US-12627103-B2 - Shielded connector assembly

US12627103B2US 12627103 B2US12627103 B2US 12627103B2US-12627103-B2

Abstract

A connector assembly, configured to mate with a mating connector along a mating direction, includes a circuit board, at least one cable, an insulative housing, an electrically conductive unitary shield, a pull tab, and a retention feature. The cable includes a plurality of conductors having front ends terminated at conductive pads of the circuit board. The housing is tightly overmolded around at least a portion of the circuit board. A mating end of the circuit board extends forwardly from a mating face of the housing. The shield includes a top wall extending between a back end and a front end thereof. The pull tab is rotatably attached to the shield near a front end of a top wall of the shield. The retention feature of the shield engages a corresponding retention feature of the mating connector to prevent the connector assembly from unmating from the mating connector.

Inventors

Chin Hua Lim
Saujit Bandhu
YunLong Qiao
Kok Hoe Lee
Siang Sin Foo

Assignees

3M INNOVATIVE PROPERTIES COMPANY

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20220324

Claims (4)

1 . A connector assembly configured to mate with a mating connector along a mating direction and comprising: a circuit board comprising a plurality of conductive front pads disposed on opposing major upper and lower surfaces of the circuit board at a mating end thereof, and a plurality of conductive rear pads disposed on at least one of the major upper and lower surfaces of the circuit board at a cable end thereof opposite the mating end, the rear pads electrically connected to the front pads; at least one cable comprising a plurality of conductors, front ends of which terminate at the rear pads; an insulative housing tightly overmolded around at least the cable end of the circuit board, the front ends of the conductors, and the rear pads, the mating end of the circuit board extending forwardly from a mating face of the housing along the mating direction and configured to be inserted into a front opening of the mating connector; an electrically conductive unitary shield comprising a top wall extending between back and front ends thereof, a front wall extending downwardly from the front end of the top wall, and opposing side walls extending downwardly from opposite side edges of the top wall, the shield rotatably attached to the housing near the back end of the top wall and configured to rotate about a laterally oriented first axis that passes through the housing behind the circuit board, between an open position and a closed position; and a pull tab rotatably attached to the shield near the front end of top wall and configured to rotate about a laterally oriented second axis substantially parallel to the first axis, wherein, the connector assembly is configured to mate with the mating connector when the shield is in the open position, and wherein when the connector assembly is fully mated with the mating connector, the shield is configured to rotate from the open position to the closed position, resulting in: the top wall covering and shielding the housing, the circuit board, and the mating connector; the front wall being disposed at, and covering and shielding at least a portion of, a back side of the mating connector; the opposing side walls being disposed at, and covering and shielding at least portions of, opposing sides of the mating connector; and a retention feature of the shield engaging a corresponding retention feature of the mating connector to prevent the connector assembly from unmating from the mating connector.
2 . The connector assembly of claim 1 , wherein when the connector assembly is fully mated with the mating connector, the engagement of the retention feature of the shield with the retention feature of the mating connector prevents the two connectors from moving relative to each other along the mating direction.
3 . The connector assembly of claim 1 further comprising an electrically conductive strip bonded to a bottom surface of the top wall of the shield near the front end of the top wall, the conductive strip extending laterally across the bottom surface and further extending downwardly along an inside surface of each of the opposing side walls, such that when the connector assembly is fully mated with the mating connector, the conductive strip covers and provides further shielding of a rear portion of the mating connector.
4 . The connector assembly of claim 1 , wherein the insulative housing comprises a stop portion to limit a maximum rotation of the shield from the closed position to the open position to less than about 60 degrees.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a national stage filing under 35 U.S.C. 371 of PCT/IB2022/052705, filed Mar. 24, 2022, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/200,786, filed Mar. 29, 2021, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference in their entireties herein. TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates generally to a connector and a connector assembly, and in particular, to a connector and a connector assembly for mating with a mating connector. BACKGROUND A connector assembly is generally used to connect a cable from one device (e.g., a server, a network switching system, a client device, etc.) to another device (e.g., another server) for various applications, such as data processing, data transmission and data reception. SUMMARY In one aspect, the present disclosure provides a connector assembly configured to mate with a mating connector along a mating direction. The connector assembly includes a circuit board including a plurality of conductive front pads disposed on opposing major upper surfaces and lower surfaces of the circuit board at a mating end thereof. The circuit board further includes a plurality of conductive rear pads disposed on at least one of the major upper and lower surfaces of the circuit board at a cable end thereof opposite to the mating end. The rear pads are electrically connected to the front pads. The connector assembly further includes at least one cable including a plurality of conductors, front ends of which terminate at the rear pads. The connector assembly further includes an insulative housing tightly overmolded around at least the cable end of the circuit board, the front ends of the conductors, and the rear pads. The mating end of the circuit board extends forwardly from a mating face of the housing along the mating direction and is configured to be inserted into a front opening of the mating connector. The connector assembly further includes an electrically conductive unitary shield including a top wall extending between back and front ends thereof. The shield further includes a front wall extending downwardly from the front end of the top wall and opposing side walls extending downwardly from opposite side edges of the top wall. The shield is rotatably attached to the housing near the back end of the top wall and is configured to rotate about a laterally oriented first axis that passes through the housing behind the circuit board, between an open position and a closed position. The connector assembly further includes a pull tab rotatably attached to the shield near the front end of the top wall and configured to rotate about a laterally oriented second axis substantially parallel to the first axis. The connector assembly is configured to mate with the mating connector when the shield is in the open position. When the connector assembly is fully mated with the mating connector, the shield is configured to rotate from the open position to the closed position. The rotation of the shield from the open position to the closed position results in the top wall covering and shielding the housing, the circuit board, and the mating connector. The rotation of the shield from the open position to the closed position further results in the front wall being disposed at, and covering and shielding at least a portion of, a back side of the mating connector. The rotation of the shield from the open position to the closed position further results in the opposing side walls being disposed at, and covering and shielding at least portions of, opposing sides of the mating connector. The rotation of the shield from the open position to the closed position further results in a retention feature of the shield engaging a corresponding retention feature of the mating connector to prevent the connector assembly from unmating from the mating connector. In another aspect, the present disclosure provides a connector configured to mate with a mating connector along a mating direction. The mating connector includes a mating insulative housing including a mating side defining a front opening therein. The mating insulative housing further includes an opposite back side, and opposing lateral sides extending between and connecting the mating and back sides. The connector includes a circuit board including a plurality of conductive pads. The connector further includes an insulative housing tightly overmolded around at least a portion of the circuit board. A mating end of the circuit board extends forwardly from a mating face of the housing along the mating direction and configured to be inserted into the front opening of the mating side of the mating insulative housing. The connector further includes an electrically conductive unitary shield including opposing side wings rotatably attached to corresponding lateral sides and near a rear face, opposite the mating face, of the housing. The shield is configured to rotate about a laterally oriented