Electrical connectors – With circuit conductors and safety grounding provision – Direct grounding of coupling part member passing into aperture
Reexamination Certificate
1998-03-17
2003-05-20
Donovan, Lincoln (Department: 2832)
Electrical connectors
With circuit conductors and safety grounding provision
Direct grounding of coupling part member passing into aperture
C439S108000, C439S607560
Reexamination Certificate
active
06565369
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the field of circuit board connectors. More particularly, the present invention pertains to stacking circuit board connectors for high speed signaling.
2. Description of Related Art
Improving the overall signal transfer characteristics of circuit board connectors can allow higher frequency signals to be transferred through such connectors. As a result, system level signal frequencies may be raised when an improved connector is employed in a system where the connector would otherwise limit the speed of system communication.
Stackable connectors are connectors which allow circuit boards that are substantially parallel to be connected. A cross sectional view of a ground pin of one prior art stackable connector is shown in FIG.
1
. The prior art connector connects ground, power, and signal lines from one circuit board
160
to another circuit board
170
via a mating plug and receptacle arrangement. When a receptacle housing
105
engages a plug housing
100
, plug pins
120
and
130
contact their respective receptacle pins
140
and
150
. Although there is a gap shown beneath the plug housing
100
in this cross-sectional view, the housing
100
is typically attached to the circuit board
170
at both ends, beyond the last contact.
The pin
120
has a beam portion
122
which has a solder foot
176
extending beyond the plug housing
100
for soldering to the circuit board
170
at a solder point
172
. The pin
120
is thus connected to a signal line
174
in the circuit board
170
. A nib
115
may be included for some signal lines (e.g., a ground signal line) to contact an optional electromagnetic interference (EMI) shield
110
which is useful for limiting radio frequency radiation from the connector.
The pin
120
has an elongated portion
124
connected substantially perpendicular to the beam portion
122
. The elongated portion extends outwardly away from a vertical center of the housing
100
. A contact portion
126
is pressed against the receptacle pin
140
by an S-shaped portion
128
. The second signal pin
130
is similarly configured.
The receptacle portion includes the receptacle housing
105
which supports the receptacle pins
140
and
150
as well as the optional EMI shield
110
. The EMI shield
110
is also typically supported by plastic protrusions spaced along its length. The receptacle pin
140
includes a solder foot
142
which allows the contact
140
to be connected to the circuit board
160
at a solder point
162
, establishing an electrical connection between the contact
140
and a signal line
166
in the circuit board
160
. The receptacle pin
150
is similarly configured to make an electrical connection with a signal line
168
via the solder connection
164
.
A prior art signal pin is similar to the illustrated ground pin except that there is no nib which contacts the plug pin to the optional EMI shield
110
. No particular arrangement of ground and signal pins is typically required in the prior art, except when the optional EMI shield
110
is used, The EMI shield
110
is designed to contact every tenth pin, forcing that pin to be a ground pin. Thus, while the prior art allows power, ground, and signals to be transmitted between the two boards, the impedance of the signal/contact interface and the overall connector structure is not carefully controlled.
The prior art stackable connector fails to provide metal shields which surround signal pins at a desired distance to tune the characteristic impedance of the signal pin. Furthermore, the prior art does not allow ground planes to be brought sufficiently close to signal pins in stackable connectors due to the typical thickness of the housing
105
and the lack of any shielding mechanism on at least the inward side of the signal pins.
SUMMARY
An improved stacking connector is disclosed. The connector includes a plug portion and a receptacle portion. The plug portion includes a plug signal pin and a plug impedance control pin located adjacent to the plug signal pin. The receptacle portion includes a receptacle signal pin for engaging the plug signal pin when the plug portion and the receptacle portion are in a mated position. The connector also includes an impedance control shield which is located adjacent to the plug signal pin or the receptacle signal pin.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5542851 (1996-08-01), Chikano
patent: 5620340 (1997-04-01), Andrews
patent: 5645436 (1997-07-01), Chimizu et al.
patent: 5842887 (1998-12-01), Andrews
patent: 5851121 (1998-12-01), Thenaisie et al.
Schulz Hugo K.
Turner Leonard O.
Donovan Lincoln
Draeger Jeffrey S.
Intel Corporation
LandOfFree
Board-stacking connector does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Board-stacking connector, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Board-stacking connector will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3040549