Abstract:
A cable assembly ( 100 ) includes an insulative housing ( 2 ) defining a mounting cavity ( 221 ) along a front-to-back direction; an optical module ( 5 ) accommodated in the mounting cavity; at least one fiber ( 6 ) extending into the mounting cavity and coupled to the optical module; two kicker springs ( 9 ) mounted to the insulated housing spaced away from each other along a transversal direction perpendicular to the front-to-back direction, the two kicker springs ( 9 ) located behind the optical module to bias the optical module.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/818,100, filed on Jun. 13, 2007 and entitled “EXTENSION TO UNIVERSAL SERIAL BUS CONNECTOR WITH IMPROVED CONTACT ARRANGEMENT”, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/982,660, filed on Nov. 2, 2007 and entitled “EXTENSION TO ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR WITH IMPROVED CONTACT ARRANGEMENT AND METHOD OF ASSEMBLING THE SAME”, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/985,676, filed on Nov. 16, 2007 and entitled “ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR WITH IMPROVED WIRE TERMINATION”, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/626,632 filed on Nov. 26, 2009 and entitled “CABLE ASSEMBLY HAVING POSITIONING MEANS SECURING”, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/626,631 filed Nov. 26, 2009 and entitled “CABLE ASSEMBLY HAVING POSITIONING MEANS SECURING FIBER THEREOF”, and a copending application having the same filing date ad the same title with the invention, all of which have the same assignee as the present invention. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    The present invention relates to a cable assembly, more particularly to a cable assembly capable of transmitting optical signal. 
         [0004]    2. Description of Related Art 
         [0005]    Recently, personal computers (PC) are used of a variety of techniques for providing input and output. Universal Serial Bus (USB) is a serial bus standard to the PC architecture with a focus on computer telephony interface, consumer and productivity applications. The design of USB is standardized by the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), an industry standard body incorporating leading companies from the computer and electronic industries. USB can connect peripherals such as mouse devices, keyboards, PDAs, gamepads and joysticks, scanners, digital cameras, printers, external storage, networking components, etc. For many devices such as scanners and digital cameras, USB has become the standard connection method. 
         [0006]    USB supports three data rates: 1) A Low Speed rate of up to 1.5 Mbit/s (187.5 KB/s) that is mostly used for Human Interface Devices (HID) such as keyboards, mice, and joysticks; 2) A Full Speed rate of up to 12 Mbit/s (1.5 MB/s). Full Speed was the fastest rate before the USB 2.0 specification and many devices fall back to Full Speed. Full Speed devices divide the USB bandwidth between them in a first-come first-served basis and it is not uncommon to run out of bandwidth with several isochronous devices. All USB Hubs support Full Speed; 3) A Hi-Speed rate of up to 480 Mbit/s (60 MB/s). Though Hi-Speed devices are advertised as “up to 480 Mbit/s”, not all USB 2.0 devices are Hi-Speed. Hi-Speed devices typically only operate at half of the full theoretical (60 MB/s) data throughput rate. Most Hi-Speed USB devices typically operate at much slower speeds, often about 3 MB/s overall, sometimes up to 10-20 MB/s. A data transmission rate at 20 MB/s is sufficient for some but not all applications. However, under a circumstance transmitting an audio or video file, which is always up to hundreds MB, even to 1 or 2 GB, currently transmission rate of USB is not sufficient. As a consequence, faster serial-bus interfaces are being introduced to address different requirements. PCI Express, at 2.5 GB/s, and SATA, at 1.5 GB/s and 3.0 GB/s, are two examples of High-Speed serial bus interfaces. 
         [0007]    From an electrical standpoint, the higher data transfer rates of the non-USB protocols discussed above are highly desirable for certain applications. However, these non-USB protocols are not used as broadly as USB protocols. Many portable devices are equipped with USB connectors other than these non-USB connectors. One important reason is that these non-USB connectors contain a greater number of signal pins than an existing USB connector and are physically larger as well. For example, while the PCI Express is useful for its higher possible data rates, a 26-pin connectors and wider card-like form factor limit the use of Express Cards. For another example, SATA uses two connectors, one 7-pin connector for signals and another 15-pin connector for power. In essence, SATA is more useful for internal storage expansion than for external peripherals. 
         [0008]    The existing USB connectors have a small size but low transmission rate, while other non-USB connectors (PCI Express, SATA, et al) have a high transmission rate but large size. Neither of them is desirable to implement modern high-speed, miniaturized electronic devices and peripherals. To provide a kind of connector with a small size and a high transmission rate for portability and high data transmitting efficiency is much more desirable. 
         [0009]    In recent years, more and more electronic devices are adopted for optical data transmission. It may be a good idea to design a connector which is capable of transmitting an electrical signal and an optical signal. Design concepts are already common for such a type of connector which is compatible of electrical and optical signal transmission. The connector includes metallic contacts assembled to an insulated housing and several optical lenses bundled together and mounted to the housing also. A kind of hybrid cable includes wires and optical fibers that are respectively attached to the metallic contacts and the optical lenses. 
         [0010]    However, optical lenses are unable to being floatable with regard to the housing, and they are not accurately and aligned with and optically coupled to counterparts, if there are some errors in manufacturing process. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0011]    Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a cable assembly has a floatable optical module. 
         [0012]    In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a cable assembly in accordance with present invention comprises an insulative housing defining a mounting cavity along a front-to-back direction; an optical module accommodated in the mounting cavity; at least one fiber extending into the mounting cavity and coupled to the optical module; two kicker springs mounted to the insulated housing spaced away from each other along a transversal direction perpendicular to the front-to-back direction, the two kicker springs located behind the optical module to bias the optical module. 
         [0013]    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 
         [0014]    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: 
           [0015]      FIG. 1  is an assembled, perspective view of a cable assembly in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0016]      FIG. 2  is an exploded, perspective view of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0017]      FIG. 3  is similar to  FIG. 2 , but viewed from another aspect; 
           [0018]      FIG. 4  is a partially assembled view of the cable assembly; 
           [0019]      FIG. 5  is other partially assembly view of the cable assembly; 
           [0020]      FIG. 6  is a partially assembled view of the cable assembly in accordance with the second embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0021]      FIG. 7  is an exploded, perspective view of  FIG. 6 ; and 
           [0022]      FIG. 8  is other exploded, perspective view of  FIG. 6 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0023]    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. 
         [0024]    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. 
         [0025]    Referring to  FIGS. 1-5 , a cable assembly  100  according to the first embodiment of the present invention is disclosed. The cable assembly  100  comprises an elongated insulative housing  2  extending along a front-to-back direction, a set of first contacts  3 , a set of second contacts  4  and a optical modules  5  supported by the insulative housing  2 , and a number of fibers  6  coupled to the optical module  5 . The cable assembly  1  further comprises a cap member  7 , a metal shell  8  and two kicker springs  9  spaced apart from each other along a transversal direction perpendicular to the front-to-back direction. The kicker springs  9  are capable of biasing the optical modular  5  along the front-to-back direction. Detail description of these elements and their relationship and other elements formed thereon will be detailed below. 
         [0026]    The insulative housing  2  includes a base portion  21  and a tongue portion  22  extending forwardly from the base portion  21 . A cavity  211  is recessed upwardly from a bottom surface (not numbered) of the base portion  21 . A mounting cavity  221  is recessed downwardly from a top surface of the tongue portion  22  and the base portion  21 . A stopping member  2212  is formed in a front portion of the mounting cavity  221 . A pair of positioning slots  222  are defined in lateral sides of a middle segment of the mounting cavity  221  and located within the mounting cavity  221 . A depression  224  is defined in a middle portion of the tongue portion  22  and located within the mounting cavity  221 . A number of contact slots  212  are defined in an upper segment of a rear portion of the base portion  21 . 
         [0027]    The set of first contacts  3  have four contact members arranged in a row along the transversal direction. Each first contact  3  substantially includes a planar retention portion  32  supported by a bottom surface of the cavity  211 , a mating portion  34  raised upwardly and extending forwardly from the retention portion  32  and disposed in a depression  226  of the lower section of the front segment of the tongue portion  22 , and a tail portion  36  extending rearward from the retention portion  32  and accommodated in the terminal slots  212 . 
         [0028]    The set of second contacts  4  have five contact members arranged in a row along the transversal direction and combined with an insulator  20 . The set of second contacts  4  are separated into two pairs of signal contacts  40  for transmitting differential signals and a grounding contact  41  disposed between the two pair of signal contacts  40 . Each signal contact  4  includes a planar retention portion  42  received in corresponding groove  202  in the insulator  20 , a curved mating portion  44  extending forward from the retention portion  42  and disposed beyond a front surface of the insulator  20 , and a tail portion  46  extending rearward from the retention portion  42  and disposed behind a back surface of the insulator  20 . A spacer  204  is assembled to the insulator  20 , with a number of ribs  2042  thereof inserted into the grooves  202  to position the second contacts  4  in the insulator  20 . 
