US2103501A - Terminal box device - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 28, 1937. F. D. wALDRoN ET A1.

TERMINAL BOX DEVICE Filed Sept. 16, 1936 2 Sheets-Shea?l l 53 mi u Wzl v vill/IIL MR M W05 LM A. c WJ a mAM s y0u 4 R B am ww u lv. a

ATTORNEY F. D.. NALDRON' ET Al.

Dec. 28, 1937.

TERMINAL BOX DEVICE Filed Sept.. 16', 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

F D. WA L DRON ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 28, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TERMINAL BOX DEVICE Application September 16, 1936, Serial No. 101,054

5 Claims.

This invention relates to terminal box devices, and more particularly to a sealed test terminal box device for use in high quality testing of voice and carrier communication circuits.

The object of the invention is to improve the construction of such terminal box devices.

A feature of the invention resides in the provision of a terminal box device in which partitions cooperate with the walls of the terminal 10 box to form a series of compartments for housing associated testing and protecting electrical devices and a sealing chamber for the line wires and their associated terminals.

Another feature resides in mounting the line protector devices in the compartment formed on one side of the sealed chamber, a removable cover for the terminal box being provided for permitting visual observation and replacement of the protector devices without interference from 20 associated wiring connections.

Another feature resides in mounting test terminals in a compartment formed on the opposite side of the sealing chamber to that of the line protector devices, thus eiectively shielding the test terminals from the line protectors.

Another feature is the provision of means whereby the test terminals may be removed from their supporting elements for adjustment and repair without interference from their lsoldered 30 connections with the line wire terminals.

Other novel features and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description and by the claims appended thereto, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a partial front View with the casing and a number of test terminal blocks shown with portions cut away;

Fig. 2 is a partial top view showing one of the .40 switching devices removed from its supporting member and the top wall of the casing with portions cut away, the cover casing being shown partly in section;

Fig. 3 is an end view showing the walls of the .45 casing with portions cut away -and a number wall I0, a bottom wall II, side walls I3 and I4, and a removable rear wall or cover I2 which is held to the top and bottom walls by a plurality of screws I5 and I6 engaging brackets, such as I1, which in turn are secured to the top wall I by rivets I8 and to' the bottom wall II by rivets I9. On the top wall IU is secured, as by rivets I, a sleeve or collar 52 for receiving the protecting lead cable sheath 52X from which the line wires LW are distributed to terminals which will be hereinafter described in detail. The rear wall or cover I2 is provided with a peripher-al rim portion RM shown in Figs. 2 and 3 overlapping the contour of the casing thus formed so as to render the casing substantially dustproof at this point.

To the top and bottom walls I0 and II of the casing and in longitudinal relation thereto are secured, as by screws 20 and 2I, two pairs of parallelly disposed insul- ating bars 22 and 22b and 23 and 23o shown in Figs. 2 and 3. To the bars 22 and 23 is secured, as by a number of screws 24, a partition 25 of insulating material on which are mounted the wire terminals 26, these terminals being secured to the insulating partition 25 by a press-fit eng-agement in correspondingly sized holes to a stop aiorded by a collar 21 in abutment with the rear surface of this partition, and to the ends of the terminals 26, adjacent the collar portions 2l, are secured the line wires LW. To the opposite ends of these terminals are. connected, as by wires W, shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6, switching devices in the form of jacks JS, each consisting of a mounting bracket 30 secured to an insulating block 34, the contact elements 3I and 32 being insulated from each other by spaced members of insulating material and the whole secured in a pile-up arrangement on the mounting bracket 30.

The jacks JS are arranged by pairs on each bracket 30 and these brackets are arranged by pairs on the rectangularly-shaped insulating blocks `34 which are in turn arranged in coordinate rows and secured to parallelly disposed supporting metal bars 35, 36, 3l, 38, and 39, shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4 by screws 35]c engaging the bar 35, screws 36j engaging the bar 36, screws 3'If engaging the bar 3l, screws 38f engaging the bar 38, and screws 39j engaging the bar 39. Bars 35, 36, 31, 38, and 39, which these screws 36f, 31j, 38f, and 39j engage, are grounded, and a strap 50 interconnects these screws with screws 60 screwed into a cross piece 80 secured to the two brackets 30, 30. Since eachscrew 60 is thus .connected to the two brackets, each supporting Any one of the insulating blocks 34 may be removed individually from its supporting bars by the simple removal of its two securing screws Calif-36; or ttf-31j, etc., as the case may be without interference from its adjacent blocks 34. The wires W in cooperation with the line terminals 26 which extend in proximity to the insulating blocks 34 permit these blocks and the jacks JS mounted thereon to be drawn a considerable distance from the front surface of the board thus formed (Fig. 2) without necessitating the breaking of any of their soldered connections, thus facilitating repairs and adjustments of these parts while correspondingly decreasing the maintenance cost of such equipment. The arrangement of spacing the groups of jacks from each other as shown in Fig. 1 provides suicient separation electrically for circuits up to 150 kilocycles without the necessity of shielding. l

To the parallel bars 22b,and 23h, which are secured to the top and bottom walls i@ and lI, is secured, as by a plurality of screws 4t, a metallic partition 4I shown in Figs. 2 and 3. This partition is provided with two rectangular openings a2 and 43 for receiving the insulating strips 44 and (l5, these strips being secured to the partition by metallic links 46 and 41 secured to the partition @I and to the insulating strips 44 and 45 by similar screws 48. On the insulating strips 44 and 45 are mounted the terminals 50 connecting with the jacks JS and protector devices of the carbon block type, the electrodes CB and CBI or which are held in engaged relation to each other by springs 50Y, the line wires LW being distributed or supported by the protector terminals to the side wall I3 of the casing by a plurality of sets of U-shaped supporting brackets BI, B2, and B3 shown in Fig. 3.

