CN117996473A

CN117996473A - Electric connector

Info

Publication number: CN117996473A
Application number: CN202211324598.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 范军; 曾涛; 刘奇嘉
Original assignee: Amphenol Commercial Products Chengdu Co Ltd
Current assignee: Amphenol Commercial Products Chengdu Co Ltd
Priority date: 2022-10-27
Filing date: 2022-10-27
Publication date: 2024-05-07

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide an electrical connector. The electric connector comprises: an insulating housing including a first slot extending in a direction perpendicular to the mating direction; and a plurality of conductive elements retained on the insulating housing, each of the plurality of conductive elements including a mating end bent into the first socket and a mounting end opposite the mating end, wherein the mating ends of the plurality of conductive elements are arranged in a first column; the plurality of conductive elements includes a first plurality of conductive elements and a second plurality of conductive elements; the mounting ends of the first plurality of conductive elements are arranged in one or more rows perpendicular to the first column; and the mounting ends of the second plurality of conductive elements are arranged in a second column parallel to the first column. The mounting ends arranged in the row and the mounting ends arranged in the second column are respectively connected to different electric devices. The number of mounting ends connected to the printed circuit board is significantly reduced and less peripheral area of the printed circuit board can be occupied.

Description

Electric connector

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates generally to the field of connector technology, and in particular, to an electrical connector.

Background

Electrical connectors are used in many electronic systems. Manufacturing a system on several Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) connected to each other by electrical connectors is generally easier and more cost effective than manufacturing a system as a single component. Conventional arrangements for interconnecting several printed circuit boards typically use one printed circuit board as a motherboard. Other printed circuit boards, called daughter boards or daughter cards, are then connected to the motherboard by electrical connectors to effect interconnection of the circuit boards.

In servers and other powerful computers, it may be desirable to connect an add-in card as a daughter card to the edge of the motherboard. The add-in card may include a solid state memory such as a solid state disk, a video card, a sound card. For example, the add-on card may be orthogonal to the motherboard and multiple add-on cards may be connected in parallel along the motherboard edge. Such a configuration is described in industry standard SFF-TA-1007.

The card edge connector (card edge connector) is configured to support interconnection of the add-on card to the motherboard. The card edge connector may have a mating interface with a slot sized to receive an edge of an additional card. A conductive element having a mating end at one end and a mounting end at the other end may extend from the socket through the card edge connector to the mounting interface. At the mounting interface, a mounting end may be attached to the motherboard. At the mating interface, mating ends may be exposed in the slot where they may make electrical contact with contacts on the edge of an add-on card inserted into the slot.

Disclosure of Invention

In order to at least partially solve the problems in the prior art, according to one aspect of the present disclosure, an electrical connector is provided. The electric connector comprises: an insulating housing including a first slot extending in a direction perpendicular to the mating direction; and a plurality of conductive elements retained on the insulating housing, each of the plurality of conductive elements including a mating end bent into the first socket and a mounting end opposite the mating end, wherein the mating ends of the plurality of conductive elements are arranged in a first column; the plurality of conductive elements includes a first plurality of conductive elements and a second plurality of conductive elements; the mounting ends of the first plurality of conductive elements are arranged in one or more rows perpendicular to the first column; and the mounting ends of the second plurality of conductive elements are arranged in a second column parallel to the first column.

Illustratively, the mounting ends of the first plurality of conductive elements are arranged in two rows.

Illustratively, the insulating housing further includes a second slot extending along the direction perpendicular to the mating direction; and the mounting ends of the second plurality of conductive elements are bent into the second socket.

Illustratively, the electrical connector further comprises: a first wafer housing holding the first plurality of conductive elements; and a second wafer housing holding the second plurality of conductive elements, wherein the second wafer housing is stacked on the first wafer housing.

The first and second wafer housings are illustratively disposed in a direction parallel to the first column and away from the mounting ends of the first plurality of conductive elements.

Illustratively, the second plurality of conductive elements includes a plurality of sets of conductive elements separated from one another by members of the insulating housing; and the mounting ends of the plurality of sets of conductive elements are arranged in the same column.

Illustratively, the mating ends of the sets of conductive elements are arranged in the same column.

The electrical connector further comprises a plurality of second wafer housings holding the plurality of sets of conductive elements, respectively, wherein the second wafer housings holding different sets of conductive elements are arranged in sequence along a direction parallel to the first column.

Illustratively, the electrical connector further includes a housing that retains the insulative housing and includes a groove that separates the housing from the insulative housing.

Illustratively, the electrical connector further includes a lock pivotably connected to the housing.

Illustratively, the insulating housing includes a first insulating housing having the first slot and a second insulating housing attached to the first insulating housing; and the second insulating housing is shorter than the first insulating housing along the direction perpendicular to the fitting direction.

Illustratively, the first wafer housing is retained on the first insulating housing and the second insulating housing.

Illustratively, one end of the first and second insulative housings are aligned along the direction perpendicular to the mating direction, and the mounting ends of the first plurality of conductive elements extend from a portion of the first insulative housing beyond the second insulative housing.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there is also provided an electrical connector. The electric connector comprises: a first sheet-like member comprising a first mating interface and a first mounting interface perpendicular to the first mating interface, the first mating interface comprising mating ends of a first plurality of conductive elements, the first mounting interface comprising mounting ends of the first plurality of conductive elements, the mounting ends of the first plurality of conductive elements being opposite the mating ends; and a second sheet including a second mating interface aligned with the first mating interface and a second mounting interface parallel to the second mating interface, the second mating interface including mating ends of a second plurality of conductive elements, the second mounting interface including mounting ends of the second plurality of conductive elements, the mounting ends of the second plurality of conductive elements being opposite the mating ends.

Illustratively, the first plurality of conductive elements includes a bend such that the mounting ends thereof are arranged in two rows.

Illustratively, the mating end and the mounting end of the second plurality of conductive elements are symmetrical.

Illustratively, the first plurality of conductive elements is for transmitting signals at a first speed and the second plurality of conductive elements is for transmitting signals at a second speed, the second speed being greater than the first speed.

Illustratively, each of the plurality of conductive elements includes an intermediate portion connected between the mating end portion and the mounting end portion; and the second plurality of conductive elements includes a pair of conductive elements having undulations on sides of intermediate portions of the pair of conductive elements facing each other.

According to yet another aspect of the present disclosure, an electrical connector is also provided. The electric connector comprises: an insulating housing having a first slot extending in a direction perpendicular to the mating direction; and a first plurality of conductive elements retained on the insulating housing, each of the first plurality of conductive elements including a mating end bent into the first slot and a mounting end opposite the mating end and configured to be mounted to a printed circuit board; and a second plurality of conductive elements retained on the insulating housing, each of the second plurality of conductive elements including a mating end bent into the first socket and a mounting end opposite the mating end and configured to mate with a cable component.

Illustratively, the mating end of each of the first plurality of conductive elements includes a tip having a first length; the mating end of each of the second plurality of conductive elements includes a tip having a second length; and the second length is shorter than the first length.

Illustratively, the second plurality of conductive elements includes pairs of high-speed signal conductive elements separated by ground conductive elements.

The second insulating housing has a second slot into which the mounting ends of the second plurality of conductive elements are bent, the opening of the first slot and the opening of the second slot being opposite to each other along the mating direction.

The mating ends of the conductive elements on the electrical connector provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure are arranged in a first column and their mounting ends are arranged in a second column and in a row perpendicular to the first column and the second column, such that the mounting ends arranged in the row are respectively connected to different electrical devices than the mounting ends arranged in the second column. For example, the mounting end may be connected to a printed circuit board, and the mounting end may be connected to a cable member. Since a part of the signal of the electrical connector is provided by the cable member, the number of mounting ends connected to the printed circuit board is significantly reduced and less peripheral area of the printed circuit board can be occupied. In this way, the size of a printed circuit board such as a midplane, backplane, motherboard, or the like may be used to connect larger sized add-on cards even if limited, or may provide more area for other electrical connectors or components in the middle area even if the size of the printed circuit board is not limited. Moreover, since the rows in which the mounting ends are arranged and the columns in which the mounting ends are arranged are perpendicular to each other, they can also not interfere with each other when they are respectively connected to different electric devices.

