MXPA96005789A - Card connector-double receptac card - Google Patents

Card connector-double receptac card

Info

Publication number
MXPA96005789A
MXPA96005789A MXPA/A/1996/005789A MX9605789A MXPA96005789A MX PA96005789 A MXPA96005789 A MX PA96005789A MX 9605789 A MX9605789 A MX 9605789A MX PA96005789 A MXPA96005789 A MX PA96005789A
Authority
MX
Mexico
Prior art keywords
connector
plug
housings
receptacle
housing
Prior art date
Application number
MXPA/A/1996/005789A
Other languages
Spanish (es)
Other versions
MX9605789A (en
Inventor
Yagi Masanori
Ito Yoshikazu
Ikesugi Hiroshi
Original Assignee
Ikesugi Hiroshi
Ito Yoshikazu
Molex Incorporated
Yagi Masanori
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Priority claimed from JP13515394A external-priority patent/JP3293052B2/en
Priority claimed from PCT/US1995/000641 external-priority patent/WO1995032530A1/en
Application filed by Ikesugi Hiroshi, Ito Yoshikazu, Molex Incorporated, Yagi Masanori filed Critical Ikesugi Hiroshi
Publication of MX9605789A publication Critical patent/MX9605789A/en
Publication of MXPA96005789A publication Critical patent/MXPA96005789A/en

Links

Abstract

The present invention relates to a splint-to-splint connector assembly for mounting on a surface, wherein the terminals of the connector assembly lie adjacent to the surface of a circuit board when the connector assembly is mounted on the circuit board, said assembly connector comprises: a male plug connector half and a female receptacle connector half, the male plug connector half includes two male plug connector housings arranged in a substantially parallel and separate relationship, the male plug connector housing are interconnected by First pontic pieces of substantially equal length, the first puncturing pieces hold the two male plug connector sockets substantially uniformly spaced apart in said substantially parallel relationship, the female receptacle connector half includes two female receptacle connector sockets arranged in one re separate and substantially parallel, the female receptacle connector housings are interconnected by second pontic pieces of substantially equal length, the second pontic parts maintain the female receptacle connector housings substantially uniformly spaced in said substantially parallel relationship, each of the two female receptacle connector housings have cavities disposed therein, the cavities of the female receptacle connector housings have a plurality of electrical terminals disposed therein, the terminals of the female receptacle connector housings have contact portions disposed within the receptacle. the cavities of the female receptacle connector housings and short lead or branching portions extending out of the female receptacle connector housings, said two male plug connector housings having a plurality d of electrical terminals associated with them and further have protruding male plug portions, the terminals of the male plug connector housings have contact portions disposed in said protruding male plug portions and the branching portions extend out of the connecting housings of male plug and away from the protruding male plug portions, the male plug portions are received within the cavities of the female receptacle connector housings when the male connector and female connector halves are joined together, such that the terminals of the male plug portions and the cavity terminals are kept in electrical contact between

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to electrical connectors, and more particularly to a 5 card-to-board connector for improved surface mounting having an increased number of electrical terminals. and a structure that decreases the probability of finding misalignment of the connector terminals during installation to a circuit card. 0 Card-to-card connectors for electrically connecting a pair of parallel circuit boards or members are well known in the art. These card-card connectors typically use two opposed connector components mounted to mount the respective opposing surfaces of the circuit boards and which project beyond the mounting surfaces of the circuit board. One of the connector components is a male member and includes a plug member, while the other of the two components is a female member and includes a receptacle. The male plug member fits inside the female receptacle to connect together the two circuit boards. The card-card connectors further include a series of electrical terminals disposed on the two female and male interacoplant connecting members, which contact each other when the male member fits within the female member. These terminals have weldable end portions that extend out from the bottom portions of the connector member and that either extend through holes in a circuit board or couple a similar number of electrical contact pads, or tracks, formed on the respective surfaces of the respective circuit boards and are subsequently welded thereto. That last mounting method is referred to in the art as a surface mount. The surface mount connectors present certain problems which may include the reliability of the connection between the terminal ends of the connector and the contact pads of the circuit board. The contact terminals of the surface mount card-to-board connectors extend across the length of the connectors and thus, the number of circuits a surface mount connector can accommodate is limited by the length of the connector. A surface mount connector that accommodates a small number of circuits, such as 20 circuits, is much shorter than a connector that must accommodate a large number of circuits, such as 200 circuits or more. On the mounting surface of the card-card connectors on the circuit boards, it is desirable to have all the terminal ends of the connector lying in a common plane that is adjacent to the mounting surface of the circuit boards, so that the ends terminals make contact with the tracks of the circuit card. However, it is often difficult to achieve this goal because the circuit cards can be formed according to low tolerances that can lead to warping or other distortion in circuit boards, which can occur during the manufacture of circuit boards. circuit, during the assembly of components in the circuit cards or during the assembly of secondary circuit boards in a motherboard. For example, the heat generated when soldering components or terminals from a connector to a circuit board can create thermal stresses within the circuit board and can induce warping or distortion in the circuit board. Additionally, when the secondary circuit boards are mechanically mounted on a motherboard, such as by means of spacers, these can be mounted either irregularly or the securing screws are over-tethered in such a way that internal voltages can develop within the circuit boards, which could also induce warping or distortion in the circuit board. This distortion area typically manifests itself as a depressed or raised area of the circuit board that is no longer coplanar with the mounting surface of the circuit board. This warping or distortion may prevent some of the connector terminals from lying adjacent to and contacting the contact pads of the circuit board. On the contrary, some of the terminal ends of the connector can be separated from the opposite contact pads of the circuit board by an opening equal to the displacement of the distorted area of the mounting surface of the card. With such an opening, there is a possibility that the terminals can not make contact with the solder paste or at least do not reliably join the circuit board during welding. If the weld end is not welded to its corresponding contact pad, the entire card will be defective. If a poor weld joint is formed, such welded joint will be weaker than the rest of the welded joints that exist between the connector and the circuit board in the area that is not distorted and may eventually fail. The problems described above can be avoided by using surface mount connectors of relatively short length so that the connector and its associated terminal ends lie flat on the circuit board within the warping area as opposed to extending through the warping area. However, this solution limits the design of electronic components to the use of a single short-length connector. In applications where circuit cards have a large number of circuits that must be connected between two parallel circuit boards, a longer connector must be used to accommodate this large number of circuits. When the surface mounting connectors have a length that is greater than the warping area, a portion of the connector and its associated terminal ends may extend over the distorted area and out of contact with its contact pads. As the length of the contact connectors increases, the probability of finding a distorted area on a circuit board increases. There is also the prosibility to move the terminals out of parallelism. This can be understood as mentioned above, when a surface mount connector encounters a distorted area, one or more terminal ends will be outside the plane of contact with the card and the possibility of defective solder joints increasing. An alternate attempt to achieve a greater number of contacts between two printed circuit boards has been to use two pairs of card-to-card connectors instead of a pair of long connectors. In some applications, this has generally proven to be ineffective as the pitch of the connectors becomes smaller because the manufacturing tolerances resulting from the molding of the housings, the printing of the terminals, the positioning tend to add up or stack up. of the terminals inside the housing and the placement of the connectors on the printed circuit boards. The smaller pitch of these connectors increases the need to maintain exact alignment of all connectors, which is a costly and sometimes impossible goal. In particular, when two plug connectors are mounted on a first circuit card and two receptacle connectors on a second card, the connectors on each card must always be perfectly aligned. The misalignment or rotation of one connector in relation to the other of only one degree can result in a displacement of approximately 0.861 mm for the connector, which effectively prevents the coincidence of the connectors on the first and second cards and possibly results in in which some of the connector end ends do not contact their corresponding circuit card contact ends. The present invention ends these disadvantages and provides benefits over the prior art by providing two connectors disposed in a generally parallel fashion and joined together by bridging pieces that hold the two connectors in a generally parallel relationship, from side to side. Accordingly, it is a general object in the present invention to provide a new and improved card-to-card connector for mounting surface. Another general object of the present invention to provide a new and improved assembly assembly of board-to-board electrical connector to connect two circuit boards parallel to each other, whose connector assembly includes two connector housings interconnected by spacer members. Still another object of the present invention is to provide a card-to-board surface mount double-connector connector assembly having a male connector component and a female connector component, the male connector component having two elongated connector housing bodies interconnected at opposite ends of same for holding the connector housing bodies in a parallel relationship and for maintaining the electrical contact terminals disposed within the connector housing bodies in alignment with the contact pads of the circuit board. A still further object of the present invention is to provide a card-to-card surface mount connector assembly having relatively short length female and male inter-coupler connectors, wherein the female and male dual connector housings are joined together by parts. of bridging at their opposite ends to maintain the connector housing in a parallel spacing, thereby improving the interengagement of the dual male connector housings with the female dual connector housings and thereby reduce the likelihood of misalignment of the connector housing during clamping to a mating board. printed circuit. The present invention is directed to a card-to-card surface-mount connector terminating the aforementioned disadvantages and offering an improvement over the card-to-card surface-mount connectors by reducing the total length of the card-to-card connectors. surface mounting while accommodating a large number of circuits in relation to the length of the connector and reducing the likelihood of finding a warped or distorted mounting area. In a principal aspect of the present invention and in accordance with a first embodiment thereof, an improved connector assembly from card to surface mounting card includes a dual plug housing assembly and a dual receptacle housing assembly. The plug housing assembly has two male connector housings arranged generally parallel to each other and joined together at opposite ends of the housings by spacing members or bridge pieces integrally formed with the male connector housings. The receptacle housing assembly has two female connector housings arranged in a separate and parallel relationship and joined together at opposite ends by integral spacer members which maintain alignment of both the socket and receptacle housings for mounting purposes and also maintain the alignment of the ends of the contact terminals. In another main aspect of the present invention and in accordance with a second embodiment, the improved card-to-card connector