CA1289211C - Terminator for multiple electrical conductors - Google Patents
Terminator for multiple electrical conductorsInfo
- Publication number
- CA1289211C CA1289211C CA000551742A CA551742A CA1289211C CA 1289211 C CA1289211 C CA 1289211C CA 000551742 A CA000551742 A CA 000551742A CA 551742 A CA551742 A CA 551742A CA 1289211 C CA1289211 C CA 1289211C
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- lands
- terminator
- ground structure
- fingers
- disposed
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired - Lifetime
Links
Classifications
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01R—ELECTRICALLY-CONDUCTIVE CONNECTIONS; STRUCTURAL ASSOCIATIONS OF A PLURALITY OF MUTUALLY-INSULATED ELECTRICAL CONNECTING ELEMENTS; COUPLING DEVICES; CURRENT COLLECTORS
- H01R9/00—Structural associations of a plurality of mutually-insulated electrical connecting elements, e.g. terminal strips or terminal blocks; Terminals or binding posts mounted upon a base or in a case; Bases therefor
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01R—ELECTRICALLY-CONDUCTIVE CONNECTIONS; STRUCTURAL ASSOCIATIONS OF A PLURALITY OF MUTUALLY-INSULATED ELECTRICAL CONNECTING ELEMENTS; COUPLING DEVICES; CURRENT COLLECTORS
- H01R24/00—Two-part coupling devices, or either of their cooperating parts, characterised by their overall structure
- H01R24/60—Contacts spaced along planar side wall transverse to longitudinal axis of engagement
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01R—ELECTRICALLY-CONDUCTIVE CONNECTIONS; STRUCTURAL ASSOCIATIONS OF A PLURALITY OF MUTUALLY-INSULATED ELECTRICAL CONNECTING ELEMENTS; COUPLING DEVICES; CURRENT COLLECTORS
- H01R13/00—Details of coupling devices of the kinds covered by groups H01R12/70 or H01R24/00 - H01R33/00
- H01R13/648—Protective earth or shield arrangements on coupling devices, e.g. anti-static shielding
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01R—ELECTRICALLY-CONDUCTIVE CONNECTIONS; STRUCTURAL ASSOCIATIONS OF A PLURALITY OF MUTUALLY-INSULATED ELECTRICAL CONNECTING ELEMENTS; COUPLING DEVICES; CURRENT COLLECTORS
- H01R2107/00—Four or more poles
Landscapes
- Details Of Connecting Devices For Male And Female Coupling (AREA)
- Coupling Device And Connection With Printed Circuit (AREA)
Abstract
TITLE
Terminator For Multiple Electrical Conductors ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A terminator for a multiple conductors includes a ground structure with generally U-shaped channels. The channel receives an insulated finger having an electrical contact element. When connected to ground potential the contacts are electrically isolated from each other.
Terminator For Multiple Electrical Conductors ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A terminator for a multiple conductors includes a ground structure with generally U-shaped channels. The channel receives an insulated finger having an electrical contact element. When connected to ground potential the contacts are electrically isolated from each other.
Description
-; 1 TlTLE
Tecminator Por Hultiple Electri~al conauctor~
Background of the Invention The pre6ent invention relates to a terminator having electrical contact~ there~n oach connectable to one of a ~ultiplici~y of electrical conductors, and in particular, to a terminator having a ground structure therein arrangea to i~olate each electrical contact Description of the Prior Art Ag the performance of electronic device~ ha6 increa6ed exponentlally it ha6 become recogni2ed ~n the art that the transmi66ion of electrical ~ignals, whether within a given electronic apparatus o~
between couplea apparatu~es, ust be approache~ from a ay~tem viewpoint ~ucb a viewpoint manaate~ that not only muct each inaividual component in th- ~lgnal tran~ml~ion ~y~tem be optimizea for high cpe-a operat~on but al~o tho interface~ between co~ponent~
in the tran~mi66ion ~y~te~ mu~t be able to perform interacti~ely without degraaing the perfocmance of an ad~ac-nt component One of the fir~t component~ in the aignal tran~mi~6ion ~y~-m to receive ttention ~c the tran~mi~ion cable it~elf The reali2ation haa b--n made that the cable bandling the high ~peed ~gnal~
~c the eloctrical eguivalent of a tran6mi~aion line in that it extena~ an el-ctrically great di~tance ,~, - . - .
~ .
~2892il with respect to the wavelength of the transmitted signals. This is true even though in most instances the cable extends only a physically short distance between components of a given apparatus or between cooperating apparatus.
The design of electrical cable has advanced to a point wherein the cable can be precisely engineered to exhibit predetermined electrical properties. Exemplary of such cable structure is that disclosed in U.S. Patent 4 800 236, assigned to the assignee of the present invention. The cable disclosed in the two last-mentioned applications includes a corrugated ground structure which defines separate enclosed regions, or envelopes, which extend throughout the entire length of the cable. Each of the envelopes receives one or more ordinary jacketed conductors. When the ground structure is connected to a predetermined electrical potential the conductor in each envelope is isolated totally from those conductors disposed in adjacent envelopes. As a result such a cable exhibits electrical properties closely similar to those attainable from coaxial cable despite the fact that only ordinary jacketed conductors are utilized.
The system viewpoint has expanded to include considerations of electrical performance in the transition region intermediate the end of the cable and the cable terminator. The connector structure disclosed and claimed in the copending Canadian application Serial Number 548 914, filed 1987 October 08 and assigned to the assignee of the present ::
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~289211 invention utilize6 a g~ound plane 6paced p~edetermined di6tance6 from the end6 of the conductor6 in the cable, the contacts in the connector and t~e interconnection therebetween for the purpo6e of minimizing elect~ical di6continuitie6 in the 6y6tem.
Den6ity of the terminator, that i6, the number of 6~gnal6 that can pa66 through a g~ven terminator, i6 also an important con6idelation. In conventional ~y6tems attempts have been made to extend the shielaing ana control the impedance of the sy~tem beyona the tran6mi6sion line by 6imply dedicating alte~nating contact~ in the linear array of contact6 in the tecminator as grouna contact6.
The contacts are not phy6ically alterea, but are ~erely de6ignated as ~ ground contact and connectea to a preaete~mined ground potential. The net re6ult of these factoc6 i6 that the den6ity of the tecminator iB limit-d.
ID view of the foregoing it iB belieVea aavantageous to fucther extena the ~ystem concept to the inaividual terminator of the transmi~6ion 6y~tem ana al60 to increaee the den~ity of the terminator.
Accordingly, it iB believed to be of aavantage to provide a te~minator for either a multiple conauctor ; cable or a uultiple tracing ~ub6trate that electrically i~olates the contact element~ in the terminator to pr-vent or ~inimize cro~ tal~ between ad~acent conductor~ ana to prevent or minimize aegradation of ~ignal tcansmission. In addition, it i~ believed advantageou~ to provide the isolating ~tructu~e in tbe ter~inator in ~uch a fa6hion that the contacts neea not them6elve6 be incluaea as part of the i601ating ~tructure whe~eby the signal den6ity of the te~minator may be increased.
128921i Summa ry Of The I nvention The pre6ent invention relates to a terminator Sor an multiple conauctor electrical tran~mi~ion ~ystem in which a ground structure i~
provided which electrically i601ate6 each of the ad~acent electrical contact element~ di6po6ed in the terminator. The tran6mi66ion 6y6tem may be implemented a~ a multiconductor cable or a6 a multiple tracing sub6trate, with the terminator being adapted to interconnect in sub6trate-to-6ub6trate, cable-to-cable, or cable-to-6ubstrate form.
In a fir6t a6pect the torminator include6 a metallic ground structure forned of a ba~eplate with a plurality of wall6 that extend upwardly fro~ a surface of the baseplate. In the preferrea ca6e a 6erie6 of wall6 al60 extena6 fro~ the opposite surface of the baseplate. The wall6 cooperate to define a plurality of channel6 that extend in side-by-side relation6hip acro66 the 6urface of the baseplate. an in6ulatea 6upport 6tructure having a boay portion with an array of extending finger6 is ~ountea on the ba6eplate with the finger6 extending into the channels on the ba-epl-te. An electrical contact element is mountea on ach of the fingers uch that the wall6 extend above the baseplate for a ; greater di6tance tban doe6 the electrical contact.
The finger6 may each be providea with a reces6 in which a cpring electrical contact i6 di6posea. AB a r-sult, w~th the ground structure connected to a predeterminea potential, each of the contacts i~
electrically isolatea from the aa~acent contact, thu6 preventing or minimi2ing cros6 tal~ therebetween.
The terminator can be implemented in the form suitable for the edge terminator of a sub6trate 35,such a6 a circuit board, or a6 a plug terminator for ~2892~1 a multiple conductor cable In the former in6tance the ground 6tructure i6 provided with a suitable mounting ar~angement wbereby the ground 6tructure ~ay be mounted in edgewi6e relat~on6hip to the 6ub6trate In the latter instance a 6uitable hou6ing i6 provided to define the plug portion In one in6tance the poetion of the grouna ~tructure having the wall6 thereon ana the extenainq f~nqer6 of the in6ulatea support 6tructure pro~ect forwaraly fro~
the hou6ing In another in6tance the hou6ing iB
coexten~ive with tbe forwara face of the in6ulatea support structute and the ground ~tcucture Tbe in~ulating ~upport structure ~ay be provided with trenche6 therein which receive the individual conductor~ of the cabl- Alternatively the wire6 of the conductor~ ay be facially velded to the contact~
In another a~pect the invention r-late6 to a hou6ing for a ter~inator The hou6ing ha6 an array of land6 ~eparated in one in~tance by alternate groove~ or, in another in~tance, by alternate ~lot6 The land6 carry electrical contact lement~ thereon I~ th- e~boai~-nt ln which tb- groove~ are u~-d a ~eparate atr-y of contact ~ nt~ 1~ provid-a in the groov-~ In tb- nbodi-ent witb th- ~lotted hou6lng 2S the xt-rior of the ~ou~ing 1- provid-d vith ground plate that com~unicat-~ witb at l--~t on- of the ~lo~ In acb in~tanc- tbe bou~lng l- connectable to the plug ~uch that t~e ~ignal carrying contact~
di~po~-d w~thin the chann-l~ on tb- ground ~tructure are lectrically int-rengaged with tbe cont-ct leaent6 on the land~ The wall~ of the groun~
structure are di~po~-d in l-ctrical contact vitb ither the contact6 providea ln the groove~ or tbe plate overlying the ~lot~ When con30~ned th- plug and hou6ing peovide6 el-ctrical ~hielding for the . ' '~
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12a92~
contact elements in the terminator (in either the cable plug form or the edge cacd form), thu~
preventing or ~inimizing cro6s talk and degradation and maintaining electrical signal integrity Brief De6cript~0n Of The Drawings ~ he invention w~ll be more fully under~tood from the following detailea de6cription thereof, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing6 which form a part of thi6 application and in which Figure 1 i6 a per6pective view of an assembled terminator in accordance with the pre6ent invention implemented a6 a plug terminator for a ~ulticonductor cable Figure 2 iB an explodea perspective view of the plug terminator 6hown in Pigure l;
Figure 3 i8 a siae elevational view taken along section line6 3-3 of the plug terminator of rigure6 1 and 2 Figure 4 i6 a front per6pective view of a terminator in accoraance wit~ the pre6ent implementea in the form of an eage c-ra terminator Figure 5 iB a back vi-w of the etge card t-rminator of Figure ~
F~gure 6 1B per6pective view of a housing a66embl~ aaapt-d to ccept a terminator in accoraance with the pre6ent lnvention whether the terminator iB
implement-d in elther the cable plug form or the eage card for~
Figure 7 iB a siae view entirely in section of the hou6ing of Figure 6 I Figure 8 iB a front olevation view of t~e terminator of Figure 6 Figure 9 i6 a per6pective view 6imilar to Figure 6 ~howing an alternate emboaiment of a housing 12892~
adapted to ceceive the tecminator of the pre6ent invention whether the terminator is imelemented in either the cable plug form or the edge card form; and, Figure 10 i~ an exploded per6pective v~ew of an alternate embodiment of a plug terminator for a multiconductor cable generally 6imilar to Figure 2;
and.
