1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cable connector assembly, and more particularly to a cable connector assembly having an illumination function.
2. Description of the Related Art
A cable connector assembly is usually used to charge a rechargeable battery of a mobile electronic device. Cable connector assemblies usually do not have an indicator to indicate the charging status of a charging apparatus. Therefore, users need to turn on the apparatus for viewing the charging status, which is inconvenient.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0065444, published on Mar. 14, 2013, discloses a charging connection device comprising: a device connector configured to be coupled to a rechargeable electronic device; a circuit board coupled to the connector and including charging circuitry and an associated light source thereon; a housing enclosing the circuit board and including a first end comprising a lens, the connector extending from the first end; a touch-type switch carried by the housing, coupled to the circuit board, and configured to activate the light source; and a power source connector coupled to the circuit board and associated with a second end of the housing. The touch-type switch, such as touch plates on opposite sides of the housing, may be a resistance touch switch which needs two electrodes to be in physical contact with something electrically conductive (for example, finger(s) of a user) to operate. A capacitance touch switch or a touch chip-type switch may also be used.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,740,640, issued on Jun. 3, 2014, discloses an electrical connector including a light emitting diode (LED) and an electrical circuitry, e.g., implemented by a variable capacitance switch, to automatically energize the LED by a user's mere touching of an overmold thereof at its flat or bottom side without otherwise manually operating a control switch. A constant voltage is derived from power source and is applied across a variable and touch-sensitive capacitor and resistors to ground. In operation, before a user touches the flat or bottom portion of the overmold, capacitance is at a quiescent or fixed or default capacitance value; however, when a user touches the bottom or flat side of the overmold, the capacitor suddenly changes its capacitance value, and this causes the LED to be energized and emit light.
Therefore, a cable connector assembly having an improved illumination function is desired.
An object of the present invention is to provide a cable connector assembly with an illumination function.
In order to achieve above-mentioned object, a cable connector assembly comprises: a cable; and a connector electrically connected with the cable for further electrically connecting with a power source, the connector including: a main body; a plurality of contacts retained to the main body; a light emitting element; a first printed circuit board for controlling the light emitting element to emit light; and an outer case enclosing the connector and defining a conductive area; wherein the connector further includes a conducting member mounted on the first printed circuit board, the conducting member is a shrapnel made of metal material pressing upon the conductive area of the outer case, a front end of the outer case defines a transparent portion made of transparent material, and upon pressing the conductive area the light emitting element is turned on to emit light through the transparent portion.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present embodiment when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Reference will now be made to the drawing figures to describe a preferred embodiment of the present invention in detail. Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
The cable 30 includes a plurality of wires. An end of the cable 30 defines a strain relief 31 and a retaining portion 32 forwardly extending from a front end of the strain relief 31. The wires of the cable 30 are electrically connected with the first printed circuit board 13 and the second printed circuit board 15 though the retaining portion 32. The fixing portions 1414, 1424 engaged with each other to fixing the wires of the cable 30. The cable 30 includes a power signal wire electrically connected with the second printed circuit board 15. The first printed circuit board 13 defines a grounding signal wire electrically connected with the second printed circuit board 15. The power signal wire of the cable 30 provides power source for the second printed circuit board 15. The grounding signal wire of the first printed circuit board 13 provides a grounding loop for the second printed circuit board 15.
Referring to
Referring to
The indicating member 16 is pasted on a an indication area of the second portion 172, which corresponding to the position the conducting member 152 located on, to indicate the area user can press. When users press the indication area, the second printed circuit board 15 is conducted by the conducting member 152, thus the pressing operation from users can be indicated by the second printed circuit board 15, and the light emitting element 151 is controlled by the controlling chip 150. When users press once, the light emitting element 151 is turned on for a period of time by the controlling of the controlling chip 150.
The first connector 10 of the cable connector assembly 100 according to this invention defines a light emitting element 151 in the inside of the outer case 17. When users press the outer case 17, the conducting member 152 conducts to reflect a change in capacitance value of a capacitor in the controlling chip 150 through the conductive path of the second printed circuit board 15, enabling the controlling chip 150 to control the light emitting element 152. The light emitting element 151 is disposed on a top position of the first connector 10, thus the light emitted by the light emitting element 151 is passed through the front end portion 1711 of the first portion 171 to conveniently illuminate a front area of the first connector 10 in poor lighting environment.
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 board general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.
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2015 2 0731106 U | Sep 2015 | CN | national |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20170085041 A1 | Mar 2017 | US |