Abstract:
The invention discloses a connector including a housing, a light-emitting device, and a light-guiding member. The light-emitting device includes a light-emitting portion and at least one wire. The light-guiding member is assembled with the housing and includes at least one light-guiding part and at least one clamping part. The clamping part is used for clamping the light-emitting portion so that the light-emitting housing faces the light-guiding part.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This non-provisional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) on Patent Application No(s). 097108187 filed in Taiwan, Republic of China on Mar. 7, 2008, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    The invention relates to a connector, and particularly relates to a connector having a light-guiding member. 
         [0004]    2. Description of the Prior Art 
         [0005]    In order for users to know the real-time working status of a connector, a indicating lamp is generally installed in a connector. For example, if a network line is inserted into a RJ-45 connector, the lighting of the indicating lamp refers to a correct connection between the inserted network line and the connector, and the twinkling of the situation lamp refers to a signal transmission between the network line and the connector. 
         [0006]    Generally, the whole structure of a general RJ-45 connector is covered by a single piece of metal cover. Thus, after completing the assembly of the RJ-45 connector, the indicating lamp can not be removed or replaced without damaging the RJ-45 connector. In other words, when the indicating lamp is damaged, the present solution is to replace the whole RJ-45 connector. As a result, the manufacture cost of RJ-45 connector can not be reduced, and the yield rate of RJ-45 connector can not be raised. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    The invention provides a connector capable of arbitrarily matching and replacing a light-emitting device, and further reduces the manufacture cost and raises the yield rate. 
         [0008]    In order to achieve the aforesaid scope, the connector of the invention includes a housing, a light-emitting device, and a light-guiding member. The housing includes a connection terminal, and the light-emitting device includes a light-emitting portion and at least one wire. The light-guiding member is assembled with in the housing and includes at least one light-guiding part and at least one clamping part. The clamping part is used for clamping the light-emitting portion so that the light-emitting portion faces the light-guiding part. 
         [0009]    Additionally, the connector further includes at least one cover for covering at least one part of the housing, at least one part of the clamping part, or the wire. 
         [0010]    According to the present invention, the light-emitting portion can be fixed by being clamped so that the connector can match different light-emitting devices. The light-emitting devices can be easily removed and replaced to raise the product variety and lower the manufacture cost. In addition, the connector of the invention has a cover for shielding EMI so that the EMI generated between environment and the connector can be reduced, and the working efficiency of the connector can be raised. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE APPENDED DRAWINGS 
         [0011]    The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given herein below and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the present invention, and wherein: 
           [0012]      FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram illustrating a connector according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0013]      FIG. 2A  is a schematic diagram illustrating the light-guiding member and the light-emitting device shown in  FIG. 1 ; and 
           [0014]      FIG. 2B  is a schematic diagram illustrating another light-guiding member and the light-emitting device according to another embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0015]    The present invention provides a connector having a light-emitting device which can be removed and replaced easily. As shown in  FIG. 1 , a connector  1  includes a housing  10 , a light-guiding member  12 , and a light-emitting device  14 . The connector  1  is a RJ-45 or RJ-11 connector and can be applied to the network equipment. 
         [0016]    In this embodiment, the light-emitting device  14  includes a light-emitting portion  140  and a wire  142 . The light-emitting portion  140  can be a light emitting diode or a laser diode. The light-emitting device  14  can be taken as an indicating lamp, and the working status of the connector  1  can be known according to the twinkling and brightness of the light-emitting device  14 . In addition, the light-emitting portion  140  is not limited to emit a monochromatic light, and it can be packaged by several light-emitting sources to emit a light with multiple colors. Meanwhile, the number of wires needs to be configured corresponding to the number of light-emitting sources. 
         [0017]    Further, the wire  142  can extend straight or extend along a sidewall of the housing  10 . Moreover, a fixing member (not shown) is formed on the housing  10  or the cover  16  for positioning or fixing the wire  142 . Therein, the material of the fixing member can be an insulating material or a metal material. The light-guiding member  12  is assembled with the housing  10 . 
         [0018]    Please refer to  FIG. 2A , the light-guiding member  12  includes a light-guiding part  120  and a clamping part  122 . The clamping part  122  is used for clamping the light-emitting portion  140  so that the light-emitting portion  140  faces the light-guiding part  120 . The light-guiding member  12  is separably connected to the light-emitting device  14 , i.e., the light-guiding member  12  is conjoined with the light-emitting device  14  by a clamping force. The light-emitting device  14  of the connector  1  of the present invention can be easily removed and replaced. 
         [0019]    Again referring to  FIG. 1 , the connector  1  further includes a cover  16 . The material of the cover  16  can be an electrically conductive material such as metal. The cover  16  includes a first cover part  160  and a second cover part  162 , and both of which are separable. The first cover part  160  is used for covering a side of the housing  10  and a side of the clamping part  122 , and the second cover part  162  is used for covering the wire  142 . Accordingly, the cover  16  not only protects the light-guiding member  12  and the light-emitting device  14 , but also shields the EMI generated from the wire  142  and the light-emitting portion  140  surrounded by the clamping part  122 . 
         [0020]    Again referring to  FIG. 2A , the clamping part  122  of the light-guiding member  12  can be used for clamping the light-emitting portion  140 , and a first surface  1200  of the light-guiding part  120  can receive the light emitted from the light-emitting portion  140 . Therein, the first surface  1200  is not limited to a flat surface, and can be a curve surface, a sawtooth surface, or a wavy surface for matching a surface of the light-emitting portion  140  to gather more light emitted from the light-emitting portion  140 . 
         [0021]    Additionally, the light-guiding member  12  can have a different structure depending on a practical design or a demand of the manufacture. The clamping part  122  has a U-shape, V-shape, C-shape, N-shape, Z-shape, S-shape, X-shape, Y-shape, J-shape, H-shape, or W-shape profile. The light-guiding part  120  is a curved, linear, L-shape (shown as the light-guiding part  220  in  FIG. 2B ), sawtooth, wavy, W-shape, or U-shape solid body or hollow body. Besides, the light-guiding part  120  is not limited to a solid body shown in  FIG. 2A  and  FIG. 2B , and can be a hollow body to meet the needs of different optical designs or manufacture. 
         [0022]    The housing  10  is connected to the light-guiding member  12  by fitting, embedding, inserting or clamping. Besides, the guiding part  120  and the clamping part  122  can be formed as a monolithic piece, and the housing  10  and the light-guiding member  12  can be formed as a monolithic piece. Meanwhile, the light-guiding part of the housing  10  can be a through hole, and the through hole has an interior wall with a reflective layer. The light-guiding part of the housing  10  can also be a transparent housing. 
         [0023]    Since the connector of the invention fixes the light-emitting device by a clamping method, the connector can match different light-emitting devices. The light-emitting devices can be easily removed and replaced to raise the product variety and lower the manufacture cost. In addition, the connector of the invention has a cover for shielding EMI, so the EMI between environment and the connector can be reduced, and the working efficiency of the connector is raised. 
         [0024]    With the example and explanations above, the features and spirits of the invention will be hopefully well described. Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device may be made while retaining the teaching of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims.