Abstract:
A thin line jack expansion module clips onto and electrically connects to a thin line expansion cable. The thin line expansion cable has signal lines for transmitting communications signals. The expansion module has an internal module and an external module. The internal module has a cable bay for accommodating the thin line expansion cable, cable contacts in the cable bay for establishing electrical connections with the signal lines of the thin line expansion cable, and a jack. The jack is electrically connected to the cable contacts. The external module clips onto the internal module and at least partially covers the cable bay. When the thin line expansion cable is set in the cable bay, and the external module is snapped onto the internal module, the cable contacts will electrically connect the jack to the signal lines within the thin line expansion cable.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a communications jack expansion kit. More specifically, the present invention discloses jack modules that can be connected to a specially designed jack extension cable, and which can be used for both telephone wiring and computer network wiring. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     Telephone jacks and their associated telephone plugs have a standard design (RJ-11) that enables a user to easily plug a telephone into a telephone network. Computer network wiring utilizes a similar standard, RJ-45. Although the design of these jacks is convenient, their placement or availability in a room is not always so. Frequently, a user may need access to a telephone or computer jack only to find that all available jacks are in use, or that the nearest available jack is located inconveniently far away. 
     The user has options, of course. In the event that the nearest telephone or computer jack is located too far away, an extension cord may be employed. This is depicted in FIG. 1. A prior art extension cord  14  has a plug  10  on one end for plugging into a jack  12 . The jack  12  may be either a computer network jack, or a telephone jack. The other end of the extension cord  14  terminates with a jack  16 . The user then plugs into the jack  16  to connect to the telephone or computer network. 
     The extension cord  14  is of no use, though, if no jacks  12  are available for the plug  10  to plug into. This is quite a common occurrence in office environments where a plethora of fax machines, telephones, modems and networking equipment quickly use all available jacks  12 . In this case, the user must buy an adapter that coverts a single jack into two jacks. Such an adapter is depicted in FIG. 2. A jack expansion adapter  20  has a plug  22  for plugging into a jack  24 . Once plugged into the jack  24 , the expansion adapter  20  has two jacks  26  that a user may use to connect to the telephone or computer network. 
     The extension cord  14  and expansion adapter  20  are straightforward designs that are easy to use. They are not, however, very flexible. For example, the user may end up with a large amount of excess cable tangled under his or her desk when using the extension cord  14 , as the vast majority of users are unwilling to cut and splice the cable  14  to an optimum required length. On the other hand, the expansion adapter  20  may not offer enough extra jacks  26 , and the jacks  26  that are provided may require the extension cord  14  to bring them to within working distance of the user. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is therefore a primary objective of this invention to provide a thin line communications jack expansion kit that permits a user to flexibly position as many jacks as he or she may require, using as little cable as necessary. The jacks may be utilized for computer networks, telephone networks or other similarly wired networks. 
     The present invention, briefly summarized, discloses a thin line jack expansion module that clips onto and electrically connects to a thin line expansion cable. The thin line expansion cable has signal lines for transmitting communications signals. The expansion module has an internal module and an external module. The internal module has a cable bay for accommodating the thin line expansion cable, cable contacts in the cable bay for establishing electrical connections with the signal lines of the thin line expansion cable, and a jack. The jack is electrically connected to the cable contacts. The external module clips onto the internal module and at least partially covers the cable bay. When the thin line expansion cable is set in the cable bay, and the external module is snapped onto the internal module, the cable contacts will electrically connect the jack to the signal lines within the thin line expansion cable. 
     It is an advantage of the present invention that as many expansion jack modules as the user may require can be clipped onto the thin line expansion cable. Furthermore, the expansion modules can be clipped onto the cable at any point so that the cable can efficiently strung, the expansion jacks being clipped onto it at exactly those points here they are needed. 
     These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment, which is illustrated in the various figures and drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a diagram of a prior art extension cord. 
     FIG. 2 is a diagram of a prior art jack expansion module. 
     FIG. 3 is an exploded view diagram of a first embodiment present invention communications jack expansion kit. 
     FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a thin line expansion cable shown in FIG.  3 . 
     FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an internal module shown in FIG.  3 . 
     FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a jack expansion module when it is properly configured with a thin line expansion cable. 
     FIG. 7 is an exploded view of a second embodiment of the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Please refer to FIG.  3 . FIG. 3 is an exploded view diagram of a first embodiment of a present invention communications jack expansion kit  30 . The thin line communications jack expansion kit  30  comprises a thin line jack expansion module  40  and a thin line expansion cable  50 . The jack expansion module  40  comprises an internal module  60  and an external module  70 . The external module  70  slides over the internal module  60  and then locks onto the internal module  60 . When it does so, the thin line expansion cable  50  is sandwiched between the internal module  60  and the external module  70 . 
     The internal module  60  comprises a cable bay  61 , a plurality of cable contacts  63 , a jack  62  and a plug  66 . The cable bay  61  is designed to accommodate the thin line expansion cable  50 . That is, when clipping the expansion module  40  onto the thin line expansion cable  50 , the cable  50  is set in the cable bay  61  so that it wraps around three sides of the internal module  60 . The user then snaps the external module  70  onto the internal module  60 , thereby securing the cable inside the expansion module  40 . The cable contacts  63  are blades with a thin gold coating to improve their electrical conductivity, and they are disposed within the cable bay  61  on one side of the internal module  60 . 
