Electrical connector circuit wafer

Abstract: A semiconductor wafer has a plurality of holes therein which correspond to pins of an electrical connector. The wafer includes circuitry thereon and contacts for making electrical connection to the pins. In such manner, the circuitry on the wafer can be used for a wide variety of purposes such as testing or modifying signals carried by the pins. The wafer can be installed in any common electrical connector pair without prior modification or preparation of the connectors and without impairing the normal fit or function of the mated connector pair.

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Technical Field This invention relates to a device for making electrical connection to a plurality of pins in a male connector, which males with sockets in a female connector. 2. Discussion Electrical connections and cables are used in a variety of applications to transmit electrical signals from different sources to an equally wide variety of destinations. The cables generally include a plurality of individual wires which terminate at one end in either a male connector or a female connector. The male connector typically employs a series of pins which are housed in a generally cylindrical or rectangular shell that mate with sockets in the female connector. It sometimes becomes necessary or desirable to obtain access to the electrical signals carried by each of the individual cable wires. For example, it may be desirable to detect the peak level of electromagnetic pulse induced stress on all of the pins. In the past, a complex array of passive and active instrumentation components was required to perform such tests. Much of the complexity is due to the fact that there is no convenient way to obtain access to the signals carried by the individual wires in the cable. US-A-3 718 859, however, discloses a device which may be interposed between the male and the female connector to provide external access to the signal paths established by the pins and sockets. At the circumference of the device contact pads are arranged for such access. It is also envisioned that there exists a need to provide a relatively simple, yet reliable technique for easily coupling electrical circuits to the pins in such connectors. The electrical circuits could consist of active or passive electronic components, as well as more sophisticated microprocessors. Despite this need, it does not appear that the prior art has proposed an eloquently simple solution to the problem in the manner suggested by the present invention. US-A-3 718 859 shows the device having conductors only, and external circuitry for treating signals thereon may be provided. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the teachings of the present invention, a wafer, preferably of semiconductor material, is provided that has a series of holes in it that are aligned with the pins in the male connector. The wafer is inserted into the male connector so that the pins pass through the holes in the wafer. The wafer contains any of a wide variety of circuit means for performing preselected functions associated with the signals on the pins. These circuit means can include passive or active electronic components, or the aforementioned microprocessor circuits which are easily implemented in integrated circuit form on the wafer. The wafer further includes contact means for making electrical contact between the pins as they extend through the holes in the wafer and the circuit means. In such manner, electrical connection between the desired circuit and the pins in the connector is easily and rapidly made, without requiring advance preparations of the host connector pair. As will appear, the present invention has a wide variety of applications. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The various advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art after a study of the specification and by reference to the drawings in which: FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing the installation of a wafer made in accordance with the teachings of the preferred embodiment of this invention; FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of one embodiment of the invention in which the wafer is sandwiched between mated male and female connectors; FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view illustrating another embodiment and one technique for making electrical contact between the pins and the wafer; FIG. 4 is a plan view of a suitable contact configuration; FIG. 5 is a partial side view showing the contact design in use; FIG. 6 is a plan view illustrating one particular circuit design for the wafer; FIG. 7 is a side view of the wafer of FIG. 6; and FIG. 8 is a block diagram view of a system which may be used to test the wafers. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS It should be understood from the outset that the present invention will be described in connection with a few limited examples which illustrate the best mode of practicing the invention at the time that this application was filed. However, various modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art after having the benefit of studying the text, drawings and claims which follow this detailed specification. With that caveat in mind, the attention of the reader should now be turned to the drawings, especially FIG. 1. In accordance with the preferred teachings of this invention, a wafer 10 is provided for making electrical connection to the pins 12 of a male electrical connector 14. Male electrical connector 14 mates with a female connector 16 in a manner well known in the art. By way of a