Western Electric Company, Inc.

At&t Technologies, Inc.

At&t Information Systems Inc.

Edwin C Hardesty

George W Reichard, Jr

John Edward Clarke

Erle M Hutchins

Byron Lee Small

Eugene Raymond Cocco

Daniel Marion Steinert

Gordon Foreman Bloxham

Claude Paren Brezeale

Charles McGonigal

Ronald C Hardesty

Melvin W Brzostek

Telephone power adapter

A power adapter is disclosed for use in connecting electrical power to a telephone station via a cross-connect jack. The power adapter has a plug-end for mating with the cross-connect field and a jack-end for receiving a cross-connect patch cord. The power adapter includes a two-conductor permanently attached power cord. Bent wire technology is used to connect the contacts of the receiving jack with the contacts of the plug while blade insertion technology is used for making contact with the ends of the power conductors.

Communication system cross-connect field power adapter

A tool (20) is provided for terminating an end of a telephone cord or inside wiring with a modular plug (21). The tool includes a housing (81) having a cord or inside wiring-receiving opening at one of its ends and a plug-receiving nest (122) at an opposite end. The tool also includes a rocker (82) which is mounted pivotally in the housing and which has a first end adjacent to the cord-receiving end of the housing and a second end adjacent to the nest. After and end portion of a cord, for example, is inserted into the cord-receiving end of the housing, a user depresses the adjacent first end of the rocker to cause jacket-stripping facilities of the rocker to cut the cord jacket. When the cord is withdrawn, the jacket is removed from the end portion to expose individually insulated conductors. Then the end portion of the cord is inserted into a modular plug body which has been armed with blade-like terminals (30-30) and the plug inserted into the nest at the other end of the housing. The second end of the rocker is moved to cause portions of the rocker to seat fully the terminals in the plug body to engage electrically the insulated conductors. During the same motion of the rocker, strain relief portions of the plug body are moved into engagement with the jacket and the cord conductors to secure the plug body to the cord.

Tool for terminating telephone cordage with modular plugs

A connector system of this invention is used to splice conductors of at least two groups. The system includes a base (60) having a plurality of tubular, rigid metallic contact elements (62--62) positioned in apertures (110--110) that are formed in two rows along the base. Each aperture falls in an associated groove of a plurality of parallel grooves formed transversely of the rows of the apertures. Conductors (51--51) of a first group are positioned in the grooves of the base. Then, the base is provided with a cover and the contact elements are moved in their apertures to cause the conductors to be moved into slots in the contact elements, to penetrate the cover and to sever excess end portions of the conductors. The walls of the slots are adapted to establish electrical engagement with the conductors that are moved thereinto. The cover is removed, and a carrier having a plurality of grooves in which are positioned conductors of a second group that are to be spliced to the first is assembled to the base. Relative motion is caused to occur between the contact elements and the carrier to cause the conductors of the second group to be moved into the slots of the contact elements whereby electrical engagement between the two groups is established.

Systems for and methods of making electrical connections

A wall outlet (20), which facilitates the interconnection of lengths of inside wiring to a network interface device, includes provisions for receiving a modular plug (31) which terminates a cord (32) that is connected to customer station equipment. The wall outlet includes a tricoupler (30) and a cover (25). The tricoupler includes a housing (80) having first and second generally opposed plug-receiving cavities (82, 83) and a third cavity (87). A plurality of metallic wire-like contact elements (90-90) are disposed in the housing of the tricoupler and are engaged by blade-like terminals (60-60) of modular plugs which are inserted into the cavities. The cover includes latching tabs (164-164) which are adapted to be received in grooves (163-163) of the tricoupler housing to secure the tricoupler to the cover. The cover is provided with alignment facilities for causing an opening (162) in the cover to become aligned with the third cavity and the latching tabs with the housing grooves as the tricoupler is secured to the cover.

Self-aligning cover for modular tricoupler

A modular tricoupler (30) is provided for interconnecting lengths of inside wiring in series within walls, for example, of customer premises and to a network interface device (42, see FIG. 3B). The tricoupler also includes provisions for receiving a modular plug (31) which terminates a cord (36) that is connected to customer station equipment. The tricoupler includes a housing (80) having first and second generally opposed plug-receiving cavities (82, 83) and a third cavity (87). A plurality of metallic wire-like contact elements (90-90) are disposed in the housing of the tricoupler and maintained spaced apart by partitions (96-96). One end portion of each contact element extends into the second cavity and the other end portion into the third cavity. Blade-like terminals (60-60) of a modular plug which is inserted into the first cavity engage loop portions (131-131) of the contact elements. The loop portion of each is designed and is supported so that the entire loop shifts when engaged by the terminal. This arrangement allows sufficient deflection of the loop portions to develop suitable contact pressure with terminals of plugs inserted into the cavities without causing a permanent deformation of the wire-like contact elements.

