EP0562427B1 - Impendance and inductance control for electrical connectors - Google Patents

Impendance and inductance control for electrical connectors Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0562427B1
EP0562427B1 EP93104307A EP93104307A EP0562427B1 EP 0562427 B1 EP0562427 B1 EP 0562427B1 EP 93104307 A EP93104307 A EP 93104307A EP 93104307 A EP93104307 A EP 93104307A EP 0562427 B1 EP0562427 B1 EP 0562427B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
terminals
anchoring
housing
terminal
impedance
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
EP93104307A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
French (fr)
Other versions
EP0562427A2 (en
EP0562427A3 (ja
Inventor
David L. Brunker
Frank A. Harwath
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Molex LLC
Original Assignee
Molex LLC
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Molex LLC filed Critical Molex LLC
Priority to EP98115005A priority Critical patent/EP0892470A3/en
Publication of EP0562427A2 publication Critical patent/EP0562427A2/en
Publication of EP0562427A3 publication Critical patent/EP0562427A3/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP0562427B1 publication Critical patent/EP0562427B1/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01R—ELECTRICALLY-CONDUCTIVE CONNECTIONS; STRUCTURAL ASSOCIATIONS OF A PLURALITY OF MUTUALLY-INSULATED ELECTRICAL CONNECTING ELEMENTS; COUPLING DEVICES; CURRENT COLLECTORS
    • H01R13/00—Details of coupling devices of the kinds covered by groups H01R12/70 or H01R24/00 - H01R33/00
    • H01R13/646—Details of coupling devices of the kinds covered by groups H01R12/70 or H01R24/00 - H01R33/00 specially adapted for high-frequency, e.g. structures providing an impedance match or phase match
    • H01R13/6473—Impedance matching
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01R—ELECTRICALLY-CONDUCTIVE CONNECTIONS; STRUCTURAL ASSOCIATIONS OF A PLURALITY OF MUTUALLY-INSULATED ELECTRICAL CONNECTING ELEMENTS; COUPLING DEVICES; CURRENT COLLECTORS
    • H01R13/00—Details of coupling devices of the kinds covered by groups H01R12/70 or H01R24/00 - H01R33/00
    • H01R13/646—Details of coupling devices of the kinds covered by groups H01R12/70 or H01R24/00 - H01R33/00 specially adapted for high-frequency, e.g. structures providing an impedance match or phase match
    • H01R13/6473—Impedance matching
    • H01R13/6474—Impedance matching by variation of conductive properties, e.g. by dimension variations
    • H01R13/6476—Impedance matching by variation of conductive properties, e.g. by dimension variations by making an aperture, e.g. a hole
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01R—ELECTRICALLY-CONDUCTIVE CONNECTIONS; STRUCTURAL ASSOCIATIONS OF A PLURALITY OF MUTUALLY-INSULATED ELECTRICAL CONNECTING ELEMENTS; COUPLING DEVICES; CURRENT COLLECTORS
    • H01R13/00—Details of coupling devices of the kinds covered by groups H01R12/70 or H01R24/00 - H01R33/00
    • H01R13/648—Protective earth or shield arrangements on coupling devices, e.g. anti-static shielding  
    • H01R13/658—High frequency shielding arrangements, e.g. against EMI [Electro-Magnetic Interference] or EMP [Electro-Magnetic Pulse]
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01R—ELECTRICALLY-CONDUCTIVE CONNECTIONS; STRUCTURAL ASSOCIATIONS OF A PLURALITY OF MUTUALLY-INSULATED ELECTRICAL CONNECTING ELEMENTS; COUPLING DEVICES; CURRENT COLLECTORS
    • H01R12/00—Structural associations of a plurality of mutually-insulated electrical connecting elements, specially adapted for printed circuits, e.g. printed circuit boards [PCB], flat or ribbon cables, or like generally planar structures, e.g. terminal strips, terminal blocks; Coupling devices specially adapted for printed circuits, flat or ribbon cables, or like generally planar structures; Terminals specially adapted for contact with, or insertion into, printed circuits, flat or ribbon cables, or like generally planar structures
    • H01R12/70—Coupling devices
    • H01R12/71—Coupling devices for rigid printing circuits or like structures
    • H01R12/72—Coupling devices for rigid printing circuits or like structures coupling with the edge of the rigid printed circuits or like structures
    • H01R12/721—Coupling devices for rigid printing circuits or like structures coupling with the edge of the rigid printed circuits or like structures cooperating directly with the edge of the rigid printed circuits

