Electrical connectors – With circuit component or comprising connector which fully... – Termination circuit
Reexamination Certificate
2000-12-06
2003-07-01
Bradley, P. Austin (Department: 2833)
Electrical connectors
With circuit component or comprising connector which fully...
Termination circuit
C439S607070, C439S676000, C439S941000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06585540
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to microminiature electronic elements and particularly to an improved design and method of manufacturing a multi-connector assembly having noise shielding and internal electronic components.
2. Description of Related Technology
Multi-connector assemblies are well known in the electronic connector arts. As shown in
FIGS. 1
a
-
1
c
, such assemblies
100
typically comprise a number of rows
101
and columns
103
of individual connectors
104
(such as the RJ 11 or RJ 45 type) arranged so as to allow the simultaneous insertion and connection of multiple modular plugs (not shown) into the plug recesses
106
of the connectors. See, also, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,193,560 issued Feb. 27, 2001, co-owned by the Assignee hereof. There are several major considerations in designing and manufacturing such a multi-connector assembly, including: (i) shielding the individual connectors against externally generated electromagnetic interference (EMI) or “noise”, (ii) the size or volume consumed by the assembly, (iii) reliability, and (iv) the cost of manufacturing.
With respect to EMI, prior art multi-connector assemblies such as that of
FIGS. 1
a
-
1
c
are typically constructed from a molded plastic housing
102
in which the individual connectors
104
are integrally formed, and an external metallic noise shield
172
which wraps around or envelops much of the external surface area of the connector housing. This approach of using merely an external “wrap-around” noise shield
172
has several drawbacks, however. Specifically, such an arrangement does not provide complete or even near-complete shielding of the individual connectors
104
in the assembly
100
, since the bottom surface
111
of the connector housing is often left largely unshielded due to concerns of reduced reliability due to electrical shorting between the connector conductors
120
and the metallic shield
172
. This “gap” in the shielding decreases the overall performance of the connector assembly
100
by decreasing the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) resulting from the increased noise. Additionally, such wrap-around external shields
172
do not address the issue of cross-connector noise leakage; i.e., noise radiated by the components of one connector in the assembly interfering with the signal of the other connectors, and vice-versa.
Accordingly, attempts have been made to provide additional shielding between the individual connectors in the assembly, including providing one or more shield elements between the conductors thereof. See U.S. Pat. No. 5,531,612 entitled “Multi-port Modular Jack Assembly” issued Jul. 2, 1996 ('612 patent). While an improvement over the aforementioned prior art devices using only a “wrap around” noise shield, the invention of the '612 patent suffers from several disabilities, including inter alia: (i) no provision for noise shielding between the connector assembly and the substrate (e.g., PCB) to which it is mounted; and (ii) The use of substantially perpendicular molded conductor inserts
140
a
,
140
b
or carriers (two per connector) which complicate the manufacture and assembly of the device and increase cost of manufacturing. Additionally, the device disclosed in the '612 patent does not include filtering, voltage transformation, or other electronic components for each connector integrally within the assembly itself, hence, no provision for physically accommodating and shielding such components is provided.
A related issue concerns the use of noise-emitting sources such as light emitting diodes (LEDs)
160
in the connectors of the assembly; such components are also potentially significant sources of EMI, and therefore should in many cases be shielded from the other connector components in order to achieve optimal performance. Prior art multi-connector assemblies such as that of
FIGS. 1
a
-
1
c
or the '612 patent typically have no provision for shielding of the LEDs from the other connector assembly components, a significant disability. Rather, the LEDs
160
are commonly disposed physically within the external shield
172
, often in close proximity to other connector components such as the conductors
120
and in-line electronic filters (not shown).
Since in general consumers are highly sensitive to the cost and pricing of multi-connector assemblies, there exists a constant tension between producing a multi-connector assembly which has the best possible (noise) performance with the lowest possible cost. Hence, the most desirable situation is that where comprehensive external and cross-component noise shielding can be implemented with little impact on the cost of the finished product as a whole. Additionally, since board space (“footprint”) and volume are such important factors in miniaturized electronic components, improvements in performance and noise shielding ideally should in no way increase the size of the component. Lastly, the connector assembly must also optimally include signal filtering/conditioning components such as inductive reactors (i.e., “choke” coils), transformers, and the like with no penalty in terms of space or noise performance.
Based on the foregoing, it would be most desirable to provide an improved multi-connector assembly and method of manufacturing the same. Such an improved assembly would be reliable, and provide enhanced external and intra-connector noise suppression, including suppressing noise between integral electronic components and the substrate to which the assembly is mounted, while occupying a minimum volume. Additionally, such improved device could be manufactured easily and cost-efficiently.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention satisfies the aforementioned needs by providing an improved shielded multi-connector assembly, and method of manufacturing the same.
In a first aspect of the invention, an improved shielded connector assembly for use on, inter alia, a printed circuit board or other electronic substrate is disclosed. In one exemplary embodiment, the assembly comprises a connector housing having a plurality of connector recesses; a plurality of conductors disposed within each of the plurality of recesses; and a shielded substrate disposed relative to the connector housing and providing shielding there for. The connector housing is formed from a non-conductive polymer and comprises multiple rows of individual RJ45 or RJ11 connectors, each having a plurality of conductors adapted to mate with the corresponding conductors of a modular plug received within the respective recesses. The conductors of each individual connector are formed so as to obviate the need for overmolded carriers, and are disposed on a removable electronic component package. The terminal end of the conductors penetrates the shielded substrate disposed on the bottom of the connector housing, the substrate being a multi-layered device specially constructed to provide shielding against electromagnetic interference (EMI) or other deleterious electronic noise. The substrate further acts to help register the terminal ends of the conductors to facilitate rapid and easy connection to an external component. An external noise shield is also installed to shield against electronic noise transmitted via surfaces other than the bottom of the housing. In a second embodiment, the shielded substrate comprises a single-layer copper alloy shield which is shaped to cover the majority of surface area on the bottom of the connector.
In a second embodiment, the connector assembly further includes a top-to-bottom shield element disposed substantially between the horizontal rows of connectors, the top-to-bottom shield providing noise separation between the conductors of the connectors in each row. In one variant, the top-to-bottom shield element comprises a removable metallic strip which is received within a preformed groove existing between the rows of individual connectors. In another variant, the top-to-bottom shield is formed as a thin metallic film within the connec
Dean Dallas A.
Doyle, III Bruce I.
Gutierrez Aurelio J.
Bradley P. Austin
Gazdzinski & Associates
Nguyen Truc
Pulse Engineering
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