Modular telephone plug

Details Modular telephone plug Modular telephone plug

2003-11-20

2004-12-28

Bradley, P. Austin (Department: 2833)

Electrical connectors

With coupling movement-actuating means or retaining means in...

Retaining means

Reexamination Certificate

active

06835086

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THF INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a telephone plug, and more particularly to a telephone plug for a connection of an RJ-type jack and the telephone plug has an engaging tab that is protected from being inadvertently broken.
2. Description of Related Art
Telephone cords are used to connect a telephone to either a wall terminal or its handset and typically consist of pairs of insulated copper wires, such as 2, 4 and 8 wires that are commonly arranged in twisted pairs. Generally, each end of the telephone cord fitted with a modular telephone plug to facilitate attachment to a jack hole of a socket either in the telephone or on the wall terminal.
With reference to
FIG. 5
, a telephone plug (
50
) in accordance with the prior art is inserted into a jack hole (
211
) of a socket (
21
) for a connection between a telephone cord (
20
) and the socket (
21
). The telephone plug (
50
) comprises a housing (
501
), an engaging tab (
502
) and a connector module (not shown). The housing (
501
) has an inside end (not numbered), an outside end (not numbered) and an exterior periphery (not numbered). The engaging tab (
502
) is formed integrally on the exterior periphery as the housing (
501
) is fabricated by plastic molding and has two opposite detents (
503
) that engage the jack hole (
211
) as the telephone plug (
50
) is inserted. The connector module, typically comprises pairs of parallel pieces of metal, is mounted in the housing (
501
) at the inside end. The telephone cord (
20
) is received and held in the outside end and connects electrically to the connector module for an electrical connection between the telephone cord (
20
) and the telephone.
However, the engaging tab (
502
) must be pressed so that the telephone plug (
50
) can be inserted into the jack hole (
211
), then the detents (
503
) of the engaging tab (
502
) engage the jack hole (
211
) to hold the telephone plug (
50
) as the engaging tab (
502
) is released. Since the engaging tab (
502
) is made of hard plastic, the engaging tab (
502
) usually faces a fatigue failure problem, such as the engaging tab (
502
) will tend to break off the housing (
501
) if the engaging tab (
502
) is repeatedly pressed and released. Furthermore, one end of the engaging tab (
502
) is tilted upwardly such that the engaging tab (
502
) is easily broken if the free end of the engaging tab (
502
) inadvertently hooks something. If the engaging tab (
502
) is broken off the housing (
501
), the telephone plug (
50
) cannot be held firmly in the jack hole (
211
) so that the telephone plug (
50
) will lose its function.
With reference to
FIG. 6
, another telephone plug (
60
) in accordance with prior art is a modification to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems. The conventional telephone plug (
60
) comprises a housing (
61
), an engaging tab (
62
) and a connector module (
63
). Likewise, the telephone plug (
60
) is adapted to be inserted into the jack hole (
211
) of the socket (
21
) as previously described. The housing (
61
) is elongated and has an inside end (not numbered), an outside end (not numbered) and an exterior periphery (not numbered). The engaging tab (
62
) is attached to the exterior periphery of the housing (
61
) and has a stationary end (not numbered), a free end (not numbered) and two opposite detents (
611
). The stationary end is fastened at the outside end of the housing (
61
). The free end extends toward the inside end of the housing (
61
) and slidably abuts on the exterior periphery. The connector module (
63
) is mounted in the housing (
61
) at the inside end and connects electrically to the telephone cord (
20
) that is held at the outside end.
Therefore, when the telephone plug (
60
) is partially inserted into the jack hole (
211
), the detents (
611
) will engage the jack hole (
211
) to hold the telephone plug (
60
) in position. If the telephone plug (
60
) needs to be taken out of the jack hole (
211
), it is necessary to press the engaging tab (
611
) at a position near to its free end so that the detents (
611
) can entirely disengage from the jack hole (
211
). However, to conveniently access the position near to the free end of the engaging tab (
62
) is not easy when the telephone plug (
60
) is held in the jack hole (
211
). Especially, when a person who often needs to wear gloves wants to press, the engaging tab (
62
) of the telephone plug (
60
), in such a situation, it is difficult to press approaching the position and quickly pull the telephone plug (
60
) out.
To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides an improved telephone plug to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The main objective of the invention is to provide an improved telephone plug that is convenient to use and has a labor-saving engaging tab for a person to press conveniently to disengage the telephone plug from a jack hole.
Other objectives, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.


REFERENCES:
patent: 4986766 (1991-01-01), Leonard et al.
patent: 5254014 (1993-10-01), Yagi et al.
patent: 6364685 (2002-04-01), Manning

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