In the summary, a series of concepts in a simplified form are introduced, which will be further described in detail in the detailed description section. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

Advantages and features of the disclosure are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Drawings

The following drawings of the present disclosure are included as part of the disclosure herein for purposes of understanding the same. Embodiments of the present disclosure and descriptions thereof are shown in the drawings to explain the principles of the disclosure. In the drawings of which there are shown,

FIG. 1A is a top plan view of an example application of an electrical connector, wherein the electrical connector according to some embodiments is mounted in a peripheral region of a printed circuit board for connecting a plurality of add-on cards to the printed circuit board;

FIG. 1B is a perspective view of an electrical connector applied to an electronic system with an add-on card not connected to the electrical connector according to one exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2A is an exploded perspective view of an electronic system according to one exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2B is an exploded front view of the electronic system shown in FIG. 1, with the electrical connectors connected to the printed circuit board and the cable assembly;

FIG. 3A is an angled perspective view of an electrical connector according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3B is another angled perspective view of the electrical connector shown in FIG. 3A;

FIG. 3C is a perspective view of yet another angle of the electrical connector shown in FIG. 3A;

FIG. 3D is a front view of the electrical connector shown in FIG. 3A;

FIG. 3E is a rear view of the electrical connector shown in FIG. 3A;

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the electrical connector shown in FIG. 3A;

Fig. 5A is a perspective view of a first wafer and a second wafer of the electrical connector shown in fig. 4;

FIG. 5B is a front view of the first and second wafers of the electrical connector shown in FIG. 5A;

FIG. 5C is a top view of the first and second wafers shown in FIG. 5A after disassembly of the electrical connector;

FIG. 6A is a perspective view of the first sheet shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6B is a perspective view of the first plurality of conductive elements shown in FIG. 6A;

FIG. 6C is a perspective view of the first wafer housing shown in FIG. 6A;

FIG. 7A is a perspective view of the second sheet shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 7B is a perspective view of the second plurality of conductive elements shown in FIG. 7A;

FIG. 7C is a perspective view of the second wafer housing shown in FIG. 7A;

Fig. 8A is a perspective view of the insulating housing shown in fig. 4;

fig. 8B is a perspective view of the first insulating housing shown in fig. 8A;

fig. 8C is a perspective view of the second insulating housing shown in fig. 8A;

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of the housing shown in fig. 4; and

Fig. 10 is a schematic view of an assembly process of the electrical connector shown in fig. 4.

Wherein the above figures include the following reference numerals:

100. An electronic system; 101. a printed circuit board; 110a, 110b, 110c, 110d, and an electrical connector; 120a, 120b, 120c, 120d, add-on cards; 130. a peripheral region; 200. an electrical connector; 300. an insulating housing; 301. a first slot; 301a, openings; 302. a second slot; 302a, openings; 303. a member; 310. a first insulating housing; 311a, 311b, a first groove; 320. a second insulating housing; 321. a second groove; 400. a conductive element; 401. a mating end; 402. a mounting end; 403. an intermediate portion; 403a, notch; 403b, serrations; 410. a first plurality of conductive elements; 411. mating ends of the first plurality of conductive elements; 411a, tips of the first plurality of conductive elements; 412. a mounting end of the first plurality of conductive elements; 413. a bending portion; 414. mating contact portions of the first plurality of conductive elements; 420. a second plurality of conductive elements; 420a, signal conducting elements; 420b, a grounded conductive element; 421. mating ends of the second plurality of conductive elements; 421a, tips of the second plurality of conductive elements; 422. a mounting end of the second plurality of conductive elements; 424. mating contact portions of the second plurality of conductive elements; 510. a first sheet member; 511. a first mating interface; 512. a first mounting interface; 520. a second sheet member; 521. a second mating interface; 522. a second mounting interface; 600. a housing; 610. a groove; 620. a lock; 621. a hooking part; 622. an operation unit; 623. a pivoting portion; 630. a pivot fitting portion; 640. positioning columns; 650. a threaded hole; 710. a reinforcing plate; 720. a U-shaped clamping member; 810. a first sheet housing; 811. a first protrusion; 812. a first stopper; 813. a mounting part; 820. a second sheet housing; 821a, 821b, a second protrusion; 822. a second stopper; 910. an add-on card; 920. a printed circuit board; 930. a cable member; 931. a clamping groove.

Detailed Description

In the following description, numerous details are provided to provide a thorough understanding of the present disclosure. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the following description illustrates preferred embodiments of the present disclosure by way of example only and that the present disclosure may be practiced without one or more of these details. Furthermore, some technical features that are known in the art have not been described in detail in order to avoid obscuring the present disclosure.

The inventors have recognized and appreciated a design technique for a compact electrical connector to provide high speed interconnection between different components. The inventors have recognized and appreciated that as electronic systems become more advanced, more channels and/or processing functions may be added. For example, the number and density of circuits on a midplane, backplane, or motherboard of a system may increase. In some cases, the size of the midplane, backplane, or motherboard may be limited (e.g., to accommodate standardized server racks or other packaging) although the size of the add-on card may be increased. Internet servers and routers are examples of data processing systems that may support multiple high data rate channels. The data transmission rate per channel in such a system may reach or far exceed 10 gigabits per second (Gb/s). In some embodiments, the data transmission rate may be as high as, for example, 150Gb/s. Conventional electrical connectors are unable to transmit data for a plurality of such high speed data channels while meeting size constraints. Some aspects of the present disclosure enable compact electrical connectors to provide high-speed interconnection.

The electrical connector may have conductive elements. The conductive elements have mating ends that form a mating interface, wherein a plurality of the mating ends are arranged in a row. Some of the conductive elements in the columns may act as high-speed signal conductive elements. Some of the conductive elements may act as ground conductive elements that provide a reference for high speed signals. It will be appreciated that the grounded conductive element need not be connected to ground, but is shaped to carry a reference potential, which may include ground, a dc voltage or other suitable reference potential. Other conductive elements may be used as low speed signal conductive elements or as power conductive elements. Some low speed signal conductive elements may also be designated as ground, providing a reference for low speed signals or providing a return path for such signals.

The conductive element may have a mounting end. A portion of the mounting end may be configured to mount to a printed circuit board and a portion may be configured to mate with a cable component. For example, the mounting ends of the low-speed signal conductive elements may be configured to be mounted to a printed circuit board so that the electrical connector may occupy only a relatively short distance extending from the edge of the printed circuit board. The mounting end of the high speed signal conductive element may be configured to mate with the cable member to transmit data directly through the electrical connector without requiring additional routing through the printed circuit board.

The electrical connector itself may also be of economical design. In some embodiments, the electrical connector may be implemented with various types of wafers. For example, the electrical connector may include a first wafer for low speed signal conductive elements and a second wafer for high speed signal conductive elements. Each first sheet may include low-speed signal conductive elements having mating ends arranged in columns at the mating interface and mounting ends arranged in one or more rows at the mounting interface. Each second wafer may include high-speed signal conductive elements having mating ends aligned at the mating interface and mounting ends aligned at the mounting interface. The second sheet may be stacked on the first sheet such that the mating ends of the two sheets are aligned. Another second sheet may be stacked on the aforementioned second sheet such that the mating ends of the three sheets are arranged in a row. This configuration enables a wafer for one size add-on card to be used in an electrical connector that mates with a larger add-on card.

