Card edge connector

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11349237-B2
Application number	US-202117177669-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 17, 2021
Priority date	Feb 24, 2020
Publication date	May 31, 2022
Grant date	May 31, 2022

Abstract

A card edge connector includes a housing having upper and lower card slots receiving upper and lower module circuit cards of a pluggable module. The card edge connector includes a contact assembly having a contact positioner holding upper and lower contacts. A guide feature guides mating of the contact assembly in the housing. A latching feature latchably secures the contact assembly to the housing. The upper contacts are arranged in first and second upper contact arrays. The lower contacts are arranged in first and second lower contact arrays. Contact tails of the upper and lower contacts are positioned at the bottom of the housing for surface mounting to the host circuit board.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A card edge connector for mating with a pluggable module comprising:
a housing including a top and a bottom, the housing having a front and a rear, the housing having a first side and a second side, the bottom configured to be mounted to a host circuit board, the housing including a cavity, the housing including an upper card slot open to the cavity at the front of the housing and a lower card slot open to the cavity at the front of the housing, the upper card slot configured to receive a card edge of an upper module circuit card of the pluggable module, the lower card slot configured to receive a card edge of a lower module circuit card of the same pluggable module; and
a contact assembly received in the cavity, the contact assembly having a contact positioner holding an upper contact set of upper contacts and a lower contact set of lower contacts, the contact positioner including a guide feature to guide mating of the contact assembly in the cavity of the housing, the contact positioner including a latching feature configured to be latchably secured to the housing to secure the contact assembly in the cavity of the housing;
the upper contact set having a first upper contact array of the upper contacts and a second upper contact array of the upper contacts, the upper contacts including upper intermediate portions extending between upper mating beams and upper contact tails, the upper mating beams of the upper contacts of the first and second upper contact arrays being arranged on opposite sides of the upper card slot for mating with upper and lower surfaces of the upper module circuit card, the upper contact tails positioned at the bottom of the housing for termination to the host circuit board;
the lower contact set having a first lower contact array of the lower contacts and a second lower contact array of the lower contacts, the lower contacts including lower intermediate portions extending between lower mating beams and lower contact tails, the lower mating beams of the lower contacts of the first and second lower contact arrays being arranged on opposite sides of the lower card slot for mating with upper and lower surfaces of the lower module circuit card, the lower contact tails positioned at the bottom of the housing for termination to the host circuit board;
wherein the upper contact tails and the lower contact tails are coplanar for surface mounting to the host circuit board.

2. The card edge connector of claim 1 , wherein the upper contact tails of the first upper contact array are rearward facing and the lower contact tails of the second lower contact array are forward facing.

3. The card edge connector of claim 2 , wherein the lower contact tails of the first lower contact array are rearward facing.

4. The card edge connector of claim 1 , wherein the upper contacts include upper high speed transmit contacts, upper high speed receive contacts, upper low speed sideband contacts, and upper ground contacts, and wherein the lower contacts including lower high speed transmit contacts, lower high speed receive contacts, lower low speed sideband contacts, and lower ground contacts;
wherein the upper high speed transmit contacts are arranged in pairs with the upper ground contacts arranged therebetween and the upper high speed receive contacts are arranged in pairs with the upper ground contacts arranged therebetween, and wherein the lower high speed transmit contacts are arranged in pairs with the lower ground contacts arranged therebetween and the lower high speed receive contacts are arranged in pairs with the lower ground contacts arranged therebetween; and
wherein the upper high speed transmit contacts are provided at a first side of the contact positioner and the upper high speed receive contacts are provided at a second side of the contact positioner with at least one of the upper low speed sideband contacts located between the upper high speed transmit contacts and the upper high speed receive contacts, and wherein the lower high speed transmit contacts are provided at the second side of the contact positioner and the lower high speed receive contacts are provided at the first side of the contact positioner with at least one of the lower low speed sideband contacts located between the lower high speed transmit contacts and the lower high speed receive contacts.

5. The card edge connector of claim 1 , wherein the upper contact array includes an upper front contact holder holding the upper contacts and an upper rear contact holder separate and discrete from the upper front contact holder holding the upper contacts, the upper front contact holder positioned between the upper mating beams and the upper intermediate portions of the upper contacts, the upper rear contact holder positioned between the upper intermediate portions and the upper contact tails of the upper contacts; and wherein the lower contact array includes a lower front contact holder holding the lower contacts and a lower rear contact holder separate and discrete from the lower front contact holder holding the lower contacts, the lower front contact holder positioned between the lower mating beams and the lower intermediate portions of the lower contacts, the lower rear contact holder positioned between the lower intermediate portions and the lower contact tails of the lower contacts.

6. The card edge connector of claim 5 , wherein the upper intermediate portions are flexible to allow relative movement of the upper front contact holder and the upper rear contact holder, the lower intermediate portions being flexible to allow relative movement of the lower front contact holder and the lower rear contact holder.

7. The card edge connector of claim 5 , wherein the upper intermediate portions are exposed to air between the upper front contact holder and the upper rear contact holder, the lower intermediate portions being exposed to air between the lower front contact holder and the lower rear contact holder.

8. The card edge connector of claim 5 , wherein the contact positioner includes front slots receiving the upper front contact holder and the lower front contact holder to position the upper and lower mating beams relative to the positioner card slot, the contact positioner including rear slots receiving the upper rear contact holder and the lower rear contact holder to position the upper and lower contact tails relative to the outer housing for terminating to the host circuit board.

9. The card edge connector of claim 5 , wherein the upper front contact holder includes an overmold body encasing each of the upper contacts, the upper rear contact holder includes an overmold body encasing each of the upper contacts, the lower front contact holder includes an overmold body encasing each of the lower contacts, the lower rear contact holder includes an overmold body encasing each of the lower contacts.

10. The card edge connector of claim 1 , wherein the guide feature includes a dovetail, the housing including a dovetail slot receiving the dovetail to position the contact assembly in the cavity.

11. The card edge connector of claim 1 , wherein the latching feature includes a deflectable latch beam.

12. The card edge connector of claim 1 , wherein the contact positioner includes a platform extending between a first side wall and a second side wall, the platform separating the upper contact set from the lower contact set.

13. The card edge connector of claim 1 , wherein the contact positioner includes a first side wall and a second side wall, the first side wall including slots receiving the upper contact set and the lower contact set, the second side wall including slots receiving th

Assignees

• TE Connectivity Services Gmbh

Inventors

• Blackburn Christopher William
• Westman John Eugene
• Shirk Michael Eugene
• Herring Michael David
• Galbraith Zachary

Classifications

• H05K1/117

  Pads along the edge of rigid circuit boards, e.g. for pluggable connectors · CPC title

• H01R13/6275

  Latching arms not integral with the housing (H01R13/6276, H01R13/6277, H01R13/6278 take precedence) · CPC title

• H01R12/724

  containing contact members forming a right angle · CPC title

• H01R12/57 Primary

  surface mounting terminals · CPC title

• H01R2107/00

  Four or more poles · CPC title