Universal connector assembly and method of manufacturing

US 20060009061A1
Filed: 06/28/2005
Published: 01/12/2006
Est. Priority Date: 06/29/2004
Status: Active Grant

First Claim

Patent Images

1. A connector assembly comprising:

a connector housing comprising a plurality of recesses each adapted to receive at least a portion of a modular plug, said modular plug having a plurality of first terminals disposed thereon;

a plurality of sets of conductors disposed at least partly within respective ones of said recesses and adapted to interface electrically with respective ones of said first terminals of said plug; and

an application-specific removable insert structure comprising at least one substrate having a plurality of electrically conductive pathways associated therewith, and at least one insert body having a plurality of electronic components disposed substantially therein;

wherein said pathways of said at least one substrate interface with respective ones of said conductors to form an electrical pathway from said first terminals through said conductors and at least one of said electronic components.

View all claims

5 Assignments

Timeline View

Assignment View

0 Petitions

Accused Products

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.

37 Citations

View as Search Results

39 Claims

1. A connector assembly comprising:
- a connector housing comprising a plurality of recesses each adapted to receive at least a portion of a modular plug, said modular plug having a plurality of first terminals disposed thereon;
  
  a plurality of sets of conductors disposed at least partly within respective ones of said recesses and adapted to interface electrically with respective ones of said first terminals of said plug; and
  
  an application-specific removable insert structure comprising at least one substrate having a plurality of electrically conductive pathways associated therewith, and at least one insert body having a plurality of electronic components disposed substantially therein;
  
  wherein said pathways of said at least one substrate interface with respective ones of said conductors to form an electrical pathway from said first terminals through said conductors and at least one of said electronic components.
- View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
- - 2. The connector assembly of claim 1, further comprising a terminal insert assembly adapted to substantially register at least one of said plurality of sets of conductors within said housing and relative to said at least one substrate.
  - 3. The connector assembly of claim 2, wherein said terminal insert assembly comprises two substantially mirror-image polymer components, each of said components having one of said sets of conductors molded therein.
  - 4. The connector assembly of claim 2, wherein said terminal insert assembly is adapted to register two of said sets of conductors such that at least a portion of said substrate is received therebetween.
  - 5. The connector assembly of claim 1, herein said housing is adapted to accommodate a plurality of different configurations of said insert structure either simultaneously or alternatively.
  - 6. The connector assembly of claim 5, wherein said plurality of different configurations comprise at least:
    - (i) a gigabit Ethernet (GBE) configuration, and (ii) an Ethernet 10/100 Mbps configuration.
  - 7. The connector assembly of claim 1, further comprising at least one indicator assembly adapted to provide one or more indications visible from a front face of said housing.
  - 8. The connector assembly of claim 7, wherein said at least one indicator assembly comprises a plurality of light pipes, said indicator assembly being mounted substantially along a rear face of said housing.
  - 9. The connector assembly of claim 5, wherein said substrate is adapted to accommodate a plurality of different configurations of said insert body.
  - 10. The connector assembly of claim 5, wherein said adaptation of said substrate comprises a plurality of apertures adapted to receive second terminals associated with any of said plurality of different configurations of said insert body, said different configurations each comprising a different pin-out configuration for third terminals of said insert body.
  - 11. The connector assembly of claim 10, wherein said different pin-out configurations comprise at least:
    - (i) a gigabit Ethernet (GBE) configuration, and (ii) an Ethernet 10/100 configuration.
  - 12. The connector assembly of claim 2, wherein said at least one substrate is disposed substantially atop said insert body in a substantially horizontal orientation, and said insert body, said substrate, and said terminal insert assembly are removable as a single unit from said housing.
  - 13. The connector assembly of claim 1, further comprising at least an external noise shield, and at least one internal noise shield, said internal noise shield being configured to mitigate noise between respective ones of signal pathways within said connector assembly.

14. A configurable multiport modular jack assembly capable of being configured in at least first and second functional configurations, comprising:
- a plurality of insert assemblies comprising an insert body, a substrate, and a plurality of first conductors;
  
  a housing having a plurality of plug receiving ports, said housing being adapted to receive said plurality of insert assemblies therein;
  
  a plurality of electrical conductor sets adapted to mate with corresponding conductors on respective ones of said plugs and with said substrate, thereby forming an electrical pathway there between;
  
  wherein said housing is further adapted to receive a plurality of said insert assemblies of a first configuration, and simultaneously or alternatively a plurality of second insert assemblies of a second configuration.
- View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
- - 15. The assembly of claim 14, wherein said first configuration is for a first type of data networking application, and said second configuration is for a second type of data networking application.
  - 16. The assembly of claim 15, wherein said first configuration cannot be used within said second type of networking application, and said second configuration cannot be used within said first type of networking application.
  - 17. The assembly of claim 15, wherein said first configuration comprise a gigabit Ethernet (GBE) configuration having a first pin-out pattern, and said second configuration comprises a 10/100 Ethernet configuration having a second and distinct pin-out pattern.
  - 18. The assembly of claim 14, further comprising at least one indicator assembly adapted to provide one or more indications visible from a front face of said housing.
  - 19. The assembly of claim 18, wherein said at least one indicator assembly comprises a plurality of light pipes, said indicator assembly being mounted substantially along a rear face of said housing.
  - 20. The assembly of claim 14, further comprising at least an external noise shield, and at least one internal noise shield, said internal noise shield being configured to mitigate noise between respective ones of signal pathways within said connector assembly.
  - 21. The assembly of claim 14, wherein said at least one internal noise shield comprises at least one noise shield disposed in a substantially vertical orientation between two adjacent ones of said insert assemblies.
  - 22. The assembly of claim 21, wherein said at least one internal noise shield further comprises at least one noise shield disposed in a substantially horizontal orientation and between at least a portion of two adjacent rows of said jacks.

23. A method of manufacturing a connector assembly, comprising:
- forming an assembly housing having at least two modular plug receiving recesses and at least one cavity disposed therein;
  
  providing a first plurality of conductors comprising a first set adapted for use within the first recess of the housing element so as to mate with corresponding conductors of a modular plug;
  
  providing a second plurality of conductors comprising a second set adapted for use within the second recess of the housing element so as to mate with corresponding conductors of a second modular plug;
  
  providing at least one substrate having electrical pathways formed thereon, and adapted for receipt within the cavity;
  
  disposing one end of the conductors of said first set in contact with the substrate;
  
  disposing one end of the conductors of said second set in contact with the substrate;
  
  providing a third set of conductors adapted for termination to the substrate and which form at least a portion of an electrical pathway to an external device to which the connector will be mated; and
  
  terminating the third set of conductors to the substrate.
- View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
- - 24. The method of claim 23, wherein said act of terminating comprises forming an electrical pathway from the modular plugs, when inserted in the recess, through at least one of the conductors of the first and second set to the distal end of at least one of the conductors of the third set.
  - 25. The method of claim 23, wherein said acts of disposing comprise simultaneously forming an electrical contact between said one end of said first conductors and said substrate, and said one end of said second conductors and said at least one substrate, by inserting said substrate between said one end of said first conductors and said one end of said second conductors.
  - 26. The method of claim 25, further comprising soldering at least one of said one ends of said first and second conductors to a conductive trace disposed on said at least one substrate.
  - 27. The method of claim 23, further comprising disposing one or more electronic signal conditioning components on said at least one substrate, thereby providing an electrical signal conditioning pathway from the modular plug terminals through said electronic components to the distal ends of said third set of conductors.
  - 28. The method of claim 23, further comprising:
    - providing a fourth set of conductors for mating directly to said external device; and
      
      forming an electrical pathway between said third set of conductors and said fourth set of conductors.
  - 29. The method of claim 28, further comprising disposing one or more electronic signal conditioning components on said at least one substrate and forming an electrical signal conditioning pathway from the modular plug terminals through said electronic components to said fourth set of conductors.

