Abstract:
An electrical cable assembly includes a carrier having an insulating housing and at least one retention clip for managing and securing terminated cable assemblies to the carrier. The side exterior walls of the insulating housing are configured to enable side-to-side and end-to-end placement of a plurality of carriers for mating to a pin header, resulting in a high speed, high density electrical connector system.

Description:
REFERENCE TO CROSS-RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application 60/825,679, filed Sep. 14, 2006. 

   TECHNICAL FIELD 
   The present invention relates to high speed electrical connectors. In particular, the present invention relates to electrical connectors that provide high signal line density while also providing shielded controlled impedance (SCI) for the signal lines. 
   BACKGROUND 
   Interconnection of integrated circuits to other circuit boards, cables or electronic devices is known in the art. Such interconnections typically have not been difficult to form, especially when the signal line densities have been relatively low, and when the circuit switching speeds (also referred to as signal transmission times) have been slow when compared to the length of time required for a signal to propagate through a conductor in the interconnect or in the printed circuit board. As user requirements grow more demanding with respect to both interconnect sizes and signal transmission times, the design and manufacture of interconnects that can perform satisfactorily in terms of both physical size and electrical performance has grown more difficult. 
   Connectors have been developed to provide the necessary impedance control for high speed circuits, i.e., circuits with a transmission frequency of at least 5 GHz. Although many of these connectors are useful, there is still a need in the art for connector designs having increased signal line densities with closely controlled electrical characteristics to achieve satisfactory control of the signal integrity. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   One aspect of the invention described herein provides a carrier for use with an electrical connector assembly. In one embodiment according to the invention, the carrier comprises an insulating housing having a front exterior wall, laterally extending side exterior walls, a plurality of laterally extending interior walls, at least one set of retention clip apertures disposed on at least one of the side exterior walls, and a plurality of pin insertion apertures disposed on the front exterior wall. The side exterior walls of the insulating housing are configured to enable side-to-side and end-to-end placement. In addition, the carrier comprises at least one retention clip having a plurality of retention clip ribs extending from a back, the retention clip disposed in the insulating housing such that the retention clip ribs mate with the retention clip apertures in the insulating housing. 
   Another aspect of the invention described herein provides an electrical connector assembly. In one embodiment according to the invention, the electrical connector assembly comprises a carrier and a plurality of terminated cable assemblies. The carrier comprises an insulating housing having a front exterior wall, laterally extending side exterior walls, a plurality of laterally extending interior walls, at least one set of retention clip apertures disposed on at least one of the side exterior walls, and a plurality of pin insertion apertures disposed on the front exterior wall. The side exterior walls of the insulating housing are configured to enable side-to-side and end-to-end placement. In addition, the carrier comprises at least one retention clip having a plurality of retention clip ribs extending from a back, the retention clip disposed in the insulating housing such that the retention clip ribs mate with the retention clip apertures in the insulating housing. Each terminated cable assembly comprises an electrical cable attached to a termination device, wherein the termination device has a front face and at least one female contact lying substantially parallel to a longitudinal axis of the terminated cable assembly. The plurality of terminated cable assemblies is disposed in the carrier such that the front face of each termination device is in contact with the interior surface of the housing. 
   Yet another aspect of the invention described herein provides an electrical connector system. In one embodiment according to the invention, the electrical connector system comprises a plurality of electrical connector assemblies and a pin header configured to receive the plurality of electrical connector assemblies. Each of the electrical connector assemblies comprises a carrier and a plurality of terminated cable assemblies. The carrier comprises an insulating housing having a front exterior wall, laterally extending side exterior walls, a plurality of laterally extending interior walls, at least one set of retention clip apertures disposed on at least one of the side exterior walls, and a plurality of pin insertion apertures disposed on the front exterior wall. The side exterior walls of the insulating housing are configured to enable side-to-side and end-to-end placement. In addition, the carrier comprises at least one retention clip having a plurality of retention clip ribs extending from a back, the retention clip disposed in the insulating housing such that the retention clip ribs mate with the retention clip apertures in the insulating housing. Each terminated cable assembly comprises an electrical cable attached to a termination device, wherein the termination device has a front face and at least one female contact lying substantially parallel to a longitudinal axis of the terminated cable assembly. The plurality of terminated cable assemblies is disposed in the carrier such that the front face of each termination device is in contact with the interior surface of the housing. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The present invention will be further described with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts in the several views, and wherein: 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of an electrical connector assembly according to the present invention. 
