Floating connector and floating board-to-board connector assembly

Abstract

The utility model provides a kind of floating connector and floating board pair connector assembly.The floating connector includes fixed casing, movable casing and at least one contact piece combination.The movable casing is provided with the fitting portion of first direction and the fitting of counterpart connector, the movable casing is assembled to the fixed casing in the manner that it can be moved relative to the fixed casing on the plane perpendicular to the first direction.The at least one contact piece combination includes insulating holding member and multiple contact pieces, and each contact piece includes welding portion, first holding portion, spring portion, second holding portion and contact portion.The first holding portion is held by the fixed casing, and the second holding portion is held by the insulating holding member.The insulating holding member is fixed in the movable casing, so that the insulating holding member can be moved together with the movable casing relative to the fixed casing.The floating board pair connector assembly is composed of two such floating connectors.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to floating connectors, and more particularly to floating connectors suitable for establishing electrical connections between two circuit boards spaced far apart, and floating board-to-board connector assemblies including such floating connectors. Background Technology

[0002] Taiwanese utility model patent M658115 (hereinafter referred to as "Patent Document 1") discloses a floating connector for establishing electrical connections between circuit boards. In Patent Document 1, one end of a signal contact is fixed to a first housing (i.e., a fixed housing) by an interference fit, while the other end of the signal contact is fixed to a second housing (i.e., a movable housing) by an interference fit. In this floating connector, to increase the mating height (i.e., the distance between two parallel circuit boards), the height of the first or second housing is increased, resulting in a longer contact receiving groove formed in the first or second housing. This makes the first or second housing difficult to manufacture. Utility Model Content

[0003] One of the objectives of this invention is to provide a floating connector that can absorb errors in the installation position of the connected object.

[0004] Another objective of this invention is to provide a floating connector suitable for establishing an electrical connection between two circuit boards spaced far apart.

[0005] Another objective of this invention is to provide a floating connector that can be manufactured in a reliable and stable manner.

[0006] According to a first aspect of the present invention, a floating connector is provided, comprising a fixed housing, a movable housing, and at least one contact assembly. The movable housing has a mating portion that engages with a mating connector in a first direction. The movable housing is assembled to the fixed housing in a manner that allows it to move relative to the fixed housing in a plane perpendicular to the first direction.

[0007] The at least one contact assembly includes an insulating retaining member and a plurality of contacts, the plurality of contacts being made of a conductive material and arranged at a predetermined spacing in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction. Each contact includes: a welding portion, a first retaining portion, a spring portion, a second retaining portion, and a contact portion.

[0008] The first retaining portion is held by the fixed housing, the second retaining portion is held by the insulating retaining member, the first retaining portion extends from the welded portion, the spring portion connects the first retaining portion and the second retaining portion, and the contact portion extends from the second retaining portion and is positioned in the fitting portion.

[0009] The insulating retaining member covers the second retaining portion of each contact in the at least one contact assembly, such that the plurality of said contacts are held by the insulating retaining member.

[0010] The insulating retaining member is fixed to the movable housing, so that the insulating retaining member can move relative to the fixed housing along with the movable housing.

[0011] According to the floating connector of the present invention, the movable housing has a receiving opening opposite to the mating portion, the receiving opening being configured to allow the insulating retaining member to be inserted into the receiving opening along the first direction and fixed in the receiving opening.

[0012] According to the floating connector of the present invention, the insulating retaining member is formed with a plurality of guide rails extending along the first direction, and the movable housing is formed with a plurality of guide grooves extending along the first direction on the inner wall surface of the receiving opening, wherein the plurality of guide grooves correspond to the plurality of guide rails.

[0013] According to the floating connector of the present invention, the insulating retaining member is formed with an engaging protrusion that prevents the insulating retaining member from disengaging from the receiving opening after being inserted into the receiving opening.

[0014] According to the floating connector of this invention, the insulating retaining member and the plurality of contacts are integrally formed by insert molding.

[0015] According to the floating connector of this utility model, the plurality of contacts include a plurality of signal contacts and a plurality of grounding contacts.

[0016] According to the floating connector of this utility model, the second holding portion of each grounding contact has a first width, and the second holding portion of each signal contact has a second width, wherein the first width is greater than the second width.

