The Present Disclosure relates, generally, to wafer connectors, and, more particularly, to a wafer connector having an improved grounding member incorporated therein for use in terminating multiple wire cables.
Cable assemblies are used to connect many electronic components together, especially in the telecommunications industry. Cables contain multiple wires and each wire is terminated to a single signal terminal in a cable connector, typically referred to as a wafer connector due to its size. The cable wires have individual conductors that are enclosed, in an insulative covering and the wires, in pairs, are then wrapped in a conductive foil, or other type of sheathing, that serves as an exterior ground which extends the entire lengths of the wire pairs. In twin-axial drain-type systems, two conductive wires are disposed on the exterior of the wire pairs, in contact with the conductive foil and run the entire length of the wire pairs in order to provide a means for terminating the conductive foil to ground conductors of connectors disposed at opposite ends of the cable.
In drain-type cable systems, care must be taken to unwrap the shielding foil and expose the drain wires so they may be terminated to their corresponding ground terminal tails of the end connectors. Some cable systems are drainless, meaning that no drain wires are provided and other means of making contact between the outer conductive foil and then connector ground terminals must be utilized. One manner of termination in such systems uses specially formed nests made as part of the ground terminals. These nests have a semicircular, or U-shaped configuration to form a wide surface that makes contact with the conductive foil of the wire pairs. This requires additional stamping and forming of the ground terminal as well as increases the height of the ground terminals within the connectors. This leads to increased cost and size of the cable systems. Additional labor is also required to ensure that the wires are properly set in the nest. Accordingly, a need exists for a grounding structure for use in drainless cable applications that is inexpensive and easy to assemble, and which interconnects multiple grounding foils of a multi-wire cable.
The Present Disclosure is therefore directed to a grounding structure in the form of a clamp formed to securely make grounding contact with a plurality of the wire pairs of the cable, connect the conductive foils of adjacent wire pairs together, and hold the twin-axial wires together as a single unit for termination to the tails of an associated wafer connector.
Accordingly, there is provided a grounding structure in the form of a clamp that holds the twin-axial wires in place in a preselected spacing by contacting their exterior grounding sheaths together as a group in a preselected spacing and which is provided with a plurality of connection points on the clamp for connecting to ground terminal tail portions of the wafer connector.
In accordance with an embodiment as described in the Present Disclosure, the clamp may be provided with an elongated body portion formed from two similar halves. The clamp body portion takes the form of a wide conductive strip oriented transversely to the axial direction of the cable wires. The clamp body portion has a configuration that includes plurality of peaks and valleys formed therein such the valley portions of the two clamp halves cooperatively form an opening, or passage sized to receive a wire pair therein, along with its outer conductive foil. The intervening peaks of the two clamp halves mate together and serve to interconnect adjacent pairs of wires together.
These peaks define tabs that extend between the wire pairs, all of which preferably lie in a common plane. As such, the grounding clamp serves to hold the signal wire pairs in place for easy and reliable termination. Likewise, the tabs defined between adjacent wire pairs provide reliable and large points of contact for connecting to the ground terminal tail portions of the wafer connector. The overall configuration of the grounding clamp, when attached to the wire pairs, permits the termination process to be more easily automated. Additionally, the width of the grounding clamp provides additional shielding in the termination area so a designer can use the grounding clamp to modify the impedance of the connector system at the termination area.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the Present Disclosure will be clearly understood through a consideration of the following detailed description.
The organization and manner of the structure and operation of the Present Disclosure, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following Detailed Description, taken in connection with the accompanying Figures, wherein like reference numerals identify like elements, and in which:
While the Present Disclosure may be susceptible to embodiment in different forms, there is shown in the Figures, and will be described herein in detail, specific embodiments, with the understanding that the Present Disclosure is to be considered an exemplification of the principles of the Present Disclosure, and is not intended to limit the Present Disclosure to that as illustrated.
As such, references to a feature or aspect are intended to describe a feature or aspect of an example of the Present Disclosure, not to imply that every embodiment thereof must have the described feature or aspect. Furthermore, it should be noted that the description illustrates a number of features. While certain features have been combined together to illustrate potential system designs, those features may also be used in other combinations not expressly disclosed. Thus, the depicted combinations are not intended to be limiting, unless otherwise noted.
