CN212136810U

CN212136810U - Plug-in connector

Info

Publication number: CN212136810U
Application number: CN202020624956.XU
Authority: CN
Inventors: 理查德·尼奥特克; 霍斯特·韦德金德
Original assignee: Staeubli Electrical Connectors AG
Current assignee: Staeubli Electrical Connectors AG
Priority date: 2019-05-02
Filing date: 2020-04-23
Publication date: 2020-12-11
Anticipated expiration: 2030-04-23
Also published as: DE202019102479U1

Abstract

The electrical plug connector (1, 2, S, B) comprises a first interface (3) for making electrical contact with a further plug connector (2, 1, B, S), a second interface (4) for making electrical contact with external electronic components, and a housing (5) at which the two interfaces (3, 4) are arranged, wherein each of the two interfaces (3, 4) has at least one electrical terminal element (6) which is in each case mechanically fixedly mounted in a circuit board (7, 8) and is electrically connected to a corresponding conductor track in the circuit board (7, 8), and wherein the conductor tracks of the circuit board (7) of the first interface (3) are electrically connected to the conductor tracks of the circuit board (8) of the second interface (4) by means of a flexible circuit board (9).

Description

Plug-in connector

Technical Field

The utility model relates to a plug connector.

Background

A plug connector is known from US 2015/0147911. The plug connector has a latching means which is designed as a first interface and which is connected to the internal printed circuit board via flexible conductor elements. Furthermore, the circuit board is connected to the other interface by means of a further flexible conductor element.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

Based on the prior art, the object of the present invention is to provide a plug connector which overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art. In particular, plug connectors with extended functionality should be proposed.

The utility model relates to a plug connector, it includes: a first interface for electrically contacting a further plug connector, a second interface for electrically contacting an external electronic component, and a housing, at which the two interfaces are arranged, wherein each of the two interfaces has at least one electrical terminal element, which is in each case mechanically fixedly mounted in a circuit board and is electrically connected to a corresponding conductor track in the circuit board, and wherein the conductor tracks of the circuit board of the first interface are electrically connected to the conductor tracks of the circuit board of the second interface by means of a flexible circuit board. The plug connector can be designed as a socket-side plug connector or as a plug-side plug connector. Independently of the plug-in connector, which is designed as a socket-side or plug-side connector, the connector comprises a first interface for electrically contacting a further connector, a second interface for electrically contacting an external electronic component, and a housing, both interfaces being arranged on the housing. Each of the two interfaces has at least one electrical terminal element, which is each mechanically fixedly arranged in the circuit board and is electrically connected to a corresponding printed conductor in the circuit board. The conductor tracks of the circuit board of the first interface are electrically connected to the conductor tracks of the circuit board of the second interface by means of a flexible circuit board.

The expression "flexible printed circuit board" is understood to mean a printed circuit board which can be bent with extremely low effort without impairment of the function. The individual conductors of the flexible printed circuit preferably run parallel to one another in a common plane.

The expression "further plug connector" is understood to mean a further plug connector which can be of the same design as the described plug connector or of a different design.

The expression "external electronic component" is understood to mean, for example, a cable or another electrical component.

The plug connector is suitable for high data rates and is preferably designed as a 10 gigabit ethernet plug connector. The 10 gigabit transmission by means of the plug connector described here can be ensured by precise, fixedly defined conductor guidance using a flexible printed circuit board. Furthermore, good freedom of movement and freedom of positioning are achieved by the flexible part of the circuit board. The fatigue fractures that occur during a large number of plugging cycles are also smaller.

The expression "terminal element" can be understood as a plug element and/or a socket element. With regard to the first interface, the socket elements of one plug connector can be connected to the plug elements of the other plug connector via a plug connection.

For the second interface, it is conceivable for one of the terminal elements to be electrically conductively connected to an external electronic component by means of a force-fit and/or form-fit and/or material-fit connection.

