Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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VOICE/DATA ADAPTER KIT
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
Not applicable.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
Not applicable.
REFERENCE TO A MICROFISHE APPENDIX
Not applicable.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention
The invention relates to connectors and couplers for providing voice and data
communications and, more particularly, to adapters for providing means for
accommodating
couplers and jacks developed by various manufactures, to standard plate
openings.
Background Art
Efficient organization of various types of devices requiring electrical power
or
data communications within an office, commercial, industrial or residential
environment has
been a historical problem. Such devices often include lamps, typewriters and
the like. More
recently, this problem has been exacerbated by the proliferation of additional
devices for
communications, such as complex telephone stations, computes, video displays
and the like.
One problem associated with the efficient organization in the use of such
devices relates to the
abundance of wiring arrays and the positioning of the energy requiring devices
within the
environment, particularly in office environments.
One relatively substantial advance in the art relating to the mounting of
electrical
receptacles for work surfaces and the like is shown in the commonly owned
Byrne, U.S. Patent
No. 4,747,788 issued May 31, 1988. In the Byrne patent, a retractable power
center includes a
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rectangular housing formed in the work surface, with a clamping arrangement to
secure the
housing to the work surface. A lower extrusion is connected to a lower portion
of the housing,
and a manually moveable power carriage mounts the receptacles. In response to
manual
application of upward forces on the power carriage, the carriage may be raised
upward into an
extended, open position. Small bosses extending from the sides of the
carriage, and resting on
the top portion of the housing, support the carriage in the extended, open
position. In the open
position, the user can energize desired electrical devices from the
receptacles and then lower the
carriage into a releaseably secured, retractable position.
A stationary device having electrical services outlets is shown in commonly
owned Byrne, U.S. Patent No. 6,042,426 issued March 28, 2000. Therein, a mufti-
user services
module includes a housing portion with a hemispherical configuration. The
housing portion is
integrally molded to a depending cylindrical housing portion. The cylindrical
housing portion is
fitted into an opening in a conference table or the like. Power receptacles
and data receptacles
are molded and installed in the hemispherical housing portion.
As earlier mentioned, the proliferation of communications and computer
equipment has lead to a substantial amount of use of communications
interconnection
assemblies. For voice and data communications, the interconnection assemblies
are typically
referred to as comprising a RS-232 communications coupler and communications
jack. For
purposes of description, these elements are typically collectively referred to
as "coupler/jacks."
In the industry, voice/data coupler/jacks are designed and sold by various
manufacturers. These manufacturers include, for example, AT&T (or Lucent
Technologies),
Panduit, Krone and Ortronics. One problem which exists with respect to the
various types of
couplers and jacks is that their overall size is not standardized.
Accordingly, even if wall or floor
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plates are utilized which have a standardized opening size, the couplers and
jacks of the various
manufactures are not standardized in size. Still further, elements associated
with wall plates,
couplers and jacks and the like are relatively small and sometimes difficult
to properly maintain
in inventory.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with the invention, a voice/data adapter kit is provided, with
the kit
including the following items: a base plate; a plurality of adapters, with
each of said plurality of
adapters having openings of various sizes; and a carrying spline, with said
plurality of adapters
being releaseably secured to said spline.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING
The invention will now be described with reference to the drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the voice/data adapter spline in accordance
with
the invention, and with the spline releaseably securing a series of adapters
thereto;
FIG. 2 is a perspective and exploded view of the assembly of one of the
voice/data adapters carried on the spline with a coupler and jack, and base
plate mountable into a
surface opening;
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a rear side of one of the adapters in
accordance
with the invention, secured to a couplc~~and jack, and showing the use of a
wedge for purposes of
securing the same; and
FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the position of the wedge depicted in FIG.
3.
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The principles of the invention are disclosed, by way of example, in a
voice/data
adapter kit 100, as illustrated with respect to FIGS. 1 - 4. The voice/data
adapter kit l00
includes a plurality of voice/data adapters, and the base plate. The plurality
of voice/data
adapters accommodates couplers and jacks developed by various manufacturers
and having
varying sizes. Further, the voice/data adapter kit 100 includes a carrying
spline to which the
plurality of adapters are releaseably secured. In this manner, the varying
adapters can be
conveniently purchased and stored for inventory.