[0017] According to the floating connector of this utility model, the mating part is configured as a male mating part or a female mating part.

[0018] According to the present invention, the floating connector further includes a plurality of power contacts, each power contact including: a power-side soldering portion, a first power-side holding portion, a power-side spring portion, a second power-side holding portion, and a power-side contact portion. The first power-side holding portion is held by the fixed housing, the second power-side holding portion is held by the movable housing, the first power-side holding portion extends from the power-side soldering portion, the power-side spring portion connects the first power-side holding portion and the second power-side holding portion, and the power-side contact portion extends from the second power-side holding portion and is positioned in the mating portion.

[0019] According to a second aspect of the present invention, a floating board-to-board connector assembly is provided, comprising two floating connectors. The two floating connectors are respectively mounted on two independent circuit boards. An electrical connection between the two circuit boards is established through the engagement between the two floating connectors. Each floating connector is a floating connector according to a first aspect of the present invention. The mating portion of one of the two floating connectors is configured as a male mating portion, while the mating portion of the other floating connector is configured as a female mating portion.

[0020] According to the floating connector of this invention, the contact element is combined with the insulating retaining member, and then the insulating retaining member is assembled to the movable housing. Therefore, it is not necessary to form a long contact element receiving groove on the movable housing, and the manufacturing difficulty of the movable housing is not increased.

[0021] Furthermore, even when the mating height exceeds 40mm, electrical connections between circuit boards can be achieved using the floating connector according to this invention.

[0022] Those skilled in the art will be able to best understand the technical features and other objects and advantages of this utility model after referring to the specification and drawings. Attached Figure Description

[0023] Figure 1 This is a perspective view of a floating connector according to an embodiment of the present utility model.

[0024] Figure 2 This is an exploded perspective view of the floating connector according to an embodiment of the present utility model.

[0025] Figure 3 This is a cross-sectional view of the floating connector along line AA according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0026] Figure 4 This is a three-dimensional view of the contact assembly.

[0027] Figure 5 This is a 3D view of the contact element.

[0028] Figure 6 This is the front view of the contact element.

[0029] Figure 7 This is a 3D view of the power contact components.

[0030] Figure 8 This is a bottom view of the movable shell.

[0031] Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram showing the insulating retaining member being assembled toward the movable housing along a first direction.

[0032] Figure 10 This is a schematic diagram showing how to establish an electrical connection between two independent circuit boards using two floating connectors.

[0033] Figure 11 It is along Figure 10 A cross-sectional view of line BB in the diagram.

[0034] Explanation of reference numerals in the attached figures:

[0035] 10: Floating connector

[0036] 11: Fixed housing

[0037] 110: Containment Slot

[0038] 12: Movable shell

[0039] 120: Chimeric part

[0040] 121: Limiting bump

[0041] 124: Containment Opening

[0042] 125: Guide groove

[0043] 13: Contacts

[0044] 131: Welding section

[0045] 132: First Maintenance Section

[0046] 133: Spring section

[0047] 134: Second Maintenance Section

[0048] 135:Contact Department

[0049] 14: Power Contacts

[0050] 141: Power supply side welding section

[0051] 142: First power supply side holding part

[0052] 143: Power supply side spring section

[0053] 144: Second power supply side holding part

[0054] 145: Power supply side contact portion

[0055] 15: Metal fittings

[0056] 16: Insulation retention components

[0057] 161: Guide rail

[0058] 162: Engaging protrusion

[0059] 20: Floating connector

[0060] 21: Fixed housing

[0061] 22: Movable shell

[0062] 23: Contact element

[0063] 24: Power Contacts

[0064] 26: Insulation retention components

[0065] CA: Contact assembly

[0066] H: Docking height

[0067] P1: First circuit board

[0068] P2: Second circuit board

[0069] D1: First Direction

[0070] D2: Second Direction

[0071] D3: Third direction. Detailed Implementation

[0072] The floating connector of this utility model will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, the same elements or elements having the same function are labeled with the same reference numerals. The drawings are not drawn to scale.

