GB2256976A

GB2256976A - "break-in adapter for telephone sockets"

Info

Publication number: GB2256976A
Application number: GB9113192A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Brian Maclean Leroy Marten
Original assignee: PULLWAY Ltd
Current assignee: PULLWAY Ltd
Priority date: 1991-06-19
Filing date: 1991-06-19
Publication date: 1992-12-23
Anticipated expiration: 2011-06-19
Also published as: GB9113192D0; GB2256976B

Abstract

A break-in adapter for a telephone socket comprises a housing having a front housing portion (3) and a rear housing portion (2) connected together to enclose an auxiliary telephone socket unit (6) which is accessible through a socket aperture (5) on the front housing portion. The rear housing portion (2) has a mounting recess (20) formed therein adjacent one edge (18) thereof. The mounting recess (20) has a base (19) provided with a locating projection (21) for engaging in a hollow trailing end portion (16) of an auxiliary telephone plug unit (4) inserted into the mounting recess (20). The base (19) of the mounting recess (20) has a slot (17) which is open at the one edge (18) of the rear housing portion (2). The auxiliary socket unit (6) has a connecting block (11) by which the contacts (10) of the auxiliary socket unit (6) are connected to the respective conductors (14) of a remote telephone socket lead (7) which is connected to the terminals (15) of the auxiliary plug unit (4). <IMAGE>

Description

"Break-In Adapter For Telephone Sockets" This invention relates to a break-in adapter for telephone sockets.

A so-called break-in adapter is a device for plugging into an existing telephone socket to provide a connection to a remote extension socket while maintaining the possibility of plugging in a telephone at the existing socket location.

A known break-in adapter comprises a two-part housing consisting of a rear portion and a front portion which are connected together to form an enclosure accommodating an auxiliary standard telephone socket unit and a small printed circuit connection board. An auxiliary plug unit in the form of a standard telephone plug projects from the rear of the rear housing portion so as to be pluggable into an existing telephone socket to physically and electrically connect the adapter to the existing socket. The terminals of the auxiliary plug unit are connected via the connection board to the terminals of the auxiliary socket unit in the housing and to the conductors of a remote extension socket lead which passes out of the housing through an outlet opening formed in the rear housing part.A hollow trailing end portion of the auxiliary plug unit is tightly received in a mounting recess formed in the rear wall of the rear housing portion and is supported by a tongue which projects from a base of the recess into the hollow portion of the plug unit. The wires connecting the auxiliary plug unit to the printed circuit board extend from terminals at a leading end of the plug unit, through the hollow portion of the plug unit and into the interior of the housing through an access aperture formed in the base of the mounting recess. The front housing portion of the adapter is formed with a socket aperture which aligns with the auxiliary socket unit in the housing and through which the plug of a telephone may be inserted into the auxiliary socket unit to make contact with terminals of the socket unit.

The known break-in adapter requires a relatively complicated assembly procedure, in which individual terminals of the auxiliary plug unit are connected to the printed circuit board by individual wires which have to be threaded through the access aperture in the base of the mounting recess before being soldered to the printed circuit board which in turn has to be soldered to the terminals of the auxiliary socket unit. The remote socket lead may, however, be constituted by a standard stranded telephone wire, the conductors of which are soldered to the printed circuit board.

The present invention aims to provide an improved and simplified adapter of robust construction which facilitates assembly of the adapter.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a break-in adapter for a telephone socket, comprising a housing having a front housing portion and a rear housing portion connected together to enclose an auxiliary telephone socket unit which is accessible through a socket aperture in the front housing portion, in which adapter the rear housing portion has a mounting recess formed therein adjacent one edge thereof, the mounting recess has a base provided with a locating projection for engaging in a hollow trailing end portion of an auxiliary telephone plug unit inserted into the mounting recess, the base of the mounting recess has a slot which is open at the one edge of the rear housing portion, and the auxiliary socket unit has connecting means connecting to the contacts of the auxiliary socket unit the conductors of a remote telephone socket lead which is connected to the terminals of the auxiliary plug unit.

Such a construction means that the remote socket lead, the auxiliary socket unit and the auxiliary plug unit of the adapter can be pre-assembled into a single unit which can then be assembled with the housing by introducing the conductor portions between the socket unit and the plug unit into the slot in the base of the mounting recess of the rear housing portion, inserting the plug unit into the mounting recess in the rear housing portion, attaching the socket unit to the rear housing portion and connecting the front and rear housing portions together to enclose the auxiliary socket unit with the extension lead extending from the housing through an outlet aperture defined between the front and rear housing portions.

In order that the invention may be more readily understood, a break-in adapter for telephone sockets embodying the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a front view of a break-in adapter for telephone sockets embodying the present invention; Figure 2 is a plan view of the break-in adapter of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a side view of the break-in adapter of Figure 1; Figure 4 is a front view of the adapter of Figure 1 with a front housing portion removed; and Figure 5 is a rear view of the adapter of Figure 1; and Figure 6 is a is a fragmentary rear view of the adapter of Figure 1 with an auxiliary plug unit removed.

