Abstract:
A high frequency connector having a main housing having an open mounting side, a cable side and a partition at the cable side defining two compartments where each compartment is in communication with the mounting side and the cable side; a plurality of contacts, where a pair of contacts are positioned in the compartments such that the contacts are exposed from mating with a complementary electrical interface on the mating side and wires of a cable on the cable side; and a rear cover that is fittable to the main housing on the cable side in order to close the open cable side and cover the exposed contacts therein where the cover further includes a second partition configured to mechanically and electrically engage the partition of the main housing where the two partitions are conductive and act as a shield between the two compartments.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates generally to electrical connectors and in particular to high transmission speed communication connectors. 
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART 
     It is well known to transmit data over twisted-pair cabling for communication signal transmissions. A particular application where this cabling finds wide-spread use is in building wiring. In order to provide the flexibility necessary to utilize various pieces of equipment, which may have different interface requirements, it is desirable to have a flexible interconnect to the building wiring, as opposed to attempting to hard wire the equipment into the building wiring or to provide dedicated plugs for one particular interface requirements. 
     One particularly advantageous flexible interconnect system is set out in EP 274 487. In this system, the building wiring is terminated in an edge-card connector. The edge-card connector is then mounted in a wall box. An interface insert that includes a common printed circuit board (PCB) with a standardized edge-card interface corresponding to the edge-card connector is provided. This insert further includes a communications connector mounted thereupon that is set in a mounting bezel so that as the insert is plugged into the edge-card, the bezel is received in the box. Depending upon the interface required, an insert with a different connector is incorporated onto the PCB and by exchanging the inserts, access to the building wiring is provided for various equipment interfaces. This provides the flexibility necessary to accommodate the many different types of equipment that are used within buildings today. 
     Since this particularly flexible interconnection system has been introduced, the signal transmission speeds of copper-based communication systems have risen dramatically. As the signal transmission speeds have increased, so has the susceptibility of the signals being carried by the system to degradation from such things as the electromagnetic interference from other electrical devices or cabling within the building and even adjacent signal line cross-talk. 
     In order to accommodate the new signal transmission speeds, improved twisted-pair cabling has been developed. This cabling is known as foil shielded twisted-pair, screened foil shielded twisted-pair and pair in metal foil twisted-pair. These various shielding or screening techniques are used in order to try to prevent any outside influences from effecting the signal being transmitted along the cable and/or a particular twisted-pair. It is not uncommon, over the life of the building, for the internal wiring to be upgraded. 
     In addition, improvements have been made to other parts of the system. For example, in EP 525 703 proposals to improve on an insert are set out. In addition, there has been much study relating to improving basic data connectors, such as the common modular jack receptacle. An example of this improvement is set out in U.S. Pat. No. 5,186,647. Finally, it has been known to utilize metallized plastic boxes from U.S. Pat. No. 5,484,308 or metal boxes for housing the cable termination and the edge-card connector. It is further known to electrically close the box by metallizing at least one side of the plastic adapter that fits around the connector mounted upon the PCB so that the interface with the building wiring is generally protected from the outside. 
     However, signal speeds have continued to increase and further improvement on the existing system has brought the requirement to provide an improved edge-card connector. This improved edge-card connector should retain the desirable flexibility of the existing system and work with the already improved components thereof. Additionally, it is desirable that the improved edge-card connector would have backward compatibility so that it could be installed within existing systems. These goals have been met by the present invention, which while particularly attractive in an edge-card form, may be useful with other interfaces and outside of building wiring systems. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention addresses the aforementioned objects by providing a high frequency connector with: a main housing having an open mounting side, a cable side and a partition at the cable side defining two compartments where each compartment is in communication with the mounting side and the cable side; a plurality of contacts, where a pair of contacts are positioned in the compartments such that the contacts are exposed for mating with a complementary electrical interface on the mating side and wires of a cable on the cable side; and a rear cover that is fittable to the main housing on the cable side in order to close the open cable side and cover the exposed contacts where the cover further includes a second partition configured to mechanically and electrically engage the partition of the main housing where the two partitions are conductive and act as a shield between the two compartments. 
     It is advantageous that this connector can be configured as an edge-card connector. 
     It is further advantageous that the main housing and the cover can be conductive or metallized plastic to provide complete shielding of the interconnections within the connector and in particular individually shield the compartments. 
     It is yet further advantageous that the compartments can be provided with a wire exit having a metallized saddle where any foil or screening about a twisted wire pair would sit such that shielding continuity would exist between the cable and the screening at a given compartment. 
     It is still further advantageous that the partitions are formed with tongues having chamfered surfaces thereupon that abut with one another along the chamfers to assure shielding continuity between the compartments. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a building interface system utilizing a connector according to present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a partially assembled view of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a partially exploded perspective view of the electrical connector utilized in the system of FIG. 1 incorporating the present invention; 
     FIG. 4 is a top view of a contact of the connector of FIG. 3; 
     FIG. 5 is a side view of the contact of FIG. 4; 
     FIG. 6 is a rear perspective view of the contact carrying module used in the connector of FIG. 3; 
     FIG. 7 is a rear perspective view of a main housing of the connector of FIG. 3; 
     FIG. 8 is an interior perspective view of a cover of the connector of FIG. 3; 
     FIG. 9 is a further assembled view of the electrical connector of FIG. 3 shown ready for termination of the wires of a building cable; 
     FIG. 10 is a side sectional view of an assembled view of the connector of FIG. 3; 
     FIG. 11 is a upper partial section view of the assembled connector of FIG. 3; and 
     FIG. 12 is a detailed view taken from FIG. 11 at detail A. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     With reference first to FIG. 1, a building wiring system interface utilizing the present invention is shown generally at  2 . This building wiring system consists of a cable  4  having multiple signal conductors  6  in the form of twisted wires  8  that are surrounded by individual shielding  10 , which could take on the form of a foil. The conductors  6  are terminated by an electrical connector  12  incorporating the present invention. The electrical connector  12  includes a main housing  14  having an edge-card receiving slot  16  and a rear cover  18 . The connector  12  further includes a latch  20  for retaining the connector  12  in an access box  22 . While the connector  12  utilizes an integrally molded latch  20 , for snapping the connector  12  into the box  22 , other mounting techniques may be used, such as a screw or other fastener. The box  22  is a rectangular shell having a forward opening  24 , a rear end  26  and a cable exit  28 . The forward end includes latches  30  for retaining an insert  32  therein. The insert  32  includes a PCB  34  having a rear end  36  formed as a card edge with multiple conductors  38  thereupon. A connector  40  is incorporated onto the PCB  34 . In particular, this connector  40  is a modular jack receptacle and provides an interface  42  for receiving a modular jack plug (not shown). The interface  42  is surrounded by a bezel  44  that includes latch arms  46  to engage latches  30  in box  22  when the insert  32  is placed within the box  22 . 
     A rear cover  48  is provided to close the rear end  26  of the box  22  once the connector  12  is mounted therein. The rear cover  48  includes a tab  50  that is received within the slot  28  of box  22  when the cover  48  is affixed thereto. The tab  50 , in cooperation with the edges of the slot  28 , engages the cable  4  to provide strain relief and possibly grounding of any general shielding of the cable  4  to the box  22 . 
     With reference now to FIG. 2, the electrical connector  12  according to the present invention is shown mounted within the box  22 . The box  22  includes a mounting wall  52  which is engaged by the latch  20  for retaining the connector  12  therein. If the connector box  22  is conductive, either by having been formed from a conductive material or a metallized plastic, and the connector  12  is also advantageously formed of conductive material, such as metallized plastic, by placing the connector  12  within the box  22 , the connector  12  will be electrically commoned thereto. This will have further advantageous effects. 
     With reference now to FIG. 3, the electrical connector  12  will now be described in greater detail. The electrical connector  12  incorporates a main housing  14 . The main housing  14  has a mating side  54  which in this example includes the card receiving slot  16  (FIG.  1 ). It is important to note that while the present invention can be advantageously used in a card-edge connector style, that the invention should not be limited. The main housing  14  also includes an open cable side  56  that is divided into a plurality of compartments  58  by partitions  60 . Advantageously, the main housing  14  will be formed from a conductive material or metallized plastic. 
     A plurality of contact carrying modules  62  are constructed to be received within compartments  58 . The contact carrying modules  62  include opposing latches  64  so that they can be snapped in place within the main housing  14 . The contact carrying module  62  is advantageously formed of insulative material although selective metallization could be used if desired. Each contact carrying module  62  includes two contacts  66  that are best seen and described in FIGS. 4 and 5. These contacts  66  include a mating end and a wire termination end  70 . 
     The connector  12  further includes a rear cover  18  that is fittable to the main housing  14  by a pair of latch arms  72  designed to engage corresponding catches  74  upon the main housing  14 . The cover  18  further includes multiple U-shaped cable tabs  76 . It is also envisioned that tabs  76  may be omitted. The rear cover  18  will also be manufactured from a conductive material or advantageously a metallized plastic. 
