TWI844471B - Method to modify connectors - Google Patents

Abstract

A method is disclosed to modify a connector including a plug and a receptacle. The method comprises the steps of increasing the thickness of the first line segments of signal lines in the plug, wherein the locations of the first line segments of the signal lines are near a hollow part of an insulating plate; and increasing the thickness of the second line segments of signal lines in the receptacle, wherein each of the second line segments exhibits an inclined structure. Accordingly, the transmission bandwidth and data transmission rate can be increased by modifying the signal lines in both the plug and its paired receptacle of the connector, and further improved by selectively modifying the circuit board from the plug of the connector.

Description

How to modify the connector

The present invention relates to a method for modifying a connector, in particular to a method for modifying a connector capable of increasing data transmission rate.

In modern electronic devices, Universal Serial Bus (USB) is often used to connect data between computers, smartphones and their peripheral devices. USB is not only a serial bus transmission standard, but also a mechanical interface socket. In addition to being widely used in digital products such as computers and smartphones, it also extends to peripheral devices such as monitors, cameras, and game consoles. In order to enable smooth data transmission between these products and devices when the connector is connected, it is very important to design a connector that is suitable for high-speed data transmission and low loss.

The structural characteristics of the USB Type-C connector are reduced volume and thickness, vertical symmetry, and increased number of transmission lines in the connector, thereby reducing the internal space of the connector and making the distance between transmission lines much closer than the transmission line distance of other USB mechanical connection interfaces. When high-speed data transmission is performed, in addition to the signal to be transmitted, the transmission channel will also sense the signal transmitted by the adjacent transmission line, causing a certain degree of coupling interference. In addition, the mechanical design considerations and assembly convenience requirements of the connector due to the plug-in and pull-out between the plug end and the socket end will change the geometric structure of the transmission line. In addition, the metal transmission line in the connector is connected to the transmission line on the circuit board. These changes will cause changes in the distributed circuit parameters of the transmission line in a specific area, so that the differential impedance value in the area cannot reach an acceptable range, and then an unexpected resonance reaction occurs, resulting in greater signal transmission loss in the resonance frequency area, making it impossible to achieve the ideal high-speed transmission effect when the plug end and the socket end of the connector are connected.

In addition, in order to meet the insertion and extraction force during connection or to achieve the effect of supporting the transmission line, the transmission line in the connector will be assembled with plastic parts or insulators; or the connector itself has some irregular shapes in some areas due to specific uses, such as bending the transmission line vertically before connecting. The above situations form a complex structure inside the connector, which often derives unexpected parasitic effects that affect the transmission effect.

In order to meet the demand for higher-speed data transmission, the new generation USB4 Gen3 specification has set a data transmission rate of up to 40Gbps. However, the transmission line of the USB Type-C connector that currently meets the USB 3.2 Gen2 specification will encounter resonance problems between 8 GHz and 15 GHz, resulting in greater transmission loss. The transmission passband is therefore limited and its transmission rate cannot be increased, making it impossible to further expand its application level to a level that meets the USB4 Gen3 specification.

One of the purposes of the present invention is to provide a connector modification method that can use a commercially available connector as a hardware basis to make minor modifications, thereby solving the problem of unexpected resonance of the transmission line in the connector within a specific frequency range and reducing the insertion loss of the signal within the specific frequency range during transmission, thereby providing a wider signal transmission passband to achieve a faster data transmission rate.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a connector modification method, the method comprising: providing a connector including a plug end and a socket end that can be matched with the plug end, wherein the plug end includes a plurality of first signal terminals and an insulating plate with a hollow portion, the insulating plate is arranged below the plurality of first signal terminals, each of the first signal terminals has a first regular thickness and includes a first partial line segment correspondingly located near the hollow portion of the insulating plate, The socket end has a plurality of second signal terminals, each of which has a second conventional thickness and includes a second partial line segment with a slope structure; then, the thickness of the first partial line segment of each first signal terminal is increased so that the first partial line segment has a first thickness greater than the first conventional thickness; and the thickness of a second partial line segment of each second signal terminal is increased so that the second partial line segment has a second thickness greater than the second conventional thickness.