assembly includes a pair of dual male and female opposed connector assemblies, each of the male and female connector assemblies has two housing portions elongated ones arranged in a parallel and separate embodiment, with each housing portion having a plurality of electrical terminals disposed on the opposing surfaces thereof. The electrical terminals of the female and male connector assemblies are coupled together when the connector assemblies are interconnected with each of the housing portions having coupling members disposed at the opposite ends received within recesses formed in the spaced apart spacing members having coupling means coupling the opposite ends of the housings. The separating members interconnect the housings of the female and male connector assemblies and keep them in separate and parallel mode, whereby the electrical terminal ends extending from the housing are aligned with each other and with the opposing electrical contact tracks, when mounting the surfaces of the printed circuit boards. These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be clearly understood through the consideration of the following detailed description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the course of the following detailed description reference will be made to the accompanying drawings in which like reference numbers identify similar parts and where: Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view of a connector assembly constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention; Figure 2 is a plan view of the female or receptacle component of the connector assembly of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a side elevational view of the female connector component of Figure 2; Figure 4 is a sectional view of the female connector component of Figure 2 taken along lines 4-4; Figure 5 is an elevation end view of the female connector component of Figure 2; Figure 6 is a plan view of the male or plug connector component of the connector assembly of Figure 1; Figure 7 is a side elevational view of the male connector component of Figure 6; Figure 8 is a sectional view of the male connector component of Figure 6 along lines 8-8 thereof; Figure 9 is an elevation end view of the male connector component of Figure 6; Figure 10 is a diagrammatic sectional view of a printed circuit board showing the effect of warping of the circuit board on the mounting surface of two connectors of different length; Fig. 11 is an exploded perspective view of a second embodiment of a card-to-surface mounting card connector assembly in accordance with the principles of the present invention; Figure 12 is an exploded perspective view of a third embodiment of a surface mount card-to-board connector assembly constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention; and Figure 13 is a perspective view of the connector assembly illustrated in FIG. Figure 12 with interconnected connector assembly components; Fig. 14 is a sectional view taken through the connector assembly of Fig. 1 in an assembled state, - Fig. 15 is a diagram of two simple surface-mounted card-to-board connectors illustrating the misalignment that may occur between connecting housings , - and Figure 16 is a diagram of a single surface mounting connector housing illustrating the de-alignment that may occur between the terminal weldable ends of the connector housing and the contact pads of the circuit board. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A surface mount card-to-board connector assembly constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention is designated generally at 10 in Figure 1, and as illustrated, is shown to interconnect a first circuit card 12 with a second circuit card 14 generally parallel. In connector assembly 10 includes a plurality of electrical terminals, generally indicated at 15, which extend out from two opposite connector component assemblies 16 and 18 and which provide a means for connecting the connector component assemblies 16, 18 to a plurality of corresponding circuit card contact pads, or tracks 17, on the respective opposing circuit boards 12, 14. One connector component 16 is illustrated as a female connector assembly while the other connector component assembly 18 is illustrated as an assembly male connector. As explained in greater detail below, portions of the male connector assembly 18 are received within portions of the female connector assembly 16 to effect a connection between the two connector assemblies. Before discussing the structure of the connector assembly 10 of the present invention, reference is made to Figure 10 which illustrates a printed circuit board C having a mounting surface S disposed on one side thereof. The mounting surface S typically defines a mounting plane PP, which ideally matches the mounting surface S of the circuit board C. However, in areas where the circuit board C has warping, or otherwise arrives to distort, an opening d occurs between the surface W of the circuit board within the warping area and the ideal mounting plane PP. This opening d is generally equal to the distance of displacement between the lower surfaces of the weldable ends T of the connector and the actual plane of the circuit board, which occurs within the distorted area, indicated in P'-P '. The opening d presents a problem that can affect the integrity and reliability of the interconnection between the weldable ends T and the contact pads 17 of the circuit board. In the assembly of printed circuit boards, and especially when the surface mount connectors are involved, a solder paste composed of powder solder and a flow is typically applied to the circuit board in the form of an appropriate masking process to apply the solder paste in the areas of the circuit board where the connections are to be made, thereby forming a layer of solder paste of a predetermined thickness. The solder paste is left to partially settle and the connectors and other components are applied to the circuit board to form a circuit board assembly. The surface mount connectors are placed on the circuit board so that their weldable ends fall on the contact strips and the solder paste layer on the contact strips. The circuit board assembly is then conducted through an infrared oven or other appropriate heating means, to melt the solder paste and form a connection between the solderable ends of the connector and the contact pads of the circuit board . The acceptable card warpage is often 0.018 mm (0.007 in.) For every 2.54 cm. of the card. The solder paste layer is typically very thin, in the range of between about 0.15 mm and 0.2 mm (0.006 in. And 0.008 in.). A thin solder paste is required because the center-to-center pass or separation Q, (Fig. 2) between the adjacent terminal ends of the surface mount