PATENT DOCUMENT

Publication Number: US-9876318-B2
Application Number: US-201615268645-A
Country: US
Kind Code: B2

Title: Ground contacts for reduced-length connector inserts

Abstract:
Connector inserts having a high signal integrity and low insertion loss by shielding signal contacts. One example may provide one or more ground contacts between a front opening and signal pins of a connector insert. These ground contacts may have sufficient lever arm to provide a good contact to a corresponding contact in a connector receptacle. To avoid excessive length in the connector insert, embodiments of the present invention may stack a portion of the ground contact above the signal contacts in the connector insert. To reduce excessive capacitance that would otherwise reduce signal impedance, one or more openings may be formed in the ground contacts. To prevent signal contacts from shorting to a shield through this opening, the opening may be covered by tape. The ground contacts may be positioned to avoid encountering power contacts in the receptacle when the insert is inserted into the receptacle.

Claims:
What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A connector insert comprising:
 a housing supporting a plurality of signal pins, the housing having a front opening to accept a tongue of a connector receptacle when the connector insert is inserted into the connector receptacle, each of the plurality of signal pins extending into the connector insert housing in at least approximately a first direction; 
 a shield around at least a front portion of the housing; and 
 a ground piece between the housing and the shield, the ground piece comprising: 
 a rear section, a front section between the rear section and the front opening of the housing, and two side sections joining the front section to the rear section forming a center opening, the front section supporting a ground contact and two ground tabs, the ground tabs contacting the shield, the ground contact between the front opening of the housing of the connector insert and the plurality of signal pins, the ground tabs extending in the first direction. 
 
     
     
       2. The connector insert of  claim 1  wherein the signal pins comprise pins for conveying signals, power, and ground. 
     
     
       3. The connector insert of  claim 2  wherein the front section of the ground piece includes three ground contacts. 
     
     
       4. The connector insert of  claim 3  wherein the center opening is located over the plurality of signal pins. 
     
     
       5. The connector insert of  claim 4  wherein the center opening is at least substantially covered by an insulating layer. 
     
     
       6. The connector insert of  claim 1  wherein the ground contact is arranged to engage a receptacle ground contact on a top side of a tongue of the connector receptacle. 
     
     
       7. The connector insert of  claim 6  wherein the rear section of the ground piece includes a plurality of rear ground tabs electrically connected to the shield. 
     
     
       8. The connector insert of  claim 6  wherein the front section of the ground piece further supports two additional ground tabs, the additional ground tabs extending in a second direction at least approximately orthogonal to the first direction and electrically connected to the shield. 
     
     
       9. The connector insert of  claim 6  wherein contacting portions of the plurality of signal pins form electrical connections with corresponding pins in the corresponding connector receptacle when the connector insert and the connector receptacle are mated. 
     
     
       10. A connector insert comprising:
 a housing; 
 a conductive shield around the housing; 
 a top row of signal pins supported in a top of the housing; 
 a bottom row of signal pins supported in a bottom of the housing; 
 a first ground piece between the housing and a top of the conductive shield and having a first ground contact between the top row of signal pins and the leading edge of the connector insert; and 
 a second ground piece between the housing and a bottom of the conductive shield and having a second ground contact between the bottom row of signal pins and the leading edge of the connector insert, 
 wherein the first ground piece and the second ground piece each include a center opening and a front section between the center opening and a leading edge of the connector insert, the front section of the first ground piece supporting the first ground contact, a first ground tab, and a second ground tab, the first ground tab and the second ground tab contacting the conductive shield, the front section of the second ground piece supporting the second ground contact, a third ground tab, and a fourth ground tab, the third ground tab and the fourth ground tab contacting the conductive shield. 
 
     
     
       11. The connector insert of  claim 10  wherein the housing is plastic. 
     
     
       12. The connector insert of  claim 10  wherein the conductive shield is metallic. 
     
     
       13. The connector insert of  claim 12  wherein the conductive shield is formed of steel. 
     
     
       14. The connector insert of  claim 10  wherein the first and second ground contacts are arranged to engage ground contacts on a top and bottom side of a tongue of a connector receptacle. 
     
