Communication Connector

Abstract

To provide a termination connection design that is not only quickly and easily termination- connected by an installer without complex and expensive tools, but also can be adapted to a small form factor that is simple and inexpensive to manufacture.SOLUTION: A communication connector has an outer housing with an opening, a shielding wrap at least partially enclosing the outer housing, and a contact carrier assembly configured to be interested into the opening of the outer housing. The contact carrier assembly at least partially encloses at least two contacts each with an insulation displacement contact (IDC). The contact carrier assembly also has an integrated wire cap that utilizes a hinge feature to press cable conductors of a cable into their respective IDCs.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 8

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 727,189, filed September 5, 2019, the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

[0002] The present invention is a means of terminating a single pair Ethernet cable to a connector that not only establishes electrical continuity but also provides strain relief for the cable. The present invention also incorporates shielding features to improve the electrical performance of the connector. [Background technology]

[0003] Copper connectors are becoming increasingly compact in an attempt to achieve a higher density of data channels in a given area, as well as for use in applications that require transmitting data to remote devices such as security cameras and thermostat devices. These compact connectors are generally required to be field installable on cables using simple hand tools. Typically, for Ethernet data connections, a four-pair cable solution would be deployed using RJ45 jacks as the interconnect. However, for low bandwidth applications such as, but not limited to, security cameras and other smart building devices, the full bandwidth of Cat 6a is not required. In this case, a single twisted pair cabling solution can be deployed, which saves on material costs and also reduces the amount of space used by the structured cabling system. With recent advances in Ethernet bandwidth using copper media, the data throughput will be sufficient for most smart devices. Field-terminable designs provide an advantage by allowing installers to build custom cabling structures and using only the amount of cable required for the end user's application. This customization eliminates the need for additional cabling management techniques, thereby saving time and resources for field technicians deploying structured cabling systems.

[0004] Industrial and building automation applications have long used single-pair cabling systems to provide power and very low bandwidth data transmission. A typical deployment of this cable would be terminated to a screw terminal block. The single-pair connector proposed in this document provides a standardized way to deploy low-cost data and power delivery systems to achieve the same requirements used today and supported by the IEEE 802.3cg standard. The single twisted pair copper solution leverages industry knowledge of Ethernet data transmission and POE (Power over Ethernet) to achieve a highly reliable and robust solution. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] JP 2006-228735 A [Patent Document 2] Special Publication No. 2013-543646 [Patent Document 3] US Patent No. 02673968 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] What is needed is a termination design that can be fitted into a small form factor that is not only quickly and easily terminated by an installer without complex and expensive tools, but is also simple and inexpensive to manufacture. The design needs to accommodate both shielded and unshielded cables of various gauges. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The communication connector has an outer housing having an opening, a shield wrap at least partially encapsulating the outer housing, and a contact carrier assembly configured to engage the opening in the outer housing. The contact carrier assembly at least partially encapsulates at least two contacts, each having an insulation displacement contact (IDC). The contact carrier assembly also has an integral wire cap that utilizes a hinge mechanism to press cable conductors of a cable into their respective IDCs. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] An isometric view of two single pair Ethernet connectors joined with a coupler. [Diagram 2] Showing an isometric view of a single pair ethernet connector. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is an exploded isometric view of the single pair Ethernet connector of FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 3 is an isometric view of the single pair Ethernet connector of FIG. 2 without the cable. [Diagram 5] 3 is an isometric view of a shield wrap of a single pair Ethernet connector according to claim 2. [Figure 6] 3 is an isometric view of a contact carrier assembly of the single pair Ethernet connector of FIG. 2. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a side view of the contact carrier assembly of FIG. 6. [Figure 8] 3 is an isometric view of the single pair Ethernet connector of FIG. 2 showing the termination of a cable to the contact carrier assembly. [Figure 9] 3 is an isometric view of the single pair Ethernet connector of FIG. 2 showing insertion of the contact carrier assembly with the cable terminated thereto into an outer housing. [Figure 10] 3 is a side bottom view of the single pair Ethernet connector of claim 2 highlighting how a latch locks the contact carrier assembly into the outer housing. [Figure 11]FIG. 13 is an exploded isometric view of a single pair Ethernet connector with an alternative contact carrier assembly having an added notch feature for strain relief. [Figure 12] FIG. 2 is an exploded isometric view of a first alternative embodiment of a single pair Ethernet connector. [Figure 13] FIG. 13 is an isometric view of the single pair Ethernet connector of FIG. 12 highlighting how the cable is inserted into the wire cap. [Figure 14] 13 is an isometric view of the single pair Ethernet connector of FIG. 12 showing insertion of the wire cap into the outer housing and contact retainer. [Figure 15] FIG. 13 is an isometric view of the single pair Ethernet connector of FIG. 12 showing the wire cap fully inserted. [Figure 16] FIG. 2 is an exploded isometric view of a second alternative embodiment of a single pair Ethernet connector. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] 1 shows a communication channel 6 having two single pair Ethernet connectors 10 joined by a coupler 8. Although a coupler is shown, the single pair Ethernet connectors can be used with active or passive elements including, but not limited to, patch panels, wall jacks, Ethernet switches, routers, servers, and power over Ethernet devices. The communication channel 6 can be located in cabinets, racks, zone enclosures, and other such base structures.

