Abstract:
An optical connector comprises an insulative housing defining a mating port, at least one grounding contact disposed on the housing, and exposed into the mating port; an optical module movably retained in the housing along a front-to-rear direction and adapted for transmitting optical signal; and a metallic resilient member located behind the optical module to constantly urge the optical module forwardly. The resilient member is electrically connected with the grounding contact and thus grounded through the grounding contact.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention relates to an optical connector, more particularly to the contacts of an optical connector with less crosstalk between terminals thereof. 
         [0003]    2. Description of Related Art 
         [0004]    Universal Serial Bus (USB) is widely used in variety electric devices as a standard and simple interface. Until now, USB specification has went through 0.9, 1.0, 1.1, 2.0 and 3.0 versions. Speed data rate of USB connector is gradually increased at the same time for adapting the rapid development of electric industry. Recently, designers further design a new connector which is added optical fibers to USB 3.0 for supplying an even higher data rate than USB 3.0 and achieving remote signal transmission. The new connector is an optical connector, and comprises an insulative housing, USB 3.0 contacts retained on the insulative housing, an optical module retained in the insulative housing to transmit optical signal, and a compression coil spring sandwiched between the optical module and the housing along a front-to-rear direction. Therefore, the optical connector is based on USB interface and can mate with a USB connector. The optical module has a lens and a plurality of fibers partly received in the lens. The fibers extend out of a rear end of the lens to connect with a cable behind the optical connector. The insulative housing defines a receiving cavity to receive the optical module. And the optical module can move in the receiving cavity along an insertion direction of a mating connector. However, in a mating process of the mating connector, it would create static electricity on the compression coil spring while the compression coil spring is expanding and shrinking due to being biased by the optical module. Thus, It would cause more crosstalk for interfering signals transmitted between the USB 3.0 contacts. 
         [0005]    Hence, an improved optical connector is desired to overcome the above problems. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, an optical connector in accordance with present invention comprises an insulative housing defining a mating port; at least one grounding contact disposed on the housing, and exposed into the mating port; an optical module movably retained in the housing along a front-to-rear direction and adapted for transmitting optical signal; and a metallic resilient member located behind the optical module to constantly urge the optical module forwardly; wherein the resilient member is electrically connected with the grounding contact so as to connect to a ground through the grounding contact. 
         [0007]    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 
         [0008]    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: 
           [0009]      FIG. 1  is an assembled, perspective view of an optical connector in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0010]      FIG. 2  is a partially assembled view of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0011]      FIG. 3  is similar to  FIG. 2 , but viewed from another aspect; 
           [0012]      FIG. 4  is similar to  FIG. 2 , but without an insulative cover viewed from another aspect; 
           [0013]      FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view of the connector taken along line  5 - 5  shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0014]      FIG. 6  is an exploded view of  FIG. 1  with an insulator, an outer case removal therefrom; 
           [0015]      FIG. 7  is similar to  FIG. 6 , but viewed from another aspect; 
           [0016]      FIG. 8  is a partially assembled view of the optical connector in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0017]      FIG. 9  is a partially exploded view of  FIG. 8 ; and 
           [0018]      FIG. 10  is an exploded view of the optical connector shown in  FIG. 8 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0019]    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. 
         [0020]    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. 
         [0021]    Referring to  FIGS. 1-7 , an optical plug connector  100  according to the first embodiment of the present invention is disclosed. The optical connector  100  comprises an insulative housing  1 , a plurality of contacts  2  retained in the insulative housing  1 , an optical module  3  movably retained in the insulative housing  1  along a front-to-rear direction, a resilient member  4  sandwiched between the optical module  3  and the insulative housing  1  along the front-to-rear direction, an insulator  6  retained in the insulative housing  1 , a spacer  7  fastened on a rear side of the insulator  5 , a metal shell  8  enclosing the insulative housing  1 , an outer case  9  covering the metal shell  8 , and a cable  5  connecting the contacts  2  and the optical module  3 . The cable  5  has electrical wires and optical wires. Detail description of these elements and their relationship and other elements formed thereon will be detailed below. 