Figure 11 i6 a 6ide elevational view in vertical 6ection. generally 6imilar to Figure 3.
taken along 6ection line6 11-11 in Figure 10 to incluae the central axi6 of a finge~ of the in6ulated support 6tructure of the plug terminator.
Detailea De6cription of the Invention Throughout the following detailea de6cription similar reference numeral6 refer to similar elements in all figure6 of the drawings.
W~th reference to Figure6 1 to 3 ~hown i6 a terminator generally indicated by reference character 10 in accordance with the pre6ent invention ~mplemented in the for~ of a plug terminator for a multiple conductor cable 12. Although the cable 12 ~B ~hown in the ~igure6 a6 be~ng a round tran6mi66ion cable it lie6 within the contemplation of the pre6ent invention that the plug term~nator (10 or 10', Figures 10 and 11) aB diBCloBed herein ~ay be used with e~ual efficacy in con~unction with a flat cable (either ribbon cable or discrete wire cable).
The cable 12 includes an outer ~acket 14 (~igure 3) of an insulating material surrounding a plural~ty of individual ~acketed conductors 16. ~ach conductor 16 it6elf ~nclude6 an insulating ~acket 16J
surrounding a wire conductor 16W. A conducting sheath lB di6po6ed under the outer ~acket 14 of the cable 12 6erve6 a6 a portion of the grounding and 12~921~
6hielding 6tructute for the cable 12 The 6heath lB
is terminated by a metallic ferrule 20, 6uch a6 that di6clo6ed ln United State6 Patent 4,416,501, a6signea to the as~ignee of the pre6ent invention, as iB
S appreciated by tho6e 6killed in the rt A6 i~ be6t 6een in Figu~e6 2 and 3 the heart o the plug terminator 10 i6 a metallic ground 6tructure 22 The gcound 6tructure 22 incluae6 a ba6eplate portion 24 having a aain planar 6urace with an integral portion 28 pro5ecting forwardly therefcoa Although the grouna ~tructure 22 i6 6hovn a~ beinq provided with an upper and a lower workinq ~urface 30A and 30~ re6pectively thereon, it 6hould be unae~tood that ground ~tructuse 22 having only one working ~urface 30 may be u6ed and remain within the contemplation of the pre~ent invention More ~pecifically, the terminator can be implemente~ with a ground ~tructure that include~ only the ~tructure on the upper working ~urface 30A of the ground ~tructure 22 (that ic, the ~tructure above the dividing pl-n- 31 extending through the ba~eplate portion 2~ of the ground atructur- 22) In uch an ln-tanc- the oppoc~t- ~urf-c- of the ground atructure 22 voul~ pr-f-rably b- plan-r ~oreov-r, the r-maining le~-ntc of the t-r~inator ~ her-after a--cribea voul~ be appropri-t-ly ~odifi-d to ccept a ground atructur- 22 of thla for~
a plurality of w-lla 32 xtend6 from the forvara p~o~-cting port~on of th- re~pectiv- upp-r nd lower working ~urfac-r 30A, 30~, re~pectively, of the ba~epl-t- 2~. Th- vallc 32 r- rrang-a ln aia--by-aiae r-lation~hip to aefine plur-lity of channelr 3~ acro~c the ~urfac-~ of the pro~ecting portion 2B of the ba~epl-t- 2~. In the preferr-a ~bodiment the x-~ of the ~-c-nt cb~nn-l~ 34 ar-:
128921~
parallel to each ot~er, although it i6 under~tood that 6uch a relation6hip i6 not mandated. It 6hould al~o be under6tood that although each working ~urace 30A, 30B of the ba6eplate 24 i6 6hown a6 having the same number of channel6 34, 6uch a situation i~ al60 not nece~6arily required.
The planar portion 26 of ~he baseplate 24 behind the pro~ecting portion 28 ha~ flange6 38 which flare farther rearwardly and ~lightly outwa~dly from the ba6eplate 24. The flange~ 38 ca~ry post~ 40. In some instance~ it may be aesired that the po~t~ 40 be electrically conductive and in electrical contact with the conductive ~aterial of the ba6eplate 14. It should be appreciated that a ground structu~e of ~ore than two working surface6 oay be defined by di6po6ing additional ba6eplate6 24 (whether each ba6eplate implemented with one or two working ~urface6) in any convenient ~tacked relation.
In the Figure~ the ground 6tructure 22 i8 6hown a6 being fab~icated a~ an integral metallic oember, although it 6hould be understood that any suitable con~truction for the ground ~tructure 22 nay be u6ed. For example, the grouna structure 22 can be formed from plastic with lts entire upper and lower working ~urfaces 30A, 30B (including the walls 32 on the prolecting portions 28) lined with a ~uitable conductive oaterial. alternately, the ba~eplate 24 may be formea or ~tamped froo a ~heet of conductive oaterial with ~lot~ proviaea near the forward end thereof. The end walls 32 oay be formed from ~ioilar 610tt-d stampings. ~he baseplate 24 and the walls 32 are ~oined via the ~lots to define the grouna 6tructure 22 a6 shown in the ~igure6.
In one embodioent of the cable plug form of the invention the plug ter~inator 10 further ~289211 compri~es a contact 6upport member 44 having a main body portion 46 with an array of trenches 48 formed therein The contact 6upport member 44 i~ formed of an in~ulating ~aterial A partition 50 having an indentation 50G iS provided near the forward ena of the body portion 46 of the contact support member 44 An array of aperture6 52 (vi6~ble on the lower member 44 in Fiqure 2) i8 providea through the body 46 of the 6upport member 44 in t~e reqion behind the partition 50, with one of the aperture6 52 being aligned with the mouth of eacb of the groove6 48 for a purpose to be de6cribed An array of fingers 54 extend6 forwardly from the body 46 The finqers 54 corre6pond in number to the number of channels 34 proviaed on the ground ~tructure 22 In the a~6emblea conaition the fingers 54 extend into the channels 34 80 that the forwara end~ of the finger~
54 are cotecminal with the forward edge of the ground ~tructure 22 An array of electrical contacts element6 58 of any 6uitable configuration are embeddea in the in6ulating material of the fingers 54 The contact ele~ent~ 58 are arranged ~uch that the planar blaae of each contact element 58 is expo6ed on the surface of the finger 54 in which it is dispo6ea The ; contact element 58 extena6 rearwaraly from the finger~ 54 through the mat-rial o~ the partition 50 The contact element 58 ends in an overlying relation6hip with the aperture6 52 in the body 46 ~ust forwardly of the mouths of the trenches 48 therein A~ seen in the Pigures the top urface6 of the walls 32 of the ground tructure 22 extend above tbe contact elements 58 when the 6ame are received in the channel6 34 128921~
The plug 14 include6 a pcotective ca6ing generally indicated by reference character 64. ~he casing 64 is defined by complementary 6hell member6 66A, 66B. Each 6hell membe~ 66A, 66B ha6 a forward S cutout 68 having a tongue 6BT therein. The configu~ation of the cutout 68 correspona~ to the configuration of the body portion 46 of the contact 6upport member in the vicinity of the partition 50.
~he rear wall of each of the shell members 66A, 66B
ha~ cooperating grooved openings 70 therein. The opening6 70 are 6haped to generally conform to the exterior configuration of and are 6ized to closely accept the tran6mi6sion cable 12 in either round or flat form.
Adjacent to the rear wall of the ~hell6 66A, 66B is a paic of abutments 72 with reces6e6 74. The rece6se6 74 are configured to accept snugly the posts 40 on the ground ~tructure 22 in a pre~ fit relation6hip. In the preferred ca6e the hell~ 66A, 66B are each fabricated of a conductive ~aterial. It should be undec6tood that the shells ~ay be abricatea from a pla~tic ~aterial in which c-~e a conductive surface 76 is for~ed by a suita~le conductor layer disposed on the inner surface of eac~
of the shells 66A, 66B (as ~hown in ~igure 3 for economy of illustrat~on). ~he siaewalls of the shells 66A, 66B each carry notches 78 sizea to accept locking tabs 80 which erve to hold the casing 6 together.
In the as6embled condition shown in Figures 1 through 3 the co~plementary hells 66A nd 669 close on each other and are locked together by the tabs 80 and the press fit engagement of the posts ~0 in the reces~e6 74 in the abut-ents 72. When so a~6e~bled the tongue 68T near the cutout 68 ad3acent :
~28921~
the front of the ca6ing 64 enqage~ in the gcoove 50G. The multiple conductor cable 12 extends thcough the regi~terea opening~ 70 ~n t~e rear of the ~hell6 66A, 66B and into the volume defined in the rear o~
the ca6ing 64. The external 3acket 14 of the cable 12 i6 6tripped a predetermined distance from it6 ena to expo6e the individual ~acketea conauctors 16 thetein. An in6ulation di~placement contact 82 6evec6 the exterior ~acket 14 of the cable 12 ana electrically interconnects with the ferrule 20 of the cable 12. The in6ulation displacement contact B2 i6 captueed in the grooved openings 70 ad~acent the rea~
aperture of the shell to thereby electrically interconnect the conductive eurface 76 on the interior of the caging 64 to a predeterminea electrical potential.
Prior to the clo~ing of the casing by the interengagement of the 6hells 66A, 66B, the individual conductor6 16 of the cable 12 are them6elve6 ~tripped of their 3acket6 16J and the conauctive wire6 16W thereof laia in one of the trenche6 48 extenaing in the body portion ~6 of the contact 6upport ctructure ~4. The ena of each of the wire6 16W ovellays the nd of one of the contact element~ 58. The wire6 16W nd the contacts 58 ~ay be ~uitably attached, as by velding, ~older or insulation di6placement contacts to interconnect the vires 16W to the contacts 58 ana re~ain vithin the contemplation of the present inventlon.
Figures 10 ana 11 illustrate an alte~nate embodiment of the cable plug terminator for~ 10~ of the invention generally 6imilar to the emboaiment of tbe invention 6hown in Figure6 1 to 3. In the alternate embodiment of the lnvention shovn in Figure6 10 and 11 the contact ~upport member 44 i6 i2~39211 ` 13 provided with a main body portion 46, formea of an in6ulating material, fLom w~ich a plurality of finger6 54 extend. The finger6 s4 each include a rece~s 55 having a lip 55L (Pigure ll) providea therein. Each finger 54 i~, therefore, a sub6tantially hollow member in which a 6pring electrical contact element 58 i6 received. The tail portion of the contact 58 i6 provided with a slot 58S
that impart6 to the tail portion of the contact 58 a configuration generally similar to that of an in~ulation di6placement contact. The head or forwara end of the contact 58 iB captured by the lip 55L
wh~le the tail end of the contact 58 pro5ects rearwardly from the main body portion 46 of the member 44. The generally linear portion 58L of the contact 5B between the curved electrical engaging reg~on 58C and the slotted tail 585 i~ capturod at each latoral horizontal edge of the contact 58 in a groove 59 for~ed in each of the sidewalls of the main portion of the suppoc~ member ~4. In Pigure 11 a portion of the contact 58 is cut away to clearly illu6trato the groovo 59.
