High speed electrical connector

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12580349-B2
Application number	US-202318354816-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 19, 2023
Priority date	Aug 31, 2022
Publication date	Mar 17, 2026
Grant date	Mar 17, 2026

Abstract

A connector for use with high-speed signals. The connector includes a connector subassembly having conductors disposed in groups and a shielding shell at least partially encircling each group. Each conductor includes a mating end and a mounting end opposite the mating end. The shielding shell includes openings that expose contact surfaces of the conductors at the ends. The shielding shell is formed by attaching a second shell part to a first shell part. The first shell part has plateaus and valleys, and the second shell part is attached to the first shell part at the valleys, such that tubular structures are formed. The shielding shell includes contact surfaces disposed on the same planes with the contact surfaces of the conductors at the ends, respectively. Such a configuration meets signal integrity requirements in connectors designed for 64 Gbps and beyond, while conforming to a standard that constrains mating and mounting interfaces.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A connector subassembly, comprising:
an insulative member; a plurality of conductive elements held by the insulative member in a row and disposed in a plurality of groups of conductive elements, each of the conductive elements comprising a mating end, a mounting end opposite the mating end, and an intermediate portion joining the mating end and the mounting end; and a shielding shell comprising a plurality of first openings and a plurality of second openings, wherein:
the intermediate portions of the plurality of conductive elements are disposed within the shielding shell such that the mating ends of the conductive elements in each group of the plurality of groups are exposed through an opening of the plurality of first openings and the mounting ends of the conductive elements in each group of the plurality of groups are exposed through an opening of the plurality of second openings.

2 . The connector subassembly of claim 1 , wherein:
the plurality of groups are spaced apart from each other in the row.

3 . The connector subassembly of claim 1 , wherein:
the shielding shell comprises a plurality of tubular structures, and each of the plurality of groups of conductive elements is disposed within a respective tubular structure.

4 . The connector subassembly of claim 1 , wherein:
the shielding shell comprises a first shell part comprising a plurality of plateaus and valleys integrally formed in the first shell part, and each of the plurality of groups of conductive elements is disposed adjacent a respective plateau of the plurality of plateaus.

5 . The connector subassembly of claim 1 , wherein the insulative member comprises:
a plurality of holding portions, each of the plurality of holding portions holding a respective group of the plurality of groups of conductive elements; and a plurality of connecting portions, integral with the plurality of holding portions, each of the plurality of connecting portions connecting adjacent holding portions of the plurality of holding portions.

6 . The connector subassembly of claim 1 , wherein:
the shielding shell comprises a plurality of mating ends and a plurality of mounting ends opposite to respective ones of the plurality of mating ends, and each of the plurality of mating ends of the shielding shell is disposed between adjacent groups of conductive elements.

7 . The connector subassembly of claim 6 , wherein:
for the plurality of conductive elements, the mating ends comprise mating contact surfaces disposed on a first plane, and the mounting ends comprise mounting contact surfaces disposed on a second plane, and for the shielding shell, the plurality of mating ends comprise mating contact surfaces disposed on the first plane, and the plurality of mounting ends comprise mounting contact surfaces disposed on the second plane.

8 . An electrical connector, comprising:
a housing comprising a base portion and a wall extending from the base portion and having a first side and a second side; and the connector subassembly of claim 1 , the connector subassembly disposed on the first side of the wall, wherein: the wall of the housing comprises a platform on the second side; and the electrical connector further comprises a plurality of conductive elements disposed on the second side of the wall.

9 . An electrical connector, comprising:
a housing comprising a slot with a first side and a second side; and the connector subassembly of claim 1 , the connector subassembly disposed within the housing with the mating ends of the connector subassembly lining the first side of the slot, wherein: the slot of the housing comprises a recess on the second side; and the electrical connector further comprises a plurality of conductive elements comprising mating ends lining the second side of the slot.

10 . A connector subassembly, comprising:
an insulative member; a plurality of conductive elements held by the insulative member in a row and disposed in a plurality of groups of conductive elements, the plurality of conductive elements each comprising a mating end comprising a distal end, a mounting end opposite the mating end, and an intermediate portion joining the mating end and the mounting end; and a shell part comprising plateaus and valleys, wherein:
the valleys are disposed between adjacent groups of the plurality of groups of conductive elements, and
the plateaus are spaced from the plurality of groups of conductive elements and extend at least from the distal ends of the mating ends of the plurality of conductive elements to the insulative member.

11 . The connector subassembly of claim 10 , wherein:
the shell part extends from a first surface to a second surface, the first surface of the plateaus are spaced from the row by a first distance in a first direction, and the second surface of the valleys are spaced from the row by the first distance in a second direction opposite the first direction.

12 . The connector subassembly of claim 10 , wherein:
the insulative member comprises portions between the groups of conductive elements, the shell part comprises openings that separate the valleys into a first portion and a second portion, and the portions of the insulative member are inserted between the first and second portions of the valleys of the shell part.

13 . The connector subassembly of claim 10 , wherein:
the shell part comprises a plurality of subparts each comprising at least one plateaus and at least a portion of at least one valley, and the plurality of subparts are connected to each other at the valleys.

14 . The connector subassembly of claim 10 , wherein:
the shell part comprises a plurality of extensions each extending from one of the plateaus and surrounding one or more sides of a portion of the mounting ends of the conductive elements of the group corresponding to the plateau.

15 . The connector subassembly of claim 14 , wherein:
each of the plurality of extensions comprises one or more flaps aligned with respective sides and/or valleys.

16 . The connector subassembly of claim 10 , wherein:
the shell part is a first shell part, and the connector subassembly comprises a second shell part comprising a body portion, a plurality of mating ends extending from the body portion and disposed between the mating ends of the conductive elements of adjacent groups, and a plurality of mounting ends extending from the body portion and each corresponding to one of the plurality of mating ends, and the second shell part is attached to the first shell part at the valleys.

17 . The connector subassembly of claim 16 , wherein:
the second shell part comprises a plurality of rear pieces extending from the body portion and configured to form loops with corresponding extensions of the first shell part.

18 . The connector subassembly of claim 16 , wherein:
for the plurality of conductive elements, the mating ends comprise mating contact surfaces disposed on a first plane, and the mounting ends comprise mounting contact surfaces disposed on a second plane, and for the second shell part, the plurality of mating ends comprise mating contact surfaces disposed on the first plane, and the plurality of mounting ends comprise mounting contact surfaces disposed on the second plane.

19 . A method of manufacturing a connector subassembly comprising a plurality of conductive elements each comprising a mating end, a mounting end opposite the mating end, and an intermediate portion joining the mating

Assignees

• Amphenol Commercial Products Chengdu Co Ltd

Inventors

• He Rui
• Hu Xiaodong
• Hou Yaohua
• Liao Lei

Classifications

• H01R43/24

  Assembling by moulding on contact members · CPC title

• H01R13/6471

  by special arrangement of ground and signal conductors, e.g. GSGS [Ground-Signal-Ground-Signal] · CPC title

• H01R12/73

  connecting to other rigid printed circuits or like structures · CPC title

• H01R12/721 Primary

  cooperating directly with the edge of the rigid printed circuits · CPC title

• H01R13/6588 Primary

  with through openings for individual contacts · CPC title