Connector housing design for strain relief of wires

Details Connector housing design for strain relief of wires Connector housing design for strain relief of wires

1999-10-07

2004-03-02

Luebke, Renee (Department: 2833)

Electrical connectors

With stress relieving means for conductor to terminal joint

Curved conductor path

Reexamination Certificate

active

06699064

ABSTRACT:

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.


REFERENCES:
patent: 5363440 (1994-11-01), Daoud
patent: 5885112 (1999-03-01), Louwagie et al.
patent: 5929381 (1999-07-01), Daoud
patent: 5930111 (1999-07-01), Yamazaki et al.

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