JP3990355B2 - Impedance adjusted high density connector - Google Patents

Abstract

A determination structure for mating a cable connector to a circuit board includes a plurality of associated sets of terminals, each terminal set including a pair of differential signal terminals and a ground reference terminal. Each associated set of terminals is arranged in triangular pattern through the connector in order to reduce the impedance through the connector, and adjacent associated terminal sets are inverted so that the ground reference terminals of alternating associated terminal sets are located along one row of the connector along with signal terminals of intervening terminal sets, while the ground refence terminals of intervening terminal sets are located along a second row of the connector, along with the signal terminals of alternating associated terminal sets. This inverted arrangements increases the density of the connector.

Description

  The present invention relates generally to signal cables, and more particularly to connectors used to connect high speed signal cables and printed circuit boards, and more particularly to high density connectors having selected impedances.

  Many electronic devices rely on transmission lines to transmit signals between related devices or between computer peripherals and circuit boards. These transmission lines include signal cables capable of high-speed data transmission.

  These signal cables use one or more twisted pair wires in which electric wires are twisted along the longitudinal direction of the cable, and each twisted pair is surrounded by an associated ground shield. One wire of the pair receives a signal of +1.0 [volt], and the other wire of the pair receives a signal of -1.0 [volt]. These wires are therefore referred to as “differential” pairs, which are the terms that represent the differential signals they carry, ie, signals that are balanced with opposite polarity. Such a twisted pair structure minimizes or reduces induced electric fields from other electronic devices, thereby eliminating electromagnetic interference.

  In order to maintain the integrity of the electrical performance between such transmission lines, i.e., from the cable to the circuitry of the associated electronic device, a substantially constant impedance is obtained across the transmission line. And avoiding large discontinuities in the transmission line impedance. As is well known, it is difficult to control the impedance of the transmission line connector at the mating surface of the connector. This is because the impedance of a conventional connector typically varies through the connector and across the interface of two mating connector components, particularly a high density connector. In electrical transmission lines such as cables, the desired impedance can be relatively easily maintained across the entire transmission line by maintaining a specific structure, i.e., physical arrangement, of signal conductors and ground shields. However, impedance changes usually occur in the region where the cable is connected to the connector. A large change in impedance affects the integrity of the signal transmitted through the transmission line. Therefore, it is desirable to maintain the desired impedance throughout the connector and the connector's connection to the cable.

  Thus, the present invention provides an improved high density connection between the connector and the cable that provides high performance and maintains the electrical properties of the cable through the mating interface between the cable and the device connector in the termination region Target termination structure.

  Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provide an improved high density connector for high speed data transfer connections that minimizes impedance discontinuities in the connector in order to better match the impedance of the transmission line. Is to provide.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved connector that achieves a high performance connection between a circuit board and a mating connector terminated with a transmission line, the transmission line comprising a number of differential signals. Including pairs of wires, each pair having an associated ground, the connector having a signal terminal pair and an associated ground terminal, which are impedance discontinuities that occur when the connector is mated with the mating connector In order to reduce performance, the connectors are arranged in high density while maintaining the predetermined impedance required in the connector by inverting adjacent triangular pairs of signal and ground terminals. Can be.

  Still another object of the present invention is to provide a connector for high density, which has a triangular structure with two signal terminals and one ground terminal spaced apart from each other in order to enhance the coupling between the three terminals. A plurality of terminal triplets arranged in the same manner, the ground terminals are arranged at the apexes of the respective triangular arrangements, the connector has at least two such triplets, one triple inverted with respect to the other triplet Has been.

  Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a connector that provides a connection between a circuit board and a connector connected to a signal cable, each such triplet being a separate channel of a transmission line. And the channels are at least partially insulated by air gaps in the connector.

  Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a high density connector having a housing formed of an insulative material, the housing having a plurality of cavities disposed therein, each such cavity being Conductive terminals are included, and the housing cavities are arranged in a set of triangles within the connector, each such set of triangles including a pair of signal terminals and a ground terminal, and an adjacent set of triangles. Are inverted with respect to each other, and the housing is further formed with a recess extending between adjacent triangular sets to provide an air gap having a dielectric constant different from that of the connector housing. .

