Electrical connector and electrical connector assembly

Abstract

The present invention discloses an electrical connector and its assembly. The electrical connector can be matched with a docking connector. The electrical connector includes an insulating housing, terminals retained in the insulating housing, and a shielding sheet retained in the insulating housing. The terminals are arranged in pairs for transmitting a pair of differential signals. The shielding sheet includes at least two walls and shields the terminal pairs in at least two directions. Each of the walls extends from a plurality of contact springs. The contact springs include an inner contact spring protruding toward the terminal pair and an outer contact spring protruding away from the terminal pair. The contact springs of the electrical connector of the present invention include an inner contact spring protruding toward the terminal pair and an outer contact spring protruding away from the terminal pair, thereby optimizing the grounding connection effect and thereby improving signal transmission of the electrical connector and the electrical connector assembly.

Description

Technical field

[0001] The present invention relates to an electric connector and an electric connector module, and in particular to a high-speed backplane electric connector and an electric connector assembly used in the communication field. [Background Technology]

[0002] U.S. Patent No. 6,988,902, authorized and published on January 24, 2006, discloses a combination of a plug electrical connector and a receptacle electrical connector, wherein the plug electrical connector and the receptacle electrical connector each include a plurality of columns of terminals, each column of terminals including differential signal pairs and ground terminals arranged between adjacent differential signal pairs, each differential signal pair in each column being staggered with the corresponding differential signal pairs in an adjacent column, and no metal shielding is provided between adjacent columns. Although the staggered arrangement of the differential pairs can reduce crosstalk to a certain extent and enable transmission of lower differential signals of 6 Gbps and below, with the improvement of differential signal transmission speeds, the differential signal transmission speeds of many pairs have now reached 25 Gbps, or even as high as 56 Gbps. Therefore, this simple staggered arrangement is no longer sufficient for high-speed signal transmission.

[0003] Therefore, there is a need for an improved electrical connector and electrical connector assembly that can transmit differential signals at 56 Gbps or higher. [Summary of the invention]

[0004] The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide an electrical connector that optimizes the grounding connection effect and thereby improves signal transmission.

[0005] To solve the above problems, the present invention provides an electrical connector that can be matched with a docking connector. The electrical connector includes an insulating shell, terminals retained in the insulating shell, and a shielding sheet retained in the insulating shell. The terminals are arranged in pairs for transmitting a pair of differential signals. The shielding sheet includes at least two walls and shields the terminal pairs in at least two directions. A number of contact springs extend from each of the walls. The contact springs include an inner contact spring protruding toward the terminal pair and an outer contact spring protruding away from the terminal pair.

[0006] The specific implementation structure is as follows:

[0007] The shielding sheet includes a main wall and a pair of side walls extending from both sides of the main wall in the same direction. The main wall and the pair of side walls shield the terminal pairs from three directions.

[0008] Each of the side walls includes a contact spring, and the main wall includes a pair of contact springs spaced apart.

[0009] The contact spring on the side wall is an inner contact spring

[0010] The contact springs on the main wall are all external contact springs.

[0011] The two terminals forming the terminal pair are coupled with narrow sides, the main wall of the shielding sheet is opposite to the wide sides of the terminal pair, and the pair of side walls of the shielding sheet are respectively opposite to the corresponding narrow sides of the terminal pair.

[0012] The shielding sheet is directly mounted and fixed on the insulating shell.

[0013] The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide an electrical connector module that optimizes the grounding connection effect and thereby improves signal transmission.

[0014] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides an electrical connector assembly, which includes an electrical connector and a docking connector that cooperates with the electrical connector, the electrical connector includes an insulating shell, a plurality of terminal pairs arranged in rows and columns held in the insulating shell, and a plurality of shielding plates arranged in corresponding rows and columns held in the insulating shell, each terminal pair is used to transmit a pair of differential signals, each shielding plate includes at least two walls and shields a corresponding terminal pair in at least two directions, and a plurality of contact springs extend from each of the walls, the contact springs including an inner contact spring protruding toward the terminal pair and an outer contact spring protruding away from the terminal pair.

