JP2007534110A - Connector shell for multi-wire cable assembly - Google Patents

Abstract

A connector shell for a multi-wire cable assembly having multiple ground and signal lines includes a housing 18 having a ground potential and multiple contact elements 46 disposed in a longitudinal array 44. The contact element 46 is provided for electrical contact with the mating connector contact element and (i) a ground contact element 40 for connecting to the ground wire of the multi-wire cable assembly; and (ii) the multi-wire cable assembly. A signal contact element 42 for connecting to the other signal line. The longitudinal ground plate 24 extends along and in the longitudinal direction of the array 44 of contact elements 46, the ground plate 24 having two side edges 28, at least one of which is the ground of the housing 18. Provided for electrical connection with potential. The ground plate 24 includes a through hole 62 through which the ground contact element 40 extends. In the through hole 62, the ground contact element 40 is electrically connected to the ground plate 24.

Description

  The present invention relates to a connector shell for a multi-wire cable assembly having multiple ground wires and signal wires. Such connector shells are used for multiple signal connectors, especially in the telecommunications industry.

  Basically, connectors and termination sockets that are rotationally symmetric about their longitudinal axes are used to connect coaxial cables to electrical equipment components. By using these terminal socket designs, it is possible to achieve a resistance action that is almost the same as the action of the cable, and also to achieve a good shielding effect. The rotationally symmetric coaxial cable termination socket is disclosed in Patent Document 1, Patent Document 2, and Patent Document 3. Because of the generally cylindrical design of these known end sockets, they are not well suited for miniaturization. Thus, a socket connector that receives a plurality of these known termination sockets only has a much lower density with respect to the number of coaxial cable termination sockets in the required volume or space. However, with increasing demand for electrical equipment, especially information technology equipment such as in telecommunications multiplexers, the signal density of connections in confined spaces has increased, i.e. the number of cable connections has increased.

  In order to design a high-density socket connector for a coaxial cable termination socket, a box-shaped coaxial cable termination socket is suitable for both miniaturization of the termination socket and parallel arrangement of the termination sockets in the socket connector. all right.

  Patent Document 4 discloses a socket connector for receiving a box type coaxial cable end socket. In each coaxial cable termination socket, two contacts (signal and ground) are arranged in parallel, parallel, and spaced apart in a housing that includes a shield. A plurality of these end sockets are disposed in individual compartments or receiving portions of the socket connector body made of an insulating material. The body is inserted into an enclosure made of a metallic material and designed to have shielding properties.

  A similar design of socket connectors for multiple coaxial cable end sockets is disclosed in US Pat. In this reference and Patent Document 6, two signal contacts for signal lines of two coaxial cables and one common ground contact disposed between the two signal contacts and connected to the shields of the two coaxial contacts are provided. A coaxial cable termination socket is described. Moreover, box-shaped coaxial cable termination sockets that are also known as SCI connectors (shield control impedance connectors) are disclosed in Patent Document 7, Patent Document 8, and Patent Document 9.

  As a result of certain disadvantages of coaxial cable termination sockets having a box design, i.e., non-coaxial design, there is an increase in signal transmission loss and signal reflection characteristics of the termination socket for high frequency signals in the MHz range.

  Box coaxial cable termination sockets are basically satisfactory for the high density packaging field, but have limitations on the speed and frequency of signals transmitted through the termination socket. For higher frequencies in the GHz range, the attenuation increases.

  In the prior art, attempts have been made to deal with the above problems by grounding or grounding bushings. One possibility to do so is to interconnect the braids or shield layers of each coaxial cable and connect them to the metal strap as ground contacts at the connector. This arrangement does not provide reliable grounding per cable, especially for large numbers of cables.

  From Patent Document 10, Patent Document 11, Patent Document 12, and Patent Document 13, several electrical connectors for coaxial cables are described, each of which is mechanically and thus electrically connected to the shield layer or braid of an individual coaxial cable. It has a grounding means in the form of a clamping and gripping element for contact. However, with such an arrangement, it is impossible to transmit ultra-high speed and high frequency signals. Moreover, the assembly of the known socket connector with the gripping grounding means is quite time consuming and troublesome.

