Wave transmission lines and networks – Plural channel systems – Having branched circuits
Reexamination Certificate
2001-12-19
2003-07-15
Lee, Benny (Department: 2817)
Wave transmission lines and networks
Plural channel systems
Having branched circuits
C333S136000, C725S127000, C725S149000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06593830
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a tap that splits multi-media signals, and then distributes these split signals to the subscribers'homes as well as the service downstream, and more particularly the present invention relates to a tap, which is equipped with a disengagable connecting member capable of preventing the distribution of the signals to the downstream service from being interrupted when the tap is under maintenance.
Multi-media signals are transmitted to subscriber homes from a headend unit by means of cables, and these multi-media signals are fed to the subscriber homes via a tap, which is provided with a circuit used for filtering, strengthening, and splitting the signals before the signals are transmitted to the downstream service from an output terminal and the subscriber homes from a front panel.
Referring to
FIGS. 6 and 7
, a conventional interruptible tap, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,648,745, and No. 5,850,165 has a housing member consisting of both a lower part
51
and an upper part
57
, a lower terminal support
53
, a pair of terminals
531
, a top terminal support
54
, a disengagable conductive strip
55
, a retainer
56
, and a circuit
571
(
FIG. 7
) fitted to the inner side of the upper housing part
57
.
An upstream line
52
is passed through an input end
511
of the lower part
51
of the housing member, while a downstream line
59
is passed through an output end
512
of the lower housing part
51
. The lower terminal support
53
is secured in the lower housing part
51
with the terminals
531
each being disposed at one end thereof; the terminals
531
each has a plug
532
, and are connected to the upstream line
52
the downstream line
59
respectively.
The top terminal support
54
has through holes
542
at two ends, a central through hole
543
, and is fixedly connected to the lower terminal support
53
by means of screws
541
with the plugs
532
of the terminals
531
being each passed through one of the through holes
542
thereof, elongated trenches (not numbered) is formed next to the through holes
542
. The disengagable conductive strip
55
is resilient, and has two curved ends
551
. The disengagable conductive strip
55
is placed on the elongated trenches and the central through hole
543
of the top terminal support
54
with the curved ends
551
each engaging one of the plugs
532
of the terminals
531
.
The retainer
56
has a pushed surface
562
on the upper side, which is the intersection of two crossing substantially rectangular bars, as shown in
FIGS. 6
,
8
and
9
. The retainer
56
further has legs sticking downward which each has an engaging end
561
. The retainer
56
is movably connected to the top terminal support
54
with the legs passing through the central through hole
543
, and with the bottom part thereof abutting the middle portion of the conductive strip
55
; thus, the retainer
56
can't fall off because the engaging ends
561
separably engage the bottom of the top terminal support
54
.
The upper part
57
has output terminals
572
at the top surface for connection with lines to the subscribers. Referring to
FIG. 7
, the upper part
57
further has a circuit
571
fitted to the bottom side, and a pushing protrusion
58
sticking down from the bottom side; two sockets
573
are provided on the circuit
571
. The upper part
57
is secured to the lower part
51
by means of screws with the sockets
573
being each mounted on one of the plugs
532
, and with the pushing protrusion
58
coming into contact with the pushed surface
562
of the retainer
56
such that the retainer
56
is moved downwardly, and the conductive strip
55
is bent at the middle portion by the retainer
56
for the curved ends
551
to disengage from the respective plugs
532
.
Thus, multi-media signals are transmitted to the circuit
571
to be filtered and strengthened from the upstream line
52
, the terminal
531
connected to the upstream line
52
, and then fed to the subscriber homes via the output terminals
572
of the upper housing pairs
57
, and to the downstream service via the other one of the terminals
531
and the downstream line
59
; because the conductive strip
55
is not electrically connected to the terminals
531
, it will not interfere with the transmission of the signals to the service downstream.
When the upper housing part
57
is removed from the lower part
51
for repair, maintenance or upgrading of the circuit
571
, the conductive strip
55
can stretch to the original straight shape so as to contact the plugs
532
at the curved ends
551
again due to the removal of the pushing protrusion
58
from the pushed surface
562
of the retainer
56
. Thus, the media-media signals still can be transmitted to the service downstream via the conductive stripe
55
without being interrupted by the maintenance, repair or upgrading of the circuit
571
.
However, it is found that the conventional non-interruptible tap has a drawback:
The pushing protrusion
58
, and the pushed surface
562
of the retainer
56
have to be foamed with relatively high precision in respect of the position otherwise the pushing protrusion
58
would fail to come into contact with the pushed surface
562
, resulting in interference of the conductive strip
55
in the transmission of the multi-media signals to the service downstream. And, the manufacturing cost is increased because the precision in respect of the position of the above mentioned parts is high.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, it is a main object of the present invention to provide a non-interruptible tap, of which the upper housing part can make the conductive strip disengage from the plugs effectively and easily when mounted on the lower housing part so as to prevent the conductive strip from interfering with the transmission of the signals to the service downstream.
The non-interruptible tap includes a housing member, a circuit board, and a non-interruptible member including a support element, a pair of slide blocks, and a resilient conductive strip.
The housing member has an upper part, and a lower part, and receives a first, and a second terminals, to which an upstream, and a downstream lines are connected respectively. Several output terminals are provided on the upper part for connection with lines to subscribers. The circuit board is connected to the upper part, and has a pair of sockets, which will mount on the first, and the second terminals when the upper part is joined to the lower part.
The support element is secured in the lower part with two ends being adjacent to the first, and the second terminals. The support element has a lengthwise formed slot, in which the slide blocks are movably received. The conductive strip is connected to the slide blocks with two ends thereof sticking out beyond the same. Thus, when the upper part is not joined to the lower part, the conductive strip can stretch to the original straight shape to engage the first, and the second terminals at two ends so as to allow signals to be transmitted to the downstream line via the same. When the upper part is joined to the lower part, the sockets of the circuit board, when mounted on the first, and the second terminals, will push the slide blocks toward each other, thus making the conductive strip bend at the middle, and disengage from the terminals at two ends. In other words, the conductive strip can be easily move away from the first, and the second terminals so as not to interfere with the transmission of the signals when the upper housing part is joined to the lower housing part.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5648745 (1997-07-01), Spriester et al.
patent: 5756935 (1998-05-01), Balanovsky et al.
patent: 5850165 (1998-12-01), Spriester et al.
patent: 5909154 (1999-06-01), Brown et al.
patent: 6129597 (2000-10-01), Gresko
Glenn Kimberly
Jesmay Electronics Co., Ltd.
Lee Benny
LandOfFree
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