     The jack  62  accommodates a user telephone plug (not shown) or a computer network plug (not shown), permitting a user to plug a communications device into the thin line jack expansion module  40 . The type of plug which is accommodated will depend upon the type of wiring the user wishes to set up, i.e., either setting up additional jacks for a computer network, or for a telephone network. In most cases, it is not possible to mix telephone wiring (RJ-11) with computer network wiring (RJ-45). In the same vein, the plug  66  enables the thin line jack expansion module  40  to be plugged into a user jack (not shown), such as a computer network jack or a telephone network jack, and in this way the thin line jack expansion module  40  establishes a connection to a communications network. The design of these communications jacks and plugs requires that they have contacts to establish electrical connections with their mates. The jack  62  and plug  66  share their contacts by way of a plurality of wires  64 , and so are electrically connected to each other. One end of the wires forms a plurality of jack signal contacts  64   a . The other end of the wires forms a plurality of plug signal contacts  64   b.  The wires  64  wrap around the internal module  60  in a series of grooves  67  from the jack  62  to the plug  66 . As shown in FIG. 3, each wire  64  has a cable contact  63 . In this manner, both the jack signal contacts  64   a  and the plug signal contacts  64   b  are electrically connected to their respective cable contacts  63 . In accordance with the design of RJ-11 and RJ-45 plugs, the plug  66  also comprises a locking mechanism  68  and a release mechanism  69 . The locking mechanism  68  is simply a flexible tab that engages with and locks to a user communications jack. The release mechanism  69  simply allows a user to depress the locking mechanism  68  so as to unlock it from the user communications jack. 
     The internal module  60  also has a number of holes  65  in its structure. These holes  65  engage with corresponding tabs  75  on the external module  70 . When the external module  70  is slid over the internal module  60 , it covers the cable bay  61  to secure the thin line expansion cable  50 , and the tabs  75  snap into their respective holes  65  to lock the external module  70  to the internal module  60 . By inserting the tip of a pin, or the point of a knife blade into the holes  65 , the user may unlock the external module  70  from the internal module  60 . 
     Please refer to FIG. 4 in conjunction with FIG.  3 . FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the thin line expansion cable  50 . As shown in the figures, the cable  50  has a relatively flat, L-shaped structure. The cable  50  has an insulating substrate  52 , which is made of PVC. Running linearly along the length of the cable  50 , and disposed within the substrate  52 , is a plurality of electrically conductive signal lines  54 . The preferred embodiment has four such signal lines  54  to accommodate the RJ-11 standard, and they are made of copper. Alternatively, eight signal lines  54  may be used to accommodate the RJ-45 standard. The signal lines  54  are used to transmit communications signals along the length of the thin line expansion cable  50 . Finally, the cable  50  has a ridge  56 , giving the cable  50  its L-shaped cross-section. The relatively thin cross-section of the cable  50  makes it easy to conceal under carpet, or kept tucked close to walls and wainscoting. The insulating substrate  52  can also be made transparent to further reduce the visibility of the thin line expansion cable  50 . 
     Please refer to FIG. 5 in conjunction with FIG.  3 . FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the internal module  60 . As shown in FIG. 5, the grooves  67  run around the internal module  60  from the jack  62  to the plug  66 , flaring at the cable bay  61 . The flaring permits ample separation between the blade-like cable contacts  63 . Within each groove  67  runs a wire  64  that forms respective contacts at both the jack  62  and plug  66 . Each wire  64  is in electrical contact with its respective cable contact  63 . When the thin line expansion cable  50  lies flat in the cable bay  61  and is pressed into the cable contacts  63  by the locking of the external module  70  to the internal module  60 , the blade-like cable contacts  63  pierce through the insulating substrate  52  of the thin line expansion cable  50 . The disposition of the cable contacts  53  in the cable bay  61  is such that each cable contact will penetrate through the insulating substrate  52  to establish an electrical contact with one of the signal lines  54 . In this manner, the thin line jack expansion module  40  establishes an electrical connection with the thin line expansion cable  50 , and uses the cable  50  to transmit and receive communications signals for both its plug  66  and jack  62 . Thus, a user plug (not shown), plugged into the jack  62 , can send and receive communications signals along the cable  50 , such as telephonic or computer network signals. Similarly, when the plug  66  is plugged into a user jack (not shown), the user jack can also send and receive communications signals along the cable  50 . 
     If the jack expansion modules  40  were to be clipped onto the thin line expansion line  50  with different orientations with respect to each other, polarization and signal crossing problems would occur. This can be confusing for many users. The present invention jack expansion kit  30  has been designed to ensure that the external module  70  will lock onto the internal module  60  only when the thin line expansion cable  50  is disposed within the cable bay  61  with a proper orientation. This provides a foolproof design for the jack expansion kit  30 . When the external module  70  refuses to lock onto the internal module  60 , the user will immediately know that he or she is attempting an improper configuration. By rotating the modules  60  and  70  around the cable  50 , the user can achieve the proper orientation, whereupon the external module  70  will snap onto the internal module  60 . The jack  62  and plug  66  of the jack expansion module  40  will then be electrically connected to the cable  50  via the cable contacts  63 . 
