Universal connector assembly and method of manufacturing
DC
First Claim
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1. A connector assembly comprising:
- a connector housing comprising a plurality of recesses and defining an outer perimeter of said connector assembly;
a plurality of sets of conductors disposed at least partly within respective ones of said recesses; and
an application-specific insert structure comprising at least one substrate having a plurality of electrically conductive pathways associated therewith, and a plurality of electronic components disposed substantially thereon;
wherein said pathways of said at least one substrate interface with respective ones of said conductors to form an electrical pathway between said conductors and at least one of said electronic components; and
wherein said assembly is adapted to receive either of two variants of said application-specific insert structure without altering the area of an external substrate consumed by said assembly when said assembly is mounted on said substrate.
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Abstract
An advanced modular plug connector assembly incorporating an insert assembly disposed in the rear portion of the connector housing. In one embodiment, the connector has a plurality of ports in multi-row configuration, and the insert assembly includes a substrate adapted to receive one or more electronic components such as choke coils, transformers, or other signal conditioning elements or magnetics. The substrate also interfaces with the conductors of two modular ports of the connector, and is removable from the housing such that an insert assembly of a different electronics or terminal configuration can be substituted therefor. In this fashion, the connector can be configured to a plurality of different standards (e.g., Gigabit Ethernet and 10/100). In yet another embodiment, the connector assembly comprises a plurality of light sources (e.g., LEDs) received within the housing. Methods for manufacturing the aforementioned embodiments are also disclosed.
58 Citations
28 Claims
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1. A connector assembly comprising:
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a connector housing comprising a plurality of recesses and defining an outer perimeter of said connector assembly; a plurality of sets of conductors disposed at least partly within respective ones of said recesses; and an application-specific insert structure comprising at least one substrate having a plurality of electrically conductive pathways associated therewith, and a plurality of electronic components disposed substantially thereon; wherein said pathways of said at least one substrate interface with respective ones of said conductors to form an electrical pathway between said conductors and at least one of said electronic components; and wherein said assembly is adapted to receive either of two variants of said application-specific insert structure without altering the area of an external substrate consumed by said assembly when said assembly is mounted on said substrate. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A connector assembly adapted to provide application-specific conditioning of at least some signals passing therethrough, the assembly comprising:
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a connector housing comprising a recess and a cavity, said cavity being disposed substantially in a rear portion of said housing; a set of conductors disposed at least partly within said recess and adapted to interface electrically with respective ones of a modular plug; and an application-specific insert structure having a plurality of electrically conductive pathways and electronic components associated therewith, said components performing at least a portion of said signal conditioning; wherein said pathways interface with respective ones of said conductors to form an electrical pathway from said modular plug through said conductors and at least one of said at least one electronic components; and wherein said assembly is adapted to receive within said cavity alternatively any of at least two variants of said application-specific insert structure. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. An electrical connector assembly configured to provide conditioning of at least some signals passing therethrough, the assembly comprising:
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a connector housing comprising a recess and a cavity; a set of conductors disposed at least partly within said recess and adapted to interface electrically with respective ones of a modular plug; and an insert structure adapted to be at least partly received within said cavity and having a plurality of electrically conductive pathways and at least one electronic component associated therewith, said at least one component performing at least a portion of said signal conditioning; wherein said pathways interface with respective ones of said conductors to form an electrical pathway from said modular plug through said conductors and at least one of said at least one electronic components; and wherein said connector assembly allows for the use of a plurality of different application-specific configurations of said insert structure;
(i) without substantially affecting the profile or footprint area of said assembly, and (ii) without requiring changes to the housing. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26)
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27. A method of re-configuring a connector assembly having a housing adapted to receive a plurality of different configurations of electrical signal conditioning sub-assemblies, the method comprising:
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providing a first configuration of signal conditioning sub-assembly within said housing, said first configuration being adapted for a first application; identifying a second application not served by said first configuration; providing a second configuration of signal conditioning subassembly adapted for said second application; removing said first configuration sub-assembly from said housing; and inserting said second configuration sub-assembly into said housing in a same place where said first configuration sub-assembly was removed from; wherein said first and second configurations of said signal conditioning sub-assembly each comprise; an insert body; a plurality of electronic components; and at least first and second terminal sets adapted for mating with at least one of said electronic components and an external device, respectively; and wherein said acts of removing and inserting comprise, removing and inserting, respectively, said sub-assemblies in their entirety. - View Dependent Claims (28)
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Specification
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Litigation Data
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Current AssigneePulse Electronics Incorporated (Yageo Corporation)
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Original AssigneePulse Engineering Incorporated (Yageo Corporation)
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InventorsMachado, Russell Lee, Renteria, Victor H., Dinh, Thuyen
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Primary Examiner(s)TA, THO DAC
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Application NumberUS12/151,343Publication NumberTime in Patent Office652 DaysField of Search439/676, 439/620.06, 439/620.07, 439/620.15, 439/620.16, 439/620.17, 439/540.5, 439/541.5US Class Current439/676CPC Class CodesH01R 13/514 composed as a modular block...H01R 13/518 for holding or embracing se...H01R 13/6633 with inductive component, e...H01R 13/6658 on printed circuit board H0...H01R 13/719 specially adapted for high ...H01R 24/64 for high frequency, e.g. RJ 45H01R 29/00 Coupling parts for selectiv...Y10T 29/49002 Electrical device makingY10T 29/49208 by assembling plural parts
