Patent Application
20070232106
The present invention relates to an electric power connector, and more particularly to an electric power connector adapting structure that has an adapting cable connected to a lateral side of the electric power connector.
Since computers are very popular, they have become an indispensable electric appliance or tool for household users or companies, and all components such as a central processing unit, a motherboard, a hard disk drive and an optical drive of a computer require electric power supplied by a power supply. Referring to R.O.C. Pat. Publication No. M253980 entitled “Power output connector of a power supply” for a traditional power supply, the traditional electric power connector of the traditional power supply comes with a 20-pin port or a 24-pin port on a motherboard to meet the requirements of electronic peripherals and devices with different specifications, and the pin number of hard disk drives and floppy disk drives include a large 4-pin port or a small 4-pin port for connecting an adapting cable to an electric power connector with a power cable. The adapting cable and the power cable are installed on the same side of the electric power connector. However, the motherboard has already installed many other cables and wires, and such electric power connector adapting structure may interfere with the original wires and cables installed on the motherboard, and thus making the cable management of the motherboard more difficult. Furthermore, the motherboard usually comes with many ports, but the prior art adapting cable installed on the same side of the power cable of the electric power connector may make their installation very difficult, if not impossible. Therefore, if the adapting cable of the electric power connector is connected perpendicularly to a lateral side of the electric power connector instead of being connected on the same side of the power cable, then the cables and wires on the motherboard will not interfere with the adapting cable or cause a poor cable management.
Further, for example, a 20-pin or 24-pin electric power connector connected to a motherboard includes an electric power terminal for a normal electric power supply (such as +5V STB), and the electric power will be supplied to electronic components of a computer even when the computer is turned off. If an adapter is connected to the +5V power terminal for the use of the power, then an additional adapter can be used for other specifications (such as the USB specification), while maintaining the original design for supplying electric power to the motherboard from the 20-pin or 24-pin connector. Even if the computer is turned off, an adapter with the adapting cable can be used as a power source of a port for lighting up a small lamp or charging the battery of a mobile phone, and thus fully utilizing the electric power supplied from the power terminal, when the computer is turned off. Such arrangement can save power to meet the requirements of environmental protection, and the diversified functions of the connector also can bring convenience to users.
In view of the foregoing shortcomings of the prior art connector adapting structure, the present invention improves the power management of the adapting cable of an electric power connector by providing a novel electric connector adapting structure to overcome the shortcomings of the prior art structure.
Therefore, it is a primary objective of the present invention to provide an electric power connector that connects an adapting cable at a lateral side of the connector, and the connector is also connected to a power output port of an electric power cable of a power supply for achieving the adapting effect, and the connector is further connected to an adapting cable for supplying electric power to a port. The connector includes an insulating body and a plurality of electric power terminals installed in the insulating body, and the invention includes an electric connecting portion disposed at the insulating body and corresponding to a vertical side of an open side of the electric power terminals for connecting the adapting cable, such that the adapting cable supplies electric power with an equivalent electric potential to the port, so as to avoid using excessive cable materials or having a poor cable management for the wiring space.
The present invention will now be described in more detail hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings as follows:
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In the description above, the present invention includes an electric connecting portion 13 electrically coupled to the electric power terminal 12 and disposed on the insulating body 11 corresponding to the vertical side of an open side of the electric power terminal 12, such that the adapting cable 20 supplies electric power with an equivalent electric potential to the port 21 by means of the connection of the electric connecting portion 13 and the electric power terminal 12. When the computer host 1 is turned on, the port 6 can be connected to a 20-pin or a 24-pin connector 10 to adapt the port 6 for the use of power supply for other specifications (such as the USB specification) or when the computer host 1 is turned off, the port 6 can be connected to the port 21 of the adapting cable 20 for supplying electric power to the port 6 for lighting up a small lamp or charging the battery of a mobile phone, and the diversified functions of the connector 10 provide more convenience to users. The present invention connects the adapting cable 20 to a lateral side of the connector 10 for facilitating an easy installation and effectively avoiding a poor cable management of a motherboard 5 that uses excessive cable materials, and such technology has not been developed or used in the same technical area of the present invention.
While the invention has been described by means of specific embodiments, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention set forth in the claims.
In summation of the above description, the present invention herein enhances the performance than the conventional structure and further complies with the patent application requirements and is submitted to the Patent and Trademark Office for review and granting of the commensurate patent rights.
