Patents by Inventor Kent E. Regnier
Kent E. Regnier 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: 20190245288Abstract: A wire to board connector is provided for connecting cables of cable bypass assemblies to circuitry mounted on a circuit board. The connector has a structure that maintains the geometry of the cable through the connector. The connector includes a pair of edge coupled conductive signal terminals and a ground shield to which the signal terminals are broadside coupled. The connector includes a pair of ground terminals aligned with the signal terminals and both sets of terminals have J-shaped contact portions that flex linearly when the connector is inserted into a receptacle. In another embodiment, the signal terminal contact portions are supported by a compliant member that may deflect when the connectors engage contact pads on a substrate.Type: ApplicationFiled: April 17, 2019Publication date: August 8, 2019Applicant: Molex, LLCInventors: Brian Keith LLOYD, Gregory B. WALZ, Bruce REED, Gregory FITZGERALD, Ayman ISAAC, Kent E. REGNIER, Brandon JANOWIAK, Darian R. SCHULZ, Munawar AHMAD, Eran J. JONES, Javier RESENDEZ, Michael ROST
-
Patent number: 10374372Abstract: A connector assembly can be provided. A receptacle includes terminals that can be positioned in a card slot on a 0.60 mm pitch (or greater). A biasing element can be provided in the card slot to engage a mating paddle card. The receptacle can be configured to allow air to flow from a front face to a rear face, the air passing through a middle wall. A plug assembly can be provided that includes a conductive body and is configured to generate some amount of heat. The body can include a surface that has cooling grooves. The cooling grooves allow air flow over the plug assembly so that the plug assembly can be cooled directly.Type: GrantFiled: April 30, 2018Date of Patent: August 6, 2019Assignee: Molex, LLCInventor: Kent E. Regnier
-
Patent number: 10367280Abstract: A wire to board connector is provided for connecting cables of cable bypass assemblies to circuitry mounted on a circuit board. The connector has a structure that maintains the geometry of the cable through the connector. The connector includes a pair of edge coupled conductive signal terminals and a ground shield to which the signal terminals are broadside coupled. The connector includes a pair of ground terminals aligned with the signal terminals and both sets of terminals have J-shaped contact portions that flex linearly when the connector is inserted into a receptacle. In another embodiment, the signal terminal contact portions are supported by a compliant member that may deflect when the connectors engage contact pads on a substrate.Type: GrantFiled: January 11, 2016Date of Patent: July 30, 2019Assignee: Molex, LLCInventors: Brian Keith Lloyd, Gregory B. Walz, Bruce Reed, Gregory Fitzgerald, Ayman Isaac, Kent E. Regnier, Brandon Janowiak, Darian R. Schulz, Munawar Ahmad, Eran J. Jones, Javier Resendez, Michael Rost
-
Patent number: 10312645Abstract: A connector system includes a plug assembly that has a front connector mounted to a circuit board. The connector has two wafers that each support a row of terminals and uses shims and pegs to precisely control the spatial relationship of the two wafers to the circuit board. The wafers need not be directly contacting the circuit board and the terminals can have tails that can be positioned slightly above the circuit board and connector to pads on the circuit board via solder connections. The connector system is optimized so as to enable support of 25 Gbps data rates.Type: GrantFiled: November 7, 2016Date of Patent: June 4, 2019Assignee: Molex, LLCInventors: Brandon Janowiak, Kent E. Regnier, Jerry Kachlic
-
Publication number: 20190123491Abstract: A connector system is disclosed that is configured to provide terminals that support data rates of 10 Gbps or more. Such a connector system includes a wafer set configured to enable broad-side coupling of a differential pair of terminals across an air channel formed between the terminals.Type: ApplicationFiled: December 21, 2018Publication date: April 25, 2019Applicant: Molex, LLCInventor: Kent E. Regnier
-
Patent number: 10249983Abstract: A receptacle connector defines a port. The port is provided with spring fingers that are configured to engage a mating module. The spring fingers are thermally coupled to a heat transfer plate that can be configured to provide part of a cage that defines the port. Fins can be mounted on or integrated into the heat transfer plate. In operation, thermal energy from an inserted module is transferred from the module to spring fingers and then to the heat transfer plate and then to a thermal dissipation system.Type: GrantFiled: April 30, 2018Date of Patent: April 2, 2019Assignee: Molex, LLCInventors: Kent E. Regnier, Jerry A. Long
-
