This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/492,148 filed on Jul. 24, 2006 and entitled “ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR WITH SHELL”, and it has the same applicant and assignee as the present invention. The disclosure of the related application is incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an electrical connector, and more particularly to an electrical connector with a metal shell.
2. Description of Related Art
The SFF Committee is an ad hoc group formed to address storage industry needs in a prompt manner. One kind of connector named Mini SAS connector adapted for high-speed transmission has been defined by the SFF Committee. Several types of utility Mini SAS connectors have been launched and U.S. Pub. No. 2006/0160399 A1 discloses such kind of connector. The connector includes a connector guide made of sheet metal and located in front of an insulated housing. The connector guide and the insulated housing are separately mounted on a printed circuit board. When an opposing connector mates with the connector, the connector guide serves to align contact surfaces and provide strain relief to the connector. However, the insulated housing and the connector guider are handled relay on a pick-up cover/device. It is loose to control relative dimension/position therebetween. The aforementioned pending patent application Ser. No. 11/492,148 discloses an insulted housing and a metal shell (connector guide) combined together to form one piece type of electrical connector. A special design of this kind of electrical connector may decrease/eliminate aforesaid problems. Nevertheless, as the metal shell is assembled to the insulated housing via a pair of relative thin and flexible arms, and the insulated housing and the metal shell may not be combined securely, and further the metal shell couldn't withstand big force exerted along mating direction.
Hence, an improved electrical connector with a metal shell is highly desired to overcome the disadvantages of the related art.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector with improved structure to make an insulated housing and a metal shell combined more tightly and reliably.
In order to achieve the object set forth, an electrical connector in accordance with the present invention comprises an insulated housing having a primary body portion including a top wall, a bottom wall and a pair of side walls interconnecting with the top wall and the bottom wall to cooperatively form a hollow portion; a plurality of terminals arranged into two distinct sets and respectively supported by the top wall and the bottom wall of the insulated housing; a metal shell including an upper wall and a pair of transversal walls extending downwardly from two opposite side edges of the upper wall to form a substantially inverted U-shaped body portion, said metal shell further having a pair of lateral arms extending rearward from rear edges of the transversal walls respectively and a subsidiary arm coupled to ends of the pair of lateral arms to form a substantially U-shaped frame portion. The insulated housing is securely assembled to the U-shaped frame portion, with the body portion of the metal shell located forwardly of the insulated housing. A spring member slantways extending downward and rearward from rear edge of the upper wall and located above the insulated housing.
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.
Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.
Referring to
The insulated housing 1 has a primary body portion 1a comprising a top wall 11, a bottom wall 12, a rear wall 14 and a pair of side walls 13 interconnecting with the top wall 11, the bottom wall 12 and the rear wall 14 to cooperatively enclose a hollow portion 10. The hollow portion 10 has an enlarged front opening 10a extending interiorly along a mating direction. Both the top wall 11 and the bottom wall 12 define a number of terminal slots 111, 121 interiorly recessed from an upper surface of the top wall 11 and a lower surface of the bottom wall 12 to communicate with the hollow portion 10. The terminal slots 111, 121 are arranged in two rows along transversal direction and offset from each other. Each side wall 13 forms a locking member 132 located on forward and middle outer surface thereof. A front section of each side wall 13 further forms a first bulge 131 laterally extend outward from a lower surface thereof. Thus, a first groove 1311 is formed between the first bulge 131 and the side wall 13. Two supporting members 15 respectively align with the pair of side walls 13 and extend downward from lateral sides of a bottom of the bottom wall 12. Thus, the bottom wall 12 and the two supporting members 15 consist of a passage way 150 along mating direction. A rear section of each supporting members 15 is cut to form a gateway 151. Two positioning posts 152 are respectively adjacent to the gateways 151 and extend downward from bottom surfaces of two supporting member 15.