  Still another object of the present invention is to provide a connector having a plurality of terminals divided into three groups, each group including two signal terminals and one ground terminal. The terminals are arranged in a triangle and are disposed at the apexes of the triangle, and the space between each set of terminals is filled with a first insulating material, and is connected to the connector housing. A terminal “module” is formed that is inserted into the cavity and supported by the connector housing, and the connector is formed of a second insulating material.

  Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an improved high density connector with controlled impedance for connecting a multi-channel transmission line to an electronic device, the connector being made of an electrically insulating material. Including a formed housing and a plurality of conductive terminals supported by the housing, the terminals including at least two sets of three separate terminals, each set corresponding to a separate channel in the transmission line. And each terminal set includes two differential signal terminals and one associated ground terminal, the three terminals of each set are arranged at the corners of the virtual triangle, and the virtual triangles of each terminal set are inverted with respect to each other Each terminal set is supported on a carrier formed of an insulating material having a first dielectric constant, and each such carrier is formed in the connector housing. Were housed in the cavity, each terminal set are separated from one another by a recess formed in the connector housing defining an air gap between the terminal set.

  The present invention achieves these objectives by virtue of its structure. To achieve the above object, one main aspect of the present invention exemplified by an embodiment is a housing that supports three conductive terminals in a unique triplet pattern for each twisted pair wire in a signal cable to be coupled. A first connector for a circuit board having two, wherein two of the terminals carry differential signals and the remaining terminals are ground terminals that act as ground planes or ground returns for the differential signal line pairs. . The first connector supports a triplet of a plurality of terminals in an inverted state (in the width direction along the connector mating surface), whereby two rows of terminals are defined in the first connector. Are arranged in one row in the connector, and the first triple ground terminal is arranged in the other row in the connector, while the second triple, i.e., adjacent. Triple signal terminals are arranged in the other column in the connector, and this second triple or two adjacent triple ground terminals are arranged in one row of the connector. Adjacent triplet signal terminals and ground terminals are arranged in an inverted state. A second connector for a cable that mates with the first connector is provided, the second connector having a plurality of terminal triads arranged to mate with a corresponding terminal triad of the first connector. .

  The arrangement of the three sets of these terminals in the first connector can more effectively control the impedance across the first connector from the point of engagement with the cable connector terminal to the point of attachment to the circuit board. Enable.

  Thus, each such triplet of the first connector includes a pair of signal terminals having contact portions that are aligned with each other in a juxtaposed manner and spaced a predetermined distance from each other. The ground terminal is spaced from the two signal terminals in the second row.

  In another main aspect of the present invention, the width of the ground terminal and the distance from each of the triple signal terminals as described above are such that the electrical characteristics such as the capacitance of the three terminals become the desired electrical characteristics. All of these electrical characteristics affect the impedance of the connector.

  By this grounding structure for adjusting the impedance, there is a high possibility that the impedance discontinuity generated in the connector can be reduced without changing the coupling position of the differential signal terminals, that is, the pitch. Therefore, it is appropriate to characterize this form of the invention as providing an “adjustable” terminal arrangement for each differential signal line pair and associated ground line arrangement found in cables or other circuits. is there.

  In another main form of the invention, these adjustable triples are provided in an inverted state in the connector housing. That is, the ground terminals of the adjacent terminal triplet are provided in different terminal rows of the connector alternately along the width direction of the connector, like the signal terminals. When multiple terminal triads are used in a connector, other terminals of the connector, such as power terminals and reference terminals, can be placed at an intermediate point between the terminal triads in the connector.

  In yet another major form of the invention, the inverted triples of connectors (i.e., two signal terminals and one pair are used to maintain the required spatial relationship between the three terminals in each triplet. Two associated ground terminals) are arranged in a triangular shape over their entire length in the connector housing.

  In yet another major form of the invention, the connector housing can be modified in a predetermined manner to adapt the terminal triad arrangement to the housing. In one such example, the housing has openings in the form of recesses, slots or other similar cavities disposed between adjacent terminal triplets. By using one or more such recesses, a slight air gap is introduced between the terminal triads. Since the dielectric constant of air is different from the dielectric constant of the connector housing material, the air gap allows separation between the triplets, and further between the two differential signal terminals that make up each such triplet and the associated ground terminal. Further increase the affinity.