connectors can be very small, in the order of approximately 0.635 mm to 0.8 mm. A layer of coarse solder paste can therefore increase the probability that the solder paste will flow between the contact tracks and inadvertently bridge two contact tracks when subjected to a heating process, consequently if the opening d is sufficiently large enough for the welding end to make contact with the solder paste, it is unlikely that a connection will be made between that particular solder terminal end and the pair of contact pads (T, 17), causing the particular circuit to be defective and the potentially useless circuit card. Similarly, if the opening d is such that the solder end of the connector barely touches the solder paste layer but does not touch the contact track, the connection formed between the particular solder tip-contacting track may be weak. Although these problems can be solved by pressing the weldable ends T downwardly in contact with the contact pads 17 of the circuit board, this remedy moves the weldable ends out of coplanarity with the remaining weldable end ends, and furthermore can introduce bending stresses unnecessary in the weldable ends, which can cause them to break. As illustrated in FIG. 10, the probability of finding a warped area is increased when a surface mount connector Hx of relatively large length is used in comparison with a connector H2 of relatively short length. Depending on the dimensions of the warped area a suitably sized connector may be able to come up against the surface W of the circuit board within the warped area without encountering any opening between the terminal ends and the contact pads of the circuit board. However, consonant with the objective of reducing the total size of the electronic components, the circuit cards must accommodate more circuits, so it becomes desirable to interconnect more circuits in opposite cards. As previously disclosed, the use of a single pair of relatively long connectors has significant disadvantages due to the difficulty of maintaining contact between the weldable ends of the connectors and their respective circuit boards. The present invention provides a card-to-card connector assembly in which each connector component 16, 18 accommodates an increased number of electrical circuits without increasing the overall length of the connector and provides a structure in which coplanarity is maintained at the weldable ends and at wherein the weldable ends of the connector assembly are held in alignment with the contact pads 17 of the circuit boards on which they are mounted. Referring to Figures 2-5 and 14, it can be seen that the female connector assembly 16 of the connector assembly 10 of the present invention includes a pair of elongated female housing members 20 having opposite side walls 22, 24 and end walls 26, 28 which cooperate to define an internal opening or receptacle 30. Each receptacle 30 preferably includes an inner pedestal 32 that is generally the same height as the side walls 22, 24. (Fig. 5). The pedestal 32, as illustrated, has a generally rectangular and elongated or box-like shape, and is separated from the side walls 22, 24 and the end walls 26, 28 by a predetermined distance to define an internal channel or space 36, which surrounds the pedestal 32 of each female housing member 20 and which receives the plug portions of the counterpart male housing members 60 as explained below. Each female housing member 20 further contains a plurality of electrically conducting terminals 38 disposed therein and extending outwardly thereof (Fig. 14). The terminals 38 include contact portions 40 which are disposed along the internal surfaces 33 of the pedestal 32 and the end portions 42 extend outwardly from the female housing member 20. The terminal end portions 42 penetrate through the the bases or floors 44 of the female housing members 20 and extend outwardly adjacent the bottom surfaces 45 of the female housing members 20, within a recess 46 formed along the bottom portions of the housings and which extends between the ends 48, 49 of the housings 20 (Fig. 3 and 4). As illustrated in Figure 2, the dual female housing members 20 are interconnected at their opposite ends 48, 49 by spacing or bridging members 50, which extend by approximately the total width of the housings 20 between the side walls more external 22 thereof. The spacer members 50 are preferably identical in shape to each other and include base portions 52 abutting the base portions 56 of their associated housings 20 (Fig. 3). The two base portions 52, 53 cooperate to define the recess 46 in the housing 29 which encloses the terminal end portions 42 (Fig. 3). The base portions 53 of the housing preferably include mounting posts 54 that extend downwardly as shown in Figure 4 and which are received in appropriately sized openings (not shown) formed in the circuit board to accurately position the connectors on the card. circuit. The spacer members 50 maintain the two female housings 20 in a generally parallel spaced relation and, as illustrated in FIG. 5, the spacer members 50 preferably have a lower height than the pedestals 30 and that of the side walls 22, 24. of the two housings 20, whereby the pedestals and the side walls can project above the spacer members 50 to facilitate coupling with their respective counterpart housings. The spacer member 50 and the housings 20 can be made of a conventional dielectric material, such as plastic and preferably a high temperature material such as liquid crystal polymer (LSP), and can be effectively made by a conventional injection molding process, wherein the housings 20 are molded in place around the terminals 38 As illustrated in the embodiment of Figures 1-5, the separators 50 are formed integrally with the housings 20 so that the resulting female connector assembly 16 constitutes a unitary structure. In cases where the spacer members 50 are integrally formed with the female housing members 20, the end walls 26, 28 of the receptacles 30 abut the spacer members 50 and should be displaced as illustrated in FIG. 2 to provide a means of polarization, shown as the notches 56, which receive similar protrusions of the counterpart male housing members 60 to ensure proper orientation between the circuits of the two circuit boards 12 and 14. The male connector assembly 18 is best illustrated in FIGS. Figures 6-9 and 14 where it can be seen that the male connector assembly includes two elongated male housing members 60 having a pair of protruding plugs, shown as elongated side walls 62, 64 interconnected with a pair of end walls 67, 68 in the opposite ends to define a complete rectangular plug associated with each male housing member. The end walls 67, 68 provide reinforcement to the relatively thin plug walls 62, 64 since the height coupled between