Abstract:
A jack for receiving and connecting with a compatible plug, the jack including a housing having a plug-receiving chamber therein, the housing having an orifice through which the plug is insertable into and removable from the chamber, and a pivotable prebiased door having a closed position generally disposed over the orifice when the plug is not disposed within the chamber and an open position not generally disposed over the orifice when the plug is disposed within the chamber, the door including a projecting portion for limiting the extent of insertion of the plug into the chamber.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The continuous demand for faster and higher quality signal transmission has led to connectors, such as those meeting Category 6 specifications, providing low crosstalk and high performance connectivity for electrical cabling. Such high performance demands augment the need to maintain a connection environment devoid of foreign debris that may directly interfere with electrical connections, or may indirectly diminish performance by eroding and degrading connective hardware over time.  
         [0002]     To inhibit the passage of foreign matter into or through a connector, some have tried using one or more protective shields disposed variously on or within the connector, particularly in fiber optic applications. Just as damage to an electrical contact or terminal may deteriorate the performance of an electrical connector, concern for the prospect of damage to a fiber end is justified because such damage can degrade the quality of the signal transmitted over the fiber optic connector. U.S. Pat. No. 6,004,043 discloses, for example, a shuttered fiber optic receptacle wherein an inclined planar shutter near the mouth of the receptacle helps protect against contamination while, due to its inclined state, avoiding the reflection of light back into the fiber optic core during mating. U.S. Pat. No. 6,154,597 discloses a fiber optic connector having a pair of doors cooperating to open and close a first receptacle end and a separate door to open and close a second receptacle end. U.S. Pat. No. 6,108,482 discloses a fiber optic connector receptacle having a one-piece shutter with a recessed area for protecting the end of fiber being inserted therein. As fiber ends are commonly pre-polished, such damage may particularly thwart an expensive effort to provide hardware capable of reliable, high-performance communication. Likewise with electrical contacts, especially in high-performance environments, contact with a door or bulkhead has the potential to bend or otherwise deform particular contacts, potentially threatening the ability of the contact to connect properly with a mating piece or potentially diminishing the performance characteristics of the terminal or others around it.  
         [0003]     In some prior connectors, the point of full insertion of the plug may be marked by the electrical contacts (or a fiber end) abruptly contacting a bulkhead, stop, or housing back wall that may damage the contact (or fiber end) and thereby degrade performance of the connector. Even an abrupt mating with other electrical contacts may cause undesirable effects. Thus, there is a need for a connector able to deter the passage of foreign debris into the connective environment while simultaneously preventing damage to the connective apparatus, such as extending terminals, throughout the insertion path of the inserted plug.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0004]     The jack includes a pivotable prebiased door that includes a projecting portion for limiting the extent of insertion of the plug into the chamber of the jack. In this manner, the welfare of the plug contacts is preserved, even at the point of full insertion, because the projections protect against the contacts impacting a bulkhead, stop, or housing back wall. In this manner, degraded performance of the connector is avoided. In addition to its regular application, such an advantage may be useful in a test jack, wherein many plugs (or fiber ends) would be inserted for testing and subsequently removed from the jack over a period of time, and these many plugs would thereby avoid potential damage to the contacts (or fiber ends) thanks to the overtravel-protecting projecting portion of the door.  
         [0005]     In one embodiment of the invention, there is provided a jack for receiving and connecting with a compatible plug, the jack including a housing having a plug-receiving chamber therein, the housing having an orifice through which the plug is insertable into and removable from the chamber, and a pivotable prebiased door having a closed position generally disposed over the orifice when the plug is not disposed within the chamber and an open position not generally disposed over the orifice when the plug is disposed within the chamber, the door including a projecting portion for limiting the extent of insertion of the plug into the chamber.  
         [0006]     In another embodiment of the invention, there is provided a method of assembling a jack for receiving and electrically connecting with a compatible plug, the method including the steps of providing an integrally formed housing having a pair of opposed top and bottom walls and a pair of opposed side walls extending between the top and bottom walls and having a forwardly facing orifice and rearwardly facing opening defined by the top, bottom, and side walls, providing a sled member having accessible electrical conductors proximate a forward end thereof for cooperatively engaging electrical conductors on the compatible plug when the plug is received in the jack, inserting at least the forward end of the sled member into the rearwardly facing opening proximate the bottom wall, providing a door having a pivot bar and a torsional spring mounted thereto, inserting the door into the housing through the rearwardly facing opening between the sled member and the top wall and into a position wherein the door may be biased by the spring to substantially cover the forwardly facing orifice, providing a rear bulkhead member, and inserting the rear bulkhead member into the rearwardly facing opening between the sled member and the top wall of the housing to, in conjunction with the sled member, substantially close the rearwardly facing opening of the housing.  
