Right angle adaptor

Right Angle Adapter Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of connectors, in particular to the field of connectors related to backplanes.

Background technique

[0002] Backplane connectors are well known. They are usually used to connect two independent circuit boards (such as a communication circuit board and a processor circuit board) to enable high-speed communication between different parts of the computing system. Generally speaking, backplane connectors provide dense pin areas and are configured for high data rates. For example, recent backplane designs have allowed data rates greater than 10 Gbps, and new designs intend to allow data rates of 20 Gbps or higher.

[0003] Generally, the backplane connectors provided are the well-known mezzanine configuration or orthogonal structure. Mezzanine connectors are used to connect two parallel circuit boards together, while orthogonal connectors are used to connect circuit boards positioned at right angles (for example, circuit boards that are orthogonal to each other). Due to the system structure, a mid-plane design is sometimes used to connect the two connector structures on the two opposite sides of the mid-plane together. For example, a midplane circuit board can connect two orthogonal connectors together. However, as the data rate increases, the existing midplane design also creates problems. Therefore, some people are aware of providing an improved connector system suitable for high data rates.

Summary of the invention

[0004] An adapter is configured to connect a first connector and a second connector, and provide an angle conversion between the first connector and the second connector. The adapter includes a first recess and a second recess facing opposite directions and configured to receive the first connector and the second connector. A bottom plate may be provided in the adapter for separating the first notch from the second notch. The pin array can be placed on the bottom plate, and the pin array can extend from the bottom plate in two directions so as to extend to the first recess and the second recess. The pin array includes signal terminals and ground terminals. The signal terminals can be set in pairs to provide differential signal channels. The signal terminal is configured to have a first contact end and a second contact end respectively disposed in the first recess and the second recess. The first contact end and the second contact end may be configured to have first and second directions at right angles to each other, respectively. Therefore, the differential pair may have a first contact in the first row and a second contact in the second row at right angles to the first row. The body portion of the signal contact can be configured to provide a transition between the first contact end and the second contact end. The body portion also includes a feature to engage the bottom plate. The ground terminal can also be configured to provide a first contact in a first direction and a second contact in a second direction, The first direction and the second direction are separated by 90 degrees. In order to improve the electrical performance of the first connector, a grounding member can be inserted into the bottom plate. The ground member may be configured to join a plurality of ground terminals so as to share the ground terminals with each other. In an embodiment, the adapter may be configured such that the first recess includes a first pin array and a second pin array. The first pin array may be configured as described above, and the second pin array may include terminals configured with contact ends in the first recesses and tails extending out of the bottom plate but engaging the through holes in the middle plate.

Description of the drawings

[0005] The present invention is explained by means of examples, and is not limited to the accompanying drawings. In the accompanying drawings, the same reference numerals denote similar elements, in which:

[0006] FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of a connector system with an adapter;

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[0007] FIG. 2 shows a partial exploded perspective view of the connector system shown in FIG. 1;

[0008] FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of the connector system shown in FIG. 1 partially cut away;

[0009] FIG. 4 shows a further simplified perspective view of the connector system shown in FIG. 3;

[0010] FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of an adapter connector;

[0011] FIG. 6 shows a cross-sectional perspective view of the adapter connector shown in FIG. 5;

[0012] FIG. 7 shows a perspective view of a terminal supported by the housing of the adapter connector;

[0013] FIG. 8 shows a partial perspective view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 7;

[0014] FIG. 9 shows a perspective view of a plurality of terminals suitable for use in a structure of an adapter;

[0015] FIG. 10 shows a partial perspective view of a plurality of terminals shown in FIG. 9;

[0016] FIG. 11 shows a perspective view of yet another embodiment of a connector system with an adapter;

[0017] FIG. 12 shows a partial exploded perspective view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 11;

[0018] FIG. 13 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of an adapter adapted to be mounted to the intermediate plate;

[0019] FIG. 14 shows a cross-sectional perspective view of the adapter described in FIG. 13;

[0020] FIG. 15 shows a perspective view of another embodiment of a connector system;

[0021] FIG. 16 shows a partial exploded perspective view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 15;

[0022] FIG. 17 shows another partial exploded perspective view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 15;

[0023] FIG. 17A shows a simplified partial exploded perspective view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 15;

