Patent Publication Number: US-2015062828-A1

Title: Connector, connector Assembly, and Wireless Communication Module

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit of the filing date under 35 U.S.C. §119(a)-(d) of Japanese Patent Application No. 2013-181170 of Sep. 2, 2013. 
     FIELD OF INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a connector and, in particular, to a connector assembly having a magnet. 
     BACKGROUND 
     There are known connectors that use magnets for connection to one another. 
     For instance,  FIG. 13  shows an example of the above-mentioned known connector (see U.S. Pat. No. 7,311,526 B). The connector  101  shown in  FIG. 13  includes a first connector  110  connected to a first device A such as a transformer; and a second connector  120  connected to a second device B such as a laptop computer. 
     The first connector  110  includes a housing  111 , and the housing  111  includes a pair of first contacts  112  made of metal. Each of the first contacts  112  is received in a contact receiving space  114  formed in a mating face  117  of the housing  111 . Each of the first contacts  112  is connected to the first device A through a cable  116 . Then, a spring  113  is arranged in each contact receiving space  114 , and each of the first contacts  112  is biased by the spring  113  to protrude from the mating face  117  of the first connector  110 . In addition, an magnet  115  is arranged in the mating face  117  between the pair of the first contacts  112  in the first connector  110 . 
     On the other hand, the second connector  120  includes a housing  121 , and the housing  121  includes a pair of second contacts  122  made of metal. Each of the second contacts  122  is embedded in the housing  121  and exposed to a mating face  124  of the housing  121 . Each of the second contacts  122  is connected to an internal device  126  through an electrical wire  125 . In addition, an magnet  123  is arranged in the mating face  124  between the pair of the second contacts  122  in the housing  121 . 
     When the first connector  110  is connected to the second connector  120 , the first contacts  112  make contact with the second contacts  122  and both of the connectors  110  and  120  are electrically connected. In this situation, the magnet  115  of the first connector  110  and the magnet  123  of the second connector  120  are attracted to each other, so that the connection state of both connectors  110  and  120  can be maintained. 
     In this manner, the magnets  115  and  123  to be attracted to each other are used to maintain the connection between the first and second connectors  110 ,  220  using a simple structure. 
     Now with respect to  FIG. 14 , a known signal connection apparatus is shown (see Japanese Patent Application No. JP 2005-6022 A). 
       FIG. 14  shows two sets of signal connection apparatuses  201   a  and  201   b.  Electrical current generated at microprocessors  202   a  and  202   b  are supplied to drive circuits  203   a  and  203   b , respectively. Then, direct currents obtainable on the output sides of the drive circuits  203   a  and  203   b  are supplied to attraction coils  205   a  and  205   b  wound around magnetic substances  204   a  and  204   b.    
     Further, transmission signals obtained at the microprocessors  202   a  and  202   b  are supplied to power amplifier circuits  206   a  and  206   b  for transmission. The transmission signals obtained by the power amplifier circuits  206   a  and  206   b  are supplied to signaling coils  207   a  and  207   b  wound around the magnetic substances  204   a  and  204   b.  In this case, the signaling coils  207   a  and  207   b  are capable of transmitting the transmission signals by electromagnetic coupling, when closer to each other to a predefined distance. 
     Additionally, reception signals obtainable at the signaling coils  207   a  and  207   b  are supplied through capacitors  208   a  and  209   b  to reception signal detecting amplifier circuits  209   a  and  209   b,  respectively. Then, the reception signals amplified by the amplifier circuits  209   a  and  209   b  are supplied through comparators  210   a  and  210   b  to the microprocessors  202   a  and  202   b.    
     The microprocessors  202   a  and  202   b  are respectively connected to personal computers  211   a  and  211   b  for various types of control. 
     In the two sets of signal connection apparatuses  201   a  and  201   b,  when the signaling coils  207   a  and  207   b  wound around the magnetic substances  204   a  and  204   b  are made closer to each other by a predefined distance, the transmission signals are transmitted to each other by the electromagnetic coupling. Further, the attraction currents are supplied to the attraction coils  205   a  and  205   b,  thereby mechanically coupling the magnetic substances  204   a  and  204   b,  as electromagnets. 
     It is to be noted that, however, in the connector  101  shown in  FIG. 13  and the signal connection apparatus shown in  FIG. 14 , according to the known examples, there are following problems. 
     In the case of the connector  101  shown in  FIG. 13 , in order to be able to make contact with the second contacts  122 , the first contacts  112  are provided extend from the mating face  117  of the housing  111 . For this reason, the appearance is impaired in view of its design and is not desirable. 
     On the other hand, in the case of the signal connection apparatus shown in  FIG. 14 , when the signaling coils  207   a  and  207   b  wound around the magnetic substances  204   a  and  204   b  are made closer to each other by a predefined distance, the transmission signals are transmitted to each other by the electromagnetic coupling. This eliminates the necessity of electrical contact between the contacts. Hence, it is not necessary that the contacts protrude from the housing, thereby posing no problem in its design (appearance). 
     It is to be noted that, however, since the signal connection apparatus shown in  FIG. 14  has a purpose of achieving the mechanical coupling and the bidirectional signal connection by use of the magnetic substances  204   a  and  204   b  and the coils  205   a,    205   b,    207   a,  and  207   b,  it cannot achieve the high-speed transmission over a carrier wave of 30 GHz or higher necessary for transmission and reception of signals at 3 Gbps or more, for example. In fact, paragraph 0049 of JP 2005-6022 A discloses that “the transmission at 10 MHz or 100 MHz is not available”. 
     SUMMARY 
     Therefore, the invention has been made to solve these problems, among others, and has provides a connector suitable for high-speed transmission over a carrier wave of, for example, 30 GHz or higher, and being superior in design, a connector assembly, and a wireless communication module. 
     A connector is provided that is capable of high-speed transmission over a carrier wave of, for example, 30 GHz or higher. The connector includes a housing, a wireless communication module and a first magnet. The housing includes a planar face, and the wireless communication module is disposed in the housing and includes a wireless signal transmission IC and a wireless signal reception IC. The first magnet is disposed along the planar face. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a connector assembly according to the invention, and a first connector connectable a mobile device having a second connector; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the connector assembly of  FIG. 1 , and the first connector connected a mobile device having a second connector; 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the first connector according to the invention; 
         FIG. 4A  is a plan view of the first connector of  FIG. 3 ; 
         FIG. 4B  is a front view of the first connector of  FIG. 3 ; 
         FIG. 5  is a right side view of the first connector of  FIG. 3 , showing a wireless communication module and an magnet of the first connector with hidden lines; 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective view of the wireless communication module of the first connector according to the invention; 
         FIG. 7A  is a top view of the wireless communication module of  FIG. 6 ; 
         FIG. 7B  is a bottom view of the wireless communication module of  FIG. 6 ; 
         FIG. 8  is perspective view of a wireless communication module for the second connector according to the invention; 
         FIG. 9  is a circuit block diagram of the wireless communication modules of the first and second connectors according to the invention; 
         FIG. 10  is a perspective view of another second connector of the connector assembly according to the invention; 
         FIG. 11A  is a plan view of the second connector of  FIG. 10 ; 
         FIG. 11B  is a front view of the second connector of  FIG. 10 ; 
         FIG. 12A  is a bottom view of the second connector of  FIG. 10 ; 
         FIG. 12B  is a back view of the second connector of  FIG. 10 ; 
         FIG. 13  is a cross-sectional view of a known connector; and 
         FIG. 14  is an electrical schematic of a known signal connection apparatus. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT(S) 
     Hereinafter, embodiments of the invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 
     With reference to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , a connector assembly  1  according to the invention includes a first connector  10  and a second connector  50  to be connected each other. The first connector  10  is connected to a cable C, whereas the second connector  50  is disposed in device, such as a mobile device  60  (i.e. a smart phone). When the first connector  10  is connected to the second connector  50 , a wireless communication module  30  of the first connector  10  and a wireless communication module  70  of the second connector  50  perform high-speed data transmission over the carrier wave of, for example, 30 GHz or more. This data communication will be described later. 
     In this situation, as shown in  FIG. 1  and  FIGS. 3-5 , the first connector  10  includes a housing  20 ; a wireless communication module  30  mounted in the housing  20 ; and a pair of magnets  40  disposed in the housing  20 . 
     The housing  20  is elongated along a direction that the cable C extends, as shown in  FIG. 3  to  FIG. 5 . The housing  20  includes a rectangular planar face  21  that extends along a length direction common to that which the cable C extends, a pair of sides  22  that extend downward perpendicularly from both sides of the planar face  21 ; and a curved portion  23  that couples both of the sides  22  and protrudes from the bottom side. The housing  20  is made by molding an insulating synthetic resin. In addition, as shown in  FIG. 4A  and  FIG. 4B , the planar face  21  of the housing  20  has a first positioning portion  24  to be positioned to the second connector  50  which extends in an elongated shape in a length direction of the housing  20 . 