The inventors have recognized and appreciated that various techniques may be used, alone or in any suitable combination, to improve signal integrity of an electrical connector. The techniques provided by the present disclosure may be particularly advantageous in orthogonal electrical connectors. Electrical connectors employing these techniques can be effectively reduced in size and provide high-speed and low-speed interconnections to form a dual interface. Of course, the techniques provided by the present disclosure may also be employed with other types of electrical connectors, and are not described in detail herein.

An example electronic system 100 that may use such multiple rows of electrical connectors is depicted in fig. 1A-1B. For example, the illustrated electronic system 100 may be part of a server. The printed circuit board 101 (a portion of which is shown) may be the motherboard of a server and may include circuitry and patterned conductors on one or more planes of the printed circuit board. Electronic system 100 may also include one or more electrical connectors 110a … d that receive add-on cards 120a … d. The electrical connectors 110a … d may be located in the peripheral region 130 of the printed circuit board 101 and provide a plurality of interconnection paths between the printed circuit board 101 and the add-on card 120a … d. For the configuration shown in fig. 1A-1B, the electrical connectors may be referred to as "orthogonal" connectors because the attached add-on cards 120a … d have their circuit planes or board surfaces oriented orthogonally to the circuit plane of the printed circuit board 101. According to some implementations, the printed circuit board 101 and the add-on card 120a … d may be assembled in a support frame or housing to accommodate one standard unit (1U) of an Information Technology (IT) equipment rack (approximately 1.75 inches high for a 19 inch wide or 23 inch wide equipment rack). The add-in card may contain a non-volatile memory chip and may be used as a Solid State Disk (SSD) in an electronic system.

In some implementations, such multiple rows of electrical connectors 110a … 110d may in some cases conform to industry standards or specifications, such as the small-form factor (small form factor, SFF) specification. As just one example, the electrical connector may receive a card conforming to the SFF-TA-1007 specification. The specification may specify the number, arrangement, and spacing of contact pads on the add-on card that are electrically connected to contacts on the multi-row electrical connector. In some embodiments, the center-to-center spacing between contact pads on the add-on card 120a … d may be substantially or precisely 0.6 millimeters (mm), although other spacing may be used in other embodiments. For the SFF-TA-1007 specification, there may be between 56 and 84 contact pads (or approximately between those endpoint values) distributed between the two sides of the add-on card. In some cases, there may be more contact pads on the card for which the connector must provide mating contacts.

According to some embodiments, the specification may also specify a spacing between the add-on cards 120a … d that may be used for air flow between the add-on cards. In some implementations, there may be a fan on the printed circuit board that moves air between the add-on cards 120a … d. In some embodiments, more than one spacing may be specified between additional cards. For example, the fans may be oriented to blow air from right to left or left to right in FIGS. 1A-1B. Different spacing may be used for different power levels acquired by different add-on cards (e.g., a center-to-center spacing of at least 9.5mm is used to 25 watts and a center-to-center spacing of at least 18mm is used to 40 watts).

The inventors have further recognized and appreciated that it may be advantageous to make the electrical connector compatible with different types of add-on cards (e.g., different versions of add-on cards 120a … 120d, these add-on cards 120a … d having more or fewer contact pads that connect to mating contacts in the electrical connector 110a … 110d when the card 120a … d is inserted into the electrical connector 110a … 110 d). Furthermore, it may be advantageous if the length of the electrical connector does not exceed the maximum length of the previous version of the electrical connector (in a direction perpendicular to the edge of the printed circuit board on which the electrical connector is mounted), so that the electrical connector 110a … d may be secured into the same peripheral region of the printed circuit board 101 as the previous version of the electrical connector. In some embodiments, it may be advantageous if the electrical connectors 110a … 110d extend a smaller distance toward the center of the printed circuit board 101 than the previous version of the electrical connectors.

Fig. 2A-2B illustrate a set of additional cards and electrical connectors of fig. 1A, as well as a portion of a printed circuit board. Wherein the add-on card is not mounted on the electrical connector. The add-on card 910 may be any of the add-on cards 120a … d. The electrical connector 200 may be one of the electrical connectors 110a … 110d that corresponds to the preceding add-on card. Printed circuit board 920 may be part of printed circuit board 101. While the additional card 910 and the card edge connector 200 may have different structures and functions from one group to the other, the electrical connectors within the different groups may be similar for the improvements provided by the present disclosure.

As shown in fig. 2A-2B, 3A-3E, and 4, the electrical connector 200 may include an insulative housing 300 and a conductive element 400. The insulating housing 300 may be molded from an insulating material such as plastic. The plastic may include, but is not limited to, liquid Crystal Polymer (LCP), polyphenylene sulfide (PPS), high temperature nylon or polyphenylene oxide (PPO), or polypropylene (PP), or other materials may be used. In some cases, the plastic may be a thermoset. In some cases, the insulating plastic may comprise an insulating material such as fiberglass reinforced. The insulating housing 300 may be generally one piece.

The electrical connector of some embodiments is described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. For clarity and conciseness of description, the longitudinal direction X-X, the transverse direction Y-Y and the vertical direction Z-Z are defined. The longitudinal direction X-X, the transverse direction Y-Y and the vertical direction Z-Z may be perpendicular to each other. The vertical direction Z-Z generally refers to the height direction of the electrical connector. The longitudinal direction X-X generally refers to the length direction of the electrical connector. The lateral direction Y-Y generally refers to the width direction of the electrical connector.

The insulating housing 300 may include a first slot 301. The add-on card 910 may mate with the first slot 301 of the insulating housing 300 in the vertical direction Z-Z. Specifically, the first socket 301 may extend in a direction (i.e., longitudinal direction X-X) perpendicular to the mating direction (i.e., vertical direction Z-Z). That is, the first socket 301 may have an opening 301a. The opening 301a may extend in the longitudinal direction X-X. The first slot 301 may be recessed inward from the opening 301a in the vertical direction Z-Z for receiving an edge of the add-on card 910. The edge of the add-on card 910 may be plugged into the first slot 301.

The conductive element 400 may be directly or indirectly retained on the insulating housing 300. The number of conductive elements 400 may be plural. Adjacent conductive elements 400 may be spaced apart to ensure electrical isolation between adjacent conductive elements 400 from each other. The conductive element 400 may be made of a conductive material such as metal. Each conductive element 400 is generally an elongated, unitary piece. The conductive element 400 may extend into the first socket 301. Specifically, each of the conductive members 400 may include a fitting end portion 401 at a front end thereof, a mounting end portion 402 at a rear end thereof, and an intermediate portion 403 connected between the fitting end portion 401 and the mounting end portion 402, as shown in fig. 5A. That is, the fitting end portion 401 and the mounting end portion 402 may be oppositely disposed at both ends of the conductive member 400. The mating end 401 may be located within the insulating housing 300. The mating end 401 may be located on a side of the first socket 301. Typically, the mating end 401 is bent generally toward the interior of the first socket 301 to protrude into the first socket 301.

The conductive elements 400 may include a first plurality of conductive elements 410 and a second plurality of conductive elements 420. The first plurality of conductive elements 410 and the second plurality of conductive elements 420 belong to different types of conductors. The first plurality of conductive elements 410 may include low speed signal conductive elements. The first plurality of conductive elements 410 may transmit low frequency signals (e.g., less than 500MHz in frequency), lower data rate signals (e.g., less than 100 Mb/s), logic control signals, and the like. Optionally, the first plurality of conductive elements 410 may further include additional conductive elements that provide a bias or reference potential. The additional conductive element may comprise a common conductor. The common conductor may have more than one mounting tail and more than one mating contact. The common conductor may serve as a power conductor. Additionally or alternatively, the common conductor may carry other high current and low frequency signals. The second plurality of conductive elements 420 may include high speed signal conductive elements. The high-speed signal conductive elements are used to transmit differential signals and thus may act as differential signal conductor pairs. The second plurality of conductive elements 420 may also include a ground conductor between the differential signal conductor pairs. Of course, the second plurality of conductive elements 420 may also be additional conductors and/or common conductors as mentioned above. In addition to being used to transmit different signals, the first plurality of conductive elements 410 and the second plurality of conductive elements 420 also differ in their shape, primarily because they will form different mating interfaces, as will be described in more detail below.

Fig. 6B illustrates one exemplary embodiment of a first plurality of conductive elements 410. As shown in fig. 6B, each of the first plurality of conductive elements 410 may include a mating end 401, a mounting end 402, and an intermediate portion 403 connected between the mating end 401 and the mounting end 402. The mating ends 401 and mounting ends 402 of the first plurality of conductive elements 410 extend in mutually perpendicular directions. The intermediate portions 403 of the first plurality of conductive elements 410 are L-shaped.

Fig. 7B illustrates one exemplary embodiment of a second plurality of conductive elements 420. As shown in fig. 7B, each of the second plurality of conductive elements 420 may include a mating end 401, a mounting end 402, and an intermediate portion 403 connected between the mating end 401 and the mounting end 402. The mating ends 401 and mounting ends 402 of the second plurality of conductive elements 420 extend in opposite directions. The intermediate portions 403 of the second plurality of conductive elements 420 are substantially linear.

The conductive elements 400 may be arranged in two rows on both sides of the first socket 301. For each row of conductive elements 400, the mating ends 401 of the conductive elements 400 may be arranged in a first column. Illustratively, the mating ends 401 of each row of conductive elements 400 may be arranged in a first column. The first column may extend in a longitudinal direction X-X. In the embodiment shown in fig. 4 and 5A, the mating ends 401 of the conductive elements 400 may be arranged in two columns on either side of the first socket 301, the columns being spaced apart along the transverse direction Y-Y. After the add-on card 910 is inserted into the first slot 301, the two rows of mating ends 401 are each in electrical contact with contact pads on the add-on card 910 on both sides thereof. Alternatively, the two rows of mating ends 401 may be aligned with each other along the longitudinal direction X-X. Optionally, the two rows of mating ends 401 are staggered in the longitudinal direction X-X to increase the spacing between the conductive elements 400, thereby reducing cross talk (cross talk). Of course, if necessary, the conductive element 400 may also be located at one side of the first socket 301, in which case the number of first columns is 1. For each first column, conductive elements 410 and 420 are included, with conductive elements 410 being located in a first section of the first column and conductive elements 420 being located in a second section of the first column. The two segments may be spaced apart along the longitudinal direction X-X. Alternatively, the two segments may be disposed immediately along the longitudinal direction X-X, that is, the pitch (pitch) P1 between the first plurality of conductive elements 410 may be substantially equal to the pitch between the first plurality of conductive elements 410 and the second plurality of conductive elements 420. The pitch (pitch) P1 between the first plurality of conductive elements 410 and the pitch (pitch) P2 between the second plurality of conductive elements 420 may be equal. Of course, P1 and P2 may be different. The conductive element 410 on one side of the first socket 301 may be opposite the conductive element 410 on the other side of the first socket 301, or may be staggered by one half of P1. Similarly, the conductive elements 420 located on one side of the first socket 301 may be opposite the conductive elements 420 located on the other side of the first socket 301, or may be staggered by one-half of P2. Of course, the first segments of the first plurality of conductive elements 410 and the second segments of the second plurality of conductive elements 420 may be staggered on both sides of the first slot 301 or arranged in any other suitable manner, and the arrangement thereof is not limited herein. Also, one or more such second segments may be included in the first column. When there are a plurality of second segments, they are disposed in sequence along the longitudinal direction X-X. Different segments of conductive elements 420 may be disposed on different wafer housings to form different second wafers 520. The conductive element 410 may form the first sheet 510 with an additional sheet housing. The first sheet 510 and the second sheet 520 will be described in more detail later. As shown in fig. 5A-5B, a second plurality of conductive elements 420 are located in two second segments. The two second sections may be spaced apart, i.e. the spacing between the two second sections may be significantly greater than P2. The separation ribs 303 may be provided at positions where they are spaced apart. The partition rib 303 may be provided in the first slot 301 and partition the first slot 301 into two parts. The two parts may be of unequal length to provide foolproof effect. Both ends of the partition rib 303 may be connected to both sidewalls of the first socket 301, respectively, whereby the strength of the insulating case 300 may be enhanced. The number of conductive elements 420 included in the different second segments may or may not be equal.

As shown in fig. 5B, for each of the conductive elements 400, either the first plurality of conductive elements 410 or the second plurality of conductive elements 420, their mating ends 401 may include thicker portions closer to the middle portion 403 and thinner portions farther from the middle portion 403. The mating contact portion of the mating end portion 401 that is in electrical contact with the add-on card 910 inserted into the first slot 301 of the electrical connector 200 is located on the thinner portion. As shown in fig. 5C, the mating end 411 of the first plurality of conductive elements 410 has a mating contact portion 414 and the mating end 421 of the second plurality of conductive elements 420 has a mating contact portion 424. Both mating contact portions 414 and 424 are bent into the first socket 301. In order to reduce the contact resistance, a noble metal material layer may be formed on the thinner portion where the mating contact portions 414 and 424 are located, and the cost may be reduced by forming the mating contact portions 414 and 424 on the thinner portion. Referring to fig. 5B in combination, the finer portion of the mating end 401 of the first plurality of conductive elements 410 is identified as a, the mating contact portion 414 is formed on portion a, the finer portion of the mating end 401 of the second plurality of conductive elements 420 is identified as B, and the mating contact portion 424 is formed on portion B. Similarly, for each of the conductive elements 400, whether the first plurality of conductive elements 410 or the second plurality of conductive elements 420, their mounting ends 402 may also include thicker portions closer to the middle portion 403 and thinner portions farther from the middle portion 403. A layer of noble metal material may be formed on the surface of the thinner portion to reduce contact resistance with the adapted electrical element.

For each of the first plurality of conductive elements 410, its mating end 411 may include a tip 411a. The tip 411a refers to a portion from the mating contact portion 414 of the mating end 411 where it is located to the end thereof, which portion is labeled C in fig. 5C. For each of the second plurality of conductive elements 420, its mating end 421 may include a tip 421a. The tip 421a refers to a portion from the mating contact portion 424 of the mating end 421 where it is located to the end thereof, which portion is labeled D in fig. 5C. For the first plurality of conductive elements 410 and the second plurality of conductive elements 420, their mating contact portions 414 and 424 may be aligned on a straight line L. The line L may extend along the longitudinal direction X-X. That is, the straight line L is parallel to the first column. In this way, mating contact portions 414 and 424 may form a consistent wiping distance over contact pads of add-on card 910 where the lengths of the contact pads on add-on card 910 that electrically contact first plurality of conductive elements 410 and second plurality of conductive elements 420 are consistent. Illustratively, the length of the tip 411a may be greater than the length of the tip 421a. So configured, stub resonance (stub resonance) of the second plurality of conductive elements 420 is smaller, thereby allowing for high speed signal transmission and improved Signal Integrity (SI). In this way, the electrical connector 200 is able to operate at higher frequencies while meeting the dimensional requirements of the relevant industry standards.

The mounting ends 412 of the first plurality of conductive elements 410 may be arranged in one or more rows, as shown in fig. 5A and 3A. For the conductive elements 410 on one side of the first socket 301, the mounting ends 412 thereof may be arranged in one or more rows. The plurality of rows includes, but is not limited to, two rows shown in the figures, for example, three rows, four rows, or more. One or more rows may be perpendicular to the first column. That is, one or more rows may extend in a vertical direction Z-Z. Thus, the conductive element 410 may be generally L-shaped. The mounting end 412 may extend outside the insulating housing 300. The mounting end 412 may be used to electrically connect with other components. In one embodiment, the mounting end 412 of the conductive element 410 may be configured to mount to a printed circuit board 920. Thus, conductive element 410 may enable interconnection of add-on card 910 with circuitry on printed circuit board 920.

