阅读说明：本技术 用于双轴电缆的定位元件和触接元件 (Positioning element and contact element for a twin-axial cable ) 是由 F·雅各布斯 N·吉斯克 A·弗朗克 于 2018-06-06 设计创作，主要内容包括：本申请涉及一种用于双轴电缆的定位元件以及包括所述类型的定位元件的触接元件。在用于双轴电缆的定位元件的实施例中,定位元件是至少部分地导电的。此外,定位元件具有至少一个凹部,该凹部被布置和设计成容纳双轴电缆,使得在双轴电缆的外部导体与定位元件之间建立导电连接。(The present application relates to a positioning element for a twinaxial cable and a contact element comprising a positioning element of the type described. In an embodiment of the positioning element for a twinaxial cable, the positioning element is at least partially electrically conductive. Furthermore, the positioning element has at least one recess which is arranged and designed to accommodate the twinaxial cable such that an electrically conductive connection is established between the outer conductor of the twinaxial cable and the positioning element.)

1. A positioning element for a twinaxial cable, wherein,

the positioning element is at least partially electrically conductive, and

the positioning element has at least one recess arranged and designed to accommodate a twinaxial cable such that there is an electrically conductive connection between the outer conductor of the twinaxial cable and the positioning element.

2. The positioning element of claim 1,

the positioning element has a plurality of recesses, each of which is arranged and designed to accommodate one of a plurality of twinaxial cables, respectively, such that there is an electrically conductive connection between the outer conductor of the respective twinaxial cable and the positioning element.

3. The positioning element of claim 1 or 2,

the positioning element is designed to receive at least one twinaxial cable such that at least a portion of the positioning element penetrates at least a portion of the twinaxial cable such that an electrically conductive connection is formed between the positioning element and an outer conductor of the at least one twinaxial cable.

4. The positioning element of any of claims 1-3,

the positioning element is designed to be edge-sharpened, for example with serrations, in the region of the at least one recess.

5. The positioning element of any of claims 1-4,

the positioning element is designed to accommodate at least one twinaxial cable such that the at least one twinaxial cable is forced into a predetermined spatial arrangement by being accommodated into the positioning element.

6. The positioning element of any of claims 1-5,

the positioning element is integrally formed and/or formed from metal, for example from copper or an iron alloy, or from sheet metal.

7. A contact element for a twinaxial cable, comprising:

positioning element (10) according to any one of claims 1 to 6, and

a terminal element connectable to at least one twinaxial cable having an outer conductor, wherein,

the positioning member is connected to the terminal member.

8. The contact element of claim 7,

the terminal element is connectable to a plurality of twinaxial cables, each of which has an outer conductor.

9. The contact element of claim 7 or 8,

the terminal element also has two connection points, one for each twinaxial cable to be connected.

10. The contact element according to one of claims 7 to 9,

the terminal element also has a ground contact which is electrically conductively connected to the positioning element.

11. The contact element according to one of claims 7 to 10,

the terminal element is a circuit board, in particular a printed circuit board.

12. Contact element according to one of claims 7 to 11, wherein

The positioning element is connected to the terminal element at an angle of, for example, 90 °.

13. The contact element according to one of claims 7 to 12,

the positioning element is electrically conductively connected to a part of the terminal element, in particular to the ground contact, so that an electrically conductive connection exists between the part of the terminal element, in particular the ground contact, and the outer conductor of at least one twinaxial cable.

Technical Field

The present application relates to a positioning element for a twinaxial cable and a contact element having such a positioning element.

Background

Twinaxial cables (Twinax-Kabel) typically have a pair of inner conductors, an inner dielectric, a shield, and/or a filler wire (Beilaufdraht) (outer conductor). Finally, the outer dielectric that encapsulates the components protects the cable from the environment. Possible fields of application are, for example, low-loss transmission of symmetric signals in computer or communication technology.

For example, if such twinaxial cables are connected to and/or secured to a circuit board, in addition to contacting the inner conductor, contact is also typically provided with one or more outer conductors, typically with one or more ground contacts of the circuit board.

