JP4611362B2 - Differential signal connector having wafer type structure - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention generally relates to a high-speed connector used as a vertically stacked receptacle connector, and more particularly to a connector using an insert wafer in which a differential signal terminal is incorporated, the differential signal terminal being a connector insertion port portion. , The connector is positioned side by side, but the tail is directed to be connected to a printed circuit board.

  Electrical connectors are well known to those skilled in the electronic arts as generally reliable devices that can extend electrical signal paths to and from the printed circuit board. However, electronic devices and electronic systems have been downsized and speeded up for several years, making it difficult to design and manufacture reliable connectors and attach them to printed circuit boards.

  In a connector used for high-speed applications, crosstalk that easily occurs between high-speed signal paths arranged in close proximity can be reduced by using a differential voltage signal. A differential signal pair is a conductor such as a pair of terminals that transmit signals together, but neither of these two conductors is at ground potential or reference potential. The voltage of one conductor of the differential signal pair is equal in magnitude and opposite in polarity to the voltage of the other conductor at any point in time. Thus, a differential signal pair is similar to a transmission line with conductors capacitively and inductively coupled together. Crosstalk between two or more differential signal pairs and interference with other signal pairs of one differential signal pair is a kind of shielding between the conductors of one differential signal pair and the other differential signal pair. When a good ground plane (or other fixed voltage reference plane) is provided as (heavy), it can be greatly reduced.

  Each differential signal pair requires at least two capacitively coupled conductors, and it is important that the connector connecting the differential signal pair between the device and the circuit board maintain capacitive coupling. . When the connector is used to provide edge coupling to the circuit board, or when used as a plug connector, the differential signal pairs are arranged so that they are next to each other on the same side of the circuit board. If the motion signal pair is disposed in the connector, the width of the connector increases. However, when the connector is attached to the circuit board, the width of the connector must be minimized.

  Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provide one or more receptacle connectors that accommodate edge connectors of devices such as circuit boards.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide a stack type receptacle connector that accommodates a differential signal pair in each insertion port.

  Yet another object of the present invention is a stacked receptacle connector capable of incorporating differential signal pairs into a connector body using individual wafer-shaped inserts, each insert being relatively easy to manufacture and enclosing. To provide a connector that can provide a ground plane between each wafer insert in the connector housing.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide a connector for use in high speed applications, the connector comprising an insulative housing with a hollow internal cavity, the cavity comprising a plurality of thin wafer shaped Receiving a terminal signal insert and a ground terminal insert, each wafer supporting a plurality of conductive terminals, the terminal having a contact portion, a tail portion, and a body portion interconnecting the contact portion and the tail portion; The signal terminals are capacitively coupled to the corresponding adjacent terminals in the adjacent wafers, so that most of the terminals are arranged with the wide surface of the terminals in the vertical direction, and the signal terminal main body and tail The small part of the part is bent and the position is shifted by about 90 degrees, and the signal terminals are arranged in such a manner that the edges are opposed to each other in the terminal tail part.

  Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a connector for use in high speed differential signal applications. In this connector, the terminals are held in the assembly, but the assembly preferably has the shape of an insulating wafer. Two wafers with conductive signal terminals are assembled together to form a signal terminal wafer assembly, and the two wafers including conductive ground terminals are disposed on opposite sides of the signal terminal assembly, A reference ground terminal arrangement is provided on both sides of the signal terminal, and the signal terminal has a contact portion arranged such that the side surfaces face each other and a terminal portion arranged such that the edges face each other.

  Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a unique circuit board arrangement for receiving the tail of a connector having the structure described above. This circuit board arrangement facilitates the high speed operation of the connector of the present invention.

  Still another object of the present invention is to provide a circuit board having a specific trace arrangement that improves the high speed transmission capability of the connector of the present invention. The circuit board has a plurality of conductive traces extending to mounting through holes (holes) disposed on the circuit board. The through holes are arranged in a specific pattern. That is, a plurality of ground traces surround a pair of differential signal traces, the ground traces are arranged at square corners, and the differential signal through holes are arranged in a straight line within the boundary defined by the ground through holes. Are arranged in a pattern.

