High frequency cable connector

Abstract: An electrical connector (2) which is useable with coaxial or twinaxial shielded cables comprises an inner housing module (4) having a pair of electrical terminals (6) positioned therein for electrical connection with a signal conductor of the coaxial or twinaxial cable. The housing module (4) is insertable within a shield member (70) to form a shielded subassembly (88). A grounding spring clip (90) is positioned intermediate the two shielded sub assemblies (88), thereby commoning the adjacent shield members (70), and at the same time providing contact portions for receiving pins (120, 122) of a mating pin field.

Description: The invention is directed to a high frequency electrical connector for a twin axial or a coaxial cable. In the application of high frequency electrical connectors, it is important to entirely shield the signal contacts. However this often results in a complicated design or otherwise large connector system resulting in a large quantity of overall space required. One shielded coaxial connector system is shown in EP-A-0 446 980 where a shielded coaxial contact surrounds a dielectric body where the shield is electrically grounded to a shield of an electrical cable. The outer shield includes contact members formed integrally therewith for making contact with a mating pin or with an adjacent shield of an adjacent contact. One of the difficulties that arises with this type of design is that the customer is responsible for terminating the electrical conductor of the shielded cable as well as the braid of the shielded cable to the connector terminals and subsequently installing the terminals in an associated housing. Assembly equipment varies from customer to customer and it is difficult to monitor the quality of the connections being made as well as the handling of the terminals during the installation process such that it is common to have damaged shield contacts on the outer periphery of this shield member which may prevent mating of the electrical pins in the mating connector, or otherwise prevent an electrical connection being made between the ground pin and the connector shield. It is an object of the invention to provide a high density electrical connector for use with coaxial or twinaxial cable connectors, where the connector has an outer shield which can be electrically connected to a ground pin field in a mating connector. It is a further object of the invention to provide an easy connector assembly process, while at the same time, providing an assembly where the ground contacts of the shield member are not damaged. It is a further object of the invention to provide an electrical connector which is shielded and which includes a grounding contact for mating interconnection with another connector. The present invention consists in a high density shielded electrical connector comprising an insulative housing having a signal contact therein for mating with a complementary signal terminal, and shielding surrounding the housing, characterized in that the connector comprises a support housing receiving at least two insulative housings; at least one signal contact positioned in each insulative housing, shielding that separately surrounds each insulative housing and a grounding spring clip, supported by the support housing, that is common to the shielding that separately surrounds each housing, the spring clip defining a mating contact that is matable with a complementary terminal of another connector to ground that terminal, in the same direction as the signal contacts, and in a location between the shielding that separately surrounds each housing. EP-A-0 131 248 discloses a pin field wherein a spring contact member mounted to a central pin makes contact with shield portions of electrical connectors engaging adjacent pin terminals in the pin field. An embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is an isometric view showing two stamped and formed electrical terminals for use in the connector assembly; Figure 2 is an isometric view showing the terminals of Figure 1 positioned within a lower housing portion with an upper housing portion poised for receipt over the lower housing portion; Figure 3 is a view showing the cover portion in place with a twin axial cable prepared for connection to the terminals of Figure 1; Figure 4 is an isometric view from the opposite end of the housing as shown in Figure 3; Figure 5 is an isometric view of an outer shield portion which is receivable over the housing depicted in Figure 4; Figure 6 shows the housing of Figure 3 positioned within the outer shielding shell of Figure 5; Figure 7 is a perspective view showing a ground terminal placed medially between two adjacent outer shielding shells which commons the two shells; Figure 8 is an upper plan view of the commoning contact shown in Figure 7: Figure 9 shows a side view of the contact as shown Figure 8; Figure 10 shows an isometric view of the assembled connector; With reference first to Figure 2, a connector subassembly is shown generally at 2 comprised of an insulating housing portion 4, a pair of electrical terminals 6 and a cover portion 8. With respect now to Figure 1, the terminal pairs are shown as a stamped and formed set of electrical terminals having base portions 10 forming rear wire receiving surfaces 12 and forward contact portions 14. The contact portions are formed by two contact arms 16 and 18 where the contact arm 18 extends forwardly from the base portion 10 while contact arm 16 is folded over about an integral tab portion 20 to place the contact arms one above the other. The contact arms are radiused at their front edges for example at 22, 24 to form lead-in sections for a mating tab in a mating connector. The terminal pair 6 includes, a strengthening bar 26 integrally formed between the two base portions 10 for rigidity purposes, but is stamped away prior to insertion in the housing. With respect again to Figure 2, the housing member 4 includes two side by side channel-like openings 30 for receiving the terminals 6 therein. The housings include a reduced thickness portion at 32 which receives the retaining barbs 27 located along the side edges of the base portions 10, thereby holding the terminals in position within the housing. It should be appreciated that the channel-like openings open through the rear face 34 of the connector housing through openings 36. The housing 4 further includes a front mating face 38 providing pin receiving openings at 40 for receiving the pins of a mating electrical connector (not shown herein). With reference still to Figure 2, the cover member includes an inner surface 44 having recessed edges 46 profiled for receipt on top edges of the side walls 31. Alignment of the cover member 8 with the housing member 4 is insured by cooperating apertures 48 in the cover part which cooperate with a plurality of studs 50 along the separating rib 33 of the housing portion. Furthermore, retention of the terminals 6 within the housing is insured by way of locking bars 52 which extend downwardly from the inner surface 44 of the cover member 8, and when the cover is in the fully closed position, are locked behind the contact arms 16. The forward end of the cover 8 includes wall portions 55 which cooperate with the openings 40 to form a closed pin-receiving opening. As shown in Figures 3 and 4, the cover member 8 is shown in the closed position with a raised section 58 extending above the upper surface 60 of the cover portion 8. As shown best in Figure 3, the connector 2 has the terminal platform portions 6 extending outwardly of the housing 4 profiled for receiving the conductors 61 of a twinax cable 62. The cable 62 includes an outer insulating jacket 64 which is stripped partially to expose the conductive shield 66, while the insulation 68 of the individual insulated conductors 61 is stripped to expose the conductors 61, such that they are positioned on top of the platforms 6, where they can be soldered or otherwise welded in place. With respect now to Figure 5, an outer shield member is shown generally at 70, which is stamped and formed from a flat sheet of metal material, to include a base portion shown at 72 having folded up sidewalls 74 and folded over split cover parts 76 having an axial seam at 78. Intermediate the cover parts 76 and formed by way of the seam 78 is a rectangular opening at 80 which is profiled to receive the raised section 58 of the cover part 8. Extending integrally from the sidewalls 74 are crimp portions 82 profiled for crimping to the braid 66 of the twinax cable 62. Also extending integrally from the side walls 74 are strain relief crimp arms 84 profiled to crimp around the outer jack portion 64 of the twinax connector. With respect now to Figure 6, the assembly shown in Figure 4 is insertable through a rear entry portion of the shield member 70, to the position shown in Figure 6. In the preferred embodiment of the invention the side walls 74 are overstamped such that upon insertion of the housing member 4, the seam 78 is slightly opened such that edges 89 of the opening 80 are in contact with the raised portion 58. As shown in Figure 6, the shield arms 82 are shown in position to be crimped to the ground shield portion 66 of the cable 62 while the strain relief 84 are profiled to grip the outer jacket 64. With respect now to Figure 7, two shielded housings are shown at 88 spaced apart from one another and disposed in a parallel manner. A grounding spring clip 90 is positioned intermediate the two shielded housings 88 whereby the outer shields of the two shielded connectors 88 are commoned together. With respect to Figures 8 and 9, the grounding spring clip 90 is shown as a stamped and formed U-shaped member formed from upper and lower plate portions 91 and 92 (Figure 9) stamped about a bight portion 94. The plate portions 91 and 92 are stamped into individual contact arms 96 and 98 having individual contact portions 100 and 102 extending forwardly therefrom. The contact portions 100 and 102 are spaced apart by a dimension of 2mm such that the two contact portions can connect pins on a 2mm grid pattern. As shown best in Figure 9, the contact arm portions 96, 98 and 100, 102 are formed to project outwardly at 104, 106 to form contact portions to common the adjacent shield members, as shown in Figure 7. The contact arms 100 and 102 are constricted at the front portion to form contact surfaces 108 and 110 for mating with a complementary pin field. This is shown best in Figure 7 where pins 120 and 122 are shown in a spaced apart manner and are profiled to be received within the contacts formed at 108 and 110. With respect now to Figure 10 the assembly of Figure 7 is received within an outer housing module shown at 130 including channels 132 and 134 which are profiled for receiving side by side shielded modules. The housing 130 includes an opening intermediate the openings 132 and 134 for receiving the grounding spring clip therethrough which can be seated in a permanent position. Thus the shielded connector members 88 can be insertable and removable into and out of the channels 132, 134. In this manner, the outer housing 130 together with the installed grounding spring clip 90 can be shipped to the customer while the housing 4, cover 8 and terminals 6 can be assembled in a configuration shown in Figure 3, and the end user can assemble the cable 62 to the connector 2, later assemble the ground shield 70 and install the shielded subassemblies 88 within the housing 130 into contact with the intermediate spring grounding clip 90. While not specifically shown, the housing 130 would include a front face 140 having apertures in alignment with the openings 40 such that the mating pins can be received within the connector housing 130 and into contact with the contact portions 22, 24, (Figure 1).

