RJ-45 connectors are those connectors you might find on the end of a CAT-5 network cable. RJ-11 connectors are used for phone cables in the U.S.. RJ-14 connectors are used similarly.
The difficulty of working with these connectors is that you're required to feed the various conductors into the connector then crimp the connector to secure it to the cable. It can be difficult to tell if conductors have juxtaposed themselves. It can also be difficult to tell if a conductor isn't inserted fully (so it makes contact with the vampire tap at the tip). Lastly, once you've crimped it, there's no going back. If you made a mistake, you have to cut the RJ-xx connector off and start over.
My idea takes the RJ-xx connector and makes it a clamshell design. The idea would be for the connector to hinge at the end opposite where the cable enters so the various conductors can be arrayed and checked for length prior to closing. Once one was satisfied with the preparations, the clam shell could be closed and: 1) side or rear clasps could be set into place to hold the connector together. This allows the connector to be opened again, but also provides a way for the connector to fail. OR 2) an interlocking piece connects the two halves of the clamshell together (in a manner not unlike currently done). This would generally mean the connector is permanent, but there may be some value to making it removable by destroying it.
I expect a crimper or pliers of some sort would still be required to fabricate the connector.-- phoenix, Dec 02 2003 Some RJ-xx connectors http://www.cablesto...sources/modular.asp [phoenix, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004] Tool-less RJ45 Jack http://www.connectt...php/products_id/816 [musicator, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004] Siemens 6ES7 972-0BB11-0XA0 Profibus Connector. http://www.awc-corp...%20Bus%20ConnectorsClick on 'New Profibus Connector'. Good system, but cables are bigger than CAT5 [gnomethang, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004] (slightly) better picture on page 27 of PDF http://www.ad.sieme...ompend_kap082_e.pdf [gnomethang, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004] this sounds totally amazing.....to someone who doesn't understand what on earth its all about.
.-- po, Dec 02 2003 <bops industry heads> Doh!</bops industry heads>
+ Great idea phoenix.-- Tiger Lily, Dec 02 2003 [po] Yeah, I wrote the damn thing in Computer:Connector. I don't know why it didn't stay there.
[o] I've done hundreds (if not thousands). It's not that they're hard, it's that they're harder than they need to be.-- phoenix, Dec 02 2003 I'd buy a used car from you phoenix. probably a daft question but why cannot the whole damn unit open so that you can see what you are doing?-- po, Dec 02 2003 //It's not that they're hard, it's that they're harder than the need to be//
No kidding there... imagine the collective man hours saved. "Old school standard" might take five minutes a piece and more if you've never done them before, a minute to a minute and a half if you've got it streamlined, but with a clamshell system, you could get it done in 15 seconds. For every 1,000 connections made, this could save four hours of labor on those incessant little buggers!
I'd guess the lack of DIY-friendliness has less to do with manufacturers and more to do with the independant professional tradesmen and women who service our society's needs to be wired.-- Tiger Lily, Dec 02 2003 "...why cannot the whole damn unit open so that you can see what you are doing?" That's what I'm trying to accomplish. By the way, did I show you this 2002 DeSoto I have over here?...-- phoenix, Dec 02 2003 hmmmm nice, does it have coloured engine parts?-- po, Dec 02 2003 No anti-moisture custard injection?-- Letsbuildafort, Dec 02 2003 right-hand drive? <grin>-- po, Dec 02 2003 This (linked) connector does this. One stripping tool is used to expose inner sheathand cores, then the connector opens with a screw, and slides open (through 35 Degrees) to accept the cores. Connector snaps shut and 2 small blades puncture core insulation on opposite sides. Outer carriage then swivels back and screws down, trapping the outer sheath. These are much bigger than CAT5 cables and are only 2 core so I am still giving the idea a bunnage.-- gnomethang, Dec 02 2003 [gnomethang] I wish there were a better picture of the connector you're talking about. I'd like to see it.
[po] [Letsbuildafort] It does as far as you know...-- phoenix, Dec 02 2003 I'll be gathering my surplus right-hand drive custard injectors I never got arround to SELLING <grin>-- Letsbuildafort, Dec 02 2003 Still Searching [phoenix]....-- gnomethang, Dec 02 2003 I was looking around for the exact same thing a year ago, so I feel your pain. BTW, it doesn't need to be *clamshell*, but that is certainly one way to accomplish it. This idea is already baked in *jack* format (see link) in a non-clamshell manner, but not *plug* format, and I gather that's what you want. I would describe this as a "mass-termination, insulation-displacement" connector. My guesses about why you can't find plugs like this: 1. Most nework installers just use lengths of cable with the plugs already installed, even easier than adding plugs on the ends. And frankly the $50USD crimp tool works pretty well and is a one-time purchase. 2. It might be that a mass-termination connector might (a) be difficult to make work at the higher speeds (100BaseT+) without presenting an impedance continuity, maybe, and (b) might be a bit bulkier, which becomes important when plugging RJ45's into a 24-port hub, for example. Nevertheless, for those occasional small jobs, I would buy a few of these if they existed.-- musicator, Dec 02 2003 I have no idea what you're talking about, but you seem like a nice person, so here's your bun. +-- k_sra, Dec 02 2003 [o] The English language version is at the bottom of the .PDF. There' s not enough detail to tell if it's what I'm describing or not. It does say"You need to strip the cable gently of its sheath...Please leave the sheath on the revealed wires...The different wires need to be placed in the plug...You need to close the lit by pressing it firmly. The cable is now ready for use."Which sounds like the instructions I'd give for my idea.-- phoenix, Dec 02 2003 I like this alot, they are harder than they are supposed to be. That's how I learned to make sculptures with all the wasted wires I had. +-- sartep, Dec 08 2003 No not technically. But there are very random voting patterns on this site.-- k_sra, Dec 08 2003 Random voting patterns?
Heh. Nothing more chaotic than multiple carts Swapping Oscillations through the night in the vacuum of virtuality where mass is equal to the momentum of a thought applied to ideas existing with and without frictive threads.-- Tiger Lily, Dec 08 2003 I have used "clamshell" type RJ45 and RJ11 connectors, and they're awful. They don't connect as solidly as a crimp on cable end, and often lose contact on one or more pins when bumped. This problem is compounded by the fact that the CAT5 standard requires 1/2 inch or less of cable to be untwisted, meaning that the wires have a tendancy to put tension on the connection.
In my experience, 95% of the time it takes to make a cable end is sorting and flattening the wires, which you would still need to do.
Since the crimp on ends are clear, I've never had trouble verifying that my wires are still in the right place and go all the way in before I crimp.-- mwburden, Dec 08 2003 random, halfbakery