DE69309761T2 - Electrical connector and shield for surface mounting - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an electrical connector for attachment to a circuit board having a metal shield.

US-PS 5,037,330 discloses a right angle electrical connector having a metal shield having side walls from which projecting flanges engage external grooves in insulating housings of the connector housed within the shield, and having curved mounting feet projecting from lower edges of the shield side walls for insertion through holes in a circuit board to hold the connector thereto.

The electrical connector of the above design has the following advantages. The metal shield covers the entirety of the upper and lower electrical connector bodies, while providing a pair of mounting feet for easy installation. In addition, the shield has protruding members that create a stable structural connection with the electrical connectors.

However, on the other hand, the electrical connector having the above construction has the following disadvantages. The connector lacks panel mounting means on the lower electrical connector and is therefore not held firmly in place until the metal shield covers it. Furthermore, the mounting feet of the metal shield do not firmly attach the electrical connector to the printed circuit board because they each have only one foot. In addition, the single-foot design presents a risk of being bent or otherwise damaged.

The present invention eliminates the above problems. The object of the present invention is to provide a panel lock with multiple legs that firmly secures the connector assembly to a printed circuit board. Further, the legs of the shield are soldered to the panel lock in a manner that eliminates the need for another hole in the printed circuit board.

The present invention consists in an electrical connector as defined in claim 1.

An electrical connector according to the preamble of claim 1 in EP-A-0 292 144 disclosed.

As disclosed herein, an electrical connector for mounting to a circuit board is provided, comprising a housing having a bottom wall with a bottom surface for abutting against the circuit board, the bottom wall having a through hole formed therein that opens into the bottom surface. A hollow panel lock supported in the through hole has locking legs that project below the bottom surface for insertion into a first hole in the circuit board. A socket in the housing carries electrical terminals whose terminal legs project from the socket and terminate in solder tails that project below the bottom surface of the housing for insertion into second holes in the circuit board with the bottom surface of the housing contacting them. A metal shield covering the connecting legs has a grounding lug projecting downward from it, which projects through the plate lock and between its locking legs.

When the connector has been mounted on the circuit board with the locking legs of the board lock extending through the first hole and the solder tails extending through the second holes, the board lock and solder tails are soldered to corresponding ground and signal conductors on the underside of the board. The ground tab extending between the locking legs of the board lock is soldered to the same ground conductor. The drilling program for the board is thereby simplified and lining material is saved. The board lock also serves to protect the ground tab from being crushed against the board when the connector is mounted thereon or to protect the ground tab from being otherwise damaged when the connector is handled.

The holes for the plate locks may be formed in spaced apart rudimentary bottom walls of the enclosure, the enclosure having a top wall and the shield having an upper flap which resiliently engages below the top wall of the enclosure, whereby the side walls of the shield from which the grounding tabs protrude are resiliently urged against the bottom walls of the enclosure. The shield may be received between side walls protruding from a front wall of the enclosure in which the base is mounted, a side wall of the shield having locking tabs which engage grooves in the enclosure side walls. To assemble the shield to the enclosure, the shield is moved vertically downward between the side walls so that the grounding tabs enter the plate locks and the locking tabs contact the grooves, the flap being resiliently depressed and positioned below the top wall of the enclosure. To position the grounding lugs for insertion through the panel latches, the grounding lugs are offset inward from the side walls of the shield.

As disclosed herein, a right angle electrical connector for attachment to a circuit board includes a die cast metal housing having a front wall formed with upper and lower through holes. Side walls project rearwardly therefrom from opposite side ends of the front wall, with bottom walls contacting the board extending toward each other from inner surfaces of the side walls. Projections project downwardly from the bottom walls for electrically connecting the die cast metal housing to ground via the circuit board. A first drawn metal sleeve forming a through hole is secured in the upper through hole of the metal housing, and a second drawn metal sleeve is secured in the lower through hole of the metal housing. A first insulating base is received in the opening of the first drawn sleeve, and a second insulating base is received in the opening of the second drawn sleeve. Each socket has a mating surface exposed in the forward direction of the front housing wall and a terminal receiving surface facing rearward from the front housing wall. The first socket has a first group of electrical terminals, the second socket has a second group of electrical terminals. Each terminal has a mating portion within the socket exposed toward the mating surface of the socket, with a terminal leg projecting obliquely downwardly and rearwardly beyond the terminal receiving surface of the socket and between the housing side walls, and with a solder tail projecting downwardly beneath the bottom walls of the housing. The solder tails of the terminals of each group of terminals are arranged in at least one row, all of these rows being parallel.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a stacked right angle electrical connector and shows a preferred embodiment of a metal shield therefor;

Fig. 2 is a rear perspective view of the connector in its mated state, removed from a circuit board;

Fig. 3 is a rear perspective view of the connector of Fig. 2 with the shield removed;

Fig. 4 is a front perspective view of the connector of Fig. 2:

Fig. 5 is a bottom perspective view of the connector of Fig. 2; Fig. 6 is a front view of the connector of Fig. 2;

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the metal shield of the connector of Fig.

