High-speed transmission connector

Details High-speed transmission connector High-speed transmission connector

2002-01-04

2003-04-15

Ta, Tho D. (Department: 2833)

Electrical connectors

Electromagnetic or electrostatic shield

Shielding individually surrounding or interposed between...

C439S108000, C439S941000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06547595

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a high-speed transmission connector for use in a communication device or the like, which is suitable for transmission of high-frequency signals.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 11
shows a conventional high-speed transmission connector in front view, while
FIG. 12
shows the same in rear view.
FIG. 13
is a cross-sectional view taken on line XIII—XIII of FIG.
11
.
FIG. 14
shows the
FIG. 11
transmission connector in side view.
FIG. 15
is a cross-sectional view taken on line XV—XV of
FIG. 14
, while
FIG. 16
is a cross-sectional view taken on line XVI—XVI of FIG.
14
.
FIG. 17A
is a side view of an upper-section shield contact,
FIG. 17B
a front view of the same, and FIG.
17
C and
FIG. 17D
are a rear view and a plan view, respectively. Further,
FIG. 18A
is a side view of a middle-section shield contact,
FIG. 18B
a front view of the same, and FIG.
18
C and
FIG. 18D
are a rear view and a plan view, respectively.
The conventional connector includes an insulator
110
and a shield casing
120
attached to the insulator
110
in intimate contact with the same.
The insulator
110
holds signal contacts
130
a
,
130
b
, . . . (generically designated by reference numeral
130
), the upper-section shield contact
140
and the middle-section shield contact
150
.
A location plate
160
is fixedly secured to a rear face of the insulator
110
e.g. by press-fitting or the like. The location plate
160
has a lattice of contact through holes
161
formed therethrough. The contact through holes
161
are formed with respective tapered faces for guiding the contacts
130
,
140
,
150
.
The signal contacts
130
and the shield contacts
140
,
150
each have an intermediate portion thereof bent at a right angle (see FIGS.
17
A and
18
A).
Each of the signal contacts
130
and the shield contacts
140
,
150
has one end portion thereof inserted through a corresponding one of the contact through holes
161
and held by the location plate
160
.
The front face (right side, as viewed in
FIG. 14
) of the insulator
110
is formed with receiving holes
111
for connection with a mating connector, not shown.
Each of the signal contacts
130
and the shield contacts
140
,
150
has the other end thereof disposed in a corresponding one of the receiving holes
111
.
The signal contacts
130
a
,
130
b
and the signal contacts
130
c
,
130
d
are arranged on opposite sides of the shield contact
140
(see FIG.
13
).
The signal contacts
130
e
,
130
f
and the signal contacts
130
g
,
130
h
are arranged on opposite sides of the shield contact
150
.
The signal contacts
130
a
,
130
b
adjacent to each other are used to transmit paired signals.
In the above connector, however, since respective portions (designated by an arrow A in
FIG. 14
) of the contacts
130
,
140
are, exposed between the insulator
110
and the location plate
160
, characteristic impedances of the contacts, which are determined by inductances and capacitances of the respective contacts, become higher than a characteristic impedance applied to a transmission system for transmitting high-frequency signals and high-speed signals, which causes a mismatch between the characteristic impedances.
Further, the characteristic impedances of an associated pair of signal contacts
130
(e.g. the signal contacts
130
a
,
130
b
) differ from each other due to difference in distance between the shield contacts
140
,
150
and the respective corresponding signal contacts
130
(the impedance of a contact arranged at a location farther from a corresponding shield contact Is higher than that of a contact arranged at a location closer to the shield contact), which causes variations in high-frequency characteristics of the associated pair of signal contacts .
As a result, losses of high-frequency signals and high-speed signals due to the mismatch between the characteristic impedances are increased, and hence transmission characteristics are considerably degraded.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the invention to provide a high-speed transmission connector which is capable of maintaining a match between characteristic impedances and achieving excellent transmission characteristics for transmission of high-frequency signals and high-speed signals.
To attain the above object, the present invention provides a high-speed transmission connector comprising:
an insulator;
at least one shield contact held by the insulator;
at least one pair of signal contacts held by the insulation and each arranged on respective opposite sides of a corresponding one of the at least one shield contact; and
a shield member enclosing the at least one pair of signal contacts and arranged continuous with the shield contact.
According to this high-speed transmission connector, since portions of the signal contacts and the shield contact, which are exposed in the prior art, are enclosed by the shield member continuous with the shield contact, the signal contacts are shielded, whereby characteristic impedances of the respective signal contacts are reduced and become equal to each other.
Preferably, the shield member is integrally formed with the shield contact.
According to this preferred embodiment, since the shield member is integrally formed with the shield contact, it is possible to prevent an increase in number of component parts of the connector.


REFERENCES:
patent: 6379184 (2002-04-01), Bassler et al.

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