For this reason, it has hitherto been necessary, for example, to strip off the insulation (or to strip off or peel off the insulation) respectively, prepare and align the ends of the twinaxial cables to be connected on the circuit board before the electrical connection can be made by soldering. In particular, the filler wire, which is usually very thin, may break during the process, for which reason the complete device to be manufactured of the twinaxial cable and the circuit board may not be further processed. Furthermore, automatic stripping of insulation from twinaxial cables is problematic because the precise location of the easily damaged filler wire in the cable is often not accurately known.

The required connection, in particular soldering, of the external conductor to the circuit board also takes up additional space on the circuit board to be contacted, so that the maximum number of twinaxial cables to be connected is reduced.

Another drawback is the lack of repeatability of the contact made by the twinaxial cable separately from the circuit board.

In order to contact an electrical conductor surrounded by an insulating material, insulation displacement connectors (Schneidklemmen) are known from the prior art.

Thus, document DE 10026294 a1 shows the use of insulation displacement connectors as cable connectors. During assembly, the insulation displacement connector ensures that the outer insulation of the cable is cut open, thereby establishing a connection with the cable core.

Document DE 69800778T 2 likewise shows an insulation displacement connector. The disclosed insulation displacement connector is particularly suitable for establishing an electrically conductive connection with a stranded conductor surrounded by an insulating material.

Disclosure of Invention

There is a need for an improved positioning element and an improved contacting element for a twinaxial cable. It is therefore an object of the present application to provide an improved positioning element and an improved contacting element for a twinaxial cable.

According to a first aspect, a positioning element for a twinaxial cable is provided. The positioning element is at least partially electrically conductive. The positioning element has at least one recess. The recess is arranged and designed to accommodate a twinaxial cable. More precisely, the recess is arranged and designed to accommodate a twinaxial cable in the following manner: the outer conductor of the twinaxial cable is in electrically conductive connection with the positioning element.

By accommodating the twinaxial cable in at least one recess, an electrically conductive connection of the outer conductor of the twinaxial cable to the positioning element can be achieved/formed.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the positioning element may have a plurality of recesses, each of which is arranged and designed to accommodate one of a plurality of twinaxial cables, respectively, such that there is an electrically conductive connection of the outer conductor of each twinaxial cable with the positioning element.

By accommodating one of the plurality of twinaxial cables in a respective recess, an electrically conductive connection of the outer conductor of the respective twinaxial cable to the positioning element can be achieved/formed. This provides a simple accommodation for an efficient electrical contacting of the twinaxial cable.

Each twinaxial cable to be connected may have an inner conductor pair, respectively. Each inner conductor pair may have or may be formed from two symmetrical inner conductors that are electrically insulated from each other. Further, each twinaxial cable to be connected may comprise an inner dielectric surrounding and electrically insulating the inner conductor. Each twinaxial cable to be connected may have a shielding layer which may be used, inter alia, as a ground conductor. The outer dielectric may electrically insulate each of the twinaxial cables and protect them from the environment. The shield layer may be located between the inner dielectric and the outer dielectric. In a specific configuration, each twinaxial cable to be connected may have a filler wire instead of or in addition to the shielding layer, which filler wire may likewise serve in particular as a ground conductor. Both the shield and the filler wire may be generally described below as outer conductors. The outer conductor is further outward than the inner conductor in a radial direction of each twinaxial cable.

The positioning element may have a comb-like/designed comb-like form. For example, a plate-shaped positioning element having a plurality of recesses which open towards the lateral edges of the positioning element can be understood as being comb-shaped. Such a positioning element may have a small thickness or depth relative to its height and width. The positioning element can be configured, for example, as a comb-shaped blade. However, this need not be the case for all embodiments. In an alternative embodiment, the positioning element can have a comb shape only in cross section and at the same time an extended depth, wherein in this case the depth describes a spatial direction orthogonal to the comb-shaped cross section.

In each case, the geometry of the recess or recesses of the positioning element corresponds in particular to the cross-sectional geometry of the twinaxial cable to be connected.

The positioning element may be designed to receive at least one twinaxial cable such that at least a portion of the positioning element penetrates at least a portion of the twinaxial cable such that an electrically conductive connection is formed between the positioning element and an outer conductor of the at least one twinaxial cable. This means that in a state in which the twinaxial cable is accommodated in the positioning element, an electrically conductive connection can be established between the positioning element and the outer conductor of the at least one twinaxial cable.

The positioning element may be designed to receive a plurality of twinaxial cables such that at least a portion of the positioning element penetrates at least a portion of a respective twinaxial cable to form an electrically conductive connection between the positioning element and a respective outer conductor of the plurality of twinaxial cables.

For example, a part of the positioning element can be designed to be edge-sharpened in the region of the at least one recess. For example, the positioning element can have serrations in the region of the at least one recess. Due to the positioning of the twinaxial cable in the at least one recess, one of the portions of the positioning element designed as edge sharpness may penetrate (pierce) at least a part of the dielectric of the twinaxial cable and thereby form an electrically conductive connection to the shield layer and/or the filler wire of the twinaxial cable. The electrically conductive connection thus formed may be particularly watertight and/or airtight.

One advantage of penetrating/piercing the twinaxial cable by a portion of the positioning element designed as an edge sharpness is that an electrically conductive connection to the shield and/or the filler wire of the twinaxial cable can be made without stripping off the external dielectric. In order to form an electrically conductive connection of the outer conductor of the twinaxial cable to the positioning element, for example in order to ground the twinaxial cable, it is sufficient to press the twinaxial cable into a recess of the positioning element.

Since stripping insulation for twin axial cables, especially those with filler wires, is error prone and can only be automated with difficulty and/or expense, the automation of the overall process can be increased by omitting this manufacturing step.

Another advantage is that at least the exact position of the filler wire does not have to be known in order to make a conductive connection to the positioning element. It is sufficient to ensure that the filler wire is located in the area of the biaxial cable which is penetrated by/penetrated by a part of the positioning element designed for edge sharpness.

The positioning element may be designed to accommodate a twinaxial cable or a plurality of twinaxial cables, such that the twinaxial cable(s) is/are forced into a predetermined spatial arrangement by being accommodated into the positioning element.

Furthermore, the positioning element may be designed/manufactured in one piece. For example, the positioning element may be formed/manufactured from a metal, for example from copper or an iron alloy, or from a metal sheet.

According to a second aspect, a contact element for a twinaxial cable is provided. The contact element comprises a positioning element according to the first aspect and a terminal element. The terminal element is connectable to at least one twinaxial cable. The twinaxial cable has an outer conductor. The positioning member is connected to the terminal member. The contact elements thus comprise at least partially electrically conductive positioning elements and terminal elements. The terminal element is arranged and designed to be connectable to at least one twinaxial cable. The twinaxial cable has an outer conductor. The positioning member is connected to the terminal member. The positioning element has at least one recess which is arranged and designed to accommodate the twinaxial cable such that the outer conductor of the twinaxial cable to be accommodated (or-in the accommodated state-already accommodated) is in electrically conductive connection with the positioning element.

The terminal element is connectable to a plurality of twinaxial cables, each twinaxial cable having an outer conductor. The positioning element may have a plurality of recesses, each recess being arranged and designed to accommodate one twinaxial cable from the plurality of twinaxial cables, respectively, such that there is an electrically conductive connection between the outer conductor of the respective twinaxial cable to be accommodated (or-in the accommodated state-already accommodated) and the positioning element.

This simplifies the arrangement and contacting of the twinaxial cable or cables to the terminal element, for example a circuit board.

For example, the terminal element may be connected to a twinaxial cable or a plurality of twinaxial cables due to the fact that the inner conductors of the respective inner conductor pairs of the twinaxial cable may be conductively connected to the connection points of the terminal element. For example, the inner conductors of each inner conductor pair may be conductively connected to the connection points by a soldering process.

In one exemplary embodiment, the positioning element can be connected/in a state of connection to the terminal element such that the respective recess of the positioning element is spatially arranged with respect to the respective connection point of the terminal element such that by arranging the twinaxial cable in the recess of the positioning element, a predetermined orientation of the twinaxial cable is simultaneously forced. The orientation of the twinaxial cable may be forced such that the inner conductor of the twinaxial cable may be connected to the connection point of the terminal element. In particular, the recess of the positioning element can be open towards the terminal element.

One advantage in this case is that by arranging the individual twinaxial cables in the individual recesses of the positioning element, at the same time a suitable arrangement of the twinaxial cables is achieved for contacting the terminal elements. Therefore, the automation capability of the entire process is further improved.

