Electrical connector assembly with lockable structures

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/397,406, filed Apr. 29, 2019, which is in condition for allowance and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a) on Patent Application No. 201820826642.0 filed in P.R. China on May 30, 2018, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

Some references, if any, which may include patents, patent applications and various publications, may be cited and discussed in the description of this invention. The citation and/or discussion of such references, if any, is provided merely to clarify the description of the present disclosure and is not an admission that any such reference is “prior art” to the invention described herein. All references listed, cited and/or discussed in this specification are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties and to the same extent as if each reference was individually incorporated by reference.

The present disclosure relates to a connector assembly, in particular to an electrical connector assembly with lockable structures.

With the increase of the network age, the requirements on data processing and transmission speed are increased, the performance and device density of the corresponding servers, workstations and CPUs in the I/O memory are synchronously improved, and certain challenges are brought to the device size and the heat dissipation of the servers. Generally, the heat sink occupies a large space on the printed circuit board, and the space between the heat sink and the printed circuit board in the height direction is small, such that the conventional connector cannot be arranged below the heat sink, and it is difficult to utilize the redundant space below the heat sink, resulting in wasted space of the printed circuit board is wasted.

The present disclosure provides a high-speed connector on a high-density MINI version chip side, which has small size and the height of less than 3.7 mm, can be placed under a heat sink of a chip, and has the transmission speed up to 56 Gbit/s. The space of the board end is utilized to the maximum extent, and the problem that the CPU occupies the space of the board end due to the size expansion of the radiating module is solved.

To achieve the above object, the present disclosure provides a high-speed connector on a high-density MINI version chip side, comprising: a board end connector, a wire end connector and a printed circuit board; the board end connector is arranged on the printed circuit board; the board end connector comprises a board end connector shell and a board end connector body arranged in the board end connector shell; the wire end connector comprises a wire end case and a tongue plate fixed to the wire end case; wherein at least one guide piece extends from the board end connector shell, and the wire end case is provided with at least one guide slot for creating a butt joint with the guide piece.

The present disclosure also provides a printed circuit board layout structure, comprising: a connector, a chip and a heat sink arranged on the chip, the connector is arranged below the heat sink, the connector comprises: a board end connector, a wire end connector and a printed circuit board; the board end connector is arranged on the printed circuit board; the board end connector comprises a board end connector shell and a board end connector body arranged in the hoard end connector shell; the wire end connector comprises a wire end case and a tongue plate fixed to the wire end case; wherein at least one guide piece extends from the board end connector shell, and the wire end case is provided with at least one guide slot for creating a butt joint with the guide piece.

The beneficial effects of the present disclosure are: the space of the board end is utilized to the maximum extent, the problem that the CPU occupies the space of the board end due to the increased size of the heat dissipation module is solved, and high-speed data transmission can be realized.

The present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the following drawings and embodiments, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an electrical connector assembly of the present disclosure in a separated state;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the electrical connector assembly of the present disclosure in a use state;

FIG. 3 is a schematic top view of the electrical connector assembly of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a schematic side view of the electrical connector assembly of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged schematic view of the connected portions of the electrical connector assembly of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a partial schematic view of the lockable snap portion of the electrical connector assembly of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged schematic view of the engagement portion of the electrical connector assembly of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 is an exploded view of the board end connector of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a system using the electrical connector assembly of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 10 is an exploded view of the electrical connector assembly of the present disclosure.

100 Connector

101 Board end connector shell

102 Board end connector body

103 Wire end case

104 Tongue plate

105 Lockable snap

106 Board end connector

107 Wire end connector

109 Printed circuit board

110 Guide piece

111 Guide projection

112 Guide slot

113 Welding foot

114 Snap protrusion

115 Slot

116 Step

117 Conductive terminal

118 Conductive plastic

The structural principle and the operational principle of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the attached drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an electrical connector assembly 100 of the present disclosure in separated state. As shown in FIG. 1 , the electrical connector assembly 100 is a high-speed electrical connector assembly on high density MINI version chip side of the present disclosure. The electrical connector assembly includes a first connector such as a hoard end connector 106 , a second connector such as a wire end connector 107 and a printed circuit board 109 . Both of the board end connector 106 and the wire end connector 107 are used cooperatively.

The board end connector 106 is mounted on the printed circuit board 109 and comprises a board end connector shell 101 and a board end connector body 102 embedded in the board end connector shell 101 . Referring to FIG. 1 , the board end connector 106 includes an insertion surface 1021 and a receiving slot 1022 extending through the insertion surface 1021 to receive the wire end connector 107 along a mating direction M.

The wire end connector 107 comprises a wire end case 103 , a tongue plate 104 , a wire end body (not shown) and a lockable snap 105 . The tongue plate 104 is covered by the wire end body, the wire end case 103 covers the wire end body and is fixed to the wire end body, and the lockable snap 105 is arranged at both sides of the wire end case 103 .

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the electrical connector assembly 100 of the present disclosure in a use state. As shown in FIG. 2 , when using, the wire end connector 107 is aligned with the board end connector 106 and inserted into the board end connector 106 , and the lockable snap 105 is pressed after insertion, such that the wire end connector 107 and the board end connector 106 can be tightly combined.

FIG. 3 is a schematic top view of the electrical connector assembly 100 of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 3 , the electrical connector assembly 100 of the present disclosure has a body portion of a length L, preferably 18-20 mm, and a width W, preferably 13-15 mm, after the wire end connector 107 is coupled to the board end connector 106 .

FIG. 4 is a schematic side view of the electrical connector assembly 100 of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 4 , the electrical connector assembly 100 of the present disclosure has a body portion of a thickness H less than 3.7 mm, after the wire end connector 107 is coupled to the board end connector 106 .

FIG. 5 is an enlarged schematic view of the connected portions of the electrical connector assembly 100 of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 5 , both sides of the board end connector shell 101 are provided with two guide pieces 110 extending outwards from the board end connector 106 , and the guide pieces 110 are integrally formed with the board end connector shell 101 . Both sides of the wire end case 103 have at least one guide projection 111 extending outward, and the guide projection 111 is integrally formed with the wire end case 103 . The wire end case 103 includes a main portion 119 . The guide projections 111 extend sidewardly from the main portion 119 for mating with the corresponding guide pieces 110 . Both side surfaces of the wire end case 103 have guide slots 112 recessed toward each other. The guide projection 111 is disposed at an edge of the guide slot 112 , and the guide projection 111 surrounds at least a portion of the guide slot 112 .

When inserting the wire end connector 107 into the board end connector 106 , the wire end connector 107 should be inserted into the board end connector 106 after aligning the two guide pieces 110 of the board end connector 106 with the guide slots 112 of the wire end connector 107 . During the plugging process, the guide pieces 110 , the guide projection 111 and the guide slots 112 are matched with each other, to provide a plugging alignment mechanism for the wire end connector 107 and the board end connector 106 , and prevent improper plugging in the wrong direction.

When the wire end connector 107 is inserted into the board end connector 106 , the guide piece 110 is inserted into the guide slot 112 , such that the guide piece 110 is disposed between the wire end case 103 and the guide projection 111 , the guide projection 111 located on both sides of the guide piece 110 abuts against the guide piece 110 , so it is possible to prevent the wire end connector 107 from applying an improper force in a direction other than the abutting direction due to the wire bending, and to reduce the damage when the board end connector 106 is butt jointed with the wire end connector 107 .

In addition, a welding foot 113 is disposed at one end of the guide piece 110 , and the welding foot 113 is formed by the extension of the guide piece 110 and is integrally formed with the guide piece 110 . The welding foot 113 can also be extended from the board end connector shell 101 and disposed front than the guide piece 110 along a rear-to-front direction away from the board end connector body 102 . The welding foot 113 is inserted to the printed circuit board 109 and can serve to fix the guide piece 110 to enhance the fixing strength of the guide piece 110 . The welding foot 113 can be directly fixed to the printed circuit board 109 or be fixed to the printed circuit board 109 via a soldering or welding material.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of the lockable snap portion of the electrical connector assembly 100 of the present disclosure. The wire end case 103 is provided with snap protrusions 114 at both sides of the outside of the wire end case 103 , and the rear end of the board end connector shell 101 is provided with a slot 115 . After the wire end connector 107 is inserted into the board end connector 106 , the lockable snap 105 is pressed such that the lockable snap 105 is snapped into the slot 115 , the snap protrusion 114 is abutted against the lockable snap 105 , and the guide piece 110 is accommodated in the guide slot 112 . Because the guide piece 110 fastens the wire end case 103 of the wire end connector 107 , the wire end connector 107 may lower the displacement in the direction of the vertical butt joint, in which the guide projection 111 and the snap protrusion 114 are disposed on both sides of the guide piece 110 . Due to the design of disposing the guide projection 111 and the snap protrusion 114 on both sides of the guide piece 110 , it is possible to prevent the movement of the wire end connector 107 caused by the excessive bending of the wire on the side of the wire end connector 107 and also prevent the electrical connector assembly 100 from being warped upward thereby resulting in damage.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged schematic view of the engagement portion of the electrical connector assembly 100 of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 7 , a step 116 is disposed on a portion of the upper surface of the wire end case 103 , which is combined with the board end connector 106 , such that after the wire end connector 107 is combined with the board end connector 106 , a portion of the wire end case 103 is embedded in the board end connector shell 101 to form an overlapping portion, which can prevent the peripheral circuit or device from interfering with the electrical connector assembly 100 . In other words, the board end connector shell 101 covers a portion of the wire end case 103 along a direction perpendicular to the printed circuit board 109 .

The lockable snap 105 is movable between a first position (see FIG. 6 ) where the board end connector 106 and the wire end connector 107 are in an unlocking status and a second position (see FIG. 2 ) where the board end connector 106 and the wire end connector 107 are in a locking status. In the illustrated embodiment of the present disclosure, the lockable snap 105 is pivotal between the first position and the second position. Referring to FIGS. 6 and 7 , the lockable snap 105 includes a first arm rod 105 a , a second arm rod 105 b and an end rod 105 c connecting the first arm rod 105 a and the second arm rod 105 b . The first arm rod 105 a and the second arm rod 105 b are pivotally mounted to two opposite sides of the wire end connector 107 , respectively. Furthermore, the lockable snap 105 includes a loosen strap 105 d which is mounted to the end rod 105 c . The loosen strap 105 d is adapted for external force to apply in order to unlock the board end connector 106 and the wire end connector 107 by driving the lockable snap 105 from the second position to the first position.

FIG. 8 is an exploded view of the board end connector 106 of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 8 , the board end connector 106 includes an upper layer and a lower layer of terminals 117 with a conductive plastic 118 disposed therebetween for optimizing the signal integrity resonance of the electrical connector assembly 100 .

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a system using the electrical connector assembly 100 of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 9 , the system 10 of the present disclosure includes a chip 11 , a heat dissipation module 12 , and the electrical connector assembly 100 . As shown, the electrical connector assembly 100 is disposed below the heat dissipation module 12 and is disposed at a side of the chip 11 . Therefore, the space below the heat dissipation module 12 can be fully utilized, the space of the printed circuit board is utilized to the maximum extent, and the problem that the CPU occupies the space due to the increased size of the heat dissipation module is solved.

FIG. 10 is an exploded view of the electrical connector assembly 100 of the present disclosure. Its specific structure has been explained and the same contents will not be repeated.

The present disclosure may be embodied in other forms, various changes and modifications may be made by one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit or essence of the invention, and the corresponding changes and modifications will fall into the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.