Molex Corporation

Michael F Magajne

Michael J Miskin

Keith Lloyd

Kent E Regnier

Brian Keith Lloyd

Ed Seamands

Edward Seamands

Paul Bowling

Kenneth F Janota

Munawar Ahmad

Eugene Folan

John M Horgan

John Wallace

Richard A Hays

Joseph McCarthy

Enda Kelly

Kent D Waddell

Brian Murphy

Peter Thomas Curtin

Munewar Ahmad

A cable connector is provided that has a connector housing that is thin and takes the form of a wafer. Terminals are held within the housing and termination portions extend lengthwise from the terminals. The termination portions extend out from the housing for terminating bare conductors of signal wires to them. A grounding shield is provided that extends over the signal terminals from their contact portions at the front end of the connector to their rear termination portions. The grounding shield thereby provided a ground extent over the termination area that increases the electrical affinity of the signal wires to the grounding shield so as to reduce crosstalk and noise during operation at high frequencies. In one embodiment, the grounding shield includes a separate extension that is connected to the base grounding shield. In another embodiment, the grounding shield has a length sufficient to extend over the termination area.

Cable connector with shielded termination area

A connector for connecting cables to a pin header has a connector body portion that incorporates a strain relief member applied to the cables as part of the connector body portion. The strain relief member includes a cable clamp having a series of grooves that are separated by intervening land portions. The grooves receive the cables and particularly space them. A stop is formed in the clamp to isolate the cable end. The leads of the cable are terminated to corresponding tail portions of contacts of the connector. These tail portions are maintained in the same plane to enhance the electrical performance of the connector. An insulative material is molded over the tail portions and the cable clamp to form a connector with a cable clamp formed integrally with the body of the connector.

Connector with integrated strain relief

Blocks of wafer or plug connectors are held together by retainer members and are secured within a backplane connector by a latching assembly. The latching assembly includes a latching lever that has an engagement end extending to the base of the backplane connector. The lever is movably connected to the retainer member so that it may pivot, or rock, about an inflection point. The lever also includes a biasing member that constantly biases the lever into a latching position.

Wafer connector latching assembly

A latching system is provided for an electrical connector which includes a connector housing mounting a plurality of conductive terminals in a terminal module for contacting the terminals of an appropriate mating connecting device. At least one elongated latch arm has a front latching end and a rear end. The latch arm has an enlarged integral pivot portion intermediate its opposite ends. The housing includes an elongated groove for receiving the elongated latch arm. The groove has an enlarged journal portion for receiving the pivot portion of the latch arm. The groove has an enlarged cavity portion at one side thereof. A spring independent of the latch arm is located in the enlarged cavity portion of the groove for pivoting the latch arm in a latching direction.

Latching system for electrical connectors

Wafer connection latching assembly

A retainer and connector system serves to reliably hold together and align a series of thin connector modules, such as wafer connectors, into an overall unit formed from the individual connector modules. The side edges of each of the connector modules have a pair of cavities formed therein. A retainer member is provided having a length equal to the thickness of the connector unit. The retainer member has first and second engagement members disposed thereon. Both engagement members may be inserted into the cavities to hold the connectors together as a stack, or one set of engagement members may be inserted into a set of the cavities and the retainer member rotated to align the connector modules together and then the other set of engagement members may be pressed into engagement with another set of cavities.

Connector module retainer especially suitable for wafer connectors and connector assembly utilizing same

An electrical connector module is provided having a housing with a receptacle. Conductive contacts are located within the receptacle and a grounding shield is provided that partially defines the top of the connector housing. A depression is formed in the grounding shield and extends into abutting contact with one of the terminals held in the connector housing to effectuate an electrical connection therebetween.

Wafer connector with improved grounding shield

A cable assembly including a cable with at least one connector terminated to an end of the cable. The cable includes at least one pair of signal wires and a grounding member that extends the length of the cable. The signal wires and grounding member are terminated to a connector and specifically terminated to two signal terminals and one ground terminal of the connector. These wires are terminated to tail portions of the terminals which are enclosed in an insulative material that defines a body portion of the connector housing. The ground terminal has two contact portions that extend along the exterior of the connector housing body portion, while the signal terminals have contact portions that extend lengthwise of the connector housing. The signal terminal contact portions are enclosed within an extension of the connector housing and the extension and body portions are themselves enclosed in a metal grounding shell. The grounding shell engages the ground contacts at one end and has two contact arms integrally formed therewith that extend into the interior of the connector housing between the signal terminal contact portions.

High speed, shielded cable assembly

An electrical connector assembly includes a first connector having a guide hole in a mating face thereof. A second connector includes a guide pin for insertion into the guide hole of the first connector, the guide pin having a latch portion. A latch member on the first connector engages the latch portion of the guide pin of the second connector when the connectors are mated to hold the connectors in mated condition. Therefore, the guide pin performs a dual function of guiding the connectors as well as latching the connectors.

Electrical connector assembly with guide pin latching system

A wafer connector for connecting cables to a pin header has a connector body portion that incorporates a strain relief member applied to the cables as part of the connector body portion. The strain relief member includes a cable clamp having a series of grooves that are separated by intervening land portions. The grooves receive the cables and space them in a particular spacing. The leads of the cable are terminated to corresponding tail portions of contacts of the connector. These tail portions are maintained in the same plane to enhance the electrical performance of the connector. An insulative material is molded over the tail portions and the cable clamp to form a connector with a cable clamp formed integrally with the body of the connector.

Growing community of inventors

Cicero, IL, United States of America

Michael F Magajne