In one embodiment, the plurality of first signal terminals of the plug end each have one end connected to a circuit board through a solder pad, and the circuit board has a ground plane layer inside. The method further includes: Selecting one of the following two processes for subsequent modification: Modifying the process of the solder pad; or Modifying the process of the ground plane layer.

In one embodiment, the process of modifying the pad includes reducing the area of the pad.

In one embodiment, the step of reducing the area of the pad includes: modifying the stump of the pad to shorten its length; and narrowing the width of the shortened pad.

In one embodiment, the step of reducing the area of the bonding pad includes: modifying the width of the bonding pad to be equal to the width of the first signal terminal connected thereto.

In one embodiment, the process of modifying the ground plane layer includes: hollowing out a portion of the ground plane layer to form a slot, and making the position of the slot correspond to the welding position.

In one embodiment, the size of the slot is 1.15 mm. The process of the ground plane layer includes: and the thickness of the hollowed ground plane layer is 0.03048 mm.

In one embodiment, the step of increasing the thickness of the first portion of the line segment of each of the first signal terminals includes: providing a conductive plate, wherein the conductive plate has an upper surface and a lower surface, and the conductive plate is defined as having a transverse direction and a longitudinal direction perpendicular to each other; forming a rectangular protrusion on the lower surface of the conductive plate, wherein the long side of the rectangular protrusion is oriented along the transverse direction of the conductive plate, and the rectangular protrusion has a width and a protrusion height, wherein the width is oriented along the longitudinal direction of the conductive plate and is equal to the length of the first portion of the line segment, and the protrusion height is equal to a thickening amplitude of the first portion of the line segment; and pressing the conductive plate from top to bottom and cutting along the longitudinal direction of the conductive plate to form a plurality of conductive lines for use as the plurality of first signal terminals.

In one embodiment, the first signal terminal includes a fixed end position connected to a circuit board, and the first portion of the line segment is a line segment that is 4.6 mm to 5.4 mm away from the fixed end position in the direction from the fixed end position to the intersection of the first signal terminal and the socket end, wherein the thickness increase of the first portion of the line segment is 0.275 mm.

In one embodiment, in the step of increasing the thickness of the second portion of the line segment of each of the second signal terminals of the socket end, the second portion of the line segment is located in the middle area of the slope structure, and the increased thickness is 0.16 mm and the increased length is 1.0 mm.

Based on the above, the connector modification method of the present invention can solve the resonance problem encountered by commercially available connectors between 8 GHz and 15 GHz in a simple structural improvement and more labor-saving and cost-saving manner, so that the data transmission rate of the modified connector can be increased to a level that meets the USB4 Gen3 specification.

The above-mentioned other technical contents, features and effects of the present invention will be clearly presented in the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment with reference to the drawings. The directional terms mentioned in the following embodiments, such as up, down, left, right, front or back, etc., are only used to refer to the directions of the accompanying drawings. Therefore, these directional terms are only used for explanation and are not used to limit the present invention.

The present invention provides a method for modifying a connector, which is based on the hardware of a commercially available connector to solve the problem of unexpected resonance in the frequency range of 8 GHz to 15 GHz and reduce the insertion loss in the frequency range during signal transmission, thereby providing a wider signal transmission passband to achieve a faster data transmission rate. In the specification of the present invention, the term "connector" refers to a kit combination formed by a plug end and a socket end matching the plug end.

Please refer to Figure 1. The modification method of the present invention includes the following steps: 1. Step (S11): Increase the thickness of a portion of the line segment of the signal terminal (also referred to as "signal transmission line", "differential transmission line" or "signal pin") of the "plug end" of the connector so that the thickness of the portion of the line segment is greater than the normal thickness of its adjacent line segment. 2. Step (S12): Increase the thickness of a portion of the line segment of the signal terminal of the "socket end" of the connector so that the thickness of the portion of the line segment is greater than the normal thickness of its adjacent line segment. 3. Step (S13): Based on the thickness of the signal terminal segments at the plug end and the socket end, consider whether to further modify the circuit board connected to the "plug end". You can choose one of the following two modification methods (S21) and (S22) to achieve (S14): 1. Modify the solder pad (S21): Reduce the area of the solder pad, for example: for the solder pad connecting the circuit board and the signal terminal, modify its residual segment to shorten its length; then narrow the width of the shortened solder pad. 2. Modify the ground plane layer of the circuit board (S22): Form a slot in the ground plane layer of the circuit board, for example: generate a slot in the ground plane layer of the circuit board so that the slot only exists in the ground plane layer but does not penetrate the substrate layer above and below the ground plane layer, and the slot is located directly below the soldering point between the circuit board and the signal terminal. Either of the above two modification methods (S21) and (S22) can achieve similar effects.