  Patent Document 14 discloses that a honeycomb grounding block is used to engage outer conductors of several coaxial cables. This arrangement does not meet the requirements of a cost effective solution for coaxial cable terminations because it involves many parts and is both expensive and complex to manufacture and assemble.

  From patent document 15, patent document 16 and patent document 17, it is known to contact the outer conductor of the coaxial cable with a special ground contact in the form of a corrugated sleeve. Known corrugated sleeves are provided in the coaxial connector to adapt the connector to coaxial cables of different diameters. In particular, the corrugated sleeves of adjacent coaxial connectors are not interconnected between each other.

  Moreover, it is known in the prior art to use a grounding bushing strip for connecting a housing of a box-shaped coaxial cable end socket. Examples of such socket connectors are disclosed in Patent Document 18 and Patent Document 19. The socket connector is configured to receive a multi-coaxial cable termination socket and includes two opposing longitudinal recesses configured to expose a portion of the outer conductor casing of the termination socket. These exposed portions are contacted by a plurality of metal fingers consisting of two connecting elements formed as metal strips. These connecting elements electrically connect the terminal socket to the outer casing component of a known socket connector, which casing component is electrically conductive.

  Moreover, Patent Document 20 discloses another socket connector for a plurality of coaxial cable end sockets having a metal housing for receiving the end socket. An elastic cylindrical tubular element wrapped by a metal layer is inserted between the end socket and the metal housing to bring the adjacent adjacent end sockets in a row into lateral contact.

  Another connector is known from US Pat. This known connector includes two mating connector parts, one of which includes a housing in which a metal plate is disposed. The metal plate is provided with an integral contact element bent from the plane of the metal plate for contacting the ground pins of other mating connector parts. Moreover, the metal plate is provided with a large through hole through which the terminal connector having the signal contact element extends, and the signal contact element is connected to the signal pin of the mating connector part when the two connector parts are joined together. Receive. A further socket connector shell for receiving a cable termination socket of a multi-wire cable assembly is known from US Pat. In this socket connector shell, a corrugated element of conductive material is arranged between adjacent terminal sockets as a ground bushing means.

In order to meet the need to provide a connector suitable for ultra-fast transmission of signals, the grounding, especially the grounding path, must be improved.
US Pat. No. 4,943,245A US Pat. No. 4,923,412A German Patent No. 37 32 520 US Pat. No. 4,762,508A European Patent No. 0 284 245B US Pat. No. 6,203,369B US Pat. No. 5,184,965A German Patent No. 41 16 168C German Patent No. 41 16 166C US Pat. No. 5,829,991A US Pat. No. 5,775,924A US Pat. No. 4,340,265A European Patent No. 0 508 255B US Pat. No. 4,889,500A European Patent No. 0 897 202A German Patent No. 43 44 328C German Patent No. 33 41 356A US Pat. No. 6,171,143B EP 0 952 637A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-074037 European Patent No. 0 311 041A International Publication No. 03 / 012934A Pamphlet

  It is an object of the present invention to provide a connector shell for a multi-wire cable assembly that has enhanced electrical performance so that it is suitable for ultra-high speed transmission of signals.

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a connector shell for a multi-wire cable assembly having a number of ground and signal lines, the connector shell comprising:
A housing having a ground potential;
A number of contact elements arranged in a longitudinal array, the contact elements being provided for electrical contact with the mating connector contact elements and (i) connected to the ground wire of the multi-wire cable assembly A ground contact element for,
A contact element comprising: (ii) a signal contact element for connecting to a signal line of a multi-wire cable assembly;
A longitudinal ground plate extending along and longitudinally along the array of contact elements, the ground plate having two side edges, at least one of which is electrically connected to the housing ground potential A longitudinal ground plate provided for connection,
The ground plate includes a through hole through which the ground contact element extends, and in the through hole, the ground contact element is electrically connected to the ground plate.

