Information
-
Patent Grant
-
6685505
-
Patent Number
6,685,505
-
Date Filed
Friday, September 6, 200222 years ago
-
Date Issued
Tuesday, February 3, 200420 years ago
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Inventors
-
Original Assignees
-
Examiners
Agents
-
CPC
-
US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 439 5415
- 439 607
- 439 608
- 439 609
- 439 610
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International Classifications
-
Abstract
An electrical connector assembly (1) includes an insulative main housing (2), a stacked Universal Serial Bus (USB) connector (4) having a shell, a daughter printed circuit board (PCB) (7) carrying a plurality of signal conditioning components (71) and a ground member (5). The main housing defines a cavity (22) for receiving the USB connector. The ground member comprises a body portion (51) and a retention portion (53). The body portion electrically connects with the shell of the USB connector. The retention portion is mounted to the daughter PCB.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
The present application is related to a U.S. patent application entitled to “STACKED ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR ASSEMBLY HAVING EASILY DETACHABLE ELECTRONIC MODULE”, invented by Leonard Kay Espenshade and Kevin Eugene Walker, the application entitled to “SHIELDED ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR ASSEMBLY HAVING RELIABLE GROUNDING CAPABILITIES”, invented by Leonard Kay Espenshade, the application entitled to “STACKED CONNECTOR WITH LEDS AND METHOD OF PRODUCING THE SAME”, invented by Kevin Eugene Walker and Leonard Kay Espenshade, the application entitled to “STACKED CONNECTOR WITH LEDS”, invented by Leonard Kay Espenshade and Kevin Eugene Walker, the application entitled to “STACKED CONNECTOR WITH REAR COVER ASSEMBLED THERETO”, invented by Kevin Eugene Walker, James Henry Hyland, Tod Martin Harlan and Robert William Brown, and the application entitled “SHIELDED ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR ASSEMBLY HAVING RELIABLE GROUNDING CAPABILITIES”, contemporaneously filed and all assigned to the common assignee.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical connector assembly, and more particularly to an electrical connector assembly having reliable grounding capabilities.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the electronics industry, electrical connectors are often mounted to printed circuit boards for electrical connection to circuit traces on the boards. The electrical connectors typically comprise housings, a plurality of contacts received in the housings and shields enclosing the housings for shielding against electromagnetic interference (EMI).
U.S. Pat. No. 6,162,089 issued to Costello et al discloses such an electrical connector. The Costello device is a stacked LAN connector adapted for mounting to a circuit board. The stacked LAN connector comprises a stacked USB component and a modular jack component received in respective portions of a main housing. An inner shield shields the arrays of contacts of the modular jack component and the stacked USB component.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,183,292 issued to Chen et al on Feb. 6, 2001 also discloses an electrical connector. The Chen device is an electrical connector assembly comprising an insulative housing
5
, and a modular jack
1
and a stacked Universal Serial Bus (USB) connector
4
both received in the housing
5
. The module jack
1
is mounted on a daughter printed circuit board (PCB)
2
carrying a signal conditioning component
3
. A resilient contact pad
20
is mounted on the daughter PCB
2
. The stacked USB connector
4
comprises a ground shell
43
to resiliently abut against the resilient contact pad
20
, thereby establishing a ground connection between the stacked USB connector
4
and the daughter PCB
2
.
However, if a certain component is mounted between the daughter PCB
2
and the stacked USB connector
4
for a certain purpose, it is impossible for the ground shell
43
to make contact with the contact pad
20
of the daughter PCB
2
.
Hence, an improved electrical connector assembly is required to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A main object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector assembly having a ground member connecting a connector with a daughter PCB.
An electrical connector assembly in accordance with the present invention is mounted on a mother printed circuit board (PCB) of an electrical device. The electrical connector comprises an insulative main housing defining a cavity, a stacked Universal Serial Bus (USB) connector received in the cavity of the main housing, a daughter PCB and a ground member. The stacked USB connector comprises a shell. The daughter PCB comprises a signal conditioning component and is parallel to the rear wall of the main housing. The ground member comprises a body portion electrically connecting with the shell of the USB connector, and a retention portion electrically connecting with the daughter PCB. Therefore, a continuous ground connection is thus established between the USB connector and the daughter PCB.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1
is an exploded view of an electrical connector assembly according to the present invention.
