Patent Publication Number: US-2001000248-A1

Title: Modular jack receptacle including a removable interface

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION  
     1. This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/339,360, filed on Jun. 23, 1999, now allowed.  
    
    
     
       FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       2. The present invention relates to modular jack receptacles and, more particularly, to a modular jack receptacle including a removable interface that obviates the need to hard-wire test and diagnostic equipment in-line with the modular jack, and that provides greater flexibility in the placement and upgrade of electronic equipment placed in-line with the modular jack.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       3. When providing voice and/or data service from a Central Office (CO) to Customer Premise Equipment (CPE), a building entrance protector (BEP) having a plurality of modular jacks may be provided at the CPE and serves as the point of demarcation between the service provider and customer premise location. Equipment (including wiring) located on the customer side of the BEP is the customer&#39;s responsibility, and equipment (including wiring) located on the CO side of the BEP is the service provider&#39;s responsibility.  
       4. A modular jack is typically provided for each communication line from the service provider, and each line may also include an electronic device such as, for example, a maintenance test unit (MTU) or a half-ringer, hard-wired at the BEP in the line and in series with the modular jack. To diagnose a problem on a particular line from the CO to the customer premise location, the service provider can execute diagnostic tests remotely (i.e., from the CO) to activate the in-line electronics device. With this hard-wired configuration, only a single type of electronic device may be provided in each line from the CO. Moreover, replacement and/or upgrade of an existing in-line electronic device requires that the existing device be severed from the line and a new device be hard-wired in its place. This process can be both time-consuming and expensive.  
       5. It is thus desirable to provide a means for inserting and removing an electronic device from a communication line that overcomes the above-described shortcomings of the prior art.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       6. The present invention is directed to a modular jack receptacle that includes a plurality of removable interfaces that provide for interconnection between and among the plurality of interfaces and a modular jack held by the receptacle.  
       7. In a preferred embodiment, the present invention is directed to a modular jack receptacle adapted to accept and hold a modular jack that includes a terminal. The modular jack receptacle comprises a housing having an aperture for accepting the modular jack. A first interface provided in the housing includes a first connector for making an electronic connection to the modular jack terminal when the modular jack is held within the receptacle. A second interface is provided in the housing and includes a second connector for making an electronic connection to the first connector when the second interface is placed within the housing, thus establishing an electronic connection between the modular jack and the second interface.  
       8. The present invention is also directed to a system for evaluating a communication line provided between a central office (CO) and a customer premise location. The CO may include communications equipment for communicating a signal from the CO to the customer premise location over the communications line, and the system comprises a modular jack receptacle adapted to accept and hold a modular jack that includes a terminal. The modular jack receptacle is located at the customer premise location and connected to the communication line. The receptacle comprises a housing having an aperture for accepting the modular jack and a first interface provided in the housing and including a first connector for making an electronic connection to the modular jack terminal when the modular jack is held within the modular jack receptacle. A second interface is provided that is removably placeable in the housing and includes a second connector for making an electronic connection to the first connector when the second interface is placed within the housing. The second interface further comprises electronic circuits, devices, connectors, etc. adapted for receiving the signal communicated from the CO and for communicating a return signal to the CO in response to the received signal.  
       9. Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawing figures. It is to be understood, however, that the drawings, which are not to scale, are designed solely for the purpose of illustration and not as a definition of the limits of the invention, for which reference should be made to the appended claims.  
     
