GB2305026A

GB2305026A - Jack socket assembly

Info

Publication number: GB2305026A
Application number: GB9617848A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Richard Weatherley
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1995-08-25
Filing date: 1996-08-27
Publication date: 1997-03-26
Anticipated expiration: 2016-08-27
Also published as: GB9617848D0; GB2305026B

Abstract

A jack socket assembly for use e.g. in a floor mounted box comprises a PCB (35) on which a jack socket (33) and terminal blocks (34) are mounted. The jack socket and terminal blocks are mounted on the same side of the PCB but in different areas thereof. This reduces the overall thickness of the jack socket assembly and facilitates wiring thereof. In use the jack socket assembly is mounted between hingedly connected front and back plates and the PCB is supported intermediate the ends thereof by one of the plates. Accordingly the PCB can be fabricated from thinner base material than would be necessary if the PCB were unsupported.

Description

JACK SOCKET ASSEMBLY The present invention relates to jack socket assembly of the type including a jack socket module comprising a printed circuit board (PCB) on which is mounted a jack socket for receiving a jack plug and at least one wire receiving terminal. A jack socket assembly of this general type is shown in British patent 2274027.

Assemblies of this type include those containing the commonly available RJ45 sockets via which telephones and modems are connected to the telephone network, for example. Jack socket assemblies are also incorporated into equipment for the connection of a jack plug to that piece of equipment. Such assemblies typically include the socket mounted on one side of the PCB and terminal blocks for connecting wiring, e.g. from a twisted pair cable, mounted on the other side of the PCB.

One aim of the present invention is to provide a jack socket assembly having a low profile which is more suitable than currently available products for underfloor installations, for example.

The present invention provides a jack socket assembly of the type having a socket, a PCB and one or more terminal blocks in which the or each terminal block is mounted on the same side of the PCB as the socket.

Preferably, the socket is a RJ45 socket and the terminal blocks are "krone" blocks each of which has four wire terminals.

Preferably the wire receiving terminals are mounted adjacent each other on a separate area of the printed circuit board from the socket.

The positioning of the terminals adjacent each other on a separate area of the PCB from the socket itself improves the overall performance of the device and also facilitates making wiring connections since the wires do not have to be separated as much as if the terminals are spaced apart.

Preferably the assembly includes front and back plates, one of which supports the PCB. The front and back plate are maintained in substantially parallel relationship by means of supporting legs which may be integrally moulded with the front and/or back plates.

The assembly of front and back plates and supporting legs may snap-fit together.

In one embodiment of the invention, once the snap connections are made, they cannot be readily separated. However, in the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the front and back plates are pivotably connected together, for example in the manner of a hinge. This facilitates assembly since the connector may be supplied "open" and with all parts assembled, and can be simply snapped shut once all connections have been made. By appropriate manipulation of the latches the connector may be re-opened by hinging the front and back plates apart if access to the terminals is subsequently required.

Since the PCB has components mounted on only one of its major surfaces, it can be positioned adjacent one of the front and back plates and can be supported by the plate against which it is positioned. As a result, there is less requirement for the PCB to be rigid and a thinner PCB can be used.

Preferably the plate which supports the PCB is hinged to one or more supporting legs along one of its edges. Alternatively, a leg or legs at one pair of facing plate edges has the pivotal connection formed midway along its length.

It will be appreciated that the front plate will be provided with an aperture for the passage of a jack plug. The assembly may additionally be provided with a facia panel including a shutter, possibly spring-loaded, to close the socket when not in use.

An embodiment of the present will now be described by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIGURE 1 is a rear view of the back plate of a jack socket assembly according to the invention; FIGURE 2 is an elevation of the lower end of the back plate as viewed in Figure 1; FIGURE 3 is a side elevation of the back plate of Figure 1; FIGURE 4 is a top end elevation of the plate of Figure 1; FIGURE 5 is a front elevation of the back plate of Figure 1; FIGURE 6 is a cross-sectional view of the back plate taken on the line VI-VI shown in Figure 5, with a jack socket assembly secured to the back plate; FIGURE 7 is a front view of the jack socket assembly of Figure 6; FIGURE 8 is a front elevation of the facia panel; FIGURE 9 is a cross-section view through the facia panel taken along the line IX-IX shown in Figure 8;FIGURE 10 is a vertical cross-section through the facia panel; FIGURE 11 is a side elevation of the facia panel; FIGURE 12 is an end elevation of the facia panel; FIGURE 13 is a front elevation of the front plate; FIGURE 14 is a cross-sectional view through the front plate; FIGURE 15 is a rear elevation of the front plate; and FIGURE 16 is a side elevation of the front plate.

Referring now to the drawings, the back plate 10 shown in Figure 1 has integrally formed semi-circular channels 11, 12, each intended to receive a cable clip for securing a cable with respect to the back plate 10.

A cable 13 is illustrated, secured with respect to the channel 12 by cable clip 14. The dotted lines in Figure 1 shown an alternative position for an incoming cable to be secured with respect to channel 11.

Protruding from opposite sides of the back plate 10 are wire guides 15,16,17,18. The wire guides extend along the edges of the back plate 10 and serve to hold the separated wires of the cable 13 in place, as shown in Figures 1 and 5.

As also shown in Figure 5, the back plate has integrally formed wells 20 which receive the solder connections 21 for terminal blocks mounted on the PCB.

