A terminal board for expediting restoration of phone service over a severed communication cable

Claim 2

A rapid restoration board for use in quickly re-establishing temporary service over a severed communication cable preliminary to making permanent splice connections, said board comprising an elongated non-conductive main body supporting along at least one lateral edge at least one row of elongated solderless metal terminal strips each insulated from one another and extending crosswise of said board having unobstructed notched free endS adjacent a lateral edge of said board, said strips being arranged in space apart side-by-side relation with the faces thereof lying substantially in a common plane generally parallel to an adjacent face of said board, said strips being insulated from one another and each having a slit extending inwardly from the inner end of each of said notches, said strips being sufficiently flexible normal to the plane thereof and each of said slits providing means to receive and hold captive a cable conductor forced into said slit while held generally normal to the plane of the strip, and means including removable connector coupling means mounted on said board for connecting each of said strips to a separate conductor of a temporary patching cable.

Claim 3

A rapid restoration board as defined in claim 1 characterized in that said main body is relatively thin and wide, and having a row of said terminal strips rigidly mounted along both lateral edges in two spaced apart layers with the notches and slits of the strips in one layer offset laterally from the notches and slits of the adjacent row of terminal strips in the other layer.

Claim 4

A rapid restoration board as defined in claim 2 characterized in that said terminal strips are rigidly secured in seating recesses formed along either face of said main body thereby to safeguard against movement of adjacent ones of said strips into contact with one another.

Claim 5

A rapid restoration board as defined in claim 1 characterized in the provision of a non-conductive guard strip secured to said main body closely adjacent one face of the latter with its lateral edges terminating opposite the free ends of said terminal strips, and the edges of said guard strip being notched opposite the notch and slit of an associated one of said terminal strips and permitting a conductor to be shifted laterally of the conductor and lengthwise of the notch while being assembled to and disassembled from said terminal strips and providing strain relief for the installed conductor.

Claim 6

A rapid restoration board as defined in claim 4 characterized in that said notches have a depth effective to limit the insertion of a conductor lengthwise of the associated one of said terminal strips.

Claim 7

A rapid restoration board as defined in claim 1 characterized in that said slits open at the inner ends thereof into an elongated punchout in the mid-length of said terminal strips.

Claim 8

A rapid restoration board as defined in claim 1 characterized in the provision of manually adjustable clamp means mounted on said board for use in clamping the board to a rigid temporary support adjacent one severed end of a cable preparatory to restoring said cable to service.

Claim 9

A rapid restoration board as defined in claim 1 characterized in the provision of a detachable protective cover for said main body with its lateral sidewalls spaced inwardly from the slit free ends of said terminal strips, said separable coupling means being mounted on said cover for use in connecting a patching cable to said board, and separate electrical connections enclosed by said cover and interconnecting each of said terminal strips and a terminal of said separable coupling means.

Claim 10

A rapid restoration board for use in expediting restoration of a severed communication cable to service using a temporary patching cable, said board comprising first and second elongated non-conductive main body members sandwiched together centrally of one another, said first member being wider with its lateral edges projecting substantially beyond the adjacent lateral edges of said second member, a plurality of tempered metal terminal strips located along the opposite faces of said second member with their free ends notched and projecting outwardly beyond either lateral edge thereof and closely spaced from one face of said first member, each of said strips being resilient and having a long slit longitudinally thereof opening into the inner end of the notched ends of said terminal strips, said slits being adapted to receive and grip a cAble conductor manually forced therealong while held generally normal to the plane of the strip, and the lateral edges of said first member being notched in juxtaposition to said slits to facilitate insertion of a conductor along the slit of a selected one of said strips and safeguarding the same against flexure about a lateral edge of said slit.

Claim 11

A rapid restoration board for use in expediting restoration of a severed communication cable to service using a temporary patching cable, said board comprising first and second elongated non-conductive main body members sandwiched together centrally of one another, said first member being wider with its lateral edges projecting substantially beyond the adjacent lateral edges of said second member, a plurality of tempered metal terminal strips located along the opposite faces of said second member with their free ends notched and projecting outwardly beyond either lateral edge thereof and closely spaced from one face of said first member, each of said strips being resilient and having a long slit longitudinally thereof opening into the inner end of the notched ends of said terminal strips, said slits being adapted to receive and grip a cAble conductor manually forced therealong while held generally normal to the plane of the strip, and the lateral edges of said first member being notched in juxtaposition to said slits to facilitate insertion of a conductor along the slit of a selected one of said strips and safeguarding the same against flexure about a lateral edge of said slit.

Claim 12

A rapid restoration board as defined in claim 9 characterized in the provision thereon of cable coupling means mateable with the complementally shaped cable coupling means of a patching cable, and individual conductors connecting respective ones of said terminal strips to a respective contactor of said cable coupling means.

Claim 13

A rapid restoration board as defined in claim 9 characterized in the provision thereon of means for detachably securing said board to a fixed support adjacent the damaged end of a severed cable.

Claim 14

A rapid restoration board as defined in claim 9 characterized in that said terminal strips are arranged in two spaced apart rows, the terminals in one of said rows being for tip conductors, and the notched ends of the terminal strips in said one row being offset and out of line with the notched ends of the terminals strips in said second row.

Claim 15

A rapid restoration board as defined in claim 12 characterized in that the tip and ring conductors of a related pair of the severed cable conductors are respectively insertable in the first terminal strips at one end of the two rows of terminals along one edge of said board, and other related pairs of the cable conductors being insertable in other similarly related pairs of said terminal strips.

Claim 16

A rapid restoration board as defined in claim 9 characterized in that the edges of said slits are sharp and effective to cut through insulation on a conductor and to make firm electrical contact with the conductor as an incident to the insertion of the conductor along said slit from the notched entrance end thereof.

Claim 17

A rapid restoration board as defined in claim 14 characterized in that the notches in the ends of said terminal strips are generally V-shaped with the apex thereof opening into one end of the associated one of said slits.

Claim 18

A rapid restoration board as defined in claim 15 characterized in that the mid portions of said terminal strips have a punchout merging with one end of the conductor seating slit and facilitating flexing of the portions of said strip along either edge of said slits.