GB2167911A - Electrical connector with RFI- filtered contacts - Google Patents

Abstract

An electrical connector includes contacts (44) each of which carries a side-mounted electrical component for R.F.I. filtering and is configured with a polarising surface (54). The surface (54) orientates the contact so that the electrical component is engaged by a tang of a ground plate (32). <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Electrical connector This invention relates to an electrical connector and, more particularly, to an electrical connector of the kind in which the contacts therein carry electrical circuit components.

U:S. Patent No. 3,670,292 discloses a filter connector in which filter contacts are mounted in openings in a metallic ground foil which makes electrical connection between the filters on the contacts and the shell of the connector. The filter element on each contact is of cylindrical form, and surrounds the contact body.

U.S. Patent No. 3,790,858 discloses an electrical connector in which electrical circuit components, such as magnetic pulse absorbers or radio frequency filter elements, are integrated into an electrical connector by mounting the latter within a grounding plate in the shell of the connector spaced from insulated contacts which extend through openings in the plate. Conductors of the circuit components are connected to selected electrical contacts in the connector by means of a printed circuit board which is removably mounted in the shell of the connector.

Copending application no. 8405304 discloses an electrical connector member in which one or more electrical circuit components are mounted on the side of each contact, rather than surrounding the contact body as previously known filter connectors, such as disclosed in patent no. 3,670,292. The components may be a bipolar diode for transient suppression and a capacitor for filtering. The components are mounted in a notch formed in the side of the contact body. Electrical connection is made between the components and a relatively thick ground plate in the connector shell by means of a spring element mounted on the components.Such a connector utilises fewer parts, is less expensive to manufacture, and may be made smaller in size so as to permit a very high density arrangement of the contacts as compared with the connector disclosed in patent no. 3,790,858 incorporating pulse absorbers and filter elements.

While the connector according to co-pending application no. 8,405,304 is entirely satisfactory, it is desirable to reduce still further the number of parts and cost of manufacture of the connector. Furthermore, since the spring elements that provide electrical connection between the electronic components on the contacts and the ground plate are mounted on the contacts, the spring elements must of necessity protrude beyond the outer surface of the contact bodies. As a consequence, it is possible that the spring elements may become snagged or damaged during handling of the contacts before they are inserted into the connector body.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a connector similar to that disclosed in the copending application but which has fewer parts, is less expensive to manufacture, and avoids the use of exposed spring elements mounted on the contacts.

According to the invention in its broadest aspect, there is provided an electrical contact comprising a generally cylindrical contact body, an electrical component mounted on the side of the contact body, and a flat polarising surface on the side of the contact body adapted to engage a matching flat surface on the wall of a contact passage into which the contact is adapted to be mounted.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided an electrical connector member comprising an electrical connector shell, a ground plate in the shell in electrical contact therewith, an opening extending through the plate, the plate embodying an integral resilient tang extending into the opening, a contact mounted through the opening, an electrical component mounted on the side of the contact facing the tang and resiliently engaged by the tang, and polarising means cooperating with the contact to permit the contact to be mounted in the opening in a predetermined angular position wherein the electrical component will be engaged by the tang.

Such a connector has fewer parts, is less expensive to manufacture and assemble, and avoids the use of individual springs connected to the electrical circuit components on the contacts which might become damaged during handling of the contacts.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a partial longitudinal sectional view through a connector adapter embodying the present invention, with only one contact being shown therein; Figure la is a fragmentary, perspective view of the ground foil of the invention used in the connector adapter illustrated in Fig. 1.; Figure 2 is a partial sectional view through part of the insulator assembly used in the connector adapter illustrated in Fig. 1, with a plurality of contacts shown mounted therein; Figure 3 is a front end view of the assembly illustrated in Fig. 2; Figure 4 is an enlarged side elevational view of one embodiment of the contact of the present invention with one electrical circuit component mounted thereon;; Figure 5 is a transverse sectional view taken along line 5-5 of Fig. 4; Figure 6 is a fragmentary, transverse sectional view showing how the electrical component mounted on the contact of Figs. 4 and 5 is engaged by a spring tang on the ground foil utilised in the connector adapter; Figure 7 is an enlarged side elevational view of a second embodiment of the contact of the present invention on which there are mounted two electrical circuit components; Figure 8 is a transverse sectional view taken along line 8-8 of Fig. 7; and Figure 9 is a fragmentary, transverse sectional view similar to Fig. 6 showing how a pair of spring tangs on the ground foil in the connector adapter engage the two electrical circuit components on the contact illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8.

