JPH07326430A - Electric connector and contact for use therewith - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an electric connector for connecting stacked printed circuit boards together that are small and enable high-speed signal transmission and to provide a contact for use with the connector. CONSTITUTION:This electric connector 50 includes a housing 10 and a contact 20 and has the same shape regardless of whether it is a male or female type. The contact 20 comprises male 21 and female 22 contacts communicated with each other by a ground contact portion 23 that can be removed. The ground contact portion 23 is removed when the contact 20 is used for signals. The contact 20 is disposed in the housing 10 and used selectively for grounding or for signals. The housing 10 has a ground plane 13 and the grounding contact 10 is electrically connected to the ground plane 13. When the electric connectors 50 are fitted together, either the grounding male 21 and female 22 contacts that are coplanar with each other, or the ground plane 13, is positioned between the signal contacts to prevent crosstalk.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electrical connector, and more particularly to an electrical connector for electrically connecting stacked printed circuit boards to each other and a contact used therein.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a computer-related device, it is desirable to arrange various electronic devices by effectively utilizing a narrow space. In such a case, it is effective to arrange a printed circuit board in a stacking structure. Is. The stacking structure of the printed circuit board enables effective use of space and addition of circuits as needed. Electrical connectors are often used to connect stacked printed circuit boards.

[0003]

On the other hand, electronic devices arranged on a printed circuit board have recently tended to be miniaturized and to operate at high speed, and the above-mentioned electrical connector has been dealt with.

That is, as the number of electronic devices on a printed circuit board increases and the number of wirings increases with the downsizing of electronic devices, it is required that the electrical connector has a greater number of poles. There is also a demand for downsizing the electrical connector itself in order to raise it. Therefore, a multi-pole small-sized electrical connector in which contacts are arranged at a narrow pitch is desired.

In addition, as electronic devices operate at higher speed, it is necessary for the electrical connector to have sufficient impedance matching and crosstalk prevention functions for reliable transmission of electrical signals. The anti-crosstalk function is especially required for narrow pitch electrical connectors.

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided a male housing portion for accommodating a male contact, a female housing portion for accommodating a female contact having a shape capable of being fitted at a position substantially coplanar with the male contact, A housing having a grounding surface formed on a side surface of the female housing portion, wherein the male contact and the female contact are separate signal contacts, and an integral grounding contact interconnected with and in contact with the grounding surface. An object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector having:

Further, according to the present invention, a male contact formed in a plate shape is engaged with the male contact in a substantially coplanar positional relationship,
A female contact formed to be electrically contactable with a side edge of the male contact; and a removable ground contact portion for connecting the female contact and the male contact in the same direction at an intermediate position. However, the grounding contact portion has a grounding contact arm that extends substantially in the same direction as the male contact and the female contact and has elasticity in the lateral direction.

The electrical connector of the present invention includes a housing and contacts, and is formed to be hermaphroditic.

The contacts used in the electrical connector of the present invention are integrally formed by connecting a male contact and a female contact that can be fitted to each other by a removable ground contact portion. If the contact is used for grounding, leave the ground contact part, and if it is arranged for signal, remove it. When the male contact and the female contact are fitted together, they are formed so as to form a plate-shaped conductive surface in a substantially coplanar positional relationship.

The housing includes a male housing portion for housing male contacts, a female housing portion for housing female contacts,
It has a conductive ground plane formed on a side surface of the female housing section and a contact plane continuous with the ground plane and electrically connected to the ground contact section of the contact. The ground contact portion of the above-mentioned ground contact may be electrically connected to the ground surface via the contact surface.

The contacts are selectively arranged in the housing for grounding and for signals, and the grounding contact or the grounding surface is arranged between the signal contacts when mating.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A preferred embodiment of the electrical connector and contact of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a preferred embodiment of an electrical connector 50.
Housing 10 and contacts housed in housing 10
One of the 20 is shown in perspective view. The electrical connector is hermaphroditic.

