Patent Publication Number: US-2022216653-A1

Title: Cable connector with improved metallic shield

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation-in-part of co-pending application Ser. No. 17/459,850, filed Aug. 27, 2021, and the instant application further claims the benefit of, and priority to, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/166,656, filed on Mar. 26, 2021, the contents of which are incorporated entirely herein by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The invention relates to a cable connector having the contacts linked with corresponding wires, and particularly to the cable connector equipped with the common metallic shield contacting both the grounding contacts and the braiding layers of the associated wires. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     The traditional design used for connecting two sub-systems respectively on two printed circuit boards, discloses a linking cable with at one end a LEC plug connector mated to a receptacle connector embedded in the ASIC, and at the other end two port IFP plug connectors mated to on one side the so-called Interposer with IFT receptacle connector, and the other side thereof further configured with two ports of QSFP-28. Anyway, a receptacle connector on one printed circuit boards and a mated plug connector to the receptacle connector at one end of the cable f are required in traditional design. 
     Hence, a simple mating structure of the receptacle connector and the plug connector is desired. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An object of the invention is to provide a cable connector comprising: a case and a contact module enclosed within the case and having an upper part and a lower part stacked with each other. The upper part includes: a plurality of upper contacts integrally formed within an upper insulator via insert-molding, the upper contacts comprising a plurality of differential-pair signal contacts and a plurality of grounding contacts alternately arranged with each other in a transverse direction, each of the upper contacts comprising a front mating section, a rear connecting section, and a middle retaining section therebetween in a front-to-back direction; a plurality of upper wires located behind the upper insulator, each of the upper wire comprising a pair of inner conductor, an inner insulative layer, a metallic braiding layer, and an outer insulative jacket sequentially enclosing one another, the inner conductors of the wires mechanically and electrically connected respectively to the connecting sections of the differential-pair signal contacts, the braiding layers of the wires mechanically and electrically connected respectively to the grounding bar; and a metallic upper shield secured to the upper insulator, the metallic upper shield including a plurality of front spring fingers respectively contacting corresponding grounding contacts of the upper contacts and a plurality of rear spring fingers respectively contacting the braiding layers of corresponding wires. 
     The upper shield further includes a plurality of dividing tabs between the front spring fingers and the rear spring fingers in the front-to-back direction for separating the neighboring differential-pair signal contacts of the upper contacts. A deflectable latch is located on a downward surface of the lower case. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
         FIG. 1(A)  is a perspective view of an electrical connector according to a preferred embodiment of the invention; 
         FIG. 1(B)  is another perspective view of the electrical connector of  FIG. 1(A) ; 
         FIG. 1(C)  is another perspective view of the electrical connector of  FIG. 1(A) ; 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded perspective view of the electrical connector of  FIG. 1(A) ; 
         FIG. 3  is a further exploded perspective view of the electrical connector of  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 4(A)  is a further perspective view of the electrical connector of  FIG. 3 ; 
         FIG. 4(B)  is another exploded perspective view of the electrical connector of  FIG. 4(A) ; 
         FIG. 4(C)  is another exploded perspective view of the electrical connector of  FIG. 4(A) ; 
         FIG. 5(A)  is an exploded perspective view of the contact module of the electrical connector of  FIG. 4(A) ; 
         FIG. 5(B)  is another exploded perspective view of the electrical connector of  FIG. 5(A) ; 
         FIG. 6(A)  is a further exploded perspective view of the contact module of the electrical connector of  FIG. 5(A) ; 
         FIG. 6(B)  is another exploded perspective view of the contact module of the electrical connector of  FIG. 6(A) ; 
         FIG. 7(A)  is a further exploded perspective view of the contact module of the electrical connector of  FIG. 6(A) ; 
         FIG. 7(B)  is another exploded perspective view of the contact module of the electrical connector of  FIG. 7(A) ; 
         FIG. 8(A)  is a perspective view of the upper shield of the upper part of the contact module of the electrical connector of  FIG. 7(A) ; 
         FIG. 8(B)  is another exploded perspective view of the upper shield of the upper part of the contact module of the electrical connector of  FIG. 8(A) ; 
         FIG. 9(A)  is a cross-sectional view of the electrical connector of  FIG. 1(A)  to show the differential-pair signal contacts; and 
         FIG. 9(B)  is another cross-sectional view of the electrical connector of  FIG. 1(A)  to show the grounding contacts. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1-9 (B), a cable connector  10  connecting with a plurality of wires for mating with a receptacle connector (not shown), includes a contact module  100  enclosed within a case  300 . The contact module  100  includes an upper/first part  110  and a lower/second part  160  stacked with each other. 
