Shielded Plug Connector Module

Abstract

In order to improve the shielding of a plug connector module (1, 1') and of a plug connector modular system equipped therewith, in particular against high-frequency interference fields, the insulation body (10, 10') of said module is form-fittingly surrounded all around by a shielding element (15, 15'). This additionally allows the earth connection of a metal plug connector modular frame (2) to a shield transfer element (14, 14') of the plug connector module (1, 1') and thus also an earth connection to a mating connector. Thus the shield element (15, 15') itself is also earthed all around and at multiple points, and as a result can suppress the effect of in particular high-frequency electrical and/or magnetic interference fields particularly well.

Claims

1-14. (canceled)

15. A plug connector module (1, 1ʹ), comprising: a substantially cuboidal insulation body (10, 10ʹ) formed from an electrically insulating material, wherein the insulation body (10, 10ʹ) has a plug in region (110, 110ʹ) with a plug in side (111, 111ʹ) and, opposite and parallel thereto, a cable connection side (127, 127ʹ), wherein the cable connection side (127, 127ʹ) and the plug in side (111, 111ʹ) are connected to one another via continuous contact chambers (100, 100ʹ) for receiving electrically conductive plug contacts (13, 13ʹ), wherein the insulation body (10, 10ʹ) furthermore has two narrow sides (103, 103ʹ) running perpendicularly to its cable connection side (102, 102ʹ) and plug in side (111, 111ʹ) and arranged opposite and parallel to one another, and, at right angles thereto, two broad sides (104, 104ʹ) arranged opposite and parallel to one another, wherein a detent lug (121, 121ʹ, 122 122ʹ) for fixing the plug connector module (1, 1ʹ) in a plug connector modular frame (2) is integrally molded on each narrow side, wherein these two mutually opposed detent lugs (121, 121ʹ, 122, 122ʹ) differ in their shape and/or size in order to thus ensure, as polarization means, a correct orientation of the plug connector module (1, 1ʹ) in the plug connector modular frame (2), wherein the plug connector module (1, 1ʹ) is form fittingly surrounded on its broad (104, 104ʹ) and narrow sides (103, 103ʹ) by a peripheral shield element (15, 15ʹ), wherein the shield element (15, 15ʹ) covers more than 50% of an area of each of the broad sides (104, 104ʹ) and narrow sides (103, 103ʹ) and has an opening both on the cable connection side (127, 127ʹ) and on the plug in side (111, 111ʹ) of the insulation body (10, 10ʹ).

16. The plug connector module (1, 1ʹ) as claimed in claim 15, wherein the plug connector module (1, 1ʹ) has at least one electrical plug contact (13, 13ʹ) with a cable connection portion and a plug portion, said plug contact being inserted into one of the contact chambers, (100, 100’) of the insulation body (10, 10ʹ) wherein the cable connection portion is accessible from the cable connection side (127, 127ʹ) of the insulation body (10, 10ʹ), and wherein the plug portion protrudes into the plug in region (110, 110ʹ) of the insulation body (10, 10ʹ).

17. The plug connector module (1, 1ʹ) as claimed in claim 15, wherein the shield element (15, 15ʹ) is embodied substantially as a cuboidal frame, which, in a manner corresponding to the cube shape of the plug connector module (1, 1ʹ), has two mutually opposed narrow side walls (153, 153ʹ) and, at right angles thereto, two mutually opposed broad side walls (154, 154ʹ).

18. The plug connector module (1, 1ʹ) as claimed in claim 15, wherein the shield element (15, 15ʹ) has, at its cable connection side opening on its narrow side walls (153, 153ʹ), cutouts (150, 150ʹ) which surround the detent lugs (121, 121ʹ) 122, 122ʹ) at least in part on three sides, and wherein the detent lugs (121, 121ʹ, 122, 122ʹ) of the plug connector modules (1, 1ʹ) protrude through the cutouts (150, 150ʹ) at least in part.

19. The plug connector module (1, 1ʹ) as claimed in claim 15, wherein the shield element (15, 15ʹ) consists of a sheet metal part which is embodied as a stamped and bent part and is bent at right angles at four parallel bending edges, and wherein the shield element (15, 15ʹ) has, at two fastening edges thus adjacent to one another, fastening means for fastening them to one another and thus for producing a closed frame form.

20. The plug connector module (1, 1ʹ) as claimed in claim 19, wherein the shield element (15, 15ʹ) is a stamped and bent part.

