Electrical connector system having a continuous ground at the mating interface thereof
AssigneeFCI Americas Technology, Inc.
InventorStuart C. Stoner
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A connector interface may include an arrangement of contacts in a first connector, and a corresponding, complementary arrangement of contacts in a second connector mating with the contacts of the first connector. The contacts may be signal contacts or ground contacts. When the connectors are mated, a ground may be established between the connectors by the mating of the ground contacts from the respective connectors. The ground contacts in the first connector may be shaped to bridge together an array of ground contacts in the second connector when the connectors are mated. Such bridging tends to establish a continuous ground along the array of ground contacts, creating a more robust ground than in an otherwise identical connector.
Claims19
An electrical connector system comprising:
- an electrical connector carrying first and second leadframe assemblies, each of the first and second leadframe assemblies including first and second differential signal pairs and a ground contact disposed between the first and second differential signal pairs, and
- an electrically conductive bridging element that bridges the ground contacts of the first and second leadframe assemblies so as to define a continuous ground across the ground contacts of the first and second leadframe assemblies.
An electrical connector system comprising:
- a first plurality of electrical contacts arranged in a signal-signal-ground arrangement and arrayed along a first direction;
- a second plurality of electrical contacts arranged in a signal-signal-ground arrangement and arrayed along a second direction that is spaced from the first direction;
- a common ground connected between a first ground contact of the first plurality of electrical contacts and a second ground contact of the second plurality of electrical contacts;
- a first electrical connector that carries the first and second pluralities of electrical contacts;
- and
- a second electrical connector that carries the common ground,
- wherein the common ground is connected between the first and second ground contacts when the first and second electrical connectors are mated.
An electrical connector system comprising:
- a first electrical connector carrying first and second arrays of electrical contacts, the first array of electrical contacts arranged in a signal-signal-ground arrangement, the electrical contacts of the first array each defining an edge and a broadside, wherein the electrical contacts of the first array are positioned edge-to-edge, the second array of electrical contacts arranged in a signal-signal-ground arrangement, the electrical contacts of the second array each defining an edge and a broadside, wherein the electrical contacts of the second array are positioned edge-to-edge, and the second array is spaced from the first array;
- and
- a second electrical connector carrying a ground contact that is aligned with the first array of electrical contacts when the first end second electrical connectors are mated, the ground contact having a contact portion that contacts a first broadside of a first ground contact of the first array of electrical contacts and contacts a second broadside of a second ground contact of the second array of electrical contacts when the first electrical connector is mated to the second electrical connector so as to create a common ground between the first and second ground contacts.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.