FIG. 1 (Prior Art) is a perspective view of stacked connector assembly 1. Stacked connector assembly 1 includes a male surface mount connector 2 and a female surface mount connector 3.
FIG. 2 (Prior Art) is cross-sectional view of male connector 2 and female connector 3 of FIG. 1. The cross-section of the male connector 2 reveals a pair of L-shaped metal pieces 4 and 5, referred to here as pins. These pins are inserted into holes in an insulative portion 6 so that the pins stay in place as illustrated. The upper portion of pin 4 is a solder tail 7. The upper portion of pin 5 is a solder tail 8. The solder tails 7 and 8 are soldered to corresponding conductors of a printed circuit board 9 so that male connector 2 is physically fixed to the first printed circuit board.
The cross-section of the female connector 3 reveals a pair of metal inserts 10 and 11. Metal insert 10 has a solder tail portion 12 and a flexing contact portion 13. Metal insert 11 has a solder tail portion 14 and a flexing contact portion 15. The inserts 10 and 11 are inserted into holes in an insulative portion 16 so that the inserts stay in place as illustrated. The solder tail portions 12 and 14 are for soldering to corresponding conductors on the top of a second printed circuit board 17.
FIG. 3 (Prior Art) is a cross-sectional view of male connector 2 and female connector 3 of FIG. 2 when the two connectors are mated. Contact portion 13 presses inward to the right on pin 4 thereby establishing a first conductive path through the connector assembly between solder tail 7 and solder tail 12. Similarly, contact portion 15 pressed inward on pin 5 to the left thereby establishing a second conductive path through the connector assembly between solder tail 8 and solder tail 14.
FIG. 4 (Prior Art) is a simplified diagram representing the orientation of the conductive portions within the connector assembly. The diagram is of a cross-section taken through the two connectors 2 and 3 about halfway between, and parallel to, printed circuit boards 9 and 17. The dark rectangles are very simplified representations of cross sections of conductive portions.
FIG. 5 (Prior Art) is a perspective view of an improved connector assembly 18 that includes a male connector 19 and a female connector 20. Note that every second one of the solder tails in the two rows of solder tails on the upper surface of male connector 19 are electrically coupled together. Reference numeral 21 illustrates one such pair of solder tails that is formed as a bar or strip.
FIG. 6 (Prior Art) is a cross-sectional diagram of the connector assembly 18 of FIG. 5. The cross-section of FIG. 6 is taken through the connector assembly at the location of pair 21. Rather than there being two separate pins in the male connector 19 as in the case of FIG. 2, there is a single piece 22 of stamped metal that is inserted into insulative portion 23. Metal piece 22 has two solder tails 24 and 25 that are usable to solder the male connector 19 to a first printed circuit board 26. Rather than there being two separate metal inserts in the female connector 20 as in the case of FIG. 2, there is a single piece 27 of stamped metal that has two contact portions. Piece 27 has two solder tails 28 and 29 that are usable to solder female connector 20 to a second printed circuit board 30.
FIG. 7 (Prior Art) is a view taken at the same sectional line as FIG. 6, except that FIG. 7 shows the connector assembly structure when the two connectors 19 and 20 are mated. Note that the flexing contact portions 31 and 32 press inward and make electrical contact with metal piece 22. Note that a large portion of the cross-sectional area of the connector assembly in FIG. 7 is metal that is electrically coupled together.
FIG. 8 (Prior Art) is a cross-sectional view through the connector assembly 18, but the cross-section is taken through a pair of solder tails that are not joined together. The cross-section of FIG. 8 appears much like the cross-section of FIG. 2, except that the press fit extension portions on metal inserts 10 and 11 have been eliminated.
FIG. 9 (Prior Art) is a cross-sectional view taken in same plane as the cross-sectional view of FIG. 8, except that male connector 19 and female connector 20 are shown in the mated position. Contact portion 33 presses inward to the right on pin 34 thereby establishing a first conductive path through the connector assembly between solder tail 35 and solder tail 36. Similarly, contact portion 37 pressed inward to the left on pin 38 thereby establishing a second conductive path through the connector assembly between solder tail 39 and solder tail 40.
FIG. 10 (Prior Art) is a simplified diagram representing the orientation of the conductive portions within the connector assembly of FIG. 5. The diagram is of a cross-section taken through the two connectors 19 and 20 about halfway between, and parallel to, printed circuit boards 26 and 30. The dark rectangles represent cross sections of conductors. The longer rectangle 41 represents the conductive portions illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7. These conductive portions are coupled to ground potential and form what approximates a ground plane that extends in the vertical dimension in FIG. 10. The smaller rectangles 42 and 43 represent the conductive portions in the plane of FIGS. 8 and 9. Rectangle 43 represents contact portion 37 and pin 38, whereas rectangle 43 represents contact portion 33 and pin 34. The conductors represented by rectangles 42 and 43 are used to conduct differential signals. Note that the topology of the ground portions and signal portions of FIG. 10 comes closer to a microstrip topology in that pairs of signal conductors are disposed side by side with respect to one another, and in that the pair of signal conductors are disposed over a ground plane. Because the topology of FIG. 10 is closer to that of a microstrip topology than is the topology of FIG. 4, the connector assembly of FIG. 5 can handle higher frequency signals that the connector assembly of FIG. 1. One example of a connector assembly that has a form similar to the form of the connector assembly of FIG. 5 is the so-called “Micro GigaCN stacking connector” from Fujitsu, model number FCN-260. The FCN-260 connector assembly is reported to be able to handle signals up to approximately three gigabits per second. A connector assembly is desired that can handle higher frequency signals.