Telecommunications terminal

A modular, re-enterable telecommunications terminal for making and breaking connections with insulated wire conductors, comprising:

• a) a first base frame having:
• i) module receiving means for receiving wire termination modules,
• ii) a five pin socket on said base frame, and
• iii) means for electrically connecting modules in said module receiving means to said socket,
• b) at least one tool-less wire termination module supported on said module receiving means, said termination module being a wide-gauge tower capable of re-enterably manually terminating insulated wire conductors ranging from 181/2 gauge copper-coated steel to 24 gauge solid copper and including:
• i) an insulation displacing connector extending outwardly from said base frame and having means defining an entry opening for receiving such an insulated wire conductor,
• ii) a manually operable push-pull driver module surrounding said insulation displacing connector,
• iii) guide means supporting said driver module around said insulation displacing connector for push-pull motion between open and connected positions relative to said insulation displacing connector, said guide means including I-beam guide tracks supported in said module receiving means, and means defining corresponding I-beam guide slots in said wide-gauge tower, said guide slots receiving said guide tracks therein,
• iv) means defining a passageway in said driver module for passing such an insulated wire conductor into said driver module and moving the wire conductor into and out of said insulation displacing connector through said entry opening therein when said driver module is moved, respectively, to said connected and said open positions,
• v) a visual wire indicator for visually confirming receipt through said driver module passageway of such an insulated wire conductor,
• vi) gel sealant in said driver module for environmentally sealing said insulation displacing connector in said driver module, and
• vii) a finger cap on the end of said manually operable push-pull driver module opposite said base frame for facilitating gripping said driver by means of fingers to manually pull said driver to said open position,
• c) a second base frame substantially like said first base frame and positioned adjacent thereto with said five pin sockets of said base frames juxtaposed to each another,
• d) at least one tool-less wire termination module supported on said module receiving means of said second base frame, said termination module being a small-gauge thimble capable of re-enterably manually terminating insulated wire conductors ranging from 22 to 24 gauge solid copper and including:
• i) an insulation displacing connector extending outwardly from said base frame and having means defining an entry opening for receiving such an insulated wire conductor,
• ii) a manually operable push-pull driver module surrounding said insulation displacing connector,
• iii) said driver module and said insulation displacing connector including multi-wire bridging means,
• iv) guide means supporting said driver module around said insulation displacing connector for push-pull motion between open and connected positions relative to said insulation displacing connector,
• v) means defining a passageway in said driver module for passing such an insulated wire conductor into said driver module and moving the wire conductor into and out of said insulation displacing connector through said entry opening therein when said driver module is moved, respectively, to said connected and said open positions,
• vi) said insulation displacing connector having a wire trim cut-off blade positioned inside said driver for intercepting and cutting off excess such insulated wire extending through said driver module passageway when said driver is moved from said open to said connected position,
• vii) said driver module including a tactile indicator for indicating when said driver has been moved to said connected position, said tactile indicator including a slot and tab latch snap locking connector, and a finger squeeze latch release, for releasably securing said driver in said connected position when moved thereto, and
• viii) gel sealant in said driver module for environmentally sealing said insulation displacing connector in said driver module,
• e) at least one substantially rigid bridging module configured for electrically connecting said five pin sockets to one another and mechanically coupling said base frames to one another, said bridging module having electrical protection means connected for responding to condition faults at said sockets such as over-voltage or over-current conditions, and having a gel seal for environmentally sealing said bridging module to said base frames,
• f) a gel-sealed RJ-11 test module connected to at least one said bridging module for testing electrical signals at said sockets, and
• g) a metallic mounting bolt in each of said base frames connected for mounting said frames to a metallic housing and for electrically grounding said base frames thereto, said bolts each having means defining a pin socket in the heads thereof, and said pin sockets being positioned to provide a ground pin socket so portion for each said five pin socket.

A modular, re-enterable telecommunications terminal for making and breaking connections with insulated wire conductors, comprising:

• a) a base frame having:
• i) module receiving means for receiving at least one wire termination module,
• ii) a multi-pin socket on said base frame, and
• iii) means for electrically connecting modules in said module receiving means to said socket,
• b) at least one tool-less wire termination module supported on said module receiving means, said termination module including:
• i) a plurality of electrically connected insulation displacing connectors extending outwardly from said base frame and having means defining corresponding entry openings for receiving insulated wire conductors,
• ii) a manually operable push-pull driver module surrounding at least two of said insulation displacing connectors to provide a multi-wire bridging connection,
• iii) guide means supporting said driver module around said at least two insulation displacing connectors for push-pull motion between open and connected positions relative to said insulation displacing connectors,
• iv) means defining a passageway in said driver module for passing one or more such insulated wire conductors into said driver module and moving the wire conductors into and out of said insulation displacing connectors through said entry openings therein when said driver module is moved, respectively, to said connected and said open positions, and
• v) environmental sealant in said driver module for environmentally sealing said insulation displacing connectors in said driver module, and
• c) socket bridging means configured for electrically connecting said multi-pin socket to another such multi-pin socket on another such base frame.