Information
-
Patent Grant
-
6257934
-
Patent Number
6,257,934
-
Date Filed
Monday, August 16, 199925 years ago
-
Date Issued
Tuesday, July 10, 200123 years ago
-
Inventors
-
Original Assignees
-
Examiners
- Patel; Tulsidas
- Nguyen; Son V.
Agents
-
CPC
-
US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 439 668
- 439 682
- 439 79
- 439 80
- 439 83
- 439 581
- 439 357
- 439 358
- 439 188
- 439 354
- 439 58
- 439 67
- 439 70
-
International Classifications
-
Abstract
An audio jack electrical connector comprises a body retaining a plurality of signal terminals and a spacer defining a plurality of receiving holes for retaining connection contacts. The signal terminals extend beyond a bottom surface of the body for engaging with the corresponding connection contacts of the spacer. A tubular receptacle is defined through the body, and a projection portion of the receptacle is formed on a front surface of the body for engaging with a plug for audio signal transmission. A pair of locking elements is formed on lateral edges of the body. Each locking element comprises a locking arm and a locking tip. A pair of locking portions is formed on lateral faces of the spacer. Each locking portion comprises a recess and a locking block. In assembly, the locking arm is received in the corresponding recess and the locking tip engages the locking block. Thus, the body is securely assembled to the spacer.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an audio jack electrical connector, and particularly to an audio jack electrical connector having a spacer for adjusting the height of the audio jack electrical connector.
With the development of the multimedia computer, audio jack electrical connectors are widely used. Taiwan Patent Application Nos. 82207507; 84215349; 85206217; 85218465 and 86201643 each disclose a conventional audio jack electrical connector comprising a body and a plurality of signal terminals received in the body. A tubular receptacle extends from a front surface of the body for engaging with a plug. Generally, a conventional audio jack electrical connector used for a notebook computer is thicker than other common audio jack electrical connectors. Therefore, the body and the signal terminals must be changed, and the molds used for forming the body and the signal terminals must be accordingly adapted resulting in high production costs.
Thus, a spacer is needed to adjust the thickness of the conventional audio jack electrical connector for reducing the production costs.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A main object of the present invention is to provide an audio jack electrical connector having a spacer for adjusting the thickness of the audio jack connector and reducing production costs of manufacturing an audio jack electrical connector having a different thickness.
To fulfill the above-mentioned object, according to a preferred embodiment of present invention, an audio jack electrical connector comprises a body retaining a plurality of signal terminals and a spacer defining a plurality of receiving holes for retaining connection contacts. The signal terminals extend beyond a bottom surface of the body for engaging with the corresponding connection contacts of the spacer. A tubular receptacle is defined through the body, and a projection portion of the receptacle is formed on a front surface of the body for engaging with a plug for audio signal transmission. A pair of locking elements is formed on lateral edges of the body, and each locking element comprises a locking arm and a locking tip. A base of the spacer comprises a top surface and a bottom surface. A pair of posts is formed on the bottom surface for securely positioning the spacer on a circuit board. A pair of locking portions is formed on lateral faces of the base. Each locking portion comprises a recess and a locking block. In assembly, the locking arm is received in the recess and the locking tip engages the locking block. Thus, the body is securely assembled to the spacer.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1
is an exploded view of an audio jack electrical connector in accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 2
is a perspective, bottom view of a body of the audio jack electrical connector.
FIG. 3
is a cross-sectional view taken along line
3
—
3
of FIG.
1
.
FIG. 4
is a front view of the body.
FIG. 5
is a perspective view of a spacer of the audio jack electrical connector.
FIG. 6
is a perspective view of the assembled audio jack electrical connector.
FIG. 7
is a cross-sectional view taken along line
7
—
7
of FIG.
6
.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring to
FIGS. 1 and 2
, an audio jack electrical connector
1
comprises a body
2
retaining six signal terminals
20
therein and a spacer
3
having a base
31
defining a plurality of receiving holes
310
for receiving corresponding connection contacts
30
and the signal terminals
20
therein. The body
2
comprises a top surface
21
and a bottom surface
22
. Six passageways
200
are formed in the body
2
for receiving the corresponding signal terminals
20
therein. The signal terminals
20
extend beyond the bottom surface
22
of the body
2
for insertion in the corresponding receiving holes
310
of the spacer
3
. A tubular receptacle
25
is defined through the body
2
, and a projection portion
250
of the receptacle
25
is formed on a front surface
23
of the body
2
for engaging with a plug (not shown) for audio signal transmission.
Referring to
FIGS. 3 and 4
, a receiving portion
251
is formed on an inner surface of the receptacle
25
for receiving the corresponding signal terminals
20
to electrically contact the plug. The passageways
200
are unsymmetrically formed in the body
2
. A pair of locking elements
26
is formed on lateral edges of the body
2
. Each locking element
26
comprises a locking arm
260
and a locking tip
261
. The signal terminals
20
comprise first and second movable terminals
201
,
202
, first and second fixing terminals
2011
,
2022
, a third movable terminal
203
and a third fixing terminal
204
. An end portion of each terminal
201
,
202
,
203
,
204
,
2011
,
2022
is received in the body
2
, and the other end extends beyond the bottom surface
22
for electrically contacting the corresponding contacts
30
of the spacer
3
. The first and second movable terminals
201
,
202
and the third fixing terminal
204
each have a resilient portion forming a contacting arm
205
. An end portion
2031
of the third movable terminal
203
is secured in an insulative block
2030
.
