Abstract:
A locking marker cap has structural features to snap lock to various types of a tool-less insulation displacement connector (TIDC). When the cap is attached to the TIDC, additional structural features of the cap lock a latch of the TIDC in a closed position to protect the TIDC from being accidentally opened and coincidentally disconnecting the circuit served by the TIDC. In one embodiment, the cap must be removed before the TIDC can be unlatched and opened. At least a top surface of the cap can include indicia such as a color, letter(s) or symbol(s) to indicate a type of circuit served by the protected TIDC.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention relates to a tool-less insulation displacement connector (TIDC). More particularly, the present invention relates to a cap for coupling with a TIDC to block disengagement of a latch of the TIDC and to optionally indicate a type of connection served by the TIDC. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0004]    A TIDC is typically used to connect an incoming twisted pair (e.g., service provider line) to an outgoing twisted pair (e.g., a customer line). For example, in a telephone network, a network cable from the central office is connected to a building entrance protector (BEP) located at the customer site, where the individual telephone lines are broken out line by line. The network cable, which consists of a plurality of tip-ring wire pairs that each represent a telephone line, is typically connected to a plurality of connectors within the BEP. The connectors are commonly of the mini-rocker type of TIDCs. 
         [0005]    The present assignee&#39;s U.S. Pat. No. 6,457,990, which is herein incorporated by reference, describes the typical prior art TIDC. As illustrated in  FIGS. 1-3 , the prior art TIDC, also referred to as a connector hereinafter, is generally indicated as  10 , has a top section, generally indicated as  12 , movable between an open position (not shown) and a closed position, and a bottom fixed section, generally indicated as  14 . The top section  12  generally comprises a wire retention portion  18  which comprises a substantially rectangular front face  21  having two entrance apertures  22  therein, which lead to two wire insertion holes  20 . The top edge of wire retention portion  18  is defined by channel  37 . Wire insertion holes  20  are constructed so as to accept wire  30  in a manner known in the art. Top section  12  also has terminal strip receiving portions  26 , which are constructed to accept terminal strips  28  when the top section  12  is in its closed position. 
         [0006]    As seen in  FIG. 1 , when top section  12  is in its closed position, terminal strips  28  intersect wire insertion holes  20 , and when top section  12  is in its open position (not shown), terminal strips  28  do not intersect wire insertion holes  20 . In order to establish an electrical and mechanical connection between the wire  30  and the terminal strip  28 , a user first opens the top section  12 , i.e., pivots top section  12  about hinged axis  32  to its open position, inserts a wire  30 , and then closes the top section  12 . Upon closing top section  12  of connector  10 , wire  30  is brought into electrical and mechanical contact with terminal strip  28 . To remove the wire and/or break the electrical connection, the process is reversed. 
         [0007]    As seen in  FIG. 1 , the top movable section  12  comprises a latch, generally indicated as  15 , movable between an engaged position and a disengaged position. Latch  15  generally comprises a crossbar member  40  connected to two downwardly projecting side members  42 . As seen in  FIG. 1 , when top section  12  is in its closed position and the latch  15  is in its engaged position, latch engaging portion  16  engages latch retaining portion  38  on the bottom section  14  of the connector  10 . Thus, when the top section  12  is in its closed position and the latch  15  is in its engaged position, the latch  15  maintains top section  12  in its closed position. In order to open top section  12 , latch  15  must first be moved to its disengaged position. 
         [0008]    To move latch  15  between its engaged position and its disengaged position, a user generally grips the connector  10  between a rear finger grip portion  34  and latch grip portion  35  which forms part of the front face of latch  15 . Upon squeezing or other pressure, crossbar member  40  of latch  15  pivots about living hinge  24  away from channel  37  and towards recess  36 . Latch  15  is pivoted about living hinge  24  into recess  36  a sufficient distance so as to disengage latch engaging portion  16  from latch retaining portion  38 . Once latch engaging portion  16  is disengaged from latch retaining portion  38 , top section  12  is able to move to its open position. 
         [0009]      FIG. 3  is a top view of the connector  10  of  FIGS. 1 and 2 . As illustrated in  FIG. 3 , the top of connector  10  includes a first open slot  44  adjacent to the left side wall of the connector  10  and a second open slot  45  adjacent to the right side wall of the connector  10 . As seen in  FIG. 2 , the first slot  44  extends past a first ledge  46  and the second slot extends past a second ledge  47 . These slots  44  and  45  and ledges  46  and  47  will cooperate with features of the present invention, to be discussed hereinafter. 
