Ground bus for a cable card assembly of an electrical connector

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12580332-B2
Application number	US-202318300894-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 14, 2023
Priority date	Apr 14, 2023
Publication date	Mar 17, 2026
Grant date	Mar 17, 2026

Abstract

A cable card assembly includes a circuit card having conductors and a contact assembly coupled to the circuit card and cables. The contact assembly includes a contact holder holding signal contacts and a ground bus separate and discrete from the contact assembly. The ground bus is electrically connected to cable shields to electrically connect the cable shields to the ground plane of the circuit card. The ground bus includes a shell having an inner bus member and an outer bus member. The ground bus includes ground blades received in the shell and located between the corresponding cables. The ground blades are electrically connected to the inner bus member and the outer bus member.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A cable card assembly for an electrical connector comprising:
a circuit card having an upper surface and a lower surface, the circuit card having a cable end and a mating end, the circuit card having mating conductors at the mating end for mating with a second electrical connector, the circuit card having circuit conductors at the cable end, the circuit card having a ground plane; cables terminated to the circuit card, the cables including signal conductors and cable shields surrounding the corresponding signal conductors to provide electrical shielding for the signal conductors, the signal conductors including exposed portions extending forward of the cable shields; a contact assembly coupled to the circuit card and coupled to the cables to electrically connect the signal conductors of the cables to the circuit conductors of the circuit card, the contact assembly including a contact holder holding signal contacts, each signal contact including a base tab and a mating tab, the base tab being terminated to the corresponding circuit conductor, the mating tab being terminated to the corresponding signal conductor; and a ground bus separate and discrete from the contact assembly and being coupled to the contact assembly, the ground bus being electrically connected to the cable shields to electrically connect the cable shields of the cables, the ground bus being electrically connected to the ground plane of the circuit card, the ground bus including a shell having an inner bus member and an outer bus member, the inner and outer bus members being conductive and providing electrical shielding, ends of the cables being located between the inner bus member and the outer bus member, the inner bus member being located between the cables and the circuit card, the ground bus including ground blades separate and discrete from the inner and outer bus members of the shell, the ground blades being received in the shell and located between the corresponding cables, the ground blades being electrically connected to the inner bus member and being electrically connected to the outer bus member.

2 . The cable card assembly of claim 1 , wherein the ground blades are stamped and formed having planar first and second sides.

3 . The cable card assembly of claim 1 , wherein the ground blades are press-fit into the inner bus member and the outer bus member to mechanically and electrically connect to the inner bus member and the outer bus member by an interference fit.

4 . The cable card assembly of claim 1 , wherein each ground blade includes shell termination elements coupled to the shell to electrically connect the ground blade to the shell.

5 . The cable card assembly of claim 4 , wherein the shell termination elements include deflectable spring beams coupled to the shell at separable mating interfaces.

6 . The cable card assembly of claim 4 , wherein the shell termination elements include bulges press-fit into the shell.

7 . The cable card assembly of claim 1 , wherein each ground blade includes a drain wire terminator configured to be terminated to a drain wire of the corresponding cable.

8 . The cable card assembly of claim 7 , wherein the drain wire terminators are soldered to the drain wires.

9 . The cable card assembly of claim 7 , wherein the drain wire terminators include slots configured to receive the corresponding drain wires.

10 . The cable card assembly of claim 1 , wherein the inner bus member includes inner slots and the outer bus member includes outer slots, the ground blades being received in the inner and outer slots.

11 . The cable card assembly of claim 1 , wherein the inner bus member includes locating grooves and inner slots in the locating grooves, the outer bus member including locating ribs and outer slots in the locating ribs, the locating ribs being received in the locating grooves to position the outer bus member relative to the inner bus member and align the outer slots with the inner slots, the ground blades being received in the inner slots and the outer slots.

12 . The cable card assembly of claim 1 , wherein the outer bus member includes locating openings, the inner bus member including locating pins, the locating pins being received in the locating openings when the outer bus member is coupled to the inner bus member, the ground blades being coupled to the locating pins to lock the locating pins in the locating openings.

13 . The cable card assembly of claim 12 , wherein the inner bus member includes inner slots extending through the locating pins, the ground blades being received in the slots in the locating pins.

14 . A ground bus for electrically connecting cables to a circuit card of a cable card assembly, the ground bus comprising:
a shell including an inner bus member and an outer bus member separate and discrete from the inner bus member, the inner and outer bus members being conductive and providing electrical shielding, the inner bus member including a bottom configured to be mounted to the circuit card, the inner bus member including cable cradles configured to receive the corresponding cables, the inner bus member including openings configured to receive contacts of the cable card assembly terminated to ends of conductors of the cables for connection to the circuit card, the inner bus member configured to be positioned between the cables and the circuit card, the outer bus member including covers configured to cover the cables, the inner bus member being electrically conductive and providing shielding around portions of the cables, the outer bus member being electrically conductive and providing shielding around portions of the cables; ground blades separate and discrete from the inner and outer bus members of the shell, the ground blades being received in the shell and configured to be positioned between the cables to provide shielding between the corresponding cables, the ground blades being electrically connected to the inner bus member and being electrically connected to the outer bus member.

15 . The ground bus of claim 14 , wherein the ground blades are press-fit into the inner bus member and the outer bus member to mechanically and electrically connect to the inner bus member and the outer bus member by an interference fit.

16 . The ground bus of claim 14 , wherein each ground blade includes shell termination elements coupled to the shell to electrically connect the ground blade to the at separable mating interfaces.

17 . The ground bus of claim 14 , wherein each ground blade includes a drain wire terminator configured to be terminated to a drain wire of the corresponding cable.

18 . The ground bus of claim 14 , wherein the inner bus member includes inner slots and the outer bus member includes outer slots, the ground blades being received in the inner and outer slots.

19 . An electrical connector comprising:
a housing having walls forming a cavity, the housing having a mating end configured to be mated with a second electrical connector; and a cable card assembly received in the cavity of the housing, the cable card assembly including a circuit card, a contact assembly coupled to the circuit card, cables terminated to the contact assembly, and a ground bus coupled to the circuit card, the circuit card having an upper surface and a lower surface, the circuit card having a cable end and a mating end, the circuit card including a ground plane, the circuit card having circuit conductors at the cable end, the circuit card having mating conductors at the mating end,

Assignees

• Te Connectivity Solutions Gmbh

Inventors

• Sypolt Matthew Jeffrey
• Hamner Richard Elof
• Valentine Charles Jameson
• Westman John Eugene

Classifications

• H01R13/65914

  Connection of shield to additional grounding conductors · CPC title

• H01R13/6592

  the conductive member being a shielded cable · CPC title

• H01R12/53

  connecting to cables except for flat or ribbon cables · CPC title

• H01R13/6461

  Means for preventing cross-talk · CPC title

• H01R13/65918

  wherein each conductor is individually surrounded by shield · CPC title