specific, although not limiting example, and as shown in more detail in FIGS. 2-3, the male/female connectors 14 and 16 are of the type meeting military specification (C-38999). The male connector is characterized by a cylindrical metal outer shell which is removably connected to a complementary metal shell 20 on the female connector 16. The removable connection is usually made by a bayonet coupling on the mating surfaces of the shells 18 and 20, although other such connections can also be made to ensure proper mating of the connectors. The interior of the male connector includes a nonconductive insert 22 that maintains the orientation of the pins 12 and insulates them from the conductive shell 18. The female connector 16 likewise includes a nonconductive insert 24 and an array of sockets 26 for receiving the pins 12. The male connector is shown in FIG. 1 as being coupled to electronic equipment 28. The female connector 16 is mounted on one end of an electrical cable 30. The cable contains a plurality of wires that carry electrical signals to and from the electronic equipment 28 when the connectors 14 and 16 are mated together. In accordance with an embodiment of this invention, the wafer 10 is inserted between the mated connectors 14 and 16. The wafer 10 has a diameter smaller than the inner diameter of the smallest connector shell and is thin enough to be inserted between the connector pair without interfering with the positive connection therebetween. As shown perhaps best in FIG. 3, wafer 10 includes two generally parallel major surfaces 32 and 34, along with a peripheral edge 36. A series of holes 38 are formed between the two major faces of the wafer. Holes 38 are aligned with and slightly larger than the diameter of pins 12. Circuitry, generally designated by the numeral 40, is formed on the wafer 10 and is in electrical contact with one or more of the pins 12. The circuitry 40 can be any of a wide variety of devices such as active and passive electronic components, as well as more sophisticated microprocessing circuitry. The circuitry 40 is generally designed to perform preselected functions associated with the electrical signals on the pins 12. These functions include, but are not limited to, radio frequency instrumentation, signal rerouting and interface protection using passive electronic components such as current/voltage monitors, transient limiters and point-to-point wiring. Active electronics such as analog and logic circuitry, matrix switches, power management devices and temperature/shock sensors can be utilized to provide discrete event monitoring, integrated built-in test augmentation and diagnostics, signal processing, interface diagnostics and/or signal conditioning. Circuitry 40, on the other hand, may take the form of microprocessing circuitry such as the 68000 variety, and may include static RAM and ROM as well as non-volatile memory. In that event, the circuitry can provide discrete event recordation and decision based signal conditioning/diagnostics. Circuitry 40 is shown in FIG. 6, however, as consisting simply of a plurality of fuses 42(a, b, and c) which are formed by areas of reduced widths in a thin film metal layer 42 formed on surface 32 of wafer 10. The fuses 40(a, b and c) are connected to the pins and operate, in this example, to sense electromagnetic pulse induced stress on the pins 12. If, for example, a potentially damaging pulse is received exceeding a predetermined current level then one or more of the fuses will melt causing a change in resistance associated with that pin. The wafer, in this example, takes the form of a silicon substrate 41 and includes a passivation layer 46, as shown in FIG. 7. Instead of the circuitry 40 being a simple metal fuse formed on the wafer surface, conventional very large scale integration circuit techniques can be used to form active devices within the body of the semiconductor wafer. In any event, some type of electrical connection is also provided between the pins 12 and the circuitry 40. In this particular example, a metallic disc 50 is provided for each wafer hole 38. As shown best in FIGS. 3-5, each metallic disc 50 includes an aperture 52 whose diameter is slightly smaller than the cross sectional diameter of the connector pin 12. A plurality of radially extending slits 54 define an array of bendable fingers 56, the inner portions of which serve to bend under the force of the connector pin being inserted through the wafer holes 38 to thereby make a sliding, removable, yet positive electrical connection with each pin. The non-slitted peripheral rim 58 of the disc 50 is mounted by way of conductive epoxy or solder to conductive circular pads 60 on wafer 10 surrounding holes 38. The discs 50 are connected by way of metal traces 42 to the circuitry which, in FIG. 5, bears the reference numeral 40' to represent an active electronic integrated circuit component formed in the surface of semiconductor material serving as wafer 10. In most applications it is necessary to make electrical connection to the innermost shell of the connector pair which often serves as an electrical ground. In such instances similar wiping electrically conductive fingers 62 can be used for this purpose, as seen in FIG. 3. FIG. 2 illustrates a somewhat more sophisticated embodiment where bidirectional communication is made between the circuitry 40 on the wafer 10. In such manner, it is possible to expand the capabilities of the invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the wafer includes a suitable onboard optical transceiver 64 which communicates with a remote transceiver and converter 66 via a light waveguide 68. Transceiver and