Information
-
Patent Grant
-
6755685
-
Patent Number
6,755,685
-
Date Filed
Thursday, September 25, 200320 years ago
-
Date Issued
Tuesday, June 29, 200420 years ago
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Inventors
-
Original Assignees
-
Examiners
Agents
-
CPC
-
US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 439 5415
- 439 676
- 439 761
- 439 607
- 439 609
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International Classifications
-
Abstract
An electrical connector (100) mounted on a main printed circuit board (PCB), includes an insulative housing (1) having a front mating face providing a receiving cavity (111) extending rearwardly thereinto. A number of ramps (115) raised from a bottom portion of the receiving cavity, thereby forming a number of slots (114) positioned between the adjacent ramps. A number of conductive contacts (2) exposed in the receiving cavity. Each contact includes a base portion (21) having a front nose (211) in a front portion thereof, a contacting portion (22) angled rearwardly from the front nose and a pair shoulder (212) extending transversely from opposite sides of the base portion adjacent to the front nose. The base portions of the contacts are held in the corresponding slots. The shoulders are engaged and latched with the raised ramps.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application is related to a contemporaneously filed U.S. patent application entitled “ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR WITH IMPROVED FOOTER CONTACTS” with the same applicant and assigned to the common assignee.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical connector and more particularly, to an electrical connector being mounted onto a circuit board.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A computer is required to provide connectors at input/output ports which are usually mounted on a main printed circuit board (PCB) thereof, to mate with complementary connectors of external devices for signal transmission therebetween. In order to sufficiently utilize limited area of the main PCB, the electrical connectors are usually arranged in a stacked manner.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,162,089 discloses a stacked connector assembly. The conventionally connector assembly has a pair of USB plug-receiving cavities stacked beneath a modular plug-receiving cavity. Modular contacts are disposed in the modular plug-receiving cavity and are insert-molded in a horizontal front and a vertical rear insert, wherein the rear insert functions as a fixing device. The front and the rear inserts are molded around the modular contacts before severing carrier strips from opposite ends of the modular contacts. Front contacting portions of the modular contacts are angled upwardly and rearwardly relative to the horizontal front insert. The rear insert is downwardly bent to be formed at a right angle with respect to the front insert, in which rear right-angle tail portions of the modular contacts are embedded. Thereafter, the front and the rear inserts with the terminals retained therein are assembled to the housing. The contacting portions of the modular contacts are received in the modular plug-receiving cavity. The rear insert is fixed on the housing. Thus, the right-angle tail portions of the modular contacts are retained in the housing by the rear insert.
However, the modular contacts are assembled to the housing after being insert molded with plastic material, thus increasing the processes of manufacturing the front and the rear inserts. Due to inherent factors, such as relative larger sizes of the front and the rear inserts, the modular contacts need to occupy relative larger available space in the conventional connector assembly such that whole dimension of the connector assembly are maximized. On the other hand, because the front and the rear inserts are integrally molded with the terminals, the front and the rear inserts cannot be reused and it will increase the cost.
Hence, an electrical connector with improved contacts is desired.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide an improved electrical connector, which can conveniently and securely retaining contacts in an insulative housing thereof.
An electrical connector mounted on a main printed circuit board (PCB), includes an insulative housing having a front mating face providing a receiving cavity extending rearwardly thereinto. A number of ramps raised from a bottom portion of the receiving cavity, thereby forming a number of slots positioned between the adjacent ramps. A number of conductive contacts exposed in the receiving cavity. Each contact includes a base portion having a front nose in a front portion thereof, a contacting portion angled rearwardly from the front nose and a pair shoulder extending transversely from opposite sides of the base portion adjacent to the front nose. The base portions of the contacts are held in the corresponding slots and the shoulders are engaged and latched with the raised ramps.
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.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1
is a perspective view of an electrical connector according to the present invention;
FIG. 2
is an exploded view of
FIG. 1
;
FIG. 3
is another exploded view of
FIG. 1
;
FIG. 4
is a perspective view of an insulative housing of the electrical connector;
FIG. 5
is another perspective view of
FIG. 4
;
FIG. 6
is a perspective view of conductive contacts attached to a carrier strip of the electrical connector;
FIG. 7
is a partially assembled view of
FIG. 2
showing the contacts assembled within the insulative housing taken from back aspect;
FIG. 8
is another partially assembled view of
FIG. 2
showing the contacts and a connector module assembled within the insulating housing taken from front aspect;
FIG. 9
is a perspective view of an insert module of the electrical connector;
FIG. 10
is an exploded view of FIG.
