PATENT DOCUMENT

Publication Number: US-9799995-B1
Application Number: US-201615274241-A
Country: US
Kind Code: B1

Title: Dual unibody USB connector

Abstract:
Combined connector receptacles, examples of which provide an upper housing having openings for tongues on each of two lower housings to simplify alignment of the tongues to a device enclosure, and inner shields around the lower housings and an outer shield around the upper housing and lower housings to provide isolation.

Claims:
What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A combined connector receptacle comprising:
 a first lower housing assembly comprising:
 a first tongue; 
 a first plurality of contacts; 
 a second plurality of contacts; 
 a tongue insert portion to support contacting portions of the first plurality of contacts and the second plurality of contacts; and 
 a central ground plane between the first plurality of contacts and the second plurality of contacts, wherein the central ground plane includes a plurality of protrusions extending into the first tongue; 
 
 a first inner shield over the first lower housing assembly; 
 a second lower housing assembly having a second tongue; 
 a second inner shield over the second lower housing assembly; 
 an upper housing over the first lower housing assembly and the second lower housing assembly, the upper housing having a first opening for the first tongue of the first lower housing assembly and a second opening for the second tongue of the second lower housing assembly; and 
 a first outer shield over the upper housing, the first lower housing assembly, and the second lower housing assembly, 
 wherein the first lower housing assembly further comprises: 
 a first housing portion around portions of the first plurality of contacts; and 
 a second housing portion around portions of the second plurality of contacts, 
 wherein the central ground plane is between the first housing portion and the second housing portion, and 
 wherein the first housing portion and the second housing portion each comprise a plurality of windows to reduce capacitances of the first plurality of contacts and the second plurality of contacts. 
 
     
     
       2. The combined connector receptacle of  claim 1 , wherein the first lower housing assembly and the second lower housing assembly are the same. 
     
     
       3. The combined connector receptacle of  claim 2 , wherein the first inner shield and second inner shield are mirror images of each other. 
     
     
       4. The combined connector receptacle of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of protrusions extending into the first tongue comprises three protrusions. 
     
     
       5. The combined connector receptacle of  claim 1 , wherein the first tongue comprises a tongue frame around a plastic molded portion forming the tongue insert portion. 
     
     
       6. The combined connector receptacle of  claim 5 , wherein the central ground plane includes two side loops to contact an inside surface of the tongue frame, and wherein the first plurality of contacts comprises a ground contact folded over near a top of the first housing portion to contact the inside surface of the tongue frame. 
     
     
       7. The combined connector receptacle of  claim 1 , wherein each of the first plurality of contacts comprise a through-hole contact portion. 
     
     
       8. The combined connector receptacle of  claim 7 , wherein the first plurality of contacts are stamped together from a single piece of metal. 
     
     
       9. The combined connector receptacle of  claim 1 , wherein the upper housing has a greater thickness above the first lower housing assembly than over the second lower housing assembly. 
     
     
       10. The combined connector receptacle of  claim 1 , wherein the first plurality of contacts comprises a plurality of signal contacts and a plurality of power contacts, wherein in a first plane, the plurality of power contacts each include an acute angle and the plurality of signal contacts do not include an acute angle. 
     
     
       11. The combined connector receptacle of  claim 10 , wherein the plurality of signal contacts comprises adjacent first and second signal contacts, the first and second signal contacts adjacent to a power contact and a ground contact, wherein the power contact includes the acute angle such that spacing between the ground contact and the first signal contact at least approximately matches the spacing between the power contact and the second signal contact. 
     
     
       12. The combined connector receptacle of claim further comprising an alignment pin in a passage through the upper housing and having a first end extending from a top of the upper housing and a second end extending from a bottom of the upper housing. 
     
     
       13. The combined connector receptacle of  claim 1 , wherein the first plurality of contacts includes a first pair of contacts for a first high-speed differential signal and a second pair of contacts for a second high-speed differential signal, and the second plurality of contacts includes a third pair of contacts for a third high-speed differential signal and a fourth pair of contacts for a fourth high-speed differential signal,
 wherein a first one of the plurality of protrusions is positioned between the first pair of contacts for the first high-speed differential signal and the third pair of contacts for the third high-speed differential signal and a second one of the plurality of protrusions is positioned between the second pair of contacts for the second high-speed differential signal and the fourth pair of contacts for the fourth high-speed differential signal. 
 
