Abstract:
An electrical connector assembly ( 20 ) includes a D-Sub connector ( 40 ), a triplex audio jack connector ( 50 ), and a board edge connector ( 60 ) all mounted to a sound card ( 70 ), the whole being assembled into a connector housing ( 30 ) having a rear cover ( 80 ) with a shielding plate ( 90 ). The board edge connector is mountable to a motherboard ( 100 ). The result is a sound package including sound card and connectors which takes up less space on the motherboard than separate sound card and connectors. The new connector assembly with internal sound card thus results in greater efficiency.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to an electrical connector assembly, and particularly to an electrical connector assembly having a sound card mounted internal to the assembly. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Many prior art modular jacks were mounted singly on a motherboard, and audio circuitry was included on the motherboard. Creating a separate sound card improved the use of space on the motherboard, and including more than one modular jack in a housing, particularly in a stacked configuration, led to a further savings of printed circuit board “real estate”. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,643,008, as shown in FIG. 17, is one example of a prior art connector assembly which saves board space. The connector assembly  110  has a dielectric housing  112  with a D-sub connector  160  mounted on top of the housing, and a triplex audio jack assembly  130  mounted in the housing below the D-sub connector. The terminals  163  of the D-Sub connector are bent to connect to a printed circuit board (not shown) beneath the connector assembly  110 , and must be in two sizes, a longer size for contacts in the upper row of the D-Sub connector, and a shorter size for contacts in the lower row. Contacts  132  of the audio jack assembly also connect to the PCB beneath the connector assembly. A rear shield  150  covers the assembly to provide EMI protection. Although more efficient than discrete connectors, this assembly and related sound card still take up quite a bit of space. 
     Further miniaturization is desired. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A first object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector assembly with a miniaturized sound card installed inside the assembly housing, thereby minimizing use of space in electronic equipment. 
     A second object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector assembly which is simple to manufacture. 
     An electrical connector assembly in accordance with the present invention comprises a D-Sub connector and a triplex audio jack connector mounted to a printed circuit board. The printed circuit board is mounted at its lower edge to a board edge connector. The subassembly is inserted into an assembly housing and the D-Sub connector is fixed to the housing together with a pair of grounding anchors by a pair of locking fasteners. A rear cover having a shielding plate affixed to it is attached to a back of the assembly housing, effectively enclosing the connectors and printed circuit board inside the housing and rear cover. The printed circuit board can contain all the functions of a sound card, making the electrical connector assembly a complete sound card assembly. The electrical connector assembly can then be mounted to a motherboard. Due to its small size, the assembly efficiently provides all the functions of a sound card and associated connectors at a savings in occupied space. 
     Other objects, advantages and novel features of the 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 an exploded, perspective view of an electrical connector assembly in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the assembled electrical connector assembly of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a housing of the electrical connector assembly of FIG. 1 from a front aspect; 
     FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the housing of FIG. 3 from a rear aspect; 
     FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a D-sub electrical connector subassembly of the electrical connector assembly of FIG. 1 from a front aspect; 
     FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the D-sub electrical connector subassembly of FIG. 5 from a rear aspect; 
     FIG. 7 is an exploded, perspective view of a triplex audio jack subassembly of the electrical connector assembly of FIG. 1, from a front aspect; 
     FIG. 8 is an exploded, perspective view of the triplex audio jack subassembly of FIG. 7, from a rear aspect; 
     FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the electrical connector assembly taken along line  9 — 9  of FIG. 2; 
     FIG. 10 is a rear aspect perspective view of a rear cover of the electrical connector assembly of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 11 is a front aspect perspective view of the rear cover of FIG. 10; 
     FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a printed circuit board of the electrical connector assembly of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a board edge connector subassembly of the electrical connector assembly of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view of the board edge connector of FIG. 13, taken along the line  14 — 14 ; 
     FIG. 15 is a perspective view of a shielding plate, grounding anchors, and locking fasteners of the electrical connector assembly of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional view of the electrical connector assembly of FIG. 2, taken along the line  16 — 16 ; and 
     FIG. 17 is an exploded view of a prior art electrical connector assembly. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring to FIGS. 1-2, an electrical connector assembly  20  in accordance with the present invention comprises a dielectric assembly housing  30 , a D-Sub connector  40 , a triplex audio jack connector  50 , a board edge connector  60 , a printed circuit board  70 , a dielectric rear cover  80 , a conductive shielding plate  90 , a pair of conductive grounding anchors  93  and a pair of conductive locking fasteners  94 . The electrical connector assembly  20  is designed to mount to a motherboard  100 . 