     Please refer to FIG. 6 in conjunction with FIG.  3 . FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the jack expansion module  40  when it is properly configured with the thin line expansion cable  50 . The external casing has several ribs  72  that are disposed so that they will be over the cable bay  61  when the external module  70  is slid onto the internal module  60 . The ribs  72  will engage with the cable  50  if the cable  50  is improperly oriented in the cable bay  61 . For example, for the modules to lock together, the cable must lie flat in the cable bay  61 . This is possible only if the ridge  56  of the cable  50  faces outward away from the surface of the cable bay  61 . If it does not, the ribs  72  will strike the body of the cable  50 , and the user will not be able to get the two modules  60  and  70  to snap together. Similarly, if the cable  50  lies flat in the cable bay  61 , but is rotated 180 degrees from the correct orientation, the ridge  56  will strike the ribs  72  and the modules  60  and  70  will not lock together. Thus, the disposition of the ridge  56  in the cable bay  61  will prevent the external module  70  from locking onto the internal module  60  if the cable  50  is incorrectly oriented in the cable bay  61 . 
     Please refer to FIG.  7 . FIG. 7 is an exploded view of a second embodiment of the present invention, a communications jack expansion kit  130 . The communications jack expansion kit  130  comprises a jack expansion module  140 , and the thin line expansion cable  50 , which has already been disclosed. In basic function, the jack expansion module  140  is much like the jack expansion module  40 , except that it does not have a plug. Also, the blade-like cable contacts  63  of the first embodiment have a simplified structure in the second embodiment. The jack expansion module  140  comprises an internal module  160  and an external module  170 . The internal module  160  and the external module  170  clip together, sandwiching the thin line expansion cable  50  between them, and in so doing establish an electrical connection between the cable  50  and the jack expansion module  140 . 
     The internal module  160  comprises a jack  162 , a plurality of wires  164 , a secondary module  168  and a cable bay  161 . The cable bay  161  is on both the jack  162  and the secondary module  168 , and wraps around three sides of the internal module  160 . One end of the wires  164  is sharpened to form cable contacts  163  that pierce through the cable  50  to establish electrical connections with the signal wires (not shown) inside the cable  50 . The cable contacts  163  stick out from the cable bay  161  of the secondary module  168 . The other ends of the wires  164  run down from the cable bay  161 , around the bottom of the secondary module  168 , and bend around notches  169  to form a plurality of jack signal contacts  164   a . The secondary module  168  is then inserted into the jack  162  to complete the structure of the internal module  160 . As in the first embodiment, the internal module  160  has holes  165  that engage with corresponding tabs  175  on the external module  170  to snap the two modules together. 
     When the cable  50  is disposed in the cable bay  161  with the proper orientation and the external module  170  is slid onto the external module  170 , the sharpened cable contacts  163  will pierce the insulation of the cable  50  and the modules will lock together. Each wire  164  thus establishes an electrical connection with its corresponding signal wire (not shown) in the cable  50 , and in this manner the jack signal contacts  164   a  become electrically connected to the cable  50 . A user communications plug, plugged into the jack  162 , can then transmit and receive communications signals, such as telephonic or networking signals, on the cable  50 . As in the first embodiment, the internal module  160  will not lock onto the external module  170  if the cable  50  is disposed in the cable bay  161  with an improper orientation. As explained in the first embodiment, this is ensured by the ridge  56  on the cable  50  interacting with the external module  170 . The cable  50  must lie flat in the cable bay  161 , and be properly oriented so that the ridge  56  will not engage with a corresponding ridge (not shown) on the external module  170 . 
     Using the present invention communications jack expansion kits  30  and  130  is quite straightforward. A user clips the jack expansion module  40  or  140  onto the thin line expansion line  50 , the proper orientation of the modules  40  and  140  being assured, as explained above. No special tools, pliers or screwdrivers are required to do this. The plug  66  is then plugged into a user jack, such as a telephone jack or a computer-networking jack. The pass-through nature of the plug  66  with the jack  62  makes the jack  62  immediately available for use. The user can then run out exactly as much cable  50  as he or she may require, cutting it to the desired length. At the other end of the cable  50 , the user can clip on another jack expansion module  40 , or the module  140 . Indeed, several such modules  40  and  140  can be clipped on to the cable  50  at any interval along its length, permitting the user to establish as many extra jacks  66  and  166  as he or she may require, at any position desired. Furthermore, the thin nature of the cable  50  ensures that it is as discreet as possible. 
     In contrast to the prior art, the present invention utilizes a jack expansion module, which can clip onto a thin line telephone expansion cable at any point along the length of the cable. The design of both the cable and the module ensures that the module will clip onto the cable correctly, avoiding reversed polarities and incorrect signals. The jack expansion module has an internal and an external module, which clip together, sandwiching the cable between them and electrically connecting the jack expansion module to the thin line expansion cable. 
     Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims.