Shielded connector

Patent holder (s):

FCI 's-Hertogenbosch BV in' s-Hertogenbosch.

(47) Date:

06.06.2001

Inventor (s):

Johannes Maria Blasius van Woensel in Rosmalen (45) Published:

01.08.2001 IE 2001/08

Authorized representative:

Mr. Ir. JHF de Vries at 1062 XK Amsterdam.

(54) Shielded connector.

(57) A connector includes an insulating housing, a plurality of contact elements arranged in the housing in rows and columns, and at least one shielding plate disposed between two adjacent columns of contact elements.

The shielding plate constructively forms a separate part which is fastened to only one of the contact elements of a column of contacts by means of the fastening means.

NL C 1013740

The contents of this patent correspond to the original filed description with claim (s) and any drawings.

Shielded connector.

The invention relates to a connector with an insulating housing, a number of contact elements arranged in rows and columns in the housing and at least one shielding plate arranged between two adjacent columns of contacting elements, the shielding plate being in contact with one of the contacting elements of a column from contacts.

US-A-5,496,183 discloses a connector with shield plates, the shield plates being prestressed to secure the shield plate to the connector housing. The shielding plate is in contact with a contact element by means of a contact spring. The shield plate also features two contact protrusions to contact ground circuit circuits of a printed circuit board.

EP-A-0 746 060 discloses a shielded rear face connector, in which shielding plates are used with locking legs and a separate contact spring for contacting a contact element. The shielding plate also features two contact protrusions to contact circuit boards of a printed circuit board.

Connectors with shield plates arranged between adjacent columns of contact elements are also shown in US-A-4,846,727 and US-A-5,403,206.

US-A-5,104,341 discloses a connector, wherein the shield plate includes a contact spring that contacts a face of a contact element opposite the shield plate. The shielding plate is also provided with a contact element for joining with a contact element of a matching connector and with an additional contact element for connection to a printed circuit board. In this way, the shield plate is electrically connected to the ground through two terminals. Electrical connection and mechanical support of the shielding plate are provided by separate elements, resulting in a complicated fabrication of the shielding plate, and in addition, the shielding plate is mechanically supported in different locations, which increases the accuracy requirements. As with the other known connectors of this type, the shield plate is a constructively integrated portion of the connector interconnected with the connector housing at a number of locations.

The object of the invention is to provide an improved connector of the above type.

According to the invention, a connector of the above-mentioned type is characterized in that the shielding plate is a constructionally separate part which is provided with fastening means and is only attached to said one contact element by means of fastening means.

In this manner, a connector is obtained, wherein the shield plate is mechanically supported on only one of the contact elements of a column of contacts without any relationship to any substrate on which the connector is mounted. In addition, the shielding plate is electrically connected to ground through a single terminal. The manufacture of the shielding plate is relatively simple since it is not necessary to form special receptacles of the recording type or pin type as parts of the shielding plate.

According to an embodiment of the connector according to the invention, the shielding plate is provided with protruding legs which engage on the one contact element.

According to a preferred embodiment, each column of contact elements is contained in a separate insulating module housing with a plurality of openings extending through the module housing and at least partially releasing the one contact element, the fasteners being attached to the one contact element through the openings .

The invention will be explained in more detail with reference to the drawings, in which a number of embodiments of the connector according to the invention are shown.

Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view of a first embodiment of a connector according to the invention of the header type.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the connector of Figure 1 in assembled condition.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of a module housing with a column of contact elements and a shield plate of the connector of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of a column of contact elements, with the module housing broken open to show the attachment of the shield plate to the central contact element.

Figures 5-8 show a second embodiment of the connector according to the invention of the recording type in the same manner as in Figures 1 to 4.

Figure 9 shows another embodiment of a column of contact elements with a shield plate attached to the central contact element.

Figure 10 shows a perspective view of another embodiment of the connector of the header-type invention.

Figure 11 shows a bottom view of the connector from Figure 10.

Figures 1 and 2 show a header-type connector 1, with insulating front and rear housing parts 2, 3 and a number of contact elements 4, which, as shown, are regularly arranged in rows and columns. Each column of contact elements 4 is cast in a module housing 5 with four openings 6 which are best visible in figure 3. The openings 6 extend laterally through the housing to allow attachment of a shielding plate 7 to one of the contact elements 4 of the column of contact elements of a module housing 5. The manner of attaching the shielding plate 7 to a contact element 4 is shown in particular in Figures 3 and 4. In the embodiment of Figures 1 to 4, both ends of the contact elements 4 are of the pen type.

Each contact element 4 has a first contact portion 8 with a joining end 9 and a second contact portion 10 with a connection end 11. In the embodiment shown in Figures 1 to 4, the first and second contact portions 8, 10 are mutually perpendicular, forming a connector with right angle.

In the described connector, the shielding plate 7 is only firmly attached to the central contact element 4 by fasteners 12, which fasteners consist of legs 13 surrounding the contact element 4. The mounting legs 13 also provide an electrical connection between the contact element 4 and the shielding plate 7. The legs 13 are formed from the shielding plate 7 and are therefore integral with the shielding plate. Two legs 13 engage opposite sides of the first contact portion 8. In a corresponding manner, two legs 13 engage opposite sides of the second contact portion 10. The engaged surfaces of the contact portions 8, 10 are perpendicular to the plane of the shielding plate 7 and the direction of the contact force of all legs 13 is parallel to the plane of the shielding plate 7. The legs 13 have a limited length, which results in a high engagement force. In this way, the shield plate 7 is a separate part that is constructionally independent of the connector housing but is firmly attached to the contact element 4. A good electrical connection between the shield plate and the contact element is guaranteed. The central contact element 4 of the column of contact elements functions as a ground terminal providing the single ground terminal connecting the shield plate 7 to the ground. As a result, the central contact element 4 is mechanically embedded at each portion along the length of the element and the independent shield plate is held securely without any other constructive connection to the connector housing. In addition, this ground contact element 4 provides a shield between the top and bottom two signal contact elements 4. Of course, in alternative embodiments, different arrangements of ground and signal contact elements could be used.

As shown in particular in Figure 3, the module housing 5 is provided with a joining side 14 with cylindrical projections 15 enclosing part of the first contact portions 8. During the manufacture of the connector 1, the partition plates 7 are first attached to the central contact elements 4 in order to thereby attach the shield plate 7 to the module housing 5. The module housing 5, together with the shielding plate 7, is connected to the front housing part 2 by inserting the cylindrical extensions 15 into a column of openings 16 of a base wall 17 of the front housing part 2. The base wall 17 has two upright side walls 18, to provide of the U-shaped front housing part 2.

In the embodiment of Figures 1-4, the shield plate 7 is provided with an upper contact recess and a rear contact recess 21. Corresponding recesses 22 and 23 are provided in the top and rear sides of the module housing 5, and these recesses align with the recesses 20, 21 of the shielding plate 7, when the shielding plate is mounted on the module housing 5. When the module housings 5 ​​and the front housing part 2 are interconnected, a shielding part 24 is attached to the assembled connector housing 2.5 covering the top and rear sides of all module houses 5. The shield portion 24 includes an upper flat portion 25 with a plurality of first contact springs 26 formed from the upper flat portion.

These first contact springs 26 protrude into the aligned recesses 18, 20 and contact the shielding plates 7 in these recesses when the bottom of the shielding plate recess 20 is located above the bottom of the module housing recess 22.

The shielding portion 24 also includes a rear face portion with second contact springs formed from the rear face portion. These second contact springs 27 protrude into the aligned recesses 21, 23 and contact the shielding plates 7 in the same manner as the first contact springs 26.

Also, the shielding part 24 is provided with third contact springs 28 which are received in slots 29 of the side wall 18 of the front housing part 2. These third contact springs 28 can contact the shielding plate of a matching connector inserted in the receiving space of the front house part 5.

Figures 5 to 8 show a connector type connector 30 which is manufactured substantially in the same manner as the connector 1 according to Figures 1 to 4. Corresponding parts are indicated by the same reference numerals. In this embodiment, a shielding plate 31 is not only used to cover the module housing 5, but also extends over the first contact portions 8 projecting from the module housing 5. Both the shielding plate 31 and the module housing 5 are only provided with an upper recess 20 and 20 respectively. 22. In a corresponding manner, a shielding portion 32 is used having only an upper flat portion 25 with first contact springs 26 contacting the shielding plates 31 in the upper contact recesses 20. As shown in particular in Figures 7 and 8, the shielding plates 31 provided with three legs 13 as fasteners. The contact elements 4 are provided with a third contact portion 33, each contact portion 8, 10 and 33 being engaged by only one leg 13. In the same manner as in the embodiment of Figures 1 to 4, the direction of the contact force is parallel to the plane of the shielding plate 31, which, together with the short length of the legs 13, results in a high engagement force. The connector 30 includes a front housing portion 34 with a joining side 35 which is provided with a series of openings 36 for receiving contact pins. The protruding parts of the shielding plates 31 are received in slots of the front housing part 34. The front edge of the shielding plate 31 is provided with two recesses 37 for placing the shielding plate 31 within the front housing part 34.

Connectors 1 and 30 can be joined together to interconnect circuit boards or the like. Other embodiments of the connectors are of course possible. For example, a straight header-type connector can be manufactured in the same manner. Figure 9 shows a column of straight contact elements 38 in the same manner as Figure 4, the central contact element supporting the shielding plate 7. Furthermore, the connector of the receptacle type can be straight instead of right-angled.

Another embodiment of a straight header-type connector is shown in Figures 10 and 11. In this case, contact pins 39 are mounted in rows 40 and 40 in a housing 40 in a conventional manner. The housing 40 is provided with base and side walls 17 to 19 in the same manner as the front housing part 2. However, the base of 17 is provided with slots 41, and shielding plates 42 are mounted in these slots. Each shielding plate 42 is provided with a side leg 43. The leg 43 has an opening 44 for engaging the central contact pin 39.

It will be clear that the invention provides a connector in which the shielding plate is mechanically supported on only one of the contact elements of a column without any relation to any substrate to which the contact elements are connected. Furthermore, the shielding plate is electrically connected to the ground by means of a single terminal. The manufacture of the shielding plate is relatively simple, since it is not necessary to form special terminals of the pick-up or pin type as parts of the shielding plate. The direction of the contact force of the fastener is parallel to the plane of the shield plate. In this way, the shielding plate is firmly attached to the contact element and a good electrical connection between the shielding plate and the contact element is guaranteed.

The invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments which can be varied in a number of ways within the scope of the claims.