  The connector shell according to the invention is provided with a housing and a number of contact elements arranged in a longitudinal array within the housing. The contact elements are preferably arranged in adjacent rows and include ground contact elements and signal contact elements. Most preferably, the contact element includes a pin.

  The contact element of the connector shell according to the invention is provided for making electrical contact with the contact element of the mating connector. The contact element thus forms the interconnecting part of the connector.

  A longitudinal ground plate is disposed within the housing to ground all of the ground contact elements in common. The ground plate extends along the array of contact elements and includes two longitudinal edges as well as two lateral edges.

  According to the present invention, at least one of the vertical end edges is electrically connected to the ground potential of the housing. Preferably, this is achieved by a housing comprising a conductive material, such as metal, and by a ground plate in electrical contact with the conductive material of the housing.

  Preferably, all of the ground contact elements of the connector shell according to the invention extend through the ground plate or through the plane defined by the ground plate. The ground contact element is in mechanical and electrical contact with the ground plate in that the ground contact element extends through a through hole in the ground plate, where the ground contact element is electrically connected to the ground plate. . The signal contact element need not extend through the ground plate or the plane of the ground plate. For example, the signal contact element could bypass the ground plate, or could extend above and beyond the side edge of the ground plate.

  For the arrangement according to the invention, all of the ground contact elements for grounding purposes are then connected to a ground plate, which is connected to the ground potential of the housing along at least one of its longitudinal edges. The This means that there is a relatively short ground path from each ground contact element laterally through the ground plate to its at least one grounded vertical edge. Because of these very short ground paths, the impedance is very low, thus allowing high speed transmission of signals in the connector shell.

  The signal contact element of the connector shell according to the invention can extend through or pass through the ground plate. In the latter case, the signal contact element can be arranged, for example, along the longitudinal edge of its external ground plate. If the signal contact element extends through the ground plate, no electrical contact is provided between the signal contact element and the ground plate. For example, signal contact elements can extend through notches made in the ground plate, several signal contact elements can extend through a common notch, or each signal contact element can be Extending through a notch in the ground plate associated with the other signal contact element. Within the notch, the signal contact element is spaced from the edge of the notch designed as a through hole. A gap is provided between the signal contact element and the associated notch or through-hole edge. Alternatively, if the signal contact element is covered by an electrically insulating material (such as a jacket), the insulation may contact the edge of the notch but not the signal contact element itself. is there.

  Preferably, the ground plate is provided with a notch extending along the length of the ground plate and through which all or one row of signal contact elements extends.

  According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the longitudinal array of contact elements includes four adjacent rows of contact elements, two outer rows including ground contact elements, and two inner rows of signal contacts. Contains elements. In such an arrangement, the ground plate can be designed like a frame having a longitudinal edge and a lateral edge, all of which surround the central notch and through which two inner rows of The signal contact element of the contact element extends. The arrangement of the ground contact element on the longitudinal outside of the contact element provides a very short ground path and thus enhances the electrical performance of the connector shell.

  The electrical connection at the through hole between the ground contact element and the ground plate can be realized, for example, by soldering. However, with regard to assembling the connector shell, a press-fit contact between the ground contact element and the ground plate is preferred. In press-fit contact, the ground contact elements are frictionally received in the respective through holes of the ground plate. Press-fit contact elements are basically known to those skilled in the art, and in particular are known as compliant pins that are permanently connected to the ground plate only by frictional engagement.

  In another preferred embodiment of the invention, the ground plate includes a support layer of non-conductive material and a conductive layer supported by the support layer. In this arrangement, the conductive layer extends into the through hole that receives the ground pin. Therefore, these through holes are basically designed as known vias from the printed circuit board.

  More preferably, however, the ground plate is made of metal and is thus designed as a metal plate.