FIG. 2
is an assembled view of FIG.
1
.
FIG. 3
is another assembled view of
FIG. 1
, with a rear cover removed for clarity.
FIG. 4
is a perspective view of a main housing of the electrical connector assembly.
FIG. 5
is a partially view of the electrical connector assembly, showing the main housing, a contact module, a ground member, a magnetic module and a daughter printed circuit board (PCB) of the electrical connector assembly.
FIG. 6
is another partially view of the electrical connector assembly, showing the contact module, the ground member, the magnetic module, the daughter PCB and a stacked Universal Serial Bus (USB) connector of the electrical connector assembly.
FIG. 7
is a further partially view of the electrical connector assembly, showing the contact module, the ground member, the magnetic module and the daughter PCB of the electrical connector assembly.
FIG. 8
is a perspective view of the magnetic module of the electrical connector assembly.
FIG. 9
is a perspective view of a shield of the electrical connector assembly.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring to
FIGS. 1
,
2
and
3
, a stacked electrical connector assembly
1
according to the present invention comprises an insulative main housing
2
, a contact module
3
, a stacked Universal Serial Bus (USB) connector
4
comprising a metallic shell
41
(shown in FIG.
6
), a ground member
5
, a magnetic module
6
mounted on the main housing
2
, a daughter printed circuit board (PCB)
7
mounted on the magnetic module
6
, a metallic shield
8
substantially enclosing the main housing
2
, a pair of Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs)
9
and a rear cover
10
.
Referring to
FIGS. 4 and 5
, the main housing
2
is mounted on a mother printed circuit board (not shown, PCB) of an electrical device. The main housing
2
is substantially cubic and comprises a front wall
201
, a rear wall
202
, opposite sidewalls
203
, a top wall
204
and a bottom wall
205
. The main housing
2
defines an upper cavity
21
and a lower cavity
22
. The upper cavity
21
is defined through the front and the rear walls
201
,
202
for receiving the contact module
3
. The lower cavity
22
is defined through the front, the rear and the bottom walls
201
,
202
,
205
for receiving the stacked USB connector
4
. A comb portion
210
extends downwardly from the top wall
204
into the upper cavity
21
. The comb portion
210
defines a plurality of parallel retaining slits
211
communicating with the upper cavity
21
. A pair of spaces
23
are defined in opposite side portions of the front and the top walls
201
,
204
. A pair of groups of three channels
231
are respectively defined through the rear wall
202
and communicate with corresponding spaces
23
. A pair of mating holes
24
are defined in the rear wall
202
adjacent to corresponding three channels
231
for fixing the rear cover
10
. Each sidewall
203
comprises a flange
25
projecting rearwardly from an upper portion and beyond the rear wall
202
. Each flange
25
defines a notch
251
in a lower portion of an inner face thereof. A pair of semicylindric retaining posts
26
project rearwardly from side portions of a lower portion of the rear wall
202
. The retaining posts
26
align with corresponding flanges
25
with cylindrical surfaces thereof face to each other. Each retaining post
26
has an inwardly projecting ridge
261
extending longitudinally along the cylindrical surface thereof. A pair of stand-offs
27
downwardly project from the bottom wall
205
for mounting on the mother PCB of the electrical device.
The contact module
3
is received in the upper cavity
21
and comprises a horizontal compensation PCB
31
and a plurality of parallel conductive terminals
32
mounted on the compensation PCB
31
. Each terminal
32
comprises an elongate solder section
321
soldered to a bottom surface of the compensation PCB
31
, and a spring engaging section
322
inclinedly extending above a top surface of the compensation PCB
31
with a free end thereof retained in a corresponding retaining slit
211
of the main housing
2
. The stacked USB connector
4
comprising a metallic shell
41
is received in the lower cavity
22
of the main housing
2
.