Tricoupler for modular wiring systems

A contact element for establishing an electrical connection between two insulated conductors includes a tubular member having at least one open end and being made of an electrically conductive material. The tubular member includes surfaces that define a slot which extends from the open end and which has a width that is less than the diameter of the conductive elements of the insulated conductors. The tubular member has sufficient stiffness and the slot is configured to cause at least portions of the surfaces that define the slot to nick the conductive element of each of one or more conductors that are moved into and along the slot. Any deflection of the slot surfaces which accompanies the movement of one or more insulated conductors into the slot is substantially negligible. In one embodiment, a portion of the periphery of the tubular member at its open end is coined so that as an insulated conductor is moved into the slot, any portion of it which overhangs the wall is severed by the coined portion; in another, the periphery includes an opening to allow the conductor to extend therethrough.

Slotted, substantially rigid multi-conductor electrical connector

A telephone cord includes a length of cordage having each end terminated with a modular plug with the plug at one end disposed within a specially designed, easily identifiable cavity of a unipartite housing of a coupler jack of this invention. The coupler jack also includes a conventional plug-receiving cavity and a plurality of wire-like contact elements having retroflexed end portions which are positioned in the cavities to engage terminals of inserted plugs. The plug that is disposed within the specially designed cavity is held in such a manner that its disconnection from the coupler jack is encumbered to prevent withdrawal without the use of a mechanical expedient. Forces must be applied to a tab of the plug in a particular manner to cause the tab to assume an essentially linear rather than a conventional arched configuration which occurs when the free end of the tab is depressed. Also, the specially designed cavity is substantially deeper than the conventional cavity so that the inserted plug does not extend to the external surface to which the cavity opens. This prevents digital depression of the locking tab at its free end and the arching of the tab which in a conventional cavity permits withdrawal of the plug.

Modular cord coupler jack having a disconnection encumbrance

A coupler (30) for electrically connecting ends of telephone cords which have been terminated with modular plugs (24--24) includes a first portion (31) made of a dielectric material and having a plurality of compartments (45--45) which extend from end to end and which are formed between partitions (41--41), each of which has a centrally disposed bifurcated stem (46). A contact element (42) in the form of a wire having a linear portion (51) and two retroflexed end portions (52--52) is mounted in each compartment with each retroflexed end portion extending between adjacent furcations of the stems. A second portion (32) made of a dielectric material is joined to the first portion and includes an abutment (71) which extends between the furcations (47--47) of the first portion to stabilize the partitions. The second portion cooperates with the first portion to form a pair of back-to-back externally communicating cavities (60--60). Each cavity is adapted to receive a modular plug such that terminals (54--54) of the plug which is inserted into one of the cavities electrically engage associated retroflexed end portions of aligned contact elements between the partitions.

Coupler for telephone cords

An adapter (11) for connecting each of two telephone cords (12) to a wall terminal (14) includes a housing (16) having two stacked cavities (54-54') at one end, with each cavity being capable of receiving a modular plug (13) that terminates one of the cords and each communicating with a plug portion (17) that extends from an opposite end of the housing and that is insertable into the wall terminal. The adapter includes a plurality of wire-like contact elements (20) with each having a retroflexed portion for electrically engaging a contact (34) of the wall terminal when the plug portion is inserted thereinto, and each having free ends that extend into the cavities at the one end of the housing to engage blade-like terminals (21) of the modular plugs which are inserted into the cavities.

Multi-outlet adapter for modular telephone cords

A modular plug for terminating a multiconductor cord and adapted to be inserted into a jack to establish electrical connections between cord conductors and contact wires in the jack possesses superior dielectric strength. The plug includes a plastic housing having conductor-receiving cells extending between a closed end of the plug and a chamber common to all the conductors with the spacing of the cells differing from that of the jack wires. Terminal-receiving slots extend between the chamber and an exterior surface of the housing with the length of each slot being parallel to the associated cell and communicating with an exterior surface of the housing through an opening defined by at least one camming surface. The openings are spaced the same as the jack wires and the same as terminals being fed by automatic machinery for insertion. As the terminals are inserted into the openings, they engage the camming surfaces, and are caused to shift laterally as they are seated in the slots so that internal contact portions of the terminals engage electrically the conductors in the chamber while exposed edge surfaces are supported for engagement with the jack wires. Only those portions of the terminals which have been coated with a corrosion-resistant material are exposed while substantial lengths of opposed side edge surfaces of the terminals are in an interference fit with walls of the slots to prevent unintended movement.