Publication number: 20190089106Abstract: A connector system for a pluggable IO connector is disclosed that includes a plug with two rows of pads on two sides of a mating blade and a receptacle with two connection regions that is configured to engage the two rows of pads. In an embodiment the connector system can support double the data bandwidth of a typical connector, such as a QSFP connector, while allowing for backward compatibility with convention plug assemblies that have a single row of pads on each side the mating blade.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 19, 2018Publication date: March 21, 2019Applicant: Molex, LLCInventor: Kent E. Regnier
-
Publication number: 20190074618Abstract: A module can be configured to mate with a receptacle. The module includes a body with a thermal surface that is coupled to thermally active circuitry supported by the body. The receptacle is configured to allow air to flow over the thermal surface so as to dissipate thermal energy from the circuitry.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 2, 2018Publication date: March 7, 2019Applicant: Molex, LLCInventor: Kent E. Regnier
-
Patent number: 10193280Abstract: A connector can include a housing and a conductive shield and a pair of latching members. The latching members have free ends with engagement teeth formed on them which are separated by an intervening notch. The sidewalls of this notch can be flat and can define a hard stop surface for engagement with an opposing board connector. The free ends further include ramped surfaces leading to the engagement notch to form cam surfaces that depress the latching members when the cable connector is mated to a board connector. The latching members may include locating tabs that are captured in vertical movement by the housing.Type: GrantFiled: November 27, 2017Date of Patent: January 29, 2019Assignee: Molex, LLCInventors: Steven George Sutter, Darian Schulz, Kent E. Regnier
-
Patent number: 10186794Abstract: A connector system includes a main board and an interposer board. The main board and the interposer board are each configured to mate to a separate connector and are connected together by vias. The vias can provide an electrical path from the interposer board to the main circuit board so that a first connector mounted on the interposer board can be positioned directly in line with a second connector mounted on the main circuit board. The interposer helps make the routing out of signal traces from the two connector simpler while reducing the need for additional layers on the main board. Two connectors can be press-fit mounted to the main board and the interposer board in a belly-to-belly configuration.Type: GrantFiled: September 26, 2016Date of Patent: January 22, 2019Assignee: Molex, LLCInventor: Kent E. Regnier
-
Patent number: 10181663Abstract: A connector system is provided that includes a first connector and a second connector that are both coupled by a plurality of cables. The first connector is a stacked connector and includes a first terminal pair and a second terminal pair that are positioned in spaced apart card slots. The second connector includes a third and a fourth terminal pairs and the first and second terminal pairs are fixably connected to the third and fourth terminal pairs by the plurality of cables.Type: GrantFiled: September 7, 2017Date of Patent: January 15, 2019Assignee: Molex, LLCInventor: Kent E. Regnier
-
Patent number: 10164380Abstract: A connector system is disclosed that is configured to provide terminals at a 0.5 mm pitch with providing for high data rates of 10 Gbps or more. In an embodiment, a 4X connector can be provided that is about the size of a convention SFP connector while still supporting relatively high data rates. This connector can be stacked to provide additional density.Type: GrantFiled: February 27, 2014Date of Patent: December 25, 2018Assignee: Molex, LLCInventor: Kent E. Regnier
-
Publication number: 20180366890Abstract: A connector for use in a free-standing connector port for mating with an external pluggable module is disclosed. The connector has terminals that extend lengthwise of the connector so that cables may be terminated to the terminals and the terminals and cable generally are horizontally aligned together. The connector includes a housing and a pair of connecting elements that flank a card-receiving slot of the connector. The cables exit from the rear of the connector elements and from the connector port. The connector elements engage the connector port to fix the connector in place within the connector port.Type: ApplicationFiled: August 23, 2018Publication date: December 20, 2018Applicant: Molex, LLCInventors: Brian Keith Lloyd, Gregory B. WALZ, Bruce REED, Gregory FITZGERALD, Ayman ISAAC, Kent E. REGNIER, Brandon JANOWIAK, Darian R. SCHULZ, Munawar AHMAD, Eran J. JONES, Javier RESENDEZ, Michael ROST
-