The terminal element may have two connection points for each/any twinaxial cable to be connected. For example, the connection points may be prepared copper contacts or solder joints.

Furthermore, the terminal element can have at least one grounding contact which is conductively connected to the (at least partially conductive) positioning element. In one variant, the terminal element can have a plurality of ground contacts, each of which is conductively connected to the positioning element.

In one embodiment of the contact element, the positioning element can be connected to the terminal element at an angle. The angle may be between 60 ° and 120 °, for example may be 90 °. The positioning element is conductively connectable to a portion of the terminal element, in particular a ground contact, such that there is a conductive connection between a portion of the terminal element, in particular a ground contact, and a respective outer conductor of one or more twinaxial cables received in the positioning element.

One advantage in this case is that no additional connections (in particular soldered connections) are required for contacting the outer conductor (of the respective twinaxial cable) with the terminal element (in particular with the ground contact of the terminal element). The number of connections required overall, in particular the number of connections of the soldered connections, can thereby be reduced. This makes it possible, for example, to increase the number of twinaxial cables which can be connected in total to the circuit board.

If the outer conductors of a plurality of twinaxial cables are commonly connected to the same ground contact of the terminal element by means of positioning elements, possible crosstalk can be effectively cancelled by maximizing the electrical near-end crosstalk attenuation. This effect is achieved irrespective of whether the twinaxial cable to be connected to the terminal element has a filler wire and/or a shielding layer.

Another advantage is that by reducing connections to be performed manually, manufacturing repeatability can be improved. Thus, the entire production process can be further automated.

The terminal element may be a circuit board, in particular a Printed Circuit Board (PCB).

Drawings

Other features, attributes, advantages and possible modifications will become apparent to the skilled person in the art in view of the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings. The drawing shows a contact element for a twinaxial cable in a schematic and exemplary manner. All illustrated and/or described features are indicative of the subject matter disclosed herein, either individually or in any combination. The dimensions and proportions of parts illustrated in the figures are not to scale.

Fig. 1A-1B schematically illustrate, in cross-section, an example of a twinaxial cable.

Fig. 2A-2B schematically show an exemplary embodiment of a positioning element for a twinaxial cable in two side views rotated 90 ° from each other.

Fig. 3A-3C schematically show exemplary embodiments of contact elements for twinaxial cables with positioning elements and terminal elements.

Fig. 4 schematically illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a contact element from fig. 3A-3C having a partially stripped twinaxial cable disposed therein.

Fig. 5A-5D schematically illustrate partially penetrating biaxial cables by edge-sharpening portions of the positioning elements.

Fig. 6 schematically shows an exemplary embodiment of the contact element from fig. 4 with a partially penetrated twinaxial cable arranged therein.

Detailed Description

In the drawings, similar or identical and effect-identical parts and features have the same reference numerals, respectively. In some cases, reference numerals for individual features and components have also been omitted in the figures for the sake of clarity, wherein reference numerals are provided for these features and components in other figures.

Fig. 1A schematically shows an example of the structure of a twinaxial cable 50 in cross section. Twinaxial cable 50 has two symmetrically arranged signal carrying inner conductors 52 surrounded by an inner dielectric 54. Here, the inner dielectric 54 electrically insulates the inner conductor 52 made of, for example, copper. In the example of twinaxial cable 50 shown in fig. 1A, shield layer 60 surrounds inner dielectric 54. In the example shown, the shield layer 60 serves as a protective conductor for the twinaxial cable 50. The outer dielectric 56 protects the twinaxial cable 50 from the environment and electrically insulates the shield 60.

Fig. 1B schematically shows an example of the structure of the twinax cable 50, wherein the twinax cable 50 has a filler wire 62. Filler wire 62 is used as a protective conductor for twinaxial cable 50 in the example shown in fig. 1B. Further, similar to fig. 1A, fig. 1B shows two symmetrically arranged signal carrying inner conductor 52, inner dielectric 54, and outer dielectric 56. The filler wire 62 is completely surrounded by the outer dielectric 56.

The example twinaxial cable 50 shown in fig. 1A and 1B has purely exemplary features. Other configurations of twinaxial cables have, for example, a circular or elliptical cross-section. In other examples, the filler wire 62 shown in fig. 1B may be located between the inner dielectric 54 and the outer dielectric 56. The construction of a twinaxial cable with a shielding layer and a filler wire which are functionally complementary to each other is also known as prior art. Thus, the examples shown in fig. 1A and 1B are for illustration only, but it is clear that the use of the contact elements described below is not limited to interacting with the examples of twinaxial cables shown.