The member 44 iB mountod to the ground ~tructure 22 in a manner generally s~milar to the arrangement formea and ~hown in connection with Figure~ 2 an~ 3. The fingers 54 of the member ~4 are each received in one of the channels 34 definea by the walls 32 of the ground ~tructure Z2. The member 44 i8 po6~tioned on the structure 22 by the engagement of the main portion 46 of the member ~
w~th the ~nner end6 of the walls 34 of the ~tructure.
a~ iB illu6trated in the Figure. The membor 4~ i8 held in the po6ition 6hown in drawing Figure 11 by an abutment 26A focmed on the planac portion 26 of the ba~eplate 24 o the ~tructuro 22. Of cour~e. any 6uitable expedient may be u6ed to po6ition a me~ber 44 on one (or both) ~urface(6) of the 6teuctuce 22 The welding apertures 52 (perhap6 be6t 6een in Figure
Tecminator Por Hultiple Electri~al conauctor~
Background of the Invention The pre6ent invention relates to a terminator having electrical contact~ there~n oach connectable to one of a ~ultiplici~y of electrical conductors, and in particular, to a terminator having a ground structure therein arrangea to i~olate each electrical contact Description of the Prior Art Ag the performance of electronic device~ ha6 increa6ed exponentlally it ha6 become recogni2ed ~n the art that the transmi66ion of electrical ~ignals, whether within a given electronic apparatus o~
between couplea apparatu~es, ust be approache~ from a ay~tem viewpoint ~ucb a viewpoint manaate~ that not only muct each inaividual component in th- ~lgnal tran~ml~ion ~y~tem be optimizea for high cpe-a operat~on but al~o tho interface~ between co~ponent~
in the tran~mi66ion ~y~te~ mu~t be able to perform interacti~ely without degraaing the perfocmance of an ad~ac-nt component One of the fir~t component~ in the aignal tran~mi~6ion ~y~-m to receive ttention ~c the tran~mi~ion cable it~elf The reali2ation haa b--n made that the cable bandling the high ~peed ~gnal~
~c the eloctrical eguivalent of a tran6mi~aion line in that it extena~ an el-ctrically great di~tance ,~, - . - .
~ .
~2892il with respect to the wavelength of the transmitted signals. This is true even though in most instances the cable extends only a physically short distance between components of a given apparatus or between cooperating apparatus.
The design of electrical cable has advanced to a point wherein the cable can be precisely engineered to exhibit predetermined electrical properties. Exemplary of such cable structure is that disclosed in U.S. Patent 4 800 236, assigned to the assignee of the present invention. The cable disclosed in the two last-mentioned applications includes a corrugated ground structure which defines separate enclosed regions, or envelopes, which extend throughout the entire length of the cable. Each of the envelopes receives one or more ordinary jacketed conductors. When the ground structure is connected to a predetermined electrical potential the conductor in each envelope is isolated totally from those conductors disposed in adjacent envelopes. As a result such a cable exhibits electrical properties closely similar to those attainable from coaxial cable despite the fact that only ordinary jacketed conductors are utilized.
The system viewpoint has expanded to include considerations of electrical performance in the transition region intermediate the end of the cable and the cable terminator. The connector structure disclosed and claimed in the copending Canadian application Serial Number 548 914, filed 1987 October 08 and assigned to the assignee of the present ::
: .
.
, .
, ~ .
.
~289211 invention utilize6 a g~ound plane 6paced p~edetermined di6tance6 from the end6 of the conductor6 in the cable, the contacts in the connector and t~e interconnection therebetween for the purpo6e of minimizing elect~ical di6continuitie6 in the 6y6tem.
Den6ity of the terminator, that i6, the number of 6~gnal6 that can pa66 through a g~ven terminator, i6 also an important con6idelation. In conventional ~y6tems attempts have been made to extend the shielaing ana control the impedance of the sy~tem beyona the tran6mi6sion line by 6imply dedicating alte~nating contact~ in the linear array of contact6 in the tecminator as grouna contact6.
The contacts are not phy6ically alterea, but are ~erely de6ignated as ~ ground contact and connectea to a preaete~mined ground potential. The net re6ult of these factoc6 i6 that the den6ity of the tecminator iB limit-d.
ID view of the foregoing it iB belieVea aavantageous to fucther extena the ~ystem concept to the inaividual terminator of the transmi~6ion 6y~tem ana al60 to increaee the den~ity of the terminator.
Accordingly, it iB believed to be of aavantage to provide a te~minator for either a multiple conauctor ; cable or a uultiple tracing ~ub6trate that electrically i~olates the contact element~ in the terminator to pr-vent or ~inimize cro~ tal~ between ad~acent conductor~ ana to prevent or minimize aegradation of ~ignal tcansmission. In addition, it i~ believed advantageou~ to provide the isolating ~tructu~e in tbe ter~inator in ~uch a fa6hion that the contacts neea not them6elve6 be incluaea as part of the i601ating ~tructure whe~eby the signal den6ity of the te~minator may be increased.
128921i Summa ry Of The I nvention The pre6ent invention relates to a terminator Sor an multiple conauctor electrical tran~mi~ion ~ystem in which a ground structure i~
provided which electrically i601ate6 each of the ad~acent electrical contact element~ di6po6ed in the terminator. The tran6mi66ion 6y6tem may be implemented a~ a multiconductor cable or a6 a multiple tracing sub6trate, with the terminator being adapted to interconnect in sub6trate-to-6ub6trate, cable-to-cable, or cable-to-6ubstrate form.
In a fir6t a6pect the torminator include6 a metallic ground structure forned of a ba~eplate with a plurality of wall6 that extend upwardly fro~ a surface of the baseplate. In the preferrea ca6e a 6erie6 of wall6 al60 extena6 fro~ the opposite surface of the baseplate. The wall6 cooperate to define a plurality of channel6 that extend in side-by-side relation6hip acro66 the 6urface of the baseplate. an in6ulatea 6upport 6tructure having a boay portion with an array of extending finger6 is ~ountea on the ba6eplate with the finger6 extending into the channels on the ba-epl-te. An electrical contact element is mountea on ach of the fingers uch that the wall6 extend above the baseplate for a ; greater di6tance tban doe6 the electrical contact.
The finger6 may each be providea with a reces6 in which a cpring electrical contact i6 di6posea. AB a r-sult, w~th the ground structure connected to a predeterminea potential, each of the contacts i~
electrically isolatea from the aa~acent contact, thu6 preventing or minimi2ing cros6 tal~ therebetween.
The terminator can be implemented in the form suitable for the edge terminator of a sub6trate 35,such a6 a circuit board, or a6 a plug terminator for ~2892~1 a multiple conductor cable In the former in6tance the ground 6tructure i6 provided with a suitable mounting ar~angement wbereby the ground 6tructure ~ay be mounted in edgewi6e relat~on6hip to the 6ub6trate In the latter instance a 6uitable hou6ing i6 provided to define the plug portion In one in6tance the poetion of the grouna ~tructure having the wall6 thereon ana the extenainq f~nqer6 of the in6ulatea support 6tructure pro~ect forwaraly fro~
the hou6ing In another in6tance the hou6ing iB
coexten~ive with tbe forwara face of the in6ulatea support structute and the ground ~tcucture Tbe in~ulating ~upport structure ~ay be provided with trenche6 therein which receive the individual conductor~ of the cabl- Alternatively the wire6 of the conductor~ ay be facially velded to the contact~
In another a~pect the invention r-late6 to a hou6ing for a ter~inator The hou6ing ha6 an array of land6 ~eparated in one in~tance by alternate groove~ or, in another in~tance, by alternate ~lot6 The land6 carry electrical contact lement~ thereon I~ th- e~boai~-nt ln which tb- groove~ are u~-d a ~eparate atr-y of contact ~ nt~ 1~ provid-a in the groov-~ In tb- nbodi-ent witb th- ~lotted hou6lng 2S the xt-rior of the ~ou~ing 1- provid-d vith ground plate that com~unicat-~ witb at l--~t on- of the ~lo~ In acb in~tanc- tbe bou~lng l- connectable to the plug ~uch that t~e ~ignal carrying contact~
di~po~-d w~thin the chann-l~ on tb- ground ~tructure are lectrically int-rengaged with tbe cont-ct leaent6 on the land~ The wall~ of the groun~
structure are di~po~-d in l-ctrical contact vitb ither the contact6 providea ln the groove~ or tbe plate overlying the ~lot~ When con30~ned th- plug and hou6ing peovide6 el-ctrical ~hielding for the . ' '~
- ' ~ .
12a92~
contact elements in the terminator (in either the cable plug form or the edge cacd form), thu~
preventing or ~inimizing cro6s talk and degradation and maintaining electrical signal integrity Brief De6cript~0n Of The Drawings ~ he invention w~ll be more fully under~tood from the following detailea de6cription thereof, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing6 which form a part of thi6 application and in which Figure 1 i6 a per6pective view of an assembled terminator in accordance with the pre6ent invention implemented a6 a plug terminator for a ~ulticonductor cable Figure 2 iB an explodea perspective view of the plug terminator 6hown in Pigure l;
Figure 3 i8 a siae elevational view taken along section line6 3-3 of the plug terminator of rigure6 1 and 2 Figure 4 i6 a front per6pective view of a terminator in accoraance wit~ the pre6ent implementea in the form of an eage c-ra terminator Figure 5 iB a back vi-w of the etge card t-rminator of Figure ~
F~gure 6 1B per6pective view of a housing a66embl~ aaapt-d to ccept a terminator in accoraance with the pre6ent lnvention whether the terminator iB
implement-d in elther the cable plug form or the eage card for~
Figure 7 iB a siae view entirely in section of the hou6ing of Figure 6 I Figure 8 iB a front olevation view of t~e terminator of Figure 6 Figure 9 i6 a per6pective view 6imilar to Figure 6 ~howing an alternate emboaiment of a housing 12892~
adapted to ceceive the tecminator of the pre6ent invention whether the terminator is imelemented in either the cable plug form or the edge card form; and, Figure 10 i~ an exploded per6pective v~ew of an alternate embodiment of a plug terminator for a multiconductor cable generally 6imilar to Figure 2;
and.
Figure 11 i6 a 6ide elevational view in vertical 6ection. generally 6imilar to Figure 3.
taken along 6ection line6 11-11 in Figure 10 to incluae the central axi6 of a finge~ of the in6ulated support 6tructure of the plug terminator.
Detailea De6cription of the Invention Throughout the following detailea de6cription similar reference numeral6 refer to similar elements in all figure6 of the drawings.
W~th reference to Figure6 1 to 3 ~hown i6 a terminator generally indicated by reference character 10 in accordance with the pre6ent invention ~mplemented in the for~ of a plug terminator for a multiple conductor cable 12. Although the cable 12 ~B ~hown in the ~igure6 a6 be~ng a round tran6mi66ion cable it lie6 within the contemplation of the pre6ent invention that the plug term~nator (10 or 10', Figures 10 and 11) aB diBCloBed herein ~ay be used with e~ual efficacy in con~unction with a flat cable (either ribbon cable or discrete wire cable).
The cable 12 includes an outer ~acket 14 (~igure 3) of an insulating material surrounding a plural~ty of individual ~acketed conductors 16. ~ach conductor 16 it6elf ~nclude6 an insulating ~acket 16J
surrounding a wire conductor 16W. A conducting sheath lB di6po6ed under the outer ~acket 14 of the cable 12 6erve6 a6 a portion of the grounding and 12~921~
6hielding 6tructute for the cable 12 The 6heath lB
is terminated by a metallic ferrule 20, 6uch a6 that di6clo6ed ln United State6 Patent 4,416,501, a6signea to the as~ignee of the pre6ent invention, as iB
S appreciated by tho6e 6killed in the rt A6 i~ be6t 6een in Figu~e6 2 and 3 the heart o the plug terminator 10 i6 a metallic ground 6tructure 22 The gcound 6tructure 22 incluae6 a ba6eplate portion 24 having a aain planar 6urace with an integral portion 28 pro5ecting forwardly therefcoa Although the grouna ~tructure 22 i6 6hovn a~ beinq provided with an upper and a lower workinq ~urface 30A and 30~ re6pectively thereon, it 6hould be unae~tood that ground ~tructuse 22 having only one working ~urface 30 may be u6ed and remain within the contemplation of the pre~ent invention More ~pecifically, the terminator can be implemente~ with a ground ~tructure that include~ only the ~tructure on the upper working ~urface 30A of the ground ~tructure 22 (that ic, the ~tructure above the dividing pl-n- 31 extending through the ba~eplate portion 2~ of the ground atructur- 22) In uch an ln-tanc- the oppoc~t- ~urf-c- of the ground atructure 22 voul~ pr-f-rably b- plan-r ~oreov-r, the r-maining le~-ntc of the t-r~inator ~ her-after a--cribea voul~ be appropri-t-ly ~odifi-d to ccept a ground atructur- 22 of thla for~
a plurality of w-lla 32 xtend6 from the forvara p~o~-cting port~on of th- re~pectiv- upp-r nd lower working ~urfac-r 30A, 30~, re~pectively, of the ba~epl-t- 2~. Th- vallc 32 r- rrang-a ln aia--by-aiae r-lation~hip to aefine plur-lity of channelr 3~ acro~c the ~urfac-~ of the pro~ecting portion 2B of the ba~epl-t- 2~. In the preferr-a ~bodiment the x-~ of the ~-c-nt cb~nn-l~ 34 ar-:
128921~
parallel to each ot~er, although it i6 under~tood that 6uch a relation6hip i6 not mandated. It 6hould al~o be under6tood that although each working ~urace 30A, 30B of the ba6eplate 24 i6 6hown a6 having the same number of channel6 34, 6uch a situation i~ al60 not nece~6arily required.