     Referring also to FIGS. 3 and 4, the assembly housing  30  is rectangular in shape with a pair of mounting ears  35  extending upward from a top wall  31  thereof. The housing further has a front wall  32 , a bottom wall  33 , and a pair of opposing sidewalls  34  defining an insertion cavity  36  therebetween. The front wall  32  defines three port holes  321  in a lower portion thereof. The bottom wall  33  defines a connector mounting slot  332  in a rear side thereof and three grounding slots  331  defined forward from the connector mounting slot  332 . The sidewalls  34  each define two strap slots  341  from a top to a bottom thereof. The ears  35  feature a front ear plate  351  defining a first mounting hole  352  therethrough and a side buttress  353 . 
     The D-Sub connector  40 , shown in FIGS. 5-6, has a dielectric D-Sub housing  41 , a dielectric mask  45  inserted in a front cutout (not labeled) of the housing  41 , a conductive shroud  42  fixed to a front of the housing  41 , and a plurality of pin contacts  43 . The D-Sub housing  41  comprises a thin, elongate front plate  411  and a rectangular body  412  protruding rearward from a rear face  4110  of the front plate  411 . A plurality of passageways  410  (see FIG. 16) are defined through the front plate  411  and the body  412  for extension of the pin contacts  43  therethrough. A plurality of mask passageways  451  defined through the mask  45 , and aligned with passageways  410 , also accept extension of the contacts  43  therethrough. A pair of notches  415  is defined in each of a top edge (not labeled) and a bottom edge (not labeled) of the front plate  411 . A second mounting hole  413  is defined through the front plate  411  at each side of the body  412 . Rearward ends  431  of the pin contacts  43  extend straight to the rear of the body  412  of the D-Sub housing  41 . All the pin contacts  43  are the same, and each has an interferential fit with a corresponding passageway  410  and mask passageway  451 . The shroud  42  has a pair of arresting tabs  421  on each of an upper and a lower edges (not labeled) thereof for bendably engaging with the notches  415  of the D-Sub housing  41 . The shroud  42  also defines a third mounting hole  425  near each lateral side (not labeled) of the shroud  42 . 
     Referring to FIGS. 7-8, the triplex audio jack connector  50  comprises a dielectric audio housing  51  generally in the shape of an elongate rectangular block and a plurality of audio contacts  52 . The audio housing  51  defines three cavities  510  in a rear side thereof for insertion of the audio contacts  52  and for insertion of a mating plug connector (not shown) therein. Three cylindrical mating tubes  512  protrude forward from a jack front wall  511  of the audio housing  51 , each mating tube  512  defining a jack hole  5121  extending therethrough and in communication with a corresponding cavity  510 . A jack top wall  513  defines a plurality of top slots  5131  extending forward from a rear edge of the jack top wall  513  for insertion of the audio contacts  52 . The audio housing  51  forms a pair of end walls  515  on each end thereof, and also forms two interior walls  516  separating the cavities  510 . A jack bottom wall  514  of the housing has three bottom slots  5141  extending forward from a rear side of the jack bottom wall  514  for extension of an audio contact  52  therein. 
     Referring to FIGS. 8-9, the audio contacts  52  are of five distinct designs  521 , 522 , 523 , 524  and  525 , all well known in the art of audio jacks, with the exception that mounting tails  5211 ,  5221 ,  5231 ,  5241  and  5251  all extend high and to the rear of each audio contact  52 . Specifically, in each cavity  510  of the audio housing  51 , each of two fixed contacts  524 , 522  engage with a corresponding one of two moving contacts  525 , 521 , respectively, when no mating plug connector is inserted. When a mating plug connector (not shown) is inserted, the moving contacts  525 , 521  disengage from the fixed contacts  524 , 522  and a grounding contact  523  in the cavity engages with a bottom surface of the inserted mating plug connector. Note that the grounding contact  523  has two mounting tails, a first mounting tail  5231  extending to a rear, and a second mounting tail  5232  extending downwardly. 
     As shown in FIGS. 10-11, the rear cover  80  has a rear wall  81  and a molded hood portion  82  projecting forwardly from the rear wall  81  to fit with a rear contour (not labeled) of the assembly housing  30 . A pair of elongate side latches  83  projects forward from the hood portion  82 . A rectangular rear opening  84  and a pair of apertures  85  to each side of and communicating with the rear opening is defined in the rear wall  81 . A pair of grooves  86  is further defined in the rear wall  81 , communicating between the rear opening  84  and a lower edge of the rear wall  81 . 