Since the plug end of the USB Type-C interface connector that meets the USB 3.2 Gen 2 specification is used for plug-and-play and supports the connection of various devices, its main function is to provide signal transmission and power supply, which plays an important role in the signal transmission process and is the most widely used connector type for high-speed data transmission today. Therefore, the following embodiment takes the existing USB Type-C interface connector that meets the USB3.2 Gen2 specification as the modification object, and more specifically explains the connector modification method of the present invention. The USB Type-C connector of the present invention modifies the thickness of some segments of the signal terminals that are mainly responsible for high-speed data transmission inside both the plug end and the socket end, and reduces the length and width of the solder pads where the signal terminals at the plug end connect to the circuit board, or hollows out a specific area of the ground plane layer below the connection between the signal terminals at the plug end and the circuit board, so as to change the distributed circuit parameters of the signal terminals in the area, as a basis for solving the resonance problem and improving the high-frequency transmission loss. The purpose of modifying the connector is to solve the resonance problem of the signal terminal in a specific frequency band, so that the transmission passband of the signal terminal can be extended to the high frequency, thereby providing a wider signal transmission passband to achieve a faster data transmission rate.

First embodiment: Modifying the signal terminals of both the plug end and the socket end of the connector

This embodiment is based on a commercially available USB Type-C interface connector hardware that meets the USB 3.2 Gen 2 specification, and uses it as the object of modification. The internal structures of both the plug end and the socket end are roughly symmetrical in vertical direction.

Figures 2A, 2B and 3 show the structure of a commercially available USB Type-C interface connector that meets the USB 3.2 Gen 2 specification (hereinafter also referred to as a "commercially available connector" or "commercially available model") before modification. Figure 2A shows the circuit board of the "plug end" of the commercially available connector and the signal terminal structure of its upper half. Figure 2B shows the circuit board of the "socket end" of the commercially available connector and the signal terminal structure of its upper half. Figure 3 is a cross-section of the plug end of Figure 2A after the signal terminals in the lower half are completed and cut along the A-A cutting line.

The plug end 100 of FIG. 2A has a shell (not shown) having a plurality of terminals connected to a circuit board 120 through a plurality of solder pads 125 for high-speed data transmission with a computer or other device. These terminals include a plurality of signal terminals 141, 142, 143, 144, a power terminal (not numbered), and a ground terminal (not numbered).

FIG2B shows a plurality of signal terminals 241, 242, 243, 244, power terminals (not labeled) and ground terminals (not labeled) inside the socket 200, all of which are connected to a circuit board 220. The circuit board 220 is a circuit board inside the socket in a destination device for signal transmission.

FIG3 shows the arrangement of the layers in the circuit board 120 of the plug end 100 of the commercially available connector. The circuit board 120 includes a substrate 121, an upper ground plane layer 123a, a lower ground plane layer 123b and a solder pad 125. The upper ground plane layer 123a and the lower ground plane layer 123b are both embedded in the substrate 121 and are electrically isolated by the substrate 121. The solder pad 125 is provided on the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate 121 for electrical connection with the signal terminal 142. The bonding pad 125 is electrically isolated from the upper ground plane layer 123a by a partial material layer 121a of the substrate 121, and the bonding pad 125 is electrically isolated from the lower ground plane layer 123b by another partial material layer 121b of the substrate 121.

FIG4 shows that an insulating plate 110 is provided below the upper row of terminals inside the plug end 100 of a commercially available connector. The insulating plate 110 has a hollow portion 112. The hollowed-out range (indicated by a thick black line) corresponds to the middle section of the signal terminals 141, 142, 143, 144 and the lower rear section away from the circuit board. The hollowed-out portion 112 causes the differential impedance value of the transmission line in the area to increase sharply. Therefore, the present invention increases the thickness of a portion of the line segments in the middle of the signal terminals 141, 142, 143, 144 to increase the area of the side of the signal terminals, thereby increasing the distributed capacitance of the transmission line in the area, achieving the effect of reducing the differential impedance value of the transmission line in the area, making the differential impedance value of the area within an acceptable range, so as to improve the resonance problem in the above-mentioned frequency band, thereby achieving a wider transmission passband and a faster data transmission rate. In this embodiment, the portion of the line segment with increased thickness is located in the predetermined modification area 1A of FIG. 4.