[0010] 2 and 3 show a single pair Ethernet connector 10 having an outer housing 12, a shield wrap 18, and a contact carrier assembly 22.

[0011] The outer housing 12 is shown in Figure 4. The outer housing 12 has a termination area 14 that encloses the contact carriers. The termination area may have a shield tab relief 16 to allow the shield wrap to contact the cable screen for grounding.

[0012] The shield wrap 18 is shown in Figure 5. The shield wrap is fabricated from metal to enclose the termination area of ​​the outer housing and reduce the effects of alien crosstalk from adjacent connectors. The shield wrap features ground tabs 20 designed to contact the shielding screen of a single pair Ethernet cable. Slots 21 engage latches in the contact carrier to lock the carrier into the connector housing.

[0013] An exploded view of the contact carrier assembly 22 is shown in FIG. 6. The carrier assembly is comprised of a molded plastic body 24 that holds two copper contacts 26 in place. Channels 27 serve to position the conductors of the single pair cable in the termination area of ​​the carrier. The contacts 26 are positioned to establish the strongest differential coupling which also serves to reject unwanted coupling from external noise sources. The strong coupling is designed to comply with the return loss characteristics defined in the IEEE and TIA standards. The arrangement of the contacts 26 includes, but is not limited to, parallel runs where the contact surfaces overlap either side by side or top to bottom. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the strongest electric field interaction occurs with the overlapping metal surface areas in parallel. The carrier assembly also has a strain relief feature 28 designed to grip over the outer jacket of the single pair cable jacket using ribs 30. This prevents the cable from being separated from the connector and pulled out of the contact termination area. The contact carrier has an integral wire cap 32 that uses a hinge mechanism 34 to allow the wire cap to pivot downward and apply pressure to the cable conductors to drive them into their respective insulation displacement contacts 36 to establish electrical continuity. A ramp mechanism 38 applies a force downward on the wire cap as the carrier assembly is pressed into the outer housing 12. The wire cap 32 has strain relief ribs 30 similar to the body 24 to grip the top of the cable jacket as the carrier assembly is inserted into the outer housing termination area 14.

[0014] FIG. 7 shows the underside of the contact carrier 22 having latches 40 which engage slots 21 in the shield wrap 18 to lock the carrier into the connector housing.

[0015] 8-10 illustrate the procedure for terminating a connector onto a single pair cable 42. The first step of termination is shown in FIG. 8. The outer jacket of the cable 42 is stripped and the shielding screen 44 is pulled back along the outer diameter of the cable. The conductors 46 are trimmed to length and placed into the channels 27 of the carrier body 24. The wire cap 32 is then pivoted downwardly onto the conductors 46 about the hinge mechanism 34, driving the conductors into the insulation displacement contacts 36 and establishing electrical continuity. At the same time, the ribs 30 of the wire cap 32 grip onto the outer cable jacket.

[0016] Once the wire cap 32 is pivoted downward and the insulation displacement contacts penetrate the cable conductor insulation, the contact carrier assembly 22 is inserted into the rear of the connector outer housing 12, as shown in FIG. 9. Once the carrier assembly 22 is installed, a ramp mechanism 38 applies a downward force onto the wire cap 32 to ensure that the cable conductors are fully pressed into the insulation displacement contacts. A cable shield screen 44 is exposed along the side of the contact carrier assembly 22 to allow contact with the tabs 20 of the shield wrap 18. The connection of the tabs 20 and the cable shield screen 44 provides ground continuity along the wiring system to eliminate unwanted conversion of differential signals to common mode signals. A collar 86 can aid in the insertion of the contact carrier assembly into the outer housing. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that any discontinuity or difference in ground reference will result in unwanted conversion of common mode signals.