In the case where the mounting ends 412 of the conductive elements 410 on each side of the first socket 301 are arranged in two or more rows, the distance between the adjacent two mounting ends 412 may be increased, thereby allowing the pitch between pads on the printed circuit board 920 to which the mounting ends 412 correspond to be increased. Or in the case where the spacing between pads on the printed circuit board 920 is constant, by arranging the mounting ends 412 of each row of conductive elements 410 in a plurality of rows, the spacing between adjacent conductive elements 410 within each row is allowed to become smaller, so that the electrical connector 200 becomes more compact.

The mounting end 412 of each conductive element 410 may be mounted to the printed circuit board 920 by Surface Mount Technology (SMT) and/or through-hole interposer technology (THT) or the like, thereby making electrical connection with the circuitry of the printed circuit board 920. Depending on the mounting technique, the mounting end 412 may include a through hole pin, an SMT end, a press fit pin, or the like. Typically, the mounting end 412 may be inserted into a mounting via on the printed circuit board 920 and form an electrical connection with a pad on the printed circuit board 920. In some embodiments, the mounting end 412 may be shaped as a press-fit flexible segment. The peripheral area 922 on the printed circuit board 920 may be provided with conductive vias arranged in a pattern corresponding to the pattern of the mounting ends 412 on the electrical connector 200 to be connected. The printed circuit board 920 may be implemented as a printed circuit board as described below. Optionally, a metal conductive layer may be electroplated on the sidewalls of each conductive via. The mounting ends 412 are inserted into corresponding conductive vias and may be in electrical contact with the metallic conductive layer. While the metal conductive layers of these conductive vias may be electrically connected to different conductive traces within the printed circuit board to form the desired circuit. Whatever the manner in which mounting end 412 is electrically connected to printed circuit board 920, additional card 910 may be interconnected to the circuitry on printed circuit board 920 by conductive element 410.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 5A and 6A-6B, the conductive element 410 may include a bend 413. The curved portions 413 have the mounting end portions 412 thereof arranged in two rows. Illustratively, the bends 413 may be provided on only a portion of the conductive elements 410. For example, every other conductive element 410 may be provided with a curved portion 413, and the curved portion 413 may be connected between the middle portion 403 and the mounting end portion 412. The curved portion 413 may be curved toward a direction perpendicular to the rows, i.e., curved along the lateral direction Y-Y. Of course, the bending portion 413 may be bent in other directions as long as it is not bent in the row direction. The extending direction of at least part of the conductive elements 410 may be changed by the bending portion 413 so that two rows are formed. Of course, the bending portion 413 may be provided on all the conductive elements 410. In this case, the adjacent two curved portions may be curved in different directions, for example, curved in opposite directions. The bending direction of each bend may be perpendicular to the row direction or at other angles to the row direction.

The mounting ends 422 of the conductive elements 420 may be arranged in a second column. The second column may be parallel to the first column. That is, the second column may extend in the longitudinal direction X-X. Thus, as viewed along the longitudinal direction X-X, the conductive element 420 may be generally rectilinear as shown in FIG. 7B. In one embodiment, the mounting end 422 of the conductive element 420 may be configured to mate with the cable member 930. The manner in which the mounting end 422 of the conductive element 420 mates with the cable member 930 may be any manner, including but not limited to soldering, adhesive or plugging, etc., so long as an electrical connection is made. Specifically, one end of the cable component 930 may mate with the mounting end 422 of the conductive element 420. The other end of the cable member 930 may be provided with a cable. The cable may be used for electrical connection to other electrical devices. Thus, conductive element 420 may enable interconnection of add-on card 910 with circuitry on other electrical devices located remotely through cable component 930.

Illustratively, as shown in fig. 3A, the insulating housing 300 may further include a second slot 302. The cable member 930 may be engaged with the second slot 302 of the insulating housing 300 in the vertical direction Z-Z. Specifically, the second socket 302 may extend in a direction (i.e., longitudinal direction X-X) perpendicular to the mating direction (i.e., vertical direction Z-Z). That is, the second socket 302 may have an opening 302a. The opening 302a may extend in the longitudinal direction X-X. The second slot 302 may be recessed inwardly from the opening 302a in the vertical direction Z-Z for receiving an edge of one end of the cable member 930. An edge of one end of the cable member 930 may be plugged into the second socket 302.

As shown in fig. 3A-3B, the mounting end 422 of the conductive element 420 may be bent to protrude into the second socket 302. The opening 301a of the first socket 301 and the opening 302a of the second socket 302 may be opposite to each other along the mating direction. Thus, the conductive element 420 can be substantially linear, so that the length can be shortened, the material consumption can be reduced, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced. Also, the transmission path of the signal through the conductive element 420 is shorter, so that the signal transmission speed can be increased.

The presently disclosed embodiments provide for the mating ends 401 of the conductive elements 400 on the electrical connector 200 to be arranged in a first column with their mounting ends 402 arranged in a second column and in a row perpendicular to the first and second columns such that the mounting ends 412 arranged in the row are connected to different electrical devices, respectively, than the mounting ends 422 arranged in the second column. For example, mounting end 412 may be connected to printed circuit board 920 and mounting end 422 may be connected to cable member 930. Since a portion of the signal of the electrical connector 200 is provided by the cable member 930, the number of mounting ends connected to the printed circuit board 920 is significantly reduced and less peripheral area of the printed circuit board 920 may be occupied. In this way, the size of the printed circuit board 920, such as a midplane, backplane, motherboard, or the like, may be used to connect larger sized add-on cards even if limited, or may provide more area of the intermediate area for other electrical connectors or components even if the size of the printed circuit board 920 is not limited. Moreover, since the rows in which the mounting ends 412 are arranged and the columns in which the mounting ends 422 are arranged are perpendicular to each other, they can also not interfere with each other when they are respectively connected to different electric devices.

In some embodiments, the conductive element 410 may be used to transmit signals at a first speed. The conductive element 420 may be used to transmit signals at a second speed. The second speed may be greater than the first speed. Typically, conductive element 410 may comprise a low-speed signal conductive element. In this way, the conductive element 410, the printed circuit board 920, and the path of signal transmission may be adapted to use materials and/or structures that support only low-speed signals, which may reduce manufacturing costs. While conductive elements 420 may include high-speed signal conductive elements. I.e. the conductive element 420 may be used for transmitting high speed signals. In this way, high speed signals may pass directly through the cable member 930. The cable member 930 is preferably capable of maintaining signal integrity while transmitting high speed signals. The reason for this is that: the density between conductors in the cable member 930 is less and the process limitations are less than with printed circuit boards, and thus the conductors in the cable member 930 are more uniform in electrical properties along their extension.

The electrical connector 200 itself may also be of economical design. In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 5A-5B, the electrical connector 200 may be implemented using a wafer. Each wafer may contain a plurality of conductive elements. Specifically, the sheets may include a first sheet 510 and a second sheet 520. The first plurality of conductive elements 410 may be formed on the first sheet 510. The second plurality of conductive elements 420 may be formed on the second sheet 520. The first sheet 510 may include a first mating interface 511 and a first mounting interface 512. The first mating interface 511 and the first mounting interface 512 may be perpendicular to each other. The first mating interface 511 may include a mating end 411 of the conductive element 410. The first mounting interface 512 may include a mounting end 412 of the conductive element 410. The second wafer 520 may include a second mating interface 521 and a second mounting interface 522. The second mating interface 521 and the second mounting interface 522 may be parallel to each other. Illustratively, the second mating interface 521 and the second mounting interface 522 may each face in opposite directions. The second mating interface 521 may include the mating end 411 of the conductive element 410. The second mounting interface 522 may include a mounting end 412 of the conductive element 410. The first mating interface 511 and the second mating interface 521 may be aligned. The first mating interface 511 and the second mating interface 521 may be located on the same side of the electrical connector 200. The first and second mating interfaces 511 and 521 may be formed in the first card slot 301 for mating with the add-on card 910. The first mounting interface 512 and the second mounting interface 522 may each mate with different electrical devices. For example, a first mounting interface 512 may mate with a printed circuit board 920 and a second mounting interface 522 may be formed within the second slot 302 for mating with the cable member 930.

