Electrical connector with keying means

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6808428
  • Patent Number
    6,808,428
  • Date Filed
    Tuesday, May 13, 2003
    21 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, October 26, 2004
    19 years ago
Abstract
An electrical connector (1) for contacting with a complementary connector includes an insulative housing (2), a number of terminals (3) retained in the insulative housing and a shield (4) enclosing the insulative housing. The shield includes a keying means (416, 418,) extending outwardly from a surface thereof for engaging with the complementary connector.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




1. Field of the Invention




The present invention relates to an electrical connector, and particularly to an electrical connector with keying means for securing an exact engagement between the electrical connector and a complementary connector.




2. Description of Prior Art




Electrical connector assembly with mating plug and receptacle connectors is widely used for transmitting signals in electronic devices. The plug and receptacle connectors each include an insulative housing, a plurality of terminals received in the insulative housing and a shell enclosing the insulative housing for shielding. However, in assembly, the plug connector is possible to be wrongly inserted into the receptacle connector thereby adversely affecting signals transmitting therebetween or damaging the plug or receptacle connector. Therefore, a keying means should be provided for guiding an engagement between the plug and receptacle connectors.




U.S. Pat. No. 6,066,003 (the '003 patent) discloses a conventional electrical connector with a keying means. Referring to FIG. 8 of the '003 patent, a blind mate connector includes a housing (6), a shield (5) enclosing the housing and a plurality of terminals (7) received in the housing. The shield includes a flange (50) and a shroud (51) projecting forwardly from the flange. The shroud includes four discontinuous guiding surfaces (511) extending in four directions therefrom for guiding an insertion of a complementary connector. However, the guiding surface only can facilitate the insertion of the complementary connector, but cannot ensure an exact engagement between the blind mate connector and the complementary connector for a wrong insertion.




U.S. Pat. No. 5,080,604 (the '604 patent) discloses another conventional connector assembly with keying means for guiding an engagement between a cable connector and a mating header. Referring to FIG. 1 of the '604 patent, a connector assembly (10) includes a cable connector (20) and a mating header (100). The cable connector includes a receptacle type housing (22) and a cover (70) assembled to the housing. The housing includes a polarizing key (42) at a front end of an inner surface thereof. The header has a housing (102) with a conical-shaped leading end (132) and a key-way (134) defined on an outer surface thereof. In assembly, the header is assembled to the cable connector with the leading end of the housing of the header engageably received in the housing of the cable connector for guiding insertion of the header. In addition, the polarizing key of the cable connector is engageably received in the key way of the header for guiding further insertion of the header and securing a true electrical connecting between the cable connector and the header. However, the key is formed by plastic and will wear out after many insertions and withdrawals, and in turn, the engagement between the cable connector and the header will be affected. Thus, the key cannot ensure an exact engagement between the cable connector and the header for a wrong insertion.




Hence, an improved electrical connector with improved keying means is required to overcome the disadvantages of the conventional connector.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector with keying means for securing an exact engagement between the electrical connector and a complementary connector.




In order to achieve the object set forth, an electrical connector in accordance with the present invention includes an insulative housing, a plurality of terminals retained in the insulative housing and a shield assembled to the insulative housing. The insulative housing includes a dielectric base and a tongue plate projecting from the dielectric base. The shield includes a base plate attached to dielectric base and a shroud enclosing the tongue plate. The shroud includes a keying means projecting outwardly from an outer surface thereof for engaging with the complementary connector thereby securing an exact engagement between the electrical connector and the complementary connector.




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 top, front and right perspective view of an electrical connector in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention;





FIG. 2

is a bottom, front and left perspective view of the electrical connector of

FIG. 1

;





FIG. 3

is a top, front and right perspective view of a shield of the electrical connector of

FIG. 1

;





FIG. 4

is a bottom, front and left perspective view of the shield of the electrical connector of

FIG. 1

;





FIG. 5

is a top, front and right perspective view of a shield in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention; and





FIG. 6

is a bottom, front and right perspective view of the shield of FIG.


5


.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS




Reference will now be made to the drawing figures to describe the present invention in detail.




Referring to

FIGS. 1 and 2

, an electrical connector


1


in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention is shown. The electrical connector


1


includes an insulative housing


2


, a shield


4


for enclosing the insulative housing


2


and a plurality of terminals


3


received in the insulative housing


2


.




The insulative housing


2


includes a substantially rectangular dielectric base


20


, a rectangular tongue plate


21


extending forwardly from a front surface of the dielectric base


20


and two beams


22


at opposite transverse ends thereof. The dielectric base


20


includes a pair of guiding poles


201


extending downwardly from a bottom surface


200


of opposite ends thereof for engageably received in a mating Printed Circuit Board (PCB) (not shown) on which the electrical connector


1


is mounted. In addition, the base


20


includes a pair of lower bulges


202


extending downwardly from the bottom surface


200


. The two guiding poles


201


respectively have different configurations. One guiding pole


201


is columnar-shaped, and the other has a prism-shape. The beams


22


each include an upper bulge


221


extending upwardly from a top surface


220


thereof. The tongue plate


21


defines a receiving space


210


therein for receiving a mating portion of a complementary connector (not shown) and a plurality of upper and lower passageways


211


communicating with the receiving space


210


.




The terminals


3


each include a contacting portion


31


at a front end thereof and a soldering portion


32


at a rear end thereof. The contacting portions


31


are respectively received in corresponding receiving passageways


211


for electrically connecting with contacts of the complementary connector. The soldering portions


32


are adapted for soldering on the mating PCB.