       FIG. 2  is a front view of the electrical connector assembly of  FIG. 1 . 
       FIG. 3  is a side view of the electrical connector assembly of  FIG. 1 . 
       FIG. 4  is a top view of the electrical connector assembly of  FIG. 1 . 
       FIG. 5  is an exploded view of the electrical connector assembly of  FIG. 1 . 
       FIGS. 6 and 7  are perspective views of an exemplary embodiment of a carrier housing according to the present invention. 
       FIGS. 8 and 9  are perspective views of another exemplary embodiment of a carrier housing according to the present invention. 
       FIG. 10  is a perspective view of a retention clip according to the present invention. 
       FIG. 11  is a perspective view of another exemplary embodiment of a retention clip according to the present invention. 
       FIG. 12  is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of a retention bar according to the present invention. 
       FIG. 13  is a perspective view of the assembly of the carrier housing of  FIGS. 6 and 7  and the retention clip of  FIG. 10 . 
       FIG. 14  is a perspective view of the assembly of the carrier housing of  FIGS. 8 and 9  and the retention clip of  FIG. 11 . 
       FIG. 15  is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of a terminated cable assembly that can be used in conjunction with the present invention. 
       FIG. 16  is a perspective view of another exemplary embodiment of a terminated cable assembly that can be used in conjunction with the present invention. 
       FIG. 17  is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of a pull tab that can be used in conjunction with the present invention. 
       FIG. 18  is a perspective view of the assembly of the carrier housing of  FIGS. 8 and 9 , a plurality of terminated cable assemblies as the one of  FIG. 15 , the retention clip of  FIG. 11 , and the pull tab of  FIG. 17 . 
       FIG. 19  is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of a header that can be used in conjunction with the present invention. 
       FIG. 20  is a perspective view of the assembly of the header of  FIG. 19  and a printed circuit board. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
   In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. In this regard, directional terminology, such as “top,” “bottom,” “front,” “back,” “leading,” “trailing,” etc., is used with reference to the orientation of the Figure(s) being described. Because components of embodiments of the present invention can be positioned in a number of different orientations, the directional terminology is used for purposes of illustration and is in no way limiting. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural or logical changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. The following detailed description, therefore, is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims. 
     FIGS. 1 through 5  illustrate different views of one exemplary embodiment of an electrical connector system according to the present invention. Electrical connector system  2  is used in conjunction with printed circuit board  4 . As shown, a plurality of electrical cable assemblies  6  is mated to pin header  8 , which is in turn connected to printed circuit board  4 . Electrical cable assemblies  6  can be placed side-to-side and end-to-end into pin header  8  such that potentially all pin positions in pin header  8  can be used. 
     FIGS. 6 and 7  illustrate different perspective views of one exemplary embodiment of an insulating housing according to the present invention. Insulating housing  10  has a front exterior wall  12 , laterally extending side exterior walls  14   a ,  14   b ,  14   c , and  14   d  (hereafter collectively referred to as  14 , unless otherwise indicated), and a plurality of laterally extending interior walls  16 . Side exterior wall  14   c  has a set of retention clip apertures  18 . It is to be understood that retention clip apertures  18  can be positioned in one or more of the side exterior walls  14 . Retention clip apertures  18  preferably have a lead-in formed e.g. by chamfered edges to facilitate guidance and assembly of retention clip  32 , illustrated in  FIG. 10 . Front exterior wall  12  has a plurality of pin insertion apertures  20  configured to receive contact pins  22  of pin header  8 , illustrated in  FIG. 19 . Pin insertion apertures  20  preferably have a lead-in formed e.g. by chamfered edges to facilitate guidance and mating of contact pins  22  of pin header  8 . As shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7 , side exterior wall  14   c  has slot  26 . Slot  26  is configured to receive pull tab  56 , illustrated in  FIG. 17 . It is to be understood that slot  26  is optional, that it can be positioned in one or more of the side exterior walls  14 , and that it can have different geometries to accommodate different types of pull tabs. Insulating housing  10  can have more than one slot  26 , e.g. in case more than one pull tab  56  is desired. Optionally, side exterior wall  14   c  has a set of terminated cable assembly retention feature apertures  28 . It is to be understood that terminated cable assembly retention feature apertures  28  can be positioned in one or more of the side exterior walls  14 . Terminated cable assembly retention feature apertures  28  preferably have a lead-in formed e.g. by rounded edges to facilitate proper assembly, retention, and removal of each terminated cable assembly  30 , illustrated in  FIG. 15 . 
