Patent Application
20140299893
The present invention relates to conductive connectors, and more particularly, to a contact that enables electrical connection of two circuit boards and electrical conduction between the two circuit boards.
It is not uncommon for a plurality of circuit boards to be installed inside electric appliances and electronic devices to increase the area available for expansion of circuits and the mounting of electronic components. Alternatively, a plurality of modularized circuit boards features enhancement of performance. For example, an LED module comprises a circuit board as well as an LED component and a driving circuit which are mounted on the circuit board, such that the circuit boards of the plurality of LED modules are connected in order to provide sufficient brightness of illumination.
According to an instance of the prior art, the connection between circuit boards is achieved by soldering a wire to the contacts on the circuit boards. However, the prior art has drawbacks. Wires of an appropriate length have to be manually soldered to the contacts on the circuit boards. If the contacts and a driving circuit mounted on the circuit boards are intricate and sophisticated, the aforesaid manual soldering process will be difficult to carry out, thereby compromising the manufacturing process and the quality thereof. Furthermore, to change one of the circuit boards, it is necessary to unsolder the wires connecting the contacts on the circuit boards, and it is inconvenient to do so.
According to another instance of the prior art, the connection between circuit boards 10, 20 is effectuated by a straddling device 30. Referring to
In view of the aforesaid drawbacks of the prior art, it is an objective of the present invention to provide a conductive connector for use with circuit boards, characterized in that two circuit boards are connected by a conductive connection plug and a conductive connection socket corresponding in position thereto, to thereby render assembly convenient and quick, reduce required space, and cut material costs.
In order to achieve the above and other objectives, the present invention provides a conductive connector adapted for use with circuit boards and adapted to electrically connect and series-connect a first circuit board and a second circuit board, the first circuit board having a first positioning point, and the second circuit board having a second positioning point, the conductive connector comprising: a conductive connection plug having a first positioning portion, a first abutting portion, and an inserting portion, the first positioning portion being positioned at the first positioning point of the first circuit board, the first abutting portion being disposed at a bottom of the conductive connection plug and soldered to the first circuit board to abut thereon, wherein, as soon as the conductive connection plug is mounted on the first circuit board, the inserting portion protrudes from the first circuit board; and a conductive connection socket having a second positioning portion, a second abutting portion, and a clamping portion, the second positioning portion being positioned at the second positioning point of the second circuit board, the second abutting portion being disposed at a bottom of the conductive connection socket and soldered to the second circuit board to abut thereon, wherein, as soon as the conductive connection socket is mounted on the second circuit board, the clamping portion is positioned proximate to an edge of the second circuit board to thereby clamp the inserting portion of the conductive connection plug.
In an embodiment, the inserting portion of the conductive connection plug comprises an inserting plate and an engaging block protruding from a surface of the inserting plate, and the clamping portion of the conductive connection socket comprises a resilient clamping element, a stopping element, and an engaging hole disposed on the stopping element and corresponding in position to the engaging block, such that the resilient clamping element and the stopping element have therebetween a gap for admitting the inserting plate.
In an embodiment, the conductive connection socket further comprises two lateral baffling plates between which the clamping portion is disposed.
In an embodiment, the conductive connection plug has a first flat top connected to the inserting plate extending downward, the conductive connection socket has a second flat top connected to the resilient clamping element extending downward, and the stopping element connects to the second abutting portion and extends upward.
In an embodiment, as soon as the conductive connection plug is plugged into the conductive connection socket, the first flat top of the conductive connection plug and the second flat top of the conductive connection socket are coplanar.
In order to achieve the above and other objectives, the present invention further provides an LED module comprising the conductive connector, a first circuit board having thereon at least one LED component, and a second circuit hoard having thereon at least one LED component.
Hence, according to the present invention, a conductive connector for use with circuit boards is characterized in that two circuit hoards are connected by a conductive connection plug and a conductive connection socket which are disposed on the two circuit boards, respectively, and operate in conjunction with each other, such that the conductive connection plug can be plugged into the conductive connection socket to thereby render assembly of the two circuit boards convenient and quick, and reduce required space. Furthermore, the conductive connector is simple in structure to thereby reduce the required use of materials and cut assembly costs. Furthermore, the present invention further provides an LED module characterized in that circuit boards each having thereon at least one LED component are connected by means of a conductive connector, such that it is convenient and quick to put together the circuit boards and thereby render it easy to take apart the circuit boards and change a damaged one of the circuit boards.