21. The plug connector module (1, 1ʹ) as claimed in claim 15, wherein the plug connector module (1, 1ʹ), additionally to the shield element (15, 15ʹ), furthermore has, on at least one of its two broad sides (104, 104ʹ), at least one separate shield transfer element (14, 14ʹ).

22. The plug connector module (1, 1ʹ) as claimed in claim 21, wherein the at least one separate shield transfer element (14, 14ʹ) is formed in one piece as a stamped and bent part from sheet metal and is substantially flat.

23. The plug connector module (1, 1ʹ) as claimed in claim 21, wherein the at least one separate shield transfer element (14, 14ʹ) is in electrical contact with the shield element (15, 15ʹ).

24. The plug connector module (1, 1ʹ) as claimed in claim 21, wherein the at least one separate shield transfer element (14, 14ʹ), for ground connection to the cable, has, on the cable connection side, a cable connection region (142, 142ʹ).

25. The plug connector module (1, 1ʹ) as claimed in claim 23, wherein the shield element (15, 15ʹ),to establish the electrical contact with the shield transfer element (14, 14ʹ), has inwardly bent contact tabs (156. 156ʹ) on at least one of its broad side walls (154, 154ʹ).

26. The plug connector module (1, 1ʹ) as claimed in claim 15, wherein the plug connector modular frame (2) is at least partly metal, and wherein the shield element (15, 15ʹ),to establish an additional electrically conductive connection to the plug connector modular frame (2), has at least one outwardly directed contact tab (152, 152ʹ) on at least one of its narrow side walls (153, 153ʹ).

27. A plug connector modular system, comprising an at least partly metal plug connector modular frame (2) and at least one plug connector module (1, 1ʹ) as claimed in claim 26 arranged and fixed therein, wherein the shield element (15, 15ʹ) is electrically connected to the plug connector modular frame (2) via the outwardly directed contact tab (152, 152ʹ).

28. The plug connector modular system as claimed in claim 27, wherein the at least one plug connector module (1, 1ʹ) is fixed in the plug connector modular frame (2) and additionally polarized in a predefined orientation as a result of its detent lugs (121, 121ʹ, 122, 122ʹ) engaging form fittingly in differently sized detent windows (210, 220), which the plug connector modular frame (2) has on two mutually opposed side walls (21, 22).

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0044] An exemplary embodiment of the invention is shown in the drawings and will be explained in greater detail hereinafter.

[0045] FIGS. 1a and 1b show two plug connector modules in the unplugged and plugged state:

[0046] FIGS. 2a and 2b show the plug connector modules each in an exploded illustration:

[0047] FIGS. 3a and 3b show two insulation bodies of the plug connector modules;

[0048] FIGS. 4a and 4b show the plug connector modules each with a shield element; and

[0049] FIG. 5 shows two plug connector modular systems plugged to one another, each with a plug connector modular frame and a plug connector module.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0050] The figures contain partly simplified, schematic illustrations. Sometimes, identical reference signs have been used for like, but possibly non-identical elements. Different views of like elements may be scaled differently.

[0051] FIGS. 1a and 1b show a plug connector module 1 and a mating plug module 1’ that can be plugged therewith and in principle is thus constructed in a comparable way, both in an unplugged state and in a state plugged together. For verbal simplification, the plug connector module 1 and the mating plug module 1’ will also be referred to jointly hereinafter as plug connector pmodules 1, 1’.

[0052] Each of these plug connector modules 1, 1' has a substantially cuboidal insulation pbody 10, 10’.

[0053] The plug connector modules 1, 1' furthermore each have a frame-like shield pelement 15, 15’, which surrounds the insulation pbody 10, 10’ form-fittingly. The shield element 15, 15’ is to this end likewise substantially cuboidal and has two narrow-side pwalls 153’ and, at right angles thereto, two broad-side pwalls 154’.

[0054] Each shield pelement 15, 15’ furthermore has, on its narrow-side walls 153, inwardly directed detent ptabs 151, 151’, denoted in FIG. 1b, in order to be fastened to the insulation pbody 10, 10' and outwardly directed contact ptabs 152, 152’ for electrically contacting a plug connector modular frame 2, into which the plug connector modules are insertable and in which they are fixable by means of their detent plugs 122, 122’, wherein this is only shown explicitly for the first time, however, in FIG. 5.

