BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Hereinafter, the invention is described by means of a non-limiting example thereof with reference to the drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of the telecommunications module;
FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of shield plates and a grounding rail to be inserted into the telecommunications module of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 shows a view from one side of the telecommunications module of FIG. 1 with the shield plates and the grounding rail of FIG. 2 inserted;
FIG. 4 shows a sectional view of the telecommunications module on line AA of FIG. 3 in combination with a patch cord plug; and
FIG. 5 shows a view corresponding to that of FIG. 3 of a further embodiment of a telecommunications module.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
As can be taken from FIG. 1, the telecommunications module 10 has the shape of an elongate strip extending from a first end (shown in FIG. 1 on the left side 12) to a second end (shown in FIG. 1 on the right side 14). The pairs of contacts 16 in the module are exposed at the front in use and reference will be made accordingly hereinafter. Thus, the remaining side, which is visible in FIG. 1, is the top side 18. In the embodiment shown, eight pairs of contacts 16 are exposed at the front. The housing 20 of the telecommunications module 10 is made of plastic material. For further details of the general structure of the telecommunications module 10 according to the invention, reference may be made to those documents that are acknowledged in the introductory part of the specification.
In order to allow the insertion of shield plates, as described below, between pairs of contacts 16, slots 22 are provided in the housing 20. The slots are shown oriented approximately perpendicular to the sides 18, 19 of the housing but can be arranged at any suitable angle. In the embodiment shown comprising eight pairs of contacts 16, seven slots 22 are provided between the pairs of contacts 16. As can be taken from FIG. 1, the slots are open at the side 18. As will be apparent from FIG. 4 and described in more detail below, the slots 22 are, in addition, preferably also open at the other side 19, which is not visible in FIG. 1. As further details of the telecommunications module 10 shown in FIG. 1 are apparent to those skilled in the related field, a more detailed description of the telecommunications module as such will be omitted. In the context of the invention, the slots 22 provided in the telecommunications module 10 allow the insertion of shield plates as described below. The slots could also be configured so as to allow an insertion of the shield plates from the side 19.
FIG. 2 shows shield plates 24 and a grounding rail 26. The shield plates 24 can be made of thin shield metal or of thin metalized plastic or any other conductive material. FIG. 2 shows the orientation of the assembly of shield plates 24 and the grounding rail 26, in which these components are to be inserted in the telecommunications module shown in FIG. 1. The same terminology will be employed to refer to various sides of the components shown in FIG. 2 above for the telecommunications module. Thus, the shield plates 24, in the embodiment shown, have an elongate shape extending from the rear to the front. As can be taken from FIG. 2, they preferably furthermore comprise widened portions 28 at the front end thereof. On one side, remote from the rail 26, they preferably comprise a slit 30 which extends approximately over one half, or somewhat further, than the width of the shield plates 24. As the shield plates 24 are to be inserted into the housing 20 of the telecommunications module 10 in a direction from one side 18 to the other side 19, the slits 30 extend in the insertion direction. An internal projection of the telecommunications module, as described below, can be accommodated in the slit 30 during the inserting movement. Thus, movement of the shield plates in a direction from the front to the rear of the module and vice versa can substantially be prevented. As can be taken from FIG. 2, those edges, which define the slit 30, can define an arrow-like contour with barbs 32 so as to achieve a solid engagement with the internal structure of the module. In particular, this contour can be formed to provide a kind of snapping mechanism cooperating with the internal projection of the module, which is described below in more detail with reference to FIG. 4. It is to be noted that the above-described structure including the slit 30 and the internal projection shown in FIG. 4 are preferred features only. In particular, the above-mentioned alternatives, such as a projection being formed on the shield plates can also be employed.
