EP0740498A2 - Electric connector - Google Patents

Abstract

The connector has front and rear plates (30,52) enclosing an intermediate module (40) including a diagnosis circuit, a connection set (42), contact devices and one or more sets of identical contact elements, extending between them. Pref. the contact elements are accessible via a removable cover incorporated in the front plate, for adaption of the wiring to suit the needs of the customer, with switch contacts associated with the cover for automatic isolation of the connector when the cover is removed.

Description

The present invention relates to electrical connectors. In particular, the invention relates to electrical connectors used to establish a connection between a telecommunication or telephone line and a customer device, e.g. a telephone, a fax machine or similar devices are provided. The invention also relates to a contact for use in such an electrical connector.

Electrical connectors for establishing a connection between telephone devices and a telephone line have been well known for some time and essentially contain a plastic front panel which is mounted on the wall and which has an access opening for receiving a jack plug connected to a telephone apparatus or similar device exhibit. The access opening contains contacts which are connected to the telephone line via a suitable circuit. With the increase in telephone equipment and its use, the requirements for these electrical connectors became more complex and technically demanding, with the consequence that they had to be able to provide more possibilities. This involves the use of more electrical circuitry and more complicated connections.

Most current requirements dictate that such connectors or connection devices must be able to provide, among other things, a facility that allows the use of counters that can be read over the telephone line to allow a customer to connect their own extensions to the Connector allows remote network checks from a central location and currently available options, as well as increased reliability against adverse environmental influences.

When designing a connector that meets these requirements, it has become clear that it is very difficult to offer all of these possibilities with conventional connection techniques such as printed circuit boards and lead frames. The present invention relates to an electrical connector and also to a contact for use in such a connector which allows the requirements to be met without using complex lead frames or circuit board connections.

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided an electrical connector for use as a power supply device, said connector comprising a front or top panel assembly, an intermediate unit disposed behind the top panel assembly in use and having a diagnostic circuit, an assembly of connection means and one or more contact assemblies and one or more sets of substantially identical contact elements which extend therebetween and connect the elements carried by the intermediate unit. The connecting means can contain a multipole connector. Each contact can have an elongated, strip-shaped, electrically conductive part, of which a plurality of contact arms essentially extends vertically, each of these arms being arranged at a predetermined position so that it can make electrical contact with one of the elements carried by the intermediate unit. One of the contact arms can have a cutting / clamping contact.

The front can have a removable access plate which, after acceptance, allows the customer access to selected contacts, which allows the customer to do the wiring. The access plate can carry contacts which, after removal of the access plate, ensure that the connector is electrically insulated.

Another aspect of the present invention provides a contact for use in an electrical connector of the type mentioned above, which has an elongated, strip-shaped, electrically conductive part from which a plurality of contact arms extend substantially perpendicularly, each of these arms at a predetermined Place is arranged so that it can make electrical contact with one of the elements carried by the intermediate unit of the connector. One of the contact arms can have a cutting / clamping contact.

An essential feature of the present invention is the knowledge that by appropriately positioning the diagnostic means, the multi-pin connector and the contact arrangements on the intermediate unit it is possible to use a multiplicity of essentially identical contacts for the necessary connection between these elements. Such contacts can be made relatively easily and inexpensively, and the invention therefore avoids complicated lead frames or circuit board connections.

Fig. 1

eine schematische Darstellung, die die Funktionsanforderungen der gegenwärtigen elektrischen Steckverbinder zum Anschluß von Telekommunikationsleitungen zeigt;

Fig. 2

eine schematische Explosionsdarstellung eines elektrischen Steckverbinders gemäß der vorliegenden Erfindung;

Fig. 3

eine Ansicht ähnlich zu Fig. 2, wobei jedoch in vergrößertem Maßstab die Zwischeneinheit des Steckverbinders gezeigt ist;

Fig. 4

eine teilweise perspektivische Vorderansicht der Frontplatte;

Fig. 5

eine teilweise perspektivische Vorderansicht der Zwischeneinheit;

Fig. 6

die Rückseite der Zugriffsplatte;

Fig. 7

eine perspektivische Ansicht eines Mehr-Zweck-Kontakts gemäß der vorliegenden Erfindung;

Fig. 8

eine angeschlossene Leitung mit dem Steckverbinder nach Fig. 2;

Fig. 9

einen Betriebs-Schneid/Klemm-Kontakt mit dem Steckverbinder nach Fig. 2, und

Fig. 10

eine Rückansicht der Zwischeneinheit, die die Anordnung der Kontakte gemäß der vorliegenden Erfindung zeigt.

The invention is described below by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings. Show it:

Fig. 1

is a schematic diagram showing the functional requirements of the current electrical connectors for connecting telecommunications lines;

Fig. 2

is a schematic exploded view of an electrical connector according to the present invention;

Fig. 3

a view similar to Figure 2, but showing the intermediate unit of the connector on an enlarged scale.

Fig. 4

a partial perspective front view of the front panel;

Fig. 5

a partial perspective front view of the intermediate unit;

Fig. 6

the back of the access panel;

Fig. 7

a perspective view of a multi-purpose contact according to the present invention;

Fig. 8

a connected line with the connector of Fig. 2;

Fig. 9

an operational insulation displacement contact with the connector of FIG. 2, and

Fig. 10

a rear view of the intermediate unit, showing the arrangement of the contacts according to the present invention.

Figure 1 shows in schematic form the functional requirements of an electrical connector for connecting a line in a telecommunications network. The connector has to create a diagnostic circuit 10 which can be connected to the input line 11. The diagnostic circuit 10 is via a multi-pin connector 12 with an operating cutting / clamping module 14 and also with a conventional one Telephone junction box 16 connected. The operation cutting / clamping module is a module that can indicate the type of operation present on a particular connection to a remote display station using a simple 2-digit code.

The connector also has to create a six-fold insulation displacement contact 18. This is accessible to the customer. The insulation displacement contact 18 is connected to the telephone connection socket 16 by means of a disconnector 20 via the multipole connector. Replacement connections 20 and a four-pole telemetry connector 22 are also provided. The present embodiment relates to an electrical connector that can provide the above possibilities in a simple and relatively inexpensive manner by means of a novel construction of a multi-purpose contact.

According to FIG. 2, an electrical connector according to an embodiment of the present invention has an injection-molded front plate arrangement 30. The front panel assembly includes a front panel portion 31, an access panel 32, and a lid portion 33. When the connector is used, these three elements are normally side by side so that the access panel covers an opening 34 in the front panel while leaving the conventional opening 35 open, which is one Telephone jack plug can accommodate. The front plate part 31 also has a cut-away part 36.

An intermediate unit 40 is arranged behind the front panel arrangement. The intermediate unit has an injection molded housing which carries the majority of the components of the electrical connector. In the present arrangement, these are mounted in a modular form and include a diagnostic unit 41, a multi-pin connector 42 and a set of Contacts 43. The set of contacts includes male / female contacts 44 and telemetric male / female contacts 46. The intermediate unit also carries a contact unit 50 which provides a connection to an incoming line.

An injection molded back plate 52 is provided behind the intermediate unit. It will be clear that in normal operation the elements shown in an exploded view in Figure 2 are connected so that a single, narrow unit is formed.

In Figures 3 and 5 it can be seen that the multi-pin connector 42 contains a group of six contacts 55, which are spring contacts and can be connected to the insulation displacement contacts 44 for the customer. The multi-pin connector also provides two line contacts 56, four telemetry contacts 58 and six operating insulation displacement contacts 60.

