Contact assembly having cable contacts and connector contacts

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12597723-B2
Application number	US-202318507130-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 13, 2023
Priority date	Nov 13, 2023
Publication date	Apr 7, 2026
Grant date	Apr 7, 2026

Abstract

A contact assembly includes a contact organizer having a central wall that includes a front slot configured to receive a card edge of a circuit card and a pass-through window through the central wall. The contact assembly includes upper and lower contact arrays of upper and lower contacts coupled to the central wall. The contacts include forward sections extending to the front slot to mate with the module circuit card and rearward sections with terminating ends. The contacts include cable contacts terminated to ends of cables and connector contacts terminated to a board connector. The terminating ends of the upper connector contacts pass through the pass-through window to an area below the central wall for termination to the board connector.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A contact assembly comprising:
a contact organizer having a central wall including an upper surface and a lower surface, the contact organizer including a front slot at a front of the contact organizer configured to receive a card edge of a module circuit card of a pluggable module, the contact organizer including a pass-through window through the central wall; an upper contact array coupled to the upper surface of the central wall of the contact organizer, the upper contact array including upper contacts, the upper contacts including forward sections and rearward sections, the forward sections of the upper contacts extending to the front slot to mate with the module circuit card, the rearward sections having terminating ends, the upper contacts including upper cable contacts and upper connector contacts, the terminating ends of the upper cable contacts configured to be terminated to cable conductors of corresponding upper cables, the terminating ends of the upper connector contacts configured to be terminated to board contacts of a board connector connected to the host circuit board, the upper connector contacts passing through the pass-through window to an area below the central wall; and a lower contact array coupled to the lower surface of the central wall of the contact organizer, the lower contact array including lower contacts, the lower contacts including forward sections and rearward sections, the forward sections of the lower contacts extending to the front slot to mate with the module circuit card, the rearward sections having terminating ends, the lower contacts including lower cable contacts and lower connector contacts, the terminating ends of the lower cable contacts configured to be terminated to cable conductors of corresponding lower cables, the terminating ends of the lower connector contacts configured to be terminated to the board contacts of the board connector.

2 . The contact assembly of claim 1 , wherein the central wall surrounds the pass-through window at a front, a rear, a first side, and a second side of the pass-through window.

3 . The contact assembly of claim 1 , wherein the forward sections of the upper connector contacts are located above the upper surface of the central wall and the rearward sections of the upper connector contacts are located below the lower surface of the central wall.

4 . The contact assembly of claim 1 , wherein the pass-through window is centered between a first side and a second side of the central wall.

5 . The contact assembly of claim 1 , wherein the upper contact array includes an upper contact positioner holding relative positions of the upper contacts, the upper contact positioner being coupled to the contact organizer, and wherein the lower contact array includes a lower contact positioner holding relative positions of the lower contacts, the lower contact positioner being coupled to the contact organizer.

6 . The contact assembly of claim 5 , wherein the upper contact array is formed from an upper leadframe, the upper contact positioner including an overmold body overmolded over the upper leadframe, and wherein the lower contact array is formed from a lower leadframe, the lower contact positioner including an overmold body overmolded over the lower leadframe.

7 . The contact assembly of claim 1 , wherein the upper contact array includes an upper contact holder holding the terminating ends of the upper connector contacts, the upper contact holder configured to be coupled to the board connector to connect the terminating ends of the upper connector contacts to the board connector, and wherein the lower contact array includes an lower contact holder holding the terminating ends of the lower connector contacts, the lower contact holder configured to be coupled to the board connector to connect the terminating ends of the lower connector contacts to the board connector.

8 . The contact assembly of claim 1 , wherein the terminating ends of the upper connector contacts include separable mating interfaces configured to be mated with the board contacts of the board connector, the terminating ends of the upper connector contacts being separable from the board contacts with the contact organizer, and wherein the terminating ends of the lower connector contacts include separable mating interfaces configured to be mated with the board contacts of the board connector, the terminating ends of the lower connector contacts being separable from the board contacts with the contact organizer.

9 . The contact assembly of claim 1 , wherein the terminating ends of the upper cable contacts are terminated to the cable conductors of the upper cables above the upper surface of the central wall, and wherein the terminating ends of the lower cable contacts are terminated to the cable conductors of the lower cables below the lower surface of the central wall.

10 . The contact assembly of claim 1 , wherein the upper contact array includes an upper contact shield extending along and shielding the upper connector contacts, and wherein the lower contact array includes a lower contact shield extending along and shielding the lower connector contacts.

11 . An electrical connector assembly comprising:
a board connector mounted to a host circuit board, the board connector including board contacts electrically connected to the host circuit board; and a cable connector electrically connected to cables of a cable assembly, the cable connector being positioned above the board connector on the host circuit board, the cable connector including a housing and a contact assembly received in a cavity of the housing; the housing including a top and a bottom, the housing having a front and a rear, the housing having a first side and a second side, the bottom facing the host circuit board, the housing including the cavity at the rear, the housing including a card slot open to the cavity at the front of the housing, the card slot configured to receive a card edge of a module circuit card of the pluggable module; the contact assembly including a contact organizer holding an upper contact array and a lower contact array; the contact organizer having a central wall including an upper surface and a lower surface, the contact organizer including a front slot at a front of the contact organizer aligned with the card slot to receive the card edge of the module circuit card of the pluggable module, the contact organizer including a pass-through window through the central wall; the upper contact array coupled to the upper surface of the central wall of the contact organizer, the upper contact array including upper contacts, the upper contacts including forward sections and rearward sections, the forward sections of the upper contacts extending to the front slot to mate with the module circuit card, the rearward sections having terminating ends, the upper contacts including upper cable contacts and upper connector contacts, the terminating ends of the upper cable contacts configured to be terminated to cable conductors of the corresponding cables, the terminating ends of the upper connector contacts configured to be terminated to the corresponding board contacts of the board connector, the upper connector contacts passing through the pass-through window to an area below the central wall; and a lower contact array coupled to the lower surface of the central wall of the contact organizer, the lower contact array including lower contacts, the lower contacts including forward sections and rearward sections, the forward sections of the lower contacts extending to the front slot to mate with the module circuit card, the rearward sections having terminating ends, the

Assignees

• Te Connectivity Solutions Gmbh

Inventors

• Dunbar Blake
• Balakrishnan Nitish

Classifications

• H01R12/721 Primary

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

• H01R13/405

  Securing in non-demountable manner, e.g. moulding, riveting · CPC title

• H01R12/57

  surface mounting terminals · CPC title

• H01R12/727

  Coupling devices presenting arrays of contacts · CPC title

• H01R12/73 Primary

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