[0015] The specific implementation structure is as follows:

[0016] The docking connector includes a number of docking terminal modules arranged along a column direction, each docking terminal module includes a shielding member, the inner contact spring sheet of the shielding sheet in a column of the electrical connector is in contact and connected with the shielding member in the corresponding docking terminal module, and the outer contact spring sheet in the column is in contact and connected with the shielding member in the docking terminal module adjacent to the corresponding docking terminal module.

[0017] The terminal module includes a first terminal module and a second terminal module that cooperates with the first terminal module. The inner contact spring is in contact with the shielding part in the first terminal module, and the outer contact spring is in contact with the shielding part of the second terminal module in the adjacent terminal module.

[0018] Compared with the prior art, the contact spring of the electrical connector of the present invention includes an inner contact spring protruding toward the terminal pair and an outer contact spring protruding away from the terminal pair, thereby optimizing the grounding connection effect and improving the signal transmission of the electrical connector and the electrical connector assembly.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0019] Figure 1 This is a three-dimensional diagram of the electrical connector according to the present invention separated from the circuit board on which it is installed.

[0020] Figure 2 yes Figure 1 The diagram shows a perspective view of an electrical connector mounted on a circuit board and a mating connector mounted on a mating circuit board without being mated.

[0021] Figure 3 yes Figure 1 A partially exploded view of the electrical connector is shown.

[0022] Figure 4 yes Figure 3 A partially exploded view of the electrical connector from another perspective is shown.

[0023] Figure 5 yes Figure 2 A partially exploded view of the docking connector and docking circuit board is shown.

[0024] Figure 6 yes Figure 5 A partially exploded view of the docking connector and docking circuit board from another perspective is shown.

[0025] Figure 7 yes Figure 5 An exploded view of a pair of adjacent terminal modules of a mating connector is shown.

[0026] Figure 8 yes Figure 7 An exploded view of a pair of adjacent terminal modules of a docking connector is shown from another perspective.

[0027] Figure 9 yes Figure 2 The cross-sectional view along the AA direction is shown after the electrical connector is mounted on a circuit board and is mated with the mating connector mounted on a mating circuit board.

[0028] Figure 10 yes Figure 2 The cross-sectional view in the BB direction is shown after the electrical connector is mounted on a circuit board and is mated with the mating connector mounted on a mating circuit board.

[0029]

Main component symbol description

[0030] Electrical connector assembly 100 First electrical connector 1

[0031] Second electrical connector 2 First circuit board 3

[0032] Second circuit board 4 Insulation housing 10

[0033] Bottom wall 11 Side wall 12

[0034] Accommodation space 13 Mounting hole 111

[0035] Support wall 113 Channel 115

[0036] Guide bar 121 Terminal 20

[0037] Holding portion 21 barb 211

[0038] Wide barb 215 terminal pair 22

[0039] Mounting portion 23 Mounting foot 231

[0040] Cantilever 25 Contact portion 251

[0041] Slot 253 Shielding sheet 30

[0042] Main wall 31 Main body 310

[0043] Side wall 33 contacts spring 331

[0044] The first mounting portion 332 contacts the protrusion 333

[0045] Contact spring 335 Contact protrusion 337

[0046] Housing 40 Retaining member 494

[0047] Terminal module 50 First terminal module 51

[0048] Second terminal module 52 Insulation body 60

[0049] Lower edge 61 Upper edge 62

[0050] Leading edge 63 Trailing edge 64

[0051] Holding ridge 641 First side 66

[0052] Mounting slot 662 Card slot 665

[0053] Second side surface 67 Signal terminal 70

[0054] Terminal pair 710 Air gap 721

[0055] Docking end 73 Mounting end 74

[0056] Middle portion 75 Ground terminal 80

[0057] Ground mating end 83 first ground contact portion 831

[0058] Ground mounting end 84 transition portion 85

[0059] Connector 851 Second ground contact portion 852

[0060] Ground plate 90 Clamping plate 95

[0061] The following specific embodiments will further illustrate the present invention in conjunction with the above-mentioned drawings. [Specific implementation method]

