This application claims the priority of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2011-0085769 filed on Aug. 26, 2011, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector and a connector module, in which different interface schemes may be used in common, and an electronic apparatus having the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a connector includes a connector housing and a coupling hole, and is widely used in an electric circuit in a washing machine, a refrigerator, an automobile, and the like. When the connector is used in this electrical and electronic equipment, it is inserted into a final product after a plurality of components are individually assembled, thereby greatly simplifying maintenance as well as equipment manufacturing.
In this instance, the connector is coupled with a mating connector to be electrically connected thereto. More specifically, by the coupling of the two connectors, the coupling hole provided in the connector housing and a mating coupling hole provided in a mating connector housing come into contact to be electrically connected. That is, the connector is electrically connected or disconnected with the mating connector by the attachment or detachment of the connector to and from the mating connector.
As types of electrical and electronic equipment are diversified, the connector may be electrically connected with various types of interfaces. In this instance, when the connector is provided for each interface, miniaturization is difficult, due to the increased volume of the electrical and electronic equipment, and manufacturing costs are increased.
An aspect of the present invention provides a connector and a connector module, in which two coupling units having different depths are formed in a single coupling hole to be commonly used for pins having different interface schemes, and an electronic apparatus having the same.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a connector, including: a body having a fixed volume; and at least one coupling hole formed inwardly in a side of the body, and electrically coupled with a pin from the outside. Here, the coupling hole includes a first coupling unit having a predetermined first depth and electrically coupled with the pin from the outside, and a second coupling unit having a second depth deeper than the first depth and electrically coupled with another pin from the outside.
The first coupling unit and the second coupling unit of the coupling hole may have a step formed therebetween.
The first coupling unit may have a lateral length and a longitudinal length of a cross section thereof larger than those of a cross section of the second coupling unit.
The coupling hole may include a plurality of coupling holes formed in the side of the body.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a connector module, including: a first connector including a first body having a fixed volume, and at least one coupling hole formed inwardly in a side of the first body and electrically coupled with a pin from the outside, the coupling hole including a first coupling unit having a predetermined first depth and electrically coupled with the pin from the outside, and a second coupling unit having a second depth deeper than the first depth and electrically coupled with another pin from the outside; and a second connector including a second body having a fixed volume, and a pin formed on a side of the second body and inserted into the coupling hole.
The second connector may include a plurality of pins.
The second connector may include a first pin unit having a first pin electrically coupled with the first coupling unit, or a second pin unit having a second pin electrically coupled with the second coupling unit.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic apparatus, including: a connector module including a first connector including a first body having a fixed volume, and at least one coupling hole formed inwardly in a side of the first body and electrically coupled with a pin from the outside, the coupling hole including a first coupling unit having a predetermined first depth and electrically coupled with the pin from the outside, and a second coupling unit having a second depth deeper than the first depth and electrically coupled with another pin from the outside, and a second connector including a second body having a fixed volume, and a pin formed on a side of the second body and inserted into the coupling hole; a housing supporting the first connector and having an electronic circuit electrically connected with the coupling hole; and an operation circuit supported by the housing, and connected to the electronic circuit to execute a predetermined operation.
The electronic apparatus may include: a Local Interconnect Network (LIN) interface unit electrically connected with the first coupling unit to perform data communication in an LIN interface scheme; a control unit performing data communication with the LIN interface unit to control memory storage; and a memory electrically connected with the control unit and the second coupling unit to perform data communication in a Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) scheme.
The operation circuit may be a lens module imaging an object.
The electronic circuit may further include a connection unit electrically connecting the first coupling unit with the LIN interface unit, and electrically connecting the second coupling unit with the memory.
The housing may further include a first circuit board and a second circuit board, the connection unit may be formed in the first circuit board, and the LIN interface unit, the control unit and the memory may be formed in the second circuit board.
The above and other aspects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Referring to
A plurality of coupling holes 120 may be provided in the side of the body 110, and a first coupling unit 121 and a second coupling unit 122 may be formed inside each of the plurality of coupling holes 120.
Each of the first coupling unit 121 and the second coupling unit 122 may be coupled with a pin inserted from the outside, to be electrically connected therewith, and a different pin may be coupled with the first coupling unit 121 or the second coupling unit 122.
Referring to reference numeral “A” of
Referring to
Referring to
The first connector 100 may be the same as the connector 100 shown in
The second connector 200 may be electrically coupled with the first connector 100. To enable this, the second connector 200 may include a body 210 having a fixed volume, and a first pin unit 220 provided in the body 210 and electrically coupled with the first coupling unit 121 of the first connector 100. A plurality of first pins of the first pin unit 220 may correspond to the number of the coupling holes 120, and each of the plurality of first pins may be electrically coupled with the first coupling unit 121 as shown in
The first connector 100 may be the same as the connector 100 shown in
A second connector 300 may be electrically coupled with the first connector 100. To enable this, the second connector 300 may include a body 310 having a fixed volume, and a second pin unit 320 provided in the body 310 and electrically couplied with the second coupling unit 122 of the first connector 100. A plurality of second pins of the second pin unit 320 may correspond to the number of the coupling holes 120, and each of the plurality of second pins may be electrically coupled with the second coupling unit 122 as shown in
Referring to
The first connector may be the same as the connector 100 shown in
The housing 400 may support the first connector 100, and include an electronic circuit formed therein. As shown in
For example, an imaging apparatus may display an image, or upgrade or test an assembled product; however, it uses different interface schemes for these purposes. That is, the LIN interface scheme may be used to display the image, and the SPI scheme maybe used to upgrade or test product software. In this instance, a connector may be used for an electrical connection with the outside, and a terminal array is different for each interface scheme, such that a connector may be used for each of the interface schemes. Here, this may cause an increase in manufacturing costs and in a volume of a product. In the connector according to the embodiment of the present embodiment, a pin array may be commonly used for the interface schemes.
For example, as shown in
Here, referring to
When the electronic apparatus 1000 is an electronic module used in vehicles and the like, particularly, an imaging apparatus, the operation circuit 500 may be a lens module, and a captured image may be stored in the memory 430 to be displayed to the outside through the LIN interface scheme. Also, software stored in the memory 430 may be directly connected to the outside through the SPI scheme to be subjected to upgrade or test at a high speed.
As set forth above, according to embodiments of the present invention, two coupling units having different depths may be formed in a single coupling hole to be commonly used for pins in different interface schemes without an increase in the number of the holes, thereby suppressing increases in manufacture costs and the volume of a product.
While the present invention has been shown and described in connection with the embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10-2011-0085769 | Aug 2011 | KR | national |