Abstract:
A telecommunication connector includes a housing, a circuit board mounted in the housing and holding a set of communication terminals and a set of connection terminals, the connection terminals being obliquely aligned at the circuit board in a staggered manner, reducing cross-talk, a wire block mounted on the circuit board to a communication line in connection to the connection terminals, the wire block having a guide plate in the wire hole thereof and connected between two locating walls and sloping forwardly downwards form a guide space for guiding the bare wires of the communication line into respective terminal grooves at an equal distance to ensure stable communication quality, and two movable covers pivoted to the housing and adapted to hold down the wire block and to protect the circuit board and the connection terminals against external dust.

Description:
BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to electrical connectors for use in a telecommunication network in which the wire block has a guide plate in the wire hole for guiding the bare wires of the communication cable into position for quick connection to the respective connection terminals without the use of a tool; movable covers are provided to hold down the wire block and to protect the circuit board and the connection terminals against external dust; the connection terminals are obliquely aligned at the circuit board in a staggered manner, increasing area of electric magnetic interaction between two terminals of a signal pair, while reducing the space between each signal pair to prevent reduce cross-talk. 
     A conventional network jack, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, comprises a housing  91 , a circuit board  92 , two terminal holders  93 , a communication line  94 , and two top caps  95 . The 8 core wires  941  of the communication line  94  are respectively inserted into respective terminal slots  931  in the terminal holders  93 , and crimped to respective terminals in the terminal slots  931  by a crimping tool. This design of network jack has numerous drawbacks as follows: 
     1. It is complicated and takes much time to crimp the core wires  941  of the communication line  94  to the respective terminals in the terminal slots  931  with a crimping tool. 
     2. After installation of the top caps  95  in the terminal holders  93 , bottom side notches  951  of the top caps  95  are in communication with the terminal slots  931 . Therefore, the top caps  95  cannot protect the terminals in the terminal slots  931  against outside dust. 
     3. After installation of the communication line  94 , the core wires  941  respectively extend to the terminals in the terminal slots  931  at different distances, thereby affecting the communication quality. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 6,157,542 discloses an electric jack issued to the present inventor. This structure of electric jack is functional; however it still has minor drawbacks. It is inconvenient to connect the electric wires of the cable to the forked terminals at the terminal holder. The cross-talk prevention and dust protection of this design of electric jack is still not perfect. Further, because the holding-down caps are respectively pivoted to the terminal holder, they must be respectively turned to the locking position after installation of the cable in the terminal holder. 
     Therefore, it is desirable to provide a network jack that eliminates the aforesaid drawbacks. 
     The present invention has been accomplished under the circumstances in view. According to one aspect of the present invention, the telecommunication connector is comprised of a housing having a rear extension board, a circuit board carrying a set of communication terminals and a set of connection terminals, a wire block mounted on the circuit board to hold bare wires of a twisted pair 8-wire communication line in contact with the connection terminals respectively, and two movable covers respectively pivoted to the rear extension board of the housing and adapted to hold down the wire block at the circuit board. The bare wires of the twisted pair 8-wire communication line are inserted into a wire hole of the terminal block, keeping bare wires extended out of guide space at a distance and also keeping the front edge of the outer insulative covering of the communication cable stopped against the front sides of two locating walls of the wire block; thus the two bare wires of each twisted pair can easily be separated and respectively inserted into respective terminal grooves in the wire block. 
     According to another aspect of the present invention, the bare wires have approximately the same length when installed in the wire block and fastened to the respective connection terminals; therefore a high stability of communication quality is maintained. 
     According to still another aspect of the present invention, when the movable covers are closed, the pressure blocks impart a downward pressure to the wire block, thereby causing the bare wires to be respectively positively maintained in contact with the connection terminals. Therefore, the installation procedure is simple and labor-saving, without the use of any hand tools. 
     According to still another aspect of the present invention, the movable covers hold down the wire block and the communication line positively in position against vibration; the side walls, top walls and back walls of the movable covers well protect the rear extension board, the circuit board and the wire block against external dust. 
     According to still another aspect of the present invention, the wire block has a handle at the back side through which the user can hold the wire block with the hand conveniently during installation, and a wire clamp can be fastened to the handle and the communication line to secure the communication line to the wire block firmly in position. 
     According to still another aspect of the present invention, the connection terminals are obliquely aligned at the circuit board in a staggered manner, increasing area of electric magnetic interaction between two terminals of a signal pair, while reducing the space between each signal pair to prevent reduce cross-talk. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a network jack according to the prior art. 
