JP2020061341A - Cable connector - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a cable connector comprising a differential pair that can transmit a differential signal, capable of achieving an appropriate structure in consideration with an electric characteristic.SOLUTION: A cable connector 1 comprises: a cable 11 having a wire bundle 21 having a twisted structure formed by twisting a wire 23, a shield layer coating the wire bundle 21, and a jacket layer 41 that insulates and coats the shield layer; and a housing 51 housing a terminal 29 to which the wire 23 is connected. The wire bundle 21 contains a first wire 23a and a second wire 23b which are separated in the wire bundle 21 as a differential pair DP. In one end of the cable 11, a non-coating region 13 in which the jacket layer 41 and the shield layer are removed is formed. In the non-coating region 13, the first wire 23a and the second wire 23b are closer arranged than a separation distance of the first wire 23a and the second wire 23b in the coating region 15 by changing the twist structure of the wire bundle 21.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a cable connector capable of transmitting differential signals.

  In various technical fields such as in-vehicle networks of automobiles, the demand for high-speed communication is increasing with the increase in communication data amount. In high-speed communication, in order to increase the amount of information per unit time, a high-speed electric signal including a high-frequency component (for example, a component of 100 MHz or more) (hereinafter, may be referred to as “high-speed signal” in this specification) Is used.

  As a transmission line used for transmitting and receiving high-speed signals, a cable including a differential pair that is a pair of electric wires compatible with differential transmission has been proposed (for example, Patent Document 1). The differential transmission is a transmission method for transmitting a differential signal, which is a pair of signals having opposite polarities, using the above differential pair. In the differential transmission, noises cancel each other out between the two electric wires forming the differential pair. That is, the differential transmission has higher noise resistance than the single-ended transmission, and is therefore suitable for high-speed communication.

  In the differential pair cable disclosed in Patent Document 1, four insulated wires in which conductors are covered with an insulator are arranged in a ring shape, and an insulating spacer is arranged so as to surround the insulated wires. A braided conductor or a shield conductor made of aluminized polyester is arranged on the outer circumference of the insulating spacer, and the outer circumference thereof is covered with a jacket. The pair of insulated wires forming the differential pair are arranged so as to be separated from each other by 180 ° (that is, diagonally when the cable is viewed in cross section).

Japanese Patent Publication No. 9-511359

  Impedance matching is important for electrical characteristics when transmitting high-speed signals. In the above-mentioned differential transmission, high-speed communication is appropriately realized by matching impedances between parts having different electrical characteristics. If the impedances are not properly matched, power loss and signal waveform anomalies occur due to reflection of high-speed signals.

  As can be understood from the structure of the differential pair cable described above, the wire bundle in the cable has a specific spatial structure (twist structure, etc.), and the spatial structure realizes specific electrical characteristics. It The cable is connected to the substrate via the connector. Due to structural requirements in the board design (pin assignments, etc.), the spatial structure of the wires in the cable may have to be changed before the connector.

  In this case, since the spatial structure of the electric wire changes in the uncovered area from the cable to the connector, the electrical characteristics such as impedance also change. As a result, a difference occurs between the electrical characteristics of the non-covered area and the electrical characteristics of the portion other than the non-covered area (covered area). Therefore, it is difficult to realize appropriate high-speed communication unless the spatial structure of the wire is formed in consideration of the electrical characteristics when the wire is routed in the uncovered area so as to satisfy the structural requirements of the board. .

  In consideration of the above circumstances, it is an object of the present invention to realize an appropriate structure in a cable connector including a differential pair capable of transmitting a differential signal in consideration of electrical characteristics.

  In order to solve the above problems, a cable connector according to an aspect of the present invention is a wire bundle having a twist structure formed by twisting a plurality of wires each having a conductor and an insulator covering the conductor. A cable having a shield layer having conductivity and covering the wire bundle, and a jacket layer insulatingly covering the shield layer, and a plurality of terminals to which the plurality of electric wires are respectively connected. And a housing that accommodates it. The electric wire bundle is a differential pair capable of transmitting differential signals having opposite polarities and includes a first electric wire and a second electric wire which are separated from each other in the electric wire bundle, and the jacket is provided at one end of the cable. An uncovered region in which the layer and the shield layer are removed is formed, and the first structure in the covered region other than the uncovered region is changed by changing the twist structure of the wire bundle in the uncovered region. The first electric wire and the second electric wire are arranged closer to each other than the distance between the electric wire and the second electric wire.

