Modular jack assembly
First Claim
1. A modular jack for receiving a plug comprising:
- a generally rectangular housing having a face and a cavity, said cavity divided by a partition into a top chamber and a bottom chamber, said bottom chamber shaped to receive said plug, said face having first and second apertures formed therethrough, said first aperture opening into said top chamber, said second aperture opening into said bottom chamber, said housing further including a shell having an interior region, said face of said housing being a front end of said shell, said housing further including a rear insert received at a rear end of said shell, said partition being a cantilevered member formed on said rear insert, whereby said cavity of said housing is formed upon fitting said rear insert into said shell and said cantilevered member divides said cavity into said top and bottom chambers;
a plurality of contact pins disposed within said bottom chamber; and
at least one light emitting diode (LED) element received within said top chamber.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A modular jack assembly includes a housing having a plug-receiving cavity and an LED assembly attached atop the plug receiving cavity. In a preferred embodiment, the LED assembly is integrally formed with the housing. The LEDs are encased within the LED assembly, being separated from the plug-receiving cavity by a partition. This isolation of the LED helps to minimize the coupling of EMF interference radiated by the leads of the LED while they are operating to the underlying contact pins. Contact pins disposed within the plug-receiving cavity each have a contacting portion which extends along the roof of the cavity. The contacting portions have a varying measure of separation from the roof along their extent. This provides further separation from the LED leads which are disposed above the contact pins in the LED assembly, further lessening the EMF coupling with the LED leads. In an alternate embodiment, the modular jack has a stacked form factor and can be ganged to form a bank of modular jacks.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A modular jack for receiving a plug comprising:
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a generally rectangular housing having a face and a cavity, said cavity divided by a partition into a top chamber and a bottom chamber, said bottom chamber shaped to receive said plug, said face having first and second apertures formed therethrough, said first aperture opening into said top chamber, said second aperture opening into said bottom chamber, said housing further including a shell having an interior region, said face of said housing being a front end of said shell, said housing further including a rear insert received at a rear end of said shell, said partition being a cantilevered member formed on said rear insert, whereby said cavity of said housing is formed upon fitting said rear insert into said shell and said cantilevered member divides said cavity into said top and bottom chambers; a plurality of contact pins disposed within said bottom chamber; and at least one light emitting diode (LED) element received within said top chamber. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A modular jack comprising:
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a housing member of insulative material having a cavity formed therein, said cavity having a ceiling, a floor and a rear wall, said cavity being shaped for receiving a modular plug, said housing further having an aperture opening into said cavity; a light emitting diode (LED) assembly disposed atop said cavity and a partition separating said LED assembly from said cavity, said LED assembly having a chamber coextensive with said cavity, said LED assembly further having an LED received in said chamber and a pair of LED leads fully contained within said chamber; and a plurality of contact pins disposed within said cavity; each of said contact pins having a first end positioned near to said aperture and disposed proximate to said ceiling; said contact pins extending rearwardly along said ceiling and having a distance from said ceiling that varies with travel toward said rear wall of said cavity; said contact pins having a downward turn near said rear wall and a downward extent alongside said rear wall, said contact pins protruding through said floor so that second ends of said contact pins project beyond a bottom exterior surface of said housing. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11)
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12. A ganged modular jack assembly comprising:
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a left-end member; and a right-end member; each member further comprising; a housing including a body of insulative material and having an interior cavity divided into a light emitting diode (LED) chamber and a plug receiving chamber, said housing further having exterior left, right and bottom surfaces, said LED chamber extending from a front of said housing toward a rear of said housing and being disposed atop said plug receiving chamber; contact pins disposed within said plug receiving chamber; at least one LED disposed within said LED chamber, said at least one LED having a pair of LED leads substantially contained within said LED chamber and extending toward said rear of said housing; and first and second connector leads disposed within said body of insulative material and toward said rear of said housing, an end of each connector lead being electrically coupled to one of said LED leads, another end of each connector lead extending through said exterior bottom surface of said housing; said left-end member having a coupling member formed on said exterior right surface of said housing; said right-end member having a coupling member formed on said exterior left surface of said housing. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15)
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16. A stacked modular jack adapted for mounting on a printed circuit board, said stacked modular jack comprising:
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a housing member having two vertically-aligned plug-receiving chambers, an upper plug-receiving chamber and a lower plug-receiving chamber, formed therewithin; a light emitting diode (LED) assembly having two vertically aligned LED-receiving chambers, said LED assembly being disposed atop said housing member; at least one LED received within each of said LED-receiving chambers, each LED having a pair of LED leads extending toward a rear of said LED-receiving chamber; and contact pins received within said plug-receiving chambers. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification