Abstract:
An electrical connector assembly is shown which includes both full shielding and signal conditioning. The assembly includes a front housing portion in the form of a modular jack, and a rear housing portion which forms a recessed area or “well” for receiving the components for signal conditioning. The components are mounted on a printed circuit board, and placed in the recessed area. The housings are aligned and locked together.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The invention relates to a connection assembly providing signal conditioning and superior shielding for high speed data applications.  
           [0002]    Known connector assemblies exist having multiple receptacle connectors in a common housing, which provides a compact arrangement of such receptacle connectors. Such a connector assembly is useful to provide multiple connection ports. Accordingly, such a connector assembly is referred to as a multiple port connector assembly. In preferred arrays, the housing has jacks one above the other, forming a plurality of arrays in stacked arrangement, so-called stacked jack arrangements. The receptacle connectors, that is, modular jacks, each have electrical terminals arranged in a terminal array, and have plug receiving cavities. Specifically, the receptacle connectors are in the form of RJ-45 type modular jacks that establish mating connections with corresponding RJ-45 modular plugs.  
           [0003]    For example, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,531,612, a connector assembly has two rows of receptacle connectors, that is, modular jacks, arranged side-by-side in an upper row and side-by-side in a lower row in a common housing, which advantageously doubles the number of receptacle connectors without having to increase the length of the housing. The receptacle connectors have plug-receiving sections with plug receiving cavities that are profiled to surround modular plugs that are to be inserted in the cavities. The modular plugs have resilient latches, which engage with latching sections on the modular jacks. The latches are capable of being grasped by hand, and being resiliently bent inwardly toward the plugs to release them from engagement with the latching sections on the modular jacks.  
           [0004]    Such connection systems have found utility in office computer networks, where desktops are interconnected to office servers by way of sophisticated cabling. Such networks have a variety of data transmission medium including coaxial cable, fiber optic cable and telephone cable. One such network topography is known as the Ethernet network, which is subject to various electrical standards, such as IEEE 802.3 and others. Such networks have the requirement to provide a high number of distributed connections, yet optimally requires little space in which to accommodate the connections.  
           [0005]    Furthermore, such networks now operate at speeds of 1 gigabit and higher which requires significant conditioning to the signals. For instance, it is common to require shielding for controlling electromagnetic radiation per FCC standards, while at the same time controlling electromagnetic interference (EMI) within the assembly, between adjacent connections. It is therefore also a requirement to provide such components within the assembly as magnetic coils, inductors, chip capacitors, and the like, to condition the signals. While the technology exists for conditioning the signals, no connection devices exist which are capable of handling such speeds, while at the same time package the signal conditioning components required to maintain these speeds.  
           [0006]    Another design is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,227,911 to Boutros et al., which discloses a modular jack assembly having multiple ports for connection to multiple modular jacks. While this assembly further discloses having packaged magnetic assemblies, or other components, this design, as in other attempts to signal condition connection devices, simply adds the components to known connection devices. Therefore the volume within the assembly is inadequate to provide the proper signal conditioning devices for the high speeds now required.  
           [0007]    The objects of the inventions are therefore to overcome the shortcomings of the prior art.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0008]    The objects of the invention have been accomplished by providing an electrical connector having signal conditioning, where the connector comprises an electrical connector housing assembly comprised of a first housing portion having a mating face for matingly receiving a complementary connector and a second housing portion having a receiving area for receiving signal conditioning components. A plurality of electrical contacts are positioned on the first housing portion, having contact portions adjacent the mating face for contact with the complementary connector, and connecting portions extending into the receiving area. A plurality of signal conditioning components are positioned in the receiving area, and a plurality of conductor portions are positioned in the receiving area interconnecting the connecting portions and the signal conditioning components. The first and second housing portions having an alignment mechanism to align the first and housings, and the first and second housing portions having a locking mechanism to lock the first and second connectors together.  
           [0009]    In the preferred embodiment, the electrical connector conductor portions are defined as circuit traces on a printed circuit board, with the signal conditioning components being positioned on the printed circuit board. The second housing portion receiving area is defined by a floor and an upstanding perimeter wall, the perimeter wall being profiled to receive the printed circuit board. Preferably, the first housing portion is defined as a modular jack housing, with the connecting portions extending along, and spaced from, a rear face of the modular jack housing, whereby the first and second housings are assembled together, with a front wall portion of the upstanding perimeter wall extending between the connecting portions and the rear face of the modular jack housing.  
           [0010]    Also preferably, the circuit board has plated through holes adjacent to the front wall portion, and the connecting portions are positioned and electrically connected to the through holes. The alignment mechanism is comprised of a vertical rib positioned on the exterior of the perimeter wall, and complementary grooves positioned on interior surfaces of side walls of the modular jack housing. The rear face is recessed and the grooves extend rearward of the rear face, whereby the side walls of the modular jack housing, partially overlap the perimeter wall, when the complementary grooves overlap the ribs.  
           [0011]    Preferably, the second housing portion includes an extending portion, forward of the perimeter wall, and the modular jack housing includes a lower wall positioned adjacent the extending portion when in the assembled position. The extending portion and the modular jack lower wall include complementary locking elements to form the locking mechanism. The locking elements are in the form of dovetail locking elements. The modular jack lower wall is defined by upstanding L-shaped wall portions, including longitudinal wall portions adjacent side walls of the modular jack housing, and transverse wall portions which extend inwardly and towards each other, leaving free ends of the transverse wall portions spaced apart, the free ends being defined with a portion of the dovetail locking elements.  
           [0012]    The extending portion is defined by side walls, and a front end wall, the end wall having the complementary portion of the dovetail locking elements defined thereon, the extending portion cooperating with the modular jack housing such that the side walls of the extending portion are slidably receivable between the longitudinal wall portions and the dovetail locking elements at the end wall of the extending portion are received between the spaced-apart free ends of the transverse wall and into locking engagement with the complementary dovetail locking elements.  
           [0013]    In another aspect of the invention, a signal conditioned electrical connector comprises an electrical connector housing assembly comprised of a first housing portion having a mating face for matingly receiving a complementary connector, and a second housing portion having a receiving area defined by a floor and an upstanding perimeter wall, for receiving signal conditioning components. A plurality of electrical contacts are positioned on the first housing portion, having contact portions adjacent the mating face for contact with the complementary connector, and connecting portions extending into the receiving area. A plurality of signal conditioning components are positioned in the receiving area, and a plurality of conductor portions are positioned in the receiving area to interconnect the connecting portions and the signal conditioning components. An alignment mechanism is defined on the first and second housings to align the first and housings together.  
           [0014]    In the preferred embodiment, the conductor portions are defined as circuit traces on a printed circuit board, with the signal conditioning components being positioned on the printed circuit board. The upstanding perimeter wall is profiled to receive the printed circuit board. The first housing portion is defined as a modular jack housing, with the connecting portions extending along, and spaced from, a rear face of the modular jack housing, whereby the first and second housings are assembled together, with a front wall portion of the upstanding perimeter wall extending between the connecting portions and the rear face of the modular jack housing.  
           [0015]    The alignment mechanism is comprised of a vertical rib positioned on the exterior of the perimeter wall, and complementary grooves positioned on interior surfaces of side walls of the modular jack housing. The rear face is recessed and the grooves extend rearward of the rear face, whereby the side walls of the modular jack housing, partially overlap the perimeter wall, when the complementary grooves overlap the ribs.  
           [0016]    The first and second housing portions further comprise a locking mechanism to lock the first and second connector housings together. The second housing portion includes an extending portion, forward of the perimeter wall, the modular jack housing includes a lower wall positioned adjacent the extending portion when in the assembled position. The extending portion and the modular jack lower wall include complementary locking elements to form the locking mechanism. The locking elements are in the form of dovetail locking elements.  
           [0017]    The modular jack lower wall is defined by upstanding L-shaped wall portions, including longitudinal wall portions adjacent side walls of the modular jack housing, and transverse wall portions which extend inwardly and towards each other, leaving free ends of the transverse wall portions spaced apart, the free ends being defined with a portion of the dovetail locking elements. The extending portion is defined by side walls, and a front end wall, the end wall having the complementary portion of the dovetail locking elements defined thereon, the extending portion cooperating with the modular jack housing such that the side walls of the extending portion are slidably receivable between the longitudinal wall portions and the dovetail locking elements at the end wall of the extending portion are received between the spaced-apart free ends of the transverse wall and into locking engagement with the complementary dovetail locking elements. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0018]    [0018]FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of the modular jack assembly;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view of the assembly shown in FIG. 1;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the modular jack assembly of FIGS. 1 and 2;  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 4 is an exploded rear perspective view showing the modular jack of FIGS. 1 and 2 exploded;  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 5 is a rear perspective view of the housing subassembly of the modular jack of FIGS. 1 and 2;  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the underside of the housing subassembly of FIG. 5;  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view through lines  7 - 7  of FIG. 3;  
         [0025]    FIGS.  8 - 14  show progressive views of the assembly of the subject modular jack of FIGS. 1 and 2;  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 15 is a side plan view of the modular jack assembly shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 16 is a top plan view of the device shown in FIG. 15;  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 17 is a bottom plan view of the device shown in FIG. 15;  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 18 is a front plan view of the device shown in FIG. 15;  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 19 is a cross-sectional view through lines  19 - 19  of FIG. 15; and  
         [0031]    [0031]FIG. 20 is a cross-sectional view through lines  20 - 20  of FIG. 18.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0032]    With reference first to FIGS. 1 and 2, a modular jack assembly is shown generally at  2  and includes a front housing portion  4 , a rear housing portion  6 , a front shield member  8 , and a rear shield portion  10 . Preferably the front housing portion  4  and rear housing portion  6  are molded from a plastic insulative material, whereas the front and rear shield members  8 ,  10  are stamped and formed from a metallic material suitable for shielding purposes. However, it should be appreciated that other types of shielding are also possible, such as laminated materials, plated plastics, and the like. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the modular jack subassembly  2  further includes a terminal insert  12 , and the rear housing portion  6  is utilized for retaining a signal conditioning assembly shown best at  14 .  