Preferably, there are a plurality of terminal elements, wherein the number of terminal elements at the first interface and at the second interface is the same. Preferably, there are 8 terminal elements located on a common circle, wherein the pitch between the terminal elements on the circle is respectively the same as each other.

Preferably, at least one of the terminal elements has a contact element which comprises a resiliently embodied contact web. The contact elements are for example contact foils. The advantage of being able to achieve a higher number of plug cycles is obtained by providing the contact elements.

Preferably, the terminal elements, the circuit board and the flexible circuit board are arranged such that the transit time of the data signal is the same in all pairs of terminal elements. That is to say, in a multipolar plug connector, the signal propagation time is the same in all poles.

Preferably, the flexible circuit board connects the two circuit boards of the two interfaces directly, in particular without further components.

The flexible printed circuit board thus forms a direct connection between the two further printed circuit boards, wherein the electrical plug connector is particularly well suited for transmitting data signals. Thus, the data signal is transmitted from one interface to the other interface with high signal quality. This is particularly advantageous when the plug connector is used as a 10 gigabit ethernet plug connector.

Preferably, the flexible circuit board has an arcuate deflection section.

By means of the arched deflection section, the overall length of the flexible printed circuit board is slightly increased, which allows an improved tolerance compensation. Furthermore, any possible micro-movements which occur during the plugging process or the separation process due to mechanical effects on the terminal elements can be compensated for by means of the flexible printed circuit board.

Preferably, the deflection section is substantially S-shaped as seen in cross-section.

The advantage is obtained that possible external forces do not act negatively on the flexible printed circuit board by means of the deflection section formed in an arcuate shape. In particular, the flexible circuit board is not caused to fall off from the circuit board having the terminal elements when the circuit board having the terminal elements is minutely moved.

Preferably, at least one terminal element projects from the front face of the circuit board. Preferably, at least one terminal element is at right angles to the front face. The flexible circuit board protrudes away from the circuit board via the side face. The flexible printed circuit preferably projects into the intermediate space at the first or second printed circuit board and is electrically joined there.

Preferably, the housing has a metallic ring section in the region of at least one of the two connections, wherein the at least one terminal element is preferably located within the metallic ring section.

The metallic ring section serves to electromagnetically shield the at least one terminal section. Furthermore, the metallic ring segments serve as mechanical securing elements for external mechanical influences.

Depending on the design of the plug connector, the ring segments can be designed in different ways. In a kit, it is conceivable, for example, for the ring section of one plug connector to have contact elements in the interior of the ring section, while the ring section of the other plug connector has contact surfaces on the outside of the ring section, which contact surfaces come into contact with the contact elements in the plugged-together state.

As mentioned, a contact element with an elastically designed contact web is provided in the interior of the ring segment, by means of which contact element an electrically conductive contact with another plug connector can be provided.

A particularly good contact between the electrical plug connector and the external element can be provided by the contact element for shielding. The contact elements can also be referred to as contact lamellae.

Preferably, the annular section has a groove with a front stop face and a rear stop face, wherein the contact element is placed in the groove.

As mentioned, the ring section of the plug connector has contact surfaces on the outside, by means of which the electrical plug connector can be electrically conductively connected to the contact elements of the other plug connector.

Preferably, the shielding element extends away from the circuit board, wherein the shielding element extends between adjacent terminal elements such that shielding between the terminal elements can be provided.

A plurality of adjacent terminal elements can be electromagnetically shielded from each other by the shielding member. Crosstalk of one terminal element with an adjacent terminal element can thus be avoided.

Preferably, the shielding element, viewed in the plugging direction, is configured as a four-armed cross, which forms four shielding quadrants, wherein one or two terminal elements are located in each shielding quadrant.

Preferably, the shielding element is capable of electrically conductive low-resistance contact with the housing and the flexible circuit board has a shielding conductor. The shield conductor is referred to as a "ground pad" and can extend parallel to the flexible circuit board. The individual conductor tracks are thereby shielded from the external environment, so that crosstalk can be prevented. The individual conductor tracks can be shielded by a sufficient distance between the individual conductor tracks.