In Figure 6 it can be seen that a row of six contacts 66 is provided on the back of the access plate. When the access plate is in the operating state, these contacts make contact through the opening 34 in the front plate 31 with the spring contacts 55 of the multipole connector 42. Therefore, when the access plate is removed, these contacts come out of connection with the contacts of the multi-pin connector, and this creates the disconnection property described above with reference to Figure 1.

The elements on the intermediate unit are connected to one another via contacts which are shown in FIGS. 7, 8 and 9. FIG. 7 shows a multi-purpose contact, which has an elongated, strip-shaped, electrically conductive part 70, from which a plurality of arms 71, 72 and 73 extend. The two arms 71 and 72 each end in a flat contact element 74. The arm 73 is designed as a cutting / clamping contact, which is known per se in the prior art. The arms are provided at predetermined positions so that, as will be explained in the following description, they can make contact with the elements carried by the intermediate unit 40.

FIG. 8 shows a connected line which has a base part 80 and a number of upstanding insulation displacement contacts 82 and a contact arm 83 which carries a flat contact element 84.

FIG. 9 shows what is to be understood as an operational insulation displacement contact, which has an elongated, strip-shaped part 90 with a slight bend at 91 and which is provided at each end with a contact arm, each of which carries a flat contact element 93 .

The rear part of the intermediate unit 40 is shown in FIG. The drawing shows how the contacts according to FIGS. 7 to 9 connect the various elements carried by the intermediate unit to one another. The multipurpose contacts according to FIG. 7 are designated by the reference numeral 70, and it can be seen that twelve of these contacts are distributed next to one another over the rear of the intermediate unit, so that they are connected to the diagnostic unit 41, the multipole connector 42 and the Contact assembly 43 make a contact and electrically connect them together in a selected manner.

The unit uses two connected line units according to FIG. 8, and these are labeled 80. These are used to establish a connection between the incoming line and the diagnostic unit.

The connector continues to use six operational insulation displacement contacts 90, and these establish contact between the multipole connector and the diagnostic unit.

The contacts, particularly the contacts of Figure 7, are considered an important part of the present embodiment because they provide a simple and effective way of connecting the modular units of the present connector.

Using the arrangement, a customer can connect his own devices to the insulation displacement contacts 44 for the customer. To do this, the customer first removes the access plate 32, which effectively isolates the unit as described above. The customer then has access to the cutting / clamping contacts for the customer through the cut away portion 36 of the front panel.

The six operational insulation displacement contacts are used to provide a 2 digit code, and this code is generated by connecting two predetermined ones of the contacts using a two-pronged connector comb located on the front panel of the multi-pin connector. This is not shown in the drawings.

Claims (8)

An electrical connector for use as a power supply device, said connector comprising a front or top panel assembly, an intermediate unit disposed in use behind the top panel assembly and having a diagnostic circuit, an assembly of connectors and one or more contact assemblies, and one or more sets of substantially has identical contact elements which extend between them and connect the elements carried by the intermediate unit. An electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein the connecting means includes a multi-pin connector. An electrical connector according to claim 1 or 2, wherein each contact has an elongated, strip-shaped, electrically conductive part, from which a plurality of contact arms extend substantially perpendicularly, each of these arms being arranged at a predetermined location so that they make an electrical contact with one of the elements carried by the intermediate unit. Electrical connector according to claim 3, wherein one of the contact arms has a cutting / clamping contact. Electrical connector according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the front side has a removable access plate, which after acceptance allows the customer access to selected contacts, whereby the customer can carry out the wiring. An electrical connector as claimed in claim 5, wherein the access plate carries contacts which, after removal of the access plate, ensure that the connector is electrically insulated. A contact for use in an electrical connector, said contact having an elongated, strip-shaped, electrically conductive portion from which a plurality of contact arms extend substantially perpendicularly, each of which arms being located at a predetermined location so as to provide an electrical Can make contact with one or more elements carried by the intermediate unit of the connector. Electrical connector according to claim 7, wherein one of the contact arms has a cutting / clamping contact.

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