Electrical connectors – With circuit conductors and safety grounding provision – Grounding to connector container or housing
Reexamination Certificate
1999-09-07
2001-12-11
Bradley, Paula (Department: 2833)
Electrical connectors
With circuit conductors and safety grounding provision
Grounding to connector container or housing
C439S939000, C439S616000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06328578
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Technical Field
This invention relates in general to grounding electrical connector emissions, and in particular to an apparatus and method for grounding high frequency, electromagnetic emissions at electrical connector interfaces.
2. Background Art
Controlling electromagnetic (EM) emissions of computing systems by shielding or grounding the hardware, connectors and the like is well known in the art. One problem with conventional connectors is that they have a limited range of operational frequency support. Some connector types such as PCI connectors or DIN connectors for the keyboard and mouse only support frequencies up to about 400 MHZ. However, as systems continue to improve, frequencies of 1 GHz or more are becoming commonplace. If left unchecked, these higher frequencies can emit excessive amounts of EM interference. This problem is particularly acute with existing or older systems that have been upgraded to run at higher speeds. These systems were not designed to operate at such levels and are incapable of grounding the associated EM emissions. Thus, a solution is needed to ground inadequately insulated equipment, particularly at the connector interfaces.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An electromagnetic grounding plate has a central hole with a set of splines that extend radially inward toward the center of the hole. The plate is mounted between a housing and a receptacle connector such that the hole coaxially aligns with an aperture in the housing. A mating connector for the receptacle connector has an outer sleeve and a set of contact pins inside the sleeve.
The mating connector is inserted through the aperture in the housing and into engagement with the receptacle connector. As the sleeve of the mating connector contacts the splines on the plate, the splines deflect slightly inward toward the receptacle connector. The contact between the sleeve and the splines establishes a radio frequency (RF) contact between the mating connector and the housing to ground high frequency electromagnetic emissions.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4386814 (1983-06-01), Asick
patent: 5317105 (1994-05-01), Weber
patent: 5997349 (1999-12-01), Yoshioka
Gilliland Don Alan
Jones Daniel F.
Bracewell & Patterson LLP
Bradley Paula
International Business Machines - Corporation
Leon Edwin A.
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