Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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DISTRIBUTION FR~MES AND ELECTRICAL CONNECTORS
This inven~ion relates to dis~ribution frames.
In a telecommunications system, an incoming cable
to a customer's premises is connected to a distribution cable
for distribution of the electrical wiring to access points
and terminals within the premises. The distribution cable
may itself be connected to a further cable or to in-series or
in-parallel cables, to assist in the wiring distribution. At
each connection location between cables, it is now common
practice to use a wiring distribution frame which detachably
carries connectors for electrically connecting the conductor
wires of one cable with those of another or others. These
connectors are normally of a construction referred to as
"cross-connect connectors" in that each connector comprises a
dielectric body with two spaced rows of electrical terminals
held by the body. The terminals of one row are inter-
conne~ted electrically and in desired fashion with those of
the other row through the dielectric body.
According to normal practice, at each distribution
frame, an incoming cable is brought into an input location of
the frame and its conductor wires are distributed as required
to the various positions for mounting the cross-connect
connectors. Eaah connector is then connected to its
associated wires of the incoming cable with the connector
mounted in the frame. ~'he wires of the incoming cable are
connected with the connector mounted in a position reversed
from its operational position to allow these wires to be
joined to terminals along one row. The connector is then
remo~ed and reinserted in its correct operational position to
allow conductor wires of an outgoing cable to be connected to
terminals of the other row. The whole of the connection
procedure is manual and is an arduous and lengthy process
particularly as there may be as many as twenty-five terminals
along each row of a connector and some distribution frames
hold ten or more connectors. After the connection procedure,
the completed circuitry ~s tested to ensure that electrical
current passes from the ingoing cable to the desired wire of
the outgoing ca~le. This test procedure involves forming
electrical test circuits through the wiring and terminals at
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the connectors and also along at least one incoming or
outgoing cable which forms part of the final circuit.
The present invention enables the assembly process
to be simplified while ensuring that a desired electrical
pathway wi~l be achieved. It also enables the test procedure
to be simplified.
~ ccording to one aspect of the present invention, a
distribution frame is provided comprisinq:- a substantially
planar main frame structure having a front; a plurality of
pairs of mounting means carried by one region of the
structure, the mounting means extending forwardly of the
structure and each pair comprising two spaced latches for
holding between them a cross-connect connector in a position
forwardly of the main frame structure; another region of the
structure formed with mounting apertures for securing
multiple contact connectors to the structure with the
multiple contact connectors facing forwardly of the structure
for attachment to them of mating connectors at the front of
the structure, the mounting apertures lying spaced apart
side-by-side in a row; and a holding bar for the mating
connectors, the holding bar ha~ing a connector holding
portion located across the front of the frame structure and
two end arms extending at an angle to the holding portion,
the holding bar pi~otally mounted to the frame structure by
pivotal reception of the end arms into the frame structure so
as to move the connector holding portion into and out of a
mating connector holding position directly in front of and
spaced from the apertures.
With the use of the above frame arrangement,
electrical wiring is connected from one row of terminals of a
cross-connect connector to a multiple contact connector.
Hence, a test procedure may be followed which excludes
incoming and outgoing cables. In this ~rocedure, with
conductor wires extending from one row of terminals of the
cross-connect connector to the multiple contact connector,
test equipment is connected at one side directly to the other
row of terminals of the cross-connect connector. At its
other side, the test equipment is electrically connected to a
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mating connector for the multiple contact connector, the two
connectors then being assembled.
In one convenient arrangement with a single frame,
a plurali~y of the mounting means are preferably provided for
holding a plurality of cross-connect connectors in parallel
relationship with the mounting means for different connectors
spaced apart in a direction from end-to-end of the frame
arrangement. The attachment region in this arrangement is
disposed towards one end of the frame and separated from the
other end by the mounting means. In a specific construction,
the locations for the cross-connect connectors are disposed
in tiered fashion one above another.
Also, the holding bar provides a single means for
holding mating connectors in position and operates to hold or
release the mating connectors simultaneously thereby provid-
ing a convenient arrangement according to the invention.