         [0010]    As seen in  FIGS. 1 and 3 , the front face  21  of wire retention portion  18  extends beyond the front face of latch  15 . Also, the front faces or surfaces of the prior art latch are generally flat, planar surfaces that are perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of insertion holes  20 . Also, as seen in  FIG. 1 , the front face  21  of wire retention portion  18  is substantially vertical when viewed from the side. Thus, when a technician grips the prior art connector to open its top section  12 , the technician&#39;s thumb will generally press on the small latch grip portion  35  and the front face  21  of wire retention portion  18  with little or no tactile feedback indicating the person&#39;s fingers are correctly positioned. 
         [0011]    As noted in U.S. Pat. No. 6,457,990, technicians who manually unlatch a connector may accidentally also unlatch a neighboring connector. Such accidental opening often occurs because the soft tissue portion of the technician&#39;s thumb may extend past the connector to be opened and cover part of the adjacent connector. That is, the prior art latch design of  FIGS. 1-3  does not adequately orient or position a technician&#39;s thumb or other finger when the technician attempts to open the connector. U.S. Pat. No. 6,457,990 describes an inventive connector latch structure for the connector  10  which aids in orienting and positioning a technician&#39;s thumb on the connector latch member so as to reduce the accidental opening of neighboring IDCs. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0012]    The Applicant has appreciated one or more drawbacks associated with the designs of the prior art. Even though the latch mechanism of the TIDC has been improved to reduce the likelihood of accidentally unlatching a neighboring TIDC, the possibility still exists. This is particularly troublesome as the neighboring connectors may be provided for essential services, which even if momentarily disconnected could lead to costly financial losses, false alarms or emergency situations, such as when a 911 circuit or an alarm circuit is momentarily disconnected and authorities are alerted, or when a DSL connection is momentarily disconnected and Internet business transactions are interrupted. 
         [0013]    Moreover, the inventor has appreciated that technicians often make mistakes in locating the proper TIDC to disconnect. Often a schematic map attached to a door of the BEP must be compared to an actual TIDC layout within the BEP. The technician may make an error in physically locating the proper TIDC corresponding to the TIDC identified in the schematic map. Again, if the erroneously identified TIDC is opened by mistake, costly financial losses, false alarms or emergency situations could result. 
         [0014]    It is an object of the present invention to address one or more of the drawbacks of the prior art TIDC designs and/or Applicant&#39;s appreciated needs in the art. 
         [0015]    The Applicant has appreciated a need in the art for a cap which can cooperate with structural features of various existing TIDCs, such as those illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 6,457,990, to lock a latch of the TIDC in a closed position. The cap must be disengaged or removed before the TIDC can be unlatched and opened. The cap can be employed on the most important TIDCs within a BEP, or other type of structure for housing TIDCs, to indicate circuits which should typically not be interrupted unless absolutely necessary, such as 911 emergency circuits, PBX circuits, DSL circuits and other types of circuits which need protection against accidental disconnection. The caps may be color coded or include characters or symbols to indicate the nature of the circuit completed by the TIDC to which the cap is attached. 
         [0016]    Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0017]    The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus, are not limits of the present invention, and wherein: 
           [0018]      FIG. 1  is a side sectional view of a TIDC constructed in accordance with the prior art; 
           [0019]      FIG. 2  is a front elevational view of the prior art TIDC of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0020]      FIG. 3  is top view of the prior art TIDC of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0021]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of a locking marker cap, in accordance with the present invention; 
           [0022]      FIG. 5  is a front view of the locking marker cap of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0023]      FIG. 6  is a right side view of the locking marker cap of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0024]      FIG. 7  is a top view of the locking marker cap of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0025]      FIG. 8  is a bottom view of the locking marker cap of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0026]      FIG. 9  is a front view of the locking marker cap in alignment with a TIDC and ready to be pushed down onto the TIDC; 
           [0027]      FIG. 10  is a front view of the locking marker cap attached to the TIDC; and 
           [0028]      FIG. 11  is a cross sectional view taken along line XI-XI in  FIG. 10 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0029]    The present invention now is described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. 
         [0030]    Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. In the figures, the thickness of certain lines, layers, components, elements or features may be exaggerated for clarity. Broken lines illustrate optional features or operations unless specified otherwise. 
         [0031]    The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the specification and relevant art and should not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein. Well-known functions or constructions may not be described in detail for brevity and/or clarity. 
         [0032]    As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. As used herein, phrases such as “between X and Y” and “between about X and Y” should be interpreted to include X and Y. As used herein, phrases such as “between about X and Y” mean “between about X and about Y.” As used herein, phrases such as “from about X to Y” mean “from about X to about Y.” 
