WO2018039767A1

WO2018039767A1 - Electrical connector assembly

Info

Publication number: WO2018039767A1
Application number: PCT/CA2016/051026
Authority: WO
Inventors: Elias DEBS; Roderick Alan FARRELL; Shawn Michael DELAY; Savo TODORIC
Original assignee: Comtest Networks Inc.
Priority date: 2016-08-31
Filing date: 2016-08-31
Publication date: 2018-03-08

Abstract

An electric connector assembly includes a base member having a port opening, a contact member, and a line tab. The contact member includes a termination end having a proximal portion aligned with a longitudinal direction of the contact member, a distal portion aligned with a vertical direction of the contact member and an insulation-displacement slot coextensive with the proximal and distal portions such that a closed end of the insulation- displacement slot is in the proximal portion and an open end of the insulation-displacement slot is in the distal portion. The line tab is pivotably connected to the base member and has at least one wire receiving passage. The line tab is movable between a first position in which a wire is held apart from the termination end of the contact member and a second position in which the wire is inserted into the insulation-displacement slot of the termination end.

Description

ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR ASSEMBLY

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This is the first application filed in respect of the present invention.

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The present disclosure relates to electrical connectors for use in communications networks, and in particular to an electrical connector assembly.

BACKGROUND

[0003] A typical communications system uses electrical connectors for interconnecting incoming and outgoing wires. Commonly, the wires are provided as a solid copper conductor having a gauge of about 19 to 26 AWG surrounded by an insulation jacket. It is also common practice to arrange the wires in pairs, which are twisted together to form a so- called twisted pair. Single twisted pairs may be used to convey legacy analog audio (i.e. Plain Old Telephone Service - POTS) signals as well as digital data including Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) and G.Fast signals. Two or more twisted pairs may be used together to carry higher bandwidth signals such as Ethernet.

[0004] In order to facilitate rapid and reliable interconnection of wires, electrical connectors typically include one or more insulation-displacement connector (IDC) terminals that are designed to receive a wire and displace the insulation to make an electrical connection with the copper conductor. Some connectors are designed to be used in conjunction with a punch-down tool that is used to insert a wire into a desired IDC. This arrangement enables a plurality of IDC terminals to be accommodated within a comparatively small electrical connector, which is advantageous, but suffers a disadvantage in that a special tool is required to insert a wire into an IDC. Ideally, it would be possible to reliably insert a wire into an IDC without the use of a special tool.

[0005] US patent No. 7,303,426 describes an electrical connector in which a pair of IDC terminals are embedded in a plastic housing. A cover portion of the housing contains a pair a wire receiving passages, and is hinged between open and closed positions. In the open position, a wire disposed in a wire receiving passage is held away from the IDC terminals. In the closed position, a wire disposed in a wire receiving passage is inserted a corresponding IDC terminal. By this means, a wire can be connected to a desired IDC terminal by inserting it into the wire receiving passage of the open cover, and then moving the cover to its closed position to thereby insert the wire into the IDC terminal. If desired, the wire can also be easily disconnected from its IDC terminal by moving the cover back to its open position, to thereby disengage the wire from its IDC terminal. This arrangement is beneficial in that connection and disconnection of a wire from a desired IDC terminal can be accomplished without the use of tools. However, the necessary vertical arrangement of the IDC terminal and the cooperating cover of the housing increases at least the frontal area of the electrical connector. This is inconvenient for the designer wishing to integrate the connector into a larger device, such as a wall plate or a patch panel.

[0006] Accordingly, it would be desirable to have a compact electrical connector assembly that facilitates tool-less connection of wires.

SUMMARY

[0007] Accordingly, an aspect of the present invention provides an electric connector assembly that includes a base member having a port opening, a contact member, and a line tab. The contact member includes a termination end having a proximal portion aligned with a longitudinal direction of the contact member, a distal portion aligned with a vertical direction of the contact member and an insulation-displacement slot coextensive with the proximal and distal portions such that a closed end of the insulation-displacement slot is in the proximal portion and an open end of the insulation-displacement slot is in the distal portion. The line tab is pivotably connected to the base member and has at least one wire receiving passage. The line tab is movable between a first position in which a wire is held apart from the termination end of the contact member and a second position in which the wire is inserted into the insulation-displacement slot of the termination end.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0008] Further features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in combination with the appended drawings, in which:

[0009] FIG. 1 is an exploded view showing elements of an electrical assembly in accordance with a representative embodiment of the present invention; [0010] FIG. 2 is a cross section view showing elements of the electrical assembly of FIG. 1;

[0011] FIGs. 3A and 3B are perspective views showing front and rear aspects, respectively, of the base member of the embodiment of FIG. 1;

[0012] FIGs. 4A and 4B are perspective views showing a line tab of the embodiment of FIG. 1;

[0013] FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a contact group of the embodiment of FIG. i;

[0014] FIGs. 6A and 6B are perspective views showing contact members usable in the contact group of FIG. 5;

[0015] FIG. 7 is an exploded view showing a secondary connector block usable in conjunction with the electrical connector assembly of FIGs. 1-6;

[0016] FIG. 8 is a cross section view showing a relationship between the secondary connector block and the electrical connector assembly;

[0017] It will be noted that throughout the drawings, like elements are identified by like reference numerals.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0018] FIG. 1 shows an exploded view showing principal elements of an electrical connector assembly 2 in accordance with a representative embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 shows the electrical connector assembly in cross section. As may be seen in in the figures, the electrical connector assembly 2 includes a base member 4 having at least one port opening, a contact group 6 comprising at least one contact member 8 configured to be received in the port opening of the base member, and a line tab 10 configured to be pivotably connected to the base member 4 in association with a respective contact group 6. For convenience of description, FIG. 1 also illustrates a device 12 having a plug-in connector 14 designed to be inserted into a rear end of the electrical connector assembly 2 and make electrical contact with one or more of the contact members 8. [0019] Referring to FIGs. 3A and 3B, the base member 4 is configured to support one or more contact groups 6 and associated line tabs 10 in an operable relationship to make the electrical connector assembly useful. Any suitable design of the base member 4 may be used for this purpose. In the illustrated embodiment, the base member 4 is designed as a generally rectangular body having walls 16, 18 defining a plurality (eight, in the illustrated embodiment) of port openings 20 arranged along the length of the base member 4. Mounting tabs 22 (FIG. 1) of the base member 4 may be configured to enable the base member 4 to be removably attached to a rack or the like (not shown). It will be appreciated that the base member 4 may include any desired number of port openings 20, which may be more or fewer than eight. If desired, the base member 4 may also be configured to receive a conductive ground bar (not shown) that spans all of the port openings 20, to thereby provide a ground path for each connector assembly supported by the base member.

[0020] The illustrations in FIGs. 3A and 3B respectively show front and rear views of the base member 4, and particularly show features of a port opening 20. In the illustrated embodiment, the (or each) port opening 20 is constructed by walls 16, 18 of the base member 4 such that the port opening 20 has the form of a passage having front and rear ends. Conveniently, the front and rear ends of the passage may have a substantially rectangular cross section, although this is not essential. The dimensions of the front and rear ends of the passage may be the same, or different, as desired.

[0021] As may be seen in FIG. 3A, divider walls 18 between adjacent port openings 20 may extend forwardly at the front of the base member 4 to provide physical separation between the line tabs 10 and connector groups 6 of adjacent ports. Preferably, the divider walls 18 are also provided with suitable structures (such as lugs or detents or the like) for receiving corresponding structures of a line tab 10, so that line tabs 10 can be pivotably secured to the base member 4 at the front end of each port opening 20. The physical separation between adjacent ports afforded by the divider walls 18 may assist an operator to manually open or close a selected line tab 10 without disturbing adjacent line tabs 10.

[0022] Referring to FIGs. 4A and 4B, each line tab 10 is preferably configured as a generally rectangular body having one or more wire receiving passages 24 and openings 26 configured to receive respective contact members 8 of an associated contact group 6. As noted above, the line tab 10 also includes suitable structures 28 (such as lugs or detents or the like) for engaging with corresponding structures on the divider walls 18 lying on opposite sides of a port opening. This arrangement enables the line tab to be secured to the base member at the front end of a port opening, to thereby define the front of a connector assembly. The line tab 10 may also include locking tabs 30 for engaging corresponding detents on the divider walls 18, so that the line tab can be securely (but releasably) locked in the closed position. As will be described in greater detail below, the wire receiving passages 24 and the openings 26 of the line tab 10 cooperate with the front terminal end of a contact member 8 to form an Insulation-Displacement Contact (IDC) that is operable to form an electrical connection between a wire the involved contact member 8.

[0023] In the illustrated embodiment, a set of two opposed line tabs 10 are connected to the base member 4 at the front end of a port opening 20, each of which line tabs 10 is configured to enable connection of a pair of wires to a corresponding pair of the contact members 8. As will be described in greater detail below, this particular arrangement has certain advantages, but it is not essential. In fact, it will be appreciated that a line tab 10 may be configured to enable connection of any desired number of wires to a corresponding number of contact members 8, which may be more or fewer than two.

[0024] Referring to FIG. 5, the contact group 6 generally comprises one or more contact members 8 secured within a support block 32. In the illustrated embodiment, the contact group 6 is configured as a set of four contact members 8 arranged as two pairs of opposed contact members. However, it will be appreciated that the contact group 6 (and thus the line tabs 10 and port openings 20) may be suitably designed such that any desired number of contact members 8 may be accommodated within the contact group 6, and may be arranged in any suitable manner Thus it will be seen than there may be more or fewer than four contact members 8 in each contact group 6.

[0025] As may be seen in FIGs. 6A and 6B, each contact member 8 may be provided as an electrical conductor having a front and rear terminal ends 34, 36. The rear terminal end 36 may have any suitable configuration such as, for example, pins or tabs configured to make an electrical contact with the plug-in connector 14 inserted into the rear end of the port opening passage 20. On the other hand, the front terminal end 34 is configured to cooperate with a corresponding line tab 10 mounted at the front end of the port opening passage 20 to form an insulation displacement connector (IDC) for making an electrical connection with a wire. In the embodiment of FIG. 6A, the front terminal end 34 comprises a proximal portion 38 that is substantially aligned with the longitudinal direction of the contact member 8 and a distal portion 40 which is substantially aligned with the vertical direction of the contact member. A curved portion of the front terminal end 34 forms a radiused transition between the proximal and distal portions 38 and 40. An insulation-displacement slot 42 is provided that is coextensive with the proximal and distal portions 38 and 40, and extends between an open end 44 disposed in the distal portion 40 and a closed end 46 disposed in the proximal portion 38.

[0026] Preferably, the length and width of the insulation displacement slot 42 are selected to provide suitable stiffness and resilience of front terminal end 34 to ensure a satisfactory electrical connection with the conductor of a wire inserted into the insulation displacement slot 42. Similarly, the open end 44 of the slot 42 may be shaped to facilitate insertion of the wire into the slot 42 and proper displacement of the wire's insulation j acket.

[0027] In the illustrated embodiment, the radius of curvature of the curved portion of the front terminal end 34 is relatively large, so that there is a gradual transition between the longitudinally oriented proximal portion 38 and the vertically oriented distal portion 40. Alternatively, the radius of curvature can be reduced as desired so that the transition between the proximal and distal portions 38 and 40 is more or less angular.

[0028] As may be appreciated, the curvature of the front terminal end is advantageous in that it enables the provision of an IDC that can receive an incoming wire that is also oriented longitudinally (relative to the port opening) while minimizing the frontal area of the port opening 20 that is occupied by the contact member 8. This characteristic maximizes the number of contact members 8 that can be accommodated in a port opening 20 having a given frontal area, and, equivalently, minimizes the frontal area of an electrical connector assembly that supports a given number of incoming wires.

[0029] As noted above, the rear terminal end 36 of each contact member 8 can have any desired configuration, such as pins or tabs. In the illustrated embodiment, the rear terminal end 36 is configured as a resiliently biased connector tab 48. This arrangement is suitable for pressing the rear terminal end 36 into contact with a contact pad (not shown) of the plug- in connector 14. FIG. 5 illustrates a contact group comprising two pairs of opposed contact members 8, which may also be seen in greater detail in FIG. 6B. This configuration of opposed contact members 8 is advantageous in that the contact tabs 48 of the two connector members 8 may make an electrical contact with contact pads suitably arranged on opposite sides of the plug-in connector 14. When the plug-in connector 14 is removed from the port opening, the contact tabs 48 of the two opposed connector members 8 may make electrical contact with each other. In this manner, the two opposed connector members 8 may operate to connect incoming and outgoing wires to the plug-in connector 14 when the plug-in connector 14 is inserted into the rear end of the port opening 20, and otherwise provide a "pass-through" signal path between the incoming and outgoing wires.

[0030] If desired, a mid-section 50 of each contact member can include a joggle which serves to both lock the contact member in the support block 32, and also promotes desired separation distances between the front and rear ends of the two contact members 8. In the embodiment of FIG. 6B, the two contact members include asymmetrical joggles which produces an offset between the front and rear ends of the contact member pair. This allows the use of a narrowed rear end of the port opening 20.

[0031] In some embodiments, it may be desirable to provide an electrical shield between the opposed connector elements. As may be seen in Figs 2 and 5, this shielding may be provided by means of a metallic film 52 or sheet element embedded within the support block 32. In some embodiments, this metallic film 52 may operate as an extension of a metallic shield 54 embedded within a blade portion 56 of the plug-in connector 14.

