U.S. patent number 3,852,700 [Application Number 05/356,254] was granted by the patent office on 1974-12-03 for grounding base for connector.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Michael P. Breston. Invention is credited to Edward Leon Haws.
United States Patent |
3,852,700 |
Haws |
December 3, 1974 |
GROUNDING BASE FOR CONNECTOR
Abstract
This invention relates to coupling devices for connectors and
more particularly to connectors adapted to carry a plurality of
detachable electrical contacts. Such connectors typically include a
dielectric support. At least the electric contacts of one group
extend outwardly from the support. Typically such contacts are
tubular in form. In accordance with this invention there is
provided in combination with such a dielectric support a base made
of a conductor material. The base is positioned adjacent to the
dielectric support and defines a plurality of openings through
which are allowed to extend the electric contacts. Those electric
contacts which it is desired to maintain at a common ground level
fit snugly in the openings of the conductor base. In this manner
good electric contact engagement is provided between the grounded
contacts of the connector and the conductor base. Those electric
contacts which it is not desired to ground fit loosely in the
openings to avoid being short-circuited by the conductor plate.
Inventors: |
Haws; Edward Leon (Houston,
TX) |
Assignee: |
Breston; Michael P. (Houston,
TX)
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Family
ID: |
26999168 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/356,254 |
Filed: |
April 30, 1973 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
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817476 |
Apr 18, 1969 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
439/98; 439/579;
439/225 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H01R
13/6585 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
H01R
13/658 (20060101); H01r 003/06 () |
Field of
Search: |
;339/14R,14L,14P,18R,18B,19,177R |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Gilliam; Paul R.
Assistant Examiner: Hafer; Robert A.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Breston; Michael P.
Parent Case Text
This application is a continuation of our application for U.S.
Patent Ser. No. 817,476, filed Apr. 18, 1969, now abandoned.
Claims
What I claim is:
1. A coaxial electrical connector assembly comprising:
a. a pair of cooperable plug members carrying a plurality of
coaxially-engageable, pin-and-socket connector elements in opposed
end faces of the plug members;
b. certain ones of the said connector elements having mating ends
extending outwardly of said end face of said plug member, each said
pin element having a conically-tapered, enlarged-diameter portion
spaced inwardly from said mating end, said diameter of said tapered
portion increasing in the direction away from said mating end;
c. a thin, flexible metal grounding plate separate from said plug
members disposed in between the opposed end faces of said plug
members;
d. the body of said grounding plate defining a sufficient number of
insert-free, cylindrical holes to permit passage therethrough of
all of the connector pin elements projecting outwardly from said
plug member; and
e. the diameters of the individual holes being made such that when
the plug members are moved into mating engagement with each other,
said tapered portions of said connector pin elements become engaged
in wedging pressure contact with the encircling walls of their
mating holes, of said grounding plate while one side of said plate
remains spaced from said end face of said plug member containing
said pin elements, and while said other end face of said other plug
member engages the opposite side of said plate, each such pressure
contact establishing a mechanical and electrical contact with the
grounding plate.
2. The connector assembly of claim 1 wherein certain others of the
said pin connector elements having mating ends extending outwardly
of said end face of said plug member, each said pin element having
a cylindrical configuration, the diameter of each pin connector
element being less than the diameter of each of said holes.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The problem of transient interference in audio and video circuits
is familiar both to their designers and to their users. When an
electric motor, razor, food mixer, etc. is operated in close
proximity to such circuits the quality of reception becomes
deleteriously affected. In modern aircraft and missiles, there are
housed in close proximity thousands of sensitive guidance
instruments, each capable of generating an electromagnetic field
which is capable of inducing unwanted signals into the neighboring
instruments.
In analog and hybrid computers the intelligence signals processed
by the operational amplifiers and other computing networks have
relatively small magnitudes. Thus, the input to a summing junction
of an operational amplifier may be on the order of a few
microvolts. It will be appreciated therefor that any interferring
or unwanted signals appearing on the input lines of such computing
networks may be comparable in magnitude to the signals themselves
and hence greatly affect the accuracy of the computed results.
A well-known practice employed to avoid the deleterious effects of
transient, parasitic, or other unwanted signals generated by
extraneous electromagnetic fields is to use pairs of coaxial
conductors, each pair having a center conductor which is completely
surrounded by an outer conductor, typically made of meshed wire. A
dielectric material separates the two conductors. Coaxial wires
produce in most instances a negligible external electromagnetic
field and have essentially little susceptibility to external fields
from other sources and/or from fields produced by adjacent pairs of
coaxial conductors. For these and other reasons such coaxial lines
are extensively employed as radio-frequency transmission lines,
multi-channel telephone carrier and television program lines, and
in other communications networks. Such coaxial lines are also now
widely employed in analog and hybrid computers.
In installations containing numerous networks it is, of course,
necessary to cut the coaxial wires and connect them to couplings or
connectors so as to interconnect them with other coaxial wires. In
the process of cutting coaxial lines the protection against
unwanted signals provided by the outer conductor is substantially
lost. A common expedient is to connect, as by soldering, each outer
conductor of each pair of coaxial conductors to a common ground
base. Those familiar with such a procedure will appreciate the
expense both in time and money that such a practice requires. In
addition, it is difficult to avoid "cold soldered joints" with a
result that some coaxial wires are not properly grounded.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention will find application in connection with various
types of commercially available coupling devices or connectors
characterized by having a plurality of electrical contacts
extending from a connector interface. While the invention is
illustrated in connection with tubular contact elements, the
invention is equally applicable with contacts of other
configurations. To connect to a common ground all or some of the
electric contacts in a multi-contact connector, there is provided
preferably a flat base formed of a conductor material. A plurality
of openings extend through the faces of the base. The inter-opening
spacings are determined by the inter-contact spacings so as to
allow all contacts to extend outwardly through the base. The
diameter of the openings is made slightly larger than the outside
diameter of the electric contacts so as to provide frictional
mechanical engagement between the outer peripheral walls of the
tubular contacts and the cylindrical walls defined by the openings
in the base. Such frictional mechanical engagement also establishes
a good electric connection between the outer tubular walls of the
electric contacts and the conductor base. In this manner the
grounding of the desired number of electric contacts is
accomplished automatically by the conductor base, thereby avoiding
the necessity to individually ground each outer conductor of each
pair of coaxial wires. Those electric contacts which it is not
desired to have grounded are associated with openings having a
diameter sufficiently large relative to the outside diameter of the
tubular electric contacts as to avoid mechanical and hence
electrical engagement between the electric contacts and the
conductor base .
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 shows schematically a multi-contact connector for
interconnecting a plurality of coaxial wires wherein each outer
conductor of each pair of coaxial wires is individually connected
to ground through a grounding wire;
FIG. 2 shows the application of this invention to a commercially
available multi-contact connector, shown partly in cross section,
wherein a conductor base is provided to electrically engage those
contacts in the connector which it is desired to have grounded;
and
FIG. 3 is a view in perspective of the connector shown in FIG. 2
with the conductor base sandwiched between the two mating parts of
the connector.
Referring to a typical prior art connector schematically shown as
10 in FIG. 1, it includes a socket part 12 and a plug part 14.
Leading to the socket part 12 are a plurality of coaxial wires or
lines 16. Each coaxial line 16 includes an outer conductor 18
typically made of meshed wire. Socket 12 is provided with a
plurality of coaxial tubular contacts generally designated as 20.
Each pair of such coaxial tubular contacts includes an outer
tubular contact 22 and an inner contact 23. The outer conductor 18
is stretched over the outer peripheral wall of the tubular contact
22 and is mechanically secured thereto by a metal outer sleeve
24.
To each end of the outer coaxial conductor 18 is electrically
soldered, as at 26, one end of an electric conductor 28, the other
end of which is connected to a common ground 30. The job of
individually interconnecting wires 28 with the outer connectors 18
is tedious, time consuming, and expensive. In addition, the
soldered connections 26 frequently become unsoldered rendering the
grounding of their corresponding coaxial lines 16 ineffective.
In accordance with this invention, the grounding of the electric
contacts in a multi-contact connector can be accomplished
automatically. While the invention is not limited to any type of
connector or to any geometric shape for the electric contacts, it
will be illustrated, for the sake of simplicity, in connection with
a multi-contact connector generally designated as 40 having a
socket part 42 and a mating plug part 44. The terms socket and plug
parts are used to indicate that both parts contain mating electric
contacts which can be of the female, male (or a combination of
both) type contacts.
The main function of connector 40 is, of course, to allow
detachable electric interconnections between a plurality of
electric lines 46 and another plurality of electric lines 48.
Typically in applications where parasitic signals are unwanted,
lines 46 and 48 are made of coaxial conductors. Thus, line 46 has a
center conductor 50 and an outer conductor 52. Line 48 has a center
conductor 54 and an outer conductor 56. The center conductor is
electrically insulated in each coaxial line from its outer
conductor by a dielectric material. The function of the connector
is to establish electrical contact engagement between center
conductors 50, 54, on one hand, and between outer conductors 52,
56, on the other hand.
Typically, center conductor 50 may be connected to an inner tubular
female electric contact 60, and outer conductor 52 is electrically
connected to an outer tubular male electric contact 62. Similarly,
center conductor 54 is connected to an inner male electric contact
64, and outer conductor 56 is connected to an outer female contact
66. Contact 64 is inserted into contact 60 thereby allowing contact
66 to engage the external tubular wall of contact 62. The
dimensions of contacts 64, 66 and of contacts 60, 62 are such as to
provide detachable frictional engagement therebetween.
In addition to housing a plurality of contacts 62, forming part of
a first group 63, the socket part 42 which has a dielectric base 70
also houses a second group 73 of electric contacts such as 72, each
contact 72 having a close-ended tubular contact 74. A plurality of
corresponding mating electric contacts such as 76 are provided in
the dielectric base 78 of plug 44. Of course, more than two groups
of electric contacts may be provided in each of the interconnecting
parts 42 and 44.
The manner of interconnecting the coaxial conductors 50, 52 with
the coaxial tubular female electric contacts 60, 62 depends on the
type of connector employed. In the connector 40 illustrated in FIG.
2 the outer tubular contact 62 fits inside an opening 80 in the
dielectric support 70. The outer coaxial conductor 52 is slipped
over the outer peripheral wall of tubular contact 62. A cylindrical
metallic sleeve 82 extends over both the coaxial line 46 and the
tubular contact 62. In the final assembly, sleeve 82 is crimped to
tube 62 thereby providing a good electric engagement between the
outer conductor 52 and the outer male tubular contact 62. The
center tubular female contact 60 is also crimpingly engaged to the
center conductor 50 as at 84. The outer tubular contacts 62 and 72
of groups 63 and 73, respectively, are inserted into openings of
well 86 formed in the dielectric support body 78 of plug 44 so that
the connector interface 90 of socket 42 becomes adjacently disposed
to the connector interface 92 of the plug 44.
As previously mentioned, connector 40 is a well-known, commercially
available connector and need not be further described herein.
In accordance with this invention the necessity to individually
ground each outer conductor 52 with a wire, such as wire 28 in FIG.
1, is completely avoided. Between the interfaces 90 and 92 of
connector 40 is sandwiched a conductor base or plate 100 having at
least as many openings, generally indicated as 102, as there are
electric contacts in groups 63, 73 in the base support 70 of socket
42. The outer peripheral walls of tubular contacts 62 snugly fit
inside their corresponding mated openings 110 to provide a good
mechanical and electrical engagement between the walls of contacts
62 and the conductor base 100.
While it is desired to connect the first group 63 of contacts 62 to
a common ground, it may be desired not to connect the second group
73 of contacts 74 to ground. For this reason the openings 114
through which extend contacts 74 are made of a larger diameter so
as not to mechanically or electrically engage the outer walls of
contacts 74.
When it is not desired to ground any electric contacts in the
connector 40, conductor base 100 is removed by merely lifting it
off from the contacts 62, 74. The thickness of base 100 as compared
to the dimensions of the mated parts 42, 44 is relatively small,
hence conductor plate 100 does not in any way interfere with the
normal operation of the coupling device 40. Since each installation
may house a plurality, sometimes several hundred or thousand of
such coupling devices 40, each conductor plate 100 is individually
connected to a common ground 118 by a wire 120.
Thus, it will be appreciated that in accordance with this invention
only one grounded connection 118 is required for groups of coaxial
lines 46 instead of individually grounding each coaxial line 46
feeding into connector 40.
While the invention has been illustrated in connection with
particular type connectors and particular type electric contacts,
it will be appreciated that the invention is not limited thereto
and contacts other than tubular in form may be employed without
departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the
appended claims.
* * * * *