Electric connector

Abstract

The invention discloses an electric connector which comprises an insulating body, a grounding plate, a plurality of signal terminals, a plurality of upper grounding terminals and a plurality of lower grounding terminals. The insulating body is provided with an upper surface and a lower surface, and the grounding plate is fixed in the insulating body; the insulation body is provided with a plurality of upper terminal grooves which penetrate through the upper surface upwards and a plurality of lower terminal grooves which penetrate through the lower surface downwards, and the upper grounding terminals are installed in the upper terminal grooves from the upper surface and are in lap joint with the grounding plate. The lower grounding terminal is installed in the lower terminal groove from the lower surface and is in lap joint with the grounding plate. Compared with the prior art, the grounding plate can decompose the original low resonant frequency into two superposed high resonant frequencies, but the overall height of the connector is kept unchanged, and the electrical performance of the connector is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to an electrical connector having a ground plane. Background Technology

[0002] US Patent 8764464B discloses an electrical connector with an unshielded grounding element, which increases the resonant frequency of the grounding terminal and improves insertion loss and crosstalk. CPU sockets or similar connectors with multiple terminals often employ grounding metal structures, as seen in patent application CN111431000A. US Patent 10490951B discloses a shielding element disposed within an insulator, having several holes for signal and grounding terminals to pass through, wherein the grounding terminal contacts the shielding element. The shielding element can be a metal plate embedded in the insulator or a metal plating layer disposed on the insulator. Patent application CN111431000A uses several vertically arranged shielding plates to reduce crosstalk. Therefore, for connectors with hundreds or thousands of terminals and small dimensions, adding grounding elements or shielding elements is quite difficult. For mass production, how to add grounding elements is a problem that urgently needs to be solved.

[0003] Therefore, it is necessary to provide an improved electrical connector to solve the above problems. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The purpose of this invention is to provide an electrical connector having an improved ground plane.

[0005] To solve the above problems, the present invention can adopt the following technical solution: an electrical connector, comprising an insulating body, a ground plane, a plurality of signal terminals, a plurality of upper grounding terminals, and a plurality of lower grounding terminals; the insulating body has an upper surface and a lower surface, and the ground plane is fixed within the insulating body; the insulating body has a plurality of upper terminal slots extending upward through the upper surface and a plurality of lower terminal slots extending downward through the lower surface, the upper grounding terminals are installed from the upper surface into the upper terminal slots and overlap with the ground plane, and the lower grounding terminals are installed from the lower surface into the lower terminal slots and overlap with the ground plane.

[0006] To solve the above problems, the present invention can adopt the following technical solution: an electrical connector, comprising: an insulating body, a ground plane, a plurality of signal terminals, a plurality of upper ground terminals and a plurality of lower ground terminals; the insulating body has an upper surface and a lower surface; the ground plane is disposed within the insulating body; the upper ground terminals and the lower ground terminals are respectively connected to the ground plane.

[0007] Compared with the prior art, the ground plane in this invention can decompose the original low resonant frequency into two superimposed high resonant frequencies, while keeping the overall height of the connector unchanged, thus improving the electrical performance of the connector. Attached Figure Description

[0008] Figure 1 This is a perspective view of the electrical connector according to the first embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 for Figure 1 A sectional view along line AA; Figure 3 for Figure 1 3D exploded view; Figure 4 for Figure 3 Top view of the middle terminal and metal plate; Figure 5 for Figure 4 3D exploded view; Figure 6 This is a perspective view of the electrical connector according to the second embodiment of the present invention; Figure 7 for Figure 6 Exploded perspective view of the intermediate terminal and circuit board, with the insulating body removed; Figure 8 This is a perspective view of the connector according to the third embodiment of the present invention; Figure 9 for Figure 8 A perspective view of the intermediate terminals and circuit board, with the insulating body removed; Figure 10 for Figure 9 A three-dimensional view from another angle; Figure 11 for Figure 9 Sectional view along line BB; Figure 12 This is a perspective view of the electrical connector according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention; Figure 13 for Figure 12 Sectional view along line CC; Figure 14 This is an exploded perspective view of the terminal and metal plate according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention; Figure 15 This is an exploded perspective view of the terminals and metal plate of the sixth embodiment of the electrical connector of the present invention; Figure 16 This is a perspective view of an electrical connector according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention, wherein the electrical connector has three different states; Figure 17 for Figure 16 3D view of the middle terminal in three states; Figure 18 for Figure 16 Cross-sectional views of the middle terminal in three states.