Fig. 8 is a front view of the shield of Fig. 7 showing the interior thereof; Fig. 9 is an end view of the shield of Figs. 7 and 8;

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary side view illustrating details of the connector of Fig. 2;

Fig. 11 is a fragmentary side view, partly in section, illustrating details of the connector of Fig. 2 when mounted to the circuit board;

Fig. 12 is a view similar to Fig. 2, but illustrating a modification of the metal shield;

Fig. 13 is a rear perspective view illustrating further variations of the metal shield; and

Fig. 14 is an end view of the shield of Fig. 13.

A shielded, stacked, right angle electrical connector 1 for mounting to a printed circuit board PCB is shown in the exploded perspective view of Fig. 1. The connector, which can be used in the computer field as an input/output connector, comprises a die-cast metal housing 2 which houses upper and lower drawn metal sleeves 4 and 6, the sleeves 4 and 6 receiving upper and lower insulating socket inserts 8 and 10, and the inserts 8 and 10 in turn receiving upper and lower groups 12 and 14 of a series of electrical terminals. The connector 1 further comprises a spacer plate 16 for terminal tails and a metal shield 18 covering the rear of the housing 2. The connector 1 will now be described with reference to Figs. 1 to 11.

The die cast housing 2 includes a front wall 20 and opposed side walls 22 tapering rearwardly from opposite ends of the front wall 20, each side wall 22 having a downwardly sloping upper edge 24, a horizontal lower edge 26 extending at right angles to the front wall 20 and a vertical rear edge 28 connecting the edges 24 and 26 parallel to the wall 20. The housing 2 is best seen in Figures 3 and 6. The housing 2 has a pair of disk contact members in the form of opposed rudimentary bottom walls 30 projecting from the side walls 22 adjacent their lower edges 26 within the housing 2. Each wall 30 has a lower surface 31 (Figs. 5, 10 and 11) for engagement with the panel. The housing 2 also has a rudimentary front upper wall 32 extending rearwardly from the upper end of the front wall 20 and spanning the side walls 22. Each edge 24 is connected to the upper wall 32 at a short horizontal upper edge 33.

The front wall 20 is formed near its upper end with a pair of spaced apart wedges 36 molded therein or threadably attachable thereto, the wedge 36 being representative of both versions, each wedge 36 being disposed adjacent a respective side wall 22. Below each wedge 36, the front wall 20 is formed with threaded screw locks 38. The wedges 36 and the screw locks 38 are adapted to cooperate with complementary wedge tracks. and connecting screws of an electrical connector (not shown) for joining to the connector 1.

The wedges 36 may have a threaded shaft that is receivable in a threaded opening in the front wall 20, or they may be molded into the housing 2. The wedges 36 project forwardly from the wall 20 and carry a locking rib 87. Typically, the wedges are provided in pairs with the rib 87 on each wedge 36 oriented in the coordinated directions. The rib 87 may assume other angular positions. Typical positions have equal angular orientations such as vertical as shown, both laterally outward - the rib on the left wedge to the left and the rib on the right wedge to the right - and both vertically downward. The central bore of the wedge may be threaded to receive a connecting screw. The same structure as the wedge 36 without the rib 87 forms a screw lock.

As shown in Fig. 6, the front wall 20 is provided with an upper laterally elongated through opening 35 between the wedges 36 and a lower laterally elongated through opening 133 between the wedge tracks 38 as shown in Fig. 6. Each bottom wall 30 is formed with an inwardly projecting lower step 40 which extends the full length thereof and which has a central through bore 39 which extends through the plate contact surface 31 of the wall 30 and in which a hollow plate lock 41 is secured in the manner described in U.S. Patent 4,842,552 and which is constructed in accordance with the teachings of that patent. Each panel lock 41 has an annular strip supported in the corresponding bore 39 and from which strip four locking legs 37 project downwardly below the surface 31. A panel mounting projection 43 projects downwardly from each bottom wall 30 of the housing 2 on each side of each panel lock 41 therein. The inner surface of each side wall 22 is formed immediately above the corresponding bottom wall 30 with a longitudinal locking groove 42 extending the full length of the side wall 22.

The drawn sleeves 4 and 6, constructed according to the teaching of US Patent 4,808,125, are secured in the openings 35 and 133, according to the teaching of that US Patent. In this way, both sleeves 4 and 6 are electrically connected to the housing 2. A shielded mating connector engaging one of the sleeves 4 or 6 is grounded to a circuit board to which the connector 1 is connected through the housing 2 and through the Board lock 41 is attached to the circuit board with a ground conductor. Sockets 8 and 10 are secured in sleeves 4 and 6, also in the manner taught by U.S. Patent 4,808,125. Each socket 8 and 10 has an upper row of terminal-receiving through cavities 44. Each cavity 44 and 46 opens to a front mating surface 48 and a rear terminal-receiving surface 50 of the corresponding socket 8 and 10.