Referring to
FIGS. 6 and 7
, the ground member
5
is fabricated from a conductive metal sheet and comprises a rectangular body portion
51
, a pair of upright linking portion
52
downwardly depending from rear portions of opposite side edges of the body portion
51
and a pair of retention portions
53
rearwardly extending from rear edges of corresponding linking portions
52
. The body portion
51
is stamped out a pair of spring fingers
511
with free ends substantially extending forwardly and downwardly. The body portion
51
is inserted in the lower cavity
22
with spring fingers
511
elastically abutting against an upper face of the metallic shell
41
of the stacked USB connector
4
. A retention tail
531
extends slightly and outwardly from a rear portion of each retention portion
53
, with a distal end
532
inwardly bent to clinch over the daughter PCB
7
.
Referring to
FIGS. 7 and 8
, the magnetic module
6
is mounted onto the rear wall
202
of the main housing
2
and comprises an insulative receptacle portion
61
, a plurality of first, second and third contacts
62
,
63
and
64
retained by the receptacle portion
61
. The receptacle portion
61
is substantially cubic and receives a plurality of magnetic coils (not shown) interconnecting the first, the second and the third contacts
62
,
63
and
64
in a certain manner.
A pair of recesses
610
are respectively defined in an upper portion of opposite sidewalls
612
of the receptacle portion
61
for facilitating engaging with the notches
251
of the main housing
2
, thereby retaining the magnetic module
6
on the main housing
2
. The receptacle portion
61
horizontally defines a pair of grooves
611
in a middle portion of corresponding opposite sidewalls
612
for retaining corresponding retention portions
53
of the ground member
5
therein. A pair of semicylindric retaining cutouts
613
are respectively defined in lower portions of the sidewalls
612
. The retaining cutouts
613
expose forwardly for engaging with corresponding retaining posts
26
of the main housing
2
, whereby the magnetic module
6
is mounted on the main housing
2
. A pair of stand-offs
614
downwardly extend from a bottom surface of the receptacle portion
61
for mounting on the mother PCB.
The first contacts
62
extend beyond a top surface of the receptacle portion
61
to electrically connect with the compensation PCB
31
of the contact module
3
. The second contacts
63
project from a rear surface of the receptacle portion
61
to electrically connect with the daughter PCB
7
. The third contacts
64
project beyond a bottom surface of the receptacle portion
61
to solder to the mother PCB.
Particularly referring to
FIGS. 6
, and
7
, the daughter PCB
7
is mounted on a rear surface of the receptacle portion
61
of the magnetic module
6
and carries a plurality of signal conditioning components
71
on a rear surface thereof for eliminating undesirable extraneous signals such as high frequency noises. A pair of contact pads
72
are attached on top portions of opposite surfaces of the daughter PCB
7
. A pair of conductive connection pads
73
are formed on side portions of the rear surface of the daughter PCB
7
, whereby the distal ends
532
of the retention tails
531
of the ground member
5
clinches thereon and electrically connect with the daughter PCB
7
. Therefore, a continuous ground connection is established between the stacked USB connector
4
and the daughter PCB
7
.
Referring to
FIGS. 3 and 9
, the shield
8
comprises a top wall
81
and opposite side walls
82
. A chamber
80
is defined by the top wall
82
and the side walls
82
for substantially enclosing the main housing
2
, the magnetic module
6
and the daughter PCB
7
. The top wall
81
comprises an upper layer (not labeled) and a lower layer (not labeled). Two pairs of contacting legs
811
depend downwardly from a rear portion of the lower layer of the top wall
81
and are arranged in two juxtaposed lines. Each pair of contacting legs
811
is parallel to the side wall
82
of the shield
8
with inner side edges
813
facing to each other. A pair of contacting feet
815
are respectively formed on the inner side edges
813
of each pair of contacting legs
811
and project to each other for securely clamping the upper portion of the daughter PCB
7
therebetween, thereby electrically contacting corresponding contact pads
72
of the daughter PCB
7
. Each side walls
82
form a pair of downwardly projecting mounting legs
822
for soldering to the mother PCB. Therefore, a continuous ground connection is established between the daughter PCB
7
and the mother PCB. Each side walls
82
also forms a pair of retention tabs
821
inwardly bent to abut against the bottom wall
205
of the main housing
2
for retaining the shield
8
with the main housing
2
.