[0009] Component symbol explanation: Electrical connectors 100, 100B, 100C, 200; Insulating bodies 10 and 60, upper surface 111, lower surface 112, upper terminal slot 12, lower terminal slot 13, signal terminal slot 14, upper insulator 151, lower insulator 152; Signal terminals 20, 20B, holding part 21, spring arms 22, 23, contact parts 221, 231, additional piece 24, abutting part 241, 242, slit 251, upper terminal piece 261, lower terminal piece 262; Upper grounding terminals 30 and 30B, holding part 31, spring arm 32, contact part 321, horizontal welding part 33, upper elastic beams 361, 371 and 372; Lower grounding terminals 40 and 40B; lower elastic beams 461, 471, and 472; 50mm floor level; Metal plates 51 and 55, solder block 511, opening 512, through holes 551 and 561; PCB 52, 53, 54, upper grounding pad 521, opening 522, upper signal pad 531, lower signal pad 532; Terminal slot 61; Terminal 70, main body 71, upper elastic arm 712, contact part 7121, end 7122, lower elastic arm 713, attachment 72, fixing part 721, upper inclined part 722, lower inclined part 723, gap 73. Detailed Implementation

[0010] The specific embodiments of the present invention will be further described below with reference to the above-mentioned accompanying drawings.

[0011] refer to Figures 1 to 5As shown, the electrical connector 100 of the first embodiment of the present invention can be a CPU socket or other IC chip socket connecting a chip and a circuit board, or a medium connecting two circuit boards, wherein the electrical connection is only partially shown. The electrical connector 100 includes an insulating body 10 and a plurality of signal terminals 20, a plurality of upper ground terminals 30, a plurality of lower ground terminals 40, and a ground plane 50 fixed to the insulating body 10. The insulating body 10 has an upper surface 111 and a lower surface 112, and the ground plane is generally parallel to the upper surface 111 and the lower surface 112. In the figure, two adjacent signal terminals 20 constitute a differential signal terminal pair. The insulating body 10 has a plurality of upper terminal slots 12 extending upward through the upper surface 111, a plurality of lower terminal slots 13 extending downward through the lower surface 112, and a plurality of signal terminal slots 14 extending simultaneously through the upper surface 111 and the lower surface 112. The upper ground terminals 30 are received in the upper terminal slots 12 and connected to the ground plane 50, and the lower ground terminals 40 are received in the lower terminal slots 13 and are also connected to the ground plane 50. In terms of adjusting ground resonance, the grounding plate 50 located in the middle serves as an additional node, which can decompose the original low resonant frequency into two high resonant frequencies superimposed together, thereby improving its electrical performance while keeping the overall height of the electrical connector 100 unchanged. The grounding plate 50 forms a grounding plane.

