JPH05250078A - Electronic card - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To execute insertion to a portable computer as a thin contour-shaped electronic card by integrating a connector and a frame in structure so as to form a plastic connector. CONSTITUTION: The connector 10 mounting a print circuit substrate 26 is provided with a plastic connector housing adding a contact mainbody 12 and the frame. The contact mainbody 12 is provided with plural conductive pins 14 which are engaged with the sockets 40 of an external connector 42. The frame is made into one body with the contact mainbody 12 and extended along the edge part of the print circuit substrate 26. The frame is provided with a pair of supporting materials 22 forming supporting structure with the edge parts 18 and 20 in order to directly fit the print circuit substrate 26 to the connector 10. The connector formed in this way can be used as the electronic card with a thin contour shape and used by being inserted to the thin slot of a computer housing.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to electronic packaging of cards and electrical connectors.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Computers are usually composed of a plurality of electronic cards which are connected to a motherboard. The card has a connector at one end that plugs into a corresponding connector mounted on the motherboard.
Typically, the other end of the card has another connector to allow the computer to connect to external devices. Such connectors are commonly found on internal modems or fax cards.

High density connectors are generally of the pin / socket type. Pin / socket connectors have conductive pins embedded in separate dielectric housings and their corresponding sockets. Many pin / socket connectors have a metal shell around the dielectric housing. The shell forms the support structure for the connector and protects the dielectric and electrical contacts from damage. The shell may have a pair of tabs or ridges that allow the connector to be bolted to the card. Installing the connector takes some time and usually requires fasteners to be installed. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a connector that allows electronic cards to be mounted without fasteners.

It is always desirable to add additional cards to computer systems. Most personal computers require the cover to be removed when adding or replacing a card. For laptop computers, removal of the cover or disassembly of the housing is not feasible. Therefore, it is desirable for the computer to insert the card into the system through a slot in the housing. Because laptop computers are relatively thin, the slots are a bit narrow. Standard pin / socket connectors have been found to be too wide to insert the card into a narrow slot. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a thin connector that allows the card to be inserted into a portable computer system such as a laptop.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an electronic card that can be inserted into a portable computer. Another object of the present invention is to provide a connector having a thin profile. It is also an object of the present invention to provide a plastic connector with structural integrity of the connector and metal shell.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a connector that can be mounted on a printed circuit board. The connector has a plastic connector housing that includes a contact body and a frame. The contact body includes a plurality of conductive pins that can engage with the socket of the external connector. The frame is integral with the contact body and extends along the edge of the printed circuit board. The frame has ridges that allow the printed circuit board to be mounted directly to the connector. No screws or other fasteners are required to attach the connector. Since the frame forms the support structure for the contact body, there is no need for a metal shell, thus reducing the width of the connector. Thus, the connector of the present invention can be used with electronic cards having a thin profile, which allows the card to be inserted through a narrow slot in a computer housing. The objects and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reviewing the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawings in more detail by reference to the figures, FIGS. 1 and 3 show a connector 10 of the present invention.
The connector 10 has a contact body 12 that houses a plurality of electrical contacts 14. From the contact body 12 to the first end portion 16
Is extended. A first edge portion 18 and a second edge portion 20 extend from the first end portion 16. The end portion and the edge portion are integrally formed with the contact body 12. Normal,
Connector 10 is manufactured from a dielectric material such as polycarbonate, or other plastic material that is injection molded into the shape shown. To form a protective surface,
The plastic may be metal plated. Connector 10
Has a pair of support members 22 forming a support structure for the edge portions 18 and 20.

FIG. 2 shows a cross section of the connector 10. The connector 10 has a first ridge 24 extending the entire length thereof. The first ridge 24 forms an area for mounting the printed circuit board 26 on the connector 10.
Generally, the width of the printed circuit board 26 is narrower than the distance between the ridge walls 28 of both edge portions, so that the circuit board 26 can be fitted into the connector 10. The circuit board 26 may be bonded to the ridge 24 with epoxy or other adhesive to firmly attach the printed circuit board 26 and the first ridge 24 to each other.

