HIGH-FREQUENCY TEST CONNECTOR DEVICE, HIGH FREQUENCY TESTING SYSTEM AND USE OF SAME

Abstract

The invention relates to a high-frequency test connector device (12; 12′) having an adapter housing including a sleeve-like ground contact section (10; 10′) axially at one end, (18) at the other end, and centrally an insulated inner contact (20), wherein the ground contact section has an electrically conducting spring member (26; 26′, 28; 42, 44; 44′, 46) for ground contact, associated such that for engaging over the sleeve section (14) of the contacting partner (16), the latter with an end face (30), to form a contact and resiliently along the movement or connecting longitudinal axis, can engage on the spring member (26) formed in a sleeve base of the ground contact section (10), or wherein, for engaging in the sleeve section (14′) of the connecting partner (16′), the spring member (26′) projects from an end face end section of the ground contact section (10′), to form a contact and resiliently along the longitudinal axis, can engage on a ground-conducting inner section (40) of the connecting partner.

Claims

1. A high-frequency test connector device (12; 12′) for severable, high-frequency contact-establishing and function-testing interaction with a connection partner (16; 16′) in the form of a coaxial high-frequency connector module, having a sleeve portion (14; 14′) on the outside relative to an inner conductor portion (22), the device (12; 12′) comprising an at least partially sleeve-like adapter housing for being joined with the connection partner manually or by machine along a longitudinal axis of movement and connection, the adapter housing having a sleeve-like ground contact portion (10; 10′) on one axial end for engaging over the sleeve portion of the connection partner in a centering and sliding manner or for engaging into the sleeve portion in a centering manner to establish ground contact with the connection partner, means for establishing external high-frequency signal contact (18), on the other end, and, centrically in the ground contact portion, an inner contact (20) guided coaxially to the axis of movement and connection, wherein the ground contact portion has electrically conducting spring means (26; 26′, 28; 42, 44; 44′, 46) for establishing ground contact which are assigned in such a manner that for the engagement over the sleeve portion (14) of the connection partner (16), an end-side face (30) of the latter can engage onto the spring means (26), which are formed in a sleeve bottom of the ground contact portion (10), in a contact-establishing manner and in a spring-loaded manner along the axis of movement and connection, or wherein for the engagement into the sleeve portion (14′) of the connection partner (16′), the spring means (26′), which protrude from a front-side end portion of the ground contact portion (10′), can engage onto a grounding inner portion (40) of the connection partner in a contact-establishing manner and in a spring-loaded manner along the axis of movement and connection.

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the spring means are realized as a plurality of individual spring pins (28), each spring pin (28) being able to establish ground contact with the connection partner by being spring-loaded along a pin spring axis parallel to the longitudinal axis of movement and connection.

3. The device according to claim 2, wherein the number of spring pins is at least four.

4. The device according to claim 2, wherein at least one of the spring pins has a contact head (34) which is profiled and/or at least partially tapering and/or pointed in the direction of the connection partner.

5. The device according to claim 1, wherein the spring means are realized as a contact leg module (FIG. 7, 8), the free end portions of whose plurality of circumferentially disposed, contact legs (42; 46) can engage onto the end-side face (30) and/or the grounding inner portion (40) of the connection partner (16; 16′) in a spring-loaded and ground contact-establishing manner.

6. The device according to claim 5, wherein the at least three contact legs are disposed in sections along the ring supports and are oriented so as to overlap each other (46) or to extend radially inward (42) from the ring support.

7. The device according to claim 6, wherein the spring means are realized as a crown-like metal module.

8. The device according to claim 1, wherein the spring means are realized as an electrically conductive metallic and/or polymeric and/or elastomeric cushion and/or sponge module or have a cushion and/or sponge portion of this kind.

9. A high-frequency test system having the high-frequency test connector device according to claim 1, an electronic high-frequency test unit connected or connectable to the means for establishing external contact and, as a connection partner, at least one coaxial high-frequency connector module provided with or connected to high-frequency electronic components to be tested.

10. A use of the high-frequency test connector device according to claim 1, and/or of the high-frequency test system according to claim 9 in an operating and/or test frequency range above 1 GHz.

11. The device according to claim 1, wherein the coaxial high-frequency connector module is a coaxial high-frequency connector socket.

12. The device according to claim 1, wherein the means for establishing external high-frequency signal contact (18) is a high-frequency connection portion or a high-frequency connection cable.

13. The device according to claim 1, wherein the inner contact (20) is guided in a spring-loaded manner and isolated from the ground contact portion (10; 10′).

14. The device according to claim 1, wherein the spring means (26′), which protrude from a front-side end portion of the ground contact portion (10′) can engage into an inner shoulder of the connection partner.

15. The device according to claim 2, wherein the plurality of individual spring pins (28) are distributed evenly across the circumference.

16. The device according to claim 5, wherein the spring means are realized as an annular contact leg module.

17. The device according to claim 5, wherein the contact legs (42, 46) are thin-like contact legs.

18. The device according to claim 6, wherein the at least three contact leg comprises at least six contact legs which are integral with a ring support (44; 44′) of the contact leg module.

19. The device according to claim 7, wherein the crown-like metal module is realized as an etched and bent part or as a dye-cut and bent part or as a milled part.

20. The use of claim 10, wherein the operating and/or test frequency range is between 2 GHz and 6 GHz.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024] Other advantages, features and details of the invention are apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments and from the drawings, in which

[0025] FIG. 1 is a partially longitudinally cut side view of the high-frequency test connector device according to a first embodiment of the invention, illustrating a first principle of the invention, according to which a ground contact portion engages over a sleeve portion of the connection partner;

[0026] FIG. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal-section detail view of the contact-establishing head portion in the embodiment example of FIG. 2;

[0027] FIG. 3 shows an embodiment example illustrating an alternative solution principle according to the invention, which differs from the illustration of FIG. 1 in that the ground contact portion engages into the sleeve portion of the connection partner;

[0028] FIG. 4 is an enlarged longitudinal-section detail view of the connection area in the embodiment example of FIG. 3;

[0029] FIG. 5 shows views of an embodiment example according to the invention for realizing the electrically conducting spring means by means of spring pins in sub-figures (a) and (b), detailed figure (a), which is equivalent to FIG. 2, showing a longitudinal-section view cut along line A-A in the front view of sub-figure (b);

[0030] FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the connection area of the embodiment example of FIG. 5 cut in half;

[0031] FIG. 7 shows views illustrating an annular contact leg module realizing the electrically conducting spring means and comprising contact legs extending radially inward from a ring support in sub-figures (a) to (c); and

[0032] FIG. 8 shows views of a configuration of the electrically conducting spring means as a crown-like metal module in which fin-type contact legs overlap each other in sections along the ring support in sub-figures (a) to (c).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0033] The embodiment example of FIG. 1 illustrates a first principle of the invention, according to which a hollow cylindrical ground contact portion 10 of a high-frequency test connector device 12 is provided and configured to engage over the outside or jacket of an (equally grounding) sleeve portion 14 of a contact partner realized as a coaxial socket 16. More precisely, for coaxial production of a temporary test contact limited to a test or measuring process, the hollow cylindrical ground contact portion shown in the first embodiment example of FIG. 1 (and enlarged in FIG. 2) is a pin of an elongate coaxial test connector 12, an end 18 of which located opposite the contact portion can be connected to a high-frequency contact means (leading to suitable test means), such as a coaxial cable, in an otherwise known manner. An inner structure of the elongate pen assembly of FIG. 1 between the contact area formed by ground contact portion 10 and opposite connection 18 can be configured in the usual and coaxial way (and additionally have suitable springs); as an example only, reference is made to the pen structure according to DE 20 2010 007 227 U1, which can be equally adapted for the configuration of the intermediate area (which may analogously also apply to the embodiment example of FIG. 3).

