BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The features of this invention which are believed to be novel are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention, together with its objects and the advantages thereof, may be best understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals identify like elements in the figures and in which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an electrical connector before riveted process according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is similar to FIG. 1, but viewed from another aspect;
FIG. 3 is similar to FIG. 2, but viewed from another aspect;
FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the electrical connector; and
FIG. 5 is similar to FIG. 4, but viewed from another aspect.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring to FIGS. 1-5, an electrical connector 100 includes an insulative housing 1, a plurality of contacts 2 retained in the insulative housing 1, a metal shell 3 partially enclosing the insulative housing 1, a pair of board locks 4 and a pair of fasteners 5 for assembling the board locks 4 and the metal shell 3 onto the insulative housing 1.
Referring to FIGS. 4-5, the insulative housing 1 comprises a flat front surface 10, a rear surface 11 opposite to the front surface 10 and a plurality of passageways 12 extending through the front and rear surfaces 10, 11 for receiving the contacts 2. A pair of polygonal apertures 13 are defined therethrough on lateral sides of the insulative housing 1. A pair of mounting protrusions 14 extend from a bottom edge of the insulative housing 1 for mounting the electrical connector 100 to a PCB (not shown).
The contacts 2 are assembled from the rear surface 11 to the insulative housing 1. Each contact 2 comprises a retaining portion 21 received in the passageways 12 of the insulative housing 1, a column-shaped contact portion 22 protruding from the front surface 10 and a tail portion 23 to be soldered to the PCB.
The metal shell 3 comprises a flat mating portion 31 to be attached to the front surface 10 of the insulative housing 1 and a D-shaped projection 32 protruding forwardly from the mating portion 31. The mating portion 31 defines a pair of through holes 310 on lateral sides thereof corresponding to the polygonal apertures 13. The projection 32 is hollow to define a chamber 320 therein for the contact portions 22 of the contacts 2 extending thereinto and for receiving a mating connector (not shown).
Each board lock 4 comprises a base 41 and a pair of separated pawls 42 bending from the base 41 to retain the electrical connector 100 on the PCB. The base 41 is attached to the rear surface 11 of the insulative housing 1. The base 41 defines a bore 410 therethrough for receiving the fastener 5 to fix the board lock 4 onto the insulative housing 1.
Referring to FIGS. 4-5, each fastener 5 is nut in the preferred embodiment and comprises a middle portion 52 retained in the polygonal apertures 13, a resisting portion 51 abutting against the mating portion 31 of the shell 3 and a rivet portion 53 to be riveted to abut against the base 41 of the board lock 4. The rivet portion 53 is contractive relative to the middle portion 52 which is also contractive to the resisting portion 51. In other words, the resisting portion 51 is larger than the middle portion 52 while the rivet portion 53 is smaller than the middle portion 52. The resisting portion 51 defines a plurality of inner screw threads 510 therein. The middle portion 52 is polygonal corresponding to the polygonal apertures 13 so that the fastener 5 can't be rotatable with respect to the insulative housing 1. It is obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art that the apertures 13 and the middle portion 52 can comprise at least one matable surface, respectively to prevent any rotatability therebetween. The rivet portion 53 is hollow to form a recess 531 therein and defines a plurality of notches 530 in communication with the recess 531. The plurality of notches 530 positioned along girth of the rivet portion 53 separate the rivet portion 53 into several discontinuous parts. In assembly, Each fastener 5 extends through the corresponding through hole 310 of the shell 3 and through the corresponding aperture 13 and the bore 410 of the board lock 4. The rivet portion 53 extends beyond the bore 410 as shown in FIG. 3. When in riveted process, the discontinuous parts of the rivet portion 53 are easy to be riveted to abut against the base 41 of the board lock 4, thereby facilitating the manufacture of the electrical connector 100 and improving the appearance of the electrical connector 100 as well.
In order to prevent the tail portions 23 of the contacts 2 from being deformed, a spacer 6 is provided with a plurality of through holes 610 for the tail portions 23 extending therethrough and a pair of hooks 62 for retaining the spacer 6 to the mounting protrusions 14 as shown in FIGS. 2-3.
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 number, 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
20080038958