     
       15. The connector insert of  claim 10  wherein the top and bottom rows of signal pins comprise pins for conveying signals, power, and ground. 
     
     
       16. The connector insert of  claim 10  further comprising a second housing supporting the conductive shield, the second housing behind the shield. 
     
     
       17. The connector insert of  claim 16  the first and second ground contacts are arranged such that undesirable connections to contacts in a connector receptacle are not formed when the connector insert is inserted into the connector receptacle. 
     
     
       18. The connector insert of  claim 10  wherein each ground piece includes a center opening. 
     
     
       19. The connector insert of  claim 18  wherein the center opening of the first ground piece is located over the top row of signal pins. 
     
     
       20. The connector insert of  claim 19  wherein the center opening of the first ground piece is at least substantially covered by an insulating layer. 
     
     
       21. The connector insert of  claim 10  wherein the rows of signal pins for the bottom row of signal pins and the top row of signal pins extend in a first direction and the first ground tab and the second ground tab extend in a second direction, the first direction at least approximately orthogonal to the second direction. 
     
     
       22. A connector insert comprising:
 a housing; 
 a conductive shield around a front portion of the housing; 
 a top row of signal pins supported in a top of the housing; 
 a bottom row of signal pins supported in a bottom of the housing; 
 a first ground piece between the housing and a top of the conductive shield and comprising:
 a front section supporting a first ground contact between the top row of signal pins and a leading edge of the connector insert, and a first ground tab and a second ground tab, the first ground tab and the second ground tab contacting the conductive shield; 
 a rear section; and 
 two side sections between the front section and the rear section, the two side sections separate and forming a center opening; and 
 
 a second ground piece between the housing and a bottom of the conductive shield and comprising:
 a front section supporting a second ground contact between the bottom row of signal pins and the leading edge of the connector insert, and a third ground tab and a fourth ground tab, the third ground tab and the fourth ground tab contacting the conductive shield; 
 a rear section; and 
 two side sections between the front section and the rear section, the two side sections separate and forming a center opening. 
 
 
     
     
       23. The connector insert of  claim 22  wherein the rows of signal pins for the bottom row of signal pins and the top row of signal pins extend in a first direction, each contact in the top row of signal pins and the bottom row of signal pins extends in a second direction, and the first ground tab and the second ground tab extend in the second direction, the first direction orthogonal to the second direction. 
     
     
       24. The connector insert of  claim 23  wherein the first ground contact and the second ground contact are arranged to engage receptacle ground contacts on a tongue of a connector receptacle when the connector insert is mated with the connector receptacle.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/543,717, filed Nov. 17, 2014, which claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patent applications No. 61/926,391, filed Jan. 12, 2014, 61/927,468, filed Jan. 14, 2014, 61/929,967, filed Jan. 21, 2014, and 62/003,012, filed May 26, 2014, which are incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     The amount of data transferred between electronic devices has grown tremendously the last several years. Large amounts of audio, streaming video, text, and other types of data content are now regularly transferred among desktop and portable computers, media devices, handheld media devices, displays, storage devices, and other types of electronic devices. Power may be transferred with this data, or power may be transferred separately. 
     Power and data may be conveyed over cables that may include wire conductors, fiber optic cables, or some combination of these or other conductors. Cable assemblies may include a connector insert at each end of a cable, though other cable assemblies may be connected or tethered to an electronic device in a dedicated manner. The connector inserts may be inserted into receptacles in the communicating electronic devices to provide pathways for power and data. 
     These receptacles may be placed along a side of a device and may consume internal space inside the device. Accordingly, it may be desirable to provide receptacles having a reduced depth. Also, the data rates through these connector receptacles may be quite high. To provide these high data rates, it may be desirable that the connector receptacles have a high signal integrity and low insertion loss. 
     These connector inserts may be inserted into a device receptacle once or more each day for multiple years. It may be desirable that these connector inserts and receptacles are reliable and do not break or wear down prematurely, since such failures may lead to user dissatisfaction with both the cable assembly and the electronic devices that it connects to. 
     Thus, what is needed are connector inserts and receptacles that have a short depth, a high signal integrity and low insertion loss, and are reliable. 
     SUMMARY 
     Accordingly, embodiments of the present invention may provide connector inserts, receptacles, and other structures that have a short depth, a high signal integrity and low insertion loss, and are reliable. 
     An illustrative embodiment of the present invention may provide a connector insert having a high signal integrity and low insertion loss by including a ground path that includes ground contacts near a front of the connector insert. The ground contacts may be located between a front opening of the connector insert and signal and power contacts in the insert. These front ground contacts may further contact a shield surrounding the signal and power contacts. This arrangement may provide something at least akin to a Faraday cage to shield the signal and power contacts in the insert. These ground contacts may be formed as a separate piece from the shield and from the signal, power, and other ground contacts in the connector insert, though they may be merged with one or more of these other structures. In a specific embodiment, these ground contacts have a sufficient length to provide enough force along a lever arm such that the ground contacts may form a good electrical connection with ground pads on receptacle tongues. This length may also help prevent permanent deformation of the ground contacts. 
     Placing these ground contacts in front of the signal contacts would, without more, provide an excessively long connector insert. This would increase a depth of a corresponding receptacle. Accordingly, embodiments of the present invention may reduce a length of a connector insert, and thus a depth of a connector receptacle, by placing the ground contacts above the signal, power, and other ground contacts (referred to simply as signal contacts) in the connector insert. This positioning may allow the ground contacts to have sufficient length while also consuming a minimal amount of space and not significantly increasing a length or thickness of the connector inserts. 
     This arrangement would, without more, increase a capacitance of the signal pins to ground since the spacing between the signal pins and the ground contacts would be minimal. This in turn would reduce signal impedance and degrade signal integrity and increase insertion losses. Accordingly, to reduce the capacitance between the ground contacts and the signal contacts below the ground contacts, embodiments of the present invention may provide ground contacts that may have one or more openings, where the openings are placed above the signal contacts. This reduced capacitance may increase the impedance of the signal contacts thereby improving signal quality and reducing insertion losses. Tape may be placed over the signal pins to prevent inadvertent connections to the ground contacts and to the connector insert shield. 
     Ground or other appropriate contacts on a tongue in a connector receptacle may be located where they engage the front ground contacts in the connector insert during insertion of the connector insert. To avoid shorting power contacts on the tongue to the front ground contacts, the contacts formed by the leading edge may be spaced such that they do not encounter the power contacts, or make other undesirable connections to other contacts, during insertion. This may help to avoid damage to circuitry connected to either the connector receptacle or the connector insert during insertion. 
