Abstract:
A telecommunications outlet includes: a housing that is shaped to receive a plug, the housing having a support disposed within the housing; and a first contact having a first end, a second end, and a bend section, the bend section is supported by the support, wherein the first contact includes a first reverse curve section disposed between the first end and the bend section.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   The present application claims the benefit of the date of the earlier filed provisional application, having U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/370,042, filed on Apr. 4, 2002, which is incorporated herein in its entirety. 

   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   The invention relates generally to modular outlets and in particular to a modular outlet that accommodates an out-of-specification plug. Modular outlets are used in a variety of applications such as patch panels, couplers, etc. Modular outlets typically include a number of resilient metal contacts the make electrical contact with contacts on a plug. The outlet contacts typically deflect slightly upon mating with a plug meeting certain specifications. When an out-of-specification plug is mated with an outlet, this may cause the outlet contacts to bend and/or deform. Such deformation may cause the outlet to fail to make contact with a subsequent plug resulting in an open circuit failure. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   A telecommunications outlet includes: a housing that is shaped to receive a plug, the housing having a support disposed within the housing; and a first contact having a first end, a second end, and a bend section, the bend section is supported by the support, wherein the first contact includes a first reverse curve section disposed between the first end and the bend section. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Referring now to the drawings wherein like elements are numbered alike in the several FIGURES: 
       FIG. 1  is an exploded perspective view of an outlet with no plug. 
       FIG. 2  is a front view of the outlet of FIG.  1 . 
       FIG. 3  is a back view of the outlet of FIG.  1 . 
       FIG. 4  is a cross sectional view of the outlet of  FIG. 1 , shown at a first contact position. 
       FIG. 5  is a cross sectional view of the outlet of  FIG. 1 , shown at a second contact position. 
       FIG. 6  is a cross sectional view of the outlet of  FIG. 1 , shown at a third contact position. 
       FIG. 7  is a cross sectional view of the outlet of  FIG. 1  at the first contact position receiving an in-specification 8 position plug. 
       FIG. 8  is a cross sectional view of the outlet of  FIG. 1  at the first contact position receiving an in-specification 8 position plug. 
       FIG. 9  is a cross sectional view of the outlet of  FIG. 1  at the first contact position receiving an out-of-specification 8 position plug. 
       FIG. 10  is a cross sectional view of the outlet of  FIG. 1  at the first contact position receiving a 6 position plug. 
       FIG. 11  is a cross sectional view of the outlet of  FIG. 1  at the third contact position receiving an in-specification plug. 
       FIG. 12  is a cross sectional view of the outlet of  FIG. 1  at the third contact position receiving an in-specification plug. 
       FIG. 13  is a cross sectional view of the outlet of  FIG. 1  at the third contact position receiving an out-of-specification 8 position plug. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     FIG. 1  is an exploded perspective view of an outlet  100  having a housing  102  and a front opening  104 . The front opening  104  receives a standard plug as known in the art. Outlet  100  includes a contact section  106 , which includes nine contacts, which are numbered  1 - 9 . While outlet  100  is shown with nine contacts, there may also be only eight contacts. The contacts commonly form tip and ring pairs. In one embodiment, contacts  1  and  2  form a tip and ring pair, contacts  3  and  6  form a tip and ring pair, contacts  4  and  5  form a tip and ring pair, contacts  7  and  8  form a tip and ring pair. In addition,  FIGS. 2 and 3  illustrate the front view and the back view of outlet  100 , respectively. A more detailed description of the back view of outlet  100  can also be found in FIGS. 37-42 and its related description in the specification of U.S. Pat. No. 6,213,809, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
     FIG. 4  is a cross sectional view of outlet  100  taken at contact  1 . Contact  1  includes a termination end  120  that exits a rear  122  of housing  102  and a distal end  124  that is secured within housing  102  by placing distal end  124  under a front lip  126  of housing  102 . Termination end  120  may be a solder tail, press-fit tail, etc. From termination end  120 , contact  1  bends from the horizontal direction to the vertical direction, which is approximately 90 degrees, to define a first leg  130 . Contact  1  then bends again at a bend section  132  and proceeds to a reverse curve section  140 . A support  134  formed within housing  102  supports first leg  130  and bend section  132 . In addition, an extension  136  extends from housing  102  to also support first leg  130 . 
   Alternatively, termination end  120  may extend from a bottom  150  of housing  102 . In this embodiment, termination end  120  proceeds in a vertical direction along support  134  and then bends at bend section  132  to reverse curve section  140 . 
   Reverse curve section  140  includes a concave portion  142  and a convex portion  144 . Concave portion  142  is formed closer to termination end  120  than convex section  144 . Convex section  144  is formed closer to a distal end  124  than concave portion  142 . 
