Patent Grant
9966684
This application claims the benefit under 35 USC § 119(a) of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2015-0179457, filed on Dec. 15, 2015, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.
1. Field
The following description relates to a connector assembly.
2. Description of Related Art
There has been a gradual increase in demand for handheld electronic devices and wearable devices. Portable electronic devices, such as the handheld electronic devices and the wearable electronic devices, may include complicated electronic circuits in small areas. Electronic components, such as memory, processors, circuits and batteries, may be vulnerable to water. Water may cause an unintended short-circuit between pins or elements in a circuit. Due to the unintended short-circuit, the circuit may unpredictably operate or be damaged. Also, the circuit may be affected by dust and other pollutants.
In general, the portable electronic devices may include connectors to be paired with an external connector. The connector may include an electrode used for an electrical connection and a housing configured to fix the corresponding connector. The electrode may be provided in a contact point structure that uses a mechanical spring to ensure a stable electrical connection. Such mechanical spring-based connection systems may lack consistent pressure to maintain connection. In addition, if a pressure exceeding a predetermined level is applied to the spring, a restoring force of the spring may be reduced, or the spring may not return to its initial equilibrium position. Thus, the function of the spring may not be performed.
This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.
In one general aspect, a connector assembly includes a first connector body, a first elastic layer disposed on the first connector, a first electrode disposed on the first elastic layer, a second connector body, and a second electrode disposed on the second connector, wherein the first elastic layer is configured to provide a compressive force to the first electrode when the first connector body engages the second connector body.
The first electrode may be configured to contact the second electrode upon the first connector body engaging the second connector body.
The first elastic layer may be configured to block a foreign substance entering an area adjacent the first electrode and the second electrode upon the first connector body engaging the second connector body.
The connector assembly may further include a second elastic layer disposed between the second electrode and the second connector body. The second elastic layer may be configured to provide a compressive force to the second electrode upon the first connector body engaging the second connector body.
The connector assembly may further include a shielding member disposed adjacent to at least one of the first electrode and the second electrode. The shielding member may be configured to prevent a foreign substance entering an area adjacent to the first electrode and the second electrode upon the first connector body engaging the second connector body. The shielding member may include an elastic material. The shielding member may be configured to block external electromagnetic waves entering the first electrode and the second electrode upon the first connector body engaging the second connector body. The shielding member may include a conductive material.
The first connector and the second connector may be connected to separate circuits.
At least the first connector may be included in an electronic device that includes a processing device configured to receive a signal from the second connecting body. The second connector body may be a biosensor.
In another general aspect, a connector assembly includes a first connector body, a first elastic layer disposed on the first connector body, a plurality of first electrodes disposed on the first elastic layer, a second connector body, and second electrodes disposed on the second connector body and corresponding to the first electrodes.
The first elastic layer may be configured to provide a compressive force to the first electrodes upon the first connector body connecting to the second connector body.
The first elastic layer may be configured to block a foreign substance entering an area adjacent to the first electrodes and the second electrodes upon the first connector body engaging the second connector body.
The connector assembly may further include a second elastic layer disposed between the second connector body and the second electrodes.
The connector assembly may further include a shielding member disposed in an area adjacent to at least one of the first electrodes and the second electrodes. The shielding member may be configured to block a foreign substance or an electromagnetic wave, or both, from entering an area adjacent to the first electrodes and the second electrodes upon the first connector may be connecting to the second connector.
In another general aspect, a connector assembly includes a first connector, a first elastic layer disposed on the first connector, a first electrode disposed on the first elastic layer, and a processor device electrically connected with the first electrode, wherein the first connector may be configured to be connected to a second connector that supports a second electrode and is configured with a first fastener configured to engage a second fastener of the second connector, the processor device configured to receive a biosignal from a biosensor connected to the second connector.
The connector assembly may further include the second connector, the second electrode disposed on the second connector and corresponding to the first electrode, wherein the second fastener may be configured to receive the first fastener.
The first fastener may be a fastening groove and the second fastener may be a fastening protrusion.