     The upper part  110  includes a plurality of upper contacts  120  integrally formed within an upper insulator  140  via insert-molding, and a metallic upper shield  150  attached upon the upper insulator  110 . The upper contacts  120  include a plurality of differential-pair signal contacts  122  and grounding contacts  124  alternately arranged with each other along the transverse direction. Each upper contact  120  includes a deflectable front mating section  126  for mating with a circuit pad (not shown) located on the printed circuit board (not shown) and enclosed within the receptacle connector (not shown), a rear connecting section  128  for connecting to the corresponding upper wire  200 , and a middle retaining section  127  therebetween. Rear ends of the connecting sections  128  are unified together via a transversely extending grounding bar  130 . Correspondingly, each of the upper wires  200  includes a pair of inner conductors  202  enclosed within an inner insulative layer  204  which is further enclosed within a metallic braiding layer  206 , and an outer insulative jacket  208  encloses the braiding layer  206 , wherein the inner conductors  202  are mechanically and electrically connected to the connecting sections  128  of the differential-pair signal contacts  122 , and the braiding layer  206  is mechanically and electrically connected to the grounding bar  130 . Notably, the connecting section  128  and the middle retaining section  127  are coplanar with each other while the grounding bar  130  is offset from the connecting section  128  so as to comply with the structural relationship between the inner connector  2202  and the braiding layer  206 . 
     The upper insulator  140  forms a plurality of hollow standoffs  142  in alignment with the middle retaining sections  127  of the corresponding differential-pair signal contacts  122  in the vertical direction to support the upper shield  150  while exposing the middle retaining sections  127  toward the upper shield  150  in the vertical direction for electrical consideration. A plurality of grooves  144  are formed in an underside of the upper insulator  140  for receiving the lower contacts of the lower part  160  (illustrated later). A pair of protrusions  146  are formed on two opposite sides for securing the upper shield  150 . 
     The upper shield  150  includes a row of front spring fingers  152  downwardly abutting against the retaining sections  127  of the grounding contacts  124  of the upper contacts  120 , respectively, a row of rear spring fingers  154  downwardly respectively abutting against the braiding layers  206  of the wires  200  for cooperating with the grounding bar  130  to sandwich the braiding layers  206  therebetween in the vertical direction, and a row of middle dividing tabs  156  to separate the connecting sections  128  of the neighboring differential-pair signal contacts  122  from one another, wherein the front spring fingers  152  are aligned with the corresponding middle tabs  156  in the front-to-back direction, respectively, while are offset from the corresponding rear spring fingers  154  in the transverse direction, respectively. The upper shield  150  further includes a pair of front openings  151  receive the corresponding protrusions  146  for securing the upper shield  150  upon the upper insulator  140 , a pair of rear openings  153  and a pair of securing tabs  155 . 
     Correspondingly, the lower part  160  includes a plurality of lower contacts  170  integrally formed within a lower insulator  182  via insert-molding, and a metallic lower shield  190  attached upon the lower insulator  182 . The lower contacts  170  include a plurality of differential-pair signal contacts  172  and a plurality of grounding contacts  174  alternatively arranged with each other along the transverse direction. Each of the lower contacts  170  includes a front mating section  176 , a rear connecting section  178  and a middle retaining section  177  wherein the mating sections  176  are partially received within the corresponding grooves  144  on the upper insulator  140 . Similar to the upper contacts  120 , the rear connecting sections  178  of the grounding contacts  174  are joined together via a transverse grounding bar  180 . Similar to the upper wires  200 , each of the lower wires  210  includes an inner conductor  212 , an inner insulative layer  214 , a metallic braiding layer  216  and an outer insulative jacket  218 . The inner conductors  212  of the lower wires  210  are mechanically and electrically connected to the connecting sections  178  of the corresponding differential-pair signal contacts  172 , and the braiding layers  216  are mechanically and electrically connected to the grounding bar  180 . 
     The lower insulator  182  forms a row of upper grooves  183  to respectively receive the corresponding upper wires  200 , and a row of lower grooves  184  to respectively receive the corresponding lower wires  210 . The lower insulator  182  further includes a pair of upper protrusions  185  to be received within the corresponding rear openings  153 , a pair of first lower protrusions  186 , a pair of second lower protrusions  187 , and a pair of cutouts  188 . 
     The lower shield  190  includes a row of spring fingers  192  respectively abutting against the braiding layers  216  of the corresponding lower wires  210  so as to cooperate with the grounding bar  180  to sandwich such braiding layers  216  therebetween in the vertical direction, a pair of front openings  193  receiving the corresponding first lower protrusions  186 , a pair of rear openings  195  receiving the corresponding second lower protrusions  187 , and a pair of securing tabs  197  secured into the corresponding cutouts  188 . 
     The case  300  includes an upper piece  302  and a lower piece  304  commonly sandwiching the contact module  100  therebetween wherein the upper piece  302  forms a plurality of grooves  301  to receive the mating sections  126  of the upper contacts  120  respectively, and the lower piece  304  is equipped with a deflectable latch  310  so as to be engaged with the housing of the complementary receptacle connector (not shown). 
     The feature of the invention is to provide the metallic shield with a plurality of spring fingers respectively contacting the grounding contacts and the braiding layers of the wires, and a plurality of dividing tabs to separate the neighboring differential-pair signal contacts. Therefore, the metallic shield is essentially. Another feature of the invention is to provide the plug/cable connector mated with the receptacle connector on the printed circuit board in an oblique manner wherein the latch is protectively hidden on an underside of the connector assembly. Correspondingly, the front face of the connector extends in an oblique direction to allow the cable connector  10  mateable upon the printed circuit board in the oblique manner. 
     Although the present invention has been described with reference to particular embodiments, it is not to be construed as being limited thereto. Various alterations and modifications can be made to the embodiments without in any way departing from the scope or spirit of the present invention as defined in the appended claims.