HIGH SPEED ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING SAME

An electrical connector includes a terminal assembly consisting of a terminal module and a shielding housing, the terminal module contains a conductive terminal and an insulator. The insulator is molded on the conductive terminal and wraps around the conductive terminal. The shielding housing defines an accommodating cavity. The terminal module is removably secured within the accommodating cavity. The electrical connector also includes a plastic housing. The plastic housing defines a matching channel. The shielding housing is removably secured within the matching channel. The material forming the insulator is different that the material forming the plastic housing.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims benefit of priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202211570996.0 filed on Dec. 8, 2022, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The disclosure relates to electrical connectors, and in particular to a high-speed electrical connector.

BACKGROUND

An electrical connector is a conductor device for connecting electrical wiring. Such a component may serve as an end point for connecting between different elements in a same circuit system or may serve to provide electrical and data connections between different circuit systems and equipment. It is widely used in a variety of electrical wirings, playing the role of connecting or disconnecting the circuits. Such connections may be temporary and easy to plug and unplug at any time or may be permanent junctions between electrical equipment or cables.

In existing high-speed electrical connectors (e.g., existing high-speed single-channel Ethernet board-end electrical connectors), terminal insulators are typically designed to be integral with the jacket for the board-end electrical connector. For example,FIG.1AandFIG.1Bshow a front view and left view of an existing H-MTD Ethernet connector1. As shown inFIGS.1A and1B, the Ethernet connector1may comprise a conductive terminal2and a plastic housing3. The conductive terminal2is inserted directly into and penetrates the plastic housing3. The plastic housing3is integrally formed. A portion of the plastic housing3that surrounds the conductive terminal2is used to provide insulation between conductive terminals2and between the conductive terminal2and the shielding housing4.

However, for increasingly demanding in-vehicle applications, relative permittivity of commonly used original materials cannot meet the requirements for a transmission rate of 10 gigabits per second (Gbps), and special relative permittivity materials meeting the high-speed requirements are often expensive, resulting in high material costs for integrally designed products. For the structures shown inFIGS.1A and1B, if it is required to replace the material of the entire plastic housing3with intended material with better high frequency performance, such as LCP (Liquid Crystal Polymer), it will typically lead to a significant increase in cost.

SUMMARY

A high-speed electrical connector and a method for manufacturing the same are provided herein. The high-speed electrical connector provides high reliability while reducing or controlling the manufacturing cost of the high-speed electrical connector.

In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to an electrical connector, including: a terminal assembly consisting of a terminal module and a shielding housing, the terminal module including at least one conductive terminal and at least one insulator, wherein the at least one insulator is molded on the at least one conductive terminal and wraps around the at least one conductive terminal, wherein the shielding housing defines an accommodating cavity, wherein the terminal module is removably secured within the accommodating cavity; and a plastic housing defining a matching channel, wherein the shielding housing is removably secured within the matching channel and wherein a first material of the at least one insulator is different from a second material of the plastic housing.

In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to a method for manufacturing an electrical connector, including: forming at least one insulator on at least one conductive terminal through a molding process, wherein the at least one insulator wraps around the at least one conductive terminal: assembling the at least one insulator along with the at least one conductive terminal into an accommodating cavity of a shielding housing to form a terminal assembly: and assembling the shielding housing along with the at least one insulator as well as the at least one conductive terminal into a matching channel of a plastic housing, wherein a first material of the at least one insulator is different from a second material of the plastic housing.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following is description with respect to specific embodiments, and other advantages and technical effects of the disclosure may be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the contents disclosed herein. Moreover, the disclosure is not limited to the following specific embodiments but may be implemented or applied by other different embodiments, and various modifications and changes may be made to the specific contents of the present description without departing from the spirit of the disclosure.

In the following, specific embodiments of the disclosure are described in detail based on the accompanying drawings. It is to be appreciated that, the drawings are illustrated for a brief explanation only, and such drawings are not depicted on the actual dimension, not reflecting actual dimensions of the relevant structures. For ease of understanding, like reference numerals are used in the drawings to indicate like elements across the drawings. The drawings are not to scale and may be simplified for clarity. Elements and features of one embodiment may be advantageously incorporated into other embodiments without further recitation.

