WO2017189303A2

WO2017189303A2 - Cable assembly for high data-rate capable system

Info

Publication number: WO2017189303A2
Application number: PCT/US2017/028362
Authority: WO
Inventors: Gregory FITZGERALD; JR. Dino L. MCLAUGHLIN; Bruce Reed
Original assignee: Molex LLC
Current assignee: Molex LLC
Priority date: 2016-04-19
Filing date: 2017-06-06
Publication date: 2017-11-02
Anticipated expiration: 2018-10-19
Also published as: WO2017189303A3; CN109392314A

Abstract

A cable assembly include a cable with at least two conductors. The cable assembly includes a housing with a row of terminals and each of the terminals includes a tail. The at least two conductors are angled and aligned with the tails so that they can be welded thereto. The cable is supported by a frame and one or two shields can be provided to support the frame. The shields can be support by the housing to strength the cable assembly.

Description

Cable Assembly for High Data-Rate Capable System RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims priority to US Provisional Application No. 62/324,712, filed April 19, 2016, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] This disclosure relates to the field of connectors, more specifically to connectors suitable for use in high data rate applications.

DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART

[0003] Connectors are often used to connect two circuit boards together. Certain connectors are provided in what can be referred to as a mezzanine style that facilitates mating two parallel circuit boards together. Such connectors can be formed so as to allow for small terminal sizes and can support relatively high data rates. An example of a known connector is depicted in Figs. 1-3. As can be appreciated, a connector 20 is configured to mate with a connector 30 and both connectors that are intended to be attached to a different circuit board, thus the two connectors 20, 30 allow two circuit boards to be mated together. As is typical, connector 30 includes a housing 32 that supports terminals 35 that include tails 35a that can be soldered to a circuit board and contacts 35b that can mate with contacts of the connector 20 (which is also similarly configured).

[0004] One issue that exists with mezzanine-style configurations relates to the circuit boards themselves. As data rates increase it is becoming apparent that circuit boards, due to their inherent physical limitations, are going to be difficult to use for high data rates as the distance one can send signals through the circuit board decreases as the signaling frequency increases. As a result, the use of cables between connection points is expected to become more common. While cables can provide desirable performance, conventional wire to board cable construction does not always provide the desired compactness and performance. As a result, certain individuals would appreciate further improvements in cable assemblies that can help support high data rates. SUMMARY

[0005] A connector is provided that includes a first row of terminals. Each of the terminals includes contacts provided in a row and the contacts each include a tail that can also be aligned in a row. The tails can extend in a first direction. A plurality of cables include conductors that are angled so that they also extend in the first direction and in an embodiment the conductors can be angled about 90 degrees. The conductors can be welded to the tails so as to provide a high performance termination. An inner shield and/or an outer shield can be used to partially enclose the conductors. A frame can be formed over the cables and the frame can help position the cables and ca secure the cables in position between the two shields.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0006] The present invention is illustrated by way of example and not limited in the accompanying figures in which like reference numerals indicate similar elements and in which:

[0007] Figs. 1-3 illustrate features of a prior art connector designs used in board-to-board configurations.

[0008] Fig. 4 illustrates an elevated side view of an embodiment of a cable assembly mated with a second connector.

|0009[ Fig. 5 illustrates a perspective view of the embodiment of the cable assembly depicted in Fig. 4 with the second connector removed and without welds.

[0010] Fig. 6 illustrates a perspective enlarged view of the cable assembly depicted in Fig.

5,

[0011] Fig. 7 illustrates an elevated side view of the embodiment depicted in Fig. 5.

[0012] Fig. 8 illustrates a perspective view of another embodiment of an outer shield without an aperture in the outer shield.

[0013] Fig. 9 illustrates a perspective view of the embodiment depicted in Fig. 8 with welds included.

[0014] Fig. 10 illustrates an elevated front view of the embodiment in Fig. 6 with welds being included. [0015] Fig. 1 1 illustrates an elevated front view of another embodiment of a cable assembly with the signal conductors positioned adjacent each other.

[0016] Fig. 12 illustrates an elevated side view of the embodiment depicted in Fig, 1 1.

[0017] Fig. 13 illustrates a simplified perspective view of the embodiment depicted in Fig. 1 1 with several welds provided.

[0018] Fig. 14 illustrates another perspective view of the embodiment depicted in Fig. 13. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0019] The detailed description that follows describes exemplar}' embodiments and is not intended to be limited to the expressly disclosed combination(s). Therefore, unless othenvise noted, features disclosed herein may be combined together to form additional combinations that were not otherwise shown for purposes of brevity.

[0020] Embodiments of a cable assembly 100 are depicted and the cable assembly can mate to a board mounted connector, such as a prior art connector 20. The cable assembly 100 provides a number of benefits that will be discussed below in greater detail.

[0021] As can be appreciated from Figs. 4-14, a cable assembly 100 can include a sub connector 130 with two rows of terminals 135 supported by a housing 132. While the two depicted rows are useful, in alternative embodiments a single row of terminals can be provided. The benefit of having two rows is the ability to use the insertion forces to help align the connector in a mating connector but such alignment can be provided in other ways if desired. It should be noted that the depicted housing 132 has a center cavity with a row of terminals positioned on both sides of the center cavity. Other configurations of a connector are also possible and contemplated.

[0022] The terminals 135 in a first row are supported by the housing 132 and are depicted as having tails 135a being aligned in a first direction and having an end 139. Preferably the tails 135a will be carefully aligned so that they form a single row of evenly spaced apart tails as such a construction makes welding, which will be discussed below, simpler to manage. Such a careful alignment is not required, however, and thus the features depicted herein could also be used if the tails where at some other predetermined pattern of positions. [0023] A plurality of cables 90 (while one cable could be used, many high data-rate capable systems include at least a transmit channel and a receive channel and typically each cable has a single differential pair and thus it is expected that two or more cables will be desired) can be supported by a frame 102. The depicted design (such as is shown in Fig. 4) includes an inner shield 05 that supports the frame and is aligned with a row of terminals. An outer shield 10 is joined to the inner shield 105 (via welding, adhesive or other mechanical means) and provides additional support. The design in Fig, 4 has two sets of cables that are intended to be secured to two rows of terminals. Naturally, such a configuration is desirable from a density standpoint but a single row of terminals could also be provided and in such a case, either the left or the right side of cables (and the associated structure) could be omitted.

[0024] As can be appreciated, the inner shield 105 helps support a frame (which supports the conductors in position) and is useful to improve electrical separation between the two rows of terminals. If a single row of terminals are being provided then the inner shield 105 may not be needed and can be used as desired.

[0025] As depicted, the inner shield 105 can include fingers 106, 107 that can be directly connected to the tails 135a. The fingers 106 are narrow and intended to connected to a single tail 135a while the fingers 107 are wider and intended to span two or more tails 135a. If so configured, the inner shield 105 can be welded to tails 135a that are configured to act as ground tails (such as 135a-3) with each ground tail having a separate welded attachment to the inner shield 105, The depicted configuration also includes an optional outer shield 1 10. The outer shield can be mounted on top of the frame 102 so that the inner shield 105 and the outer shield 1 10 form a partial enclosure that partially surrounds the frame 102, The outer shield 1 10 can also include fingers 112, 113 that can be welded to the tails 135a that are configured to be ground terminals. Naturally, the fingers 112 are narrow and intended to be connected to a single tail 135a while the fingers 13 are wider and intended to span two or more tails 135a. As can be appreciated, the use of both the inner shield 105 and the outer shield 1 10 helps provide improved electrical isolation at the mating interface. As can be appreciated, both the inner and outer shields 105, 110 can be welded to tails 135a that are supported by the housing 132 to help secure the shield(s) to the housing 132,

[0026] As can be appreciated from the Figs., if the cable includes a drain wire 94 then the drain wire 94 can be connected to the outer shield 1 10. In an embodiment, a drain wire 94 may be configured to extend through an aperture 1 12a in the outer shield 110 to allow for easy connection of the outer shield 110 to the drain wire 94 and in an embodiment the drain wire 94 can be arranged so that the end of the drain wire 94 is bent about 180 degrees and the drain wire 94 is electrically connected to the outer shield 1 10. If desired, the drain wire can be welded to the outer shield or it can be connected vie solder or conductive adhesive. As can be appreciated, the resulting construction can provide a physical arrangement in the termination interface that is similar to the physical alignment in the cable prior to termination as the inner and outer shield form an enclosure that is similar to a mesh shield that is often used to shield a cable.