     
     
       14. A combined connector receptacle comprising:
 a first lower housing assembly comprising:
 a first tongue; 
 a first plurality of contacts including a first pair of contacts for a first high-speed differential signal and a second pair of contacts for a second high-speed differential signal; 
 a second plurality of contacts including a third pair of contacts for a third high-speed differential signal and a fourth pair of contacts for a fourth high-speed differential signal; 
 a tongue insert portion to support contacting portions of the first plurality of contacts and the second plurality of contacts; and 
 a central ground plane between the first plurality of contacts and the second plurality of contacts, wherein the central ground plane includes a plurality of protrusions extending into the first tongue, wherein a first one of the plurality of protrusions is positioned between the first pair of contacts for the first high-speed differential signal and the third pair of contacts for the third high-speed differential signal and a second one of the plurality of protrusions is positioned between the second pair of contacts for the second high-speed differential signal and the fourth pair of contacts for the fourth high-speed differential signal; 
 
 a second lower housing assembly having a second tongue; 
 an upper housing over the first lower housing assembly and the second lower housing assembly, the upper housing having a first opening for the first tongue of the first lower housing assembly and a second opening for the second tongue of the second lower housing assembly; 
 a first inner shield over the first lower housing assembly; 
 a second inner shield over the second lower housing assembly; and 
 a first outer shield over the upper housing, the first lower housing assembly, and the second lower housing assembly, 
 wherein the upper housing has a first average thickness over the first lower housing assembly and a second average thickness over the second lower housing assembly, the first average thickness greater than the second average thickness. 
 
     
     
       15. The combined connector receptacle of  claim 14 , wherein the first lower housing assembly comprises a first plurality of contacts, and
 wherein the first plurality of contacts comprises a plurality of signal contacts and a plurality of power contacts, wherein in a first plane, the plurality of power contacts each include an acute angle and the plurality of signal contacts do not include an acute angle. 
 
     
     
       16. The combined connector receptacle of  claim 14 , wherein the plurality of protrusions extending into the first tongue comprises three protrusions. 
     
     
       17. The combined connector receptacle of  claim 14 , wherein
 the first lower housing assembly further comprises: 
 a first housing portion around portions of the first plurality of contacts; and 
 a second housing portion around portions of the second plurality of contacts, 
 wherein the central ground plane is between the first housing portion and the second housing portion, and 
 wherein the first housing portion and the second housing portion each comprise a plurality of windows to reduce capacitances of the first plurality of contacts and the second plurality of contacts. 
 
     
     
       18. A combined connector receptacle comprising:
 a first lower housing assembly comprising:
 a first tongue; 
 a first plurality of contacts; 
 a second plurality of contacts; 
 a tongue insert portion to support contacting portions of the first plurality of contacts and the second plurality of contacts; and 
 a central ground plane between the first plurality of contacts and the second plurality of contacts, wherein the central ground plane includes a plurality of protrusions extending into the first tongue; 
 
 a second lower housing assembly having a second tongue; and 
 an upper housing over the first lower housing assembly and the second lower housing assembly, the upper housing having a first opening for the first tongue of the first lower housing assembly and a second opening for the second tongue of the second lower housing assembly; 
 a first inner shield over the first lower housing assembly; 
 a second inner shield over the second lower housing assembly; and 
 a first outer shield over the upper housing, the first lower housing assembly, and the second lower housing assembly, wherein the first lower housing assembly comprises a first plurality of contacts, the first plurality of contacts comprising a plurality of signal contacts and a plurality of power contacts, wherein in a first plane, the plurality of power contacts each include an acute angle, 
 wherein the first lower housing assembly further comprises: 
 a first housing portion around portions of the first plurality of contacts; and 
 a second housing portion around portions of the second plurality of contacts, 
 wherein the central ground plane is between the first housing portion and the second housing portion, and 
 wherein the first housing portion and the second housing portion each comprise a plurality of windows to reduce capacitances of the first plurality of contacts and the second plurality of contacts. 
 
     
     
       19. The combined connector receptacle of  claim 18 , wherein the plurality of signal contacts do not include an acute angle, and wherein the plurality of signal contacts comprise adjacent first and second signal contacts, the first and second signal contacts adjacent to a power contact and a ground contact, wherein the power contact includes the acute angle such that spacing between the ground contact and the first signal contact at least approximately matches the spacing between the power contact and the second signal contact. 
     
     
       20. The combined connector receptacle of  claim 18 , wherein the plurality of protrusions extending into the first tongue comprises three protrusions. 
     
     
       21. The combined connector receptacle of  claim 18 , wherein the first plurality of contacts includes a first pair of contacts for a first high-speed differential signal and a second pair of contacts for a second high-speed differential signal, and the second plurality of contacts includes a third pair of contacts for a third high-speed differential signal and a fourth pair of contacts for a fourth high-speed differential signal,
 wherein a first one of the plurality of protrusions is positioned between the first pair of contacts for the first high-speed differential signal and the third pair of contacts for the third high-speed differential signal and a second one of the plurality of protrusions is positioned between the second pair of contacts for the second high-speed differential signal and the fourth pair of contacts for the fourth high-speed differential signal.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     Power and data may be provided from one electronic device to another over cables that may include one or more wire conductors, fiber optic cables, or other conductors. Connector inserts may be located at each end of these cables and may be inserted into connector receptacles in the communicating or power transferring electronic devices. 
     These connector receptacles may be located in openings in enclosures of electronic devices. Some devices may contain several such connector receptacles, some of which may be of the same type while others may be of different types. To save space and simplify manufacturing, in some circumstances it may be desirable to combine more than one connector receptacle into a single unit. Such a unit may be referred to as a combined connector receptacle. 
     Various problems may arise when connector receptacles are gathered into a combined connector receptacle. For example, it may be difficult to align multiple connector receptacles to openings in an enclosure of an electronic device. This may be true where various surfaces of the combined connector receptacle are oblique to each other. 
     Also, contacts in each connector receptacle may convey high-speed signals along with power supplies and other signals. The high-speed signals may have relatively fast edges having high-frequency signal components that may generate electromagnetic interference (EMI.) This EMI may couple onto other high-speed signal contacts, as well as power contacts and contacts for other signals, in the same or other connector receptacles in the combined connector receptacle. This coupling may in turn corrupt and degrade signals, that is, lower the signal quality or signal integrity, in the same or other connector receptacles. Accordingly, it may be desirable to provide isolation between connector receptacles in a combined connector receptacle. Further, it may be desirable to provide isolation among contacts in an individual connector receptacle in a combined connector receptacle. 
     Thus, what is needed are combined connector receptacles that may be aligned to openings in a device enclosure, may provide isolation between individual connector receptacles, and may provide isolation among contacts in an individual connector receptacle in a combined connector receptacle. 
     SUMMARY 
     Accordingly, embodiments of the present invention may provide combined connector receptacles that may be aligned to openings in a device enclosure, may provide isolation between individual connector receptacles, and may provide isolation among contacts in an individual connector receptacle in a combined connector receptacle. 
     An illustrated embodiment of the present invention may provide a combined connector receptacle that may be aligned to openings in a device enclosure by providing a combined connector receptacle having a upper housing formed as a single piece and having openings for tongues attached to a number of lower housing assemblies. Since the openings are each formed in a single upper housing, their relative spacing may be well controlled. 
     These and other embodiments of the present invention may provide a combined connector receptacle that may be aligned to openings in a device enclosure by providing an alignment pin that is located in a passage though the upper housing. The alignment pin may have a first end extending from a top of the upper housing to fit in a recess or hole in a device enclosure. The alignment pin may have a second end extending from a bottom of the upper housing to fit in an opening, hole, or recess in a printed circuit board or other appropriate substrate. 
     These and other embodiments of the present invention may provide a combined connector receptacle that may be used to provide multiple connector receptacles in a single unit where a surface of an enclosure for an electronic device is not orthogonal with, or parallel to, a printed circuit board or other appropriate substrate in the electronic device. For example, a surface of a combined connector receptacle may be oblique to other surfaces of the combined connector receptacle. Such a combined connector receptacle may be mounted on a printed circuit board and provide connector receptacles at openings in a device enclosure surface that is oblique to the printed circuit board. In these and other embodiments of the present invention, a combined connector receptacle may include a number of lower housing assemblies having tongues and an upper housing having openings for each of the tongues. The upper housing may have an average thickness over one of the lower housing assemblies that is greater than its average thickness over another of the lower housing assemblies. The lower housing assemblies may be wedged shaped along their lengths to provide a tilted angle to the tongues relative to a bottom of the combined connector receptacle. 
     An illustrated embodiment of the present invention may provide a combined connector receptacle that may provide isolation between its individual connector receptacles. This isolation may be achieved in part by proving separate inner shields over each of the lower housing assemblies. The inner shields may have each have lateral tabs that may be soldered or spot or laser welded together. 
     An illustrated embodiment of the present invention may provide a combined connector receptacle that may provide isolation between contacts in an individual connector receptacle. This isolation may be achieved in part by proving a central ground plane in each of the tongues of the lower housing assemblies. The central ground plane may isolate contacts on a top side of a tongue from contacts on a bottom side of the tongue. 