[0073] Figure 1 This is a perspective view of a floating connector according to an embodiment of the present utility model. Figure 2 This is an exploded perspective view of a floating connector according to an embodiment of the present invention. (Refer to...) Figure 1 and Figure 2 This section describes the constituent elements of the floating connector according to an embodiment of the present invention. The floating connector as a whole is indicated by reference numeral 10 in the accompanying drawings.

[0074] In this embodiment, the floating connector 10 is specifically implemented as a socket connector, but is not limited thereto. The floating connector according to this invention can also be specifically implemented as a plug connector.

[0075] like Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, the floating connector 10 includes a fixed housing 11, a movable housing 12, multiple contacts 13, multiple power contacts 14, two metal fittings 15, and two insulating retaining members 16.

[0076] The movable housing 12 is assembled to the fixed housing 11 in a manner that allows it to move relative to the fixed housing 11 in a plane perpendicular to the first direction D1. The fixed housing 11 has a receiving groove 110 for receiving a portion of the movable housing 12. The dimensions of the receiving groove 110 are set to allow the movable housing 12 to move relative to the fixed housing 11 in a plane perpendicular to the first direction D1. In other words, there is a certain gap between the inner peripheral surface of the receiving groove 110 of the fixed housing 11 and the outer peripheral surface of the lower part of the movable housing 12.

[0077] To prevent the movable housing 12 from detaching from the receiving groove 110 of the fixed housing 11, two limiting protrusions 121 are formed at opposite ends of the movable housing 12. Two U-shaped metal fittings 15 are respectively fitted to both ends of the fixed housing 11 to block the movement of the limiting protrusions 121 of the movable housing 12 in the first direction D1, thereby preventing the movable housing 12 from detaching from the receiving groove 110 of the fixed housing 11. In this way, the movable housing 12 is restricted to move only relative to the fixed housing 11 in a plane perpendicular to the first direction D1. Furthermore, the range of movement of the movable housing 12 can be set by the limiting protrusions 121.

[0078] The movable housing 12 has a mating portion 120 that engages with a mating connector (not shown) in a first direction D1. In this embodiment, the mating portion 120 is made into a female mating portion for engaging with the male mating portion of the mating connector (plug connector).

[0079] Figure 3 This is a cross-sectional view of the floating connector along line AA according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 3 As shown, one end of the contact 13 is held by the fixed housing 11, and the other end of the contact 13 is held by the insulating retaining member 16. Unlike conventional floating connectors, in the floating connector according to this embodiment of the present invention, the movable housing 12 does not directly hold the contact 13. Therefore, there is no need to form a long contact receiving groove in the movable housing 12, which can greatly reduce the manufacturing difficulty of the movable housing 12.

[0080] Figure 4 This is a perspective view of the contact assembly CA. The contact assembly CA includes a plurality of contacts 13 and insulating retaining members 16. The contacts 13 are arranged at a predetermined spacing in a second direction D2 perpendicular to the first direction D1. The insulating retaining members 16 are integrally formed with the contacts 13 by insert molding, such that the insulating retaining members 16 retain the contacts 13 at the predetermined spacing and cover a portion of each contact 13.

[0081] The insulating retaining member 16 is formed with a plurality of guide rails 161 extending along a first direction D1. The guide rails 161 can be used to guide the insertion of the insulating retaining member 16 into the movable housing 12. The insulating retaining member 16 is formed with engaging protrusions 162.

[0082] Figure 5 This is a perspective view of contact 13. Contact 13 includes: a solder portion 131, a first retaining portion 132, a spring portion 133, a second retaining portion 134, and a contact portion 135. Contact 13 is made of a conductive material (e.g., copper or a copper alloy). The first retaining portion 132 extends from the solder portion 131, the spring portion 133 connects the first retaining portion 132 and the second retaining portion 134, and the contact portion 135 extends from the second retaining portion 134 and is positioned in the fitting portion 120. The solder portion 131 will be fixed to the printed circuit board by soldering. The first retaining portion 132 has a barbed structure and is fixed to the fixing housing 11 by interference fit and is held by the fixing housing 11. An insulating retaining member 16 covers the second retaining portion 134 of contact 13 by insert molding, such that the second retaining portion 134 of contact 13 is held by the insulating retaining member 16.

