Abstract:
An electrical connector comprising an electrical contact; and a housing. The housing comprises a first member and a second member. The first member comprises a contact receiving channel. The second member is over-molded onto the first member. The electrical contact is located in the channel and retained on the housing by a capture of the contact between the first and second members. The first member and the contact extend past a first end of the capture of the contact between the first and second members.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to electrical connectors and, more particularly, to a connector with an over-molded housing member. 
     2. Brief Description of Earlier Developments 
     U.S. Pat. No. 3,945,708 discloses an electrical connector with a premold and a molded cover. U.S. Pat. No. 4,865,562 discloses molding a strip onto contacts. Berg Electronics sells a right angle receptacle electrical connector known as the VHDCI. The housing of the connector is a multi-piece housing which must be carefully assembled with the electrical contacts to prevent damage to the contacts and, must still form a rigid holding of the contacts between housing pieces. A need exists for manufacturing a right angle receptacle connector that is easier and less expensive to manufacture. For connectors having contact ends at relatively small spacings or pitch, such as 0.4 mm or less, precision or tolerances must be very precise. Because of this, over-molding of housing components was not used. This is because contact ends could be disturbed by over-molding thereby preventing proper connection to other components. For example, the contact ends could be misaligned because of over-molding such that they are not easily inserted into an array of holes in a printed circuit board. As another example, the opposing contact ends on opposite sides of rows could be positioned too close to each other, thereby blocking an insertion path into a receiving area between the rows and possibly causing stubbing, or could be positioned too far away from each other, thereby preventing proper wiping, normal force or connection with a mating connector. It would be desirable to use over-molding of a housing component if these problems could be overcome. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, an electrical connector is provided comprising an electrical contact; and a housing. The housing comprises a first member and a second member. The first member comprises a contact receiving channel. The second member is over-molded onto the first member. The electrical contact is located in the channel and retained on the housing by a capture of the contact between the first and second members. The first member and the contact extend past a first end of the capture of the contact between the first and second members. 
     In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, an electrical connector is provided comprising electrical contacts and a housing connected to the electrical contacts. The housing comprises a first member and a second member over-molded onto the first member. The first member comprises first elongate contact receiving channels with open elongate sides along a first exterior side of the first member. The electrical contacts are inserted into the channels at the exterior side of the first member through the open sides of the channels and the over-molded second member covers the electrical contacts along a majority of the open sides of the channels. The first member supports three sides of the electrical contacts in the channels. 
     In accordance with one method of the present invention, a method of manufacturing an electrical connector is provided comprising steps of providing a first housing member with a first contact receiving channel; inserting a first electrical contact into the contact receiving channel, a portion of the contact extending out of the first housing member at a first end of the first housing member; and over-molding a second housing member onto the first housing member, wherein the first housing member forms a first seal with an over-molding die at the first end of the first housing member during the step of overmolding to prevent material which forms the second housing member from contacting the portion of the contact located past the end of the first housing member to prevent the portion from being deformed during the step of over-molding. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The foregoing aspects and other features of the present invention are explained in the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein: 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an electrical connector incorporating features of the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the connector shown in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a perspective view of one of the subassemblies shown in FIG. 2; 
     FIG. 3A is an enlarged view of area  3 A shown in FIG. 3; 
     FIG. 3B is an enlarged view of area  3 B shown in FIG. 3; 
     FIG. 3C is a schematic partial cross-sectional view of the subassembly shown in FIG. 3; 
     FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a contact fixture block subassembly used to manufacture the component shown in FIG. 3; 
     FIG. 5 is a partial cross-sectional view of the subassembly shown in FIG. 4 inside a mold being used to form the over-molded housing piece over the subassembly; 
     FIG. 5A is a partial elevational view of a first end of the first member and electrical contacts and one of the dies shown in FIG. 5; 
     FIG. 5B is a partial elevational view of an opposite second end of the first member and electrical contacts and one of the dies shown in FIG. 5; 
     FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a second lower subassembly electrical connector for attachment to the connector shown in FIG. 1; and 
     FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the two electrical connectors shown in FIGS. 1 and 6 connected to each other to form a double deck, right angle receptacle electrical connector. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a perspective view of an electrical connector  10  incorporating features of the present invention. Although the present invention will be described with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings, it should be understood that the present invention can be embodied in many alternate forms of embodiments. In addition, any suitable size, shape or type of elements or materials could be used. 