  In other such examples, the terminal triad is formed together as a single body in the form of an insert or module that is received in a corresponding hole formed in the connector housing. The triple terminal can be directly molded in the form of an insert or a module by insert molding or overmolding. Also, the molding material used to form the triple body portion can be selected such that its dielectric constant is different from the dielectric constant of the connector housing so that the two dielectric constants are different from each other. Thereby, the dielectric constant of the connector housing can be selected so as to maintain the insulation between adjacent terminal triplets, and the dielectric constant of the triplet assembly can be selected so as to increase the affinity of the mutual triplet terminals. .

  These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be clearly understood through a review of the following detailed description.

  In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals designate like parts.

  The present invention relates to an improved connector particularly useful for enhancing the performance of high speed cables utilized in input / output (I / O) applications and other applications. More specifically, the present invention will improve the performance of the connector alone and in combination with the mating connector by providing the connector with mechanically and electrically uniform means. It is what.

  Many peripheral devices connected to video cameras, ie electronic devices such as camcorders, transmit digital signals at various frequencies. Other devices connected to the computer (for example, devices connected to the CPU portion in the computer) operate at high speed for data transmission. High-speed cables are used to connect these peripheral devices to the CPU and to connect the device to two or more CPUs. Cables used in high-speed data transfer applications will typically include a differential pair of signal lines in the form of twisted pair lines or independent pair lines.

  One of the points to be considered when optimizing high-speed data transmission is signal degradation involving crosstalk and signal reflection, and another point to consider is impedance. Crosstalk and signal reflection in the cable can be easily controlled by providing a shield (shield) or using a differential pair of signal lines. This is made more difficult by the wide variety of materials used in the market. The physical dimensions of the connector limit the extent to which the structure of the connector or terminal can be changed to obtain specific electrical performance.

  Impedance mismatch in the transmission path causes signal reflection that often causes signal loss or loss. Therefore, it is desirable to try to keep the impedance constant throughout the signal path in order to maintain the integrity of the transmitted signal. Controlling the impedance of the transmission cable is not complicated. The connector is the end of the cable and provides a means for propagating the transmission signal to the circuit on the circuit board of the device. However, in such a connector, the impedance control is usually not so well performed. It changes greatly from the impedance of the cable. Impedance mismatch between these two elements results in transmission errors and bandwidth limitations.

  FIG. 15 illustrates the impedance discontinuity that occurs in a conventional plug and receptacle connector assembly used in signal cables. The impedance of the signal cable is close to a constant value, that is, a reference value as indicated by 51 on the right side of FIG. The deviation from the reference value is indicated by a thick solid line 50. The impedance of the cable substantially matches the impedance of the circuit board 52 shown on the left side of FIG. 11 and on the left side of the axis indicating “printed circuit board termination”. The vertical axis “M” represents a socket, that is, a termination point between the receptacle connector and the printed circuit board. The vertical axis “N” represents a boundary surface between two fitting connectors, that is, a plug connector and a socket connector. The vertical axis “P” represents the point where the plug connector is terminated on the cable.

  Curve 50 in FIG. 15 shows a typical impedance “change” or “discontinuity” for a conventional connector, with three peaks and valleys occurring, as shown. Has distances (or values) H1, H2 and H3 from the baseline. These distances are measured in ohms, with the origin of the vertical axis intersecting the horizontal “distance” axis being zero (0) [ohms]. In these conventional connector assemblies, the high impedance, denoted H1, typically reaches about 150 [Ohm]. The low impedance indicated by H2 is usually reduced to about 60 [Ohm]. This discontinuity of about 90 ohms between H1 and H2 affects the electrical performance of the connector with respect to the printed circuit board or cable.

  The present invention relates to high density connectors that are particularly useful for I / O (input / output) applications. By improving the structure, the impedance of the connector can be set, thereby reducing the aforementioned discontinuities. In the connector of the present invention, “adjustment” is performed by design to improve the electrical performance of the connector.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a receptacle or socket connector 100 constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention. It can be seen that the connector 100 includes an insulating connector housing 112 made of an insulating material (typically plastic). In the illustrated embodiment, the connector housing 112 has two leaves or arm portions 114a, 114b. These extend outwardly from the rear body 116 and form part of a connector receptacle or socket. The leaf portions of these housings support a plurality of conductor terminals 119 as shown. The lower leaf portion 114a may include a series of grooves or slots 118 that are disposed within the lower leaf portion and are selected of the conductive terminals 119. Is adapted to be housed in the housing. Similarly, the upper leaf portion 114b includes a similar groove 120 that accommodates the remaining terminal 119 of the connector 110 correspondingly.