On the top wall I there isV secured, as by rivets lC, a screw threaded sleeve EID for receiving a cap screw 53 provided for permitting the filling of the middle or intermediate compartment with a suitable sealing compound, thereby effectively shielding the component conducting parts on opposite sides of the sealing chamber.

Referring now to Fig. 5, when it is desired to test a pair of line wires incoming from the cable, plug PL is inserted in the upper pair of jacks L allotted to this circuit, see Fig. l. This disconnects this pair of line wires LW from the wires EW leading to the equipment apparatus and connects instead a test set not shown. When it is desired to test a pair of wires leading to the equipment, such as repeaters etc., plug PL is inserted in the lower pair of jacks EQ (Fig. 1) allotted to this circuit. This disconnects this pair of wires from its associated pair of line wires LW and connects in place thereof the test set.

A circuit is normally closed through the spring EUY, the electrodes CBI and CB oi the protector to ground G connected to the protector support.

It will be noted that with each set of four jacks (Fig. l) there is associated a small perforation 'l0 in the associated insulating block 34. Heretofore it has been necessary to furnish two differ'- ent types oi jacks, one pair with cut-oi springs for use with patching cords and another without cut-ofi springs to prevent opening the circuits in transmission level testing. By employing the above arrangement, the same jacks can be used ior both purposes by using a four-prong plug as shown in Fig. 6 with two sets of prongs electrically vconnected and the level testing set connected in bridge of these two sets of prongs, the plug having a pin to insure that the prongs enter the proper jacks. Then for patching purposes, a regular twin plug can be used with these same jacks.

It is understood that minor changes may be made as to shape, dimension, and the number of lines terminating in the test terminal box of this invention without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A test terminal box device comprising a casing, partitions in said casing forming a plurality of adjacently disposed compartments, a plurality of terminals carried by one of said partitions and extending on opposite sides thereof into two of said compartments, a plurality of insulating bars supportedby the end walls of said casing in adjust-ed spaced relation to each other, a plurality of switching devices having each a supporting block mounted in coordinate rows on said bars and connected to adjacent ends of said terminals, in one of the outer disposed compartments, a sleeve secured to one of the walls of said casing through which the line wires enter the middle compartment for connection with the other ends of said terminals, and other electrical apparatus mounted on the other of said partitions in the other outer disposed compartment and having terminals connecting with the iirstmentioned terminals in the said middle compartment.

2. In a test terminal box, a casing, partitions in said casingI cooperating with the walls thereof to form three compartments, terminals mounted on one of said partitions, a sleeve secured to one of said walls, a cable stub engaging said sleeve for leading the line. wires to said terminals in one of said compartments, other terminals' mounted on the other partition and having one of their ends disposed adjacent the ends of the iirst mentioned terminals in the last-mentioned compartment, electrical connections between the first and second-mentioned terminals, and electrical devices connected to the other ends of the rst and second-mentioned terminals in the other and the last-mentioned compartments.

3. In a test terminal box, a casing, partitions in said casing cooperating with the walls thereof to form a series of three adjacent compartments, terminals mounted on one of said partitions,V a sleeve secured to one of said walls, a cable stub engaging said sleeve for leading the line wires for connection to said terminals in the middle disposed of said compartments, switching devices, insulating means for each oi said devices, and means carried by said casing for supporting said insulating means, said terminals extending from said partition with one of their ends extending to a point adjacent said insulating means, conducting means connecting said terminals to said switching devices, said insulating means being removable individually from said insulating means while maintaining electrical continuity between said terminals and said switching devices, other terminals carried by the other o said partitions and connecting with said conducting means, and other electrical devices in the other outer disposed compartment connecting with the last-mentioned terminals.

4. In a test terminal box device, a casing, partitions in said casing cooperating with the walls of said casing to form a series of adjacently disposed compartments, terminals mounted on one of said partitions and protruding on opposite sides thereof, means secured to one of said walls for receiving the cable stub for leading the line wires for connections to said terminals in one of said compartments, other terminals mounted on the other partition and protruding on opposite sides thereof, electric connections between the adjacent ends of the first and second-mentioned terminals in said compartment, switching devices mounted in another of said compartments and connected to the other ends of the rst-men tioned terminals, protector devices, sup-porting means carried by the other partition for mounting said protector devices in another of said compartments, spring means secured by the lastmentioned terminals on the last-mentioned partition for yieldably holding said devices on said supporting means, and means carried by said casing communicating with the first-mentioned compartment for lling it with an insulating compound.

5. A test terminal box device comprising a casing, a plurality of partitions dividing said casing into a series of three adjacently disposed compartments, a set of terminals carried by each of said partitions extending on both sides thereof, one set of terminals connecting with the line wires in the middle disposed compartment and with the other set of terminals in that compartment, electrical devices mounted on one of said partitions in one of the outer disposed compartments and connecting with the set of terminals carried by that partition, a plurality of supporting bars secured to said casing, switching devices, an insulating block for each of said devices mounted in rows relative to each other on said supporting bars in the other outer disposed compartment, and conducting means attached to the ends of said terminals in that compartment and connecting with the last-mentioned devices, said insulating blocks being individually removable from said supporting bars, and a sealing compound filling the middle disposed compartment for shielding the electrical devices from said switching devices.

FRED D. WALDRON. ANTHONY J. WIER.

Images