     In various embodiments of the present invention, contacts, shields, ground pieces, and other conductive portions of connector inserts and receptacles may be formed by stamping, metal-injection molding, machining, micro-machining, 3-D printing, or other manufacturing process. The conductive portions may be formed of stainless steel, steel, copper, copper titanium, phosphor bronze, or other material or combination of materials. They may be plated or coated with nickel, gold, or other material. The nonconductive portions may be formed using injection or other molding, 3-D printing, machining, or other manufacturing process. The nonconductive portions may be formed of silicon or silicone, rubber, hard rubber, plastic, nylon, liquid-crystal polymers (LCPs), or other nonconductive material or combination of materials. The printed circuit boards used may be formed of FR-4, BT or other material. Printed circuit boards may be replaced by other substrates, such as flexible circuit boards, in many embodiments of the present invention. 
     Embodiments of the present invention may provide connector inserts and receptacles that may be located in, and may connect to, various types of devices, such as portable computing devices, tablet computers, desktop computers, laptops, all-in-one computers, wearable computing devices, cell phones, smart phones, media phones, storage devices, portable media players, navigation systems, monitors, power supplies, adapters, remote control devices, chargers, and other devices. These connector inserts and receptacles may provide pathways for signals that are compliant with various standards such as one of the Universal Serial Bus (USB) standards including USB-C, High-Definition Multimedia Interface® (HDMI), Digital Visual Interface (DVI), Ethernet, DisplayPort, Thunderbolt™, Lightning™, Joint Test Action Group (JTAG), test-access-port (TAP), Directed Automated Random Testing (DART), universal asynchronous receiver/transmitters (UARTs), clock signals, power signals, and other types of standard, non-standard, and proprietary interfaces and combinations thereof that have been developed, are being developed, or will be developed in the future. Other embodiments of the present invention may provide connector inserts and receptacles that may be used to provide a reduced set of functions for one or more of these standards. In various embodiments of the present invention, these interconnect paths provided by these connector inserts and receptacles may be used to convey power, ground, signals, test points, and other voltage, current, data, or other information. 
     Various embodiments of the present invention may incorporate one or more of these and the other features described herein. A better understanding of the nature and advantages of the present invention may be gained by reference to the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  illustrates a connector insert according to an embodiment of the present invention that has been inserted into a connector receptacle according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  illustrates a ground contact piece according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  illustrates a close-up view of a ground piece according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  illustrates a ground piece according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 5  illustrates a connector insert according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 6  illustrates another ground piece according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 7  illustrates another connector insert inserted into a connector receptacle according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 8  illustrates a side view of a connector system according to an embodiment of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 9  illustrates a side view of connector system according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS 
       FIG. 1  illustrates a connector insert according to embodiments of the present invention that is been inserted into a connector receptacle according to an embodiment of the present invention. This figure, as with the other included figures, is shown for illustrative purposes and does not limit either the possible embodiments of the present invention or the claims. 
     Specifically, connector insert  110  has been inserted into connector receptacle  120 . Receptacle  120  may be located in various types of devices, such as portable computing devices, tablet computers, desktop computers, laptops, all-in-one computers, wearable computing devices, cell phones, smart phones, media phones, storage devices, portable media players, navigation systems, monitors, power supplies, adapters, remote control devices, chargers, and other devices. Connector insert  110  and receptacle  120  may provide pathways for signals that are compliant with various standards such as one of the Universal Serial Bus (USB) standards including USB-C, High-Definition Multimedia Interface® (HDMI), Digital Visual Interface (DVI), Ethernet, DisplayPort, Thunderbolt™, Lightning™, Joint Test Action Group (JTAG), test-access-port (TAP), Directed Automated Random Testing (DART), universal asynchronous receiver/transmitters (UARTs), clock signals, power signals, and other types of standard, non-standard, and proprietary interfaces and combinations thereof that have been developed, are being developed, or will be developed in the future. In other embodiments of the present invention, connector insert  110  and receptacle  120  may be used to provide a reduced set of functions for one or more of these standards. In various embodiments of the present invention, these interconnect paths provided by connector insert  110  and receptacle  120  may be used to convey power, ground, signals, test points, and other voltage, current, data, or other information. More information about connector insert  110  and receptacle  120  may be found in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/543,711, filed, Nov. 17, 2014, titled CONNECTOR RECEPTACLE HAVING A SHIELD, which is incorporated by reference. 
