Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Be it known that I, Murat Yildirim, a citizen of the United States, have invented new and useful improvements in a cable connector as described in this specification.
Data cables are familiar in the art. All require connectors of some type to interconnect cables and to connect said cables into other cables, hardware, or wall jacks. Connectors typically employ conductive contacts, or insulation piercing contacts (IPCs), to which wires or conductors, run inside an insulating sheath comprising the cable, are soldered or attached. The IPCs are disposed in specific arrangements to ensure contact is maintained between the IPCs disposed in a male connector against those disposed in a female connector.
Size constraints and geometry limit the number of lPCs that can be properly configured for this contact-to-contact relationship—each IPC must be insulated from its neighbor(s) while securely maintaining connection with a complementary IPC in the other connector or jack, as case may be, in such a way as to ensure direct and exclusive conductivity.
Bandwidth is therefore constrained by the number of IPCs and the size of the conductors comprising the cable. Packets of data are constrained by the number of contacts since an electric signal must travel through at least two complementary contacts for the data to be transmitted from one cable to another. While data may be bundled between discrete packets, represented in discrete electrical signals that are constructable along a common conductor, the maximum amount of data flow is nonetheless a function of the number of contacts at the connectors. As the internet of things (IoT) and the industrial internet of things (IIoT) ramps up in the coming age, where every device is communicating online, this physical constraint to bandwidth may present a concern. What is needed is a cable connector that enables transmission of data along a plurality of channels by maximizing the contact-to-contact relationship between cables.
Connectors seen in the present state of the art typically arrange a plurality of IPCs in a lateral or transverse fashion, typically along an edge of a parallelepiped insulated connector, which parallelepiped insulated connector is insertable into a rectangular wall jack, or other connector, with complementary array of IPCs. For example, the ATX connector enables a plurality of wires to connect into a series of pins for insertion into complementary sockets. Each pin, then, connects to one wire, and a plurality of pins are arranged serried for connection with opposing sockets. Registered Jacks, standard in present day telecommunications, likewise orient contacts along transverse planes for interconnection with complementary contacts in a female connector. The maximum number of contacts between connectors is therefore limited by the width of the connector; typically contacts are arranged along a transverse axis in one or two rows, one atop the other. Some registered jacks (such as the RJ21, for example) present elongate connectors, positioning a plurality of contacts serried in transverse rows at the cable end. This creates a geometric inefficiency—for a greater number of contacts, the connector itself must be enlarged or otherwise increased in size, requiring an equivalent increase in size of the female connector.
What is needed is a cable connector that enables a maximized number of contacts to interconnect between a male and female connector over a given area. What is needed is a cable connector that positions a plurality of contacts coaxially along or in parallel with a major axis of the connector, to maximize connections between contacts and thereby increase bandwidth for transmission of data across a plurality of channels.
The present invention relates to cable connectors, and more particularly, to a cable connector that positions a plurality of contacts coaxially disposed along a major axis of the connecter and/or cable, which contacts are configured to complementarily engage against a corresponding plurality of contacts disposed upon a complementary female connector which is configured to matingly receive the cable connector. The arrangement of the contacts enales an interconnection of the contacts for the transmission of more data, across a plurality of channels, than in the manner of orienting contacts presently seen in the art.
Further, branch cables may feed into a trunk cable conneting end-users to a common connection at a network switch or patch panel, for example, thereby lessening the number of individual cables connected at the switch or patch panel while preserving or increasing the number of channels along which data may be transmitted.
The coming Internet of Things (“IoT”) heralds an era where almost every device is networked in communication with the world wide web. Vast quantities of data are already being produced and transacted in the modern word. As more and more devices are produced to be networked for internet compatibility, this vast transaction of data will only increase. Bandwidth—the amount of data that can be transmitted through a network—will exceed the physical limitations imposed by current network paths. Bandwidth limitations imposed by hardware will become increasingly in issue. For example, data cables seen in the art, which have limitations on the number of contacts that can be arranged between connecting cables, particularly at the home and office level, will become insufficient to accommodate the upward trends anticipated in the art.