5A-5B, 6A-6C, and 7A-7C, the first sheet 510 may include a first sheet housing 810 and the second sheet 520 may include a second sheet housing 820. The first plurality of conductive elements 410 may be disposed on the first sheet housing 810 to form the first sheet 510. A second plurality of conductive elements 420 may be disposed on the second wafer housing 820 to form on the second wafer 520. The first and second wafer housings 810, 820 may be at least partially retained within the insulating housing 300. Thus, the first plurality of conductive elements 410 and the second plurality of conductive elements 420 may be retained on the insulating housing 300 by the first wafer housing 810 and the second wafer housing 820. Of course, the first and second wafer housings 810, 820 may also be provided with conductors other than the first and second pluralities of conductive elements 410, 420.

The first wafer housing 810 and/or the second wafer housing 820 may be molded from an insulating material such as plastic. The plastic may include, but is not limited to, liquid Crystal Polymer (LCP), polyphenylene sulfide (PPS), high temperature nylon or polyphenylene oxide (PPO), or polypropylene (PP), or other materials may be used. In some cases, the plastic may be a thermoset. In some cases, the insulating plastic may comprise an insulating material such as fiberglass reinforced. In some embodiments, the first wafer housing 810 may be injection molded over the first plurality of conductive elements 410 such that the first wafer 510 is formed as a unitary piece. The second wafer housing 820 may also be injection molded over the second plurality of conductive elements 420 such that the second wafer 530 is formed as a unitary piece. The first and second sheet cases 810 and 820 may not only hold the first and second pluralities of conductive elements 410 and 420, respectively, so that they are fixed insulated from each other, but also may be provided with mounting portions by which different sheets may be fixed together, and may also be fixed with the insulating case 300.

The first wafer housing 810 may hold the conductive element 410. The first wafer housing 810 may extend in the extending direction of the conductive element 410. In embodiments where the conductive element 410 is generally L-shaped, the first sheet housing 810 may also be generally L-shaped. The second wafer housing 820 may hold the conductive elements 420. The second wafer housing 820 may extend in the extending direction of the conductive element 420. In embodiments where the conductive element 420 is generally linear, the second wafer housing 820 may also be generally rectangular. The second sheet housing 420 may be stacked on the first sheet housing 810. The first wafer housing 810 may support the second wafer housing 420, thereby structurally maintaining stability of both and may make the electrical connector 200 more compact. The first wafer housings 810 on both sides of the first slot 301 may be immediately adjacent to each other. Similarly, the second wafer housings 820 on both sides of the first slot 301 may also be immediately adjacent to each other. Illustratively, the first and second wafer housings 810, 820 may be disposed sequentially in a direction parallel to the first column (parallel to the longitudinal direction X-X) and away from the mounting end 412 of the conductive element 410. Thus, the first sheet 510 and the second sheet 530 are disposed in sequence along the longitudinal direction X-X. In the case where the first mounting interface 512 on the first sheet member 510 is connected to the printed circuit board 920, the first sheet member 510 may support the second sheet member 530 at a position having a sufficiently large gap from the printed circuit board 920. In this way, even if other electrical devices are also connected to the printed circuit board 920, there can be enough space for the second mounting interface 522 to connect other electrical devices, such as the cable member 930.

For example, as shown in fig. 5A-5B, the second plurality of conductive elements 420 may be divided into a plurality of groups. The plurality of groups includes, but is not limited to, two groups as shown in the drawings, for example, three groups, four groups, or more. In this way, the conductive elements 420 may transmit signals in groups. Each set of conductive elements 420 may be the same or different. The sets of conductive elements 420 may be separated from one another by members 303 of the insulating housing 300, as shown in fig. 3A-3B. The member 303 may be any suitable structure on the insulating housing 300, such as a spacer rib or a stopper. The mounting ends 422 of the sets of conductive elements 420 may be arranged in the same column. The mating ends 421 of the sets of conductive elements 420 may be arranged in the same column. In this way, conductive element 420 facilitates mating with add-on card 910 and cable component 930. For example, as shown in fig. 5A-5B, each set of conductive elements 420 may be retained on a corresponding second wafer housing 820. The second wafer housings 820 holding different sets of conductive elements 420 may be arranged in sequence along a direction parallel to the first column.

For example, as shown in fig. 5A-5B and 7A-7B, the mating end 421 and the mounting end 422 of the conductive element 420 may be symmetrical. That is, the mating end 421 and the mounting end 422 may be symmetrical along a plane perpendicular to the vertical direction Z-Z. Thus, the conductive element 420 has a simple structure and low manufacturing cost.

In embodiments where conductive element 410 is used to transmit signals at a first speed and conductive element 420 is used to transmit signals at a second speed, conductive element 420 may include a pair of signal conductive elements 420a, as shown in fig. 7B. The pair of signal conductive elements 420a may include, for example, a differential signal conductive element pair. The differential signal conductive element pairs may be configured to transmit high data rate signals (e.g., signals with data rates in excess of 25 Gb/sec in the case of PAM4 encoding) or high frequency signals (e.g., in excess of 56 or 112 Gb/sec). The ground conductive elements 420b may be spaced apart pairs of signal conductive elements 420a. The ground conductive elements 420b may be positioned between any adjacent two pairs of signal conductive elements 420a to reduce cross-talk. The sides of the intermediate portions 403 of the pairs of signal conductive elements 420a facing each other may have undulations. Illustratively, the relief may include a notch 403a. The relief may include serrations 403b. The undulations can adjust the spacing between pairs of conductive elements 420a to achieve different inductance and/or capacitance designs. Different objectives can be achieved for adjustment of inductance and/or capacitance, for example, the system matching impedance can be adjusted for different server systems by changing the local inductance and/or capacitance; or to maintain balanced impedance within the differential signal pair. This adjustment of inductance and/or capacitance is necessary for high-speed differential signal conductors.

While for conductive elements 410 used to transmit low speed signals, adjusting inductance and/or capacitance may not be necessary. Thus, alternatively, as shown in fig. 6B, the middle portion 403 of each conductive element 410 may have a uniform width D along its length. So arranged, the conductive element 410 has a simple structure and low manufacturing cost.

Illustratively, as shown in fig. 4 and 8A-8C, the insulating housing 300 may include a first insulating housing 310 and a second insulating housing 320. The materials of the first insulating housing 310 and the second insulating housing 320 may be the same or different. The first socket 301 may be disposed on the first insulating housing 310. The second socket 302 may be disposed on the second insulating housing 320. The second insulating housing 320 may be directly or indirectly attached to the first insulating housing 310 to achieve interconnection of the two. The second insulating housing 320 is shorter than the first insulating housing 310 in a direction perpendicular to the mating direction (i.e., the longitudinal direction X-X).

The first wafer housing 810 may be connected to the first insulating housing 310 substantially at a location where the first insulating housing 310 exceeds the second insulating housing 320. Specifically, the first wafer housing 810 may be plugged into a portion of the first insulating housing 310 beyond the second insulating housing 320 in the vertical direction Z-Z. Illustratively, the upper ends of the first and second insulative housings 310, 320 may be aligned. The mounting end 412 of the conductive element 410 may protrude from a portion of the first insulative housing 310 beyond the second insulative housing 320. In this way, the mounting end 411 of the conductive element 410 facilitates mounting to the printed circuit board 920.

The first wafer housing 810 may be retained on the first insulating housing 310. The second wafer housing 820 may be retained on the first insulating housing 310 and the second insulating housing 320. In this way, the first and second wafer shells 810, 820 may be relatively fixed.

