At&t Bell Laboratories

At&t Information Systems Inc.

Commscope, Inc. of North America

Telephone and Telegraph Company

Willard A Dix

William Tracy Spitz

W John Denkmann

Gordon E Sylvester

Lyndon D Ensz

Frank P Baker

Golam M Choudhury

Joe E Warren

An electrical connector for conducting high frequency signals includes a number of input and output terminals that are interconnected by a pair of metallic lead frames that are mounted on a dielectric spring block. The lead frames are identical to each other and comprise several flat elongated conductors, each conductor terminating in a spring contact at one end and an insulation-displacing connector at the other. The lead frames are mounted on top of each other and their conductors are all generally parallel and close to each other. Only three of the conductors of each lead frame are arranged to overlap each other; and this occurs in a designated crossover region without electrical contact being made because of a reentrant bend in the conductors in the crossover region. As a result, crosstalk between specific conductors can be reduced by judiciously choosing the location of the crossover and the particular crossover pattern.

High frequency electrical connector

A plug for interconnecting a pair of wires at its input with a pair of insulation displacement connectors (IDC) at its output is improved. The plug comprises a dielectric housing and a pair of non-insulated conductors within the housing that cross over and are spaced-apart from each other. Each conductor comprises a generally flat blade portion for insertion into an IDC at one end, and a terminal for making electrical contact with a wire at the other. In the illustrative embodiment of the invention, the terminal comprises an insulation displacement connector. Additionally, the conductors are identical to each other, but are reverse-mounted with respect to each other to achieve crossover.

Patch plug for cross-connect equipment

A manually operated switch that combines spring and contact functions in a low profile, machine-insertable component. The switch readily mounts onto a printed wiring board. It includes a cantilevered leaf spring member having one free end and a pair of spaced-apart fulcrums at the other end; one of the fulcrums being at the point of attachment of the leaf spring to the printed wiring board and the other being a re-entrant bend in the leaf spring in the vicinity of its center. An actuator is positioned to apply a force between the fulcrums such that the free end moves in a direction opposite to the direction of the applied force. Each spring member in combination with suitably placed contact pads is capable of providing a separate switch operation such as: 'make' operation, 'break' operation, or make-before-break 'transfer' operation. A single actuator operates one or more spring members, each independently providing a different one of the above-described switch operations.

Cantilever spring switch having multiple fulcrums

Video terminal with a hideaway keyboard

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Noblesville, IN, United States of America

Willard A Dix