     Further, as shown in  FIG. 6 ,  FIG. 7A  and  FIG. 7B , the wireless communication module  30  includes a circuit board  33 ; a wireless signal transmission IC  31 ; and a wireless signal reception IC  32 . The wireless signal transmission IC  31  and the wireless signal reception IC  32  are mounted on the rectangular circuit board  33  with a length direction extending in the direction that the cable C extends, as shown in  FIG. 7A . The wireless signal transmission IC  31  and the wireless signal reception IC  32  are mounted on the circuit board  33  spaced apart from each other by a predefined interval in the length direction of the circuit board  33 . The circuit board  33  is disposed in the housing  20  such that the shorter side thereof is orthogonal to the planar face  21 , as shown in  FIG. 5 . 
     In this situation, as shown in  FIG. 9 , the wireless signal transmission IC  31  transmits signals to a wireless signal reception IC  72  of the wireless communication module  70  in the second connector  50 , and includes a buffer  31   a,  a modulation circuit  31   b,  an amplifier circuit  31   c , and an antenna  31   d . The buffer  31   a  receives the high-speed digital signals, and the modulation circuit  31   b  modulates the high-speed digital signals into high-frequency signals including carrier waves. Then, the amplifier circuit  31   c  amplifies the high-frequency signals so as to be emitted as electrical waves from the antenna  31   d.    
     On the other hand, as shown in  FIG. 9 , the wireless signal reception IC  32  receives the electrical waves from a wireless signal transmission IC  71  of the wireless communication module  70  in the second connector  50 , and includes an antenna  32   a,  a low-noise amplifier  32   b , and a demodulation circuit  32   c.    
     As shown in  FIG. 6 ,  FIG. 7A , and  FIG. 7B , multiple (four) electrical wires W of the cable C are connected to the circuit board  33 . 
     Additionally, as shown in  FIG. 5 , the pair of magnets  40  are arranged on both sides in the length direction to interpose the wireless communication module  30  (the circuit board  33 ) there between. Then, each magnet  40  is cylindrical shaped, and is exposed with one end face thereof being almost flush with the planar face  21  of the housing  20 . When the first connector  10  and the second connector  50  are connected, each magnet  40  attracts each magnet  80 , as will be described later, provided on the second connector  50  side with each other to achieve the mechanical coupling of both of the connectors  10  and  50 . Further, the power transmission is made possible by the magnet  40  of the first connector  10  and the magnet  80  of the second connector  50 . 
     Next, the second connector  50  is disposed in the mobile device  60 , as shown in  FIG. 1 . The second connector  50  includes a housing  61  having a chassis for the mobile device  60 , the wireless communication module  70  mounted in the housing  61 , and a pair of magnets  80  disposed in the housing  61 . 
     The housing  61  is has a substantially rectangular shape to surround the outer circumference of the mobile device  60 , when viewed from the planar face. A positioning portion  62  to position the first connector  10  extends in an elongated shape in a length direction of the housing  61 , on a side face  63  extending in the length direction of the housing  61 . The first positioning portion  24  of the first connector  10  enters the second positioning portion  62  of the second connector  50  to position both of the connectors  10  and  50 . 
     Moreover, as shown in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 8 , the wireless communication module  70  includes a circuit board  73 , the wireless signal transmission IC  71 , and the wireless signal reception IC  72 . The wireless signal transmission IC  71  and the wireless signal reception IC  72  are mounted on the circuit board  73 . The wireless signal transmission IC  71  and the wireless signal reception IC  72  are mounted on the circuit board  73  to be spaced apart from each other by a predefined interval along a length of the circuit board  73 . The circuit board  73  is disposed in the housing  61  such that the shorter side thereof is orthogonal to the side face  63 , as shown in  FIG. 1 . 
     In this situation, the wireless signal transmission IC  71  transmits signals to the wireless signal reception IC  32  of the wireless communication module  30  in the first connector  10 , as shown in  FIG. 9 , and includes a buffer  71   a,  a modulation circuit  71   b,  an amplifier circuit  71   c , and an antenna  71   d . The buffer  71   a  receives the high-speed digital signals, and the modulation circuit  71   b  modulates the high-speed digital signals into high-frequency signals including carrier waves. Then, the amplifier circuit  71   c  amplifies the high-frequency signals so as to be emitted as electrical waves from the antenna  71   d.    