The plate 16 rests on the steps 40 of the bottom walls 30 and has tabs 52 and 54 at each end of the plate 16 which engage complementary recesses in the inner surfaces 56 of the walls 30. The plate 16 has a back surface 63 which extends the full length thereof. A plurality of longitudinally extending rows of through holes 62 are provided in the plate 16 for receiving terminal tails.

The group 12 of terminals includes an upper row of first terminals 64 and a lower row of second terminals 66, and the group 14 of terminals includes an upper row of third terminals 68 and a lower row of fourth terminals 70. Each terminal 64, 66, 68, 70 is planar and has a forked front mating portion 72 and a support portion 74 extending rearwardly therefrom, the portions 72 and 74 being straight and longitudinally aligned with one another, with a straight leg 76 extending rearwardly from the portion 74 and angled downwardly with respect thereto and terminating in a solder tail 78 projecting from the underside of the leg 76 at right angles to the portions 72 and 74. The mating portions 72 of the terminals 64 are received in corresponding cavities 44 of the upper row of cavities of the base 8, the mating portions 72 of the terminals 66 are received in the cavities 46 of the lower row of cavities 46 of the base 8. The mating portions 72 of the terminals 68 are received in corresponding cavities 44 of the upper row of cavities of the base 10, the mating portions 72 of the terminals 70 are received in the cavities 46 of the lower row of cavities of the base 10. The terminal support portions 74, each portion of which is transversely expanded in its own plane, serve to hold the terminals in the cavities, with the forked mating portions 72 of the terminals projecting onto the corresponding mating surfaces 48. The legs 76 of the connectors 64 are longer than those of the connectors 66, the legs 76 of the connectors 66 are longer than those of the connectors 68, and the legs 76 of the connectors 68 are longer than the legs 76 of the connectors 70. The downward angle of the legs 76 of the connectors 64 may be smaller than that of the legs 76 of the connectors 76 (66), wherein the angle of the legs 76 of the connectors 66 is smaller than that of the connections 68 and the angle of the legs 76 of the connections 68 is smaller than that of the legs of the connections 70.

Due to these configurations of the legs 76, the solder tails 78 of the terminals 64 extend through the holes of the rearmost row of holes 62 in the plate 16, the tails 78 of the terminals 66 extend through the holes of the next rearmost row of holes 62, the tails 78 of the terminals 68 extend through the holes of the next row of holes 62 in the forward direction, and the tails 78 of the terminals 70 extend through the holes of the frontmost row of holes 62 in the plate 16. The spacer plate 16 is pressed over the tails 78.

As best seen in Figures 7-9, the shield 18, which is stamped and formed from a single piece of sheet metal, includes opposed side walls 80 of generally triangular shape, a rear wall generally designated 82, and an upper wall in the form of a forwardly projecting cantilevered flap 84 free from the walls 80, the shield 18 being open forwardly. The rear wall 82 includes a rear and downwardly sloping upper front portion 86, a lower rear portion 88, and a lowermost rear portion 90 projecting downwardly below the side walls 80 and having a lower edge 91. The side walls 80 are connected only by the wall portions 86 and 88. The side walls 80 have vertical front edges 92 overlain by forward and downwardly inclined edge portions 94 designed to allow for compliant deformation of the flap 84 as best seen in Fig. 9. Each side wall 80 may have a lateral positioning window 97 (shown in Figs. 9, 13 and 14) to prevent lateral movement of the shield 18 within the housing 2 prior to soldering. The window engages the inner surface of the side walls 22 to prevent lateral movement while providing additional points of electrical continuity therebetween.

The side walls 80 have lower edges 96. Each side wall 80 has a pair of molded outwardly and upwardly inclined locking tabs 98 adjacent its lower edge 96. Between its tabs 98, each side wall 80 has a central flat grounding tab 100 connected to the edge 96 of the wall 80 by a horizontal strip 102 normal thereto. Each tab 100 is thereby offset inwardly from the corresponding wall 80 in parallel relation thereto. A pair of further flat grounding tabs 104 may project downwardly from the lower edge 91 of the wall section 88, coplanar therewith and having planes at right angles to those of the tabs. 100. The free ends of the tabs 104 can lie below those of the tabs 100.