In the following, a high-speed electrical connector100according to an embodiment of the disclosure is described with respect toFIGS.2-6.FIG.2shows an isometric view of a high-speed electrical connector100,FIG.3shows an exploded view of the high-speed electrical connector100,FIG.4shows a an exploded view of the high-speed electrical connector100as viewed from the direction of arrow II inFIG.3,FIG.5shows a front view of the high-speed electrical connector100as viewed from the direction of arrow I inFIG.2, andFIG.6is a cross-sectional view as cut along line A-A shown inFIG.5.

As shown inFIGS.2-6, the high-speed electrical connector100may comprises a terminal module110, a shielding housing120, and a plastic housing130.

The terminal module110may comprise at least one conductive terminal111and at least one insulator112. The insulator112may be molded on the conductive terminal111and wrapping around the conductive terminal111. The term “wrapping” as used herein is intended to indicate tightly enveloping so that substantially no gap or only a very small gap existing therebetween. As a non-limiting example, the insulator112may be molded on the conductive terminal111and wrapping the conductive terminal111by insert molding. However, the disclosure is not so limited, and the insulator112may be formed or molded on a portion of the conductive terminal111or the entire conductive terminal111by a variety of other molding methods including, but not limited to, immersion molding, spray molding, deposition molding, and among others. The insulator112may be made of various insulating materials. As an example, the insulator112may be made of an insulating material with an intended relative permittivity capable of meeting the requirements of a data transmission rate of 10 gigabits per second (Gbps) or more. LCP (Liquid Crystal Polymer) or the like for example.

As a non-limiting example, some or all of the conductive terminal111of the terminal module110may be a signal terminal for transmitting data signal. For example, the conductive terminal111may be a signal terminal adapted for High Speed-Modular Twisted-pair Data (H-MTD) connectors. High Speed Data (HSD) connectors, High-Speed FAKRA-Mini (HFM) connectors, Modular Twisted-pair Data (MTD) connectors, and so on. Examples with two conductive terminals111are depicted inFIGS.2-6, but not so limited, and any number of conductive terminals111may be provided.

As a non-limiting example, referring toFIGS.3,4and6, insulators112may comprise a first insulator112aand a second insulator112b. The first insulator112amay be positioned in the middle of the conductive terminal111. The second insulator112bmay be positioned near the end of the conductive terminal111.

The shielding housing120may define an accommodating cavity121. The terminal module110may be removably secured within the accommodating cavity121. The shielding housing120may be made of any suitable material, for example metallic materials, so as to be able to provide adequate electromagnetic shielding to the conductive terminals111mounted therein when the terminal module110is secured in place within the accommodating cavity121.

A terminal module110and a shielding housing120, after being assembled together, form an assembly which is to be referred to as “terminal assembly” throughout this application.

As a non-limiting example, a first mating structure1121may be formed on the insulator112, and a second mating structure122for mating with the first mating structure1121may be formed on the inner wall of the shield housing120. With the mating of the first mating structure1121to the second mating structure122, the terminal module110may be removably secured in place within the accommodating cavity121in a fixed orientation.

As a non-limiting example, it is shown inFIGS.3and4that the first mating structure1121may be a tab and the second mating structure122may be a groove, both of which may be secured to each other by an interference fit. However, without limitation, the first mating structure1121and the second mating structure122may be mating structures of any type, for example, the first mating structure1121may be a groove and the second mating structure122may be a tab or a beam, the first mating structure1121may be a pin and the second mating structure122may be a socket, the first mating structure1121may be a groove and the second mating structure122may be a resilient tongue, and the like. Furthermore, instead of providing mating structures respectively on the shield housing120and the terminal module110for mating, the terminal module110may be removably secured within the accommodating cavity121in other ways, such as bonding to each other by a non-permanent adhesive, fastening to each other by bolts or pins, and the like.

