Patent ID: 12244098

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In order to make persons in this technical field better understand the technical solutions in the present disclosure, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present disclosure will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings for the embodiments of the present disclosure. Obviously, those embodiments described are only a part, rather than all, of the embodiments of the present disclosure. Based on the embodiments in the present disclosure, any other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skills in the art without paying any creative labor should fall within the protection scope of the present disclosure.

It should be noted that when an element is referred to as being ‘disposed on’ another element, it may be directly on another element or there may be an intermediate element. When an element is considered as being ‘connected to’ to another element, it may be directly connected to another element or there may be an intermediate element. The terms ‘vertical’, ‘horizontal’, ‘left’, ‘right’ and similar expressions used herein are for illustration purposes only, and are not intended to indicate a unique embodiment.

Unless otherwise defined, all of the technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meanings commonly understood by a person skilled in the technical field of the present disclosure. The terms used in the specification of the present disclosure are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments, and are not intended to limit the present disclosure. As used herein, the term ‘and/or’ includes any and all combinations of one or more related listed items. In addition, in the description of the present application, ‘a plurality of’ means two or more unless otherwise stated.

As illustrated inFIGS.1and2, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a female connector100, and a connector combination formed by the mating of the female connector100with a male connector200or a gold finger circuit board300.

The female connector100includes a female terminal101for mating with the male connector200or the gold finger circuit board300. The female terminal101has two opposite ends, i.e. a first end (a right end as illustrated inFIGS.1and2) for mating with the male connector200or the gold finger circuit board300, and a second end (a lower end as illustrated inFIGS.1and2) facing away from the first end for electrical connection with a PCB board400.

As illustrated inFIG.2, the second end of the female terminal101may be electrically connected to the PCB board400by plugging. Specifically, the second end of the female terminal101forms a crimping pin102capable of an elastic contractable deformation, and the PCB board400is provided with a through hole or blind hole401. The second end is inserted into the through hole or blind hole401, and the crimping pin102undergoes a radial elastic contractable deformation and abuts against an inner wall of the through hole or blind hole401to achieve an interference fit.

Of course, the above is only one possible way to electrically connect the female terminal101with the PCB board400, and any other way is also feasible, which is not limited herein. For example, the second end of the female terminal101is bent to form a soldering connection portion which is soldered with a pad on a surface of the PCB board400, so as to achieve an electric connection therebetween.

In order to make the male connector200or the gold finger circuit board300successfully mate with the female connector100, the first end of the female terminal101may be expanded radially outward to form a trumpet-shaped guide head103for blind mating between the male connector200or the gold finger circuit board300and the female connector100. In this way, an operator can hold the male connector200or the gold finger circuit board300to successfully complete a mating operation with the female connector100under the guidance of the trumpet-shaped guide head103.

In addition, in order to ensure a good electrical connection between the male connector200or the gold finger circuit board300and the female connector100after the mating, the female terminal101includes an elastic cantilever section104, which is bent at at least one position to form elastic pressing portions105for an interference fit contact with the male connector200or the gold finger circuit board300. In this embodiment, one of the elastic pressing portions105is disposed close to the trumpet-shaped guide head103.

The cantilever section104has a preset length, so as to have an elastic force F for unidirectionally pressing/bidirectionally clamping the male connector200or bidirectionally clamping the gold finger circuit board300. As illustrated inFIG.2, the gold finger circuit board300is bidirectionally clamped by the elastic pressing portions105formed on the cantilever sections104. Since the gold finger circuit board300is bidirectionally clamped by the elastic pressing portions105, the gold finger circuit board300comes into a single-point contact with the single female terminal101, thereby realizing a better mating between the gold finger circuit board300and the female terminal101.

In this embodiment, there may be only one elastic pressing portion105formed on the cantilever section104. At this time, the mating between the gold finger circuit board300and the female connector100is in a case of male connector being straight and female connector being bent.

Since the bending performance of the traditional gold finger circuit board300is poor, the gold finger circuit board300in this embodiment can adopt the straight male connector of the prior art. However, with the development of technologies, the bendable or flexible gold finger circuit board300is gradually used. It is feasible that the gold finger circuit board300is prepared in a bent or flexed shape. Therefore, this embodiment does not exclude a case of male connector being bent and female connector being bent for the mating between the gold finger circuit board300and the female connector100.

In the embodiment illustrated inFIG.1, it is the case where the female terminal101presses a male terminal202of the male connector200unidirectionally. In which, the female terminal101and the male terminal202of the male connector200may be mated through a single-point contact under the condition that the female terminal101can contact well with the male terminal202of the male connector200. At this time, the mating between the male connector200and the female connector100is in a case of male connector being straight and female connector being bent.

Of course, the female terminal101and the male terminal202of the male connector200may also be mated through a two-or-more-point contact, i.e., at this time, two or more elastic pressing portions105are formed on the cantilever section104of the female terminal101, and two or more elastic fitting portions are also formed on the male terminal202. The two or more elastic fitting parts and the two or more elastic pressing portions105contact to realize the two-or-more-point contact between the male terminal202and the female terminal101. At this time, the mating between the male connector200and the female connector100is in a case of male connector being bent and female connector being bent.

Following the above description, the first end of the female terminal101is configured to mate with the male connector200or the gold finger circuit board300, and the second end thereof is to be connected to the PCB board400. However, under the influences of the size and volume of the space, the mating direction with the male connector200or the gold finger circuit board300, the position for disposing the PCB board400, etc., the female terminal101usually needs to be bent to adapt to its assembly. Thus, not only the mating with the male connector200or the gold finger circuit board300and the disposal of the PCB board400is achieved, but also the overall length of the female terminal101is reduced, thereby realizing the arrangement in the limited space. Alternatively, it is difficult for the female terminal101to strictly keep the consistency of its cross-sectional shape, so that the cross-sectional area may be changed in some places. As a result, at least one shape abruptly-changed portion106is formed in the female terminal101between the first end and the second end.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the shape abruptly-changed portion106may mainly include two situations, i.e. the female terminal101is bent (i.e., as illustrated inFIGS.3A to3L) or the cross-sectional area of the female terminal101is changed. In which, the female terminal101is bent, so that the surface of the female terminal101is no longer straight, but bent and deformed. Further, a bending angle at which the female terminal101is bent may be set according to the actual situation, mainly depending on the mating direction with the male connector200or the gold finger circuit board300and an arrangement orientation of the PCB board400. In other words, the bending angle may depend on the relative positions of the two ends of the female terminal101. Thus, the bending angle is not limited herein.

For example, in the embodiments illustrated inFIGS.3A to3L, the female terminal101is bent by a smooth transition, which can reduce the high-frequency radiation intensity caused by the bending of the female terminal101. Alternatively, in the embodiments illustrated inFIGS.3J to3L, the female terminal101may be bent at an angle. Specifically, in the embodiment illustrated inFIG.3J, the female terminal101is bent at a several (e.g., two) places with bending angles greater than 90° and less than 180°. Alternatively, in the embodiments illustrated inFIGS.3K and3L, the female terminal101is bent at only one place, with a bending angle of 90° or more than 0° but less than 90°. In which, the bending angle less than 90° belongs to a case where the shape of the female terminal101is abruptly changed. In addition, the shape is changed more abruptly as the bending angle decreases.

The cross-sectional area may be an area of a cross-section perpendicular to a signal flow direction in the female terminal101, and specifically, an area of a cross-section perpendicular to a paper plane direction illustrated in each ofFIGS.3A to3L. Further, the change of the cross-sectional area may include the following situations: the cross-sectional area of the female terminal101increases or decreases in a direction from the first end to the second end, a convex structure is formed on the surface of the female terminal101, and a hole structure is formed in the female terminal101. Since the female terminal101is substantially flat, signals can be transmitted on the flat surface. Thus, the increase or decrease of the cross-sectional area of the female terminal101may indicate that the signal transmission path becomes wider or narrower. In this embodiment, if the female terminal101has a constant thickness, the increase or decrease of the cross-sectional area of the female terminal101may indicate that the dimension of the female terminal101perpendicular to the paper plane direction illustrated in each ofFIGS.3A to3Lincreases or decreases. If the convex structure is formed on the surface of the female terminal101, it may indicate that the cross-sectional area of the female terminal101increases, and if the hole structure is formed in the female terminal101, it may indicate that the cross-sectional area of the female terminal101decreases.

After the female connector100is mated with the male connector200or the gold finger circuit board300, a differential signal may be transmitted from one end to the other end (the first end→the second end, or the second end→the first end). Inside the female connector100, the transmission of the differential signal depends on the female terminal101, and specifically, the differential signal is transmitted via the surface of the female connector100. However, after a long-term study, the inventor of the present disclosure finds that in a high-frequency operation condition, the induced electromagnetic field and the coupling phenomenon are intensified at a position on the female terminal101where the shape abruptly-changed portion106is formed, and the signals are easily clustered and gathered at the shape abruptly-changed portion106, thereby forming a high-frequency radiation area A in the vicinity of the shape abruptly-changed portion106. The existence of the high-frequency radiation area A will greatly interfere with the differential signal transmitted via the shape abruptly-changed portion106and its vicinity.

As described above, in order to solve the problem of the crosstalk of differential signals, the wave-absorbing material may be used to absorb the crosstalk signals, and specifically, the connector is entirely wrapped with the wave-absorbing material. However, the way of full wrapping with the wave-absorbing material will lead to an undifferentiated signal absorption, which is even more detrimental to the integrity of the differential signal. In addition, the full wrapping with the wave-absorbing material will increase the overall weight of the connector, and consume a lot of wave-absorbing materials, so the costs of consumables and process implementation are high.

In view of this, after long-term field practices, the inventor of the present disclosure finds that the above problem can be well solved by pertinently disposing a wave-absorbing material B in an area A where the high-frequency radiation is likely to occur due to the antenna effect, while not disposing the wave-absorbing material B in other areas where no high-frequency radiation occurs. In this embodiment, the first wave-absorbing material B is disposed in a spatial range covered by the high-frequency radiation area A.

Since the wave-absorbing material B is selectively or pertinently disposed in the spatial range covered by the high-frequency radiation area A, the wave-absorbing material B can absorb the crosstalk signal on the one hand, without affecting the normal differential signal transmitted via the shape abruptly-changed portion106, thereby ensuring the integrity of the differential signal. On the other hand, the wave-absorbing material B is only disposed in the spatial range covered by the high-frequency radiation area A, and a use amount thereof is small, so that the female connector100of this embodiment is lighter in weight and lower in cost compared with the connector entirely wrapped by the wave-absorbing material B in the prior art.

In this embodiment, the spatial range covered by the high-frequency radiation area A is a virtual space, which may be centered at the shape abruptly-changed portion106, and expanded outward in a radial or spherical shape in a three-dimensional space. Actually, the size or dimension of the spatial range covered by the high-frequency radiation area A is related to many factors, such as a signal intensity, a material of the female terminal101, a bent degree of the shape abruptly-changed portion106, a signal frequency, a resonance frequency, etc., which is not limited herein.

Thus, as long as the position for disposing the wave-absorbing material B falls within the spatial range covered by the high-frequency radiation area A, the specific position and way for disposing the wave-absorbing material B and the material form thereof may be relatively free and flexible. Generally, the wave-absorbing material B may support a wide frequency operation scope from 1 GHZ to 100 GHZ, and the material form may be solid (for example, including but not limited to, layer, sheet, film, block, plate, strip, cylinder), liquid, powder and plastic particles, etc., and the disposing way may be adopted according to the different material forms to adapt to different occasions, including but not limited to, adhesion, hot melting, electroplating, brushing, painting, filling, injection molding, etc. Therefore, the wave-absorbing material B may be customized according to the signal frequency, the resonance frequency, etc., to improve the application range of the technical solution of this embodiment.