  According to other embodiments of the present invention, the ground plate may be an integral part of the housing or a part thereof. However, the ground plate is preferably separated from the housing and can be attached thereto, for example by screws. An electrical gasket may be disposed between the plate and the housing to shield the potential gap between the ground plate and the housing. Such gaskets are basically known to those skilled in the art.

  As already mentioned above, the housing has a ground potential. This ground potential can be realized by a conductive layer disposed along the wall of the housing. Thus, the housing may include a wall of non-conductive material that is covered by a layer of conductive material that forms a ground potential. In order to obtain a suitable electromagnetic interference (EMI) shield, the interior of the housing should be designed as a Faraday cage as is basically known to those skilled in the art. In that regard, it is most preferred that the housing comprises a metal wall.

  In FIG. 1, in this embodiment, two multi-wire cables 14 are included, each including a ground line and a signal line (both not shown), showing the interior of the connector shell 10 for the multi-wire cable assembly 12. . In this embodiment, the cable 14 includes a coaxial cable. However, other types of cables known for telecommunications can be used, such as biaxial cables or drain wire cables. This type of cable is not relevant to the present invention. The connector shell 10 includes a housing 18 that includes two housing halves 20, 22, one of which is shown in FIG. 1, while both are partially shown in FIG. The halves 20 and 22 of the housing 18 are made of metal and are therefore designed as Faraday cages. As an alternative to the solid metal housing halves 20, 22, the housing can be made of a non-conductive material (ie a synthetic material) provided with a layer of conductive material. This conductive material layer should be placed inside the housing halves 20, 22 for (electrical and mechanical) contact with the ground plate described below.

  An opening in the housing 18 that is covered by the conductive ground plate 24 and the socket connector 26 is disposed on the underside of the connector shell 10 that receives the multi-wire cable assembly 12 and that opposes the upper side thereof. The ground plate 24 is shown in more detail in FIG. 2 and is rectangular with two side edges 28 and two lateral edges 30. Other features of the ground plate 24 will be described later.

  The ground plate 24 is attached to the housing 18 by screws 32. However, other types of mechanical fastening systems such as mechanical fasteners or clamps can also be used. Also, welding, adhesion, etc. can be used for mechanical connection of the ground plate 24 and the housing 18.

  Moreover, in front of the ground plate 24, a socket connector 26 that is attached to the housing 18 by a screw 34 is disposed in the opening of the housing 18. The socket connector 26 includes a block 36 of electrically insulating material that supports a plurality of ground contact elements 40 and signal contact elements 42 arranged in rows and columns to form an array 44 of contact elements 46. In this embodiment, array 46 includes four rows of contact elements 46, two of which include ground contact elements 40 and the other two include signal contact elements 42.

  In this embodiment, each contact element 46 is a pin 48 (male), a center 50 that can be frictionally engaged with the ground plate 24 (which applies only to the ground contact element 40), and a mating connector element (FIG. Other portion 52 (socket or female portion) for electrical contact with the pin portion of the mating contact element (not shown). The female part is inserted into the block 36. Socket connectors 26 as described above and shown in the drawings are basically known to those skilled in the art.

  As shown in FIG. 1, each cable 16 is provided with a terminal connector 54 having a housing 56 of conductive material. Arranged within the housing 56 is a signal contact element (not shown) that is electrically insulated from the housing 56 and electrically connected to one of the signal contact elements 42. Moreover, within the housing 56, a ground contact element (not shown) that is electrically isolated from and electrically connected to the signal contact elements of the housing 56, and a ground contact for the array 44 of contact elements 46 One of the elements 40 is also arranged. 1 and 3, the terminal connector 54 is an SCI connector that includes one signal contact element and one ground contact element. However, other types of terminal connectors can also be used, in particular terminal SCI connectors which contain, for example, two signal contact elements and one common ground contact element. Moreover, the conductor of the cable 16 can also be connected directly to the contact element 46, for example by wire wrapping.

