TWM680655U - Floating connector - Google Patents

Abstract

This invention provides a floating connector. The floating connector includes a fixed housing, a movable housing, a shielding component, and two contact assembly assemblies. The movable housing has a mating portion that engages with a mating connector in a first direction, and the movable housing is mounted to the fixed housing in a manner that allows it to move relative to the fixed housing in a plane perpendicular to the first direction. Each contact assembly includes an insulating retaining component and a plurality of contacts, each contact including: a welded portion, a first retaining portion, a spring portion, a second retaining portion, and a contact portion. The first retaining portion is held by the fixed housing, and the second retaining portion is held by the insulating retaining component. The insulation retaining member is fixed to the movable housing, allowing it to move relative to the fixed housing along with the movable housing. The shielding member can be fixed to the contact assembly or positioned between two contact assemblies to improve electromagnetic interference and suppress noise.

Description

Floating connector

This invention relates to a floating connector, and more particularly to a floating connector suitable for establishing an electrical connection between two circuit boards spaced far apart.

Taiwanese utility model patent M658115 (hereinafter referred to as "Patent 1") discloses a floating connector for establishing electrical connections between circuit boards. In Patent 1, one end of a signal contact is fixed to a first housing (i.e., a fixed housing) by an interference fit, while the other end of the signal contact is fixed to a second housing (i.e., a movable housing) by an interference fit. In this floating connector, to increase the mating height (i.e., the distance between two parallel circuit boards), the height of the first or second housing is increased, resulting in a longer contact receiving groove formed in the first or second housing. This makes the first or second housing difficult to manufacture.

One of the objectives of this invention is to provide a floating connector that can absorb errors in the installation position of the connected object.

Another object of this invention is to provide a floating connector suitable for establishing an electrical connection between two circuit boards spaced far apart.

Another objective of this invention is to provide a floating connector with good shielding performance.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a floating connector is provided, comprising a fixed housing, a movable housing, and two contact assemblies. The movable housing has a mating portion that engages with a mating connector in a first direction. The movable housing is mounted to the fixed housing in a manner that allows it to move relative to the fixed housing in a plane perpendicular to the first direction. Each contact assembly includes an insulating retaining member and a plurality of contacts held by the insulating retaining member. The plurality of contacts are made of conductive material and arranged at predetermined intervals in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction. Each contact includes a welding portion, a first retaining portion, a spring portion, a second retaining portion, and a contact portion. The first retaining portion is held by the fixed housing, and the second retaining portion is held by the insulating retaining member. The first retaining portion continues from the welded portion, and the spring portion connects the first retaining portion and the second retaining portion. The contact portion continues from the second retaining portion and is positioned at the mating portion. The insulating retaining member covers the second retaining portion of each contact member in each of the two contact member assemblies. The insulating retaining member is fixed to the movable housing, allowing it to move relative to the fixed housing along with the movable housing. Each contact assembly has a shielding component disposed on the side of the insulation retaining component opposite to the other contact assembly.

According to the present invention, the movable housing has a receiving opening opposite to the mating portion, the receiving opening being configured to allow the insulating retaining member to be inserted into and secured in the receiving opening along the first direction.

According to the present invention, the insulating retaining member is formed with a plurality of guide rails extending along the first direction, and the movable shell is formed with a plurality of guide grooves extending along the first direction on the inner wall surface of the receiving opening, the plurality of guide grooves corresponding to the plurality of guide rails.

According to the present invention, the shielding component is isolated from the ground potential.