9
.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring to
FIGS. 1
,
2
and
3
, an electrical connector
100
mounted on a main printed circuit board (PCB, not shown) is preferably a multi-port modular jack, and includes an insulative housing
1
, a plurality of conductive contacts
2
retained in the housing
1
, an insert module
3
, a connector module
4
(shown in FIG.
2
), a plastic rear cover
5
and an outer shell
6
substantially surrounding and shielding the housing
1
.
Referring to
FIGS. 4 and 5
, the insulative housing
1
includes a mating face
11
, an upper wall
12
, two sidewalls
13
and a rear opening
14
. The mating face
11
provides an upper and a lower cavities
111
,
112
extending rearwardly thereinto. The rear opening
14
shares a panel
15
with the lower cavity
112
. In the embodiment illustrated, the upper cavity
111
is a modular plug-receiving cavity for mating with a modular plug connector, and the lower cavity
112
is provided for receipt thereinto of the connector module
4
. The upper cavity
112
provides a plurality of barriers
113
projecting inwardly from the mating face
11
, and a number of ramps
115
essentially aligned with and spaced from corresponding barriers
113
in a longitudinal direction, thereby forming a plurality of parallel slots
114
between the adjacent barriers
113
and the ramps
115
in a front-to-rear direction for receiving corresponding contacts
2
. A plurality of grooves
117
are dimensioned to be positioned proximate the panel
15
and communicating with the rear opening
14
for receiving the contacts
2
. The housing
1
further includes a plurality of comb passages
116
extending into the upper cavity
111
and communicating with the rear opening
14
. The upper wall
12
defines a pair of locking holes
121
far from the mating face
11
. Each sidewall
13
has a shaft
131
projecting inwardly from a bottom portion thereof for engaging with the plastic rear cover
5
.
As best shown in
FIG. 6
, the conductive contacts
2
are initially attached to a carrier strip
25
. Each conductive contact
2
includes a base portion
21
having a front nose
211
on a front section thereof, a contacting portion
22
upwardly and rearwardly extending from the front nose
211
of the base portion
21
and a tail portion
23
connected to the carrier strip
25
. The base portion
21
has a pair of shoulders
212
adjacent to the front nose
211
and extending transversely from opposite sides thereof. The base portion
21
further has an enlarged section
213
apart from the front nose
211
and extending transversely and outwardly. The tail portion
23
is integrally attached to the enlarged section
213
by a transition bight
24
. The tail portion
23
downwardly offsets from the transition bight
24
and is parallel to the base portion
21
. The tail portion
23
has a positioner section
231
extending from opposite sides thereof adjacent to the transition bight
24
.
Referring to
FIGS. 9 and 10
, the insert module
3
includes an internal PCB
31
and a plurality of footer contacts
32
attached to the internal PCB
31
. The internal PCB
31
provides a plurality of pinouts
311
on a substantial middle portion thereof for respectively receiving the contacts
2
and a plurality of footer holes
312
. Each footer contact
32
has a latch beam
321
extending horizontally from a top portion thereof and interferentially fitted in the corresponding footer holes
312
. It should be noted that the footer contacts
32
are initially-attached to a carrier strip
33
. The carrier strip
33
is removed from the footer contacts after the footer contacts are installed in the internal PCB and soldering thereto.
Referring to
FIGS. 2 and 3
, the plastic rear cover
5
includes a vertical portion
51
and a horizontal portion
52
extending forwardly from a bottom side of the vertical portion
51
. The vertical portion
51
includes a pair of projections
53
extending from a top end thereof and a pair of fixing portions
54
formed near opposite sides of a bottom end thereof. The projections
53
are provided for latching within the locking holes
121
of the housing
1
, respectively. The fixing portions
54
are provided for engaging with the corresponding shafts
131
of the housing
1
.
The outer shell
6
is stamped from a sheet of conductive material and includes a front shell
61
and a rear shell
62
which mount together to define an interior space for enclosing the housing
1
. The front shell
61
includes a front plate
611
providing two windows (not labeled) respectively corresponding to the upper and lower cavities
111
,
112
, and two side plates
612
. Each side plate
612
has a plurality of embossments
613
and a plurality of grounding tabs
614
extending downwardly from a bottom end thereof. The rear shell
62
has a number of apertures
621
corresponding to and engaging with respective ones of the embossments
613
.