[0055] In addition, each shield pelement, 15, 15’, on its two mutually opposite broad-side walls 154, 154’, has an inwardly directed contact tab 156, 156’ for electrically contacting its substantially flat shield transfer pelement 14, 14’.

[0056] In the plugged state shown in FIG. 1b, the shield transfer pelements 14, 14’ contact one another by means of their contact pportions 141, 141’, which are denoted in FIG. 1a, and thus also ensure a mutual ground connection of their shield pelements 15, 15’ .

[0057] FIGS. 2a and 2b show the plug connector pmodules 1, 1’ each in an exploded illustration. The plug connector pmodules 1, 1’ each have a contact pcarrier 11, 11’, a plurality of plug pcontacts 13, 13’ and a holding pplate 12, 12’. It is easily conceivable that each contact carrier 11, 11’ and the associated holding plate 12, 12’ are brought together and latched to one another in order to form the corresponding insulation body 10, 10’, not presented in greater detail hereinafter, and thus fix the plug contact 13, 13’ in continuous contact pchambers 100, 100’.

[0058] In the present example, the plug contacts 13, 13' of the plug connector module 1 are embodied as socket contacts 13 and those of the mating plug module 1' as pin contacts 13'.

[0059] Furthermore, narrow-side detent lugs 121, 122' are integrally molded on the holding plates 12.

[0060] In addition, in the exploded illustrations, a substantially flat shield transfer element 14, 14' and a frame-like cuboidal shield element 15, 15' are each shown as a separate individual part. Both the shield transfer element 14, 14' and the shield element 15, 15' are produced by means of a stamping and bending technique. However, whereas the shield transfer 14, 14' is substantially flat, the shield element 15, 15' is bent at right angles at four edges and is shaped by means of a dovetail connection as fastening means at two fastening edges thus arranged adjacently to one another in order to form a closed frame. Of course, other fastening means for this purpose are known to a person skilled in the art.

[0061] The contact portion 141 of the shield transfer element 14 of the plug connector module 1 is stamped so as to be slightly fork-shaped and is bent slightly for improved contact with the planar contact portion 141' of the shield transfer element 14' of the mating plug 1'. Therefore, the contact tabs of the contact portion 141, which are not denoted in greater detail for reasons of clarity, have slightly rounded contacts. Nevertheless, both shield transfer elements 14, 14' are to be considered to be substantially flat.

[0062] On the cable connection side, the shield transfer elements 14, 14' each have a cable connection region 142, 142'. This can be placed around the shield braid of a connected cable, for example using pliers or another suitable tool, and can be mechanically fastened thereto and electrically connected therewith by means of a crimp connection.

[0063] In FIGS. 3a and 3b the two insulation bodies 10, 10' assembled from the corresponding contact carrier 11, 11' and the associated holding plate 12, 12' can be seen. The insulation bodies 10, 10' are substantially cuboidal and consist of an electrically insulating material. On the side of the insulation bodies 10, 10' shown to be the lower side in this drawing, the respective contact portions 141, 141' of the shield transfer elements 14, 14' can be seen. On the cable connection side, the cable connection regions 142, 142' of the shield transfer elements 14, 14' can each be seen to some extent.

[0064] The insulation bodies 10, 10' have, on their respective holding plates 12, 12', a cable connection side 127, 127'. Opposite and parallel thereto, the insulation body 10, 10' has, on its contact carrier 10, 10', said plug-in region 110, 110' with a plug-in side 111, 111'. The plug-in side 111, 111' and the cable connection side 127, 127' are connected to one another via the contact chambers 100, 100', which are continuous through the insulation body 10, 10'. The contact chambers 100, 100' serve to receive the plug contacts 13.

[0065] Furthermore, the insulation bodies 10, 10' each have two broad sides 104, 104' running perpendicularly to the contact side 111, 111' and cable connection side 127, 127' and arranged oppositely and parallel to one another, and, at right angles thereto, two narrow sides 103, 103' arranged oppositely and parallel to one another. A detent lug 121, 122, 121' 122' is integrally molded on each of the two narrow sides 103, 103', wherein in this illustration only one detent lug 121, 122' can be seen, because the other detent lug 121', 122 is hidden by the insulation body 10, 10'.

