Abstract:
The invention discloses an electrical connector comprising a base, a cover, and a drive mechanism. The drive mechanism includes a rotatable pin and a pushing blade. At least two columns are bias disposed on the rotatable pin. The column which is near the cover is disposed in the axle hole. The pushing blade is mounted on the cover for pushing and reinforcing the cover. The pushing blade has at least one block portion which corresponds to the rotatable pin. The pushing blade also has a long round hole for accommodating the rotatable pin. Compared with prior arts, the drive mechanism of the electrical connector of the invention includes a pushing blade which is capable of reinforcing the cover while pushing the cover to prevent the cover from deformation or breakage.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    This invention relates to an electrical connector and, more particularly to an electrical connector whose drive mechanism includes a pushing blade. The pushing blade not only can push a cover to slide but also can reinforce the cover. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Prior Art 
         [0004]    Presently, an electrical connector in existence is used for connecting a chip module and a motherboard. The electrical connector usually includes a base, a cover, a plurality of contacts, and a drive mechanism. The base has a plurality of receiving holes which pass through the base. The receiving holes are used for receiving the contacts. The cover is able to slide parallelly to the upper surface of the base. The cover has a plurality of through holes corresponding to the plurality of receiving holes on the base. The through holes are able to be inserted by a plurality of pins of the chip module to be electrically connected to the contacts of the base. The drive mechanism includes a cam, a pushing blade, a reinforcement blade, and a washer. The pushing blade is tabular and is disposed on the upper surface of the cover. The reinforcement blade is also tabular, and is formed on the lower surface of the cover individually from the pushing blade. That is to say, by holding the cover between the pushing blade and the reinforcement blade, the cover can be reinforced and prevented from deformation or breakage by the excess pushing force induced while the cam rotates. Because it requires more materials to form the pushing blade and the reinforcement blade individually, the cost of the electrical connector increases. Moreover, it also requires two processes to form the pushing blade and the reinforcement blade respectively during the manufacturing of the electrical connector. Thus, the complexity of the processes increases. Besides, it also requires two processes to assemble the pushing blade and the reinforcement blade to the cover respectively during the assembly of the electrical connector. It is troublesome and wastes a lot of time. 
         [0005]    Accordingly, the scope of the invention is to provide an electrical connector, so as to solve the foregoing problems. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    One scope of the invention is to provide an electrical connector whose drive mechanism includes a pushing blade, and the pushing blade has functions of pushing and reinforcing a cover. 
         [0007]    In order to achieve the foregoing scope, the electrical connector of the invention includes a base, a cover, and a drive mechanism. The base has an aperture. The cover is disposed on the base and slide parallelly to the base. The cover has an axle hole which corresponds to and is larger than the aperture. The drive mechanism includes a rotatable pin and a pushing blade. At least two columns are bias disposed on the rotatable pin. The column which is near the cover is disposed in the axle hole. The pushing blade is mounted on the cover for pushing and reinforcing the cover. The pushing blade has at least one block portion which corresponds to the rotatable pin. The pushing blade also has a long round hole for accommodating the rotatable pin. 
         [0008]    Compared with prior arts, the drive mechanism of the electrical connector of the invention includes a pushing blade. The pushing blade is capable of reinforcing the cover while pushing the cover, thus the cover is prevented from deformation or breakage. In addition, the structure of the electrical connector of the invention is simpler and do not need to be fabricated individually in processes, so that the materials can be saved and the assembly processes can be simplified. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE APPENDED DRAWINGS 
         [0009]      FIG. 1  is an exploded view illustrating the electrical connector according to an embodiment of the invention. 
           [0010]      FIG. 2  is an assembly diagram illustrating the electrical connector shown in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0011]      FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram of another angle of view illustrating the electrical connector shown in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0012]      FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view of the electrical connector along line A-A shown in  FIG. 2 . 