     FIGS. 8 and 9  illustrate different perspective views of another exemplary embodiment of an insulating housing according to the present invention. Insulating housing  110  has a front exterior wall  112 , laterally extending side exterior walls  114   a ,  114   b ,  114   c , and  114   d  (hereafter collectively referred to as  114 , unless otherwise indicated), and a plurality of laterally extending interior walls  116 . Side exterior wall  114   c  has a set of retention clip apertures  118 . It is to be understood that retention clip apertures  118  can be positioned in one or more of the side exterior walls  114 . Retention clip apertures  118  preferably have a lead-in formed e.g. by chamfered edges to facilitate guidance and assembly of retention clip  132 , illustrated in  FIG. 11 . Front exterior wall  112  has a plurality of pin insertion apertures  120  configured to receive contact pins  22  of pin header  8 , illustrated in  FIG. 19 . Pin insertion apertures  120  preferably have a lead-in formed e.g. by chamfered edges to facilitate guidance and mating of contact pins  22  of pin header  8 . As shown in  FIGS. 8 and 9 , side exterior wall  114   c  has slot  126 . Slot  126  is configured to receive pull tab  56 , illustrated in  FIG. 17 . It is to be understood that slot  126  is optional, that it can be positioned in one or more of the side exterior walls  114 , and that it can have different geometries to accommodate different types of pull tabs. Insulating housing  110  can have more than one slot  126 , e.g. in case more than one pull tab  56  is desired. Optionally, side exterior wall  114   c  has a set of terminated cable assembly retention feature apertures  128 . It is to be understood that terminated cable assembly retention feature apertures  128  can be positioned in one or more of the side exterior walls  114 . Terminated cable assembly retention feature apertures  128  preferably have a lead-in formed e.g. by rounded edges to facilitate proper assembly, retention, and removal of each terminated cable assembly  30 , illustrated in  FIG. 15 . In one embodiment, insulating housing  10  and insulating housing  110  are used as a pair to allow side-to-side placement of electrical cable assemblies  6  into pin header  8  such that potentially all pin positions in pin header  8  can be used. 
     FIG. 10  illustrates one exemplary embodiment of a retention clip according to the present invention. Retention clip  32  has a plurality of retention clip ribs  34  extending from back side  36 . Retention clip ribs  34  are configured to mate with retention clip apertures  18  of insulating housing  10 , as illustrated in  FIG. 7 . One of the functions of retention clip  32  and retention clip ribs  34  specifically is to retain terminated cable assemblies  30  in insulating housing  10 . Retention clip  32  is typically an integrally molded piece of insulating material. 
     FIG. 11  illustrates another exemplary embodiment of a retention clip according to the present invention. Retention clip  132  has a plurality of retention clip ribs  134  extending from back side  136 . Retention clip ribs  134  are configured to mate with retention clip apertures  118  of insulating housing  110 , as illustrated in  FIG. 9 . One of the functions of retention clip  132  and retention clip ribs  134  specifically is to retain terminated cable assemblies  30  in insulating housing  110 . Retention clip  132  is typically an integrally molded piece of insulating material. 
     FIG. 12  illustrates one exemplary embodiment of a retention bar according to the present invention. Retention bar  38  has a plurality of retention clip apertures. Retention clip apertures  40  preferably have a lead-in formed e.g. by chamfered edges to facilitate guidance and assembly of retention clip  132 , illustrated in  FIG. 11 . One of the functions of retention bar  38  is to provide additional support to retain terminated cable assemblies  30  in insulating housing  110 . As shown in  FIG. 12 , retention bar  38  has slot  42 . Slot  42  is configured to receive pull tab  56 , illustrated in  FIG. 17 . It is to be understood that slot  42  is optional and that it can have different geometries to accommodate different types of pull tabs. Retention bar  38  can have more than one slot  42 , e.g. in case more than one pull tab  56  is desired. Retention bar  38  is typically an integrally molded piece of insulating material. 