         [0022]    The insulative housing  1  includes a base portion  11  and a tongue portion  12  extending forwardly from the base portion  11 . A receiving slot  121  is recessed downwardly from an upper surface of the tongue portion  12 . A first post  124  extends forwardly into the receiving slot  121  for retaining the resilient member  4 . A stopping block  125  is formed in a front portion of the receiving slot  121 . The first post  124  is located an opposite side to the stopping block  125  along the front-to-rear direction. 
         [0023]    A depression  122  is defined in a rear portion of the tongue portion  12  and communicating with the receiving slot  121 . The receiving slot  121  is deeper than the depression  122 . A plurality of contact slots  112  are defined in an upper segment of a rear portion of the base portion  11 . Four fiber grooves  111  are defined in the base portion  11  and extend along the front-to-rear direction, pass through a bottom wall of the depression  122  and communicate with the receiving slot  121 . The bottom wall of the depression  12  defines a pair of retaining holes  123  disposed at two opposite outer sides of the fiber grooves  111 , and an elongated reception groove  126  extending forwardly from one retaining hole  123 . All the retaining holes  123  and the reception groove  126  are in communication with the depression  122 . A cavity  113  is recessed upwardly from a bottom surface of the base portion  11 . The tongue portion  12  defines a plurality of first and second passageways  127 ,  128  recessed upwardly from a lower surface thereof, respectively. The first passageways  127  are located at front of the second passageways  128 . One of the first passageways  127  which is disposed in an outside of other first passageways  127  is in communication with the reception hole  126 . 
         [0024]    The contacts  2  are based on the USB 3.0 standard, and include a set of first contacts  21 , and a set of second contacts  22 . The first contacts  21  have four contact members arranged in a row along the transverse direction and consist of a first grounding contact  23 , a power contact  24  for transmitting power signal, and a first pair of differential contacts  25  disposed between the first grounding contact  23  and the power contact  24  for transmitting differential signals. The first contacts  21  each substantially includes a first planar retention portion  212  supported by a bottom surface of the cavity  113 , a first mating portion  211  raised upwardly and extending forwardly from the first retention portion  212  and disposed in a first passageways  127  of the tongue portion  12 , and a first tail portion  213  extending rearwardly from the first retention portion  212  and accommodated in the corresponding contact slot  112  of the housing  1 . 
         [0025]    The second contacts  22  have five contact members arranged in a row along the transverse direction and combined with the insulator  5 . The second contacts  22  are separated into a second pair of differential contacts  26  for transmitting differential signals, a third pair of differential contacts  27  for transmitting differential signals, and a second grounding contact  28  disposed between the two pairs of differential contacts  26 ,  27 . The first, second, and third pair of differential contact  25 ,  26 ,  27  consist of signal contacts. The second contacts  22  each includes a second planar retention portion  222  received in corresponding groove  61  of the insulator  6 , a second curved mating portion  221  extending forward from the second retention portion  222  and disposed beyond the insulator  7 , and a second tail portion  223  extending rearwardly from the second retention portion  222  and disposed behind the insulator  6 . A spacer  7  is assembled to a rear end of the insulator  6 , with a number of ribs  71  inserted into the grooves  61  to position the second contacts  22  in the insulator  6 . 
         [0026]    The insulator  6  is mounted to the cavity  113  of the base portion  11  and presses onto the first retention portions  212  of the first contacts  21 , with the second mating portions  221  located behind the first mating portions  211  and above the tongue portion  12 . The second tail portions  223  are arranged on a bottom surface of the rear segment of the base portion  11  and disposed lower than the first tail portions  213 . 
         [0027]    The optical module  3  includes a holder member  30  movably in the receiving slot  121  along the front-to-rear direction, and four fibers  35  attached to the holder member  30 . The holder member  30  defines a V-shaped indentation  32  recessed from a front end thereof to engage with the stopping block  125  for limiting a forward movement of the holder member  30 , and a second post  36  protruding rearwardly into the receiving slot  121  from a middle portion thereof and opposite to the first post  124  of the housing  1  along the front-to-rear direction. The second post  36  is adapted to be received in the resilient member  4 . Therefore, the optical module  3  could be biased forwardly by the resilient member  4 . 