Definitions

  • This invention generally relates to the art of electrical connectors and, particularly, to methods and structure for controlling the impedance and the inductance in electrical connectors.
  • an electrical connector would have little or no affect on the interconnection system regarding these characteristics.
  • An ideal connector would be "transparent". In other words, the system would function as if circuitry ran through the interconnection and there would be no affect on the system whatsoever. However, such an ideal connector is impractical or impossible, and continuous efforts are made to develop electrical connectors which have as little affect on the system as possible.
  • US-A-4 419 626 discloses a test contactor for integrated circuit (IC) electronic devices. It relates to the use of capacitive plates tuned to the pins of a device to match the impedance of connector pins to their respective circuits.
  • a further example of such connectors is the popular type of electrical connector commonly called an "edge card” connector.
  • An edge card connector is provided for receiving a printed circuit board having a mating edge and a plurality of contact pads adjacent the edge.
  • Such edge connectors have an elongated housing defining an elongated receptacle or slot for receiving the mating edge of the printed circuit board.
  • a plurality of terminals are spaced along one or both sides of the slot for engaging the contact pads adjacent the mating edge of the board.
  • edge connectors are mounted on a second printed circuit board.
  • the mating "edge” board commonly is called the “daughter” board, and the board to which the connector is mounted is called the “mother” board.
  • This invention is directed to a method and structure for tuning the impedance of an electrical connector, such as an edge connector, for interconnection in an electrical circuit having a given impedance and tuning the connector to substantially match that impedance.
  • the invention also is directed to providing terminals for printed circuit board mounted connectors which reduce the inductance of the connectors.
  • An object, therefore, of the invention is to provide a method and structure for tuning the impedance of an electrical connector adapted for interconnection in an electrical circuit having a given impedance.
  • Another object of the invention is to provide improved terminals for reducing the inductance of an electrical connector, particularly a connector mounted to a printed circuit board.
  • the connector includes a dielectric housing for mounting a plurality of terminals, the housing having a receptacle for receiving a complementary mating connector.
  • the invention is illustrated in an edge connector having a slot for receiving the mating edge of a printed circuit board.
  • the invention contemplates, in accordance with claims 1 and 11, a method and structure of providing the terminals with body portions located in the housing and contact portions located at the receptacle or slot for engaging appropriate terminals of the mating connector or printed circuit board when inserted into the receptacle or slot.
  • the area of the body portions of the terminals is selectively varied to selectively vary the capacitance of the terminals and, therefore, the impedance of the connector to match the given impedance of the electrical circuit.
  • the area of the body portions of the terminals may be varied by varying the overall size of the body portions.
  • the body portions of the terminals may be provided of constant widths mountable in uniformly sized recesses in the housing, and the area of the body portions may be varied by varying the lengths thereof. Further, the body portions of the terminals may be provided of a uniform overall size mountable in uniformly sized recesses in the housing, and the area of the body portions may be varied by forming openings therein.
  • the body portions of the terminals are provided as mounting barbs press fit into recesses in the housing for securing the terminals in the housing.
  • the terminals are provided with base portions, the contact portions and the mounting barbs projecting from the base portions.
  • the invention also contemplates an electrical connector for mounting on a printed circuit board having a common ground circuit and a plurality of circuit traces forming portions of the common ground circuit.
  • the connector has a plurality of signal terminals and a plurality of ground terminals mounted in the housing. At least one of the ground terminals has at least two grounding feet for engaging a respective one of the circuit traces of the common ground circuit to establish a multiple-point contact therewith.
  • an edge connector for a printed circuit board (not shown) having a mating edge and a plurality of contact pads adjacent the edge.
  • edge card connectors in that they have receptacle means in the form of a slot 12 for allowing insertion of a printed circuit board into a contact area of the connector, usually under low insertion force conditions.
  • Such connectors normally are elongated and have rows of spring contact elements, generally designated 14 in Figure 1, spaced along one or both sides of slot 12 lengthwise of a dielectric housing 16. The spring contact elements engage contact pads spaced along a mating edge of the printed circuit board which is inserted into the slot.
  • the concepts of the invention are not limited to edge connectors of the character described, and the invention can be embodied in a wide variety of applicable electrical connectors.
