Patents by Inventor Bruce Allen Champion

Bruce Allen Champion has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20200301084
    Abstract: A communication system includes a host circuit board and an interposer assembly coupled to the host circuit board having an interposer substrate including an host circuit board contacts at a lower surface and module contacts at an upper surface. The communication system includes an optical pluggable module having a mating interface along a bottom of the optical pluggable module facing the interposer assembly. The optical pluggable module includes a module substrate and optical engines coupled to the module substrate with optical fiber cables extending from the optical engines to the cable end. The module substrate has module substrate contacts at a lower surface of the module substrate being electrically connected to corresponding module contacts of the interposer assembly at the upper surface of the interposer substrate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 8, 2020
    Publication date: September 24, 2020
    Inventors: Bruce Allen Champion, Christopher William Blackburn, Michael David Herring, Eric David Briant
  • Publication number: 20200235525
    Abstract: An electrical device including a plug connector. The plug connector includes a first flexible substrate having a plurality of signal contacts, the first flexible substrate extending from a terminating end to a mating end and configured to be flexible between the terminating end and mating end. A second flexible substrate extends in parallel spaced relation to the first flexible substrate to form a cavity between the first flexible substrate and second flexible substrate. The second flexible substrate having a plurality of signal contacts. The second flexible substrate extends from a terminating end to a mating end and configured to be flexible between the terminating end and mating end. The plug connector includes a rigid section disposed in the cavity at the mating end, the first flexible substrate moves in relation to the rigid section.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 17, 2019
    Publication date: July 23, 2020
    Inventors: Sandeep Patel, Dustin Grant Rowe, Bruce Allen Champion, Alex Michael Sharf
  • Patent number: 10680364
    Abstract: A communication system includes a host circuit board, a receptacle assembly mounted to the host circuit board having a cage member defining a module cavity, and a pluggable module having a pluggable body loaded into the module cavity. The pluggable body has a mating interface along a bottom of the pluggable body facing the host circuit board. The pluggable module has a cable assembly having a cable and a cable connector at an end of the cable including signal contacts held by a contact holder that are terminated to signal conductors of the cable. The signal contacts have deflectable spring beams and mating interfaces along the deflectable spring beams exposed at the mating interface of the pluggable body to engage and directly mate with corresponding signal pads of the host circuit board.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 13, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 9, 2020
    Assignee: TE CONNECTIVITY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Bruce Allen Champion, Christopher William Blackburn, Eric David Briant
  • Patent number: 10680388
    Abstract: A communication system includes a host circuit board and an interposer assembly coupled to the host circuit board having an interposer substrate including an upper surface and a lower surface. The interposer assembly has host circuit board contacts electrically connected to contact pads of the host circuit board and cable assembly contacts coupled to a pluggable module. The pluggable module includes a mating interface along a bottom of the pluggable module facing the interposer assembly. The pluggable module includes a cable assembly having a cable at the cable end. The cable has a signal conductor and a ground conductor being electrically connected to corresponding cable assembly contacts of the interposer assembly at the upper surface of the interposer substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 13, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 9, 2020
    Assignee: TE CONNECTIVITY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Bruce Allen Champion, Christopher William Blackburn, Michael David Herring, Eric David Briant
  • Patent number: 10644455
    Abstract: An electrical connector includes a contact organizer, signal and ground contacts, and an absorber member. The contact organizer has a mating end, and includes a first wall and a second wall that define a card cavity therebetween. The card cavity is open at the mating end to receive a mating circuit card therein. The signal contacts and the ground contacts are held by the contact organizer along at least the first wall. The absorber member is mounted to the first wall of the contact organizer at the mating end. The absorber member includes at least one limb composed of a lossy material. Each limb projects into the card cavity and aligns with a corresponding one of the ground contacts. Each limb is configured to electrically connect to a corresponding ground pad of the mating circuit card.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 17, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 5, 2020
    Assignee: TE CONNECTIVITY CORPORATION
    Inventor: Bruce Allen Champion
  • Patent number: 10630002
    Abstract: A circuit board comprises a row of solder pads adapted to be soldered to a row of contacts of a connector, a plurality of first conductive vias, and a plurality of second conductive vias. The contacts include a plurality of ground contacts and a plurality of signal contacts. The solder pads include a plurality of ground solder pads each soldered to a solder foot of one of the ground contacts and a plurality of signal solder pads each soldered to a solder foot of one of the signal contacts. The first conductive vias correspond to and are electrically connected to the ground solder pads and are electrically connected to each other by a first connection bar. The second conductive vias correspond to and are electrically connected to the ground solder pads and are electrically connected to each other by a second connection bar. The solder foot of each of the ground contacts is disposed between one of the first conductive vias and one of the second conductive vias.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 27, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 21, 2020
    Assignees: Tyco Electronics (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., TE Connectivity Corporation
    Inventors: Liang Huang, Bruce Allen Champion
  • Publication number: 20200052439
    Abstract: A card edge connector includes a contact assembly received in a cavity of a housing having a card slot in a shroud configured to receive a card edge of a module circuit board of a pluggable module. The contact assembly has upper and lower contacts having mating ends. The card edge connector includes upper biasing members at a top wall of the shroud associated with corresponding upper contacts each having an outer biasing surface engaging the pluggable module when mated with the card edge connector and having an inner biasing surface engaging the contact assembly proximate to the corresponding upper contact. The upper biasing member is movable from a released position to a compressed position. The upper biasing member moves the upper contact from an unmated position to a mated position as the upper biasing member is moved from the released position to the compressed position.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 7, 2018
    Publication date: February 13, 2020
    Inventors: Bruce Allen Champion, Eric David Briant
  • Patent number: 10559920
    Abstract: A card edge connector includes a contact assembly received in a cavity of a housing having a card slot in a shroud configured to receive a card edge of a module circuit board of a pluggable module. The contact assembly has upper and lower contacts having mating ends. The card edge connector includes upper biasing members at a top wall of the shroud associated with corresponding upper contacts each having an outer biasing surface engaging the pluggable module when mated with the card edge connector and having an inner biasing surface engaging the contact assembly proximate to the corresponding upper contact. The upper biasing member is movable from a released position to a compressed position. The upper biasing member moves the upper contact from an unmated position to a mated position as the upper biasing member is moved from the released position to the compressed position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 7, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 11, 2020
    Assignee: TE CONNECTIVITY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Bruce Allen Champion, Eric David Briant
  • Patent number: 10530100
    Abstract: A communication connector includes a wafer stack including ground wafers and signal wafers arranged in a stacked configuration. Each signal wafer includes a dielectric frame holding a signal leadframe including a plurality of signal contacts. Each ground wafer includes a dielectric frame holding a ground leadframe including ground plates connected by tie bars and rail slots therethrough. The communication connector includes ground rails separate from the ground wafers and being plugged into the wafer stack to electrically connect to corresponding ground wafers. The ground rails have rail tabs received in corresponding rail slots being coupled to ground plates of corresponding ground wafers. Each rail tab extends through at least one signal wafer to provide electrical shielding for signal contacts of the at least one signal wafer. Each rail tab is coupled to at least two different ground wafers to electrically connect the at least two different ground wafers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 7, 2020
    Assignee: TE CONNECTIVITY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Randall Robert Henry, Michael John Phillips, Bruce Allen Champion
  • Publication number: 20190288457
    Abstract: A communication system includes a host circuit board and an interposer assembly coupled to the host circuit board having an interposer substrate including an upper surface and a lower surface. The interposer assembly has host circuit board contacts electrically connected to contact pads of the host circuit board and cable assembly contacts coupled to a pluggable module. The pluggable module includes a mating interface along a bottom of the pluggable module facing the interposer assembly. The pluggable module includes a cable assembly having a cable at the cable end. The cable has a signal conductor and a ground conductor being electrically connected to corresponding cable assembly contacts of the interposer assembly at the upper surface of the interposer substrate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 13, 2019
    Publication date: September 19, 2019
    Inventors: Bruce Allen Champion, Christopher William Blackburn, Michael David Herring, Eric David Briant
  • Publication number: 20190288422
    Abstract: A communication system includes a host circuit board, a receptacle assembly mounted to the host circuit board having a cage member defining a module cavity, and a pluggable module having a pluggable body loaded into the module cavity. The pluggable body has a mating interface along a bottom of the pluggable body facing the host circuit board. The pluggable module has a cable assembly having a cable and a cable connector at an end of the cable including signal contacts held by a contact holder that are terminated to signal conductors of the cable. The signal contacts have deflectable spring beams and mating interfaces along the deflectable spring beams exposed at the mating interface of the pluggable body to engage and directly mate with corresponding signal pads of the host circuit board.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 13, 2019
    Publication date: September 19, 2019
    Inventors: Bruce Allen Champion, Christopher William Blackburn, Eric David Briant
  • Publication number: 20190207327
    Abstract: A circuit board comprises a row of solder pads adapted to be soldered to a row of contacts of a connector, a plurality of first conductive vias, and a plurality of second conductive vias. The contacts include a plurality of ground contacts and a plurality of signal contacts. The solder pads include a plurality of ground solder pads each soldered to a solder foot of one of the ground contacts and a plurality of signal solder pads each soldered to a solder foot of one of the signal contacts. The first conductive vias correspond to and are electrically connected to the ground solder pads and are electrically connected to each other by a first connection bar. The second conductive vias correspond to and are electrically connected to the ground solder pads and are electrically connected to each other by a second connection bar. The solder foot of each of the ground contacts is disposed between one of the first conductive vias and one of the second conductive vias.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 27, 2018
    Publication date: July 4, 2019
    Applicants: Tyco Electronics (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., TE Connectivity Corporation
    Inventors: Liang Huang, Bruce Allen Champion
  • Patent number: 9871325
    Abstract: An interconnect system includes a circuit board including a substrate having a first surface and a second surface opposite the first surface, a plurality of signal conductors and a plurality of ground conductors including respective contact pads in a mating area of the substrate for engaging corresponding contacts of an electrical connector, and a plurality of ground vias extending at least partially through the substrate between the first and second surfaces. The ground vias are coupled to corresponding ground conductors. The ground vias include lossy plugs at least partially filling the ground vias. The lossy plugs are manufactured from lossy material capable of absorbing electrical resonance propagating through the substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 15, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2018
    Assignee: TE CONNECTIVITY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Sandeep Patel, Bruce Allen Champion, Linda Ellen Shields, Michael John Phillips, Thomas Taake de Boer, John Joseph Consoli
  • Patent number: 9859658
    Abstract: An electrical connector includes a housing and a plurality of ground wafers and signal wafers. A front side is configured to mate with a mating connector. The ground wafers and signal wafers are stacked next to one another along a stack axis. The ground wafers are interleaved between adjacent pairs of the signal wafers. Each signal wafer includes at least one signal conductor held by a signal holder that is composed of a first material. Each ground wafer includes at least one ground conductor held by a ground holder that is composed of second material. The second material is a lossy material and the first material is a low loss dielectric material that has a loss tangent that is lower than a loss tangent of the lossy material. The signal conductors and the ground conductors are configured to engage and electrically connect to the mating connector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 14, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 2, 2018
    Assignee: TE CONNECTIVITY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Bruce Allen Champion, Chad William Morgan
  • Patent number: 9768557
    Abstract: An electrical connector includes a housing having a first end and a second end with a mating slot formed between the first and second ends configured to receive a mating connector having contact pads. A leadframe assembly is disposed in the housing. The leadframe assembly has a contact array including ground contacts and signal contacts interspersed between corresponding ground contacts. The leadframe assembly has an overmold body supporting the ground and signal contacts. The overmold body has lossy ground absorbers coupled to corresponding ground contacts. The lossy ground absorbers are manufactured from lossy material absorbing electrical resonance propagating through the leadframe assembly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 2015
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2017
    Assignee: TE CONNECTIVITY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Michael John Phillips, Thomas Taake de Boer, Bruce Allen Champion, John Joseph Consoli, Sandeep Patel, Linda Ellen Shields
  • Patent number: 9748697
    Abstract: Pluggable connector includes a plug housing configured to couple to a communication cable. The plug housing has a plug cavity. The pluggable connector also includes a module board that is disposed within the plug cavity and configured to be communicatively coupled to the communication cable. The module board has a mating edge configured to interface with a mating connector. The module board includes a plurality of signal pathways and a plurality of ground pathways in which the signal pathways are interleaved between corresponding ground pathways. The signal and ground pathways include respective contact pads that are disposed proximate to the mating edge for engaging corresponding contacts of the mating connector. Each of the ground pathways has separate first and second trace segments and a damping component that electrically joins the first and second trace segments.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 14, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 29, 2017
    Assignees: TE CONNECTIVITY CORPORATION, TYCO ELECTRONICS JAPAN G.K.
    Inventors: Sandeep Patel, Linda Ellen Shields, Bruce Allen Champion, Chad William Morgan, Masayuki Aizawa
  • Patent number: 9748681
    Abstract: A ground contact module includes a ground leadframe and a ground dielectric body. The ground leadframe has ground contacts extending between corresponding mating ends and terminating ends with transition portions therebetween. The ground dielectric body holds the ground leadframe and has a low loss layer overmolded over the ground leadframe and encasing the transition portions of the ground contacts. The ground dielectric body has lossy wings received in pockets in the low loss layer. The lossy wings are electrically coupled to corresponding ground contacts and are manufactured from lossy material capable of absorbing electrical resonance propagating through the contact module stack. The lossy wings are separate and discrete from the low loss layer and are attached to the at least one low loss layer in proximity to the corresponding ground contacts. Each lossy wing is electrically coupled to only one of the ground contacts.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 31, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 29, 2017
    Assignee: TE CONNECTIVITY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Bruce Allen Champion, Michael John Phillips, Michael Eugene Shirk
  • Publication number: 20170207579
    Abstract: An interconnect system includes a circuit board including a substrate having a first surface and a second surface opposite the first surface, a plurality of signal conductors and a plurality of ground conductors including respective contact pads in a mating area of the substrate for engaging corresponding contacts of an electrical connector, and a plurality of ground vias extending at least partially through the substrate between the first and second surfaces. The ground vias are coupled to corresponding ground conductors. The ground vias include lossy plugs at least partially filling the ground vias. The lossy plugs are manufactured from lossy material capable of absorbing electrical resonance propagating through the substrate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 15, 2016
    Publication date: July 20, 2017
    Inventors: Sandeep Patel, Bruce Allen Champion, Linda Ellen Shields, Michael John Phillips, Thomas Taake de Boer, John Joseph Consoli
  • Patent number: 9692183
    Abstract: A receptacle connector includes a housing having a slot configured to receive a mating connector therein. Signal contacts are held by the housing. The signal contacts include signal mating segments and signal mounting segments. The signal mating segments include signal mating interfaces that are exposed within the slot for engagement with the mating connector. Ground contacts are held by the housing. The ground contacts include ground mating segments and ground mounting segments. The ground mating segments include ground mating interfaces that are exposed within the slot for engagement with the mating connector. A ground bus electrically commons the ground contacts with each other. The ground contacts and the ground bus are integrally fabricated as a single, unitary, continuous structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 20, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2017
    Assignee: TE CONNECTIVITY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Michael John Phillips, Matthew Ryan Schmitt, Bruce Allen Champion, Brandon Michael Matthews, Steve Douglas Sattazahn
  • Publication number: 20170170606
    Abstract: An electrical connector includes a housing having a first end and a second end with a mating slot formed between the first and second ends configured to receive a mating connector having contact pads. A leadframe assembly is disposed in the housing. The leadframe assembly has a contact array including ground contacts and signal contacts interspersed between corresponding ground contacts. The leadframe assembly has an overmold body supporting the ground and signal contacts. The overmold body has lossy ground absorbers coupled to corresponding ground contacts. The lossy ground absorbers are manufactured from lossy material absorbing electrical resonance propagating through the leadframe assembly.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 14, 2015
    Publication date: June 15, 2017
    Inventors: Michael John Phillips, Thomas Taake de Boer, Bruce Allen Champion, John Joseph Consoli, Sandeep Patel, Linda Ellen Shields