     Referring to FIG. 12, the printed circuit board (PCB)  70  has a front side  71  and a rear side  72  and is cut in a shape to fit inside the hood portion  82  of the rear cover  80 . A plurality of first through holes  73  is defined in an upper portion of the PCB  70  and a plurality of second through holes  74  is defined in a lower portion of the PCB  70 . A plurality of golden fingers  75  is attached at a lower edge (not labeled) of the front and rear sides  71 , 72 . 
     The PCB  70  can be multi-layer and can be designed to function as a complete sound card within itself. Thus, it will have printed conductive traces (not shown) and may have numerous other printed components (not shown) on the front and rear sides  71 , 72 , as well as on layers (not shown) between the front and rear sides  71 , 72 . The printed conductive traces and other numerous printed components may interconnect with each other and with the first through holes  73 , with the second through holes  74 , with the golden fingers  75 , and with other components (not shown) mounted on the front and rear sides  71 , 72  to make up a complete sound card, as is known in the art. The golden fingers  75  will be electrically connected to corresponding first and second through holes  73 , 74  via appropriate circuitry and electronic components in and mounted on the PCB  70 . 
     FIGS. 13-14 show the board edge connector  60 , which comprises an elongate edge connector housing  61  with a plurality of edge connector terminals  62  insert molded therein and arranged in two rows. Each edge connector terminal  62  has an upper end  621  and a lower end  622 . A distance between the rows of upper ends  621  protruding from an upper side  615  of the edge connector housing  61  is slightly greater than a thickness (not labeled) of the PCB  70 . 
     Referring to FIG. 15, the shielding plate  90  comprises a flat, rectangular body plate  91 , a pair of connection tabs  92  mounted on each of two lateral edges (not labeled) thereof, and a pair of grounding posts  95  depending from a lower edge (not labeled) of the body plate  91 . A pair of grounding anchors  93  each has a forked, lower connecting end  931  for engaging with the motherboard  100 , a strap  934  for engaging with the assembly housing  30 , and a flat plate portion  932  defining a fourth mounting hole  933  therein for abutting against a rear face (not labeled) of the front ear plate  351  of the assembly housing  30 . The grounding anchors  93  are bent to conform to the contours of the assembly housing  30 . The pair of locking fasteners  94  each has a flat base  941  and a hollow fastener tube  942  projecting forwardly from the flat base  941 . 
     Referring particularly to FIGS. 1,  2 ,  8 ,  9  and  16 , in assembly, the PCB  70  is attached to the board edge connector  60 , with the lower edge of the PCB  70  fitting between the two rows of the upper ends  621  of the edge connector terminals  62 , and abutting the upper side  615  of the edge connector housing  61 . The upper ends  621  of the edge connector terminals  62  can be soldered to the golden fingers  75  on the front side  71  and the rear side  72  of the PCB  70 . 
     To assemble the triplex audio jack connector  50 , the audio contacts  52  are assembled into the audio housing  51 , with two fixed contacts  522 , 524 , two moving contacts  521 , 525  and one grounding contact  523  fitting into each cavity  510 . The mounting tails  5211 , 5221 , 5241 , 5251  and the first mounting tails  5231  each insert into a corresponding top slot  5131  of the audio housing  51 . The second mounting tail  5232  of each grounding contact  523  inserts into a corresponding bottom slot  5141 . 
     The assembled triplex audio jack connector  50  is connected to the PCB  70  by inserting mounting tails  5211 , 5221 , 5241 , 5251  and the first mounting tails  5231  into corresponding second through holes  74  in the lower portion of the PCB  70 , and soldering them to the PCB  70 . The assembly of the triplex audio jack connector  50 , the PCB  70 , and the board edge connector  60  is engaged with the assembly housing  30  by inserting them into the insertion cavity  36  of the assembly housing  30 , the mating tubes  512  inserting through the port holes  321  and the second mounting tails  5232  of the grounding contacts  523  fitting into the grounding slots  331  of the assembly housing  30 . The edge connector housing  61  likewise engages with the connector mounting slot  332 . The PCB  70  extends upward out of the insertion cavity  36 . 
