Patent Publication Number: US-7914322-B2

Title: Cable connector and assembly thereof with improved housing structure

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates a cable connector and assembly thereof, and more particularly to a cable connector and assembly thereof with low profile and improved housing structure. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Low Voltage Differential Signaling (LVDS) promoted by National Semiconductor Corp. is now one of the typical high-rate serial transmission techniques for video signals. LVDS stands are mainly used in input interfaces for liquid crystal panels (LCD) installed in notebook computers. In LVDS system, data is transmitted in the form of low amplitude differential signals. 
     Accordingly, a LVDS connector assembly includes a LVDS cable connector and a female electrical connector mounted on a PCB for mating with the LVDS cable connector. The LVDS cable connector normally includes an insulative housing defining a number of contact-receiving passageways, a plurality of contacts received in such passageways, a metal shell enclosing the insulative housing and a number of cables electrically connected with the contacts. The contacts include contact portions for mating with the female electrical connector and soldering portions for being soldered with the corresponding cables. However, with rapid development of the LVDS connector assembly, the profiles of the LVDS cable connector and the female electrical connector are becoming smaller and smaller. Take the LVDS cable connector for example, the width of each passageway is relative narrow. With insertion of the contacts into the passageways, a space between each adjacent two soldering portions is very small. In soldering process, soldering tin may easily mix the adjacent two soldering portions, which may result in short circuit of such adjacent two contacts. 
     Besides, normally, the female electrical connector employs a unitary metal shield stamped from a metal sheet for EMI protection. However, such unitary metal shield is complex and may increase manufacturing cost. However, if the metal shield is separated by individual ones, a new problem of how to easily assemble such individual metal shields may puzzle those of ordinary skill in the art. 
     Hence, it is desired to have a cable connector and assembly thereof with improved housing structure, and a female electrical connector with improved separated metal shields in order to solve the problems above. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A cable connector assembly includes a cable connector and a wire module fixed in the cable connector. The cable connector includes an insulative housing and a plurality of contacts fixed in the insulative housing. The insulative housing includes a rear base portion, a mating portion extending forwardly from the base portion and a plurality of passageways extending through the base portion and the mating portion. The base portion defines a mounting chamber to form a bottom surface positioned at the bottom of mounting chamber. A plurality of longitudinal ribs are formed on the bottom surface and extend upwardly beyond the bottom surface. Each contact is received in the passageway and includes a contact portion disposed on the mating portion and a soldering tail disposed on the base portion under a condition that each adjacent two soldering tails are separated by one of the ribs along a transverse direction. The wire module includes a grounding bar received in the mounting chamber and a plurality of wires fixed in the grounding bar. Each wire includes a central conductive core protruding forwardly beyond the grounding bar to electrically connect with the soldering tails for signal transmission. The longitudinal ribs are provided for preventing short circuit of the soldering tails when the soldering tails are soldered with the corresponding conductive cores. A space between adjacent edges of the adjacent two soldering tails is much bigger than a width of the corresponding rib which is located between the adjacent two soldering tails so that short circuit of the adjacent two contacts can be avoided. 
     A female electrical connector for being mounted on a PCB includes an insulative housing, a plurality of contacts retained in the insulative housing and a pair of upper and lower metal shells locking with each other to enclose the insulative housing. The insulative housing includes a base and a pair of extending arms protruding from the base with a receiving space formed between the extending arms. The base has an upper plate, a lower plate and a slit formed between the upper and the lower plates. The slit is in communication with the receiving space. An inner side of the upper plate defines a plurality of passageways opposite to the slit and further extending backwardly through a rear surface of the base. Each contact is retained in the passageway and comprises a retaining portion fixed in the base, a mating portion exposed to the slit and a soldering portion extending backwardly beyond the rear surface of the base. The upper metal shield includes an upper main portion attached to the base and a pair of upper side portions located at lateral sides of the base. Each upper side portion comprises a L-shaped bending portion which includes a vertical portion and a horizontal portion under a condition that the vertical portion defines an engaging hole extending along a front-to-rear direction. The lower metal shield includes a lower main portion and a pair of engaging portions bending upwardly from lateral sides of the lower main portion which is inserted into the slit and located at the bottom of the receiving space. Each engaging portion includes a tab extending outwardly. Thee engaging portions are attached to out walls of the corresponding extending arms and the bending portions further lap over the engaging portions. A length of the engaging hole along the front-to-rear direction is much larger that that of the tab so that the tab can be easily inserted into the engaging hole for locking the upper and the lower metal shields. 