     These and other embodiments of the present invention may provide lower housing assemblies having a plurality of contacts. The plurality of contacts may include a plurality of signal contacts and a plurality of power contacts. In a first plane, the plurality of power contacts may each be stamped to include an acute angle, while the plurality of signal contacts are not stamped to form an acute angle. The plurality of signal contacts may include adjacent first and second signal contacts. The first and second signal contacts may be adjacent to a power contact and a ground contact. These power supply or ground contacts adjacent to the high-speed differential pair signal contacts may shield and isolate the high-speed differential pair signal contacts. The power contacts may include the acute angle such that spacing between the ground contact and the first signal contact at least approximately matches the spacing between the power contact and the second signal contact. This matched spacing may improve shielding and isolation between pairs of signal contacts and other contacts in the same or different connector receptacles. In these and other embodiments of the present invention, ground or power, or both, may include an acute angle. That is, they may be routed to include an acute angle. In these and other embodiments of the present invention, a plurality of contacts on one side of a connector receptacle tongue may be formed of a single sheet of conductive material, such as a single sheet of stainless steel or sheet metal. 
     In these and other embodiments of the present invention, the power supply and signal contacts may include through-hole contacting portions. These through-hole contacting portions may fit in openings in a printed circuit board or other appropriate substrate to form electrical connections with traces in the printed circuit board or other appropriate substrate. These through-hole contacting portions may also provide mechanical stability for the combined connector receptacle. In other embodiments of the present invention, some or all of the contacts may terminate in surface-mount contacting portions. 
     These and other embodiments of the present invention may provide a combined connector receptacle having improved isolation among connector receptacles and among contacts in a connector receptacle by providing multiple ground paths. A shield of a connector insert inserted into a connector receptacle may connect to an EMI contact. The EMI contact may be soldered or spot or laser welded to an outer shield over the combined connector receptacle. The outer shield may include tabs that may fit in openings in a printed circuit board or other substrate, thereby forming ground connections. 
     The connector insert shield may also connect to a ground pad on the tongue via ground contacts of the connector insert. The tongue ground pad may connect to inner ground shields, which may be over lower housing assemblies of the combined connector receptacle. The inner ground shields may include tabs that may fit in openings in a printed circuit board or other substrate, thereby forming ground connections. The inner ground shield may be soldered or spot or laser welded to the outer shield, which again may include tabs to fit in openings in a printed circuit board. The ground pads may be part of a metallic ground frame that may further contact a central ground plane in the tongue of the connector receptacle. The central ground plane may include ground pins that may fit in openings in a printed circuit board or other substrate, thereby forming another ground connection. The ground frame may also be connected to other ground contacts that that may fit in openings in a printed circuit board or other substrate, thereby forming ground connections. 
     The connector insert shield may also connect to ground contacts on the tongue via side ground contacts of the connector insert. The ground contacts on the tongue may be part of the ground frame, which may have the ground pathways described above. 
     The ground contacts and ground frame may be metallic. For example, they may be formed by metal-injection molding. This may improve the wear performance, durability, and reliability of the receptacles in the combined connector receptacle. 
     While embodiments of the present invention may be useful in combined connector receptacles, these and other embodiments of the present invention may be used in single connector receptacle structures as well. 
     In various embodiments of the present invention, contacts, central ground planes, tongue frames, shields, EMI contacts, and other conductive portions of a combined connector receptacle 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, such as the housings, tongue insert portions, and other structures 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), ceramics, or other nonconductive material or combination of materials. The printed circuit boards used may be formed of FR-4 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 combined connector 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, video delivery systems, adapters, remote control devices, chargers, and other devices. These combined connector receptacles may provide pathways for signals that are compliant with various standards such as one of the Universal Serial Bus (USB) standards including USB Type-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 combined connector 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 connector 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 an electronic system that may be improved by the incorporation of embodiments of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  illustrates a front view of a combined connector receptacle according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  illustrates a back view of a combined connector receptacle according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  illustrates an underside of a combined connector receptacle according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 5  illustrates a pair of lower housing assemblies according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIGS. 6-8  illustrate an assembly of a combined connector receptacle according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIGS. 9-12  illustrates the assembly of a lower housing assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 13  illustrates a lower housing portion according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 14  illustrates details of a plurality of contacts for a lower housing portion according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 15  illustrates a side view of a lower housing portion to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIGS. 16-18  illustrate the assembly of a portion of a combined connector receptacle according to an embodiment of the present invention; and 
         FIGS. 19-20  illustrate ground paths through a combined connector receptacle according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS 
       FIG. 1  illustrates an electronic system that may be improved by the incorporation of embodiments 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. 
     This electronic system includes computer  110  and electronic device  130 . Computer  110  may communicate with electronic device  130  through cable  150 . Specifically, connector insert  140  may be inserted into one of the group of connector receptacles in combined connector receptacle  100  on computer  110 , and computer  110  may communicate with an electronic device  130  by sending and receiving signals (and perhaps power), through conductors in cable  150 . 
     Again, it may be desirable for computer  110  to communicate with several devices. These devices may be able to communicate with computer  110  using the same interface standard. Accordingly, several connector receptacles of the same type may be provided by combined connector receptacle  100 , though in other embodiments of the present invention, several connector receptacles of different types may be provided by combined connector receptacle  100 . 
     It may also be difficult to align openings of the connector receptacles of combined connector receptacle  100  to corresponding openings in a device enclosure of computer  110 . This is particularly true if a surface of the device enclosure for computer  110  is slanted relative to a printed circuit board supporting combined connector receptacle  100 . Accordingly, an embodiment of the present invention may provide a combined connector receptacle having an upper housing formed as a single unit. An example is shown in the following figures. 
       FIG. 2  illustrates a front view of a combined connector receptacle according to an embodiment of the present invention. Combined connector receptacle  100  may include upper housing  210  having top, front, back, and sides at least partially covered by shield  240 . Shield  240  may include tabs  242 . Tabs  242  may be inserted into corresponding openings in a printed circuit board or other appropriate substrate to form ground connections. Upper housing  210  may include openings  212  to allow passage of tongues  220  from lower housing assemblies (not shown.) 
     Alignment pin  230  may be located in passage  211  of housing  210 . Alignment pin  230  may include a first end extending above housing  210 . The first end may be inserted into a hole or recess in a device enclosure. Alignment pin  230  may further include a second end (not shown) emerging from a bottom of housing  210 . This second end of alignment pin  230  may be inserted into an opening, hole, or recess in a printed circuit board. In this way, the combined connector receptacle  100  may be aligned to a device enclosure and a printed circuit board. In this specific embodiment, alignment pin  230  may be formed separate from housing  210 . Alignment pin may be formed of metal or other material. In other embodiments of the present invention, some or all of alignment pin  230  may be formed as part of housing  210 . 
       FIG. 3  illustrates a back view of a combined connector receptacle according to an embodiment of the present invention. Again, combined connector receptacle  100  may include upper housing  210 . Upper housing  210  may be at least partially covered by shield  240 . In this example, outer shield  240  may cover a top, back, front, and sides of upper housing  210 . Outer shield  240  may include tabs  242 , which may be inserted into openings in a printed circuit board or other appropriate substrate to form connections to ground. 
     Combined connector receptacle  100  may further include tongues  220 , which may be located in openings  212  in housing  210 . Tongues  220  may be part of lower housing assemblies (not shown.) The lower housing assemblies may be at least partially covered by inner shield  310 . Inner shield  310  may be soldered or spot or laser welded to the outer shield  240  at locations  312 . 
     The connector receptacles formed by tongues  220  and openings  212  of housing  210  may include ground contacts to electrically contact outside shield of a connector insert when the connector insert is mated with the connector receptacle. Accordingly, the connector receptacles may include EMI contacts  320 . EMI contacts  320  may be soldered or spot or laser welded to outer shield  240  at points  322 . EMI contacts  320  may include tabs  324 , which may be inserted into slots  214  in upper housing  210  to secure EMI contacts  320  in place, which may be of particular use during assembly. Alignment pin  230  may also be included. 
     In various embodiments of the present invention, a surface of a device enclosure may be angled relative to a printed circuit board on which combined connector receptacle  100  may reside. In this example, a slight angle between tongues  220  may exist. This angle may be achieved by providing an upper housing having a greater average thickness above one of the lower housing assemblies  410  as compared to the other. In this specific example, facing the back of combined connector receptacle  100 , the upper housing  210  has increased thickness to the left side. Also in this example, a sharp angle in the direction if a length of tongue  220  may exist. This angle may be achieved by providing lower housing assemblies  410  with a generally wedge shape. 
     In this example, combined connector receptacle  100  may include two lower housing assemblies for USB Type-C receptacles. In other embodiments of the present invention, combined connector receptacle  100  may include other numbers of lower housing assemblies and the lower housing assemblies may be of one or more different types. These various types of lower housing assemblies may utilize various types of openings  212  in housing  210 . 
