Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
623
In the prior art ~acks have generally been a
lamination of a number of spring metal COntaG^tS s~para-ted
by insulators and mounted on one end o~ a metal ~rame~ The
other end of the frame forms the entrance end and will
accept a plug. The entrance end is then adapted to be
mounted in a panel, the most common example o~ which can be
found in the telephone industry. As the art has been refined
these jacks have been produced in smaller and smaller
configurations and mounted in quite close proximity on jack
panels~ With the in-troduction of printed circuitry it has
been found most convenient to make the printed circuit board
slid0 in and out of the panel from the access side or ~ack
entrance side. Accordingly, it is common to ~ind a number
of circuit boards positioned immediately alongside rows o~
jacks in close proximity thereto. Wiring between the jacks
and the circuit boards is accomplished by means o~ small
wires which must be soldered to the back of the jaoks and
then ro~ted to connection points on the circuit boards. In
order to make such connections it is obvious that a burdensome ~;
amount of labor i8 involved and that a lot of space must be
provided for the wiring. The present invention avoids these
problems by providing a jack wherein the electrical spring
metal contacts extend sideways out of a housing to connect `-;~
with a printed circuit board directly as explained below.
Briefly, our invention contemplates a ja~k formed
from a molded plastic housing which mounts directly on the
side of the circuit boards themselves. Small metal contacts
or springs in the ~ack make contact with a plug inserted
thereinto. These springs have lugs extending therefrom
through holes in the jack housing directly into the
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623
appropriate circuit connection holes in the circuit boards.
Thus, there is no need for separate wiring between the board
and the jack. The design of the jack is such that all of
the springs can be inserted from one side of the ~ack, which
side is opposite from the circuit board. The springs are
held in place in the housing by slots formed on the side walls
which accept barbs formed on the springs in a locking
relationship which holds the springs in the proper position
to receive a plug therein. It may therefore be ~een that it
is an object o~ our invention to pro~ide an impro~ed jack
which not only can be mounted directly to a circuit board
but is easier and less expensive to assemble and construct~
Further ob~ects and advantages will become apparent from the
following detailed description and drawings.
Figure 1 is a perspecti~e view of the housing of
our jack.
Figure 2 is a top view o~ the jack of Figure 1.
Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3-3 in
Figure 2.
Figure 4 is a bottom view of the jack houslng. -~
Figures 5, 6, 7~ 8 and 9 are perspective views of
the various spring members which fit into the housing shown
in Figure 1 to form both the plug contacts and the circuit
board connections.
Figure 10 is a diagramatic view of the jack
housing, actual size, showing how the jack mounts in a front ~-
panel and also directly to the circuit board.
Referrin~ simultaneously to Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4
the jack housing 10 of the pr0sent invention is shown
comprising two smaller end surfaces 12 and 14 connected
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623
together by longer side walls 16 and 18 and a bottom wall 20.
~rhe entrance end 14 :is provided with slo-ts 22 and 24 on the
sides and a slot 23 on the bottom to facilitate mounting the
~ack in the front panel 25 as shown in Figure 10.
In Figure 10 the jack of the present invention is
shown actual s.ize mounted on a circuit board 26 with the
circuit board contacting lugs 27 shown rnounted through circuit
board 26. As can be seen in Figure 10 the entrance end 14
is mounted by means o~ slots 22, 23 and 24 in `the front panel
2~
Returning again to Figures 1 through 4 it may be
æeen that the plug is inserted into jack 10 through a hole 28
in the entrance end 14. As the plug passes through hole 28
it ~ontinue~ into the length of the elongated housing over
a pair of curved troughs 30 and 32. Once inside the housing
the plug makes contact with a number of springs held in the
housing in slots. The position of each o~ these springs is
described hereinafter, wherein each of the springs is
described according to the circuit function it normally
per~orms in a telephone ~ack and plug circuit.