Wells 20 are rectangular and positioned parallel to each other. Also provided on the inner face of the back plate 10 is a well 22 for receiving the solder connections of the jack socket. The lower end of the back plate as shown in Figures 1 to 7 is provided with legs 25,26 at its corners. Each leg includes an integrally formed part-circular channel 30 which serves as part of a hinge assembly to be described in more detail below.

As shown in Figure 6 the back plate 10 includes integrally formed channels 31 extending along its opposite edges for receiving the printed circuit board 35 of a jack socket assembly 32. The rear plate also includes a clip 36 at its edge opposite the legs 25,26 which inter-engages with the front plate in a manner to be described in more detail below.

Referring to Figure 7 it will be noted that the jack socket assembly comprises the PCB 35, an RJ45 jack socket 33, and a pair of krone type terminal blocks 34.

The terminal blocks 34 are mounted on the PCB 35 adjacent each other and on an area of the PCB 35 separate from the area occupied by the jack socket 33.

Both terminal blocks 34 are mounted on the same side of the PCB as the jack socket 33 and both are located to the same side of the jack socket. It will be noted from Figure 6 that the PCB 35 is supported on the longitudinal wall 24 of the back plate 10 which separates the wells 20 and on the transverse wall 23 of the back plate 10 which separates the wells 20 from the well 22. Accordingly the PCB 35 can be made from a thinner base material than would have been possible if the PCB were unsupported between its ends as was the case in the prior art.

Figures 13 to 16 show the front plate 40 of the jack socket assembly. The front plate is a generally rectangular member having an aperture 41 for the passage of a jack plug. On its underside, the front plate 40 has a longitudinal rib 42 extending along approximately half of its length for strengthening the front plate and separating the terminal blocks mounted on the PCB 35.

At its left side edge as shown, the front plate has legs 44 having cylindrical protrusions 46 extending along the direction of the edge. The protrusions 46 are received in the semi-circular channels 30 of the legs 25,26 of the front plate 10 whereby the front plate may be pivoted with respect to the rear plate about the axis of the cylindrical protrusions 46.

At its edge opposite to the legs 44,45, the front plate has an integrally formed extending clips 49 which inter-engages with the clips 36 of the rear plate 10 to form a snap-fit. The position of the rear plate with respect to the front plate when the snap-fit is completed is shown in dotted lines in Figure 14. The clips 49 are flexible and have a ramp surface 50 to facilitate the interconnection The clips 49 acts as supporting legs between the front and back plates 10,40, opposite the legs 25,26,44,45, maintaining the front and back plates in spaced parallel relationship. The assembly may be "opened" by flexing clips 49 outwardly.

Adjacent the clips 49 is an additional flexible clip 51 provided for in the installation of the completed assembly in a mounting plate 55 illustrated in dotted lines in Figure 14. The mounting plate 55 may form part of the housing of a piece of equipment or any other housing for the assembly. Clip 51 provides a channel 56 for receiving the plate 55. Similar channels 58 are provided in the legs 44 on the opposite edge of the plate 40. Clip 51 again has a ramped surface to facilitate insertion of the completed assembly into a mounting plate. It will be appreciated that with the plate 55 located in channel 58, the ramp surfaces of clip 51 enables the completed assembly to be simply pushed into a mounting plate. This would be done before the rear plate 10 was snapped into place.

Figures 8 to 12 show a facia plate 60 for the assembly. The facia plate 60 includes an aperture 61 for the passage of jack plug. The aperture 61 may be provided with the usual spring loaded shutter. A rectangular recess 62 adjacent the aperture 61 is provided for receiving a label. The facia plate 60 has four legs 65,66,67,68 which snap-fit into recesses 70,71,72,73 in the front plate 40. It will be appreciated that facia panel 60 is merely for decorative purposes and may be omitted in certain applications.

The front plate, back plate and front facia panel are preferably one piece moulded plastics items.

Thus, the completed assembly simply includes two or three plastics components plus the jack socket module itself and is very easy to assemble.

It will be appreciated that the jack socket assembly described above has a wide variety of applications. For example, it may be supplied on its own as a floor outlet or skirting board outlet for connecting items of equipment to fixed wiring. An array of assemblies as described above may be provided in a single housing. Alternatively, the assembly may be incorporated into equipment such as a computer.

Claims

CTATMS

1. A jack socket assembly of the type having a jack socket, a PCB and one or more terminal blocks in which the or each terminal block is mounted on the same side of the PCB as the socket.

2. A jack socket assembly according to claim 1 wherein the socket is a RJ45 socket and the terminal blocks are krone type blocks.

3. A jack socket assembly according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherin the wire receiving terminals are mounted adjacent each other on a separate area of the printed circuit board from the socket.

4. A jack socket assembly according to any preceding claim wherein the assembly includes front and back plates, one of which supports the PCB.

5. A jack socket assembly according to claim 4 wherein the front and back plate are maintained in substantially parallel relationship by means of supporting legs which may be integrally moulded with the front and/or back plates.

6. A jack socket assembly according to claim 5 wherein the assembly of front and back plates and supporting legs are snap-fitted together.

7. A jack socket assembly according to claim 6 wherein the front and back plates are pivotably connected together, preferable in the manner of a hinge, so that by appropriate manipulation of the latches the connector may be re-opened by hinging the front and back plates apart.

8. A jack socket assembly according to any of claims 4 to 7 wherein the PCB is positioned adjacent one of the front and back plates and is supported by the plate against which it is positioned.

9. A jack socket assembly according to any preceding claim wherein the assembly is additionally provided with a facia panel including a shutter to close the socket when not in use.