Patents by Inventor Steven E. Minich

Steven E. Minich has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 5897388
    Abstract: An assembly and method of assembling a connector is described. The connector assembly includes a housing having a plurality of signal contacts projecting therefrom. A shell is removably connected to the housing, the shell member including a pair of shell tabs for connecting the shell member to the housing member. A flexible circuit is soldered to the plurality of signal contacts of the housing member. The flexible circuit is wrapped against the housing and bent at a portion thereof for insertion into a gap formed between the housing and the shell. A protective material is positioned between the flexible circuit and the shell member, and the connector is secured by bending shell tabs of the shell around the housing member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 30, 1997
    Date of Patent: April 27, 1999
    Assignee: The Whitaker Corporation
    Inventor: Steven E. Minich
  • Patent number: 5647767
    Abstract: A modular jack electrical connector assembly 2 suitable for conditioning the signals in unshielded twisted pair wires for use with network components is disclosed. The modular jack 2 comprises a conventional insulative housing 4 and an insert subassembly 6 including an insert molded front insert member 8 and a rear insert member 10. Contact terminals 12 for mating with a modular plug extend from the front insert member 8 and into the rear insert member 10. The rear insert member 10 also includes signal conditioning components such as common mode choke coils 38, filter circuits 40 and transformers 54 suitable for conditioning the twisted pair signals for used in applications such as for input to and output from IEEE 10 Base-T network components.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 25, 1996
    Date of Patent: July 15, 1997
    Assignee: The Whitaker Corporation
    Inventors: Peter L. Scheer, Venkat A. Raman, Steven E. Minich
  • Patent number: 5580280
    Abstract: The electrical connector comprises a housing having contact receiving passages with contacts disposed therein. Recesses are disposed along a mounting face of the connector and are defined by walls therealong. The recesses are in communication with the contact receiving passages. A rigid ground bar is disposed along sidewalls of the housing. Chip capacitors are positioned in the recesses to have one electrode electrically connected with the contact and the other electrode to be electrically connected with the ground bar. The chip capacitor provides a low impedance pathway for EMI from the contact to the ground.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 1995
    Date of Patent: December 3, 1996
    Assignee: The Whitaker Corporation
    Inventors: Steven E. Minich, James M. English
  • Patent number: 5562499
    Abstract: A filter adapter (2) uses back to back multiposition plug and receptacle or male and female electrical connectors (4, 6) each of which has terminals (10, 12) mounted in an insulative housing (12, 14). Filter components, such as surface mount capacitors (18), are positioned between terminals (10, 12) and a ground bus (20) located between the two back to back connectors (4, 6). Each terminal has a resilient plate (30) located at its end, and the plates resiliently engage the capacitors to urge them against the ground bus. Each terminal includes insulation displacement slots (32, 34), and wire segments are inserted into these slots to connect corresponding terminals and to secure the capacitors in place. One of these slots (32) is located in the resilient plate (30), and insertion of the wire shortens the resilient beam length of the portion of the plate engaging the capacitor to increase the force on the capacitor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 1995
    Date of Patent: October 8, 1996
    Assignees: Stanley E. Gately, Catherine G. Gately
    Inventor: Steven E. Minich
  • Patent number: 5511994
    Abstract: An electrical connector 1 having a mating section 12 and a mounting surface 14. The mounting surface 14 having a device receiving recess 19 therealong with a retaining lip 24. Contacts 40 having contact terminating sections 44 extending through the recess 19 and beyond the mounting surface 14. A device 50 is secured in the recess 19 by a combination of spring forces of the contacts 40 and the retaining lip 24.A method of assembling an electrical connector 1 having a device 50 secured in a device receiving recess 19 along a mounting surface 14. The method involves first placing the device 50 onto the contact terminating sections 44, moving the device 50 above and then behind the retaining lip 24 by pushing against spring forces of the contacts 40, and then lowering the device 50 behind the retaining 24 lip and releasing the spring forces.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 21, 1994
    Date of Patent: April 30, 1996
    Assignee: The Whitaker Corporation
    Inventor: Steven E. Minich