[0066] In FIGS. 4a and 4b, the plug connector modules 1, 1' are each shown in two views. The associated insulation bodies 10, 10' are surrounded form-fittingly on their broad 104 and narrow sides 103' by the shield element 15, 15' running around over 360°, wherein the shield element 15, 15' in each case covers the majority of the area - and therefore more than 50% of the area - of the broad 104, 104' and the narrow sides 103, 103'. To this end, each shield element 15, 15' is slid on the plug-in side onto the corresponding insulation body 10, 10'. Furthermore, the shield element 15, 15' is open both on the cable connection side 127, 127' and on the plug-in side 111, 111' of the insulation body 10, 10'.

[0067] The shield element 15, 15' is to this end likewise substantially cuboidal and has two narrow-side walls 153' and, at right angles thereto, two broad-side walls 154'.

[0068] On the narrow-side walls 153, 153', the shield element 15, 15' has inwardly directed detent tabs 151, 151' for fixing said shield element to the insulation body 10, 10’.

[0069] In addition, the shield element 15, 15' on its narrow-side walls 103, at its opening on the cable connection side, has cutouts 150, 150', which surround the detent lugs 121, 121', 122, 122' at least in part on three sides. The detent lugs 121, 121', 122, 122' of the plug connector modules 1, 1' thus protrude through the cutouts 150, 150'. This is particularly advantageous because the detent lugs 121, 121', 122, 122' can in this way perform their function in spite of the corresponding shield element 15, 15'.

[0070] This function can be seen particularly clearly in FIG. 5. It consists of the detent lugs 121, 122, 121', 122' of the plug connector modules 1, 1' latching in detent windows 20, 20' of a plug connector modular frame 2. Due to their different size, they ensure the correct polarization, i.e., orientation, of the particular plug connector module 1, 1' in the plug connector modular frame 2. The plug connector modular frame 2 in this case is a hinged frame, which has been produced in a zinc die-casting process. However, it is clear to a person skilled in the art that any other plug connector modular frame is also suitable similarly for this application, provided it consists at least in part of metal in order to ensure the electrical conductivity required for connection to ground.

[0071] In this illustration, two identical plug connector modular frames 2 are shown, one of which houses the plug connector module 1 and the other the mating plug connector module 1'. Each plug connector modular frame 2 has two side walls 21, 22, which are arranged opposite one another and which differ by the size of the detent windows 210, 220 arranged therein. It can be easily seen that an incorrect orientation of the plug connector modules 1, 1' is prevented on account of the differently sized detent windows 210, 220.

[0072] The plug connector modules 1, 1' are not in mutual plugged contact, but, as can also be clearly seen in FIG. 1b, are also electrically connected to one another over a large area in order to improve the shielding and/or grounding with their shield transfer elements 14, 14'. The two shield transfer elements 14, 14' to this end contact one another via their contact portions 141, 141'.

[0073] In addition, the shield elements 15, 15' contact the corresponding metal plug connector modular frame 2 by means of their outwardly directed contact tabs 152, 152' and contact the corresponding shield transfer element 14, 14' by means of the inwardly bent contact tabs 156, 156' and thus ensure a grounding at multiple points and thus ensure a particularly efficient shielding with respect to high-frequency interference fields.

[0074] Although the figures show different aspects or features of the invention in combination, it is evident to a person skilled in the art - unless stated otherwise - that the shown and discussed combinations are not the only possible ones. In particular, units or feature combinations corresponding to one another from different exemplary embodiments can be swapped for one another.

List of Reference Signs

[0075] 1, 1' plug connector modules (plug connector module, mating plug module)

[0076] 10, 10' insulation bodies

[0077] 100, 100' contact chambers

[0078] 103, 103' narrow side

[0079] 104, 104' broad side

[0080] 11, 11' contact carrier

[0081] 110, 110' plug-in region

[0082] 111, 111' plug-in side

[0083] 12, 12' holding plate

[0084] 121, 121', 122, 122' detent lugs

[0085] 127, 127' cable connection side

[0086] 13, 13' plug contact (socket contacts, pin contacts)

[0087] 14, 14' shield transfer element

[0088] 141, 141' contact portion of the shield transfer element

[0089] 142, 142' cable connection region of the shield transfer element

[0090] 15, 15' shield element

[0091] 150, 150' cutouts

[0092] 151, 151' detent tabs of the shield element

[0093] 152, 152' outwardly directed contact tabs

[0094] 153, 153' narrow-side wall

[0095] 154, 154' broad-side wall

[0096] 156, 156' inwardly directed contact tabs

[0097] 2 plug connector modular frame

[0098] 21, 22 side walls of the plug connector modular frame

[0099] 210, 220 detent windows of the plug connector modular frame