Connection method of RF cable end connector and coaxial cable and internal terminal used thereof

A connection method of an RF cable end connector and a coaxial cable and an internal terminal used thereof are provided. An insulator is formed outside a body of the internal terminal by embedded molding, making the internal terminal have a composite structure integrated with the insulator. The internal terminal can be connected to the coaxial cable by, for example, clamping. This allows connection between the RF cable end connector and the coaxial cable to be easily accomplished by automatic processes, thereby reducing fabrication costs of RF cable end connector jumpers.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the priority of Republic of China Patent Application No. 105121050 filed on Jul. 1, 2016, in the State Intellectual Property Office of the R.O.C., the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The invention relates to connection methods of RF cable end connectors and coaxial cables and internal terminals used thereof, and more particularly, to a connection method of an RF cable end connector and a coaxial cable and an internal terminal used thereof, which may achieve automatic production of RF cable end connector jumpers and thereby effectively reduce fabrication costs thereof.

Descriptions of the Related Art

It is known that RF cable end connector jumpers composed of RF cable end connectors and coaxial cables have been widely used in high frequency signal transmission for electronic devices such as GPS, GSM, TV, RADIO and so on. The RF cable end connectors are designed with various structural configurations according to their applications, but most of them include central conductor terminals and outer conductor terminals, which are separately provided. In such a case, however, how to fix relative positions of the central conductor terminals and the outer conductor terminals is usually an issue needed to be addressed when fabricating the RF cable end connectors.

Moreover, the various structural configurations of the RF cable end connectors include, for example, FAKRA connectors applied in automotive/mobile communication equipment and telecommunications. For the FAKRA connectors, connecting FAKRA cable end connectors and coaxial cables to form FAKRA cable end connector jumpers is usually accomplished by a soldering technique that bonds metallic conductors of the FAKRA cable end connectors to metallic conductors of the coaxial cables. However, the soldering technique is not favorable for automatic processes, making fabrication costs of the FAKRA cable end connector jumpers not able to be reduced.

Besides the FAKRA connectors, other structural configurations of the RF cable end connectors also adopt the soldering technique for cable bonding, and thus their bonding with coaxial cables cannot be performed by fully automatic processes. This similarly leads to high fabrication costs of the RF cable end connector jumpers. How to solve the above problems is thus an important task in the art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the above drawbacks in the conventional technology, a primary object of the invention is to provide an internal terminal for an RF cable end connector, for clamping a coaxial cable and electrically contacting a casing terminal, the coaxial cable including a central conductor, an inner insulation layer, an outer conductor and an outer insulation layer, with the central conductor and the outer conductor being separated by the inner insulation layer, the internal terminal including: an internal terminal body including: a central conductor terminal part having a central conductor clamp corresponding to the central conductor of the coaxial cable and for clamping the central conductor; and an outer conductor terminal part having an outer conductor clamp, an outer insulation layer clamp and a casing terminal contact, wherein the outer conductor clamp corresponds to the outer conductor of the coaxial cable and is for clamping the outer conductor, the outer insulation layer clamp corresponds to the outer insulation layer of the coaxial cable and is for clamping the outer insulation layer, and the casing terminal contact is for electrically contacting the casing terminal; and an insulator integrated with the internal terminal body by embedded molding, and exposing the central conductor clamp, the outer conductor clamp, the outer insulation layer clamp and the casing terminal contact.

The invention is further to provide a connection method of an RF cable end connector and a coaxial cable, using the internal terminal said above. The connection method of an RF cable end connector and a coaxial cable includes the steps of: placing the central conductor, the outer conductor and the outer insulation layer of the coaxial cable into the corresponding clamps exposed from the insulator, and allowing the central conductor clamp to clamp the central conductor, the outer conductor clamp to clamp the outer conductor, and the outer insulation layer clamp to clamp the outer insulation layer; and providing the casing terminal and fixing it to the insulator to cover a contact portion of the central conductor, and electrically contacting the casing terminal with the casing terminal contact.

Moreover, the invention is further to provide an internal terminal for an RF cable end connector, for bonding a coaxial cable and electrically contacting a casing terminal, the coaxial cable including a central conductor, an inner insulation layer and an outer conductor, with the central conductor and the outer conductor being separated by the inner insulation layer, the internal terminal including: an internal terminal body including: a central conductor terminal part for bonding the central conductor of the coaxial cable; and an outer conductor terminal part for bonding the outer conductor of the coaxial cable and having a casing terminal contact for electrically contacting the casing terminal; and an insulator integrated with the central conductor terminal part and the outer conductor terminal part by embedded molding, and exposing a portion of the central conductor terminal part for bonding the central conductor, a portion of the outer conductor terminal part for bonding the outer conductor, and the casing terminal contact.