  To shield the entire connector housing 112 and its associated terminals 119, the connector is a first shell or shield 123 made of sheet metal having a body portion 124 surrounding the upper and lower leaf portions 114a, 114b of the body portion 116. May be included. The first shield 123 is preferably provided with a leg 125 that is attached to the surface of the printed circuit board 102 and realizes connection to the ground of the circuit board. Legs (not shown) extending downward may be formed on the shield for use in attaching the connector 100 to the through hole, but surface mounting is more preferable. Further, a second shield 126 surrounding a part of the connector housing 112 may be provided near the rear portion of the connector housing 112. The second shield 126 extends forward and surrounds the body portion 124 of the first shield 123. The second shield 126 uses the mounting leg 127 and a rear flap that can be folded so as to cover the rear portion of the connector housing 112, and the rear flap is bent backward so as to cover it. The tab 129 is fixed in place. FIG. 4 shows a plug connector 160 that can be mated with the socket / receptacle connector 100 of FIG.

  As previously mentioned, one of the objects of the present invention is to provide a connector that has an impedance that is closer to the impedance of the system (eg, cable) than the impedance typically found in multi-circuit connectors. The present invention achieves the above object by a configuration referred to herein as an array of associated terminals arranged in the form of separate corresponding sets, wherein each set is referred to as a “triple (“ triplet "or" triad ")". The simplest triplet is an array of three separate terminals. An example of such a triplet is shown schematically in FIG. 6, where each distinct set of terminals is connected to each other by a virtual dashed line, and a terminal is disposed at each vertex of such a virtual triangle. Has been.

  Each such triplet includes two signal terminals, such as the two terminals 140 and 141 shown in FIGS. 1, 3 and 6, and a single ground terminal 150, which are connected to the plug portion 162. The signals are arranged to mate with the corresponding terminals 161 of the held plug connector 160 and have the same strength but complementary to each other, that is, +1.0 volts and -1.0 volts. A cable (not shown) for transmitting a signal of the signal is terminated by a differential wiring pair. Such a differential pair typically includes a ground reference. FIG. 6 schematically shows an arrangement of related terminal sets in the connector 100. The two signal terminals are spaced apart from each other in the horizontal direction, while the ground terminal is spaced vertically from the two signal terminals to enhance electrical coupling between the three terminals of each triplet. As can be seen in FIG. 6 (shown schematically at 165 in this figure), each set of terminals has two differential signal terminals and a ground reference terminal arranged in a triangular pattern. Can be considered to define, in one embodiment, one vertex of a virtual triangle.

  The terminals constituting each related set are connected to each other by a broken line 165 in FIG. 6 to form the above-described virtual triangle, and FIG. 6 is a state array inverted along the width direction of the connector, that is, the direction W. It can be seen that six separate terminal sets are shown. The six terminal sets comprise separate terminals, namely 140, 141 and 150, 142, 143 and 151, 144, 145 and 152, 146, 147 and 153, 148, 149 and 154, and 240, 241 and 250. Including. Each such terminal set includes a pair of differential signal terminals, meaning that they are connected to a differential signal trace on the circuit board by a terminal tail 180, and a single ground reference terminal.

  Using FIG. 5 as an example, all terminals each include a flat blade portion 181 that is used for sliding contact, ie, mating, with the opposing terminal 161 of the plug connector 160. It is preferable. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, each triplet of ground terminals 150, 151 is preferably wider than one of the three associated signal terminals 140, 141, and the width is two It may be larger than the combined width of the signal terminals. Terminal 180 also preferably includes a body portion 182 that interconnects contact blade 181 and tail portion 180. In this design, the terminal 119 can be easily stamped and formed. The terminals 119 are received in corresponding slots 118 in the lower leaf 114a of the housing body portion 112 of the receptacle connector, and the free end of the contact blade portion 181 is held in an opening formed at the end of the slot 118.

  In the plug connector of FIG. 4, the plug connector preferably has a rigid plug body portion 185 and the terminals are disposed on both sides of the plug body portion 185. If desired, the plug body portion 185 may include a keyway adapted to receive the positive key 188 of the receptacle connector of FIG. As illustrated, the key and keyway are disposed between at least a pair of separate terminal triads.