After the partial line segments of the signal terminals 141, 142 in the modified area 1A in FIG4 are thickened, the side view structure is shown as the first partial line segments 141A, 142A in FIG5. FIG5A shows the first partial line segments 141A, 142A in an enlarged manner, and the line thickness thereof is increased from a normal thickness ST1 to a thickness T1, and the thickness increase is TA1.

As shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 5A , in a more specific embodiment, the signal terminals 141, 142 of the plug end 100 include a fixed end connected to the circuit board 120. The first part of the line segment 141A, 142A is a line segment from the fixed end position P0 of the signal terminal 141, 142 to the direction of the intersection of the signal terminal 141, 142 and the socket end 200, from the starting position P1 4.6 mm away from the fixed end position P0 to the end position P2 5.4 mm away, and the thickness of the line segment is modified. The length L1 of the first line segment 141A, 142A of the signal terminals 141, 142 with modified thickness is 0.8 mm, and the thickness increase TA1 is 0.275 mm, so that the line thickness of the first line segment 141A, 142A is increased from the original conventional thickness ST1 of 0.225 mm to the thickness T1 of 0.5 mm.

In order to achieve the purpose of the present invention, in addition to modifying the thickness of the signal terminals at the plug end 100 , it is also necessary to modify the thickness of the signal terminals 241 , 242 , 243 , 244 at the socket end 200 accordingly.

FIG6 is an enlarged schematic diagram of the modified area 1B of the socket end 200 of the connector of the present invention. In order to obtain the best frequency response, it can be seen from FIG6 that the signal terminals 241, 242 responsible for high-speed data transmission each have a second line segment 241A, 242A with a slope structure similar to a slide, and the thickness of the second line segment 241A, 242A is increased to increase the area of the side surface of the signal terminal, thereby increasing the distributed capacitance of the transmission line in the area, achieving the effect of reducing the differential impedance value of the transmission line in the area, so that the differential impedance value is within an acceptable range, so as to further improve the resonance problem in the above-mentioned frequency band, and have a wider transmission passband and achieve a faster data transmission rate.

As shown in FIG. 6 and FIG. 6A , at the socket end 200 , the second line segments 242A, 242A of the signal terminals 241, 242 are thickened. The second line segments 242A, 242A are located in the middle area of the slope structure of the signal terminals, so that the line thickness is increased from the conventional thickness ST2 of 0.1 mm to a thickness T2 of 0.26 mm. The thickening amplitude TA2 is 0.16 mm and the thickening length is 1.0 mm.

In order to manufacture the signal terminals 141, 142, 143, 144 required by the present invention, the present embodiment provides a method for manufacturing signal terminals as shown in FIG. 7, which is a terminal manufacturing method that can increase the thickness of the signal terminal, so as to change the area size of the side surface of the signal terminal to increase the distributed capacitance of the transmission line, thereby manufacturing the signal terminals 141, 142, 143, 144 required by the present invention, achieving the effect of reducing the differential impedance value of the transmission line, so that the differential impedance value is within an acceptable range.

As shown in FIG. 7 , a conductive plate 140 having a specific shape is first provided, such as a metal plate. When manufacturing the shape of the conductive plate 140, a rectangular protrusion 140A is first formed in a specific rectangular area on the lower surface of the conductive plate 140. The long side direction of the rectangular protrusion 140A is defined as the transverse direction D2 of the conductive plate 140, and the predetermined cutting direction of the conductive plate 140 is defined as the longitudinal direction D1 of the conductive plate 140, which is perpendicular to the transverse direction D2. The rectangular protrusion 140A has a width W0 and a bulge height T0, wherein the direction of the width W0 is consistent with the longitudinal direction D1 of the conductive plate 140. Furthermore, the width W0 is equal to the length L1 of the first line segment 142A of the signal terminal 142; and the bulge height T0 is equal to the thickness increase TA1 of the first line segment 142A. After the conductive plate 140 is fixed by the machine, the conductive plate 140 is pressed downward and cut along the longitudinal direction D1 of the conductive plate 140 to form a plurality of conductive lines 14n, which are used as the modified first signal terminals 141, 142.