The invention is further to provide a connection method of an RF cable end connector and a coaxial cable, using the internal terminal said above. The connection method of an RF cable end connector and a coaxial cable includes the steps of placing the central conductor and the outer conductor of the coaxial cable within the insulator, they are bonded to the central conductor terminal part and the outer conductor terminal part of the internal terminal body respectively, and providing the casing terminal and fixing it to the insulator to cover a contact portion of the central conductor, and electrically contacting the casing terminal with the casing terminal contact.

Compared to the conventional technology, the invention is to provide a connection method of an RF cable end connector and a coaxial cable and an internal terminal used thereof, which have an insulator formed outside a body of the internal terminal by embedded molding to fix relative positions of a central conductor terminal part and an outer conductor terminal part, such that the internal terminal has a composite structure integrated with the insulator. This is thereby to solve the problem of having difficulty in fixing relative positions of central conductor terminals and outer conductor terminals during fabrication of conventional RF cable end connectors. Moreover, the RF cable end connector of the invention may be connected to the coaxial cable by clamping and this connection can be performed in fully automatic processes, such that the problem of not able to reduce fabrication costs of conventional RF cable end connector jumpers can be solved.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Technical features of the invention may be disclosed with reference toFIGS. 1 to 13.

The invention provides a connection method of an RF cable end connector and a coaxial cable and an internal terminal used thereof. The internal terminal1is used for bonding the coaxial cable2and electrically contacting a casing terminal3so as to connect the RF cable end connector and the coaxial cable2and achieve automatic production of RF cable end connector jumpers in a way of reducing fabrication costs thereof. The coaxial cable2includes a central conductor21, an inner insulation layer22, an outer conductor23and an outer insulation layer24. The inner insulation layer22separates the central conductor21from the outer conductor23, and the outer insulation layer24is provided outside the outer conductor23and protects the outer conductor23.

First Embodiment

In this embodiment, the internal terminal1includes an internal terminal body11and an insulator12. The internal terminal body11includes a central conductor terminal part111, an outer conductor terminal part112and a connection part113. The central conductor terminal part111has a central conductor clamp1111for clamping the central conductor21. As shown inFIG. 1, the central conductor clamp1111can be provided between the central conductor terminal part111and the connection part113but is not limited to this arrangement. Alternatively, for example, as shown inFIG. 13, the central conductor clamp1111may be extended to a middle portion of the connection part113. The outer conductor terminal part112has an outer conductor clamp1121, an outer insulation layer clamp1122and a casing terminal contact1123. The outer conductor clamp1121is used for clamping the outer conductor23. The outer insulation layer clamp1122is used for clamping the outer insulation layer24. The casing terminal contact1123is used for electrically contacting the casing terminal3to form a shielding loop enclosing the central conductor terminal part111, which acts as a shielding structure similar to a coaxial cable to prevent surrounding electromagnetic coupling from interfering with signal transmission of the central conductor terminal part111. The insulator12is fixed outside the internal terminal body11and integrally formed with the internal terminal body11by embedded molding, making the internal terminal1have a composite structure integrated with the insulator12, and the insulator12has an open space for exposing the central conductor clamp1111, the outer conductor clamp1121, the outer insulation layer clamp1122and the casing terminal contact1123. The connection part113integrally connects the central conductor terminal part111and the outer conductor terminal part112together in a manner that, when the insulator12is fixed to the internal terminal body11, the central conductor terminal part111and the outer conductor terminal part112are also fixed, thereby helping clamp the internal terminal1to the coaxial cable2.

The connection method of the RF cable end connector and the coaxial cable in this embodiment is shown inFIG. 11. Referring toFIG. 11, first, the central conductor21, the inner insulation layer22, the outer conductor23and the outer insulation layer24of the coaxial cable2are placed in the open space of the insulator12at positions corresponding to the clamps exposed in the open space. Then, step S11is executed in which the central conductor21of the coaxial cable2is clamped to the central conductor clamp1111of the central conductor terminal part111of the internal terminal body11, and the outer conductor23and the outer insulation layer24of the coaxial cable2are respectively clamped to the outer conductor clamp1121and the outer insulation layer clamp1122of the outer conductor terminal part112of the internal terminal body11, so as to accomplish connection between the internal terminal1and the coaxial cable2. Then step S12is executed in which a shear force is applied on the connection part113to separate the central conductor terminal part111from the outer conductor terminal part112of the internal terminal body11, in order to prevent electrical short circuit between the central conductor terminal part111and the outer conductor terminal part112. The order of executing the steps is not limited to the above described. Alternatively, step S12can be performed first as the insulator12has fixed the central conductor terminal part111and the outer conductor terminal part112. After the central conductor terminal part111is electrically separated from the outer conductor terminal part112, step S11is executed for clamping the coaxial cable2to the internal terminal1.

