Modular jack assembly with signal conditioning

An electrical connector assembly, comprising:

• a housing member having an upper row of plug receiving openings and a lower row of plug receiving openings, said upper and lower rows of plug receiving openings being laterally aligned;
• a modular jack housing comprising an elongate beam platform having a front end, rear end, upper and lower surfaces, and side edges;
• and
• a plurality of electrical contacts positioned on said modular jack housing, including an upper row adjacent to said upper surface and a lower row adjacent to said lower surface, each of said upper and lower rows of contacts having mating contact portions extending adjacent to said front end, and said upper row having printed circuit board connecting contacts extending beyond one of said side edges, and said lower row of contacts having printed circuit board connecting contacts extending beyond said opposite side edge;
• said modular jack housing and contacts being receivable within said housing member to align said mating contact portions with associated plug receiving openings.

An electrical connector assembly, comprising:

• a housing member having an upper plug receiving opening and a lower plug receiving opening, said upper and lower plug receiving openings being laterally aligned;
• a modular jack housing assembly comprising an elongate platform having a front end, rear end, and upper and lower surfaces, said modular jack assembly further comprising a plurality of upper and lower electrical conductors, said upper electrical conductors comprising mating contacts extending upwardly from said upper surface of said platform, upper intermediate conductors adjacent said upper surface and extending towards said rear end, and conductor connecting sections at ends thereof, and said lower electrical conductors comprising mating contacts extending downwardly from said lower surface, lower intermediate conductors adjacent said lower surface and extending towards said rear end, and conductor connecting sections at ends thereof;
• and
• substrates mounted to said elongate platform, having printed circuit board connecting contacts extending therefrom for further connection to a printed circuit board, said substrates being mounted orthogonally relative to said elongate platform, and carrying signal conditioning devices thereon, said printed circuit board connecting contacts being commoned to select ones of said upper and lower mating contacts, through said substrates and through said signal conditioning devices.

An electrical connector assembly, comprising:

• a housing member having an upper plug receiving opening and a lower plug receiving opening, said upper and lower plug receiving openings being laterally aligned;
• a modular jack housing assembly comprising an elongate platform having a front end, rear end, and upper and lower surfaces, said modular jack assembly further comprising a plurality of upper and lower electrical conductors, said upper electrical conductors comprising mating contacts extending upwardly from said upper surface of said platform, and conductor connecting sections at ends thereof, and said lower electrical conductors comprising mating contacts extending downwardly from said lower surface, and conductor connecting sections at ends thereof;
• substrates substantially orthogonal to said elongate platform and having connecting contacts extending therefrom for further connection to an external device, said substrates carrying electrical components thereon, said connecting contacts being commoned to select ones of said upper and lower mating contacts, through said substrates and through said electrical components;
• at least one noise shield element disposed at least partly between said upper and lower electrical conductors;
• and
• noise shielding disposed around at least a portion of the outer surface of said housing member.

An electrical connector assembly, comprising:

• a modular jack housing comprising means for supporting having a front end, rear end, upper and lower surfaces, and side edges;
• a plurality of contact means positioned on said modular jack housing, including an upper contact means adjacent to said upper surface and a plurality of lower contact means adjacent to said lower surface, each of said pluralities of upper and lower contact means having mating contact means for mating with corresponding mating contact means of a modular plug, and printed circuit board connecting means extending beyond respective ones of said side edges;
• and
• means for signal conditioning comprised of circuit boards having signal conditioning components thereon, mounted to said side edges of said means for supporting and in electrical communication with said circuit board connecting means.

A method of manufacturing an electrical connector assembly, comprising:

• forming a housing having at least two plug receiving openings disposed in over-under configuration, said housing further having at least one receiving area adapted to receive a modular jack subassembly;
• forming upper and lower sets of modular plug contacts;
• forming sets of circuit board contacts;
• forming at least one elongate beam platform adapted to receive at least a portion of said upper and lower modular plug contacts;
• providing at least two circuit boards having electrically conductive pathways formed thereon;
• disposing said modular plug contacts within said at least one elongate beam platform;
• mating said at least two circuit boards to respective ones of said upper and lower sets of modular plug contacts and said circuit board contacts to form said modular jack subassembly;
• and
• disposing said subassembly within said at least one receiving area.

A method of manufacturing an modular jack subassembly, comprising:

• forming upper and lower sets of modular plug contacts;
• forming sets of circuit board contacts;
• forming at least one elongate beam platform adapted to receive at least a portion of said upper and lower sets of modular plug contacts;
• providing at least two circuit boards having electrically conductive pathways formed thereon;
• disposing said modular plug contacts within said at least one elongate beam platform;
• mating said at least two circuit boards to respective ones of said upper and lower sets of modular plug contacts and said circuit board contacts, thereby forming electrical pathways between at least a portion of said modular plug contacts and respective ones of said circuit board contacts.