     To assemble the D-Sub connector  40 , the pin contacts  43  are inserted into the passageways  410  in the D-Sub housing  41 , and into the corresponding mask passageways  451  of the mask  45 , rearward ends  431  extending straight rearwardly from the housing  41 . The shroud  42  is fitted over the front of the D-Sub housing  41  and is clamped thereto by the arresting tabs  421  of the shroud  42  engaging with the notches  415  of the D-Sub housing  41 . 
     The D-Sub connector  40  is assembled to the assembly housing  30  with rearward ends  431  of the pin contacts  43  inserting through the first through holes  73  in the PCB  70 , and with the rear face  4110  of the front plate  411  of the D-Sub housing  41  abutting the front ear plate  351  of the mounting ears  35  of the assembly housing  30 . The rearward ends  431  of the pin contacts  43  can be soldered to the first through holes  73  of the PCB  70 . The grounding anchors  93  are then mounted to the side walls  34  of the assembly housing  30 , the straps  934  engaging in the strap slots  341  of the assembly housing  30  and the flat plate portions  932  abutting the rear face (not labeled) of the front ear plates  351  of the assembly housing  30 . The first mounting holes  352  of the assembly housing  30 , the second mounting holes  413  of the D-Sub housing  41 , the third mounting holes  425  of the shroud  42 , and the fourth mounting holes  933  of the grounding anchors  93  are all aligned and the fastener tubes  942  of the locking fasteners  94  are inserted through the mounting holes  352 ,  413 ,  425 ,  933  from a rear side thereof, and a front of each fastener tube  942  is flattened against the front face (not labeled) of the shroud  42 , firmly fixing the D-Sub connector  40  to the assembly housing  30 . 
     The shielding plate  90  is assembled to the rear cover  80  to cover the rear opening  84  and provide EMI (electromagnetic interference) protection for the electronic circuitry in the PCB  70 . The connection tabs  92  and grounding posts  95  of the shielding plate  90  engage with the apertures  85  and fit into the grooves  86 , respectively, of the rear cover  80 . The rear cover  80  is assembled to the assembly housing  30  with the side latches  83  of the rear cover  80  snappingly engaging with the strap slots  341  of the assembly housing  30 . The hood portion  82  of the rear cover  80  fits over the upper portion (not labeled) of the PCB  70 , fits around a rear of the body  412  of the D-Sub housing  41 , and abuts rear edges of the assembly housing  30 . 
     The electrical connector assembly  20  can be assembled to the motherboard  100  (see FIG. 1) with connecting ends  931  of the grounding anchors  93  engaging with anchor holes  101 , second mounting tails  5232  of the audio contacts  52  engaging with the tail holes  102 , edge connector terminals  62  engaging with the terminal holes  103 , and grounding posts  95  of the shielding plate  90  engaging with the post holes  104 . The grounding anchors  93 , second mounting tails  5232 , edge connector terminals  62  and grounding posts  95  can all be soldered to the corresponding holes  101 , 102 , 103   104  in the motherboard  100 . Thus the PCB  70  is connected to the motherboard  100  via the golden fingers  75  of the PCB  70  and the board edge connector  60 . The shielding plate  90  can be grounded through its connection to a ground in the motherboard  100 , providing more effective EMI protection to the PCB  70 . The D-Sub connector  40  can be mated with a complementary D-Sub connector (not shown), and the grounding shroud (not shown) of the complementary D-Sub connector (not shown), by contacting the shroud  42  of the D-Sub connector  40 , can be grounded to the ground of the motherboard  100  via the pair or grounding anchors  93 , which are electrically connected to the conductive shroud  42  of the D-Sub connector  40  by the conductive locking fasteners  94 . The triplex audio jack connector  50  can connect with up to three mating audio jack plug connectors (not shown). A shield (not shown) of each mating audio jack plug connector can be grounded to the motherboard  100  ground via the grounding contacts  523  with their second mounting tails  5232  connecting to the ground of the motherboard. 
     The advantage of the present invention over the prior art is that the PCB  70  can incorporate all the functions of a sound card, making the electrical connector assembly  20  a complete sound card assembly. The electrical connector assembly can then be mounted to a motherboard. Due to its small size, the assembly efficiently provides all the functions of a sound card and associated connectors at a savings in occupied space. Furthermore, the connectors used are standard D-Sub and audio jack connectors with redesigned contacts. These are easily manufactured, and the entire assembly is simple in design and should be easy and inexpensive to manufacture. Note particularly that the pin contacts  43  are all identical; different contacts for a lower row and an upper row are not required. 
     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.