Then, the casing terminal3is provided and step S13is executed. The casing terminal3is fixed on the insulator12to cover the central conductor21clamped to the internal terminal1. The central conductor21is further electrically contacted with the casing terminal contact1123by a bonding technique such as crimping, clamping, soldering or IDC, so as to completely form the RF cable end connector and also accomplish connection between the RF cable end connector and the coaxial cable2. This step can be included in automatic processes, thereby reducing fabrication costs of RF cable end connector jumpers. As shown inFIG. 3, the casing terminal contact1123of this embodiment is shaped like a clip protruded from the insulator12and extended along an outer surface of the insulator12, such that when the casing terminal3is electrically contacted with the casing terminal contact1123(by the bonding technique such as crimping, clamping, soldering or IDC), it abuts against the insulator12that is able to retain the shape of the casing terminal contact1123and assure the electrical contact between the casing terminal contact1123and the casing terminal3, as shown inFIG. 10.

It should be noted that, the casing terminal contact1123may further be formed with a material belt attaching portion on a side thereof for attaching the internal terminal body11to a material belt. This helps fix the insulator12to the internal terminal body11by embedded molding in an automatic manner, and also helps connect the internal terminal1and the coaxial cable2in an automatic manner. In order to assure the electrical contact between the casing terminal contact1123and the casing terminal3, the casing terminal contact1123may be separate from the outer insulation layer clamp1122, such that the outer conductor terminal part112may further be formed with a joint portion1124for connecting the casing terminal contact1123and the outer insulation layer clamp1122. As shown inFIG. 1, the joint portion1124of this embodiment has, but not limited to, a plate-like structure.

Second Embodiment

This embodiment differs from the first embodiment primarily in that, the internal terminal of this embodiment has its internal terminal body11composed of two individual pieces: central conductor terminal part111and outer conductor terminal part112. An insulator is formed outside the internal terminal body11by embedded molding and fixes relative positions of the central conductor terminal part111and the outer conductor terminal part112, making the internal terminal have a composite structure integrated with the insulator. This thereby solves the problem of not able to fix relative positions of central conductor terminals and outer conductor terminals during fabrication of conventional RF cable end connectors. In this embodiment, the central conductor terminal part111and the outer conductor terminal part112can be two separate metallic parts. Thus, the connection method of the RF cable end connector and the coaxial cable in this embodiment does not require step S12for electrically separating the central conductor terminal part111from the outer conductor terminal part112as that performed in the first embodiment.

Third Embodiment

This embodiment differs from the first embodiment primarily in that, the internal terminal body of this embodiment has its central conductor terminal part and outer conductor terminal part being electrically contacted with the central conductor and the outer conductor of the coaxial cable respectively by a bonding technique such as crimping, soldering or ICD but excluding clamping. The connection method of the RF cable end connector and the coaxial cable in this embodiment thus as shown inFIG. 12first executes step S21in which when the central conductor and the outer conductor of the coaxial cable are placed within the insulator, they are bonded to the central conductor terminal part and the outer conductor terminal part of the internal terminal body respectively. Then step S22is executed to provide the casing terminal and fix it on the insulator to cover a contact portion of the central conductor, and electrically contact the casing terminal with the casing terminal contact.

Therefore, the invention provides a connection method of an RF cable end connector and a coaxial cable and an internal terminal used thereof, which have an insulator formed outside a body of the internal terminal by embedded molding to fix relative positions of a central conductor terminal part and an outer conductor terminal part, such that the internal terminal has a composite structure integrated with the insulator. This is thereby to solve the problem of having difficulty in fixing relative positions of central conductor terminals and outer conductor terminals during fabrication of conventional RF cable end connectors. Moreover, the RF cable end connector of the invention may be connected to the coaxial cable by clamping and such a connection can be performed in an automatic manner, thereby reducing fabrication costs of RF cable end connector jumpers.

The examples above are only illustrative to explain principles and effects of the invention, but not to limit the invention. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, the protection range of the rights of the invention should be as defined by the appended claims.