It can be understood that according to the manufacturing method of FIG. 7, since the required conductor plate 140 has a simple appearance, the manufacturing time of the conductor plate 140 appearance can be saved; and in the process of cutting the conductor plate 140, since the conductor lines 14n are closely arranged without gaps, unlike the conventional method of widening a portion of the line segment of the signal terminal, the manufacturing method of FIG. 7 does not waste extra materials and thus increase unnecessary costs. In general, the structure of the signal terminal of the present invention with a portion of the line segment thickened can be manufactured using a method that saves time and cost.

In the second and third embodiments of the present invention, the thickness of the signal terminals of the plug and socket ends is increased, and the pad area is selectively modified or slots are introduced into the ground plane layer inside the circuit board.

Second embodiment: increasing the signal terminal thickness and reducing the pad area

The second embodiment still refers to FIG. 5, FIG. 5A and FIG. 6, which adopts the method of thickening the partial line segments 141A, 142A, 242A, 242A of the signal terminals 141, 142, 241, 242 in the plug end 100 and the socket end 200 for transmitting data signals (such as modifying the areas 1A and 1B) and modifying the area of the solder pad 125 (such as modifying the area 2); that is, based on the premise of the first embodiment, the signal terminals 141, 142, 241, 242 in FIG. 2A are further thickened. The area of the solder pad 125 connected to the circuit board 120 is reduced and the remnant of the solder pad 125 is shortened (the solder pad with reduced area is marked with symbol 125A) to change the distributed capacitance parameters of the transmission line in the area, so that the transmission loss problem in a specific frequency band caused by the resonance problem can be further improved.

The modified area 2 shown in FIG8 is the area modification of the solder pad 125A where the signal terminals 141, 142, 143, 144 of the plug end 100 are connected to the circuit board 120. FIG9 shows an enlarged top view of the connection between the signal terminals 141, 142 of the plug end 100 and the circuit board 120, and hides the signal terminals 143, 144 to expose the solder pad 125A underneath, whose length L2 and width W2 are shorter and narrower than the original solder pad 125.

In a more specific embodiment, the original length SL of the pad 125 is 1.45 mm, and the original width SW is 0.35 mm, and the reduced length is 0.23 mm, and the reduced width is 0.15 mm, so the remaining length L2 of the modified pad 125A is 1.22 mm, and the remaining width W2 is 0.2 mm.

As shown in FIG. 10A and FIG. 10B , in the second embodiment, after modifying the thickness of the signal terminal and reducing the pad area, the model of the present invention becomes smoother in TDR differential impedance performance, making it less likely to generate signal reflection during signal transmission.

As shown in Figures 11A and 11B, in terms of transmission loss, the commercial model begins to resonate after 8 GHz, while the model of the present invention moves the resonance to a higher frequency and does not begin to show significant loss until the frequency reaches 16 GHz. Compared with the commercial model, the transmission passband of the model of the present invention has increased by nearly 100%.

As shown in FIG. 12A and FIG. 12B , the model of the second embodiment of the present invention can achieve one of the items of the USB4 Gen3 specification established by USB-IF: Insertion Loss Fit at Nyquist frequency (ILfitatNq) which is within the standard of greater than -1.5 dB at 15 GHz, and there is no major modification to the connector itself, which helps to reduce the additional cost of making a new mold, and can achieve a considerable degree of improvement in the results.

Comparing FIGS. 10A , 11A and 12A with FIGS. 10B , 11B and 12B , it can be seen that the results at the transmission end Tx and the reception end Rx of the connector are similar.

