Abstract: A low-profile receptacle connector for use in making a required electric connection between an integrated circuit package and a printed circuit board includes a terminal housing part that is sandwiched between the integrated circuit package and the printed circuit board, and the terminal housing part has terminals embedded therein. Each terminal includes a flat trunk and at least one cantilever-like contact arm integrally connected to its flat trunk. The terminals are arranged with their flat trunks parallel to the plane of the terminal housing part, and are supported by the terminal housing part by allowing the mold to overhang the opposite lateral and longitudinal edges of the trunk of each terminal.

Abstract: An adapter module is provided with a bail latch mechanism that serves to engage and disengage the frame into which the adapter module fits. The bail latch is movable between two positions and it engages a cam member formed as part of the module that cams two opposing free ends of the bail latch inwardly into the module to thereby release it from the adapter frame.

Abstract: A connector provides mechanical strength and impedance-conforming coupling between conductors in a cable and conductors on a circuit board. The conductors in the cable and the circuit board carry differential signals. The connector is comprised of a dielectric plug that has conductive terminals installed in it which comprise an electrical triad. A dielectric inner body has at least one triplet of three conductive terminals that extend into corresponding slots of the dielectric plug. The dielectric inner body has latching arm slots that receiving a latching arm of a mechanical coupling link member. A protective cover extends over a wire management support member and the dielectric inner body portion and at least partially over the dielectric plug member. The protective cover has retention openings that engage an actuator leg of a latching member. The protective cover also has at least one bias leg recess, for receiving a bias leg of the latching member.

Abstract: A plug connector (10) to be actually mounted on one substrate K1 and a receptacle connector (20) to be actually mounted on the other substrate K2 are provided. The receptacle connector is provided with a housing (22) into which the plug connector is to be inserted ad a plurality of pin terminals (23) arranged in an array to the housing. The plug connector is provided with a plurality of contacts (12) having contact pieces (11) in electrical contact with the respective pin terminals and a housing (13) for holding the respective contacts. A plurality of vertical shield plates (27) are provided between the respective pin terminals in the receptacle connector. A plurality of horizontal shield plate (14) are provided to intersect with the vertical shield plates (27) in a cruciform manner within said plug connector. Slits for advancing the vertical shield plates are formed in the housing of the plug connector and the horizontal shield plate (14).

Abstract: A differential signal connector that is used for edge card application has a plurality of differential signal terminals and associated ground terminals arranged in “triplets”, i.e., distinct sets of three conductive terminals, each such triplet including a pair of differential signal terminals and one associated ground terminal. The ground terminal is flanked by the two differential signal terminals and each triplet is spaced apart from an adjacent triplet by a spacing which is greater than any single spacing between adjacent terminals within a triplet. Circuit boards to which such a connector is mounted are also disclosed and they have a particular pattern of termination traces, commonly taking the form of plated vias extending through the circuit board. These vias are arranged in a triangular pattern and the ground reference plane of the circuit board is provided with voids, one void being associated and encompassing a pair of the differential signal vias of a single terminal triplet.

Abstract: Connector assemblies having terminal assemblies which are arranged in side-by-side order are maintained in a group with a desired spacing between the terminal assemblies. The terminals fixed in place at a first point within insulative connector body portions. The terminals assemblies are fixed together by a alignment bar along their lower edges, with the bar having engagement lugs that are received within slots formed in the housings of the terminal assemblies, and they are fixed along their upper edges by a hollow retainer that has a series of slots formed in an interior surface thereof. The slots and the alignment bar are aligned together so that the spacing between adjacent terminal assemblies is even.

Abstract: A high-density connector utilizes a plurality of terminal assemblies that are assembled together into a block, or single unit, to form a connector. Each terminal assembly of the connector utilizes a plurality of conductive terminals having contact portions for mating with an opposing connector, and body portions held within an insulative body portion of the assembly. The terminal assemblies support arrays of terminals arranged in a specific order of signal-ground-signal arrays. The terminal assemblies have at least two insulative housing portions that support the signal terminal arrays and an intervening ground terminal array, which may or may not be supported by an associated insulative housing. The ground members have a series of grounding tabs formed therewith with extend out from the plane of the ground members, on opposite sides thereof into contact with ground reference terminals of the signal terminal arrays.

Abstract: A board-to-board connector assembly for connecting two printed circuit board is disclosed and includes interengaging plug and receptacle connectors that each have terminal-receiving cavities with conductive terminals disposed therein. Each of the terminals includes a tail portion that extends out of its respective connector for attaching the terminal to a circuit on the circuit board, and an elastic contact portion for contacting an opposing terminal of a mating connector. The elastic contact portion of the receptacle connector is bent at least twice upon itself to form a “Z” shape and to have plural elastic curved portions. An end of the elastic contact section is bent enward to form a contact face. The plug connector terminals have convex contact portion extending from their associated tail portions.

Abstract: A land grid array connector is formed by attaching a reinforcing member to a frame and coating the reinforcing member with an elastomeric compound to form a reinforced, flexible body portion of the connector. Conductive wires are inserted in pairs in an array in the fabric extent. Free ends of the wires extend past the elastomeric compound to provide contacts of the connector. The pairs of wires provide redundancy for the contacts to ensure a reliable connection.

Abstract: A board to board connector for use in high speed signal transmission applications includes male and female connector components that interengage with each other. Each of the male and female parts has an insulative housing that holds a plurality of individual terminal assemblies in cavities defined by corresponding walls of each connector component. The exterior surfaces of the connector components are plated with a metal so as to provide a unitary grounding datum around each of the individual terminal assemblies. Each of the connector components may utilize a center engagement member that runs lengthwise through the connector components, one of the center engagement members having a contact blade formed integrally therewith and the other of the center engagement members including a plurality of spring arms, also integrally formed with the connector component so that the grounding shield portions of the two connectors make contact with each other first before the terminals of the connector make contact.

Abstract: A land grid array connector is formed by attaching a reinforcing member to a frame and coating the reinforcing member with an elastomeric compound to form a reinforced, flexible body portion of the connector. Conductive wires are inserted in pairs in an array in the fabric extent. Free ends of the wires extend past the elastomeric compound to provide contacts of the connector. The pairs of wires provide redundancy for the contacts to ensure a reliable connection.

Abstract: Connector assemblies having cantilevered contact beams arranged in one or more arrays of terminals have their terminals fixed in place at a first point within insulative connector body portions. The terminals are fixed together by one or more support members within a hollow shroud, at a second point spaced apart from the first point. The present invention pertains to means for fixing the terminals and their support member to the outer shroud. In one embodiment, the shroud is square and has a series of slots formed in two opposing sidewalls. A key member has a plurality of biasing arms, or fingers that extend into the slots and into contact with the terminal support members. In a second embodiment of the inventions, the shroud is provided with a plurality of channels formed on the inner surfaces of two opposing sidewalls thereof.

Abstract: A contactless interconnecting system is provided between a computer chip package and a circuit board. The chip package has a substantially planar lower surface with a pattern of discrete terminal lands. The circuit board has a substantially planar upper surface spaced from and generally parallel to the lower surface of the chip package. A pattern of discrete circuit pads on the upper surface are aligned with the terminal lands. A plurality of discrete interposer members are disposed between the terminal lands and the circuit pads and are in a pattern corresponding to and aligned with the aligned patterns of the terminal lands and circuit pads. The interposer members are preferably of a material having a higher dielectric constant that of the material filling the gaps between interposer members.

Abstract: This invention provides a fixing structure for fixing a connector to the surface of a circuit board. It facilitates management of screw-tightening torque, and has reliability at the time of fixture by screwing, and reliability over time. When fixed to a board using a screw, the connector is not fixed directly to the circuit board, but rather a bracket with two arms that contact and engage protruding portions of the connector hold the connector down on the board. A main body portion of the bracket is defined by folding a portion upon itself to present a U-shape. The folded piece can compress under the tightening of the screw and may be soldered to the circuit board.

Abstract: A card edge connector assembly is provided for electrically connecting at least a pair of stacked memory cards to a circuit board. The assembly includes a lower connector having a dielectric housing mounting a plurality of conductive terminals along a slot for receiving an edge of a lower memory card. An upper connector has a dielectric housing mounting a plurality of conductive terminals along a slot for receiving an edge of an upper memory card at an angle to the lower memory card, the angle diverging in a direction away from said slots.

Abstract: An IC socket has a socket body with a plurality of terminal mounting holes, and terminals of electrical connector mounted in the terminal mounting holes and each of the terminals of electrical connector having a contact portion, a spring portion and a tail portion for performing a burn-in test of an IC package by mounting the IC package on the socket body so as to place a solder ball as a contact of the IC package corresponding to the contact portion and contacting the contact portion with the solder ball. The spring portion of each of the terminals of electrical connector is formed into meandering shape as a whole by stacking a plurality of r-shaped portions in series with alternately orienting each r-surface thereof in the opposite direction from the contact portion toward the tail portion.

Abstract: A termination structure for mating a cable connector to a circuit board has a ground terminal and two signal terminals arranged in triangular pattern through the connector in order to reduce the impedance through the connector. The width of the ground terminal increases along its extent with respect to the signal terminals. This increase occurs along either a transition or contact portion of the ground terminal.

Abstract: A termination structure for a cable connector having a pair of differential wire pairs and an associated ground wire utilizes a series of nests, or solder cups, that have their dimensions tailored to maintain a desired level of electrical performance. These nests are also arranged in a configuration to maintain the aforementioned electrical performance, and also position the ground and signal conductors of the cable in the termination area in the same position and orientation as they take in the cable.

Abstract: A socket for a pin grid-array package includes a base housing having terminals arranged in the same grid pattern as the lead pins of the pin grid-array package, an overlying slide cover having through holes arranged in the same grid pattern for accommodating the lead pins, and a slide drive for driving the overlying slide cover on the underlying base housing. The base housing is designed so that terminals may be press-fit in their terminal-receiving cavities from above the upper side of the base housing until their tails to appear from the bottom of the base housing.

Abstract: An improved EMI shield assembly for transceivers is provided in the form of a metal shielding cage that has interengaging cover and base portions. The cover portion has two sidewalls that include leading edges that flare outwardly so that the cover portion sidewalls ride up and over the sidewalls of the base portion. Catches are formed in the base portion sidewalls that have curved surfaces which engage the flared portions to further facilitate the assembly of the shielding cage assembly.