  Next, the advantages of the “triple” aspect include one related terminal set, namely, the signal terminals 140, 141 (shown as S1 and S2) and the ground terminal 150 (G12) shown on the left side of FIG. Consider the terminal set. It can be considered that the two signal terminals 140 and 141 are arranged in a triangle with respect to the ground terminal 150 in a sense. In addition, these terminals are considered to be “located on both sides” of the ground terminal, because in a different sense, a part of the signal terminal may extend to a position slightly outside the side edge of the ground terminal 150. Can do. The triangle relationship between these three related terminals can vary and can include equilateral triangle relationships, isosceles triangle relationships, inequilateral triangle relationships, etc., with the only limitation being desirable for connector 100 The width W.

  The contact blade portion of terminal 119 extends in a cantilevered manner from each body portion and is therefore in a different plane than the intermediate body portion. The contact blade portions of the terminals in the two rows (the top side and the lower side, ie the upper side and the lower side) are spaced apart from each other and in different planes. While the contact blade portions of each row are preferably parallel to each other, it should be understood that the two sets of contact blade portions may not be parallel to each other due to manufacturing tolerances and other manufacturing considerations.

  To increase the density of terminals in connector 100, the associated adjacent terminal sets are "inverted" with respect to each other. This is most clearly shown in the plug connector shown in FIG. 6, where every other related set of terminal ground terminals, ie, terminals 150 (G12), 152 (G56), 153 (G78), and , 250 (G1112) is a signal terminal of the associated terminal set in between, ie, terminals 142 and 143 (S3 and S4), 148 and 149 (S9 and S10), and one (upper) leaf of the connector housing 112 It turns out that it is located along the part 114b, ie, is supported by the leaf part 114b. Similar but in reverse, every other related terminal set of signal terminals: 140 and 141 (S1 and S2), 144 and 145 (S5 and S6), 146 and 147 (S7 and S8) and 240 and 241 (S11 and S12) and the associated terminal set ground terminal therebetween, ie, 151 (G34) and 154 (G910), are located along the other, ie, the lower leaf portion 114a, ie The leaf portion 114a is supported. As shown in FIG. 6, other terminals such as the power input / output terminal 170 and the terminal 171 secured for other applications may be disposed on the upper or lower leaf portion. It can be considered as a schematic view of both the plug connector shown in FIG. 4 and the receptacle connector shown in FIG. In addition, a key member 173 can be formed on one of the leaf portions to provide means for key connection to the mating plug connector 160.

  With this structure, each differential signal terminal pair of the connector and the circuit board electrical circuit associated therewith has a separate ground terminal associated therewith, which extends through the connector. Thereby, it can be brought closer to the interconnection cable from the viewpoint of electrical performance. The same inverted triangular relationship is maintained within the plug connector 160, and this and the structure of the receptacle connector 100 keep the apparent ground reference from the cable signal wiring the same throughout the length of the cable, and The length up to the circuit board through the interface between the plug and the receptacle connector is maintained substantially the same.

  The presence of an associated separate ground terminal for each pair of differential signal terminals is important to provide a capacitive and in-phase coupling between a set of three related terminals. This coupling serves to reduce the impedance of a specific area of the connector and to reduce the variation in impedance across the cable to the board interface. Therefore, in the present invention, an impedance curve that more faithfully emulates the straight baseline 50 of the impedance curve of FIG. 15 is obtained. By changing the size of the terminals and their spacing, the impedance of the connector can effectively be “tuned”. The effect of this adjustability is illustrated in FIG. 15, where there is a reduction in impedance discontinuities across the cable to the circuit board connector assembly. The impedance discontinuity expected to occur in the connector of the present invention is shown by the dashed line 60 in FIG. The solid line in FIG. 15 represents a typical impedance discontinuity that occurs in the connector system, and when comparing the dashed line and the solid line, the peak and valley sizes H11, H22, and H33 of this discontinuity are greatly reduced. ing. The present invention is believed to significantly reduce the overall discontinuity that has occurred in conventional connector assemblies. In some applications, the highest level of discontinuity would be about 135 [Ohm] (H11) and the lowest level of discontinuity would be about 85 [Ohm] (H22). The target baseline impedance of the connector of the present invention typically varies in the range of about 28 to about 150 ohms, but varies in the range of about 100 to about 110 ohms with a tolerance of about +/−. It is preferably −5 to +/− 25 [ohm]. Accordingly, the connector of the present invention has a total discontinuity (difference between H11 and H22) of about 50 [Ohms] or less, and as a result, the conventional discontinuity of about 90 [Ohms] described above is 50 [Ohms]. %] Will decrease. This benefit is believed to arise from the capacitive coupling that occurs between the two differential signal terminals and the associated ground terminal. However, it should be understood that capacitive coupling is only one factor that affects the final characteristic impedance of the terminals and the connectors that support them.