  As can be seen in particular from FIGS. 1 and 3, the terminal connector 54 receives the contact elements 46 of the contact element array 44. Because of this arrangement, the signal line of cable 16 is electrically connected to signal contact element 42 and the ground line of cable 16 is connected to ground contact element 40 of contact element array 44. As shown in FIG. 3, the terminal connector 54 protrudes from the inner surface of the housing halves 20, 22 and prevents the terminal connector 54 from being inadvertently released from the contact element 46. 56 is held in place by protruding ribs 58 located above 56.

  One of the main aspects of the present invention is the electrical connection of the ground contact element 40 to the ground plate 24 and the electrical connection of the ground plate 24 to the housing 18.

  As can be seen from FIG. 2, the ground plate 24 has a central notch portion 60 and a frame having two rows of through holes 62 disposed on both sides thereof adjacent to the notch 60 and adjacent to the side edge 28. It is shaped like this. The notches 60 are such that all of the signal contact elements 42 disposed within the central portion of the array 44 of contact elements 46 extend through the notches 60 without contacting the ground plate 24 (see also FIG. 3). It has been sized. In contrast, the individual through holes 62 in the ground plate 24 are sized such that the central portion 50 of the ground contact element 40 frictionally engages the ground plate 24 in the through hole 62 (see FIG. 4). . Thus, all of the ground contact elements 40 are grounded to the ground plate 24 in contact with the inner surface of the housing halves 20, 22 (see FIG. 3), and thus grounded along both of its side edges 28. However, for the present invention, one of the side edges 28 of the ground plate 24 is electrically connected to the ground potential of the housing 18, and the ground potential in this embodiment is provided by one of the housing halves 20, 22. Note that it only needs to be done.

  As can be seen from FIG. 2, the ground path along the ground plate 24, i.e., the distance between the through hole 62 and the side edge 28, is relatively short, so that signal transmission can take place at a very high speed. Therefore, the electrical performance of the connector shell 10 is improved.

  Note that the design of the ground plate 24 according to FIG. 2 is only one alternative to several possible designs. For example, contact element array 44 may also include a row of two ground contact elements and a row of two signal contact elements, the two rows of ground contact elements being adjacent to each other and of two signal contact elements. Located between the rows. In such an arrangement, the ground plate at its grounded side edge is aligned with the signal contact elements in a row of signal contact elements positioned adjacent to the grounded side edge of the ground plate without contact with it. Each through hole extending therethrough, while the ground plate extends at its side edge opposite to the grounded side edge, the signal contact elements in a row of other signal contact elements extending therethrough. Including notches.

  Finally, in each row of the contact element array 44, large and small through holes can be alternately arranged. The small through hole is in frictional engagement with the ground contact element, while the large through hole extends through the signal contact element without mechanical and electrical connection to the ground plate.

  Although the present invention has been described and illustrated with reference to specific illustrative embodiments thereof, it is not intended that the invention be limited to this illustrative embodiment. Those skilled in the art will recognize that variations and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. Accordingly, it is intended to embrace all such variations and modifications as fall within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

Figure 3 shows the interior of a half of a connector shell according to a preferred embodiment of the invention. FIG. 6 illustrates a preferred embodiment of a four row contact element array ground plate design. FIG. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the fully assembled connector shell taken along line III-III in FIG. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line IV-IV in FIG. 3.

Moreover, in front of the ground plate 24, a socket connector 26 that is attached to the housing 18 by a screw 34 is disposed in the opening of the housing 18. The socket connector 26 includes a block 36 of electrically insulating material that supports a plurality of ground contact elements 40 and signal contact elements 42 arranged in rows and columns to form an array 44 of contact elements 46. In this embodiment, the array 44 includes four rows of contact elements 46, two of which include ground contact elements 40 and the other two include signal contact elements 42.