         [0033]    With respect now to FIGS. 3, 5 and  6 , the front housing portion  4  will be described in greater detail. With reference first to FIG. 3, the housing  4  generally includes a top wall  16 , side walls  18 ,  20 , and a lower wall at  22 . Front wall  20  includes an opening at  24  profiled for the receipt of a modular plug as should be understood to those skilled in the art. As shown in FIG. 5, top wall  16  includes an opening at  26 , which defines two channels  28  flanking the opening  26 . Each of the channels  28  includes a positioning ledge at  30 , as will be described in greater detail herein.  
         [0034]    With respect still to FIG. 5, housing  4  includes forward terminal aligning walls  36  adjacent front face  20 , rear aligning walls  38 , and terminal aligning grooves at  40 . The rear face of housing  4  is recessed at  46  and the inside surfaces of walls  18 ,  20  include grooves at  48 , as will be described herein. Finally, as shown best in FIG. 6, side walls  18  and  20  have lower L-shaped extensions defined by longitudinal sections  50  and transverse sections  52 . The free ends of the transverse sections  52  include a dovetail configuration shown best at  54 , as will be described further herein. Notches  56  are also positioned adjacent to dovetail configuration, as best shown in FIG. 6.  
         [0035]    With respect again to FIGS.  3 - 7 , the rear housing  6  will be described in greater detail. Rear housing  6  includes side walls  60 ,  62 , front wall  64 , and rear wall  66 . Side walls  60 ,  62  and front and rear walls  64 ,  66  are of generally common height so as to form an enclosure  68  therein. Within the enclosure  68 , and as best shown in FIG. 7, a rear ledge portion  70  is positioned having terminal receiving throughholes at  72 . At the front side of enclosure  68  is a further upstanding pedestal support  74 , which has a substantially common height as floor  70 . Finally, a deep well section is formed at  76 , which forms a component receiving section, as will be described herein. With respect now to FIGS. 3, 6 and  7 , housing  6  includes a forwardly extending ledge portion at  80 , where the front end includes dovetail flanges at  82 , as best shown in FIG. 3. Extension  80  also includes wing portions  84 , which are spaced from a downwardly facing surface  86 , which defines a slot  90  therebetween. With respect to FIG. 6, side walls  60  and  62  include vertical ribs  94 , indentations at  96 , slots at  98 , and latching detents at  100 .  
         [0036]    With respect now to FIGS. 3 and 4, front shield  8  will be described in greater detail. With respect first to FIG. 3, shield  8  includes a front wall  110 , side walls  112  and  114 , top wall  116 , lower wall  118 , and rear wall  120 . Lower wall  118  includes alignment tines  121  extending therefrom. As should be appreciated by those skilled in the art, front face  110  includes an opening  122  substantially profiled as opening  24 , so as to allow entry of a modular plug. As shown best in FIG. 4, front shield  8  includes two indented tab portions  126  extending from respective side walls  112  and  114 . Rear wall  120  includes a horizontally disposed rear ledge  130  having a discontinuously shaped edge  132 , which is shown in a substantially trapezoidal shape, and includes a shielding foot  134  on one side thereof. The shielding foot  134  includes a horizontally disposed contact portion  136 , which will be described in greater detail herein.  
         [0037]    With respect to FIGS. 3 and 4, rear shield member  10  will be described in greater detail. Rear shield  10  includes a top wall  140 , side walls  142 ,  144 , and a rear wall portion  146 . The leading edge of top wall  140  includes a discontinuously shaped edge  148 , which is profiled to complement edge  132  of shield member  8 . Side walls  142  and  144  also include latching openings, such as  150  and side wall tab portions  152  (FIG. 3).  
         [0038]    With respect to FIGS. 3 and 4, the terminal insert or lead frame  12  will be described in greater detail. Contact lead frame  12  includes an overmolded web portion  160  having reversely bent plug contacts  162  extending forwardly therefrom, and printed circuit board contact portions  164  extending from a rear of the web  160 . It should be appreciated that the contacts  164  are tandemly spaced so as to form two rows of contacts in a back-to-back array. The lead frame could be formed through the process shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,817,283 and fully incorporated herein by reference.  
