Abstract:
A connector assembly including at least one connector coupled to a connector housing and, at least one trough disposed on two opposing sides of the housing, such that a wire coupled to the at least one connector passes through both troughs. The troughs operate to reduce the strain on the wire by shifting forces on the wire away from a wire wrap section where the wire is coupled to the at least one connector.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a connector assembly, and in particular, a connector assembly which reduces strain on wires coupled to the connector assembly. 
     DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART 
     There are various devices which exist for protecting electrical circuits from excessive voltages and/or currents. One such device for use with telecommunications systems is known in the field as an “building entrance protector”, for example of the type produced by Lucent Technologies, Inc., of Murray Hill, N.J. Building entrance protectors typically couple the internal telecommunications lines (e.g. phone lines) of a building or other structure to the external telecommunications lines of a telecommunications provider. The building entrance protector shields the internal telecommunications lines from overvoltage and overcurrent conditions by shunting any excess voltage or current present on the external lines away from the internal lines. 
     FIG. 1 shows a side elevation view of a conventional building entrance protector  10 . The building entrance protector  10  includes a housing  15  which is movable about joints  16 ,  17 . Joint  17  defines upper  18  and lower  19  portions of the housing  15 . The upper portion  18  of the housing  15  includes a plurality of output pins  20 , each of which are coupled to a separate wire (e.g. wire  21 ) at a lower end  25  of the pins. The output pins  20  are all coupled to a connector assembly  27  which holds and retains the output pins. An upper end  26  of each output pin  20  is coupled to an internal telecommunications line (not shown) as explained in detail below. The wire or wires (e.g. wire  21 ) are bunched together into a wire bunch  22  and fed to the lower portion  19  of the housing  15  where each wire of the bunch is coupled to a lower end  35  of one of a respective plurality of input pins  30  by wire wrap. A plurality of plug-in protection devices  40  are coupled to an upper end  36  of the input pins  30 . The plug-in protection devices  40  may be of a type described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,796,150 to Dickey et al., which is expressly incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. The protection devices  40  protect the input pins  30  from overvoltage and overcurrent conditions. External telecommunications lines (not shown) are coupled to the protection devices  40 , and consequently input pins  30 , as explained below. 
     In operation, internal telecommunications lines (not shown) of a building or other structure are coupled to the plurality of output pins  20 , and the external telecommunications lines (not shown) of a telecommunications service provider are coupled to the plurality of input pins  30  through protection devices  40 . During normal operation, telecommunications signals pass between the input pins  30  and output pins  20  without interruption. However, if an overvoltage or overcurrent condition is presented on one of the external lines, the excess voltage or current is shunted away from the input pins  30  by protection devices  40 . 
     FIGS.  2 ( a )- 2 ( c ) show top, front and side elevation views, respectively, of the connector assembly  27 . The connector assembly  27  is substantially rectangular and includes a plurality of output pins  20  coupled to an upper side  28  thereof. Each output pin  20  includes an upper  26  and lower  25  end. The upper end  26  of each output pin  20  includes a fastener (e.g. screw) for coupling to an internal telecommunications line as described above. The lower end  25  of each output pin  25  is coupled to a separate wire (e.g. wire  21 ) by a wire wrap. As described above, the wire or wires (e.g. wire  21 ) are gathered together into a wire bunch  22  and led to the bottom portion  19  of the housing  15 . 
     A problem associated with the above-described building entrance protector  10  is that the wire(s) (e.g. wire  21 ) often experience strains due to, for example, the opening and closing of the housing about joint  17 . More particularly, as the building entrance protector  10  is opened and closed about joint  17 , the wire(s) of the bunch  22  are often pulled away from the lower end  25  of the respective output pins  20  due to the force exerted on the end of the wire(s) closest to the joint  17  by the opening and closing of the building entrance protector. The strain on the wire(s) caused by this force often causes the wire(s) to become separated from the lower end  25  of output pins  20  at the point where the wire wrap is the weakest. The separation of the wire(s) from the lower end  25  of the output pins  20  breaks the connection between the input  30  and output  20  pins, and results in malfunctions of the building entrance protector  10 . 
     Thus, there is currently a need for an improved building entrance protector which prevents the guillotine of wires. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is a connector assembly including at least one connector coupled to a connector housing; and, at least one trough disposed on two opposing sides of the housing, wherein a wire coupled to the at least one connector passes through both troughs. 
     The above and other advantages and features of the present invention will be better understood from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention which is provided in connection with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of a conventional building entrance protector. 
     FIG.  2 ( a ) is a top plan view of a conventional connector assembly of the building entrance protector shown in FIG.  1 . 
     FIG.  2 ( b ) is a front elevation view of the conventional connector assembly shown in FIG.  2 ( a ). 
     FIG.  2 ( c ) is a side elevation view of the conventional connector assembly shown in FIG.  2 ( a ). 
     FIG.  3 ( a ) is a top plan view of a connector assembly according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
     FIG.  3 ( b ) is a front elevation view of the connector assembly shown in FIG.  3 ( a ). 
     FIG.  3 ( c ) is a side elevation view of the connector assembly shown in FIG.  3 ( a ). 
     FIG. 4 is a magnified view of the side elevation view shown in FIG.  3 ( c ). 