Objectives, features, and advantages of the present invention are hereunder illustrated with specific embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
Referring to
Referring to
Accordingly, the conductive connector 1 in the first embodiment of the present invention is characterized in that the conductive connection plug 100 and the conductive connection socket 200 which are designed to operate in conjunction with each other are mounted on the first circuit board 300 and the second circuit board 400, respectively, such that the conductive connection plug 100 can be plugged into the conductive connection socket 200 to thereby put together and connect electrically the first circuit board 300 and the second circuit board 400 conveniently and quickly.
In the first embodiment of the present invention, the inserting portion 130 of the conductive connection plug 100 comprises an inserting plate 131 and an engaging block 132. The engaging block 132 protrudes from one surface of the inserting plate 131. The clamping portion 230 of the conductive connection socket 200 comprises a resilient clamping element 231, a stopping element 232 and an engaging hole 233. The engaging hole 233 is disposed on the stopping element 232 and corresponds in position to the engaging block 132. The resilient clamping element 231 and the stopping element 232 have therebetween a gap for admitting the inserting plate 131.
Referring to
In the first embodiment of the present invention, referring to
In the first embodiment of the present invention, the conductive connection plug 100 has a first flat top 140 connected to the inserting plate 131 extending downward. The conductive connection socket 200 has a second flat top 240 connected to the resilient clamping element 231 extending downward. The stopping element 232 connects to the second abutting portion 220 and extends upward. Preferably, as soon as the conductive connection plug 100 is plugged into the conductive connection socket 200, the first flat top 140 of the conductive connection plug 100 and the second flat top 240 of the conductive connection socket 200 are coplanar. Both the conductive connection plug 100 and the conductive connection socket 200 are made of electrically conductive metal. The process of putting together the first circuit board 300 and the second circuit board 400 can be readily automated, because any mechanical arm is able to suck and fetch the first flat top 140 of the conductive connection plug 100 and the second flat top 240 of the conductive connection socket 200.
Referring to
In the second embodiment of the present invention, the LED module 2 is exemplified by two circuit boards (the first circuit board 300 and the second circuit board 400), but the present invention is not limited thereto. In practice, the LED module 2 comprises at least two circuit boards which are connected in series by means of every two adjacent circuit boards, wherein the every two adjacent circuit boards is equipped with the conductive connection plug 100 and the conductive connection socket 200 which operate jointly. Furthermore, this embodiment and the accompanying drawings of the present invention are illustrative rather than restrictive of the quantity of the conductive connector 1. Hence, it is feasible that the quantity of the conductive connector 1 correlates with the circuit design of the two circuit boards and the quantity of the contacts thereon.
Hence, in the first embodiment of the present invention, a conductive connector for use with circuit boards is characterized in that two circuit boards are connected by a conductive connection plug and a conductive connection socket which are disposed on the two circuit boards, respectively, and operate in conjunction with each other, such that the conductive connection plug can be plugged into the conductive connection socket to thereby render assembly of the two circuit boards convenient and quick, and reduce required space. Furthermore, the conductive connector is simple in structure to thereby reduce the required use of materials and cut assembly costs. Furthermore, in the second embodiment of the present invention, an LED module is characterized in that circuit boards each having thereon at least one LED component are connected by means of a conductive connector, such that it is convenient and quick to put together the circuit boards and thereby render it easy to take apart the circuit boards and change a damaged one of the circuit boards.
The present invention is disclosed above by preferred embodiments. However, persons skilled in the art should understand that the preferred embodiments are illustrative of the present invention only, but should not be interpreted as restrictive of the scope of the present invention. Hence, all equivalent modifications and replacements made to the aforesaid embodiments should fall within the scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the legal protection for the present invention should be defined by the appended claims.