The invention also includes a distribution frame
assembly comprising:- a substantially planar main frame
structure having a front; a plurality of pairs of mounting
means carried by one region of the structure, the mounting
means extending forwardly of the structure and each pair
comprising two spaced mounting latches; a plurality of cross-
connect connectors held by the pairs of mounting latches, one
cross-connect connector between the mounting latches of each
pair with each axoss-connect connector held spaced ~orwardly
from the front o~ the main frame structure and having two
rows of insulation displacement terminals with one row facing
rearwardly and the other row ~acing forwardly of the con-
necto~; a plurality of multiple contact connectors mounted
side-by-side in a row through apertures in another region of
the main frame structure, the multiple contact connectors
facing forwardly of the structure for attachment to them of
mating connectors at the front of the structure, the multiple
contact connectors interconnected to the rearwardly facing
rows of insulation displacement terminals of the cross-
connect connector by insulated electrical conductors extend-
ing from the rear of the multiple contact connectors; and a
holding bar for retaining the mating connectors connected to
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the multiple contact connectors, the holding bar having a
connector holdi~g portion located across the front of the
frame structure and two end arms extending at an angle to the
holding portion, the holding bar pivotally mounted to the
frame structure by pivotal reception of the end arms into the
frame structure so as to move the connector holding portion
into and out of a mating connector holding position in which
the holding portion is disposed across the front of the frame
structure and spaced from the multiple contact connectors so
as to engage and hold the mating connectors in position when
the mating connectors are electrically connected to the
multiple contact connectors.
Embodiments of the invention will now be described,
by way of example, with reference to the accompanying
drawings, in which:-
Figure l is a plan view of a prior art cross-
connect connector;
Figure 2 is an isometric view of a distribution
frame and wiring assembly according to the prior art;
Figure 3 is an isometric view, on a larger scale,
of part of the assembly of Figure 2 to show wiring to a
cross-connect aonnector;
Figure 4 is an isometric view in the opposite
direction from Figure 3 and showing one priox art mounting
means of a distribution frame;
Figure 5 is an isometric view of a cross-connect
connector and electrical conductor wiring assembly according
to a first embodiment;
Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 2 of a
distribution frame and wiring assembly according to a second
embodiment;
Figure 7 is a front view on the assembly of Figure
6 showing diagrammatically the positions of conductor wire
bundles extending through the frame;
Figure 8 is an isometric view of part of the
assembly of Figure 6 and on a larger scale; and
Figure 9 is a diagrammatic view of a third embodi-
ment.
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As shown in Figure 1, a cross-connect connector 10
comprises a substantially planar cross-connect connector 12
of dielectric material having along each edge a row of
terminals 14a and 14b. In this known connector structure,
each of the terminals comprises two opposed electrically
conductive portions (not shown) arranged on either side of a
molded groove 15 in an edge of the strip 12. These conductor
portions act to cut into insulating material surrounding a
conductor wire when the conductor wire is forced into the
groove so that the conductor portions electrically contact
the conductor wire. Such terminals are normally referred to
as insulation displacement terminals. This cross-connect
connector structure is used for the distribution of elec-
trical wiring to access points and terminals within a
customer's premises. In this structure, one row of terminals
e.g. terminals 14a, are connected to conductor wires of one
cable or group of cables and the other row of terminals, e.g.
terminals 14b, are connected to another cable or group.
The cross-connect connector 10 shown in Figure 1 is
normally used in a prior art distributor frame arrangement
and wiring assembly, an example of which is shown in Figure
2. A distributor frame and wiring assembly for instance as
shown in Figure 2, comprises a distributor frame 16 having a
plurality o~ mounting means 17 for detachably holding a
plurality of cross-connect connectors 10 in predetermined
locakions. The distributor frame 16 is typical in having ten
mounting means 17 each of which comprisas a pair of hori-
zontally spaced latching devices 18 integrally carried by a
vertical carrier 20. A latch 18 of each device is resilient-
ly held by the carrier as shown by Figures 3 and ~. Thelatches in an unstrained condition project forwardly and
parallel and are spaced horizontally apart a distance
sufficient to enable the associated cross-connect connector
10 to be located horizontally with its ends within slots in
the latches and engaging stops 22 outside the slots. The
latches are resiliently moved apart to allow a connector 10
to be located between them. Cross-connect connectcrs
therefore normally extend horizontally in a tiered fashion,
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891~V
i.e. one connector above another~ In the finished assembly
of the distributor frame and wiring according to the prior
art, an incoming cable 24 has its insulated conductor wires
26 separated into groups and these groups are passed to the
cross-connect connectors, one group to each connector. It
may be seen from Figure 3, each group 28 of insulated
conductor wires passes beneath the associated cross-connect
connector with the ends 30 of the conductor wires extending
in succession away from the group to be held within the
terminals of the row which lies at the back edge o~ the
connector, e.g. row 14a. Other conductor wires 32 (Figure 3)
are connected to the terminals of the forward row 14b of the
connector in the frame and these conductor wires 32 which may
be separate or form part of an outgoing cable 34, extend to
Eurther equipment and/or terminal apparatus such as a
telephone or a data processor.
Thus the conductor wires and their cables 24 and 34
are permanently attached to the connectors in the distribu-
tion frame. For the conductor wires to be connected to their
respective terminals of the connectors 10 it is necessary for
each connector to be already mounted in the distribution
frame. This is effected in known manner, by locating the
connectors initially in a reversed position from their normal
operating position and then in their normal operating
position to enable the conductor wire ends to be inserted
into the terminals along each row in turn. For instance, i~
it is considered that in Figure 3 terminal ends 30 are
connected to the terminals 14a which lie towards the rear of
each connector in its operating position, then initially the
connector is located in its mounting with the row 14a of
terminals facing forwardly. This enables the conductor wire
ends 30 to be inserted in the terminals 14a with each group
of wires extending across the top surface of the connector.
The connector is then removed and turned about a longitudinal
axis so that its row of terminals 14a faces towards the rear
of the distribution frame as shown in Figure 3 in which
position the group of wires 28 lie beneath the connector.
This movement then exposes the row 14b of terminals to the
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forward facing position as shown in Figure 3 to enable the
conductor wires 32 to be located within this row. Thus a
lengthy assembly procedure of wire connectors and distribu-
tion frames i5 necessary and, because of the possible
location of the incoming or outgoing cables and the location
of the distribution frame, the making of the assembly may
render the operation difficult for the assembler. In
addition to this, when the assembly has been completed as
shown in Figure 2, then it is necessary to perform a test to
discover whether all of the conductor wire ends are con-
ductively connected to their respective terminals. This test
procedure will certainly involve the inclusion of the
incoming cable 24 into the test circuitry and possibly also
each outgoing wire or cable. This increases difficulties
associated with the test procedure in that the test apparatus
needs to be connected to terminals at the other ends of the
cables which may be a considerable distance from the dis-
tribution frame.
With the invention, however, the above disad-
vantages are avoided or minimized.
In a first embodiment, as shown in Figure 5, apre~ormed conneator and alectrical conductor wiring assembly
36 is shown. I'he assembly comprises a cross-connect con-
nector 10 of the structure shown in Figure 1. The connector
10 has a group 38 of insulated electrical conductor wires
connected by their ends 40 to terminals of the row 14a with
the group 38 passing along the uppermost surface of the
connector. The other ends 42 of the conductor wires are
electrically connected to a multiple contact connector 44O
As shown, the multiple contact colmector is commonly referred
to as a "ribbon connector". The above assembly 36 is
constructed separately from its assembly into a distribution
frame and may be built in a convenient location either
manually or by machinery.
A plurality of assemblies 36 are mounted into a
distribution frame 46 as shown in Figures 6 and 7 to form a
frame and wiring assembly according to a second embodiment.