Preferably, the at least one terminal element is placed in a contact carrier, wherein the contact carrier is made of an elastic and electrically non-conductive material, such as plastic or rubber.

The contact carrier has the advantage that the terminal elements are protected from mechanical influences during the plugging process by the contact carrier. The terminal element can be arranged completely in the contact carrier; or can extend outwardly from the contact carrier.

Particularly preferably, the contact carrier engages with the rear end at the shielding element.

Preferably, the contact carrier substantially completely fills the shield quadrants.

Preferably, the at least one terminal element of the first interface is angularly inclined at an angle of 45 ° to 135 ° with respect to the at least one terminal element of the second interface. The terminal elements can in this case lie in parallel planes or extend at an angle, in particular perpendicularly to one another.

Alternatively, at least one terminal element of the first interface extends parallel, in particular collinear or axially offset, relative to at least one terminal element of the second interface.

Preferably, the housing is made of an electromagnetic shielding material, in particular substantially of metal.

Preferably, a sealing element is provided at the housing, which seals the two spliced housings to one another. The sealing element is preferably arranged in the region of the ring segment. The housing itself is likewise designed as a sealed housing.

Preferably, the distance between two adjacently arranged terminal elements is 1 to 4 times greater, in particular 1.5 to 3 times greater, than the diameter of the terminal elements.

Drawings

In the following, preferred embodiments of the invention are described with reference to the accompanying drawings, which are given by way of illustration only and are not to be construed in a limiting sense. Shown in the drawings are:

fig. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an electrical plug connector in the form of a socket side according to a preferred embodiment of the invention;

fig. 2 is a front view of the plug connector according to fig. 1;

fig. 3 is a perspective view of the plug connector according to fig. 1;

fig. 4 is a sectional view of the plug connector according to fig. 1;

fig. 5 is an exploded perspective view of an electrical plug connector in the form of a pin side according to a preferred embodiment of the invention;

fig. 6 is a front view of the plug connector according to fig. 5;

fig. 7 is a perspective view of the plug connector according to fig. 5;

fig. 8 is a sectional view of the plug connector according to fig. 5;

fig. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the pin side and the socket side of the plug connector according to the previous figures;

fig. 10 is a front view of a plug connector in the form of a bolt side according to another preferred embodiment of the invention;

fig. 11 is a perspective view of the plug connector according to fig. 10;

fig. 12 is a sectional view of the plug connector according to fig. 10;

fig. 13 is a front view of a plug connector in the form of a socket side according to another preferred embodiment of the invention;

fig. 14 is a perspective view of the plug connector according to fig. 13; and

fig. 15 is a sectional view of the plug connector according to fig. 15.

Detailed Description

Electrical plug connectors are shown in the figures. Fig. 1 to 4 show the socket side B of the electrical plug connector 1 and fig. 5 to 8 show the pin side S of the electrical plug connector 2. Fig. 10 to 12 subsequently show a further embodiment of the plug side S and fig. 13 to 15 show a further embodiment of the socket side B. Regardless of the design as plug side S or socket side B, the electrical plug connector 1 in all embodiments has substantially the same basic design.

The

electrical plug connectors

1, 2 comprise a first interface 3 for electrically contacting the other plug connector 2. The first interface 3 can be configured as a socket side B or a plug side S. In the figures, the electrical plug connector with reference numeral 1 is the socket side B and the electrical plug connector with reference numeral 2 is the plug side S. The

electrical plug connectors

1, 2 furthermore have a second interface 4 for electrically contacting external electronic components. Via the second interface 4, for example, a cable can be connected, which provides external electronics. Furthermore, the

electrical plug connectors

1, 2 comprise a housing 5, at which the two

interfaces

3, 4 are arranged. The two

interfaces

3, 4 are connected to each other via an inner space 23 of the housing.