     Embodiments of the present invention may provide a high signal integrity and low insertion loss by shielding signal contacts in connector insert  110 . One illustrative embodiment of the present invention may provide this shielding by providing one or more ground contacts between a front opening and signal pins of connector insert  110 . These ground contacts may have sufficient lever arm to provide a good contact to a corresponding contact in connector receptacle  120 . To avoid excessive length of the connector insert, embodiments of the present invention may stack at least portions of the ground contacts above the signal contacts. To reduce excessive capacitance that would otherwise result in a reduced signal impedance, one or more openings may be formed in the ground contacts. To prevent signal contacts from shorting to a shield through this opening, the opening may be covered by tape. The ground contacts may be positioned to avoid encountering power contacts in the connector receptacle when the connector insert is inserted into the receptacle. An example of such a ground contact is shown in the following figure. 
       FIG. 2  illustrates a ground contact piece according to an embodiment of the present invention. Ground contact piece  210  may include a number of ground contacts  220 . Ground contact piece  210  may reside in housing  230  in connector insert  110 . 
     Again, it may be desirable that the inclusion of these ground contacts does not significantly lengthen or increase the thickness of these connector inserts. However, it may be desirable to have a long lever arm such that a strong force may be applied by the ground contacts to corresponding ground contacts on a top of a connector receptacle tongue. In order to keep the added length short while having a long lever arm, ground contact piece  210  may be placed at least partially over signal contacts  240 . Placing ground contact piece  210  at least partially over signal contacts  240  allows ground contact piece  210  to provide a long lever arm while only lengthening the connector insert approximately by an amount needed for the actual ground contacts  220 . The long lever arm provided by ground contact piece  210  may help to prevent deformation of ground contact piece  210  during the life of the connector insert and may allow a strong contacting force to be applied by ground contacts  220  to the corresponding contacts on a connector receptacle tongue. 
     Ground contact piece  210  may include opening  212  surrounded by frame  214 . Opening  212  may help to reduce the capacitance between signal contacts  240  and ground contact piece  210 , thereby improving the impedance at signal contacts  240 . A piece of tape (not shown) may be used to electrically isolate signal contacts  240  from a shield around housing  230 . Ground contacts  220  may be arranged such that during the insertion of this connector insert into a connector receptacle, ground contacts  220  do not engage power contacts or form other undesirable connections with contacts in the connector receptacle that could cause damage to circuits connected to or associated with the connector insert or connector receptacle. 
     In various embodiments of the present invention including the various examples shown here, signal pins and ground pieces may be located in either a top or a bottom, or both a top and bottom of a housing in a connector insert. 
     As before, it may be desirable to provide an electrical connection between ground contacts  220  and a shield on the connector insert or plug. Accordingly, a ground contact piece in the above and other examples may include touch points or fingers. An example is shown in the following figure. 
       FIG. 3  illustrates a close-up view of a ground piece according to an embodiment of the present invention. Ground contact piece  210  again may include a number of ground contacts  220 . Ground contacts  220  may form electrical connections with ground pad, contacts, or other structures in a connector receptacle. For example, ground contacts  220  may form electrical connections with ground pad or contact on a tongue in the connector receptacle. More information about this connection may be found in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/543,711, filed, Nov. 17, 2014, titled CONNECTOR RECEPTACLE HAVING A SHIELD, which is incorporated by reference. 
     Ground contact piece  210  may further include one or more fingers  222 . Fingers  222  may form an electrical connection to a shield, such as a shield around the connector insert housing  230 . 
     In other embodiments of the present invention, it may be desirable to provide additional touch points between a ground piece and a connector insert shield. An example of such a ground piece is shown in the following figures. 
       FIG. 4  illustrates a ground piece according to an embodiment of the present invention. Again, ground piece  410  may include ground contacts  420  for forming electrical connections to a ground pad, ground ring, or other structure on a tongue of a connector receptacle. Ground piece  410  may further include front tabs  430  and side tabs  440 . During insertion into a connector receptacle, ground contacts  420  may deflect, thereby pushing front ground tabs  430  and side ground tabs  440  into better electrical connection with a connector insert shield. Ground piece  410  may further include contacts  450  for further increasing the connection to a shield. Ground piece  410 , as with the other included metal pieces, may be formed by stamping, printing, metal injection molding, or other appropriate procedure. 
       FIG. 5  illustrates a connector insert according to an embodiment of the present invention. Top and bottom ground pieces  410  may reside in a top and bottom of plastic housing portion  230 . Top and bottom ground pieces  410  may provide contacts  420  near an opening and in the top and bottom of the connector insert. The connector insert  110  may include signal contacts  240  for power, ground, and signals behind ground contacts  420 , further away from an opening of connector insert. 