         [0039]    Finally, signal conditioning assembly  14  will be summarily described, whereas this device is shown and described in more detail in co-pending applications to the same assignee filed on even date, and assigned Ser. Nos. ______ and ______, attorney docket numbers 17857 and 17858, fully incorporated herein by reference. As shown best in FIG. 5, assembly  14  is comprised of a printed circuit board  170  having packaged component assemblies  172 . In the preferred embodiment, the assemblies  172  each include three electromagnets. Printed circuit board  170  further includes a plurality of throughholes  178  and a plurality of pin terminals  180 . Finally, printed circuit board  170  further includes a plurality of signal conditioning components, including at least one decoupling capacitor shown at  182 . It should be appreciated that the circuit board includes printed circuit board traces extending between throughholes  178  through to pin terminals  180  so as to incorporate the components such as  182  and the magnetic coil packages  172  within their paths.  
         [0040]    With the components of the assembly  2  as described above, the assembly of the device will now be described with reference to FIGS. 8 through 14. With reference first to FIG. 8, terminal lead frame  12  is positioned with contacts  164  positioned in throughholes  178 . It should be appreciated that the contacts  164  would then be soldered or otherwise electrically connected to plated throughholes  178 . As shown in FIG. 9, the assembly of the lead frame  12  and printed circuit board assembly  14  is then positioned within housing  4 , such that overmolded web  160  is positioned within channels  28  of housing  4 . It should be appreciated that terminals  160  will thereafter be positioned adjacent to opening  24  with the tail end of the contacts  162  being positioned in channels  38 , and with the contact portions  164  being positioned in the grooves  40 , as shown in FIG. 9.  
         [0041]    As shown in FIG. 10, the assembly as shown in FIG. 9 is thereafter receivable within rear housing portion  6 , such that grooves  48  (FIGS. 5 and 6) receive ribs  94  with printed circuit board  170  being positioned within opening  68  (FIG. 3) of housing portion  6 . When the printed circuit board  170  is fully seated within housing  6 , the cooperating dovetail configurations  54 ,  82  are in an overlapping and locking relation, as best shown in FIG. 11. This also positions printed circuit board  170  on ledge  70  and shoulder  74  (FIG. 7).  
         [0042]    As shown in FIG. 12, the front shield member  8  is shown as an underside perspective view prior to the folding of rear wall portion  120 , such that top wall  116  and rear wall  120  are substantially planar. Preferably an insulating film  200  is fixed to the inside surface of top wall  116  and rear wall  120  as shown, so as to partially overlie tab portion  130 . It should be appreciated that this prevents shorting contact between the shield and any portion of the terminals of lead frame  12 .  
         [0043]    As shown in FIG. 13, the front shield  8  as shown in FIG. 12 may now be slidably received over the assembly shown in FIG. 10 and rear wall portion  120  bent downwardly to substantially cover the rear portion of housing  4 . In this position, alignment tines  121  (FIG. 3) align with slots  56  (FIG. 6). This also places tab portions  126  of shield member  8  within apertures  96  (FIG. 6) and places contact foot  136  extending from shield  8  in an overlying manner over decoupling capacitor  182  (FIG. 5). Foot  136  can now be soldered or otherwise interconnected to decoupling capacitor  182 . This also places tab portion  130  in a substantially horizontal position partially overlying opening  68  of housing  6 . It should be appreciated that potting material or other sealing means is now encapsulated within opening  68  so as to encapsulate all of the terminals and circuitry for sealing purposes.  
         [0044]    Finally, as shown in FIG. 14, shield member  10  is slidably received over housing portion  6 , until apertures  150  snap in place behind latching lugs  100 . This positions edge  132  of tab portion  130  within its similarly shaped opening  148 , yet maintaining the tab  134  extending downwardly into cavity  68  and contacting decoupling capacitor  182 , as best shown in FIGS. 16 and 19. Also as best shown in FIGS. 17, 18 and  20 , contacts  162  are disposed adjacent to opening  24  of front housing portion  4  and further positions contact sections  164  within opening  68  of housing  6  and sealed therein. This also positions and packages magnetic coils  172  neatly within the package, with the lower coils  172  being positioned in the lower well section  76 , as shown in FIG. 20, with the rear terminal portions  180  available for customer connection.  
         [0045]    As designed, the modular jack assembly performs as an interface for Ethernet applications. The design also provides for an efficiently packaged assembly. The two-piece housing assembly allows for the front housing  4  to be profiled as a modular jack housing, whereas the rear housing  6  can be used to house the signal conditioning components. The alignment  48 ,  94  allows proper alignment of the printed circuit board  170  with the opening  68 . The two housing members are locked together by way of the cooperating dovetail configuration  54 ,  82 . Moreover, as the device is both fully shielded, as well as coupled to signal conditioning components, the device can be used at speeds for Ethernet application.