The fastening protrusion may include a laterally outward extending protrusion and the fastening groove may have a corresponding laterally extending groove configured to receive the laterally outward extending protrusion.
Other features and aspects will be apparent from the following detailed description, the drawings, and the claims.
Throughout the drawings and the detailed description, the same reference numerals refer to the same elements. The drawings may not be to scale, and the relative size, proportions, and depiction of elements in the drawings may be exaggerated for clarity, illustration, and convenience.
The following detailed description is provided to assist the reader in gaining a comprehensive understanding of the methods, apparatuses, and/or systems described herein. However, various changes, modifications, and equivalents of the methods, apparatuses, and/or systems described herein will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art. The sequences of operations described herein are merely examples, and are not limited to those set forth herein, but may be changed as will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art, with the exception of operations necessarily occurring in a certain order. Also, descriptions of functions and constructions that are well known to one of ordinary skill in the art may be omitted for increased clarity and conciseness.
The features described herein may be embodied in different forms, and are not to be construed as being limited to the examples described herein. Rather, the examples described herein have been provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will convey the full scope of the disclosure to one of ordinary skill in the art.
The following specific structural or functional descriptions are examples to merely describe embodiments, and various alterations and modifications may be made to the examples. Here, the examples are not construed as limited to the disclosure and should be understood to include all changes, equivalents, and replacements within the idea and the technical scope of the disclosure.
It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and, similarly, a second element could be termed a first element without departing from the teachings of the disclosure.
It will be understood that when an element or layer is referred to as being “on”, “attached to”, or “connected to” another element or layer, it can be directly on or connected to the other element or layer or through intervening elements or layers may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly on”, “directly attached to”, or “directly connected to” another element or layer, there are no intervening elements or layers present. Other words used to describe the relationship between elements or layers should be interpreted in a like fashion (e.g., “between” versus “directly between,” “adjacent” versus “directly adjacent,” “on” versus “directly on”).
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular examples only and is not to be limiting of the examples. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an”, and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “include/comprise” and/or “have” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, operations, elements, components, and/or combinations thereof, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, numbers, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
Unless otherwise defined, all terms including technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which examples belong after an understanding of the present disclosure. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly-used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and the present disclosure and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.
Words describing relative spatial relationships, such as “below”, “beneath”, “under”, “lower”, “bottom”, “above”, “over”, “upper”, “top”, “left”, and “right”, may be used to conveniently describe spatial relationships of one device or elements with other devices or elements. Such words are to be interpreted as encompassing a device oriented as illustrated in the drawings, and in other orientations in use or operation. For example, an example in which a device includes a second layer disposed above a first layer based on the orientation of the device illustrated in the drawings also encompasses the device when the device is flipped upside down in use or operation.
The following examples relate to a connector assembly providing an electrical connecting function and are not limited to a specific type of connector assembly. The connector assembly is applicable to, for example, handheld electronic devices, wearable devices, and various types of electronic devices based on an electrical connection.
In the drawings, variations from the shapes of the illustrations as a result, for example, of manufacturing techniques and/or tolerances, may occur. Thus, the example embodiments should not be construed as limited to the particular shapes of regions illustrated herein, but are to include deviations in shapes that result, for example, from manufacturing.
Referring to
The first connector 110 includes a first electrode 130 configured to send or receive, or both send and receive, an electrical signal and a first fastener 140 configured to connect the first connector 110 and the second connector 150. The first connector 110 also includes a first elastic layer 120 disposed between a body of the first connector 110 and the first electrode 130. The second connector 150 includes a second electrode 160 configured to provide, send, and/or receive an electrical signal and a second fastener 170 configured to connect the second connector 150 and the first connector 110. The first electrode 130 and the second electrode 160 include a conductive material, for example, metal, graphite, conductive rubber, or silicone, or any combination thereof. Also, the first electrode 130 may be directly laminated onto the first elastic layer 120 in a form of layer through, for example, a thin film process. The second electrode 160 may be fixed onto the second connector 150 through, for example, a adhesive or a thin film process. The first fastener 140 and the second fastener 170 are configured to, when interacting or engaging, stably connect the first connector 110 and the second connector 150 such that the first electrode 130 of the first connector 110 contacts the second electrode 160 of the second connector 150.
