High density, high speed electrical connector

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12095218-B2
Application number	US-202318339708-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 22, 2023
Priority date	May 20, 2019
Publication date	Sep 17, 2024
Grant date	Sep 17, 2024

Abstract

A modular high speed, high density electrical connector configurable for use in multiple configurations, including a direct attach orthogonal configuration. The connector is assembled with modules that include shielded pairs of signal conductors with mating ends that are rotated approximately 45 degrees with respect to intermediate portions of the signal conductors. The connector may have a mating interface with receptacles in one connector and pins in the mating connector. The pins may be small diameter and may be implemented with superelastic wires so as to resist damage despite having very small effective diameter. A compact mating interface resulting from small diameter mating contact portions may enable other portions of the connector, including the shielding surrounding the signal conductors to be smaller, which may raise the resonant frequency of the connector and extend its bandwidth.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A connector module, comprising:
a pair of signal conductors, wherein:
the pair of signal conductors comprises a pair of mating ends, a pair of contact tails, and a pair of intermediate portions connecting the pair of mating ends to the pair of contact tails;
the pair of mating ends are elongated in a first direction that is at a right angle relative to a second direction in which the pair of contact tails are elongated;
the mating ends of the pair of mating ends are separated in a direction of a first line that is perpendicular to the first direction;
the intermediate portions of the pair of intermediate portions are broadside-coupled and are separated in a direction of a second line that is perpendicular to the first direction; and
the first line is disposed at an angle greater than 0 degrees and less than 90 degrees relative to the second line.

2. The connector module of claim 1 , wherein the first line is disposed at an angle greater than 30 degrees and less than 60 degrees relative to the second line.

3. The connector module of claim 2 , wherein the first line is disposed at a 45-degree angle relative to the second line.

4. The connector module of claim 1 , wherein the pair of signal conductors further comprises a transition region connecting the pair of intermediate portions to the pair of mating ends.

5. The connector module of claim 4 , further comprising an electromagnetic shielding member that at least partially surrounds the pair of mating ends and is embossed with a projecting portion adjacent the transition region so as to offset changes in impedance along a length of the pair of signal conductors associated with changes in the shape of the pair of signal conductors along the length.

6. The connector module of claim 4 , further comprising an electromagnetic shielding member that at least partially surrounds the pair of mating ends and is embossed with a projecting portion adjacent the pair of mating ends so as to reduce a disparity between a mated and partially demated impedance of the connector module.

7. The connector module of claim 4 , wherein, at the transition region, a first signal conductor of the pair of signal conductors jogs towards a third line along which the pair of contact tails are separated, and a second signal conductor of the pair of signal conductors jogs away from the third line.

8. The connector module of claim 1 , wherein the contact tails of the pair of contact tails are broadside-coupled.

9. A wafer, comprising:
a support; and
a plurality of connector modules of claim 1 arranged in a column and held by the support, each connector module of the wafer further comprising an electromagnetic shielding member at least partially surrounding the mating ends of the pair of signal conductors.

10. A wafer, comprising:
a support; and
a plurality of connector modules arranged in a column and held by the support, each connector module comprising a pair of signal conductors and an electromagnetic shielding member, wherein:
the pair of signal conductors comprises a pair of mating ends, a pair of contact tails, and a pair of intermediate portions connecting the pair of mating ends to the pair of contact tails;
the electromagnetic shielding member at least partially surrounds the pair of mating ends;
the pair of mating ends are elongated in a first direction;
the pair of contact tails are elongated in a second direction that is at a right angle relative to the first direction;
the mating ends of the pair of mating ends are separated in a direction of a first line that is perpendicular to the first direction;
the intermediate portions of the pair of intermediate portions are separated in a direction of a second line that is perpendicular to the first direction; and
the first line is disposed at an angle greater than 0 degrees and less than 90 degrees relative to the second line.

11. The wafer of claim 10 , wherein the first line is disposed at an angle greater than 30 degrees and less than 60 degrees relative to the second line.

12. The wafer of claim 11 , wherein the first line is disposed at a 45-degree angle relative to the second line.

13. The wafer of claim 10 , wherein the pair of signal conductors further comprises a transition region connecting the pair of intermediate portions to the pair of mating ends.

14. The wafer of claim 13 , wherein the electromagnetic shielding member is embossed with a projecting portion adjacent the transition region so as to offset changes in impedance along a length of the pair of signal conductors associated with changes in the shape of the pair of signal conductors along the length.

15. The wafer of claim 13 , wherein the electromagnetic shielding member is embossed with a projecting portion adjacent the pair of mating ends so as to reduce a disparity between a mated and partially demated impedance of the connector module.

16. The wafer of claim 13 , wherein the electromagnetic shielding member is embossed with an outwardly projecting portion adjacent the transition region and an inwardly projecting portion adjacent the pair of mating ends.

17. The wafer of claim 10 , wherein:
each connector module of the wafer comprises electromagnetic shielding;
the electromagnetic shielding comprises the electromagnetic shielding member as a first electromagnetic shielding member and further comprises a second electromagnetic shielding member; and
each of the first and second electromagnetic shielding members comprises:
an intermediate portion;
a mating portion integral with the intermediate portion; and
a transition between the mating portion and the intermediate portion,
wherein the first and second electromagnetic shielding members twist at the angle of the first line with respect to the second line at the transition.

18. The wafer of claim 10 , wherein:
each connector module of the wafer comprises electromagnetic shielding that includes the electromagnetic shielding member;
the electromagnetic shielding at least partially surrounds the pair of mating ends of the pair of signal conductors at a first portion along a length of the pair of signal conductors;
at the first portion, the electromagnetic shielding has a cross-section with a width less than 2 millimeters (mm) and a length less than 3.8 mm.

19. A connector, comprising:
a housing;
a first wafer and a second wafer, each supported by the housing and comprising a plurality of signal conductor pairs, wherein:
for each of the plurality of signal conductor pairs, the signal conductor pair comprises a pair of mating ends, a pair of contact tails, and a pair of intermediate portions connecting the pair of mating ends to the pair of contact tails;
the first and second wafers are disposed in an array comprising a plurality of rows, the plurality of rows extending along a row direction and spaced from each other in a column direction perpendicular to the row direction;
the first and second wafers are adjacent one another in the row direction;
the pairs of mating ends of the plurality of signal conductor pairs of the first and second wafers are aligned along first lines that are parallel to one another; and
the first lines are disposed at an angle of greater than 30 degrees and less than 60 degrees relative to the row direction.

20. The connector of claim 19 , wherein the first lines are disposed at an angle of 45 degrees relative to the row direction.

21. The connector of claim 19 , wherein:
the signal conductor pair further compris

Assignees

• Amphenol Corp

Inventors

• Cartier Jr Marc B
• Dunham John Robert
• Gailus Mark W
• Pitten John

Classifications

• H01R12/71

  for rigid printing circuits or like structures · CPC title

• H01R13/6585

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

• H01R13/585

  Grip increasing with strain force · CPC title

• H01R13/6474

  by variation of conductive properties, e.g. by dimension variations · CPC title

• H01R12/724

  containing contact members forming a right angle · CPC title