     With reference now to FIGS. 4 and 5, the contact  66  will be described in greater detail. The contact  66  includes a mating end  68  that, in this embodiment, is a resilient tongue for engaging the conductive pads  38  of the card edge  36 . Various configurations of this mating end  68  may be realized depending on the interface desired. The contact  66  further includes a cable termination end  70  that is formed as an insulation displacement contact (IDC). The IDC includes a wire receiving slot  78  for receiving an insulated wire and making connection thereto, as is well known in the industry. The wire termination end  70  could take on various other configurations, such as a crimp connection or a solder termination. A body section  80  is located between the mating end  68  and the wire termination end  70 . The body portion  80  includes a retention lance  82  for incorporating the contact  66  into the contact carrying module  62 . Various materials may be used for the contact  66  as desired and it may be advantageous to include a precious metal contact patch  84  for engaging the conductive pads  38  of the card edge  36 . 
     With reference now to FIG. 6, a body  84  that substantially makes up the contact carrying module  66  will be described in detail. The body  84  carries the two latches  64  extending from a front surface  86  thereof. The latches  64  retain a contact carrying module  62  within the main housing  14  in a manner best seen in FIG.  10 . The body  84  includes a rear IDC portion  88  having a pair of contact passageways  90  that extend through the body  84  and open at the front surface  86  so that a contact  66  may be disposed therein (best seen in FIG.  10 ). A wire receiving slot  92  extends across the IDC termination portion  88  and the associated contact passageways  90  and is constructed for receiving the individual wires  8  of the twisted-pair conductors  6  therein. Additionally, on either side of the contact carrying passageway  90  are guide slots  94  that extend into the module  84  basically parallel to the contact receiving passageways  90 . These guide slots  94 , along with large chamfers  96  on both sides of the wire receiving slots  92 , are useful for stabilizing a wire termination tool (not shown) that would be used to stuff the insulated wires into the IDC contact slot  70  of the contact  66  in a manner well known in industry. 
     With reference now to FIG. 7, the main housing  14  will be described in greater detail. The open cable side  56  of the main housing  14  is shell-like and defined by a lower wall  98 , opposing side walls  100 ,  102  and upper wall  103 . This shell-like open cable side  56  is further divided into a row of compartments  58  by partitions  60  that extend between the lower wall  98  and the upper wall  103 . Advantageously, in this embodiment, the partitions  60  are formed as tongues having a chamfered surface  104  extending on a side thereof to an end  106  of the tongue  60 . The end  106  of tongue  60  is slightly recessed from the open cable side  56  of the connector  14 . 
     Each compartment  58  further includes a table  108  having an inverted, U-shaped, end  110  defining a passageway  112  thereunder and a passageway  114  thereover. The passageway  114  extends through the housing  14  to the mating side  54  while the passageway  112  exposes a latch  116  for retaining the contact carrying module  62 . The table  108  is used to position the contact module  62  within the main housing  14 . 
     The upper wall  103  is considerably thicker than the lower wall  98  or the side walls  100 ,  102  in this embodiment. The reason for this is that the upper wall  103  carries at least a first portion of a wire exit saddle  118 . The first portion of this wire exit saddle  118  includes a pair of scalloped saddle surfaces  120  that are separated by a tab receiving trough  122  that extends into the wall  103  for receiving the U-shaped tabs  76  of the cover  18 , as will be described below. As mentioned above, the main housing  14  would either be manufactured from a conductive material or molded from plastic and metallized such that the main housing  14  would provide shielding or anything received therein. 
     With reference now to FIG. 8, the end cover  18  that is constructed to close the open cable side  56  of the main housing  14  will be described in greater detail. The end cover  18  includes latches  72  to engage the catches  30  of the main housing in order to fix the cover  18  to the main housing  14 . The cover  18  includes a body portion  124  having a rearward side  126  and a connector side  128 . An interior surface  130  of the rearward side  126  faces the connector side  128 . Combined with side walls  132 ,  134 , lower wall  136  and upper wall  140 , a trough-like structure is formed. The trough-like structure is further divided into compartments  58 A by second partitions  60 A that correspond to the partitions  60  of the main housing  14 , as will be described below with reference to FIGS. 11 and 12. The second partition  60 A also include chamfers  104 A that extend along sides of the partition  60 A to ends  142 . It is important to note that at least a portion of the chamfer  104 A of the partition  60 A extends beyond the connector surface  128  in order to provide the ends  142  of the partition  60  with some flexibility. In this particular embodiment, the second partition  60 A itself extends a small distance  144  beyond the connector edge  128 . Further, the end  142  of the partitions extends upwards to a ledge  146  such that the second partitions  60 A would be received between the lower wall  98  and the upper wall  103  of the main housing  14  when the cover  18  is fitted thereto. Advantageously, the cover  18  would be manufactured from a conductive material or a metallized plastic mold. A portion  148  of the partition  60 A extends above the ledge  146  to be received within slots  150  formed in the upper wall  103  of the main housing  14  that correspond to the partition  60  therein. In addition, located along the upper wall  140  of the cover  18  are a plurality of U-shaped tabs  76  constructed to be received within the troughs  122  of the main housing  14 . These legs of the U-shaped tabs  76  may take on various lengths as desired and provide some strain relief for the twisted-pair wire  6  and discontinuity in any pathway. As mentioned above, these tabs  76  are optional. At the base of the U-shaped tab  76  is a second saddle portion  152  that will be disposed opposite the first saddle portion  118  in the main housing  14 . 
