Tyco Electronics Corporation

Te Connectivity Corporation

Jared Evan Rossman

Christopher David Ritter

John Eugene Westman

Richard Elof Hamner

Jeffrey Stewart Simpson

Christopher William Blackburn

Robert Paul Nichols

Steven Lee Flickinger

Joshua Tyler Sechrist

Andrew Charles Davison

Karen Paul Seubert

Kyle Robert Sammon

Brian Patrick Costello

Justin Dennis Pickel

David Stanley Szczesny

Tracy Lee Smith

Edmund Joseph Haley

Nicholas Lee Evans

Julia Anne Lachman

Evan Charles Wickes

Christopher Ryan Raybold

Paul Walter McDowell

Hung Wei Lord

Steven Lee Fickinger

Phillip Clay Brandberg

An electrical connector includes a housing, electrical signal contacts, and biasing elements. The signal contacts are terminated to one or more electrical cables. The signal contacts are held by one or more contact units within the housing. The signal contacts are movable relative to the housing between an extended position and a retracted position. The retracted position is disposed closer to a back end of the housing than the extended position. The biasing elements are configured to bias the signal contacts toward the extended position. The signal contacts are pins with an end face at a distal end of each respective pin. The end faces of the signal contacts are configured to abut against end faces of corresponding mating signal contacts of a mating connector.

Electrical connector with retractable contacts

A connector assembly includes a housing having a base having signal contact channels and ground contact channels extending therethrough having ground contact channel walls defining the ground contact channels. The connector assembly includes signal contacts held in signal contact channels having mating ends for mating with mating signal contacts. The connector assembly includes ground contacts held in ground contact channels having mating ends for mating with mating ground contacts. The connector assembly includes ground commoning conductors within the housing including metal surface coverings deposited on the corresponding ground contact channel walls. Each ground commoning conductor extends into at least two ground contact channels and is oriented for direct electrical contact with at least two of the ground contacts or the mating ground contacts for electrically commoning the corresponding ground contacts or the mating ground contacts.

Ground commoning conductors for electrical connector assemblies

A card edge cable connector assembly includes a cable connector having a cable connector housing having a top, a bottom, a front, and a rear. The cable connector has a mating end and a cable end. The cable connector housing holds signal contacts and ground contacts. Cables are electrically connected to corresponding signal and ground contacts and extend from the cable end. The card edge cable connector assembly includes cable connector holder extending from the cable connector having a support wall with a support surface configured to engage a planar surface of a circuit card proximate to an edge slot at an edge of the circuit card to support the cable connector on the circuit card such that the cable connector and the cables are located in the edge slot of the circuit card.

Card edge cable connector assembly

A cable assembly includes a cable including a wire and an insulator surrounding the wire extending a length between a first end and a second end and being conductive, where the wire having a first stiffness. The cable assembly includes a sleeve surrounding the cable between the first end and the second end having an interior surface facing the cable and an exterior surface facing an exterior environment of the cable assembly. The cable assembly includes a cable stiffener coupled to the sleeve extending along at least a portion of the length of the cable. The cable stiffener is formable into shape retaining shape and has a second stiffness greater than the first stiffness to hold the cable in the shape retaining shape.

Shape retaining cable assembly

An integrated securing guide pin is configured to guide and securely connect an electrical connector assembly with respect to an electrical component device. The integrated securing guide pin includes a guiding member configured to guide the integrated securing guide pin into a receiving channel of a guiding connection module, and a securing member configured to securely connect to a securing surface of the guiding connection module. The securing member may be spaced from the guiding member and may be closer to an engagement head than the guiding member. The securing member may be positioned back from the distal tip at least a quarter of a length of the integrated securing guide pin.

Integrated securing guide pin for an electrical connector assembly

A connector assembly for terminating a cable having a cable shield is provided including an electrically conductive backshell and a shield assembly. The backshell includes a body that extends from a mating end to a cable end along a mating axis. The cable end includes a cable channel that extends through the body and holds an end segment of the cable therein. The connector assembly includes a shield assembly having a clamp system that is held within the cable end of the backshell and includes front and rear clamping members. The cable shield is terminated to the clamp system between the front and the rear clamping members. The connector assembly includes an EMI gasket that is electrically coupled to the backshell and held within the cable end of the backshell. The EMI gasket includes a backshell interface that engages the backshell and a clamp interface that engages the clamp system.

Electrical connector assembly having a shield assembly

A connector brick for a cable communication system includes a header frame including end spacers and side spacers defining a header opening. The header frame is configured for mating with a circuit card. A plurality of cable connectors are received in the header opening and connected to the header frame. Each cable connector has cables extending therefrom. Each cable connector has a header holding signal contacts at a mating end of the header and configured for mating with a corresponding card connector of the circuit card. Float mechanisms extend from the header frame. The float mechanisms allow limited movement in at least two directions of the header frame. The float mechanisms allow alignment of the header frame with the circuit card. The cable connectors float with the header frame as a unit for mating with the corresponding card connectors.

Connector brick for cable communication system

Cable assembly includes an assembly housing having an interior cavity and a loading passage that provides access to the interior cavity. The assembly housing has an inner housing surface that defines the loading passage. The cable assembly also includes a cable harness having insulated wires and a conductive shielding layer. The insulated wires extend through a cable passage defined by the shielding layer. The cable harness also includes a discrete ferrule positioned within the cable passage at an end of the cable passage. The discrete ferrule has an outer ferrule surface that is surrounded by the shielding layer. The inner housing surface and the outer ferrule surface interface each other along a harness-housing seam. The harness-housing seam includes a projection and a recess that receives the projection. The shielding layer is stretched by the projection within the harness-housing seam and electrically grounds the cable harness to the assembly housing.

Cable assembly having a grounded cable harness

A backshell includes upper and lower shells defining a cavity. The upper shell includes a top wall and a side wall and the lower shell includes a bottom wall and a side wall. An actuator is coupled to the shells to change the relative positions of the shells between an open position and a closed position. A top of the lower shell engages a bottom of the upper shell in the closed position. The actuator is operable to move at least one of the upper shell and the lower shell such that the top of the lower shell is spaced-apart from the bottom of the upper shell in the open position, thereby increasing a size of the cavity to allow insertion and removal of the electrical connector into or out of the cavity in the open position.

Electrical connector having expandable backshell

A cable backplane system includes a backplane having connector openings receiving corresponding cable connectors therein and a cable tray coupled to the backplane. The cable tray has side walls surrounding a cavity defining a raceway for cables interconnecting corresponding cable connectors. A cable connector grid frame supports the cable connectors and the cable connector grid frame is loaded into the cable tray to position the cable connectors and corresponding cables in the cable tray as a unit. The cable connector grid frame includes side rails and center rails held between the side rails and forming a grid of cable connector openings between the side rails and center rails. The cable connector openings receive corresponding headers of the cable connectors and hold the positions of the headers relative to one another.

Cable connector grid frame for a cable backplane system

A backshell includes an upper shell, a lower shell and a fastener coupled to the upper shell and coupled to the lower shell to hold the upper shell and the lower shell together and resist separation of the upper shell from the lower shell. The upper shell defines a portion of a cavity of the backshell and includes a top wall and an upper shell side wall extending from the top wall to a bottom of the upper shell. The lower shell defines another portion of the cavity of the backshell. The lower shell includes a bottom wall and a lower shell side wall extending from the bottom wall to a top of the lower shell. The top of the lower shell generally mates with the bottom of the upper shell at a mating plane. The fastener extends along a longitudinal axis generally parallel to the mating plane.

Electrical connector assembly having a multi-piece backshell

Mounting assembly for a backplane communication system. The mounting assembly includes a retention collet that has a collet base and a coupling arm that extends from the collet base. The collet base includes a passage therethrough. The collet base is configured to be mounted to a backplane such that the passage extends through the backplane and the coupling arm extends from the collet base away from the backplane. The mounting assembly also includes a spacer member having a member cavity that receives the coupling arm when the spacer member is mounted to the backplane. The coupling arm is held in a locked position when engaged by a guide pin that has been inserted through the passage of the collet base and into the member cavity. The retention collet and the spacer member are interlocked when the coupling arm is in the locked position.

Mounting assembly and backplane communication system

Cable assembly including a cable harness having insulated wires, a shielding layer that surrounds the insulated wires, and a protective jacket that surrounds the shielding layer. The shielding layer includes an exposed portion that clears an end of the protective jacket. The cable assembly also includes an assembly housing having an internal cavity and a loading passage that provides access to the internal cavity. The exposed portion of the shielding layer is positioned within the loading passage. The insulated wires extend through the internal cavity and are terminated to corresponding electrical contacts of a contact assembly. The cable harness includes an adhesive layer that is coupled to the exposed portion. The adhesive layer is engaged with an interior surface of the assembly housing along the loading passage. The adhesive layer includes a conductive thermoplastic material that electrically couples the shielding layer to the assembly housing.

A cable backplane system includes a plurality of cable connectors interconnected by cables, each cable connector having a header holding signal contacts at a mating end of the header configured for mating with a card connector. A cable tray having side walls surrounds a cavity defining a raceway for the cables. The cable tray has a front edge and holds header frames between the side walls. The header frames hold headers of corresponding cable connectors. An organizer plate is coupled to the cable tray at the front edge. The organizer plate has a plurality of connector channels receiving mating ends of corresponding headers. The connector channels hold the headers in position relative to one another.

Cable backplane system

A cable backplane system includes cable connectors having cables extending therefrom. Each cable connector has a header holding signal contacts at a mating end of the header configured for mating with a card connector. The cable backplane system includes a cable tray having side walls surrounding a cavity defining a raceway for the cables. The cable tray has a front edge. A plurality of connector bricks are received in the cable tray. The connector bricks each having a header frame comprising end spacers and side spacers defining a header opening receiving a plurality of the cable connectors. The end walls hold the headers of corresponding cable connectors. The side spacers have guide paddles extending from a front of the side spacers forward of the cable connectors.

Growing community of inventors

Dover, PA, United States of America

Jared Evan Rossman