Crossbox with sliding binding post mechanism

Details Crossbox with sliding binding post mechanism Crossbox with sliding binding post mechanism

2003-04-15

2004-04-20

Dinkins, Anthony (Department: 2831)

Electricity: conductors and insulators

Boxes and housings

C174S0450TD, C174S057000, C439S219000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06723919

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND
The present invention is directed generally and in various embodiments to a crossbox with sliding binding post rails.
Cross boxes (also known as street cabinets, cross-connection boxes, or junction boxes), are used to house wires, fibre and components for telecommunications networks, cable television systems, and the like. For example, a crossbox may be installed in a telecommunications network to terminate optical fibres to copper wires or to provide an enclosure for housing copper wire splices.
FIG. 1
is a diagram illustrating a perspective view of a prior art crossbox
10
. The crossbox
10
includes a housing
12
that is constructed of a durable material such as, for example, steel. The crossbox
10
also includes a door
14
that may be closed and secured via a latch
16
. The door
14
may be secured to the crossbox
10
and permitted to swing open via hinges
18
. A grid
20
of binding posts
22
is located in the housing
12
of the crossbox
10
. The binding posts
22
are constructed of a conductive material and provide a connection for wires either on the backside of the binding posts
22
or the front side of the binding posts
22
. The binding posts
22
provide an electrical contact for the wire or wires that are attached to the binding posts
22
. The binding posts
22
may be arranged in pairs and, in a telecommunications application, a pair of binding posts
22
may correspond to pairs of tip and ring wires and may form an array of rows and/or columns.
For testing purposes, wires
24
may be attached to the door
14
via conductive attachment posts
26
. The wires
24
may be terminated by electrical clips
28
. The electrical clips
28
may be, for example, alligator clips. In operation, a technician may attach the clips
28
to one or more binding posts
22
. The technician may then attach leads from a test device, such as a telephone butt set, to the attachment posts
26
. Thus, if the crossbox
10
is used in a telecommunications system, each of the wires
24
may be attached to binding posts that correspond to the tip and the ring signals of a telephone line to be tested. Such an arrangement eliminates the need for the technician to attach leads from the test set to the binding posts
22
.
SUMMARY
In one embodiment, the present invention is directed to a connection box. The connection box includes a binding post and a sliding binding post mechanism. The sliding binding post mechanism includes a top rail, a bottom rail, a side rail slidably engaged in the top rail and the bottom rail, and a binding post connector mechanism slidably engaged in the side rail, the binding post connector mechanism having a binding post connector attached thereto and configured to provide an electrical connection to the binding post.
In one embodiment, the present invention is directed to a binding post connector mechanism. The mechanism includes a plate, an axle disposed in the plate, a slidable element located on the axle and configured to be disposed in a channel of a side rail located in a connector box, and a first binding post connector disposed in the plate and configured to make electrical contract with a first binding post in a connector box.
In one embodiment, the present invention is directed to a connection box. The connection box includes a plurality of binding posts and means for electrically engaging at least one of the binding posts. The means for electrically engaging includes a plurality of rails and bindind post connector means slidably engaged in at least one of the rails, the binding post connector means having a binding post connector attached thereto and configured to provide an electrical connection to the binding post.


REFERENCES:
patent: 3796848 (1974-03-01), Southworth, Jr.
patent: 4117264 (1978-09-01), Charles et al.
patent: 4799251 (1989-01-01), Smith et al.
patent: 5418328 (1995-05-01), Nadeau
patent: 5456608 (1995-10-01), Rogers et al.
patent: 5835567 (1998-11-01), Woods
patent: 6031349 (2000-02-01), Hard et al.
patent: 6039578 (2000-03-01), Suffi et al.
patent: 6252941 (2001-06-01), Daoud
patent: 6418195 (2002-07-01), Autry et al.

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