Cable assembly having floatable termination

Abstract

A cable assembly ( 100 ) includes an insulative housing ( 2 ) having a base portion ( 21 ) and a tongue portion ( 22 ) extending forwardly from the base portion, said tongue portion defining a top side and a bottom side opposite to the top side, at least a mounting cavity ( 2212 ) and a slot ( 2213 ) defined in a bottom side of the insulated housing, said slot located behind and communicated to the mounting cavity; a plurality of contacts ( 3 ) supported by the base portion, each contact having a mating portion arranged proximate to the top side of the tongue portion, and a tail portion supported by the base portion; an optical module ( 6 ) floatably accommodated in the mounting cavity and capable of moving in the mounting cavity along a front-to-back direction, said optical module including at least one lens member and a holder member enclosing the lens member; an optical fiber extending through the slot and connected to the optical module; and a metal shell ( 8 ) having a mating frame enclosing the tongue portion and the optical module therein.

1 . A cable assembly, comprising:
 an insulative housing having a base portion and a tongue portion extending forwardly from the base portion, said tongue portion defining a top side and a bottom side opposite to the top side, at least a mounting cavity and a slot defined in a bottom side of the insulated housing, said slot located behind and communicated to the mounting cavity;   a plurality of contacts supported by the base portion, each contact having a mating portion arranged proximate to the top side of the tongue portion, and a tail portion supported by the base portion;   an optical module floatably accommodated in the mounting cavity and capable of moving in the mounting cavity along a front-to-back direction, said optical module including at least one lens member and a holder member enclosing the lens member;   an optical fiber extending through the slot and connected to the optical module; and   a metal shell having a mating frame enclosing the tongue portion and the optical module therein.   
     
     
         2 . The cable assembly as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein there is at least one elastic member accommodated in the mounting cavity and located behind the optical module. 
     
     
         3 . The cable assembly as claimed in  claim 2 , wherein the elastic member is a coil spring. 
     
     
         4 . The cable assembly as claimed in  claim 3 , wherein there is a protrusion portion formed on a back side of the holder member and extending into an interior of a front segment of the coil spring. 
     
     
         5 . The cable assembly as claimed in  claim 4 , wherein a positioning slot is defined in a rear side of the mounting cavity, and a rear segment of the coil spring is received in the positioning slot. 
     
     
         6 . The cable assembly as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the contacts are divided into a set of first contacts and a set of second contacts, and the first contacts and the second contacts are capable of transmitting different signals. 
     
     
         7 . The cable assembly as claimed in  claim 6 , wherein mating portions of the first contacts are spaced apart mating portions of the second contacts along the front-to-back direction. 
     
     
         8 . The cable assembly as claimed in  claim 7 , wherein the mating portions of the first contacts are disposed adjacent to the top side of the tongue portion, and the mating portions of the second contacts are located above the top side of the tongue portion. 
     
     
         9 . The cable assembly as claimed in  claim 6 , wherein tail portions of the first contacts are vertically spaced apart tail portions of the second contacts. 
     
     
         10 . A cable assembly, comprising:
 an insulative extending along a longitudinal direction, the insulative housing defining a top side and a bottom side opposite to the top side, at least a mounting cavity defined in a bottom side of the insulated housing and communicating with a front exterior, the mounting cavity having first dimension along the longitudinal direction and a second dimension along a transversal direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction;   a plurality of contacts supported by the insulative housing, each contact having a mating portion arranged proximate to the top side of the insulative housing;   an optical module accommodated in the mounting cavity, said optical module including at least one lens member and a holder member enclosing the lens member, said holder member having a width substantially equal to the second dimension of the mounting cavity and a length shorter than the first dimension of the mounting cavity so as to move in the mounting cavity along the longitudinal direction; and   an optical fiber connected to the optical module.   
     
     
         11 . The cable assembly as claimed in  claim 10 , wherein the lens member is backwardly recessed with regarding to a front side of the holder member. 
     
     
         12 . The cable assembly as claimed in  claim 11 , wherein the front side of the holder member is coplanar to a front end of the insulative housing. 
     
     
         13 . The cable assembly as claimed in  claim 10 , wherein the holder member is substantially flush with the mounting cavity. 
     
     
         14 . The cable assembly as claimed in  claim 10 , wherein there are two slots defined in the bottom side of the insulated housing, and each of the slots accommodates the corresponding optical fiber. 
     
     
         15 . The cable assembly as claimed in  claim 14 , wherein there is a cap members attached to the insulative housing and shielding the optical fiber. 
     
     
         16 . The cable assembly as claimed in  claim 10 , wherein the mounting cavity is divided into two sub-cavities, and there are two optical modules floatably received in the two sub-cavities, respectively. 
     
     
         17 . The cable assembly as claimed in  claim 10 , wherein there is a metal shell enclosing the tongue portion and the optical module therein. 
     
     
         18 . The cable assembly as claimed in  claim 10 , wherein the contacts have floatable mating portions regarding to the insulative housing and capable of moving along a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction. 
     
     
         19 . A combo connector assembly for use with a complementary connector, comprising:
 an insulative housing defining an electronic mating face and an optical mating face adjacent and perpendicular to each other;   a plurality of electrical contacts disposed in the housing with contacting sections exposed upon the electronic mating face for mating with conductors of said complementary connector; and   a plurality of lenses held by a holder received in the housing and exposed on the optical mating face; wherein   said holder is floatable relative to the housing.   
     
     
         20 . The combo connector assembly as claimed in  claim 19 , further providing a biasing device to abut against the holder for constantly urging the holder forwardly.