According to the present invention, the insulating retaining components and the contacts are integrally formed by insert molding.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a floating connector is provided, comprising a fixed housing, a movable housing, a shielding component, and two contact assemblies. The movable housing has a mating portion that engages with a mating connector in a first direction. The movable housing is mounted to the fixed housing in a manner that allows it to move relative to the fixed housing in a plane perpendicular to the first direction. Each contact assembly includes an insulating retaining component and a plurality of contacts held by the insulating retaining component. The plurality of contacts are made of conductive material and arranged at predetermined intervals in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction. Each contact includes a welding portion, a first retaining portion, a spring portion, a second retaining portion, and a contact portion. The first retaining portion is held by the fixed housing, and the second retaining portion is held by the insulating retaining member. The first retaining portion extends from the welded portion, and the spring portion connects the first retaining portion and the second retaining portion. The contact portion extends from the second retaining portion and is positioned in the mating portion. The insulating retaining member covers the second retaining portion of each contact of each contact assembly in the two contact assembly assemblies. The insulating retaining member is fixed to the movable housing, so that the insulating retaining member can move relative to the fixed housing along with the movable housing. The shielding member is disposed between the insulating retaining members of the two contact assembly assemblies.

According to the present invention, the movable housing has a receiving opening opposite to the mating portion, the receiving opening being configured to allow the insulating retaining member to be inserted into and secured in the receiving opening along the first direction.

According to the present invention, the insulating retaining member is formed with a plurality of guide rails extending along the first direction, and the movable shell is formed with a plurality of guide grooves extending along the first direction on the inner wall surface of the receiving opening, the plurality of guide grooves corresponding to the plurality of guide rails.

According to the present invention, the shielding component is isolated from the ground potential.

According to the present invention, the insulating retaining components and the contacts are integrally formed by insert molding.

According to the present invention, the contact is combined with an insulating retaining member, which is then assembled to the movable housing. Therefore, it is not necessary to form a long contact receiving groove on the movable housing, and the manufacturing difficulty of the movable housing is not increased.

Furthermore, even when the mating height exceeds 40mm, electrical connections between circuit boards can be achieved using the floating connector according to this invention.

Those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains will be able to best understand the technical features, other purposes and advantages of this invention by referring to the description and accompanying drawings.

The floating connector of this invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, the same elements or elements having the same function are indicated by the same element symbols. The drawings are not drawn to scale.

[First Implementation Example]

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the floating connector according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view of the floating connector according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Referring to Figures 1 and 2, the constituent elements of the floating connector of the first embodiment of the present invention are explained. The entire floating connector of the first embodiment of the present invention is indicated by component symbol 10.

In the first embodiment, the floating connector 10 is specifically implemented as a plug connector, but is not limited thereto. The floating connector according to the present invention can also be specifically implemented as a socket connector.

As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the floating connector 10 includes a fixed housing 11, a movable housing 12, four power contacts 14, two metal fittings 15, two shielding components 17, and two contact assemblies CA. Each contact assembly CA is composed of an insulating retaining component 16 and a plurality of contacts 13. The contacts 13 may include a plurality of grounding contacts and a plurality of signal contacts.

The movable shell 12 is mounted to the fixed shell 11 in a manner that allows it to move relative to the fixed shell 11 in a plane perpendicular to the first direction D1. The fixed shell 11 has a receiving groove 110 for receiving a portion of the movable shell 12. The dimensions of the receiving groove 110 are set to allow the movable shell 12 to move relative to the fixed shell 11 in a plane perpendicular to the first direction D1. In other words, there is a certain gap between the inner peripheral surface of the receiving groove 110 of the fixed shell 11 and the outer peripheral surface of the lower part of the movable shell 12.

To prevent the movable shell 12 from detaching from the receiving slot 110 of the fixed shell 11, two limiting protrusions 122 are formed at opposite ends of the movable shell 12. Two U-shaped metal fittings 15 are respectively fitted at the two ends of the fixed shell 11 to block the movement of the limiting protrusions 122 of the movable shell 12 in the first direction D1, thereby preventing the movable shell 12 from detaching from the receiving slot 110 of the fixed shell 11. In this way, the movable shell 12 is restricted to move only relative to the fixed shell 11 in a plane perpendicular to the first direction D1. Furthermore, the range of movement of the movable shell 12 can be set by the limiting protrusions 122.

