Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
  • H01R—ELECTRICALLY-CONDUCTIVE CONNECTIONS; STRUCTURAL ASSOCIATIONS OF A PLURALITY OF MUTUALLY-INSULATED ELECTRICAL CONNECTING ELEMENTS; COUPLING DEVICES; CURRENT COLLECTORS
  • H01R12/00—Structural associations of a plurality of mutually-insulated electrical connecting elements, specially adapted for printed circuits, e.g. printed circuit boards [PCB], flat or ribbon cables, or like generally planar structures, e.g. terminal strips, terminal blocks; Coupling devices specially adapted for printed circuits, flat or ribbon cables, or like generally planar structures; Terminals specially adapted for contact with, or insertion into, printed circuits, flat or ribbon cables, or like generally planar structures
  • H01R12/70—Coupling devices
  • H01R12/71—Coupling devices for rigid printing circuits or like structures
  • H01R12/72—Coupling devices for rigid printing circuits or like structures coupling with the edge of the rigid printed circuits or like structures
  • H01R12/73—Coupling devices for rigid printing circuits or like structures coupling with the edge of the rigid printed circuits or like structures connecting to other rigid printed circuits or like structures
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
  • H01R—ELECTRICALLY-CONDUCTIVE CONNECTIONS; STRUCTURAL ASSOCIATIONS OF A PLURALITY OF MUTUALLY-INSULATED ELECTRICAL CONNECTING ELEMENTS; COUPLING DEVICES; CURRENT COLLECTORS
  • H01R13/00—Details of coupling devices of the kinds covered by groups H01R12/70 or H01R24/00 - H01R33/00
  • H01R13/02—Contact members
  • H01R13/28—Contacts for sliding cooperation with identically-shaped contact, e.g. for hermaphroditic coupling devices
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
  • H01R—ELECTRICALLY-CONDUCTIVE CONNECTIONS; STRUCTURAL ASSOCIATIONS OF A PLURALITY OF MUTUALLY-INSULATED ELECTRICAL CONNECTING ELEMENTS; COUPLING DEVICES; CURRENT COLLECTORS
  • H01R24/00—Two-part coupling devices, or either of their cooperating parts, characterised by their overall structure
  • H01R24/84—Hermaphroditic coupling devices

Definitions

• This invention relates to electrical connectors and contacts used therein, especially to those which are used for connecting stacked circuit boards.
• Stacking is a method of arranging circuit boards when it is required to effectively place various types of electronic circuitry in tight places, such as, for example, in computer-related equipment.
• the stacking of circuit boards makes it possible to effectively use available space and to insert additional boards as it may be required in the future.
• electrical connectors are used for the connection of stacked circuit boards. There exists an urgent need to match the developments in electrical connectors with the recent trends of miniaturization and an increase in speed of operation of electronic components mounted on circuit boards.
• This invention offers an electrical connector that comprises a housing having a male housing section containing male contacts and a female housing section containing female contacts which are located practically in the same plane as the male contacts, and having a grounding surface provided on one side of the female housing section, and that male contacts and female contacts can form signal contacts when they are separated from each other and grounding contacts when they are joined together and connected to a grounding surface.
• This invention also offers a contact for an electrical connector that comprises a male contact in the form of a flat plate, a female contact that is located in the same plane as the male contact, a removable grounding contact section disposed between the female contact and male contact and oriented in the same direction as the female and male contacts, and by the fact that the grounding contact section has contacting arms extending in the same direction as the male and female contacts and having resilience in a transverse direction.
• the housings and contacts have the same configuration for both female and male contacts.
• the contacts used in the electrical connectors according to this invention are made as an integral piece comprising a male contact and a female contact which can be joined together and which are connected by a removable grounding contact section. If the contact is used as a grounding terminal, the grounding contact section is left intact, if the contact is used as a signal terminal, the grounding contact section is removed.
• the male and female contacts are of such a configuration that in a joined condition, they form a conducting flat plate.
• the housing includes a male housing section containing male contacts, a female housing section containing female contacts, a conductive grounding surface formed on a side of the female housing section and a contacting surface connected to the grounding surface which forms electrical contact with the ground contacting section of the contact.
• the ground contacting section of the contact is electrically connected to the grounding surface by means of the contacting surface.
• the contacts are selectively arranged as either grounding contacts or signal contacts so that at the time of connection, signal contacts are located between the grounding contacts and the grounding surfaces.
• Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view of the housing and one contact of the electrical connector according to the preferred embodiment of this invention.
• Figure 2 is a cross sectional view of the electrical connector shown in Fig. 1. showing the location of a grounding arrangement.
• Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 showing a signa1 arrangement.
• Figure 4 is a top plan view of the electrical connector shown in Fig. 1 whereby an example of contact arrangement is shown.
• Figure 5 is a cross sectional showing the connector shown in Fig. 1 in a connected state at the location of a grounding arrangement.
• Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 5 at the location of a signal arrangement.
• Figure 1 is perspective view showing housing 10 of the electrical connector 50 according to the preferred embodiment and one contact 20 for insertion in the housing 10.
• the electrical connector is of such configuration that it can be used as either a male or a female connector.
• the housing 10 includes a male housing section 11 and a female housing section 12, and it is molded as an integral piece from a suitable dielectric material.
• the male housing section 11 has a base 18 and a protrusion 19 extending upward from the base 19 and laterally along the base. Inside the protrusion 19, cavities 14 are provided for the insertion of male contacts 21.
• the female housing section is configured as a box-like structure, and it has an opening 16 for the insertion of the male housing section 11 of a matching connector. Inside the opening 16, cavities 15 are provided for the insertion of female contacts 22.
• guiding surfaces 17a, 17b and 17c are provided for a smooth connection with a matching connector.
• the side surface 13 of the housing 10 is made conductive by a known plating method or by adding a separate sheet of a conductive material, thus forming a grounding surface 13.
• the grounding surface 13 is connected to a conductive surface located inside the cavity of the ground contacting surface.
• Contacts 20 are made as an integral contact comprising a male contact 21 and a female contact 22.
• the male contact 21 and the female contact 22 are joined by a ground contacting section 23 which can be removed.
• the ground contacting section 23 is removed.
• the ground contacting section 23 has arms 25 fitting within the ground contacting surface. Arms 25 are separated by a slot, thus making them resilient in a transversal direction.
• the male contact 21 is made in the form of a tab having a contacting section 29 whose edges are engaged with a matching female contact, and a protrusion 26 at the top.
• a leg 28 is provided at the end opposite to the contacting section 29 of the male contact 21, for connection of the contact 21 to a conductive pad located on the surface of a circuit board.
• press-in lugs 27 are provided below the contacting section 29, for the retention of contacts 21 in the cavity 14.
• the female contact 22 has a pair of arms 24 forming a fork-like receptacle for the tab-shaped male contact 21.
• the female contact 22 When the female contact 22 is engaged with a male contact 21, its arms 24 form an electrical connection with the contacting section 29 of the male contact 21.
• leg 28 and press-in lugs 27 are provided which are similar to those of the male contact 21.
• Fig. 2 is a cross section of the contact 20 placed inside the housing 10.
• Fig. 2 illustrates a case when the contact 20 is used as the grounding contact forming a grounding connection 35 (see Fig. 5)
• Fig. 3 illustrates a case when the contact 20 is used as a signal contact forming a signal connection 36 (see Fig 6).
• the male contact 21a and female contact 22a are placed respectively in the male housing 11 and the female housing 12 and retained in the cavities 14 and 15 by means of press-in lugs 27.
• contact legs 28 extend to the outside of the housing.
• a depression 30 is provided in the cavity 14 for the male contact 21, to accommodate the protrusion 26.
• the ground contacting section 23 is located in the cavity 31 as part of the ground contacting surface 13 of the housing 10.
• the inside contacting surface 34 of the cavity 31 of the ground contacting surface are conductive and connected to the grounding surface 13.
• the inside surface 34 can be made by the same method as the grounding surface 13.
• the ground contacting arms 25 of the ground contacting section 23 resiliently engage the inside surface 34 of the cavity 31, thus making an electrical connection of the contact 20 to the grounding surface 13.
• the ground contacting section 23 is removed, and the male contact 21b and the female contact 22b are rendered electrically independent from each other, as well as from the grounding surface 13. This makes it possible for each contact to carry independent signals.
• grounding arrangement 35 and the signal arrangement 36 of the contacts 20 shown in Figs. 2 and 3 can be freely selected inside the housing 10.
• the grounding arrangement 35 and the signal arrangement 36 are arranged in an alternate pattern. As it will be explained below, such an arrangement, makes it possible to reduce cross-talk between the signal contacts transmitting independent signals. It can be also seen that when two connectors are joined together, the signal contacts are separated by the grounding surface 13, which makes it possible to match impedance between contacts 21b and 22b' and 22b and 21b', thus reducing signal reflection and attenuation.
• Fig. 5 represents electrical connectors 50 in a connected state.
• Fig. 5 is a cross-section at the location of the grounding arrangement 35. Since the same electrical connector 50 is used as the male and female connector, it can be connected with an electrical connector 50' of the same type.
• the male contact 21a becomes engaged with the female contact 22a' of the electrical connector 50'
• the female contact 22a becomes engaged with the male contact 21a' .
• the male contact 21a' rests between and is engaged by the arms 24 of the female contact 22a', and it is located in approximately the same plane as the female contact 22a'.
• the female contact 22a retains the male contact 21a' between the arms 24, and it is also in the same plane as the male contact 21a.
• grounding connecting arms 25 and 25' can spread in the direction perpendicular to the grounding surfaces 13 and 13' which extend in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the drawing shown in Fig. 5, they form electrical contact with the inside surfaces 34 and 34' of the cavities, thus performing the grounding function of the contacts.
• Fig. 6 illustrates engagement of the contacts of the signal arrangement 36.
• Male contacts 21b and 21b' are engaged with female contacts 22b and 22b' in the same manner as in Fig. 5.
• mutually connected groups of contacts 21b and 22b', and 21b' and 22b transmit independent signals.
• the signal contacts 21b, 22b' and 22b, 21b' become enclosed between the grounding surfaces 13, 13' and the contacts 21a, 22a, 22a' and 21a', thus preventing cross-talk between all signal paths.
• the grounding surface 13 may be made in such a way that it surrounds the female housing 12 on all sides, thus performing the function of both shielding and cross-talk prevention. In such a case, the configuration of the female housing 12 may be modified.
• Both the male and the female halves of the electrical connector according to this invention are of the same configuration, and the contacts of the same configuration are used for both the grounding contacts and the signal contacts.
• the grounding contacts and the grounding surfaces on the housing form a kind of a grid surrounding the signal contacts.
• the contacts according to this invention are stamped from a metal sheet material and comprise a male contact section, female contact section and a removable ground contacting section.
• the contacts of the same configuration can be used for grounding contacts and for the signal contacts.
• the male and female contacts according to this invention are situated in the same plane and form a plate-shaped conductor.
• the grounding contacts and the signal contacts can be selectively arranged inside the housing of the electrical connector according to this invention, and, in the connected state, the cross-talk between the signal contacts can be substantially decreased.
• the impedance matching can be easily achieved, thus the connectors can be made small without impairing signal transmission rate.
• both the male and female connectors can be molded in the same mold while one type of contact is used for both the grounding and signal contacts, thereby increasing the economic effect of the invention due to the reduction of required parts.

Landscapes

• Details Of Connecting Devices For Male And Female Coupling (AREA)
• Coupling Device And Connection With Printed Circuit (AREA)

Priority Applications (1)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=15281614

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (4)

Cited By (3)

Families Citing this family (5)

Citations (4)

• 1994
  • 1994-05-31 JP JP6140991A patent/JPH07326430A/ja active Pending
  • 1994-12-05 TW TW083111290A patent/TW272328B/zh active
• 1995
  • 1995-04-27 AU AU23666/95A patent/AU2366695A/en not_active Abandoned
  • 1995-04-27 WO PCT/US1995/005188 patent/WO1995033290A1/en active Application Filing

Patent Citations (4)

Also Published As

Similar Documents

Legal Events