The present cable connector, therefore, has been devised to orient a higher density of contacts along or in parallel with the major axis of the cable proper, to position a higher quantity of contacts in a longitudinal arrangement, thereby maintaining the diameter of the cable within acceptable ranges. The present cable connector, therefore, enables a greater interconnection between a higher number of contacts than in cables currently seen in the art while limiting the diameter required of the connector within acceptable norms. Further, the increased number of contacts allows for transmission of data across more channels and may, therefore, interconnect branch networks from is branch lines into a trunk line, to streamline the number of cables used in network between devices, end-user ports, and patch panels and network switches and/or gateways. The present invention enables a cascading series of connectors that interconnect upstream into trunk lines, thereby enabling simplified network configuration (with less end-to-end cables required) while increasing bandwidth transmissibility through the network.
The instant cable connecter, therefore, includes a plurality of contacts disposed along or in parallel with a major axis of the connecter, each of said contacts disposed about the peripheral surface of the connector and configured to complementarily engage against a corresponding plurality of contacts disposed upon a complementary connector configured to matingly receive the cable connector wherein interconnection of the plurality of contacts enables transmission of data across a plurality of channels as a function of the number of contacts.
In one example embodiment contemplated herein, a male connector is devised to engage into a female connector to interconnect a plurality of contacts. The male connector may include a plurality of nonconducting everted tiers, each of which tiers has a plurality of contacts arranged around the perimeter or peripheral surface thereon. Each of the tiers may be concentric, arranged around a common center, each tier having a decreasing transverse dimension (or, in circular connector embodiments, a decreasing diameter). In such embodiments, the male connector matingly engages into a female connector, configured to matingly receive the male connector. The female connector includes at least one nonconductive inverted tier configured complementarily to the at least one everted tier of the male connector. A plurality of contacts is arranged around the interior perimeter or peripheral surface of the at least one inverted tier in corresponding positions devised to engage against each contact of the male connector when the male connector is interconnected with the female connector.
By geometrically aligning the contacts in positions along or in parallel with the cables' major axes, instead of stacking them or orienting them transversely as is currently seen in the state of the art, the instant cable connector interconnects an increased number of contacts while controlling the overall diameter or transverse dimension of the cable and/or connector. The present connector therefore enables transmission of more bandwidth across a plurality of channels while maintaining compact transverse dimensions. This provides more conductors and contacts for connection within a given volume, enabling more efficient network structures employing fewer individual cables.
The number of contacts that can be arranged around a perimeter or a peripheral surface of a connector is a function of the perimeter of the connector (and therefore the connector's transverse dimension, or diameter) as well as its coaxial length. In an example embodiment contemplated herein, the male connector comprises a single everted tier having a length to define an exposed peripheral surface whereon a plurality of contacts may be disposed. A corresponding inverted, female tier, having a coaxial length and an interior peripheral surface wherein a plurality of contacts is disposed in complementary position to the plurality of contacts upon the peripheral surface of the everted tier, enables interconnection for data transmission. In the single-tiered embodiment contemplated by this example, the length of the tier on each of the male and female connectors controls the number and size of contacts disposed for interconnection.
In another example embodiment illustratively set forth herein, the male connector comprises a plurality of everted tiers, each tier representing a decreased diameter relative to a preceding tier, from a maximum diameter (which may be approximate to the diameter of the cable proper or may be larger or smaller than the diameter of the cable proper, as case may be), to a minimum diameter. For example, a first tier, therefore, may have a maximum diameter that includes a first plurality of contacts disposed about the perimeter or peripheral surface of the first tier. A second tier, for example, everted from the first tier, may have a lesser diameter than that of the first tier, but a diameter that is greater than the diameter of a third tier, and therefore presents a second plurality of contacts about its perimeter or peripheral surface that is less in number than the first tier but greater in number than the third tier. The third tier, therefore, may present a minimum diameter and, in like capacity, the least number of contacts disposed upon its perimeter or peripheral surface. Additional tiers are contemplated herein.
In this example, the first, second, and third tier may, therefore, insert into a series of concentrically aligned inverted tiers disposed in the female connector, wherein the third tier seats into an innermost inverted tier, the second tier seats into an intermediate tier, and the first tier seats into an outermost tier of the female connector. The connectors may be configured to be releasably securable together, as, for example, by action of sprung attachment members that are moveable between a first position and a second position against a tension or force, or by action of a collar member configured to rotatably secure one connector to another by manual action, or by other means of attachment seen in the art.
Further, it is axiomatic that different sized and/or different types of contacts may be disposed upon each tier, whereby the number of contacts may be a function of the size and/or type of the contacts disposed upon the peripheral surface. That is, in some embodiments contemplated herein, the number of contacts may be lesser on the larger tiers due to a larger size of the contacts. Also, the converse may be true.