  These and other objects of the present invention are achieved by the structure of the present invention. The connector is provided with an insulating housing having two or more insertion ports, and each insertion port accommodates a card edge or other blade portion of a counterpart electronic device such as an electronic module or an optoelectronic module. Can do. The receptacle connector of the present invention has a plurality of differential signal terminals, and the terminals have a unique structure. With this structure, the terminals are side bonded along a portion of the connector and edge bonded along the remaining portion of the connector.

  A plurality of inserts are provided that hold terminals intended to transmit differential signals. In this regard, a plurality of differential signal terminal pairs are supported in an insulating wafer, and the wafer is inserted into a connector housing. The signal terminal insert is preferably formed from two halves that engage each other and the terminals of each differential signal pair are spaced parallel to each other. This state continues from the terminal contact portion to the position near the terminal tail portion in the terminal main body portion.

  The path of the differential signal terminal conductor is rotated in the support insert wafer, the direction is changed by about 90 degrees in the vicinity of the end of the terminal body, and extends to the terminal tail in the changed direction. Therefore, the signal terminals are arranged in a row, and the edges are spaced apart from each other along the row. In this way, the terminals can engage with the edge connection along the tail portion and can engage with the side connection along the contact portion and the body portion.

  The half of the signal terminal wafer insert has a concavo-convex bottom portion in which convex portions and concave portions are alternately formed, and the convex portion of the first half of the two insert wafer halves is two pieces. The signal insert wafer half is accommodated in a recess in the second half, and the convex portion in the second half is accommodated in the recess in the first half. In this way, the terminal tail portions can be easily arranged in a row in the form in which the edges face each other.

  Other insert wafers are provided. The wafer is disposed in a space provided between the signal terminal assemblies, and acts as a ground plane between adjacent signal terminal insert wafers to insulate signals transmitted within the signal wafer. The signal terminal insert wafer and the ground terminal insert wafer are different in height, but this has polarity in the insert wafer and the connector housing so that the ground terminal insert wafer cannot be inserted into the signal terminal insert wafer receiving portion of the connector housing. It is to make it. Similarly, different wafer receiving slots are formed in the connector housing, so that the signal terminal slot can receive only the signal terminal wafer assembly so that the ground wafer slot can only receive the ground terminal wafer. It is like that.

  These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be clearly understood in view of the following detailed description.

  In this description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings.

  Referring to FIG. 1, a perspective view of a connector 10 constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention is shown. The connector 10 has an upper surface 12, a front surface 14, a bottom surface 16, a left side surface 18 and a right side surface 20. As can be seen from FIG. 1, two insertion openings 17 and 19 into which a circuit board, a device, or a blade connector can be inserted are arranged on the front surface of the connector 10. An electrical signal is transmitted to the circuit board 13 to which the is attached. The connector 10 of the present invention is a compressible attachment connector. That is, the connector is attached to the circuit board by the through-hole pins. As will be described below, the through-hole pin is shown as a compliant pin in this embodiment.

  In addition, the connector has a rear surface 22. The rear surface 22 is shown more clearly in FIG. 2, but FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the connector 10 of FIG. 1 as seen from the rear, and the connector rear surface 22 and the hollow internal cavity 25 of the connector 10 are visible. . On the left side of the rear surface 22 of the connector housing, three separate insert wafers are shown. Two of them are denoted by reference numeral 24 and the remaining one is denoted by reference numeral 26. As will be described in more detail below, these insert wafers are two types of wafers, a ground insert wafer 24 and a signal insert wafer 26, based on the type of signal carried by the conductive terminals within each insert wafer. Yes. A signal insert wafer is intended to carry multiple signals, particularly multiple pairs of differential signals. A ground insert wafer is intended to be connected to one or more ground planes on a circuit board, whose terminals carry ground signals rather than differential signals.