     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 a perspective view of a cable connector according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded view of the cable connector shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic top view of the cable connector shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a left side view of the cable connector shown in  FIG. 1 , while with two times enlargement; 
         FIG. 5  is a cable connector assembly showing a cable module assembled into the cable connector; 
         FIG. 6  is a part exploded view of the cable connector assembly with an upper metal shell detached therefrom; 
         FIG. 7  is an enlarged view of portion A shown in  FIG. 6 ; 
         FIG. 8  a bottom view of the cable connector assembly shown in  FIG. 5 ; 
         FIG. 9  is a cross-sectional view of the cable connector assembly taken along line  9 - 9  of  FIG. 8 ; 
         FIG. 10  is a perspective view of a cable connector with an upper shell removed therefrom according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 11  is an enlarged view of portion B shown in  FIG. 10 ; 
         FIG. 12  is a part assembled view of a cable connector assembly with another cable module mounted on the cable connector shown in  FIG. 10 ; 
         FIG. 13  is a top view of the cable connector assembly shown in  FIG. 12 ; 
         FIG. 14  is a schematic cross-sectional view of the cable connector assembly taken along line  14 - 14  of  FIG. 13 ; 
         FIG. 15  is a perspective view of a female electrical connector for mating with the cable connector assembly shown in  FIG. 5  or  FIG. 12 ; 
         FIG. 16  is another perspective of the female electrical connector, while taken from another aspect; 
         FIG. 17  is a right side view of the female electrical connector shown in  FIG. 15 , while with two times enlargement; 
         FIG. 18  is a top view of the female electrical connector shown in  FIG. 15 ; 
         FIG. 19  is a bottom perspective view of the female electrical connector for better illustrating a bottom side thereof; 
         FIG. 20  is an exploded view of the female electrical connector shown in  FIG. 15 ; and 
         FIG. 21  is another exploded view of the female electrical connector show in  FIG. 15 , but viewed from another aspect. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     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. In other instances, well-known circuits have been shown in block diagram form in order not to obscure the present invention in unnecessary detail. For the most part, details concerning timing considerations and the like have been omitted inasmuch as such details are not necessary to obtain a complete understanding of the present invention and are within the skills of persons of ordinary skill in the relevant art. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 6 and 20 , a cable connector assembly  2  and a mated female electrical connector  4  for receiving the cable connector assembly  2  are disclosed according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The cable connector assembly  2  and the female electrical connector  4  will be detailedly described one by one. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 ,  2 ,  6  and  9 , the cable connector assembly  2  includes a cable connector  1  and a cable module  20  fixed in the cable connector  1 . The cable connector includes an insulative housing  10 , a plurality of first contacts  14  retained in the insulative housing  10  and an upper and a lower metal shells  15 ,  17  attached to the insulative housing  10 . As shown in  FIG. 6 , the cable module  20  includes a grounding bar  23  and a plurality of wires  21 ,  22  with different cross sections soldered with the grounding bar  23 . In assembly, the wires  21 ,  22  are arranged to extend through the grounding bar  23  along a front-to-rear direction to be soldered to the first contacts  14 . Besides, grounding layers of the wires  21 ,  22  electrically connect with the grounding bar  23  which further abuts against the upper metal shell  15  in order to form a relative larger grounding path for EMI protection. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 2 ,  11  and  14 , the insulative housing  10  is formed of insulative materials such as plastic and includes a rear base portion  13 , a contracted mating portion  12  extending forwardly from the base portion  13  and a pair of side protrusions  131  located at opposite sides of the base portion  13 . Both of the base portion  13  and the mating portion  12  extend along a transverse direction perpendicular to the front-to-rear direction. A plurality of first passageways  121  are defined through the base portion  13  and the mating portion  12  for receiving the first contacts  14 . The base portion  13  defines an upper mounting chamber  130  to form a rear surface  137  and a bottom surface  134  (shown in  FIG. 14 ) positioned at the bottom of the mounting chamber  130 . The mounting chamber  130  is located between the side protrusions  131  and is upwardly and forwardly exposed to the outside. The rear surface  137  is mainly located at a vertical plane and the bottom surface  134  is mainly located at a horizontal plane perpendicular to the rear surface  137 . A plurality of ribs  18  are integratedly formed on the bottom surface  134  and extend upwardly beyond the bottom surface  134 . The ribs  18  are arranged in rows along the transverse direction wherein each rib  18  extends along a longitudinal direction parallel to the front-to-rear direction under a condition that the rib  18  continuously extends backwardly to terminate at the rear surface  137 . The base portion  13  includes an end surface  135  opposite to the rear surface  137  and a plurality of protrusions  19  integratedly formed at the back of the ribs  18  adjacent to the end surface  135 . Each protrusion  19  connects with the corresponding rib  18  which is located at the front of the protrusion  19  under an arrangement that the protrusion  19  is aligned with the such rib  18  along the longitudinal direction. Each protrusion  19  is much wider and higher than its front rib  18  for positioning the wires  21 ,  22 . Each side protrusion  131  includes a tower  132  protruding upwardly for supporting the upper metal shell  15 , and a depression  133  communicating with the mounting chamber  130  for jointly receiving the cable module  20 . 
     The first contacts  14  are stamped from a metal sheet and each includes a contact portion  141  disposed on the mating portion  12 , a fixing portion  142  retained in the insulative housing  10  and a soldering tail  143  disposed in the mounting chamber  130 . The soldering tail  143  defines an upper surface  144  exposed to the mounting chamber  130 . When the first contacts  14  are assembled to the first passageways  121  along a rear-to-front direction, the first contacts  14  are guided by the protrusions  19 . The upper surface  144  is coplanar with the bottom surface  134  and each rib  18  is located between the adjacent two soldering tails  143 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 to 4 , the upper metal shell  15  is plate shaped and is stamped from an integral metal sheet. The upper metal shell  15  includes a flat mating section  151  adjacent to the mating portion  12  of the insulative housing  10 , and an elevated rear section  153  covering the upper side of the mounting chamber  130 . As shown in  FIG. 4 , the mating section  151  and the rear section  153  are arranged in step configuration from a side view. That is to say, the rear section  153  upwardly extends beyond the mating section  151  in order to form a relative larger mounting chamber  130  for accommodating the cable module  20 . The mating section  151  includes a pair of abutting portions  152  located at opposite sides thereof wherein each abutting portion includes a projection  156  for resisting against the corresponding metal shield of the female electrical connector  4  in order to establish excellent shielding function. The rear section  153  includes a bending section  157  extending downwardly wherein the bending section  157  defines a through hole  158  for engaging with the lower metal shell  17 . Besides, the rear section  153  includes a plurality of transverse slot  154  and a plurality of spring fingers  155  residing in the corresponding slot  154  and further protruding into the mounting chamber  130 . 
