Patent Application
20220385009
The present invention is directed generally to electrical cable connectors, and more particularly to coaxial connectors for electrical cable.
Coaxial cables are commonly utilized in RF communications systems. A typical coaxial cable includes an inner conductor, an outer conductor, a dielectric layer that separates the inner and outer conductors, and a jacket that covers the outer conductor. Coaxial cable connectors may be applied to terminate coaxial cables, for example, in communication systems requiring a high level of precision and reliability.
Coaxial connector interfaces provide a connect/disconnect functionality between (a) a cable terminated with a connector bearing the desired connector interface and (b) a corresponding connector with a mating connector interface mounted on an electronic apparatus or on another cable. Typically, one connector will include a structure such as a pin or post connected to an inner conductor of the coaxial cable and an outer conductor connector body connected to the outer conductor of the coaxial cable these are mated with a mating sleeve (for the pin or post of the inner conductor) and another outer conductor connector body of a second connector. Coaxial connector interfaces often utilize a threaded coupling nut or other retainer that draws the connector interface pair into secure electro-mechanical engagement when the coupling nut (which is captured by one of the connectors) is threaded onto the other connector. Typically, the processes of joining the connector with coaxial cable vary for different connector designs and development efforts are needed to optimize the process to meet the electrical and mechanical requirement.
There exist many different types of radio frequency (RF) coaxial connectors in the market today. This number continues to grow as requirements change and higher performance is needed over a broader range of frequencies. As demand for coaxial cable assemblies with increasingly different permutations of these connector types grows and may vary from region to region or from customer to customer, fulfilling customer demand can at times be challenging.
As a first aspect, embodiments of the invention are directed to a coaxial cable-connector assembly. The assembly comprises:
As a second aspect, embodiments of the invention are directed to a method of constructing a coaxial cable-connector assembly, comprising:
As a third aspect, embodiments of the invention are directed to a coaxial cable subassembly comprising:
The present invention now is described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.
In the figures, certain layers, components or features may be exaggerated for clarity, and broken lines illustrate optional features or operations unless specified otherwise. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.
It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections, these elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer or section from another region, layer or section. Thus, a first element, component, region, layer or section discussed below could be termed a second element, component, region, layer or section without departing from the teachings of the present invention. The sequence of operations (or steps) is not limited to the order presented in the claims or figures unless specifically indicated otherwise.
Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the specification and relevant art and should not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein. Well-known functions or constructions may not be described in detail for brevity and/or clarity.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising”, when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.
As used herein, phrases such as “between X and Y” and “between about X and Y” should be interpreted to include X and Y. As used herein, phrases such as “between about X and Y” mean “between about X and about Y.” As used herein, phrases such as “from about X to Y” mean “from about X to about Y.”
Referring now to the drawings, an adapter for facilitating the attachment of a coaxial cable to a coaxial connector, designated broadly at 20, is shown in
The inner contact 22 includes a cylindrical base 30 and three sequentially narrower sections 32, 34, 36 that lead to a frustoconical tip 38. A circumferential ridge 35 is present in the section 34. As can be seen in
The outer sleeve 26 has a wider portion 50 and a narrower portion 52. As can be seen in
The inner and outer contacts 22, 26 are typically formed from a metallic material, such as brass. The dielectric spacer 24 is typically formed of a dielectric material, such as a polymeric material.
The inner contact 22 of the adapter 20 may be attached to the inner conductor 112 via a press fit joint, soldering, or the like. The outer contact 26 of the adapter 20 may be attached to the outer conductor 116 via soldering, welding, crimping or the like. Once the adapter 20 has been attached to the coaxial cable 110, the boot 102 can be slid into place as shown in
The adapter 20, cable 110 and boot 102 form an intermediate subassembly 140 that can then be employed to construct a coaxial cable-connector assembly 150 that includes one of any number of coaxial connector varieties. Two examples of connectors are shown in
The connector 150 includes an outer connector body 152. The outer connector body 152 has a mating end 154 that enables it to mate with the outer connector body of a mating connector, and an adapter ring 156. The mating end 154 can have any configuration known to be suitable for RF coaxial cables, such as DIN 7/16, 4.3/10, N-type, and the like. Typically, the mating end 154 will include a coupling member or apparatus (such as the coupling nut 158 shown herein, or a “push-pull” mechanism) to enable the connector 150 to be mated and secured to a mating connector.
As can be envisioned in
In some embodiments, the connector 150 may include an inner contact that is coupled to the inner contact 22 of the adapter 20. The inner contact may be mechanically or metallurgically coupled to the inner contact 22. In other embodiments (such as the embodiment of
In embodiments in which the connector 150 includes an inner contact, a dielectric spacer may be present between the inner contact of the connector 150 and the outer connector body 152. In such embodiments, the connector 150 may be provided as a unitary component that can be coupled quickly to the adapter 20.
It will be understood that the adapter 20 can enable connectors 150 of virtually any configuration to be attached quickly and easily to the cable 110. Thus, a manufacturer may produce only a few sizes of coaxial cables 110, each with an accompanying adapter 20 of appropriate size. These relatively few coaxial cables may then be connected with a much larger number of connector types. Thus, manufacturing advantages may be realized by reducing the number of different processes to produce many different cable-connector combinations, and by providing what is essentially a “made-to-order” technique to provide virtually any cable-connector combination to a customer or user.
The foregoing is illustrative of the present invention and is not to be construed as limiting thereof. Although a few exemplary embodiments of this invention have been described, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that many modifications are possible in the exemplary embodiments without materially departing from the novel teachings and advantages of this invention. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of this invention as defined in the claims. The invention is defined by the following claims, with equivalents of the claims to be included therein.
The present application claims priority from and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/192,890, filed May 25, 2021, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in full.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63192890 | May 2021 | US |