the components 16, 18 of the surface mount connector can be in the range of about 4 mm to 7 mm and the height of the plug walls 62, 64 will consequently be in the range of less than about 4 mm to less than 7 mm. The end walls 67, 68 further define a polarization means, shown as extensions or connecting pins 69 which are received within the polarization notches 56 of the female housing members 20 in order to ensure proper alignment between the two connector assemblies 16, 18. As best seen in FIG. 14, protruding wall portions 62, 64 of the male housing members define plugs that are received within receptacle channels 34 of female housing member. In this aspect, each such protruding wall portions 63, 64 contain a plurality of spaced cavities 70 formed in the internal surfaces 72 of the projecting walls 62, 64, which receive a similar number of electrically conductive terminals 74. The terminals 74 of the male connector housing include contact portions 75 primarily disposed within the cavities 70 and the end portions 76 projecting through the bottoms or floors 78 of the housings 60 to extend outwardly from the male housing members 60. The terminals 74 of the male housing member are disposed at a longitudinal spacing, which substantially coincides with that of the terminals 38 of the female housing member, whereby those pairs of opposite terminals 74, 38 of the male and female housing member will share common central lines. To facilitate insertion and ensure reliable contact between the pairs of opposite terminals, the thickness of the protruding walls or plugs is slightly smaller than the width of the channels 34 of the female housing member, so that the plug-contact contact portions 75 engage reliably the terminal contact portions 40 of the female housing member within the receptacle channels 34. The terminals of the housing members are preferably formed of a highly conductive material, such as a bronze phosphorus alloy and may be bathed in gold. The terminals are placed on the connector housing members by overlapping molding, which is to place the terminals inside a mold cavity and inject molten plastic around them. In this regard, the housing members may include openings 71 in their appropriate side walls 62, 64 (Fig. 7) by means of which the terminals 74 can be maintained in the mold cavity during manufacture. The male housing members 60 also include spacer or bridging members 80, located in proximity to the end walls 67, 68 of the housing 60. The spacer members 80 extend approximately the width of the male connector assembly 18 (Fig. 6) and , as illustrated in Figures 7 and 8, cooperate with the ends of the housing 60 to define an elongated recess 82 that extends through the length of the male housing members 60. These recesses accommodate the end portions 76 of the terminals 74 of the male housing member. In an important aspect of the present invention, the spacer members 80 maintain the male housing members 60 in a generally parallel relationship such that the center lines of the two male housing members 60 will precisely coincide with the center lines of the housing. the two counterpart female housing members 20. In cases where the male housing members 60 and the female housing members do not share the same centerline spacing, or parallelism, the plug wall portions of the male housing member 62, 64 will be slightly displaced from the channels 34 of the receptacle of the female housing member. This misalignment is plausible to cause damage to the plug wall portions 62, 64 themselves, such as by bending them outward or by decreasing the contact forces between terminals, which results in unreliable interconnections. The spacer members 60, 80 substantially reduce the likelihood of such misalignment occurring between the male and female connector housing assemblies 16 and 18, because they ensure that each of the male housing assemblies is parallel and each of the assembly assemblies is parallel to each other. female housing is parallel. Consequently, instead of requiring the exact placement of four connectors, only two connectors should be placed. This reduces the likelihood of misalignment of the assemblies. Figure 15 illustrates a type of misalignment that can occur using the surface mount card-board connector housings, in which two surface mount connector housings 20"are mounted on a first circuit board. "include central pedestal portions 32" enclosed by side walls 22"and 24", which define plug-in receiving channels 34. "If the counter-male housing 5 counterparts 60" are also disconnected, they may misalign on the opposite printed circuit board with respect to the female connector housings 20", and their plug portions 62", 64"will be displaced with respect to the female channels 34". The interconnection of the housings OR connectors by means of the present invention reduces the possibility that this type of misalignment occurs. Can the displacement be at an angle? for a center line of one of the female connector housings 20"and it will result, as shown in dotted line, that the 5 plug portions 62", 64"either tension the side walls 22" of the housings 20"of the female connector by forcing them outwards, or in the misalignment or separation of the opposite pairs of terminals of the two housings 0 Each male housing member 60 may further include an appropriate means for mounting the male housing members 60 on a card. circuit, illustrated as the first and second posts 84, 86 (Figs 7-9) Both posts 84, 86 are received within openings formed within the 5 circuit boards Figure 16 shows an example of another type of circuit. misalignment that may occur in the surface mount connectors.A housing connector 90 properly positioned on a circuit board 91 is illustrated within appropriate mounting holes. nector 90 in dotted line is the outline of the same connector, but slanted the degree of its central line, which results from the mounting holes being oversized. This angular displacement has been determined to result in a displacement of approximately 0.861 mm. This large displacement increases the possibility that the weldable ends 92 of the connector terminals may either be misaligned with respect to their corresponding opposing contact pads 84 of the circuit board and that no effective contact can be made in at least one of the contact pads. As mentioned a, if contact is not made between just a soldable end and the contact pad, the circuit is ineffective and so is the connector. The present invention substantially avoids this problem by keeping the weldable ends in alignment. Figure 14 is a cross-sectional view of two male and female connector assemblies 16, 18 interengaged in a manner to provide an electrical connection between the first and second circuit boards 10 and 12. As can be seen, the side walls 22, 24 and the