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
     10. In the drawing figures, which are not to scale, and which are merely illustrative, and wherein like reference characters denote similar elements throughout the several views:  
     11.FIG. 1 is a front view of a modular jack receptacle constructed in accordance with the present invention;  
     12.FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the modular jack receptacle of FIG. 1 taken along the line  2 — 2 ;  
     13.FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the modular jack receptacle of FIG. 1 taken along the line  3 — 3 ;  
     14.FIG. 4 is a top view of a first interface that includes two terminals for connection to a modular jack;  
     15.FIG. 5 is a side-view of the interface of FIG. 4;  
     16.FIG. 6 is a top view of a second interface that is removably placeable in the housing of the modular jack receptacle of the present invention and that includes two terminals for connection to the first interface;  
     17.FIG. 7 is a side-view of the interface of FIG. 6; and  
     18.FIG. 8 is a schematic view of a communications network including a Central Office and a customer premise location having a BEP equipped with a modular jack receptacle constructed in accordance with the present invention.  
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENTLY PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
     19. The present invention is directed to a modular jack receptacle that includes a plurality of removable interfaces that provide for interconnection between and among the plurality of interfaces and a modular jack held by the receptacle. Each of the removable interfaces include two terminals mounted on a printed wiring board (PWB) and each connected to a circuit trace. Each interface may also include, as a routine matter of design choice, electronic devices, circuits, connectors, etc., to provide for additional functionality of the interface. The modular jack receptacle of the present invention provides increased flexibility in diagnostic and test capability for a particular communication line from a CO to a customer premise location and simplified replacement of electronic devices installed in series with a communication line (e.g., diagnostic devices (MTUs, half-ringers, etc.)).  
     20. Referring now to the drawings in detail, a modular jack receptacle  10  constructed in accordance with the present invention is depicted in FIG. 1. The receptacle  10  may be provided as part of a building entrance protector (BEP)  122  (see, e.g., FIG. 8) or at virtually any point in a communications network (voice, data, voice/data, etc.)  130  (see, e.g., FIG. 8) in which a modular jack and receptacle are provided. Thus, the detailed description provided herein and directed primarily to a communication link between a service provider (i.e., a Central Office (CO)) and a customer (i.e., Customer Premise Equipment (CPE)) is provided as an illustrative, non-limiting example. The modular jack receptacle of the present invention may be used in place of any modular jack receptacle, regardless of the size of the modular jack (e.g., RJ11, RJ45, etc.) or the type of communications network to provide the ability to tap into a link in the network without having to sever or otherwise disrupt the link.  
     21. The receptacle  10  depicted in FIG. 1 includes a housing  20  having an aperture  22  defined therein that is sized and shaped to accept and hold a modular jack  80  (see, e.g., FIG. 2) in place in the receptacle  10 . The modular jack  80  includes a plurality of terminals  82 , one of which is depicted in FIG. 2. Each jack terminal  82  contacts a receptacle terminal  42  when the modular jack  80  is held in place in the housing  20 . A pliable retainer  12  and a rigid retainer  14  may be provided with the housing  20  to releasably secure the housing  20  in place in the BEP  122  or other device or equipment.  
     22. Referring next to FIGS. 2 and 3, in which the modular jack receptacle  10  of the present invention is depicted in cross-section, a plurality of interfaces  40 ,  50 ,  60  are held in separate channels or guides  24  defined in the housing  20 . Each interface  40 ,  50 ,  60  comprises a printed wiring board (PWB)  41 ,  51 ,  61  and may include electronics  46 ,  56 ,  66  to provide a predetermined functionality for an interface  40 ,  50 ,  60 . For example, an interface may include electronics that provide the functionality of a maintenance test unit (MTU), a half-ringer, or virtually any other known or hereafter developed circuit, depending upon the desired functionality of the interface. Each interface  40 ,  50 ,  60  may also include an external connector  70  to provide an electronic path between the interface  40 ,  50 ,  60  and an external device, circuit, system, etc. The interfaces  40 ,  50 ,  60  are preferably selectively removable from the housing  20 , although interface  40  may not be removable, as a routine matter of design choice.  
     23. A retainer  16  separately secures each interface  40 ,  50 ,  60  within the housing  20  and may comprise virtually any complementary features that would releasably secure the interfaces  40 ,  50 ,  60  in place. In a preferred embodiment, the retainer  16  comprises a protuberance  26  defined in each guide  24  and a detent  48  sized and shaped to accommodate the protuberance  26  and defined in each PWB  41 ,  51 ,  61 .  
     24. A first interface  40 , depicted in FIGS. 2, 4 and  5 , includes two terminals  42  connected to two separate circuit traces  44  defined on the PWB  41 . The terminals  42  are positioned on the PWB  41  so that when a modular jack  80  is inserted into the housing  20  and the first interface  40  is in place within the housing  20 , the modular jack terminals  82  separately contact the interface terminals  42 . The circuit traces  44  of the first interface  40  are positioned on the PWB  41  so that when a second interface  50  is provided (see, e.g., FIG. 2), the interface terminals  52  of the second interface  50  contact the circuit traces  44  of the first interface  40 . In this way, an electronic connection may be established between the modular jack terminals  82  and the second interface  50  (via the first interface  40 ). Similarly, the circuit traces  54  provided on the second interface  50  are positioned so that when a third interface  60  is provided (see, e.g., FIG. 2), the interface terminals  62  of the third interface  60  contact the circuit traces  54  of the second interface  50 . Thus, an electrical connection may be established between the modular jack terminals  82  and the third interface  60  (via the first and second interfaces  40 ,  50 ). If desired, an external connector  70  may be provided on any of the interfaces to facilitate connection between the respective interface and an external device, circuit, system, etc. In addition, electronics  46 ,  56 ,  66  may be provided on any of the interfaces  40 ,  50 ,  60 , as a routine matter of design choice to provide a desired functionality for the interface.  
     25. The first interface  40  also eliminates the need for a so-called  645  insert, which is necessarily now provided with modular jack receptacles.  
     26. Although the figures and description provided herein are directed to a modular jack receptacle having three removable interfaces, more or less interfaces are also contemplated by the present invention.  
     27. Any of the second and third interfaces  50 ,  60  may be removed without affecting the communication line  90  (see, e.g., FIG. 8). Thus, an interface may be replaced for whatever reason without having to sever the communications line and insert a new interface.  
     28. Referring next to FIG. 8, a communications network  130  is schematically depicted and includes a central office (CO)  110  having installed therein communications equipment  112  that may include, by way of non-limiting example, a voice switch, a data switch, test/diagnostic equipment, computers, and various other electronic hardware and software devices and systems generally known in the art. A communication line  90  extends from the CO  110  to a customer premise location  120  that includes a building entrance protector (BEP)  122  having a modular jack receptacle  10  constructed in accordance with the present invention and connected between the communication line  90  and customer premise equipment (CPE)  124 . The receptacle  10  includes a plurality of interfaces  40 ,  50 ,  60  that provide various interconnection and test/diagnostic functionality, or other functionality, as desired. The communications equipment  112  may communicate with the customer premise equipment  124  and may, for example, initiate and control and electronics provided on any of the interfaces  40 ,  50 ,  60  to diagnose the communications line  90 . The interfaces  40 ,  50 ,  60  may include electronic circuits, devices, connectors, firmware, etc. adapted to receive a signal communicated from the communications equipment  112  and the communicate a signal to the CO  110  in response to the received signal. The signal communicated by the interface electronics  46 ,  56 ,  66  may indicate, for example, the condition of the communication line  90 , e.g., open circuit, short circuit, over-current, etc. The interface electronics  46 ,  56 ,  66  may comprise, by way of non-limiting example a maintenance test unit, a half-ringer, or other know electronics devices.  
     29. Thus, while there have been shown and described and pointed out fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood that various omissions and substitutions and changes in the form and details of the disclosed invention may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is the intention, therefore, to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the claims appended hereto.