The planar portion 26 of ~he baseplate 24 behind the pro~ecting portion 28 ha~ flange6 38 which flare farther rearwardly and ~lightly outwa~dly from the ba6eplate 24. The flange~ 38 ca~ry post~ 40. In some instance~ it may be aesired that the po~t~ 40 be electrically conductive and in electrical contact with the conductive ~aterial of the ba6eplate 14. It should be appreciated that a ground structu~e of ~ore than two working surface6 oay be defined by di6po6ing additional ba6eplate6 24 (whether each ba6eplate implemented with one or two working ~urface6) in any convenient ~tacked relation.
In the Figure~ the ground 6tructure 22 i8 6hown a6 being fab~icated a~ an integral metallic oember, although it 6hould be understood that any suitable con~truction for the ground ~tructure 22 nay be u6ed. For example, the grouna structure 22 can be formed from plastic with lts entire upper and lower working ~urfaces 30A, 30B (including the walls 32 on the prolecting portions 28) lined with a ~uitable conductive oaterial. alternately, the ba~eplate 24 may be formea or ~tamped froo a ~heet of conductive oaterial with ~lot~ proviaea near the forward end thereof. The end walls 32 oay be formed from ~ioilar 610tt-d stampings. ~he baseplate 24 and the walls 32 are ~oined via the ~lots to define the grouna 6tructure 22 a6 shown in the ~igure6.
In one embodioent of the cable plug form of the invention the plug ter~inator 10 further ~289211 compri~es a contact 6upport member 44 having a main body portion 46 with an array of trenches 48 formed therein The contact 6upport member 44 i~ formed of an in~ulating ~aterial A partition 50 having an indentation 50G iS provided near the forward ena of the body portion 46 of the contact support member 44 An array of aperture6 52 (vi6~ble on the lower member 44 in Fiqure 2) i8 providea through the body 46 of the 6upport member 44 in t~e reqion behind the partition 50, with one of the aperture6 52 being aligned with the mouth of eacb of the groove6 48 for a purpose to be de6cribed An array of fingers 54 extend6 forwardly from the body 46 The finqers 54 corre6pond in number to the number of channels 34 proviaed on the ground ~tructure 22 In the a~6emblea conaition the fingers 54 extend into the channels 34 80 that the forwara end~ of the finger~
54 are cotecminal with the forward edge of the ground ~tructure 22 An array of electrical contacts element6 58 of any 6uitable configuration are embeddea in the in6ulating material of the fingers 54 The contact ele~ent~ 58 are arranged ~uch that the planar blaae of each contact element 58 is expo6ed on the surface of the finger 54 in which it is dispo6ea The ; contact element 58 extena6 rearwaraly from the finger~ 54 through the mat-rial o~ the partition 50 The contact element 58 ends in an overlying relation6hip with the aperture6 52 in the body 46 ~ust forwardly of the mouths of the trenches 48 therein A~ seen in the Pigures the top urface6 of the walls 32 of the ground tructure 22 extend above tbe contact elements 58 when the 6ame are received in the channel6 34 128921~
The plug 14 include6 a pcotective ca6ing generally indicated by reference character 64. ~he casing 64 is defined by complementary 6hell member6 66A, 66B. Each 6hell membe~ 66A, 66B ha6 a forward S cutout 68 having a tongue 6BT therein. The configu~ation of the cutout 68 correspona~ to the configuration of the body portion 46 of the contact 6upport member in the vicinity of the partition 50.
~he rear wall of each of the shell members 66A, 66B
ha~ cooperating grooved openings 70 therein. The opening6 70 are 6haped to generally conform to the exterior configuration of and are 6ized to closely accept the tran6mi6sion cable 12 in either round or flat form.
Adjacent to the rear wall of the ~hell6 66A, 66B is a paic of abutments 72 with reces6e6 74. The rece6se6 74 are configured to accept snugly the posts 40 on the ground ~tructure 22 in a pre~ fit relation6hip. In the preferred ca6e the hell~ 66A, 66B are each fabricated of a conductive ~aterial. It should be undec6tood that the shells ~ay be abricatea from a pla~tic ~aterial in which c-~e a conductive surface 76 is for~ed by a suita~le conductor layer disposed on the inner surface of eac~
of the shells 66A, 66B (as ~hown in ~igure 3 for economy of illustrat~on). ~he siaewalls of the shells 66A, 66B each carry notches 78 sizea to accept locking tabs 80 which erve to hold the casing 6 together.
In the as6embled condition shown in Figures 1 through 3 the co~plementary hells 66A nd 669 close on each other and are locked together by the tabs 80 and the press fit engagement of the posts ~0 in the reces~e6 74 in the abut-ents 72. When so a~6e~bled the tongue 68T near the cutout 68 ad3acent :
~28921~
the front of the ca6ing 64 enqage~ in the gcoove 50G. The multiple conductor cable 12 extends thcough the regi~terea opening~ 70 ~n t~e rear of the ~hell6 66A, 66B and into the volume defined in the rear o~
the ca6ing 64. The external 3acket 14 of the cable 12 i6 6tripped a predetermined distance from it6 ena to expo6e the individual ~acketea conauctors 16 thetein. An in6ulation di~placement contact 82 6evec6 the exterior ~acket 14 of the cable 12 ana electrically interconnects with the ferrule 20 of the cable 12. The in6ulation displacement contact B2 i6 captueed in the grooved openings 70 ad~acent the rea~
aperture of the shell to thereby electrically interconnect the conductive eurface 76 on the interior of the caging 64 to a predeterminea electrical potential.
Prior to the clo~ing of the casing by the interengagement of the 6hells 66A, 66B, the individual conductor6 16 of the cable 12 are them6elve6 ~tripped of their 3acket6 16J and the conauctive wire6 16W thereof laia in one of the trenche6 48 extenaing in the body portion ~6 of the contact 6upport ctructure ~4. The ena of each of the wire6 16W ovellays the nd of one of the contact element~ 58. The wire6 16W nd the contacts 58 ~ay be ~uitably attached, as by velding, ~older or insulation di6placement contacts to interconnect the vires 16W to the contacts 58 ana re~ain vithin the contemplation of the present inventlon.
Figures 10 ana 11 illustrate an alte~nate embodiment of the cable plug terminator for~ 10~ of the invention generally 6imilar to the emboaiment of tbe invention 6hown in Figure6 1 to 3. In the alternate embodiment of the lnvention shovn in Figure6 10 and 11 the contact ~upport member 44 i6 i2~39211 ` 13 provided with a main body portion 46, formea of an in6ulating material, fLom w~ich a plurality of finger6 54 extend. The finger6 s4 each include a rece~s 55 having a lip 55L (Pigure ll) providea therein. Each finger 54 i~, therefore, a sub6tantially hollow member in which a 6pring electrical contact element 58 i6 received. The tail portion of the contact 58 i6 provided with a slot 58S
that impart6 to the tail portion of the contact 58 a configuration generally similar to that of an in~ulation di6placement contact. The head or forwara end of the contact 58 iB captured by the lip 55L
wh~le the tail end of the contact 58 pro5ects rearwardly from the main body portion 46 of the member 44. The generally linear portion 58L of the contact 5B between the curved electrical engaging reg~on 58C and the slotted tail 585 i~ capturod at each latoral horizontal edge of the contact 58 in a groove 59 for~ed in each of the sidewalls of the main portion of the suppoc~ member ~4. In Pigure 11 a portion of the contact 58 is cut away to clearly illu6trato the groovo 59.
The member 44 iB mountod to the ground ~tructure 22 in a manner generally s~milar to the arrangement formea and ~hown in connection with Figure~ 2 an~ 3. The fingers 54 of the member ~4 are each received in one of the channels 34 definea by the walls 32 of the ground ~tructure Z2. The member 44 i8 po6~tioned on the structure 22 by the engagement of the main portion 46 of the member ~
w~th the ~nner end6 of the walls 34 of the ~tructure.
a~ iB illu6trated in the Figure. The membor 4~ i8 held in the po6ition 6hown in drawing Figure 11 by an abutment 26A focmed on the planac portion 26 of the ba~eplate 24 o the ~tructuro 22. Of cour~e. any 6uitable expedient may be u6ed to po6ition a me~ber 44 on one (or both) ~urface(6) of the 6teuctuce 22 The welding apertures 52 (perhap6 be6t 6een in Figure
2) providea ~n the planar portion 26 of the 6tructure 22 are eliminated ina6much a6 the welded attach~ent of the conductor wire6 16W to the tail port~on of the contact 58 may be effected by ~ facial welding proce66 ~o thi6 end the wire6 16W of the conductor6 16 are bent, a6 at 16B (Figure 11), to cau6e the axi6 of the portion of the wire 16W im~eaiately rearwardly to the faclal end of the ~re 16W to extend linearly throùgh the tail end portlon of the contact 58 The protective ca6ing 6~ of the connector 10~ i6 l~o 61ightly ~odified from that 6hown ln Figure6 2 and 3 in that the ~hell portion6 66A, 66B
xtend forwardly and tuen downwardly and upwardly, re~pect~vely, to define the tongue portion 68T 6uch that the forward edge of the casing i6 coextensive with the forward face ~4r of the contact ~upport ~ember ~4 The c~ell ~e~ber6 66A and 66B are ~eld together in the ~a~e aann-r a6 that de6cr~bed for the arrange~ent of the connector ~hown in rigure6 2 and
xtend forwardly and tuen downwardly and upwardly, re~pect~vely, to define the tongue portion 68T 6uch that the forward edge of the casing i6 coextensive with the forward face ~4r of the contact ~upport ~ember ~4 The c~ell ~e~ber6 66A and 66B are ~eld together in the ~a~e aann-r a6 that de6cr~bed for the arrange~ent of the connector ~hown in rigure6 2 and
3 That i-, th- po-t~ ~0 on th- ground tructure 22 ar- pre~-fit into rece66-~ 7~ in the abut~ents 72 in t~e ~hel~- 66a, 66B The idew~ of the ~hell~
66A, 668 are notched, ~ t 78, to accept locking tab~ 80 a~ i~ t~e c-~e in the e~bodi~ent of the Snvention ~hown in rigures 2 nd 3 the casing 64 ~hown in rigures 10 nd 11 ~ay be fabr~cated entlrely of ~ conductive ~ater~al However, a~ i~ al~o arll-r not-d, the ~hellc 66A, 668 can be fabric-tea of nonconductiv- ~aterial, e g , pla6tic, in which event conductive layer6 76 ~hould be provided on bot~
the int-cior and exterior ~urface6 thereof The ~2892ii layer6 76 are illustrated in the Figures for economy of illu6tration In all other re6pect6 the embodiment of the invention shown in Fiqures 10 ana 11 is identical to that di6clo6ed in connection with Figures 2 ana 3 Accordingly the remaining ceference characters used in Figure6 10 ana 11 corre6pond to tho6e u6ea in Figure6 2 and 3 to identify corre6ponding parts It is noted that throughout thi6 application no ~ significance should be attached to difference~ in the number of walls 32, channel6 34, fingers 54, otc , usea in depicting the various embodiments of the various form6 of the invention As is seen in Pigure 11 the plug 10~ is received within a mating heaaer 81 The header 81 includes an insulating housinq 82 having an arcay of pins 83 extending therefrom Each pin 83 is re6pectively received within one of the rece66es 55 in the fingers 54 Each pin 83 is in electrical engagement with the electrical engaging cegion 58C of the contact 58 The hou6ing 82 al60 contains spring contacts 84 which engage the Detallic shells 66A, 66B
(or the layer 76 di~posed theroon in the event the ~hell~ 66A, 66B are formed of in~ulating material) thereby to establi~h a grounded interconnection with the ~hells 66A, 66B
A~ may be ~een by reference to riqures ~ ana 5, a terminator 10" in accordance with the pre6ent invention may be used in the environment of an edge card terminator for ~ub6trates ~uch as a printed circuit board 86 having multiple conductive tracings 88 thereon In the instance ~hown in Figures ~ ana 5 a ground structure 22 si-ilar to that aescribed in connection with Figure 1 through 3 or in connection with Figure6 10 and 11 iB dispo6ed both above and ~2892i~
below the boara 86 To facilitate thi6 mounting arrangement the ground structuce6 22 are 6upported at their end6 by a bracket 90 Each of the 6tructure6 22 receive6 a contact 6upport member 44~ generally 6imilar to that di~cu6sed in connection w~th F~gure6 l through 3 or in connect~on with Figure6 10 and ll with the exception that the body portion 46~ thereof i6 truncated A6 6een ~n Figure 5, the contact element6 5B emanating from the ~upport member 46l are dicected 50~ned to the conductive tracing6 88 on the ~urface6 of the board B6 It ~hould be appreciated that ~he t-r~nator 10U ~ay be u6ea to serv~ce only one of the surface6 of the board 86 In pract~ce the ground ~tructure 22 i6 connectable to a predeter~ned lectr~cal potential (e g , cha66~ or log~c ground) S~nce the wall~ 32 near the forward pro5ect~ng port~on~ 28 of tbe ba~eplate 24 extend above the ~Ignal carrylng contact~ 58 generally U-6haped receptacle6 are formea ~n wh~ch the ~gnal carry~ng contact~ 58 are di6po6ed The ground ~tructure 22 thu6 electrlcally ~h~eld6 and lsol-te6 -c~ ~ignal carry~ng contact 58 fro~ eacb ad3ac-nt ~gnal carry~ng contact, vbether these cont-ct~ re ~dew~e nd/or vertlc-lly ad5aC-nt ~ th refer-nce to r~gure6 6 nd 7 ~hown are per~pect~ve nd ~ect~onal vlew6 of hou6ing s6embly 100 adapt-d to ccept a ter~nator 10 or 10' or 10~
~ de6crlbed heretofor- The hou~ng 100 ~ncludes -~ain body port~on 102 fabr~c-t-d of a ~uit-ble ~n~ulat~ng ~at-r~al ~uch a~ ~olded pla~t~c The boay 102 has a ~a~n openlng tbat r-c-~ve6 the t-ru~nator 10 or 10~ or 10~ therew~th~n The hou~ng ~
generally 6~1ar to that de6crlbed ~n Un~ted state6 . ,,~, , ~289211 Patent 4,601.527, a~fiigned to the a~6ignee of the pre~ent invention.