[0083] According to the floating connector of this invention, the second retaining portion 134 of the contact 13 is not fixed to the insulating retaining member by means of interference fit, therefore, it is not necessary to form a barb structure in the second retaining portion 134 of the contact 13. This suppresses changes in conductor width along the current path. In the case of transmitting high-frequency signals, signal reflection can be reduced, preventing signal distortion.

[0084] Figure 6 This is a front view of a contact assembly comprising 20 contacts viewed along a third direction D3 perpendicular to the first direction D1 and the second direction D2. These contacts include multiple ground contacts labeled G and multiple signal contacts labeled S. The ground contacts and signal contacts are arranged in the order GSS. As shown, the ground contacts labeled G are configured such that their second holding portion has a first width W1, while the signal contacts labeled S are configured such that their second holding portion has a second width W2, wherein the first width W1 is greater than the second width W2. Two adjacent signal contacts can form a contact pair for transmitting differential signals. The wider ground contacts can more effectively suppress crosstalk between different contact pairs.

[0085] If there is no need to transmit high-frequency signals, signal contacts and grounding contacts can be made into contacts with exactly the same size, shape and structure.

[0086] Figure 7This is a perspective view of the power contact 14. To transmit a larger current, each power contact 14 is made to have a wider width than the contact 13. The power contact 14 is made of a conductive material (e.g., copper or a copper alloy). The power contact 14 has a power-side solder portion 141, a first power-side holding portion 142, a power-side spring portion 143, a second power-side holding portion 144, and a power-side contact portion 145.

[0087] The first power-side retaining portion 142 extends from the power-side soldering portion 141. The power-side spring portion 143 connects the first power-side retaining portion 142 and the second power-side retaining portion 144. The power-side contact portion 145 extends from the second power-side retaining portion 144. The power-side soldering portion 141 is fixed to the printed circuit board by soldering. The first power-side retaining portion 142 has a barbed structure and is fixed to the fixed housing 11 by interference fit and is held by the fixed housing 11. The second power-side retaining portion 144 is fixed to the movable housing 12 by interference fit and is held by the movable housing 12. To facilitate elastic deformation of the power contact 14, an elongated slit is formed in the power-side spring portion 143.

[0088] The power contact is optional. If there is no need to transmit a large current, the floating connector according to this invention may not be equipped with a power contact.

[0089] Figure 8 This is a bottom view of the movable housing 12 viewed along the first direction D1. Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram showing the insulating retaining member 16 assembled toward the movable housing 12 along the first direction D1. For clarity, in Figure 9 The contact element 13, which is integrally formed with the insulation retaining member 16, is not shown in the figure.

[0090] The bottom surface of the movable housing 12 has a receiving opening 124 for receiving the insulation retaining member 16. The inner wall surface of the receiving opening 124 has a plurality of guide grooves 125 extending along a first direction D1, and the guide grooves 125 correspond to the guide rails 161 formed on the insulation retaining member 16. By means of the matching between the guide grooves 125 and the guide rails 161, the insulation retaining member 16 is ensured to be aligned with the receiving opening 124 formed on the bottom of the movable housing 12 in the first direction D1, and then inserted into the receiving opening 124 along the first direction D1.

[0091] Figure 10 This is a schematic diagram showing how a floating connector assembly is used to establish an electrical connection between two independent circuit boards, P1 and P2. Figure 11 It is along Figure 10 A cross-sectional view of line BB in the diagram.

[0092] The floating connector assembly includes floating connector 10 and floating connector 20 that can mate with each other. Floating connector 10 is mounted on a first circuit board P1, while floating connector 20 is mounted on a second circuit board P2. The mating height H of the floating connector assembly (i.e., the distance between the first circuit board P1 and the second circuit board P2) can be more than 40 mm.

[0093] The floating connector 20 is a floating plug connector, having a fixed housing 21, a movable housing 22, multiple contacts 23, an insulating retaining member 26, and power contacts. The insulating retaining member 26 is integrally formed with the contacts 23 by insert molding. In this way, the insulating retaining member 26 and the contacts 23 constitute a contact assembly CA. The insulating retaining member 26 is inserted into a receiving opening formed in the movable housing 22. Basically, the configuration of the floating connector 20 is similar to that of the floating connector 10, the main difference being that the mating portion of the movable housing 22 of the floating connector 20 is configured as a male mating portion.