[0032] As may be seen in the embodiment illustrated in FIGs. 1-5, the front end of a port connector assembly (as represented by the front terminal ends 34 of the connector group 6 and the pair of opposed line tabs 10) occupies a larger frontal area than the corresponding rear end of the port opening 20. This inherently means that the plug-in connector 14 designed to be inserted into the rear end of the port opening passage will have a smaller frontal area than the connector assembly itself. FIGs. 7 and 8 illustrate an embodiment in which a secondary connector block 58 may be optionally connected to the base member 4 to provide a further set of electrical connections to the plug-in connector 14 and its associated electrical device 12 (if any). [0033] Preferably, the secondary connector block 58 comprises a housing 60 configured to facilitate removable attachment of the secondary connector block 58 to the base member 4. The housing 60 provides a rearward-facing port opening 62 corresponding to the rear port openings of the base member 4, and includes IDC-type contact elements 64 associated with each port opening for connection with wires that may be routed through the housing 60 to each secondary port opening 62. As may be seen in FIG. 8, the dimensions of the housing 60 are preferably selected such that the combined area of the rearward-facing port openings of the base member 4 and the secondary connector block 58 is approximately equal to the frontal area of a corresponding electrical connector assembly (as represented by the front terminal ends 34 of the connector group 6 and the pair of opposed line tabs 10). This arrangement is advantageous in that it enables a further set of wires to be connected to the electrical device 12 via a secondary blade 70 of the plug-in connector 14, without expanding the port area required to make the needed connections between the device 12 and the involved signal wires. For example, in one embodiment, the electrical device 12 may be configured as an electrical signal splitter configured to demultiplex an incoming signal comprising both Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) and either DSL or G.Fast signals, and output the demultiplexed POTS and DSL(or G.Fast) signals through respective different output wire pairs. In this case, the wires carrying both the inbound multiplex signal and the out-going demultiplexed POTS signal may be connected to the signal splitter 12 through the electrical connector assembly 2, while the out-going DSL (or G.Fast) signal may be carried by a wire pair routed through the secondary connector block 58.

[0034] Conversely, the electrical device 12 may be configured as an electrical signal combiner configured to receive incoming POTS and DSL (or G.Fast) signals through respective different input wire pairs, and output the multiplexed signal through an output wire pair. In this case, both the input wire pair carrying the POTS signal and the output wire pair carrying the outbound multiplex signal may be connected to the signal combiner 12 through the electrical connector assembly 2, while the input DSL (or G.Fast) signal may be carried by a wire pair routed through the secondary connector block 58.

[0035] The embodiment(s) of the invention described above is(are) intended to be exemplary only. The scope of the invention is therefore intended to be limited solely by the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

WE CLAIM;

1. An electric connector assembly comprising:

a base member having at least one port opening;

at least one contact member configured to be received in the port opening of the base member, each contact member including a first termination end, the first termination end having a proximal portion substantially aligned with a longitudinal direction of the contact member, a distal portion substantially aligned with a vertical direction of the contact member and an insulation- displacement slot coextensive with the proximal and distal portions such that a closed end of the insulation-displacement slot is disposed in the proximal portion and an open end of the insulation-displacement slot is disposed in the distal portion; and

a line tab configured to be pivotably connected to the base member and having at least one wire receiving passage, the line tab being movable between a first position in which a wire disposed within the wire receiving passage is held apart from the first termination end of the contact member and a second position in which the wire disposed within the wire receiving passage is inserted into the insulation-displacement slot of the first termination end.

2. The electric connector assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first termination end comprises a curved portion between the proximal and distal portions.

3. The electric connector assembly as claimed in claim 2, wherein a radius of the curved portion is selected such that the curved portion defines a smooth transition between the proximal portion and the distal portion.

4. The electric connector assembly as claimed in claim 3, wherein the curved portion includes at least one of the proximal portion and the distal portion.

5. The electric connector assembly as claimed in claim 2, wherein a radius of the curved portion is selected such that the curved portion defines an angular transition between the proximal portion and the distal portion.

6. The electric connector assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein each contact member further comprises a second termination end,

7. The electric connector assembly as claimed in claim 6, wherein the second termination end is resiliently biased for connection with an electrical contact pad.

8. The electric connector assembly as claimed in claim 6, comprising at least one pair of opposed contact members disposed such that the respective second termination ends of the opposed contact members are resiliently biased toward each other for connection with either: the respective second termination end of the opposite contact member serving as the contact pad; or corresponding contact pads on opposite sides of a device inserted into the port opening of the base member.

9. The electric connector assembly as claimed in claim 8, further comprising a shield disposed between the pair of opposed contact members, the shield being configured to mitigate electrical interference between the pair of opposed contact members.

10. The electric connector assembly as claimed in claim 1, further comprising an insulator block configured to secure the at least one contact member within the port opening of the base member.

11. The electric connector assembly as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a secondary connector block defining at least one secondary port opening, the secondary connector block being configured to be removably connected to the base member such that each secondary port opening corresponds with a respective port opening of the base member.

12. The electric connector assembly as claimed in claim 11, wherein each port opening of the base member comprises a front end and a rear end, wherein a respective frontal area of the front end is larger than the respective frontal area of the rear end, and wherein the respective frontal area of each secondary port opening corresponds with a difference between the respective frontal areas of the front and rear ends.