Electrical Connector Contact Modules for Reliable Signal Transmission
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing SFP connectors lack precise stitching of terminals in their housing, leading to unreliable contact with paddle boards for signal transmission.
Innovation Solution
The electrical connector features contact modules with terminals insert molded into wafers, ensuring stable positioning and secure contact with paddle board pads by having upper and lower contact portions that approach each other along the mating direction, thereby establishing reliable electrical connections.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If terminals are mounted in passageways of the housing, then the connector can transmit signals and power, but the terminals cannot be stitched in the housing with desired precision
Solution Approach 1:
The connector is divided into separate modules: a housing, a wafer component with pre-positioned terminals, and a paddle board. The terminals are first precisely positioned on the wafer in a controlled manufacturing environment, then the entire wafer assembly is integrated into the housing. This segmentation allows high-precision terminal positioning on the wafer without requiring equally complex precision features in the housing structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The wafer acts as an intermediary component between the housing and the terminals. Instead of directly mounting terminals in the housing passageways, the terminals are first attached to the wafer surface where precise positioning is easier to achieve, and then the wafer is positioned within the housing. The wafer serves as a precision platform that mediates the connection between the housing structure and the terminal contacts.
2Reliability
If upper and lower contact portions are positioned remotely, then terminals can be easily manufactured, but contact reliability with paddle board pads is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The upper and lower contact portions are designed to be movable toward each other along the mating direction rather than being fixed at remote positions. This dynamic positioning allows the contact portions to approach and make reliable contact with the paddle board pads during insertion, while still maintaining ease of manufacture by using simple terminal structures that can be easily formed and assembled.
Data Source
AI summary
An electrical connector (100) adapted for being mounted on a mother board (900) includes a housing and a number of contact modules (21, 22) each having a wafer (210, 220) and a number of terminals insert molded with the wafer. The terminals include an upper terminal (211, 221) having an upper contact portion (2111, 2211), and a lower contact terminal (212, 222) having a lower contact portion (2121, 2221). The upper contact portion and the lower contact portion are separated from each other along a vertical direction to define a slot (214, 224) therebetween. The upper terminal and the lower contact terminal are secured in the wafer at two positions remote from each other along a mating direction perpendicular to the vertical direction, with the upper contact portion and the lower contact portion approaching close to each other along the mating direction.