Referring to
FIGS. 7 and 8
in conjunction with
FIG. 6
, in assembly, the conductive contacts
2
are installed in the housing
1
from the rear opening
14
. The front nose
211
of each contact
2
extends through respective one of the passages
116
and is received in the corresponding slot
114
. The contacting portion
22
of each contact
2
is exposed in the upper cavity
111
with a free end deflected by the corresponding passage
116
, thereby having a preload force. The base portion
21
and the front nose
211
of each contact
2
are held in the slot
114
. The shoulders
212
of each contact
2
are latched with the raised ramps
115
, in conjunction with the contact preload force which keeps a constant downward force on the contacts
2
, thereby assuring that the contacts
2
don't lift off the shoulders at the end of the ramps. The positioner sections
231
of the contacts
2
are received in the grooves
117
. Therefore, the contacts
2
are securely embedded in the housing
1
. After installation, the carrier strip
25
is removed from the contacts
2
.
Referring to
FIGS. 2 and 3
in conjunction with
FIG. 1
, the insert module
3
is attached to the housing
1
from the rear opening
14
. The tail portion
23
of each contact
2
extends beyond the grooves
117
and into the respective one of the pinout
311
of the internal PCB
31
. The plastic rear cover
5
is coupled to the housing
1
. The shafts
131
of the housing
1
are installed in the fixing portion
54
of the plastic rear cover
5
. The projections
53
of the plastic rear cover
5
are received in the corresponding locking holes
121
of the housing
1
, thereby stabilizing the connection between the contacts
2
and the internal PCB
31
. The connector module
4
such as a dual USB module, is assembled to the lower cavity
112
of the housing
1
from the mating face
11
. The structure and the function of the connector module
4
is well known to those skilled in the art, a detailed description thereof is omitted herefrom. The outer shell
6
substantially surrounds the housing
1
. The front plate
611
of the front shell
61
affixes along the mating face
11
of the housing
1
. The embossments
613
are interference fitted in the respective one of the apertures
621
. The grounding tabs
614
are soldered to the corresponding grounding holes (not shown) of the main PCB.
It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous, characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set fourth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosed 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 fill extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.
Claims
- 1. An electrical connector for being mounted on a main printed circuit board, comprising:an insulative housing having a front mating face providing a receiving cavity extending rearwardly thereinto, a comb passage communicating with the receiving cavity, two ramps raised from a bottom portion of the receiving cavity and extending in a front-to-rear direction, and a slot defined between the ramps; and a conductive contact received in the housing, the contact including a base portion having a front nose in a front portion thereof, a contacting portion angled rearwardly from the front nose and a shoulder extending transversely from a side of the base portion adjacent to the front nose, the base portion being held in the slot, the contacting portion being exposed in the receiving cavity, the contacting portion being deflected by the passage of the housing to engage the shoulder with the raised ramps; wherein the passage deflects the contacting portion to provide a downward force on the contact; wherein the housing includes two barriers projecting inwardly from the mating face into the receiving cavity, the ramps essentially aligned with and spaced from corresponding barriers in a front-to-rear direction, the slot extending between the barriers; wherein the contact further includes a transition bight and a tail portion integrally attached to the base portion by a transition bight; wherein the housing has a groove far from the front mating face, and wherein the tail portion of the contact includes a positioner portion received in the groove; wherein the base portion further has an enlarged section far from the front nose, the enlarged section extending transversely and outwardly, the transition bight integrally extending from the enlarged section and interconnected between the base portion and the tail portion; further including an insert module having a pinout therein, and wherein the contact extends into the pinout and electrically connects with the insert module; further including a plastic rear cover attached to the housing with the insert module sandwiched therebetween; wherein the plastic rear cover has a projection extending from a top end thereof, and wherein the housing defines a locking hole for receiving the projection; wherein the plastic rear cover has a fixing portion, and wherein the housing includes a shaft projecting inwardly from a bottom portion thereof engaging with the fixing portion of the rear cover; further including an outer shell affixed around the housing for electro Magnetic Interference (EMI) protection.
- 2. An electrical connector comprising:an insulative housing having a front mating face providing a receiving cavity extending rearwardly thereinto, a bottom face located under the receiving cavity and with therein slots extending in a front-to-rear direction; and at least two spaced conductive contacts received in the housing, each of said contacts including a base portion extending along the front-to-rear direction on said bottom face and held in the corresponding slot, a contacting portion extending from a front end of the base portion and extending into the receiving cavity, a transition bight extending from a rear end of the base portion, and a tail portion extending rearwardly from the transition bight and structurally located at different level with regard to the base portion; wherein a pitch of the contacting portions of said two spaced contacts is smaller than that of the tail portions thereof; wherein said tail portion includes a large positioning section to interferentially retain the contact in the housing; wherein the tail portion is mechanically and electrically connected to an internal printed circuit board; wherein said internal printed circuit board is connected to the tail portion in a perpendicular manner.
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A |
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