     On the other hand, the wireless signal reception IC  72  receives the electrical waves from the wireless signal transmission IC  31  of the wireless communication module  30  in the first connector  10 , as shown in  FIG. 9 , and includes an antenna  72   a  a low-noise amplifier  72   b,  and a demodulation circuit  72   c.    
     The circuit board  73  is connected to a circuit board, not shown, in the mobile device  60 . 
     Additionally, as shown in  FIG. 1 , the pair of magnets  80  are arranged on both sides to interpose the wireless communication module  70  (the circuit board  73 ) there between. Then, each magnet  80  has a cylindrical shape, and is exposed with one end face thereof being almost flush with the side face  63  of the housing  61 . 
     Now, a connection between the first connector  10  and the second connector  50  will now be described. 
     Firstly, as shown in  FIG. 1 , the planar face  21  of the first connector  10  and the side face  63  of the second connector  50  face each other to make each magnet  40  on the planar face  21  of the first connector  10  closer to each magnet  80  on the side face  63  of the second connector  50 . 
     This causes each magnet  40  of the first connector  10  and each magnet  80  of the second connector  50  to attract each other, so that the first connector  10  and the second connector  50  are mechanically connected. 
     In this situation, the first positioning portion  24  of the first connector  10  enters the second positioning portion  62  of the second connector  50 , and the first connector  10  is positioned with respect to the second connector  50 . 
     It is thus made possible for the wireless communication module  30  of the first connector  10  and the wireless communication module  70  of the second connector  50  to perform data communication at high-speed transmission over the carrier wave of, for example, 30 GHz or higher. Specifically, the wireless signal transmission IC  31  of the wireless communication module  30  in the first connector  10  and the wireless signal reception IC  72  of the wireless communication module  70  in the second connector  50  are capable of performing the data communication with each other. Additionally, the wireless signal reception IC  32  of the wireless communication module  30  in the first connector  10  and the wireless signal transmission IC  71  of the wireless communication module  70  in the second connector  50  are capable of performing the data communication with each other. Furthermore, the magnet  40  of the first connector  10  and the magnet  80  of the second connector  50  are capable of performing the power transmission with each other. 
     In this manner, since the wireless communication module  30  of the first connector  10  and the wireless communication module  70  of the second connector  50  are capable of performing the data communication, it is possible to provide the connector assembly  1  suited for the high-speed transmission over the carrier wave of, for example, 30 GHz or higher. Moreover, the wireless communication module  30  is mounted in the housing  20  and the wireless communication module  70  is mounted in the housing  61 . This eliminates a need for providing a contact to protrude from the planar face  21  of the housing  20  or from the side face  63  of the housing  61 , thereby resulting in the connector assembly  1  superior in design. 
     As described above, when the first connector  10  and the second connector  50  are connected to each other, the first positioning portion  24  of the first connector  10  enters the second positioning portion  62  of the second connector  50 , and the first connector  10  is positioned with respect to the second connector  50 . Accordingly, no misalignment occurs at either of the first connector  10  or the second connector  50 , and the data communication can be performed smoothly. 
     In addition, in the first connector  10 , the pair of the magnets  40  are arranged to interpose the wireless communication module  30  there between. Further, in the second connector  50 , the pair of the magnet  80  are arranged to interpose the wireless communication module  70  there between. Therefore, when each magnet  40  of the first connector  10  and each magnet  80  of the second connector  50  are attracted to each other, each magnet  40  and  80  are attracted to each other on both sides interposing the wireless communication module  30  and the wireless communication module  70  in a stable manner, respectively. If a single magnet of the first connector  10  and a single magnet of the second connector  50  are provided and attracted to each other, the magnets may turn at the time of attraction. For this reason, in a case where only one magnet is arranged for each of the first connector  10  and the second connector  50 , it is necessary to provide a means for mechanically suppress any turning. 
     Next, another second connector  90  to be connected with the first connector  10  will be described with reference to  FIGS. 10 ,  11 A,  11 B,  12 A and  12 B. 
     The second connector  90  as shown includes a housing  91  having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, a wireless communication module  70  mounted in the housing  91 , and a pair of magnets  80  disposed in the housing  91 . 