  In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-6, the width of the contact blade portion of the ground terminal is preferably greater than the corresponding contact blade portion of the signal terminal. In some cases, a portion of the ground terminal may overlie or overlap a portion of at least one of the associated signal terminals; in other cases, the ground terminal may be the signal terminal. Or between the imaginary lines extending upward from the side edges of the imaginary line. If the ground terminal is larger than the associated signal terminal due to the increased width of the ground terminal, the ground terminal has a larger surface area than the signal terminal and thus has a high connectivity.

  FIG. 7 illustrates another embodiment 300 of a connector that embodies the principles of the present invention and utilizes terminals having pin-type contact portions as opposed to the flat contact blade portions of FIGS. The connector 300 utilizes helix-style terminals 302, each such terminal 302 being housed in a separate associated cavity 304 of the insulating connector housing 306. The cavity 304 and its associated terminals 302 are arranged in two rows within the connector housing, as shown. The basic structure of the contact portion of this type of terminal is schematically described in US Pat. No. 4,740,180 issued April 26, 1988. As shown in FIG. 11, each terminal 302 of this type of connector 300 has a helical contact portion 315 extending from a body portion 316 for holding the terminal 302 in place within an associated connector housing cavity 304; As shown, it has a tail portion 318 that is used to attach the connector 300 to the surface of the circuit board 320. The tail portion 318 of the terminal 302 is connected to the contact portion and the main body portion by an interconnection portion 319. The plane of contact portion 315 is different (but preferably parallel), but the planes of interconnect portion 319 and tail 318 are preferably common.

  All of these types of terminal tails 318 are surface-mounting tails and are therefore in a single common plane that coincides with the top surface of a circuit board (not shown) to which the connector is mounted. However, as illustrated in FIGS. 11 (imaginary lines) and 16, the terminal may use a tail portion for attaching a through hole. In this case, the tail and body of the terminal are not in a common plane, the ground terminal and the signal terminal are in different planes (showing a vertical plane in FIGS. 11 and 16) and are separated from each other by a distance “D” Yes. In this arrangement, the tail portion 318 exists as part of the interconnect body portion 319 and the tail portion of the ground terminal is spaced from the tail portion of the signal terminal.

  The connector 300 has a set of shields, an inner shield 308 and an outer shield 310, to provide a shield for the entire connector structure. The inner shield 308 extends to cover a portion of the connector housing 306 as shown in FIG. 9 and the outer shield 310 covers substantially the entire connector housing 306 in a manner well known in the art. It may extend. In this embodiment, the connector 300 does not have auxiliary terminals such as a power input / output terminal and a state detection terminal as used in the connectors of FIGS.

  In this embodiment, two ground terminals 302, 321 are utilized and associated with a pair of differential signal terminals 325, 326 and 327, 328, respectively. If each associated set of signal and ground terminals is arranged in the desired triangular shape and the set is inverted with respect to each other, i.e., the connector is considered to have two separate rows of terminals, The ground terminals 302 are arranged in one terminal row, and the ground terminals of the other differential terminal set are arranged in the other terminal row. Similarly, the signal terminals of each differential terminal set are inverted. This type of application is useful for multi-signal channel applications, where each differential terminal set is used to carry data from different distinct channels.

  FIG. 12 illustrates another embodiment 400 of a connector constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention. In this embodiment, the two pairs 402, 404 of differential terminals are shown in the form of inverted triangles, but the three terminals constituting each differential terminal set are formed on the front surface of the connector housing 408. Partially separated by a recess or cavity 406. The cavity is preferably smaller in depth than the connector housing, for example, in the range of about 0.5 [mm] to about 10 [mm]. This depth provides a hollow air gap or air “reservoir” on the mating surface of the connector housing and modifies the affinity that each terminal in the triple has with each other to provide a modest amount of space between them. Serves to provide electrical insulation. The recess 406 serves to “tie” the three terminals to some extent by using air as a dielectric. As illustrated, it is desirable that the recess be within the boundary of a virtual triangle that connects the three terminals of the triplet.