pedestals 32 of the female housing members 20 have channels, or receptacle receiving spaces 34 for plug connectors in which the plug portions 62, 64 of the plug connector housing members 60 are received. The 5 terminals 38 and especially the contact portions 40, of the female housing members 20 are received within the recesses 35 formed in the internal surfaces 33 of the pedestals 32 so as to oppose and make contact with the contact portions 75 of the terminals 74 of the male housing member held within the cavities 70 of the protruding wall plugs 62, 64. Figure 11 illustrates a second embodiment of a surface mount card-board connector 200 constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention, in which a pair of elongate connector housings 202 are interconnected by spaced apart spacer members 204. The connector housings 202 illustrated receive appropriately configured plug portions of the male connector housing incorporating similar structure described for the embodiment of Figs. 1-9, except for the presence of separately formed separating members 204. The housings 202 include a plurality of terminals 206 disposed on opposite internal surfaces 208 of the housings 202 in a predetermined spacing. The Terminals 206 may be disposed within the internal cavities 210 as shown, or may lie adjacent to the internal surfaces 208. In any case, the terminals 206 include end portions 211 extending outwardly from beneath the housings 202 to connect to the tracks, or wires, formed on the surface 212 of a circuit board 213. The housings 202 include projections 214 at opposite ends 215, 127 which include the mounting leg 218 that supports the housings 202 on the circuit board 213. These projections 214 include mating recesses, or notches 220, formed therein and illustrated as T-shaped notches which open outwards. The spaced spacer members 204 interconnect the two housings 202 at their ends. The spacer members 204 include body portions 202 and a pair of engaging members 224 complementary in shape with the engaging notches 220, and which extend outwardly of the body portions 222. The coupling members 224 are illustrated as projections in FIG. T shape, which are firmly received within the coupling notches 220 in a pressure adjustment arrangement. In use, the two housings 202 can be placed on the circuit board 213 and a spacer 204 can be applied to one end in the two housings by snapping the coupling members 224 into their opposing mating notches 220 of the housings. A second separator 204 is applied in the same way to the other end 217 of the housing 202 to thereby align the center lines of the housings of the corresponding pairs of terminals together. Similarly, the two housings can be interconnected before placement on the circuit board. Figures 12 and 13 illustrate a third embodiment of a dual housing connector assemblies for surface mounting 300 in accordance with the principles of the present invention. As shown, two simple connector housings 302, each having a plurality of terminals 303 disposed therein and associated end portions 304 extending outwardly therefrom. Connector housings 302 include coupling members 308, which are T-shaped, as shown, disposed their opposite ends 310, 311 which are received within mating openings 312 complementarily formed from spaced spacer members 314 to align the two housings in a parallel mode. Although the present invention has been described in terms of card-to-board connector assemblies for surface mounting, in which one half of a connector includes two female connector housings and the other connector half includes two male connector housing, it is understood that the present invention is not limited only to those structures. The benefits and advantages described above will be obtained in surface mount connector assemblies having more than two housings as well as surface mount connector assemblies in which one connector half may include female and male connector housings and the other half of the connector includes male and female counterpart connector housing. While the particular embodiments of the invention have been described above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications can be made thereto without departing from the invention in its broader aspects, and therefore, the objective of the appended claims is to cover all such changes and modifications as they fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims (29)

  1. CLAIMS > "i.- A card-card connector assembly for surface mounting, where the terminals of the connector assembly lie adjacent to the surface of a card. 5 circuit when the connector assembly is mounted on the circuit board, said connector assembly comprises: a plug connector half and a receptacle connector half, the plug connector half comprises two plug connector housings arranged in a substantially parallel and separated x0 ratio, the plug connector housings are interconnected by first bridging pieces of substantially equal length, the first bridging pieces keep the two plug connector housings substantially uniformly spaced in said 15 substantially parallel relationship, the connector half receptacle includes two receptacle connector housings arranged in a separate and substantially parallel relationship, the receptacle connector housings are interconnected by second length bridging parts 20 substantially equal, the second bridging pieces keep the receptacle connector housings substantially uniformly spaced in said substantially parallel relationship, each of two receptacle connector connectors having cavities disposed therein, The cavities of the receptacle connector housing have a plurality of electrical terminals disposed therein, the receptacle connector housing terminals have contact portions disposed within the receptacle connector housing cavities and the end portions extending out of the receptacle receptacles. away from the cavities of the receptacle connector housing, said two plug-in receptacles have a plurality of associated electrical terminals and also have protruding plug portions, the terminals of the connector housing have contact portions disposed in said protruding plug portions and portions thereof. ends extend out of the plug connector housing and away from the protruding plug portions, the plug portions are received within the cavities of the receptacle connector housing and when the plug connector halves and with The receptacle members are connected to each other in such a manner that the terminals of the plug portion and the cavity terminals are kept in contact with each other.
  2. 2. - The connector assembly as claimed in clause 1, wherein the first and second bridging parts are integrally formed with the receptacle connector and receptacle connector housings to define unitary plug and receptacle connecting halves.