  In the preferred embodiment of the connector 10 shown in the figure, each signal insert wafer 26 is placed between two ground insert wafers 24, as shown in FIG. In this way, each pair of differential signal terminals is retained and oriented within the insert wafer 26, but these terminals are sandwiched by ground terminals that provide a close ground path, and the signal pair is surrounded to some extent by the ground path. It is. This structure helps maximize shielding of the signal insert wafer 26 and reduces EMI, signal crosstalk, and skew due to other signal insert wafers present in the connector 10.

  FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the connector 10 of FIG. 1, as viewed from the rear surface 22 side of the connector 10, and four ground terminal insert wafers 24 are arranged inside the connector housing, and between the ground terminal insert wafers. Shows a state in which three signal receiving slots are arranged. FIG. 4 is a similar view of the signal terminal insert wafer 26 inserted in place. As can be seen from FIG. 3, each ground insert wafer 24 protrudes from the lower edge 47 of each ground insert wafer 24 and includes a plurality of compliant signal tail pins 45 that are collinear along the longitudinal axis of the signal insert wafer. Have. FIG. 4 is a similar view of the rear surface 22 of the connector 10 shown in FIG. 3, but with three signal wafer inserts 26 inserted into the connector 10. Like the ground wafer insert 24, the signal insert wafer 26 has a plurality of compliant pin tails 44 that protrude along the same line from the lower edge 47 of each signal insert wafer 26 and exist on the same line.

  FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4 except that one of the three signal terminal insert wafers 26 falls between two adjacent (or both) ground terminal insert wafers 24. A state in which the connector 10 is partially inserted into a predetermined position in the connector 10 is shown. The signal insert wafer 26 and the ground insert wafer 24 have different heights so that the signal insert wafer 26 and the ground insert wafer 24 can be easily fitted at appropriate positions in the internal cavity 25 of the connector housing 10. The signal wafer insert 26 is made at a certain height, the ground insert wafer 24 is made at a different height, and the signal insert wafer slot and the ground insert wafer slot of the connector 10 have the same height corresponding to each wafer. The (tall) ground insert wafer 24 is mistakenly placed in the signal insert wafer slot, or the signal terminal insert wafer is mistakenly placed in the position for the ground terminal insert wafer. Nothing will happen. This speeds up assembly and repair of the connector of the present invention. The ground terminal insert wafer is fitted into a slot 100 (FIG. 3) formed along at least one surface of the internal cavity 25 of the connector housing 10, and the signal terminal insert wafer is formed between the slots 100. It is fitted to the ridge portion 101. The height of the signal and ground insert wafers can be reversed if desired. That is, the signal insert wafer can be formed taller than the ground insert wafer, and the housing can be changed to accommodate this arrangement.

  FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 3 except that the ground terminal insert wafer 24 has been removed for clarity of explanation of the internal cavity 25 of the connector 10 housing, and a portion of the connector 10 housing. The insert wafer holding and alignment ribs 27 formed as are clearly shown. The rib 27 extends in the horizontal direction between the stack-type insertion ports 17 and 19 (FIG. 1) into which a circuit board, a device, or a connector is inserted. The size and structure of the rib 27 is such that when a plug connector (not shown) is inserted into and removed from the connector housing 10, a holding clip 29 formed as a part of each insert wafer 24 and 26 is attached to the alignment rib 27. It is sized and structured to engage and hold the insert wafers 24 and 26 in the connector 10. Further, a plurality of auxiliary slots 102 are formed on both sides of the alignment rib 27 of the connector housing 10. Each of the auxiliary slots accommodates the edge of the retaining clip 29 of the signal insert wafer 26 and ground insert wafer 24. As will be described below, the terminal includes a holding projection 104 that engages the inner surface of the terminal receiving cavity 105 of the connector housing 10.

  As described above, when a differential signal is used in a device such as a circuit board, two conductors are required to send one differential signal, and one conductor is equal in size to the other conductor. Transmit signals of opposite polarity. When both of the stack-type insertion ports 17 and 19 are used as differential signal connectors, the differential signals are arranged side-by-side at the respective insertion ports 17 and 19 so as to face each other (side-by-side). The conductor pair needs to be connected to a mating contact on the circuit board 13 to which the connector 10 is attached. Therefore, in order to accommodate a large number of differential signal pairs from the upper insertion port 19 and differential signal pairs necessary for the lower insertion port 17 so as to fit within the width of the connector 10, each insertion port 17. And 19 need to be "rotated" or somewhat offset. That is, although the circuit board is inserted into one of the insertion ports 17 and 19 and the terminal is in contact with an opposing element such as a circuit card edge, the terminal is disposed so that the side surfaces face each other. Is connected to the circuit board 13, the differential signal connection from the connector 10 to the circuit board 13 is “front-to-back” as shown in FIG. Aligned “edge-to-edge”.

  FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a set of signal terminals 261 and 281 used in the signal terminal insert wafer 24 of the connector of the present invention. Furthermore, FIG. 7 also shows the relative position of the retaining clip 29 described above. Since the signal terminal sets 261 and 281 are the same except for their relative sizes, only the above signal terminal set 261 will be described below for the sake of brevity. The set of signal terminals 261 and 281 includes an upper or outer conductor 261B and a lower or inner conductor 261A. In one embodiment, the conductive terminals 261A and 261B can form a differential signal pair. However, as best shown in FIG. 8, terminal 261A is one terminal of the first differential signal pair and terminal 261B is one terminal of a separate second differential signal pair. These terminals have corresponding differential signal terminals 54 that together form a differential signal pair.

  Further, referring to FIG. 7, each of the terminals 261A and 261B has a first portion (contact portion) 30 that is in a mirror image relationship with each other. Together, they form a contact beam pair, and when the mating blade (usually a circuit card) of the plug connector is inserted into one of the outlets 17 and 19, the contact beam pair forms the edge of the mating blade. It moves. The terminal 261A includes a horizontal portion 34. The horizontal portion 34 extends forward from the first point 32 in a direction away from the edge of the insulating wafer half formed to include the horizontal portion 34. As can be seen from FIG. 8, in practice, the first point 32 is slightly beyond the leading edge 49 of the first wafer half in which the terminals 261 and 281 are incorporated. The horizontal portion 34 of the terminal 261A extends “inward” to reach a second point 36, where the terminal 261A bends downward toward the lower edge 47 of the signal insert wafer 26. The vertical portion 38 extends downward to reach the third point 40, where the terminal forms an “offset portion” 42 that is bent inwardly (toward the front side in FIG. 7) as shown in the figure. . This is to ensure that the tails are aligned along the line of action at the bottom of the signal terminal insert wafer. The compliant pin tail 44 extends from below the offset portion 42 and can be inserted into the through hole of the circuit board.

  FIG. 7A shows a ground terminal for use in the aforementioned ground terminal insert wafer. As can be seen, the ground terminal includes a plurality of compliant tail pins 45 that are electrically and mechanically connected together. The set of ground terminals shown in FIG. 7A extends from the tail pin 45 to a position that exits the receptacle slots 17 and 19. The ground terminal shown in FIG. 7A serves as a ground plane that insulates between signal wafer inserts incorporated in the connector 10.

  FIG. 8 is a perspective view of two halves forming a single signal wafer insert, particularly molded so that two sets of signal terminals 261 and 281 (shown in FIG. 7) are surrounded by an insert wafer insulating body. Indicates the state that has been performed. As shown in the figure, the signal insert wafer 26 comprises a left half 50 and a right half 52. Looking only at the left half 50, the terminals 261 and 281 extend beyond the front edge 49 of the wafer half to form the aforementioned clip, and toward the lower edge 47 and upper edge 51 toward the rear edge 53. It has a part extending in parallel. In the vicinity of the trailing edge 53, the terminal bends downward and extends toward the lower edge 47 and exits the lower edge 47 as the compliant tail 44 described above. The signal terminal tail portions of the two wafer halves extend in a direction approaching each other in the vicinity of the tail portions, and reach the linear tail arrangement portion existing at the lower portion of the signal insert wafer.

  A plurality of notches 55 and teeth 57 (ie, “valleys”) extending slightly over the entire length of the lower edge 47 slightly above the lower edge 47 of the left half 50 of the signal terminal insert wafer 26. And “mountains”). Specifically, the left half of the signal insert wafer has a notch 55 formed immediately before the rear edge 53. Regarding the lower edge 47 of the right half 52 of the signal wafer 26, a tooth 59 is formed immediately before the rear edge 53 of the right half 52, and the tooth 59 formed on the right half 52 of the insert wafer 26. Engages with a notch 55 formed just before the rear edge 53 of the left half 50. When the left half 50 and the right half 52 are joined together, the notch 55 and the tooth 57 of the left half 50 are “saw” with the tooth 59 and the notch 61 of the right half 52. ) "Tooth". This serrated, i.e., concavo-convex arrangement allows the tails of the signal terminals to be aligned linearly along the lower edge of the signal terminal insert wafer out of the plane.

  As can be seen from FIG. 8, the signal insert wafer 26 includes a left half 50 and a right half 52. The left half 52 includes a relatively flat or flat insulating body 63, but it goes without saying that the insulating body 63 is formed of a non-conductive material. The right half 52 is also composed of a relatively flat or planar insulating body 65 formed to match the size and shape of the left body 63. Both the spacer body 63 and the right body 65 have a “front” edge, indicated at 49. Both bodies have a “lower” edge 47 and an “upper” edge 51. The trailing edge 53 is considered to be the “opposite” side of the leading edge 49, and the upper edge 51 is considered to be the opposite side of the lower edge 47.

  The terminals shown in FIG. 7 extend through each of the left half 50 and the right half 52, but are fine but are identical except for one important point. FIG. 9A is a view similar to FIG. 8, but showing a state where two signal terminal insert wafer halves 50 and 52 are assembled together to form one signal terminal insert wafer 26. FIG. As can be seen from FIG. 9A, the compliant pin tails 44 extending downward from the lower edge 47 are in the same plane (not shown), and therefore are on the same straight line. In other words, at the front edge 49 of the signal insert wafer 26, the differential terminals 62 and 54 are arranged so that the side surfaces face each other, but when these terminals exit the signal insert wafer 26 from the lower edge 47, the arrangement 62 and 64. The change of the arrangement of the differential signal terminals is possible because the offsets 42 of the left half 50 and the right half 52 of the signal insert wafer are different and in the opposite directions.

  7 and 8, the first signal terminals 261A and 261B are fixed to the planar left spacer body 63 so that each has a horizontal portion 34 extending to the vertical portion 38. Both terminals 261A and 261B are substantially in the same plane, that is, in the first plane, and are adjacent to each other. The vertical portion 38 of each terminal 261A and 261B extends to the offset portion or the segment 42. In the left main body 63, in the offset portion 42, the terminals 261A and 261B are bent upward from the surface where both terminals exist, and are lifted from the first surface parallel to the first surface where both terminals 261A and 261B exist. Extending to the second side. Both offsets 42 extend downward and beyond the lower edge 47 of the left body 63 where they become the compliant pin tail 44 of the terminal set.

  The right half 52 of the signal insert wafer 26 has the same terminals as the terminals 261A and 261B except for the following points. That is, in the signal wafer half 52 on the right side, the surface where the terminals exist is displaced parallel to the first surface where the terminals 261A and 261B exist and the second surface where the pin tail exists, This is the shifted third surface. In the right half, although not shown, there is an offset that extends the terminal on the third surface to the second surface, and when the two halves are assembled together, A pin tail 44 extending from the edge 47 is disposed flush with the pin tail 44 extending from the left half 50. The signal insert wafer halves 50 and 52 can be assembled together by protrusions (posts) and holes as shown in FIG. 8, and can be further connected by thermal welding, ultrasonic welding, or the like.

  Using the terminology of the claims, the signal terminal of the right body 65 has a second offset, which causes the terminal to move away from the third surface in the second direction and reach the second surface, It extends downward from there and crosses the lower edge of the insert wafer body. The extension of the left terminal and the right terminal is shifted in the lateral direction. That is, they are separated from each other as shown in FIG. 9A.