     The lower metal shell  17  is plate shaped and stamped from an integral metal sheet. The lower metal shell  17  includes a main body covering the lower side of the mounting chamber  130  and a plurality of extensions  172  bending forwardly from a rear edge  171  of the main body to further protrude into the mounting chamber  130 . Each extension  172  includes a through hole  174  and a single spring  175  residing in the through hole  174 . However, each through  174  can be provided with multiple springs  175  residing therein in order to achieve excellent elasticity as shown in  FIG. 10 . The main body includes a pair of bending portions  177  extending upwardly from lateral sides of the main body. Each bending portion  177  defines an extrusion  176  adapted for being received in the corresponding through hole  158  of the upper metal shell  15  so that the upper and the lower metal shells  15 ,  17  can be stably combined together. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 5-14 , the cable module  20  includes a grounding bar  23  and a plurality of wires  21 ,  22  soldered with the grounding bar  23 . Each thin wire  21  is so-called micro coaxial wire and is composed of a jacket  211  at the outmost thereof, a grounding layer  212  formed below the jacket  211 , an insulative layer (not shown) formed below the grounding layer  212 , and a conductive core  213  at the innermost thereof. Each thick wire  22  is similar to the thin wire  21  and is composed of a jacket  221  at the outmost thereof, a grounding layer  222  formed below the jacket  221 , an insulative layer (not shown) formed below the grounding layer  222 , and a conductive core  223  at the innermost thereof. 
     The grounding bar  23  includes a top grounding plate  231  and a bottom grounding plate  233 . In assembly, soldering tin is attached on inner sides of the top and the bottom grounding plates  231 ,  233  under a condition that the grounding layers  212 ,  222  of the wires  21 ,  22  are located between the soldering tin. Then, the soldering tin melts by application of heat to jointly combine with the grounding layers  212 ,  222  and forms a tin layer  232  between the top and the bottom grounding plates  231 ,  233 . As a result, the wires  21 ,  22  can be fixed to the grounding bar  23 . Electrical connection is established between the grounding layers  212 ,  222  and the top and the bottom grounding plates  231 ,  233  via such soldering tin. However, as shown in  FIGS. 6-8  and  12 - 14 , the wires  21 ,  22  can alternative be formed of different cross sections or the same cross section determined by different usage. 
     The cable module  20  is assembled into the mounting chamber  130  with the grounding bar  23  received in the depression  133  of the insulative housing  10 . The jackets  211 ,  221  of the wires  21 ,  22  are positioned between adjacent protrusions  19  of the insulative housing  10 . The conductive cores  213 ,  223  of the wires  21 ,  22  extend to the upper surface  144  of the soldering tails  143 . The upper surfaces  144  of the soldering tails  143  are preliminarily attached with soldering tin which supports the conductive cores  213 ,  223 . Each adjacent two soldering tails  143  are separated by the corresponding rib  18 . As shown in  FIG. 14 , a space D 1  between adjacent edges of the adjacent two soldering tails  143  is much bigger than a width d 1  of the middle rib  18  which is located between the adjacent two soldering tails  143 . A center space D 2  between the adjacent two soldering tails  143  is bigger than D 1 . In soldering process, the soldering tin is heated to melt and diffuse so that the conductive cores  213 ,  223  are soldered with the corresponding soldering tails  143 . Since the space D 1  is much bigger than d 1 , a relative wider space can be provided for diffusion of the soldering tin to prevent mixture of the adjacent two soldering tails  143 . Besides, the ribs  18  located between the adjacent two soldering tails  143  also can prevent the diffuse soldering tin getting over the ribs  18 . As a result, short circuit of the adjacent two soldering tails  143  can be avoided. 
