Connector Contact Assembly With Conductive Plastic Grounding
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electrical connectors face challenges in effectively reducing crosstalk resonance peaks and facilitating high-speed signal transmission due to the lack of efficient integration of signal and ground contacts with conductive materials.
Innovation Solution
A contact assembly for electrical connectors is developed, comprising a signal contact module with insert-molded signal contacts, a ground contact module with insert-molded ground contacts, and a conductive plastic member molded with the ground contacts, where the conductive plastic fills flow-thru holes to mechanically and electrically connect the ground contacts, reducing crosstalk and enhancing impedance control.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional stamping and forming processes are used to create leadframes with signal and ground contacts, then the manufacturing process is relatively simple, but crosstalk resonance peaks cannot be effectively reduced and high-speed signal transmission is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs composite materials by integrating conductive plastic members with metallic ground contacts. The conductive plastic is molded into flow-thru holes of the ground contacts, creating a hybrid structure that combines the electrical conductivity of metal with the signal absorption and mechanical bonding properties of conductive plastic, thereby reducing crosstalk resonance peaks while maintaining structural integrity
Solution Approach 2:
The ground contacts are designed with flow-thru holes (porous structure) that allow conductive plastic to penetrate and bond with the ground contacts. This porous design increases the surface area for electrical connection and enables the conductive plastic to effectively reduce crosstalk by filling the internal cavities of the ground contacts
2Ease of manufacture
If leadframes are overmolded in a multi-stage molding process, then the integration of signal and ground contacts is improved, but the manufacturing complexity and production time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The signal contacts and ground contacts are pre-assembled into leadframe structures before the molding process. This preliminary arrangement allows the molding operation to simply encapsulate pre-positioned components rather than forming and positioning them during the molding process itself, thereby reducing manufacturing cycle time while maintaining integration quality
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines the signal contact module and ground contact module into a single integrated contact assembly that is then overmolded as one unit. This merging approach eliminates the need for separate molding operations for signal and ground contacts, reducing the number of manufacturing stages and overall production time
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution effectively reduces crosstalk resonance peaks and improves high-speed signal transmission by integrating conductive plastic with ground contacts, enhancing the performance of electrical connectors.
Implementation Method 1
a signal contact module including a first insulator and plural pairs of signal contacts insert-molded with the first insulator
Data Source
AI summary
A contact assembly for an electrical connector includes: a signal contact module including a first insulator and plural pairs of signal contacts insert-molded with the first insulator; a ground contact module including a second insulator and plural ground contacts insert-molded with the second insulator; and a conductive plastic member molded with the plural ground contacts, wherein the first insulator is assembled to the second insulator.