Cable assembly with printed circuit board having a ground layer

• US 8,298,009 B2
• Filed: 04/20/2011
• Issued: 10/30/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 02/18/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cinch Connectors Incorporated (Bel Connector Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Cinch Connectors Incorporated (Bel Connector Incorporated)
• Inventors: Elkhatib, Hecham K., McGrath, James L., Mendenhall, David W., MacKillop, William J., Raclawski, Alan A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Luebke, Renee
• Assistant Examiner(s): PATEL, HARSHAD C
• Application Number:
  US13/090,898
• Publication Number:
  US 20110195593A1
• Time in Patent Office: 559 Days
• Field of Search: 439/581, 439/98, 439/497, 439/579, 439/607.46, 174250-254, 174/260, 174/261, 174/264, 361/760, 361/799, 361/800, 361/816, 361/818
• US Class Current: 439/581
• 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, and a printed circuit board, the wires are attached to the printed circuit board, the printed circuit board includes conductive pads and traces, the printed circuit board includes a ground layer, the ground layer includes a solid portion and a non-solid portion, the 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.

2. The cable assembly of claim 1 wherein the non-solid portion of the ground layer increases the impedance of the pads located above the non-solid portion of the ground layer.

3. The cable assembly of claim 1 wherein the traces located above the solid portion of the ground layer have the same impedance as the pads located above the non-solid portion of the ground layer.

4. The cable assembly of claim 3 wherein the traces located above the solid portion of the ground layer have a first width, the pads located above the non-solid portion of the ground layer have a second width, the first width is less than the second width.

5. The cable assembly of claim 3 wherein the traces located above the solid portion of the ground layer have a first area per unit length, the pads located above the non-solid portion of the ground layer have a second area per unit length, the first area per unit length is less than the second area per unit length.

6. The cable assembly of claim 1 wherein the printed circuit board includes second conductive pads.

7. The cable assembly of claim 6 wherein the printed circuit board has a first side and a second side, the conductive pads and the second conductive pads are located on the first side of the printed circuit board.

8. The cable assembly of claim 6 wherein the printed circuit board has a first side and a second side, the conductive pads are located on the first side of the printed circuit board and the second conductive pads are located on the second side of the printed circuit board.

9. The cable assembly of claim 8 wherein the printed circuit board includes second traces, the second traces are located on the second side of the printed circuit board, the second pads are located below the non-solid portion of the ground layer, and the second traces are located below the solid portion of the ground layer.

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

11. The cable assembly of claim 10 wherein the second shielding provides shielding around the unshielded portion of the wire pair.

12. The cable assembly of claim 11 wherein the second shielding provides 360 degrees of shielding around the unshielded portion of the wire pair.

13. The cable assembly of claim 10 wherein the second shielding includes a top shield and an intermediate shield.

14. The cable assembly of claim 13 wherein the top shield is attached to the printed circuit board.

15. The cable assembly of claim 10 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 third conductive pads, 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 third conductive pads, and second shielding is located at the second unshielded portion to provide shielding for the second pair of wires.

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

17. The cable assembly of claim 1 wherein the housing includes an end portion, and the end portion includes angled portions, the end portion has a length, the angled portions converge toward each other along the length.

18. The cable assembly of claim 1 wherein the non-solid portion has first portions with conductive material and second portions without conductive material.

19. The cable assembly of claim 18 wherein the second portions without conductive material are openings.

20. The cable assembly of claim 19 wherein the openings have a square shape.

21. The cable assembly of claim 1 wherein the printed circuit board includes a substrate, the substrate has an edge, a material is located on the edge of the substrate, the material is a coating.