However, in accordance vith the pre6ent invention the upper and lower edge6 of the hou6ing 102 are providea with an alternating array of lands 106A, 106B and groove6 lOBA, 108B, re~pectively. The 6urface6 of the land6 106A, 106B and the trough6 of the groove6 lOBA, 108B are provided with 6uitable electrical contact6 llOA, llOB and 112A, 112B
re6pectively. ~he contact6 are retained in the hou6inq 100 in the 6tandard ~anner. It 6hould be undergtood that although in Figure 6 through 9 preloaded cantilevered beam contact6 are illu~trated the hou6ing 100 (or 100~) in accordance with the pre6ent invention can be ~mple~ented u6~ng any suitable alternate form o~ contact.
A6 ~ay be ~een in rigure 8, in accordance with the pre6ent invention the contact6 110 ana 112 are 6upported in the body 102 of the hou6ing 100 such that, a6 ~ea6ured with re6pect to a predeter~ined datum, the contact6 110 aispO6ea on the lana6 106 extena for a distance fro~ the datum aifferent than the di6tance that the contact~ 112 extend from the datu~. Wit~ reference to the upper array of lands 106A and groove6 lO~A, the reference aatu~ is selected a~ the plane 116 containing the upper ~urface of the hou6ing 102. AB ~o definea it ~ay be appreciatea that the contacts llOA on the lana6 106A
extena for a distance 118 from the datum 116 that i~
greater than the distance 120 that the contacts 112A
in the grooves 108A extend fro~ the datu~ 116. A
si~ilar cituation is extant vith re~pect to the contact6 llOB and 112B re6pectively provided in the land6 106B and the groove6 106B on the lower array.
In the latter in6tance the reference datum i6 ~2~921~
selected to be the plane 122 containing the lower 6urace of the hou~ing 102 and the di6tances defined between the contact6 llOA i6 indicated by the character 124 and the di6tance defined by the contact6 112B i6 indicated by the character 126.
In the context of the dual array hou6ing a6 6hown in the Figure6 6 through 8, an equally u6eful datum may be defined by a bi6ecting plane 130 tFigure B) extending parallel to the arrays of coneact6 and midway therebetween. In thi6 event the contacts llOA, llOB on the land6 106A, 106B re6pectively are 6paced a di6tance 134 from the datum 130 while the contact6 112A, 112B iD the groove6 108A, lOBB, re6pectively are ~paced from the datum 130 by the di6tance 136.
AB a cesult of the staggered structural relation6hip of the contact6 in the land6 ~ith re6pect to tho6e in the groove6 a terminator 10 or 10' or 10" may be received in the hou6ing 100 such that the upper ~urface6 of the walls 32 on the ground atructure 22 are brought into electrically conauctive engagement with t~e contacts ~n the grooves 10~, while the contacts 58 supportea in the contact support 44 are brought into electrically conauctive engagement with the contact~ 110 on the lands 106.
The location of the ~ignal ana the grouna connection~
on e66entlally two level~ of the hou6ing 100 permits t'he ae~6ity of the connector to be increasea. 8ince the ground connection i~ proviaea by tho Wa11B of the ~tructure 22, the width dimension of the walls could be phy~ically le~ than the width dimension of the ~ignal carrying contact blades. This situation permit6 an increase in ~ignal den6ity while maintaining tr4n6mis6ion line characteri6tics.
Moreover the staggering of the signal and ground lZ8921i interconnection point6 on two level6 permit6 further compre66ion of the 6tructure leading to yet qreater den~ity.
Finally, 6ince i601ation is providea by the ground 6tructuce 22 and not by individual one6 of the contact~, all of the blades can be u6ed to carry ~ignal6, thu6 further enhancing the den6ity of the connector.
The 6tructure of the hou6ing 6hown in Figure6 6 through 8 iB modified 61ightly a6 6hown in Figure 9. IQ thi6 embodiment the land6 106 are sepacated by slots 1~0. In~tead of contact~ 112 of the spring type, contact plate~ 142 are provided that overlie a portion of the ~lots 1~0. The grouna BtrUCtUre Z2 iB ~lightly ~odified in that the walls 32 are extended to a height ~ufficient to permit the upper 6urface6 of the wall~ 32 to contact again6t the contact plate6 142. It ~hould be under6tooa that in thi6 embodlment (a6 well a6 the embodiment 6hown in Piqure6 6 through 8) the plate6 142 (and the ground contact~ 112) are preferably connected in common.
Those ~killed in the art may readily appreciate that in view of the foregoing a terminator and hou6ing arrangement ha~ been proviaea that provides efficient continuatlon of the ~hielding of the cable to the reqion o~ the terminator while at the ~ame time permitting increased ~ignal den6ity to be chievea. The reader ~kill-d in the art may al~o readily ppreciate moai~ication~ to the ~tructure of the terminator and/or housing a~ hereinabove ~et forth. It ~hould be understood, however, that auch moaification6 are to be con~trued a~ lying ~ithin the ~cope of the pre6ent ~nvention a~ ~et forth in the appended claim6.
66A, 668 are notched, ~ t 78, to accept locking tab~ 80 a~ i~ t~e c-~e in the e~bodi~ent of the Snvention ~hown in rigures 2 nd 3 the casing 64 ~hown in rigures 10 nd 11 ~ay be fabr~cated entlrely of ~ conductive ~ater~al However, a~ i~ al~o arll-r not-d, the ~hellc 66A, 668 can be fabric-tea of nonconductiv- ~aterial, e g , pla6tic, in which event conductive layer6 76 ~hould be provided on bot~
the int-cior and exterior ~urface6 thereof The ~2892ii layer6 76 are illustrated in the Figures for economy of illu6tration In all other re6pect6 the embodiment of the invention shown in Fiqures 10 ana 11 is identical to that di6clo6ed in connection with Figures 2 ana 3 Accordingly the remaining ceference characters used in Figure6 10 ana 11 corre6pond to tho6e u6ea in Figure6 2 and 3 to identify corre6ponding parts It is noted that throughout thi6 application no ~ significance should be attached to difference~ in the number of walls 32, channel6 34, fingers 54, otc , usea in depicting the various embodiments of the various form6 of the invention As is seen in Pigure 11 the plug 10~ is received within a mating heaaer 81 The header 81 includes an insulating housinq 82 having an arcay of pins 83 extending therefrom Each pin 83 is re6pectively received within one of the rece66es 55 in the fingers 54 Each pin 83 is in electrical engagement with the electrical engaging cegion 58C of the contact 58 The hou6ing 82 al60 contains spring contacts 84 which engage the Detallic shells 66A, 66B
(or the layer 76 di~posed theroon in the event the ~hell~ 66A, 66B are formed of in~ulating material) thereby to establi~h a grounded interconnection with the ~hells 66A, 66B
A~ may be ~een by reference to riqures ~ ana 5, a terminator 10" in accordance with the pre6ent invention may be used in the environment of an edge card terminator for ~ub6trates ~uch as a printed circuit board 86 having multiple conductive tracings 88 thereon In the instance ~hown in Figures ~ ana 5 a ground structure 22 si-ilar to that aescribed in connection with Figure 1 through 3 or in connection with Figure6 10 and 11 iB dispo6ed both above and ~2892i~
below the boara 86 To facilitate thi6 mounting arrangement the ground structuce6 22 are 6upported at their end6 by a bracket 90 Each of the 6tructure6 22 receive6 a contact 6upport member 44~ generally 6imilar to that di~cu6sed in connection w~th F~gure6 l through 3 or in connect~on with Figure6 10 and ll with the exception that the body portion 46~ thereof i6 truncated A6 6een ~n Figure 5, the contact element6 5B emanating from the ~upport member 46l are dicected 50~ned to the conductive tracing6 88 on the ~urface6 of the board B6 It ~hould be appreciated that ~he t-r~nator 10U ~ay be u6ea to serv~ce only one of the surface6 of the board 86 In pract~ce the ground ~tructure 22 i6 connectable to a predeter~ned lectr~cal potential (e g , cha66~ or log~c ground) S~nce the wall~ 32 near the forward pro5ect~ng port~on~ 28 of tbe ba~eplate 24 extend above the ~Ignal carrylng contact~ 58 generally U-6haped receptacle6 are formea ~n wh~ch the ~gnal carry~ng contact~ 58 are di6po6ed The ground ~tructure 22 thu6 electrlcally ~h~eld6 and lsol-te6 -c~ ~ignal carry~ng contact 58 fro~ eacb ad3ac-nt ~gnal carry~ng contact, vbether these cont-ct~ re ~dew~e nd/or vertlc-lly ad5aC-nt ~ th refer-nce to r~gure6 6 nd 7 ~hown are per~pect~ve nd ~ect~onal vlew6 of hou6ing s6embly 100 adapt-d to ccept a ter~nator 10 or 10' or 10~
~ de6crlbed heretofor- The hou~ng 100 ~ncludes -~ain body port~on 102 fabr~c-t-d of a ~uit-ble ~n~ulat~ng ~at-r~al ~uch a~ ~olded pla~t~c The boay 102 has a ~a~n openlng tbat r-c-~ve6 the t-ru~nator 10 or 10~ or 10~ therew~th~n The hou~ng ~
generally 6~1ar to that de6crlbed ~n Un~ted state6 . ,,~, , ~289211 Patent 4,601.527, a~fiigned to the a~6ignee of the pre~ent invention.