     Referring also to FIG. 2, the connector  10  generally comprises two subassemblies  12 ,  14 . The first subassembly  12  generally comprises an outer housing piece  16  and an extended shield shell  18 . The second subassembly  14  generally comprises a housing  20  and electrical contacts  22 . Referring a also to FIGS. 3,  3 A,  3 B and  4 , the housing  20  generally comprises a first member  24  and a second member  26 . As seen best in FIG. 4, the first member  24  generally comprises a one-piece molded plastic member. However, in alternate embodiments the first member could be comprised of any suitable material or combination of materials and, could be comprised of multiple pieces. The first member  24  has a general right turn shape wherein a first end  28  is offset about 90° from a second end  30 . However, the first member  24  could have any suitable shape including being straight, such as for a vertical electrical connector rather than a right angle connector. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 the first member  24  comprises three sections  32 ,  33 ,  34  angled relative to each other in series, such as at 45° angles. Thus, the first member  24  forms an inner side  36  and an outer side  38 . First member  24  acts as a comb for locating the contacts  22 . The first member  24  includes contact receiving channels or grooves  40 ,  42 , extending into the first member along the two sides  36 ,  38  and along all three sections  32 ,  33 ,  34 . As seen best in FIG. 3A, the channels  40 ,  42  preferably have a general V shape and alternatingly vary in depth along each side  36 ,  38  at the section  32 . Thus, adjacent channels  40   a  and  40   b,  at section  32  have different depths into the first member. Adjacent channels  42   a  and  42   b  at section  32  also have different depths. However, the channels  40   a,    40   b  and  42   a,    42   b  have the same depth at the opposite section  34 . Preferably, the transition in depth occurs at a junction with or along the middle section  33 . However, any suitable depths and/or transitions in depth of the channels could be provided. In addition, in an alternate embodiment, the first member  24  might only have one side  36  or  38  with the contact receiving channels. The contacts  22  are placed within grooves  40 ,  42  as described in more detail below. 
     The contacts  22  are generally stamped and formed from a sheet of suitable conductive material, such as a copper alloy, but any suitable process and/or materials could be used to form the contacts. The contacts  22  each comprise a first connection or mounting section  44 , an opposite second connection or mounting section  46 , and a middle section  48  therebetween. In this embodiment the first connection sections  44  are provided as through-hole solder tails intended to be inserted into holes in a printed circuit board (not shown) and soldered thereto. However, the first connection section  44  could have any suitable shape, such as a spring contact or a surface mount solder tail. The middle sections  48  are located in the channels  40 ,  42 . In a preferred embodiment the contacts  22  have retainment barbs (not shown) to at least temporarily attach the contacts  22  to the first member  24  in the channels  40 ,  42 . The second connection sections  46  are provided as two rows of spring contact beam sections forming a receiving area  50  therebetween for removably receiving a portion of a mating electrical connector (not shown). 
     The second member  26  of the housing  20  is molded onto or over the first member  24  with contacts  22  inserted therein. In this embodiment the second housing member  26  generally comprises a first section  52 , and a second section  54 . The first section  52  generally comprises supports  56 ,  58 , side latches  60 , and recesses  62 . The supports  56 ,  58  are provided to help stabilize mounting of the housing  20  on a surface of a printed circuit board or other electronic component. The recesses  62  are merely provided to save material and make the connector light weight. The first section  52  surrounds the first member  24  at the first and middle sections  32 ,  33  except at the end  28 . In a preferred embodiment the outer side  38  at the middle section  33  is also not covered by the material of the second member  26 ; merely because of the first member  24  being contacted at that location by a mold used during forming of the second member  26 . The second section  54  generally surrounds the front section  34  of the first member  24  except at the end  30 . 
