Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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MODULAR CABL~ INTERCONNECTION ~PPARATUS
Technical Field
This invention relates to mounting arrangements
for communication wiring apparatus and more particular to
a cable connection arrangement having modular
interconnection units for in-terconnecting communica~ion
cables.
Background of the Invention
Typically communication systems utilize building
or premises wiring distribution arrangements to
interconnect terminals, station se-ts and central office
(CO) lines to the system controller unit. These premises
wiring distribution arrangements are either installed when
the building is constructed or later when the
communication system is added to the building. Often a
company or building tenant may decide to change
communication systems or to add a new communication
capability or service requiring a change to the premises
wiring distribution arrangement. When this occurs the
result is often a "rats nest" of different wires and
connectors which is disorganized, unprotected and occupies
too much space. Moreover, the nest grows each time a
change is made to the system. What is desired is
apparatus which provides an easily changeable organized
cable (wires, fiber op~ics, etc.) interconnection
arrangement.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention
there is provided a cable connection arrangement for
- interconnecting communication cables comprising a group of
modular interconnection units, each unit adapted -to
terminate a cable at each end of a first side thereof
using any one of a variety of cable terminating means,
each unit having the same end-to-end length, each unit
having a different width which is equal to an integer
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multiple of the width of the narrowest unit in said group,
and each unit adapted to be mounted by the ends of said
first side below said cable termination means; and
mounting arrangement adapted for mounting one or more of
said units each having the same or different widths, said
mounting means including a plurality of retaining means
arranged in two rows spaced apart by the length of said
units and adjacent retaining means in each row having a
spacing substantially equal to the width of the narrowest
unit, each of said one or more of said units being held at
each respective end of said first side between two
retaining means on each row such that the cable
termination means of said unit are located above a
mounting plane formed by the two rows of the retaining
means.
In accordance with another aspect of the
invention there is provided a group of rectangularly
shaped modular interconnection units, each unit comprising
means for terminating a cable at a first and second ends
of a top said of said unit using any one of a variety of
cable terminating means, means located at said Eirst and
second ends below said cable termination means on a bottom
side of said unit for mounting said unit in a snap
mounting arrangement using the corners formed by the
bottom side and said first and second ends of said unit
such that when the unit is mounted the cable termination
means of said unit are located above said mounting
arrangement, and wherein each of said units has the same
length and each unit has a different width which is equal
to an integer multiple of the width oE the narrowest unit
in said group.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the
invention there is provided a rectangularly shaped
interconnection unit comprising means for terminating a
cable at a first and a second end of a top side of said
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unit using any one of a variety of cable terminating
means, means loca~ed at said first and second ends below
said cable termination means on a bottom side of said unit
for mounting said unit in a snap mounting arrangement
using the corners formed by the bottom sides and said
first and second ends of said unit such that when the unit
is mounted the cable termination means of said unit are
located above a plane formed by the snap mounting
arrangment.
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One embodiment o the cable connection unit
includes a modular housing enclosure (apparatus enclosure)
for connecting the mounting arrangement therein. This
modular housing enclosure may include mechanical
interconnection apparatus thereon to enable connection to
one or more additional housing enclosures.
The operation of the present invention will be
more fully appreciated from the detailed description which
references the drawings in which:
FIG~ 1 illustrates one embodiment of a cable
connection unit according to the present invention;
FIG~ 2 illustrates the apparatus mounting
arrangement used for mounting the modular interconnection
unit;
FIG~ 3 shows the details of the apparatus on the
mounting arrangement used to mount a modular
interconnecting unit;
FIGo 4 shows a typical interconnection of several
. ~
types of cables and connectors using the present invention;
FIG~ 5 shows a modular housing enclosure having
~; apparatus thereon to enable mechanical connection to one or
more additional housing enclosures; and
FIGs~ 6-13 show a variety o interconnecting
units and associated apparatus (FIGs~ 91 13) in accordance
with the present invention.
Shown in FIG~ 1 is one embodiment of the present
invention. Apparatus enclosure 10 includes two moveable
~i 30 doors 11, 12 for gaining access to the jack field or
apparatus mounting arrangement 105 and cable ways (106,
107) of the enclosure. The doors are held closed using
posts 110 which engage clips 111 on apparatus enclosure 10.
In one embodiment the doors can be marked to
indicate to the user the type of terminations the
apparatus enclosure houses (e.gO, line, port, station,
etc.). Additionally, since apparatus enclosure 10 is
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.
divided into two halves, one half may house the permanent
building wiring and the other half the connection to a
user administered communication system. Thus, the building
wiring section may include a door (12) without a handle
which makes it inaccessible to unfamiliar users, while the
other door (11) is accessible to all using handle 13. This
arrangement provides a security against unwarranted access
to the enclosure. Cable entry and exit openings 101-104
provide cable access to apparatus enclosure 10 and jack
field 105. Thus, cables from a communication system
controller can connect via jack field 105 to the building
wiring cables which connects to station equipment and/or
central office lines. Apparatus enclosure 10 may also
provide additional cable ways 116 and 117 for which enable
cables to pass between apparatus enclosure 10 and the
surface to which it is mounted.
