Structured cabling system and patching method
AssigneeHellermanntyton Data Limited
InventorJason James
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A structured cabling system has two patch panels each having a plurality of jacks. Adjacent each jack is an LED which can be illuminated in response to a signal from a processor to identify the associated jack. The processor illuminates each LED in a sequence to identify the connections which should be made between the jacks, so that a first LED is illuminated, and once, the presence of a plug of a patch cable within the associated jack is detected, that LED is deactivated and a second LED is illuminated to identify the jack to which the plug on the other end of the patch cable should be connected. Once the presence of the plug in the second jack is detected, a continuity check is carried out between the two jacks before moving on to the next jack.
Claims27
A structured cabling system comprising at least two patch panels each having a plurality of jacks, an indicator means associated with each jack, each said indicator means being operable by an applied signal to provide a signal which identifies the jack associated with that indicator means, and sensor means associated with each jack to provide an indication of the presence or absence of a plug connected to the jack.
A method of providing connection between a plurality of jacks provided on at least two patch panels, comprising the steps of providing a plurality indicator means, each said indicator means being associated with a single jack of one of said patch panels so as to identify said associated jack, and actuating each indicator means in a sequence which identifies pairs of jacks into which the two ends of a patch lead are to be connected in order to effect a connection between said first and second jacks.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.