Abstract:
An electrical connector comprises a housing defining a front mating opening and a rear surface, a modular subassembly fixed to the insulative housing and a shell defining a pair of resilient arms. The modular subassembly includes an insert module and a circuit board being located adjacent to the rear surface of the insulative housing. The circuit board forms a conductive coating thereon for groundingly contacting with the resilient arms of the shell, and the insert module consists of an upper insert member receiving a number of first contacts and a lower insert member receiving a number of second contacts.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates to an electrical connector, and especially to a modular jack electrical connector assembly which provides stable and reliable electrical communication. 
     As the communication industry rapidly develops, a wide variety of electrical products relating to communication networks have been introduced to the market. Current electrical instruments must process an increasing amount of information and especially, the transmission of the high frequency signals become common between electrical instruments. Thus, filter requirements are being placed on the quality of electrical products to ensure proper signal transmission. Emphasized is how to lessen the negative affects of noise signals acting on communication devices. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,069,641; 5,587,884; and 5,647,767 disclose electrical connectors for communication devices which address the problem of noise. 
     The conventional connectors are usually equipped with signal transforming devices for reducing the affects of noise signals. However, a number of conductive terminals received within the electrical connector must be divided into groups for connecting with the signal transforming device to ensure proper transmission of signals. Furthermore, the conventional signal transforming device assembled within electrical connector usually lacks an electrical element to eliminate noise signals. 
     Alternative electrical connectors often adopt a grounding device having at least a grounding lead for grounding noise signals. However, the grounding leads must be soldered to the grounding device and to a circuit board, which results in complicating the manufacture and assembly process, as well as increasing costs. Additionally, a number of auxiliary structures or components must be provided for cooperating with the grounding leads thereby further hindering manufacture and assembly. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The main object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector having a modular subassembly containing a plurality of conductive components of the connector to facilitate assembly with other components of the connector and promoting stable and reliable signal transmission between the connector and a mating connector. 
     The second object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector having a modular subassembly having a circuit board attached to a rear surface of the insulative housing thereby providing enough space for containing predetermined electrical elements for filtering and conditioning noise signals. 
     The third object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector including a modular subassembly having a coat of conductive material applied thereto in cooperation with a shell conveniently and steadily fixed to an insulative housing of the connector thereby providing the connector with shielding and grounding capabilities. 
     In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, the modular subassembly attached to the connector includes an insert module and a circuit board with a number of electrical elements attached thereto. The module consists of an upper insert member receiving a plurality of first contacts therein, a lower insert member receiving a plurality of second contacts therein. Thus, the modular subassembly can be conveniently assembled with the other components of the connector as a whole thereby simplifying the structure of the connector and providing enough space for containing sufficient electrical elements attached to the subassembly. 
     Moreover, a coat of conductive material, such as a coat of tin foil, is provided on an edge of the circuit board of the modular subassembly for completing a grounding path from electrically contacting resilient arms of a shell enclosing the insulative housing to the modular subassembly. 
     In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the shell forms two inwardly extending resilient arms for electrically contacting with the conductive coating of the modular subassembly, grounding tabs and a rear cover, thereby providing the electrical connector with both the grounding and shielding capabilities. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a partially exploded view of an electrical connector assembly in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is an exploded view of a modular subassembly in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 3 is an assembled view of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view taken along line  4 — 4  of FIG. 3; 
     FIG. 5 is a partially magnified view of FIG. 4; 
     FIG. 6 is a partially assembled view of FIG. 1; and 
     FIG. 7 is a fully exploded view of the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to FIGS. 1 and 7, an electrical connector  10  comprises an insulative housing  20 , a modular subassembly  40  and a shell  72 . The insulative housing  20  has a front face  21 , a rear face  23 , a top face  25 , and a pair of side faces  29 . A front mating opening  22  is defined in the front face  21  and a number of contact receiving passageways  26  are defined in the rear face  23 . A chamber  27  defined between the front and rear face  21 ,  23 . A pair of groove  24  are defined on opposite inner sides of the insulative housing  20  between the front and rear faces  21 ,  23 . A strip  38  is formed along a periphery of the mating opening  22 . Two supporting posts  36  downwardly extend from the insulative housing  20 . A pair of cantilevered arms  28  extend from the rear face  23  of the insulative housing  20 . Each arm  28  forms a protrusion  30  on an inner surface thereof. A space is defined between the two arms  28  for receiving a circuit board  42  of the modular subassembly  40 . A pair of recesses  34  are disposed in the top face  25  of the insulative housing  20 . A pair of securing slots  32  are oppositely deposited in the rear face  23  of the insulative housing  20 , each securing slot  32  having an upper slot and a lower slot for alternately interferentially receiving first and second projections of upper and lower insert members  52 ,  62  as detailed later. 