   Convex portion  144  includes a first slope  160  and a second slope  162 . Both first slope  160  and second slope  162  may be defined by angles a and b, respectively, which are formed from the horizontal direction. The horizontal direction is defined at a bottom floor  170  of opening  104 . As can be seen in  FIG. 4 , the orientation of angle a and angle b are from opposite directions. Angle a, which is oriented from the rear of outlet  100 , may range up to and including an angle of 45°, with a preferable angle of 45°. Angle b, which is oriented from the front of outlet  100 , may range from 12° to 20°, with a preferable angle of 19°. In addition, a height  172  of convex portion  144  from bottom floor  170  may range from about 0.8 inches to about 1.05 inches, with a preferable height of approximately 0.92 inches. 
   It should be noted that a height  180  of support  134  may be adjusted to accommodate the various angles. In addition, height  180  may remain constant and the change in the angles may be made by changing the bend of reverse curve section  140 . In addition, at the preferred angles of 45° and 19° for angles a and b, respectively, height  180  extends above bottom floor  170 . 
   Within outlet  100 , contacts  1 ,  8 , and  9  are the same structure and thus, the description described as to contact  1  also applies to contacts  8  and  9 . 
     FIG. 5  is a cross sectional view of outlet  100  taken at contact  2 . Contact  2  includes a termination end  220  that exits rear  122  of housing  102  and a distal end  224  that is secured within housing  102  by placing distal end  224  under front lip  126  of housing  102 . Termination end  220  may be a solder tail, press-fit tail, etc. From termination end  220 , contact  2  bends from the horizontal direction to the vertical direction, which is approximately 90 degrees, to define a first leg  230 . Contact  2  then bends again at a bend section  232  and proceeds to a reverse curve section  240 . A support  234  formed within housing  102  supports first leg  230  and bend section  232 . In addition, an extension  236  extends from housing  102  to also support first leg  230 . 
   Alternatively, termination end  220  may extend from bottom  150  of housing  102 . In this embodiment, termination end  220  proceeds in a vertical direction along support  234  and then bends at bend section  232  to reverse curve section  240 . 
   Reverse curve section  240  includes a concave portion  242  and a convex portion  244 . Concave portion  242  is formed closer to termination end  220  than convex section  244 . Convex section  244  is formed closer to a distal end  224  than concave portion  242 . 
   Convex portion  244  includes a first slope  260  and a second slope  262 . Concave portion  242  includes second slope  262  and a third slope  264 . Both first slope  260  and second slope  262  may be defined by angles a′ and b′, respectively, which are formed from the horizontal direction. The horizontal direction is defined at bottom floor  170  of opening  104 . As can be seen in  FIG. 5 , angles a′ and b′ are both oriented in the same direction. Angle a′, which is oriented from the rear of outlet  100 , may range up to and including an angle of 45°, with a preferable angle of 45°. Angle b′, which is also oriented from the rear of outlet  100 , may range from 7° to 12°, with a preferable angle of 9.5°. Convex portion  242  may also be defined by an angle c, which defines the angle between second slope  262  and third slope  264 . Angle c preferably has a maximum angle of 163°. 
   In addition, a height  272  of convex portion  244  from bottom floor  170  may range from about 0.85 inches to about 1.15 inches, with a preferable height of approximately 0.92 inches. 
   It should be noted that a height  280  of support  234  may be adjusted to accommodate the various angles. In addition, height  280  may remain constant and the change in the angles may be made by changing the bend of reverse curve section  240 . At the preferred angles of 45° and 9.5° for angles a′ and b′, respectively, height  280  extends above bottom floor  170 . In addition, height  280  is greater than height  180 . 
   Within outlet  100 , contacts  2 ,  4 , and  6  are the same structure and thus, the description described as to contact  2  also applies to contacts  4  and  6 . 
     FIG. 6  is a cross sectional view of outlet  100  taken at contact  3 . Contact  3  includes a termination end  320  that exits rear  122  of housing  102  and a distal end  324  that is secured within housing  102  by placing distal end  324  under front lip  126  of housing  102 . Termination end  320  may be a solder tail, press-fit tail, etc. From termination end  320 , contact  3  bends from the horizontal direction to the vertical direction, which is approximately 90 degrees, to define a first leg  330 . Contact  3  then bends again at a bend section  332  and proceeds to a curve section  340 . A support  334  fanned within housing  102  supports first leg  330  and bend section  332 . In addition, an extension  336  extends from housing  102  to also support first leg  330 . 
   Alternatively, termination end  320  may extend from bottom  150  of housing  102 . In this embodiment, termination end  320  proceeds in a vertical direction along support  334  and then bends at bend section  332  to reverse curve section  340 . 
   Curve section  340  includes a convex portion  344 . Convex portion  344  includes a first slope  360  and a second slope  362 . First slope  360  may be defined by angle a″, which is formed from the horizontal direction. The horizontal direction is defined at bottom floor  170  of opening  104 . Angle a″, which is oriented from the rear of outlet  100 , may range up to and including an angle of 45°, with a preferable angle of 45°. In addition, a height  372  of convex portion  344  from bottom floor  170  may range from about 0.80 inches to about 1.07 inches, with a preferable height of approximately 0.83 inches. 