  9B is a view similar to FIG. 9A, but showing the signal terminal tail 44 aligned with the edges 50 and 52 of the signal terminal insert wafer 26 along the lower edges 47 so that the edges face each other. Therefore, it is a view seen from the bottom of the signal terminal insert wafer 26. FIG. 10A is a perspective view showing a state in which the signal terminal insert wafer 26 of FIG. 9 is sandwiched between two ground terminal insert wafers 24. As described above, the ground terminal insert wafer 24 provides insulation to the signal terminal insert wafer 26. FIG. 10B is a perspective view showing a state in which all three insert wafers 24 and 26 are assembled together to form one signal transmission unit 70. As can be seen from the figure, the compliant pin tails 45 of the ground terminal insert wafer are located on the same plane and are therefore arranged along the same line. Similarly, the compliant pin tail 44 of the signal insert wafer 26 exists on the same plane as it exits the lower edge, and is arranged along the same line.

  FIG. 10C is a bottom view of one signal transmission unit 70. As can be seen from this figure, each signal terminal 44 forms one vertex of a triangle, and the remaining vertexes are two ground terminals 45. Even if a signal “leaks” from any one of the signal terminal pin tails 44, the leakage is minimized because the ground terminal 45 where the signal from the signal pin tail is capacitively short-circuited is disposed at a relatively close position. Can be suppressed. In addition, each differential signal pair “DSP” is arranged in a geometric shape formed by interconnecting four ground terminals 45 by virtual lines. This is shown in the inset on the right side of FIG. 10C. The geometric shape of the embodiment shown in the figure is approximately square or approximately rectangular. Other shapes can be used in this location, but a quadrangle is preferred. Further, FIG. 10C shows the order of terminals with respect to the differential signal contact portion shown in FIG. 9A. As shown in the figure, the contact parts where side capacitive coupling occurs are arranged so that the sides face each other, but the tails where the terminals are connected to the circuit board are completely arranged so that the edges face each other. Has changed.

  FIGS. 14-19 illustrate another embodiment of a connector 300 constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention. The connector 300 uses a housing 302 having only one receptacle slot 304. The housing 302 has a plurality of walls, and the receptacle slot 304 is defined in the front wall 306. In this embodiment, a post 307 that houses a mounting screw used to mount the connector 300 to the circuit board 13 is shown in cross section. As shown in FIG. 15, the connector 300 includes a hollow cavity 309 that accommodates the terminal insert 310. Similar to the embodiment described above, the cavity 309 has a plurality of slots 312 and 313 having different heights, and the slot 312 is actually a collar as described above. The height difference between the slots 312 and 313 matches the height difference between the signal insert wafer and the ground insert wafer. The cavity further includes retaining ribs 314 that engage the terminal insert wafer with the retaining clips.

  FIG. 16 shows the connector 300 with one of the signal terminal insert wafers 320 partially removed from the cavity 309 while leaving the ground terminal insert wafer 322 in place in the cavity. FIG. 17 shows the signal terminal insert wafer 320 removed from the connector 300. As can be seen, the signal terminal insert wafer 320 includes two sets of terminals 325 and 326 that are lateral to one another with respect to the connector slot slot 304, ie, in the width direction, as shown in the previous embodiment. Is aligned. These sets of terminals have contact portions 325A, 326A, main body portions 325B, 326B, and tail portions 325C, 326C. The tail portions 325C and 326C are aligned with each other in the length direction, that is, with the edges facing each other. The contact portions 325A and 326A are aligned in the horizontal direction along the action line AA as shown in FIG. 17, while the tail portions 325C and 326C are in the lengthwise action line as shown in FIG. Aligned along BB. The line BB is offset from the action line AA and is preferably angled 90 degrees with respect to the action line AA. This is the reason why the tail portion has an angle of 90 degrees with respect to the contact portion.

  As shown in FIG. 18, the signal terminal insert wafer 320 is formed from two halves 320A and 320B to be engaged. FIG. 19 shows one set of terminals constituting the set of terminals of FIG.