The movable housing 12 has a mating portion 120 that engages with a mating connector (not shown) in a first direction D1. In the mating portion 120, a tongue 121 is formed for engaging with the female mating portion of the mating connector (socket connector).

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view along line AA of the floating connector according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figure 3, one end of the contact 13 is held by the fixed housing 11, and the other end of the contact 13 is held by the insulating retaining member 16. Unlike conventional floating connectors, in the floating connector according to an embodiment of the present invention, the movable housing 12 does not directly hold the contact 13. Therefore, there is no need to form a long contact receiving groove in the movable housing 12, which can greatly reduce the manufacturing difficulty of the movable housing 12.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of two contact assemblies CA of the floating connector of the first embodiment of the present invention, close to each other. Each contact assembly CA includes a plurality of contacts 13 and insulating retaining members 16. The contacts 13 are arranged at a predetermined spacing in a second direction D2 perpendicular to the first direction D1. The insulating retaining members 16 are integrally formed with the contacts 13 by insert molding, such that the insulating retaining members 16 retain the contacts 13 at the predetermined spacing and cover a portion of each contact 13. Each contact assembly CA is provided with a shielding member 17 on the side of the insulating retaining member 16 facing away from the other contact assembly CA. The shielding component 17 is made of a conductive material (such as stainless steel).

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the two contact assemblies CA of the floating connector of the first embodiment of the present invention separated from each other. In Figure 5, the shielding member 17 is detached from its respective contact assembly CA. As shown in Figure 5, the insulation retaining member 16 is formed with a plurality of guide rails 161 extending along a first direction D1. The guide rails 161 are used to guide the insulation retaining member 16 into the movable housing 12. The insulation retaining member 16 is formed with an engaging protrusion 162. The shielding member 17 is formed with a plurality of spring arms 171, and each has a fastening portion 172 at both ends. The spring arms 171 are formed corresponding to the grounding contacts in the contacts 13. The insulation retaining member 16 has protrusions 163 formed on each of its two sides. The shielding member 17 is securely fixed to the insulation retaining member 16 by engaging the fastening portion 172 of the shielding member 17 with the protrusions 163. The spring arm 171 is biased toward the contact 13 (grounding contact) but does not contact the contact 13 (grounding contact), thus isolating the shielding member 17 from the grounding potential. The distance between the shielding member 17 and the grounding contact can be adjusted using the spring arm 171.

Figure 6 is a perspective view of the contact 13. The contact 13 includes: a soldering portion 131, a first holding portion 132, a spring portion 133, a second holding portion 134, and a contact portion 135. The contact 13 is made of a conductive material (e.g., copper or copper alloy). The first holding portion 132 extends from the soldering portion 131, the spring portion 133 connects the first holding portion 132 and the second holding portion 134, and the contact portion 135 extends from the second holding portion 134 and is positioned in the fitting portion 120. The soldering portion 131 is fixed to the printed circuit board by soldering. The first holding portion 132 has a barbed structure and is fixed to the fixing housing 11 by interference fit and is held by the fixing housing 11. The insulating retaining member 16 covers the second retaining portion 134 of the contact 13 by insert molding, so that the second retaining portion 134 of the contact 13 is held by the insulating retaining member 16. The contact portion 135 will be positioned on the tongue 121 so as to make electrical contact with the contact portion of the contact of the mating connector when the floating connector 10 and the mating connector are mated.

According to this novel floating connector, the second retaining portion 134 of the contact 13 is not fixed to the insulating retaining member by means of interference fit, therefore, it is not necessary to form a barb structure in the second retaining portion 134 of the contact 13. This suppresses changes in the conductor width along the current path. In the case of transmitting high-frequency signals, signal reflection can be reduced, preventing signal distortion.

