PLURAL INSULATED ELECTRICAL CONNECTORS

CONNECTEUR ELECTRIQUE ISOLE A CONTACTS MULTIPLES

English Abstract

ELECTRICAL ADAPTER
ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
An adapter in accordance with the present
invention comprises a male member joined to a female member.
The male member includes a plug portion having a plurality
of spaced slots into which a plurality of blade contacts
are respectively inserted, the blade contacts making elec-
trical connection with conductors positioned within troughs
that respectively communicate with the slots. Each
conductor is doubled over within its associated trough,
and both ends of each conductor are terminated with a wire
spring contact. The contacts at one end of these conductors
are mounted in a first contact carrier, while the contacts
at the other end are mounted in a second contact carrier.
In addition, a plurality of conductors, also terminated
at both ends with wire spring contacts, extend directly
between the carriers.
The contact carriers are respectively accommodated
within a pair of internally communicating openings in the
female member in such a manner that the wire spring contacts
are exposed within a pair of externally communicating
opening of the female member. Each externally communicating
opening is adapted to accommodate a plug having contacts
arranged so as to engage the contacts of the associated
carrier and thereby be electrically connected to the blade
contacts in the plug portion and to the contacts of the
other carrier.

Claims

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive
property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:
1. A multi-outlet adapter for plug-in telephones
comprising:
a male member including a plug portion having a
plurality of troughs respectively communicating with a
like plurality of slots in the plug portion;
a plurality of conductors totally contained within the
adapter, each conductor being doubled over within an
individual trough in the plug portion and both ends of
each conductor being terminated with a wire spring jack
contact;
a plurality of blade-like plug contacts respectively
positioned within the slots in the plug portion, each plug
contact making electrical connection with the conductor
positioned in the associated trough whereby the jack
contacts terminating the ends of the conductor are
connected in parallel to the associated plug contact;
a pair of contact carriers, each contact carrier
having one of the jack contacts mounted therein; and
a female member joined to the male member, the female
member having a pair of jack openings open to the outside
of the adapter, the female member also having means for
accommodating an individual carrier adjacent to each of
the jack openings such that the jack contacts mounted in
the carriers are exposed within the jack openings.
2. An adapter as in claim 1 wherein each conductor is
electrically connected to contacts having corresponding
positions in the plug portion and the jack openings.
3. An adapter as in claim 1, further including at
least one conductor that extends directly between the two

contact carriers and is not electrically connected to the
plug portion, the ends of the conductor being terminated
with jack contacts that are respectively mounted in the
carriers.
4. A multi-outlet adapter for plug-in telephones
comprising:
a male member including a plug portion;
a plurality of conductors totally contained within the
adapter, each conductor being doubled over within the plug
portion and both ends of each conductor being terminated
with a jack contact;
a plurality of plug contacts mounted in the plug
portion, each plug contact making electrical connection
with an individual conductor in the plug portion whereby
the jack contacts terminating the ends of the conductor
are connected in parallel with the associated plug contact;
a female member joined to the male member, the female
member having a pair of jack openings open to the outside
of the adapter; and
means for mounting one jack contact terminating each
conductor so as to be exposed within one of the jack
openings and mounting the other jack contact terminating
each conductor so as to be exposed within the other of the
jack openings.
5. An adapter as in claim 6 further including at
least one conductor that extends directly between the two
jack openings and is not electrically connected to the
plug portion, the ends of the conductor being terminated
with jack contacts, and the mounting means mounting the
jack contacts so that one is exposed within one of the
jack openings and the other is exposed within the other of
the jack openings.

6. A multi-outlet adapter for plug-in telephones
comprising:
a male member including a plug portion;
a plurality of conductors totally contained by the
adapter, each conductor being doubled over at the plug
portion, and each conductor having a jack contact at each
end;
a female member joined to the male member, the female
member having a pair of jack openings to the outside of
the adapter; and
means for mounting one jack contact of each conductor
so as to be exposed within one of the jack openings and
for mounting the other jack contact of each conductor so
as to be exposed within the other of the jack openings.
7. A multi-outlet adapter for plug-in telephones
comprising:
a dielectric housing having a plug portion at one end
and a jack portion at the other end, the jack portion
having a pair of jack openings open to the outside of the
housing;
a plurality of conductors totally contained by the
housing, each conductor being doubled over at the plug
portion, and each conductor having a jack contact at each
end; and
means for mounting one jack contact of each conductor
so as to be exposed within one of the jack openings and
for mounting the other jack contact of each conductor so
as to be exposed within the other of the jack openings.