     Ground piece  410  may include an opening (not shown) approximately in its center. This opening may closely aligned with an opening in housing  230 . These openings may provide room for contacts in a connector insert to deflect when the connector insert is inserted into a connector receptacle. Tape piece  510  may prevent contacts in the connector insert from electrically contacting shield  520  during insertion. Tape piece  510  may be Kapton tape, foam, or other nonconducting material. 
     Again, it may be desirable to provide a robust electrical connection between ground piece  410  and shield  520 . In this way, when ground contacts  220  are electrically connected to a ground on a top of connector receptacle, the ground contacts on a top of a connector receptacle may be well connected to shield  520  via ground piece  410 . 
     Accordingly, ground piece  410  may include front ground tabs  430  and side ground tabs  440 . Ground piece  410  may further include rear ground contacts or tabs  450 . With this configuration, when this connector insert is inserted into a connector receptacle, ground contacts  220  may deflect, thereby pushing front ground tabs  430  and side ground tabs  440  into an inside surface of shield  520 , thereby improving the electrical connection and reducing contact resistance. 
       FIG. 6  illustrates another ground contact piece according to an embodiment of the present invention. This ground contact piece may include ground contacts  610 . This ground contact piece may further include fingers or touch points  620  and  640  to engage an inside of a connector insert shield. Tabs  630  may be arranged to partially wrap around a plastic housing in the connector insert in order to secure the ground contact piece in place. As before, this ground contact piece may include an opening  650  to reduce capacitance between the ground contact piece and signal contacts in the connector insert. This increased capacitance may increase impedance at the signal contacts, thereby improving signal integrity. As before, when a connector insert using this ground piece is inserted in a receptacle, ground contacts  610  may deflect and push tabs  620  and  640  into a shield of the connector insert, thereby forming an improved ground connection. 
       FIG. 7  illustrates another connector insert inserted into a connector receptacle according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this example, connector insert  110  may be inserted into connector receptacle  120 . Again, more detail on these and other connector inserts and receptacles may be found in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/543,711, filed Nov. 17, 2014, titled CONNECTOR RECEPTACLE HAVING A SHIELD, which is incorporated by reference. 
     This connector system, as with the other included connector systems may perform at least three functions. The first is to convey signals from a connector insert to a connector receptacle. These signals may include power, ground, and data signals, such as audio and video signals. A second is to shield these signals while they are being transferred. This may prevent or reduce the corruption of the signals during transfer. A third is to provide a retention force such that the connector insert is not inadvertently removed from the connector receptacle. Such accidental extractions may be particularly undesirable during transfer of large files. 
     Signals may be transferred using pins  114  in the connector insert  110 , which may mate with contacts  126  in receptacle  120 . 
     These signals may be shielded in a number of ways. For example, shield  520  of connector insert  110  may electrically connect to ground piece  310  at finger  330 . Ground contacts  320  at a front of a connector insert may contact a horizontal portion of ground piece  124  in receptacle  120 . Ground piece  124  may electrically connect to connector receptacle shield  122  via connection points  123 . Shield  122  of connector receptacle  120  may electrically connect to shield  520  on receptacle  120 . 
     Retention may be provided by side ground contacts  112  engaging notches  125  on tongue  129 . Specifically, side ground contacts  112  may include contacting portion  113 , which may engage notches  125  on sides of tongue  129 . Notches  125  may be plated and connected to ground in the connector receptacle  120 , thereby forming another ground path with side ground contacts  112 , which may be connected to ground through the connector insert  110 . 
     In various embodiments of the present invention, varying amounts of retention force may be desired. Accordingly, side ground contacts  112  may be pre-biased such that they spring back to fit into notches  125  during insertion. The strength and thickness of side ground contacts  112  may also be adjusted to provide different retention forces for different applications. In some embodiments of the present invention, for example some docking stations, it may be desirable to provide zero retention force, in which case side ground contacts  112  may be omitted. 
     This connector system, as with the other connector systems shown here, may provide a rotatable connector that may be inserted and either of at least two orientations, which may be 180 degrees apart. This connector system may be free or substantially free of moving parts to improve robustness and reliability. This may also reduce the amount of wear and marring that may occur after usage. Moreover, the shielding provided may allow for transfer of signals and highly isolated manner. 
       FIG. 8  illustrates a side view of a connector system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Again, contacts  114  in a connector insert  110  may mate with contacts  126  in a connector receptacle  120 . Ground piece  310  may form an electrical connection between shield  520  of a connector insert and ground piece  124  of a connector receptacle. Ground piece  124  may further contacts shield  122  on the receptacle, which may in turn contact shield  520  of the connector insert. Contacts  126  in the connector receptacle may emerge from the connector receptacle as contact tails  127 . These contact tails may connect to traces or pads on a printed circuit board or other appropriate substrate. 