  • dielectric housing 16 of edge connector 10 includes a plurality of standoffs 18 depending from the housing for engaging a surface of a second printed circuit board.
  • the second printed circuit board is called a "mother board”
  • the printed circuit board which is inserted into slot 12 is called a “daughter board”.
  • Dielectric housing 16 also includes a plurality of mounting or retention pegs (not shown) for locating the connector on the mother board by inserting the pegs into mounting holes in the board.
  • housing 16 includes a plurality of transverse cavities, generally designated 22, spaced longitudinally of slot 12 for receiving alternating differently configured terminals, as described below.
  • each cavity 22 has a cavity portion 22a on one side of slot 12 (the left-hand side as viewed in Figures 2 and 3) and a cavity portion 22b on the opposite of the slot (the right-hand side as viewed in Figures 2 and 3).
  • Cavities 22 are separated lengthwise of the elongated housing by wall means or partitions which include wall portions 24a separating cavity portions 22a and wall portions 24b separating cavity portions 22b.
  • housing 16 includes a plurality of recesses or holes 26 outside cavities 22 and generally in transverse alignment therewith, for purposes described below.
  • Each recess or hole 26 includes a lower mouth 26a opening at the bottom of housing 16.
  • the entire housing is unitarily molded of dielectric material such as plastic or the like.
  • a plurality of terminals are mounted on housing 16, spaced longitudinally of the housing and corresponding to the plurality of transversely aligned cavities 22 and holes 26.
  • the printed circuit board i.e. the daughter board
  • slot 12 often has a plurality of contact pads defining two rows of pads along the edge of the board, i.e. the mating edge which is inserted into the slot.
  • One row of contact pads is located near the absolute edge of the board, and the other row of contact pads is spaced inwardly from the one row. Therefore, conventionally, terminals are located on housing 16 with contact elements alternating lengthwise of the housing for alternatingly engaging the contact pads in the two rows thereof along the mating edge of the printed circuit board.
  • terminals are mounted on housing 16 in an alternating array lengthwise of the housing.
  • terminals 28 alternate between adjacent terminals 30.
  • Both configurations of terminals are similar to the extent that they have base portions 32, body portions 34 projecting upwardly from the base portions and contact feet 36 projecting downwardly from the base portions.
  • Body portions 34 are provided in the form of barbs for mounting the terminals on housing 16 by inserting the barbs through mouths 26a of holes 26 from the bottom of the housing.
  • Contact feet 36 engage circuit traces on a top surface 38 of a printed circuit board 40 (the mother board).
  • Terminals 28 have cantilevered spring contact elements 42 projecting upwardly from their respective base portions 32, and terminals 30 have cantilevered spring contact elements 44 projecting upwardly from their respective base portions. It is anticipated that terminals 28 will be utilized for the transmission of data signals at high speeds and terminals 30 will be utilized as part of ground or power circuits.
  • spring contact element 42 of terminal 28 is shorter than spring contact element 44 of terminal 30.
  • spring contact elements 42 and 44 extend into slot 12 beyond a datum plane 41 which, in the illustrated embodiment, is the left-hand side of slot 12.
  • biasing means are provided for biasing the mating edge of the daughter printed circuit board against datum plane 41, thereby deflecting spring contact elements 42 and 44 in the direction of arrows "A".
  • the stated differentials in length also enable these terminals to be selectively applied to either ground or signal functions thereby optimizing the connector performance.
  • the shorter terminal 28 has a shorter spring contact element 42 which results in a reduced electrical path length from the point of contact of the daughter board to the mother board, which results in a reduction of the series inductance of the terminal which thus permits higher speed operation.
  • the longer terminal 30 has a longer contact element 44 which could be used as a ground terminal which would provide substantial electrostatic isolation of interposed signal terminals.
  • alternating terminals 30 have base portions which project transversely across the respective cavities 22, as indicated at 46, with a spring arm 48 projecting upwardly into cavity portion 22b, and with a spring element 50 projecting upwardly into slot 12 from the side of the slot opposite datum plane 41. Therefore, when the daughter printed circuit board is inserted into slot 12, in the direction of arrows "B", spring elements 50 will bias the board in the direction of arrows "A”, against datum plane 41 and deflecting spring contact elements 42 and 44 a predetermined and constant amount.
  • spring element 50 may provide a redundant electrical contact path which could be used to further reduce contact inductance. This would typically be designated a ground terminal since one would generally not want a signal terminal to be exposed for possible capacitive coupling to other signal terminals over such a long path length.
  • the invention contemplates a method and structure for tuning the impedance of electrical connector 10 which is interconnected in an electrical circuit having a given impedance.