           [0013]      FIG. 5  is a schematic diagram illustrating the rotatable pin of the electrical connector shown in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0014]      FIG. 6  is an exploded view illustrating the rotatable pin and the pushing blade of the electrical connector shown in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0015]      FIG. 7  is a schematic diagram of another angle of view illustrating the pushing blade of the electrical connector shown in  FIG. 1 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0016]    The advantage and spirit of the electrical connector of the invention may be understood by the following recitations together with the appended drawings. 
         [0017]    Please refer to  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 1  is an exploded view illustrating the electrical connector according to an embodiment of the invention. The electrical connector  1  of the invention includes a base  10 , a cover  20 , and a drive mechanism  30 . The drive mechanism  30  includes a rotatable pin  31 , a pushing blade  32 , and a washer  33 . The cover  20  is disposed on the base  10  and is driven by the drive mechanism  30  to slide parallelly to the base  10  along the direction at which the arrow B points. 
         [0018]    Please refer to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 3 . The base  10  includes a first reception portion  11  and a first head portion  12 . The first reception portion  11  has a plurality of contact receiving holes  111  for receiving a plurality of contacts (not shown in figures). The first head portion  12  has an aperture  121  passing through the first head portion  12 , and the aperture  121  is located at the center of the first head portion  12 . A recess portion  122  is formed at the center of a lower surface  100  of the first head portion  12 . The lower surface  100  of the recess portion  122  where near the aperture  121  is disposed two uniform first bulges  123  and two uniform second bulges  125 . The four bulges are arranged to form a square. A ribbed strip  124  is disposed on the recess portion  122 . The ribbed strip  124  extends from where the first reception portion  11  intersects to the first head portion  12  to the aperture  121  without entering the aperture  121 . The ribbed strip  124  is parallel to a symmetric axle  126  of the recess portion  122 , and the symmetric axle  126  is parallel to the direction at which the arrow B points. Besides, the two first bulges  123  are disposed at two sides of the ribbed strip  124  symmetrically, and the two second bulges  125  are also disposed at two sides of the ribbed strip  124  symmetrically. 
         [0019]    Please refer to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 . The cover  20  includes a second reception portion  21  and a second head portion  22 . The second reception portion  21  has a plurality of through holes  211  according to the plurality of contact receiving holes  111  on the first reception portion  11 . The plurality of through holes  211  are used to be inserted by pins of a chip module (not shown in figures). An axle hole  220  is formed at the center of the second head portion  22 , and the cross-section of the axle hole  220  is long round shaped. The width of the axle hole in the direction parallel to a symmetric axle  225  of the cover  20  is smaller than that of the axle hole in the direction perpendicular to the symmetric axle  225 . It is notable that the direction of the symmetric axle  225  is parallel to the direction at which the arrow B points. An engaging groove  221  is formed at the distal wall  226  of the second head portion  22  toward the second reception portion  21 , and the width of the engaging groove  221  is smaller than that of the second head portion  22 . Two uniform first protrusions  222  and two uniform second protrusions  227  are disposed near the axle hole  220 , and the four protrusions are columned. The first protrusions  222  are adjacent to the side of the engaging groove  221 , and the second protrusions  227  are adjacent to the side of the second reception portion  21 . The distance between the second protrusions  227  is smaller than that between the first protrusions  222 , so that the four protrusions form an isosceles trapezoid on the cover  20 . Two through grooves  223  are formed at outer sides of the two first protrusions  222  symmetrically respective to the symmetric axle  225 . Two tapered posts  224  are disposed symmetrically adjacent to the through grooves  223 . The tapered posts  224  are adjacent to the second reception portion  21 . The engaging groove  221 , the first and second protrusions  222 ( 227 ), the through grooves  223 , and the tapered posts  224  are engaged with each other to fix the pushing blade  32 . 
         [0020]    Please refer to  FIG. 1 ,  FIG. 5 ,  FIG. 6 , and  FIG. 7 . The drive mechanism  30  of the invention includes the rotatable pin  31 , the pushing blade  32 , and the washer  33 . 
