Abstract:
An electrical connector ( 100 ) adapted for electrically connecting an electronic element ( 1 ) such as a camera module with a substrate ( 200 ) comprises a shielding member ( 2, 3 ), an insulated housing ( 5 ) and a number of contacts ( 4 ) retained in the housing. Each contact comprises a contact portion ( 41 ) for electrically contacting with the camera module and a solder portion ( 44 ) extending out the housing for being soldered on the substrate. The shielding member surrounds the housing to prevent the contact from unexpected Electro Magnetic Interference and comprises a plurality solder legs soldered on the substrate. The solder legs are arranged among the solder portions of the contacts. Typically, the distance between every two adjacent solder legs is not greater than 2.5 millimeters. Therefore, the shielding member can effectively prevents various unexpected interference affecting signal transmission of the camera module.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The present invention relates to an electrical connector, and more particularly to an electrical connector for mounting a camera module on a substrate such as a printed circuit board, a printed wiring board and the like. 
   2. Description of Related Art 
   Due to the development of the information and communication technology industry, various types of portable wireless terminals such as mobile phones, Personal Digital Assistant always simply called as PDA and so forth. Said terminals are provided with various functions, for example, e-mail reception and transmission, Internet games and text transmission. Beyond the above basic functions, recently, image communication as a new function is introduced. As a result, said various portable wireless terminals are additionally provided with camera modules, correspondingly, electrical connectors are used for connecting with the camera modules are also provided. 
   U.S. Patent Publication No. 20030218873 discloses an electrical connector adapted for connecting with a camera module. The electrical connector comprises an insulated housing provided with a plurality of contact channels, a plurality of contacts respectively retained in the contact channels and a shielding member protecting the camera module. The housing is substantially rectangular in shape. Said contact channels are arranged in two rows and extend though the upper and lower surfaces of the housing. The contacts are divided into two groups, and respectively sideward mounted. Each contact has a retentive portion fixed in the contact channel, a contact portion extending upward from the retentive portion and through the upper surface of the housing and a solder portion extending downward from the retentive portion. The shielding member has a first, second, third and fourth vertical shielding portions extending vertically, a bottom shielding portion connecting the first and third side shielding portions and a receiving cavity surrounded by said shielding portions. Each vertical shielding portion has some resilient tabs extending upward for firmly retaining the camera module in the receiving cavity. The first vertical shielding portion symmetrically defines two square holes, and the third vertical shielding portion opposite to the first vertical shielding portion defines a square hole. Said square holes respectively are used for blocking the projections defined by the camera module so that the camera module hardly breaks off the shielding member. However, the solder portions of the contacts extend through the bottom shielding portion of the shielding member to expose out for being soldered on a substrate induce that the solder portions are easily affected by Electro-Magnetic waves produced by other electronic elements. Further, with the tendency toward miniaturizing and lightening portable wireless terminals, it is difficult to secure much space for mounting the camera module. Thus, the distance of the contacts of the electrical connector for accommodating the camera module become smaller and smaller, thus inducing that the contacts also easily suffer from cross-talk interference. 
   Additionally, in some applications, the electrical connector is required to be mounted on a substrate in sink type in order to make the portable wireless terminal on which the electrical connector is mounted low profile. In this way, the contacts of this connector generally extend sideward beyond the housing and the shielding member to be soldered on the substrate in surface mounted technology. Thus, the contacts are easier to be affected by the electromagnetic interference than that disclosed in US. Patent Publication No. 20030218873. 
   Therefore, a new connector is desired to overcome the disadvantages of the prior arts. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   An object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector with a shielding member which can effectively protect the electrical connector from Electro-Magnetic Interference. 
   In order to achieve above-mentioned object, an electrical connector adapted for electrically connecting an electronic element such as a camera module with a substrate in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention is provided. The electrical connector comprises a shielding member, an insulated housing and a plurality of contacts retained in the housing. Each contact comprises a contact portion for electrically contacting with the camera module and a solder portion extending out the housing for being soldered on the substrate. The shielding member surrounds the housing to prevent the contact from unexpected Electro Magnetic Interference and comprises a plurality solder legs extending among the solder portion of the contacts for being soldered on the substrate. Typically, the distance between every two adjacent solder legs is not greater than 2.5 millimeters. 
   Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present embodiment when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a top, assembled, perspective view of an electrical connector in accordance with the present invention; 
       FIG. 2  is a similar view of  FIG. 1 , but taken from a bottom view; 
       FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view of  FIG. 1  taken along line  3 — 3 ; 
       FIG. 4  is a partially assembled, perspective view of  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 5  is a perspective view of a housing and a plurality of contacts of the electrical connector; 
       FIG. 6  is a partially assembled, perspective view of the electrical connector, intending to show the relationship between the housing and a lower shell; and 
       FIG. 7  is a similar view of  FIG. 6 , but intending to show the relationship between the housing and an upper shell. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   Reference will now be made to the drawing figures to describe the preferred embodiment of the present invention in detail. 
   Referring to  FIGS. 1 ,  2  and  3 , an electrical connector  100  for connecting an electronic element with a printed circuit board (PCB)  200 . In this embodiment, the electronic element is a camera module  1 . The electrical connector  100  comprises a shielding member, an insulated housing  5  and a plurality of electrical contacts  5  retained in the housing  5 . 
   Referring to  FIGS. 4 and 6 , the shielding member consists of an upper shell  2  and a lower shell  3 . The upper shell  2  consists of a pair of metal frame  20  which are symmetrically and separately arranged to surround a receiving cavity  21 . The two metal frame  20  have same configuration ad each has three vertical walls that are a front wall  22 , a rear wall  23  opposite and parallel to the front wall  22  and a side wall  24  jointing the front wall  22  with the rear wall  23 . Each vertical wall comprises a fold portion  25  extending downward from a top edge thereof and toward the receiving cavity  21 . A plurality of resilient tabs  26  continually extend from bottom edges of the fold portions  25  into the receiving cavity  21  and are arranged equally so as to provide stable force for retaining the camera module  1 . The front wall  22  and the rear wall  23  respectively comprises a solder leg  221  extending outward and horizontally along an upper surface of the PCB  200  and a projecting tab  220  extending downward and defining some barbs (not labeled) for interferentially engaging with the housing  5  (shown clearly in  FIG. 7 ) at both sides thereof. The side wall  24  also has a plurality of solder legs  240  extending outward horizontally along an upper surface of the PCB  200 . It is noted that the solder legs  221 ,  240  all extends away from the receiving cavity  21  and finally are soldered on the upper surface of the PCB  200  in surface mounted technology. Typically, the distances between every two adjacent solder legs  240  are not greater than 2.5 millimeters. Additionally, there is a clearance  28  formed between the front walls  22  of the two metal frames  20  for accommodating a partial portion of a positioning rib  12  formed on the camera module  1 . 
   Referring to  FIGS. 2 ,  6  and  7 , the lower shell  3  has a receiving cavity  30  surrounded by a flat bottom wall  31  and four vertical walls extending upward from the bottom wall  31 . Said four vertical walls are a front wall  33 , a rear wall  34  and a pair of side walls  32 , and there is a clearance left between arbitrary two vertical walls for giving the lower shell  3  more resilience. The bottom wall  31  defines four retentive tabs  310  for interferentially retaining in corresponding retentive grooves  501  defined by the housing  5 , and two located in a joint portion adjacent to the front wall  33  while the other two located in a joint portion adjacent to the rear wall  34 . The front wall  33  and the rear wall  34  respectively have a pair of connection legs  330 ,  340  extending along a same direction of the solder legs  221  of the upper shell  2  for connecting to the upper surface of the PCB  200 . A cutout  331  is recessed downward at a middle portion of the front wall  33 . The cutout  331  is paired with the clearance  28  to cooperatively receive the positioning rib  12  of the camera module  1 . Said two side walls  32  have same structure, and each comprises a plurality of protrusions  320  projecting upward from a top edge thereof and accordingly a plurality of recesses (not labeled) formed between the protrusions  320  for aligning with solder portions  44  of contacts  4 . It is noted that said receiving cavities  21 ,  30  of the upper shell  2  and the lower shell  3  are paired together to form a receiving space for cooperatively retaining the housing  5  and the camera module  1  therein. 