   It should be noted that a height  380  of support  334  maybe adjusted to accommodate the various angles. In addition, height  380  may remain constant and the change in the angles may be made by changing the bend of curve section  340 . At the preferred angle of 45° for angle a″, height  380  does not extend above bottom floor  170 . In addition, height  380  is less than both height  180  and  280 . 
   Within outlet  100 , contacts  3 ,  5 , and  7  are the same structure and thus, the description described as to contact  3  also applies to contacts  5  and  7 . 
   Contacts  1 - 9  having reverse curve or curve sections  140 ,  240 , and  340  allow outlet  100  to mate with both in-specification and out-of-specification plugs without damaging contacts  1 - 9 . 
     FIG. 7  depicts a cross sectional view of an in-specification, 8 position plug  500  being mated with outlet  100  at contact  1 . It should be noted that plug  500  has plug contacts  1 - 8  that align with all contacts  1 - 8  in outlet  100 , but that  FIG. 7  only shows plug contact  1  with contact  1  of outlet  100 . Plug  500  has a thickness  510  measured from a plug top  502  to a plug bottom  504  of 0.232 inches. Plug bottom  504  is also the contact surface for contact  1 . 
     FIG. 8  is a similar cross sectional view depicting plug  500  having a thickness  510  of 0.242 inches between plug top  502  and plug bottom  504 . The variation in the thickness between plug top  502  and plug bottom  504  may be due to crimp variations in terminating plug  500 . When plug  500  is assembled, either in the field or by a manufacturer, the plug contacts are crimpled in the plug housing to make electrical contact with wires in the plug. Different crimping tools and/or pressure will result in a variance in the distance between the plug top  502  and plug bottom  504 . 
     FIG. 9  is a cross sectional view depicting an out-of-specification plug  600 . Plug  600  includes a plug top  602  and a plug bottom  604 . Plug bottom  604  is also the contact surface for contact  1 . A thickness  610  between plug top  602  and plug bottom  604  is 0.254 inches, which is over the upper specification limit of 0.242 inches. This may be created by plug  600  being under-crimped. Plug  600  enters outlet  100  and plug bottom  604  rides over convex portion  144  and enters concave portion  142 . Once plug  600  crosses the peak of convex portion  144 , deflection of contact  1  is minimized because contact  1  curves away from plug bottom  604 . Reverse curve section  140  prevents deformation even when out-of-specification plugs are used. 
     FIG. 10  is a cross sectional view of outlet  100  depicting a 6 position plug  700  at contact  1  of outlet  100 . Plug  700  lacks plug contacts in positions  1  and  8  and a plug housing  706  comes into contact with contact  1 . A thickness  710  of plug housing  706  aligned with contact  1  may exceed the thickness for plug contacts and thus, the 6 position plug can deform conventional outlet contacts. 
   As shown in  FIG. 10 , as the plug  700  enters outlet  100 , plug housing  706  rides over convex portion  142  and enters concave portion  144 . Once plug  700  crosses the peak of convex portion  142 , deflection of contact  1  is minimized because contact  1  curves away from plug housing  706 . Reverse curve section  140  prevents deformation when 6 position plugs are used. 
   As stated above, within outlet  100 , contacts  1  and  8  are the same structure and thus, the description described as to contact  1  also applies to contact  8  with respect to plugs  500 ,  600 , and  700 . 
     FIG. 11  depicts a cross sectional view of plug  500  being mated with outlet  100  at contact  3 . As explained above, plug  500  has a thickness  510  measured from plug top  502  to plug bottom  504  of 0.232 inches. Plug bottom  504  physically contacts contact  3  as desired.  FIG. 12  illustrates plug  500  with a thickness  510  of 0.242 inches between plug top  502  and plug bottom  504 . Plug bottom  504  physically contacts contact  3 . 
     FIG. 13  is a cross sectional view of plug  600 . As explained above, plug  600  has a thickness  610  of 0.254 inches between plug top  602  and plug bottom  604 , which is over the upper specification limit of 0.242 inches. This may be created by the plug contact being under-crimped. 
   As shown in  FIG. 13 , as the plug  600  enters outlet  100 , plug bottom  604  travels along the length of contact  3 . As plug bottom  604  passes over convex portion  344 , plug bottom  604  deflects second slope  362  down towards a base  620 . Due to the angle between the first slope  360 , second slope  362 , and bend section  332 , second slope  362  becomes horizontal and plug bottom  604  rides along second slope  362 , which is now in the horizontal position. As plug  600  is inserted and second slope  362  deflects to the horizontal position, second slope  362  continues to remain horizontal and no further deflection of contact  3  occurs. This prevents contact  3  from being deformed by out-of-specification plugs. 
   As stated above, within outlet  100 , contacts  3 ,  5 , and  7  are the same structure and thus, the description described as to contact  3  also applies to contact  5  and  7  with respect to plugs  500  and  600 . 
   With respect to contacts  2 ,  4 , and  6 , convex portion  244  also deflects when plugs  500  and  600  are inserted into outlet  100 . Convex portion  244  deflects so that contacts  2 ,  4 , and  6  are not damaged when plugs  500  and  600  are inserted into outlet  100 . 
   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 departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the invention.