BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is an assembled, perspective view of an electrical connector in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a similar view of FIG. 1, but taken from another aspect;
FIG. 3 is an exploded, perspective view of the electrical connector shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the electrical connector, taken along the line 4-4 of FIG. 1;
FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of a circled portion of FIG. 4;
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of an electrical connector in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of a circled portion of FIG. 6;
FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of an electrical connector in accordance with a third embodiment of the present invention; and
FIG. 9 is an enlarged view of a circled portion of FIG. 8.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.
Referring to FIG. 3, an electrical connector in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention is provided. The electrical connector comprises an insulated housing 1 with a substantially rectangular shape, a plurality of electrical contacts 2 located in the housing 1, a pressing member 3 pivotally mounted to the housing 1 and a pair of support members 4 held at two longitudinal ends of the housing 1.
Referring to FIGS. 2 to 3, the housing 1 comprises a first sidewall 11, a second sidewall 12 parallel to and spacing a distance from the sidewall 11, a pair of lateral walls 13 and a receiving cavity 10 formed between the sidewalls 11, 12 and the lateral walls 13. The first sidewall 11 defines a plurality of terminal channels 14 which are in communication with the receiving cavity 10 for receiving said conductive terminals 2 therein. The second sidewall 12 has an essentially flat surface 150 and a plurality of channels 14 recesses downward from the flat surface 150. The first sidewall 12 also defines a plurality of channels 14 which are in communication with the receiving cavity 10 and arranged to corresponding to and cooperate with the channels 14 of the second sidewall 12 to receive the contacts 2 therein. Each lateral wall 13 defines a retaining hole 16 for holding the corresponding support member 4.
Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, each contact 2 has a resilient contact beam 21 extending along the second wall 12 to be received in the channels 14 and having a contact portion 210 projecting into the receiving cavity 10, a pivot beam 22 corresponding to and parallel to the contact beam 21 and defining a recess 221 at its distal end, a retention portion 20 connecting the contact beam 21 with the pivot beam 22, and a solder leg 23 extending opposite to the contact beam 21 from the retention portion 20.
Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, the contact portion 210 of the contact 2 comprises a contact section exposed to the receiving cavity 10, a shadow surface 213 located at the reverse side of the contact section and neighboring on a bottom surface of the channel 14, an inclined section 211 extending forward from the contact section most portion of which are exposed outside the channel 14 for guiding a sheet-like connection member (not shown) being inserted into the receiving cavity 10 and an arced section 212 located below the flat surface 150 of the second sidewall 12 for connecting the inclined section 211 with the shadow surface 213. The distance H from the circle center of the arced section 212 to the shadow surface 213 is shorted than the radius of the arced section 212, and thus the distance between the shadow surface and the bottom surface of the channel 14 becomes longer that that of the conventional connector firstly listed in Related Arts. Namely, the space between the shadow surface and the bottom surface of the channel 14 is set enough for receiving the contact portion 210 of elastically distorted contact beam 21 without any damage to the housing 1. For the arrangement of the contacts, the miniaturized electrical connector is accordingly achieved. Additionally, the contacts 2 with the arced section 212 formed on the corresponding contact beams 211 form few burrs on their cutting edges when they are stamped from metal plate.
Referring to FIG. 3, the pressing member 3 comprises an operation portion 30 and a comb-like connection portion which has a plurality of wedge portions 31 and cam portions 32 located alternatively with the wedge portions 31 in a axis direction of the cam portion 32. The comb-like connection portion forms a pair of bosses 33 at its lateral sides held by the corresponding support members 4. When the pressing member 3 is mounted to the housing 1, the cam portions 32 are locked into the recesses 221 of the contacts 2. The pressing member 3 can be pivotally movable between an opened position when the sheet-like connection member is inserted into the receiving cavity 10 and a closed position when the pressing member 3 press the sheet-like connection member to electrically connect with the contacts 2.
Each support member 4 has a solder portion 42 for connecting to a printed circuit board and an extended portion 41 extending from the solder portion 42 not only for holding the pressing member 3 but also for retaining the support member 4 to the retaining groove 16.
Referring to FIGS. 6 and 7, an electrical connector in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention is provided. The connector of the second embodiment is similar to the connector of the first embodiment except that an upper portion of the arced section 212 (called exposed arced section) is located above the flat surface 150 of the second wall 12, that is, exposed to the receiving cavity 10. Further, tangent lines of the exposed arced section are all formed at an acute angle to a direction perpendicular to the flat surface 150 so as to exert nonintervention on the insertion of the sheet-like connection member.
Referring to FIGS. 8 and 9, an electrical connector in accordance with a third embodiment of the present invention is provided. The connector of the third embodiment is similar to the two above-mentioned connectors, but the circle center of the arced section 212 is arranged to be located below the shadow surface 213, that is, the circle center of the arced section 212 is located outside the contact portion 210. This arrangement makes the housing 1 set more space for receiving the contact portion 210 of elastically distorted contact beam 21, and thus the size of the connector can be reduced accordingly.
It is noted that the contacts with the three embodiments are suitably used on any electrical connector but not limited to the connectors disclosed above.
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.
Patent Application
20070254507