Description

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Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of connectors
and within that field to an adapter for providing multiple
jac~ access at a single jack location.
B kground of the Invention
The wall jack provided by telephone companies
prov-des a single outlet for connecting telephone station
equipment such as a telephone set to an associated telephone
line. However, there are some situations where it is
desirable to be able to connect two pieces of telephone
station equipment to the telephone line in parallel at the
same location. Thus for example, a telephone answering
device is typically connected in parallel with an adjacent
telephone set. There are other situations where it is
desirable to be able to connect an external signal source
or an auxiliary power supply to telephone station equipment
at the same location andjor on the same premises, such as
to provide power to an incandescent lamp mounted within a
telephone set for illuminating the dial. There are still
other situations where it is desirable to be able to rearrange
the location of the contacts to which the tip and ring line
conductors and/or power or other signal leads are connected.
There is therefore a need for an adapter to provide multiple
jack access at a single jack location.
Summary of the Invention
An adapter in accordance with the present invention
has a T configuration with a plug portion forming the stem
of the T and a pair of adjacent jack portions facing opposite
to the plug portion forming the crossbar of the T. Each
contact of the plug portion is electrically connected to a
contact of each jack portion by a single conductor. The
conductor is doubled over within a conductor receiving
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trough in the plug portion wherein it is pierced by the
associated plug contact.~
The ends of each conductor are joined to wire
springs that are respectively mounted in each jack portion
and serve as contacts of the jack portion. Thus the wire
spring contacts of each conductor are connected in parallel
to the associated plug contact in the plug portion. The
conductive paths thereby provided can be used to connect two
pieces of station equipment to the same wall jack. They can
also be used to apply an auxiliary power source or external
signal source to l)station equipment connected to the other
jack portion of the adapter, and 2) via the premise wiring
to station equipment at other location on the premises.
Other wire spring contact terminated conductors
extend directly between selected positions of the two jack
portions. The wire spring contacts terminating these
conductors are therefore connected in series, and conductive
paths that bypass the plug portion are provided that can be
used to apply an external signal source or an external power
source to only station equipment connected to the other jack
portion.
The wire spring contacts mounted to the ends of
each conductor may be mounted in each jack portion in
positions that correspond to the position of the associated
contact in the plug portion. However, the wire spring
contacts may also be mounted in different positions relative
to the associated plug contact so as to rearrange the
locations at which power or signals may be obtained.
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In accordance with an aspect of the invention there is
provided a multi-outlet adapter for plug-in telephones
comprising: a male member including a plug portion having
a plurality of troughs respectively communicating with a
like plurality of slots in the plug portion; a plurality
of conductors totally contained within the adapter, each
conductor being doubled over within an individual trough
in the plug portion and both ends of each conductor being
terminated with a wire spring jack contact; a plurality of
blade-like plug contacts respectively positioned within
the slots in the plug portion, each plug contact making
electrical connection with the conductor positioned in the
associated trough whereby the jack contacts terminating
the ends of the conductor are connected in parallel to the
associated plug contact; a pair of contact carriers, each
contact carrier having one of the jack contacts mounted
therein; and a female member joined to the male member,
the female member having a pair of jack openings open to
the outside of the adapter, the female member also having
means for accommodating an individual carrier adjacent to
each of the jack openings such that the jack contacts
mounted in the carriers are exposed within the jack
openings.
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srief Description of the Drawings
FIG. l is a perspective view of the adapter showing
the plug portion thereof;
FIG. 2 is an end view looking toward the plug portion
of the adapter;
FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the jack
portions of the adapter;
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along
line 4-4 of FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 is an end view looking toward the jack
portion of the adapter; and
FIG. 6 is a top view with portions broken away
showing one interconnection arrangement between the plug
portion and the jack portions.
Detailed Description
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 3 of the drawings, the
adapter includes a male member lO joined to a female member
20. The male member 10 comprises a plug portion 12 that is
integral with and extends from a housing portion 14. As
seen most clearly in FIGS. 2 and 4, the plug portion 12
includes a plurality of spaced slots 15 into which a plurality
of blade contacts 30 are respectively inserted, the blade
contacts having tangs 32 that pierce through the insulation
of and make electrical connection with conductors 40 positioned
within troughs 16 that respectively communicate with the slots.
Referring now to FIGS. 4,5, and 6, each conductor
40 is doubled over within its associated trough 16, and both
ends of each conductor are terminated with a wire spring
contact 42.

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The contacts 42 at one end of the conductors 40 are
mounted in a first contact carrier 50A, while the contacts
at the other end of the conductors are mounted in a second
contact carrier 50B. In addition, as shown in FIG. 6, two
conductors 45, which are also terminated at both ends with
wire spring contacts 42, extend directly between the
contact carriers 50A and 50B.
The contact carriers 50A and 50B are identical as seen
most clearly in FIG. 4. Each contact carrier 50A and 50B
is accommodated within the female member 20 in an
internally communicating opening 22 whereby the contacts
42 are exposed within an externally communicating opening
24 in the female member. The internally communicating
openings 22 and thereby the externally communicating
openings 24 are side-by-side one another, and the
externally communicating openings are adapted to
accommodate plugs having contacts arranged so as to engage
the contacts 42. The contacts of the plugs are thereby
electrically connected to the blade contacts 30 in the
plug portion 12 and to the contacts 42 of the other
contact carrier 50.
Referring again to FIG. 1, the plug portion 12
includes a latch 18 that serves to secure the plug portion
and thereby the adapter to a complementary jack. A
snap-in plunger 60 slidably mounted to the exterior of the
housing portion 14
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extends above the housing portion and is actuated to
depress the latch 18 to release the plug portion from the
associated jack.
Although a specific embodiment of the invention
has been shown and described, it will be understood that
it is but illustrative and that various modifications may
be made herein without departing from the scope and
spirit of this invention as defined in the appended claims.