[0027] Once the conductors (such as signal conductors 92) and the tails 135a (and optional shields) are aligned and positioned adjacent each other they can be welded together. Applicants have determined that a green laser such as can be provided by a laser operating around a 532 urn wave length is suitable for such a welding process. A potentially suitable laser is offered by MIYACHI UNITEK LASER. As can be appreciated, the signal wires can be directly welded to the tails 135a that are configured to act as signal pairs and form welds 152, such as is depicted in Fig. 9 while the drain wire 94, if provided, can be welded to a tail with weld 53 or to the outer shield 1 10 with a weld 151 (as depicted).

[0028] In an embodiment, the tails 135a can be on a 0.4 mm pitch. Such a configuration provides desirable density but turns out to be more challenging to manufacture. Applicants have determined that the conductors 92, 94 can be properly aligned with the tails by first positioning the cables 90 in a frame 102 and then forming ends of the conductors 92, 94 so that they are properly aligned. The conductors 92, 94 (and shields, if applicable) can be positioned and aligned with the tails 135a and then welded together. In an embodiment where the conductors are 34 gauge wire it is expected that the conductors and terminals will be closely matched in size and thus well suited to being welded together.

[0029] As can be appreciated by Figs, 11 and 12, an embodiment is provided where the tails 135a- 1 and 135a-2 that form the depicted differential pairs 121 , 122 are positioned side by side (directly next to each other). This is different than the configuration in Fig. 8 where a tail 135a- 3 that is configured to act as a ground terminal is positioned between the tails 135a-l and 135a- 2 that are configured to act as signal terminals and form a differential pair (Fig. 8 also depicts an embodiment where the signal terminals could be used in a singled ended configuration). The embodiment in Figs. 11 and 12 may be suitable for applications where it is desired to more tightly couple the differential pair together. It should also be noted that Fig. 8 illustrates a version of an outer shield where the drain wire 94 does not extend through an aperture in the outer shield.

[0030] As can be appreciated from the Figs., the welds can be short (such as when welding together an end of the conductor and an end of a tail) or long (such as when welding an end of a tail and two ends of shields). Thus the welding process helps provide additional flexibility.

[0031] As can be appreciated from Fig. 13, a retaining clip 136 can be supported by the housing 132. The retaining clip 136 can then be welded to one of the shields (such as the inner shield 105) with a weld 138. This can help provide further support and increase the structural rigidity of the design.

[0032] The disclosure provided herein describes features in terms of preferred and exemplary embodiments thereof. Numerous other embodiments, modifications and variations within the scope and spirit of the appended claims will occur to persons of ordinary skill in the art from a review of this disclosure.

Claims

We claim:

1 . A cable assembly, comprising:

a housing supporting a plurality of terminals arranged in a row, each of the terminals of the plurality of terminals having a tail that is aligned in a first direction, each tail including an end,

a frame supporting at least one cable, the at least one cable supporting two signal conductors, wherein the signal conductors are angled so that each of the signal conductors have an end that is aligned with one of the tails, wherein the signal conductor and the tail are welded together.

2. The cable assembly of claim 1, wherein the at least one cable is a plurality of cables, each of the cables including two signal conductors that are each angled and aligned with one of the tails, where each of the conductors is welded to the respective tail.

3. The cable assembly of claims 1 and 2, further comprising a shield positioned on one side of the frame, the shield including first fingers, wherein the first fingers are welded to tails of terminals.

4. The cable assembly of claim 3, wherein the shield is an inner shield.

5. The cable assembly of claim 4, further comprising an outer shield, wherein the frame is positioned between the inner shield and the outer shield and wherein the outer shield includes a second finger, the second finger welded to one of the tails,

6. The cable assembly of claim 5, wherein each cable includes a drain wire and the drain wires are welded to the outer shield.

7. The cable assembly of claim 6, wherein at least some of the welds join a tail, one of the fingers of the outer shield and one of the fingers of the inner shield.

8. The cable assembly of claim 4, wherein the housing supports a retaining clip and the inner shield is welded to the retaining clip.