Referring firstly to Figures 1 to 3, a break-in adapter embodying the present invention comprises a moulded plastics housing 1 composed of a substantially flat rear housing portion 2 and a hollow front housing portion 3. An auxiliary telephone plug unit 4 in the form of a standard telephone plug projects rearwardly from the rear housing portion 2 and the front housing portion 3 is formed with an auxiliary telephone socket aperture 5 through which a telephone plug may be inserted into an auxiliary telephone socket unit 6 within the housing 1. A remote socket extension lead 7 extends out of the housing through an outlet aperture defined by cooperating notches 8 (see Figure 4) formed in a cable outlet portion 9 of the front and the rear housing portions.

As shown in Figure 4, the auxiliary socket unit 6 is located in a shallow recess formed in an upper region of the rear housing portion 2 and comprises spring contacts 10 for making electrical contact with the terminals of a telephone plug inserted into the socket unit. A lead connecting block 11 is press-fitted into a connection recess 12 of the socket unit 6 and is formed with bores 13 therethrough. The individual insulated conductors 14 of the stranded extension lead 7 extend through respective bores 13 of the connecting block 10 and have their ends connected to the respective terminals 15 at the leading end of the auxiliary plug unit 4.A central channel (not shown) is formed in the upper surface of the connecting block 11 to expose a central section of each of the conductors 14 for engagement in a respective insulation displacement connector (not shown) attached to the respective spring contact 10 when the connecting block 11 is press-fitted into the connection recess 12 so as to establish electrical contact between the conductor 14 and the respective contact 10.

The sheathed portion of the extension lead 7 is held against the rear housing portion 2 by an integrally formed L-shaped clip 25. The conductors 14 pass through the rear housing portion 2 into a hollow trailing end portion 16 of the auxiliary plug unit 4 through a slot 17 formed adjacent an edge 18 of the rear housing portion 2 in a base 19 of a mounting recess 20 into which the hollow end portion 16 of the plug unit 4 is inserted. As illustrated in Figure 6, a locating projection 21 of substantially Hshaped cross-section projects from the base 19 of the mounting recess 20 and is received in the hollow end portion 16 of the inserted plug unit 4 to locate and provide additional mechanical support for the plug unit 4.

The upper part of the rear housing portion 2 comprises a pair of short locating pins 22 and a pair of longer ribbed fixing pins 23 which are received in corresponding bores (not shown) moulded in the front housing portion 3 to form a press-fitted connection between the front and rear housing portions 2 and 3 in. the assembled condition of the adapter. A pair of short bores 24 are also formed in the lower part of the rear housing portion 2 to receive corresponding short ribbed fixing pins (not shown) projecting from the front housing portion 3.

The described break-in adapter construction has the advantage that the stranded extension lead 7 is connected directly to the auxiliary plug unit 4 and the auxiliary socket unit 6, thereby dispensing with the printed circuit connection board of the prior art and avoiding the soldering operations required in establishing the electrical connections to the printed circuit board.

Moreover, this construction means that the extension lead 7, the auxiliary socket unit 6 and the auxiliary plug unit 4 can be pre-assembled into a single unit which can then be assembled with the two-part casing 1 by introducing the portions of the conductors 14 extending between the auxiliary socket unit 6 and the auxiliary plug unit 4 into the slot 17 formed in the base 19 of the mounting recess 20, inserting the hollow end portion 16 of the plug unit 4 into the mounting recess 20, locating the auxiliary socket unit 6 on the rear housing portion 2 and press-fitting the two housing portions 2, 3 together to enclose the auxiliary socket unit and the attached end portion of the extension lead 7.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A break-in adapter for a telephone socket, comprising a housing having a front housing portion and a rear housing portion connected together to enclose an auxiliary telephone socket unit which is accessible through a socket aperture in the front housing portion, in which adapter the rear housing portion has a mounting recess formed therein adjacent one edge thereof, the mounting recess has a base provided with a locating projection for engaging in a hollow trailing end portion of an auxiliary telephone plug unit inserted into the mounting recess, the base of the mounting recess has a slot which is open at the one edge of the rear housing portion, and the auxiliary socket unit has connecting means connecting to the contacts of the auxiliary socket unit the conductors of a remote telephone socket lead which is connected to the terminals of the auxiliary plug unit.

2. An adapter according to claim 1, wherein the connecting means of the auxiliary socket unit comprises a connecting block through which the insulated conductors of the remote telephone socket lead extend and which is pressfitted into a connection recess of the auxiliary socket unit to connect the individual conductors of the remote socket lead to the respective contacts of the auxiliary socket unit.

3. An adapter according to claim 2, wherein a portion of each of the conductors of the extension lead is exposed in the connecting block for engagement in a respective insulation displacement connector attached to the respective contact of the auxiliary socket unit upon pressfitting of the connecting block into the connection recess of the auxiliary socket unit.

4. An adapter according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the rear housing portion is provided with an integrally formed clip for holding the remote socket extension lead against the rear housing portion.

5. An adapter according to any preceding claim, wherein the front and rear housing portions are integrally formed with complementary ribbed fixing pins and bores by which the housing portions are press-fitted together.

6. A break-in adapter for a telephone socket substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

7. Any novel feature or combination of features described herein.