         [0007]     In yet another embodiment of the invention, there is provided a jack for receiving and connecting with a compatible plug, the plug including a depressible latch, the jack including a housing including a pair of opposed top and bottom walls, a pair of opposed side walls extending between the top and bottom walls, and a rear bulkhead, the top, bottom, side walls and the rear bulkhead substantially defining a chamber having a forwardly facing orifice through which the plug is insertable into and removable from the chamber, the rear bulkhead not being integrally formed with any of the top, bottom, and side walls, and a pivotable prebiased door having a torsional spring mounted thereto and having a closed position generally disposed over and flush with the orifice when the plug is not disposed within the chamber to substantially prevent foreign matter from entering the chamber and an open position not generally disposed over the orifice when the plug is disposed within the chamber, the door including a projecting portion for limiting the extent of insertion of the plug into the chamber and including structure for cooperatively engaging the latch for facilitating latching the plug into the chamber when the plug is inserted sufficiently far into the chamber and for facilitating unlatched removal of the plug from the chamber upon depression of the latch, and the housing including a protective member extending forwardly therefrom at least partially adjacent the orifice, the protective member extending forwardly beyond the projecting portion. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES  
       [0008]      FIG. 1  is a front, upper, right side perspective view of a jack in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;  
         [0009]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the intermatability and alignment between the jack of  FIG. 1  and a plug matable with the jack;  
         [0010]      FIG. 3  is an exploded front, upper, right side perspective view of the jack of  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0011]      FIG. 4  is a rear, upper, right side perspective view of a front portion of the jack of  FIG. 1  wherein the door and biasing mechanism are exploded therefrom for better viewing;  
         [0012]      FIG. 5  is a top plan view of the jack and plug of  FIG. 2 ;  
         [0013]      FIG. 6  is a right side elevational view of the jack and plug of  FIG. 5 , with a portion of the jack shown in cross-section as taken from the line  6 - 6  in  FIG. 5 , wherein the plug has not yet begun to enter the jack;  
         [0014]      FIG. 7  is a right side elevational partially sectioned view of the jack of  FIG. 6 , taken along the line  7 - 7  in  FIG. 6 , wherein the plug has begun to enter the jack;  
         [0015]      FIG. 8  is a right side elevational partially sectioned view of the jack of  FIG. 6 , taken along the line  7 - 7  in  FIG. 6 , wherein the plug is almost fully inserted into the jack;  
         [0016]      FIG. 9  is a front, upper, right side perspective view of an alternative embodiment of a jack in accordance with the invention, a portion of an uninserted compatible plug also being shown;  
         [0017]      FIG. 10  is a perspective view of the door of the jack of  FIG. 9  wherein the door has been removed from the plug so that it may be more easily viewed;  
         [0018]      FIG. 11  is a cross-sectional view of the jack and plug of  FIG. 9  taken through an extending portion of the door;  
         [0019]      FIG. 12  is a cross-sectional view akin to that of  FIG. 11  wherein the plug is partially inserted within the connector;  
         [0020]      FIG. 13  is a cross-sectional view akin to that of  FIG. 12  wherein the plug is fully inserted within the connector; and  
         [0021]      FIG. 14  is a cross-sectional view of the jack and fully inserted plug of  FIG. 13  wherein the section is taken through the latching mechanism.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0022]     A preferred embodiment and an alternate preferred embodiment of the inventive connector are shown in the figures and described herein below. In the preferred embodiment, the connector takes the form of a TX-style jack  10  that includes a housing  12  having a plug-receiving chamber therein for receiving a cooperatively engageable TX-style plug  50  and thereby connecting with the plug, as seen in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . The inventive connector could alternatively take the form of a different type of electrical connector, or even a fiber optic connector.  
         [0023]     In a preferred embodiment, the housing  12  includes a top wall  14 , a bottom wall  16 , and a pair of side walls  18  that cooperatively define a plug-receiving chamber  20  therebetween. Though the front of the housing  12  includes an orifice  22  for receiving the appropriately configured plug  50  therethrough, the front may also preferably include a partial front wall  24  that extends inwardly from one or more of the top, bottom and side walls. The rear of the housing  12  also has an opening  26 , as easily seen in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , so that a door  28  and sled  30  may be inserted therethrough and into the plug-receiving chamber  20 .  FIG. 2  shows the intermatability and alignment between the plug and jack. The plug  50  is a standard TX plug having a latch  52  thereon for releasably securing the plug within the jack when inserted therein. The latch  52  depressibly fits through a notch  32  coming off the orifice  22  in the partial front wall  24 .  
