Electrical connector with high speed mounting interface

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11637389-B2
Application number	US-202117159794-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 27, 2021
Priority date	Jan 27, 2020
Publication date	Apr 25, 2023
Grant date	Apr 25, 2023

Abstract

An electrical interconnect for passing high speed signals through an electronic system with a high density of signals and high signal integrity. The interconnect includes an electrical connector and a transition portion of a printed circuit board to which the connector is mounted. Signal conductors are connected to pads on the surface of the PCB using edge-to-pad mounting. The pads align with intermediate portions of the signal conductors such that transitions within the connector that could degrade signal integrity are avoided. The signal conductors may be positioned as individually shielded broadside coupled pairs extending in rows within the connector. Surface traces on the PCB connect the pads to signal vias aligned for vertical routing out of the connector footprint. Ground planes underlying the surface traces facilitate a transition from the signal paths in the connector to those in the PCB with low mode conversion avoiding resonances in the connector shields.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An electrical connector, comprising:
a pair of signal conductors having contact tails adapted for connection to a surface of a substrate in an insertion direction,
wherein the contact tails are configured to compress in the insertion direction upon mounting to the surface of the substrate,
wherein each of the contact tails comprises a portion with a first bend adjacent a second bend, and
wherein the portions are configured such that:
the first and second bends are spaced from one another by a first distance in the insertion direction before the contact tails are mounted to the surface; and

the first and second bends are spaced from one another by a second distance in the insertion direction, the second distance being shorter than the first distance, when the contact tails are mounted to the surface.

2. The electrical connector of claim 1 , wherein the contact tails are configured to rotate when compressed.

3. The electrical connector of claim 1 , wherein:
the portions are configured such that the first and second bends are in physical contact with one another when the first and second bends are spaced from one another by the second distance.

4. The electrical connector of claim 3 , wherein:
the portions are configured such that:
the first and second bends are electrically coupled to one another by way of a third bend when the first and second bends are spaced from one another by the first distance; and
the physical contact of the first and second bends short-circuits the third bend.

5. An electrical connector comprising a mounting face, comprising:
a housing; and
a plurality of conductive elements held within the housing, each of the plurality of conductive elements comprising:
a mating contact portion;
a contact tail extending from the housing at the mounting face;
a compliant portion coupled to the contact tail; and
an intermediate portion coupling the mating contact portion to the compliant portion, wherein:
the intermediate portions are held within the housing,
the compliant portions are movable with respect to the housing in a direction perpendicular to the mounting face, and
the contact tails comprise rounded tips.

6. The electrical connector of claim 5 , wherein:
each of the compliant portions comprises a plurality of arcuate segments.

7. The electrical connector of claim 6 , wherein:
the compliant portion of each of the plurality of conductive elements is configured to compress within the housing when a force, in a direction toward the housing, is exerted on the contact tail of the conductive element.

8. An electrical connector comprising a mounting face, comprising:
a housing; and
a plurality of conductive elements held within the housing, each of the plurality of conductive elements comprising:
a mating contact portion;
a contact tail extending from the housing at the mounting face;
a compliant portion coupled to the contact tail; and
an intermediate portion coupling the mating contact portion to the compliant portion,
wherein:
the intermediate portions are held within the housing;
the compliant portions are movable with respect to the housing in a direction perpendicular to the mounting face;
the contact tails extend from the housing in a first direction; and
each of the compliant portions is elongated in the first direction and comprises a plurality of arcuate segments, separated in the first direction by openings in the conductive element.

9. The electrical connector of claim 8 , wherein:
for each of the compliant portions, the plurality of arcuate segments number between 4 and 8.

10. The electrical connector of claim 5 , wherein:
each of the plurality of compliant portions is configured to generate between 20 and 60 grams of force when compressed.

11. The electrical connector of claim 10 , wherein:
each of the plurality of compliant portions is configured to generate between 25 and 45 grams of force when compressed.

12. The electrical connector of claim 5 , wherein:
the rounded tips comprise plating comprising gold.

13. The electrical connector of claim 5 , wherein:
the contact tails extend from the housing between 6 and 12 mils.

14. The electrical connector of claim 5 , wherein:
the contact tails extend from the housing in a first direction;
the conductive elements comprise portions within the housing and extending in the first direction; and
the compliant portions are disposed within the portions extending in the first direction.

15. The electrical connector of claim 5 , further comprising:
a plurality of shield members surrounding, at least in part, subsets of the plurality of conductive elements.

16. The electrical connector of claim 15 , wherein:
the plurality of shield members comprise press-fits extending from the housing at the mounting face.

17. The electrical connector of claim 15 , wherein:
the electrical connector comprises a plurality of modules each comprising one subset of the subsets of the plurality of conductive elements and shield members of the plurality of shield members.

18. The electrical connector of claim 17 , wherein:
the plurality of modules are arranged in rows and columns with a row pitch of less than 2.5 mm and a column pitch of less than 2.5 mm.

19. An electrical connector comprising a mounting face, comprising:
a housing;
a plurality of conductive elements held within the housing, each of the plurality of conductive elements comprising:
a mating contact portion,
a contact tail extending from the housing at the mounting face,
a compliant portion coupled to the contact tail, and
an intermediate portion coupling the mating contact portion to the compliant portion; and

a plurality of shield members surrounding, at least in part, subsets of the plurality of conductive elements,
wherein:
the intermediate portions are held within the housing;
the compliant portions are movable with respect to the housing in a direction perpendicular to the mounting face;
the electrical connector further comprises a compliant, conductive member adjacent the mounting face; and
the plurality of shield members are electrically coupled to the compliant, conductive member.

20. The electrical connector of claim 15 , wherein:
the subsets comprise a plurality of pairs of the conductive elements; and
the plurality of shield members bound regions encompassing the intermediate portions and contact tails of each of the plurality of pairs with a cross sectional area less than 2.6 mm 2 .

21. An electrical connector, comprising:
a housing;
a plurality of conductive elements held within the housing, each of the plurality of conductive elements comprising:
a mating contact portion;
a contact tail extending from the housing at the mounting face;
a compliant portion coupled to the contact tail; and
an intermediate portion coupling the mating contact portion to the compliant portion, wherein:
the intermediate portions are held within the housing; and
the compliant portions are movable with respect to the housing in a direction perpendicular to the mounting face; and

a plurality of shield members surrounding, at least in part, subsets of the plurality of conductive elements,
wherein:
the plurality of shield members are configured to support a TE 1,0 resonant mode with a frequency of greater than 56 GHz.

22. A method of mounting a connector to a substrate, the method comprising:
mounting a connector comprising a plura

Assignees

• Amphenol Corp

Inventors

• Dunham John Robert
• Cartier Jr Marc B
• Gailus Mark W
• Levine David
• Astbury Allan
• Sivarajan Vysakh
• Provencher Daniel B
• Leo Eric

Classifications

• H01R4/2456

  in parallel configuration · CPC title

• H01R13/6585

  Shielding material individually surrounding or interposed between mutually spaced contacts · CPC title

• H01R13/2428

  using meander springs · CPC title

• H01R12/714 Primary

  with contacts abutting directly the printed circuit; Button contacts therefore provided on the printed circuit · CPC title

• H01R12/58

  terminals for insertion into holes · CPC title