Third embodiment: increasing the thickness of the signal terminal and forming a slot in the ground plane layer of the circuit board

The third embodiment thickens the segments of the signal terminals 141, 142, 241, 242 of the plug end 100 and the socket end 200, but does not modify the area of the solder pad 125. Instead, the upper ground plane layer 123a of the circuit board 120 is copper-removed. Specifically, based on the first embodiment, a specific area of the upper ground plane layer 123a or the lower ground plane layer 123b of the circuit board 120 of the plug end 100 is copper-removed to form a slot 123h on the upper ground plane layer 123a. The slot 123h does not penetrate the lower substrate 121 of the ground plane layer 123a and the partial material layer 121a of the upper substrate 121. In this way, the distributed capacitance parameters of the regional transmission line can be changed, so that the transmission loss problem in a specific frequency band caused by resonance problems can be further improved.

FIG. 13 is a top view of the modified area 4 where the signal terminals 141, 142 of the plug end 100 meet the circuit board 120. In order to more clearly show the position of the slot 123h, a portion of the material layer 121a above the substrate 121 is omitted in FIG. 13 and FIG. 14; and the signal terminals 141, 142 and the solder pad 125 are further hidden in FIG. 14. The side view of FIG. 15 clearly shows that the upper ground plane layer 123a of the circuit board 120 is copper-removed to produce a slot 123h (indicated by a dotted line), which is located directly below the solder pad 125, but is separated from the solder pad 125 by a portion of the material layer 121a of the substrate 121. FIG16A and FIG16B show the layered arrangement of the circuit board 120 of the plug end 100, and FIG16B is an exploded view of each layer of FIG16A. The solder pads 125 are embedded in the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate 121; the upper ground plane layer 123a and the lower ground plane layer 123b are both inside the substrate 121; another part of the material layer 121b of the substrate 121 is between the lower solder pad 125 and the lower ground plane layer 123b.

In a more specific embodiment, as shown in FIG. 17 , the size W3 of the copper-removed area of the upper ground plane layer 123a (or the lower ground plane layer 123b) inside the circuit board 120 is 1.15 mm × 1.577 mm, which is the area of the slot 123h. Referring to FIG. 15 again, the copper-removed upper ground plane layer 123a (or the lower ground plane layer 123b) is located in the substrate 121, and the thickness T3 of the copper-removed upper ground plane layer 123a is 0.03048 mm, which is the thickness of the slot 123h.

The third embodiment of the present invention also improves the performance of the USB Type-C connector sold on the market. The high-speed signal terminals responsible for data signal transmission are improved in line thickness and the ground layer of the circuit board is partially copper-free. As shown in Figures 18A and 18B, the TDR differential impedance performance of the present invention model also becomes smoother, making it less likely to generate signal reflection during signal transmission.

As shown in Figures 19A and 19B, in terms of transmission loss, the commercial model begins to resonate after 8 GHz, while the model of the present invention moves the resonance phenomenon to a higher frequency before it begins to appear. Figures 19A and 19B show that significant loss only occurs after the frequency reaches 16 GHz. Compared with the commercial model, the transmission passband of the model of the present invention has increased by nearly 100%.

As shown in FIG. 20A and FIG. 20B , the model of the present invention has also achieved one of the items of the USB4 Gen3 specification: Insertion Loss Fit at Nyquist frequency (ILfitatNq) which is specified to be within the standard of greater than -1.5 dB at 15 GHz, and without making too much modification to the connector itself, the result can be improved to a considerable extent.

Comparing FIGS. 18A, 19A and 20A with FIGS. 18B, 19B and 20B, respectively, it can be seen that the results at the transmission end Tx and the reception end Rx of the connector are similar.

Furthermore, by comparing FIGS. 10A, 11A and 12A of the second embodiment with FIGS. 18A, 19A and 20A of the third embodiment, or by comparing FIGS. 10B, 11B and 12B of the second embodiment with FIGS. 18B, 19B and 20B of the third embodiment, it can be seen that the results of the two embodiments at the transmission end Tx and the receiving end Rx of the connector are also similar. This can be explained that after increasing the thickness of the partial line segments of the signal terminals at both the plug end and the socket end, the subsequent modification of either modifying the design of the solder pad or modifying the design of the ground plane layer can obtain similar effects.

In summary, the embodiment of the present invention is modified based on the hardware of the existing USB Type-C connector that meets the USB3.2 Gen2 specification, so as to solve the problem of unexpected resonance within a specific frequency range and reduce the insertion loss within the specific frequency range during signal transmission, thereby providing a wider signal transmission passband to achieve the data transmission rate specified by the USB 4 Gen 3 specification. In the above embodiment, the thickness and length of some segments of the signal terminal responsible for transmitting data can still obtain good spectrum response within a certain range of changes, and can also be slightly adjusted according to design requirements.

