. Lugs o 12. Strip conductor 13. Screws 14. Boreholes I 15. Contact S16. Contact pins 17. Arm 18. Base plate 30. Modular jack Spring connection 130 I a i mV -i

Claims

1. A connecting assembly for use in telecommunications, in use, providing electrical connection between terminal contacts of a multiple terminal device and contacts of at least one modular jack, the connecting assembly comprising: p a support member having opposed pairs of lugs, a multiple terminal device which can be supported on at least one pair of said opposed pairs of lugs, and a circuit board having connection holes therethrough at least some of which holes are electrically connected with each other by means of at least one conductive track on the circuit board, wherein at least one terminal contact of said terminal device and at least one contact of said at least one modular jack are provided with engagement means which in use engage said holes of the circuit board so as to be electrically connected by means of said at least one track and thereby provide electrical connection between said at least one terminal contact of said multiple termninal device and said at least one contact of said modular jack.

2. A connecting assembly according to claim 1 wherein the multiple terminal device is mounted on and supported by said at least one pair of lugs.

3. Connecting device according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that in respect of the terminal device, said engagement means for engaging holes in the circuit board comprises a row of contact pins, which are secured to the terminal contacts and protrude freely downwards through a base plate of a lower section of the terminal device.

4. Connecting device according to any preceding claim wherein the multiple terminal device comprises a terminal strip.

MVS9104 12,vrsspXX),kronc, "V; ia 11 A connecting assembly according to any one of the preceding claims wherein said circuit board is dimensioned to fit between said at least one pair of lugs.

6. A connecting assembly according to claim 5 wherein said circuit board is mounted between, but not in contact with, said at least one pair of lugs.

7. A connecting assembly according to any one of the preceding claims wherein said support member comprises a channel member having adjacent side portions, said opposed pairs of lugs being provided by said side portions. ij

8. A connecting assembly according to claim 7 wherein the circuit board is ii 15 mounted in the channel of the channel member, inwardly of the multiple terminal device with respect to the channel member such that the multiple terminal device is i exposed for connection of one or more cable conductors thereto.

9. A connecting assembly according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the multiple terminal device and the at least one modular jack lie against the same surface of the circuit board. i-I

10. A connecting assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 8 wherein the multiple terminal device and the at least one modular jack lie against opposing surfaces of the circuit board.

11. Connecting device according to any preceding claim, comprising a plurality of multiple terminal devices and a plurality of modular jacks, the terminal devices being mounted on the lugs of an assembly bow. LvL 910412,vrsspc.OO7,krone,11 L ,.ci ii Fr

12- 12. Connecting device according to any preceding claim wherein the contacts of the or each terminal device comprise bifurcated terminal contacts.

13. A connecting device substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to any one of Figures 6, 7 or 8 of the drawings. DATED this 12th day of April, 1991 KRONE AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT By its Patent Attorneys DAVIES COLLISON II 910412,vrsspc.07,krone,12