However, in accordance vith the pre6ent invention the upper and lower edge6 of the hou6ing 102 are providea with an alternating array of lands 106A, 106B and groove6 lOBA, 108B, re~pectively. The 6urface6 of the land6 106A, 106B and the trough6 of the groove6 lOBA, 108B are provided with 6uitable electrical contact6 llOA, llOB and 112A, 112B
re6pectively. ~he contact6 are retained in the hou6inq 100 in the 6tandard ~anner. It 6hould be undergtood that although in Figure 6 through 9 preloaded cantilevered beam contact6 are illu~trated the hou6ing 100 (or 100~) in accordance with the pre6ent invention can be ~mple~ented u6~ng any suitable alternate form o~ contact.
A6 ~ay be ~een in rigure 8, in accordance with the pre6ent invention the contact6 110 ana 112 are 6upported in the body 102 of the hou6ing 100 such that, a6 ~ea6ured with re6pect to a predeter~ined datum, the contact6 110 aispO6ea on the lana6 106 extena for a distance fro~ the datum aifferent than the di6tance that the contact~ 112 extend from the datu~. Wit~ reference to the upper array of lands 106A and groove6 lO~A, the reference aatu~ is selected a~ the plane 116 containing the upper ~urface of the hou6ing 102. AB ~o definea it ~ay be appreciatea that the contacts llOA on the lana6 106A
extena for a distance 118 from the datum 116 that i~
greater than the distance 120 that the contacts 112A
in the grooves 108A extend fro~ the datu~ 116. A
si~ilar cituation is extant vith re~pect to the contact6 llOB and 112B re6pectively provided in the land6 106B and the groove6 106B on the lower array.
In the latter in6tance the reference datum i6 ~2~921~
selected to be the plane 122 containing the lower 6urace of the hou~ing 102 and the di6tances defined between the contact6 llOA i6 indicated by the character 124 and the di6tance defined by the contact6 112B i6 indicated by the character 126.
In the context of the dual array hou6ing a6 6hown in the Figure6 6 through 8, an equally u6eful datum may be defined by a bi6ecting plane 130 tFigure B) extending parallel to the arrays of coneact6 and midway therebetween. In thi6 event the contacts llOA, llOB on the land6 106A, 106B re6pectively are 6paced a di6tance 134 from the datum 130 while the contact6 112A, 112B iD the groove6 108A, lOBB, re6pectively are ~paced from the datum 130 by the di6tance 136.
AB a cesult of the staggered structural relation6hip of the contact6 in the land6 ~ith re6pect to tho6e in the groove6 a terminator 10 or 10' or 10" may be received in the hou6ing 100 such that the upper ~urface6 of the walls 32 on the ground atructure 22 are brought into electrically conauctive engagement with t~e contacts ~n the grooves 10~, while the contacts 58 supportea in the contact support 44 are brought into electrically conauctive engagement with the contact~ 110 on the lands 106.
The location of the ~ignal ana the grouna connection~
on e66entlally two level~ of the hou6ing 100 permits t'he ae~6ity of the connector to be increasea. 8ince the ground connection i~ proviaea by tho Wa11B of the ~tructure 22, the width dimension of the walls could be phy~ically le~ than the width dimension of the ~ignal carrying contact blades. This situation permit6 an increase in ~ignal den6ity while maintaining tr4n6mis6ion line characteri6tics.
Moreover the staggering of the signal and ground lZ8921i interconnection point6 on two level6 permit6 further compre66ion of the 6tructure leading to yet qreater den~ity.
Finally, 6ince i601ation is providea by the ground 6tructuce 22 and not by individual one6 of the contact~, all of the blades can be u6ed to carry ~ignal6, thu6 further enhancing the den6ity of the connector.
The 6tructure of the hou6ing 6hown in Figure6 6 through 8 iB modified 61ightly a6 6hown in Figure 9. IQ thi6 embodiment the land6 106 are sepacated by slots 1~0. In~tead of contact~ 112 of the spring type, contact plate~ 142 are provided that overlie a portion of the ~lots 1~0. The grouna BtrUCtUre Z2 iB ~lightly ~odified in that the walls 32 are extended to a height ~ufficient to permit the upper 6urface6 of the wall~ 32 to contact again6t the contact plate6 142. It ~hould be under6tooa that in thi6 embodlment (a6 well a6 the embodiment 6hown in Piqure6 6 through 8) the plate6 142 (and the ground contact~ 112) are preferably connected in common.
Those ~killed in the art may readily appreciate that in view of the foregoing a terminator and hou6ing arrangement ha~ been proviaea that provides efficient continuatlon of the ~hielding of the cable to the reqion o~ the terminator while at the ~ame time permitting increased ~ignal den6ity to be chievea. The reader ~kill-d in the art may al~o readily ppreciate moai~ication~ to the ~tructure of the terminator and/or housing a~ hereinabove ~et forth. It ~hould be understood, however, that auch moaification6 are to be con~trued a~ lying ~ithin the ~cope of the pre6ent ~nvention a~ ~et forth in the appended claim6.
Claims (39)
1. A terminator for multiple electrical conductors comprising:
a metallic ground structure formed of a baseplate with a plurality of upstanding walls thereon cooperating to define a predetermined number of channels arranged in side-by-side relationship across the ground structure;
an insulated support structure having a body portion with a plurality of forwardly extending fingers thereon, each of the fingers being received in one of the channels; and an electrical contact element being disposed on each of the fingers, each of the contact elements being connectable to one of the conductors so that, in use, the ground structure is connectable to a predetermined electrical potential whereby the electrical contact elements are electrically isolated from each other.
a metallic ground structure formed of a baseplate with a plurality of upstanding walls thereon cooperating to define a predetermined number of channels arranged in side-by-side relationship across the ground structure;
an insulated support structure having a body portion with a plurality of forwardly extending fingers thereon, each of the fingers being received in one of the channels; and an electrical contact element being disposed on each of the fingers, each of the contact elements being connectable to one of the conductors so that, in use, the ground structure is connectable to a predetermined electrical potential whereby the electrical contact elements are electrically isolated from each other.
2. The terminator of claim 1 wherein the tops of the walls are spaced from the baseplate a greater distance than are the contact elements on the fingers.
3. The terminator of claim 2 wherein the multiple electrical conductors comprise conductive tracings disposed on the surface of a substrate, the terminator further comprising:
means disposed at each end of the ground structure for supporting the structure at the edge of the substrate.
means disposed at each end of the ground structure for supporting the structure at the edge of the substrate.
4. The terminator of claim 1 wherein the multiple electrical conductors comprise conductive tracings disposed on the surface of a substrate, the terminator further comprising:
means disposed at each end of the ground structure for supporting the structure at the edge of the substrate.
means disposed at each end of the ground structure for supporting the structure at the edge of the substrate.
5. The terminator of claim 2 wherein the multiple conductors are disposed in a cable and wherein the insulated support structure has a plurality of trenches therein, each of the trenches being adapted to receive one of the conductors of the cable.
6. The terminator of claim 1 wherein the multiple conductors are disposed in a cable and wherein the insulated support structure has a plurality of trenches therein, each of the trenches being adapted to receive one of the conductors of the cable.
7. The terminator of claim 3 further comprising:
a housing having an array of lands with alternating grooves disposed between adjacent lands, a contact element being disposed on each of the lands and in each of grooves, the contacts on the lands extending from a predetermined datum for a distance different from the distance that the contacts in the grooves extend from same datum, the housing being adapted to receive the ground structure such that the tops of the walls electrically engage against the contacts in the grooves in the housing while the contacts on the fingers electrically engage against the contacts on the lands.
a housing having an array of lands with alternating grooves disposed between adjacent lands, a contact element being disposed on each of the lands and in each of grooves, the contacts on the lands extending from a predetermined datum for a distance different from the distance that the contacts in the grooves extend from same datum, the housing being adapted to receive the ground structure such that the tops of the walls electrically engage against the contacts in the grooves in the housing while the contacts on the fingers electrically engage against the contacts on the lands.
8. The terminator of claim 5 further comprising:
a housing having an array of lands with alternating grooves disposed between adjacent lands, a contact element being disposed on each of the lands and in each of the grooves, the contacts on the lands extending from a predetermined datum for a distance different from the distance that the contacts in the grooves extend from the same datum, the housing being adapted to receive the ground structure such that the tops of the walls electrically engage against the contacts in the grooves in the housing while the contacts on the fingers electrically engage against the contacts on the lands.
a housing having an array of lands with alternating grooves disposed between adjacent lands, a contact element being disposed on each of the lands and in each of the grooves, the contacts on the lands extending from a predetermined datum for a distance different from the distance that the contacts in the grooves extend from the same datum, the housing being adapted to receive the ground structure such that the tops of the walls electrically engage against the contacts in the grooves in the housing while the contacts on the fingers electrically engage against the contacts on the lands.
9. The terminator of claim 3 further comprising:
a housing having an array of lands with alternating slots disposed between adjacent lands, a contact element being disposed on each of the lands and a plate on the exterior of the housing overlying at least one of the slots, the housing being adapted to receive the ground structure such that the tops of the walls electrically engage against the plates while the contacts on the fingers electrically engage against the contacts on the lands.
a housing having an array of lands with alternating slots disposed between adjacent lands, a contact element being disposed on each of the lands and a plate on the exterior of the housing overlying at least one of the slots, the housing being adapted to receive the ground structure such that the tops of the walls electrically engage against the plates while the contacts on the fingers electrically engage against the contacts on the lands.
10. The terminator of claim 5 further comprising:
a housing having an array of lands with alternating slots disposed between adjacent lands, a contact element being disposed on each of the lands and a plate on the exterior of the housing overlying at least one of the slots.
the housing being adapted to receive the ground structure such that the tops of the walls electrically engage against the plates while the contacts on the fingers electrically engage against the contacts on the lands.
a housing having an array of lands with alternating slots disposed between adjacent lands, a contact element being disposed on each of the lands and a plate on the exterior of the housing overlying at least one of the slots.
the housing being adapted to receive the ground structure such that the tops of the walls electrically engage against the plates while the contacts on the fingers electrically engage against the contacts on the lands.
11. A plug for a terminator for a multiconductor cable comprising:
a casing;
a metallic ground structure disposed within the casing, a portion of the ground structure projecting forwardly from the caging, the projecting portion of the ground structure having a plurality of upstanding walls thereon cooperating to define a predetermined number of channels arranged in side-by-side relationship across the ground structure, the axes of the channels lying in generally parallel relationship;
an insulated support structure having a body portion with a corresponding predetermined number of forwardly extending fingers thereon, each of the fingers being received in one of the channels; and an electrical contact element being disposed on each of the fingers, each of the contact elements being connectable to one of the conductors in the multiconductor cable, the tops of the walls extending above the contact elements on the fingers so that, in use, the ground structure is connectable to a predetermined electrical potential whereby the electrical contacts are electrically isolated from each other.
a casing;
a metallic ground structure disposed within the casing, a portion of the ground structure projecting forwardly from the caging, the projecting portion of the ground structure having a plurality of upstanding walls thereon cooperating to define a predetermined number of channels arranged in side-by-side relationship across the ground structure, the axes of the channels lying in generally parallel relationship;
an insulated support structure having a body portion with a corresponding predetermined number of forwardly extending fingers thereon, each of the fingers being received in one of the channels; and an electrical contact element being disposed on each of the fingers, each of the contact elements being connectable to one of the conductors in the multiconductor cable, the tops of the walls extending above the contact elements on the fingers so that, in use, the ground structure is connectable to a predetermined electrical potential whereby the electrical contacts are electrically isolated from each other.
12. The terminator of claim 11 wherein the insulating support structure further comprises an array of trenches disposed in the body portion thereof, each of the trenches being sized to receive an individual one of the electrical conductors therein and to
13. The terminator of claim 12 wherein the ground structure has a post thereon that engages against the interior of the casing to space the ground structure from the casing.
14. The terminator of claim 11 wherein the ground structure has a post thereon that engages against the interior of the housing to space the ground structure from the housing.