In the embodiments illustrated in the Figures, representations of directions such as up, down, left, right, front and rear, used for explaining the structure and movement of the various elements of the Present Disclosure, are not absolute, but relative. These representations are appropriate when the elements are in the position shown in the Figures. If the description of the position of the elements changes, however, these representations are to be changed accordingly.
Turning to
In practice, the conductive shield 25 is peeled back upon itself and the drain wire free ends 27a are separated from the wire pair so that they may be contacted with the ground terminal tail portions 14b. Each twin-axial wire is usually terminated individually, and care must be taken to ensure that the many wire free ends 27a, 22a are contacted with their corresponding associated ground or signal terminal tail portions 14b, 16b. This leads to expense in the manufacturing process by way of increased labor. Each twin-axial wire pair is terminated individually and hence the process of attachment does not easily lend itself to automation.
The grounding clamp 30 is shown in
The ground clamp 30, as illustrated, and particularly, its two clamp halves 30a, 30b have a configuration that accommodates its engagement between the wire pairs. In this regard, the clamp halves 30a, 30b may be considered as having a series of alternating peaks 33 and valleys 34 when viewed from either their front or rear ends. The peaks 33 of the two clamp halves 30a, 30b cooperatively provide axially-oriented openings, or passages, between themselves that receive the wire pairs therein. The “peaks” of a clamp half refer to the portions of the clamp 30 that are raised with respect to the central axes C of the signal wire conductors 22. Another way of explaining this is the portions that extend outwardly away from the central axes C. The naming convention used herein can be seen and easily understood from viewing
The valleys 34 are those portions of the clamp halves that preferably lie in a common plane and extend along what may be considered as a central horizontal axis. The clamp valleys cooperatively provide contact areas at which the clamp halves 30a, 310 may be attached to each other, such as by soldering, welding, interlocking or the like. The valleys 34 further define grounding tabs that not only space the wire pairs apart from each other in a predetermined spacing, S, but also define attachment areas, generally lying in the same plane for attaching the ground clamp, and wire pairs held thereby to the ground terminal tails of the connector. Preferably, the distance between surfaces of opposing peaks 33 is such that the two clamp halves 30a, 30b firmly hold the twin-axial wire 20 in place therebetween. When the clamp halves 30a, 30b are attached to each other a grounding clamp-wire assembly is formed.
Turning now to
The terminal tail portions 44b, 45b of both the signal and ground terminals 44, 45 may be aligned with each other so that they generally lie in a common plane as illustrated. The signal terminals 44 may also be aligned with each other in a first common plane, while the ground terminals 45 may be aligned with each other in a second common plane for an alternative construction. The ground terminal tail portions 45b, as best illustrated in
The flat valleys 34 define contact areas that will make contact with the wider ground terminal tail portions 45b when the grounding clamp-wire assembly is positioned in place within the connector frame 41. These contact areas may also be considered as mounting tabs as they are generally flat in order to rest on the wide ground terminal tail portions 45b. The signal terminal tail portions 44b terminate more forwardly than do the ground terminal tail portions 45b so that the signal terminal tail portions do not interfere with or touch the conductive grounding clamp 30. The grounding clamp 30 provides the clamp-wire assembly with a suitable spacing so that the signal wire free ends 22a are aligned with the signal terminal tail portions 44b when the clamp-wire assembly is properly positioned in the connector frame 41 as illustrated in
It will be understood that the grounding clamps described herein can be applied to sets of wires to form a structural unit that facilitates assembly of the wafer connectors. The extent of the grounding clamp 30 is substantial in its transverse orientation through the connector and therefore the grounding clamp provides a wide ground plane in the termination area so that designers may calculate the width, thickness and other clamp parameters so as to attain a specific impedance in that connector area.
While a preferred embodiment of the Present Disclosure is shown and described, it is envisioned that those skilled in the art may devise various modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the foregoing Description and the appended Claims.
This application claims priority to U.S. application Ser. No. 14/899,879, filed Dec. 18, 2015, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,859,659, which is a national phase of PCT Application No. PCT/US2014/045860, filed Jul. 9, 2014, which in turn claims priority to prior-filed U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/844,765, entitled “Wafer Connector With Grounding Clamp,” filed on 10 Jul. 2013, all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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61844765 | Jul 2013 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 14899879 | Dec 2015 | US |
Child | 15847340 | US |