     FIG. 5 is a magnified view of one of the troughs of the connector assembly shown in FIG.  3 ( a ). 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     FIGS.  3 ( a )- 3 ( c ) and  4 , show top, front and side elevation views, respectively, of a connector assembly  100  according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Preferably, the connector assembly  100  is utilized in a building entrance protector device, such as the one shown in FIG. 1, however, the connector assembly  100  may be used in any application which couples one or a plurality of terminals to each another. The connector assembly  100  may be substantially rectangular, and preferably includes a plurality of output pins  120  coupled to an upper side  128  thereof. Each output pin  120  includes an upper  126  and lower  125  end. The upper end  126  of each output pin  120  includes a fastener (e.g. screw) for coupling to an internal telecommunications line (not shown). The lower end  125  of each output pin  120  is coupled to a separate wire (e.g. wire  121 , shown in FIG. 5) by a wire wrap. The wire or wires (e.g. wire  121 ) of the output pins  120  are gathered together into a wire bunch  122  (shown in FIG. 5) for coupling to a plurality of input pins (e.g. pins  30  in FIG.  1 ). 
     The connector assembly  100  also includes a fist plurality of troughs  200  disposed along a front wall  101  of the connector assembly, and a second plurality of troughs  210  disposed along a rear wall  102  of the connector assembly. The particular structure of the troughs  200  is explained below with reference to FIG.  5 . The troughs  200 ,  210  guide the wire(s) (e.g. wire  121 ) of the output pins  120  in order to reduce strain on the wire wrap connections disposed at the lower ends  125  of the output pins. It is noted that the output pins  120  are arranged in parallel rows  129  extending from the front wall  101  of the connector assembly  100  to a rear wall  102  of the connector assembly between one pair of troughs  200 ,  210 . Although only the rows  129  on the edges of the connector assembly  100  are shown in FIG.  3 ( a ), it should be understood that the exemplary connector assembly  100  includes ten (10) such rows, for a total of one hundred (100) output pins  120 . In the exemplary embodiment, each pair of troughs  200 ,  210  guides ten (10) wires (i.e. one wire for each of the output pins  120  disposed between each pair of troughs). Any number of output pins  120  may be included in each row  129 , and the size of each trough may be adjusted to accommodate any desired number of wires. 
     As shown in FIG. 4, the wire(s) (e.g. wire  121 ) are led from each respective output pin  120  up through the first plurality of troughs  200  from the bottom, and then around a front face of the troughs. The wire(s) are then led along the bottom of the connector assembly  100  to the second plurality of troughs  210 . The wire(s) are led up through the second plurality of troughs  210  from the bottom and away towards a plurality of input pins (e.g. input pins  30  of building entrance protector  10  shown in FIG.  1 ). 
     Thus, with the connector assembly  100  described above, forces exerted on the wire(s) (e.g. wire  121 ) by, for example, the opening and closing of the building entrance protector, do not produce substantial strains on the wire wrap connections disposed at the lower ends  125  of the output pins  120 . This is because the strains are “absorbed” by the troughs  200 ,  210 . In other words, the weaving of the wire(s) through the troughs  200 ,  210  places most of the strains (resulting from forces on the wire) on the troughs, and not on the wire wraps. Accordingly, the connector assembly  100  according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention substantially reduces wire strain and prevents the wire(s) from becoming separated from the output pins  120 . 
     FIG. 5 shows a magnified view of one of the second plurality of troughs  210  of the connector assembly  100 . The trough  210  includes a first member  211  which is substantially orthogonal to the rear wall  102  of the connector assembly. The first member  211  also includes an upper surface  212  which is preferably angled to allow easy insertion of a wire or wires (e.g. wire  121 ). However, it should be noted that the upper surface  212  may be of any suitable shape. The trough  210  also includes a second member  215  which is substantially “r”-shaped with a portion  216  which is orthogonal to the rear wall  102  of the connector assembly  100  and a portion  217  which is substantially parallel to the rear wall  102 . A surface  218  of the portion  217  is preferably curved for cradling the wire(s) (e.g. wire  121 ). As explained above with reference to FIG. 4, the wire(s) (e.g. wire  121 ) come up from underneath the trough  210  as indicated by the dots in the center of the wire(s) (indicating that the wire comes out of the page). The wire(s) are then led over the portion  217  of the second member  215  and back into the page as indicated by the “x” in the center of the wire(s). From there the wire(s) are led to a plurality of input pins (e.g. input pins  30  of building entrance protector  10  shown in FIG.  1 ), as discussed above. 
     Although the connector assembly  100  described above uses troughs to provide strain relief to wires coupled to a plurality of output pins  120 , the connector assembly may alternatively provide strain relief to a plurality of input pins (such as input pins  30 , FIG.  1 ). Further, although the connector assembly  100  is discussed above as including wire wrap connections for coupling the pins (e.g. pins  120 ) to respective wires (e.g. wire  121 ), the wires may be coupled to the pins by any other means know to those skilled in the art (e.g. solder). Additionally, although the above description discusses separate wires (e.g. wire  121 ) coupling each of the output pins  120  to a each of the input pins  130 , the plurality of output pins may alternatively be coupled to the plurality of input pins by a single ribbon-wire connector. 
     Although the exemplary input terminals are of the pin type  120 , other types of input connectors may be used, such as for example, a mini-rocker connector manufactured by the Egerton Company of Cheshire, England or a barrel type connector manufactured by the 3M Corporation of St. Paul, Minn. 
     Although the invention has been described in terms of exemplary embodiments, it is not limited thereto. Rather, the appended claims should be construed broadly, to include other variants and embodiments of the invention which may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and range of equivalents of the invention.