Abstract:
A cable assembly ( 1 ) includes an insulative housing ( 11 ) having a base portion ( 110 ) and a tongue portion ( 112 ) extending forwardly from the base portion; a plurality of contacts ( 113 ) supported by the insulated housing; at least a lens ( 120 ) mounted to the insulated housing; a cable ( 2 B) including a number of wires ( 21 ), at least an optic fiber ( 22 ) and a strength member ( 23 ) therein, the wires respectively connected to the contacts, the optical fiber coupled to the lens, and the strength member wrapped around at least a tab ( 1106 ) formed on the base portion; and an adhesive material ( 1108 ) applied to the tab to make the strength member securely attached to the tab.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/313,224, filed on Nov. 18, 2008 and entitled “CABLE ASSEMBLY HAVING ENHANCED INTERCONNECTION MEANS THEREOF”, which has the common assignee as the present invention. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a cable assembly, more particularly to a cable assembly with enhanced mechanical interconnection means arranged between an electrical connector and a cable thereof to reinforce physical or mechanical connection therebetween. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Recently, personal computers (PC) are used of a variety of techniques for transmitting data between different devices. Universal Serial Bus (USB) is a standard to the PC architecture with a focus on computer telephony interface, consumer and productivity applications. The design of USB is standardized by the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), an industry standard body incorporating leading companies from the computer and electronic industries. USB can be interconnected to peripherals such as mouse devices, keyboards, PDAs, gamepads and joysticks, scanners, digital cameras, printers, external storage, networking components, etc. For many devices such as scanners and digital cameras, USB also has become the standard connection interface. 
     USB supports three data rates: 1) A Low Speed rate of up to 1.5 Mbit/s (187.5 KB/s) that is mostly used for Human Interface Devices (HID) such as keyboards, mice, and joysticks; 2) A Full Speed rate of up to 12 Mbit/s (1.5 MB/s). Full Speed was the fastest rate before the USB 2.0 specification and many devices fall back to Full Speed. Full Speed devices divide the USB bandwidth between them in a first-come first-served basis and it is not uncommon to run out of bandwidth with several isochronous devices. All USB Hubs support Full Speed. 3) Hi-Speed rate of up to 480 Mbit/s (60 MB/s). Though Hi-Speed devices are advertised as “up to 480 Mbit/s”, not all USB 2.0 devices can run at such Hi-Speed. Hi-Speed devices typically only operate at half of the full theoretical (60 MB/s) data throughput rate. Most Hi-Speed USB devices typically operate at much slower speeds, often about 3 MB/s overall, sometimes up to 10-20 MB/s. A data transmission rate at 20 MB/s is sufficient for some but not all applications. However, under a circumstance transmitting an audio or video file, which is always up to hundreds MB, even to 1 or 2 GB, currently transmission rate of USB is not sufficient. As a consequence, faster serial-bus interfaces are being introduced to address different requirements. PCI Express, at 2.5 GB/s, and SATA, at 1.5 GB/s and 3.0 GB/s, are two examples of High-Speed serial bus interfaces. 
     From an electrical standpoint, the higher data transfer rates of the non-USB protocols discussed above are highly desirable for certain applications. However, these non-USB protocols are not used as broadly as USB protocols. Many portable devices are equipped with USB connectors other than these non-USB connectors. One important reason is that these non-USB connectors contain a greater number of signal pins than an existing USB connector and are physically larger as well. For example, while the PCI Express is useful for its higher possible data rates, a 26-pin connectors and wider card-like form factor limit the use of Express Cards. For another example, SATA uses two connectors, one 7-pin connector for signals and another 15-pin connector for power. Due to its clumsiness, SATA is more useful for internal storage expansion than for external peripherals. 
     The existing USB connectors have a compact size but low transmission rate, while other non-USB connectors (PCI Express, SATA, et al) have a high transmission rate but bulky size. Neither of them is desirable to implement modern high-speed, miniaturized electronic devices and peripherals. To provide a kind of connector with a compact size and a high transmission rate for portability and high data transmitting efficiency is therefore much desirable from the market. 
     In recent years, more and more electronic devices are adopted for working as an optical transmitter. It may be good idea to design a connector which is capable of transmitting both an electrical signal and an optical signal. Someone has begun to conceive such kind of connector which is compatible of transmitting both the electrical and optical signals. The connector includes metallic contacts assembled to an insulated housing and several optical lenses bundled together and mounted to the housing too. A kind of hybrid cable includes wires and optical fibers are respectively attached to the metallic contacts and the optical lenses so as to facilitate electrical and optical signal transmission. 
     Nevertheless, the optical fibers are vulnerable for different damages, and a reliable and robust mechanical interconnection between the connector and the hybrid cables are therefore needed. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a cable assembly which has enhanced mechanical interconnection means between wires and a connector. 
     In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a cable assembly in accordance with present invention comprises an insulative housing having a base portion and a tongue portion extending forwardly from the base portion; a plurality of contacts supported by the insulated housing; at least a lens mounted to the insulated housing; a cable including a number of wires, at least an optic fiber and a strength member therein, the wires respectively connected to the contacts, the optical fiber coupled to the lens, and the strength member wrapped around at least a tab formed on the base portion; and an adhesive material applied to the tab to make the strength member securely attached to the tab. 
     The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technical advantages of the present invention in order that the detailed description of the invention that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages of the invention will be described hereinafter which form the subject of the claims of the invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       For a more complete understanding of the present invention, and the advantages thereof, reference is now made to the following descriptions taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is an assembled, perspective view of a cable assembly in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a partially assembled view of the cable assembly; 
         FIG. 3  is a view similar to  FIG. 2 , but viewed from other aspect; 
         FIG. 4  is an exploded, perspective view of a cable assembly; 
         FIG. 5  is a view similar to  FIG. 4 , but viewed from a different aspect; and 
         FIG. 6  is a cross-section view of  FIG. 1  taken along line  6 - 6 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without such specific details. 