     FIG. 2 is an elevational assembly view of the network jack shown in FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 3 is an exploded view of a network jack according to the present invention. 
     FIG. 4 is an exploded view of a part of the present invention showing the movable covers respectively pivoted to housing and the communication wire fastened to the wire block. 
     FIG. 5 is an elevational view of the network jack according to the present invention. 
     FIG. 6 is another elevational view of the network jack according to the present invention when viewed from another angle. 
     FIG. 7 is a sectional assembly view of the network jack according to the present invention. 
     FIG. 8 is an exploded view of the wire block and the communication line according to the present invention. 
     FIG. 9 is an elevational view showing the bare wires of the communication line inserted through the wire hole in the wire block and extended out of the wire block at a distance. 
     FIG. 10 is similar to FIG. 9 but showing the bare wires respectively inserted into the respective wire grooves before cutting. 
     FIG. 11 is similar to FIG. 10 but showing the bare wires properly cut. 
     FIG. 12 is a top plain view in an enlarged scale of FIG.  11 . 
     FIG. 13 is an oblique bottom elevation of the housing according to the present invention. 
     FIG. 14 is a rear plain view of the housing according to the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring to FIGS.  3 ˜ 14 , a network jack in accordance with the present invention is shown comprising an electrically insulative housing  1 , a circuit board  2 , and a wire block  3 . 
     The housing  1  has a front receiving hole  11  in the front side, a top locating block  12  at the top side above the front receiving hole  11 , a plurality of bottom spring hooks  13  at the bottom side, and a rear extension board  14  backwardly extended at the back side below the elevation of the front receiving hole  11 . 
     The circuit board  2  is mounted in the housing  1 , having a plurality of communication terminals  80  arranged at a front part thereof and suspended in the front receiving hole  11  of the housing  1 , and a plurality of connection terminals  7  ( 71 , 72 , 73 , 74 ) soldered to a rear part thereof. 
     The wire block  3  has two locating walls  32 . The locating walls  32  each comprise a plurality of partition plates  323 , 324  defining a plurality of downwardly extended slots  322  and a plurality of terminal grooves  321  in communication with the slots  322 . The wire block  3  is mounted on the top side of the rear part of the circuit board  2 , keeping the connection terminals  71 , 72 , 73 , 74  respectively inserted into the terminal grooves  321 . 
     The main features of the present invention are outlined hereinafter. The wire block  3  comprises a wire hole  31  defined between the two locating walls  32  (see FIGS.  7  and  8 ), a guide plate  311  connected between the locating walls  32  and sloping forwardly downwards and separating the wire hole  31  into a front guide space  3111  and a rear guide space  3112 . The bare wires  41 , 41 ′ of a twisted pair 8-wire communication line  4  are inserted into the wire hole  31  of the wire block  3 , keeping four bare wires  41 ′ extended out of the front guide space  3111  at a distance and the other four bare wires  41  extended out of the rear guide space  3112  at a distance (see FIG. 9) and also keeping the front edge  40  of the outer insulative covering of the communication line  4  stopped against the front sides of the locating walls  32 . By means of the support of the adjacent partition plate  323 , the two bare wires  41 . 41 ′ of each twisted pair are easily separated and respectively inserted into the adjacent terminal grooves  321  (see FIG.  10 ), and then the part of the bare wires  41 , 41 ′ that projected out of the respective terminal grooves  321  is cut off (see FIGS.  11  and  12 ), Thus, the bare wires  41 , 41 ′ and wire block  3  mounting procedure is done. Further, because the bare wires  41 , 41 ′ are respectively obliquely guided out of the wire hole  31  along the guide plate  311 , they are kept close to the respective wire grooves  321  for quick installation. When installed, the bare wires  41 , 41 ′ have approximately the same length, assuring high stability of communication quality. 
     Further, the connection terminals  71 , 72 , 73 , 74  are obliquely aligned at the circuit board  2  in a staggered manner, increasing the space between each two adjacent connection terminals to prevent the interference of cross-talk. 
