Abstract:
An electrical connector assembly is provided for electrically connecting at least a pair of stacked memory cards to a printed circuit board. The assembly includes a first insulative housing and a lower insulative housing positioned below the first insulative housing. Each of the two insulative housings has an elongated slot. A metal peg interconnecting the two insulative housings with each other is provided to enhance the intensity of the electrical connector assembly and prevent it from being broken.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    This invention generally relates to the art of electrical connectors, and particularly, to an electrical connector assembly for electrically connecting memory cards. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0004]    Various of function modules are widely used in personal computers, for example, for date-storage, video, sound and so on. Generally, these modules are connected to a printed circuit board (PCB) by an electrical connector mounted on the PCB. Due to the need for high performance in computer systems and other applications, more than one such modules are desired, and corresponding electrical connectors are needed. 
         [0005]    For instance, Chinese Patent NO. 02282909 discloses a stacked electrical connector assembly mounted on a PCB for connecting two memory modules. This electrical connector assembly includes an upper connector having a relatively larger height and a lower connector positioned below the upper connector and having a relatively smaller height. The upper connector is fixed on the PCB by a plurality of contacts received therein soldered on the PCB. The upper connector commonly endures a big torque when an upper memory module is being inserted within, and has a trend to incline rearward. Thus the soldering connection between the contacts of upper connector and the PCB may be broken, especially when the electrical connector assembly has a weaker structure. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an electrical connector assembly with a reliable intensity. 
         [0007]    Another object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector assembly having a peg to prevent the electrical connector assembly from being broken. 
         [0008]    To achieve the above objects, an electrical connector assembly includes a first insulative housing having a first elongated slot with a first key element therein, a plurality of first terminals received in the first insulative housing, a second insulative housing positioned below the first insulative housing and having a second elongated slot with a second key element therein, a plurality of second terminals received in the second insulative housing, and a peg positioned adjacent to the first key element and the second key element and having ends respectively inserted into the first insulative housing and the second insulative housing. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0009]      FIG. 1  is an assembled, perspective view of an electrical connector assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0010]      FIG. 2  is another assembled, perspective view of the electrical connector assembly according to the embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0011]      FIG. 3  is an exploded, perspective view of the electrical connector assembly according to the embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0012]      FIG. 4  is another exploded, perspective view of the electrical connector assembly according to the embodiment of the present invention; and 
           [0013]      FIG. 5  is a cross-section view taken along a line  5 - 5  in  FIG. 1 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0014]      FIG. 1  to  FIG. 5  illustrates a preferred embodiment of the invention. A electrical connector assembly  1  mounting on a PCB includes a first insulative housing  10  for receiving a upper memory card (not shown) and a second insulative housing  20  positioned below the first insulative housing  10  for receiving a lower memory card (not shown). A plurality of first terminals  30  are received in the first insulative housing  10  and a plurality of second terminals  40  are received in the second insulative housing  20 . 
         [0015]    Referring to  FIG. 1  to  FIG. 4 , the first insulative housing  10  is formed with an elongated structure with a pair of guiding arms  11  respectively extending forwardly from two ends thereof. An elongated slot  100  is formed in the direction of the length of the first insulative housing  10  for the insertion of a front edge of the upper memory card. Each of the guiding arms  11  has a guiding slot  110  communicating with the elongated slot  100 , for guiding the insertion of the upper memory card. A first key element  12  made from metal material is inserted and retained within the elongated slot  100  to divide the elongated slot  100  into two parts with different lengths. A notch (not shown) corresponding to the first key element  12  is formed in the front edge of the upper memory card to prohibit a reverse insertion of the upper memory card. The first insulative housing  10  has a bottom surface  101 , a rear wall  102  extending downwardly from the bottom surface  101  and side walls  103 ,  104  respectively extending forwardly and rearwardly from two ends of the rear wall  102 . The bottom surface  101 , the rear wall  102  and the side walls  103  together define a receiving space (not labeled) for receiving the second insulative housing  20 . A terminal-positioning plate  105  is mounted below the rear wall  102  and between two side walls  104 , with a plurality of through holes  1050  therein allowing the first terminals  30  to pass through. A first opening  1010  is formed in the bottom surface  101  and communicating with the elongated slot  100 . One end of a metal peg  50  is inserted into the first opening  1010  and engaging with the first key element  12 . 
         [0016]    The second insulative housing  20  positions below the first insulative housing  10  and is formed with an elongated structure with a pair of guiding arms  21  respectively extending forwardly from two ends thereof. An elongated slot  200  is formed in the direction of the length of the second insulative housing  20  for the insertion of a front edge of the lower memory card. Each of the guiding arms  21  has a guiding slot  210  communicating with the elongated slot  200 , for guiding the insertion of the lower memory card. A second key element  12  made from metal material is inserted and retained within the elongated slot  200  to divide the elongated slot  200  into two parts with different lengths. A notch (not shown) corresponding to the second key element  12  is formed in the front edge of the lower memory card to prohibit a reverse insertion of the lower memory card. Two key elements  12  are better than the insulative housings  10 ,  20  in resistibility of abrasion or breakage. Two key elements  12  are in a line in the vertical direction. The second insulative housing  20  has a top surface  201  facing to the bottom surface  101  of the first insulative housing. An opening  2010  is formed in the top surface  201  and communicating with the elongated slot  200 . The other end of metal peg  50  is inserted into the opening  2010  and engaging with the second key element  12 . When the first insulative housing  10  and the second insulative housing  20  are assembled together, the first opening  1010  and the second opening  2012  are in a line in the vertical direction and communicate with each other. 
         [0017]    Referring to  FIG. 3  to  FIG. 5 , the metal peg  50  is punched from a metal plate and is positioned adjacent to the first key element  12  and the second key element  12 , with each of two ends respectively inserted within the first insulative housing  10  and the second insulative housing  20  which thus be interconnected with each other. Each of the key elements  12  has a gap  120  engaging with the metal peg  50  and a pair of protuberances  121  respectively extending from opposing edges of the key element  12  and interfering with the insulative housing  10 ,  20  for ensuring the key element  12  to be retained firmly within the elongated slot  100 ,  200 . The two opposing ends of the metal peg  50  inserted in the openings  1010 ,  2010  respectively engages with the gap  120  of key elements  12 . 
         [0018]    An inserting force generates and is mainly exerted on the first insulative housing  10  when the upper memory card is being inserted into the first elongated slot  100 . Since the first insulative housing  10  and second insulative housing  20  are interconnected together by the metal peg  50 , the integral intensity of the electrical connector assembly  1  is enhanced, and the force exerted on the first insulative housing  10  is partially displaced into the second insulative housing  20 , and thus the soldering relation between the first terminals  30  and the PCB is effectively prevented from being broken. In the other hand, the electrical connector assembly  1  is prevented from being broken especially in the case of a big inserting force generating from the upper memory card. 
         [0019]    Referring to  FIG. 2  to  FIG. 3 , a pair of metal nails  60  are provided to further enhance the integral intensity of electrical connector assembly  1 , especially to prevent the relative rotation between the first insulative housing  10  and the second housing  20  in a horizontal plane. The pair of metal nails  60  are respectively inserted to the electrical connector assembly  1  at two ends thereof from an up-to-bottom direction, with their tip ends through the two stacked insulative housings one by one and than soldered on the PCB. 
         [0020]    Apparently, different from the above description of the preferred embodiment, the key element, metal peg and metal nail can be made from other material instead of metal material. 
         [0021]    While a preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention has been shown and described, equivalent modifications and changes known to persons skilled in the art according to the spirit of the present invention are considered within the scope of the present invention as described in the appended claims.