  FIG. 13 shows how a recess or cavity 420 can be formed in the connector housing 422 to insulate the differential terminal sets from each other. The recess 420 in this example can protrude deeper into the connector housing than the recess shown in FIG. 12, and may completely penetrate the connector housing if necessary. In this type of structure, the cavity 420 provides a deep air passage. Since air has a different dielectric constant from the connector housing material, it serves to electrically insulate the triad of terminals from each other.

  FIG. 14 shows yet another embodiment 500, in which, for example, a set of three associated terminals 510 (two signals) on the insulative support 506 having the generally triangular configuration shown in FIG. A terminal set “insert” is formed by insert molding or other molding (including terminal S and one ground reference terminal G), thereby forming a separate insert or module for insertion into the corresponding cavity. Each such set of terminals is maintained in a triangular arrangement by the support 506 so that the two signal terminals are spaced apart from each other and the ground terminal is spaced from the signal terminals. These inserts or modules are intended to be inserted into complementary cavities 505 in the connector housing 502. In this way, different insulating materials exist between the terminals of each associated terminal set as well as between adjacent terminal sets, and these terminal sets are also inverted. The dielectric constant of the molded support 506 provides another means to electrically insulate between the terminal triplets and enhances the electrical affinity in terms of at least coupling between the terminals of each triplet. Different from the dielectric constant of 502. If the support material of the terminal set has a higher dielectric constant than the surrounding connector housing, the coupling between the triplet terminals will be strong, thereby reducing the triplet impedance. Conversely, if the support material of the terminal set has a lower dielectric constant than the surrounding connector housing, the coupling between the triplet terminals is reduced, thereby increasing the triplet impedance. In this way, the impedance of the connector can be adjusted with both the overall impedance of the connector and the impedance in a separate triple (or signal channel).

  FIG. 17 shows an embodiment of the inversion structure of the present invention in a pin type automobile connector 600. The connector 600 has an insulating housing 601 having a plurality of cavities 602 formed therein. While it is preferred that a conductive terminal be disposed within each such cavity 602, depending on the application, some of the cavities may be empty or “collapsed”. As shown, two signal channels are shown, each signal channel having a terminal triple 603 in which two signal terminals A +, A-, B +, B- are associated with a single ground terminal GRA and GRB. 604. In this type of application, the terminal triplets are separated by power “ground” type terminals, ie, input voltage and feedback voltage + Vcc and −Vcc. The terminals penetrate to the rear of the housing 601 where they are terminated to corresponding wires or circuit boards in the wire harness. The mating connector uses projecting terminals arranged in the same manner for coupling with the connector 600.

  While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, it would be obvious to those skilled in the art that the embodiment can be changed or modified without departing from the spirit of the invention. The scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims.

1 is a perspective view of a socket or receptacle connector constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention for attachment to a support circuit board. FIG. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the connector of FIG. 1, showing a rear end of the connector. It is a front view of the connector of FIG. It is a front view of the plug connector couple | bonded with the receptacle connector of FIG. It is an exploded view of the connector of FIG. FIG. 2 is an end view of the connector of FIG. 1 showing a spatially inverted arrangement of a number of related terminal sets supported by the connector. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of another embodiment of a connector constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention having only two associated signal-ground terminal sets and utilizing a low pressure spiral terminal rather than a flat blade terminal. FIG. 8 is a rear view of the connector of FIG. 7. FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the connector of FIG. 7 viewed from the rear with the outer case removed for clarity. It is the perspective view of the connector of FIG. 7 seen from the rear part in the state which attached the outer case. FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a terminal used in the connector of FIG. 7, showing the relative position and orientation of the terminal with respect to other terminals in its associated terminal set. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of another receptacle-type connector constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention and incorporating a recess in the connector housing to provide an insulating gap between the terminals of each associated terminal set. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of another receptacle-type connector that schematically illustrates other uses of air or insulating gaps between associated terminal sets. FIG. 5 is an illustration of another receptacle-type connector constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention, wherein each set of associated terminals shows a pre-formed terminal arrangement on an insulative body such as an insert that plugs into the connector housing. FIG. 5 illustrates a typical impedance discontinuity that occurs across a high speed cable connection and the reduction of this discontinuity in the connector of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a set of through-hole terminals showing that the tail and its interconnects need not be on the same plane. It is the schematic of the motor vehicle type connector using the inversion triplet structure of this invention.