For example, in a feasible embodiment, the wave-absorbing material B may be directly disposed on the shape abruptly-changed portion106and wrap at least part of an outer surface thereof. Specifically, as illustrated inFIGS.3A to3I′, for example in a case where the female terminal101is bent at the shape abruptly-changed portion106, the shape abruptly-changed portion106has an inner surface inside a bent corner and an outer surface outside the bent corner. The position for disposing the wave-absorbing material B may be only the inner surface of the shape abruptly-changed portion106(refer to the embodiment illustrated inFIG.3B), or only the outer surface (refer to the embodiment illustrated inFIG.3D), or both of the inner and outer surfaces (refer to the embodiment illustrated inFIG.3E). The material form may include, but is not limited to, a coating layer, an adhesion layer or a film. In which, when the material form is a coating layer or a film, the wave-absorbing material B may be realized by a process such as spraying or electroplating; and when the material form is an adhesion layer, the wave-absorbing material B may be prepared into layers or sheets, and then stuck by viscose glue, or fixed by hot melting, etc. The size and the thickness of the coating layer, the adhesion layer or the film may be set according to the actual situation, and are not limited herein.

Described above is the embodiment where the wave-absorbing material B wraps part of the surface (the inner surface, or the outer surface, or both) of the shape abruptly-changed portion106. Of course, when the wave-absorbing material B is disposed on the surface of the shape abruptly-changed portion106, the wave-absorbing material B may further wrap the entire outer surface of the shape abruptly-changed portion106. In the embodiments illustrated inFIGS.3G and3G′, the cross-section of the shape abruptly-changed portion106is formed into a rectangle with four outer surfaces, which may be wrapped by the wave-absorbing material B. Of course, the shape of the cross-section of the wave-absorbing material B at the shape abruptly-changed portion106is not limited to the rectangle, and other shapes such as a circle, an ellipse, a polygon, a special shape, etc. are also possible, which are not limited herein. In this embodiment, the material form of the wave-absorbing material B may be the coating layer, the adhesion layer or the film, and the specific implementation may refer to the above description, which will not be repeated herein.

Described above is the embodiment where the wave-absorbing material B wraps the shape abruptly-changed portion106, that is, the wave-absorbing material B is in contact with the surface of the shape abruptly-changed portion106. In another feasible embodiment, the wave-absorbing material B is disposed on an outer wall of the shape abruptly-changed portion106and spaced apart from the surface thereof. That is, the wave-absorbing material B is disposed close to the shape abruptly-changed portion106, without contacting the surface thereof. Specifically, still taking the case where the female terminal101is bent at the shape abruptly-changed portion106as an example, as illustrated inFIG.3A, the wave-absorbing material B may be disposed inside the bent corner of the shape abruptly-changed portion106and spaced apart from the inner surface thereof. That is, the wave-absorbing material B is disposed inside the inner surface of the shape abruptly-changed portion106. Alternatively, as illustrated inFIG.3C, the wave-absorbing material B is disposed outside the bent corner of the shape abruptly-changed portion106and spaced apart from the outer surface thereof. That is, the wave-absorbing material B is disposed outside the outer surface of the shape abruptly-changed portion106. Alternatively, as illustrated inFIG.3F, the wave-absorbing material B is disposed both inside and outside the bent corner of the shape abruptly-changed portion106, and spaced apart from the surfaces thereof. That is, the wave-absorbing material B is disposed both inside the inner surface and outside the outer surface of the shape abruptly-changed portion106.

In this embodiment, the wave-absorbing material B may be fixedly supported by a plastic bracket which wraps the female terminal101. That is, the wave-absorbing material B may be disposed on the plastic bracket, and is close to the shape abruptly-changed portion106while not contacting the surface thereof.

In this embodiment, the wave-absorbing material B may be in a solid form, such as block, plate, sheet, layer, strip and any other tangible physical shape, and the profile of its overall shape is adaptive to the profile of the inner surface or the outer surface of the shape abruptly-changed portion106, so that the wave-absorbing material B can maximally cover or shield the shape abruptly-changed portion106to improve the wave-absorbing effect.