In a preferred embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 4, 5A-5B, 6A-6C, 7A-7C, and 8A-8C, a first protrusion 811 may be provided on a side wall of the first wafer housing 810. The first insulating housing 310 may be provided with a first groove 311a on a sidewall of a portion thereof beyond the second insulating housing 320. The end of the first sheet member housing 810 where the fitting end 411 is located may be inserted into the first insulating housing 310 such that the first protrusion 811 is inserted into the first groove 311a. In this way, the first wafer housing 810 may be connected to the first insulating housing 310. A first stop 812 may also be provided on the side wall of the first wafer housing 810. When the first protrusion 811 is inserted into the first groove 311a, the first stopper 812 may abut against the first insulating housing 310, thereby playing a limiting role.

As shown in connection with fig. 4 and 5A-5B, in embodiments including a plurality of first sheet metal shells 810, the electrical connector 200 may further include a stiffener plate 710. A mounting portion 813 may be provided on one end of the first sheet housing 810 where the mounting end portion 412 is located. The reinforcing plate 710 may be snapped to the mounting portion 813 in the longitudinal direction X-X. Thus, the plurality of first sheet housings 810 can be relatively fixed.

Referring back to fig. 4 and 8A-8C, a second protrusion 821a may be provided on a sidewall of the second wafer housing 820. The sidewall of the portion of the first insulating housing 310 aligned with the second insulating housing 320 may be provided with a first groove 311b. The end of the second wafer housing 820 where the mating end 421 is located may be plugged into the portion of the first insulating housing 310 that is aligned with the second insulating housing 320 such that the second protrusion 821a is plugged into the first recess 311b. In this way, the second wafer housing 820 may be connected to the first insulating housing 310. A second stop 822 may also be provided on a side wall of the second wafer housing 820. When the second protrusion 821a is inserted into the first groove 311b, the second stop 822 can abut against the first insulating housing 310, thereby playing a limiting role.

A second protrusion 821b may also be provided on a sidewall of the second wafer housing 820. The second protrusions 821b and 821a may be located at both sides of the second stopper 822, respectively. A second groove 321 may be provided on a sidewall of the second insulating housing 320. The end of the second sheet housing 820 where the mounting end 422 is located may be inserted into the second insulating housing 320 such that the second protrusion 821b is inserted into the second groove 321. In this way, the second wafer housing 820 may be connected to the second insulating housing 320. When the second protrusion 821b is inserted into the second groove 321, the second stop 822 can abut against the second insulating housing 320, thereby playing a limiting role.

As such, the first insulating housing 310, the second insulating housing 320, the first sheet housing 810, and the second sheet housing 820 may be connected together.

Illustratively, as shown in FIGS. 3A-3E, 4, and 9, the electrical connector 200 may further include a housing 600. The housing 600 may be made of a relatively strong material such as metal. The housing 600 may be molded, such as by die casting, molding, or machining. The outer case 600 may be covered on the insulating case 300. The outer shell 600 may provide sufficient mechanical support and protection for the insulating housing 300.

The housing 600 may hold the insulating case 300. Illustratively, the electrical connector 200 may further include a pair of U-shaped clamps 720, as shown in FIG. 3B. A pair of U-shaped clamps 720 may be inserted to both sides of the first socket 301 in the longitudinal direction X-X. A pair of U-shaped clamps 720 may be clamped between the insulating housing 300 and the outer housing 600, respectively, so that the outer housing 600 holds the insulating housing 300.

For example, as shown in fig. 3A-3C and 9, one or more grooves 610 may be provided on the inner sidewall of the housing 600. The groove 610 may separate the outer case 600 from the insulating case 300. The grooves 610 may facilitate ventilation, thereby functioning as heat dissipation.

Illustratively, as shown in FIGS. 3A-3E, 4, and 9, the electrical connector 200 may further include a lock 620. Lock 620 is pivotally connected to housing 600. Specifically, the lock 620 may be provided with a pivot 623. The housing 600 may be provided with a pivot fitting 630. The pivot portion 623 is pivotably connected to the pivot fitting portion 630. One of the pivot portion 623 and the pivot fitting portion 630 may be a pivot hole, and the other may be a pivot shaft.

The lock 620 may be used to lock to the cable member 930. After the mounting end 422 of the conductive element 420 is electrically connected to one end of the cable member 930, the lock 620 may be pivoted to the locked position, thereby securing the cable member 930 relative to the electrical connector 200. Illustratively, a snap groove 931 may be provided on a sidewall of the cable component 930. The lock 620 may be provided with a hooking portion 621. The hooking portion 621 may be snapped into the locking groove 931, thereby achieving a relative fixation of the cable member 930 and the electrical connector 200.

To facilitate pivoting of the lock 620, the lock 620 may be provided with an operating portion 622. The operation portion 622 may be disposed opposite to the pivot portion 623. The pivot 623 may include any suitable structure such as a handle. By controlling the operation portion 622, the user experience can be improved. The operation part 622 may be provided with a protrusion and/or a depression, etc. to perform an anti-slip function.

Illustratively, as shown in fig. 9, the electrical connector 200 may further include a locating post 640 and a threaded bore 650. The positioning posts 640 and the threaded holes 650 may be used to connect to the printed circuit board 920. When the mounting end 412 of the conductive element 410 is mounted to the printed circuit board 920, the positioning posts 640 may be inserted into positioning holes on the printed circuit board 920, thereby performing a positioning function. Also, a connector such as a screw may be inserted through the printed circuit board 920 to be screwed to the screw hole 650, thereby achieving the relative fixation of the printed circuit board 920 and the electrical connector 200.

The assembly process of the electrical connector 200 is exemplarily described below taking the electrical connector 200 provided above as an example.

As shown in fig. 10, the arrow schematically illustrates the assembly process of the electrical connector 200. First, the conductive element 410 and the first sheet housing 810 may be formed as a unitary first sheet 510, for example, by an injection molding process. The first sheet 510 is then inserted into the first insulating housing 310 from a side facing away from the first slot 301. When the first tab 510 is connected in place with the first insulating housing 310, the first protrusion 811 on the first tab 510 engages the first recess 311a on the first insulating housing 310. Then, the second sheet 520, which is formed as a single body by, for example, an injection molding process, with the conductive member 420 and the second sheet housing 820, may be inserted into the first insulating housing 310 from a side opposite to the first slot 301. When the second sheet member 520 is connected with the first insulating housing 310 in place, the second protrusions 821a on the second sheet member 520 engage with the first grooves 311b on the first insulating housing 310. It should be noted that the conductive element 410 may be connected to the first wafer housing 810 and/or the conductive element 420 and the second wafer housing 820 in advance, or may be connected when the electrical connector 200 is assembled. It should be further noted that the order of connection of the first sheet shell 810 and the second sheet shell 820 to the first insulating shell 310 may be arbitrary. The second insulating housing 320 may then be connected to the second wafer housing 820 from a side facing away from the first slot 301. When the second insulating housing 320 is connected in place with the second wafer housing 820, the second protrusions 821b engage with the second grooves 321. Then, the insulating housing 300 may be connected to the outer case 600. Finally, the stiffener 710 and lock 620 may be attached to a predetermined location. Thus, the installation of the electrical connector 200 is completed.

Thus, the present disclosure has been described in terms of several embodiments, but it will be appreciated that numerous variations, modifications, and improvements will readily occur to those skilled in the art in light of the teachings of the present disclosure, and are within the spirit and scope of the disclosure as claimed. The scope of the disclosure is defined by the appended claims and equivalents thereof. The foregoing embodiments are provided for the purpose of illustration and description only and are not intended to limit the disclosure to the embodiments described.