The printed circuit board 26 typically has several electronic components mounted thereon. Circuit board 26
Has a plurality of conductive leads terminating in either the pads 34 at the ends or the plated through holes. The electrical contacts 14 typically have tails 36 that will be soldered onto the pads or into the through holes after the connector 10 is mounted on the circuit board 26. The conductive leads couple the electrical contacts 14 to the electronic device 30.

The electrical contacts 14 are typically a pair of gold-plated copper pins located within a pair of slots 38 formed inside the contact body 12. The pins 14 can be plugged into the socket 40 that is embedded inside the corresponding external connector 42. The slot 38 is for inserting the external connector 42 into the contact body 12 to engage the pin 14 and the socket 40. Pin 14 is always correct socket 4
It is possible to make the connector a key-like structure by making one slot larger than the other so as to couple to zero. As is known in the art, the contact body 12 preferably has a contact hole formed therein so that the pin 14 can be fitted into the contact hole. Although the connector 10 is shown and described as having pins 14, it should be understood that the contact body 12 may be provided with a socket 40 and the external connector 42 may be provided with pins.

A second connector 44 can be connected to the other end of the printed circuit board 26. Before mounting the connector 10 on the printed circuit board 26, the second connector 44
Is preferably attached to the circuit board 26. According to another embodiment, the second connector 44 can be integrally molded with the connector 10. In the case of the second connector 44, the socket 46 is usually embedded in the housing 48. The tail of the socket 46 is soldered to the circuit board as previously described. The second connector 44 plugs into another connector (not shown) having corresponding pins. The other connector is usually mounted on the motherboard of the computer system. Grooves 50 on each edge
It may be molded. Grooves 50 mate with locating edges or pins inside the computer to guide the board and align the second connector 44 with the connector on the motherboard.

To surround the printed circuit board 26,
A pair of covers 52 can be attached to the connector 10. As shown in FIG. 2, the connector 10 may include a pair of second ridges 54 that support the cover 52. Second
The ridge is configured so that the cover 52 is flush with the top surface of the connector 10 to form a very thin electronic card. At both ends of the cover 52, slots 58 at the edges are provided to form a means for easily attaching the cover.
There may be a pair of tabs 56 that fit into the. Connector 1
The cover 52 is preferably manufactured from sheet metal to provide additional structural support for the zero and to protect the electronic device 30 from electromagnetic interference (EMI).

The connector 10 has a narrow profile so that the assembled card can be plugged into a narrow opening in a portable computer to connect the circuit board to the system. The circuit board may perform communication input / output functions such as a modem or facsimile, in which case the computer can be connected to the communication means by plugging the external connector 42 into the connector 10.

Some embodiments have been described in detail and shown in the accompanying drawings, which are merely to illustrate the invention in a broad sense and not to limit the invention. It should be understood that the present invention should not be limited to the particular configurations and arrangements shown and described, as these are not present and various other variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a connector of the present invention.

2 is a cross-sectional view of the connector of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the connector mounted on a printed circuit board.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Connector 12 Contact Body 14 Electrical Contact (Pin) 16 First End Part 18 First Edge Part 20 Second Edge Part 24 First Ridge 26 Printed Circuit Board 40 Socket 42 External Connector 44 Second Connector 46 Socket 52 cover 54 second ridge

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification number Internal reference number FI Technical display location H01R 23/68 Q 6901-5E (72) Inventor Duncan David McGregor United States 95682 Single Springs, California St. Goth Way 1701 (72) Inventor Carl Perkins United States 92714 California Irvine Elderwood 7

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A printed circuit board having first and second end portions and first and second edge portions; a contact body mounted to the first end portion of the printed circuit board; A frame extending from the contact body, the frame having a first side along the first end of the printed circuit board.
End portions and first edge portions and second edge portions respectively along the first edge portion and the second edge portion of the printed circuit board, and further including the first edge portion and the first edge portion. An electronic card comprising: a connector housing to which the printed circuit board having a pair of supporting members extending over the two edge portions is mounted.