     Reference will be made to the drawing figures to describe the present invention in detail, wherein depicted elements are not necessarily shown to scale and wherein like or similar elements are designated by same or similar reference numeral through the several views and same or similar terminology. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1-5 , a cable assembly  1  according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a connector  1 A and a cable  2 B connected to the connector  1 A. Detail description of these elements and their relationship and other elements formed thereon will be detailed below. 
     The connector  1 A comprises an insulative housing  11  which has an insulative base portion  110  and an insulative tongue portion  112  extending forwardly from a lower portion of a front edge of the insulative base portion  110 , a set of contacts  113  supported by the insulative housing  11 , an optical module  12  accommodated in a cavity  1120  defined in a lower section of the tongue portion  112 . 
     The base portion  110  has a top surface  1101  which is higher than a top surface  1121  of the tongue portion  112 ; the base portion  110  further has a bottom surface  1102  is arranged at the same level as a bottom surface  1122  of the tongue portion  112 . A rectangular shaped depression area  1103  is recessed downwardly from the top surface  1101  of the base portion  110 . A first tab  1105  and a second tab  1106  are formed on a bottom surface of the depression area  1103 . The first tab  1105  and the second tab are spaced apart from each other and disposed in a middle section of the depression area  1103 . The cavity  1120  is upwardly recessed from a front section of the bottom surface  1122  of the tongue portion  112 , with a block member  1123  located in front of the cavity  1120 . Two passages  1124  are recessed downwardly from a back section of the bottom surface  1122  of the tongue portion  11  and the bottom surface  1102  of the base portion  110  and further communicate with the cavity  1120 . A slot  1126  is defined in the lower section of the tongue portion  112 , and arranged between front segments of the two passages  1124  and in communication with the cavity  1120 . 
     Each of the contacts  113  includes a planar mating portion  1132  located on and supported by a front section of the top surface  1121  of the tongue portion  112 , a tail portion  1136  extending beyond a back surface of the base portion  110 , and a retention portion  1134  received in the base portion  110  and connecting the mating portion  1132  and the tail portion  1136 . 
     The optical module  12  includes a holder member  122 , two lenses  120  enclosed within the holder member  122 . The optical module  12  is accommodated in the cavity  1120 . A coil spring member  1128  is accommodated in the slot  1126  and presses onto the holder member  122 . 
     The cable  2 B comprises a number of wires  21  for transmitting electrical signals and optical fibers  22  for transmitting optical signals, and an insulative jacket  20  enclosing peripheral of the signal wires  21  and the optical fibers  22 . The cable  2 B further comprises a strength member  23  associated with the optical fibers  22  for increasing durability of the cable  2 B or a tolerance the optical fibers  22 . The strength member  23  may be Kevlar members, fiberglass, etc. The wires  21  are respectively connected to the tail portions  1136  of the contacts  113 , and the optical fibers  22  are coupled to the lenses  120 . A front segment of the strength member  23  is firstly wrapped around the first tab  1105 , and then wrapped around the second tab  1106 . An adhesive  1108 , such as glue, cement, etc. is applied to the first tab  1105  and the second tab  1106  to have the strength member  23  attached to the first tab  1105  and the second tab  1106 . The strength member  23  rearward extends beyond the first and second tabs  1105 ,  1106  via a corresponding gap  1107  therebetween. A strain relief member  24  is formed on a front segment of the insulative jacket  20  of the cable  2 B. 
     The connector  1 A further comprises a metal shell  13 . The metal shell  13  includes a first part  131  and a second part  132  engaging with the first half part  131 . The first part  131  comprises a front tube-shaped mating frame  1311 , an inverted rear U-shaped body section  1312  connected to a top side and lateral sides of the mating frame  1311 , and a cable holding member  1313  attached to a top side of the body section  1312 . The second part  132  comprises a U-shaped body section  1322  and two locking members  1324  formed on lateral walls of the body portion  1322  to lock into corresponding locking holes  1314  which are defined in lateral walls of the body section  1312 . 
     When assembly, partial of the insulative jacket  20  of a front segment of the cable  2 B is stripped to have the wires  21 , optical fibers  22  and the strength members  23  exposed. The wires  21  are soldered to the contacts  113 , the optical fibers  22  are coupled to the lenses  120 . The optical module  12  is disposed in the cavity  1120  of the tongue portion  112 , and the optical fibers  22  received in the passages  1124  of the insulative housing  11 . Secondly, the insulative housing  11  is inserted into the mating frame  1311 , with the strain relief member  24  supported by the body section  1312 . Thirdly, the strength member  23  is tautened and wrapped around the first tab  1105  and the second tab  1106 , and the adhesive material  1108  is applied to thereto to make the strength member  23  securely attached to/fasten to the first and second tabs  1105 ,  1106 . The second part  132  is assembled to the body section  1312  of the first part  131 , with the strain relief member  24  sandwiched between the body section  1312  of the first part  131  and the body portion  1322  of the second part  132 , the cable  2 B extending outward of the metal shell  13  via a slot  1326  defined in a back wall  1325  of the second part  132 , and supported by a tail part  1327  which is connected to a bottom wall of the second part  132  and protrudes backward along an extending direction of the slot  1326 . The cable holding member  1313  is crimped to the cable  2 B and the tail part  1327 . An outer cover  14  is then attached to the first part  131  and the second part  132  of the metal shell  13 . 
     It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed. For example, the tongue portion is extended in its length or is arranged on a reverse side thereof opposite to the supporting side with other contacts but still holding the contacts with an arrangement indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.