It should be understood that additional types of contacts may be employed in a single connector, singly or in combination. Thus, it is contemplated that a single connector may include connectivity enabling transfer of data over conductors, fibers, fiber optics, electrically, optically, magnetically, or electromagnetically, or any combination thereof, whereby a single connector is enabled to transfer data across a plurality of channels.
Thus, the number of contacts depends on the type, number, length, and transverse dimension (or diameter), of each tier as well as the size of the contacts themselves.
The present cable connector has been configured to enable ease of interconnection. Smaller cables can further be routed into larger, trunk cables. Interconnection of hundreds of connections, for example, is rendered possible in a single connection, reducing time to install or relocate a network.
Thus, has been broadly outlined the more important features of the present concentric cable connector so that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated.
Objects of the present concentric cable connector, along with various novel features that characterize the invention are particularly pointed out in the claims forming a part of this disclosure. For better understanding of the concentric cable connector, its operating advantages and specific objects attained by its uses, refer to the accompanying drawings and description.
In order that the intended scope of the accompanying claims may be better understood, the inventor sets forth the following glossary of terms with meaning as intended and applied herein.
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular
It is to be understood that the example embodiments depicted in the accompanying drawings are included to exemplify the novel and inventive features of the instant invention and are not intended to be limiting. The particular features are enumerated as example embodiments only, illustrative of scope intended by the accompanying claims. Thus, various exemplary embodiments are set forth illustrative of the overall concepts informing the invention whereby persons skilled in the art may better comprehend the scope implied by the claims. It should be recognized, therefore, that a plurality of tiers and other arrangements of parts depicted may be variously employed in alternative and alternate arrangements, shapes, configurations, lengths, depths, and adaptations, the overall concept of the cable connector notwithstanding. It is to be further understood that the term “concentric” as employed herein throughout includes embodiments wherein the conductors and/or contacts are arranged concentrically, whether across a plurality of tiers or not.
Turning now to
More or less conductors 20 may be arranged between insulating or nonconductive sections, as case may be, depending on the size of the conductors 20 compared to the size of the connector 100, 200. The number, therefore, is shown for the purposes of example only and is not intended to be limiting. Each of the conductors 20 is disposed via peripheral contact 102 to connect with a corresponding spring contact 202 disposed in complementary position interior to female connector 200. See, e.g.,
When male connector 100 is properly oriented, such that attachment members 300 properly engage to maintain male connector 100 docked into female connector 200, then each peripheral contact 102 engages against an associated spring contact 202 peripherally disposed around interior surface 204 of female connector 200. As shown in
Turning to
The example embodiment shown in
As shown in
Female connector 200 presents a complementary number of inverted tiers 206, each having an interior peripheral surface 204 whereon a corresponding plurality of, in this example embodiment, spring contacts 202 is disposed. When male connector 100 is inserted into female connector 200, each of the plurality of everted tiers 106 engages with each of the plurality of inverted tiers 206 whereby each of the plurality of peripheral contacts 102 is placed in contact or operational communication with each of the plurality of spring contacts 202.
In this example embodiment, a greater density of conductors 20 can be incorporated relative to the example embodiment shown in
Male connector 100 presents a plurality of channels 108 wherein a corresponding plurality of conductors 20 is led to terminate at or proximal to a peripheral surface 104 of at least one tier 106. Conductor 20 (or fiber, fiber optic, channel, or other conveyance suited for the transmission of data or bandwidth, whether electrically or otherwise) is crimped to, or otherwise connected with, peripheral contact 102. Complementary conductors 20 are arranged peripherally and concentrically from complementary spring contacts 202 disposed in corresponding array around interior peripheral surfaces 204 of each corresponding inverted tier 206 in female connector 200.
In this embodiment, each spring contact 202 disposed within female connector 200 is projected anteriorly from connection with a corresponding conductor as a plurality of spring pins. See, e.g.,
The example embodiment shown in
Contacts 102, 202 are disposed along major axes in parallel along the length of each connector 100, 200. Thus, the connector 100, 200 may increase in length to accommodate more contacts 102, 202 between conductors 20 while maintaining a constant transverse dimension or diameter.
This nonprovisional application claims priority to provisional application No. 63/309,478 filed on 11 Feb. 2022.
Number | Date | Country | |
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63309478 | Feb 2022 | US |