EP 2028724 A1 20090225 - RF connector with reduced plated area
Title (en)
RF connector with reduced plated area
Title (de)
RF Verbinder mit verringerter Metallisierungsfläche
Title (fr)
Connecteur RF avec surface metallisée reduite
Publication
Application
Priority
EP 07114746 A 20070822
Abstract (en)
This invention relates to an RF connector interface. RF connector interfaces for male and female connectors typically contain outer bodies that latch together creating electrical continuity. In addition they contain centre contacts that engage creating electrical continuity. An insulator is typically positioned between the outer bodies and the centre contacts to provide insulation, support and in the case of RF connectors the insulator has a predetermined dielectric constant. To maintain reliable electrical continuity between the outer bodies the component mating faces are gold plated. The area of gold plating is kept to a minimum to reduce cost but is mostly determined by the shape of the component and the plating process adopted. The typical gold plating area of a male body is shown in Fig 1A . The present invention is to reduce the amount of gold plating required on a male connector outer body while maintaining electrical performance and mechanical integrity while mated or unmated. The current process for plating the outer body is by selective immersion in a gold solution while shielding the inside so as to only plate the outer surface. The gold is only required on the mating faces of the connector for reliable electrical continuity and to act as a lubricant during mating durability trials and in some cases reliable continuity after 250 mating cycles. Selectively plating just the contact area is not an option as wear will occur on the mating area of the female contact while mating with an unplated area of the male as shown in Fig 2 .
IPC 8 full level
H01R 13/03 (2006.01); H01R 13/646 (2011.01); H01R 24/02 (2006.01)
CPC (source: EP)
H01R 13/035 (2013.01); H01R 24/40 (2013.01); H01R 2103/00 (2013.01)
Citation (search report)
- [XY] US 5021010 A 19910604 - WRIGHT JOHN O [US]
- [Y] US 4619496 A 19861028 - FORNEY JR EDGAR W [US], et al
- [A] US 5860812 A 19990119 - GUGLIOTTI CARMINE [US]
Designated contracting state (EPC)
AT BE BG CH CY CZ DE DK EE ES FI FR GB GR HU IE IS IT LI LT LU LV MC MT NL PL PT RO SE SI SK TR
Designated extension state (EPC)
AL BA HR MK RS
DOCDB simple family (publication)
DOCDB simple family (application)
EP 07114746 A 20070822