       FIG. 4  illustrates an underside of a combined connector receptacle according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this example, lower housing assemblies  410  may be attached to an underside of upper housing  210 . Lower housing assemblies  410  may include lower housing portions  430  and  440 . Each lower housing portion  430  and  440  may be formed around a plurality of contacts (shown below) having through-hole contact portions  452 . While through-hole contact portions  452  are shown in these examples, some of all of the contacts may instead terminate in surface-mount contacting portions. 
     Upper housing  210  may include posts  216  and tab  218 . These structures may fit in corresponding openings in a printed circuit board (not shown) for alignment and mechanical stability purposes. A second end of alignment pin  230  may emerge from an underside of housing  210 . The second end of alignment pin  230  may be inserted into an opening, hole, or recess in a printed circuit board or other appropriate substrate (not shown) for alignment and mechanical stability. 
     As shown above in  FIG. 3 , lower housing assemblies  410  may be at least partially covered by shield  310 . Shields  310  may include tabs  314  which may overlap with each other in the region between lower housing assemblies  410 . Tabs  314  of shields  310  may be soldered or spot or laser welded to each other at points  316 . 
     As before, shield  240  may at least partially cover upper housing  210  and lower housing assemblies  410 . Shields  240  may include tabs  242 . Tabs  242  may be inserted into openings of a printed circuit board or other appropriate substrate for grounding purposes. 
     In various embodiments of the present invention, combined connector receptacle  100  may be arranged to support the routing of traces in a printed circuit board. For example, lower housing assemblies  410  may be separated to allow routing between them. Also, some tabs  242  may be spaced from lower housing assemblies  410  to provide space for routing. 
     In various embodiments of the present invention, an upper housing  210  may provide openings  212  for various numbers of tongues  220  connected to lower housing assemblies  410 . In the illustrated examples, two lower housing assemblies  410  may be included, though in other embodiments of the present invention other numbers, such as three, four, five, six, or more than six lower housing assemblies  410  may be attached under an upper housing, such as upper housing  210 . An example showing a pair of lower housing assemblies  410  is shown in the following figure. 
       FIG. 5  illustrates a pair of lower housing assemblies according to an embodiment of the present invention. Lower housing assemblies  410  may include tongues  220 . Tongues  220  may support a number of contact portions  454  of contacts (shown below in further detail.) 
     Tongue  220  may be supported by tongue frame  510 . Tongue frame  510  may include ground pads  514  and side ground contacts  512 . Ground pads  514  may be located behind contacting portions  454  of the contacts. Contacting portions  454  of the contacts may be located between a front edge of tongue  220  and ground pads  514 . Side ground contacts  512  may include notches  513 . Notches  513  may engage contacting portions of side ground contacts in a connector insert when the connector insert is mated with a connector receptacle. Tongue insert portion  222  may be formed between side ground contacts  512  of tongue frame  510 . 
     In various embodiments of the present invention, tongue frame  510  may be formed of a conductive material or metal by injection molding, forging, printing, or by other appropriate techniques. Forming tongue frame  510  from metal, for example by metal injection molding, may improve wear performance, reliability, and durability of combined connector receptacle  100 . Tongue insert portion  222  may be formed of a nonconductive material, such as plastic, by injection molding or other appropriate techniques. This material may be a UL 94 V-0 grade plastic or other type of plastic or other material having a high flow rate for better formation of the features of tongue insert portion  222 , which are described further in  FIG. 10 . The material may also be selected to have a reduced glass fill content. 
     Lower housing assemblies  410  may include lower housing portions  440  and  430 . Lower housing portions  440  and  430  may provide mechanical support for contacts having contacting portions  454  and through-hole contacting portions  452 . Shield  310  may cover portions of lower housing portions  430  and  440 . For example, shields  310  may at least partially cover tops, sides, front and backs of lower housing portions  430  and  440 . Shield  310  may include folded portions  316  and  317 . Folded portions  316  and  317  may form electrical connections with tongue frame  510 . Folded portions  316  and  317  may be soldered or spot or laser welded to tongue frame  510 . Shield  310  may further include tabs  318 . Tabs  318  may be inserted into corresponding openings in a printed circuit board to form ground connections. Shields  310  may further include tabs  314 . Tabs  314  may be soldered or spot or laser welded to each other. In various embodiments of the present invention, lower housing assemblies  410 , with the exception of shields  310 , may be identical. Shields  310  may be mirror images of each other. 
       FIGS. 6-8  illustrate an assembly of a combined connector receptacle according to an embodiment of the present invention. In  FIG. 6 , alignment pin  230  may be inserted into passage  211  of upper housing  210 . Tab  324  of EMI contacts  320  may be inserted into slot  214  in upper housing  210 . In various embodiments of the present invention, EMI contacts  320  may include various contacting portions  326 . In this example, contact portion  326  may be folded back onto itself as shown. In other embodiments of the present invention, contact portions  326  may simply reside at an end of EMI contact  320 . An example is shown in  FIG. 18 . In  FIG. 7 , a number of lower housing assemblies  410  may be attached to an underside of upper housing  210 . Tongues  220  of lower housing assemblies  410  may emerge through openings  212  in upper housing  210 . In  FIG. 8 , shield  240  may be provided. Shield  240  may include openings  249 , which may align to openings  212  in upper housing  210  as shown in  FIG. 7 . Shield  240  may further include opening  247  to allow passage of alignment pin  230  as shown in  FIG. 6 . Once shield  240  is in place, the combined connector receptacle  100  of  FIG. 1  may be complete. 
       FIGS. 9-12  illustrates the assembly of a lower housing assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention. In  FIG. 9 , lower housing portions  430  and  440  may be attached with a central ground plane  910  between them. For example, posts (not shown) on lower housing portion  430  may fit through openings  913  in central ground plane  910  and into holes or recesses  444  in lower housing portion  440 . Lower housing portions  430  and  440  may be insert molded around contacts having contact portions  454  and through-hole contacting portions  452 . 
     Lower housing portions  430  and  440  may include openings  432  and  442 . These openings  432  and  442  may reduce a capacitance seen by the contacts, thereby increasing their impedance over frequency. Central ground plane  910  may include protrusions  912 ,  914 , and  916 , which may fit into slots in a molded portion of tongue  220 , as shown below. Central ground plane  910  may include through-hole contacting portions  919 . 
     In various embodiments of the present invention, various structures may be used to improve the grounding in these lower housing assemblies. In this example, central ground plane  910  may include side loops  918 . During assembly, side loops  918  may be compressed against an inside of tongue frame  510 , as shown below. Also, lower housing portions  430  and  440  may include ground contacts  920 . Ground contacts  920  may be folded back onto themselves such that they may contact the inside surface of tongue frame  510  when tongue frame  510  is mated with the lower housing portions  430  and  440 . An example of this mating is shown in the following figure. 
     In  FIG. 10 , tongue frame  510  may be attached to lower housing portions  430  and  440 . Tongue frame  510  may be fit over upper parts of lower housing portions  430  and  440 . Specifically, contacting portions  454  may be inserted into slots  223  in nonconductive tongue insert portion  222  of tongue  220 , though in other embodiments of the present invention, tongue insert portion  22  may be formed around contacting portions  454 . Protrusions  912 ,  914 , and  916  may fit in corresponding slots  1010  in tongue insert portion  222  of tongue  220 . Folded ground contacts  920  and side ground loops  918  may engage with an inside surface of tongue frame  510 . 
     In various embodiments of the present invention, protrusions  912 ,  914 ,  916  of central ground plane  910  may extend to various depths. In one example, the combined connector receptacle  100  may provide a number of USB type C connector receptacles. In this case, protrusions  912  and  916  may be located under high-speed differential pairs. These protrusions  912  and  916  may thus limit coupling between high-speed differential pair signals on the top and bottom sides of tongue  220 . Protrusion  914  may be located under lower speed differential signals and may have a shallower depth. In various embodiments of the present invention, these protrusions  912 ,  914 , and  916  may be used instead of a solid central tongue portion. A solid central tongue portion may require a corresponding slot in tongue insert portion  222  of tongue  220 . Such a slot in tongue insert portion  222  may have an excessive width that may put tongue insert portion  222  at risk of collapse, thereby creating manufacturing problems. The use of separate protrusions may limit the lateral width of corresponding slots in the tongue insert portion  222  of tongue  220 , thereby limiting the risk of collapse and simplifying the manufacturing process The use of protrusions  912 ,  914 ,  916 , where central protrusion  914  is shorter, may also provide a centering effect during assembly and may make it easier to properly attach tongue frame  510  to lower housing portions  430  and  440 . 
     In various embodiments of the present invention, molded portion  22  may be formed of a material that may be a VO grade plastic having a reduced glass fill content and having a high flow rate for better formation of the features such as slots  223  for contacting portions  454  and slots  1010  for protrusions  912 ,  914 , and  916 . 
     In  FIG. 11 , ground contact  920  may be folded over at tops of lower housing portions  430  and  440 . In  FIG. 12 , tongue frame  510  may be attached to lower housing portions  430  and  440 . 
     In various embodiments of the present invention, combined connector receptacles  100  may convey very high-speed signals. To improve signal quality at high-frequencies, embodiments of the present invention may provide differential signal paths having well-matched impedances between the two signal lines, as well as a high impedance for each signal line. Examples of this are shown in the following figures. 
       FIG. 13  illustrates a lower housing portion according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this example, lower housing portion  440  may be insert molded around portions of a number of contacts  450 . Contacts  450  may have contacting portions  454  and through-hole contacting portions  452 . Ground contacts  920  may be folded over at a top of housing portion  440 . Lower housing portion  440  may include windows  442 . Windows  442  may reduce an overall capacitance of contacts  450 . This may in turn increase the impedance at frequency that is seen by contacts  450 . 
       FIG. 14  illustrates details of a plurality of contacts for a lower housing portion according to an embodiment of the present invention. In various embodiments of the present invention, these contacts may be stamped from a single piece of metal, such as stainless steel, sheet metal, or other type of conductive material. In other embodiments the present invention, these contacts may be printed or formed using other techniques. Contacts  1420  and  1422  may be used to convey high-speed differential signals. Contacts  1420  and  1422  may have adjacent ground  920  and power contacts  1430 . To improve high-speed performance and the signal quality (or signal integrity) of the differential signals conveyed on contacts  1420  and  1422 , it may be desirable to match the impedances on contacts  1420  and  1422  to each other. This matching may be improved by matching a length and spacing of adjacent contacts for ground  920  and power  1430 . 