The frame 46 is basically of ~he same construction as prior
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art frame 16 shown in Figures 2 and 3 and has the same design
of mounting means for the connectors with the connectors in
the same relative tiered positions. The frame 46 differs
however from the prior art frame 16 in that it also has a
region 48 spaced ~rom the locations for the cross-connect
connectors 10, the region 48 being provided for attachment of
the ribbon connectors 44 of the assemblies 36. This region
48 is provided by a panel 50 which is attached to the top of
the distributor frame, i.e. above the tiered mountings for
the connectors lO.
The cross-connect connectors 10 of the assemblies
36 are mounted in their respective positions in the frame 46
with the row 14a of terminals facing towards the back of the
frame so that the group 38 of conductor wires in each case
underlies the associated connector 10 in a similar manner to
the prior art construction shown in Figure 3. Each of the
groups of conductor wires 38 then passes upwardly behind the
conductors (as shown diagrammatically in Figure 7) to the
rear of the panel 50 so that the associated ribbon connectors
44 are enabled to pass through holes in the panel and are
attached by attachment screws 52 to the panel in their
respective side-by-side positions as shown in Figures 6 and
7. This assembly procedure, i.e. by providing preformed
assemblies 36 and then attaching these assemblies into the
distribution frame to form the completed frame and wiring
assembly, avoids the necessity of having to connect one side
of the connectors 10 to the incoming wires in the presence of
the distribution frame. Hence, the assemblies 36 may be made
in a more convenient location either manually or by machinery
means. In fact the assemblies 36 may be made whenever
convenient and may be stored for future assembly into
distribution frames. As this is the case, it will be
realized that the assembly of the assemblies 36 onto the
frame 46 is much simpler than has previously been the case
with prior art assembly arrangements.
The use of assemblies 36 also simplifies and eases
the attachment of incoming and outgoing cables to the
distribution frame. For instance as shown in Figure 6, the
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incoming cable 54 has its conductor wires formed into
appropriate ~iring groups 56 which are electrically ~ttached
to the mating connectors 58 for the ribbon connectors 44. As
can be seen, the attachment of the mating connectors 58 to
the cable 54 may be made simpler and easier by attaching the
connectors 58 with a cable hanging in a position easily
accessible to an assembler. The cable may then be located in
its final position for the connsctors 58 to be electrically
mounted intu the ribbon connectors 44 to give the finished
construction shown in Figure 6. Thus the dif~iculty in
providing ths conductor wiring groups in the appropriate
lengths to reach down to the associated cross-connect
connec~ors 10 in the distributor frame is avoided, together
with the difficulty in passing these ~roups from the already
mounted cable down the back of the distributor frame and
connecting them to their appropriate connectors 10.
Further, the panel 50 is provided with a single
means for holding the mating connectors assembled to the
ribbon connectors and which operates with all of the mating
connectors so as to avoid inconvenient-to-operate holding
means normally used on each mating connector. This holding
means comprises a holding bar 57 which has a cenkral hori-
zontal ssction 61 and two mutually parallel end arms 59. As
shown in Figure 8, end~ 63 of the arms turn inwards and are
pivotally mounted throu~h apertures in sides of the panel 50
so that the arms extend forwardly of their pivotal positions
to locate the horizontal section 61 across the front of the
panel. The bar 57 is pivotal from a lower or release
position of section 61 as shown in chain-dotted line in
Figure 8 to an upper full outline position in which section
61 engages across all of the mating connectors 58 to hold
them assembled to the ribbon connectors 44. The arms are
crooked to ensure the horizontal section 61 is disposed
higher than the pivotal position when the section 61 moves
inwards towards the connector parts 58 so as to engage them.
The holding means also includes abutment means to normally
hold the bar with the section 61 in the holding position.
This abutment means comprises an inwardly facing abutment 65
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in each side of panel 50 to en~age beneath an arm and prevent
its downward movement. Each abutment 65 is formed as a
pressing in its side of the panel, this pressing also
producing a convex surface 67 extending upwardly and inclined
outwardly from the panel side to the abutment. The arms 59
are resiliently movable in a direction away from each other.