[0012] In this embodiment, the grounding plate 50 is formed from a metal plate 51. Multiple solder blocks 511 are pre-positioned at predetermined locations on the metal plate 51, and then the metal plate 51 is embedded into the insulating body 10 through insert forming. In the vertical direction, the upper terminal slot 12 and the lower terminal slot 13 are aligned with each other but separated by the metal plate 51, with the solder blocks 511 exposed in the upper terminal slot 12 and the lower terminal slot 13. The signal terminal slot 14 can be through-holes in the vertical direction via the opening 512 on the metal plate 51. The upper grounding terminal 30 includes a vertically arranged retaining portion 31, a spring arm 32 extending from the retaining portion 31, and a horizontally bent welding portion 33 from the retaining portion 31. The spring arm 32 has an arc-shaped contact portion 321. The upper grounding terminal 30 is inserted into the upper terminal slot 12 from the upper surface 111 and overlaps with the metal plate 51 through the horizontally welded portion 33. In this embodiment, the lower ground terminal 40 has the same structure as the upper ground terminal 30. Understandably, the lower ground terminal 40 is inserted into the lower terminal slot 13 from the lower surface 112 and overlaps with the metal plate 51. In this embodiment, the terminals of the electrical connector 100 are of LGA / LGA type. After the upper and lower ground terminals are inserted into their respective terminal slots, the horizontal soldering portion 33 rests on the solder block 511. The solder block 511 is melted and cooled using an SMT process, thereby fixing the upper and lower ground terminals onto the metal plate 51. The horizontal soldering portion 33 of the upper and lower ground terminals are SMT leads. The signal terminal 20 is inserted into and fixed in the signal terminal slot 14. In other embodiments, the structure of the lower ground terminal 40 may differ from that of the upper ground terminal. The spring arm of the lower ground terminal is replaced with a solder lead, and the terminals of this electrical connector are of LGA / SMT type.

[0013] Each signal terminal 20 includes a retaining portion 21, two spring arms 22 and 23 extending from opposite ends of the retaining portion 21, and an additional piece 24. Each spring arm 22 and 23 has a corresponding arc-shaped contact portion 221 and 231, respectively, and the additional piece 24 has two abutting portions 241 and 242. When the contact portions 221 and 231 move close to the insulating body 10, the abutting portions 241 and 242 abut against the corresponding contact portions 221 and 231 one by one. The retaining portion 21 and the two spring arms 22 and 23 are the main body of the signal terminal 20, and the additional piece 24 is an additional component independent of the signal terminal 20. In this embodiment, the upper grounding terminal is similar to the upper half of the signal terminal, and the lower grounding terminal is similar to the lower half of the signal terminal; that is, the terminals all adopt the same stamping process.

[0014] See Figure 6As shown in Figure 7, this is the second embodiment of the present invention. The electrical connector 100B is similar to the electrical connector 100 in the first embodiment. The ground plane is a printed circuit board 52, forming a ground plane. The printed circuit board 52 has an upper grounding pad 521 and a lower grounding pad on each side. The upper grounding terminals 30B are connected to the corresponding upper grounding pads 521, and the lower grounding terminals 40B are connected to the corresponding lower grounding pads. The printed circuit board 52 has an opening 522 through which the signal terminals 20B pass and protrude from the upper and lower surfaces of the insulating body 10. Using SMT technology, the grounding pads 521 are first soldered with solder, and then the soldered portions of the corresponding upper and lower grounding terminals are soldered. The printed circuit board 52 is first integrally injection molded with the insulating body 10, and then the grounding terminals are inserted. In other embodiments, the printed circuit board 52 can be replaced by a flexible circuit board. In fact, using a printed circuit board or a flexible circuit board as a ground plane can achieve a ground plane with multiple grounding layers and is more convenient for increasing the overall thickness.

[0015] The signal terminal 20B differs from the signal terminal 20 in the first embodiment. The signal terminal 20B includes a vertical retaining portion and two spring arms extending opposite to each other from both ends of the retaining portion. Each spring arm has an arc-shaped contact portion. Each spring arm has a notch 251, and as can be seen from the figure, the width of the spring arm is greater than the width of the retaining portion.

[0016] See Figures 8 to 11 As shown, the electrical connector 100C of the third embodiment of the present invention is an adjustment based on the second embodiment. The signal terminals have the same structure as the upper and lower ground terminals. The signal terminals are composed of an upper terminal piece 261 and a lower terminal piece 262. The printed circuit board 53 has an upper signal pad 531 and a lower signal pad 532, which are respectively connected to the corresponding signal terminal soldering parts. The upper terminal piece 261 of the signal terminal is inserted from the upper surface 111 and overlaps with the corresponding upper signal pad 531, and the lower terminal piece 262 of the signal terminal is inserted from the lower surface and overlaps with the lower signal pad 532. In this embodiment, all terminals have the same structure and are stamped by the same process.