         [0029]    The insulator  20  is mounted to the cavity  211  of the base portion  21  and pressed onto retention portions  32  of the first contacts  3 , with mating portions  44  of the second contacts  4  located behind the mating portions  34  of the first contacts  3  and above the up surface of the tongue portion  22 , the tail portions  46  of the second contacts  4  arranged on a bottom surface of the rear segment of the base portion  21  and disposed lower than the tail portions  36  of the first contacts  3 . 
         [0030]    The optical module  5  includes four lens members  51  arranged in juxtaposed manner and enclosed by a holder member  52  and retained in a front segment of the corresponding mounting cavity  221 . 
         [0031]    The cap member  7  and the two kicker springs  9  are stamped from a metallic sheet. The cap member  7  is a planar part. Each kicker spring  9  has a mounting arm  91  connected to a lateral edge of a rear segment of the cap member  7 , a curved elastic arm  92  connected to a front end of the mounting arm  91 . The kicker spring  92  is arranged in cantilevered manner with regard to the cap member  91 . The kicker spring  9  is disposed below the cap member  7 , with the elastic arm  92  disposed in front of the cap member  7 . The elastic arm  92  is of V-shaped contour and extends inwardly. The cap member  7  is mounted to the insulative housing  1  and covers the depression  224 . The mounting arm  91  of the kicker spring  9  is inserted into the corresponding positioning slot  222  and the elastic arm  92  is disposed in the front segment of the mounting cavity  221  to exert a forward force to the optical module  5 . Therefore, the optical module  5  is capable of moving backwardly and forwardly within the mounting cavity  221 . A barb/protrusion  910  is formed on the mounting arm  91  to increase combination between the kicker spring  91  and the insulative housing  2 . 
         [0032]    Four fibers  6  are separated into two groups and enter a rear section of the mounting cavity  221 , through the depression  224  and are coupled to the four lens  51 , respectively. The fibers  6  are confined in the passage between the cap member  7  and the depression  224 , so they are unable to drift freely in the mounting cavity  221 . 
         [0033]    The metal shell  8  comprises a first shield part  81  and a second shield part  82 . The first shield part  81  includes a front tube-shaped mating frame  811 , a rear U-shaped body section  812  connected to a bottom side and lateral sides of the mating frame  811 . The mating frame  811  further has two windows  8112  defined in a top side thereof. The second shield part  82  includes an inverted U-shaped body section  822 , and a cable holder member  823  attached to a top side of the body section  822 . 
         [0034]    The insulative housing  2  is assembled to the first shield part  81 , with the tongue portion  22  enclosed in the mating frame  811 , the cap member  7  arranged underneath the windows  811 , and the base portion  21  is received in the body portion  812 . The second shield part  82  is assembled to the first shield part  81 , with body portions  822 ,  812  combined together. The cable assembly may have a hybrid cable which includes fibers  6  for transmitting optical signals and copper wires (not shown) for transmitting electrical signals. The copper wires are terminated to the first contacts  3  and the second contacts  4 . The cable holder member  823  is crimped onto the cable to enhance mechanical interconnection. 
         [0035]    Referring to  FIGS. 6-10 , a cable assembly according to the second embodiment of the present invention is disclosed. The cable assembly of the second embodiment is similar with the cable assembly  100  of the first embodiment, except for a cap member  7 ′, two kicker springs  9 ′ and an insulative housing  2 ′. The cap member  7 ′ has a body portion  70 ′ and two crush posts  72 ′ formed on a bottom surface of the body portion  70 ′. The insualtive housing  2 ′ has two depressions  224 ′ arranged in parallel relations, and fibers  6  separated into two groups and coupled to optical module  5  via the two depressions  224 . Each kicker spring  9 ′ has a mounting arm  91 ′ and a zigzag shaped elastic arm  92 ′ connected to a front end of the mounting arm  91 ′. The mounting arm  91 ′ is inserted into a corresponding positioning slot  222 ′ defined in a lateral side of a tongue portion  22 ′. The elastic arm  92 ′ further projects inwardly and into a front portion of a mounting cavity  221 ′. The optical module  5  is accommodated in the front portion of the mounting cavity  221 ′ and can be biased forwardly moving by the elastic arm  92 ′. The cap member  7 ′ is assembled to the insulative housing  1 , with the body portion  70 ′ shielding the two depressions  224 ′ and partial of the two elastic arms  92 ′. The two crush posts  72 ′ engage with positioning holes  223 ′ defined in the tongue portion  22 ′. The mounting arm  91 ′ also has a protrusion/barb  910 ′ formed thereon to increase engagement between the kicker spring  9  and the insulative housing  2 ′. 
         [0036]    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.