     The rear extension board  14  of the aforesaid housing  1  comprises two pairs of pivot holes  141  symmetrically bilaterally disposed at the bottom side for the mounting of two movable covers  5 , 6  (see FIG.  3 ). The movable covers  5 , 6  each comprise a side wall  51  or  61 , two pivot rods  511  or  611  provided at the bottom side of the side wall  51  or  61  and aimed at each other, a top wall  52  or  62 , a pressure block  521  or  621  integral with the bottom surface of the top wall  52  or  62 . The pivot rods  511 , 611  of the movable covers  5 , 6  are respectively pivoted to the pivot holes  141  of the rear extension board  14  of the housing  1  (see FIG.  4 ). After installation of the wire block  3  in the circuit board  2 , the movable covers  5 , 6  are respectively turned inwards toward each other and covered on the wire block  3 , keeping the pressure blocks  521 , 621  pressed on the wire block  3  to hold down the bare wires  41 , 41 ′ at the connection terminals  7 . 
     The movable covers  5 , 6  each further comprise a retaining hole  522  or  622  and a retaining block  523  or  623  at the top wall  52  or  62 , an opening  524  or  624  at the top wall  52  or  62  corresponding to the pressure block  521  or  621 , and a back wall  53  or  63  extended from the side wall  51  or  61  at one side. When the movable covers  5 , 6  covered on the wire block  3 , the retaining hole  522  and retaining block  523  of one movable cover  5  are respectively forced into engagement with the retaining block  623  and retaining hole  622  of the other movable cover  6 . Due to the presence of the opening  524  or  624  at the top wall  52  or  62  of the movable cover  5  or  6 , the pressure block  521  or  621  is slightly springy. When the movable covers  5 , 6  closed on the wire block  3 , the back walls  53 , 63  of the movable covers  5 , 6  cover the rear side of the housing  1  and the rear side of the circuit board  2 . 
     The rear extension board  14  of the housing  1  has a locating hole  140 . A clamping member  8  is provided having a bottom hook  811  hooked in the locating hole  140  of the rear extension board  14 , a lower retaining hole  812 , which receives the rear side of the rear extension board  14 , and an upper retaining hole  813 , which receives the middle part  20  of the rear side of the circuit board  2 . 
     The wire block  3  has a handle  30  integral with the rear side for the holding of the hand during installation of the wire block  3 . After installation, a wire clamp (not shown) may be fastened to the handle  30  to secure the communication line  4  in place. 
     As indicated above, the invention provides a network jack, which has the following advantages: 
     1. The bare wires  41 , 41 ′ of the 8-wire communication line  4  are inserted into the wire hole  31  of the terminal block  3 , keeping four bare wires  41 ′ extended out of the front guide space  3111  at a distance and the other four bare wires  41  extended out of the rear guide space  3112  at a distance and also keeping the front edge  40  of the outer insulative covering of the communication line  4  stopped against the front sides of the locating walls  32 ; thus the two bare wires  41 . 41 ′ of each twisted pair can easily be separated and respectively inserted into the adjacent terminal grooves  321  (see FIG.  10 ), and the bare wires  41 , 41 ′ and wire block  3  mounting procedure is done after the part of the bare wires  41 , 41 ′ that projected out of the respective terminal grooves  321  was cut off (see FIGS.  11  and  12 ). Therefore, the installation of the present invention is simple and time saving. 
     2. Because the bare wires  41 , 41 ′ have approximately the same length when installed in the wire block  3  and fastened to the respective connection terminals  7 , a high stability of communication quality is maintained. 
     3. When the movable covers  5 , 6  are closed, the pressure blocks  521 , 621  impart a downward pressure to the wire block  3 , thereby causing the bare wires  41 , 41 ′ to be respectively positively maintained in contact with the connection terminals  7 . Therefore, the installation procedure is simple and labor-saving, without the use of any hand tools. 
     4. The movable covers  5 , 6  hold down the wire block  3  and the communication line  4  positively in position against vibration; the side walls  51 , 61 , top walls  52 , 62  and back walls  53 , 63  of the movable covers  5 , 6  well protect the rear extension board  14 , the circuit board  2  and the wire block  3  against external dust. 
     5. The handle  30  of the wire block  3  allows the user to hold the wire block  3  with the hand conveniently during installation, and a wire clamp can be fastened to the handle  30  and the communication line  4  to secure the communication line  4  to the wire block  3  firmly in position. 
     6. The connection terminals  71 , 72 , 73 , 74  are obliquely aligned at the circuit board  2  in a staggered manner, increasing the space between each two adjacent connection terminals to prevent the interference of cross-talk. 
     Although a particular embodiment of the invention has been described in detail for purposes of illustration, various modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be limited except as by the appended claims.