30. A method of re-configuring a multi-port connector assembly having a housing adapted to receive a plurality of different configurations of electrical signal conditioning sub-assemblies, the method comprising:
- 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.
- View Dependent Claims (31, 32)
- - 31. The method of claim 30, wherein said acts of providing comprise, respectively:
    - providing a gigabit Ethernet (GBE) subassembly; and
      
      providing a 10/100 Ethernet subassembly.
  - 32. The method of claim 31, wherein said first and second configurations of said signal conditioning sub-assembly each comprise:
    - an insert body;
      
      a plurality of electronic components disposed substantially within said insert body;
      
      a substrate disposed in a substantially horizontal orientation atop said insert body;
      
      at least first and second terminal sets adapted for mating with said substrate and an external device, respectively; and
      
      a terminal insert assembly adapted for substantially maintaining the position of conductor sets with said housing; and
      
      wherein said acts of removing and inserting comprise, removing and inserting, respectively, said sub-assemblies in their entirety.

33. A connector assembly comprising:
- housing means comprising a plurality of recesses each adapted to receive at least a portion of a plugging means, said plugging means having a plurality of first terminals disposed thereon;
  
  a plurality of sets of means for conducting electrical signals disposed at least partly within respective ones of said recesses and adapted to interface electrically with respective ones of said first terminals of said plugging means; and
  
  an application-specific removable insert means comprising at least one substrate having a plurality of electrically conductive pathways associated therewith, and at least one insert body having a plurality of signal conditioning means disposed substantially therein;
  
  wherein said pathways of said at least one substrate interface with respective ones of said means for conducting to form an electrical pathway from said first terminals through said means for conducting and at least one of said signal conditioning means.
- View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
- - 34. The assembly of claim 33, wherein said application for said application-specific insert means is selected from the group consisting of:
    - (i) gigabit Ethernet (GBE) configuration having a first pin-out pattern, and (ii) a 10/100 Ethernet configuration having a second and distinct pin-out pattern.
  - 35. The assembly of claim 34, further comprising at least one means for indicating adapted to provide one or more indications visible from a front face of said housing means.
  - 36. The assembly of claim 35, wherein said at least one means for indicating comprises a plurality of light pipe means, said means for indicating being mounted substantially along a rear face of said housing means.
  - 37. The assembly of claim 34, further comprising at least an external noise shield means, and at least one internal noise shield means, said internal noise shield means being configured for mitigating noise between respective ones of signal pathways within said connector assembly.
  - 38. The assembly of claim 37, wherein said at least one internal noise shield means comprises at least one noise shield disposed in a substantially vertical orientation between two adjacent ones of said insert means.
  - 39. The assembly of claim 38, wherein said at least one internal noise shield means further comprises at least one noise shield disposed in a substantially horizontal orientation and between at least a portion of two adjacent rows of said recesses.

Specification

Resources

Litigation Campaign Assessment

Current Assignee
Pulse Electronics Incorporated (Yageo Corporation)
Original Assignee
Pulse Engineering Incorporated (Yageo Corporation)
Inventors
Machado, Russell Lee, Renteria, Victor H., Dinh, Thuyen

Granted Patent

US 7,241,181 B2
Time in Patent Office

Days
Field of Search
US Class Current

439/215
CPC Class Codes

H01R 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 45

H01R 29/00   Coupling parts for selectiv...

Y10T 29/49002   Electrical device making

Y10T 29/49208   by assembling plural parts

Universal connector assembly and method of manufacturing

First Claim

5 Assignments

0 Petitions

Accused Products

Abstract

37 Citations

39 Claims

Specification

Solutions

Use Cases

Quick Links

Universal connector assembly and method of manufacturing

First Claim

5 Assignments

Subscription Required

Subscription Required

0 Petitions

Subscription Required

Accused Products

Subscription Required

Abstract

37 Citations

39 Claims

Specification

Subscription Required

Solutions

Use Cases

Quick Links