The housing 10 comprises a male housing portion 11 and a female housing portion 12 which are integrally formed. Male housing part
The base 11 has a base 18 and a protrusion 19 that protrudes in the height direction from the base 18 and extends in the lateral direction. The protrusion 19 has a cavity 14 for accommodating the male contact 21 therein. On the other hand, the female housing portion 12 is formed in a substantially box shape and has an opening 16 for receiving the male housing portion 11 of the mating electrical connector. A cavity 15 in which a female contact 22 is arranged is formed in the opening 16. The top surface of the housing 10 has guide surfaces 17a, 17b, 17 for smooth mating with the mating electrical connector.
c is formed as shown. Furthermore, the side surface 13 of the housing 10
A ground plane 13 is formed by arranging a conductive plane integrally formed by a mold plating (mold plating) method or the like or a separate conductive plate or the like. Ground plane as described below
13 is continuous with the conductive surface (contact surface) in the ground contact surface cavity.

The contact 20 is formed by integrally forming a male contact 21 and a female contact 22. Male contact as shown
21 and female contact 22 can be cut and removed to make ground contact 23
Be contacted by. As will be described below, the ground contact 23 is removed when the contact 20 is used for signaling. The ground contact portion 23 has an arm 25 between the ground contact surfaces. The arms 25 are formed so as to face each other across the slot, and are elastically bendable in the facing direction.

The male contact 21 is formed in the shape of a tab, and has a contact portion 29 for contacting the mating female contact at the side edge and a convex portion 26 for supporting the contact at the top edge. Male contact 21
Has a leg 28 at the opposite end of the contact 29 which is connected to a conductive pad on the printed circuit board. Press-fitting portions 27 are formed on both side edges below the contact portion 29. The press-fitting part 27 supports the male contact 21 in the cavity 14.

The female contact 22 is a tab-shaped male contact 21.
Has a pair of opposed arms 24 formed in a generally fork shape to receive the. When engaged with the male contact 21, each arm 24 can make electrical contact with the contact portion 29 of the male contact 21. Further, the female contact 22 has a leg portion 28 and a press-fitting portion 27 which are substantially similar in shape to those of the male contact 21.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing the contact 20 arranged in the housing 10. 2 (a) shows the contact 20
Fig. 2 shows the case where the ground is used for grounding (grounding arrangement 35).
(B) shows the case where the contact 20 is used for signals (signal arrangement 36).

According to FIG. 2 (a), the male contact 21a and the female contact 22a are the male housing 11 and the female housing 12, respectively.
And is supported within each cavity 14, 15 by a press fit 27. As shown, the legs 28 extend out of the housing. The cavity 14 that receives the male contact 21 has a recess 30 having a shape corresponding to the protrusion 26.

As shown in FIG. 2A, the ground contact portion 23 is arranged in the ground contact surface cavity 31 of the housing 10. The inner surface (contact surface) 34 of the ground contact cavity 31 has conductivity and is continuous with the ground surface 13. That is, the inner surface 34 can be formed in the same manner as the ground surface 13. Ground contact arm of ground contact 23
25 makes elastic contact with the inner surface 34 of the cavity 31 and the contact 20
An electrical connection is established between the ground and the ground 13.

On the other hand, according to the signal arrangement 35 shown in FIG. 2B, the ground contact portion 23 is removed, the male contact 21 and the female contact 22 are electrically independent from each other, and they are further separated from the ground plane 13. Becomes independent. That is, each contact can transmit an independent signal.

The grounding arrangement 35 and the signal arrangement 36 of the contact 10 shown in FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b) respectively correspond to the housing 10.
Can be selectively placed within. According to FIG. 3, in the preferred embodiment, the grounding arrangements 35 and the signal arrangements 36 are arranged alternately. This reduces crosstalk between contacts arranged for signals that transmit independent signals as described later. Also,
As shown in the figure, at the time of fitting, sufficient impedance matching is ensured between the signal contacts located at opposite positions with the ground plane 13 sandwiched therebetween, that is, between 21b, 22b 'and 22b, 21b', and signal reflection, Attenuation is reduced.

