The invention relates to a cable connector having the contacts linked with corresponding wires, and particularly to the cable connector equipped with the common metallic shield contacting both the grounding contacts and the braiding layers of the associated wires.
The traditional design used for connecting two sub-systems respectively on two printed circuit boards, discloses a linking cable with at one end a LEC plug connector mated to a receptacle connector embedded in the ASIC, and at the other end two port IFP plug connectors mated to on one side the so-called Interposer with IFT receptacle connector, and the other side thereof further configured with two ports of QSFP-28. Anyway, a receptacle connector on one printed circuit boards and a mated plug connector to the receptacle connector at one end of the cable f are required in traditional design.
Hence, a simple mating structure of the receptacle connector and the plug connector is desired.
An object of the invention is to provide a cable connector comprising: a case and a contact module enclosed within the case and having an upper part and a lower part stacked with each other. The upper part includes: a plurality of upper contacts integrally formed within an upper insulator via insert-molding, the upper contacts comprising a plurality of differential-pair signal contacts and a plurality of grounding contacts alternately arranged with each other in a transverse direction, each of the upper contacts comprising a front mating section, a rear connecting section, and a middle retaining section therebetween in a front-to-back direction; a plurality of upper wires located behind the upper insulator, each of the upper wire comprising a pair of inner conductor, an inner insulative layer, a metallic braiding layer, and an outer insulative jacket sequentially enclosing one another, the inner conductors of the wires mechanically and electrically connected respectively to the connecting sections of the differential-pair signal contacts, the braiding layers of the wires mechanically and electrically connected respectively to the grounding bar; and a metallic upper shield secured to the upper insulator, the metallic upper shield including a plurality of front spring fingers respectively contacting corresponding grounding contacts of the upper contacts and a plurality of rear spring fingers respectively contacting the braiding layers of corresponding wires.
The upper shield further includes a plurality of dividing tabs between the front spring fingers and the rear spring fingers in the front-to-back direction for separating the neighboring differential-pair signal contacts of the upper contacts. A deflectable latch is located on a downward surface of the lower case.
Referring to
The upper part 110 includes a plurality of upper contacts 120 integrally formed within an upper insulator 140 via insert-molding, and a metallic upper shield 150 attached upon the upper insulator 110. The upper contacts 120 include a plurality of differential-pair signal contacts 122 and grounding contacts 124 alternately arranged with each other along the transverse direction. Each upper contact 120 includes a deflectable front mating section 126 for mating with a circuit pad (not shown) located on the printed circuit board (not shown) and enclosed within the receptacle connector (not shown), a rear connecting section 128 for connecting to the corresponding upper wire 200, and a middle retaining section 127 therebetween. Rear ends of the connecting sections 128 are unified together via a transversely extending grounding bar 130. Correspondingly, each of the upper wires 200 includes a pair of inner conductors 202 enclosed within an inner insulative layer 204 which is further enclosed within a metallic braiding layer 206, and an outer insulative jacket 208 encloses the braiding layer 206, wherein the inner conductors 202 are mechanically and electrically connected to the connecting sections 128 of the differential-pair signal contacts 122, and the braiding layer 206 is mechanically and electrically connected to the grounding bar 130. Notably, the connecting section 128 and the middle retaining section 127 are coplanar with each other while the grounding bar 130 is offset from the connecting section 128 so as to comply with the structural relationship between the inner connector 2202 and the braiding layer 206.
The upper insulator 140 forms a plurality of hollow standoffs 142 in alignment with the middle retaining sections 127 of the corresponding differential-pair signal contacts 122 in the vertical direction to support the upper shield 150 while exposing the middle retaining sections 127 toward the upper shield 150 in the vertical direction for electrical consideration. A plurality of grooves 144 are formed in an underside of the upper insulator 140 for receiving the lower contacts of the lower part 160 (illustrated later). A pair of protrusions 146 are formed on two opposite sides for securing the upper shield 150.