Turning to the drawings, the voice/data adapter kit 100 is depicted in part in
FIG.
1. Specifically, the voice/data adapter kit 100 includes a plurality of
voice/data adapters 102. In
the particular embodiment of a voice/data adapter kit in accordance with the
invention as
illustrated in FIGS. 1 - 4, the voice/data adapters 102 include adapters 104,
106, 108, 110 and
112. In the particular embodiment illustrated as voice/data adapter kit 100
there are a pair of
each of the adapters 104, 106, 108, 110 and 112. Although shown in this pair
relationship, it
should be emphasized that any number of voice/data adapters 102 may be
incorporated in a
voiceldata adapter kit, in accordance with the invention, and still fall
within the scope of the
novel concepts of the invention. The purpose for the pair relationships is
that it is not uncommon
for a floor, wall or other surface opening, into which couplers and jacks will
be inserted and
engaged with other communications cabling, to employ a pair of voice or data
communications
couplers and jacks.
In this particular configuration of an adapter kit 100, the adapter pair 104
may be
constructed so as to accommodate couplers and jacks falling within Categories
6, SE and S, and
manufactured by Ortronics. Correspondingly, the adapter pair 106 may
accommodate couplers
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and jacks falling within Category 5 and manufactured by AT&T and Lucent
Technologies.
Correspondingly, adapter pair 108 may comprise adapters accommodating Category
5 couplers
and jacks manufactured by Panduit. Still further, adapter pair 110 may
accommodate couplers
and jacks falling within the scope of Category 5 and manufactured by Krone or
Hubbell. In
addition, in the particular embodiment of an adapter kit 100 in accordance
with the invention, the
adapter pair 112 actually comprise "blanks." That is, they would be utilized
to cover an opening
in a base plate, when no coupler and jack will be utilized for that particular
opening. Again, in
accordance with the invention, it is advantageous to have these adapter pair
blanks 112
conveniently located and available with the other adapter pairs.
As further shown in FIG. 1, the voice/data adapters 102 are each secured to a
connector or carrying or connecting spline 114. The purpose of the connecting
spline 114 is to
releaseably secure the voice/data adapters 102. Specifically, the connecting
spline 114 includes
a central post 116 having the configuration illustrated in FIG. 1. Connected
to or otherwise
integral with the central post 116 are a series of cross bars 118. In the
particular embodiment
IS illustrated in FIG. 1, there are a series of five identical cross bars I
18, having a spaced
relationship and a parallel configuration. At the lower part of the central
post 116 is an angled
cross bar 120. The voice/data adapter pairs 104, 106, 108 and 110 are each
connected at their
upper portion:2o a separate one of the cross bars i 18. The adapter blanks 112
are releaseably
secured to the-angled cross bar 120 at the lower portions thereof. The
connecting spline 114 is
relatively conventional in nature and composition. For example, articles of
manufacture similar
to the connecting spline 114 have been used in the prior art for purposes of
conveniently securing
small assembly elements for toys, garden equipment and comparable items where
assembly is
required. The voice/data adapters 102 are secured to the cross bars 118 and
angled cross bar 120
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in a manner so that a relatively small amount of manually exerted forces can
"break away" the
selected voice/data adapter 102 from the connecting spline 114.
Turning to FIG. 2, the voice/data adapter kit 100 also includes a base plate
122.
Although various types of base plates may be utilized without departing from
the novel concepts
of the invention, the particular base plate 122 has a rectangular
configuration with a front surface
124. Extending through the front surface 124 are a pair of plate openings 126
and 128. Also
shown in FIG. 2 is a wall, floor or other surface opening 130. Although not
shown in FIG. 2, the
opening 130 may include various communications cables and wires, for voice,
data or other
computer and communications purposes. The cable or wiring (not shown) would be
adapted to
communicably connect to the couplers and jacks described in subsequent
paragraphs herein.
Turning to the configuration of the base plate 122, each of the openings 126
and
128 is identical to the other opening. The openings 126, 128 each have a
substantially square or
rectangular configuration, with upper and lower notches 130 positioned therein
as illustrated in
FIG. 3. As described herein, the base plate 122 is included as part of the
voice/data adapter kit
100.
