Current mode coupler
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A non-invasive coupler for a cable of the type including at least one signal wire, comprising:
- a lower magnetic core half;
a base unit comprising means for supporting the lower magnetic core half;
an upper housing member;
upper core support means for supporting an upper magnetic core half in the upper housing member;
a wire guide member comprising means for positioning a wire with respect to said core halves and for aligning said core halves with respect to each other to form a magnetic core structure;
core structure winding means including windings for encircling a portion of said upper magnetic core half to cause electrical signals to be transmitted between said windings and said wire via said magnetic core structure;
an electrical connector mounted in said upper housing;
circuit means for electrically connecting said windings and said connector; and
upper housing alignment and attachment means for aligning said upper housing with respect to said base unit and for releasably attaching said upper housing to said base unit,wherein said wire guide member comprises an elastomeric member having means including at least one slot for resiliently retaining said wire in a predetermined position and means including at least one opening, surfaces of said opening engaging each of said core halves, for resiliently retaining said core halves in a predetermined position when said upper housing is attached to said base unit.
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Abstract
A current mode coupler for an unshielded twisted-pair cable includes an elastomeric signal wire and E-core positioning member with integral strain relief, tapered E-cores for improved coupling to the wires, a write signal core which is twice the size of the read signal core, an all metal core suspension, an overcenter spring biased mounting arrangement, a metal enclosure for improved shielding, a resilient latch which avoids the need for pivoting of an upper housing member relative to the base unit during assembly, and contoured edges and corners for reducing heat accumulation.
20 Citations
80 Claims
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1. A non-invasive coupler for a cable of the type including at least one signal wire, comprising:
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a lower magnetic core half; a base unit comprising means for supporting the lower magnetic core half; an upper housing member; upper core support means for supporting an upper magnetic core half in the upper housing member; a wire guide member comprising means for positioning a wire with respect to said core halves and for aligning said core halves with respect to each other to form a magnetic core structure; core structure winding means including windings for encircling a portion of said upper magnetic core half to cause electrical signals to be transmitted between said windings and said wire via said magnetic core structure; an electrical connector mounted in said upper housing; circuit means for electrically connecting said windings and said connector; and upper housing alignment and attachment means for aligning said upper housing with respect to said base unit and for releasably attaching said upper housing to said base unit, wherein said wire guide member comprises an elastomeric member having means including at least one slot for resiliently retaining said wire in a predetermined position and means including at least one opening, surfaces of said opening engaging each of said core halves, for resiliently retaining said core halves in a predetermined position when said upper housing is attached to said base unit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
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42. A non-invasive coupler for a cable of the type including at least one signal wire, comprising:
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a lower magnetic core half; a base unit comprising means for supporting the lower magnetic core half; an upper housing member; upper core support means for supporting an upper magnetic core half in the upper housing member; a wire guide member comprising means for positioning a wire with respect to said core halves and for aligning said core halves with respect to each other to form a magnetic core structure; core structure winding means including windings for encircling a portion of said upper magnetic core half to cause electrical signals to be transmitted between said windings and said wire via said magnetic core structure; an electrical connector mounted in said upper housing; circuit means for electrically connecting said windings and said connector; and upper housing alignment and attachment means for aligning said upper housing with respect to said base unit and for releasably attaching said upper housing to said base unit, and further comprising a second lower core half and means for supporting the second lower core half, said wire guide member comprising means including two slots for positioning a first signal wire and a second signal wire with respect to the lower and upper core halves, and wherein said magnetic core structure forms a read transformer and said second upper and lower core halves together form a write transformer. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44, 45, 46, 47)
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48. A non-invasive coupler for a cable of the type including at least one signal wire;
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a lower magnetic core half; a base unit comprising means for supporting the lower magnetic core half; an upper housing member; upper core support means for supporting an upper magnetic core half in the upper housing member; a wire guide member comprising means for positioning a wire with respect to said core halves and for aligning said core halves with respect to each other to form a magnetic core structure; core structure winding means including windings for encircling a portion of said upper magnetic core half to cause electrical signals to be transmitted between said windings and said wire via said magnetic core structure; an electrical connector mounted in said upper housing; circuit means for electrically connecting said windings and said connector; and upper housing alignment and attachment means for aligning said upper housing with respect to said base unit and for releasably attaching said upper housing to said base unit, and further comprising mounting means for releasably mounting said base unit on a surface which includes at least two openings. - View Dependent Claims (49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56)
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57. A non-invasive coupler for a cable of the type including at least one signal wire, comprising:
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a lower magnetic core half; a base unit comprising means for supporting the lower magnetic core half; an upper housing member; upper core support means for supporting an upper magnetic core half in the upper housing member; a wire guide member comprising means for positioning a wire with respect to said core halves and for aligning said care halves with respect to each other to form a magnetic core structure; core structure winding means including windings for encircling a portion of said upper magnetic core half to cause electrical signals to be transmitted between said windings and said wire via said magnetic core structure; an electrical connector mounted in said upper housing; circuit means for electrically connecting said windings and said connector; and upper housing alignment and attachment means for aligning said upper housing with respect to said base unit and for releasably attaching said upper housing to said base unit, wherein said core is tapered to conform to the geometry of said wire in said wire guide member. - View Dependent Claims (58, 59)
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60. A non-invasive coupler for a cable of the type including at least one signal wire, comprising:
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a lower magnetic core half; a base unit comprising means for supporting the lower magnetic core half; an upper housing member; upper core support means for supporting an upper magnetic core half in the upper housing member; a wire guide member comprising means for positioning a wire with respect to said core halves and for aligning said core halves with respect to each other to form a magnetic core structure; core structure winding means including windings for encircling a portion of said upper magnetic core half to cause electrical signals to be transmitted between said windings and said wire via said magnetic core structure; an electrical connector mounted in said upper housing; circuit means for electrically connecting said windings and said connector; and upper housing alignment and attachment means for aligning said upper housing with respect to said base unit and for releasably attaching said upper housing to said base unit, further comprising a second lower core half, said second lower core half having a cross-sectional area which is twice as large as that of the first lower core half in order to reduce the amount of write current required in said winding to induce a corresponding write current in said wire.