The upper shield 150 includes a row of front spring fingers 152 downwardly abutting against the retaining sections 127 of the grounding contacts 124 of the upper contacts 120, respectively, a row of rear spring fingers 154 downwardly respectively abutting against the braiding layers 206 of the wires 200 for cooperating with the grounding bar 130 to sandwich the braiding layers 206 therebetween in the vertical direction, and a row of middle dividing tabs 156 to separate the connecting sections 128 of the neighboring differential-pair signal contacts 122 from one another, wherein the front spring fingers 152 are aligned with the corresponding middle tabs 156 in the front-to-back direction, respectively, while are offset from the corresponding rear spring fingers 154 in the transverse direction, respectively. The upper shield 150 further includes a pair of front openings 151 receive the corresponding protrusions 146 for securing the upper shield 150 upon the upper insulator 140, a pair of rear openings 153 and a pair of securing tabs 155.
Correspondingly, the lower part 160 includes a plurality of lower contacts 170 integrally formed within a lower insulator 182 via insert-molding, and a metallic lower shield 190 attached upon the lower insulator 182. The lower contacts 170 include a plurality of differential-pair signal contacts 172 and a plurality of grounding contacts 174 alternatively arranged with each other along the transverse direction. Each of the lower contacts 170 includes a front mating section 176, a rear connecting section 178 and a middle retaining section 177 wherein the mating sections 176 are partially received within the corresponding grooves 144 on the upper insulator 140. Similar to the upper contacts 120, the rear connecting sections 178 of the grounding contacts 174 are joined together via a transverse grounding bar 180. Similar to the upper wires 200, each of the lower wires 210 includes an inner conductor 212, an inner insulative layer 214, a metallic braiding layer 216 and an outer insulative jacket 218. The inner conductors 212 of the lower wires 210 are mechanically and electrically connected to the connecting sections 178 of the corresponding differential-pair signal contacts 172, and the braiding layers 216 are mechanically and electrically connected to the grounding bar 180.
The lower insulator 182 forms a row of upper grooves 183 to respectively receive the corresponding upper wires 200, and a row of lower grooves 184 to respectively receive the corresponding lower wires 210. The lower insulator 182 further includes a pair of upper protrusions 185 to be received within the corresponding rear openings 153, a pair of first lower protrusions 186, a pair of second lower protrusions 187, and a pair of cutouts 188.
The lower shield 190 includes a row of spring fingers 192 respectively abutting against the braiding layers 216 of the corresponding lower wires 210 so as to cooperate with the grounding bar 180 to sandwich such braiding layers 216 therebetween in the vertical direction, a pair of front openings 193 receiving the corresponding first lower protrusions 186, a pair of rear openings 195 receiving the corresponding second lower protrusions 187, and a pair of securing tabs 197 secured into the corresponding cutouts 188.
The case 300 includes an upper piece 302 and a lower piece 304 commonly sandwiching the contact module 100 therebetween wherein the upper piece 302 forms a plurality of grooves 301 to receive the mating sections 126 of the upper contacts 120 respectively, and the lower piece 304 is equipped with a deflectable latch 310 so as to be engaged with the housing of the complementary receptacle connector (not shown).
The feature of the invention is to provide the metallic shield with a plurality of spring fingers respectively contacting the grounding contacts and the braiding layers of the wires, and a plurality of dividing tabs to separate the neighboring differential-pair signal contacts. Therefore, the metallic shield is essentially. Another feature of the invention is to provide the plug/cable connector mated with the receptacle connector on the printed circuit board in an oblique manner wherein the latch is protectively hidden on an underside of the connector assembly. Correspondingly, the front face of the connector extends in an oblique direction to allow the cable connector 10 mateable upon the printed circuit board in the oblique manner.
Although the present invention has been described with reference to particular embodiments, it is not to be construed as being limited thereto. Various alterations and modifications can be made to the embodiments without in any way departing from the scope or spirit of the present invention as defined in the appended claims.
This application is a continuation-in-part of co-pending application Ser. No. 17/459,850, filed Aug. 27, 2021, and the instant application further claims the benefit of, and priority to, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/166,656, filed on Mar. 26, 2021, the contents of which are incorporated entirely herein by reference.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20220216653 A1 | Jul 2022 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 17459850 | Aug 2021 | US |
Child | 17704002 | US |