Patent number: 10135211Abstract: A connector for use in a free-standing connector port for mating with an external pluggable module is disclosed. The connector has terminals that extend lengthwise of the connector so that cables may be terminated to the terminals and the terminals and cable generally are horizontally aligned together. The connector includes a housing and a pair of connecting elements that flank a card-receiving slot of the connector. The cables exit from the rear of the connector elements and from the connector port. The connector elements engage the connector port to fix the connector in place within the connector port.Type: GrantFiled: January 11, 2016Date of Patent: November 20, 2018Assignee: Molex, LLCInventors: Brian Keith Lloyd, Gregory B. Walz, Bruce Reed, Gregory Fitzgerald, Ayman Isaac, Kent E. Regnier, Brandon Janowiak, Darian R. Schulz, Munawar Ahmad, Eran J. Jones, Javier Resendez, Michael Rost
-
Patent number: 10122106Abstract: A module can be configured to mate with a receptacle. The module includes a body with a thermal surface that is coupled to thermally active circuitry supported by the body. The receptacle is configured to allow air to flow over the thermal surface so as to dissipate thermal energy from the circuitry.Type: GrantFiled: January 29, 2018Date of Patent: November 6, 2018Assignee: Molex, LLCInventor: Kent E. Regnier
-
Publication number: 20180277973Abstract: A connector system includes a main board and an interposer board. The main board and the interposer board are each configured to mate to a separate connector and are connected together by vias. The vias can provide an electrical path from the interposer board to the main circuit board so that a first connector mounted on the interposer board can be positioned directly in line with a second connect—or mounted on the main circuit board. The interposer helps make the routing out of signal traces from the two connector simpler while reducing the need for additional layers on the main board. Two connectors can be press-fit mounted to the main board and the interposer board in a belly-to-belly configuration.Type: ApplicationFiled: September 26, 2016Publication date: September 27, 2018Applicant: Molex, LLCInventor: Kent E. Regnier
-
Publication number: 20180278000Abstract: A connector system for a pluggable IO connector is disclosed that includes a plug with two rows of pads on two sides of a mating blade and a receptacle with two connection regions that is configured to engage the two rows of pads. In an embodiment the connector system can support double the data bandwidth of a typical connector while allowing for backward compatibility with convention plug assemblies that have a single row of pads on each side the mating blade.Type: ApplicationFiled: September 23, 2016Publication date: September 27, 2018Applicant: Molex, LLCInventor: Kent E. Regnier
-
Publication number: 20180248305Abstract: A receptacle connector defines a port. The port is provided with spring fingers that are configured to engage a mating module. The spring fingers are thermally coupled to a heat transfer plate that can be configured to provide part of a cage that defines the port. Fins can be mounted on or integrated into the heat transfer plate. In operation, thermal energy from an inserted module is transferred from the module to spring fingers and then to the heat transfer plate and then to a thermal dissipation system.Type: ApplicationFiled: April 30, 2018Publication date: August 30, 2018Applicant: Molex, LLCInventors: Kent E. Regnier, Jerry A. Long
-
Publication number: 20180248324Abstract: A connector assembly can be provided. A receptacle includes terminals that can be positioned in a card slot on a 0.60 mm pitch (or greater). A biasing element can be provided in the card slot to engage a mating paddle card. The receptacle can be configured to allow air to flow from a front face to a rear face, the air passing through a middle wall. A plug assembly can be provided that includes a conductive body and is configured to generate some amount of heat. The body can include a surface that has cooling grooves. The cooling grooves allow air flow over the plug assembly so that the plug assembly can be cooled directly.Type: ApplicationFiled: April 30, 2018Publication date: August 30, 2018Applicant: Molex, LLCInventor: Kent E. Regnier
-
Patent number: 10062984Abstract: A connector system is provided that includes a first connector and a second connector that are both coupled by a cable. Both connectors can be configured with terminal tails that are configured to be press-fit into a circuit board. The first connector includes a first terminal pair and the second connector includes a second terminal pair and the first and second terminal pairs are fixably connected to opposite ends of the cable.Type: GrantFiled: December 20, 2016Date of Patent: August 28, 2018Assignee: Molex, LLCInventor: Kent E. Regnier