Lucent Technologies Inc.

Andrew Schwartz

Michael Gregory German

Adam Stuart Kane

Wayne D Larsen

Golam Mabud Choudhury

Ronald Marchisin

Anthony Robert Tancreto

Jeremia P Starace

Theodore Edward Kluska

William C Baggett

Dianne W Gilland

Peter Michaels

Kriss Kalani Replogle

Philip Hughes

The aerial terminal has a tray assembly having zero, one, or more holes for paired-conductor drop wires, as well as one or more converter holes for converters (e.g., baluns), each of which allows signals over an additional conductor pair to be converted and sent through a coaxial-cable drop wire. The tray assembly enables the aerial terminal to be used to distribute to customers both communication signals and broadband signals carried by a multi-wire distribution cable. In a preferred embodiment, the tray assembly of the present invention is designed to replace the grommet trays of prior-art Flexterm.RTM. 5000 Aerial Terminals by Lucent Technology, Inc., that are already in service, without disturbing any of the connections between the distribution cable and the terminal block of the existing aerial terminal.

Aerial terminal for paired-conductor and coaxial-cable drop wires

In a communications arrangement, a copper wire pair arrangement traditionally used to provide a plain old telephone service (POTS) is also used to provide an asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) service. To that end, a patch cord in accordance with the invention is used to re-arrange communications connections in a terminal where both POTS channel unit and ADSL channel unit are deployed. Advantageously, the combined service is efficiently realized by such a re-arrangement, with the existing POTS virtually uninterrupted.

Technique for effectively re-arranging circuitry to realize a

An insulation displacement connecting (IDC) terminal that accepts two insulated wires in a single slot for the making of an electrical connection. The IDC portion of the terminal, which cuts into the insulation of the wire to establish contact, is designed with large flat spring contacts about a centrally located slot, wherein the contacts displace torsionally when normal forces placed on the terminals exceed a fixed load. The torsional displacement is enabled by the inclusion of a widened slot proximate a base portion of the terminal. The widened slot in combination with an angular orientation of the terminal contained within an insulated connector module housing enables the contacts to twist to away from one another. This displacement effect allows for larger gauge and more than one conductor to be inserted into the terminal without permanently yielding the beam contacts of the terminal. The widened slot included at the base of the terminal also allows for removal of a first wire without disturbing the connection of a second wire. The terminals are adapted for use with connector modules which house multiple pairs of IDC terminals on both the front and rear sides thereof. The connector modules are insertable into a hinged mounting bracket that is mounted at a telephone switching area to make up a modular connecting block.

Insulation displacement terminal with two-wire insertion capability

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Morris Township, NJ, United States of America

Andrew Schwartz