   Referring to  FIGS. 4 ,  5  and  6 , the housing  5  comprises a main portion  50  and a pair of longitudinal walls  51  extending upward from the main portion  50  and opposite to each other. A plurality of contact channels  52  are arranged into two groups and respectively extend from longitudinal portions of the housing  5 , and further extend upward though the longitudinal walls  51 . The electrical contacts  4  each comprises a retentive portion  43  for fixing the contact  4  in the contact channel  52 , a bended portion  42  extending from the retentive portion  43  for providing more elasticity, a contact portion  41  extending beyond an upper surface of the housing  5  for electrically connecting with the camera module  1  and a solder portion  44  extending from the retentive portion  43  away from the bended portion  42 . Further, the solder portions  44  all extend out the longitudinal walls  51  and are coplanar with the solder legs  240  of the upper shell  2 . The adjacent solder portions  44  bias in a reversed direction. Especially, the solder portions  44  are located higher than the contact portions  41 , thus the connector  100  can be mounted on the PCB  200  in sink type. 
   Referring to  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the camera module  1  comprises a base portion  10  with a rectangular shape and a columnar portion  11  extending upward from the base portion  10 . Said positioning rib  12  projects from the front surface of the base portion  10  and the columnar portion  11  for preventing the camera module  1  from being mounted mistakenly. The camera module  1  further has a plurality of solder pads  13  disposed at a bottom surface of the base portion  10  for electrically contacting with corresponding contact portions  44  of the contacts  4 . 
   The structures of every parts of the electrical connector  100  have been explained clearly in the above description., and the relationships between the parts will be shown as follows. 
   Referring to  FIG. 5 , the electrical contacts  4  are firstly mounted in corresponding contact channels  52  of the housing  5 , when the contact portions  41  are exposed above the main portion  50  and the solder portions  44  all extend out the longitudinal walls  51 . Referring to  FIGS. 2 ,  6  and  7 , the housing  5  with the contacts  4  therein is mounted into the receiving cavity  30  of the lower shell  3 . The firm installation between the housing  5  and the lower shell  3  is achieved via the tightly engagement of the four retentive tabs  310  and the retentive grooves  501 . The solder portions  44  of the contacts  4  stride over the top edge of the side walls  32  and extend out of the receiving cavity  30 . Then the upper shell  2  is mounted on the housing  5  via the projecting tabs  220  being fixed in the corresponding opening  502  defined by the housing  5  and sandwiched by the housing  5  and the front wall  33  or the rear wall  34 . In this way, the contacts  4  are almost enclosed by the upper and lower shells  2 ,  3 , so the contacts  4  are hardly affected by the Electro-Magnetic Interference. The solder legs  240  of the upper shell  2  are respectively interposed between the solder portions  240 . In this embodiment, between every two adjacent solder legs  240  is arranged two solder portions  44  of the contacts, of course, according to various requirement or other reasons, the solder legs  240  and the solder portions  44  can be arranged alternatively. Likewise, the solder legs  240  can also be part of the lower shell  3 . As long as the distances between every two adjacent solder legs  240  are not greater than 2.5 millimeters, Electro-Magnetic Interference or cross talk or other interferences cannot affect the signal transmission of the contacts  4 . 
   Further, the camera module  1  is mounted from the upper shell  2 . Because of the upper shell  2  formed by two separated metal frames  20 , it has adequate elasticity to deform even if the size of the camera module  1  is unexpected enlarged. During the process of mounting, the resilient tabs  26  formed on the metal frames  20  are urged deform to leave enough space for the camera module  1  extending through. When the camera module  1  is completely mounted, the lower portion of the camera module  1  is retained in the receiving cavity  30  of the lower shell  3 , and the other portions are retained in the receiving cavity  21  of the upper shell  2 . Simultaneously, the full and stable contact between the solder pads  13  and the contact portion  41  is achieved. 
   Referring to  FIG. 4 , the complete assembled connector  100  is finally mounted on the PCB  200  in sink type via the connection legs  330 ,  340  of the lower shell  3 , solder legs  221 ,  240  of the upper shell  2  and solder portions  44  of the contacts  4  being soldered on the PCB  200 . There are many advantages for adopting the above-mentioned mounting type, for example, the connector  100  occupies little space in the height direction and thereby makes an electronic device (not shown) on which the connector  100  is mounted lower profile; The connector  100  can receive various camera module with various height only if the dimensions of the upper shell  2 , the lower shell  3  and the contacts  4  are simply amended. The connection legs  330 ,  340  of the lower shell  3  and solder legs  221 ,  240  of the upper shell  2  are not only mounted on the PCB  200  but also electrical connect with the grounding lines (not shown) defined by the PCB  200 , so the electric charges are easily released so as to obtain the more good function of protecting the camera module  1  and the contacts  4 . 
   It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.