In the description of the present disclosure, it should be understood that the azimuth or positional relationships indicated by the azimuth terms such as "front", "rear", "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "transverse", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", etc., are generally based on the azimuth or positional relationships shown in the drawings, merely to facilitate description of the present disclosure and simplify the description, and these azimuth terms do not indicate and imply that the apparatus or elements referred to must have a specific azimuth or be configured and operated in a specific azimuth, and thus should not be construed as limiting the scope of protection of the present disclosure; the orientation terms "inner" and "outer" refer to the inner and outer relative to the outline of the components themselves.

Various changes may be made to the structures illustrated and described herein. For example, the plurality of conductive elements described above may be used with any suitable electrical connector, such as a card edge connector, a backplane connector, a daughter card connector, a stack connector (stacking connector), a mezzanine connector (mezzanine connector), an I/O connector, a chip socket, a Gen Z connector, and the like.

Moreover, while many of the inventive aspects are described above with reference to orthogonal connectors, it should be understood that aspects of the present disclosure are not limited in this regard. As such, any one of the inventive features, either alone or in combination with one or more other inventive features, may also be used with other types of connectors, such as coplanar connectors, vertical connectors, right angle connectors, or the like.

Spatially relative terms, such as "above … …," "above … …," "on top of … …," "above," and the like, may be used herein for ease of description to describe one or more components or features' spatial positional relationships to other components or features as illustrated in the figures. It will be understood that the spatially relative terms are intended to encompass not only the orientation of the elements in the figures but also different orientations in use or operation. For example, if the element in the figures is turned over entirely, elements "over" or "on" other elements or features would then be included in cases where the element is "under" or "beneath" the other elements or features. Thus, the exemplary term "above … …" may include both orientations "above … …" and "below … …". Moreover, these components or features may also be positioned at other different angles (e.g., rotated 90 degrees or other angles), and all such cases are intended to be encompassed herein.

It is noted that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of exemplary embodiments according to the present application. As used herein, the singular is also intended to include the plural unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, and furthermore, it is to be understood that the terms "comprises" and/or "comprising" when used in this specification are taken to specify the presence of stated features, steps, operations, components, assemblies, and/or combinations thereof.

It should be noted that the terms "first," "second," and the like in the description and the claims of the present application and the above figures are used for distinguishing between similar objects and not necessarily for describing a particular sequential or chronological order. It is to be understood that the data so used may be interchanged where appropriate such that embodiments of the application described herein may be implemented in sequences other than those illustrated or otherwise described herein.

Claims

1. An electrical connector, comprising:

An insulating housing including a first slot extending in a direction perpendicular to the mating direction; and

A plurality of conductive elements retained on the insulating housing, each of the plurality of conductive elements including a mating end bent into the first socket and a mounting end opposite the mating end, wherein

The mating ends of the plurality of conductive elements are arranged in a first column;

the plurality of conductive elements includes a first plurality of conductive elements and a second plurality of conductive elements;

The mounting ends of the first plurality of conductive elements are arranged in one or more rows perpendicular to the first column; and is also provided with

The mounting ends of the second plurality of conductive elements are arranged in a second column parallel to the first column.

2. The electrical connector of claim 1, wherein the mounting ends of the first plurality of conductive elements are arranged in two rows.

3. The electrical connector of claim 1, wherein the insulative housing further comprises a second slot extending along the direction perpendicular to the mating direction; and the mounting ends of the second plurality of conductive elements are bent into the second socket.

4. The electrical connector of claim 1, further comprising:

a first wafer housing holding the first plurality of conductive elements; and

A second wafer housing holding the second plurality of conductive elements, wherein

The second sheet housing is stacked on the first sheet housing.

5. The electrical connector of claim 4, wherein the first wafer housing and the second wafer housing are disposed in sequence along a direction parallel to the first column and away from the mounting ends of the first plurality of conductive elements.

6. The electrical connector of claim 1, wherein the second plurality of conductive elements comprises a plurality of sets of conductive elements separated from one another by members of the insulative housing; and the mounting ends of the plurality of sets of conductive elements are arranged in the same column.

7. The electrical connector of claim 6, wherein the mating ends of the plurality of sets of conductive elements are arranged in the same column.

8. The electrical connector of claim 6, further comprising a plurality of second wafer shells each holding the plurality of sets of conductive elements, wherein the second wafer shells holding different sets of conductive elements are disposed in sequence along a direction parallel to the first column.

9. The electrical connector of claim 1, further comprising a housing that holds the insulative housing and includes a groove that separates the housing from the insulative housing.

10. The electrical connector of claim 9, further comprising a lock pivotably connected to the housing.

11. The electrical connector of claim 1, wherein the insulative housing comprises a first insulative housing having the first slot and a second insulative housing attached to the first insulative housing; and the second insulating housing is shorter than the first insulating housing along the direction perpendicular to the mating direction.

12. The electrical connector of claim 11, further comprising:

a first wafer housing holding the first plurality of conductive elements; and

The second sheet housing is stacked on the first sheet housing.

13. The electrical connector of claim 12, wherein the first wafer housing is retained on the first dielectric housing and the second dielectric housing.

14. The electrical connector of claim 11, wherein one end of the first insulative housing and one end of the second insulative housing are aligned along the direction perpendicular to the mating direction, and wherein the mounting ends of the first plurality of conductive elements extend from a portion of the first insulative housing beyond the second insulative housing.

15. An electrical connector, comprising:

A first sheet-like member comprising a first mating interface and a first mounting interface perpendicular to the first mating interface, the first mating interface comprising mating ends of a first plurality of conductive elements, the first mounting interface comprising mounting ends of the first plurality of conductive elements, the mounting ends of the first plurality of conductive elements being opposite the mating ends; and

A second wafer including a second mating interface aligned with the first mating interface and a second mounting interface parallel to the second mating interface, the second mating interface including mating ends of a second plurality of conductive elements, the second mounting interface including mounting ends of the second plurality of conductive elements, the mounting ends of the second plurality of conductive elements being opposite the mating ends.

16. The electrical connector of claim 15, wherein the first plurality of conductive elements include bends such that their mounting ends are arranged in two rows.

17. The electrical connector of claim 15, wherein the mating end and the mounting end of the second plurality of conductive elements are symmetrical.

18. The electrical connector of any of claims 15-17, wherein the first plurality of conductive elements are configured to transmit signals at a first speed, and the second plurality of conductive elements are configured to transmit signals at a second speed, the second speed being greater than the first speed.

19. The electrical connector of claim 18, wherein each of the plurality of conductive elements includes an intermediate portion connected between the mating end portion and the mounting end portion; and the second plurality of conductive elements includes a pair of conductive elements having undulations on sides of intermediate portions of the pair of conductive elements facing each other.

20. An electrical connector, comprising:

an insulating housing having a first slot extending in a direction perpendicular to the mating direction; and

A first plurality of conductive elements retained on the insulating housing, each of the first plurality of conductive elements including a mating end bent into the first slot and a mounting end opposite the mating end and configured to be mounted to a printed circuit board; and

A second plurality of conductive elements retained on the insulating housing, each of the second plurality of conductive elements including a mating end bent into the first socket and a mounting end opposite the mating end and configured to mate with a cable component.

21. The electrical connector of claim 20, wherein the mating end of each of the first plurality of conductive elements includes a tip having a first length; the mating end of each of the second plurality of conductive elements includes a tip having a second length; and the second length is shorter than the first length.

22. The electrical connector of claim 20, wherein the second plurality of conductive elements comprises pairs of high-speed signal conductive elements separated by ground conductive elements.

23. The electrical connector of any of claims 20-22, wherein the insulative housing comprises a first insulative housing having the first slot and a second insulative housing attached to the first insulative housing; and the second insulating housing is shorter than the first insulating housing along the direction perpendicular to the mating direction.

24. The electrical connector of claim 23, wherein the second insulative housing has a second slot into which the mounting ends of the second plurality of conductive elements are bent, the openings of the first slot and the openings of the second slot being opposite one another along the mating direction.