The plastic housing130may define a matching channel131. The shielding housing120may be removably secured within the matching channel131. As a non-limiting example, a third mating structure123may be formed on the outer wall of the shielding housing120, and a fourth mating structure132for mating with the third mating structure123may be formed on the inner wall of the plastic housing130. With the mating between the third mating structure123and the fourth mating structure132, the shielding housing120may be removably secured in place within the matching channel131in a fixed orientation, so as to subsequently match with other electrical connectors (not shown). As an example, it is shown inFIGS.3and4that, the third mating structure123may be a barb-shaped tab and the fourth mating structure132may be a groove, both of which may be secured to each other by an interference fit. However, without limitation, the second mating structure122and the fourth mating structure132may be mating structures of any type, for example, the third mating structure123may be a groove and the fourth mating structure132may be a tab or a beam, the third mating structure123may be a pin and the fourth mating structure132may be a socket, the third mating structure123may be a groove and the fourth mating structure132may be a resilient tongue, and the like. Furthermore, in addition to providing mating structures respectively on the plastic housing130, the shield housing120for mating, the shield housing120may be removably secured within the matching channel131in other ways, such as bonding to each other by a non-permanent adhesive, fastening to each other by bolts or pins, and the like.

The plastic housing130may be formed by various molding methods (including, but not limited to, molded plastic molding, 3D printing molding and the like). The plastic housing130may be made of various insulating materials. The material of plastic housing130may be different from the material of insulator112. The plastic housing130may be made of insulating materials that are less expensive, including, but not limited to general plastic materials that meet in-vehicle specifications, PA66 for example.

As mentioned above, the material of insulator112can be selected to be a material meeting the requirement of high frequency transmission, such as LCP material. The cost of LCP material is usually higher than the material of plastic housing130, however, the split structure of this application can reasonably control the amount of LCP material in the electrical connector and meanwhile meet the high frequency performance requirement of high-speed electrical connector.

As a non-limiting example, the high-speed electrical connector100may serve as a board-end electrical connector. For example, the high-speed electrical connector100may serve as an H-MTD connector, HSD connector, HFM connector, MTD connector and the like, for board-end connections of a printed circuit board.

The terminal module110and the shielding housing120can form a terminal assembly. The electrical connector shown inFIGS.2-6has a single terminal assembly consisting of a single terminal module110and a single shielding housing120, thus it can be referred to as a single-channel electrical connector, however, it is to be understood that, the design of the present disclosure may also be applicable to other electrical connector with multiple channels (in that case multiple terminal assemblies are mounted within a single plastic housing130).

As a non-limiting experimental result, when the terminal assembly consisting of terminal module110and shielding housing120is a STP terminal assembly (which means the terminal module has two conductive terminals111to be connected with ends of shielded twisted pair (STP)), and the plastic housing130ofFIGS.2-6is made of PA66 thermoplastic materials, with a relative permittivity of 3.5, and the material of the insulator112has a relative permittivity lower than that of the PA66 thermoplastic materials, for example between 2.7 and 3.3, it has been verified that an intended high frequency performance can be achieved in this STP electrical connector.

As a comparison, for an electrical connector of an STP terminal assembly, when material of the insulator is LCP with relative permittivity of 3.0, its differential impedance can be higher than one-piece housing with relative permittivity of 3.5, for 5 dB. A method200according to an embodiment is described below with respect toFIG.7. The method200may be used to manufacturing a high-speed electrical connector, such as the high-speed electrical connector100described above.

The method may start with step201. At step201, at least one insulator112may be formed on at least one conductive terminal111through a molding process. The insulator112may wrap around the conductive terminal111. The molding process includes, but not limited to, insert molding, immersion molding, spray molding, deposition molding and the like, or the combination thereof.

At step202, the insulator112along with the conductive terminal111may be assembled into the accommodating cavity121of the shielding housing120, to form a terminal assembly.

At step203, the shielding housing120along with the insulator112as well as the conductive terminal111may be assembled into the matching channel131of the plastic housing130. The material of insulator112may be different from that of the plastic housing130. Such as, the material of insulator112may be an LCP material, which may have a relative permittivity lower than the material of plastic housing130.

With the high-speed electrical connector100and the method200of the present disclosure, at least the following beneficial technical effects can be achieved:By a more reasonable selection of materials for the insulator112, as well as a disaggregated design wherein the insulator112is separated from the plastic housing130, it is possible to achieve an effective transmission of Ethernet signal at a higher speed e.g., 10 gigabits per second (Gbps) or more under harsh working conditions, so as to obtain a higher reliability for the high-speed electrical connector100.Moreover, the high-speed electrical connector100takes advantages of the disaggregated design wherein the insulator112is separated from the plastic housing130, which allows for using different materials to achieve a high transmission rate while reducing the cost of the high-speed electrical connector100.