Claims: A high density shielded electrical connector (1) comprising an insulative housing (4) having a signal contact (6) therein for mating with a complementary signal terminal, and shielding (70;210;310) surrounding the housing, characterized in that the connector comprises a support housing (130,350) receiving at least two insulative housings (4); at least one signal contact (6) positioned in each insulative housing, shielding (70) that separately surrounds each insulative housing and a grounding spring clip (90), supported by the support housing (130), that is common to the shielding that separately surrounds each housing, the spring clip defining a mating contact that is matable with a complementary terminal (120,122) of another connector to ground that terminal, in the same direction as the signal contacts, and in a location between the shielding that separately surrounds each housing. The connector of claim 1, characterized in that said grounding spring clip (90) comprises upper and lower plates connected together in spaced relationship to provide a U-shaped member including a constricted forward section at an open end forming a contact portion for a pin (120), and an intermediate portion having outward projections (104,106) forming contact portions for contacting adjacent shield members (70). The connector of claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the housings (4) and shielding (70) separately surrounding each housing (4) are positioned in an outer housing (130) having receiving openings (132,134) therein profiled to receive said shielding (70), and said grounding spring clip (90) is positioned in said outer housing (130) intermediate said shielding (70) separately surrounding each housing (4). The connector of claim 3, characterized in that said grounding spring clip (90) is insertable into said outer housing (130) through a rear face thereof and is lockable therein. The connector of claim 3 or 4, characterized in that said shielded housings (4) are insertable into and removable from the outer housing (130), while said grounding spring clip (90) remains locked to the housings (4).

Inventors: SOES LUCAS, SOES, LUCAS
Applicants: WHITAKER CORP, THE WHITAKER CORPORATION
Application year: 1993
Main classification: H01R23
IPC codes: H01R13