Electrical circuitry often must be protected from damage caused by power surges owing to electrostatic discharges (ESD) and electromagnetic pulses (EMP). The high voltage generated by ESD and EMP can damage voltage sensitive integrated circuits and the like. Means for protecting against power surges include the use of additional specialized circuitry within equipment, such as voltage variable resistors. Protection can be achieved by the use of connectors or adapters having transient suppression and filtering devices therein, thereby eliminating the need for costly and extensive modification of the equipment itself. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,726,638 and 4,729,752 are representative of connectors having such protection.
While it is possible to design new equipment with specialized circuits for protection from power surges, it is also desirable to provide protection for existing equipment and/or provide additional protection for sensitive electronic equipment. Often there is a need to interconnect a plurality of pieces of electronic equipment together. The equipment may be wired directly or interconnected through the use of one or more adapters. If the equipment itself does not have protection from power surges, or additional protection is desired, these adapters may be provided with such protection.
One major area of concern in today's electronic world is in the transfer of information between computers through the use of modems, which interconnect two or more computers via telephone lines. Frequently, it is desirable to provide additional protection for these computers from power surges that may occur during the transmission and receiving of information via the modem. The present invention provides an adapter for use with modems.
Adapters for interconnecting phone lines are known in the art. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,153,327; and 4,273,402 disclose two such examples. The connectors or adapters are comprised of a housing having two plug receiving openings and a plurality of connector receiving channels extending between the openings and a plurality of continuous conductors, each conductor being disposed in a respective channel, the conductors being electrically connectable to corresponding conductors in modular plugs that are received in the openings These adaptors, however provide no protection from power surges.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,726,638 discloses a transient suppression assembly for retrofitting existing electrical connectors, such as a telephone jack. The transient protection devices are mounted to a substrate that is securable to an preexisting housing.