For example, the first fastener 140 and the second fastener 170 are provided in forms of a fastening protrusion and a fastening groove as illustrated in
In another example, the first fastener 140 and the second fastener 170 may also be provided in a form of a magnetic fastener or a hook and loop fastener. Types of the first fastener 140 and the second fastener 170 are not limited to the aforementioned example and thus, any form of fastening the first connector 110 and the second connector 150 to each other is applicable thereto.
The first electrode 130 and the second electrode 160 deliver a signal or power and are connected to an internal circuit of a system, or device. A connection between each of the first electrode 130 and the second electrode 160 and another system, or device, may be achieved using a wire or through a soldering, for example only. However, the connection method is not limited to the aforementioned examples.
The first elastic layer 120, included in the first connector 110, is disposed between the body of the first connector 110 and the first electrode 130. The first elastic layer 120 includes at least one layer disposed on the first connector 110 or the second connector 150, or both.
The first connector 110 and the second connector 150 may be formed through a sequential lamination process. As an example only, the first connector 110 may be formed through a process in which the first elastic layer 120 is laminated onto the body of the first connector 110, and the first electrode 130 is laminated onto the first elastic layer 120. The second connector 150 may be formed through a process in which the second electrode 160 is laminated onto the body of the second connector 150. The first electrode 130, the second electrode 160, and the first elastic layer 120 may also be formed through a film-forming process, thereby achieving an ultrathin type connector assembly 100. For example, the connector assembly 100 may be formed through the film-forming process, such as, deposition, coating, and sputtering. In this example, the first electrode 130, the second electrode 160 and the first elastic layer 120 has a thickness of 1 millimeter or less.
In an example, the shielding member 210 may also block electromagnetic waves from the external area, or environment, interfering with the first electrode 130 and the second electrode 160. Thus, the first electrode 130 and/or the second electrode 160 is protected from an undesired or interference signal from an external area or environment. In this example, the shielding member 210 may be a conductive material or include a thin metal film disposed on the shielding member 210. To form the thin metal film on the shielding member 210, various schemes, for example, sputtering, spray coating, vapor disposition, electroplating, and non-electroplating may be applied.
A connector assembly, without a mechanical coil or flat spring and, thus, having a simplified manufacturing process is described above. In addition, the above described connector assembly without a mechanical coil spring or flat spring may have an added advantage of consistent restoring force. To achieve consistent restoring force, an elastic layer is applied to the connector assembly, thereby increasing durability and allowing a design of a connector suitable for an ultrathin form.
A plurality of contact points are formed using the plurality of connector assemblies 1020 and 1030 included in the clothes 1010. A single connector assembly functions as a single module and the plurality of connector assemblies 1020 and 1030 are arranged in different locations of the clothes 1010. Through this, the plurality of contact points is formed. In this example, an arrangement of the plurality of connector assemblies 1020 and 1030 is determined by another portion connecting to the plurality of connector assemblies 1020 and 1030.
A first connector of the connector assembly is included in the strap 1220, and a second connector is included in the body 1210. The connecting portions 1270 and 1275 enable the strap 1220 to be removably attached to the body 1210. When the strap 1220 and the body 1210 are connected to each other, the first connector and the second connector engage one another. In this example, first electrodes 1240, 1245, and 1250 of the first connector may be connected to corresponding second electrodes 1255, 1260, and 1265 of the second connector. A first elastic layer 1230 disposed on the first connector provides a compressive force to the first electrodes 1240, 1245, and 1250, thereby maintaining stable connections of the first electrodes 1240, 1245, and 1250 and the second electrodes 1255, 1260, and 1265. Also, the first elastic layer 1230 protects the strap 1220 from foreign substances entering the between strap 1220 and the body 1210.