[0017] Figures 12 to 13 In the fourth embodiment of the present invention, the grounding plane is disposed on the flexible circuit board or printed circuit board 54. The insulating body 10 is composed of an upper insulator 151 and a lower insulator 152. The upper and lower grounding terminals 30B and 40B are first fixed in the upper and lower insulators 151 and 152 respectively, and then the upper insulator 151 and the lower insulator 152 are assembled together, so that the printed circuit board 54 is sandwiched between the two.

[0018] Figure 14In the fifth embodiment of the present invention, the upper and lower grounding terminals are mechanically connected to the metal plate 55. The metal plate 55 has multiple through holes 551. The upper and lower grounding terminals are respectively provided with upper and lower elastic beams 361 and 461 with arc-shaped portions. The two elastic beams 361 and 461 are inserted into the same through hole 551, and the arc-shaped portion of the elastic beam overlaps with the inner wall surface of the through hole 551 to achieve mechanical connection with the metal plate 55. In this embodiment, the upper and lower grounding terminals have the same structure, and the arc-shaped portion of the elastic beam abuts against the inner wall surface behind the through hole 551.

[0019] Figure 15 In the sixth embodiment of the present invention, each of the upper and lower grounding terminals has two elastic beams 371, 372, 471, and 472. The two elastic beams of the same grounding terminal are bent in opposite directions, and the two bent portions contact the inner wall surfaces of opposite sides of the through hole 561.

[0020] In this way, by combining the grounding plate with the upper and lower grounding terminals, the size requirements of the terminals can be met, while the terminals have a shorter current path to meet electrical performance requirements.

[0021] Figures 16 to 18 In a seventh embodiment of the present invention, the electrical connector 200 includes an insulating body 60 and a plurality of terminals 70, such as signal terminals, ground terminals, or power terminals. Only a single terminal and a portion of the insulating body are shown in the figures. The terminal 70 includes a main body 71 and an attachment 72. The main body 71 includes a vertically extending retaining portion 711, an upper elastic arm 712, and a lower elastic arm 713. The upper elastic arm 712 has an arc-shaped contact portion 7121 and an end portion 7122 extending from the contact portion. The lower elastic arm 713 is the same as the upper elastic arm. The attachment 72 includes a vertically fixed portion 721, and an upwardly inclined portion 722 and a downwardly inclined portion 723 extending upward and downward from the fixed portion 721, respectively.

[0022] Figure 16 The three states of terminal 70 are shown, representing the initial state, the restored state, and the pressed state of the main body 71, respectively. Figure 16 (a) and Figure 17 In (a), the terminal slot 61 penetrates the upper and lower surfaces of the insulating body 60. After the terminal 70 is installed, the main body 71 and the additional part 72 are fixed on opposite sides of the terminal slot 61, and the upper elastic arm 712 is located above the corresponding upper inclined part 722. Figure 18 As shown, a gap is left between the end 7122 and the upper inclined portion 722 to avoid interference between the two end pieces when assembling the terminals.

[0023] exist Figure 16 (b) and Figure 17In (b), when the upper elastic arm 712 is subjected to force and moves into the interior of the insulating body 60 to form a generally annular shape, the upper elastic arm 712 slides downward along the upper inclined portion 722 until the upper elastic arm 712 contacts the upper inclined portion 722. The attachment 72 is an additional current path for the terminal 70, forming a parallel path with the current path of the main body 71 to reduce the impedance of the elastic arm. When the upper elastic arm 712 is pressed down, it will undergo a persistent deformation due to the force. When the upper elastic arm 712 is not subjected to force, it remains above the upper inclined portion 722 and the gap 73 essentially disappears.