Referring to
FIGS. 1 and 4
, the LEDs
9
are respectively received in the spaces
23
of the main housing
2
with tails
91
rearwardly extending through corresponding channels
231
.
The rear cover
10
comprises a pair of forwardly projecting mating poles
101
for engaging with the mating holes
24
of the main housing
2
and a plurality of contacts
102
extending forwardly to electrically connect with corresponding tails
91
of the LEDs
9
.
It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.
Claims
- 1. An electrical connector assembly comprising:an insulative main housing comprising a front wall and a rear wall, the main housing defining a cavity extending from the front wall to the rear wall; a shielded connector received in the cavity of the main housing and comprising a metallic shell; a daughter printed circuit board (PCB) assembled to the main housing and forming a connection pad; and a ground member comprising a body portion electrically connecting with the shell of the shielded connector and a retention portion extending from the body portion to electrically connect with the daughter PCB, the retention portion comprising a retention tail, the retention tail electrically connecting the connection pad of the daughter PCB to establish electrical connection between the ground member and the daughter PCB.
- 2. The electrical connector assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the body portion of the ground member is perpendicular to the daughter PCB, and comprises a spring finger being stamped out to electrically and resiliently abut against a top surface of the shell of the connector.
- 3. The electrical connector assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the retention tail forms an inwardly bent distal end clinching over the connection pad of the daughter PCB.
- 4. The electrical connector assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the body portion of the ground member is received in the cavity of the main housing.
- 5. The electrical connector assembly as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a magnetic module sandwiched between the connector and the daughter PCB.
- 6. The electrical connector assembly as claimed in claim 5, wherein the magnetic module defines a groove retaining the retention portion of the ground member.
- 7. The electrical connector assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the shielded connector is a stacked Universal Serial Bus (USB) connector.
- 8. A ground system of an electrical connector comprising:a metallic shell; a daughter PCB extending in a first direction; and a ground member comprising a body portion electrically connecting with the metallic shell and a retention portion electrically connecting with the daughter PCB, the body portion extending in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, the retention portion extending in a third direction opposite to the second direction.
- 9. The ground system of the electrical connector as claimed in claim 8, wherein the body portion of the ground member comprises a spring finger projecting towards the shell and resiliently and electrically connecting the metallic shell.
- 10. The ground system of the electrical connector as claimed in claim 8, wherein the retention portion forms a retention tail electrically connecting the daughter PCB.
- 11. The ground system of the electrical connector as claimed in claim 8, further comprising a shield enclosing the metallic shell, the daughter PCB and the ground member, the shield electrically connecting with the daughter PCB.
- 12. A daughter printed circuit board assembly for use with an electrical connector having upper and lower cavities thereof, comprising:a vertical daughter printed circuit board; a horizontally extending compensation printed circuit board perpendicular to the daughter printed circuit board; a plurality of juxtaposed terminals mounted on the compensation printed circuit board; a magnetic module mechanically and electrically connected to both the compensation printed circuit board and the daughter printed circuit board, respectively; and a grounding member dimensioned similar to the compensation printed circuit board and located under the compensation printed circuit board in a parallel relation.
- 13. The assembly as claimed in claim 12, wherein a plurality of terminals extend from a lower portion of the magnetic module for mounting to a mother printed circuit board parallel to the compensation printed circuit board.
US Referenced Citations (4)
Number |
Name |
Date |
Kind |
5637015 |
Tan et al. |
Jun 1997 |
A |
6183292 |
Chen et al. |
Feb 2001 |
B1 |
6478610 |
Zhou et al. |
Nov 2002 |
B1 |
6520799 |
Cheng et al. |
Feb 2003 |
B1 |