Figure 7 is a perspective view of the power contact 14. To transmit a larger current, each power contact 14 is made wider than the contact 13. The power contact 14 is made of a conductive material (e.g., copper or copper alloy). The power contact 14 has a power-side solder portion 141, a first power-side holding portion 142, a power-side spring portion 143, a second power-side holding portion 144, and a power-side contact portion 145.

The first power-side retaining portion 142 extends from the power-side soldering portion 141. The power-side spring portion 143 connects the first power-side retaining portion 142 and the second power-side retaining portion 144. The power-side contact portion 145 extends from the second power-side retaining portion 144. The power-side soldering portion 141 is fixed to the printed circuit board by soldering. The first power-side retaining portion 142 has a barbed structure and is fixed to the fixed housing 11 by interference fit and is held by the fixed housing 11. Unlike the contact 13, the second power-side retaining portion 144 is fixed to the movable housing 12 by interference fit and is directly held by the movable housing 12. In order to facilitate the elastic deformation of the power contact 14, an elongated narrow slit is formed in the power-side spring portion 143. The power-side contact portion 145 will be positioned on the tongue 121.

The power contact is optional. If there is no need to transmit a large current, the floating connector according to this invention may not be equipped with a power contact.

Figure 8 is a bottom view of the movable housing 12 along the first direction D1. Figure 9 is a schematic diagram showing the insulating retaining member 16 assembled toward the movable housing 12 along the first direction D1. For clarity, the contact member 13 integrally formed with the insulating retaining member 16 is not shown in Figure 9.

The bottom surface of the movable housing 12 has a receiving opening 124 for receiving the insulation retaining member 16. The inner wall surface of the receiving opening 124 has a plurality of guide grooves 125 extending along a first direction D1, which correspond to guide rails 161 formed on the insulation retaining member 16. By means of the matching between the guide grooves 125 and the guide rails 161, the insulation retaining member 16 is ensured to align with the receiving opening 124 formed on the bottom of the movable housing 12 in the first direction D1, and then inserted into the receiving opening 124 along the first direction D1.

[Second Implementation Example]

Figure 10 is an exploded perspective view of the floating connector according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The floating connector of the second embodiment is almost identical in appearance to the floating connector of the first embodiment; the main difference between the two lies only in the insulation retention component and the shielding component. Therefore, the description of the same or similar configurations in the second embodiment as in the first embodiment is omitted.

According to a second embodiment of the present invention, the floating connector 10 includes a fixed housing 11, a movable housing 12, four power contacts 14, two metal fittings 15, a shielding component 18 (shown in FIG. 12), and two contact assemblies CA. Each contact assembly CA is composed of an insulating retaining component 16 and a plurality of contacts 13. The fixed housing 11, movable housing 12, power contacts 14, metal fittings 15, and contacts 13 of the floating connector in the second embodiment are interchangeable with those in the first embodiment.

Figure 11 is a perspective view of the two contact assembly CAs of the floating connector of the second embodiment of the present invention, wherein the two contact assembly CAs are interlocked. Figure 12 is a perspective view of the two contact assembly CAs of the floating connector of the second embodiment of the present invention separated from each other. Unlike the first embodiment, in the second embodiment, the shielding member 18 is disposed between the insulating retaining members 16 of the two contact assembly CAs.

According to the floating connector of the second embodiment, the insulation retaining member 16 has an engaging arm 164 formed at the upper edge of one side edge and the lower edge of the other side edge, and an engaging protrusion 165 formed at the lower edge of one side edge and the upper edge of the other side edge. The engaging arm 164 is configured to extend in a third direction D3 perpendicular to the first direction D1 and the second direction D2 and has an opening or notch, such that when the two insulation retaining members 16 approach each other, the engaging arm 164 of one insulation retaining member 16 engages with the engaging protrusion 165 of the other insulation retaining member 16. In this way, the insulation retaining components 16 of the two contact assembly CA can be fixed to each other.