  • connector 10 being an edge connector
  • the electrical circuit would be defined by the circuitry on the printed circuit boards.
  • an ideal connector would be “transparent” in order to have as little effect on the interconnection as possible. Therefore, the invention is directed to concepts for "tuning” or varying the impedance of electrical connector 10 to match the given impedance of the interconnection system or the electrical circuit in which the connector is interconnected.
  • the given impedance often is called the "characteristic" impedance of a circuit and usually is known.
  • a manufacturer of electrical connectors often is supplied by a customer with a characteristic impedance value of the circuit within which the customer is going to interconnect the particular connector.
  • the impedance of any circuit can be measured by various means, such as a time domain reflectometer which utilizes an electric analog to a radar system, as well as other measuring or analyzing devices.
  • the impedance of any particular connector similarly can be measured from input to output, again by using such instruments as a time domain reflectometer. If the impedance of the connector does not match the impedance of the interconnecting circuit, the invention contemplates a method and structure for tuning or varying the impedance of the connector in order to match the impedance of the interconnecting circuit as close as possible.
  • the capacitance of the terminals is selectively varied and, therefore, the impedance thereof can be changed to substantially match the given impedance of the electrical circuit in which the terminals and/or connector are interconnected.
  • Figure 6 shows another embodiment to illustrate an alternate method/structure for varying the body portions or barbs of terminals 28 and 30.
  • barb 34'' for terminal 28 in Figure 6 is the same width as barb 34 in Figure 1.
  • barb 34'' is shorter than barb 34 and, consequently, the area thereof is varied which, in turn, varies the capacitance of the terminals and, therefore, the impedance thereof.
  • housing 16 can be fabricated with constant sized recesses or holes 26 and only the configurations of terminals 28 and 30 need to be varied.
  • Figure 7 can be compared to Figure 4 wherein it can be seen that a barb 34"' is provided of the same length and width as barb 34' in Figure 4. However, in the embodiment of Figure 7, the area of body portion or barb 34"' is varied by forming openings 60 in the barb. Therefore, again, a housing can be fabricated with a constant width recess or hole 26', and only the configuration of the barb needs to be varied to tune the impedance of the electrical connector.
  • FIG 8 graphically shows how the impedance of the electrical connectors can be tuned by varying the capacitance of the terminals.
  • dotted line 62 represents a desired impedance of an electrical connector which, ideally, would be matched to the given impedance of the associated electrical circuit.
  • Line 64 represents an impedance which is, as shown, higher than the desired or given impedance. In order to reduce the impedance (i.e. lowering line 64), capacitance is added. According to the concepts of the invention, the effective areas of the body portions 34, 34', 34", 34''' would be increased to increase the capacitance and, thereby, lower the impedance, preferably to the desired or given impedance represented by line 62.
  • lines 64 and 66 represent purely schematic illustrations of average or lumped constant impedance values, solely for illustration purposes. In fact, if the graph were plotted from actual measurements, the lines would typically not be smooth but rather "jagged".
  • line 66 represents a condition wherein the impedance is too low. Under these conditions, the capacitance should be reduced in order to increase the impedance to approach the desired or given impedance represented by line 62. Again, according to the concepts of the invention, this variance or "tuning" can be accomplished by reducing the effective area of the body portions of the terminals.
  • terminals 28 and 30 may comprise alternating signal terminals, but some of the terminals may comprise ground terminals. In fact, all of the "long" terminals 30 could comprise ground terminals. It is desirable to reduce the inductance of any connector, but, for the following description, it is assumed that terminals 30 are terminals which are coupled to ground traces on printed circuit board 40 and their spring elements 50 engage ground contact pads on the edge of the daughter board. The individual ground traces on board 40 all are part of a common ground circuit, as is found in many edge connectors. Therefore, it would be desirable to reduce the inductance through these ground terminals to the common ground circuit.
  • terminals 28 and 30, and particularly ground terminals 30, have at least two feet 36, as described above, for engaging a single circuit trace on top surface 38 of printed circuit board 40.
  • feet 36 are illustrated for surface mounting to a circuit trace on the printed circuit board, at least one of the feet could comprise a solder tail or pin for insertion into a hole in the printed circuit board, with the solder tail being electrically connected to the circuit trace on the board or within a plated-through hole in the board.
  • the larger contact area also provides an advantage when utilized with signal terminals in high speed applications. Such increased contact area reduces the series inductance which thus improves high speed performance.

