EP0574805A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Impedance and inductance control in electrical connectors and including reduced crosstalk
Assignee: Molex LLC
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Filing: 1993-06-08
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2013-06-08
Abstract
Abstract A method and structure of an electrical connector (10) is provided for tuning the impedance of the connector according to a given impedance of an electrical circuit in which the connector is interconnected. The connector includes a dielectric housing (16) having a receptacle (12) for receiving a complementary electrical component (13). A plurality of terminals (28, 30) are mounted on the housing. The terminals include body portions (32, 48) located in the housing and contact portions (34, 50) for engaging respective contacts (17a, 17b) on the electrical component. The body portions include mechanically non-functional sections (40) of a given area which effect a given capacitance. The mechanically non-functional sections are selectively trimmable to selectively vary the area thereof and thereby vary the capacitance of the terminals and, therefore, the impedance of the connector to match the given impedance of the electrical circuit. The connector includes a plurality of signal terminals (28) and a plurality of ground terminals (30). The signal terminals and ground terminals are in an alternating array lengthwise along the receptacle, with each signal terminal being aligned with a ground terminals on opposite transverse sides of the receptacle, and the ground terminals have significantly larger transverse areas than the signal terminals. The ground terminals have at least two points (57, 60) of contact for engaging a common ground circuit on the printed circuit board for reducing the inductance between a particular ground terminal and its respective circuit trace.
Inventors
- 👤 David L. Brunker
- 👤 Frank A. Harwath
- 👤 Dennis K. Scheer
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-02 12:29
CPC Classifications
H; H01; H01R; H01R13/00; H01R13/646; H01R13/6473; H01R13/6474; H01R13/648; H01R13/658; H01R13/6581; H01R13/6585; H01R12/00; H01R12/70; H01R12/71; H01R12/72; H01R12/721; H01R13/6461; H01R13/6471; H01R13/6591; H01R13/6594; Y; Y10; Y10T; Y10T29/00; Y10T29/49; Y10T29/49002; Y10T29/49117; Y10T29/49204
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 13
Claim 1
Independent Claim
200 words
An electrical connector (10) for interconnecting circuits between a first electrical component (11) and a complementary second electrical component (13), said circuits each having a given impedance, said connector including a dielectric housing (16) having receptacle means (12) for receiving said complementary second electrical component, a plurality of terminals (28) mounted on the housing, the terminals having body portions (32) located in the housing, contact portions (34) for engaging respective terminal means (17a) on the second electrical component, a mounting portion (38) for securing each terminal to said housing and an interconnection portion (46) for interconnecting each terminal with one of the circuits of said first electrical component; characterized in that: said body portions include mechanically non-functional sections (40) of a given area which effect a given capacitance, the mechanically non-functional sections being separate from the contact portion, the mounting portion and the interconnection portion to permit selective trimming of the mechanically non-functional sections to selectively vary the area thereof and thereby vary the capacitance of the terminals and, therefore, the impedance of the connector to match said given impedance of the electrical circuits without modifying the physical dimensions of said contact portion, said mounting portion or said interconnection portion.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
30 words
The electrical connector as set forth in claim 1, wherein said mechanically non-functional sections comprise stubs which can be trimmed to a given size and, therefore, a given effective area.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
24 words
The electrical connector as set forth in claim 1, wherein said mechanically non-functional sections comprise stubs which can be broken away from the terminals.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
32 words
The electrical connector as set forth in claim 1, wherein said mounting portion includes a mounting leg located in a recess (26a) in the housing for securing the terminals in the housing.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
22 words
The electrical connector as set forth in claim 4, wherein the contact portions and the mounting portions project from the body portions.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
35 words
The electrical connector as set forth in claim 5, wherein said mechanically non-functional sections comprise stubs projecting from the body portions, the stubs being trimmable to a given size and, therefore, a given effective area.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
53 words
The electrical connector as set forth in claim 5, wherein said mounting portions and said contact portions project from one side of the body portions, the mounting portions being located outside the contact portions and said slot, and said mechanically non-functional sections include stubs projecting from the body portions inside the contact portions.
Claim 8
Independent Claim
279 words
A method of tuning the impedance of an electrical connector (10) adapted for interconnection in an electrical circuit having a given impedance, the connector including a dielectric housing (16) for mounting a plurality of terminals, the housing having receptacle means (12) for receiving a complementary electrical component (13) which is at least part of an electrical circuit having a given impedance, and a plurality of terminals (28) mounted on the housing, each including a body portion (32) located in the housing and having a contact portion (34) extending from said body portion for engaging respective terminal means (17a) on the electrical component, a mounting portion (38) integral with said body portion for securing each said terminal to said housing, a tail portion (46) on said body portion for securing each said terminal to circuitry on a mother board (11), and a mechanically non-functional impedance tuning portion (40), including the steps of: providing said housing having terminal receiving cavities (26a) therein; determining the desired physical dimensions of said body portion; determining the desired physical dimensions of said contact portion; determining the desired physical dimensions of said mounting portion to retain said terminal within one of said terminal receiving cavities; determining the desired physical dimensions of said tail portion; characterized in that: stamping said terminals with mechanically non-functional sections of a given area which effect a given capacitance; and selectively trimming, without modifying the physical dimensions of said contact portion, said mounting portion and said tail portion, the mechanically non-functional sections to selectively vary the area thereof and thereby vary the capacitance of the terminals and, therefore, the impedance of the connector to match said given impedance of the electrical circuit.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
38 words
The method of claim 8 wherein said mechanically non-functional sections are provided in the form of stubs, and the stubs are trimmed to a given size and, therefore, a given area during a stamping operation of said terminals.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
154 words
In an edge connector (10) for a printed circuit board (13) having a mating edge and a plurality of signal and ground contact pads (17a,17b) adjacent the edge, the connector including an elongated dielectric housing (16) having a board-receiving slot (12) for receiving the mating edge of the printed circuit board, a plurality of signal terminals (28) and a plurality of ground terminals (30) mounted on the housing, the terminals having body portions (32,48) located in the housing and spring contact portions (34,50) extending into the slot for contacting respective ones of the contact pads on the printed circuit board, characterized in that: said signal terminals (28) and ground terminals (30) being positioned in an alternating array along each side of the slot means, with each signal terminal being aligned with a ground terminal on opposite transverse sides of the slot, and the ground terminals having significantly larger transverse areas than the signal terminals.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
30 words
In an edge connector as set forth in claim 10, wherein the body portions of the grounds terminals have significantly larger areas than the body portions of the signal terminals.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
60 words
In an edge connector as set forth in claim 11, wherein the body portions of the ground terminals include base portions (52), mounting barbs (54) projecting from the base portions for securing the terminals in the housing and enlarged surface area portions (56) projecting from the base portions, with the spring contacts portions projecting from the enlarged surface area portions.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
65 words
In an edge connector as set forth in claim 10, wherein the connector is adapted for mounting on a printed circuit board (11) having a common ground circuit and a plurality of circuit traces forming portions of the common ground circuit, and wherein said ground terminals have at least two grounding portions (57,60) for engaging the common ground circuit to establish a multiple-point contact therewith.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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