Connector for shielded cables.

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Patent Board

The Netherlands © Publication number: 9302007 © A TERMINATION © Application number: 9302007

Submission Date:

19.11.93 © lnt.CI.⁶:

H01R 11/07, H01R 13/514, H01R 13/518 © Laid out for inspection:

16.06.95 IE 95/12

Applicant (s):

Framatome Connectors Belgium NV in Mechelen, Belgium (72) Inventor (s):

Danny Morlion in St. Amandsberg, Belgium. Luc Jonckheere in Leuven, Belgium. Jan Peter Karei from Koetsem in Zwijndrecht, Belgium. Eddy Kamiel Creëlle in Dendermonde, Belgium © Authorized representative:

JHF de Vries Patent Attorney BV

&gt; Overs chiestraat 184N 1062 XK Amsterdam © Connector for shielded cables © A connector for shielded cables is provided with a housing of insulating material and signal and ground contacts housed in the housing to which the corresponding conductors of the cables can be connected, which contacts are in rows and columns arranged. The housing is composed of one or more modules and at least one module cover, each module being releasably mountable in the module cover in a certain position relative to the module cover and each module being provided with at least one column with contacts.

NL A 9302007

The print of the description with conclusion (s) and any drawing (s) attached to this sheet contains deviations from the documents originally submitted; the latter can be viewed at the Patent Office upon request.

Connector for shielded cables

The invention relates to a connector for shielded cables, provided with a housing of insulating material and signal and ground contacts accommodated in the housing, to which the corresponding conductors of the cables can be connected, which contacts are arranged in rows and columns.

Such connectors are known in various embodiments. It is customary to adjust the number of signal and ground contacts of the connector and hence the dimensions of the housing of the connector to the number of shielded cables that the user wishes to connect to a counter-connector with one connector. This means that a large number of different connectors must be manufactured. In addition, the housing of the conventional connector consists of one or more permanently assembled parts, which makes repair of the connector difficult in the event of a malfunction of one cable.

The invention has for its object to provide a connector of the type mentioned in the preamble, which is designed such that the dimensions of the connector can be adapted in a particularly simple manner to the desired number and type of cables to be connected.

To this end, the connector according to the invention is characterized in that the housing is composed of one or more modules and at least one module cover, wherein each module can be detachably mounted in the module cover in a certain position relative to the module cover and wherein each module is provided with at least one column with contacts.

A connector is hereby obtained which can be adapted to the number of cables to be connected to the connector by combining one or more module caps with one or more modules. Because each module can only be mounted in the module cover in one specific position, connection errors are excluded. Different modules can be provided for different types of cables. The connector according to the invention can hereby be easily adapted to the wishes of the user. Moreover, repair of the connector is possible in a simple manner.

The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to the drawing, in which various embodiments of the connector according to the invention are shown.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a module cover of a first embodiment of the connector according to the invention, wherein two shielded cables to be connected are shown with a differential signal conductor pair.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the module cap of FIG. 1, in which the signal and ground conductors of the cables are connected to the corresponding contacts of a module.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the module cover of FIG. 1, with three modules slid into the module cover in different positions.

FIG. 4 shows the module cover with modules from FIG. 3, with all modules in the mounted position.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a counter-connector with signal and ground contact pins, three connectors of FIGS. 1-4 being plugged into the counter-connectors.

FIG. 6 shows a perspective view of a second embodiment of the connector according to the invention, wherein four modules are shown in different positions with respect to the module cover.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of one module of the connector of FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 shows the connector from FIG. 6, with all modules in the mounted position.

FIG. 9 shows a perspective view of a third embodiment of the connector according to the invention.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a module of the connector of FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 shows a fourth embodiment of the connector according to the invention which is designed with the module according to FIG. 10.

1-5 shows a first embodiment of the connector according to the invention, which in this case is intended for connecting shielded cables 1 with a differential pair of signal conductors 2 and a ground or drain wire 3, which is together are surrounded by a metallized foil 4 which serves as a shield. Fig. 1 shows a module cap 5 which is suitable for receiving three modules 6 which are further shown in Figs. 2-4.

An upper wall of the module cover 5, which is not visible in Fig. 1, is provided with inlet openings for the cables 1. The module cover 5 is provided with strain relief means for the cables 1, which in this case are designed as supports 7, the main faces of which face each other on the shape of the cables 1 have been adjusted. The cables 1 are clamped two by two by a shrink sleeve 8 (see Figs. 4 and 5) on a support 7, whereby the desired strain relief is obtained.

The module cover 5 is provided with two opposite side walls 9, 10 which are each provided on the outside with a step-shaped guide profile 11 which can cooperate with a complementary step-shaped guide profile 12 of a counter-connector 13 shown in Fig. 5 in which signal contact pins 14 and ground contact pins 15 are arranged in rows and columns. The direction of travel is indicated by r and the column direction by c. Because the stair profiles are mirror-symmetrical with respect to the direction of travel, the module cover 5 can only be inserted into the counter-connector 13 in one position. Of course, other profile shapes are also possible and the side walls 9, 10 can also be designed with different profile shapes or one side wall 9, 10 can be flat.

The two side walls 9, 10 of the module cover 5 are provided on the inside with a first guide slots 16 and second guide slots 17, which are spaced at a fixed distance from each other. In the exemplary embodiment shown, the guide slots 16 are straight, while the guide slots 17 have a dovetail shape. Of course, other shapes of the guide slots 16, 17 are also possible.

Each module 6 comprises a housing made of insulating material in which in this exemplary embodiment a central ground contact 18 and two signal contacts 19 are arranged on either side of the ground contact 18. The contacts 18, 19 are aligned in the column direction. The outer walls 20, 21 running in the direction of travel are provided with guide ribs 22, 23 which can be suitably accommodated in the guide slots 16, 17. As a result, the modules 6 can only be mounted in the module cover in one position relative to the module cover 5. The attachment of a module 6 in the module cover 5 can be realized, for example, by a click connection. For this purpose, for example, a tab can be formed in one or both guide slots near the upper wall of the module cover 5 which cooperates with a recess in the guide ribs 22,

23. This makes a simple detachable assembly possible.

As can be seen in Fig. 2, each module 6 comprises two outer walls 24, 25 extending in the column direction, between which the contacts 18, 19 are accommodated, the one outer wall 24 being shorter, so that a connecting part 26 of the contacts 18, 19 is easily accessible. is. For mounting the described connector, the signal conductors 2 and the ground conductors 3 can hereby be easily brought into contact with the connection parts 26 of the corresponding signal contacts 19 or ground contact 18, whereafter the connection to the connection parts 26 is established by soldering or the like. After this, the module 6 is pushed into place in the module cover 5. The connecting parts 26 of the one module 6 are in the mounted state according to FIG. 4 covered by the long outer wall 25 of the following module 6, the connecting parts 26 of the module 6 lying at one end of the module cover 5 being covered by a cover wall 27 of the module cover 5.

From the foregoing it appears that the described connector is provided with a housing which is composed of a module cover 5 and modules 6 detachably mounted in the module cover 5. As a result, the connection of the signal conductors 2 and the ground conductors 3 to the connecting parts 26 of the contacts is 18, particularly easy. In addition, in the event of a failure in the connection of one of the cables, maintenance of the connector can be easily carried out. Replacement of one of the modules 6 is also easily possible.

It is of course possible to give the module cover 5 a different size, so that, for example, eight modules 6 can be mounted therein. By providing a few module caps 5 suitable for accommodating different numbers of modules 6, it is possible to adapt the connector according to the invention to the needs of the user by combining different module caps 5. The adjacent module caps 5 can for instance be attached to each other by a dovetail connection. The dimensions of the module covers 5 and the modules 6 are such that the distance between the contacts 18, 19 in the direction of travel within one module cover 5 is equal to the distance between adjacent contacts 18, 19 of interconnected module covers 5. In the exemplary embodiment described, this intermediate distance in the direction of travel is 2 mm, so that two differential signal conductor pairs can be connected per mm space.

The composition of the housing of the connector from one or more module covers 5 and modules 6 also makes it possible by providing modules 6 of different design to make the connector easily suitable for different types of cables. Figs. 6-8 show an embodiment of the connector according to the invention, the housing of which is composed of a module cover 28 in which four modules 29 are mounted. These modules 29 are each suitable for connecting two twinaxial cables 30.

In this exemplary embodiment, the modules 29 each comprise two columns with berths for ground contacts 18 and signal contacts 19. In Fig. 7, one module 29 is shown in perspective, while the connecting parts 26 of four signal contacts 19 are just visible. Two signal contacts 19 located next to each other in the direction of travel are surrounded by an outer conductor 31, a dielectric intermediate piece 32 consisting of insulating material being located between the signal contacts 19 and the outer conductor 31. Each outer conductor 31 has a connecting part 26 for the ground conductor of the twinaxial cable 30. When the signal conductors of the twinaxial cable 30 are connected to the connecting parts 26 of the signal contacts 19, a closing lip 33 of the outer conductor 31 is bent in the position also shown in FIG. 7, so that a substantially uninterrupted shielding is maintained. The outer conductors 31 can each be connected to one or more ground contacts 18 not visible in Figs. 6-8, whereby a desired configuration of signal and ground contacts can be obtained.

The modules 29 are in this case provided with three guide ribs 22, 23 on their outer walls 20, 21, so that a module 29 takes up as much space as three modules 6. Otherwise, the construction of the module cap 28 and the modules 29 is complete corresponds to the described construction of the module cover 5 and the modules 6. In the Figs. 6 and 8 it can still be seen that the module cap 28 has a dovetail-shaped rib 34 at one end and a complementary slot 35 at the other end for connecting successive module caps 28 to each other.

Figures 9 and 10 show a third embodiment of the connector according to the invention, wherein the housing is composed of a module cover 36 in which only one module 37 is mounted. The construction of the module cover 36 and the module 37 again corresponds to the previously described construction of the module cover 5 and the modules 6. In this case, the module 37 is provided with two guide ribs 22, 23, so that the module 37 has as much space as two modules 6. The ones shown in FIG. 10 the module 37 shown in perspective is intended for connecting two coaxial cables 38 and is provided with a column with berths for ground contacts 18 and signal contacts 19 which are not further shown in the drawing.

In the exemplary embodiment shown, there is a signal contact 19 on either side of a central ground contact 18, the connecting parts 26 of which are visible in FIG. In the same way as with the module 29 described above, each signal contact 19 is surrounded by an outer conductor 31 with connection part 26 for connecting the shielding of the coaxial cable 38. Each outer conductor 31 is connected on the one hand to the central ground contact 18 and on the other hand to a ground contact located on the other side of the signal contact 19. Of course, other configurations of signal and ground contacts are also possible.

Finally, Fig. 11 shows an embodiment of the connector according to the invention, the housing of which is composed of a module cover 39 in which six modules 37 are mounted.

It will be clear from the foregoing that the invention provides a connector which is shielded by assembling one or a few module covers 5, 28, 36 and / or 39 and modules 6, 29 and / or 37 for various applications for various numbers of different types. cables is suitable. Assembling the connector and connecting the conductors of the cables is particularly simple due to the modular construction. In addition, it is possible to replace any defective parts.

It is noted that while maintaining the favorable modular construction, other numbers of signal and ground contacts can also be accommodated in one module, depending on the desired configuration of signal and ground contacts of the connector.

The invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiments described above, which can be varied in different ways within the scope of the invention.

8302007