1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical connector assembly, and more particularly to electrical connector assembly having antenna function.
2. Description of Prior Art
Personal computer technologies have been embraced in many portable electronics devices including: cellular telephones, personal data assistants (PDAs), laptop computers, MP3 players, pen-drives, digital video cameras, as well as other mobile devices. Many of the portable electronic devices can be configured to operate with various peripheral devices such as a computer mouse, a computer writing tablet, a digital camera, as well as others. Moreover, many of the portable electronic devices are also configured to interface with personal computers through a standard interface.
The need for standardization in computer related interfaces, as well as the need for high-speed communication interfaces has lead to the development of the universal serial bus (USB). The USB interface is a high-speed communication protocol that permits devices to communicate at data rates on the order of 48 Mb/s. A revised USB interface such as the USB 2.0 specification can operate at even higher speeds that are on the order of 480 Mb/s. The high speed USB interface has lead to widespread acceptance of external peripheral devices such as USB HDD systems, USB Ethernet devices, USB compact disk writing devices (e.g., CD/RW), as well as other devices.
Today, more and more electronic devices, such as personal computers, notebook computers, electronic appliances, and the like, are normally equipped with an internal antenna that serves as a medium for transmission and reception of electromagnetic signals, such as data, audio, image, and so on. PIFA (Planar Inverted-F Antenna) is a kind of mini antenna usually used in the electronic devices. PIFA has compact structure, light weight, perfect impedance match, desired horizontal polarization and vertical polarization, and is easy to achieve multi-frequency. So, more and more PIFAs are used in the electronic devices. Electrical connector assembly and the antenna of the traditional electronic devices are two separate components. Accordingly, the electrical connector and the antenna respectively occupy inner space of the electronic devices. However, electronic devices trend to miniaturization developing. For saving inner space of the electronic devices, many components being integrated is a question.
Hence, in this art, an electrical connector assembly with antenna function to overcome the above-mentioned disadvantages of the prior art will be described in detail in the following embodiment.
An object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector assembly which has antenna function.
To achieve the aforementioned object, the present invention provides an electrical connector assembly with antenna function comprising: an electrical connector comprising a metal shell; a metal patch connecting to the metal shell and comprising a radiating element and a connecting element; an insulating support element locating between the radiating element and the metal shell; the radiating element locating on top of the metal shell; the connecting element connecting to the metal shell that serve as a grounding element; the radiating element, the connecting element, and the metal shell forming an antenna that serves as a medium for transmission and reception of electromagnetic signals.
Additional novel features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent by reference to the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.
Referring to
The USB electrical connector 20 comprises an insulating body (not shown), several contacts (not shown) received in the insulating body, and a metal shell 21 covering the insulating body. The metal shell 21 comprises a welding element 211 extending vertically and downwardly from a bottom surface of the metal shell 21.
The metal patch 30 connects to the metal shell 21 of the USB connector 20. Accordingly, the metal patch 30 and the metal shell form an antenna that serves as a medium for transmission and reception of electromagnetic signals. The metal patch 30 comprises a connecting element 31 lying in a first plane and connecting to the metal shell 21, a radiating element 33 connecting to the connecting element 31, a feeding element 32 extending from a joint of the connecting element 31 and the radiating element 33. The radiating element 33 comprises a first rectangle-shape radiating branch 331, a second radiating branch 332 extending from an end of the first radiating branch 331, a third radiating branch 333 extending vertically from an end of the second radiating branch 332, and a fourth radiating branch 334 extending from an end of the third radiating branch 333. The third radiating branch 333 is vertical to the second radiating branch 332 and the fourth radiating branch 334. The second radiating branch 332 is parallel to the fourth radiating branch 334. The first, second, third, and fourth radiating branches lie in a second plane. The second plane is vertical to the first plane. The feeding element 32 is vertical to the radiating branch 331. The electrical connector assembly is mounted on the PCB 50. The welding element 211 of the electrical connector 20 and the feeding element 32 are soldered respectively to suitable circuit of the PCB 50.
The insulating support element 40 is a rectangle. The radiating element 33 locates on the top surface of the insulating support element 40. The connecting element 31 clings to a side surface of the insulating support element 40. The feeding element 32 clings to a back surface of the insulating support element 40.
The PCB 50 comprises a pair of first slot 51 for receiving the welding element 211, a second slot 52 for receiving the feeding element 32, and feeding circuit and grounding circuit (not shown). The metal shell 21 electrically connects to the grounding circuit. The radiating element 33 electrically connects to the feeding circuit.
The insulating support element 40 locates between the electrical connector 20 and the radiating element 33. The electrical connector 20 locates between the insulating support element 40 and the PCB 50.
The electrical connector 20 of the present invention is not limited to the micro USB connector of the preferred embodiment, other types electrical connector as well as used in present invention, such as USB connector, HDMI connector, IEEE1394 connector and so on.