  According to the above configuration, the first electric wire and the second electric wire, which are the differential pair, are brought close to each other, so that the portion where the electric wire bundle is twisted and the uncovered area where the electric wire bundle is untwisted The impedance between them is matched. As a result, reflection of a high-speed signal due to impedance mismatch is suppressed, which in turn suppresses power loss and abnormal signal waveform. That is, an appropriate structure is realized in consideration of electrical characteristics such as impedance.

  Preferably, the first electric wire and the second electric wire, which are the differential pair, are in contact with each other in the uncovered area of the cable connector.

  Preferably, the plurality of the terminals of the above-mentioned cable connector include a first terminal to which the first electric wire is crimped and a second terminal to which the second electric wire is crimped, and the housing is the first terminal. One terminal and the second terminal are housed in positions adjacent to each other.

  Preferably, the electric wire bundle of the above-mentioned cable connector is composed of four electric wires, and in a cross section orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the electric wire bundle, a quadrangle having the central axes of the four electric wires as vertices. The first electric wire and the second electric wire are respectively arranged on one set of diagonals.

  Preferably, the four electric wires of the above-mentioned cable connector are crimped to the four terminals, respectively, and the central axes of the four terminals are apexes in a cross section orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the housing. And the four electric terminals are housed in the housing such that the first electric wire and the second electric wire respectively correspond to two adjacent vertices of the quadrangle.

  Preferably, a twisted pair structure in which the first electric wire and the second electric wire are twisted together is formed in the uncovered region of the cable connector.

  According to the present invention, in a cable connector provided with a differential pair capable of transmitting a differential signal, an appropriate structure that also takes electrical characteristics into consideration is realized.

It is a fragmentary sectional view of the cable connector concerning the embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view of an STQ cable concerning an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view (III-III cross-sectional view) of the STQ cable according to the embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view of the housing concerning the embodiment of the present invention. It is a schematic sectional drawing (VV sectional drawing) of the housing concerning the embodiment of the present invention. It is sectional drawing (VI-VI sectional drawing) of the STQ cable which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a cable connector 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The cable connector 1 includes an STQ (Shielded Twisted Quad) cable 11 and a housing 51. The cable connector 1 of the present embodiment has the following configuration that supports differential transmission in order to realize high-speed communication (that is, transmission / reception of high-speed signals).

  FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the STQ cable 11 not connected to the housing 51. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view (III-III cross-sectional view of FIG. 2) of the STQ cable 11 in the covering region 15. The cross section (III-III cross section) of FIG. 3 is a plane orthogonal to the longitudinal direction L of the STQ cable 11. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the STQ cable 11 includes an electric wire bundle 21, a shield layer 31, and a jacket layer 41.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the electric wire bundle 21 is formed by twisting four electric wires 23 (23a, 23b, 23c, 23d) into one. The wire bundle 21 has a predetermined twist structure showing a spatial structure such as a predetermined twist pitch (twist rate). Each of the electric wires 23 includes a conductor 25 (25a, 25b, 25c, 25d) and an insulator 27 (27a, 27b, 27c, 27d) that covers the conductor 25. The conductor 25 is formed of, for example, a copper wire. The insulator 27 is made of, for example, PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride) resin.

  The electric wire bundle 21 includes a first electric wire 23a and a second electric wire 23b that form a differential pair DP capable of transmitting differential signals D (D +, D-) having opposite polarities. As shown in FIG. 3, the first electric wire 23a and the second electric wire 23b are diagonally arranged. The third electric wire 23c and the fourth electric wire 23d other than the differential pair DP are for power supply and ground.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the four electric wires 23 in the electric wire bundle 21 are arranged substantially symmetrically with respect to the central axis of the STQ cable 11. The central axes of the four electric wires 23 form a quadrangle Q1 in which the intersection of the two diagonal lines is the central axis of the STQ cable 11.

