User Manual

5,666,408
1
DUAL-LINE TELEPHONE JACK ADAPTER
AND CABLE COUPLER
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is related to a phone jack coupler
which electrically connects one or more telephone sets to a
phone jack providing the hookup for two diiferent telephone
lines.
Most households have only one telephone line. The line is
?rst brought in by the phone company to a terminal box
outside the house and then brought into the house and wired
to a desired number of phone jacks distributed in various
rooms throughout the house. The phone jacks and the
interconnecting cables are very likely installed altogether
when the house is built or renovated. The interconnection is
such that the pin con?guration in all the phone jacks is the
same, so that a telephone set can be hooked up to the phone
line by plugging into any one of the phone jacks with a
telephone cable.
In general, a phone jack has four exposed pins seated in
a row in its receiving end, to provide electrical contact to the
exposed pins on the phone cable plug. Currently, a regular
one-line telephone set uses only two wires to receive and
transmit voice and ringing signals. Thus. only two of the
four pins on the phone jack are actually needed to connect
a regular phone set to a phone line. Conventionally, the two
inner (center) pins of a phone jack and the corresponding
pins on the phone plug are used for transmitting signals to
and from a regular one-line phone set Electrically, the two
side pins are either opened or each of them is connected to
the adjacent inner pin. For use in one-line hookup, a phone
cable can have four wires or two wires.
As the use of modems and facsimile machines becomes
increasingly common in the ordinary household, many
houses are hooked up with two telephone lines. When a
household requests for an additional phone line, the phone
company usually adds the new line (line 2) to the same
terminal box so that the two side or outer pins of the phone
jack carry the signals for line 2 while the two inner pins carry
the signals the original line (line 1). By doing so, the two
telephone lines (line 1 and line 2) are accessible from any of
the original installed phone jacks in the house without
rewiring the house’s interior. However, if one hook up a
regular telephone set to a phone jack, only line 1 can be
accessed. To use line 2, one could hook up a two-line
telephone set and choose the “line 2” setting on the set.
Alternatively, one could change the wiring behind the phone
jack, or switch the wires in a phone cable by cutting the
cable and reconnect the wires differently to allow signals
from line 2 to reach a regular one-line phone set. It should
be noted that, after a cable or a phone jack is altered, it can
no longer be used to hook up a regular phone set to line 1.
It is desirable to provide a dual-line phone jack coupler so
that a regular telephone set can be hooked up to line 2
without changing the interconnection behind a phone jack,
or cutting up a cable to reconnect the Wire. Moreover, it is
desirable to have a coupler that comprises two receiving
ends, or receptacles, each provides connection to a different
telephone line.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention concerns with a phone jack adapter
which alters the pin connection in a 4-pin phone jack. The
invention has a number of embodiments: 1) a one-to-one
coupler comprising two phone receptacles for receiving two
telephone cable plugs; 2) a one-to-one adapter comprising
one phone receptacle and one phone plug; 3) a one-to-two
coupler comprising one receptacle on one end and two
receptacles on the other ends; 4) a one-to-two adapter
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comprising two receptacles and one plug and 5) an extension
cable comprising one plug on one end of the cable and one
or more receptacles on the other end. The receptacle or the
phone plug on the adapters and couplers, according to the
present invention, can have two exposed pins or four
exposed pins. These embodiments can be understood by
reading the following description and the accompanying
drawing ?gures.
Conventionally, the two inner pins of a regular 4—pin
phone jack are used for carrying the telephone signals if only
one phone line (line 1) is hooked up. The side pins are used
for carrying the signals of another line (line 2) if two
different phone lines are hooked up. However, when a
regular (one-line) telephone set is plugged into a four-pin
phone jack. the set is connected to line 1. With the phone
jack adapter, according to the present invention, a regular
telephone set can be connected to line 2 when it is plugged
in the same 4-pin phone jack, without changing the wiring
in the phone jack. '
Another embodiment of the present invention is a one
to-two adapter which comprises a plug for plugging into a
regular four-pin telephone jack and two receptacles for
connecting two telephone sets. One receptacle switches the
lines from line 1 to line 2 and vice versa, while the other
receptacle does not alter the pin con?guration of the phone
jack. Thus, this one-to-two adapter can be used to connect
two regular telephone sets separately to line 1 and line 2.
The function of the couplers is similar to that of the
adapters, except that a coupler comprises another receptacle
for receiving a telephone cable plug, in lieu of a phone plug
on an adapter. The telephone extension cable, according to
the present invention, is similar to the adapter, except that
the plug and the receptacle are electrically connected by a
two or four-wire telephone cable instead of a shorter con
necting body on an adapter.
An objective of the present invention is to provide a
telephone adapting device for switching the connection of
two phone lines wired to a regular 4-pin telephone jack or
carded by a regular 4-pin telephone cable. The switching is
between line 1 and line 2.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a
telephone adapting device for providing separate connection
to two phone lines wired to a regular 4-pin telephone jack or
carried by a regular 4-pin telephone cable.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
FIG. 1 illustrates the side view and the rear view of a
one-to-one telephone jack adapter.
FIG. 2 illustrates the pin connection in the one-to-one
adapter of FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 illustrates the pin
telephone cable coupler.
FIG. 4 illustrates the pin
telephone cable coupler.
FIG. 5 illustrates the pin
telephone jack adapter.
FIG. 6 illustrates the pin
telephone extension cable.
FIG. 7 illustrates the pin
telephone extension cable.
FIG. 8 illustrates the pin connection in another embodi
ment of the one-to-one telephone jack adapter.
FIG. 9 illustrates the pin connection in another embodi
ment of the one-to-one telephone cable coupler.
FIG. 10 illustrates the pin connection in another embodi
ment of the one-to-one telephone extension cable.
FIG. 11 illustrates the pin connection in another embodi
ment of the one-to-two telephone jack adapter.
connection in a one-to-one
connection in a one-to-two
connection in a one-to-two
connection in a one-to-one
connection in a one-to-two