Accurate positioning of solder tail leads in an electrical connector

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6537107
  • Patent Number
    6,537,107
  • Date Filed
    Wednesday, September 19, 2001
    23 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, March 25, 2003
    21 years ago
Abstract
An electrical connector includes a housing (30,60,80,100) and a contact insert (41,61,81,101) that includes contacts (43,63,83,103) carried by a molding (42,62,82,102). A lock member (50,70,90,105) cooperates with the housing to secure the contact insert in the housing and to bias the molding against a wall of the housing. In one embodiment, the lock member (50) has a head (52) that is interference fitted in a stall (48) in the housing, and the lock member has a tail (54) that is arranged to urge the molding toward the head. In another embodiment, the lock member (60,80) is wedged between the molding and a portion of the housing. The lock member has a main portion, and nose portions (76,92) that project from the main portion, and the nose portions engage the molding. In another embodiment, the lock member (105) includes a protrusion of the molding that is interference fitted in an aperture (106) in the housing.
Description




FIELD OF THE INVENTION




The invention relates to an electrical connector including a housing that holds an array of contacts which are formed as a contact insert, and in particular, to a structure for holding a contact insert accurately in position in a connector housing.




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




An electrical connector housing that holds a number of contacts may have the contacts pre-assembled in the form of a contact insert, or subassembly, that can be installed into the housing as a unit. In a prior art electrical connector as shown in

FIGS. 1 and 2

, a connector housing


10


holds upper contact inserts


12


and lower contact inserts


22


. Each of the contact inserts


12


,


22


comprises an array of contacts


13


,


23


having portions which are surrounded by a dielectric molding


14


,


24


, respectively, such that the contacts


13


,


23


in each array are held in fixed relative positions. The contacts


13


,


23


include mating portions


15


,


25


that are engagable with contacts of a mating electrical connector (not shown), and board-mounting portions in the form of solder tails


16


,


26


that are arranged for insertion into through-holes in a circuit board (not shown). Pairs of upper and lower contact inserts


12


,


22


are installed into the housing


10


through an open rear of the housing, with the molding


14


of the upper contact insert being positioned behind the molding


24


of the lower contact insert. The moldings


14


,


24


have rails


17


,


27


that are received in channels


28


in the housing


10


. Each pair of upper and lower contact inserts


12


,


22


is secured in the housing by a molded latch arm


18


of the housing which has a latch tab


19


that engages in a pocket


20


at the rear of the molding


14


of the upper contact insert


12


. A problem arises in that dimensional tolerances on the parts permit the contact inserts


12


,


22


to have some free play in the connector housing


10


, thereby resulting in a positional variation of the solder tails


16


,


26


with respect to the connector housing


10


. If the positional variation of the solder tails


16


,


26


is too great, assembly operations will not be able to insert the solder tails into their respective through-holes in the circuit board. There is a need for a device that will hold the contact inserts accurately in position relative to the connector housing.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




It is an object of the invention to secure a contact insert in a connector housing.




It is another object of the invention to eliminate free play between a contact insert and a connector housing.




It is yet another object of the invention to accurately position contact solder tails relative to a connector housing.




The invention is an electrical connector comprising a dielectric housing and a contact insert carried by the housing, the contact insert including contacts carried by a molding, and a lock member that cooperates with the housing to secure the contact insert in the housing and to bias the molding against a wall of the housing.




According to one embodiment, the lock member has a head that is secured to the housing, and a tail that is arranged to urge the molding toward the head. The head is interference fitted in a stall in the housing, and the stall is open through a board-mounting face of the housing.




According to another embodiment, the lock member is wedged between the molding and a portion of the housing. The lock member has a main portion, and nose portions that project from the main portion, and the nose portions engage the molding.




According to another embodiment, the lock member includes a protrusion of the molding that is interference fitted in an aperture in the housing.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS




The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:





FIG. 1

is a top rear isometric view of a prior art electrical connector;





FIG. 2

is a bottom rear isometric view of the prior art electrical connector of

FIG. 1

;





FIG. 3

is a bottom rear isometric view of an electrical connector having a contact insert lock member in one embodiment according to the invention;





FIG. 4

is a cross-sectional view through the electrical connector of

FIG. 3

;





FIG. 5

is top rear isometric view of an electrical connector having a contact insert lock member in a first alternate embodiment according to the invention;





FIG. 6

is a cross-sectional view through the electrical connector of

FIG. 5

;





FIG. 7

is a top rear isometric view of an electrical connector having a contact insert lock member in a second alternate embodiment according to the invention;





FIG. 8

is a cross-sectional view through the electrical connector of

FIG. 7

;





FIG. 9

is a bottom front isometric view of an electrical connector having a contact insert lock member in a third alternate embodiment according to the invention;





FIG. 10

is a bottom rear isometric view of the electrical connector in

FIG. 9

; and





FIG. 11

is a cross-sectional view through the electrical connector of FIG.


9


.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT




In one embodiment as shown in

FIGS. 3 and 4

, the invention comprises a dielectric housing


30


having a front face


32


, a bottom or board-mounting face


34


, and a rear face


36


. The housing has cavities (not shown) in the front face


32


that are configured as receptacles for mating RJ-type modular plug connectors (not shown). The housing has cutouts


38


in the bottom face


34


which are configured to receive projections on resilient latch arms of the modular plug connectors. The housing may carry visual indicators


40


such as LED's which illuminate to indicate the status of an electrical circuit.