[0094] The advantage of using the floating connector assembly according to this invention to establish the electrical connection between the first and second circuit boards is that, because the positional error of the circuit boards is absorbed by the two floating connectors, the deformation of the contacts of individual floating connectors can be reduced. Therefore, the length of the spring portion of the contact of each floating connector can be further shortened. In other words, the area of ​​the floating connector contacts exposed to the surrounding air is reduced, which is highly advantageous for transmitting high-frequency signals.

[0095] Although this utility model has been described and demonstrated with reference to preferred embodiments, it should be understood that many variations and modifications can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of this utility model. Therefore, this utility model is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but is subject to the wording of the claims, that is, any equivalent variations and modifications made without departing from the claims of this utility model should still fall within the scope of this utility model.

Claims

1. A floating connector, characterized in that, The device includes a fixed housing, a movable housing, and at least one contact assembly. The movable housing has a mating portion that engages with a mating connector in a first direction. The movable housing is assembled to the fixed housing in a manner that allows it to move relative to the fixed housing in a plane perpendicular to the first direction. The at least one contact assembly includes an insulating retaining member and a plurality of contacts, the plurality of contacts being made of a conductive material and arranged at a predetermined spacing in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction. Each contact includes: a welding portion, a first retaining portion, a spring portion, a second retaining portion, and a contact portion. The first retaining portion is held by the fixed housing, the second retaining portion is held by the insulating retaining member, the first retaining portion extends from the welded portion, the spring portion connects the first retaining portion and the second retaining portion, and the contact portion extends from the second retaining portion and is positioned in the fitting portion. The insulating retaining member covers the second retaining portion of each contact in the at least one contact assembly, such that the plurality of said contacts are held by the insulating retaining member. The insulating retaining member is fixed to the movable housing, so that the insulating retaining member can move relative to the fixed housing along with the movable housing.

2. The floating connector as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The movable housing has a receiving opening opposite to the fitting portion, the receiving opening being configured to allow the insulating retaining member to be inserted into and secured in the receiving opening along the first direction.

3. The floating connector as described in claim 2, characterized in that, The insulating retaining member is formed with a plurality of guide rails extending along the first direction, and the movable housing is formed with a plurality of guide grooves extending along the first direction on the inner wall surface of the receiving opening, the plurality of guide grooves corresponding to the plurality of guide rails.

4. The floating connector as described in claim 3, characterized in that, The insulating retaining member has an engaging protrusion that prevents the insulating retaining member from disengaging from the receiving opening after it has been inserted into the receiving opening.

5. The floating connector as described in any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that, The insulating retaining member and the plurality of contacts are integrally formed by embedding molding.

6. The floating connector as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that, The plurality of contacts include a plurality of signal contacts and a plurality of grounding contacts.

7. The floating connector as described in claim 6, characterized in that, Each grounding contact has a second holding portion with a first width, and each signal contact has a second holding portion with a second width, wherein the first width is greater than the second width.

8. The floating connector as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that, The mating part is constructed as a male mating part or a female mating part.

9. The floating connector as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that, The floating connector further includes multiple power contacts, each power contact including: a power-side solder portion, a first power-side retaining portion, a power-side spring portion, a second power-side retaining portion, and a power-side contact portion. The first power-side retaining portion is held by the fixed housing, the second power-side retaining portion is held by the movable housing, the first power-side retaining portion extends from the power-side solder portion, the power-side spring portion connects the first power-side retaining portion and the second power-side retaining portion, and the power-side contact portion extends from the second power-side retaining portion and is positioned in the mating portion.

10. A floating board-to-board connector assembly, characterized in that, The device includes two floating connectors, which are respectively mounted on two independent circuit boards. An electrical connection between the two circuit boards is established by the engagement between the two floating connectors. Each floating connector is a floating connector as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 9. The mating portion of one of the two floating connectors is configured as a male mating portion, while the mating portion of the other floating connector is configured as a female mating portion.

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