         [0021]    The rotatable pin  31  is consisted of a first column  311  and a second column  312  which are bias. A rotatable portion  313  is extended form the first column  311 , and a rotatable groove  3130  is disposed on the rotatable portion  313 . The rotatable groove  3130  partially extends to enter the first column  311 , and the rotatable groove  3130  can be inserted by tools such as a screwdriver (not shown in figures) to rotate the rotatable pin  31 . Besides, a block  3131  is extended from the rotatable portion  313  in horizontal direction. The diameter of the first column  311  is larger than that of the second column  312 . An annular groove  3120  is formed at the distal end of the second column  312 . 
         [0022]    The pushing blade  32  has a second surface  322  which contacts the upper surface of the second head portion  22  of the cover  20 . Besides, the pushing blade  32  has a first surface  321  relative to the second surface  322 . A long round hole  320  is disposed at the center of the pushing blade  32 . The shape of the long round hole  320  is similar to that of the axle hole  220  on the second head portion  22  of the cover  20 . The long round hole  320  extends a long round ring  3200  toward the second surface  322 , and the long round ring  3200  enters the axle hole  220 . The long round ring  3200  is formed by extrusion. The long round ring  3200  has a force-pushed region  3201 . While rotating, the rotatable pin  31  applies a force to the force-pushed region  3201  on the long round ring  3200  rather than to the cover  20 . Thus, the deformation or breakage of the plastic of the cover  20  can be prevented while the rotatable pin  31  rotates, and the cover  20  can be reinforced. Each of two sides of the long round hole  320  has a block portion  323  protruding toward the first surface  321 . The block portion  323  can engage with the block  3131  of the rotatable pin  31  to prevent the rotatable pin  31  over-rotating. Two first positioning holes  324  and two second positioning holes  329  are formed symmetrically at the outer sides of the block portions  323 . The first positioning holes  324  and the second positioning holes  329  correspond to and cooperate with the first protrusions  222  and the second protrusions  227  disposed on the second head portion  22  of the cover  20  respectively. Plate-shaped reinforcing ribs extend downward from the edges of the pushing blade  32 , and the reinforcing ribs are a first reinforcing rib  325  and a second reinforcing rib  326 , the first reinforcing rib  325  is perpendicular to the second reinforcing rib  326 . The first reinforcing rib  325  engages with the engaging groove  221  of the cover  20 , and the second reinforcing rib  326  is engaged with the through groove  223  of the cover  20  for further reinforcing the cover  20 . 
         [0023]    Please refer to  FIG. 1 . The washer  33  of the drive mechanism  30  has two engaging foots  330 . A circular hole  331  is formed on the washer  33 . The engaging foots  330  form a part of the circular hole  331 . The circular hole  331  is used for being entered by the second column  312  and making the annular groove  3120  of the second column  312  to engage with the engaging foots  330 . 
         [0024]    Please refer to  FIG. 2 ,  FIG. 3 , and  FIG. 4 . First, while assembling, the pushing blade  32  is assembled to the cover  20  with the second surface  322  of the pushing blade  32  facing toward the second head portion  22  of the cover  20  so that the first reinforcing rib  325  is engaged with the engaging groove  221  of the second head portion  22  of the cover  20 , and the second reinforcing rib  326  is inserted into the through groove  223  of the second head portion  22 . The long round ring  3220  on the pushing blade  32  is accommodated in the axle hole  220  of the second head portion  22 , and the outer wall of the long round ring  3220  is closely in contact with the inner wall of the axle hole  220 . The first positioning holes  324  are engaged with the first protrusions  222  of the second head portion  22  to totally fix the pushing blade  32  on the second head portion  22  of the cover  20 . Next, the rotatable pin  31  is inserted into the long round hole  320  from the first surface  321  of the pushing blade  32  toward the long round hole  320 . The first column  311  is located in the long round ring  3200 . The second column  312  passes through the cover  20  and is exposed outside the cover  20 , and enters the aperture  121  of the first head portion  12  of the base  10 . Finally, the washer  33  is disposed on the lower surface  100  of the base  10 . The circular hole  331  is engaged in the annular groove  3120  of the rotatable pin  31 , and the engaging foots  330  of the washer  33  are engaged between the first bulges  123 . The upper portion of the washer  33  is engaged by the second bulges  125 . 
