Abstract:
An electrical cable assembly ( 100 ) comprises an insulative housing ( 1 ), a plurality of contacts ( 2 ) disposed in the housing, a plurality of wires ( 3 ) respectively terminated corresponding contacts, and a spacer ( 4 ) attached to the insulated housing. The housing defines an elongated slot ( 123 ) therein along a longitudinal direction. The contacts are arranged in two rows on two sides of the slot, and tail portions ( 214, 236 ) thereof are exposed outside a rear face ( 102 ) of the housing. The spacer has a longitudinal first side ( 402 ) and an opposite second side ( 404 ), each side defining a plurality of grooves ( 45, 432 ). The grooves provided in the first side have three different sizes in the longitudinal direction for receiving a different number of the tail portions therein. Thus the tail portions are solder to the wires in a constrained, supported manner for avoiding mis-soldering and achieving good soldering effect.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/776,077 filed on Feb. 10, 2004 and entitled “HIGH SPEED ELECTRICAL CABLE ASSEMBLY”, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/456,369 filed on Jun. 6, 2003 and entitled “HIGH SPEED ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR” and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/678,991 filed on Oct. 2, 2003 and entitled “HIGH SPEED ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR”, all of which are assigned to the same assignee as the present invention. The disclosure of these related applications is incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention generally relates to an electrical cable assembly, and more particularly to a high speed Serial Attached SCSI (Small Computer System Interface) (SAS) cable assembly. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Computers are widely used in the fields of E-commerce, E-business, Home network, Internet work station and so on. Each computer has a data storage center, e.g. hard disk, where computer software and business data information are saved. When the computer runs, the computer CPU (Central Processing Unit) continuously accesses the hard disk and retrieves data from the hard disk or stores data to the hard disk. For compatibility, the hard disk drive interfaces are standardized. There are many hard disk drive interface standards and the SCSI (Small Computer System Interface) families and ATA (Advanced Technology Attachment) families are the most famous in the last decade. 
     Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) is a successor to the parallel SCSI and is based on serial technology. Besides the advantage of higher speed signal transmission, another most significant advantage is that the SAS interface will also be compatible with serial ATA (SATA) drives. The SAS receptacle connector has generally the same configuration as the SATA receptacle connector except that the two cavities of the SATA receptacle connector are merged in a large one, and a third set of signal contacts are assembled to a second side wall opposing a first side wall where two sets of contacts have already being assembled. 
     Generally, the SAS receptacle connector connects with other electronic equipment via a cable with wires terminated to the contacts thereof. An SAS cable end connector assembly comprises a housing, a plurality of contacts, a plurality of wires, and a cover over molded with the housing and the solder joints of the wires and the contacts. The contacts are disposed in opposite side walls of the housing with tail portions thereof projecting outside a rear end of the housing for soldering to corresponding wires. According to the SAS standard, the contacts comprise three sets of power contacts. Each set of power contacts consists of three power contacts and is adapted to be electrically connected with only one wire. However, it is difficult to correctly solder the specific three sets of miniature contacts and the freely movable wires together in an unsupported or unidentifiable condition. It is prone to solder the wire to an incorrect contact if the three sets of power contacts are not separated from other adjacent contacts. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a spacer to support and separate tail portions of the power contacts into several sets for easy identification during soldering. Further, during the over-molding process of the cover, the melted plastic material tends to seep into contact receiving passageways of the housing from rear end thereof, which will inevitably affect the quality of electrical connection between the cable end connector assembly and a mating connector. 
     Hence, a cable assembly having an improved spacer is desired to overcome the disadvantages of the related art. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, the object of the present invention is to provide a cable assembly having a spacer, which can facilitate identification of particular contacts during soldering to corresponding wires. 
     In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, an electrical cable assembly in accordance with the present invention comprises an insulative housing, a plurality of contacts disposed in the housing, a plurality of wires respectively terminated to corresponding contacts, and a spacer attached to the insulative housing. The housing defines an elongated slot therein along a longitudinal direction. The contacts are arranged in two rows on two sides of the slot, and the tail portions thereof are exposed outside a rear face of the housing. The spacer has a longitudinal first side and an opposite second side, each side defining a plurality of grooves. The grooves provided in the first side have three different sizes in the longitudinal direction for receiving a different number of the tail portions therein. Thus the tail portions are soldered with the wires in a constrained, supported manner for avoiding mis-soldering and achieving good soldering effect. 
     Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present embodiment when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is an exploded, perspective view of a cable assembly in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1, but viewed from a different angle; 
     FIG. 3 is an enlarged, perspective view of a spacer shown in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3, but viewed from a different angle; 
     FIG. 5 is a view of a housing with a plurality of contacts assembled thereon and the spacer of the cable assembly shown in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 6 is a partially assembled view of FIG. 1 without showing an over-molded cover thereof; 
     FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 6, but viewed from a different angle; 
     FIG. 8 is an assembled view of the cable assembly shown in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIG. 8, but viewed from a different angle; and 
     FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view taken along line  10 — 10  of FIG.  8 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Reference will now be made to the drawing figures to describe the present invention in detail. 
     Referring to FIGS. 1-2 and in conjunction with FIGS. 6-9, an electrical cable assembly  100  in accordance with the present invention comprises an insulative housing  1 , a plurality of contacts  2  received in the housing  1 , a plurality of wires  3  electrically terminated to the contacts  2 , a spacer  4  attached to the housing, and a cover  5  overmolded with the housing  1 , tail portions of the contacts  2  and front portions of the wires  3 . 
     The housing  1  is formed with an elongated base  10 , a pair of end portions  11  at opposite two ends of the base  10 , and a mating portion  12  extending forwardly from the base  10 . Each of the end portions  11  defines a screw hole  110  therethrough. The base  10  defines a plurality of openings  104  arranged in two parallel rows at opposite sides thereof, and a rectangular recess  14  recessed from a rear face  102  thereof and located between the two rows of the openings  104 . The mating portion  12  has opposite first and second elongated side walls  120 ,  121  and a pair of opposite lateral end walls  122  connecting with the first and the second side walls  120 ,  121 , thereby together defining an uninterrupted central slot  123  along a lengthwise direction of the housing  1 . A pair of forwardly extending guiding portions  13  respectively connect with exterior faces of the end walls  122 . The first side wall  120  defines a channel  124  recessed from an interior face thereof and in communication with the central slot  123  in a transverse direction. The second side wall  121  comprises an expanded portion  125  in alignment with the channel  124  in the transverse direction. The channel  124  divides the first side wall  120  into two portions having different dimensions along the longitudinal direction. The thickness of the first side wall  120  is larger than that of the second side wall  121 . 
     The housing  1  defines plural first passageways  126  in the first side wall  120  and plural second passageways  128  in the expanded portion  125  of the second side wall  121 . The first and the second passageways  126 ,  128  extend through the mating portion  12  and the base  10  along a front-to-back direction in communication with the recess  14 . The expanded portion  125  further defines plural opened cutouts  1250  extending from a front end thereof along the front-to-back direction and in communication with corresponding second passageways  128 . 
     The contacts  2  comprise a plurality of first contacts  21  and a plurality of second contacts  23 . Each first contact  21  comprises a curved contact portion  210 , a rearwardly extending tail portion  214 , and a retention portion  212  connecting the contact portion  210  and the tail portion  214 . Each of the second contacts  23  comprises a contact portion  232 , a retention portion  234 , a tail portion  236  dependent from the retention portion  234 , and an arcuate tip portion  230  extending forwardly from the contact portion  232  and curved in a direction opposite to that of the contact portion  232 . The tail portions  236  of the second contacts  23  are laterally and outwardly offset to increase pitch thereof so as to facilitate soldering with corresponding wires  3 . 
     The first contacts  21  comprise a signal segment  216  and a power segment  218 . The contacts in the signal segment  216  and the second contacts  23 , which are equal in number, are soldered with corresponding conductors  30  in a one-to-one relationship, and respectively comprise two pairs of differential signal contacts and three ground contacts arranged at opposite sides of each pair of the differential signal contacts. The power segment  218  includes three sets of power contacts, and two sets of ground contacts located between the adjacent two sets of power contacts. Each set of power contacts consists of three power contacts, which are together soldered to a conductor  30  of the wire  3 . One set of ground contacts is soldered with corresponding conductors  30  of the wires  3  in the one-to-one relationship, and the other set of ground contacts consists of three ground contacts, two of which are soldered to a common conductor  30  and the remaining one is soldered to a corresponding conductor  30 . 
     Particularly referring to FIG.  3  and FIG. 4, the spacer  4  is elongated and comprises a first side  402  formed with a plurality of first partitions  42  thereon and a second side  404  opposite to the first side  402 . A stop block  41  extending beyond the first side  402  and the second side  404  along a direction perpendicular to the front-to-back direction. The first partitions  42  of the first side  402  extend from a rear face of the stop block  41  to a rear end  48  of the spacer  4  and define a plurality of grooves  45  therebetween. The grooves  45  include three first grooves  450  having the largest size in a lengthwise direction, one second groove  452  having a smaller size than the first groove  450 , and a plurality of third grooves  454  having the smallest size, for accommodating the arrangement of the contacts  2  and the wires  3 . The second side  404  is formed with a platform  43  having a surface lower than that of the stop block  41 . A plurality of second partitions  430  are formed on the platform  43  and have a dimension smaller than that of the first partitions  42  in the front-to-back direction. Every two adjacent second partitions  430  define a groove  432  therebetween. The stop block  41  is further formed with a plurality of through holes  46  at the locations corresponding to those of the first passageways  126  in the housing  1 , and a pair of protrusions  47  on each of two sides thereof. Each of the first grooves  450  is in communication with three through holes  46 , the second groove  452  is in communication with two through holes  46 , and each of the third grooves  454  is in communication with only one through hole  46 . The spacer  4  further comprises a plurality of positioning ribs  44  extending forwardly from a front face thereof at the locations corresponding to those of the third grooves  128  of the housing  1 . 
     The wires  3  comprise a plurality of individual conductors  30  for respectively soldering to corresponding tail portions  214 ,  236  of the contacts  2 . 
     Referring to FIGS. 5-7 and in conjunction with FIG. 10, the first and the second contacts  21 ,  23  are respectively inserted into the first and the second passageways  126 ,  128  of the housing  1 , with the contact portions  210 ,  232  thereof exposed in the central slot  123 , with the retention portions  212 ,  234  thereof interferentially engaging with corresponding passageways  126 ,  128 , and with the tail portions  214 ,  236  thereof outside the rear face  102  of the housing  1 . Moreover, the tip portions  230  of the second contacts  23  are respectively exposed in the cutouts  1250  of the expanded portion  125 , thereby providing enough space for elastic deformation of the tip portions  230  when the cable assembly  100  is mated with a complementary connector. The spacer  4  is then assembled to the rear end of the housing  1 . The positioning ribs  44  are respectively inserted into the second passageways  128  for interconnecting the spacer  4  in the housing  1  and sealing the second passageways  128 . The stop block  41  is fittingly received in the recess  14  with the protrusions  47  thereof interferentially engaging with interior side surfaces of the recess  14 . The tail portions  214  of the first contacts  21  respectively pass through the through holes  46  of the spacer  4  and are separated by the first partitions  42 . To be depicted in detail, each first groove  450  receives three tail portions  214  of one set of power contacts of the power segment  218 , which are together soldered to a conductor  30  of the wire  3 . The second groove  452  receives two tail portions  214  of one set of ground contacts of the power segment  218 , which are together soldered to a corresponding conductor  30 . Tail portions  214  of the retaining ground contacts of the power segment  218  and the contacts of the signal segment  216  are respectively received in the third grooves  454  and respectively soldered with corresponding conductors  30 . The tail portions  236  of the second contacts  23  are directly placed on the platform  43  and are separated from each other by the second partitions  430 . The wires  3  are soldered to the contacts  2  with conductors  30  thereof respectively disposed on corresponding tail portions  214 ,  236  of the contacts  2 . The three sets of power contacts and one set of ground contacts of the first contacts  21  are separated from adjacent contacts  21 , so the possibility of mis-soldering is eliminated. Furthermore, since the conductors  30  of the wires  3  and the tail portions  214 ,  235  of the contacts  2  are simultaneously supported by the spacer  4 , reliability of the solder connection is greatly improved and alignment for the soldering process is facilitated. 
     Referring to FIGS. 8-10, an additional insulative cover  5  is provided after the housing  1 , the contacts  2 , the spacer  4  and the wire  3  are assembled together. The cover  5  is molded over the base  10  of the housing  1  and molded over the solder connection between the contacts  2  and the wire  3 . During over-molding process, since the positioning ribs  44  and the stop block  41  of the spacer  4  seal the passageways  126 ,  128  from the rear end of the housing  1 , the plastic material used in forming the cover  5  will not overflow and seep into the housing  1 . Moreover, due to the constraining and supporting functions of the grooves  45 ,  432  of the spacer  4 , even if the tail portions  214 ,  236  of the contacts  2  are subjected to the high pressure of the plastic material injected during the molding of the cover  5 , the tail portions  214 ,  236  of the contacts  2  will not displaced. Aside from that, the plastic material will overflow the openings  104  of the housing  1  during molding the cover  5  to prevent the cover  5  from separating from the housing  1  after cooling down. 
     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.