  FIG. 11 is a top view of an arrangement of circuit boards used in combination with the connector of FIG. As can be seen from FIG. 11, each through hole for a signal pin is adjacent to at least two ground leads or through holes for accommodating the ground pin. Since the pin closest to the signal lead is the ground pin, the signal from the signal pin is easy to short-circuit to the ground potential, reducing the possibility that the signal of one differential signal pair will be combined with another differential signal pair To do. In this circuit board arrangement, at the circuit board level, four ground terminals that surround each differential signal pair extend to the circuit board, so that crosstalk between the differential signal pairs is minimized. In addition, the ground terminals of the connector of the present invention are connected together in the vicinity of the circuit board, and this connecting bar provides a short path from a specific differential signal pair to the nearest reference ground terminal set. The holes of each differential signal tail are located at the vertices of a virtual triangle, and the remaining two vertices are formed by intersecting lines connecting the two closest ground terminal tail holes. This arrangement is shown on the left of FIG. “S +” indicates a through hole for a positive differential signal of a signal pair, “S−” indicates a through hole for a negative differential signal of the signal pair, and “G” indicates a through hole for a ground signal of the circuit board.

  FIG. 12 is an enlarged detail of a portion of FIG. 11 and illustrates the use of an antipad style opening in the ground plane layer of the circuit board 110 of FIG. This is a top view and shows the signal through hole or via 113 and the ground through hole or via 112. The signal vias are arranged on a straight line along the axis L1. Two of the signal vias 113 are closely spaced to form a pair of differential signal vias 114 to accommodate the tail portion of the signal terminal insert wafer. The remaining vias 112 are connected to the ground plane 111 and are arranged so as to form a row sandwiching a pair of signal vias. Although the anti-pad 116 can be included, the “anti-pad” refers to a region where the conductive material forming the ground plane 111 is removed. What remains in these opening areas is an annular conductive ring 115. The openings shown in FIG. 12 are pentagonal and polygonal and are arranged in the orientation shown in the figure, and a row of ground vias (shown above the signal via row on FIG. A row of ground vias close to an acute angle (90 degrees) and opposite the other side of the via via, ie, below the row of signal vias above the signal via of FIG. Further away from the inclined edge of the. If the anti-pad structure of the circuit board is a square rather than a pentagon, the ground via is placed close to the corner of the anti-pad. These ground vias are considered to define virtual rectangles, and the boundaries of the rectangles surround the antipad structure.

  FIG. 13 is an enlarged detail of a portion of the circuit board of FIG. 11, showing another ground plane layer and signal trace routing structure suitable for use with the connector of the present invention. In this arrangement, the pentagon-like opening 116 is divided into two openings 116 a, each opening 116 a surrounding one signal via 113 of the pair 114 of differential signal vias 113. It is out. The two openings 116a are divided by an elongated strip 120 on the ground plane. The strip 120 divides the opening 116 into two substantially equal openings 116a, but preferably bisects.

  A circuit trace coming out from the signal via 113 is shown by a virtual line in FIG. The circuit trace includes a flag-like portion 121 or the like that extends from the via 113 in a direction approaching each other. These flag-like portions are connected to a first strip portion 122 extending on the lower side (or lower side) of the ground plane 111 in the circuit board. As shown in the figure, these first portions extend below the central bisection strip 120, but are preferably aligned with the strip 120 and the outer edge of the first portion 122 is On both sides of the strip 120, it is aligned with the outer edge of the strip 120 (or the inner edge of the two openings 116a). In the figure, the second conductive portion 123 is connected to the first portion 122 and extends at a specific angle with respect to the first portion 122. In addition, the third and fourth portions 124 and 125 are connected to the second and third portions, respectively, at specific angles, and the circuit trace is the outline of the left opening 116a of the strip 120 of FIG. It is along. This is to provide the circuit traces with a specific shape of ground plane or strip that couples to them.