The shielding component 18 is disposed between the insulating retaining components 16 of the two contact assemblies CA. To facilitate positioning of the shielding component 18, positioning holes are formed in the shielding component 18, and corresponding positioning pins are formed in the insulating retaining components 16. The shielding component 18 has a plurality of spring arms 181, some of which are biased in the opposite direction to others. Similarly, in the second embodiment, the shielding component 18 is electrically isolated from the ground potential.

Two floating connectors according to this invention can be configured as a floating plug connector and a floating socket connector, respectively. A floating connector assembly is formed by the floating plug connector and the floating socket connector. The floating plug connector and the floating socket connector are respectively mounted on a first circuit board and a second circuit board. The mating height H of the floating connector assembly (i.e., the distance between the first circuit board and the second circuit board) can reach 40 mm or more.

The advantage of using two floating connectors according to this invention to establish the electrical connection between the first and second circuit boards is that, because the positional error of the circuit boards is absorbed by the two floating connectors, the deformation of the contacts of individual floating connectors can be reduced. Therefore, the length of the spring portion of the contact of each floating connector can be further shortened. In other words, the area of the floating connector contacts exposed to the surrounding air is reduced, which is highly advantageous for transmitting high-frequency signals.

According to this invention, even if the shielding component is not grounded, electromagnetic interference can still be improved and noise suppressed by using a shielding component that is electrically isolated from the ground potential. Because it is not necessary to deliberately ground the shielding component or to ensure that the shielding plate component is grounded, fewer items need to be tested for the floating connector, making the manufacturing of the floating connector simpler and more reliable.

Although this invention has been described and demonstrated with reference to preferred embodiments, it should be understood that many variations and modifications are possible for those skilled in the art within the scope and spirit of this invention. Therefore, this invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but is based on the textual description in the appended claims. Any equivalent variations and modifications made without departing from the claims should still be considered within the scope of this invention.

10: Floating connector; 11: Fixed shell; 110: Receiving groove; 12: Movable shell; 120: Fitting part; 121: Tongue; 122: Limiting protrusion; 124: Receiving opening; 125: Guide groove; 13: Contact; 131: Welded part; 132: First holding part; 133: Spring part; 134: Second holding part; 135: Contact; 14: Power contact; 141: Power-side welded part; 142: First power-side holding part. 43: Power supply side spring part; 144: Second power supply side holding part; 145: Power supply side contact part; 15: Metal fitting; 16: Insulation holding component; 161: Guide rail; 162: Engaging protrusion; 164: Engaging arm; 165: Engaging protrusion; 17: Shielding component; 171: Spring arm; 172: Fastening part; 18: Shielding component; 181: Spring arm; CA: Contact assembly; D1: First direction; D2: Second direction; D3: Third direction.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the floating connector according to a first embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view of the floating connector according to a first embodiment of the present invention. Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of the floating connector according to a first embodiment of the present invention along line AA. Figure 4 is a perspective view of the two contact assemblies of the floating connector according to a first embodiment of the present invention, with them close to each other, wherein each contact assembly is equipped with a shielding member. Figure 5 is a perspective view of the two contact assemblies of the floating connector according to a first embodiment of the present invention, separated from each other, wherein the shielding member is removed from the contact assembly. Figure 6 is a perspective view of the contacts of the floating connector according to a first embodiment of the present invention. Figure 7 is a perspective view of the power contact of the floating connector according to a first embodiment of the present invention. Figure 8 is a bottom view of the movable housing of the floating connection according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Figure 9 is a schematic diagram showing the insulation retaining member assembled toward the movable housing along a first direction. Figure 10 is an exploded perspective view of the floating connector according to the second embodiment of the present invention. Figure 11 is a perspective view of the two contact assemblies of the floating connector of the second embodiment of the present invention, wherein the two contact assemblies are interlocked. Figure 12 is a perspective view of the two contact assemblies of the floating connector of the second embodiment of the present invention separated from each other, wherein a conductive shielding member is positioned between the two contact assemblies.

