Patent Application
20170294728
This application claims priority to and the benefit of Chinese Patent Application No. 201620277014.2, filed Apr. 6, 2016 and entitled “THE ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR,” which application is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety to the maximum extent allowably by law.
The present invention relates to an electrical connector, and more particularly to a card edge connector.
Electrical connectors are used in many electronic systems, including telecommunication, storage technology, data transmission, etc. Card edge connectors are widely used to make connections between a backplane and several daughtercards such that signals may be routed between the backplane and the daughtercards.
Card edge connectors may be mounted on a backplane. Conducting traces in the backplane may be electrically connected to conductive elements in the connectors. Daughtercards have conductive pads at edges, sometimes called contact fingers, which may be electrically connected to conductive elements of card edge connectors when inserted in slots of the card edge connectors. Signals may be routed among daughtercards through the connectors and the backplane.
Conductive pads of daughtercards are susceptible to oxidation, scratches, and/or contaminations, which may deteriorate their connections with conductive elements of card edge connectors and thus their connections with the backplane.
This application relates to electrical connectors. An electrical connector, according to some embodiments, comprises a housing, a slot formed in the housing, the slot comprising an entrance, and first and second rows of conductive elements arranged in the housing. Each conductive element comprises a mounting end, a mating end opposite the mounting end, and an intermediate portion that extends between the mounting end and the mating end. The mating end comprises first and second contact portions projecting into the slot, and the first contact portion is closer to the entrance than the second contact portion. The first and second contact portions are capable of flexing along a width direction of the slot between a first position and a second position, the second contact portions form a receiving space between the first and second rows of conductive element, and the receiving space is smaller at the first position than the second position.
The first and second contact portions may be aligned along a height direction of the slot. The first contact portion may be shaped as a hook. A proximal end of the hook may be closer to the entrance than a distal end of the hook. The second contact portion may be a curve. The apex of the curve may be closer to the slot.
Embodiments of the present application will be explained in detail with respect to the drawings. In the drawings:
In the drawings, for purposes of clarity, embodiments may be simplified. Each identical or nearly identical component that is illustrated in various figures is represented by a like numeral.
Embodiments of the present application will be described below in detail with respect to the drawings.
In the illustrated embodiment, electrical connector 100 includes two rows of conductive elements 140, 150, arranged at two opposing sides of the slot 160 along a width direction (i.e. y direction as illustrated in
Similarly, conductive element 150 includes a mating end 152, a mounting end 154, and an intermediate portion 156 that extends between the mounting end and the mating end. The mounting end 154 of the conductive element 150 may be press fitted into holes 225 of the printed circuit board 200. The mating end 152 of the conductive element 150 includes a first contact portion 1521 and a second contact portion 1522, both of which project into the lot. The first contact portion 1521 is closer to the entrance 162 of the slot than the second contact portion 1522. The mating end 152 of the conductive element 150 may flex along the width direction and away from the conductive element 140. The rest states of the conductive elements 140 and 150 shown in
In the illustrated embodiment, the mating end 142 and the intermediate portion 146 of the conductive element 140 and the mating end 152 and the intermediate portion 156 of the conductive element 150 symmetrically locate at the two sides of the slot 160. In some embodiments, conductive elements 140 and 150 may be asymmetrical. The implementation of this invention is not limited by their symmetry.
In the illustrated embodiment, electrical connector 100 includes two rows of conductive elements 140, 150. In some embodiments, an electrical connector may have one row of conductive elements 140. Correspondingly, the rest state of conductive elements 140 may be defined as the first position. The receiving space is the distance between conductive element 140 and an interior of a wall, which is spaced from the conductive element 140, of the slot.
Conductive pad 324 of printed circuit board 300 may first engage the first contact portion 1421 of the mating end 142 of the conductive element 140. At the same time, conductive pad 325 may engage the first contact portion 1521 of the mating end 152 of the conductive element 150. During the process of moving the printed circuit board 300 to a bottom of the slot 160, surfaces of conductive pads 324 and 325 slide across the first contact portions 1421 of the conductive elements 140 and the first contact portions 1521 of the conductive elements 150 respectively. It should be appreciated that, under elastic forces, the mating end 142 of the conductive element 140 and the mating end 152 of the conductive element 150 may press the surfaces of the conductive pads 324 and 325. At the same time, when the first contact portions 1421 and 1521 slide across the surfaces of the conductive pads 324 and 325, external attachments to conductive pads 324 and 325 may be removed.
As continuing moving the printed circuit board 300 to the bottom of the slot 160, the surface of the conductive pad 324, which has been scribed by the mating end 142 of the conductive element 140, may engage the second contact portion 1422 of the conductive element 140. Similarly, the surface of the conductive pad 325, which has been scribed by the mating end 152 of the conductive element 150, may engage the second contact portion 1522 of the conductive element 150. At this point, the conductive pads 324 and 325 may have cleaner surfaces in order to form reliable electrical connections with the electrical connector, which is advantageous to signal transmissions between printed circuit board 200 and printed circuit board 300. The states of the conductive elements 140 and 150 at this point are defined as a second position. The receiving space at the second position is illustrated as d2 in
In the illustrated embodiment, the first contact portions and the second contact portions of conductive elements are aligned along the height direction, i.e. z direction. Correspondingly, a surface of a conductive pad of the printed circuit board 300, which engages a second contact portion of a conductive element, has been cleaned by a first contact portion of the conductive element. The conductive elements having two contact portions provide the function of removing external attachments on conductive pads of daughtercards, and thus reliable connections between the daughtercards and the electrical connector. It optimizes signal transmissions between the daughtercards and a backplane to which the connectors mounted.
In the illustrated embodiment, the first contact portions 1421 and 1521 are shaped as a hook. A proximal end of the hook is closer to the slot 160 than a distal end of the hook. When the printed circuit board 300 engages the first contact portions 1421 and 1521, the proximal end of the hook provides a sloped surface guiding the insertion of the printed circuit board 300, which makes the insertion smoother. The second contact portions 1422 and 1522 may be shaped as a curve. The apex of the curve is closer to the slot 160.
Although aspects of embodiments of this invention have been described with respect to the drawings, it should be appreciated that this invention is not limited by the described embodiments. It should be appreciated that various alterations, modifications, and improvements will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Such alterations, modifications, and improvements are intended to be part of this disclosure, and are intended to be within the spirit and scope of the invention.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 201620277014.2 | Apr 2016 | CN | national |