The connector model of the present invention is a partial modification of the signal terminal and the circuit board in the device structure of the existing USB Type-C connector that meets the Type-C 3.2 Gen 2 specification, without changing other parts. Therefore, during the manufacturing and assembly process, there is no need to redesign the entire internal structure of the connector. It is only necessary to adjust the thickness of the signal terminal and the area of the solder pad, or to remove the copper from a part of the ground plane layer inside the circuit board. In addition to not needing to spend a large amount of cost to produce an additional mold, while reducing the solder pad residue or generating slots in the ground plane layer of the circuit board to save costs, it can also improve its resonance phenomenon.

In addition, the invention concept of modifying the line thickness of a portion of the signal terminal can be applied to other commonly used high-speed transmission connectors, such as HDMI and Display Port or other high-speed connectors, in addition to being applied to USB Type-C connectors, to improve the spectrum response of signal transmission between signal terminals after the connectors are connected. For connectors of different sizes or connectors with multiple pin structures, the values in the embodiments can be adjusted to achieve optimal signal transmission.

However, the above is only the preferred embodiment of the present invention, and it should not be used to limit the scope of the implementation of the present invention. That is, all simple equivalent changes and modifications made according to the scope of the patent application and the content of the invention description of the present invention are still within the scope of the present invention. In addition, any embodiment or patent application of the present invention does not need to achieve all the purposes, advantages or features disclosed by the present invention. In addition, the abstract part and the title are only used to assist the search of patent documents, and are not used to limit the scope of the rights of the present invention.

1A, 1B, 2, 4: Modified area 100: Plug end 110: Insulation plate 112: Hollow part 120: Circuit board (plug end) 121: Substrate 121a, 121b: Partial material layer (substrate) 123a: Upper ground plane layer 123b: Lower ground plane layer 123h: Slot 125: Solder pad 125A: Solder pad (modified) 140: Conductor plate 140A: Rectangular protrusion 14n: Conductor line 141, 142, 143, 144: Signal terminal (plug end) 141A, 142A: First part of the line segment 200: Socket end 220: Circuit board (on the socket side) 241, 242, 243, 244: Signal terminals (on the socket side) 241A, 242A: Second segment D1: Longitudinal D2: Horizontal L1: Length (of the first segment) L2: Remaining length (of the modified pad) W3-inch size: Size of the copper-removed area P0: Fixed end position P1: Starting point (of the first segment) P2: End point (of the first segment) Rx: Receiving end S11~S14 and S21~S22: Steps of the method flow for modifying the connector ST1, ST2: Conventional thickness SL: Original length (of the pad) SW: Original width (of the pad) TA1, TA2: Thickening amplitude T0: (Rectangular protrusion) ridge height T1: (First part of the line segment) thickness T2: (Second part of the line segment) thickness T3: (Upper ground plane layer) thickness Tx: Transmission end W0: (Rectangular protrusion) width W2: (Modified solder pad) remaining width

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a connector modification method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2A is a schematic diagram of the plug end structure of a connector according to one embodiment of the present invention before modification.

FIG. 2B is a schematic diagram of the structure of the socket end of the connector of one embodiment of the present invention before modification.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the cross-sectional structure cut along the A-A cutting line in the plug end of FIG. 2A .

FIG. 4 is a schematic top view of the structure of a plug end including an insulating plate according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 and FIG. 5A are schematic diagrams of the modified plug end structure of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 and FIG. 6A are schematic diagrams of the structure of the modified socket end of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a method for manufacturing a signal terminal of a connector according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG8 is a schematic diagram of the three-dimensional structure of the solder pad of the plug end after modification according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing the size difference of the solder pad of the plug end of one embodiment of the present invention before and after the modification.

10A and 10B are comparative diagrams of the differential impedance performance of the modified connector of the second embodiment of the present invention and a commercially available connector.

11A and 11B are transmission loss comparison diagrams of the modified connector of the second embodiment of the present invention and a commercially available connector.

12A and 12B are comparative diagrams of the differential insertion loss (ILfitatNq) of the modified connector of the second embodiment of the present invention and a commercially available connector.