converter 66 is coupled to a suitable controller 70 which may be provided by way of a host computer. Electrical signals from the controller 70 are converted by transceiver/converter 66 into suitable light pulses which are transmitted by waveguide 68 to the transceiver 64 on wafer 10. The waveguide 68 can be made of suitable material that has sufficient flexibility and integrity to transmit the optical information in a reliable manner. It should be flexible enough so that it can conform with the relatively small pathways left between shells 20 and 18 of the mated connectors, as shown. Waveguide 68 can, for example, take the form of a Mylar strip which is preferably coated with a reflecting substance on its outer surfaces to increase the efficiency of the optical transmission. Optical transceiver 64 converts the optical signal from waveguide 68 into suitable electrical signals which are fed to the circuitry 40 on the wafer 10. For example, the signals could be used to program a suitable integrated circuit microprocessor which serves as the circuitry 40. The microprocessor then could communicate with the electronic equipment 28 via the pins 12 in the male connector 14 (FIG. 1). Likewise, signals from the electronic equipment 28 can be communicated to the remote controller 70 via the pins 12, circuitry 40, optical transceiver 64, waveguide 68 and optical transceiver/converter 66. A system of this type can be used for a variety of applications such as advanced signal processing, intelligent instrumentation, real-time data stream monitoring, remotely controlled signal conditioning, switching and processing; remotely controlled interface diagnostics, transient data recordation and the like. Again, these applications are by way of non-limiting examples. Depending upon the application and type of circuitry on the wafer 10, it may be desirable to remove the wafer and test the circuitry thereon. For example, if the circuitry takes the form of the fuses shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, it would be desirable to periodically remove and test the wafer to determine if any of the fuses 40(a, b, c) had melted due to high levels of electromagnetic induced current pulses on the pins 12. FIG. 8 illustrates a suitable test console 70 for this purpose. Console 70 includes a wafer identification unit 72, a wafer test fixture 74, a switching matrix 76, measurement circuitry 78, threshold verification circuitry 80 and computer control 82. The identification unit 72 uniquely identifies a wafer 10 by means of an identification tag 84 on each wafer 10. Tag 84, in this example, is a conventional bar code which can be read by a suitable bar code reader 86. A wafer extraction tool 88 aids in the insertion and removal of the wafer into the connector 14 and minimizes the risk of wafer damage due to mechanical stress or other events. Tool 88 employs a vacuum system 90 with a vacuum head 92 designed to temporarily hold the wafer 10. During insertion, the head 92 manipulates the wafer so that the pins slide into the wafer holes 38 and make electrical connection to the pin contacts 50 and the shell contacts 62 make connection to the shell 18 (FIG. 3). The male and female connectors 14 and 16 are then mated together in the usual manner with the pins 12 being inserted into the female sockets 26. As illustrated in the drawings, the wafer 10 is sufficiently thin that it does not disturb the normal mating of the connectors. To remove the wafer 10, the connectors are disassembled and the vacuum tool 88 is used to extract the wafer 10 from the male connector 14. The wafers then are placed in the test fixture 74 which generally consists of a bank of the same MIL-SPEC connectors 14. The test fixture 74 is capable of testing one wafer at a time by placing the wafer in its corresponding connector. An LED indicator 94 automatically locates the proper connector to use based on the wafer's identification code. The switching matrix 76 switches the resistance measurement between any pin on the connector and another pin or the connector shell. It also switches in an onboard switched DC power supply to verify the threshold of any of the fuses 40(a, b or c). The switching matrix 76 is controlled by the computer 82 through a bus interface card. The measurement circuitry 78 makes a resistance measurement that determines which fuses 40(a, b or c), if any, have been blown. An A/D converter with a fast sampling rate is used so that many fuses can be tested in a small amount of time. The threshold verification circuitry 80 includes a programmable switch DC power supply and a source resistant network. It creates a known square pulse with enough amplitude to blow any of the fuses. The pulse level is stepped up slowly and the fuse resistance is read after each pulse to determine when the fuse blows and what its threshold was. Computer control 82 controls all of the systems and records the data from the test. The computer is suitably programmed so that it will control all the testing procedure. From the foregoing, those skilled in the art should realize that the present invention provides a simple, yet reliable way to rapidly and unintrusively make electrical connection to pins in electrical connectors and which further enables the user to modify or add a wide variety of functions through the use of the appropriate circuitry on the wafer. As noted from the outset, the invention has been described in connection with a few particular examples. However, various modifications and other applications will become apparent to the skilled practitioner after having the benefit of studying the specification, drawings and following claims.