[0034] Furthermore, the section views of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 illustrate how an inner contact 20 which is centrically enclosed by ground contact portion 10 (and isolated therefrom and axially spring-loaded itself) can engage onto a suitably configured coaxial inner contact portion 22 of connection partner 16 (which, in turn, is isolated from ground contact 14 of the partner by depicted isolation 24).

[0035] Schematically illustrated and shaded module 26 in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 schematically illustrates electrically conducting spring means of the first principle of the invention, namely spring means disposed in the sleeve bottom of ground contact portion 10 in the case of FIG. 1 (FIG. 2).

[0036] Said electrically conducting spring means 26 can be realized as a plurality of (in this case 4) individual spring pins 28, for example, as shown in the detail view of FIG. 5 including sub-figures (a) and (b) and in the perspective view of FIG. 6, individual spring pins 28 being evenly distributed across the circumference in the sleeve bottom of ground contact portion 28 and being configured to engage onto a front-side face 30 (which is annular in the case at hand) (FIG. 2) of the connection partner.

[0037] More precisely, said spring pins are provided with compression coil springs 32 which push a contact head 34 of the respective spring pin, which has a calotte-like contour in the case at hand, onto ring surface 30 of connection partner 16 to establish ground contact while ensuring the best tolerance compensation possible, high contact quality and low wear.

[0038] By way of the other embodiment example, the illustrations of FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 illustrate a solution principle according to the invention that is an alternative to the principle of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2; in the embodiment example of FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, ground contact portion 10′ is located radially inside (relative to ground contact portion 14′ of the contact partner, which surrounds ground contact portion 10′ in the test state or contact state), whereas inner contact 20 of alternative high-frequency test connector device 12′ according to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 meets assigned and associated coaxial inner contact 22 of the partner in said test or connection state. In this embodiment example, the electrically conducting spring means are configured for establishing ground contact at the front end of ground contact portion 10′. As schematically shown and symbolized by grey module 26′ (FIG. 4), the electrically conducting spring means, which are again realized as a plurality of individual spring pins distributed (preferably evenly) across the circumference in analogy to the illustration of FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, are provided in the front end of the (cylindrical) ground contact portion, which allows them to engage onto a grounding inner portion 40 (which is realized as an annular shoulder in the bottom of sleeve portion 14′ of connection partner 16′) in a tolerance-compensating, spring-loaded and contact-reliable manner as per the invention.

[0039] FIGS. 7 and 8 show options for realizing the electrically conducting spring means alternative to the spring pins, again with suitability for both variations of the invention (the variation of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 and the variation of FIG. 3 and FIG. 4).

[0040] For instance, the embodiment example of FIG. 7 discloses a configuration of these electrically conducting spring means according to the invention as an annular contact leg module in which respective free end portions of a plurality of eight finlike contact legs protrude obliquely radially inward from a ring support 44 (“radially” also being supposed to be interpreted as a vectorial radial component within the meaning of the invention, such as in the example of FIG. 7). In this embodiment example, the assembly is realized in one piece as a suitable die-cut and bent part and has spring properties for providing ground contact.

[0041] An alternative embodiment of a crown-like realization of this kind of electrically conducting spring means (and again suitable for realizing both conceptually depicted module 26 and module 26′) according to the invention is shown in the embodiment example of FIG. 8 by way of multiple views. In this case, multiple (again a plurality of eight) contact legs (again distributed circumferentially), which are realized as a milled part, extend from a ring support 44′ and (axially) overlap in sections along the ring support as shown in the views of FIG. 8, their respective free leg ends thus offering an annular series of contact points for the tolerance-compensating establishment of ground contact according to the invention as contact legs 46 are about flush with the annular support portion 44′ but disposed at an axial distance thereto.

[0042] The shown embodiment examples are of a merely exemplary nature; for instance, it is in particular also possible and envisaged by the invention for the modules of FIG. 7 or 8 to be supplemented (or even replaced) with foam-like and/or cushion-like elastic bodies, again with the solution of a tolerance-compensating establishment of ground contact between the contact partners according to the invention in mind.