     As noted above, the second member  26  is molded onto the first member  24 . More specifically, after the contacts  22  are inserted into the channels  40 ,  42 , the assembly is inserted into a mold and the second member  26  is formed by injecting plastic into the mold and onto the first member  24 . As seen in FIG. 5, the molding apparatus  100  includes dies  102 ,  104  that clamp onto portions of the first member  24 . This forms open areas, such as areas  106 ,  107 , in which plastic material can be injection molded to form the second member  26 . The dies  102 ,  104  contact the first member  24  at specific locations and also contact the contacts  22  at specific locations. Referring particularly to FIGS. 5 and 3A, the dies  102 ,  104  contact the surfaces  64 ,  65 ,  66  in the outside of the end  28  and surfaces  67  inside channels  40 ,  42  at the end  28 . The first member  24  is used to form a seal with the dies  102 ,  104  at these locations to prevent the material which is being used to form the second member  26  from being injected near the location L where the contacts exit the channels  40 ,  42  at the end  28 . For example, as seen in FIG. 5A, the die  102  can have two types of projections  102   a,    102   b  which are sized and shaped to fit inside respective ones of the channels  40   a,    40   b  when the die  102  is moved into contact with the first member  24  as illustrated by arrow X. The die  104  can have projections similar to projections  102   a,    102   b  which are sized and shaped to fit inside respective ones of the channels  42   a,    42   b,  proximate, but slight spaced from the end  28 . Likewise, as seen with references to FIG. 3B, the first member  24  is used to form a seal with the dies at the front end  30  to prevent the material which is being used to form the second member  26  from being injected near the location M where the contacts  22  exit the channels  40 ,  42  at the end  30 . As seen in FIG. 5B, the die  102  can have an appropirate shaped section  102   c  for contacting the tops of the contacts  22  and the first member  24  proximate the end  30 . The die  104  can have a similar section. Thus, after the second member  26  is molded, the ends  28 ,  30  of the first member  24  extend out of the second member  26 . With the present invention, use of the first member  24  as a seal with the molding apparatus prevents the ends  44 ,  46  of the contacts from being substantially disturbed during the process of molding the second member  26  onto the first member  24 . Without this sealing function, the contact ends  44 ,  46  could be disturbed thereby preventing proper connection to other components. For example, the ends  44  could be misaligned such that they are not easily inserted into an array of holes in a printed circuit board. As another example, the ends  46  on opposite sides of the rows could be positioned too close to each other, thereby blocking an insertion path into area  50  and possibly causing stubbing, or could be positioned too far away from each other, thereby preventing proper wiping, normal force or connection with a mating connector. For connectors having contact ends at relatively small spacings or pitch, such as 0.4 mm or less, precision or tolerances must be very precise. By preventing the molding of the second member  26  from effecting the spacing of the contacts&#39; ends  44 ,  46  the present invention allows over-molding to be used for a housing part (that contacts the contacts) in connectors having contacts with small contact pitch; which was previously unavailable. The over-molded housing piece  26  also cooperates with the fixture piece  24  to capture or sandwich portions of the contacts  22  therebetween to permanently fix the contacts in the housing  20  at ends  28 ,  30  of the first member  24  at capture locations S 1 , S 2 , S 3  and S 4  as shown in FIG.  3 C. 
     Referring back to FIGS. 1 and 2, the second subassembly  14  has rails  70  along the lateral sides of the second section  54 . The first subassembly  12  has slots  72  to receive the rails  70 . The front ends  46  of the contacts and the front end  30  of the first member  24  are inserted into a main receiving slot  74  of the outer housing piece  16  with the two subassemblies  12 ,  14  latching to each other to form the connector  10 . However, any suitable means could be used to connect the two subassemblies  12 ,  14  to each other. 
     Referring to FIGS. 1,  6  and  7 , the connector  10  can be used with a second connector  76  to form a dual or double deck connector  78 . The second connector  76 , in this embodiment, is also a right angle connector and generally comprises a housing  80 , electrical contacts  82 , and a shield shell  84 . The surfaces  59  (see FIG. 3) can abut against the rear end of the housing  80  to help position the two connectors  10 ,  76  relative to each other. Center sections  83  of the contacts  82  can also extend in areas  57  (see FIG.  3 ). The shield shell  84  is connected to the housing  80  and includes side connector sections  86 ,  87  for connection to the latches  60  of the first connector  10 . This new connector  78  forms a double deck electrical connector. 
     It should be understood that the foregoing description is only illustrative of the invention. Various alternatives and modifications can be devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the present invention is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications and variances which fall within the scope of the appended claims.