  3. 3. - The connector assembly as claimed in clause 1, wherein the first and second bridge pieces are formed separately from the plug connector and receptacle connector housings and the first and second bridge pieces include means for coupling said receptacles plug and receptacle connectors.
  4. 4. - The connector assembly as claimed in clause 3, wherein the coupling means include notches formed in said first and second bridging pieces which receive coupling members disposed in the plug and receptacle connector housings.
  5. 5. - The connector assembly as claimed in clause 4, wherein the notches are T-shaped and the socket connector and receptacle housing members are T-shaped.
  6. 6. - The connector assembly as claimed in the clause 3, wherein the first and second bridge pieces include elongated body portions and the coupling means include recesses formed in the plug and receptacle connector housings and the coupling members extend from the body portions of the bridge pieces first and second which are received within said recesses.
  7. 7. - The connector assembly as claimed in clause 1, further including means for biasing said plug and receptacle connecting halves to ensure that said plug portions engage said receptacle cavities in a predetermined orientation.
  8. 8. - The connector assembly as claimed in clause 7, wherein the biasing means includes slots formed in at least one of said plug-and-receptacle connecting halves and which receive posts extending from the other of said connecting halves of plug and receptacle.
  9. 9. - The connector assembly as claimed in clause 1, wherein the plug portions include elongated plug walls which are interconnected to end walls to define generally rectangular plug portions.
  10. 10. The connector assembly as claimed in clause 1, wherein the cavities of the receptacle connector housings include pedestals disposed therebetween.
  11. 11. The connector assembly as claimed in clause 10, wherein said receptacle connector housings include a plurality of side walls, the side walls are spaced apart from the pedestals to define channels, said plug portions of the plug connector housing are received through the channels of the receptacle housing when the halves of the plug connector and the receptacle connector are joined together.
  12. 12. The connector assembly as claimed in clause 11, wherein the channels of the receptacle connector housing enclose the pedestals of the receptacle connector housing.
  13. 13. - The connector assembly as claimed in clause 9, wherein the receptacle connector housings include pedestal portions disposed within the receptacle connector housing cavities, said receptacle connector housings include side walls surrounding said cavities, the side walls are separated from the pedestal portions to define plug portion receiving channels associated with the cavities of the receptacle connector housing, said plug portion receptacle channels receive the rectangular plug portions therein.
  14. 14. - The connector assembly as claimed in clause 1, wherein the socket connector and receptacle connector housings include base recesses disposed along the bottom surfaces thereof, the terminal end portions of the connector housing plug and receptacle connector are received inside the base recesses and extend outwards from these.
  15. 15. An improved card-board connector for surface mounting to provide an electrical connection between electrical circuits arranged in opposite first and second circuit boards, the connector assembly comprising a plug connector component adapted for mounting to a surface of the first circuit card and a receptacle connector component adapted to be mounted on a surface of the second circuit board, the plug component is adapted to be inserted within the receptacle component, the plug connector component includes elongate plug connector sockets and interconnected together by pieces of bridging of substantially equal length, whereby the bridging parts of the plug connector housing separate the plug connector housings substantially uniformly in essentially parallel relationship, the receptacle connector component includes receptacle connectors receptacle inte Rconnected by bridging pieces of substantially equal length, whereby the bridging parts of the receptacle connector housing separate the substantially uniform receptacle connector housings in an essentially parallel relationship, the receptacle connector housings have mating cavities and a plurality of associated electrical terminals between yes, the terminals of the receptacle connector housing include contact portions disposed within the coupling cavities of the receptacle connector housing and the end portions extend out of the receptacle connector housing cavities, the terminal end portions of the receptacle connector housing are adapted for coupling opposite contact paths on the surface of the second circuit board, the two plug connector housings have a plurality of electrical terminals associated therewith, the plug connector housings further have plug portions protruding therefrom, the terminals of the housing plug connector have contact portions disposed on the protruding plug portions and further have end portions extending out of and away from the plug connector housings, the protruding plug portions of the plug connector housing are are aligned with the cavities of the plug connector housing and the bridge pieces of the receptacle connector housing such that when the halves of the plug connector and the receptacle connector are joined together, the protruding plug portions of the plug connector housing they enter into the cavities of the housing receptacle connector without misalignment and the terminals of the plug connector housing and the receptacle connector terminals are kept in electrical contact with each other.
  16. 16. - The connector as claimed in clause 15, wherein said plug connector component includes two plug connector housings and the receptacle connector component includes two receptacle connector housings.
  17. 17. - The connector as claimed in the clause 16, wherein the plug connector housing includes base portions having means for mounting said surface of the first circuit card and elongated plug portions protruding from the base portions.
  18. 18. - The connector as claimed in the clause 17, wherein the plug connector housings further include end walls attached to the protruding plug portions to define box type plugs extending from each of the plug connector housings.
  19. 19. - The connector as claimed in the clause 18, wherein the protruding plug portions have a length that is greater than the length of the end walls in each of the plug connector housings.