In Figure 5 the ring spring 34 is shown which lies
in the housing as shown in Figure 1 generally in the po~ition
shown in Figure 5. Ring spring 34 lies along the inside of
bottom wall 20 with the circuit board contacting lug 27R
extending down through a hole 36. A pair of locking tabs 38
and 40 slide respectively into a pair o~ slots 42 and 44. ::- -
When ~ully inserted a set of barbs 45 formed on tabs 38 and
40 anchor the ring spring in place. It should be noted that
an important part of the design herein is involved in the
slLght bending of tabs 38 and 40 so that as the ring spring
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34 is forced down into slots 42 and 44 the rlng spring is
moved solidly against end surface 12 to provide accurate
positional location. Reference to Figures 6 through 9 will
demonstrate that all of the spring metal contacts have barbs
which are bent sllghtly inward to achieve this tightening
action~ As the plug is inser-ted into the ~ack housing it
makes contact with the hump 47 on ring spring 34 moving the
spring downward so that a contact 49 breaks circuit with
another contact on the bottom o~ a tab 50 on the ring normal
spring 52 shown in Figure 6~ -
The ring normal spring shown in Figure 6 mounts
into a pair o~ slots 54 and 55 and i~ locked therein with tabs
57 and 58 respectively. The printed circuit board connecting
lug 27RN extends through the hole 60 in the bottom wall 20. - -
Ring normal spring 52 also has tabs 57 and 58 bent slightly
forward as described with respect to ~he tabs on the ring
spring in Figure 5. It should also be noticed in Figure 6
that the lower barbs have a sur~ace edge 62 and 63 which is
cut in at a steeper angle so that as the contact is pushed -
: 20 into the slot in the housing the top edges of the slots will
initially contact the spring at the points indioated by the
number 64 rather than the abrupt edges indicated by the numbers
65. This steep angle on the edges 63 and 62 combinQd with
the forward bend, thus insures a smooth entry into the slot
and a prompt tightening of the corners o~ the barbs 67 against
the wall of the slotO Re~erence to Figures 5 through 9 will :~
show that all o~ the barbs used on all o~ the springs employ
this slight inward bend combined with a steep angle on the `~
lower barb to insure an initial sliding contact with the ~ .
~0 entrance ends of the slots in the housing.
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The ground contact may be made by the sleeve spring
shown in Figure 9 which mounts o~ the opposite side o~ the
plug from the ring spring 34. This position permits a
balancing of spring forces on both sides of the plug to avoid
ha~ing the plug pushed of~ eenter. This balancing of springs
is also advantageous in that the jack will wear longer
maintaining a good eontact even after extensive wear of the ~ -
plug entrance hole. Sleeve spring 70 has a connecting tab
72, again with slightly bent barbs~ that slides into a slot
74 in side wall 18 and another tab 76 which extends into a
slot 78 in side wall 16. The printed circuit contacting lug
27S extending ~rom the bottom of tab 76 passes through a hole
80. The top o* sleeve spring 70 is curved downward to form
a hump 82 to contact the plug.
~, :
In telephone circuits as well as other types of
¢ircuits the plugs often have a third circuit. Contacts for
this circuit are provided by a tip spring 84 shown in Figure
8 and a tip normal sprin~ 86 shown in Figure 7. The slightly
bent mounting tabs 87 and 88 on tip spri~g 84 slide into a
. slot 89 on wall 18 with a lug 27T extending downward through
a hole 90. Insertion o~ the plug will cause contact with the ~ ~
hump 92 forcing tip spring 84 backwards slightly so that a ~ ;
contact 94 breaks a circuit with the tip normal spring 86
shown in Figure 7. i
Tip normal spring 86 is mounted above the ring
spring 34 in slots 96 and 97 on elongated side wall 16. The
connecting lug 27TN at the bottom of tip normal spring 86
extends through a hole 98. Cont~ct 9~ on tip spring 84
normally reBts against tab 100 on tip normal spring 86.
~0 An additional set of slots 102 and a hole 104 are :
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~4~3
provided in the housing 10 for additional springs which may
be added i~ desired. In order to provide room for the ring
spring 34 to move downward upon the insertion o~ a plug, a
clearance hole 106 is provided in bottom wall 20. Likewi~e
a clearance window 108 is provided in side wall 18 to allow
tip spring 84 to bend sideways. A small riser 110 is formed
on the inside o~ wall 16 against which the plug may rest under
`~ the sideways ~orce exerted by tip spring 84~ Finally a series
o~ three small risers 112 are formed on the bottom wall 20
on the outside to help space the jack housing 10 approximately
20/1000 of an inch from the circuit board 26 to permit easier
soldering.
Clearly, it may be seen that all of the mounting
~lots extend generally orthogonal to the elongate axis o~ the -
housing along which the plug lies. Thus, all o~ the slots
open at the top of the housing at the ~ide opposite from the
printed circuit board~ This has two advantages, namely, that
all of the spring elements may be inserted from one side of
the housing while still retaining a relatively ~imple mold.
It is e~ident that it would be possible to form the slots
in con~igurations other ~han those shown to mount the sprin~ ~ -
elements without departing ~rom the basic spirit and scope
of the invention and thercfore we intend to be limited only
to the following claims.
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