Electrical connector grounding ring
First Claim
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1. An electrical connector comprising:
- first and second mating connector members each including a conductive shell;
said shells having forwardly facing annular surfaces thereon;
a conductive bellows positioned between said surfaces providing a grounding connection between said shells;
said bellows having rounded folds that cause opposite sides of a fold to remain spaced apart by more than two adjacent locations of the bellows that are near different folds; and
said bellows being axially compressed when said connector members are mated.
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Abstract
An electrical connector containing a grounding ring in the form of a metal bellows which is axially compressed when the mating halves of the connector are interengaged. The bellows provides a windowless EMI/RFI grounding shield for the connector.
82 Citations
9 Claims
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1. An electrical connector comprising:
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first and second mating connector members each including a conductive shell; said shells having forwardly facing annular surfaces thereon; a conductive bellows positioned between said surfaces providing a grounding connection between said shells; said bellows having rounded folds that cause opposite sides of a fold to remain spaced apart by more than two adjacent locations of the bellows that are near different folds; and said bellows being axially compressed when said connector members are mated. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. An electrical connector member comprising:
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a conductive shell with a substantially cylindircal outer portion that has a forward end, said shell surrounding an insulator adapted to contain electrical contacts; said shell having a forwardly facing annular surface thereon that has a larger diameter than said forward end and that lies rearward of said forward end; and a coupling nut which is rotatably mounted around said shell and which has a great enough inside diameter to leave a space between the outer surface of said shell and the inner surface of said nut at locations forward of said annular surface of said shell; a conductive metal bellows having multiple folds that each closely surround said cylindrical portion of said shell in front of said annular surface so the cylindrical surface confines the bellows to substantially only axial movement, said bellows being adapted to be axially compressed when the connector member is mated with a second connector member, and said coupling nut having an inwardly-extending ring spaced forward of said bellows to limit forward movement of said bellows.
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Specification