Before the audio jack electrical connector
1
engages with a plug, the first movable terminal
201
electrically contacts the first fixing terminal
2011
, and the second fixing terminal
2022
contacts the third movable terminal
203
. The second movable terminal
202
connects with the insulative block
2030
. After the audio jack electrical connector
1
engages with the plug, the contacting arm
205
of the first and second movable terminals
201
,
202
and the third fixing terminal
204
electrically contact corresponding parts of the plug. Therefore, the first movable terminal
201
separates from the first fixing terminal
2011
, and the third movable terminal
203
separates from the second fixing terminal
2022
. Thus, electrical signals can be transmitted between the plug and the audio jack
1
.
Referring to
FIGS. 1 and 5
, the base
31
of the spacer
3
comprises a top surface
312
and a bottom surface
311
. The connection contacts
30
retained in the receiving holes
310
electrically contact the corresponding signal terminals
20
for signal transmission. A pair of posts
32
extends from the bottom surface
312
for securely positioning the base
31
on a circuit board (not shown). A pair of locking portions
33
is formed on lateral faces of the base
31
. Each locking portion
33
comprises a recess
330
and a locking block
331
extending into the recess
330
. In assembly, the locking arm
260
of the body
2
is received in the corresponding recess
330
and the locking tip
261
engages with the locking block
331
. Thus, the body
2
is securely assembled to the spacer
3
. A groove
34
is formed in a front portion of the spacer
31
for receiving the projection portion
250
of the receptacle
25
.
The connection contacts
30
are formed by stamping a metal plate. Each connection contact
30
comprises a contacting portion
300
and a insertion portion
301
. The contacting portion
300
further comprises a fixing arm
303
and a resilient arm
304
formed on opposite edges thereof A pair of barbs
3022
is formed on the contacting portion
300
for securing the connection contact
30
in the base
31
. A folded plate
3030
is bent from the fixing portion
303
and the resilient arm
304
forms a convex portion
3040
for providing reliable electrical connection with the corresponding signal terminal
20
.
Referring to
FIGS. 6 and 7
, in assembly the connection contacts
30
are received in the corresponding receiving holes
310
of the base
31
, and an end portion of the signal terminal
203
is snugly received between the fixing arm
303
and the resilient arm
304
thereby electrically contacting therewith each other. The locking arm
260
of the locking element
26
is received in the recess
330
and the locking tip
261
engages the locking block
331
. Thus, the body
2
is securely assembled to the spacer
3
. The spacer
3
can be suitably formed to provide the audio jack electrical connector
1
with a required height. Thus, productions cost are reduced by eliminating the necessity of manufacturing another audio jack electrical connector.
It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.
Claims
- 1. An audio jack electrical connector adapted for mating with an external plug, comprising:a body having a plurality of passageways, a pair of locking elements extending from lateral edges of the body, and a tubular receptacle formed in the body for engaging with the external plug, a length of the tubular receptacle projecting forwardly from the body; a plurality of signal terminals being received in corresponding passageways of the body, each signal terminal forming a contacting portion adapted for electrically engaging with the external plug, and an end portion extending downward beyond a bottom surface of the body; a spacer positioned under the body and having a top surface abutting against the bottom surface of the body and a base mounted on a circuit board, the base defining a plurality of receiving holes, a pair of recesses being formed in lateral faces of the base for engaging with the locking elements of the body; and a plurality of connection contacts being received in corresponding receiving holes of the spacer for engaging with the end portions of the signal terminals and interconnecting the signal terminals to the circuit board.
- 2. The audio jack electrical connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein each locking element comprises a locking arm and a locking tip formed at a free end of the locking arm and wherein a locking block is formed in each recess for locking with the corresponding locking arm.
- 3. The audio jack electrical connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein the length of the tubular receptacle projecting forwardly from the body is perpendicularly extended from a front surface of the body for engaging with the external plug for signal transmission.
- 4. The audio jack electrical connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein the signal terminals are received in a receiving portion formed on an inner surface of the tubular receptacle.
- 5. The audio jack electrical connector as claimed in claim 4, wherein the signal terminals comprise three contacting portions for electrically contacting the external plug.
- 6. The audio jack electrical connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein each connection contact is formed by stamping a metal plate and comprises a contacting portion and an insertion portion.
- 7. The audio jack electrical connector as claimed in claim 6, wherein the contacting portion comprises a fixing arm and a resilient arm formed on opposite edges thereof, a pair of barbs being formed on the fixing arm and the resilient arm respectively for securing the connection contact in the base.
- 8. The audio jack electrical connector as claimed in claim 7, wherein a folded plate is bent from the fixing arm and the resilient arm forms a convex portion for providing reliable electrical connection with the end portion of a corresponding signal terminal.
- 9. An audio jack electrical connector comprising:a body defining a plurality of dispersed passageways; a plurality of signal terminals received within the body, each of said terminals including an end section respectively extending downward through said passageways and out of a bottom surface of the body; a spacer positioned under the body and including a top surface abutting against the bottom surface of the body and a base defining a plurality of dispersed receiving holes respectively in alignment with corresponding passageways; a plurality of connection contacts received within the receiving holes, respectively, each of said connection contacts including a contact portion embedded within a corresponding receiving hole, and an insertion portion extending out of a bottom surface of the spacer; and means for fastening the body and spacer together; wherein the end portion of each of the terminals is aligned with a corresponding contact portion of each of the connection contacts and mechanically and electrically engages therewith in the corresponding receiving hole.
- 10. The connector as claimed in claim 9, wherein said body and said spacer are configured to have a similar width.
Priority Claims (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
88207963 |
May 1999 |
TW |
|
US Referenced Citations (6)