  The 1st electric wire 23a and the 2nd electric wire 23b which comprise the differential pair DP are each arrange | positioned at 1 set of diagonals of the quadrangle | quadrangle Q1 which makes the center axis of the above-mentioned 4 electric wires 23 a vertex. Further, the first electric wire 23a and the second electric wire 23b are separated from each other by the separation distance SD with the central axis sandwiched in the electric wire bundle 21.

  The shield layer 31 is formed of a conductive material, for example, a braid woven with a tin-plated copper wire. The shield layer 31 electromagnetically shields the wire bundle 21 by covering the wire bundle 21 in a tubular shape. The jacket layer 41 is made of an insulating material, for example, PVC resin. The jacket layer 41 cylindrically insulates the electric wire bundle 21 and the shield layer 31.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the four electric wires 23 (23a, 23b, 23c, 23d) are connected to and electrically connected to the terminals 29 (29a, 29b, 29c, 29d), respectively. The first electric wire 23a is connected to the first terminal 29a, and the second electric wire 23b is connected to the second terminal 29b. More specifically, at the end of each electric wire 23, the conductor 25 exposed by removing the insulator 27 is crimped to the terminal 29.

  The housing 51 is made of an insulating material, for example, PVC resin. The housing 51 accommodates the above-mentioned four terminals 29. As shown in FIG. 1, the first terminal 29a and the second terminal 29b corresponding to the first electric wire 23a and the second electric wire 23b, which are the differential pair DP, are housed in the housing 51 at positions adjacent to each other. .

  4 is a perspective view of the housing 51, and FIG. 5 is a schematic sectional view of the housing 51 (VV sectional view of FIG. 1). The cross section (VV cross section) of FIG. 5 is a plane orthogonal to the longitudinal direction L of the housing 51. In the above cross section, the terminals 29 are housed in the housing 51 so that the quadrangle Q2 having the center axes of the four terminals 29 as vertices forms a substantially square shape. In addition, the terminal 29 is attached to the housing 51 so that the first electric wire 23a (first terminal 29a) and the second electric wire 23b (second terminal 29b), which are the differential pair DP, correspond to two adjacent vertices of the quadrangle Q2. It is housed.

  In addition, in FIG. 5, the first electric wire 23a (first terminal 29a) and the second electric wire 23b (second terminal 29b) are adjacent to each other in the left-right direction (horizontal direction) of the drawing, but The first electric wire 23a (first terminal 29a) and the second electric wire 23b (second terminal 29b) may be adjacent to each other in the direction (vertical direction).

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, at one end of the STQ cable 11, an uncoated region 13 from which the jacket layer 41 and the shield layer 31 are removed is formed. Further, in order to distinguish it from the uncovered area 13, the part of the STQ cable 11 covered with the jacket layer 41 and the shield layer 31 other than the uncovered area 13 is referred to as a covered area 15. The twisted structure of the electric wire bundle 21 in the covered region 15 and the twisted structure of the electric wire bundle 21 in the non-covered region 13 are different from each other.

  FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view (VI-VI cross-sectional view of FIG. 2) of the STQ cable 11 in the uncoated region 13. In the non-covered region 13, the first electric wire 23a and the second electric wire 23b of the electric wire bundle 21 are brought close to each other, so that the third electric wire 23c and the fourth electric wire 23d are pushed out and separated from each other.

  As understood from FIG. 3 (cross-sectional view in the covering region 15) and FIG. 6 (cross-sectional view in the non-covering region 13), the twisted structure of the electric wire bundle 21 changes with the transition from the covering region 15 to the non-covering region 13. By doing so, the first electric wire 23 a and the second electric wire 23 b, which are separated from each other in the twisted structure of the covered region 15, come into contact with each other in the uncovered region 13. The first electric wire 23a and the second electric wire 23b may be in contact with each other in a part of the non-covered area 13.

  In addition, the first electric wire 23 a and the second electric wire 23 b come into contact with each other in the non-covered region 13, and then are separated from each other and are housed in the inner chambers of the housing 51.