Each of the two

interfaces

3, 4 has at least one electrical terminal element 6. The terminal elements 6 of the interface 3 of the plug connector 1 are designed as sockets and the terminal elements 6 of the interface 3 of the plug connector 2 are designed as pins which are adapted to the sockets. In the embodiment shown, each

interface

3, 4 has eight individual electrical terminal elements 6.

At least one electrical terminal element 6 is each arranged in a mechanically fixed manner in a

circuit board

7, 8. Furthermore, at least one electrical terminal element 6 is electrically conductively connected to a corresponding printed conductor in the

circuit board

7, 8. That is to say, the first interface 3 and also the second interface 4 each have a

circuit board

7, 8 on which the electrical terminal elements 6 are mechanically and electrically placed.

At least one printed conductor of the circuit board 7 of the first interface 3 is electrically connected to the flexible circuit board 9. The flexible printed circuit board 9 then leads to at least one printed conductor of the circuit board 8 of the second interface 4. Thus, an electrically conductive connection between the conductor tracks of the circuit board 7 of the first interface 3 and the conductor tracks of the circuit board 8 of the second interface 4 is established via the flexible circuit board.

The

circuit boards

7, 8 and the flexible circuit board 9 are disposed in the inner space 23 of the housing 5. The first port 3 and the second port 4 are accessible from the outside of the housing 5.

The flexible circuit board 9 directly connects the two

interfaces

3, 4. This ensures good data transmission between the two printed

circuit boards

7, 8. Furthermore, the flexible circuit board 9 is extremely well suited for high data transmission rates.

The flexible circuit board 9 has an arcuate deflection section 10. Tolerances during installation or during subsequent operation can be compensated for by the arcuate deflection section 10. That is to say that the length of the flexible circuit board 9 is greater than the effective distance between the two

circuit boards

7, 8 of the

interfaces

3, 4.

As can be seen well from the exploded view, the terminal elements 6 protrude from the front face 11 of the

circuit boards

7, 8. The terminal element 6 is here substantially at right angles to the base surface 11 of the

circuit boards

7, 8. Instead, the flexible circuit board 9 is connected to the

circuit boards

7, 8 at one of the side faces 12. This allows particularly good access to the conductor tracks in the

circuit boards

7, 8.

In the embodiment shown, the terminal elements 6 form terminal points for the cables on the side of the second interface 4. The terminal elements 6 are here pins, which are correspondingly connected to the circuit board 8.

Furthermore, the housing 5 has a metallic ring section 13 in the region of the first connection 3. The metallic ring section 13 substantially completely surrounds the at least one terminal element 6. That is to say that at least one terminal element 6 is arranged within the metallic ring section 13. The metallic ring section 13 serves for shielding the contacts in the region of the terminal element 6.

Fig. 1 to 4 show a metallic ring section 13 on the socket side B. The metallic ring section 13 has contact elements 14 on the inside, which have spring-elastic contact webs 15. The contact with the plug-side ring section 13 can be provided via the contact elements 14 or the contact webs 15, as will be explained below.

Here, the contact element 14 is placed in the recess 16. The recess 16 extends from the inside of the ring segment 13 into the ring segment 13 and has a front stop face 17 and a rear stop face 18.

The housing 5 of the electrical plug connector 1 also has a ring section 13 on the plug side S. The ring section 13 on the plug side S will have a contact surface 19 on the outside. In the assembled state, the contact surface 19 is in contact with the contact element 14, and thus establishes contact between the ring section 13 of the socket side B and the ring section 13 of the pin side S. A preliminary stage of the contacting is shown in fig. 9. The two arrows V indicate the plugging movement. Then, when pushed further together, the ring section 13 of the pin side S projects into the ring section 13 of the socket side B and a corresponding electrical contact is produced via the contact elements 14, with the aim of shielding the two housings. The opposite configuration can also be considered. It is conceivable that the contact element 14 can be arranged in the region of the plug-side S. Furthermore, a sealing element 24 is also provided in the region of the ring segment 13. In the embodiment shown, the sealing element 24 is arranged on the outside in the region of the contact surface 19 on the plug-pin side S.