[0062] like Figure 1-10 As shown, the electrical connector assembly 100 of the present invention includes an electrical connector or a first electrical connector 1 and a mating connector or a second electrical connector 2 that mates with the first electrical connector 1. The first electrical connector 1 is mounted on a circuit board or a first circuit board 3, and the second electrical connector 2 is mounted on a mating circuit board or a second circuit board 4. When the first electrical connector 1 and the second electrical connector 2 are mated, the transmission speed per channel can reach 112Gbps, or even higher.

[0063] like Figure 1-4 As shown in Figures 9 and 10, the first electrical connector 1 includes an insulating housing 10, a plurality of terminals 20 retained in the insulating housing 10, and a shielding sheet 30 retained in the insulating housing 10 to shield the terminals. The terminals 20 are arranged in pairs for a plurality of differential pairs, each differential pair transmitting a pair of differential signals. The signal terminals 20 arranged in differential pairs are arranged in a plurality of rows and columns within the insulating housing 10. The shielding sheet 30 is arranged in corresponding rows and columns within the insulating housing 10.

[0064] The insulating housing 10 includes a bottom wall 11, a pair of spaced-apart side walls 12 extending from the same side of the bottom wall 11, and a receiving space 13 formed by the bottom wall 11 and the two side walls 12. The bottom wall 11 includes a plurality of mounting holes 111 arranged in rows and columns, extending through the bottom wall 11, for mounting the terminals 20 and the shielding sheet 30. The bottom wall 11 is provided with a plurality of support walls 113 protruding into the receiving space 13 for supporting the terminals 20. Each support wall 113 includes two grooves 115. The side walls 12 are provided with guide bars 121 for accurately guiding the second electrical connector 2 into the receiving space 13.

[0065] Each of the terminals 20 includes a retaining portion 21 for retaining on the bottom wall 11, a mounting portion 23 extending downward from the retaining portion 21 out of the bottom wall 11 for mounting on the first circuit board 3, a cantilever 25 extending upward from the retaining portion 21 into the receiving space 13, and a contact portion 251 located at the front of the cantilever 25. A slot 253 is provided on the cantilever 25, and the slot 253 extends to the contact portion 251. The periphery of the slot 253 is completely enclosed within the terminal 20. The cantilever 25 is accommodated in the groove 115. By providing a slot 253 extending to the contact portion 251 on the terminal 20, the contact area of ​​the terminal 20 is reduced, thereby reducing the capacitance effect, thereby improving the impedance matching on the entire transmission path, and improving the shielding effect of the electrical connector 1. The mounting portion 23 includes a mounting foot 231 with a fisheye hole structure. The terminals 20 are formed by stamping and then bending a metal flat plate material. Each terminal 20 includes a wide side on the surface where the metal flat plate is located and a narrow side cut from the flat plate material. The narrow sides on both sides of the retaining portion 21 are provided with barbs 211 protruding toward the corresponding outer sides, and the wide sides are provided with wide barbs 215 protruding from the wide sides, and the wide barbs 215 are torn out from the wide sides. Each terminal 20 is installed in a mounting hole 111 on the bottom wall 11 and is fixed to the bottom wall 11 by the barbs 211 and the wide barbs 215. Two adjacent terminals 20 form a terminal pair 22 for transmitting a pair of differential signals. The two terminals 20 forming the terminal pair 22 are narrow-side coupled from the mounting portion 23 to the contact portion 251. The distance from the center of the contact portion 251 of one terminal 20 in the terminal pair 22 to the center of the contact portion 251 of the other terminal 20 is a first dimension S, and the distance from the center of the mounting portion 23 to the center of the mounting portion 23 of the other terminal 20 is a second dimension L, and the first dimension S is smaller than the second dimension L to reduce signal crosstalk between the terminal pair 22 and the adjacent terminal pair 22.