The insulated housing 1 further has a secondary body portion 1b connecting to a back face of the primary body portion 1a. The secondary body portion 1b includes a pair of protection walls 18 respectively extending rearward from back edges (not numbered) of the pair of the side wall 13 of the primary body portion 1a and step-shaped platform portion 17 disposed between the protection walls 18 and extending rearward from lower section of the back face of the primary body portion 1a. Each protection wall 18 forms a second bulge 181 laterally extend outward from a lower surface thereof. Therefore, a second groove 1811 is formed between the second bulge 181 and the protection wall 18. The second groove 1811 and the first groove 1311 align with each another along longitudinal direction (mating direction). Each protection wall 18 further forms a locking member 182 located on forward and top outer surface thereof. A lower portion 171 of the platform portion 17 defines a number of gaps 172 arranged in a row along transversal direction.
Referring to
Each of the second set of terminals 22 includes a forward and upwardly slant contact beam 221 with a curved contact portion 222, a horizontal transition portion 226 extending rearward from an end portion of the contact beam 221, an upright retention portion 223 formed at middle section of the transition portion 226, an inverted zigzag-shaped supporting portion 227 with its top end portion engaging with an end portion of the transition portion 226. The inverted zigzag-shaped supporting portion 227 has a horizontal foot portion 228 stretching backward therefrom. The retention portion 223 is substantially rectangular-shaped with a vertical slot 224 therein and barbs 225 formed on a lateral side thereof. A configuration of the zigzag-shaped supporting portion 227 can control impedance of the terminal 22 and further improve electrical performance of signal transmission.
The metal shell 3 comprises an upper wall 31 and a pair of transversal walls 32 connecting with the upper wall 31 to form a substantially an inverted U-shape body portion 30. The inverted U-shape body portion 30 circumferences a roomage 36 therein adapted for leading the insertion of a complementary connector (not shown). A pair of lateral arms 33 respectively extend rearward from lower sections of back edges of the transversal walls 32 and a subsidiary arm 34 joined to the pair of lateral arms 33 to form a substantially U-shaped frame portion 33a with a forward outlet (not numbered). In the preferred embodiment, the subsidiary arm 34 is configured to L-shaped structure which has a longer transversal section (not numbered) integrated with an end section of one lateral arm 33 (left lateral arm, see
The circuit substrate 4 has a plurality of conductive traces arranged in distinct first set of conductive traces 41 and second set of conductive traces 42. A pair of positioning holes 44 and three pairs of circular holes 43 are spaced arranged before the positioning holes 44 of the circuit substrate 4. Two conductive holes 45 rearward located on the circuit substrate 4.
Referring to
Thirdly, the metal shell 3 is assembled to the insulated housing 1, with the insulated housing 1 accommodated in the space 35 of the frame portion 33a, partial of lower edges of the pair of lateral arms 33 sandwiched by the first grooves 1311 and the second grooves 1811, the first and the second locking members 132, 182 locked into the first and the second through holes 331, 332 of the pair of lateral arms 33 respectively, a rear surface of the insulated housing 1 abutting to and held by the subsidiary arm 34. Thus, the body portion 30 of the metal shell 3 is located forward of the front face of the insulated housing 1 and the spring member 37 of the metal shell 3 disposed above the top wall 11 of the insulated housing 1, with the capturing portion 371 of the spring member 37 aligning with contact portions 212, 222 of the first set and the second set of terminals 21, 22 along vertical direction. Fourthly, the insulated housing 1 and the metal shell 3 are together assembled to the circuit substrate 4, with the foot portions 218, 228 of the first set of and the second set of terminals 21, 22 respectively disposed on the conductive traces 41, 42, the positioning posts 152 received in the corresponding positioning holes 44, the board locks 321 inserted into the corresponding circular holes 43 for retaining the electrical connector 100 to the circuit substrate 4, and the grounding pins 333 received in the conductive holes 45 of the circuit substrate 4. Fifthly, the foot portions 218, 228 are soldered to the conductive traces 41, 42 by surface mount technology (SMT) manner. The gateways 151 of the side walls 13 of the insulated housing 1 facilitate the air flow in soldering process to improve the quality of solder. In the present invention, via the frame portion 33a coupled to the insulated housing 1, the metal shell 3 can withstand larger transversal force than before.
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 illustrated 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.
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