Printed circuit board for connecting of multi-wire cabling to surge protectors

A surge protector assembly, comprising:

• at least one metal protector pin connector disposed on a multi-layer printed circuit board for electrically connecting one or more pins of a surge protector;
• at least one incoming connector disposed on a multi-layer printed circuit board for electrically connecting to an incoming communication line having one or more leads;
• at least one outgoing connector disposed on a multi-layer printed circuit board for electrically connecting to an outgoing communication line having one or more leads;
• and
• one or more traces on or within the multi-layer printed circuit board, the traces electrically connecting the protector pin connector to a corresponding connector establishing an electrical path between at least one lead of the incoming and outgoing communication lines and a corresponding surge protector pin, at least one of said traces including at least two runs electrically in parallel such that they electrically connect a particular one of said protector pin connector to a particular one of either or both of said incoming or outgoing communication lines.

A surge protector assembly, comprising:

• a multi-layer printed circuit board for connectively accepting a plurality of pins of a surge protector;
• a plurality of metal protector pin connectors disposed on the multi-layer printed circuit board;
• a plurality of insulation displacement connectors disposed on the multi-layer printed circuit board for connectively accepting an incoming and an outgoing cable having a plurality of leads;
• and
• a plurality of traces within or on the multi-layer printed circuit board, the traces each having two end points and at least two electrically parallel runs coupled to the end points for electrically connecting each of the protector pin connectors to a corresponding insulation displacement connector, such that there is a signal path between each lead of the incoming and outgoing cables and a corresponding surge protector pin.

A surge protector assembly, comprising:

• a plurality of metal protector pin connectors disposed on a multi-layer printed circuit board for connectively accepting a plurality of pins of a surge protector;
• a ground plane within or on the multi-layer printed circuit board for connectively accepting and discharging a transient signal from the surge protector during a current surge that exceeds a specified level;
• at least one incoming line connector disposed on a multi-layer printed circuit board for connectively accepting an incoming cable having a plurality of leads;
• at least one outgoing line connector disposed on a multi-layer printed circuit board for connectively accepting an incoming cable having a plurality of leads;
• a first trace within or on the multi-layer printed circuit board, the first trace having two end points and at least two electrically parallel runs coupled to the end points for electrically connecting each of the protector pin connectors to a corresponding line connector, such that there is a signal path between each lead of the incoming and outgoing cables and a corresponding surge protector pin;
• a second trace disposed on or within the multi-layer printed circuit board, the second trace forming an electrical cross connection between the incoming or outgoing communication line connectors and the metal protector pin connector;
• and
• a frame having a ground terminal for electrically connecting the surge protector to ground, where the metallic frame connectively accepts the multi-layer printed circuit assembly.

A method of providing surge protection to a plurality of communication lines comprising:

• forming input and output connectors on the communication lines;
• connecting the input connectors to a multi-layer printed circuit board;
• connecting the output connectors to a multi-layer printed circuit board;
• and
• connecting one of a five pin or six pin surge protector assembly to the multi-layer printed circuit board, wherein traces on the multi-layer printed circuit board electrically connect pins of the surge protector assembly in series with the corresponding input and output pins of the input and output connectors, respectively, and wherein at least one of the traces has at least two electrically parallel runs.

An assembly for receiving at least one surge protector, comprising:

• at least one metal protector pin connector having a tubular portion mounted to and extending directly into a trace-containing layer of a printed circuit board for electrically connecting one or more pins of the at least one surge protector;
• at least one communication line connector disposed on the printed circuit board for electrically connecting to a communication line;
• at least one trace within or on the printed circuit board, the trace electrically connecting the protector pin connector to the communication line connector;
• and
• at least one trace within or on the printed circuit board electrically connecting one of said protector pin connectors to ground, said at least one trace shorting a transient current to ground when the transient current exceeds a threshold level, wherein the at least one trace includes at least two conductive runs that are electrically coupled in parallel and disposed on a separate layer on or within the printed circuit board.

An assembly for receiving at least one surge protector, comprising:

• at least two metal protector pin connectors mounted directly to and extending directly into a trace-containing layer of a printed circuit board for electrically connecting one or more pins of the at least one surge protector;
• at least one communication line connector disposed on the printed circuit board for electrically connecting to a communication line;
• at least one trace within or on the printed circuit board, the trace electrically connecting the protector pin connector to the communication line connector;
• and
• at least one trace within or on the printed circuit board electrically connecting one of said protector pin connectors to ground, said at least one trace configured to short shorting a transient current to ground when the transient current exceeds a threshold level, wherein the at least one trace includes at least two conductive runs that are electrically coupled in parallel and disposed on a separate layer on or within the printed circuit board.