[0066] The shielding sheet 30 is formed by stamping and then bending a sheet metal material. The shielding sheet 30 includes a main wall 31 and a pair of side walls 33 extending from both sides of the main wall in the same direction. The main wall 31 and the two side walls 33 surround one terminal pair 22 in three directions, shielding the terminal pair 22 from other terminal pairs 22. The main wall 31 is parallel to the wide side of the terminal pair 22 it shields, and a pair of side walls 33 are respectively opposite to the corresponding narrow sides of the terminal pair 22. A number of contact springs 331 extend from the main wall 31 and the side walls 33. In this embodiment, the side of the shielding sheet 30 facing the terminal pair it surrounds is defined as the inner side, and the side opposite to the inner side is defined as the outer side. Each of the side walls 33 includes a contact spring 331 and a first mounting portion 332 extending downward from each side wall 33 for mounting on the first circuit board 3. Each of the contact springs 331 at this position includes a contact protrusion 333, and the contact spring 331 extends inward, and the contact protrusion 333 protrudes inward, that is, the contact spring 331 at this position is an inner contact spring protruding toward the terminal pair 22. The shielding sheet 30 includes a main body 310. The shielding sheet 30 is directly fixedly mounted on the bottom wall 11 through the main body 310. The main body 310 includes a pair of contact springs 335. Each of the contact springs 335 at this position includes a contact protrusion 337, and the contact spring 335 extends outward, and the contact protrusion 337 protrudes outward, that is, the contact spring 335 at this position is an outer contact spring protruding away from the terminal pair 22. The terminal pair 22 and the corresponding shielding sheet 30 can also be integrally formed and then fixed together to the insulating shell 10.

[0067] like Figure 5-10 As shown, the second electrical connector 2 includes a housing 40, a plurality of terminal modules 50 mounted in the housing 40 and arranged in a transverse direction, i.e., in a row, and a retaining member 49 for fixing the terminal modules 50. Each terminal module 50 includes an insulating body 60, a plurality of signal terminals 70 retained in the insulating body 60, a plurality of ground terminals 80 retained in the insulating body 60, and a ground plate 90 located on one side of the terminal module 50.

[0068] The insulating body 60 is sheet-shaped and includes a lower edge 61 facing the installation direction, an upper edge 62 opposite the lower edge 61, a front edge 63 facing the mating electrical connector, and a rear edge 64 opposite the front edge 63. The rear edge 64 is provided with a retaining ridge 641. The retaining member 49 includes a retaining hole 494 that receives the corresponding retaining ridge 641. Thus, each terminal module 50 is fixed together in a laterally aligned manner by the retaining member 49 and the housing 40. The insulating body 60 has a first side surface 66 and a second side surface 67 oppositely disposed in the thickness direction thereof. The first side surface 66 is provided with a plurality of mounting grooves 662. The outer surface of the insulating body 60 is coated with a layer of absorbing material.

[0069] The signal terminals 70 are integrally formed within the insulating body 60 and are arranged in signal terminal pairs 710. Each signal terminal pair 710 is configured to transmit a pair of differential signals. Each signal terminal 70 includes a mating end 73 extending from the insulating body 60 in a mating direction, a mounting end 74 extending from the insulating body 60 in a mounting direction and capable of being mounted on the second circuit board 4, and an intermediate portion 75 between the mounting end 74 and the mating end 73. The mating end 73 is perpendicular to the mounting end 74. Each signal terminal 70 includes a wide side and a narrow side. The wide sides of the signal terminal pairs 710 are arranged in the same plane, and the signal terminal pairs 710 are narrow-side coupled from the mounting end 74 to the mating end 73. The insulating body 60 is provided with an air gap 721 that exposes the signal terminal 70 to the air. The air gap 721 can be provided on only one side of the insulating body 60 or on both sides of the insulating body 60. Its purpose is to expose the signal terminal 70 at the position of the air gap 721 to the air. The different dielectric constants of different materials are used to adjust the capacitance effect to improve its characteristic impedance to meet 80-100 ohms. Alternatively, the capacitance effect can be adjusted by implanting a material with a dielectric constant different from that of the insulating body 60 at the opening position or by implanting an electrical component.