[0024] exist Figure 16 (c) and Figure 17 In (c), when the downward pressure is released, viewed from top to bottom, the end 7122 of the upper elastic arm 712 overlaps with the upper inclined portion 722. The elastic deformation process of the lower elastic arm 713 is the same as that of the upper elastic arm 712.

[0025] In summary, the above are merely preferred embodiments of the present invention and should not be construed as limiting the scope of the present invention. Any simple equivalent changes and modifications made in accordance with the claims and description of the present invention should still fall within the scope of the patent of the present invention.

Claims

1. An electrical connector, comprising an insulating body, a ground plane, a plurality of signal terminals, a plurality of upper ground terminals, and a plurality of lower ground terminals; the insulating body having an upper surface and a lower surface, and the ground plane being fixed within the insulating body; Its features are, The insulating body has a plurality of upper terminal slots extending upward through the upper surface and a plurality of lower terminal slots extending downward through the lower surface. The upper grounding terminal is installed from the upper surface into the upper terminal slot and overlaps with the grounding plate. The lower grounding terminal is installed from the lower surface into the lower terminal slot and overlaps with the grounding plate.

2. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that, Each of the upper grounding terminal and the lower grounding terminal is provided with an SMT pin, which is soldered to the ground plane.

3. The electrical connector as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The ground plane is made of a metal plate with multiple openings, through which the signal terminals pass and are exposed on the upper and lower surfaces of the insulating body.

4. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that, The grounding plate is made of a flexible circuit board or a printed circuit board. The flexible circuit board or printed circuit board is provided with an upper grounding pad and a lower grounding pad. The upper grounding terminal overlaps with the upper grounding pad, and the lower grounding terminal overlaps with the lower grounding pad.

5. The electrical connector as described in claim 4, characterized in that, The flexible circuit board or printed circuit board has multiple openings, and the signal terminals pass through the corresponding openings and are exposed on the upper and lower surfaces of the insulating body.

6. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 4, characterized in that, The flexible circuit board or printed circuit board is provided with an upper signal pad and a lower signal pad. The upper signal pad and the corresponding lower signal pad are interconnected. The signal terminal includes an upper terminal piece and a lower terminal piece. The upper terminal piece is inserted from the upper surface of the insulating body and contacts the upper signal pad. The lower terminal piece is inserted from the lower surface of the insulating body and contacts the lower signal pad.

7. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that, Each of the upper grounding terminal and the lower grounding terminal is provided with an elastic beam that overlaps with the grounding plate. The grounding plate is provided with multiple through holes. The elastic beams of the upper grounding terminal and the corresponding elastic beams of the lower grounding terminal extend into the same through hole and abut against the inner wall of the through hole.

8. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that, The upper grounding terminal and the lower grounding terminal have the same structure, both including a vertical holding part, a spring arm extending from the holding part, and a horizontal welding part bent from the holding part. The spring arm has an arc-shaped contact part, and the horizontal welding part is welded to the grounding plate.

9. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that, The grounding plate is an insert formed within the insulating body.

10. An electrical connector, comprising: An insulating body, a ground plane, several pairs of signal terminals, several upper grounding terminals, and several lower grounding terminals; the insulating body has an upper surface and a lower surface; the ground plane is disposed within the insulating body; characterized in that the upper grounding terminals and the lower grounding terminals are respectively connected to the ground plane.

11. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 10, characterized in that, The ground plane has multiple openings, and a pair of signal terminals pass through the same opening and are exposed on the upper and lower surfaces of the insulating body.

12. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 10, characterized in that, The solder blocks are pre-positioned on opposite sides of the ground plane, and the upper ground terminal and the lower ground terminal are welded to the ground plane by molten solder blocks.

13. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 10, characterized in that, The insulating body includes an upper insulator and a lower insulator, the upper grounding terminal is fixed to the upper insulator, the lower grounding terminal is fixed to the lower grounding terminal, and the grounding plate is sandwiched between the upper insulator and the lower insulator.

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