[0017] FIG. 10 shows that the contact carrier assembly 22 is locked to the outer housing 12 via latches 40 on the carrier and slots 21 in the shield and connector housing.

[0018] Figure 11 shows an assembly similar to that shown in Figures 2-7. In this embodiment, the contact carrier assembly 300 has a notch feature 302 in the strain relief area. This allows the cable shield 44 of the single pair cable 42 to be routed outside of the contact carrier. An outer housing shield wrap 308 has tabs 310 that contact the cable shield braid 304 for grounding when the contact carrier is inserted into the shield.

[0019] FIG. 12 shows the first alternative embodiment of the invention described above, where electrical contacts 101 are enclosed in an outer housing 100 and held in place by a contact retainer 102. The contact retainer is secured to the outer housing by an outer housing latch 104 that engages with a contact retainer side notch 106. The insulation displacement contacts 108 are oriented horizontally and extend from the rear of the connector housing. The wire cap and cable strain relief are incorporated into a separate part 110. The wire cap / strain relief holds the cable conductors vertically against the insulation displacement contacts having notches 112. When the user pushes the wire cap / strain relief into the rear of the connector, the cable conductors are pushed into the insulation displacement contacts 108 while simultaneously establishing an electrical connection while the strain relief legs 114 grip over the outer cable jacket. The wire cap / strain relief locks into the contact retainer using a latch feature 116 that engages with top and bottom notches 118. The shield wrap 120 surrounds the outer housing and contact retainer and features a ground tab 122 that contacts the cable shield braid.

[0020] The termination process for this embodiment begins with Figure 13. The user receives the connector with the outer housing 100, contacts 101, contact retainer 102, and shield wrap 120 pre-assembled. The outer jacket of the cable 42 is stripped and the shield screen 44 is pulled back along each side of the cable. The conductor 46 is routed through the center of the wire cap 110, pushed into the notch 112, and then trimmed to be flush with the outer surface of the wire cap. The strain relief legs 114 are then pivoted down over the cable jacket and used as a place for the user to grip the wire cap as it is pushed into the back of the connector assembly. Figure 14 shows the wire cap 110 with cable attached being inserted into the back of the connector assembly 124. The shield screen 44 of the cable 42 aligns with the ground tab 122 of the shield wrap, creating an electrical connection between the cable and connector when the wire cap is installed. After the wire cap 110 is fully inserted into the connector assembly 124, the wire cap is locked in place via the latch features 116 and the contact retainer notches 118 as shown in FIG.

[0021] FIG. 16 shows a second alternative embodiment and describes a termination method in which the contacts 200 are positioned in a plastic sled 202 that is inserted into the back of a connector housing 204. The connector housing has a vertical wall 206 that features a slot 208. After the plastic sled is inserted into the connector housing, a wire cap 210 is placed on the sled to establish cable conductor contact. The wire cap has a latch 212 that engages with the connector housing slot 208 to lock the wire cap in place. The plastic sled 202 and wire cap 210 have strain relief features 214 to support and retain the outer cable jacket. A housing shield 216 surrounds the connector housing 204. The housing shield has tabs 220 that wrap around the inside of the connector housing wall that contact corresponding tabs 222 on the wire cap shield 218. The wire cap shield tabs 222 wrap around the strain relief area and contact the cable shield, creating a fully grounded connection.

[0022] While specific embodiments and applications of the present invention have been illustrated and described, it should be understood that the invention is not limited to the precise configurations and compositions disclosed herein, and various modifications, changes, and variations may become apparent from the foregoing without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as described.

Claims

[Claim 1] A communication connector, An outer housing; a shield wrap at least partially surrounding the outer housing; a contact retainer housing at least two contact members having insulation displacement contacts (IDCs) contained within the outer housing; a wire cap configured to be inserted into the outer housing and the contact retainer, the wire cap further configured to orient a conductor of the cable perpendicular to a direction of insertion of the cable into the wire cap, the wire cap further having a strain relief leg pivotally attached to provide strain relief to the cable when the wire cap is inserted into the contact retainer and the outer housing; The communication connector.

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