Fig. 2A and 2B schematically show side views of the positioning element 10. The positioning element 10 shown has, by way of example and without limitation, four recesses 12 shaped in correspondence with the cross section of the coaxial cable to be housed. By way of example only, the exemplary embodiment shown in fig. 2A of the positioning element 10 has only, for example, four recesses 12 and is therefore suitable for arranging at most four twinaxial cables 50.

It is noted that fig. 2A and 2B show only one example, and that other exemplary embodiments (not shown) may in particular have any number of recesses 12, the shape of which recesses 12 may correspond to the cross section of the twinaxial cable to be accommodated, respectively.

The recess 12 of the positioning element 10, schematically illustrated in fig. 2A, is also formed with sharpened edges and is adapted to penetrate at least a portion of the outer dielectric 56 and/or at least a portion of the inner dielectric 54 of the twinaxial cable 50 to be accommodated.

The positioning element 10 shown in fig. 2A and 2B is integrally made of a conductive steel sheet.

Fig. 2B shows the positioning element 10 from a side view, which is rotated by 90 ° with respect to the view of fig. 2A in fig. 2B. It should be appreciated that in this view, the positioning element 10 has an L-shaped cross-section. Furthermore, the positioning element is flat in this side view (compared to its lateral extension). The base portion 16 of the positioning element 10 is particularly useful for fixing to the terminal element 20. Other embodiments (not shown) may have a T-shaped or Y-shaped lateral cross-section, for example.

Fig. 3A schematically shows an exemplary embodiment of a contact element 100 in a perspective view, wherein the depiction of the contact element 100 is simplified as an understanding-relevant component. The contact element 100 has a terminal element 20 and a positioning element 10. In particular, the terminal element 20 may comprise, for example, an electronic device element, such as a transistor, a resistor, a conductor path, a logic circuit and/or a component having an inductive or capacitive characteristic. In one embodiment, the terminal element 20 may be, in particular, a circuit board with a Printed Circuit (PCB).

Fig. 3A shows a positioning element 10 which is arranged at an angle of 90 ° on the terminal element 20 and is electrically conductively connected to the ground contact 24. The positioning element 10, which is made in one piece from sheet steel, is therefore completely at the potential of the ground contact 24 of the terminal element 20. The electrically conductive connection between the ground contact 24 and the positioning element 10 can be formed, in particular, by a soldering process.

Fig. 3A also shows a connection point 22 arranged correspondingly with respect to each recess 12 of the positioning element 10. The two connection points 22 of the terminal element 20 are each associated with a recess 12 of the positioning element 10. The connection points 22 are arranged and designed to be electrically conductively connected to the inner conductors 52 of the twinaxial cables 50 to be accommodated, respectively. In particular, the electrically conductive connection may be formed by a soldering process.

Fig. 3B and 3C schematically show two side views of the contact element 100, which are rotated by 90 ° relative to one another. Similar to fig. 3A, fig. 3B and 3C show the terminal element 20, the positioning element 10 having the recess 12 and being connected to the terminal element 20, the connection point 22 and the ground contact 24.

Fig. 4 shows, by way of example, a twinaxial cable 50 arranged on a contact element 100, wherein the twinaxial cable 50 is accommodated by the positioning element 10 such that an electrically conductive connection exists between the shielding layer 60 of the twinaxial cable 50 and the positioning element 10.

In the exemplary embodiment shown in fig. 4, the outer dielectric 56 of the twinaxial cable 50 is partially stripped at the connection point, so that the twinaxial cable 50 is simply inserted into the positioning element 10, forming an electrically conductive connection between the positioning element 10 and the shielding layer 60.

Due to the electrically conductive connection of the positioning element 10 to the ground contact 24, the shielding layer 60 is also electrically conductively connected to the ground contact 24 in the arrangement shown.

Fig. 4 shows an exemplary embodiment with a twinaxial cable 50 according to fig. 1A. It will be appreciated that the twinaxial cable 50 according to fig. 1B can also be connected to the positioning element 10, and thus to the contact element 100, in the manner shown, if the filler wire 62 of the twinaxial cable 50 is stripped off or exposed at least in the region of the positioning element 10.

