U.S. patent number 3,587,029 [Application Number 04/882,096] was granted by the patent office on 1971-06-22 for rf connector.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Litton Precision Products, Inc.. Invention is credited to Robert F. Knowles.
United States Patent |
3,587,029 |
Knowles |
June 22, 1971 |
RF CONNECTOR
Abstract
An RF connector for printed circuit boards, strip line cards,
printed circuit cables and the like, particularly for micro-system
packaging. The connector is adapted to be mounted on a baseboard or
strip line card provided with a ground plane. A copper shield is
mounted on the body of the connector with individual insulated tabs
or fingers and one or more uninsulated tabs or fingers inserted
behind the contacts of the connector. The lower edge of the shield
is attached to a ground contact or directly to the baseboard or
card. The impedance of a signal circuit can be varied by varying
the length of the insulated tab that is in close proximity to the
signal contact. Preferably the shield is provided with an
insulating coating on one side so that electrical contact can be
made with a ground contact of the connector by merely folding over
the tip end of the grounding tab.
Inventors: |
Knowles; Robert F. (Litchfield,
CT) |
Assignee: |
Litton Precision Products, Inc.
(Beverly Hills, CA)
|
Family
ID: |
25379882 |
Appl.
No.: |
04/882,096 |
Filed: |
December 4, 1969 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
439/607.34;
439/108; 439/516; 439/62; 439/514; 439/637; 439/741 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H01R
13/6471 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
H01r 003/06 () |
Field of
Search: |
;339/14,17,176,177,182,21 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Novosad; Stephen J.
Assistant Examiner: Hafer; Robert A.
Claims
What I claim is:
1. In an electrical connector comprising an insulating connector
body provided with an inner recess adapted to receive a plug-in
member and a row of interspersed signal and ground contacts in said
recess each having terminal portions projecting from said connector
body, the improvement comprising a grounded metallic shield having
a main section outside said connector body and integral tabs or
fingers extending into said recess in close proximity to said
contacts, one of said tabs or fingers being disposed in electrical
contact with said ground contact.
2. An electrical connector according to claim 1, in which the
grounded shield is provided with an insulating coating on the tabs
or fingers adjacent the signal contacts in said recess.
3. An electrical connector according to claim 1, in which said tabs
or fingers on the grounded metallic shield are selectively coated
with insulation in certain areas to provide conductive contact with
some of the connector contacts only.
4. An electrical connector according to claim 1, in which the
surface of at least one of said tabs or fingers is disposed in
intimate contact with the surface of a signal contact but insulated
therefrom.
5. An electrical connector comprising a row of interspaced ground
and signal contacts, a metallic ground plate having integral tabs
or fingers in physical contact with the respective connector
contacts, said tabs or fingers being provided with an insulating
coating on the areas where the tabs or fingers engage the signal
contacts, and a ground connection for said ground plate.
6. An electrical connector comprising an insulating connector body
provided with an inner cavity or recess, a plurality of resilient
contact members mounted in said cavity or recess and adapted to
cooperate with the terminal contacts of a printed circuit component
inserted in said cavity or recess, said contact members having
integral terminal portions projecting from the connector body for
mounting the connector on a second circuit component having a
ground plane, and a metallic grounding shield on the outside
surface of said insulating connecting body and provided with
integral tabs or fingers projecting inside said cavity or recess in
a position to engage the surface of the respective contact members,
said tabs or fingers having an insulating coating on the surface
engaging said connector contact members.
7. An electrical connector according to claim 6, in which one of
the tabs or fingers is folded over at the tip to make electrical
contact with a predetermined one of the contact members.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention pertains to a conductive shield for a multicontact
electrical connector which provides reduced spacing of the signal
and ground contacts both in the connector and on the baseboard or
strip line card on which the connector is mounted. Hitherto the
physical separation of conflicting contacts has been wasteful of
contact positions both on the connector and the cooperating
motherboard or car.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to an improved edgeboard connector for
printed circuit boards and the like and designed to economize on
space, particularly in the use of microminiature components. The
connector comprises one or two rows of interspaced signal and
ground contact members disposed in a recess in the connector body
and adapted to make contact with the terminals of the plug-in board
when the board is inserted in the recess. The connector preferably
is designed to be dip soldered to a baseboard or motherboard or to
a ground plane, for example on a strip line card.
A metallic conductive shield on the outside of the body of the
connector is provided with insulated and uninsulated tabs or
fingers extending into the recess in the connector and adapted to
make contact with the respective contact members. The grounded
shield is provided with a thin insulating coating on one surface
thereof to provide insulation between the shield and signal
contacts but permit electrical contact with a ground contact
member, for example by folding the tip end of the tab or finger to
expose the uninsulated surface at that point. The length of the
insulated tabs or fingers may be altered to vary the impedance of
the signal circuit through the adjacent contact member.
In general terms the object of the invention is to provide a
compact and effective arrangement for shielding the connector
contact members, providing a path for current flow from the ground
contact or contacts and for impedance matching.
Another object of the invention is to simplify the shield and
grounding functions in a small or miniature connector and
facilitate the electrical connections to a baseboard or other
component associated with the connector.
A still further object of the invention is to obtain impedance
matching with a signal cable or the like through the contact
members of the connector.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
In the drawing, FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view to an enlarged
scale of a connector embodying the invention mounted on a baseboard
or associated circuit component;
FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the connector taken on the line 2-2
of FIG. 1; and
FIG. 3 is a detailed view of the insulating copper shield.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The illustrative embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 1 and 2
of the drawing is a miniature edgeboard electrical connector 10
provided with a double row of contact members disposed in a recess
in the connector body in position to engage the terminal contacts
11 of a printed circuit board or similar circuit component 12. As
shown, the connector 10 is mounted on a baseboard or panel 15
having spaced terminals 16 to which the terminals 17 of the contact
members are soldered. The general construction of the connector and
cooperating circuit components is conventional and may be modified
for use with other types of circuit boards or with strip line cards
or flexible printed circuit cables, as well known to those skilled
in the art. In accordance with the invention, a novel metallic
grounding shield 20 is provided on one or both of the outer
surfaces of the insulating connector body 21.
As shown by way of example, the resilient contact members 23 and 24
of the connector 10 each comprises an arcuate contact section 25
(see FIG. 2) integral with the terminal portion 17, the latter
being square in cross section so that the contact members are
locked in place by twisting the ends of the terminals as indicated
at 26. The terminal portion of the contact members may be straight
as shown for the contact member 23 or may be deformed as indicated
at 28 on the contact member 24 in order to locate adjacent
terminals in staggered relation if desired.
The metallic shield 20, as shown, consists of a copper plate or
flat section on the outside of the connector body with integral
fingers or tabs 30 extending into the recess in a position to
engage the outer portions of the contact members 23 and 24. One
surface of the shield 30 is coated with a thin durable adhesive
insulating coating as shown more clearly in FIG. 3. After the
fingers 30 are formed in the sheet stock by a punching operation,
the sheet is folded to provide opposed fingers and skirt section 31
of the required dimensions. In the construction shown by way of
example, the contact members 23 and 24 from an array of
interspersed ground and signal contacts. The finger 30 associated
with one of the contact members 23 has the tip end 30a thereof
folded to expose the uninsulated surface and make electrical
contact with a ground contact member. The lower end of the shield
20 is soldered to the contact terminal as shown at the point 32 and
to the ground plane of the baseboard 15 at the point 33. The
insulated finger or tab 30 associated with signal contacts 23, 24
does not make electrically conductive contact with said contacts.
The terminal portion of a signal contact 24 is shown as soldered to
a signal element of the circuit component 15 at the point 34. The
shield 20 may also be provided with an integral tab 35 to form a
ground lead for the shield.
When used in an RF connector where impedance matching with a
printed circuit cable is desired, the length of the insulated
fingers or tabs 30 associated with signal contacts may be altered
to effect this result, which is an important feature for many
applications.
A thin insulating coating on the tabs provides the desired close
spacing between the shield 20 and the signal contact.
It will be apparent that the invention provides a compact and
effective construction for shielding and grounding the contact
members of a small edgeboard connector, which can be readily
adapted for use with printed circuit board and cables strip line
cards and similar circuit components.
It avoids the requirement for physical separation of the
conflicting signal and ground contacts along the length of the
connector, which is wasteful of contact positions both on the
connector and on the motherboard. Furthermore the positioning of
the ground contact is not fixed by the shield stamping and the
shield embodying the invention is adaptable to different printed
circuit boards. Thus special tooling for different contact
arrangements is not required.
* * * * *