Electrical connector

• US 8,011,950 B2
• Filed: 02/18/2009
• Issued: 09/06/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 02/18/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cinch Connectivity Solutions, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Cinch Connectors Incorporated (Bel Connector Incorporated)
• Inventors: Raclawski, Alan A., Elkhatib, Hecham K., McGrath, James L., MacKillop, William J., Mendenhall, David W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel; T C
• Assistant Examiner(s): Patel; Harshad C
• Application Number:
  US12/388,383
• Publication Number:
  US 20100210142A1
• Time in Patent Office: 930 Days
• Field of Search: 439/497, 439/79, 439/76.1, 439/604
• US Class Current: 439/497
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 12/594 for shielded flat cable
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 12/62 connecting to rigid printed circuits or like structures
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 13/58 Means for relieving strain on wire connection, e.g. cord grip , for avoiding loosening of connections between wires and terminals within a coupling device terminating a cable for flat or ribbon cables H01R12/771
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 13/633 for disengagement only in combination with safety switch H01R13/7132
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 13/6471 by special arrangement of ground and signal conductors, e.g. GSGS [Ground-Signal-Ground-Signal]
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 13/6474 by variation of conductive properties, e.g. by dimension variations
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 13/6585 Shielding material individually surrounding or interposed between mutually spaced contacts
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 13/6593 the shield being composed of different pieces
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 13/6594 the shield being mounted on a PCB and connected to conductive members
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 9/0515 Connection to a rigid planar substrate, e.g. printed circuit board

Abstract

The cable assembly may include a plug connector, a cable, and a connector. The plug connector may include a housing and a board assembly. The board assembly may include a printed circuit board. The edge of the printed circuit board may be enclosed with a material. The material may be an overmolded plastic or a coating of a material. In order to reduce the crosstalk in the areas where the cable shield is removed, a shielding assembly may be used. The shielding assembly may provide 360 degrees of shielding for the wire pair at the location where the cable shield is removed. The printed circuit board may have a trace layer, a core layer, and a ground plane layer. The ground plane layer may have a portion which is a solid layer and another portion which is a non-solid layer.

Claims

1. A cable assembly comprising a cable including a pair of wires, a housing, a printed circuit board within the housing, the printed circuit board includes pads, the wires include a wire shielding and wire insulation, the wires are attached to the pads on the printed circuit board, the wires include an unshielded portion with the wire shielding removed from the wire insulation, the unshielded portion is located near the pads, and second shielding is located at the unshielded portion to provide shielding for the wire pair, the second shielding includes a top shield and an intermediate shield, the intermediate shield is a ground plane on the surface of the printed circuit board.

2. The cable assembly of claim 1 wherein the second shielding provides shielding around the unshielded portion of the wire pair.

3. The cable assembly of claim 2 wherein the second shielding provides 360 degrees of shielding around the unshielded portion of the wire pair.

4. The cable assembly of claim 1 wherein the top shield is u-shaped.

5. The cable assembly of claim 1 wherein the intermediate shield includes a metal.

6. The cable assembly of claim 1 wherein the cable includes a second pair of wires, the second pair of wires include a wire shielding and wire insulation, the second pair of wires are attached to the pads on the printed circuit board, the second pair of wires include a second unshielded portion with the wire shielding removed from the wire insulation, the second unshielded portion is located near the pads, and second shielding is located at the second unshielded portion to provide shielding for the second pair of wires.

7. The cable assembly of claim 1 wherein the top shield is attached to the printed circuit board.

8. The cable assembly of claim 7 wherein the top shield is attached to the printed circuit board with a mechanical attachment.

9. The cable assembly of claim 8 wherein the mechanical attachment is a lead.

10. The cable assembly of claim 9 wherein the lead is on the top shield.

11. The cable assembly of claim 10 wherein the lead includes a hook portion.

12. The cable assembly of claim 10 wherein the printed circuit board includes a hole, the lead is positioned in the hole.

13. The cable assembly of claim 8 wherein the mechanical attachment is a pin.

14. The cable assembly of claim 13 wherein the pin is on the top shield.

15. The cable assembly of claim 14 wherein the printed circuit board includes a hole, the pin is positioned in the hole.

16. The cable assembly of claim 7 wherein the top shield is attached to the printed circuit board with solder.

17. The cable assembly of claim 7 wherein the top shield is attached to the printed circuit board with epoxy.

18. The cable assembly of claim 1 wherein the cable assembly includes an overmold material, the overmold material is positioned over a portion of the second shielding.

19. The cable assembly of claim 1 wherein the second shielding contacts the wire shielding.

20. The cable assembly of claim 1 wherein the printed circuit board includes traces and second pads, the traces extend between the pads and the second pads.

21. The cable assembly of claim 1 wherein the printed circuit board includes a ground layer.

22. The cable assembly of claim 1 wherein the cable assembly includes a latch assembly.

23. The cable assembly of claim 1 wherein the printed circuit board includes a substrate and a conductive pad on the surface of the substrate, the substrate has an edge, the conductive pad is located near the mating edge of the substrate, a material is located on the edge of the substrate.

24. The cable assembly of claim 23 wherein the material is a coating.

25. The cable assembly of claim 23 wherein the material is a plastic.

26. The cable assembly of claim 1 wherein the printed circuit board includes traces and second pads, the printed circuit board includes a ground layer, the ground layer includes a solid portion and a non-solid portion, the second pads are located above the non-solid portion of the ground layer, and the traces are located above the solid portion of the ground layer.

27. The cable assembly of claim 1 wherein the housing includes an end portion, and the end portion includes angled portions.