         [0028]    The holder member  30  is formed with two pairs of lenses  33  at a front side thereof, and a pair of position holes  34  recessed from the front side thereof and located at two outer sides of all lenses  33  respectively. The two pairs of lenses  33  are respectively located at two outer sides of the V-shaped indentation  32 . The position holes  34  are used to engage with a pair of posts on a complementary receptacle (not shown) for aligning the optical connector  100  and the complementary receptacle along the front-to-rear direction, then the lenses  33  can exactly face to lenses on the complementary receptacle for transmitting optical signals. 
         [0029]    The fibers  35  are separated into two groups and pass through the fiber grooves  111 , the depression  122 , and enter the receiving slots  121 , respectively. An insulative cover  13  is positioned in the depression  122  to enclose the receiving slot  121  and the fiber grooves  111  for limiting the fibers  35  from moving upwardly. Therefore the holder member  30  could be hold in the receiving slot  121  so as to be prevented from overly moving along the upper-to-lower direction. The cover  13  defines a cutout  130  recessed rearwardly from a front edge, a pair of retaining posts  131  corresponding to the pair of retaining holes  123  of the tongue portion  12 . 
         [0030]    The resilient member  4  is made of metallic material and includes a compression coil spring  40  extending along the front-to-rear direction, and a horizontal rod  41  extending sidewardly front a rear end thereof, an upright rod  42  bending downwardly and extending from a distal end of the horizontal rod  41 , and a horizontal abuting rod  43  extending forwardly from a lower end of the upright rod  42 . 
         [0031]    The metal shell  8  comprises an upper shell  81  covering the base portion  11 , and a lower shell  82  assembling with the upper shell  81  to enclose the insulative housing  1 . The lower shell  82  encloses the tongue portion  12  and has a top wall  821  resisting the lower surface of the tongue  12 , a bottom wall  822  opposed to the top wall  821  and a pair of side walls  823  bending and extending downwardly from the top wall  821  to the bottom wall  821 . The top wall  821  has a barb  8210  protruding downwardly to resist the optical module  3 . An electrical mating port  825  is formed among the tongue portion  12 , the bottom wall  822 , and the contacts  2  for receiving a tongue plate of the complementary receptacle. 
         [0032]    The first mating portions  211  of the first contacts  21  are located in the first passageways  127  of the tongue portion  12 , and exposed into the electrical mating port  825 . The second mating portions  221  of the second contacts  22  are located in the second passageways  128  of the electrical mating port  825 . The compression coil spring  41  is disposed in the receiving slot  121 . The rear end of the compression coil  41  is attached to the first post  124  of the tongue portion  12  and partially exposed in the cutout  130  of the cover  13 . A front end of the compression coil spring  41  is attached to the second post  36  of the optical module  3 . The horizontal rod  41  of the resilient member  4  is located in the depression  122  and sandwiched between the cover  13  and the bottom wall of the depression  122  for being limited from moving along the upper-to-lower direction. The horizontal rod  41  is disposed above the fiber  35  for limiting the fibers  35  from floating over upwardly. The upright rod  42  and the abutting rod  43  of the resilient member  4  are received in the reception groove  126 . The upright rod  42  is sandwiched between one of the pair of the retaining posts  131  of the cover  13  and an inner wall of the reception groove  126 . The abuting rod  43  abuts against the first mating portion  211  of the first grounding contact  23  so as to discharge static electricity through the first grounding contact  23 , thereby, crosstalk caused between the contacts  2  will be reduced reliably. 
         [0033]    When the optical connector  100  is inserted into the complementary receptacle for mating with the complementary receptacle, the optical module  3  is pushed backwardly by the complementary receptacle and moves backwardly in the receiving slot  121 . When the optical connector  100  is extracted out from the complementary receptacle, the optical module  3  is biased forwardly by the compression coil spring  4  and moves forwardly in the receiving slot  121 . 