15. The terminator of claim 13 wherein the casing has a conductive surface on the interior thereof and wherein the post is fabricated of a conductive material so that the conductive surface on the interior of the casing and the ground structure are in electrical contact with each other.
16. The terminator of claim 14 wherein the casing has a conductive surface on the interior thereof and wherein the post is fabricated of a conductive material so that the conductive surface on the interior of the casing and the ground structure are in electrical contact with each other.
17. The terminator of claim 11 further comprising a housing for receiving the plug, the housing itself comprising:
a body fabricated of an insulating material, the body having an array of grooves each separated by an adjacent land, the grooves and the lands extending substantially parallel to each other; and an electrical contact element disposed in each of the grooves and on each of the lands such that each of the contact elements on the lands extends a greater distance from a predetermined reference datum than does each of the contacts in the grooves and such that, then conjoined with the plug, the contact elements in the grooves electrically engage against the walls of the ground structure and the contact elements on the lands electrically engage against the contact elements on the fingers of the support structure.
a body fabricated of an insulating material, the body having an array of grooves each separated by an adjacent land, the grooves and the lands extending substantially parallel to each other; and an electrical contact element disposed in each of the grooves and on each of the lands such that each of the contact elements on the lands extends a greater distance from a predetermined reference datum than does each of the contacts in the grooves and such that, then conjoined with the plug, the contact elements in the grooves electrically engage against the walls of the ground structure and the contact elements on the lands electrically engage against the contact elements on the fingers of the support structure.
18. The terminator of claim 11 further comprising a housing for the plug itself comprising:
a body fabricated of an insulating material, the body having an array of lands each separated by an adjacent slot, the lands and the slots extending substantially parallel to each other; and an electrical contact element disposed in each of the lands and an conductive plate overlying at least one of the slots such that each of the contact elements on the lands extends a greater distance from a predetermined reference datum than does the plate and such that, when conjoined with the plug, the plate overlying the slot electrically engages against a wall of the ground structure and the contact elements on the lands electrically engage against the contact elements on the fingers of the support structure.
a body fabricated of an insulating material, the body having an array of lands each separated by an adjacent slot, the lands and the slots extending substantially parallel to each other; and an electrical contact element disposed in each of the lands and an conductive plate overlying at least one of the slots such that each of the contact elements on the lands extends a greater distance from a predetermined reference datum than does the plate and such that, when conjoined with the plug, the plate overlying the slot electrically engages against a wall of the ground structure and the contact elements on the lands electrically engage against the contact elements on the fingers of the support structure.
19. A terminator for a multiconductor substrate comprising:
a metallic ground structure having a plurality of upstanding walls thereon cooperating to define a plurality of channels arranged is side-by-side relationship across the ground structure;
an insulated support structure having a body portion with a plurality of forwardly extending fingers thereon, each of the fingers being received in one of the channels;
an electrical contact element being disposed on each of the fingers, each of the contact elements being connectable to one of the conductors on the multiconductor substrate, the tops of the walls extending above the contact elements on the fingers; and a mounting bracket disposed on the ground to mount the ground structure to the surface of the substrate so that, in use, the ground structure is connectable to a predetermined electrical potential whereby the electrical contacts are electrically isolated from each other.
a metallic ground structure having a plurality of upstanding walls thereon cooperating to define a plurality of channels arranged is side-by-side relationship across the ground structure;
an insulated support structure having a body portion with a plurality of forwardly extending fingers thereon, each of the fingers being received in one of the channels;
an electrical contact element being disposed on each of the fingers, each of the contact elements being connectable to one of the conductors on the multiconductor substrate, the tops of the walls extending above the contact elements on the fingers; and a mounting bracket disposed on the ground to mount the ground structure to the surface of the substrate so that, in use, the ground structure is connectable to a predetermined electrical potential whereby the electrical contacts are electrically isolated from each other.
20. The terminator of claim 19 further comprising a housing for receiving the ground structure, the housing itself comprising:
a body fabricated of an insulating material, the body having an array of grooves each separated by an adjacent land, the grooves and the lands extending substantially parallel to each other; and an electrical contact element disposed in each of the grooves and on each of the lands such that each of the contact elements on the lands extends a greater distance from a predetermined reference datum than does each of the contacts in the grooves and such that, when contained with the ground structure, the contact element in the grooves electrically engage against the walls of the ground structure and the contact element on the lands electrically engage against the contact elements on the fingers of the support structure.
a body fabricated of an insulating material, the body having an array of grooves each separated by an adjacent land, the grooves and the lands extending substantially parallel to each other; and an electrical contact element disposed in each of the grooves and on each of the lands such that each of the contact elements on the lands extends a greater distance from a predetermined reference datum than does each of the contacts in the grooves and such that, when contained with the ground structure, the contact element in the grooves electrically engage against the walls of the ground structure and the contact element on the lands electrically engage against the contact elements on the fingers of the support structure.
21. The connector of claim 19 further comprising a housing for the ground structure, the housing itself comprising:
a body fabricated of an insulating material, the body having an array of lands each separated by an distance slot, the lands and the slots extending substantially parallel to each other; and an electrical contact element disposed in each of the lands and an conductive plate overlying at least one of the slots such that each of the contact elements on the lands extends a greater distance from a predetermined reference datum than does the plate and such that, when conjoined with the ground structure, the plate overlying the slots electrically engages against a wall of the ground structure and the contact elements on the lands electrically engage against the contact elements on the fingers of the support structure.
a body fabricated of an insulating material, the body having an array of lands each separated by an distance slot, the lands and the slots extending substantially parallel to each other; and an electrical contact element disposed in each of the lands and an conductive plate overlying at least one of the slots such that each of the contact elements on the lands extends a greater distance from a predetermined reference datum than does the plate and such that, when conjoined with the ground structure, the plate overlying the slots electrically engages against a wall of the ground structure and the contact elements on the lands electrically engage against the contact elements on the fingers of the support structure.
22. A terminator for multiple electrical conductors comprising:
a metallic ground structure formed of a baseplate having an upper and a lower surface thereon a plurality of upstanding walls extending from each of the upper and lower surfaces of the baseplate, the walls on each surface cooperating to define a predetermined number of channels arranged side-by-side relationship across each surface of the ground structure;
a first and a second insulated support structure each having a body portion with a plurality of forwardly extending fingers thereon, one of the support structure being disposed on one of the surface of the ground structure, each of the fingers on each of the support structures being received in one of the channels on the ground structure; and an electrical contact element being disposed on each of the fingers, each of the contact elements being connectable to one of the conductors, the tops of the walls of the ground structure being spaced above the surface thereof to a greater extent than the contact elements on the fingers are spaced thereabove so that, in use, the ground structure is connectable to a predetermined electrical potential whereby the electrical contact elements are electrically isolated from each other.
a metallic ground structure formed of a baseplate having an upper and a lower surface thereon a plurality of upstanding walls extending from each of the upper and lower surfaces of the baseplate, the walls on each surface cooperating to define a predetermined number of channels arranged side-by-side relationship across each surface of the ground structure;
a first and a second insulated support structure each having a body portion with a plurality of forwardly extending fingers thereon, one of the support structure being disposed on one of the surface of the ground structure, each of the fingers on each of the support structures being received in one of the channels on the ground structure; and an electrical contact element being disposed on each of the fingers, each of the contact elements being connectable to one of the conductors, the tops of the walls of the ground structure being spaced above the surface thereof to a greater extent than the contact elements on the fingers are spaced thereabove so that, in use, the ground structure is connectable to a predetermined electrical potential whereby the electrical contact elements are electrically isolated from each other.
23. The terminator of claim 22 further comprising a housing for the ground structure, the housing itself comprising:
a body fabricated of an insulating material, the body having an upper and a lower array of lands each separated by an adjacent groove, the lands and the grooves extending substantially parallel to each other; and an electrical contact element disposed on each of the lands and in each of the grooves such that each of the contact elements on the lands extends a greater distance toward a predetermind reference datum disposed at the center of the housing than does each of the contacts in the grooves, and such that when conjoined with the ground structure the contact elements in the upper and lower grooves respectively electrically engage against the tops of the walls on the upper and lower surfaces of the ground structure and the contact elements on the lands respectively electrically engage against the contact elements on the fingers of the first and second support structures.
a body fabricated of an insulating material, the body having an upper and a lower array of lands each separated by an adjacent groove, the lands and the grooves extending substantially parallel to each other; and an electrical contact element disposed on each of the lands and in each of the grooves such that each of the contact elements on the lands extends a greater distance toward a predetermind reference datum disposed at the center of the housing than does each of the contacts in the grooves, and such that when conjoined with the ground structure the contact elements in the upper and lower grooves respectively electrically engage against the tops of the walls on the upper and lower surfaces of the ground structure and the contact elements on the lands respectively electrically engage against the contact elements on the fingers of the first and second support structures.
24 The terminator of claim 22 further comprising a housing for the ground structure, the housing itself comprising:
a body fabricated of an insulating material, the body having an upper and a lower array of lands each separated by an adjacent slot, the lands and the slots extending substantially parallel to each other; and an electrical contact element disposed on each of the lands and an array of conductive plates each overlying each of the slots such that each of the contact elements on the lands extends a greater distance toward the center of the housing than does each of the plates, and such that when conjoined with the ground structure the contact elements in the upper and lower lands respectively electrically engage against the contact elements on the fingers of the first and second support structure and the plates electrically engage against the tops of the walls on the first and second support structures.
a body fabricated of an insulating material, the body having an upper and a lower array of lands each separated by an adjacent slot, the lands and the slots extending substantially parallel to each other; and an electrical contact element disposed on each of the lands and an array of conductive plates each overlying each of the slots such that each of the contact elements on the lands extends a greater distance toward the center of the housing than does each of the plates, and such that when conjoined with the ground structure the contact elements in the upper and lower lands respectively electrically engage against the contact elements on the fingers of the first and second support structure and the plates electrically engage against the tops of the walls on the first and second support structures.
A housing for a terminator comprising a body fabricated of an insulating material, the body having an array of grooves each separated by an adjacent land the grooves and the lands extending substantially parallel to each other; and an electrical contact element disposed in each of the grooves and on each of the lands such that each of the contact elements on the lands extends a greater distance from a predetermined reference datum than does each of the contacts in the grooves
26. A housing for a terminator comprising:
a body fabricated of an insulating material, the body having an array of lands each separated by an adjacent slot, the lands and the slots extending substantially parallel to each other; and an electrical contact element disposed on each of the lands and a conductive plate overlying at least one of the slots such that each of the contact elements on the lands extends a greater distance from a predetermined reference datum than does the plate overlying the slot.
a body fabricated of an insulating material, the body having an array of lands each separated by an adjacent slot, the lands and the slots extending substantially parallel to each other; and an electrical contact element disposed on each of the lands and a conductive plate overlying at least one of the slots such that each of the contact elements on the lands extends a greater distance from a predetermined reference datum than does the plate overlying the slot.
27. A terminator for multiple electrical conductors comprising:
a metallic ground structure formed of a baseplate with a plurality of upstanding walls thereon cooperating to define a predetermined number of channels arranged in side-by-side relationship across the ground structure;
an insulated support structure having a body portion with a plurality of forwardly extending fingers thereon, each of the fingers having a recess therein, each of the fingers being received in one of the channels; and an electrical contact element being disposed within the recess of each of the fingers, each of the contact elements being connectable to one of the conductors so that, in use, the ground structure is connectable to a predetermined electrical potential whereby the electrical contact elements are electrically isolated from each other.
a metallic ground structure formed of a baseplate with a plurality of upstanding walls thereon cooperating to define a predetermined number of channels arranged in side-by-side relationship across the ground structure;
an insulated support structure having a body portion with a plurality of forwardly extending fingers thereon, each of the fingers having a recess therein, each of the fingers being received in one of the channels; and an electrical contact element being disposed within the recess of each of the fingers, each of the contact elements being connectable to one of the conductors so that, in use, the ground structure is connectable to a predetermined electrical potential whereby the electrical contact elements are electrically isolated from each other.
