Electrical cable assembly configured to be mounted onto an array of electrical contacts

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9437949-B2
Application number	US-201414498745-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 26, 2014
Priority date	Sep 26, 2014
Publication date	Sep 6, 2016
Grant date	Sep 6, 2016

Abstract

Cable assembly including a carrier board having a terminating side and a mounting side that face in opposite directions. The terminating side includes a contact array of electrical contacts. The mounting side includes a mating array of electrical contacts. The contact array and the mating array are interconnected to each other through conductive pathways of the carrier board. The contact array along the terminating side overlaps with the mating array along the mounting side. The carrier board is configured to be mounted onto an electrical component having a two-dimensional array. The cable assembly also includes a plurality of cables having cable end portions that are coupled to the carrier board. The cable assembly includes a shield assembly that extends over the terminating side and covers the cable end portions and the contact array.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A cable assembly comprising:
a carrier board having a terminating side and a mounting side that face in opposite directions, the terminating side including a contact array of electrical contacts that include a plurality of signal contacts, the mounting side including a mating array of electrical contacts, the contact array and the mating array being interconnected to each other through conductive pathways of the carrier board, wherein the contact array along the terminating side overlaps with the mating array along the mounting side, the carrier board configured to be mounted onto an electrical component having a two-dimensional array such that the mating array electrically engages the two-dimensional array;
a plurality of cables having cable end portions that are coupled to the carrier board, the cable end portions including signal conductors having exposed portions that are terminated to corresponding signal contacts of said plurality; and
a ground shield coupled to the carrier board, the ground shield extending over the terminating side and covering the cable end portions, the exposed portions of the signal conductors, and the corresponding signal contacts.

2. The cable assembly of claim 1 , wherein the contact array defines a termination area and the mating array defines a mounting area, the termination and mounting areas overlapping each other such that the termination area extends over a majority of the mounting area.

3. The cable assembly of claim 1 , wherein the signal contacts of the contact array include signal pads and the mating array includes signal pads, the conductive pathways extend directly through the carrier board to connect the signal pads of the contact array to corresponding signal pads of the mating array.

4. The cable assembly of claim 1 , wherein the electrical contacts of the mating array include at least one of conductive pads or contact beams.

5. The cable assembly of claim 1 , wherein at least some of the cables form a first cable set that extends adjacent to the terminating side and at least some of the cables form a second cable set that extends directly over the first cable set, the first and second cable sets extending parallel to each other over the terminating side.

6. The cable assembly of claim 1 , wherein the signal contacts of the contact array include signal pads and the contact array also includes ground pads, the signal conductors being terminated to the signal pads, each of the cable end portions including at least one of an exposed shielding layer or a drain wire that is terminated to a corresponding ground pad of the contact array, the ground shield being terminated to at least one ground pad.

7. The cable assembly of claim 1 , wherein the mating array has a greater density of the electrical contacts than a density of the electrical contacts of the contact array.

8. The cable assembly of claim 1 , wherein the contact array has multiple rows of the electrical contacts in which each row includes multiple electrical contacts, the signal contacts of the multiple rows of the contact array having corresponding signal conductors terminated thereto.

9. The cable assembly of claim 1 , wherein the ground shield includes shield extensions, the shield extensions extending over respective signal pairs of the signal contacts and the signal conductors that are terminated to the respective signal pairs, the shield extension extending beyond corresponding distal ends of the signal conductors.

10. The cable assembly of claim 9 , wherein the ground shield includes ramps that are positioned between adjacent shield extensions, each of the ramps extending over a different respective signal pair of the signal contacts and the signal conductors that are terminated to the different signal pair, the ramps extending beyond distal ends of the corresponding signal conductors.

11. A cable assembly comprising:
a carrier board having a terminating side and a mounting side that face in opposite directions, the terminating side including a contact array of electrical contacts, the mounting side including a mating array of electrical contacts, the contact array and the mating array being interconnected to each other through conductive pathways of the carrier board, wherein the electrical contacts of the contact array include signal contacts that form two signal rows; and
a plurality of cables having exposed signal conductors, the cables forming a first cable set and a second cable set, the signal conductors of the cables of the first cable set being terminated to the signal contacts of one of the signal rows, the signal conductors of the cables of the second cable set being terminated to the signal contacts of the other signal row, wherein the first cable set forms a first layer that extends adjacent to the terminating side and the second cable set forms a second layer that extends directly over the first layer, the first and second layers extending parallel to each other over the terminating side;
wherein the terminating side extends parallel to a longitudinal axis and a lateral axis that are perpendicular to each other, the electrical contacts of the contact array forming a lateral group of pad sets, each of the pad sets including a pair of signal pads and a ground pad, wherein the pad sets alternate between a first longitudinal position and a second longitudinal position as the lateral group extends laterally across the terminating side.

12. The cable assembly of claim 11 , further comprising a ground shield that is coupled to the terminating side and separates the first and second layers of the cables.

13. The cable assembly of claim 12 , wherein the ground shield includes a plurality of channels that receive corresponding cables of the second cable set, the channels being partially defined by ramps of the ground shield that direct the corresponding cables of the second cable set to be positioned above the first cable set.

14. The cable assembly of claim 11 , further comprising a cover housing coupled to the carrier board and extending over the contact array and the first and second cable sets such that the first and second cable sets are disposed between the terminating side and the cover housing, the cover housing surrounding and holding the cables of the first and second cable sets to provide strain relief for the cables.

15. The cable assembly of claim 11 , wherein each and every signal pad of the contact array has a corresponding signal conductor terminated thereto.

16. The cable assembly of claim 11 , wherein the contact array defines a termination area and the mating array defines a mounting area, the termination and mounting areas overlapping each other such that the termination area extends over a majority of the mounting area.

17. A cable assembly comprising:
a carrier board having a terminating side and a mounting side that face in opposite directions, the terminating side extending parallel to a longitudinal axis and a lateral axis that are perpendicular to each other, the terminating side including a contact array of electrical contacts, the mounting side including a mating array of electrical contacts, the contact array and the mating array being interconnected to each other through conductive pathways of the carrier board, wherein the electrical contacts of the contact array form a lateral group that includes a plurality of separate pad sets, each of the pad sets including a pair of signal pads and a ground pad, wherein the pad sets alternate between a first longitudinal position and a second longitudinal position as the lateral group extend

Assignees

• Tyco Electronics Corp

Inventors

• Behziz Arash
• Costello Brian Patrick
• Herring Michael David

Classifications

• H01R13/6588

  with through openings for individual contacts · CPC title

• H01R13/6595

  with separate members fixing the shield to the PCB · CPC title

• H01R12/716 Primary

  Coupling device provided on the PCB · CPC title

• H01R12/594

  for shielded flat cable · CPC title

• H05K1/141

  One or more single auxiliary printed circuits mounted on a main printed circuit, e.g. modules, adapters (H05K1/142 and H05K1/147 take precedence) · CPC title