         [0034]    Referring to  FIGS. 8-10 , an optical connector  100 ′ according to a second embodiment is disclosed. The optical connectors  100 ,  100 ′ in the first and second embodiments are similar to each other, and have a small difference. The optical connector  100 ′ includes an insulative housing  1 ′, a plurality of contacts  2 ′ retained in the housing  1 , an optical module  3 ′ movably retained in the tongue portion  12 ′ along a front-to-rear direction, a compression coil spring  4 ′ sandwiched between the optical module  3 ′, along the front-to-rear direction, a metallic connect plate  5 ′ retained in the housing  1 ′, and a metal shell  8 ′ enclosing the housing  1 . 
         [0035]    The housing  1 ′ includes a base portion  11 ′ and a tongue portion  12 ′ extending forwardly from the base portion  11 ′. The tongue portion  12 ′ defines a receiving slot  121 ′ recessed downwardly from a top surface thereof, and a first post  124 ′ extending forwardly into the receiving slot  121 ′. A depression  122 ′ is defined in a rear portion of the tongue portion  12 ′ and communicating with the receiving slot  121 ′. The tongue portion  12 ′ defines a first passageway (not shown) recessed upwardly from a lower surface thereof, and a reception groove  123 ′ extending upwardly from the passageways to the depression  122 ′. The contacts  2 ′ includes a first grounding contact  23 ′ with a first planner mating portion  211 ′ retained in the first passageway. 
         [0036]    The optical module  3 ′ includes a holder member  30 ′ with a second post  36 ′ extending rearwardly into the receiving slot  121 ′. A rear end of the compression coil spring  4 ′ is attached to the first post  124 ′ of the tongue portion  12 ′. A front end of the compression coil spring  4 ′ is attached to the second post  36 ′ of the optical module  3 ′ for directly urging the optical module  3 ′ forwardly. 
         [0037]    An insulative cover  13 ′ is retained in the depression  122 ′. A first retaining slot  114 ′ is formed between a rear end of the cover  13 ′ and an inner wall of the depression  122 ′ along the front-to-rear direction. The rear end of the cover  13 ′ defines a first notch  134 ′ communicating with the retaining slot  114 ′, a second retaining slot  135 ′ recessed from a lower surface thereof, and a second notch  130 ′ recessed on a front edge thereof. Both of the first notch  134 ′ and the second retaining slot  135 ′ are in communication with the first slot  114 ′. The second notch  130 ′ is in communication with the second retaining slot  135 ′. Two opposite inner wall of the second notch  130 ′ define two opposite locating slots  137 ′ adjacent to the second retaining slot  135 ′ and passing through the cover  13 ′ along a vertical direction of the optical connector  100 ′. 
         [0038]    The connect plate  5 ′ is stamped from a metallic sheet, and includes a first retaining plate  51 ′, a second retaining plate  52 ′ extending sidewardly and perpendicularly from a rear end of the first retaining plate  51 ′, and an upright attaching plate  54 ′ bending and extending downwardly from a front end of the first retaining plate  52 ′. The first retaining plate  51 ′ is retained in the second retaining slot  135 ′ for being prevented from moving in a transverse direction perpendicular to the front-to-rear direction. The second retaining plate  52 ′ is retained in the first retaining slot  114 ′ for being prevented from moving along the front-to-rear direction. The second retaining plate  52 ′ defines an inclined abuting plate  53 ′ stamped downwardly and rearwardly from a side edge thereof. The abuting plate  53 ′ passes downwardly through the first notch  134 ′ into the reception  123 ′ and presses onto the first mating portion  211 ′ of the first grounding contact  23 ′. The attaching plate  54 ′ has two opposite side edges retained in the locating slots  137 ′ respectively for being prevented from moving along the front-to-rear direction. The attaching plate  54 ′ defines a lower cutout  55 ′ formed on a bottom edge thereof for the first post  124 ′ passing through and resisted rearwardly by the compression coil spring  4 ′. The compression coil spring  4 ′ is discharge static electricity through the grounding contact  23 ′, thereby, crosstalk caused between the contacts  2 ′ will be reduced reliably. The metal shell  8 ′ covers the connect plate  5 ′ for limiting the connect plate  5 ′ from moving in the vertical direction. 
         [0039]    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.