       FIG. 9  illustrates a side view of connector system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Again, contacts  114  in a connector insert may convey signals by contacting contacts  126  in a connector receptacle. The connector receptacle may be mounted on a printed circuit board or other appropriate substrate  900 , which may be located in electronic device housing or enclosure  910 . Shield  520  of a connector insert may be attached to or otherwise electrically connected to ground piece  310 . Ground piece  310  may make an electrical connection to ground piece  124  in a connector receptacle. Ground piece  124  may electrically connect to shield  122  of the connector receptacle. Shield  122  of the connector receptacle may electrically connect to shield  520  of the connector insert. 
     In various embodiments of the present invention, a tongue, such as tongue  129 , may have a thicker portion, shown here as thicker portion  121 . A thicker portion  121  may increase tongue strength and may provide sufficient strength while allowing a front portion of tongue  129  to be relatively thin. 
     During insertion of the connector insert into the connector receptacle, contacts  114  may deflect when they reach tongue  129 . Openings may be provided in the housing and ground contact  310  in the connector insert to allow this deflection. Without more, contacts  114  may electrically contact shield  520  during insertion. Accordingly, isolation tape  510  may be included to electrically isolate contacts  114  from shield  520  during insertion. Isolation tape  510  may be tape such as Kapton tape, or it may be foam or other insulating or nonconductive material. 
     In various embodiments of the present invention, contacts, ground contacts and pieces, and other conductive portions of connector inserts and receptacles may be formed by stamping, metal-injection molding, machining, micro-machining, 3-D printing, or other manufacturing process. The conductive portions may be formed of stainless steel, steel, copper, copper titanium, phosphor bronze, or other material or combination of materials. They may be plated or coated with nickel, gold, or other material. The nonconductive portions may be formed using injection or other molding, 3-D printing, machining, or other manufacturing process. The nonconductive portions may be formed of silicon or silicone, rubber, hard rubber, plastic, nylon, liquid-crystal polymers (LCPs), or other nonconductive material or combination of materials. The printed circuit boards used may be formed of FR-4, BT or other material. Printed circuit boards may be replaced by other substrates, such as flexible circuit boards, in many embodiments of the present invention. 
     Embodiments of the present invention may provide connector inserts and receptacles that may be located in, and may connect to, various types of devices, such as portable computing devices, tablet computers, desktop computers, laptops, all-in-one computers, wearable computing devices, cell phones, smart phones, media phones, storage devices, portable media players, navigation systems, monitors, power supplies, adapters, remote control devices, chargers, and other devices. These connector inserts and receptacles may provide pathways for signals that are compliant with various standards such as one of the Universal Serial Bus (USB) standards including USB-C, High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI), Digital Visual Interface (DVI), Ethernet, DisplayPort, Thunderbolt, Lightning, Joint Test Action Group (JTAG), test-access-port (TAP), Directed Automated Random Testing (DART), universal asynchronous receiver/transmitters (UARTs), clock signals, power signals, and other types of standard, non-standard, and proprietary interfaces and combinations thereof that have been developed, are being developed, or will be developed in the future. Other embodiments of the present invention may provide connector inserts and receptacles that may be used to provide a reduced set of functions for one or more of these standards. In various embodiments of the present invention, these interconnect paths provided by these connector inserts and receptacles may be used to convey power, ground, signals, test points, and other voltage, current, data, or other information. 
     The above description of embodiments of the invention has been presented for the purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form described, and many modifications and variations are possible in light of the teaching above. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical applications to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. Thus, it will be appreciated that the invention is intended to cover all modifications and equivalents within the scope of the following claims.

Metadata:
Filing Date: 20160919
Publication Date: 20180123
Grant Date: 20180123
Priority Date: 20140112
Inventors: GAO ZHENG
AMINI MAHMOUD R.
NG NATHAN N.
KIM MIN CHUL
Assignee: APPLE INC
CPC Classifications: [{"code": "H01R24/60", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01R13/6591", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01R13/6582", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01R2107/00", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01R13/6591", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01R13/6582", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01R13/6581", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01R13/652", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01R24/60", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01R13/6582", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01R2107/00", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01R24/60", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01R13/6591", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01R13/6581", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}]
Family ID: 52350403