PUNCH DOWN TOOL

A punch down tool, also called a punchdown tool or a Krone tool is a small screw-driver sized tool used for connecting wiring to a punch down block. The tool consists of a handle with a spring mechanism inside and at the tip a small square piece of metal with a square hole in it. To use the punch down tool, a wire is inserted in between the two metal blades on a punch down block and the punch down tool is pressed down on top of the wire and the two blades on the punch down block. This requires a bit of pressure until with an audible snap the wire is stripped and contact made as it is pushed down between the two punch down block blades.

PATCH PANEL

A patch panel or patch bay is a panel, typically rackmounted, that houses cable connections. One typically shorter patch cable will plug into the front side, while the back will hold the connection of a much longer and more permanent cable. The assembly of hardware is arranged so that a number of circuits, usually of the same or similar type, appear on jacks for monitoring, interconnecting, and testing circuits in a convenient, flexible manner.
Patch panels offer the convenience of allowing technicians to quickly change the path of select signals, without the expense of dedicated switching equipment. This was first used by early telephone exchanges, where the telephone switchboard (a massive array of patch panels) and a large room full of telephone operators running it was ubiquitous.