HIGH SPEED CONNECTOR WITH MOLDABLE CONDUCTORS

1 . An electrical connector comprising:

a housing defining an interior cavity and extending from a mounting end to an engagement end;

at least one signal component disposed within the interior cavity of the housing; and;

the housing formed from a conductive composite material and surrounding the at least one signal component to shield the interior cavity.

2 . The electrical connector of claim 1 , wherein the conductive composite material is a polymer binder that includes metallic particles of differing shapes and sizes.

3 . The electrical connector of claim 1 , wherein the conductive composite material has a conductivity in a range between 10,000 Siemens per meter and 40,000 Siemens per meter.

4 . The electrical connector of claim 3 , wherein the conductive composite material has a resistivity in a range between 0.02 Ohm-centimeters and 0.001 Ohm-centimeters.

5 . The electrical connector of claim 1 , wherein the housing at the mounting end is configured to couple to a printed circuit board, and at the engagement end is configured to couple to an electric component.

6 . The electrical connector of claim 1 , comprising a plurality of ground contacts secured to the housing formed from the conductive composite material.

7 . The electrical connector of claim 6 , wherein the ground contacts are molded into the housing formed from the conductive composite material.

8 . The electrical connector of claim 6 , wherein the housing formed from the conductive composite material includes at least one slot that receives a ground contact insert that includes the ground contacts.

9 . The electrical connector of claim 1 , wherein the housing is of one-piece construction.

10 . The electrical connector of claim 1 , wherein the mounting end of the housing is transverse to the engagement end of the housing.

11 . A method of manufacturing an electrical connector comprising:

forming a signal component;

molding a housing to include a conductive composite material having metallic particles;

securing ground contacts to the housing;

assembling the signal component and housing to form the electrical connector.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein securing the ground contacts to the housing comprises:

inserting the ground contacts into the housing before molding the shell.

13 . The method of claim 11 , wherein securing the ground contacts to the housing further comprises:

forming a slot within the housing; and

inserting a ground contact insert including the ground contacts into the slot.

14 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the housing is of one-piece construction.

15 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the conductive composite material is a polymer binder.

16 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the conductive composite material has a conductivity in a range between 10,000 Siemens per meter and 40,000 Siemens per meter.

17 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the conductive composite material has a resistivity in a range between 0.02 Ohm-centimeters and 0.001 Ohm-centimeters.

18 . An electrical connector comprising:

a housing defining an interior cavity and extending from a mounting end to an engagement end;

at least one signal component disposed within the interior cavity and extending from the mounting end to the engagement end of the housing; and

a shell section formed from a conductive composite material forming an outer wall of the housing to shield the interior cavity.

19 . The electrical connector of claim 18 , wherein the shell section receives and is molded together with ground contacts.

20 . The electrical connector of claim 19 , wherein

wherein the conductive composite material has a conductivity of at least 10,000 Siemens per meter and a resistivity that is less than 0.02 Ohm-centimeters.