  In short, in the configuration of this embodiment, the first electric wire 23a and the second electric wire 23b are diagonally arranged in the covering region 15, while the first terminal to which the first electric wire 23a is connected in the housing 51. 29a and the second terminal 29b to which the second electric wire 23b is connected are arranged adjacent to each other. When changing the twisted structure (spatial arrangement) of the electric wire 23 in the non-covered area 13 that connects the covered area 15 and the housing 51, the first electric wire 23a and the second electric wire 23b forming the differential pair DP are brought into contact with each other. I am letting you.

  As described above, the cable connector 1 of the present embodiment has the electric conductivity with the electric wire bundle 21 formed by twisting the four electric wires 23 each having the conductor 25 and the insulator 27 covering the conductor 25. The STQ cable 11 having the shield layer 31 that covers the electric wire bundle 21 and the jacket layer 41 that covers the shield layer 31 with insulation, and four terminals to which the four electric wires 23 are respectively connected. And a housing 51 containing 29.

  The wire bundle 21 is a differential pair DP capable of transmitting differential signals D (D +, D-) having opposite polarities, and the first wire 23a and the second wire 23 are separated from each other in the wire bundle 21. 23b is included. An uncoated region 13 from which the jacket layer 41 and the shield layer 31 are removed is formed at one end of the STQ cable 11. In the non-covered region 13, the first electric wire 23a and the second electric wire 23b, which are the differential pair DP, are in contact with each other by changing the twisted structure of the electric wire bundle 21.

  In the configuration of the present embodiment described above, the first electric wire 23a and the second electric wire 23b, which are the differential pair DP that transmits a high-speed signal, are brought into contact with each other in the uncovered area 13, so that the covered area 15 having a different twisted structure is formed. The impedance is matched with the non-coated region 13. As a result, reflection of a high-speed signal due to impedance mismatch is suppressed, which in turn suppresses power loss and abnormal signal waveform. That is, according to the above configuration, an appropriate structure is realized in consideration of electrical characteristics such as impedance.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the first terminal 29a to which the first electric wire 23a is crimped and the second terminal 29b to which the second electric wire 23b is crimped are housed in the housing 51 at positions adjacent to each other. . According to this configuration, it is possible to apply the cable connector 1 of the present embodiment to a board having a pin assignment that requires the first terminal 29a and the second terminal 29b to be adjacent to each other.

  Further, in the present embodiment, in a cross section (III-III cross section) orthogonal to the longitudinal direction L of the wire bundle 21, a set of diagonals of a quadrangle Q1 having the central axes of the four electric wires 23 as vertices is formed. The 1st electric wire 23a and the 2nd electric wire 23b are arrange | positioned, respectively. According to this configuration, the first electric wire 23a and the second electric wire 23b forming the differential pair DP are symmetrically and diagonally arranged in the electric wire bundle 21, so that the electric wire bundle 21 (four electric wires 23 It is possible to effectively cancel the noise between the first electric wire 23a and the second electric wire 23b in the portion (covering region 15) in which () is twisted together.

  Further, in the present embodiment, in the cross section (VV cross section) orthogonal to the longitudinal direction L of the housing 51, the quadrangle Q2 having the central axes of the four electric wires 23 as vertices is substantially square, and the quadrangle is adjacent. The four terminals 29 are housed in the housing 51 so that the first electric wire 23a and the second electric wire 23b respectively correspond to the two vertices. According to this configuration, in the connector in which the terminals 29 are arranged in a quadrangular shape, the present embodiment is applied to a board adopting pin assignment in which the first terminal 29a and the second terminal 29b corresponding to the differential pair DP are adjacent to each other. It becomes possible to apply the cable connector 1 of the form.

  The embodiment described above may be variously modified. The following is a modification of the embodiment. Two or more modes arbitrarily selected from the embodiment and the modified examples can be appropriately combined as long as they do not conflict with each other.

  In the above-described embodiment, the first electric wire 23a and the second electric wire 23b, which are the differential pair DP, are configured to come into contact with each other (that is, the distance is zero) in the uncovered region 13 (FIG. 6). However, the first electric wire 23a and the second electric wire 23b in the uncovered area 13 are arranged closer to each other than the separation distance SD (see FIG. 3) between the first electric wire 23a and the second electric wire 23b in the covered area 15. Just do it. This is because even if the first electric wire 23a and the second electric wire 23b in the non-covered region 13 are brought close to each other, the electrical characteristics are improved.