     A specific way this may be accomplished may be to route power contacts  1430  in such a way that acute angles  1410  are created in contacts  1430 . While such an angle may create electromagnetic interference when conveying a signal contacts, since contacts  1430  convey power, the acute angle  1410  does not to create a signal quality issue. Ground contact  920  may terminate via through-hole portion  922 , signal contacts  1420  and  1422  may terminate via through-hole contact portions  452 , while power supply contact  1430  may terminate via a through-hole contact portion  1432 . Additionally, a width of the contacts, for example mid-portions  548  may be made wider to adjust contact impedance. This arrangement may also lead to a reduced contact length, which may further reduce capacitance and increase contact impedance. 
     In various embodiments of the present invention, it may be desirable to stagger through-hole portions  922 ,  452 , and  1432 . This may allow more space for each through-hole contact, thereby simplifying printed circuit board manufacturing and allowing room for routing traces on the board. An example is shown in the following figure. 
       FIG. 15  illustrates a side view of a lower housing portion to an embodiment of the present invention. Lower housing portion  440  may support a number of contacts having contacting portions  454  and through-hole contact portions  922 ,  1432 , and  452 . By staggering the power and ground through-hole portions  922  and  1432  by putting them in a different plane from signal through-hole contact portions  452 , more space may be made available for each through-hole contacting portion. This additional space may simplify manufacturing of the printed circuit board and allow room for routing traces on the board. 
     In various embodiments of the present invention, various parts of contacts  450 , such as through-hole contact portions  922 ,  1432 , and  452 , may be slightly non-orthogonal to one or more portions of contacts  450  or surfaces of lower housing portion  440 . This may help to provide an angled combined connector receptacle  100  that may be aligned to a device enclosure that is oblique to a printed circuit board that supports the connector receptacle  100 . 
       FIGS. 16-18  illustrate the assembly of a portion of a combined connector receptacle according to an embodiment of the present invention. In  FIG. 16 , upper housing  210  may be provided. In  FIG. 17 , alignment pin  230  may be inserted into opening  211  of upper housing  210 . In  FIG. 18 , tabs  324  of EMI contacts  320  may be inserted into slots  214  in upper housing  210 . EMI contacts  230  may include contacting portions  326  at its ends. In this example, alignment pin  230  is shown separately from the upper housing  210 . 
       FIGS. 19-20  illustrate ground paths through a combined connector receptacle according to an embodiment of the present invention. In  FIG. 19 , a connector insert  1910  having a shield  1912  may be inserted into combined connector receptacle  100 . Shield  1912  of connector insert  1910  may touch off against contacting portion  326  of EMI contact  320 . EMI contacts  320  may be soldered or spot or laser welded to outer shield  240 . Outer shield  240  may include tabs  242  that may provide connection to ground on a printed circuit board or other appropriate substrate (not shown.) 
     In  FIG. 20 , ground contacts  1914  of connector insert  1910  may be electrically connected to shield  1912  of connector insert  1910 . Ground contacts  1914  of connector insert  910  may contact ground pads  514  of tongue frame  510 . Tongue frame  510  may, as shown above, electrically connect to inner shield  310  and central ground plane  910 . Central ground plane  910  may include contacts  919  as shown in  FIG. 9  for making electrical connections to ground in a printed circuit board or other appropriate substrate. Inner shield  310  may electrically connect to outer shield  240  (not shown), which again may include tabs  242 . Inner shield  310  may further include tabs  318  as shown in  FIG. 5 . Tabs  318  and  242  may be inserted into a printed circuit board or other appropriate substrate to form ground connections. An additional ground path through side ground contacts in connector insert  1910  may connect to side ground contacts  512  of tongue  210  as shown in  FIG. 10 . From there, ground may again return through inner shields  310  and central ground plane  910 . 
     In various embodiments of the present invention, contacts, central ground planes, tongue frames, shields, EMI contacts, and other conductive portions of a combined connector receptacle 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, such as the housings, tongue insert portions, and other structures 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), ceramics, or other nonconductive material or combination of materials. The printed circuit boards used may be formed of FR-4 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 combined connector 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, video delivery systems, adapters, remote control devices, chargers, and other devices. These combined connector receptacles may provide pathways for signals that are compliant with various standards such as one of the Universal Serial Bus (USB) standards including USB Type-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 combined connector 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 connector 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: 20160923
Publication Date: 20171024
Grant Date: 20171024
Priority Date: 20160923
Inventors: ZHOU RUI
AMINI MAHMOUD R.
Rimando Daren L.
Assignee: APPLE INC
CPC Classifications: [{"code": "H01R2107/00", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01R13/659", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01R13/629", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01R24/60", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01R24/60", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01R13/6586", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01R13/6581", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01R12/712", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01R13/6594", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01R13/6594", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01R13/6586", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01R13/6581", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01R12/712", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01R13/659", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01R24/60", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01R13/629", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01R2107/00", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}]
Family ID: 60082635