[0070] The grounding terminal 80 includes a grounding mating end 83 that mates with the first electrical connector 1, a grounding mounting end 84 mounted on the second circuit board, and a transition portion 85 between the grounding mounting end 84 and the grounding mating end 83. The grounding mating end 83 includes a pair of first grounding contact portions 831 spaced apart in the vertical direction. Each grounding terminal 80 is mounted in a corresponding mounting slot 662 on the insulating body 60. Grounding terminals 80 are provided on both sides of each differential signal terminal pair 710 in the vertical direction. A connector 851 is provided at the junction of the grounding mating end 83 and the transition portion 85 to connect the grounding terminals 80 on both sides of the signal terminal pair 710. The grounding terminal 80 includes a second grounding contact portion 852 extending forward from the connector 851. The connector 851 and the two grounding terminals 80 connected thereto are integrally stamped. Each grounding terminal 80 includes a wide side and a narrow side. The wide side of each grounding terminal 80 is disposed in a plane perpendicular to the plane containing the wide sides of the differential signal terminal pair 710. The middle portion 75 of the signal terminal 70 is bent inward in the width direction of the ground terminal 80, the purpose of which is to achieve equal length of the physical structure of the signal terminal pair 710, and then to achieve equal length of the electrical structure, so as to reduce the deviation of signal transmission to less than 0.20 picoseconds (ps). In this embodiment, each of the terminal modules 50 includes two signal terminal pairs 710, and each of the signal terminal pairs 710 includes a pair of ground terminals 80 connected to each other by connectors 851 on both sides. The ground terminals 80 are connected to each other by connectors 851 to reduce the crosstalk between adjacent signal terminal pairs 710. The ground terminal 80 is in contact with the absorbing material on the insulating body 60, thereby shielding the signal terminal pair 710 and the adjacent signal terminal pair 710 while absorbing invalid electromagnetic waves in the signal transmission process, thereby improving the crosstalk and noise in the signal transmission process.

[0071] When the first electrical connector 1 and the second electrical connector 2 are mated, the terminal pairs 22 and the corresponding signal terminals 70 mate with each other to form a signal path. The inner contact springs 331 of the shielding sheet 30 in a row of the electrical connector 1 contact and connect with the shielding member in the corresponding terminal module 50, while the outer contact springs 335 in the row contact and connect with the shielding member in the terminal module 50 adjacent to the corresponding terminal module. Specifically, the inner contact springs 331 contact and connect with the first grounding contact portion 831 of the grounding terminal 80 in the corresponding terminal module 50, while the outer contact springs 335 contact and connect with the second grounding contact portion 852 in the adjacent terminal module 50.

[0072] The grounding plate 90 is mounted on the first side 66 of the insulating body 60. The grounding plate 90 and the connector 851 are located on the same side of the insulating body 60, with the connector 851 positioned in front of the grounding plate 90 along the mating direction. The insulating body 60 is provided with a retaining slot 665, and the grounding plate 90 is provided with a retaining tab 95 that mates with the retaining slot 665. The grounding plate 90 is mechanically and electrically connected to the grounding terminal 80 through assembly or other processes such as welding. The lateral distance between the grounding terminal 80 and the grounding plate 90 is less than 0.2 mm to minimize signal leakage that could affect signal transmission between adjacent signal terminal pairs 710 and prevent EMI.