  The first electric wire 23a and the second electric wire 23b may form a twisted pair structure in the non-covered region 13. According to the above configuration, it is possible to improve the electrical characteristics of the first electric wire 23a and the second electric wire 23b that form the differential pair DP even when the long uncovered region 13 is provided.

  In the above-described embodiment, the electric wire 23 included in the electric wire bundle 21 of the STQ cable 11 is four. However, a cable composed of the electric wire bundle 21 including four or more electric wires 23 may be adopted. For example, the cable connector 1 may be configured by a cable including the electric wire bundle 21 including eight, 16, 32, or 64 electric wires 23.

  In the above-described embodiment, the differential pair DP included in the electric wire bundle 21 of the STQ cable 11 is one pair (first electric wire 23a and second electric wire 23b). However, a cable in which the plurality of differential pairs DP are included in the wire bundle 21 may be adopted. In that case, in the uncovered area 13, the two electric wires 23 forming each differential pair DP are wired so as to contact each other (or come closer to the separation distance SD in the covered area 15). It is suitable.

  It should be noted that the above description of the embodiments describes the preferred embodiments of the cable connector 1 according to the present invention, and thus may have various technically preferable limitations. The technical scope is not limited to these embodiments unless otherwise specified to limit the present invention. Further, the constituent elements in the embodiments of the present invention described above can be appropriately replaced with existing constituent elements and the like, and various variations including a combination with other existing constituent elements are possible. The description of the embodiments of the present invention does not limit the contents of the invention described in the claims.

1 cable connector 11 STQ cable (cable)
13 Uncoated Area 15 Covered Area 21 Wire Bundle 23 Electric Wire 23a First Electric Wire 23b Second Electric Wire 29 Terminal 29a First Terminal 29b Second Terminal 31 Shield Layer 41 Jacket Layer 51 Housing DP Differential Pair Q Square SD Separated Distance

Claims (6)

An electric wire bundle having a twisted structure formed by twisting a plurality of electric wires each having a conductor and an insulator covering the conductor,
Having a conductive, shield layer covering the wire bundle,
A cable having a jacket layer insulatingly coating the shield layer,
A cable connector comprising: a housing that houses a plurality of terminals, each of which has a plurality of wires connected thereto,
The electric wire bundle includes a first electric wire and a second electric wire that are a differential pair capable of transmitting differential signals having opposite polarities and are separated from each other in the electric wire bundle,
An uncoated region in which the jacket layer and the shield layer are removed is formed at one end of the cable,
In the uncovered region, the twist structure of the wire bundle is changed, so that the first electric wire and the second electric wire are more separated than the separation distance between the first electric wire and the second electric wire in the covered region other than the uncovered region. A cable connector, wherein the second electric wire is arranged at a short distance.   The cable connector according to claim 1, wherein the first electric wire and the second electric wire that are the differential pair are in contact with each other in the non-covered region. The plurality of terminals includes a first terminal to which the first electric wire is crimped, and a second terminal to which the second electric wire is crimped,
The said housing accommodates the said 1st terminal and the said 2nd terminal in the mutually adjacent position, The cable connector of Claim 1 or Claim 2 characterized by the above-mentioned. The electric wire bundle is composed of four electric wires,
In a cross section orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the electric wire bundle, the first electric wire and the second electric wire are respectively arranged in a pair of diagonal corners of a quadrangle having the central axes of the four electric wires as vertices. The cable connector according to claim 1, wherein the cable connector is a cable connector. The four electric wires are crimped to the four terminals, respectively,
In a cross section orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the housing, a quadrangle with the central axes of the four terminals as vertices forms a substantially square shape, and the first electric wire and the second electric wire are provided at two adjacent vertices of the quadrangle. 5. The cable connector according to claim 4, wherein the four terminals are housed in the housing so as to correspond to each other.   The cable connector according to claim 1, wherein a twisted pair structure in which the first electric wire and the second electric wire are twisted together is formed in the uncovered region.

Images