     In the preferred embodiment the space D 1  is 0.2 millimeter and D 2  is 0.5 millimeter. However, in other embodiments, the dimensions of D 1  and D 2  can be of some changes according to the dimension of space d 1 . For example, when D 1  is 0.6 millimeter and d 1  is 0.4 millimeter, the space D 2  can be set of 1.0 millimeter; or when D 1  is 0.4 millimeter and d 1  is 0.3 millimeter, the space D 2  can be set of 0.7 millimeter; or when D 1  is 0.2 millimeter and d 1  is 0.2 millimeter, the space D 2  can be set of 0.4 millimeter, etc. Whatever, the dimension of D 2  is no larger than 1.0 millimeter and the dimension D 1  is no larger than 0.6. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 15-21 , the female electrical connector  4  is adapted for being mounted on a PCB and includes an insulative housing  5 , a plurality of second contacts  6  retained in the insulative housing  5  and separated upper and lower metal shields  7 ,  8  attached to the insulative housing  5 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 15 ,  16 ,  20  &amp;  21 , the insulative housing  5  includes a base  50 , a pair of extending arms  53  protruding forwardly from opposite sides of the base  50  and a receiving space between the extending arms  53 . The base  50  defines a top wall  510 , a bottom wall  512 , a front wall  513  and a rear wall  515 . An upper plate  55  and a lower plate  57  are formed on the base  50  with a slit  56  formed therebetween. An inner side of the upper plate  55  defines a plurality of second passageways  52  communicating with the receiving space. The top wall  510  includes a pair of positioning protrusions  51  extending upwardly. A pair of openings  501  are formed between each extending arm  53  and the lower plate  57  as shown in  FIG. 20 . Each extending arm  53  defines a guiding slot  532  formed on its out surface thereof wherein the guiding slot  532  further extending forwardly through a tip thereof. A pair of mounting slits  517  are defined in the lateral sides of the rear wall  515 . 
     The second contacts  6  are assembled to the second passageways  52  from the rear wall  515  of the insulative housing  5 . Each second contact  6  includes a mating portion  60  exposed to the slit  56 , a retaining portion  62  fixed in the base  50  and a soldering portion  64  extending beyond the rear wall  515  for being soldered to the PCB. 
     The upper metal shield  7  includes an upper main portion  70  attached to the base  50  and a pair of upper side portions  73  located at lateral sides of the base  50 . Each upper side portion  73  includes a L-shaped bending portion  75  which includes a vertical portion  72  and a horizontal portion  74  perpendicular with each other. The vertical portion  72  defines a longitudinal engaging hole  721  along the front-to-rear direction. The horizontal portion  74  defines a semicircle cutout  741  through an out edge thereof. The semicircle cutout  741  can accommodate more soldering tin for being stably soldered to the PCB. Each upper side portion  73  includes a slant hook  732  bending rearwardly and downwardly therefrom. The upper main portion  70  defines a pair of first holes  71  for receiving the positioning protrusions  51  so that the upper main portion  70  can be fixed to the base  50 . A pair of second holes  77  are formed at the front of the corresponding first holes  71  for abutting against the cable connector assembly  2 . The upper main portion  70  further includes a pair of additional soldering springs  76  each of which includes a vertical section  761  received in the mounting slits  517  and a mounting tab  762  parallel to the soldering portions  64  of the second contacts  6 . 
     The lower metal shield  8  include a lower main portion  80  and a pair of engaging portions  82  bending upwardly from lateral sides of the lower main portion  80 . The lower main portion  80  includes an extension  81  extending backwardly therefrom and a pair of mounting plates  83  located at opposite sides of the extension  81 . The pair of mounting plates  83  are located at the front of the extension  81 . Each engaging portion  82  includes a tab  821  extending outwardly and a projection  822  extending inwardly under a condition that the tab  821  and the projection  822  are stamped along opposite directions of the engaging portion  82 . 
     In assembly, the lower metal shield  8  is attached to the insulative housing  5  with the extension  81  received in the slit  56 . The mounting plates  83  are received in the openings  501  for positioning. The projections  822  protrude into the guiding slot  532  and abut against the guiding slot  532 . The pair of engaging portions  82  are attached to the out walls of the extending arms  53  as shown in  FIG. 15 . Then, the upper metal shield  7  is assembled to the insulative housing  5  with the L-shaped bending portions  75  lapping over the corresponding engaging portion  82 . As shown in  FIG. 17 , a length L 1  of the engaging hole  721  along the front-to-rear direction is much larger than a corresponding length L 2  of the tab  821  so that the tab  821  can be easily inserted into the engaging hole  721 . 
     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.