The housing


30


carries a contact insert


41


which includes a molding


42


that holds a plurality of contacts


43


. The molding is installed in a chamber


44


that is open through the bottom face


34


and through the rear face


36


of the housing. The molding has guide rails


45


that are slidingly received in channels


46


of the chamber


44


. The contacts


43


extend through passages


35


in the housing that connect the chamber


44


with the cavities that are open through the front face


34


of the housing. The contacts


43


have leads in the form of solder tail leads


47


that are receivable in through-holes in a circuit board (not shown).




The housing has a stall


48


that receives a lock member


50


that secures the contact insert


41


to the housing. The lock member


50


has a head portion


52


that is dimensioned to be interference fitted in the stall


48


, and a tail portion


54


that is configured to grip the bottom rear edge of the molding


42


. The lock member


50


is a discrete article that is preferably made from metal which has been stamped to provide a T-shaped profile and then formed to provide the head portion


52


and the tail portion


54


. The head portion


52


is formed by upwardly bending two arms of the T-shaped profile. The tail portion


54


is connected to the head portion


52


by a leg


56


. The length of the leg is selected such that when the head portion


52


is fitted in the stall


48


, the tail portion


54


will urge the molding


42


against a rearward-facing wall


49


in the chamber


46


, thereby eliminating any gap between the molding


42


and the rearward-facing wall


49


. In this way, the molding is firmly engaged against the rearward-facing wall of the chamber. The rearward-facing wall


49


has a known accurate position with respect to the housing. Thus, the solder tail leads


47


are accurately positioned relative to the housing, and the solder tail leads will be aligned with their respective through-holes in the circuit board when the housing is properly positioned on the circuit board.




Another embodiment of the invention is shown in

FIGS. 5 and 6

. Connector housing


60


holds a contact insert


61


that includes molding


62


and contacts


63


having solder tail leads


64


. The housing


60


has a rear face


65


, rearward extensions


66


and lateral lugs


67


. Each of the lugs


67


has a top surface that forms a seat


68


, and a forward-facing surface


69


that is spaced rearwardly from the molding


62


of the contact insert, as shown in FIG.


6


.




A lock member


70


is installed behind the molding


62


of the contact insert. The lock member spans a distance between an opposed pair of the lugs


67


. The lock member has a main portion


72


that resides on the seats


68


of the lugs


67


, and a projecting portion


74


that is installed in gaps between the forward-facing surfaces


69


and the molding


62


. The lock member


70


also has nose portions


76


that are arranged to engage the molding


62


when the projecting portion


74


is engaged against the forward surfaces


69


of the lugs. The lock member


70


is wedged between the molding


62


and the lugs


67


such that the nose portions


76


bias the molding


62


against a rearward-facing wall


77


of a chamber


78


in the housing, thereby accurately positioning the solder tail leads


64


relative to the connector.




Another embodiment of the invention is shown in

FIGS. 7 and 8

. A connector housing


80


holds a contact insert


81


including a molding


82


and contacts


83


having solder tail leads


84


. The connector housing


80


has a rear face


85


, rearward extensions


86


, and opposed pairs of lugs


87


. Slots


88


are formed in the rearward extensions


86


adjacent to the rear face


85


. A lock member


90


which is installed behind the molding


82


has end portions which are slidingly received in the slots


88


. The lock member is preferably formed from a metallic strip. The lock member has protrusions or nose portions


92


which are arranged to engage the molding


82


. The nose portions


92


may be formed as embossments which have been deformed from the plane of the lock member


90


. The lock member


90


is wedged in the slots


88


such that the nose portions


92


bias the molding


82


against a rearward-facing wall


97


of a chamber


98


in the connector housing. The nose portions


92


may have any of numerous different shapes in addition to the shape which is shown in the drawings.




Another embodiment of the invention is shown in

FIGS. 9-11

. A connector housing


100


holds a contact insert


101


including a molding


102


that holds contacts


103


having solder tail leads


104


. The molding has a forward facing protrusion


105


which is received in a correspondingly shaped aperture


106


in a rearward-facing wall


107


of the housing. The protrusion


105


is dimensioned for an interference fit within the aperture


106


. The interference fit serves to lock the contact insert in a fixed position with a front face


108


of the molding


102


adjacent to the rearward-facing wall


107


of the housing.




A lock member according to the invention has been disclosed in various embodiments, and still other variations may now become apparent to those skilled in the art. Whereas the invention is intended to encompass the foregoing preferred embodiments as well as a reasonable range of equivalents, reference should be made to the appended claims rather than the foregoing discussion of examples, in order to assess the scope of the invention in which exclusive rights are claimed.



Claims
  • 1. An electrical connector comprising:a dielectric housing having a board-mounting face and a stall that is open through the board-mounting face; a contact insert carried by the housing, the contact insert including contacts carried by a molding; and a separate lock member having a head that is secured in the stall and a tail that engages the molding to secure the contact insert in the housing and to bias the molding against a wall of the housing.
  • 2. The electrical connector of claim 1 wherein the molding is installed through a rear of the housing and is biased toward a front of the housing by the lock member.
  • 3. The electrical connector of claim 1 wherein the lock member is made of metal.
  • 4. The electrical connector of claim 3 wherein the metal has been stamped to form a T-shaped profile, and arms of the T-shaped profile are bent to form the head of the lock member.
  • 5. The electrical connector of claim 4 wherein the head is interference fitted in the stall.
  • 6. The electrical connector of claim 4 wherein a leg of the T-shaped profile has a free end that is bent to form the tail of the lock member.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/233,809 filed Sep. 20, 2000.

US Referenced Citations (3)
Number Name Date Kind
5066236 Brocksteeg Nov 1991 A
6080011 Tsao et al. Jun 2000 A
6193560 Morana et al. Feb 2001 B1
Provisional Applications (1)
Number Date Country
60/233809 Sep 2000 US