In movin~ the bar from its lower position to its holding
position, the arms engage the convex surfaces 67 and are
progressively flexed apart until they move beyond these
surfaces. The arms then return resiliently inwards towards
the panel sides to be supported by the abutments. To release
the bar and return it to its lower position, the arms are
manually flexed apart to enable them to move over the
surfaces 67.
With the use of panel 50, it is a simple matter to
visually associate each of the ribbon connectors with its
appropriate cross-connect connector. This is easily done by
locating colored markers or numbered markers 82, for in-
stance, beneath each of the ribbon connectors. A similarly
colored panel or numbered panel 84 is placed horizontally
above or below the appropriate cross-connect connector as
shown in Figure 6.
In addikion to the above advantages, the present
invention provides a further advantage. This advantage
concerns testing of the finished assembly. Testing to
indicate whether each conductor wire is connected properly
into its terminal may proceed without passing a current
through the conductor cable 54. In other words, hefore the
mating connectors 58 are connected ~o the ribbon connectors
44, a test apparatus (not shown) is easily connected through
the circuitry provided on the panel by providing one end of
the test equipment with a mating connector 58 and inserting
it in succession into each of the ribbon connectors 44, and
having another part of the test apparatus with connections
for inserting into each of the terminals 14b of the con-
nectors 10. Thus the test circuit is created in each case
from the test equipment, khrou~h the appropriate ribbon
connector 44, along the wires of each wiring group 38, and
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through each cross-connect connector 10 and back into the
test equipment.
Assemblies 36 may be used in various ways and their
use is not limited to connection with the incoming cable.
For instance, as shown diagrammatically for a thir~ embo~i-
ment in Fig~lre 9, distribution frame 60 (shown in chain-
dotted outline) is of the basic construction of frame 46 with
a panel 62 at the top of the frame for location of ribbon
connectors. Below this are disposed locations 64 for the
cross-connect connectors 10. In the figure, only sufficient
of the cross-connect connectors 10 are shown to enable this
alternative arrangement to be indicated. In this embodiment,
an incoming cable 66 has all of its conductors connected to a
mating connector of a ribbon connector 58. The ribbon
connector forms part of an assembly 36 which includes the
lowest cross-connect connector 10 and associated wires 38.
The group of wires 38 Erom this assembly are connected to the
rearward facing row of terminals of the connector 10 at the
lower end o~ the frame 60. The forward facing row of
terminals are connected as shown to the forward facing
terminals of another ~onnector lOa above the connector 10.
The connector lOa and other connectors such as lOb, are in a
private branch exchange field and are connected to the
private branch e~change switch 69. In each case, the
connector lOa or lOb forms part of an assembly 36 (see Figure
5) with its group of wires 38 connected to a ribbon connector
68 which is also carried in the panel 62 of the frame. Each
of these connectors 68 is in turn connected by a cable 70 to
the switch 69.
The connector 10 is thereby connected through the
connector lOa with the switch 69 and the or each of the
connectors lOb i~ connected by its forwardly facing row of
elements with a connector lOc mounted in a further distribu-
tion frame or frames 72. Each connector lOb has its forward-
ly facing row of elements joined by a group of conductor
wires 7~ with a mating connector of at least one ribbon
connector 76 which is carried by the distributor frame 72.
It is therefore possible for each of the connectors lOb to be
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pre-assembled with its groups of conductor wires 38 and 74
and an appropriate ribbon connector at the other end of each
wire group. In each case, a cross-connect connector lOc
forms an assembly 36 together with its group of wires 38 to
the appropriate ribbon connector 76. Forwardly facing rows
of elements of the connectors lOc are in turn connected to
user terminals, such as a telephone 78 and a screen terminal
80, or other appropriate equipment.
It can be seen therefore that with the use of the
present invention, the assembly of cross-connect connectors,
wires and cables into distributor frames simplifies the
interconnection of cables with distribution frames and one
distribution frame to another and also to further equipment.
This also provides convenience for manufacture espeaially in
a situation where a great deal of the assembly can be pre-
formed, such as the cross-connect connectors with wires and
ribbon connectors.
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