Claims: A device for making electrical connection to a plurality of pins (12) in a male connector (14) which mates with sockets in a female connector (16), characterized by a wafer (10) having a series of holes (38) therein aligned with the pins (12) in the male connector (14) such that the wafer (10) may be inserted into the male connector (14) so that the pins extended through the holes, said wafer (10) having circuit means (40) for using electrical signals on the pins (12); and contact means (50) for making electrical contact between the pins as they extend through the holes in the wafer (10) and the circuit means (40). The device of Claim 1 wherein said wafer (10) is made of semiconductor material. The device of Claim 2 wherein said circuit means (40) comprises at least one integrated circuit formed within the semiconductor wafer (10). The device of Claim 1 wherein said circuit means (40) comprises: means on the wafer for defining at least one fuse (42) coupled to the contact means (50), with the fuse (42) melting when a signal on a pin exceeds a preselected level. The device of Claim 1 wherein the connectors (14,16) each include an outer shell, and wherein the device further comprises: second contact means (62) for making electrical connection between the wafer and one of the shells (18). The device of Claim 1 which further comprises: communication means (64) for receiving and transmitting information between the circuit means (40) on the wafer and a remote controller (70). The device of Claim 6 wherein the communication means comprises: optical transceiver means (64) on the wafer (10); remote optical transceiver means (66) spaced from the connectors; and light waveguide means (68) for transmitting optical signals between the transceiver on the wafer and the remote transceiver. The device of Claim 7 wherein the light waveguide means (68) comprises: a flexible strip extending between shells of the male and female connectors, one end of the strip being connected to the transceiver (64) on the wafer, and another end of the strip being connected to the remote transceiver (66). The device of Claim 1 wherein said contact means comprises: metallic discs (50) each having a plurality of inwardly extending bendable fingers (56) terminating at an aperture (52) in the disc, outer rim portion (58) of each disc being connected to the wafer (10) so that the apertures in the discs aligns with holes in the wafer, and wherein the pins (12) extend through the apertures (52) and the bendable fingers make electrical connection between the pins and the wafer (10). The device of Claim 1 wherein the male connector (14) is a cable connector having an outer shell and wherein the female receptacle comprises a female cable connector (16) with an outer shell that is removably connected to the shell of the male connector. The device of Claim 1 wherein said circuit means (40) includes at least one passive electronic component for conditioning the signals carried by the pins (12). A method of detecting or altering characteristics of electrical signals flowing between a male connector (14) that is removably connected to a female receptacle (16), the male connector (14) having a plurality of pins (12) extending into sockets in the female receptacle, characterized by providing a wafer (10) having a series of holes (38) therein aligned with the pins (12) in the male connector; inserting the wafer (10) into the male connector (14) so that the pins extend through the holes in the wafer; making electrical contact between the pins (12) and the circuitry (40) of the wafer (10); mating the male connector (14) and the female receptacle (16), with the wafer being sandwiched therebetween; and using the circuitry (40) of the wafer to perform preselected functions on signals carried by the pins (12). The method of Claim 12 which further comprises: unmating the male connector (14) and female receptacle (16); removing the wafer (10) from the male connector (14); and detecting characteristics of the circuitry (40) of the wafer. The method of Claim 12 wherein said circuitry (40) includes at least one passive electronic component for conditioning the signals carried by the pins. The method of Claim 12 wherein said circuitry (40) includes active electronics for conditioning the signals carried by the pins. The method of Claim 13 wherein said circuitry (40) senses power flowing between the female receptacle (16) and male connector (14), and wherein said detecting step tests for characteristics of power as sensed by the circuitry (40). The method of Claim 12 wherein said wafer (10) is made of semiconductor material and said circuitry (40) comprises at least one integrated circuit formed within said wafer. The method of Claim 12 wherein the connectors each include an outer shell (18), with said method further comprising: making electrical connection to one of the shells by way of an electrical contact (62) located adjacent to the periphery of the wafer. The method of Claim 18 wherein the electrical contact connects the shell (18) to the circuitry (40). The method of Claim 19 wherein a wiping electrical contact is made in inner walls of the shell of the male connector.

Inventors: FOREMAN KEVIN GALE, MILLER PAUL JAY, FOREMAN, KEVIN GALE, MILLER, PAUL JAY
Applicants: TRW INC, TRW INC.
Application year: 1992
Main classification: H01R23
IPC codes: H05K1, H01R9, H01L23, G06F21, H01R13, H02J7, G06F1, H01L31