[0073] The plurality of terminal modules 50 include a first terminal module 51 and a second terminal module 52 that cooperates with the first terminal module 51, and the first terminal module 51 and the second terminal module 52 are combined with each other through positioning holes and positioning columns. Specifically, the inner contact spring 331 is in contact with and connected to the shielding member in the first terminal module 51, and the outer contact spring 335 is in contact with and connected to the shielding member of the second terminal module 52 in the adjacent terminal module 50. In the lateral direction, the signal terminal pairs 710 in the first terminal module 51 and the second terminal module 52 are staggered at both the mounting end 74 and the docking end 73 to enhance the anti-interference capability of signal transmission.

[0074] The above description is only an embodiment of the present invention, not all or the only embodiment. Any equivalent changes made to the technical solution of the present invention by ordinary technicians in this field after reading the specification of the present invention are covered by the claims of the present invention.

Claims

1. An electrical connector capable of mating with a docking connector, the electrical connector comprising an insulating housing, terminals retained in the insulating housing, and a shielding sheet retained in the insulating housing, the terminals being arranged in pairs for transmitting a pair of differential signals, the shielding sheet comprising at least two walls and shielding the terminal pair in at least two directions, each of the walls extending from a plurality of contact springs, characterized in that: The contact spring includes an inner contact spring protruding toward the terminal pair and an outer contact spring protruding away from the terminal pair. The inner contact spring and the outer contact spring are both used to cooperate with the docking connector. The docking connector includes a plurality of terminal modules arranged along a column direction. The terminal modules include a first terminal module and a second terminal module that cooperates with the first terminal module. The inner contact spring is in contact and connected with the shielding part in the first terminal module, and the outer contact spring is in contact and connected with the shielding part of the second terminal module in the adjacent terminal module.

2. The electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein: The shielding sheet includes a main wall and a pair of side walls extending from both sides of the main wall in the same direction. The main wall and the pair of side walls shield the terminal pairs from three directions.

3. The electrical connector according to claim 2, wherein: Each of the side walls includes a contact spring, and the main wall includes a pair of contact springs spaced apart.

4. The electrical connector according to claim 3, wherein: The contact spring on the side wall is an inner contact spring.

5. The electrical connector according to claim 3, wherein: The contact springs on the main wall are all external contact springs.

6. The electrical connector according to claim 3, wherein: The two terminals forming the terminal pair are coupled with narrow sides, the main wall of the shielding sheet is opposite to the wide sides of the terminal pair, and the pair of side walls of the shielding sheet are respectively opposite to the corresponding narrow sides of the terminal pair.

7. The electrical connector according to claim 6, wherein: The shielding sheet is directly mounted and fixed on the insulating shell.

8. An electrical connector assembly comprising an electrical connector and a mating connector mating with the electrical connector, the electrical connector comprising an insulating housing, a plurality of terminal pairs arranged in rows and columns and retained in the insulating housing, and a plurality of shielding sheets retained in the insulating housing and arranged in corresponding rows and columns, each of the terminal pairs being configured to transmit a pair of differential signals, each of the shielding sheets comprising at least two walls and shielding a corresponding terminal pair in at least two directions, each of the walls extending from a plurality of contact springs, characterized in that: The contact spring includes an inner contact spring protruding toward the terminal pair and an outer contact spring protruding away from the terminal pair. The inner contact spring and the outer contact spring are both used to cooperate with the docking connector. The docking connector includes a plurality of terminal modules arranged in a column direction. The terminal modules include a first terminal module and a second terminal module that cooperates with the first terminal module. The inner contact spring is in contact and connected with the shielding part in the first terminal module, and the outer contact spring is in contact and connected with the shielding part of the second terminal module in the adjacent terminal module. The shielding sheet includes a main wall and a pair of side walls extending from both sides of the main wall in the same direction. The main wall and the pair of side walls shield the terminal pair from three directions.

9. The electrical connector assembly according to claim 8, wherein: Each terminal module includes a shielding member, the inner contact springs of the shielding sheet in a column of the electrical connector are in contact with the shielding member in the corresponding terminal module, and the outer contact springs in the column are in contact with the shielding member in the terminal module adjacent to the corresponding terminal module.

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