FIG. 4 shows a fitted state of the electric connector 50. The cross-sectional view of FIG. 4A is in the grounding arrangement 35. Since the electrical connector 50 is formed in the hermaphroditic shape, it fits with the electrical connector 50 'of the same type. At this time, as shown in the figure, the male contact 21a is fitted with the female contact 22a of the mating electrical connector 50 ', and the female contact 22a is replaced with the male contact 21a.
Mates with a. The male contact 21a is sandwiched between a pair of arms 24 of the female contact 22a, and has a substantially coplanar positional relationship with the female contact 22a. Female contact 22a is male contact
21a is housed between the arms 24, and is also in a substantially coplanar positional relationship. On the other hand, the ground contact arms 25 and 25 'are shown in FIG.
Since the ground planes 13 and 13 'that extend in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface are electrically connected through the cavity inner surfaces 34 and 34', the contact plate surface extends in the direction perpendicular to the ground planes 13 and 13 '. Function as.

FIG. 4B shows the fitting of the contacts of the signal arrangement 36. The fitting relationship between the male contacts 21b and 21b 'and the female contacts 22b' and 22b is the same as that shown in FIG. However, the mating contact set 21b
, 22b 'and 21b', 22b carry independent signals.
According to the arrangement of FIG. 3, when the electrical connectors 50, 50 'are engaged, the ground plane 13 and the ground planes formed by the contacts 21a, 22a, 22a', 21a 'are the signal contacts 21b, 22b', 22b, 21b.
Since it is located between b ', crosstalk between each signal path is prevented.

The preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described above, but this is merely an example, and various modifications and changes can be made by those skilled in the art. For example, the ground plane 13 may be formed on the entire outer surface of the female housing 12 to serve as an additional crosstalk prevention or shield. In this case, the shape of the female housing 12 can be appropriately changed.

[0026]

The electrical connector of the present invention is formed into a hermaphroditic shape, and the same contact is used for grounding or for signalling, and the grounding contact and the grounding surface provided on the housing are substantially grid-shaped when mating. And arranged to place a ground plane between the signal contacts.

Further, the contact of the present invention is formed in a substantially plate shape, and a ground contact portion formed so that a male contact and a female contact that can be fitted to each other can be removed is connected, and the contact is grounded or signaled. Can be used for. Further, the male contact and the female contact of the contact of the present invention are located in a coplanar positional relationship, and can form a plate-shaped conductive surface.

Therefore, the ground contact and the signal contact can be selectively arranged in the electric connector housing of the present invention, and the crosstalk between the signal contacts at the time of fitting can be sufficiently reduced. In addition, because it has impedance matching, it enables high-speed signal transmission despite its small size.

Further, the electrical connector of the present invention is formed in a hermaphroditic shape, and one type of contact can be used for grounding and signals, and the number of parts is small, which is economical.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a housing and one contact of an electric connector according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a cross-sectional view of the electrical connector of FIG. (A) shows a position arranged for grounding, and (b) shows a position arranged between signals.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the electric connector of FIG. An example of a contact arrangement is shown.

4 is a cross-sectional view showing a fitted state of the electric connector of FIG.
(A) shows the position arranged for grounding, and (b) shows the position arranged for signals.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Housing 11 Male housing part 12 Female housing part 13 Ground plane 20 Contact 21 Male contact 22 Female contact 23 Ground contact part 25 Ground contact arm

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A male housing portion for accommodating a male contact, a female housing portion for accommodating a female contact having a shape that can be fitted at a position substantially coplanar with the male contact, and a side surface of the female housing portion. A housing having a grounding surface, the male contact and the female contact each having a separate signal contact, and an integral grounding contact connected to each other and in contact with the grounding surface. Electrical connector. 2. A plate-shaped male contact, and a female contact that engages with the male contact in a substantially coplanar positional relationship and is formed so as to be able to electrically contact a side edge of the male contact. A removable ground contact portion that connects the female contact and the male contact at an intermediate position in the same direction, and the ground contact portion is in substantially the same direction as the male contact and the female contact. A contact for an electric connector, which has a ground contact arm that extends and has elasticity in the lateral direction.