Landscapes

  • Details Of Connecting Devices For Male And Female Coupling (AREA)
  • Coupling Device And Connection With Printed Circuit (AREA)
EP93104307A 1992-03-24 1993-03-17 Impendance and inductance control for electrical connectors Expired - Lifetime EP0562427B1 (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP98115005A EP0892470A3 (en) 1992-03-24 1993-03-17 Impedance and inductance control in electrical connectors

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US85659392A 1992-03-24 1992-03-24
US856593 1992-03-24

Related Child Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP98115005.5 Division-Into 1998-08-10

Publications (3)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0562427A2 EP0562427A2 (en) 1993-09-29
EP0562427A3 EP0562427A3 (ja) 1995-05-17
EP0562427B1 true EP0562427B1 (en) 1999-06-09

Family

ID=25324022

Family Applications (2)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP93104307A Expired - Lifetime EP0562427B1 (en) 1992-03-24 1993-03-17 Impendance and inductance control for electrical connectors
EP98115005A Withdrawn EP0892470A3 (en) 1992-03-24 1993-03-17 Impedance and inductance control in electrical connectors

Family Applications After (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP98115005A Withdrawn EP0892470A3 (en) 1992-03-24 1993-03-17 Impedance and inductance control in electrical connectors

Country Status (8)

Country Link
EP (2) EP0562427B1 (ja)
JP (1) JPH06105628B2 (ja)
KR (1) KR970001949B1 (ja)
DE (1) DE69325198T2 (ja)
ES (1) ES2133337T3 (ja)
MY (1) MY109024A (ja)
SG (1) SG47051A1 (ja)
TW (1) TW213517B (ja)

Families Citing this family (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE69430194T2 (de) * 1994-07-14 2002-10-31 Molex Inc., Lisle Modularer Steckverbinder mit verringertem Übersprechen
DE19511507A1 (de) * 1995-03-29 1996-10-02 Siemens Ag Elektrischer Verbinder
US6095821A (en) * 1998-07-22 2000-08-01 Molex Incorporated Card edge connector with improved reference terminals
US6164995A (en) * 1999-03-09 2000-12-26 Molex Incorporated Impedance tuning in electrical switching connector
JP2007052097A (ja) * 2005-08-16 2007-03-01 Matsushita Electric Ind Co Ltd プラズマディスプレイ装置
JP5517287B2 (ja) * 2009-09-17 2014-06-11 矢崎総業株式会社 インサート成形方法
JP2012151365A (ja) * 2011-01-20 2012-08-09 Three M Innovative Properties Co 基板及びそれを含む電子部品
JP6465095B2 (ja) * 2016-11-14 2019-02-06 第一精工株式会社 コネクタ

Family Cites Families (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3199066A (en) * 1963-05-27 1965-08-03 Bunker Ramo Electrical connector
US4419626A (en) * 1981-08-25 1983-12-06 Daymarc Corporation Broad band contactor assembly for testing integrated circuit devices
US4689556A (en) * 1984-10-12 1987-08-25 Daymarc Corporation Broad band contactor assembly for testing integrated circuit devices
US5051099A (en) * 1990-01-10 1991-09-24 Amp Incorporated High speed card edge connector
US5082459A (en) * 1990-08-23 1992-01-21 Amp Incorporated Dual readout simm socket

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
MY109024A (en) 1996-11-30
TW213517B (en) 1993-09-21
DE69325198D1 (de) 1999-07-15
EP0892470A2 (en) 1999-01-20
EP0562427A2 (en) 1993-09-29
DE69325198T2 (de) 2000-03-09
JPH06105628B2 (ja) 1994-12-21
SG47051A1 (en) 1998-03-20
ES2133337T3 (es) 1999-09-16
JPH0696814A (ja) 1994-04-08
KR970001949B1 (ko) 1997-02-19
EP0892470A3 (en) 1999-07-28
EP0562427A3 (ja) 1995-05-17
KR930020774A (ko) 1993-10-20

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