[0024] FIG. 18 shows another partial exploded perspective view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 17A;

[0025] FIG. 19 shows a simplified partial exploded perspective view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 17A;

[0026] FIG. 20 shows a cross-sectional perspective view of the components selected in FIG. 15;

[0027] FIG. 20A shows an enlarged view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 20;

[0028] FIG. 21A shows a partial perspective view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 15;

[0029] FIG. 21B shows another perspective view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 21A;

[0030] FIG. 22 shows a side view of the embodiment selected in FIG. 21A;

[0031] FIG. 23 shows a perspective view of another set of terminals (different set of terminals) of the embodiment shown in FIG. 21A;

[0032] FIG. 24 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of a plurality of terminals;

[0033] FIG. 25 shows a perspective enlarged view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 23;

[0034] FIG. 26 shows another simplified perspective view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 25;

[0035] FIG. 27 shows a perspective view of a plurality of terminals;

[0036] FIG. 28 shows a perspective view of a ground terminal;

[0037] FIG. 29A shows a simplified perspective view of a cross-section of an embodiment of a top cover housing;

[0038] FIG. 29B shows another cross-sectional simplified perspective view of the top cover housing shown in FIG. 29A;

[0039] FIG. 29C shows an exploded perspective view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 29B;

[0040] FIG. 30 shows an exploded perspective view of another embodiment similar to the embodiment shown in FIG. 29C.

Detailed ways

[0041] The following detailed description will describe several exemplary embodiments, but is not intended to be limited to the specifically disclosed combinations. Understandably, a large number of features are disclosed. However, it should be noted that the disclosed features are not necessarily applied to the results.

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Jianzhong. Therefore, unless otherwise stated, the features disclosed herein can be combined to form other combinations, and for the sake of brevity, these other combinations are not shown otherwise. In addition, certain features can be combined or used alone to provide a connector system that strikes an ideal balance between performance and cost. Therefore, the feature has a wide range of applications.

[0042] First looking at FIGS. 1-4, an embodiment of the connector system 5 including the adapter 100 is described. The connector system 5 includes a first connector 20 connected to the first side of the adapter 100 and mounted to the first circuit board 10. The connector system 5 also includes a second connector 60 mounted to the second circuit board 50 and connected to the second side of the adapter 100.

[0043] As shown, the first connector 20 and the second connector 60 are representative of orthogonal connectors commonly used in backplane structures. In this structure, the orthogonal connector includes a through hole inserted into the circuit board and can be soldered to an appropriate place to be permanently mounted to a plurality of terminals on the circuit board. It should be noted that in both cases (welding situation and simple press-fitting situation) it is usually desirable to insert only the terminal tail into the through hole, (once as) because there may be some plastic deformation that can affect subsequent installation. Therefore, both cases are hoped to be durable, but in fact the press-fit situation is sometimes easier to rework (rework). Of course, if the circuit board has been reworked, the orthogonal connector may not be soldered, but soldered connections are often considered durable. In contrast, the adapter can be considered to be removably connected to the first connector and the second connector because it does not require soldering. It should be noted that although this structure is considered the most common system structure, the adapter is not limited to mating with such a configured connector. In addition, it should be noted that the adapter can also be configured to be mounted on the intermediate board (the intermediate board provided includes suitable holes), but the concept of mounting the housing to the circuit board is relatively well known to those skilled in the art, therefore I will not discuss it in detail here.

[0044] In general, the first connector 20 and the second connector 60 may be configured such that the second connector 60 shown includes a plurality of sheet needle seats 62 supported by the housing 64. The sheet header 62 may be configured to support the terminal, and in one embodiment, via the edge-to-edge connection between adjacent terminals, the terminal may provide differential coupling. The terminals that provide differential coupling are called signal terminals. In order to provide acceptable crosstalk performance in dense terminal structures (for example, higher than 50 terminals per square inch), differential terminal pairs in the same sheet header are usually separated by ground terminals. As we all know, the ground terminal and the signal terminal can have different body cross-sections, but typically both have a more uniform contact interface, and are typically aligned with the sheet header to form a contact row. Therefore, the sheet needle seat in the connector can provide a row of terminals, in which the signal terminal pairs and the ground terminals are staggered, but have the same contact interface.

[0045] It should be noted that the first connector 20 and the second connector 60 need not be right-angle connectors. In other words, the adapter is also suitable for use with mezzanine-type connectors.

[0046] FIGS. 4-10 show features of an embodiment of an adapter. As mentioned above, if less performance is required, or for applications that are more cost-sensitive than performance issues, some of the illustrated features can be omitted. However, the structure is very suitable for providing an adapter that is suitable for data rates exceeding 15 Gbps and can be applied in systems with performance requirements of 20 Gbps or greater. Undoubtedly, removing certain features (such as common components) will provide an adapter suitable for data rates greater than 10Gbps, but the upper performance limit of this connector is lower.

[0047] As described, the adapter 100 includes a first recess 101 for receiving the first connector 20 and a second recess 102 for receiving the second connector 60. The first recess 101 and the second recess 102 are defined by an outer wall 105 and a bottom plate 107 having a first side 107a and a second side 107b. As mentioned, the outer wall 105 extends around the perimeter of the bottom plate 107. However, in alternative embodiments, the outer wall may include cuts or notches that can improve air circulation above the terminals. The advantage of extending the outer wall around the perimeter is to provide a closed socket that can substantially prevent external dust or external components from contacting the terminal. If the adapter is not placed in the hole of the intermediate plate, then this closed socket has proven to be of great significance. It should be noted that any desired boundary shape (such as a non-rectangular boundary shape) can be used for the outer wall, but the boundary shape shown

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It is more suitable for right-angle connectors.

[0048] The bottom plate 107 supports a terminal array 120, which includes at least one ground terminal and a pair of terminals configured to provide a differential signal pair. For example, the terminal array 120 may include a first terminal 121, a second terminal 122, and a third terminal 123, where the first terminal 121 and the second terminal 122 are configured to provide a differential signal pair, and the terminal 123 provides a ground terminal. The first terminal 121, the second terminal 122, and the third terminal 123 each have a first contact 124 located in the first row 126a. As shown, the first contact 124 has a rectangular shape and is located in the first direction. The first terminal 121 and the second terminal 122 also have second contacts 125 located in the second row 126b, and the first row 126a is perpendicular to the second row 126b. The signal terminal 121>122 also includes a body portion 128 connecting the first contact 124 and the second contact 125, and the body portion provides a right-angle conversion between the first contact 124 and the second contact 125. The main body part can be installed in the bottom plate 107 and thus used to support the first contact 124 located in the first recess 101 and the second contact 125 located in the second recess 102.

[0049] As shown, the third terminal 123 is a ground terminal, and its first leg 123a is connected to the second leg 123bo through the main body 127. As shown, the first leg 123a and the second leg 123b and the main body 127 constitute an H-shaped terminal . Although not required, FIG. 9 shows that this structure helps the main body 127 to provide isolation between the first differential signal terminal pair and the second differential signal pair. Such isolation is destined to be particularly advantageous in dense high-speed connectors such as those shown (for example, in which the row spacing is not greater than 1.5 mm and the row spacing is not greater than 2.5 mm).

[0050] Although it is advantageous to electrically isolate a pair of differential signal terminals from another pair of differential signal terminals, it is generally undesirable to isolate one ground terminal from the other. First, if the ground terminal is isolated, then the unintended mode existing in the connector will place energy on the ground terminal, and this energy will create a voltage difference between the ground terminal and a reference ground, so When the ground terminal encounters an emergency interruption (for example, when the ground terminal is connected to other terminals), energy reflection may occur. Therefore, a common ground terminal has proven to be very advantageous. In connectors used for single-end signaling, this common ground is relatively simple, while in connectors used for differential signaling, it becomes more challenging. However, as described, the common ground of the ground terminal can be partially realized by using the first leg 123a and the second leg 123b connected by the main body 127. In order to provide a further common ground, and thereby further reduce any potential difference between a ground and a reference ground, a common bus bar 140 with a finger 141 connected to one of the legs of the ground terminal can be used in rows and rows. In an embodiment, the common bus bars 140 may be arranged in every other row, so that the fingers 141 extend in the opposite direction. It should be noted that in some embodiments, the bus bar 140 may be It is made of a single metal material, but the bus bar 140 can also be made of multiple pieces, and can be made of other conductive materials, such as electroplated plastics, conductive plastics, energy-attenuating conductive materials, and so on.

[0051] FIGS. 11-14 show yet another embodiment of a connector system 205 including a connector 300 that connects the first connector 220 mounted on the first circuit board 210 to the second circuit The second connector 260 on the board 250. It can be understood that the connector 300 is also installed on the middle plate 240 and includes a flange 303 that can be fixed to the middle plate 240. In this regard, it should be noted that the connector 100 may also include an optional flange substantially similar to the flange 303 to allow the connector 100 to be connected to the intermediate plate, while omitting the terminal that can be mounted to the through hole. In fact, since the intermediate board will help fix the connector 100, it is not necessary to include such a flange to fix the connector to the circuit board. If flanges are included on one or more sides of the connector 100 to allow the connector to be mounted to the intermediate plate, a guide post can also be provided on one flange to help ensure that when the connector 100 is mounted to the intermediate plate At this time, the middle board and the connector 100 can be aligned.

[0052] It can be understood that although the structure of the connector 300 is similar to that of the connector 100, the first notch

301 is smaller than the second notch 302. The second recess 302 includes a first terminal array 320a and a second terminal array 320b, but

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The second terminal array 320b does not extend into the first recess, but terminates in the through hole array 244 including the plated through holes 245, where the plated through holes 245 receive the tails of the terminals in the second terminal array 320b. The plated through holes 245 can then be connected to the ground plane and signal traces in a conventional manner. Therefore, it can be understood that the connector 300 can realize a connection between two right-angle connectors that are rotated 90 degrees relative to each other, while still allowing the intermediate plate to be joined. Therefore, a system that includes one or two of the connectors 100.300 can provide significant structural flexibility while at the same time ensuring high data rates.

[0053] It should be further noted that in certain embodiments of the connector 100, the first recess 101 and the second recess 102 may be configured to receive connectors with different sheet header structures. For example, the first notch 101 may be configured to mate with a three-sheet header connector, and each of the three-sheet headers includes 8 differential pairs (for example, a 3X8 connector). The second notch 102 may be configured to mate with a 4-sheet header connector, and each of the 4-sheet headers includes 6 differential pairs (for example, a 4X6 connector). Other possible variations include 4X10 connectors being converted to 5X8 connectors or 6X10 connectors being converted to 5X12 connectors. Therefore, the connector on one side can be used as a low profile connector, while the other side can be more square-shaped. It is understandable that the ability to change the shape of the array between the two sides provides a significant advantage in terms of structural flexibility while maintaining the number of differential pairs.

[0054] FIGS. 15-26 show an embodiment of an orthogonal connector system 1010 that can connect the first circuit board 1120 and the second circuit board 1122 without an intermediate board. The first connector assembly 1030 is mounted on the first circuit board 1120 and connected to the second connector assembly 1050 mounted on the second circuit board 1122, and the two components are configured to be releasably mated together. The first connector assembly includes a conventional sheet header 1035 based on a structure supported by the daughter card housing 1040. Each of the terminals 1036 supported by the sheet needle seat 1035 includes a tail portion, a contact portion, and a body portion extending between the tail portion and the contact portion, and provides an array of contact portions in the daughter card housing 1040.

[0055] In order to enable the two connector assemblies 1030.1050 to be releasably mated, the second connector assembly includes a top cover housing 1080 having a contact 1086 extending from the wall 1084 in the first recess 1081a (FIG. 29A) . When the daughter card housing is inserted into the first recess 1081a, the terminal 1036 is engaged with the contact 1086. The sheet needle seat 1055 is located in the first recess 1081b and supports the terminal 1057. The terminal 1057 (which includes a first tail 1064, a second tail 1065, and a main body 1066 extending between them) is mounted to the coupler 1100, the coupler 1100 is a conventional circuit board that is large enough to fit into the top cover housing 1080. As shown, the coupler 1100 includes a plurality of plated through holes 1102, so the contact 1086 can be electrically connected to the terminal 1057 via the plated through holes 1102. However, it should be noted that the coupler 1100 may also have a pad for connecting to the terminal 1057 based on SMT. The connection of the terminal to the SMT pad is well known in the art and is very common in the field of computer sockets, so there is no need to further discuss the technology of this type of connection here. The advantage of using through-holes and corresponding terminals is that through-hole terminals can be more easily configured to provide a high degree of stress resistance, and therefore are more robust in the face of stress caused by shocks and sudden collisions.

[0056] In order to help support the sheet needle seat located in the corresponding recesses 1081a, 1081b, an alignment feature 85 (which may be a groove or a protrusion) may be provided on one side 1083 of the recess, and the alignment feature 85 and the sheet Corresponding protrusions or grooves on the needle seat engage.

[0057] It should be noted that although FIG. 29A shows the first recess 1081a in the top cover housing 1080, in an alternative embodiment, the top cover housing 1080 may be configured to provide protrusions, and the mating connector will There will be notches mounted on the protrusions. In other words, the mechanical interface between the daughter card housing 1040 and the top cover housing 1080 can be reversed. Therefore, unless otherwise stated, this feature is not limiting.

[0058] Therefore, the first connector assembly 1030 can be fixed to the first circuit board 1120, and the second connector assembly 1050 can be fixed.

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It is fixed to the second circuit board 1122, and the two connector assemblies 1030, 1050 can be mated by inserting the daughter card housing 1040 into the top cover housing 1080. Since the top cover housing is fixed to the thin pin holder 1055, and the thin pin holder 1055 is fixed to the second circuit board 1122 in turn, the system shown allows connections that could only be achieved through the intermediate plate structure, which needs to be used twice Releasable mating connection and a minimum of three separate welding operations. However, in contrast to the previous design, the configuration shown requires only one releasable mating connection and two soldering operations (assuming that each circuit board is treated as a separate soldering operation).

[0059] It can be understood that the terminal 1036 is rotated 90 degrees around the common plane formed by the coupler 1100 with respect to the terminal 1057. It has been found for a long time that when two sets of terminals with a 90-degree difference in orientation are connected through a common plane, the connection through the common plane needs to solve the steering problem. For systems in which the terminals on both sides are in a specific pattern (for example, in a row, the row has a regular pattern of repeated grounding, signal, and signal), by rotating the terminals on both sides where they are connected to the coupler 1100 45 degrees can most easily achieve this. Of course, other angles such as 40/50 or 30/60 are also possible. In addition, the above-mentioned plated through holes can be converted from the inside to a 90-degree angle (although this may slightly increase the distance the plated through holes extend).

[0060] As can be seen from FIGS. 21A and 21B, the terminals and contacts are connected together via plated through holes 1102 in the coupler 1100. One effect of this design is that the two sheet headers on opposite sides of the coupler 1100 will only share a limited number of signal paths. In the design shown, each wafer header will share two signal paths, which has the potential benefit of allowing simultaneous provision of transmit and receive channels. As shown, the ground contact 1093a is connected to the ground terminal 1063a, and the signal contacts 1091a and 1092b are respectively connected to the signal terminals 1061a and 1062b.

[0061] FIGS. 27 and 28 show features of exemplary embodiments of contacts, and to help provide the desired isolation between the signal contact pairs, the ground contacts may include blades T1 and T2, and The blades T1 and T2 are connected by a body B1 extending between the two blades. As shown, the blades T1 and T2 are arranged in two rows R1 and R2, and the body B1 extends between the two rows, but at an angle of 0 with respect to the row R1. In one embodiment, the angle 0 is about 45 degrees.

[0062] In order to support the contacts, the wall 1084 includes a contact groove 1088, which may include a signal contact groove 1088a and a ground contact groove 1088bo. It can be understood that if the ground terminal includes the body B1, then the ground contact groove Slot 1088b will include a corresponding design.

[0063] It should be further noted that in another embodiment, as shown in the exploded cross-section in FIG. 30, a conventional pin-header 1080 may be installed in a conventional manner, for example, in the middle. The circuit board of the board, while still enabling the two blades T1 and T2 of the ground terminal shown to be located on two different rows and connected by the main body B1 to provide a ground contact with a goal-post shape . The body will help provide additional electrical insulation between signal terminal pairs in transition areas that are very difficult to control, and thus may help reduce crosstalk.

[0064] The disclosure provided herein describes features of preferred and exemplary embodiments. From the perspective of commenting on the present disclosure, those of ordinary skill in the art will be able to think of many other embodiments, modifications and changes that fall within the scope and spirit of the appended claims.

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