One or more embodiments include an electronic device or system that includes at least one of connector/body of a connector assembly illustrated in any of
For simplicity, the singular term “processor” or “computer” may be used in the description of the examples described herein, but in other examples multiple processors or computers are used, or a processor or computer includes multiple processing elements, or multiple types of processing elements, or both. In one example, a hardware component includes multiple processors, and in another example, a hardware component includes a processor and a controller. A hardware component has any one or more of different processing configurations, examples of which include a single processor, independent processors, parallel processors, single-instruction single-data (SISD) multiprocessing, single-instruction multiple-data (SIMD) multiprocessing, multiple-instruction single-data (MISD) multiprocessing, and multiple-instruction multiple-data (MIMD) multiprocessing.
The methods that perform the operations described herein are performed by a processor or a computer as described above executing instructions or software to perform the operations described herein.
Examples of a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium include read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), flash memory, CD-ROMs, CD-Rs, CD+Rs, CD-RWs, CD+RWs, DVD-ROMs, DVD-Rs, DVD+Rs, DVD-RWs, DVD+RWs, DVD-RAMs, BD-ROMs, BD-Rs, BD-R LTHs, BD-REs, magnetic tapes, floppy disks, magneto-optical data storage devices, optical data storage devices, hard disks, solid-state disks, and any device known to one of ordinary skill in the art that is capable of storing the instructions or software and any associated data, data files, and data structures in a non-transitory manner and providing the instructions or software and any associated data, data files, and data structures to a processor or computer so that the processor or computer can execute the instructions. In one example, the instructions or software and any associated data, data files, and data structures are distributed over network-coupled computer systems so that the instructions and software and any associated data, data files, and data structures are stored, accessed, and executed in a distributed fashion by the processor or computer.
While this disclosure includes specific examples, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form and details may be made in these examples without departing from the spirit and scope of the claims and their equivalents. The examples described herein are to be considered in a descriptive sense only, and not for purposes of limitation. Descriptions of features or aspects in each example are to be considered as being applicable to similar features or aspects in other examples. Suitable results may be achieved if the described techniques are performed in a different order, and/or if components in a described system, architecture, device, or circuit are combined in a different manner, and/or replaced or supplemented by other components or their equivalents. Therefore, the scope of the disclosure is defined not by the detailed description, but by the claims and their equivalents, and all variations within the scope of the claims and their equivalents are to be construed as being included in the disclosure.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-2015-0179457 | Dec 2015 | KR | national |
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2486195 | Munsey | Oct 1949 | A |
| 3478298 | Nelson | Nov 1969 | A |
| 3657681 | Falkner | Apr 1972 | A |
| 3742427 | Ballard | Jun 1973 | A |
| 3784959 | Horton | Jan 1974 | A |
| 3994552 | Selvin | Nov 1976 | A |
| 4014600 | Gisewsky | Mar 1977 | A |
| 4045107 | Sutherland | Aug 1977 | A |
| 4166663 | Walker | Sep 1979 | A |
| 4516820 | Kuzma | May 1985 | A |
| 4943243 | Appleton | Jul 1990 | A |
| 5451169 | Corbett, III | Sep 1995 | A |
| 6575764 | Reipur | Jun 2003 | B1 |
| 6945666 | Woolfson | Sep 2005 | B2 |
| 7355122 | Moore | Apr 2008 | B2 |
| 7695321 | Cayzac | Apr 2010 | B2 |
| 9391409 | Abe | Jul 2016 | B2 |
| 20160064855 | Wang | Mar 2016 | A1 |
| 20170170590 | Ko | Jun 2017 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 10 2014 007 849 | Nov 2015 | DE |
| 2 940 804 | Nov 2015 | EP |
| 2004-47188 | Feb 2004 | JP |
| 2005-116489 | Apr 2005 | JP |
| 2008-97992 | Apr 2008 | JP |
| 2010-21052 | Jan 2010 | JP |
| 2011-54394 | Mar 2011 | JP |
| 2013-8499 | Jan 2013 | JP |
| WO 2007063436 | Jun 2007 | WO |
| Entry |
|---|
| Extended European Search Report dated Apr. 24, 2017 in corresponding European Patent Application No. 16177714.9 (7 pages). |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20170170590 A1 | Jun 2017 | US |
