High speed connector

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11799246-B2
Application number	US-202217902342-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 2, 2022
Priority date	Jan 27, 2020
Publication date	Oct 24, 2023
Grant date	Oct 24, 2023

Abstract

Electrical connectors for very high speed signals, including signals at or above 112 Gbps. Effectiveness of shielding along the signal paths through the mating electrical connectors may be enhanced through the use of one or more techniques, including enabling two-sided shielding, connections between shield members and between shield members and grounded structures of printed circuit boards to which the connectors are mounted, and selective positioning of lossy material. Such techniques may be simply and reliably implemented in high density connector using one or more techniques. An electrical connector may include core members held by a housing together with leadframe assemblies attached to the core members. The core members may include features that would be difficult to mold in a housing and may include both shields and lossy materials in locations that would be difficult to incorporate in a leadframe assembly.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A subassembly for an electrical connector, the subassembly comprising:
a housing;
a plurality of conductive elements held by the housing, each conductive element comprising a mating end, a mounting end opposite the mating end, and an intermediate portion extending between the mating end and the mounting end and disposed in a plane, wherein the mounting ends are arranged in a column extending in a column direction;
a ground shield comprising a portion parallel to the plane and attached to the housing; and
a plurality of shielding interconnects extending from the ground shield, the plurality of shielding interconnects configured to be adjacent and/or make contact with a ground plane on a surface of a board to which the electrical connector is mounted.

2. The subassembly of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of shielding interconnects are integrally formed with the ground shield.

3. The subassembly of claim 2 , wherein the plurality of shielding interconnects are integrally formed from a sheet of metal with the portion of the ground shield parallel to the column.

4. The subassembly of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of shielding interconnects each comprises:
a body extending from an edge of the ground shield;
a compressible member, separated from the body by a gap extending in a column direction; and
a tine extending from the compressible member and configured to be adjacent to and/or make contact with the ground plane of the board.

5. The subassembly of claim 4 , wherein each of the body and the compressible member comprises an in-column portion, a distal portion perpendicular to the in-column portion, and a transition portion between the in-column portion and the distal portion.

6. The subassembly of claim 4 , wherein the gap comprises an opening that is larger than other portions of the gap.

7. The subassembly of claim 6 , wherein the compressible member and the gap are configured such that the compressible member generates less than 10N of spring force when the connector is mounted to the board.

8. An electrical connector comprising:
a plurality of subassemblies as recited in claim 1 , wherein the plurality of subassemblies held with the mounting ends of the plurality of conductive elements of the plurality of subassemblies disposed in an array comprising a mounting interface of the connector.

9. A subassembly for an electrical connector, the subassembly comprising:
a housing,
a plurality of conductive elements held by the housing, each conductive element comprising a mating end, a mounting end opposite the mating end, and an intermediate portion extending between the mating end and the mounting end and disposed in a plane, wherein the mounting ends are arranged in a column extending in a column direction;
a first ground shield attached to a first side of the housing and comprising a plurality of shielding interconnects extending from the second ground shield; and
a second ground shield attached to a second side of the housing and comprising a plurality of shielding interconnects extending from the second ground shield.

10. The subassembly of claim 9 , wherein:
the intermediate portions of the plurality of conductive elements are disposed between the first ground shield and the second ground shield;
the plurality of conductive elements are disposed in a plurality of pairs; and
at least one compressible member of the plurality of compressible members of the first ground shield and at least one compressible member of the plurality of compressible members of the second ground shield are adjacent each pair of the plurality of pairs.

11. The subassembly of claim 10 , wherein:
two compressible members of the plurality of compressible members of the first ground shield and two compressible members of the plurality of compressible members of the second ground shield are adjacent each pair of the plurality of pairs.

12. The subassembly of claim 10 , wherein:
the plurality of conductive elements comprise ground conductive elements disposed between adjacent pairs of the plurality of pairs.

13. The subassembly of claim 10 , wherein:
the compressible members of the first ground shield and the second ground shield each comprises a first portion parallel to the plane, a distal portion perpendicular to the first portion, and a transition portion between the first portion and the distal portion such that the compressible members of the first ground shield and the second ground shield collectively bound respective pairs of the plurality of pairs at least in part on four sides.

14. The subassembly of claim 13 , wherein:
the compressible members of the first ground shield and the second ground shield each comprises a tine configured to extend toward the board; and
the tines are disposed at locations:
offset in the column direction from a center of the respective pair by a distance greater than the distance between the center and each conductive element of the pair; and
offset in an angular direction between 5 and 30 degrees from a centerline of the column.

15. The subassembly of claim 13 , wherein:
the compressible members of the first ground shield and the second ground shield each comprises a tine configured to extend toward the board; and
the tines are positioned to contact the board at locations of maximum electromagnetic field strength associated with a respective pair.

16. An electrical connector comprising:
a housing;
an organizer;
a plurality of subassemblies held by the housing, each subassembly comprising:
a column of conductive elements held by insulative material, each conductive element comprising a mating end, a mounting end opposite the mating end, and an intermediate portion extending between the mating end and the mounting end;
a first shield comprising:
a planar portion disposed on a first side of the column, and
a plurality of shielding interconnects extending from the planar portion;

a second shield comprising:
a planar portion disposed on a second side of the column, opposite the first side of the column, such that the intermediate portions are between the first shield and the second shield, and
a plurality of shielding interconnects extending from the planar portion;

wherein the mounting ends of the conductive elements and the plurality of shielding interconnects of the first shield and the second shield of the plurality of subassemblies extend through the organizer so as to form a mounting interface of the electrical connector; and
wherein the plurality of shielding interconnects of the first shield and the second shield each comprises a compressible member at the mounting interface.

17. The electrical connector of claim 16 , wherein:
the column of conductive elements comprises pairs of signal conductive elements;
the plurality of shielding interconnects of the first shield and the second shield comprise a plurality of groups of shielding interconnects; and
the groups of shielding interconnects partially enclose respective individual pairs of signal conductive elements.

18. The electrical connector of claim 17 , wherein the compressible members in individual groups are separated from each other by the organizer.

19. The electrical connector of claim 17 , wherein for each of the plurality of subassemblies:
the plurality of shielding interconnects each comprises a first portion extending parallel to the column of conductive elements, a distal portion extending perpendicular to the first portion, and a transition portion extending between the first por

Assignees

• Fci Usa Llc

Inventors

• Johnescu Douglas M
• Hull Gregory A
• Lauermann Mark E
• Martin Scott
• Ellison Jason John
• De Geest Jan
• Copper Charles
• Gray Mark R
• Tanis William
• Minich Steven E

Classifications

• H01R13/6587 Primary

  for mounting on PCBs · CPC title

• H01R12/716

  Coupling device provided on the PCB · CPC title

• H01R13/502

  composed of different pieces (H01R13/514 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H01R13/6477

  by variation of dielectric properties · CPC title

• H01R12/724

  containing contact members forming a right angle · CPC title