  20. 20.- The connector as claimed in clause 15, wherein the receptacle connector housings include side walls defining cavities of the receptacle connector housing, said cavities of the receptacle connector housing include pedestal portions disposed therein and rising up therefrom, the pedestal portions are spaced apart from the pedestal portions. side walls to define elongated spaces within said cavities, which receive portions extending outwardly from the plug connector housings when the plug and receptacle connector components are joined together.
  21. 21. - The connector as claimed in clause 15, wherein the bridging parts of the plug connector housing and the bridging parts of the receptacle connector housing are respectively integrally formed with the plug connector housings and the receptacle connector housings.
  22. 22. The connector as claimed in clause 15, wherein the bridging parts of the plug connector housing and the bridging parts of the receptacle connector housing include separate elongated body portions which include means for coupling said plug connector housings and of receptacle connector.
  23. 23.- The connector as claimed in the clause 15, wherein the bridging pieces of the plug connector and receptacle housing respectively interconnect the plug and receptacle connector housings at the opposite ends of the plug and receptacle connector housings.
  24. 24.- An improved surface-card-card connector for connecting circuits electrically on two separate and opposite circuit boards, comprising a male connector assembly and a female connector assembly adapted for coupling together, the male connector assembly includes two housings male having a plurality of electrically conductive terminals, the female connector assembly includes two female housings having a plurality of electrically conductive terminals, the male and female housing terminals are disposed along respective mating surfaces of said male and female housings which face each other when the male and female connector assemblies are coupled together, the male housings are separated from each other and spaced apart members of male housing assembly are maintained in a first separation, wherein the center lines of the male housings are subst partially parallel and which interconnect the male housings, the female housings are separated from each other and maintained in a second separation by the spacing members of the female housing assembly wherein the center lines of the female housings are substantially parallel and which interconnect together To the female housing member, the housing assembly spacing members further serve to align the respective housing surfaces of the female housing, thereby reducing the likelihood of misalignment of the respective alignment surfaces.
  25. 25.- The connector as claimed in the clause 24, wherein the spacer members of the coupling assembly are formed integrally with the male and female housings.
  26. 26. The connector as claimed in clause 24, wherein the separate members of the male and female housing are separate members and include body portions that have means for coupling said male and female housings.
  27. 27. The connector as claimed in clause 24, wherein the members of the male and female housing assembly interconnect together the housings, male and female at their opposite ends.
  28. 28.- The connector as claimed in clause 24, wherein the terminals include contact portions extending along said respective male and female coupling surfaces and also include end portions extending generally perpendicularly away from each other. the center lines of the male and female housings which maintain in opposite pairs of male and female housing terminals.
  29. 29. A card-board connector assembly for surface mounting, comprising: a first connector half and a second connector half, the first connector half includes two first connector housings arranged in a separate and substantially parallel relationship, the first connector housings are interconnected by first bridge-pieces of length substantially equal, the first bridge-pieces keep the first accommodation connectors substantially separated two uniformly in the relationship substantially parallel, the second connector half includes two second housings connectors disposed in spaced and substantially parallel relationship, the second connector housings are interconnected by second bridge pieces of substantially equal length, the second bridge pieces keeping the second connector housings substantially uniformly spaced in said relationship essentially parallel, each of the two second connector housings have second surfaces disposed thereon, the second connector housing surfaces have a plurality of electrical terminals disposed therein, the second connector housing terminals have contact portions disposed on said second surfaces of connector housing and the end portions extending outside the second housings connectors beyond the second housing connector, the first two housings connectors have a plurality of first electrical terminals associated therewith, the first terminal housing connector have contact portions arranged in the first surfaces of said first connector housings and the tail portions extend out of the first connector housings and beyond the first surfaces, the first surfaces couple the second surfaces of the second housings s when the first and second connector halves are connected in such a way that the first connector housing terminals and the second terminals of the connector housing are kept in electrical contact with each other. EXTRACT A card-board connector for surface mounting includes two interconnecting plug-and-socket connector halves (16,18). Each of the plug and receptacle connecting halves includes respective dual plug and receptacle housings (60, 20) spaced apart in a substantially parallel relationship. The dual connector housings of the plug and receptacle connecting halves are uniformly separated by means of bridging pieces (50,80), which extend between the connector housings to connect them. The bridging parts can be formed integrally with the housings or they can be formed separately from the connector housings and include coupling members which couple to the connector housings.
MXPA/A/1996/005789A 1994-05-25 1996-11-22 Card connector-double receptac card MXPA96005789A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (10)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
JP6/135153 1994-05-25
JP13515394A JP3293052B2 (en) 1994-05-25 1994-05-25 Electrical connector for surface mounting
JP6-135153 1994-05-25
JP6/21555 1994-07-19
JP2155494 1994-07-19
JP6-21555 1994-07-19
JP6-21554 1994-07-19
JP2155594 1994-07-19
JP6/21554 1994-07-19
PCT/US1995/000641 WO1995032530A1 (en) 1994-05-25 1995-01-19 Dual housing board-to-board connector

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
MX9605789A MX9605789A (en) 1998-05-31
MXPA96005789A true MXPA96005789A (en) 1998-10-23

Family

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