10: Floating Connector

11: Fixed Shell

110: Containment Container

12: Movable shell

120: Chimeric part

121: Tongue slice

122: Limiting bump

13: Contacts

14: Power Contacts

15: Metal Fittings

16: Insulation retention components

17: Shielding Components

CA: Contact Assembly

D1: First Direction

D2: Second Direction

D3: Third direction

Claims (10)

A floating connector includes a fixed housing, a movable housing, and two contact assemblies. The movable housing has a mating portion that engages with a mating connector in a first direction. The movable housing is mounted to the fixed housing in a manner that allows it to move relative to the fixed housing in a plane perpendicular to the first direction. Each contact assembly includes an insulating retaining member and a plurality of contacts held by the insulating retaining member. The plurality of contacts are made of conductive material and arranged at predetermined intervals in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction. Each contact includes a solder portion, a first retaining portion, a spring portion, a second retaining portion, and a contact portion. The first retaining portion is held by the fixed housing, and the second retaining portion is held by the insulating retaining member. The first retaining portion continues from the welded portion, and the spring portion connects the first retaining portion and the second retaining portion. The contact portion continues from the second retaining portion and is positioned at the mating portion. The insulating retaining member covers the second retaining portion of each contact member in each of the two contact member assemblies. The insulating retaining member is fixed to the movable housing, allowing it to move relative to the fixed housing along with the movable housing. Each contact assembly has a shielding component disposed on the side of the insulation retaining component opposite to the other contact assembly. The floating connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein the movable housing has a receiving opening opposite to the mating portion, the receiving opening being configured to allow the insulating retaining member to be inserted into and secured in the receiving opening along the first direction. The floating connector as described in claim 2, wherein the insulation retaining member is formed with a plurality of guide rails extending along the first direction, and the movable housing is formed with a plurality of guide grooves extending along the first direction on the inner wall surface of the receiving opening, the plurality of guide grooves corresponding to the plurality of guide rails. The floating connector as described in claim 1, wherein the shielding component is isolated from ground potential. The floating connector as described in any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the insulating retaining components and the contacts are integrally formed by insert molding. A floating connector includes a fixed housing, a movable housing, a shielding component, and two contact assemblies. The movable housing has a mating portion that engages with a mating connector in a first direction. The movable housing is mounted to the fixed housing in a manner that allows it to move relative to the fixed housing in a plane perpendicular to the first direction. Each contact assembly includes an insulating retaining component and a plurality of contacts held by the insulating retaining component. The plurality of contacts are made of conductive material and arranged at predetermined intervals in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction. Each contact includes a solder portion, a first retaining portion, a spring portion, a second retaining portion, and a contact portion. The first retaining portion is held by the fixed housing, and the second retaining portion is held by the insulating retaining member. The first retaining portion extends from the welded portion, and the spring portion connects the first retaining portion and the second retaining portion. The contact portion extends from the second retaining portion and is positioned in the mating portion. The insulating retaining member covers the second retaining portion of each contact of each contact assembly in the two contact assembly assemblies. The insulating retaining member is fixed to the movable housing, so that the insulating retaining member can move relative to the fixed housing along with the movable housing. The shielding member is disposed between the insulating retaining members of the two contact assembly assemblies. The floating connector as claimed in claim 6, wherein the movable housing has a receiving opening opposite to the mating portion, the receiving opening being configured to allow the insulating retaining member to be inserted into and secured in the receiving opening along the first direction. The floating connector as described in claim 7, wherein the insulation retaining member is formed with a plurality of guide rails extending along the first direction, and the movable housing is formed with a plurality of guide grooves extending along the first direction on the inner wall surface of the receiving opening, the plurality of guide grooves corresponding to the plurality of guide rails. The floating connector as described in claim 6, wherein the shielding component is isolated from ground potential. The floating connector as described in any of claims 6 to 9, wherein the insulating retaining components and the contacts are integrally formed by insert molding.