Claims (19)

A connector shell for a multi-wire cable assembly having a plurality of ground wires and signal wires, the connector shell comprising:
A housing (18) having a ground potential;
A number of contact elements (46) disposed in the longitudinal array (44), wherein the contact elements (46) are provided for electrical contact with the mating connector contact elements; and A ground contact element (40) for connection to the ground wire of a multi-wire cable assembly;
(Ii) a contact element (46) comprising a signal contact element (42) for connection to the signal line of the multi-wire cable assembly;
A longitudinal ground plate (24) extending along and in the longitudinal direction of the array (44) of the contact elements (46), the ground plate (24) comprising two side edges (28) At least one of which includes a longitudinal ground plate (24) provided for electrical connection with the ground potential of the housing (18);
The ground plate (24) includes a through hole (62) through which the ground contact element (40) extends, and in the through hole (62), the ground contact element (40) includes the ground plate A connector shell electrically connected to (24).   The ground plate (24) according to claim 1, wherein the signal contact element (42) has at least one notch (60) extending therethrough without contacting the ground plate (24). Connector shell.   The ground plate (24) has a number of notches (60), and each of the notches (60) has at least one signal contact element (42) through which the ground plate (24). The connector shell of claim 1, extending without contacting the connector shell.   The notch (60) is designed as a through hole in the ground plate (24), and each of these through holes has a signal contact element (42) through which the signal contact element (42) is respectively connected. The connector shell according to claim 3, wherein the connector shell extends in an electrically insulated state from an edge of the through hole.   The connector shell according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the signal contact element (42) is spaced from the notch (60), ie the edge of the through hole.   The longitudinal array (44) of the contact elements (46) includes at least one row of ground contact elements (40) and at least one row of signal contact elements (42), the row of ground and signal contact elements. The connector shell according to claim 1, wherein (40, 42) are arranged adjacent to each other.   One row of the signal contact elements, or one row of the at least one signal contact element is disposed opposite the grounded side edge (28) of the ground plate (24) and the ground plate (24) wherein the signal contact elements (42) in a row of the signal contact elements include a notch (60) extending through and opposite the grounded side edge (28). Item 7. The connector shell according to Item 6.   The contact element array (44) includes a row of two ground contact elements and a row of two signal contact elements, the rows of the two signal contact elements being adjacent to each other and the two ground contact elements. The connector shell according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the grounding plate (24) is arranged between said rows and includes a number of notches through which at least one signal contact element (42) extends. .   The ground plate (24) includes a frame defining the longitudinal edge (28) and the lateral edge (30) surrounding a notch (60) through which the signal contact element (42) extends. Item 9. The connector shell according to Item 8.   The ground contact element (40) is in each through hole (62) of the ground plate (24) for mechanical and electrical contact with the ground plate (24) in the respective through hole (62). 10. A connector shell according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the connector shell is received frictionally.   The connector shell according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein at least the ground contact element (40) comprises a ground pin (48).   12. A connector shell according to claim 11, wherein the ground pin (48) is designed as a compliant pin.   The connector shell according to claim 1, wherein the ground plate includes a conductive layer.   14. The connector shell of claim 13, wherein the conductive layer extends into the through hole (62) that receives the ground pin (48).   15. A connector shell according to claim 13 or 14, wherein the ground plate (24) is made of a conductive material, in particular a metallic material.   The housing (18) includes a first half (20) and a second half (22), at least the first housing half (20) includes a conductive material and has a grounded longitudinal edge. 16. The connector shell according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the ground plate (24) along (28) is in mechanical and electrical contact with the first half (20).   Further comprising a socket connector (26) having a plurality of contact elements (46), each contact element (46) comprising a contact pin (48) and a socket (52) for receiving the mating connector contact pin. Item 17. A connector shell according to any one of Items 1 to 16.   18. A connector shell according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the individual cables (16) of the multi-wire cable assembly comprise coaxial cables or biaxial cables. The contact element is (1) a housing of conductive material, i.e., disposed within the housing and electrically insulated relative to the housing and electrically connected to a signal element of the array of contact elements. One signal contact element; (2) not only disposed within the housing but also electrically connected thereto, and is electrically insulated relative to the signal contact element of the housing and of the array of contact elements 19. A connector shell according to any one of the preceding claims, provided for receiving a terminal connector having at least one ground contact element electrically connected to the ground contact element.

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