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61. A non-invasive coupler for a cable of the type including at least one signal wire, comprising:
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a lower magnetic core half; a base unit comprising means for supporting the lower magnetic core half; an upper housing member; upper core support means for supporting an upper magnetic core half in the upper housing member; a wire guide member comprising means for positioning a wire with respect to said core halves and for aligning said core halves with respect to each other to form a magnetic core structure; core structure winding means including windings for encircling a portion of said upper magnetic core half to cause electrical signals to be transmitted between said windings and said wire via said magnetic core structure; an electrical connector mounted in said upper housing; circuit means for electrically connecting said windings and said connector; and upper housing alignment and attachment means for aligning said upper housing with respect to said base unit and for releasably attaching said upper housing to said base unit, wherein said means for supporting the lower core half comprises an all metal coil spring suspension, including a coil spring and insulating means for insulating the lower core half from the coil spring. - View Dependent Claims (62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67)
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68. A non-invasive coupler for a cable of the type including at least one signal wire, comprising:
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a lower magnetic core half; a base unit comprising means for supporting the lower magnetic core half; an upper housing member; upper core support means for supporting an upper magnetic core half in the upper housing member; a wire guide member comprising means for positioning a wire with respect to said core halves and for aligning said core halves with respect to each other to form a magnetic core structure; core structure winding means including windings for encircling a portion of said upper magnetic core half to cause electrical signals to be transmitted between said windings and said wire via said magnetic core structure; an electrical connector mounted in a recess in said upper housing; circuit means for electrically connecting said windings and said connector; and upper housing alignment and attachment means for aligning said upper housing with respect to said base unit and for releasably attaching said upper housing to said base unit, further comprising a resilient latching member extending from an end of one of said upper housing member and said base unit, and a recess in the other of said upper housing member and said base unit for receiving a projection on said latching member, whereby said upper housing member and base unit may be mated in a single linear motion, said latching member flexing during mating to permit said projection to clear a surface of said base unit before said projection enters said recess to hold said upper housing in engagement with said base unit. - View Dependent Claims (69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77)
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78. A non-invasive coupler for a cable of the type including at least one signal wire, comprising:
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a lower magnetic core half; a base unit comprising means for supporting the lower magnetic core half; an upper housing member; upper core support means for supporting an upper magnetic core half in the upper housing member; a wire guide member comprising means for positioning a wire with respect to said core halves and for aligning said core halves with respect to each other to form a magnetic core structure; core structure winding means including windings for encircling a portion of said upper magnetic core half to cause electrical signals to be transmitted between said windings and said wire via said magnetic core structure; an electrical connector mounted in said upper housing; circuit means for electrically connecting said windings and said connector; and upper housing alignment and attachment means for aligning said upper housing with respect to said base unit and for releasably attaching said upper housing to said base unit, wherein said upper housing member is made of a conductive metal, and said base unit includes a lower housing member also made of a conductive metal. - View Dependent Claims (79)
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80. A non-invasive coupler for a cable of the type including at least one signal wire, comprising:
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a lower magnetic core half; a base unit comprising means for supporting the lower magnetic core half; an upper housing member; upper core support means for supporting an upper magnetic core half in the upper housing member; a wire guide member comprising means for positioning a wire with respect to said core halves and for aligning said core halves with respect to each other to form a magnetic core structure; core structure winding means including windings for encircling a portion of said upper magnetic core half to cause electrical signals to be transmitted between said windings and said wire via said magnetic core structure; an electrical connector mounted in said upper housing; circuit means for electrically connecting said windings and said connector; and upper housing alignment and attachment means for aligning said upper housing with respect to said base unit and for releasably attaching said upper housing to said base unit, wherein said base unit includes a lower housing and all edges and corners on said upper and lower housings are rounded to maximize heat dissipation from said coupler.
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Specification