Communication Connector with Reduced Crosstalk

• US 20130084755A1
• Filed: 10/02/2012
• Published: 04/04/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 10/03/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Panduit Corporation
• Original Assignee: Panduit Corporation
• Inventors: Yuan, Michael K., Fransen, Robert E.
• Granted Patent: US 8,900,015 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 439/660
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 13/6461 Means for preventing cross-talk
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 13/6473 Impedance matching
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 2107/00 Four or more poles
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 24/64 for high frequency, e.g. RJ 45
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 4/242 the contact members being plates having a single slot
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 4/2429 mounted in an insulating base
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49826 Assembling or joining

Abstract

A communication connector including a housing and a plurality of contact pairs arranged relative to the housing. One of the plurality of contact pairs includes a first conductor termination zone centerline, and another contact pair includes a second conductor termination zone centerline, wherein the second conductor termination zone centerline is an approximately perpendicular bisector of the first conductor termination zone centerline.

Claims

1. A communication connector, comprising:

a housing; and

a plurality of contact pairs, said plurality of contact pairs having a first contact pair and a second contact pair,

said first contact pair having a first contact with a first conductor termination zone and a second contact with a second conductor termination zone, said first conductor termination zone and said second conductor termination zone being staggered with respect to each other and defining a first conductor termination zone centerline,

said second contact pair having a third contact with a third conductor termination zone and a fourth contact with a fourth conductor termination zone, said third conductor termination zone and said fourth conductor termination zone being staggered with respect to each other and defining a second conductor termination zone centerline,

wherein said second conductor termination zone centerline is an approximately perpendicular bisector of said first conductor termination zone centerline.

2. The communication connector of claim 1, wherein at least one of said first contact, said second contact, said third contact, and said fourth contact is an insulation displacement contact.

3. The communication connector of claim 2, wherein at least one of said insulation displacement contacts includes an upper portion having an upper portion center, and a lower portion having a lower portion center, said lower portion being wider than said upper portion, said lower portion center being offset from said upper portion center.

4. The communication connector of claim 1, wherein at least one of said first conductor termination zone, said second conductor termination zone, said third conductor termination zone, and said fourth conductor termination zone is defined by an approximate center of a termination slot.

5. The communication connector of claim 1, wherein said first contact is parallel to said second contact.

6. The communication connector of claim 5, wherein said third contact is parallel to said fourth contact.

7. The communication connector of claim 1, wherein said housing includes a plug receiving aperture.

8. The communication connector of claim 1, wherein said first contact has an approximately equal first distance to said third contact and said fourth contact, and said second contact has an approximately equal second distance to said third contact and said fourth contact.

9. A communication system, comprising:

a communication equipment; and

a communication connector connected to said communication equipment, said communication connector including a housing and a plurality of contact pairs, said plurality of contact pairs having a first contact pair and a second contact pair,

said first contact pair having a first contact with a first conductor termination zone and a second contact with a second conductor termination zone, said first conductor termination zone and said second conductor termination zone being staggered with respect to each other and defining a first conductor termination zone centerline,

said second contact pair having a third contact with a third conductor termination zone and a fourth contact with a fourth conductor termination zone, said third conductor termination zone and said fourth conductor termination zone being staggered with respect to each other and defining a second conductor termination zone centerline,

wherein said second conductor termination zone centerline is an approximately perpendicular bisector of said first conductor termination zone centerline.

10. The communication system of claim 9, wherein at least one of said first contact, said second contact, said third contact, and said fourth contact is an insulation displacement contact.

11. The communication system of claim 10, wherein at least one of said insulation displacement contacts includes an upper portion having an upper portion center, and a lower portion having a lower portion center, said lower portion being wider than said upper portion, said lower portion center being offset from said upper portion center.

12. The communication system of claim 9, wherein at least one of said first conductor termination zone, said second conductor termination zone, said third conductor termination zone, and said fourth conductor termination zone is defined by an approximate center of a termination slot.

13. The communication system of claim 9, wherein said first contact is parallel to said second contact.

14. The communication system of claim 13, wherein said third contact is parallel to said fourth contact.

15. The communication system of claim 9, wherein said housing includes a plug receiving aperture.

16. The communication system of claim 9, wherein said first contact has an approximately equal first distance to said third contact and said fourth contact, and said second contact has an approximately equal second distance to said third contact and said fourth contact.

17. A communication connector, comprising:

a housing; and

a plurality of contact pairs arranged relative to said housing, at least one of said plurality of contact pairs including a first contact with a first conductor termination zone and a second contact with a second conductor termination zone, said first conductor termination zone offset from said second conductor termination zone to provide clearance for conductors to be terminated in the first and second contact, said first contact and said second contact configured for approximately maintaining a predetermined impedance.

18. The connector of claim 17, wherein said impedance is maintained by optimizing an overlapping surface area of said first contact and said second contact.

19. The connector of claim 18, wherein said overlapping surface area is arranged to allow first and second conductors to be respectively terminated in said first conductor termination zone and said second conductor termination zone.

20. A communication connector for interfacing with a communication cable having a plurality of communication wires arranged in communication wire pairs, the communication connector comprising:

a plurality of contact pairs, each of said plurality of contact pairs comprising a first generally planar contact having a first termination slot for terminating a corresponding one of the communication wires and a second generally planar contact having a second generally planar slot for terminating a corresponding another one of the communication wires,

wherein the first termination slot and the second termination slot are staggered with respect to each other, and

wherein for each contact pair within the connector, there exists an adjacent contact pair within the connector in which the termination slots of the contacts in the adjacent contact pair are equidistant from the termination slot of at least one of the contacts in the contact pair.

21. A method of connecting a twisted pair conductor communication cable to a communication jack, said method comprising the steps of:

providing a communication jack having a housing and a plurality of contact pairs;

positioning one of said plurality of contact pairs which defines a first conductor termination zone centerline, and another of said plurality of contact pairs which defines a second conductor termination zone centerline,

wherein said one of said plurality of contact pairs includes a first pair of contacts which are staggered with respect to each other and said another of said plurality of contact pairs includes a second pair of contacts which are staggered with respect to each other, and

wherein said second conductor termination zone centerline is an approximately perpendicular bisector of said first conductor termination zone centerline; and

terminating the conductors of the twisted pair communication cable to respective said plurality of contact pairs.

22. A method of connecting a communication cable to a communication jack, wherein the communication cable has a plurality of communication wire pairs and wherein the communication jack has a housing and a plurality of contact pairs, said method comprising the steps of:

arranging the contact pairs relative to the housing so that contacts of each respective pair are staggered with respect to one another, and so that each contact pair is adjacent to another contact pair in which at least one of the contacts in the contact pair is equi-distant to both contacts in the adjacent contact pair;

positioning the communication cable in the housing so that each of the plurality of communication wire pairs is associated with a corresponding one of each of the plurality of contact pairs; and

terminating the communication wire pairs in the contact pairs.