- Apparatus enclosure 10 is designed to house an
apparatus mounting arrangement to hold a variety of modular
interconnection apparatus or units (e.g., 112) including
cut down (or insulation displacement~ connecting blocks
(FIG. 6), modular jacks (FIGs. 6, 7, 8 and 10) and 25-pair
cable connectors (FIGs. 11 and 12). These modular
interconnection units all have a common width which enable
them to fit into clips (e.g., 114) in the apparatus
mounting arrangement or 105 of the apparatus enclosure.
Therefore, any building wiring run that terminates in cut
down or insulation displacement connecting blocks, modular
jacks, or 25-pair cable connectors can be terminated in
jack field 105. The apparatus mounting arrangement may
- 30 accommodate other connection arrangements providing they
are designed to fit into the clips 114 of the apparatus
mounting arrangement.
As will be discussed in detail later, all of the
interconnec-tion units have the same length 108 as the jack
field 105 and the width is a multiple of the width 109 of
the smallest unit. The spacing of clips 114 is the same
dimension as 109 to facilitate the mounting of any of the
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variety oE interconnection units. Obviously, these
dimensions and those of the apparatus enclosure may be
adjusted to meet the particular requirements of the
application. Moreover, the apparatus enclosure can also
house transmission electronics which could fit into the
apparatus mounting arrangement or jack field location.
Additionally, the apparatus mounting arrangement 105 can be
removed and circuit boards can be directly screwed or
snapped into the apparatus enclosure 10. Obviously
apparatus enclosure 10 can be si~ed to accommodate larger
or smaller numbers of interconnecting units.
FIG. 2 illustrates apparatus mounting arrangement
105 according to the present invention for mounting one or
more modular interconnection units. Mounting arrangement
105 also includes connecting means (i.e., four retaining
clips 201) which enables the arrangement to be mounted to
mounting connecting means (i.e., the four holes 202)
located on mounting plate 203 or housing enclosure 10 of
FIG. 1.
The retaining clips (e.g., 114a, 114b) and the
~; pedestals (e.g., 115a, 115b) are designed to securely hold
the modular interconnecting units. A separator tab ~e.g.,
204) on each retaining clip insures that a mounted
interconnecting unit is correctly positioned in the
direction 205 between the retaining clips. Each pedestal
also has a vertical post section (e.g., 206) which insures
that a mounted interconnecting unit is firmly supported in
the direction 207 to absorb the stress when cables are
mounted thereto.
FIG. 3 illustrates a view looking from one end of
the mounting arrangement and shows the retainer clips 114a
and 114b used to hold the variety of modular
interconnection units. FIG. 1 illustrates how an
interconnection unit such as 112 is mounted into apparatus
enclosure 10 by moving it in the direction 113. As will be
described in a later paragraph, 301 and 302 of the modular
interconnection unit 112 may be any one of a variety of
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cable termination means (e.g., modular jacks or insulation
displacement connectors) mounted to and electrically
interconnected by a printed wiring board 303. When such an
interconnecting unit is moved in the direction 113 the
bottom edges 304 and 305 of the ends of printed wirin~
board 303 come into contact, respectively, with the sloping
surfaces 306 and 307 of clips 114a and 114b. These edges
cause the clips 114a and 114b to deflect outward and enable
the printed wiring board 303 to finally reach the top
surface of pedestals 115a and 115b whereupon edges 311 and
312, respectively, of 114a and 114b snap-over to hold
printed circuit board 303. The pedestals 115a and 115b are
shown with the vertical post sections 206a and 206b in
dotted lines since they are hidden by retaining clips 115a
and 115b, respectively. Note how the printed circuit board
; 105 is positioned between clip 114a, pedestal 115a and clip
114b, pedestal 115b.
~;~ Removal is effected by pushing the printed
~ wiring board to the left or right thereby deflecting the
; 20 clips 114a and 114b outward so the opposite end will clear
its clips. Once interconnection unit 112 is in place,
cables having mating connectors can be connected to jacks
301 and 302. Obviously, other mounting arrangements can be
utilized to mount the interconnecting units 112 to
apparatus enclosure 10 without deviating from the present
invention. For example, a one piece interconnecting unit
as shown in FIG. ~ can be built with a moulded housing
which encapsulates the electrically connected connectors
201 and 202.
FIG. 4 shows an illustrative example of apparatus
enclosure 10 having a modular jack 401 (FIG. 6), a cut down
or insulation displacement 402 (FIG. 5) and multiple
modular 403 (FIG. 9) type interconnecting units for
connecting, respectively, a 4-pair cable terminated in a
modular plug 405, 4-pair cable without a connector to a
four pair cable 406 and four 1-pair cables 407 to a four
pair cable. Cables 404 enter the apparatus enclosure via
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opening 103 and occupy cable way or trough 106. Similarly,
cables 405 and 406 enter via opening 104 while cable 407
enters via opening 102 and both occup~ cable trough 107.