With further reference to FIG. 2, one of the voice/data adapters 102 is
illustrated
therein, in perspective view. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the particular
voice/data adapter 102 may
be any of the adapters 104, 106, 108 or 110 The particular adapter 102
illustrated in FIG. 2 has
a substantially square or rectangular outer configuration, with a top portion
132, sides 134 and
lower portion 136. A variable opening 138 extends through the adapter 102.
Extending
rearwardly from the top portion 132 is a latch 140 having the particular
configuration as
illustrated in both FIG. 2 and FIG. 3. A substantially similar latch 140
extends rearwardly from
the bottom portion 136 of the adapter 102. The bottom latch 140 can be
partially seen in FIG. 2.
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In accordance with the invention, the voiceldata adapter kit 100 includes the
adapters 102, connector spline 114 and the base plate 122. Not included within
the kit is a
coupler and jack 142, as illustrated in FIG. 2. The coupler and jack 142 is
conventional in design
and known in the prior art. As previously described herein, the coupler and
jack 142 is not only
S conventional in design but various sizes of couplers and jacks 142 are
manufactured by various
companies. In accordance with the invention, and for purposes of accommodating
the variously
sized couplers and jacks 142, the opening 138 of the adapter 102 varies in
size. However, further
in accordance with the invention, the overall, outer dimensions of the adapter
102 do not vary.
That is, outer dimensions of the adapter 102 are standardized so as to
appropriately fit into the
standardized size of the plate openings 126, 128. In this manner, with the
adapter kit including a
number of variously sized adapters 102 releaseably secured to the connecting
spline 114, a kit
can be acquired by the installer, and used to accommodate variously sized
coupler and jacks 142
acquired from different manufactures.
With regard to assembly, FIG. 2 illustrates that the coupler/jack 142 includes
top
and bottom connector ledges 144, and lateral tabs 146.
With the foregoing configuration, and for purposes of assembly, the coupler
and
jack 142 is first "snap fitted" into the variably sized opening 138 of the
adapter 102. When the
adapter 102 and the coupler and jack 142 have been snap fitted together;-the
coupled assembly
may then be "snap fitted" into one of the openings 126, 128 of the base plate
122. FIG. 2
illustrates the opening 128 as having an adapter 102 and a coupler and jack
142 already snap
fitted into the opening 128. With this assembly, the base plate 122 can then
be connected to or
otherwise appropriately fitted within the surface opening 130. For example,
the base plate 122
may include snaps 148 for this purpose.
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The voice/data adapter kit 100 may include other concepts, specifically
associated
with particular couplers and jacks manufactured by various companies. For
example, AT&T and
Lucent Technologies manufacture a coupler and jack which is characterized as a
"Category S
rocker type." For purposes of securing these particular couplers and jacks to
an adapter 102, a
S pair of wedges 150 are utilized. As an example, FIG. 3 illustrates a rear
perspective view of an
adapter 102 snap fitted with one of the AT&T and Lucent Technologies coupler
and jack 142.
For purposes of appropriately securing this particular coupler and jack 142 to
the adapter 102, a
pair of wedges 150 may be utilized. FIG. 3 illustrates only one of the wedges
150. The other
wedge 150 would be secured on the other side (not shown) of the coupler and
jack 142. FIG. 4
illustrates an enlarged view illustrating the location in which one of the
wedges 150 would be
inserted.
The foregoing has described a voice/data adapter kit 100 in accordance with
the
invention. It is apparent that various configurations of the voice/data
adapter kit 100 may be
utilized, without departing from the principal novel concepts of the
invention. For example,
1 S different numbers of adapters (both open and blank) may be utilized with
an appropriately sized
connecting spline. Also, adapters may be included for purposes of
accommodating couplers and
jacks from a number of other manufacturers. Also, base plates incorporated
within the kit 100
may be of various sizes and configurations. The primary importance is that the
openings 126,
128 are appropriately standardized to the outer dimensions of the adapters
102. Also, the base
plates could utilize any number of openings, and may be sized with any number
of outer
dimensions.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the pertinent arts that other
embodiments of
the invention can be designed. That is, the principles of the invention are
not limited to the
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specific embodiments described herein. Accordingly, it will be apparent to
those skilled in the
art that modifications and other variations of the above-described
illustrative embodiments of the
invention may be effected without departing from the spirit and scope of the
novel concept of the
invention.
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