  While preferred embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated and described, those skilled in the art will recognize that changes and modifications can be made to these embodiments 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 connector constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the connector of FIG. 1 as viewed from the rear, but all insert wafers other than the three insert wafers are removed from the inside of the connector for clarity. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the connector of FIG. 1 as viewed from the rear, showing four ground terminal insert wafers arranged at predetermined positions inside the connector housing. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 3, but showing three signal terminal insert wafers disposed at predetermined locations inside the connector housing. FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4 but arranged at a predetermined position in the connector housing such that one of the three signal terminal inserts enters between two partially adjacent ground terminal wafer inserts. The two signal terminal insert wafers are shown aligned with corresponding openings in the connector housing. FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3, showing a state where the ground terminal insert wafer is removed to show the inside of the connector housing. It is a perspective view of one set of terminals used for the signal terminal insert wafer used for the connector of FIG. It is a perspective view of a set of terminals used for the ground terminal insert wafer used for the connector of FIG. It is a perspective view of two sets of signal terminals, and shows the state where an insulating main-body part is fabricated so that a terminal may be surrounded, and it may face each other for the assembly performed next. FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIG. 8 but showing a state where two signal terminal insert wafer halves are assembled together to form one signal terminal insert wafer. FIG. 9B is a view similar to FIG. 9A, viewed from below the signal terminal insert wafer to show the signal terminal tail aligned along the lower edge of the signal terminal insert wafer. FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the signal terminal wafer insert of FIG. 9 disposed between two ground terminal insert wafers. FIG. 10B is a perspective view showing a state where all three (ground-signal-ground) insert wafers of FIG. 10A are assembled together to form one signal transmission unit. FIG. 10B is a bottom view of one signal terminal wafer insert of FIG. 10A, showing the orientation and placement of the tails of the terminals of the signal terminal insert wafer and the ground terminal insert wafer. FIG. 2 is a top view of a circuit board arrangement used with the connector of FIG. 1. FIG. 12 is an enlarged detail view of a portion of FIG. 11 illustrating the use of an antipad shaped opening in the ground plane layer of the circuit board of FIG. FIG. 12 is an enlarged detail view of a portion of the circuit board of FIG. 11 illustrating another ground plane layer and signal trace routing structure suitable for use with the connector of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of another embodiment of a connector constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention, having a card receiving slot for mating with a mating connector, or an embodiment having only one mating slot. It is the figure which looked at the connector of FIG. 14 from back. FIG. 16 is a view similar to FIG. 15 but showing the connector and terminal assembly removed from the circuit board and the signal terminal assembly partially removed from the connector for clarity. It is a perspective view of the signal terminal assembly used for the connector of FIG. FIG. 18 is a view similar to FIG. 17 but with the signal terminal assembly half removed for clarity. FIG. 18 is a diagram of a terminal used in one of the signal terminal assembly halves of FIG. 17.

Claims (4)

A circuit board for use in a connector for transmitting a differential signal,
Includes a substrate having a plurality of vias are formed, the vias are arranged such that the tail portion and the electrical contact of the conductive terminals to be inserted into the via, the via divided into first and second via groups are, first via groups, so as to form the via pairs, and the connector is arranged to receive the tail portion of the differential signal terminals when mounted on the circuit board, the second via groups Accommodates the tail of the ground signal terminal when the connector is attached to the circuit board;
Each via of the first via group is associated with at least one via of the second via group ,
The substrate includes a conductive layer including at least one opening as an antipad from which the conductive material is removed, and including an elongated conductive strip;
The opening includes a via pair of a first via group, the via pair being surrounded by a conductive layer;
The elongated conductive strips, the opening is divided into two small openings, one of the circuit board you include vias of the pair of the small opening of the first via group via. The via pair of the first via group includes a flag portion electrically connected to the via in another conductive layer of the circuit board spaced from the conductive layer, the flag portion being the conductive layer. The circuit board of claim 1, wherein the circuit board is connected to circuit traces disposed along the conductive strip . The circuit board according to claim 2 , wherein the second via group is arranged so as to define a quadrangle around a via pair of the first via group . Before KiHiraki opening is pentagonal, the circuit board according to claim 3.

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