FIG. 5 illustrates the tenon 501 and mortise 502
which exists on the top, bottom and sides of mounting
apparatus 10 which enables multiple apparatus enclosures
to be adjacently mounted together in a vertical or
horizontal manner as shown. Using this modular apparatus
enclosure 10, a compact, user accessible interconnection
may be provided between the wiring of larger communication
system and the associated building wiring. FIG. 5 also
shows apparatus enclosure 10 with its doors 11 and 12
closed. As noted handle 13 enables the user to open door
11 for access only to the left side of apparatus enclosure
10.
FIGs. 6 through 13 show various interconnecting
or adapter units. FIG. 6 shows one type of interconnecting
unit having a standard 4-pair modular station jack 601 and
standard cut down or insulation displacement connecting
block 602 mounted to and interconnected via printed wiring
board 603. As previously noted, one type of
~- lnterconnecting unit may have an insulation displacement
connecting block 602 at both ends.
~` As shown, the terminals of jack 601 and block 602
provide the means Eor mounting these pieces to printed
wiring board 603 and for making connection to the printed
circuit paths thereon. The dimensions 604 and 605
correspond, respectively, to the mounting dimensions 109
and 108 of FIGo 1~
FIG. 7 shows a second type of interconnecting
unit, including station jacks 701 and 702 connected to
printed wiring board 703.
FIG. 8 shows a one piece moulded housing
interconnecting unit having connecting jacks at each end
mou]ded therein along with the associated interconnecting
wires. A moulded foot 801 has the same dimensions ~i.e.,
108 and 109) and having the same thickness as the printed
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circuit board (e.g., 303 or 703). This foot is used to
enable the mounting of the interconnecting unit between the
retaining clips (114a, 114b) and pedestals (115a, 115b).
Any type of plastic material can be used ~or this one
5 piece moulded housing.
In circumstances where only a single
interconnecting unit of the type of FIG. 6 or FIG. 7 is
needed it may be housed as shown by FIG. 9. FIG. 9 shows a
housing comprising cover 901 which snaps o~7er base 902
10 which may be permanently attached to the building structure
using a suitable ~astener (e.g., double sided tape).
- FIG. 10 shows an interconnecting unit including a
4-pair modular station jack 1001 connected to four 1-pair
standard modular station jacks 1002-1005. Note the
15 dimension 1006 corresponds to dimension 108 of FIG. 1 while
dimension 1007 is an integer number times the dimension 109
of FIG. 1. When mounted this interconnecting unit would
occupy multiple mounting locations as shown by 303 of
FIG. 3. Note, the printed circuit board 1006 is notched
20 on the connector sides to enable the unit to be mounted
without interference from the separator tabs (204 of
FIG. 2) of the interior retaining clips. Thus, only the
retaining clips located at the corners of the printed
circuit board 10()6 hold the unit to the mounting
25 arrangement 105.
FIG. 11 shows an interconnecting unit including
six 4-pair modular jacks 1101-1106 connected to a standard
25-pair connector 1107. Dimension 1109 would correspond to
dimension 108 of FIG. l and dimension 1108 would be an
30 integer multiple of the dimension 109 of FIG. 1.
Shown in FIG. 12 is another interconnecting unit
including eight/ dual 1-pair modular line jacks 1201-1208
connected to a standard 25-pair connector 1209. Again
dimension 1210 would correspond -to dimension 108 of FIG. 1
35 and dimension 1211 would correspond to an integer multiple
of the dimension 109 of FIG. 1.
Shown in FIG. 13 is an interconnecting unit 1301
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similar to FIG. 6 or FIG. 7 except that it includes clip
means 1302 for mounting the unit into a simplex plate 1303
for mounting into a standard simplex wall outlet 1304 with
screws 1305. The clip means 1302 and the lip or equivalent
on the interconnecting unit face used to mount the unit can
be implemented in a variety of well known ways.
Additionally, plate 1303 can be embodied to work with any
type of electrical box: floor, duct and duplex.
The above interconnecting units can convert any
number of pair connector and/or cable from and to any other
number of pair connector and/or cable. Using the above
described interconnecting units as a reference, it is
obvious that the techni~ues utilized can be extended to
provide interconnection to almost any type of existing
connector and cable to any other, and probably to any
similarly constructed new connector or cable. It is
contemplated that circuitry may be utilized as part of the
interconnecting units which may enable protocol conversion,
multiplexing, optical to electrical conversion, coax
eliminator, etc.
Thus, what has been disclosed is merely
illustrative of the invention. Other arrangements and
methods can be implemented by those skilled in the art
without departing from the spirit scope of the present
~; 25 invention.