Referring to

FIGS. 3-4

, in conjunction with

FIGS. 1-2

, the shield


4


includes a base plate


40


, a shroud


41


projecting forwardly from the base plate


40


, a pair of upper retaining plates


42


extending rearwardly from a top side thereof and a pair of lower retaining plates


43


extending rearwardly from a bottom side thereof. The upper (lower) retaining plates


42


(


43


) each define a locking opening


420


(


430


) for engageably receiving a corresponding upper (lower) bulge (


202


)


221


.




The shroud


41


includes a top wall


410


, an opposite bottom wall


411


and a pair of opposite side walls


412


connecting with the top and bottom walls


411


,


412


. The top, bottom and side walls


410


,


411


,


412


together define a receiving room


414


for receiving the tongue plate


21


. The top wall


410


includes five rectangular protrusions


415


extending upwardly therefrom and a spherical calotte


416


extending upwardly therefrom. Similarity, the bottom wall


11


includes four rectangular protrusions


417


extending downwardly therefrom and a pair of spherical calottes


418


extending downwardly therefrom.




In assembly, the terminals


3


are inserted into the insulative housing


2


with the contacting portions


31


respectively received corresponding receiving passageways


211


and projecting into the receiving space


210


for electrically connecting with the contacts of the complementary connector. The soldering portions


32


are arranged below the bottom surface


200


of the insulative housing


2


for soldering on the mating PCB. The shield


3


is assembled to the insulative housing


2


along a front-to-rear direction with the shroud


41


enclosing the tongue plate


21


. The upper (lower) bulges


221


(


202


) are respectively engagably received in the locking openings


420


(


430


) of the upper (lower) plates


42


(


43


) for securely retaining the shield


4


on the insulative housing


2


. While the complementary connector is mated to the electrical connector


1


, the spherical calottes


416


,


418


are engageably received in corresponding keying ways of the complementary connector to guide an insertion of the complementary connector and to secure an exact engagement between the electrical connector


1


and the complementary connector. In addition, the protrusions


415


,


417


engage with the complementary connector to ensure a secured connection between the electrical connector


1


and the complementary connector. While the complementary connector is wrongly inserted into the electrical connector


1


, the spherical calottes


416


,


418


are not engageably received in the complementary connector thereby preventing the complementary connector from electrically connecting with the electrical connector


1


and avoiding damage of the complementary connector and the electrical connector


1


.





FIGS. 5 and 6

show a design in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the configurations of the housing and the terminals are similar to those of the first embodiment, so descriptions thereabout are omitted herefrom. A shield


5


in accordance with the second embodiment comprises a plurality of lances


516


,


518


instead of calottes as keying means extending outwardly from the shroud thereof. The other parts of the shield


5


are similar to that of the first embodiment, so they are not described herein.




It is apparent that the two embodiments may be combined together. For example, in the first embodiment, the shield may have some lances instead of some of the spherical calottes. In addition, in the second embodiment, the shield also may have some spherical calottes in place of some of the lances.




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 adapted for contacting with a complementary connector, comprising:an insulative housing; a plurality of terminals in the insulative housing; and an island-like and unsymmetrical shield enclosing the insulative housing and comprising a keying means projecting outwardly from an outer surface thereof and adapted for being straightly snugly received in a corresponding keyway of the complementary connectors; wherein the keying means comprises a spherical calotte projecting outwardly from the shield; wherein the shield comprises a protrusion extending outwardly therefrom and adapted for engaging with the complementary connector; wherein the insulative housing comprises a tongue plate extending therefrom adapted for engaging with the complementary connector; wherein the insulative housing comprises a bulge extending outwardly therefrom and the shield comprises an opening for engageably receiving the bulge.
  • 2. The electrical connector as described in claim 1, wherein the shield comprises a shroud extending therefrom for enclosing the tongue plate.
  • 3. The electrical connector as described in claim 2, wherein the keying means is formed on the shroud.
  • 4. The electrical connector as described in claim 1, wherein the shield comprises at least one protrusion adjacent to the keying means for enhancing mechanical engagement with the complementary connector.
  • 5. The electrical connector as described in claim 4, wherein said at least one protrusion is horizontally aligned with the keying means.
  • 6. An electrical connector assembly comprising:an insulative housing having a plurality of terms therein, said housing including an island portion forwardly integrally therefrom; a unit metallic shield enclosing said housing, said shield including a shroud enclosing said island portion circumferentially, wherein said shroud includes a plurality of outwardly extending keys and a plurality of protrusions on an exterior surface thereof, said keys being dimensioned to be large enough to be slidably snugly received in corresponding keyways of a complementary connector along a front-to-back direction of said housing so as to assure correct orientation during mating, and said protrusions being dimensioned to be lower than the keys and to assure secure connection between the shroud and the complementary connectors; wherein said keys ate asymmetrically arranged along a periphery of said shroud, wherein the keying means comprises a lance extending outwardly from the shield; wherein the shield comprises a protrusion extending outwardly therefrom and adapted for engaging with the complementary connector; wherein the insulative housing comprises a tongue plate extending therefrom adapted for engaging with the complementary connector; wherein the insulative housing comprises a bulge extending outwardly therefrom and the shield comprises an opening for engageably receiving the bulge.
US Referenced Citations (6)
Number Name Date Kind
4854895 Komatsu Aug 1989 A
4938718 Guendel Jul 1990 A
5013262 Shibano May 1991 A
5080604 Rider et al. Jan 1992 A
5161997 Defibaugh et al. Nov 1992 A
6066003 Chang May 2000 A