Furthermore, the electrical plug connector 1 comprises an additional shielding element 20. Shielding between the individual terminal elements 6 can be provided by means of the shielding element 20. The shielding element 20 extends here between two adjacent terminal elements 6, so that a shielding between two terminal elements 6 can be provided. That is to say that no crosstalk between two adjacent terminal elements 6 is possible, between which the shielding element 20 extends.

In the embodiment shown, the shielding element 20 is supported at a pin 29, which extends through the circuit board 7.

In the embodiment shown, the shielding element 20 is designed as a four-armed cross, viewed in the plug-in direction V. Here, a four-armed cross forms four shield quadrants 21. In the embodiment shown, two terminal elements 6 are arranged in each shield quadrant 21. That is to say that in the present case the terminal elements 6 are respectively shielded from each other in pairs. The shielding element 20 is joined at the

circuit boards

7, 8 and extends away from the circuit boards.

Furthermore, at least one shielding element 6 is placed in the contact carrier 23. In the embodiment shown, each shield quadrant 21 is provided with a contact carrier 23. That is to say that the contact carriers receive two terminal elements 6, respectively. The contact carrier 23 is made of an elastic and electrically non-conductive material, i.e. for example plastic or rubber. The contact carrier 23 has the advantage that the terminal element 6 is correspondingly elastically positioned during the plugging movement.

The socket-side terminal elements 6 according to fig. 1 to 4 are completely placed in their installed position in the contact carrier and the socket openings are correspondingly open on the front side. The plug-side terminal element 6 according to fig. 6 to 9 projects away from the front side of the contact carrier 23 and forms a free end. The free end can then be introduced into the socket-side terminal element accordingly.

The contact carrier 23 engages with the rear end 25 at the shielding element 20. The advantage obtained by this engagement is that the contact carrier 23 can be placed at an already existing component. Furthermore, the contact carrier 23 substantially completely fills the shield quadrants 21.

In the embodiment shown, at least one terminal element 6 of the first interface 3 is angled at an angle of 90 ° with respect to the terminal element 6 of the second interface 4. Other angles in the range of 45 ° to 135 ° are equally feasible. Furthermore, it is also conceivable for the terminal element 6 of the first connection 3 to be parallel, in particular collinear, but also axially offset relative to at least one terminal element 6 of the second connection 4.

As already mentioned, the housing 5 is preferably made of a metallic material. The housing 5 has two

housing shells

26, 27 in the embodiment shown. The two

housing shells

26, 27 are connected to one another by means of screws 28. In the embodiment shown, the ring segment 13 protrudes from the housing shell 26. Subsequently, the circuit board 7, the electrical terminal elements 6 and, if appropriate, the shielding element 20 are placed from the inside in the ring section 13 by means of the contact carrier 23. The electrical terminal elements 6 are respectively placed in the region of the separating surfaces of the two

housing shells

26, 27 in the second interface 4 by means of the circuit board 8.

Furthermore, a sealing element 24 is provided in the region of the ring segment 13.

Fig. 10 to 15 show further embodiments of the plug connector according to the invention. The same reference numerals are provided in the same components. As a structural point of view, the plug connector according to the first embodiment of fig. 1 to 9 and the plug connector according to the second embodiment of fig. 10 to 15 are of substantially identical design. The difference is that the plug connector shown in fig. 10 to 15 has a certain size, i.e. a thinner housing.

Description of the reference numerals

1 electrical plug connector

2 another electrical plug connector

3 first interface

4 second interface

5 casing

6 electric terminal element

7 Circuit board

8 circuit board

9 Flexible printed Circuit Board

10 deflection section

11 front side

12 side surface

13 annular segment

14 contact element

15 contact tab

16 grooves

17 front stop surface

18 rear stop face

19 contact surface

20 Shielding element

21 shielded quadrant

22 contact carrier

23 inner space

24 sealing element

25 rear end portion

26 casing shell

27 shell

28 screw

29 dowel

Plug connector on S-pin side

B-socket side plug-in connector

V the plugging direction.