Further, a distance between the wave-absorbing material B and the surface of the shape abruptly-changed portion106may be set according to the actual situation, and it is not limited herein. For example, when the overall volume of the female connector100is large, i.e. the volume of the plastic bracket which wraps and fixes the female terminal101is large, the degree of freedom and the space for disposing the wave-absorbing material B is large, and the distance between the wave-absorbing material B and the surface of the shape abruptly-changed portion106may be large, such as 3 to 5 mm. On the contrary, when the overall volume of the female connector100is small, the distance between the wave-absorbing material B and the surface of the shape abruptly-changed portion106may be small, such as 1 to 3 mm.

Similarly, described above is the embodiment where the wave-absorbing material B is located partially outside (inside the inner surface, outside the outer surface, inside the inner surface+outside the outer surface) the shape abruptly-changed portion106. Of course, when the wave-absorbing material B is spaced apart from the shape abruptly-changed portion106, the wave-absorbing material B may also be located on multiple sides of the shape abruptly-changed portion106. As illustrated inFIGS.3H and3H′, the wave-absorbing material B may be in a sheet-like or strip-like structure, with a shape adaptive to a profile of the surface of the shape abruptly-changed portion106, and there may be a plurality of wave-absorbing materials B to surround the shape abruptly-changed portion106. That is, takingFIG.3Has an example, the wave-absorbing material B may be disposed on a front side, a rear side, a left side and a right side of the shape abruptly-changed portion106. In which, ‘front’ and ‘rear’ are outward and inward directions perpendicular to the paper plane ofFIG.3H, respectively.

In this embodiment, the number of the wave-absorbing materials B in the sheet-like or strip-like structure may be set according to the actual situation, and for example may be 4, 5, 6 or more. The plurality of wave-absorbing materials B may be circumferentially arranged around the shape abruptly-changed portion106at uniform intervals. For example, as illustrated inFIG.3H′, the plurality of absorbing materials B may be arranged in an annular array around the shape abruptly-changed portion106. Thereby, the plurality of wave-absorbing materials B are uniformly arranged around the shape abruptly-changed portion106, so that the crosstalk signal can be uniformly absorbed.

In the above embodiment where the plurality of wave-absorbing materials B are circumferentially arranged around the shape abruptly-changed portion106at uniform intervals, the plurality of wave-absorbing materials B substantially enclose to form a hollowed-out cylindrical shape. That is, the wave-absorbing materials B distributed around the shape abruptly-changed portion106are circumferentially discontinuous. However, in the embodiments illustrated inFIGS.3I and3I′, the wave-absorbing materials B are prepared in a circumferentially continuous cylindrical shape, and the cylindrical wave-absorbing materials B is disposed over the shape abruptly-changed portion106and is isolated from the outer surface thereof. Similarly, the profile of the wave-absorbing material B in the cylindrical shape is adaptive to the profile of the surface of the shape abruptly-changed portion106, so that the wave-absorbing material B can be smoothly disposed over the shape abruptly-changed portion106.

In which, in the embodiments illustrated inFIGS.3J to3Lwith bending angles, the setting of the wave-absorbing materials B may also refer to the solutions of the above embodiments. For example, the wave-absorbing materials B may be disposed, in any suitable form listed above, on the inner and outer surfaces of the bent portion, on all of the outer surfaces of the bent portion, and outside the bent portion.

Following the above description, in another feasible embodiment, the wave-absorbing material B may be disposed on a plastic bracket (not illustrated). Specifically, the wave-absorbing material B is disposed close to the shape abruptly-changed portion106, so as to be as close as possible to the high-frequency radiation source. The material form may be a coating layer, an adhesion layer or a film, or a solid form. As described above, when the material form is the coating layer, the adhesion layer or the film, the wave-absorbing material B may be disposed on the surface of the plastic bracket. When the material form is the solid form, such as block, plate, sheet and any other tangible physical shape, the wave-absorbing material B may be fixed on the plastic bracket in any suitable way, for example including but not limited to, snap-fit connection, mechanical fastener connection by bolts and other fastening structures, soldering by ultrasonic, solvent, laser, etc., hot melting, clamping, snap connection, hook connection and integrated fastening features.