         [0033]    It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being “on”, “attached” to, “connected” to, “coupled” with, “contacting”, etc., another element, it can be directly on, attached to, connected to, coupled with or contacting the other element or intervening elements may also be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being, for example, “directly on”, “directly attached” to, “directly connected” to, “directly coupled” with or “directly contacting” another element, there are no intervening elements present. It will also be appreciated by those of skill in the art that references to a structure or feature that is disposed “adjacent” another feature may have portions that overlap or underlie the adjacent feature. 
         [0034]    Spatially relative terms, such as “under”, “below”, “lower”, “over”, “upper”, “lateral”, “left”, “right” and the like, may be used herein for ease of description to describe one element or feature&#39;s relationship to another element(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. It will be understood that the spatially relative terms are intended to encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. For example, if the device in the figures is inverted, elements described as “under” or “beneath” other elements or features would then be oriented “over” the other elements or features. The device may be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the descriptors of relative spatial relationships used herein interpreted accordingly. 
         [0035]      FIGS. 4-8  are various views of a locking marker cap  50  in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. The cap  50  includes a top  51 . A first blocking tab  53  is attached to the top  51  proximate a front or first edge  55 . A second blocking tab  57  is attached to the top  51  proximate a back or opposite, second edge  59 . As illustrated, each of the first and second blocking tabs  53  and  57  may include canted surfaces or full bull nose surfaces at the distal ends thereof. 
         [0036]    A first locking tab  61  is attached to the top  51  proximate a left or third edge  63 . A second locking tab  65  is attached to the top  51  proximate a right or opposite, fourth edge  67 . The first locking tab  61  includes a first hook  69  at its distal end. The second locking tab  65  includes a second hook  71  at its distal end. The first hook  69  faces to the second hook  71 . 
         [0037]    Preferably, the first and second locking tabs  61  and  65  are deformable and resilient so that the first and second hooks  69  and  71  may snap over structural features of a TIDC, as will be described in detail hereinafter. In a preferred embodiment, the cap  50  is entirely formed of a plastic material, such that the deformable and resilient aspects of the first and second locking tabs  61  and  65  may be achieved. 
         [0038]    As illustrated in  FIG. 7 , the top  51  is formed generally as a planar member and the upper surface thereof may include indicia  73 . The indicia  73  may be formed on or in said top  51  for indicating a nature of a circuit passing through a TIDC to which the cap  50  is to be attached. In  FIG. 7 , the indicia  73  is illustrated as letters recessed into the top  51  to indicate a DSL circuit. However, other letters or symbols could be formed on or within the top  51  to serve as indicia  73 , such as “911” or “PBX”. In a preferred embodiment, no letters or symbols are used for indicia  73 , rather a color of the plastic material used to form the cap  50  serves as indicia  73 . For example, a purple color could indicate a DSL circuit passing through a TIDC to which the cap  50  is attached and a red color could indicate a 911 circuit. A technician would carry a plurality of caps  50  of several different type colors and use the appropriate colored cap  50  dependent upon the type of circuit passing through the TIDC to be protected. 
         [0039]    Now with reference to  FIGS. 9-11 , an interaction between the cap  50  and the TIDC or connector  10  of  FIGS. 1-3  will be described in greater detail. 
         [0040]    As seen in  FIG. 3 , the top of the prior art connector  10  includes a first open slot  44  adjacent to the left side wall of the connector  10  and a second open slot  45  adjacent to the right side wall of the connector  10 . As seen in  FIG. 2 , the first slot  44  extends past a first ledge  46  and the second slot extends past a second ledge  47 . 
         [0041]    To attach the cap  50  to the connector  10 , the technician aligns the first locking tab  61  with the first open slot  44  and the second locking tab  65  with the second open slot  45 . As illustrated in  FIG. 9 , by applying a manual force in the direction of arrow A, the first and second locking tabs  61  and  65  will begin to pass into the first and second open slots  44  and  45 . As the first and second locking tabs  61  and  65  enter the mouths of the first and second open slots  44  and  45 , first and second inward canted surfaces  69 A and  71 A of the first and second hooks  69  and  71 , respectively, will engage inner sidewalls  44 A and  45 A of the first and second open slots  44  and  45 . The engagement will result in a slight deflection of the first and second locking tabs  61  and  65  in the directions of arrows B and C, respectively. The deflections will be slightly resisted by the natural resiliency of the material (e.g., plastic) used to form the cap  50 . 