     With reference now to FIG. 9, the electrical connector  12  is shown in partially assembled form. The contact carrying modules  62 , with the contacts  66  therein, are shown received within the main housing  14 . The cover  18  is positioned to be mounted upon the main housing  14 . As can be seen, the partition  60 A will be received between adjacent contact carrying modules  62  and the upper portions  148  of the partition  60 A will be received in the slots  150 . Additionally, if desired to improve the flexibility of the cover  18 , reliefs  154  may be provided in the rear surface  126 . 
     With reference now to FIG. 10, the electrical connector  12  is shown in assembled form. The contact carrying module  62  with the contact  66  is fitted to the housing  14  by the latch members  64  engaging corresponding latches  116  formed in the main housing  14 . The contact  66  extends through the contact carrying passageway  90  such that the mating end  68  is disposed in the card edge receiving slot  16  on the mating end  54  of the main housing  14 . The contact  66  is retained therein by the locking lance  82  that is received in a recess  156  of the body  84  in order to further retain the contact  66 . A staking operation can be performed that utilizes the recess  158  above the contact lance  82  prior to assembling of the module  62  with the main housing  14  to further assure contact retention. At this point, the main housing has been assembled to the extent shown in FIG.  9 . 
     With the cover  18  attached to the main housing  14  as shown in FIG. 10, the open cable side  56  of the main housing  14  has been closed. A wire exit  160  is defined by the two saddle portions  120 ,  152  of the main housing  14  and cover  18  respectively for each of the compartments  58 . This wire exit  160  is configured to be slightly smaller than that of the wires exiting such that an interference will exist. This interference is advantageously taken advantage of by allowing the shielding  10  that surrounds the wires  8  to extend into the compartment and be terminated only slightly above the rear IDC portion  88  of the contact module  62  when the various conductors  6  are being terminated. Once the cover  18  is attached to the main housing  14 , it is easily recognized that the saddle portions  120 ,  152  will come into engagement with the shielding  10 . As both the main housing  14  and the cover  18  are manufactured from either conductive material or metallized plastic, the saddle surfaces  120 ,  152  are electrically commoned to the shielding  10 . 
     Returning to FIG.  1  and FIG. 2, it can be seen that as a result of closing of the rear cover  18  upon the main housing  14  with the conductors  6  extending therefrom, the shielding  10  of the individual conductors is slightly compressed in the region  161  indicating engagement with the housing  14  and cover  18 . 
     With reference now to FIGS. 11 and 12, in addition to providing for the commoning of the conductive main housing  14  and rear cover  18  to the shielding  10  of the individual conductors  6  by way of the saddle portions  120 ,  152 , it is necessary to also assure that the termination and contacts within adjacent compartments  58  are completely isolated from one another. This is reliably achieved by the first partitions  60  of the main housing  14  and the second partition  60 A of the cover  18  being provided with respective chamfers  104 ,  104 A and configured such that the respective ends  106 ,  142  also overlap and result in a slight interference  162  within the space  164  between adjacent modules  84  contained within their respective compartments  58 . As can be imagined, this space  164  and the associated partition walls are extremely thin and, hence, some flexibility of the partitions  60 ,  60 A is realized. Furthermore, it is this space requirement that prevents easily manufacturing these partitions as a single piece extending outward from either the cover  18  or the housing  14  exclusively. As each of the partitions  60 ,  60 A are conductive, a shielding partition is formed between adjacent compartments  58 . 
     Advantageously then, what is realized from the present invention is a structure that continues the shielding  10  provided to the twisted pair of wires  8  to a compartment  58  within a connector  12  such that a fully shielded twisted-pair interconnection is provided, thereby greatly reducing the effect of cross-talk from adjacent signal conductors  6  and any spurious electromagnetic fields.