The present invention will be described herein as being incorporated in an electrical connector member in the form of an adapter which may be connected between a standard mating plug and receptacle halves of a connector assembly. However, it will be appreciated that the invention may be incorporated in either the plug half, or the receptacle half of a connector.

Reference is made to Figs. 1 to 6 in detail which illustrate the first embodiment of the connector member adapter according to an embodiment of the present invention. The connector member adapter, generally designated 10, comprises a metallic shell 12 having a coupling nut 14 rotatably mounted thereon for connecting the rear 16 of the adapter 10 to a receptacle connector member, not shown. The forward end 18 of the shell 12 is adapted to engage a mating plug connector member, likewise not shown.

The shell 12 contains an insert or insulator assembly 20 comprising a front elastomeric insulator 22, a front hard insulator 24, two rear hard insulators 26 and 28, and a rear elastomeric insulator 30. A metal ground plate 32 is disposed between the hard insulators 24 and 26.

A plurality of aligned openings extend through the insulators 22, 24, 26, 28 and 30 providing contact passages 40. An opening 42 is formed in the ground plate 32 coaxial with each passage 40. A contact, generally designated 44, is mounted in each contact passage 40, and extends through the corresponding opening 42 in the ground plate.

The contact 44 comprises a generally cylindrical contact body 46 having a forward mating end 48, shown in the form of a pin contact, an intermediate section 50 and a rear mating end 52, which is shown as being in the form of a socket contact. Thus for the adapter 10 the contact is a double-ended pin and socket contact. If the connector were in the form of either a plug or receptacle connector half, rather than an adapter, the rear end of the contact would be in the form of a solder pot, a crimp barrel, or the like.

The contact 44 embodies an outwardly-extending annular flange 54 between the intermediate section 50 and the rear mating end 52. The flange is mounted in a counterbore 55 in the front of the insulator 28. The flange is trapped between the bottom of the counterbore and the rear face of the insulator 26 to retain the contact in the insulator assembly.

A notch or recess 56 is formed in the intermediate section 50 of the contact in such a position that the notch will be generally aligned with the ground plate 32 when the contact is mounted in the insulator assembly 20.

The bottom of the notch forms a flat supporting surface on which there is mounted an electrical circuit component 60. The circuit component may be, for example, a bipolar diode for transient suppression or a capacitor for filtering. The circuit component has a lower conductive layer 62 which is soldered to the supporting surface 58 of the contact, and an upper conductive layer 64. As best seen in Fig. 5, the circuit component is dimensioned so that it fits entirely within the notch 56. Thus, the upper conductive layer 64 of the circuit component is positioned below or within the cylinder which forms the outer surface of the major portion of the contact body 46.

According to this embodiment of the present invention, the ground plate 32 is in the form of a relatively thin, resilient metallic ground foil which is somewhat similar to that disclosed in the aforementioned patent no.

3,670,292. The ground foil embodies a plurality of resilient spring fingers 70 about its outer periphery which engage the interior of the connector shell 12. However, only a single integral spring tang 72 is formed on the ground foil for each contact-receiving opening 42. The tangs extend inwardly and forwardly to such an extent that when the contacts 44 are mounted in the insulator assembly, the tangs will engage the outer conductive layers 64 of the circuit components 60 on the contacts. Thus, it will be appreciated that only a single metallic ground member 32 is required to make electrical connection between all the circuit components on the contacts and the connector shell, thus avoiding the use of individual springs mounted on the respective contacts as in the connector according to application no. 8405304. It will be noted that the spring tangs must not engage the conductive contact bodies.

As seen in Fig. la, all the tangs 72 are connected to the upper edge of the holes 42 as the ground foil is viewed in the Fig. In order to make certain that the contacts are mounted in the insulator assembly so that the tangs 72 will engage the circuit components on the contacts, in accordance with this embodiment of the invention, there is provided polarising means which ensures that the contacts will be inserted in a predetermined proper angular orientation in the insulator assembly so that the circuit components thereon will face the tangs 72 on the upper edges of the holes 42 in the ground foil. To this end, the flange 54 on the contact body 46 is pro vided with a flat surface 74 tangential to the surface of the contact body. In the embodiment shown, the flat surface 74 is parallel to the bottom 58 of the notch 56, and is on the side of the contact body opposite to the notch.A corresponding flat surface 76 is formed along the bottom of the counterbore 55. The corresponding flat surfaces 74 and 76 on the contacts and contact passages respectively, ensure that the contacts can be mounted in only one position in the passages wherein the circuit components 60 on the contacts will be properly positioned for engagement by the spring tangs 42 on the ground foil.

