Connector blocks are an essential component of a communications network that provide a simple and reliable way to interconnect the various devices, locations, and people using the network. The connector blocks may be provided as part of telecommunications equipment and may include wire-wrap connectors having a wire-wrap terminal and an insulation-displacement connector (IDC) that facilitates rapid connection of another device to the telecommunications equipment and to the network.
The wire-wrap terminals are typically pre-wired during manufacture of the telecommunications equipment within which the connector block is provided. Once wire-wrapped, the wire-wrap terminals are encased in a protective material, i.e., a potting material. A potting cavity is defined on a bottom of the connector block (where the wire-wrap terminals and wire-wrap connections are located) that may be filled with a potting material. To contain the potting material, the potting cavity is typically defined by a continuous wall that extends about the periphery of the connector block. To facilitate the use of automatic wire-wrap equipment, a wire-wrap terminal must be fully accessible from all directions, i.e., it must not be surrounded by walls. During wire-wrapping, the wire-wrap equipment carries a wire for wrapping and moves both horizontally and vertically with respect to the connector block and wire-wrap terminal. Tolerance is provided for movement in the horizontal direction, but not for movement in the vertical direction. Thus, for a wire-wrap terminal surrounded by walls (the wire-wrap terminals provided at the edges and comers of the connector block), movement of the wire-wrap equipment (and the wire carried thereby) downward over the wire-wrap terminal will cause the wire to break. Consequently, different connector block designs are required (one that includes a potting cavity and facilitates potting, and one that does not) depending upon whether potting is required.
There thus exists a need in the art for a connector block having a base that permits automatic wrapping of wire-wrap terminals and that also provides for application of a potting compound after wire-wrapping is complete.