阅读说明：本技术 具有表面安装接口的rf pcb 连接器 (RF PCB connector with surface mount interface ) 是由 M·格拉斯尔 W·兹斯勒 于 2018-07-05 设计创作，主要内容包括：RF连接器系统包括具有PCB接口的RF连接器和印刷电路板(PCB)，所述RF连接器进一步包括壳体、同轴RF连接器接口和PCB接触区段。机械连接通过壳体的两个翼形的表面安装区段形成，所述表面安装区段具有适于与PCB上的多个焊盘匹配的多个表面安装立柱。与PCB的电连接通过内部导体和至少一个匹配块形成，所述至少一个匹配块电连接到壳体并在PCB处提供匹配的阻抗，所述PCB具有带状线以及接地平面。(The RF connector system includes an RF connector having a PCB interface and a Printed Circuit Board (PCB), the RF connector further including a housing, a coaxial RF connector interface, and a PCB contact section. The mechanical connection is formed by two wing-shaped surface mount sections of the housing having a plurality of surface mount posts adapted to mate with a plurality of pads on the PCB. An electrical connection to the PCB is formed by the inner conductor and at least one matching block electrically connected to the housing and providing a matched impedance at the PCB, the PCB having a stripline and a ground plane.)

1. An RFPCB connector (100) having a PCB interface comprising a housing (120), a coaxial RF connector interface (110), and a PCB contact section (180), the RFPCB connector defining a mounting plane (280);

the coaxial RF connector interface (110) comprises an outer conductor (111) and a central conductor (112);

the housing (120) comprising at least one surface mount section (130, 140), the at least one surface mount section (130, 140) further comprising a plurality of surface mount studs (150), each of the surface mount studs (150) having a flat end surface lying in the mounting plane (280); and is

The PCB contact section (180) comprises an inner conductor (160), the inner conductor (160) passing through a hole (165) of the housing and having a contact area located in the mounting plane (280); and

at least one matching block (171, 172) having a contact surface in the mounting plane (280) and being electrically connected to the housing (120) and providing a matched impedance at the PCB contact section, the inner conductor (160) being electrically connected with the central conductor (112),

the outer conductor (111) is connected to the housing.

2. The RF connector (100) of claim 1, wherein the housing (120) comprises a metal block having a rectangular parallelepiped shape.

3. The RF connector (100) of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the housing (120) comprises two surface mount sections (130, 140), the two surface mount sections (130, 140) being symmetrically arranged at two opposite sides of the housing.

4. The RF connector (100) of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the thickness of the surface mount section (130, 140) is less than the thickness of the housing (120).

5. The RF connector (100) of any of the preceding claims, wherein the surface mount stud (150) has a rectangular or square cross-section.

6. The RF connector (100) of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the PCB contact section (180) is located at an outlet side (122) of the housing (120), the outlet side (122) being opposite a first side (121) having the coaxial RF connector interface (110).

7. An RF connector system comprising an RF connector according to any of the preceding claims and a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) (200), characterized in that the PCB comprises at least one contact pad (230) mating with the at least one surface mount post (150), at least one stripline (220) mating with the at least one inner conductor (160), and at least one ground plane (210) mating with the at least one mating block (171, 172).

8. The RF connector system of claim 7, wherein the at least one stripline (220) is insulated from the at least one ground plane (210) and is in a PCB layer above or below the at least one ground plane (210).

9. The RF connector system of claim 7 or 8, characterized in that the at least one contact pad (230) is electrically insulated from the at least one ground plane (210).

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an RF PCB connector assembly that can be used for millimeter wave and has a surface mount interface for a Printed Circuit Board (PCB).

Background

An RF connector assembly is disclosed in US 6,607,400B 1. The connector is mounted in a cutout of the printed circuit board. Electrical contact is established by soldering the pads to the ground plane and the signal lines. Due to its design, such a connector is only suitable for frequencies of the order of up to 1 GHz. The connector is a micro-button connector. Larger connectors, which are heavier, cannot be mounted through the disclosed PCB interface.

A millimeter wave connector for interconnecting microstrip circuitry and external circuitry is disclosed in US 4,669,805. The connector is held in a housing that also includes a microstrip substrate to be connected to the connector. During assembly, the flexible center conductor of the connector must bend to accommodate the microstrip circuit. The bending of the center conductor may cause asymmetry, thereby degrading the electrical characteristics of the connector.

Disclosure of Invention

The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a millimeter wave connector that can be mounted to a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) or any other microstrip substrate without the need for complex and expensive mounting tools. The connector should be designed so that it can be installed by automated tools.

A solution to this problem is described in the independent claims. The dependent claims relate to further developments of the invention.

A millimeter wave or RF connector for a printed circuit board includes a housing, an RF connector interface, and a printed circuit board interface. The RF PCB connector defines a mounting plane. The mounting plane is a common plane for all surface mount components of the connector. The mounting plane is also the plane of the PCB to which the connector can be mounted.

The RF connector interface may be any standard RF connector interface, such as SMA, 2.92mm, 1.85mm, or 1.0 mm. The RF connector interface preferably provides a coaxial connector interface having an outer conductor and an inner conductor. The coaxial RF connector interface may be mounted or attached to the housing. Preferably, the outer conductor is part of the housing such that it is integral with the housing.

The case may include a metal block having a rectangular parallelepiped shape. The housing comprises at least one, preferably two, surface mount sections which may be part of the housing and are preferably integral with the housing. The surface mount sections may be formed as side wings of the housing, thus requiring less space and material. Furthermore, the flanks provide a lower heat capacity. The at least one surface mount section has a plurality of surface mount studs, preferably integral with the surface mount section and having a flat end surface lying in a mounting plane. The surface mount stud may be soldered to the surface of the printed circuit board using the end surface of the surface mount stud. The surface mount studs may be soldered to a continuous metal surface, such as a ground plane. It is preferable to solder the surface mount posts to the mating contact pads. These contact pads may be insulated from each other and/or from the system ground (system ground) since the ground connection may be made through a matching block which is part of the PCB contact section and which is arranged close to the inner conductor outlet of the housing. The contact pads may also be used to further ground the connector. Most preferably, when using contact pads that mate with surface mount studs, the centering of each surface mount stud with respect to the corresponding contact pad is done automatically by the surface tension of the solder metal. Such solder metal may be any metal or combination of metals known from the prior art, such as tin, lead, silver, and the like. The centering of the various surface mount posts results in overall alignment of the RF connectors. Furthermore, the RF connector can be easily handled by an automated pick and place system and no additional processing steps are required.

The housing preferably comprises an electrically conductive material, most preferably a metal.

Since the outer conductor of the RF connector is connected to the housing or a part of the housing, the outer connector can be contacted with the printed circuit board by means of surface mounted studs.

The center conductor (also referred to as the inner conductor) of the coaxial RF connector interface is guided through the housing, preferably within the coaxial bore, to maintain the coaxial structure by minimizing reflections. The inner conductor leaves the housing at the PCB contact section, preferably at a side opposite to the side of the coaxial RF connector interface, and has a contact area lying in the mounting plane. At least one matching block is provided on the outlet side of the housing, close to the inner conductor, which makes electrical contact with the housing, which maintains the capacitance of the inner conductor in the region of the outlet side and the contact of the inner conductor with the strip line of the printed circuit board, which corresponds to the inductance, so that the characteristic impedance is always constant and reflections are minimized. Preferably, there are two matching blocks arranged symmetrically. Most preferably, the mating blocks have contact surfaces that lie in the mounting plane so that they can contact the ground plane of the printed circuit board. Preferably, the mating block also serves as a pad for soldering to provide electrical connection to the ground plane of the printed circuit board.

To position the housing, a cutout may be provided in the printed circuit board. Preferably, the cut-out is at least slightly larger than the housing, such that there is a gap between the cut-out and the housing. It is not necessary to precisely match the cut-outs with the housing and to hold the housing, since the housing itself is precisely centered by the surface mount studs, which are further centered with respect to the contact pads. Such a precise alignment is necessary to provide a perfect alignment of the inner conductor with the stripline at the exit side, which further results in minimal reflection at high frequencies.

In a preferred embodiment, there is provided an RF connector system comprising at least one RF connector as described above and a mating printed circuit board also as described above. In order to self-align the RF connector with the printed circuit board, the contact pads of the printed circuit board preferably mate with the surface mount posts of the RF connector. Preferably, the contact pads and surface mount studs have a rectangular cross-section, most preferably a square cross-section. It is further preferred that the size of the contact pads be 0.05mm to 0.15mm larger than the size of the surface mount posts. The surface mount stud may also have a circular or oval shape, while the contact pad, which may have a rectangular, circular or oval shape, is preferably 0.05mm to 0.15mm larger in size than the stud.

Preferably, the housing, and most preferably, the surface mount studs and mating blocks have surfaces that can be easily welded. Preferably, the surface is plated.