It is appreciated that in other scenario, when a higher-cost material with a relative permittivity higher than that of plastic housing is intended to be used, this higher-cost material can also be used in the above said split structure to form insulator112, so as to reduce the entire manufacturing cost.

In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to an electrical connector, including: a terminal assembly consisting of a terminal module and a shielding housing, the terminal module including at least one conductive terminal and at least one insulator, wherein the at least one insulator is molded on the at least one conductive terminal and wraps around the at least one conductive terminal, wherein the shielding housing defines an accommodating cavity, wherein the terminal module is removably secured within the accommodating cavity; and a plastic housing defining a matching channel, wherein the shielding housing is removably secured within the matching channel and wherein a first material of the at least one insulator is different from a second material of the plastic housing.

In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to an electrical connector, wherein the first material of the insulator has a relative permittivity different from the second material of the plastic housing.

In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to an electrical connector, wherein the plastic housing is made of polyamide 66 (PA66) thermoplastic materials, and the first material of the insulator has a relative permittivity lower than that of the PA66 thermoplastic materials.

In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to an electrical connector, wherein the first material of the insulator is a liquid crystal polymer (LCP).

In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to an electrical connector, wherein the insulator has a relative permittivity between 2.7 and 3.3.

In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to an electrical connector, wherein the relative permittivity of the insulator is about 3.0.

In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to an electrical connector, wherein the terminal assembly is an STP terminal assembly configured to be connected with a shielded twisted pair (STP) cable.

In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to an electrical connector, wherein the at least one insulator includes: a first insulator, the first insulator being positioned in a middle of the at least one conductive terminal: and a second insulator, the second insulator being positioned near an end of the at least one conductive terminal.

In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to an electrical connector, wherein the at least one conductive terminal is a signal terminal for transmitting data signal.

In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to an electrical connector, wherein the insulator is molded on the at least one conductive terminal through an insert molding process.

In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to an electrical connector, wherein a first mating structure is formed on the insulator, and a second mating structure is formed on an inner wall of the shielding housing for mating with the first mating structure.

In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to an electrical connector, wherein a third mating structure is formed on an outer wall of the shielding housing, and a fourth mating structure is formed on an inner wall of the plastic housing for mating with the third mating structure.

In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to an electrical connector, wherein the electrical connector is a board-end connector.

In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to a method for manufacturing an electrical connector, including: forming at least one insulator on at least one conductive terminal through a molding process, wherein the at least one insulator wraps around the at least one conductive terminal: assembling the at least one insulator along with the at least one conductive terminal into an accommodating cavity of a shielding housing to form a terminal assembly: and assembling the shielding housing along with the at least one insulator as well as the at least one conductive terminal into a matching channel of a plastic housing, wherein a first material of the at least one insulator is different from a second material of the plastic housing.

In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to a method, wherein the first material of the insulator has a relative permittivity different from the material of the plastic housing.

In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to a method, wherein the plastic housing is made of polyamide 66 (PA66) thermoplastic materials, and the first material of the insulator has a relative permittivity lower than that of PA66 thermoplastic materials.

In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to a method, wherein the first material of the insulator is a liquid crystal polymer (LCP).

In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to a method, wherein the insulator has a relative permittivity between 2.7 and 3.3.

In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to a method, wherein the relative permittivity of the insulator is about 3.0.

In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to a method, wherein the terminal assembly is an STP terminal assembly configured to be connected with a shielded twisted pair (STP) cable.

Optional embodiments of the disclosure are described above in the detailed description. Nevertheless, it is to be understood that various embodiments and variations may be employed without departing from the wide spirit and range of the disclosure. In accordance with the concept of the disclosure, numerous modifications and variations can be made by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative labor. As a non-limiting example, those skilled in the art may omit one or more of the various portions of the system or structure described above or add one or more portions to the system or structure described above or replace some or all of the various structures or systems involved in the embodiment with other portions having the same or similar functions. Therefore, any technical solution that can be obtained by logical analysis, reasoning, or limited experimentation by those skilled in the art on the basis of the prior art in accordance with the concept of the disclosure shall fall within the scope of protection determined from the claims of the disclosure.

Additionally, while terms of ordinance or orientation may be used herein these elements should not be limited by these terms. All terms of ordinance or orientation, unless stated otherwise, are used for purposes distinguishing one element from another, and do not denote any particular order, order of operations, direction or orientation unless stated otherwise.