Further, the plastic bracket may be accommodated in a shell. Thus, in another feasible embodiment, the wave-absorbing material B may be disposed on the shell (not illustrated). Specifically, the wave-absorbing material B is disposed close to the shape abruptly-changed portion106. The material form may be a coating layer, an adhesion layer or a film, or a solid form. Please refer to the above description for detail, which will not be repeated herein.

In which, in the embodiment including the plastic bracket and the shell, the wave-absorbing material B may be disposed on the plastic bracket, or the shell, or both.

Of course, the above embodiments are merely a few feasible schematic solutions, rather than restrictive solutions. That is, the position and way for disposing the wave-absorbing material B and the material form thereof include but are not limited to the above embodiments. In other feasible embodiments, for example, when the wave-absorbing material B is prepared in the form of liquid, powder, plastic particles, etc., a suitable implementation process may be adopted according to actual demands, which is not limited herein.

It should be noted that the plastic bracket, shell, etc. included in the female connector100of the embodiment of the present disclosure may adopt any suitable existing configuration. In order to clearly and briefly explain the technical solution provided by this embodiment, the above parts will not be described in detail herein, and the drawings for the specification are also simplified accordingly. However, it should be understood that the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited thereto in the spatial range.

Based on the same concept, an embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a connector combination formed by the mating of the female connector100and the male connector200or the gold finger circuit board300described in the above embodiments. Since the principle for the connector combination to solve problems and the technical effect that can be achieved are similar to those of the female connector100, the implementation of the female connector100as described above may be referred to for the implementation of the connector combination, and the repeated content will be omitted here.

It should be noted that as an independent embodiment, the connector combination provided in the embodiment of the present disclosure may refer to the female connector100as described above, but should not be limited to the effect produced by the female connector100.

FIG.1illustrates a structural schematic diagram of a connector combination formed by the mating of a male connector200and the female connector100described in the above embodiments. In which, the male connector200includes a male terminal202for mating with the female terminal101. When the female terminal101is mated with the male terminal202, a high-frequency radiation area A is formed in the vicinity of the shape abruptly-changed portion106, and a wave-absorbing material B is disposed in a spatial range covered by the high-frequency radiation area A.

FIG.2illustrates a structural schematic diagram of a connector combination formed by the mating of a gold finger circuit board300and the female connector100described in the above embodiments. In which, the gold finger circuit board300has a gold finger insertion tip301inserted into the female terminal101. When the female terminal101is mated with the gold finger insertion tip301, a high-frequency radiation area A is formed in the vicinity of the shape abruptly-changed portion106, and a wave-absorbing material B is disposed in a spatial range covered by the high-frequency radiation area A.

In the embodiments of the present disclosure, it is creatively discovered and found out that a high-frequency radiation area can easily occur due to an abrupt change of the shape of the female terminal101during the use of the connector, and practices show that the wave-absorbing material B only needs to be disposed in the high-frequency radiation area rather than areas without a high-frequency radiation. By selectively or pertinently disposing the wave-absorbing material B, signals are also selectively absorbed by the wave-absorbing material B. That is, only crosstalk signals are absorbed without affecting normal signals, so that the integrity of differential signals can be well ensured.

In addition, the way of selectively or pertinently disposing the wave-absorbing material B in the high-frequency radiation area is adopted to replace the way of entirely wrapping (a plastic bracket and a shell) with a wave-absorbing material B in the prior art, so as to overcome the signal crosstalk without using any additional shielding material, which not only greatly reduces the use amount of the wave-absorbing material B, as well as an overall weight and costs of consumables and process implementation of the connector, but also helps in improving the density of differential pairs, and meeting the application requirements of high-speed and high-density connectors in the current technical development.

Those described above are just a few embodiments of the present disclosure, and a person skilled in the art can make various changes or modifications to the embodiments of the present disclosure according to the content disclosed in the application document without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.