Patent ID: 7867031
Filing Date: 2011-01-11
Classification: H01R

Abstract:
1. A right angle connector assembly for use in high speed applications, comprising: an insulative shroud having a front mating face and an open rear face, the shroud including a plurality of terminal-receiving passages, the passages being arranged in columns and rows; at least one connector unit which is received in the shroud, the at least one connector unit including an insulative support frame that supports a first and second column of conductive terminals in spaced-apart fashion, the support frame including a base member extending along a mounting face of the connector unit and a front member extending at an angle to the base member, the front member extending along a rear of the housing; the terminals including tail portions configured to mount to a circuit board, contact portions configured to mate with an opposing connector and body portions interconnecting the terminal tail and contact portions together, the terminals being divided into two distinct sets of signal and ground shield terminals, the signal terminals being aligned in pairs that are edge-to-edge within the terminal body portions so as to provide pairs of differential signal terminals, wherein within each of the first and second column, the pairs of differential signal terminals are separated from each other within the column by a single ground shield terminal, each ground shield terminal in the first column being spaced apart from and facing a differential signal terminal pair in the second column and each ground shield terminal in the second column being spaced apart from and facing a differential signal terminal pair in the first column, each of the ground shield terminals being wider than the differential signal terminal pair the ground shield terminal faces along the extent of the ground shield terminal from the support frame base member to the support frame front member so that the ground shield terminals cooperatively act electrically as a single, serpentine ground shield within the terminal columns; and the support frame further being formed in two halves, separate from the shroud which holds the at least one connector unit, wherein each column of the terminals is supported by the corresponding support frame half, the support frame halves spacing the first and second column of terminals apart from each other, widthwise, within the at least one connector unit, wherein the support frame includes a plurality of insulative ribs that extend adjacent to and behind the ground shield terminals.