     FIG. 15  illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a terminated cable assembly that can be used in conjunction with carrier  44  and carrier  144 , illustrated in  FIG. 13  and  FIG. 14  respectively. Terminated cable assembly  30  includes electrical cable  46  attached to termination device  48  through the use of a solder opening (not shown). The type of electrical cable used in this invention can be a single wire cable (e.g. single coaxial or single twinaxial) or a multiple wire cable (e.g. multiple coaxial, multiple twinaxial, or twisted pair). For use in conjunction with carrier  44 , the terminated cable assemblies are inserted into insulating housing  10  such that the front face  48   a  of termination devices  48  abuts interior surface  12   a  of the front exterior wall  12  of insulating housing  10 . Female contacts (not shown) lie along the longitudinal axis of termination device  48  and align with pin insertion apertures  20  of the front exterior wall  12  of insulating housing  10 . Side exterior walls  14  and interior walls  16  help position termination devices  48 . Optionally, terminated cable assembly  30  can include a retention feature such as a tab or bump (not shown) that will snap into terminated cable assembly retention feature apertures  28  to help retain terminated cable assembly  30  into the carrier. For use in conjunction with carrier  144 , the terminated cable assemblies are inserted into insulating housing  110  such that the front face  48   a  of termination devices  48  abuts interior surface  112   a  of the front exterior wall  112  of insulating housing  110 . Female contacts (not shown) lie along the longitudinal axis of termination device  48  and align with pin insertion apertures  120  of the front exterior wall  112  of insulating housing  110 . Side exterior walls  114  and interior walls  116  help position termination devices  48 . Optionally, terminated cable assembly  30  can include a retention feature such as a tab or bump (not shown) that will snap into terminated cable assembly retention feature apertures  128  to help retain terminated cable assembly  30  into the carrier. 
     FIG. 16  illustrates another exemplary embodiment of a terminated cable assembly that can be used in conjunction with carrier  44  and carrier  144 , illustrated in  FIG. 13  and  FIG. 14  respectively. Terminated cable assembly  130  includes electrical cable  146  attached to termination device  148  through the use of solder opening  50 . The type of electrical cable used in this invention can be a single wire cable (e.g. single coaxial or single twinaxial) or a multiple wire cable (e.g. multiple coaxial, multiple twinaxial, or twisted pair). For use in conjunction with carrier  44 , the terminated cable assemblies are inserted into insulating housing  10  such that the front face  148   a  of termination devices  148  abuts interior surface  12   a  of the front exterior wall  12  of insulating housing  10 . Female contacts  52  lie along the longitudinal axis of termination device  148  and align with pin insertion apertures  20  of the front exterior wall  12  of insulating housing  10 . Side exterior walls  14  and interior walls  16  help position termination devices  148 . Optionally, terminated cable assembly  130  can include a retention feature such as a tab or bump (not shown) that will snap into terminated cable assembly retention feature apertures  28  to help retain terminated cable assembly  130  into the carrier. For use in conjunction with carrier  144 , the terminated cable assemblies are inserted into insulating housing  110  such that the front face  148   a  of termination devices  148  abuts interior surface  112   a  of the front exterior wall  112  of insulating housing  110 . Female contacts  52  lie along the longitudinal axis of termination device  148  and align with pin insertion apertures  120  of the front exterior wall  112  of insulating housing  110 . Side exterior walls  114  and interior walls  116  help position termination devices  148 . Optionally, terminated cable assembly  130  can include a retention feature such as a tab or bump (not shown) that will snap into terminated cable assembly retention feature apertures  128  to help retain terminated cable assembly  130  into the carrier. 
     FIG. 17  illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a pull tab for use in conjunction with the present invention. Pull tab  56  serves to ease manual removal of electrical cable assembly  6  from pin header  8 . Pull tab  56  is typically an integrally formed piece of insulating material. 
     FIG. 18  illustrates an exemplary embodiment of an electrical cable assembly according to the present invention. Electrical cable assembly  6  includes a plurality of terminated cable assemblies  30  ( 4  shown), carrier  144  including insulating housing and retention clip  132 , and pull tab  56 . 
     FIG. 19  illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a pin header according to the present invention. Pin header  8  includes insulating housing  24  and a plurality of contact pins  22 . Insulating housing  24  includes a bottom wall  54  having a top surface and a bottom surface (not shown). Bottom wall  54  is formed to include a plurality of pin insertion windows for contact pins  22 , where contact pins  22  extend through bottom wall  54 . Insulating housing  24  is typically an integrally molded piece of insulating material. For use in conjunction with carrier  44 , pin header  8  is mated with electrical cable assembly  6  such that the exterior surface  12   b  of the front exterior wall  12  of insulating housing  10  is in contact with the top surface of bottom wall  54 . For use in conjunction with carrier  144 , pin header  8  is mated with electrical cable assembly  6  such that the exterior surface  112   b  of the front exterior wall  112  of insulating housing  110  is in contact with the top surface of bottom wall  54 . 
     FIG. 20  illustrates pin header  8  assembled to printed circuit board  4 .