To attach the shield 18 to the partially completed connector shown in Fig. 3, the shield 18 is moved vertically downward with its tabs 100 and 104 first into the die cast metal housing 2 so that the locking tabs 98 on each side wall 80 of the shield 18 are initially pushed inwardly and then return outwardly to engage corresponding grooves 42 in the side walls 22 of the housing 2. The windows 97, if present, are pushed inwardly but are biased against the inner surface of the walls 22. The flap 84 of the shield 18 is simultaneously resiliently pushed down and inserted under the top wall 32 of the housing 2. In this manner, the rear wall portions 86 and 88 of the shield 18 cover the rear edges of the terminals of groups 12 and 14, but are spaced apart therefrom, with the lowermost rear wall portion 90 of the shield 18 abutting in opposing relation against the rear wall 63 of the spacer plate 16 and the tabs 104 projecting beneath and behind it. In this assembled position of the shield 18, each of its tabs 100 projects through the annular strip of a corresponding one of the plate latches 41 and extends between the latch legs 37 thereof, as best seen in Fig. 10. The resilient engagement of the flap 84 against the top wall 32 presses the lower edge 96 of the shield 18 downward against the bottom walls 30. The completed connector is shown in Figs. 2 and 4 through 6.

The circuit board PCB (Fig. 2) on the surface of which the assembly 1 is to be mounted has therein a series of smaller plated through holes H 1 to receive the terminal tails 78, two larger plated through holes H 2 to receive the board latches 41, two further plated through holes H 3 to receive the tabs 104 and four further unplated through holes H 4 to receive the mounting bosses 43 of the housing 2.

When the connector 1 has been mounted on the board PCB with the terminal tails 78, the board locks 41, the tabs 104 and the mounting projections 43 protruding through the holes provided for them in the board PCB, as shown in Fig. 11, the parts of the terminal tails 78 protruding below the board PCB are soldered to corresponding signal conductors (not shown) on the board PCB, the locking legs 37 of the board locks 41 and the tabs 104 are soldered to ground conductors (not shown) on the board PCB. Since the tabs 100 fit into the board locks 41 extend, they are soldered in the same way to the earth conductors to which the legs 37 are soldered, as shown in Fig. 11. Therefore, no additional plated through holes for the tabs 100 need to be provided in the PCB. The drilling program for the plate is thereby simplified and lining metal is saved.

If the shield 18 has as many tabs 100 (or 194) as the connector has plate latches, no additional through holes are required just to accommodate additional shield grounding tabs. If the shield 18 has more tabs 100 (or 104) than plate latches, the required number of through holes can be minimized by having at least some of the through holes have a dual function, namely, providing a plate latch function and possibly an accompanying grounding through the plate latch, as well as providing a path to ground for a grounding tab on the shield 18.

Furthermore, the panel locks 41 serve to protect the tabs 100 from being crushed against the panel PCB when the connector 1 is attached thereto or otherwise damaged when the connector 1 is handled.

The connector 1' shown in Fig. 12 is the same as the connector 1 described above except that the tabs 104 of the shield are not provided. The provision of the holes H 3 in the circuit board is thus avoided.

As shown in Figures 13 and 14, a shield 18' according to an alternative embodiment is the same as the shield 18 except that the wall portion 86' of the rear wall 82' is formed with rows of holes 108 provided with extruded semi-circular funnels 110 extending therearound for the introduction of cleaning fluids, which may be liquids or gases, to flush out contaminants from beneath the spacer plate of the terminal tails. The liquids may flush out contaminants that might otherwise cause a short circuit between the solder tails; air may be used for drying. This may be accomplished when the shield 18' is in place. The wall portion 88' is provided with a rearwardly inclined flap 112 to allow the exit of said fluids.

Claims (8)

1. An electrical connector (1) for mounting to a printed circuit board (PCB), the connector (1) having at least one socket insert (8) disposed within a die-cast metal housing (2) and within a metal shield (18) to have at least one set of electrical terminals (12), characterized in that the metal housing (2) has an opening (39) with a hollow plate lock (41) disposed therein, the plate lock having at least two legs (37) and the metal shield (18) having tabs (100) received within the hollow portion of the plate lock (41) for soldering thereto. Electrical connector according to claim 1, characterized in that the metal housing (2) has a removable tail spacer plate (16) for supporting the terminals (12). 3. Electrical connector according to claim 2, characterized in that the at least one base insert (8) is mounted in a drawn metal sleeve (4). 4. Electrical connector according to claim 2, characterized in that the terminals (12) are flat. 5. Electrical connector according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the at least two legs (37) are bent along their length so that they protrude inwards on one side when they are inserted into the opening (39). 6. Electrical connector according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the metal shield (18) has grounding lugs (104) and a one-sided projecting flap (84) which cooperate to fix the metal shield (18) to the metal housing (2) and to the printed circuit board (PCB). 7. Electrical connector according to claim 6, characterized in that the metal shield (18) has locking tongues (98) which engage in grooves (42) in the metal housing (2). 8. Electrical connector according to claim 6, characterized in that the metal shield (18) has funnels (110) for the entry of a cleaning fluid.