         [0025]    Please refer to  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 4 . While using, a screwdriver can (not shown in figures) be inserted into the rotatable groove  3130  to rotate the rotatable pin  31 , and then the first column  311  and the second column  312  start to rotate. Because the diameter of the first column  311  is larger than that of the second column  312  and the first column  311  and the second column  312  are formed bias, the first column  311  moves the pushing blade  32  by pushing the long round ring  3200  while rotating. The force of pushing is mainly applied on the force-pushed region  3201  of the long round ring  3200 . Because the pushing blade  32  is mounted on the cover  20 , the cover  20  will be driven to slide parallelly to the base  10 . While rotating, the rotatable pin  31  applies a force to the force-pushed region  3201  of the long round ring  3200  rather than to the cover  20  directly. Thus, the deformation or breakage of the plastic of the cover  20  can be prevented while the rotatable pin  31  rotates, and the cover  20  can be reinforced. That is to say, it requires no reinforcing blades in the embodiment of the invention. The pushing blade  32  not only can push the cover  20  to slide parallelly to the base  10 , but also can reinforce the cover  20 . The used materials can be saved and the processes can be simplified. Similarly, the assembling processes can be simplified. When the rotatable pin  31  rotates to a predetermined position, the block  3131  of the rotatable pin  31  is stopped by one of the two block portion  323  which is at two sides of the long round hole  320 . Thus the rotatable pin  31  is prevented from over-rotating to damage the cover  20 . The cover  20  can be further reinforced by engaging the first reinforcing rib  325  with the engaging groove  221  on the cover  20  and engaging the second reinforcing rib  326  with the through groove  223 . 
         [0026]    Accordingly, the advantages of the electrical connector of the invention are listed as following: 
         [0027]    1. The cover  20  has the pushing blade  32 . The first reinforcing rib  325  and the second reinforcing rib  326  can be engaged with the second head portion  22  of the cover  20  tightly. Moreover, the first positioning holes  324  and the second positioning holes  329  on the pushing blade  32  can be engaged with the first protrusions  222  and the second protrusions  227  on the second head portion  22 . While being pushed by the rotatable pin  31 , the pushing blade  32  not only can make the cover  20  to slide parallelly to the base  10  but also can reinforce the cover  20 . Thus, the deformation or breakage of the cover  20  can be prevented, no matter how large the applied force is. Besides, it requires no reinforcing blades in the embodiment of the invention. The used materials can be saved and the processes can be simplified. Similarly, the assembling processes can be simplified. 
         [0028]    2. The pushing force of the first column  311  which is induced by the rotation of the rotatable pin  31  is easy to damage the cover  20  which is plastic. However, according to said invention, the long round hole  320  is formed on the pushing blade  32 , and the long round ring  3200  is extended from the long round hole  320 . The force-pushed region  3201  on the long round ring  3200  is used for bearing the most pushing force and reducing the damage of the cover  20 . Therefore, the pushing blade  32  can be reinforced and prevented from deformation. Because the long round ring  3200  is smooth, the friction of the rotatable pin  31  can be reduced. Moreover, the force-pushed region  3201  prevents the axle hole  220  of the cover  20  from being damaged by the rotation of the rotatable pin  31 . Hereby, the axle hole  220  will not be deformed or broken. 
         [0029]    3. The block  3131  is disposed on the rotatable pin  31 , and the block portion  323  engaged with the block  3131  is disposed on the pushing blade  32  to stop at both sides when the drive mechanism  30  pushes. The cover  20  and the base  10  will not be damaged by the exceeding force, and the correctly contacting between the chip module and the contacts can be ensured. 
         [0030]    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.