KR100414846B1 - Electrical connector - Google Patents

Abstract

The electrical connector includes an electrical insulator and a conductive shield. The electrical insulator has a plurality of terminals. Each terminal has tails each clamped on a circuit board. The electrical insulator has two backwardly extending locking blocks on both sides. Each lock block has a locking groove for receiving the circuit board when connecting the terminals to respective contacts of the circuit board. The locking blocks also include flexible arms with uprights adapted to engage into respective holding holes on the circuit board. The conductive shield includes backwardly extending ground arms that further include retainers adapted to engage into respective holes on the circuit board. Retainers and retaining holes secure the connector to the circuit board opposite to the vertical as well as to the front and rear and left and right horizontal displacements.

Description

Electrical connector {ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR}

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to electrical connectors and, more particularly, to an improved structure for a straddle mounted electrical connector, wherein the tails of the terminals are mounted on a circuit board by surface mount technology (SMT), such as soldering. It is securely fixed to the circuit board before and after it is attached to the circuit tracers.

1 is a perspective view of a conventionally mounted electrical connector 1 with respect to a circuit board 2. Electrical connector 1 includes two rows of electrical insulator 10 and vertically spaced terminals 100 provided within electrical insulator 10. Each terminal 100 has a rear clamping tail 101. The clamping tails 101 of the terminals 100 are clamped on the top and bottom sidewalls of the circuit board 2 and pushed into contact with respective contacts (not shown) in the circuit board 2, and SMT is then used to mechanically and electrically connect the connector 1 to the circuit board 2.

Since the clamping tails 101 of the terminals 100 are clamped on the top and bottom sidewalls of the circuit board 2 respectively, the clamping tails 101 are connected between the connector 1 and the circuit board 2. Only prevent vertical displacement. There is only a small frictional resistance between the connector 1 and the circuit board 2 in the front, rear, left and right horizontal directions. Thus, back and forth or left and right vibrations that may be present during the SMT process cannot be eliminated, resulting in inaccurate connection or inclination or deformation of the terminals 100 between the clamping tails 101 and the respective contacts of the circuit board. Brings about. In this case, the SMT treatment may not be effective and a defective product may be produced. If the terminals 100 are all welded to the circuit board 2 by SMT processing, improper application of the force during plugging and unplugging or frequent plugging and unplugging may cause the terminals 100 of the connector 1 to be disconnected. Can be displaced. Therefore, the yield strength cannot be greatly improved by this conventional design.

Moreover, this design cannot prevent the connector 1 from connecting in the wrong direction with respect to the circuit board 2. This problem easily occurs during high speed, high volume production operations. If the connector is connected to the circuit board in the wrong direction, the terminals 100 cannot be correctly connected to each contact and the product becomes useless. This problem must be eliminated.

The present invention provides an electrical connector that overcomes the problems present in the prior art and provides further advantages over the prior art, which advantages will become apparent upon reading the accompanying specification in parallel with the review of the drawings.

It is a general object of the present invention to provide an electrical connector which can be stably and accurately fixed to a circuit board and prevents displacement in the vertical direction as well as in the front, rear, left and right horizontal directions.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an electrical connector that provides an accurate connection between the clamping tails of the electrical connector and the respective contacts on the circuit board.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector which eliminates the inclination or deformation of the terminals of the connector.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector that cannot be connected to a circuit board in the wrong direction.

Briefly according to the foregoing, the present invention discloses an improved electrical connector. The electrical connector includes an electrical insulator and a conductive shield. The insulator has two locking blocks extending backwards on both sides. Each lock block has a locking groove for receiving the circuit board when connecting the terminals to respective contacts of the circuit board. The individual locking block further includes a flexible arm having an upright that engages into each holding hole on the circuit board. The conductive shield includes two ground arms extending backwards. The individual ground arms have retainers adapted to be fastened into the respective holding holes from the bottom surface of the circuit board.

1 is a perspective view of a conventional mounting electrical connector and a perspective view of a circuit board.

2 is an exploded perspective view and a circuit board perspective view of an electrical connector incorporating features of the first embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a partial perspective view of the grounding arm of a portion of the electrical connector of FIG. 2;

4 is a perspective view showing the electrical connector of the first embodiment of the present invention assembled with a circuit board shown in a perspective view;

5 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of a first embodiment of a circuit board and an electrical connector having some connectors attached to the circuit board.

Figure 6 is a partial perspective view of the grounding arm incorporating features of the second embodiment of the present invention.

7 is an exploded perspective view and a circuit board perspective view of an electrical connector incorporating features of a third embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 8 is a partial perspective view of the locking arm of the flexible arm and electrical connector of Figure 7;

Figure 9 is a perspective view showing the electrical connector of the third embodiment of the present invention assembled with the circuit board shown in a perspective view.

Figure 10 is a cross sectional view of a portion of a third embodiment of an electrical connector and a circuit board having some electrical connectors attached to the circuit board.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

4: circuit board

30: electrical insulator

31: conductive shield

32: lock block

33: inlet bar

34: Donation

40: holding hole

42: inlet slot

53: protrusion

300: terminal

301: rear clamping tail

310: ground arm

311: Retainer

320: home

321: flexible arm

322: upright part

While the present invention may be embodied in different forms of embodiment, certain embodiments are illustrated with the understanding that this disclosure is to be considered as illustrative of the principles of the invention and does not limit the invention as described and illustrated herein. It will be shown in and described in detail herein.

The first embodiment of the electrical connector 3 of the present invention is shown in Figs. The connector 3 includes an electrical insulator 30 and a conductive shield 31 covering a portion of the electrical insulator 30.

The electrical insulator 30 is a single piece molded part composed of a plastic or similar dielectric material. The electrical insulator 30 has a rear side 30a and a front side 30b. Typically the rectangular portion 37 is centrally located and extends from the front side 30b of the insulator 30. The insulator 30 is provided with two rows of terminals extending through the insulator 30 and positioned centrally and extending from the rear side 30a of the insulator 30. Each terminal 300 has a rear clamping tail 301 adapted to be clamped on each contact of the circuit board 4. The clamping tails 301 of the top row of terminals 300 match the contacts (not shown) on the top surface of the circuit board 4 and the clamping tails 301 of the bottom row of terminals 300 are circuitry. Match the contacts (not shown) on the bottom surface of the substrate 4.

The electrical insulator 30 also includes two locking blocks 32 arranged symmetrically on the rear side 30a of the insulator. Each locking block 32 includes a pair of upper arms 32a and a pair of lower arms 32b extending parallel to the terminals 300. The upper arms 32a are spaced apart from each other. The lower arms 32b are also spaced apart from each other. The elongate groove 320 is located between the upper arms 32a and the lower arms 32b and also extends parallel to the terminals 300. The groove 320 is used to help position the circuit board 4 as described herein.

The insulator 30 further includes bases 34 provided on each end thereof. Each base 34 includes a first shoulder 35a and a second shoulder 35b. The first shoulder 35a and the second shoulder 35b extend rearward from the rear side 30a of the base 34. A passage (not shown) is provided between the first shoulder 35a and the second shoulder 35b. Each base 34 also includes a recess 38 and a hole 52 below each recess 38 and above the second shoulder 35b. The recess 38 defines the shoulder 38a on the front side of the base 34.

A lead-in rod 33 is provided on one of the bases 34 of the insulator 30. The retracting rod 33 extends rearwardly parallel to the locking block 32 from the base 34. The inlet bar 33 is aligned perpendicular to the groove 320.

The conductive shield 31 includes a plate 36 having a first side 36a, a second side 36b, a first end 50a, and an opposing second end 50b. Typically a rectangular skirt 39 is suspended on the second side 36b of the plate 36. Two symmetrically suspended ground arms 310 extend from the first side 36a of the plate 36 to weld to respective ground contacts (not shown) at the bottom side of the circuit board 4. The first ground arm 310 is located near the first end 50a of the plate 36 and the second ground arm 310 is located near the second end 50b of the plate 36. Each ground arm 310 has an upwardly protruding retainer 311 located near the free end 310a of the ground arm 310. 2 and 3, the retainer 311 is a hook formed by protruding. One end of the retainer 311 is connected to each ground arm 310 to form an inclined surface 311a. The inclined surface 311a reaches a horizontal surface 311b which terminates at a gentle arcuate surface 312 suspended in the air at the opposite end of the retainer 311. In the second embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the retainer 315 is shaped like a hemispherical shell projecting from the top of the ground arm 316. Retainer 315 includes an inclined surface 317 leading to vertical end wall 318.

Two tabs 51 are located near the top of the conductive shield 31 and are spaced apart from both ends 50a and 50b of the conductive shield. The projection 53 of cylindrical shape is located under the tabs 51. Tabs 51 and protrusions 53 are used to secure conductive shield 31 to insulator 30.

When connecting the insulator 30 to the conductive shield 31, the skirt 39 of the conductive shield 31 is positioned around the rectangular portion 37 of the insulator 30 and the front side 36a of the plate 36 is It is placed adjacent to the rear side 30b of the insulator 30. The tabs 51 are curved over the shoulder 38a and the protrusions 53 are inserted into the holes 52. Ground arms 310 pass through passages located on the base (not shown), preferably located between first shoulder 35a and second shoulder 35b.

The circuit board 4 to which the connector 3 is electrically connected includes two holding holes 40 and a lead-in slot 42 located near the front or front edge of the circuit board 4. do. The retention hole 40 corresponds to the retainer 311 of each ground arm 310 of the conductive shield 31. As shown in FIG. 4, the inlet slot 42 corresponds to the inlet bar 33 of the insulator 30. Thus, the connector 3 can only be clamped on the circuit board 4 when aiming the connector 3 to the circuit board 4 in the right direction such that the entry bar 33 is inserted into the insertion slot 42. have. If the connector 3 is not attached to the circuit board 4 in the right direction, the inlet bar 33 will be stopped at the edge of the circuit board 4 and prevented from connecting to the circuit board 4. Thus, the connector 3 can be easily and accurately installed in the circuit board 4 without causing vibration.

When the connector 3 is mechanically and electrically connected to the circuit board 4, the circuit board 4 is inserted into the groove 320 of each of the lock blocks 32 of the electrical insulator 30 and the entry rod 33 Is inserted into the retracting slot 42. The circuit board 4 is inserted between the top rows of tails 301 and the tails 301 of the bottom row of terminals. When the circuit board 4 moves into the groove 320, the inclined surface 311a of the retainer 311 slides along the edge of the retaining hole 40. Once the circuit board 4 is moved all the way into the groove, the horizontal surface 311b enters the holding hole and the arcuate surface 312 comes into contact with the wall of the holding hole 40 to stop, which is shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. As shown. In the second embodiment, when the circuit board 4 moves into the groove 320, the inclined surface 317 of the retainer 315 slides along the edge of the retaining hole 40. Once the circuit board 4 has moved all the way into the groove 320, the vertical wall 318 is forced into the retention hole 40. Clamping tail 301 of terminal 300, locking groove 320 of each locking block 32 of electrical insulator 30, and clamping of retainer 311 of each ground arm 310 of conductive shield 31. And by the retention effect, the connector 3 is stably fixed on the circuit board 4 and the terminals 300 are in contact with respective contacts in the circuit board 4 for easy application of the SMT process. Is kept accurate. After SMT processing, the connection of the connector 3 to the circuit board 4 is strong enough to resist the pushing and pulling forces in all directions.

A third embodiment of the electrical connector 3 'of the present invention is shown in Figures 7-10. The third embodiment of the electrical connector 3 'is the same as the first embodiment of the electrical connector 3 except that the flexible suspension arm 321 is disposed in each locking groove 320. Thus, like elements are denoted by like reference numerals except for having a prime symbol after the reference number. It should be understood that the retainer 315 shown in FIG. 6 may be used instead of the retainer 311.

The flexible arm 321 has only one side fixed from the locking block 32 'and freedom of the long portions 323 and the long portions 323 extending between the upper arms 32a' and the lower arms 32b '. An upright portion 322 adapted to be fixed to each holding hole 41 on the circuit board 5 at its end. The free end of the flexible arm 321 is capable of moving in the vertical direction. When the circuit board 5 is moved into the groove 320 ', the upright 322 will contact the bottom surface of the circuit board 5 and the flexible arm 321 will be forced downward. When the upright portion 322 is aligned with each of the holding holes 41, the upright portion 322 is bent or springs upward from the inside of the holding hole 41. 9 and 10, after fastening the circuit board 5 into the locking groove 320 'of the individual locking block 32' of the electrical insulator 30 ', the terminals 300' are fastened. Silver is clamped on the circuit board 5 respectively, and retainers 311 'of the ground arms 310' of the conductive shield 31 'are respectively fastened into the retaining holes 40' of the circuit board 5; Uprights 322 of the flexible arms 321 of the electrical insulator 30 'are respectively fastened into the retaining holes 41 of the circuit board 5, so that the connector 3 5) It is fixed stably.

As described above, the present invention provides an electrical connector 3, 3 'that can be fixed to the circuit board accurately and stably before and after the application of the SMT process. The electrical connectors 3, 3 ′ act smoothly to provide all the properties described above.

Although certain embodiments of the invention have been described in detail for purposes of illustration, various modifications and improvements can be made within the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not limited except as by the appended claims.

With this arrangement, the electrical connector of the present invention eliminates incorrect connections between respective contacts on the circuit board to provide accurate connection between the clamping tail and the contacts on the circuit board, and eliminates the inclination or deformation of the terminals. And it cannot be connected to the circuit board in the wrong direction.

Claims (4)

An electrical connector for mounting on an edge of a circuit board, An electrical insulator having a plurality of terminal passages, A plurality of terminals accommodated in the terminal passages with tail portions connected to an upper surface of the circuit board; A conductive shield covering a portion of the electrical insulator, the conductive shield comprising at least one ground arm extending from the conductive shield, the at least one ground arm being substantially parallel to the bottom surface of the circuit board and the circuit board; And a retainer engaged with each retaining hole on said retainer, said retainer engaging said retaining hole from a bottom surface of a circuit board. According to claim 1, Further comprising at least one locking block, said at least one locking block comprising a groove for receiving said circuit board and a flexible arm disposed in said groove, said flexible arm having a respective retaining hole on the circuit board; An electrical connector comprising a part to be fastened. According to claim 1, The insulator comprises at least one locking block, the locking block including a groove for receiving the circuit board and a passage for receiving the at least one ground arm. With electrical insulators, A plurality of terminals provided on the insulator, each having a tail for surface mount connection to a circuit board; And a rod extending from the insulator to engage a slot on the leading edge of the circuit board.