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing a modified ground plane layer of a circuit board at a plug end of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram showing the modified ground plane layer more clearly after hiding the signal terminal and the solder pad of FIG. 13 .

FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view of the connection between the signal terminal of the plug end and the circuit board of one embodiment of the present invention, showing the location of the hole in the ground plane layer.

FIG. 16A is a schematic diagram of the layers of the circuit board of the plug end of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16B is an exploded view of the layers of FIG. 16A .

FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram showing the dimensions of the hollowed-out area of the ground plane layer inside the circuit board of the plug end of one embodiment of the present invention.

18A and 18B are comparative diagrams of the differential impedance performance of the modified connector of the third embodiment of the present invention and a commercially available connector.

19A and 19B are transmission loss comparison diagrams of the modified connector of the third embodiment of the present invention and a commercially available connector.

20A and 20B are comparison diagrams of the differential insertion loss (ILfitatNq) of the modified connector of the third embodiment of the present invention and a commercially available connector.

S11~S14 and S21~S22: Steps of the connector modification process

Claims (10)

A method for modifying a connector, the method comprising: Providing a connector, wherein the connector comprises a plug end and a socket end that can be matched with the plug end, wherein the plug end comprises a plurality of first signal terminals and an insulating plate having a hollow portion, the insulating plate being disposed below the plurality of first signal terminals, each of the first signal terminals having a first conventional thickness and comprising a first partial line segment correspondingly disposed above the hollow portion of the insulating plate, wherein the socket end has a plurality of second signal terminals, each of the second signal terminals having a second conventional thickness and comprising a second partial line segment having a slope structure; Increasing the thickness of the first partial line segment of each of the first signal terminals so that the first partial line segment has a first thickness greater than the first conventional thickness; and Increase the thickness of the second portion of the line segment of each second signal terminal so that the second portion of the line segment has a second thickness greater than the second normal thickness. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of first signal terminals of the plug end has one end connected to a circuit board through a solder pad, and the circuit board has a ground plane layer inside, and the method further includes: Selecting one of the following two designs for subsequent modification: Modifying the design of the solder pad; or Modifying the design of the ground plane layer. A method as described in claim 2, wherein modifying the design of the pad includes: Reducing the area of the pad. The method as claimed in claim 3, wherein the step of reducing the area of the pad comprises: shortening the stump of the pad to shorten its length; and narrowing the width of the shortened pad. The method as claimed in claim 3, wherein the step of reducing the area of the pad includes: Modifying the width of the pad to be equal to the width of the first signal terminal connected thereto. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein modifying the design of the ground plane layer comprises: Removing copper from a portion of the ground plane layer to form a slot, and positioning the slot directly below the soldering point. The method of claim 6, wherein the size of the slot is 1.15 mm × 1.577 mm, and the thickness of the copper-removed ground plane layer is 0.03048 mm. As described in claim 1, the step of increasing the thickness of the first part of each first signal terminal includes: Providing a conductive plate, wherein the conductive plate has an upper surface and a lower surface, and defining the conductive plate as having a transverse direction and a longitudinal direction perpendicular to each other; Forming a rectangular protrusion on the lower surface of the conductive plate, wherein the long side of the rectangular protrusion is oriented along the transverse direction of the conductive plate, and the rectangular protrusion has a width and a protrusion height, wherein the width is oriented along the longitudinal direction of the conductive plate and is equal to the length of the first part of the line segment, and the protrusion height is equal to a thickening amplitude of the first part of the line segment; and Pressing the conductive plate from top to bottom, cutting along the longitudinal direction of the conductive plate, thereby forming a plurality of conductive lines for use as the plurality of first signal terminals. A method as described in claim 1, wherein the first signal terminal includes a fixed end position connected to a circuit board, and the first portion of the line segment is a line segment that is 4.6 mm to 5.4 mm away from the fixed end position in the direction from the fixed end position to the intersection of the first signal terminal and the socket end, wherein the thickness increase of the first portion of the line segment is 0.275 mm. As described in claim 1, in the step of increasing the thickness of the second portion of the line segment of each second signal terminal of the socket end, the second portion of the line segment is located in the middle area of the slope structure, and the thickness increase is 0.16 mm and the thickness increase length is 1.0 mm.

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