     Also referring to FIG. 2, the modular subassembly  40  includes an insert modular (not labeled) and a circuit board  42 , the insert modular consists of an upper insert member  52  and a lower insert member  62 . The upper insert member  52  receives a plurality of first contacts  54  therein and the lower insert member  62  receives a plurality of second contacts  66  therein. In the embodiment shown, the upper insert member  52  and the lower insert member  62  are shown to be separate elements, however, they can be integrally formed if desired. 
     Each first contact  54  comprises a mounting section  58  vertically extending from one end of the upper insert member  52 , a contact section  60  acutely extending from an opposite end of the upper insert member  52 , and a securing section (not shown) received in the upper insert member  52 . The contact sections  60  can electrically contact with corresponding terminals of a mating connector (not shown). Each second contact  66  comprises a soldering section  68  rearwardly extending from the lower insert member  62 , and a connecting section  70  downwardly extending therefrom. The upper insert member  52  is an insulative plate forming a pair of first projection  56  extending from opposite sides thereof. The lower insert member  62  forms a pair of second projections  64  on opposite lateral ends thereof. 
     The circuit board  42  has a number of electrical elements  46  arranged thereon. A number of conductive pads  43  are attached to a surface of the circuit board  42  for surface mounting the corresponding mounting sections  58  of the first contacts  54  thereto. A number of electronic elements  46  are attached on a surface opposite to the surface mounted the conductive pads  43  thereon for filtering and conditioning noise signals. A number of holes  48  are defined through the circuit board  42  for receiving the soldering sections  68  of the second contacts  66  therein. A coat of conductive material  44 , such as a coat of tin foil, is deposited along a top edge of the circuit board  42 . A pair of cutouts  47  are defined on opposite lateral side of the circuit board  42 . 
     Referring to FIGS. 1,  6  and  7 , the shell  72  defines a cavity  74  in a front face thereof corresponding to the mating opening  22  of the insulative housing  20 . A pair of inner and outer grounding tabs  76 ,  78  are formed on each of opposite sides of the shell  72  proximate the cavity  74 . A rear cover  92  is formed opposite to the cavity  74  and two bent tabs (not labeled) extend from opposite sides of the rear cover  92  to abut against the corresponding opposite sides of the housing  20 . A pair of inwardly extending resilient arms  90  are formed on a top face of the shell  72 . A pair of legs  80  downwardly extend from the shell  72 . A first flange  82  inwardly extend from a bottom edge of the front face of the shell  72 . A pair of second flange  84  inwardly extends from a bottom edge of the opposite sides of the shell  72 . Each second flange  84  defines an arcuate notch  86  for extension of the corresponding supporting posts  36  of the insulative housing  20  therethrough. 
     Referring to FIG.  1  and FIG. 2, in assembly, the mounting sections  58  of the first contacts  54  are surface mounted to the corresponding conductive pads  43  of the circuit board  42 , and the soldering sections  68  are soldered to the corresponding holes  48  thereof. A surface of the lower insert member  62  abuts against a bottom surface of the upper insert member  52 . 
     Referring to FIGS. 1,  4 ,  6  and  7 , the modular subassembly  40  is assembled to the insulative housing  20  by inserting the upper insert member  52  into the chamber  27 . The contact sections  60  of the first contacts  54  are received in the corresponding contact receiving passageways  26  and extend into the chamber  27  whereby bent portions of the contact sections  60  abuts against the strip  38 . The circuit board  42  is received between the two cantilevered arms  28  to abut against the insulative housing  20  and whereby the protrusions  30  of the housing  20  engage with the corresponding cutouts  47  to secure the circuit board  42  to the insulative housing  20 . 
     Referring to FIGS. 1,  3 ,  4  and  5 , the shell  72  is fixed to the combination of the insulative housing  20  and the modular subassembly  40 . The first flange  82  of the housing  20  is positioned below the strip  38  of the insulative housing  20 , and the second flanges  84  are positioned below the opposite sides of the insulative housing  20  and thus, the insulative housing  20  is retained in the shell  72 . The rear cover  92  encloses the circuit board  42 . The resilient arms  90  extend into the corresponding recess  34  and abut against the coat of conductive material  44  for facilitating electrical connection between the shell  72  and the circuit board  42  for grounding protection. 
     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.