         [0024]      FIG. 3  explodedly shows the door  28  being disposable within the housing  12  in front of the sled  30  and bulkhead  35 . In this embodiment, the door  28  includes a torsional spring  34  for supplying bias thereto. As seen in  FIG. 4 , when the torsion spring is rotated around the shaft  29  of the door  28  in the direction of the arrow shown (clockwise when viewed from the right side of the jack) so that the door may be inserted into the rear opening  26  of the housing  12 , this applies pre-bias to the door  28  such that the door would be urged in a similar direction around the door shaft  29 . As seen in  FIG. 6 , the door is installed into the housing by pushing opposite ends  31  of the shaft  29  past the ramped shaft stops  33 . When the sled  30  is fully inserted, the sled preferably rests entirely below the door  28 , and the contacts on the sled preferably do not impede the ability of the door to rotate about its shaft  29  to abut, or nearly abut, the underside of the top wall  14  of the housing  12 .  
         [0025]     As seen in the sequence of  FIGS. 6-8 , that collectively depict the insertion of the plug into the jack, the front face  54  of the plug  50  or the front portion  56  of the latch  52  first contacts the door  28  that is pre-biased forwardly to substantially close the front orifice  22  of the housing  12 . The contact force rotates the door  28  (counterclockwise when seen from right side view of the figures) against the bias of the torsion spring  34  that is wrapped around the shaft  29  and flush, or nearly flush, against the underside of the top wall  14  of the housing  12 . Preferably, the plug and door are configured, depending upon whether and what type of electrical contacts, or even fiber optic fibers, are present, such that the electrical contacts (or fibers) are spared any of the contact force between the plug and door when the plug is being inserted. In the embodiment of  FIGS. 1-8 , for example, the electrical contacts of the plug would be near the bottom of the plug, while the contact with the door of the jack would occur in the upper portion of the front face  54  of the plug, or possibly on the front portion  56  of the latch. In this way, the signal transmission medium, i.e., the set of contacts, is spared contact forces that may deleteriously affect the quality of transmissions therethrough. Importantly, the door  28  includes forwardly extending projections  36 . In at least one embodiment considered to be within the scope of the invention, one or more of the projections  36  is/are the first portion(s) of the door contacted by the plug  50 . This is one means by which contact forces being applied to the transmission medium during plug insertion may be averted.  
         [0026]     As seen in  FIG. 8  particularly, where the plug  50  is almost fully inserted into the jack  10 , the extent of insertion is limited by at least one of the projections  36  on the door, with the projections contacting the plug in a manner so as to apply no contact forces to the signal transmission medium, i.e., the electrical contacts. In this manner, the transmission medium is protected both upon the plug initially engaging the door as it is first entering the jack (due to the recessed portion of the door) and upon full insertion into the jack. This protection at full insertion prevents the bulkhead  35  or other structure within the jack from applying contact forces to the signal transmission medium as the maximum extent of plug insertion is reached. Protection throughout the insertion process can be critical to the performance of the transmission medium. Overtravel stops extending forwardly from the front of the door are provided to achieve such protection. Additionally, the door itself inhibits the entry of foreign debris into the connector, so the door having overtravel stops prevents the connector from failing to achieve high performance in two ways.  
         [0027]     As shown in  FIGS. 9-14 , another preferred embodiment of the invention includes latch receiving structure on the door, rather than in the front upper portion of the housing. As seen in these figures, jack  110  includes a similarly biasable door  128  that also includes forwardly directed projections  136  on the front thereof. The projections function similarly to those of the previously described embodiment(s). As seen from these figures, the plug latch  152  includes a truncated portion  154  that latches into the latch-receiving portion  127  of the door  128  to releasably retain the plug within the jack  110 . Such an arrangement may provide space savings within the connector.  
         [0028]     It is easily observed that the invention described herein is not limited to the particular embodiment(s) described above and/or shown in the accompanying figures. Rather, it is anticipated that the inventive connector door having overtravel stops is applicable to many other connector designs. By way of examples, and not to be construed as limiting in any way, alternative embodiments might include connectors other than a TX jack, such as a mini-jack style electrical connector, or a fiber optic connector, connectors having any shape, connectors that are test jacks wherein the anticipated use is for testing the insertable plug/fiber rather than providing long-term connection, connectors having overtravel stops disposed in other places on the door wherein they are still cooperative with the structure of the plug to function as overtravel stops, connectors configured for receiving unlatched plugs instead of, or in addition to, latched plugs, and connectors wherein the door is biased by means other than a torsion spring. The scope of the invention is defined by the following claims.