         [0042]    As the cap  50  is pressed further down onto the connector  10 , the first hook  69  passes by the first ledge  46  (See  FIG. 2 ) and the second hook  71  passes by the second ledge  47  (See  FIG. 2 ).  FIG. 10  illustrates the resulting position of the cap  50  relative to the connector  10 . The natural resiliency of the first locking tab  61  causes the first hook  69  to snap past the first ledge  46  (e.g., slightly to the right in  FIG. 2 ). Likewise, the natural resiliency of the second locking tab  65  causes the second hook  71  to snap past the second ledge  47  (e.g., slightly to the left in  FIG. 2 ). Of course, only one locking tab  61  or  65  could possess an ability to deflect and a natural resiliency and the same objectives could be obtained. Such an alternative is within the purview of the claims of the present invention. 
         [0043]      FIG. 11  is a cross sectional view taken along line XI-XI in  FIG. 10 . As seen in  FIG. 11 , the first blocking tab  53  resides within the recess  36  of the connector  10  when the cap  50  is attached to the connector  10 . Therefore, the first blocking tab  53  resides in a movement path of the latch  15  which prevents the latch  15  from being opened. More specifically, if a user applies squeezing pressure between a rear  80  of the connector  10  and latch grip portion  35  which forms part of the front face of latch  15 , the crossbar member  40  of latch  15  will attempt to pivot about living hinge  24  away from channel  37  and toward recess  36 . However, the first blocking tab  53  will block the pivoting movement so as to prevent disengagement of the latch engaging portion  16  from latch retaining portion  38 . Therefore, the top section  12  is unable to move to its open position, and the circuit made by the connector  10  cannot be disconnected. 
         [0044]    To remove the cap  50  from the connector  10 , a person can insert his finger into the space located between the underside of top  51  and the top side of the rear  80  of the connector  10  and pull upwards on the cap  50 . The upward force will cause the first and second hooks  69  and  71  to pass over the first and second ledges  46  and  47 . The amount of force required to dislodge the first and second hooks  69  and  71  from the first and second ledges  46  and  47  is a controlled in part by the fabricator&#39;s selection of the angles α 1  and α 2  formed between the hooks  69  and  71  and the extension directions of the locking tabs  61  or  65 , as illustrated in  FIG. 5 . For example, if each angle α 1  and α 2  is approximately ninety two degrees, significant force will be required to dislodge the first and second hooks  69  and  71  from the first and second ledges  46  and  47 . Hence, it will be quite difficult to remove the cap  50  by manual force and may even require prying by a straight bladed screw driver. If each angle α 1  and α 2  is approximately one hundred and ten degrees, the force required to dislodge the first and second hooks  69  and  71  from the first and second ledges  46  and  47  will be significantly reduced and the cap  50  can be more easily and manually removed from the connector  10 . 
         [0045]    As seen in  FIG. 11 , the second locking tab  57  plays no role in blocking the movement path of the latch  15 . The second locking tab  57  has been provided on the cap  50  so that the cap  50  may be universally mounted to the connector  10 . In other words, if the cap  50  were rotated one hundred eighty degree around the direction of arrow A in  FIG. 9  prior to attachment to the connector  10 , the second locking tab  57  would reside within the recess  36 . Therefore, the mirror image design of the cap  50  allows the cap  50  to function in either orientation and eliminates the problem of a technician installing a cap  50  in a backwards orientation and not blocking the movement path of the latch  15 . 
         [0046]    Although  FIGS. 1-11  have illustrated a cap  50  which is completely removable from the TIDC or connector  10 , it is within the purview of several of the claims that the cap  50  need not be completely removable. For example, a tether could connect the cap  50  to the connector  10  at all times so that the connector  10  and cap  50  are an inseparable unit yet the cap  50  could have first and second positions relative to the connector  10  which block or permit movement of the latch  15 . 
         [0047]    Although only a single TIDC has been illustrated in the drawing figures, such TIDCs are usually present in groups. For example, gangs of five TIDCs are commonly found in industry. By the present invention, one or more of the TIDCs in a gang could be singled out for marking and locking by the cap  50  of the present invention. 
         [0048]    One specific embodiment of a TIDC has been illustrated in  FIGS. 1-3  and  9 - 11 . Some of the structural features of the embodiment of the TIDC, which are not relevant to the interaction with the cap of the present invention, have been deleted so as to simplify the drawing figures. The cap of the present invention is not limited to use with the illustrated TIDC embodiment, but rather can be used with differently structured TIDCs. 
         [0049]    The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are to be included within the scope of the following claims.