An assembly for receiving at least one surge protector, comprising:

• at least one metal protector pin connector mounted directly to a trace-containing layer of a printed circuit board for electrically connecting one or more pins of the at least one surge protector, said connector having a length approximately equal to the thickness of said trace-containing layer of said printed circuit board;
• at least one communication line connector disposed on the printed circuit board for electrically connecting to a communication line;
• at least one trace within or on the printed circuit board, the trace electrically connecting the protector pin connector to the communication line connector;
• and
• at least one trace within or on the printed circuit board electrically connecting one of said protector pin connectors to ground, said at least one trace shorting a transient current to ground when the transient current exceeds a threshold level, wherein the at least one trace includes at least two conductive runs that are electrically coupled in parallel and disposed on a separate layer on or within the printed circuit board.

An assembly for electrically connecting at least one surge protector pin to a communications line and a ground line, comprising:

• a surge protector connector disposed at least partially into a printed circuit board for directly receiving at least one surge protector pin;
• at least one communication line connector disposed on the printed circuit board for electrically connecting to a communication line;
• at least one trace within or on the printed circuit board for electrically connecting the surge protector pin to the communication line connector;
• the surge protector pin establishing an electrical connection with the at least one trace within the printed circuit board without a wire wrap pin;
• and
• at least one trace within or on the printed circuit board electrically connecting one of said protector pin connectors to ground, said at least one trace shorting a transient current to ground when the transient current exceeds a threshold level, wherein the at least one trace includes at least two conductive runs that are electrically coupled in parallel and disposed on a separate layer on or within the printed circuit board.

An assembly for electrically connecting at least one surge protector pin to a communications line and a ground line, comprising:

• a surge protector connector disposed on a printed circuit board for directly receiving at least one surge protector pin;
• at least one communication line connector disposed on the printed circuit board for electrically connecting to a communication line;
• at least one trace extending along a plane within or on the printed circuit board for electrically connecting the surge protector pin to the communication line connector;
• the surge protector pin establishing an electrical connection with the at least one trace within the printed circuit board without an intermediate wire wrap pin and wherein the surge protector pin is received within the surge protector connector with the longitudinal axis of the pin not extending parallel to the plane of the at least one trace;
• and
• at least one trace within or on the printed circuit board electrically connecting one of said protector pin connectors to ground, said at least one trace shorting a transient current to ground when the transient current exceeds a threshold level, wherein the at least one trace includes at least two conductive runs that are electrically coupled in parallel and disposed on a separate layer on or within the printed circuit board.

An assembly for connecting a surge protector to a communications line and a ground line, comprising:

• a surge protector having a plurality of electrical leads;
• a printed circuit board;
• at least one trace within or on the printed circuit board for electrically connecting each of the surge protector electrical leads to a communications line;
• a pin extending at least partially directly into the trace of the printed circuit board for electrically connecting each lead to the at least one trace of the circuit board;
• and
• at least one trace within or on the printed circuit board electrically connecting one of said protector pin connectors to ground, said at least one trace shorting a transient current to ground when the transient current exceeds a threshold level, wherein the at least one trace includes at least two conductive runs that are electrically coupled in parallel and disposed on a separate layer on or within the printed circuit board.

An assembly for receiving and removably electrically connecting at least one surge protector to a printed circuit board having a major plane and at least one trace within or on said printed circuit board, the trace having at least one run in a plane generally parallel with the plane of the printed circuit board, comprising:

• at least one communication line connector on the printed circuit board for electrically connecting the at least one trace to a communication line;
• at least one metal surge protector pin connector securely affixed to and electrically connected to the run of the trace of the printed circuit board, the metal surge protector pin connector having a receptacle portion for receiving and electrically connecting one or more pins of the at least one surge protector to the run of the trace;
• the receptacle portion of the surge protector pin connector being disposed with respect to the plane of the run of the trace such that when the surge protector pins are received into the receptacle portion of the protector pin connector, at least a portion of said pins passes through the plane of the run;
• and
• at least one trace within or on the printed circuit board electrically connecting one of said protector pin connectors to ground, said at least one trace shorting a transient current to ground when the transient current exceeds a threshold level, wherein the at least one trace includes at least two conductive runs that are electrically coupled in parallel and disposed on a separate layer on or within the printed circuit board.

A surge protector assembly, comprising:

• at least one metal protector pin connector disposed on a multi-layer printed circuit board for electrically connecting one or more pins of a surge protector;
• at least one incoming communication line connector on a multi-layer printed circuit board for electrically connecting to an incoming communication line having one or more leads;
• at least one outgoing communication line connector on a multi-layer printed circuit board for electrically connecting to an outgoing communication line having one or more leads;
• and
• one or more traces on or within the multi-layer printed circuit board, the traces electrically connecting the protector pin connector to a corresponding line connector establishing an electrical path between at least one lead of the incoming and outgoing communication lines and a corresponding surge protector pin, at least one of said traces including at least two runs electrically in parallel such that they electrically connect a particular one of said protector pin connectors to a particular one of either or both of said incoming or outgoing communication lines.