Modular plug having superior dielectric strength for terminating cords

A plurality of groups of mandrels are arranged for movement successively through a plurality of workstations with each group being worked on at a station while other groups are being worked on simultaneously at other stations to produce continuously automatically groups of retractile cords. Cordage is fed from a supply into clamping engagement with each of the mandrels in the group in a cord-loading position and then wound helically in a plurality of spaced-apart convolutions on each of the mandrels of that group after which the wound cords are severed from the cordage supplies. The wound cords are advanced incrementally through a heating zone, wherein the cords are exposed to radiant heating supplemented by preheating of the mandrels, while cordage is being wound on the next successive groups of mandrels. The wound cords in each group are advanced through a cooling zone and then to an unloading station where they are removed from the mandrels while the pitch of the helices of the convolutions is reversed and the tendency of the convolutions to enlarge is minimized.

Method of making retractile cords

A modular plug especially suited for terminating electrical cords in which the conductors are disposed in a generally non-planar array includes a plastic housing with at least two tiers of conductor-receiving cells and a plurality of terminal-receiving openings associated with the cells. Each opening includes a slot extending parallel to and communicating with the associated cell. The length of each slot is exposed to an exterior surface of the housing. A terminal is inserted partially into each opening with portions of the housing which define the opening being in compressive engagement with edge surfaces of the terminal to support the terminal against unintended movement. An assembler removes a plastic jacket from an end portion of a cord and inserts each insulated conductor into a predetermined one of the cells. Then the assembler actuates a tool to anchor the plug to the cord and to sever excess lengths of the conductors. The terminals that had been partially inserted into the housing are driven into a fully seated position with internal contact portions thereof in engagement with the conductors and with externally exposed edge surfaces presented in a single plane and adapted to be engaged by electrical components of telephone apparatus into which the plug is destined to be inserted.

Modular plug for terminating cord having non-planar array of conductors

A cord terminating plug includes an unipartite, non-hinged, dielectric housing with a free end and a cord input end which opens to a cavity and with provisions for preventing ingress of moisture and other contaminants. A cord jacket anchoring member disposed within a well is formed integrally of the housing through a connecting hinge oriented toward the free end and a frangible portion oriented inward the cord-input end. The anchoring member has two intersecting externally facing surfaces with one of the surfaces having a stop formed thereon. Forces are applied to the anchoring member to disconnect it from the housing through the frangible portion and move it pivotally into clamping engagement with the cord jacket. A portion of the anchoring member adjacent the intersection of the externally facing surfaces is compressed and then reformed with the stop engaging a wall which defines the well and with portions of the one surface engaging an inwardly facing surface of the cavity adjacent the cord-input end of the housing, the dual engagement of the stop and the one surface with the housing maintaining the anchoring member in locked engagement with the cord. Another portion formed integrally with the housing is reformed to provide strain relief for the cord conductors. Terminals inserted into the dielectric housing engage with the conductors and have external contacting portions positioned for engagement with associated components of a telephone apparatus when the plug is inserted thereinto.

Electrical connecting devices for terminating cords

A plug for terminating a cord in the field includes an unipartite, non-hinged, dielectric housing having a cord-input aperture, internal surfaces defining a cavity for receiving an end portion of the cord, jacket and conductor anchoring members, and facilities for supporting terminals in a partially seated position in terminal-receiving openings in the housing. The terminals have internal contacting portions for engaging cord conductors and external contacting portions for engaging electrically associated components of a telephone apparatus when the plug is inserted thereinto. The temporary terminal support facilities include webs formed integrally with the housing. Portions of the terminals are embedded in the webs while portions of the webs are reformed into clamping engagement with other portions of the terminals during the partial insertion of the terminals. This supports the terminals against unintended pivotal and linear movement and such that the internal contacting portions do not initially protrude into the cavity. This permits the plug to be assembled with an end portion of a cord after which forces are applied to the anchoring members to move them into clamping engagement with the jacket and with the conductors. Forces are subsequently or simultaneously applied to the terminals to further reform the webs and cause increased clamping engagement of the webs with the terminals as well as to permit the internal contacting portions to be moved into the cavity and into electrical engagement with the conductors received therein. The arrangement for supporting the terminals in a partially seated position is also useful in a multi-station assembly of a two part bonded housing.

Growing community of inventors

Perry Hall, MD, United States of America

Edwin C Hardesty