     The wireless communication module  70  is same as that shown in  FIG. 8 , and includes the circuit board  73  the wireless signal transmission IC  71 , and the wireless signal reception IC  72 . The wireless signal transmission IC  71  and the wireless signal reception IC  72  are mounted on the circuit board  73  having a rectangular shape with the length direction being the width direction (left-right direction of  FIG. 10 ) of the housing  91 . The wireless signal transmission IC  71  and the wireless signal reception IC  72  are mounted on the circuit board  73  and to be spaced apart from each other by a predefined interval along a length. The circuit board  73  is disposed in the housing  91  such that the shorter side thereof is orthogonal to a front face  92  of the housing  91 , as shown in  FIG. 10 . 
     In addition, a pair of magnets  80  are arranged on both sides along a width thereof, in order to interpose the wireless communication module  70  (the circuit board  73 ) there between, as shown in  FIG. 10 . Further, each magnet  80  has a cylindrical shape, and is exposed with one end face thereof being almost flush with the front face  92  of the housing  91 . 
     Moreover, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) connector portion  94  is provided on a back face  93  of the housing  91 . The USB connector portion  94  includes a housing  94   a,  multiple contacts  94   b  disposed in the housing  94   a,  and a metal shell  94   c  disposed to surround the circumference of the housing  94   a  and constituting a mating portion for a mating connector, as shown in  FIG. 12A  and  FIG. 12B . Furthermore, each contact  94   b  is wired to the circuit board  73 . 
     The second connector  90  with such a configuration is attached to a mobile device using the USB connector portion  94  to, for example, a USB connector portion (not shown) of the mobile device. 
     Then, in this situation, the planar face  21  of the first connector  10  shown in  FIG. 1  and the front face  92  of the second connector  90  face to each other to make each magnet  40  on the planar face  21  of the first connector  10  closer to each magnet  80  on the front face  92  of the second connector  90 . This causes each magnet  40  of the first connector  10  and each magnet  80  of the second connector  90  to attract each other, so that the first connector  10  and the second connector  90  are mechanically connected. 
     It is thus made possible for the wireless communication module  30  of the first connector  10  and the wireless communication module  70  of the second connector  90  to perform data communication at high-speed transmission over the carrier wave of, for example, 30 GHz or higher. 
     In this manner, since the wireless communication module  30  of the first connector  10  and the wireless communication module  70  of the second connector  90  are capable of performing the data communication, it is possible to provide the connector assembly  1  suited for the high-speed transmission over the carrier wave of, for example, 30 GHz or higher. Moreover, the wireless communication module  70  is mounted in the housing  91 . This eliminates the necessity of providing a contact to be arranged to protrude from the front face  92  of the housing  91 , thereby resulting in the connector assembly  1  superior in design. 
     Heretofore, embodiments of the invention have been described, but the present invention is not limited to them. Various modifications and improvements may occur. 
     For example, the wireless communication modules  30  and  70  are each configured such that the wireless signal transmission IC  31  and the wireless signal reception IC  32  are each constituted of a single ship, and the wireless signal transmission IC  71  and the wireless signal reception IC  72  are each constituted of a single ship. However, the wireless signal transmission IC  31  and the wireless signal reception IC  32  may be collectively constituted of a single ship, and the wireless signal transmission IC  71  and the wireless signal reception IC  72  may be collectively constituted of a single ship. 
     Additionally, each magnet  40  is exposed with the end face thereof being almost flush with the planar face  21  of the housing  20 , and each magnet  80  is exposed with one end face thereof being almost flush with the side face  63  of the housing  61 . However, the end face of each magnet  40  and the end face of each magnet  80  may not necessarily be exposed from the planar face  21  and the side face  63 , respectively. 
     Moreover, the number of each of the magnets  40  and  80  may be one, or three or more. 
     Additionally, the first positioning portion  24  is arranged on the planar face  21  of the first connector  10 , and the second positioning portion  62  is arranged on the side face  63  of the second connector  50  so that the first positioning portion  24  can enter the second positioning portion  62 . However, the second positioning portion may be arranged on the planar face  21  of the first connector  10 , or the first positioning portion to enter the second positioning portion may be arranged on the side face  63  of the second connector  50 . Further, no positioning portion may be provided at all on the planar face  21  of the first connector  10  or on the side face  63  of the second connector  50 . 
     Moreover, the power transmission may not necessarily be performed by the magnet  40  of the first connector  10  and the magnet  80  of the second connector  50 . 
     Besides the above description, the configurations described in the above embodiment can be selected or changed as appropriate to other configurations without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.