Reference is now made to Figs 7 to 9 which illustate a modified form of the contact and ground foil of the present invention. In this embodiment the basic structure is as previously described and like numbers are primed as used to indicate like or corresponding parts. In this embodiment, two recesses 56' are formed in the opposite sides of the contact body 46' for holding two electrical circuit components 60'. The recesses 56' are in the form of cylindrical bores which extend partially into the contact body providing a flat web 78 therebetween. In this embodiment, one of the circuit components may be a diode while the other may be a capacitor. The reason for using cylindrical holes as the recesses for holding the circuit components is to maintain the maximum cross section area in the contact body for current flow through the contact. As seen in Fig. 9, the ground foil 32' is provided with two spring tangs 72' extending from both the upper and lower edges of the opening 42' in which the contact is mounted. The contact body has a flat polarising surface 74' which cooperates with a flat surface in the contact passage in the connector insulator assembly to ensure that the contact is properly oriented so that the circuit components 60' will be engaged by the spring tangs 72' as seen in Fig. 9.

For a connector utilising contacts having a very small diameter, it would be possible to mount the circuit components in longitudinally spaced notches formed in the contacts, and to use two longitudinally spaced ground foils for making electrical connection between the two sets of circuit components on the contacts and the shell of the connector.

Claims (16)

1. An electrical contact comprising a generally cylindrical contact body, an electrical component mounted on the side of the contact body, and a flat polarising surface on the side of the contact body adapted to engage a matching flat surface on the wall of a contact passage into which the contact is adapted to be mounted.

2. An electrical contact as claimed in claim 1 wherein the contact body embodies an outwardly extending mounting flange, and the flat surface is formed on the flange.

3. An electrical contact as claimed in claim 1, wherein the contact body has a recess formed therein providing a relatively flat supporting surface, the supporting surface being generally parallel to the flat polarising surface, and the electrical component being mounted on the supporting surface.

4. An electrical contact as claimed in claim 1, wherein a bore extends partially into the cylindrical contact body, the bore being transverse to the centre axis of the contact body, and the electrical component being mounted in the bore.

5. An electrical contact as claimed in claim 1, wherein a second electrical component is mounted on the side of the contact body opposite to the first-mentioned component.

6. An electrical contact as claimed in claim 5, wherein bores extend partially into the cylindrical contact body on the opposite sides thereof transverse to the centre axis of the body, the bores being substantially aligned with each other, and the components being mounted in the bores.

7. An electrical connector member comprising an electrical connector shell, a ground plate in the shell in electrical contact therewith, an opening extending through the plate, the plate embodying an integral resilient tang extending into the opening, a contact mounted through the opening, an electrical component mounted on the side of the contact facing the tang and resiliently engaged by the tang, and polarising means cooperating with the contact to permit the contact to be mounted in the opening in a predeterminedm angular position wherein the electrical component will be engaged by the tang.

8. An electrical connector member as claimed in claim 7, including an insulator in the shell on one side of the plate, the insulator having a passage therethrough aligned with the opening, the contact extending through the passage, and the polarising means comprising matching surfaces on the contact and the wall of the passage.

9. An electrical connector member as claimed in claim 8, wherein the contact has a generally cylindrical body, the passage is generally cylindrical, and the matching surfaces are flat surfaces on the contact body and the wall of the passage.

10. An electrical connector member as claimed in claim 4, wherein the contact body has a recess formed therein providing a relatively flat supporting surface, the supporting surface being generally parallel to the flat matching surfaces, and the electrical component being mounted on the supporting surface.

11. An electrical connector member as claimed in claim 7, wherein the contact has a generally cylindrical body, a bore extends par tially into the cylindrical body, the bore being transverse to the centre axis of the body and generally aligned with the tang, and the electrical component being mounted in the bore.

12. An electrical connector member as claimed in claim 7 wherein the plate embodies a second integral resilient tang extending into the opening opposite to the first-mentioned tang, and a second electrical component is mounted on the side of the contact opposite to the first-mentioned component and is resiliently engaged by the second tang.

13. An electrical connector member as claimed in claim 12, wherein the contact has a generally cylindrical body, bores extend partially into the cylindrical body on the opposite sides thereof transverse to the centre axis of the body, the bores are generally aligned with each other and the tangs, and the components are mounted in the bores.

14. An electrical connector member as claimed in claim 7, wherein the ground plate is a relatively flat, thin ground foil formed of resilient sheet metal.

15. An electrical connector member as claimed in claim 14 wherein the ground foil embodies peripheral fingers frictionally engaging the inner surface of the shell.

16. An electrical connector member substantially as described with reference to the accompanying drawings.