Claims (20)

A high-density electrical connector (500), comprising a connector housing (502) for holding a plurality of conductive terminals, the terminals comprising contact portions for coupling with contact portions of opposing terminals of a mating connector, The terminal includes at least first and second separate terminal sets, each separate terminal set including a pair of differential signal contacts and an associated ground contact;
The two separate terminal sets are disposed in at least two rows on the connector housing, one of the two rows including a pair of differential signal contacts from the first separate terminal set, and the first Ground contact from two separate terminal sets, the other of the two rows being a pair of differential signal contacts from the second separate terminal set and the first separate terminal The first and second separate terminal sets are inverted with respect to each other in the connector housing, so that the front contacts disposed in one of the two rows a pair of differential signal contact portions of the serial-specific number of terminal set is disposed opposite to the ground contact portion of the same terminal set in the other of said two rows,
The separate terminal set is formed together as a terminal unit (503), and the connector housing (502) includes a cavity (505) formed therein to receive the separate terminal unit;
Each of the terminal units (503) includes an insulating main body (506) that supports the terminals of a separate terminal set, and the insulating main body (506) of the terminal unit includes a pair of differential signal terminals. A high density electrical connector, wherein the high density electrical connector is supported in a separated state, and further supports an associated ground terminal that is spaced apart from the pair of differential signal terminals . The connector housing is a plug connector housing, the connector housing includes a receptacle connector matable plug portion of the mating, the two rows being opposed on two different surface facing the plug portion The connector according to claim 1. The connector housing is a receptacle connector housing, and the connector housing includes a socket portion that accommodates a plug portion of a mating plug connector, and the two rows are disposed on opposing surfaces of the socket portion. The connector according to claim 1.   The connector of claim 1, wherein for each of the separate terminal sets, the pair of differential signal contacts and the associated ground contact are disposed at the apex of a virtual triangle.   The connector according to claim 4, wherein the virtual triangle is inverted for each separate terminal set.   The connector housing includes at least a recess formed in the connector housing and disposed between the two separate terminal sets, the recess defining an air gap between the separate terminal sets. The connector according to 1. The connector of claim 1, wherein each of the terminals includes a tail portion extending from the connector housing for attaching the connector to a circuit member. The connector according to claim 7 , wherein the terminal tail portion is a surface mounting portion in a common plane. The tail portion includes a through-hole portion for insertion into a mounting hole of a circuit member, and the tail portion of the signal terminal of each separate terminal set is the tail portion of the ground terminal of the separate terminal set. The connector of claim 7 , wherein the connector is spaced from the connector.   An additional separate terminal set further includes a pair of differential signal contacts and an associated ground contact, wherein the first terminal set, the second terminal set, and the additional contact set The connector according to claim 1, wherein the terminal sets are mutually inverted in the connector housing.   The connector of claim 1, wherein the ground contacts of the first and second separate terminal sets are wider than the width of any single signal terminal of the separate terminal sets. The connector according to claim 9 , wherein the ground terminal tail portion and the signal terminal tail portion are in different planes. The connector according to claim 1 , wherein the connector housing is formed of an insulating material, and the connector housing and the insulating body of the terminal set have different dielectric constants. The connector according to claim 1 , wherein the insulating main body of the terminal set is triangular.   The connector according to claim 1, wherein the separate terminal sets are separated by a key component for aligning the mating connector with respect to the connector. The connector according to claim 1 , wherein the insulating main body of the terminal set is triangular. The connector housing includes a plurality of spaced hollow cavities disposed therein to define two terminal rows of the connector housing, and for each separate terminal set, the pair of differential signal contacts and The associated ground contact is disposed at the apex of the virtual triangle, the connector housing further includes a front surface, the front surface including a pair of recesses formed therein, and the recesses are within the boundaries of the virtual triangle. The connector according to claim 1, wherein the connector is disposed.   The connector according to claim 1, wherein the terminal includes a pin terminal, and the connector includes a power input / output terminal. The connector according to claim 13 , wherein a dielectric constant of the connector housing is lower than a dielectric constant of the insulating main body. The connector according to claim 13 , wherein a dielectric constant of the connector housing is higher than a dielectric constant of the insulating main body.

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