Claims

1. A plug connector, characterized in that it comprises

A first interface (3) for electrically contacting a further plug connector,

a second interface (4) for electrically contacting an external electronic component, and

a housing (5) at which the first interface (3) and the second interface (4) are arranged,

wherein each of the first interface (3) and the second interface (4) has at least one electrical terminal element (6) which is in each case mounted in a mechanically fixed manner in a circuit board and is electrically connected to a corresponding printed conductor in the circuit board, and

wherein the conductor tracks of the circuit board of the first interface (3) are electrically connected to the conductor tracks of the circuit board of the second interface (4) by means of a flexible printed circuit board (9).

2. Plug connector according to claim 1, characterized in that the flexible circuit board (9) directly connects the circuit board of the first interface (3) and the circuit board of the second interface (4).

3. Plug connector according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the at least one terminal element (6) has a contact element with a resiliently designed contact web.

4. Plug connector according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the at least one terminal element (6) projects from a front face (11) of the circuit board and the flexible circuit board (9) projects away from the circuit board via a side face (12).

5. Plug connector according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the housing (5) has a metallic ring section (13) in the region of at least one of the first interface (3) and the second interface (4), wherein the at least one terminal element (6) is located within the metallic ring section (13).

6. Plug connector according to claim 5, characterized in that a contact element (14) having a resiliently embodied contact web (15) is provided in the interior of the ring section (13), by means of which contact element (14) an electrically conductive contact with the further plug connector can be provided.

7. Plug connector according to claim 6, characterized in that the ring section (13) has a groove (16) with a front stop face and a rear stop face, wherein the contact element (14) is placed in the groove (16).

8. Plug connector according to claim 5, characterized in that the ring section (13) has contact surfaces (19) on the outside, by means of which the plug connector can be electrically conductively connected to contact elements (14) of another plug connector.

9. Plug connector according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that a shielding element (20) extends away from the circuit board, wherein the shielding element (20) extends between adjacent terminal elements (6) such that shielding between the terminal elements (6) can be provided.

10. Plug connector according to claim 9, characterized in that the shielding element (20) is configured as a four-armed cross, viewed in the plugging direction (V), which cross forms four shielding quadrants (21), wherein one or two terminal elements (6) are located in each of the shielding quadrants (21).

11. The plug connector according to claim 9, characterized in that the shielding element is in electrically conductive contact with the circuit board and the flexible circuit board has shielding conductors.

12. Plug connector according to claim 9, characterized in that the at least one terminal element (6) is placed in a contact carrier (22), wherein the contact carrier (22) is composed of an elastic and electrically non-conductive material.

13. Plug connector according to claim 12, characterized in that the contact carrier (22) engages with a rear end (25) at the shielding element (20).

14. Plug connector according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the at least one terminal element (6) of the first interface (3) is angled at an angle of 45 ° to 135 ° with respect to the at least one terminal element (6) of the second interface (4), wherein the at least one terminal element (6) lies in parallel planes or is angled; or the at least one terminal element (6) of the first interface (3) is parallel with respect to the at least one terminal element (6) of the second interface (4).

15. A plug connector according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the housing is made of an electromagnetic shielding material.

16. Plug connector according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that a sealing element (24) is provided at the housing (5), which sealing element seals the two spliced housings against one another.

17. A plug connector according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the pitch of two adjacently arranged terminal elements is 1 to 4 times larger than the diameter of the terminal elements.

18. Plug connector according to claim 12, characterized in that the contact carrier (22) consists of plastic or rubber.

19. The plug connector according to claim 14, characterized in that the at least one terminal element extends perpendicularly to each other; or the at least one terminal element (6) of the first interface (3) is co-linear or axially offset with respect to the at least one terminal element (6) of the second interface (4).

20. A plug connector according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the housing is composed of metal.

21. A plug connector according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the pitch of two adjacently arranged terminal elements is 1.5 to 3 times larger than the diameter of the terminal elements.