In the embodiment shown, the grounding rail 26 is made of sheet metal and will usually be stamped from sheet metal. The plane of the sheet metal extends perpendicular to the plane of the sheet plates 24 and parallel to the sides 18, 19 of the telecommunications module 10. To establish electrical contact with each of the shield plates 24, lugs 34 are bent from the grounding rail 26. These lugs 34 are adapted to be inserted into the slots 22 of the telecommunications module 10 in addition to the shield plates 24 to establish electrical contact with the shield plates 24. As regards the width of the slots 22, this width substantially corresponds to the thickness of each of the shield plates 24 (plus if necessary the thickness of each of the lugs 34 of the grounding rail 26). Advantageously, the width of the slots can be somewhat smaller so that the shield plate 24 and the lug 34 are somewhat compressed in order to secure electrical contact between them. The lugs 34 are each integrally connected with a web 36, which webs 36 are in turn integrally formed with the grounding rail 26. At at least one end thereof, the grounding rail 26 is provided with a suitable structure including a grounding lug 38 to directly or indirectly establish electrical connection with a grounded component. The lugs 34 and the grounding lug 38 merely need to touch or contact the shield plates 24 and the grounded component, respectively, to allow induced current to be guided to ground.
In FIG. 3, the grounded component is a so-called back mount frame 40 which is an elongate structure with an essentially trough-like cross-section, as seen in FIG. 3, to which plural telecommunications modules can be mounted. The contact between grounding rail 26 and the back mount frame 40 is in this case established a grounding contact 42. In the embodiment of FIG. 3 a grounding rail is used, which is substantially a mirror image of the grounding rail as shown in FIG. 2. Thus, the grounding lug 38 is present at a left side thereof and is in electrical connection with the grounding contact 42. In summary, any current induced in the shield plates 24 due to the transmission of signals with a high data rate, is connected with the ground by the grounding rail 26, the grounding contact 42 and the grounded back mount frame 40. FIG. 3 additionally shows the shield plates 24 inserted between each adjacent pairs of contacts 16.
Details of the state, in which the shield plates 24 are inserted into the housing 20 of the telecommunications module 10 are shown in the sectional view of FIG. 4. As regards the telecommunications module, the sectional view is taken at line A-A of FIG. 3. However, a patch cord plug 44 is additionally attached to the front of the telecommunications module 10. As can be taken from the center part of FIG. 4, the slot 22 for inserting the shield plate 24 is open throughout the dimension of the shield plate 24 at the side only, i.e. the right side of FIG. 4. At the opposite side 19, the housing 20 overlaps the shield plate 24 at portion 46. Thus, the shield plate 24 cannot be inserted from the side 18 so as to completely pass through the housing 20 of the telecommunications module 10. Rather, the insertion movement is stopped by portion 46. In addition, at a position corresponding to the slit 30 of the shield plate 24, the housing comprises an internal projection 48, which engages with the slit 30 and substantially prevents the shield plate 24 from moving towards the front 52, or the rear 54 of the module. At the side of the shield plate 24, corresponding to the side 18 of the module i.e. the right side of FIG. 4, a lug 34 of the grounding rail 26 is visible.
FIG. 4, furthermore, shows the effect of widened portions 28 provided at the front end of each of the elongate shield plates 24. These widened portions 28 extend from one side of the housing 20 of the telecommunications module to the other so as to be exposed to the outside. With this configuration, the widened portions 28 can be contacted by a shield contact 50 of the plug 44. Thus, continuous shielding and, furthermore, grounding can be provided by the combination of shield contact 50 of the plug 44, shield plates 24, grounding rail 26 and grounding contact 42.
It should finally be mentioned that the telecommunications module according to the invention can be formed as a terminal or connection module for permanently connecting wires which are terminated at the contacts of the module. Furthermore, the telecommunications module can be formed as a disconnection module, the contacts of which comprise a disconnection or separation point in order to realize a disconnectable connection. As will be apparent to those skilled in the art, any further types of telecommunications module are conceivable for applying the invention as described herein.
FIG. 5 shows a further embodiment of a telecommunications module 10, the general structure of which essentially corresponds to the embodiment described above. However, the grounding rail 26 is formed somewhat different than in the previous embodiments. In particular, the grounding lug 38 extends to the right as shown for a similar embodiment in FIG. 2. However, the specific structure of those lugs 34, which are integrally formed with the grounding rail 26 and contact the shield plates 24, corresponds to that shown for the embodiment of FIG. 3. It should be mentioned that the grounding rail 26 can also have two or even more grounding lugs 38, for example, one extending to the right, as shown in FIG. 5, and another one extending to the left, as shown in FIG. 3. Furthermore, any of the above-mentioned preferred features can be combined with each other in order to define novel and advantageous feature combinations. In particular, numerous modifications will be apparent in view of the appended claims.
Patent Application
20080045083