In other embodiments (not shown), additional elements, such as cable retention clips, may additionally secure twinaxial cable 50 to contact element 100.

The illustrated twinax cable 50 exemplarily and representatively represents a plurality of twinax cables 50 that may be connected to the positioning element 10 and thus may be connected to the touch element 100. The maximum number of twinaxial cables 50 to be connected is limited by the number of recesses 12 of the positioning element 10 and/or by the number of connection points 22. This means that the number of twinaxial cables 50 may be coordinated with the number of recesses 12, i.e. the number of twinaxial cables 50 may correspond to the number of recesses 12.

In addition, in the variant of the contact element 100 shown in fig. 4, all of the twinaxial cables 50 to be connected are connected to the ground contact 24. In other embodiments (not shown), the positioning element 10 may for example consist of two parts which are electrically insulated from each other by a dielectric, so that for example the outer conductors of different twinaxial cables may be electrically connected to different ground contacts. In these embodiments, different conductive portions of the positioning element 10 may have different electrical potentials.

In other embodiments (not shown), the positioning element 10 can interact with the terminal element 20 and/or with other elements (in particular cable fixing clips) such that a predetermined spatial arrangement of the twinaxial cable 50 to be accommodated is enforced. In particular, by suitable arrangement of the recesses 12 of the positioning element 10, a substantially parallel orientation of the twinaxial cables 50 to be accommodated can be achieved.

Fig. 4 also shows that the inner dielectric 54 and the outer dielectric 56 of the twinaxial cable 50 are stripped at the connection points so that the inner conductor 52 is exposed and connectable to the connection point 22 of the terminal element 20. In particular, the electrically conductive connection may be formed by a soldering process.

Fig. 5A and 5B illustrate the advantages of the edge-sharpening design of the recess 12 of the positioning element 10. If the recess 12 is designed to be edge sharpened, it is not necessary to strip off the outer dielectric 56 to form an electrically conductive connection between the positioning element 10 and the filler wire 62 or the shield 60 (shield 60 not shown) before the twinaxial cable 50 is disposed in the recess 12. Pressing the twinaxial cable 50 into the recess 12 of the positioning element 10 is sufficient to cause the sharpened edge portions of the recess 12 to at least partially penetrate at least the outer dielectric 56 and thus establish an electrically conductive connection with the filler wire 62 or with the shielding layer 60.

In the embodiment shown in the figures in fig. 5C and 5D, the positioning element 10 can have serrations 18 with sharpened edges in the region of the recess 12. This may facilitate penetration of the dielectric, improve the formation of a conductive connection with filler wire 62, and support the securing of twinaxial cable 50 to contact element 100.

Although twinaxial cable 50 with shield layer 60 may be positioned in recess 12 in any manner, twinaxial cable 50 with only filler wire 62 must be positioned in recess 12 at least in the proper spatial orientation. However, the exact location of the filler wire 62 of the twinaxial cable 50 need not be known, and may vary from production to production.

In a further development, the sharp-edged serrations 18 can also be located on opposite lateral edges of the recess 12 and in this way facilitate the fixing of the twinaxial cable 50 and/or the formation of an electrically conductive connection with the shielding layer 60 or with the filler wire 62.

Fig. 6 shows an exemplary embodiment of a contact element 100 similar to fig. 4, wherein the recess 12 in fig. 6 is designed to be clearly edge-sharpened. Thus, there is no need to strip the twinaxial cable 50 in the region of the positioning element 10. In order to form an electrically conductive connection between the filler wire 62 or the shielding layer 60 and the ground contact 24, in the case of the exemplary embodiment schematically illustrated in fig. 6, it is sufficient to arrange the twinaxial cable 50 in the recess 12 of the positioning element 10 such that a portion of the positioning element 10 penetrates at least a portion of the outer dielectric 56 and thus forms an electrically conductive connection with the filler wire 62 or the shielding layer 60.

It should be understood that the above exemplary embodiments are not conclusive and do not limit the subject matter disclosed herein. In particular, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the described features may be combined with each other in any manner and/or that various features may be omitted without departing from the subject matter disclosed herein.