28. The terminator of claim 27 wherein the insulated support structure has a forward face, further comprising:
a casing surrounding the support structure, the casing having a forward edge, the forward edge of the casing being coextensive with the forward face of insulated support structure.
a casing surrounding the support structure, the casing having a forward edge, the forward edge of the casing being coextensive with the forward face of insulated support structure.
29. A terminator for multiple electrical conductors, comprising:
a metallic ground structure formed of a baseplate with a plurality of upstanding walls thereon cooperating to define a predetermined number of channels arranged in side-by-side relationship across the ground structure;
an insulated support structure having a body portion with a plurality of forwardly extending fingers thereon;
a group comprised of two or more electrical contact elements disposed on each of the fingers, each of the contact elements in each group being connectable to one of the conductors so that, in use, the ground structure is connectable to a predertmined electrical potential whereby the contact elements in each group of contact elements are electricaly isolated from the contact elements in the other groups.
a metallic ground structure formed of a baseplate with a plurality of upstanding walls thereon cooperating to define a predetermined number of channels arranged in side-by-side relationship across the ground structure;
an insulated support structure having a body portion with a plurality of forwardly extending fingers thereon;
a group comprised of two or more electrical contact elements disposed on each of the fingers, each of the contact elements in each group being connectable to one of the conductors so that, in use, the ground structure is connectable to a predertmined electrical potential whereby the contact elements in each group of contact elements are electricaly isolated from the contact elements in the other groups.
30. A terminator for multiple electrical conductors, comprising;
a metallic ground structure formed of a baseplate with at least one upstanding wall thereon defining a predetermined number of channels arranged in side-by-side relationship across the ground structure;
an insulated support structure having a body portion with a plurality of forwardly extending fingers thereon, each of the fingers having a recess therein, each of the fingers being received in one of the channels; and a group comprised of two or more electrical contact elements disposed within the recess of each of the fingers, each of the contact elements in each other being connectable to one of the conductors so that, in use, the ground structure is connectable to a predetermined electrical potential whereby the contact elements in each group of contact elements are electrically isolated from the contact elements in the other groups.
a metallic ground structure formed of a baseplate with at least one upstanding wall thereon defining a predetermined number of channels arranged in side-by-side relationship across the ground structure;
an insulated support structure having a body portion with a plurality of forwardly extending fingers thereon, each of the fingers having a recess therein, each of the fingers being received in one of the channels; and a group comprised of two or more electrical contact elements disposed within the recess of each of the fingers, each of the contact elements in each other being connectable to one of the conductors so that, in use, the ground structure is connectable to a predetermined electrical potential whereby the contact elements in each group of contact elements are electrically isolated from the contact elements in the other groups.
31. The terminator of claim 30 wherein the insulated support structure has a forward face, further comprising:
a casing surrounding the support structure, the casing having a forward edge, the forward edge of the casing being coextensive with the forward face of the insulated support structure.
a casing surrounding the support structure, the casing having a forward edge, the forward edge of the casing being coextensive with the forward face of the insulated support structure.
32. A terminator for a first and a second electrical conductor, comprising:
a metallic ground structure formed of a baseplate with at least one upstanding wall thereon, the baseplate and the wall cooperating to define at least a first and a second channel arranged in side-by-side relationship across the ground structure;
an insulating support structure having at least a first and a second finger thereon, each of the fingers being received in one of the channels; and at least one electrical contact element being disposed on each of the fingers, each of the contact elements being connectable to one of the conductors, the terminator being arranged such that, in use, the ground structure is connectable to a predetermined electrical potential whereby the electrical contact elements are electrically isolated from each other.
a metallic ground structure formed of a baseplate with at least one upstanding wall thereon, the baseplate and the wall cooperating to define at least a first and a second channel arranged in side-by-side relationship across the ground structure;
an insulating support structure having at least a first and a second finger thereon, each of the fingers being received in one of the channels; and at least one electrical contact element being disposed on each of the fingers, each of the contact elements being connectable to one of the conductors, the terminator being arranged such that, in use, the ground structure is connectable to a predetermined electrical potential whereby the electrical contact elements are electrically isolated from each other.
33. The terminator of claim 32 wherein the top of the wall is spaced from the baseplate a greater distance than are the contact elements on the fingers.
34. The terminator of claim 33 wherein there are plural contacts disposed on each finger.
35. The terminator of claim 32 wherein there are plural contacts disposed on each finger.
36. The terminator of claim 33 wherein each of the fingers has a recess disposed therein, each of the electrical contacts being disposed within a recess.
37. The terminator of claim 32 wherein each of the fingers has a recess disposed therein, each of the electrical contacts being disposed in a recess.
33. The terminator of claim 36 wherein there are plural contacts disposed on each fingers, each contact being disposed in a recess.
39. The terminator of claim 37 wherein there are plural contacts disposed on each finger, each contact being disposed in the recess in the finger.
Applications Claiming Priority (4)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| US93292186A | 1986-11-18 | 1986-11-18 | |
| US932,921 | 1986-11-18 | ||
| US9100287A | 1987-09-02 | 1987-09-02 | |
| US091,002 | 1987-09-02 |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1289211C true CA1289211C (en) | 1991-09-17 |
Family
ID=26782890
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000551742A Expired - Lifetime CA1289211C (en) | 1986-11-18 | 1987-11-12 | Terminator for multiple electrical conductors |
Country Status (6)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| EP (1) | EP0268441B1 (en) |
| JP (1) | JP2737843B2 (en) |
| KR (1) | KR910002264B1 (en) |
| CA (1) | CA1289211C (en) |
| DE (1) | DE3789089T2 (en) |
| HK (1) | HK1000397A1 (en) |
Families Citing this family (28)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US5057028A (en) * | 1986-11-18 | 1991-10-15 | E. I. Du Pont De Nemours And Company | Receptacle having a nosepeice to receive cantilevered spring contacts |
| US5169324A (en) * | 1986-11-18 | 1992-12-08 | Lemke Timothy A | Plug terminator having a grounding member |
| AU668962B2 (en) * | 1992-09-08 | 1996-05-23 | Whitaker Corporation, The | Shielded data connector |
| US5487682A (en) * | 1992-09-08 | 1996-01-30 | The Whitaker Corporation | Shielded data connector |
| US5376021A (en) * | 1993-02-05 | 1994-12-27 | Thomas & Betts Corporation | Enhanced performance data connector |
| US5297970A (en) * | 1993-02-11 | 1994-03-29 | Porta Systems Corp. | Connector block and connector block assembly with offset contacts |
| US5593311A (en) * | 1993-07-14 | 1997-01-14 | Thomas & Betts Corporation | Shielded compact data connector |
| JP2942979B2 (en) * | 1994-11-21 | 1999-08-30 | モレックス インコーポレーテッド | Electrical connector |
| US5641308A (en) * | 1995-04-28 | 1997-06-24 | Molex Incorporated | Electrical connector |
| WO1997010628A1 (en) * | 1995-09-15 | 1997-03-20 | The Whitaker Corporation | Shielded electrical connector |
| US5797770A (en) * | 1996-08-21 | 1998-08-25 | The Whitaker Corporation | Shielded electrical connector |
| DE69831054T2 (en) * | 1997-05-14 | 2006-06-08 | Sega Enterprises, Ltd. | DATA TRANSMISSION PROCEDURE AND PROGRAMMED GAME SYSTEM |
| TW375529B (en) | 1997-05-14 | 1999-12-01 | Sega Corp | Data transmission method and game system using the same |
| US6328601B1 (en) | 1998-01-15 | 2001-12-11 | The Siemon Company | Enhanced performance telecommunications connector |
| US6780054B2 (en) | 1998-01-15 | 2004-08-24 | The Siemon Company | Shielded outlet having contact tails shield |
| US6358091B1 (en) | 1998-01-15 | 2002-03-19 | The Siemon Company | Telecommunications connector having multi-pair modularity |
| DE19956106B4 (en) * | 1998-11-23 | 2011-02-03 | The Whitaker Corp., Wilmington | Electrical connector consisting of a connector socket and a connector plug, as well as connector socket and connector plug |
| DE10000016B4 (en) * | 1999-01-04 | 2011-02-17 | The Whitaker Corp., Wilmington | Electrical connector consisting of a connector socket and a connector plug, as well as connector socket and connector plug |
| NL1012361C2 (en) * | 1999-06-16 | 2000-12-19 | Berg Electronics Mfg | Connector has contact elements mounted in housing, in which grooves extend transversely |
| WO2000077887A1 (en) * | 1999-06-16 | 2000-12-21 | Fci 's-Hertogenbosch B.V. | Connector, method for manufacturing such a connector and contact element for a connector |
| NL1012364C2 (en) * | 1999-06-16 | 2000-12-19 | Berg Electronics Mfg | Connector has contact elements mounted in housing, in which grooves extend transversely |
| NL1012345C2 (en) * | 1999-06-16 | 2000-12-19 | Berg Electronics Mfg | Connector has contact elements mounted in housing, in which grooves extend transversely |
| US6217372B1 (en) | 1999-10-08 | 2001-04-17 | Tensolite Company | Cable structure with improved grounding termination in the connector |
| US6857899B2 (en) | 1999-10-08 | 2005-02-22 | Tensolite Company | Cable structure with improved grounding termination in the connector |
| US6428344B1 (en) | 2000-07-31 | 2002-08-06 | Tensolite Company | Cable structure with improved termination connector |
| JP4917784B2 (en) * | 2005-09-26 | 2012-04-18 | 富士通コンポーネント株式会社 | connector |
| US10008811B2 (en) | 2014-05-30 | 2018-06-26 | Molex, Llc | Electrical connector |
| JP6280001B2 (en) * | 2014-08-22 | 2018-02-14 | ホシデン株式会社 | connector |
Family Cites Families (10)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JPS522190U (en) * | 1975-06-24 | 1977-01-08 | ||
| NL7513334A (en) * | 1975-11-14 | 1977-05-17 | Du Pont | CONTACT DEVICE FOR CONNECTING A COAXIAL CABLE. |
| EP0074205B1 (en) * | 1981-08-24 | 1986-02-19 | W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc. | A connector for coaxially shielded cable |
| US4386819A (en) * | 1981-08-31 | 1983-06-07 | Amp Incorporated | RF Shielded assembly having capacitive coupling feature |
| US4420201A (en) * | 1981-11-09 | 1983-12-13 | Amp Incorporated | Shielding assembly enclosing an electrical connector terminating shielded cable |
| US4416501A (en) * | 1981-11-23 | 1983-11-22 | E. I. Du Pont De Nemours & Co. | Terminal for establishing electrical contact with a shielded cable |
| US4451099A (en) * | 1982-05-07 | 1984-05-29 | Amp Incorporated | Electrical connector having commoning member |
| JPS5949173A (en) * | 1982-09-10 | 1984-03-21 | 富士通株式会社 | Connector |
| JPS6128284U (en) * | 1984-07-26 | 1986-02-20 | 本多通信工業株式会社 | Flat cable connector |
| US4601527A (en) * | 1985-01-18 | 1986-07-22 | E. I. Du Pont De Nemours And Company | Shielded header and cable assembly |
-
1987
- 1987-11-12 CA CA000551742A patent/CA1289211C/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 1987-11-16 EP EP87310079A patent/EP0268441B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 1987-11-16 DE DE3789089T patent/DE3789089T2/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 1987-11-17 KR KR1019870012939A patent/KR910002264B1/en not_active IP Right Cessation
- 1987-11-18 JP JP62291667A patent/JP2737843B2/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
-
1997
- 1997-10-21 HK HK97101975A patent/HK1000397A1/en not_active IP Right Cessation
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| KR910002264B1 (en) | 1991-04-08 |
| EP0268441A2 (en) | 1988-05-25 |
| EP0268441A3 (en) | 1989-07-26 |
| JPS63158766A (en) | 1988-07-01 |
| DE3789089D1 (en) | 1994-03-24 |
| JP2737843B2 (en) | 1998-04-08 |
| DE3789089T2 (en) | 1994-07-14 |
| HK1000397A1 (en) | 1998-03-13 |
| EP0268441B1 (en) | 1994-02-16 |
| KR890005927A (en) | 1989-05-17 |
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Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| MKLA | Lapsed | ||
| MKLA | Lapsed |
Effective date: 19940319 |