Abstract:
A connector assembly is suitable for use with various types of connector chip modules, and includes a heat sink detachably connected to a top of a cover of the connector assembly via a heat-sink fastening member, so that heat produced by the connector chip module on the connector assembly during the operation thereof can be effectively dissipated into ambient environment via the heat sink. Therefore, the connector assembly can be widely applied to all kinds of connector chips.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention relates to a connector assembly, and more particularly to a connector assembly provided with a heat sink to enable effective dissipation of heat produced by a connector chip module inserted in the connector assembly. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   With the coming of the globalization age, people require work efficiency and convenience much higher than ever before. Consumers of nowadays prefer to purchase electronic products that can achieve more functions within the shortest possible time or at the highest possible efficiency. Therefore, to satisfy the consumers&#39; requirements, it is a must to break through the bottleneck in the electronic industrial fields by researching and developing a new generation of products that are compact in volume, provide multiple functions, and work at high efficiency. When viewing from the point of research and development, techniques for the semiconductor process and integrated circuit (IC) design have surprising progress in recently ten years to successfully achieve the purposes of minimizing and integrating various electronic elements, enabling a plurality of electronic products to integrate multiple functions. However, new problems arise with the miniaturized and integrated electronic elements to result in reduced element reliability. That is, when the electronic elements operate, they require electric power to work. However, it is impossible to achieve the 100% efficiency, and some power is wasted and converted into heat energy, which would cause largely risen operating temperature of the whole system. In the event the operating temperature exceeds an allowable limit, errors might occur in the system operation. In worse conditions, the system might become failed or burned out due to overheat. For the new-generation electronic products having high density of electronic elements, the number of the internal electronic elements and the operating speed thereof all are much higher than the conventional electronic products. As a result, the new-generation electronic products produce more heat when they operate, and are therefore more easily subject to high operating temperature that exceeds the allowable limit to form another problem. 
   It is therefore tried by the inventor to develop an improved connector assembly that can be used with connector chip modules that would produce a large amount of heat, and can therefore be widely applied to various types of connector chips. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   A primary object of the present invention is to overcome the problems in the conventional connectors by providing a connector assembly suitable for use with connector chip modules that will produce a high amount of heat during operation thereof, so that the connector assembly can be widely applied to all kinds of connector chips. 
   To achieve the above and other objects, the connector assembly according to the present invention includes a lower cover being provided at predetermined positions with a plurality of first through holes, and at two opposite lateral sides with a plurality of first catchers; an upper cover having an overall length longer than that of the lower cover, and including a plurality of outward extended first projections provided on two opposite lateral walls of the upper cover, a plurality of insertion tabs provided along lower edges of the two opposite lateral walls of the upper cover, at least one second catcher located on a top of the upper cover near a front end thereof, and a locating element formed on a rear end wall of the upper cover, so that when the upper cover is closed onto the lower cover, the first projections are engaged with the first catchers to thereby connect the upper cover to the lower cover, and the connected lower and upper covers define a front open end; an elastic-leaf member being partially set in the front open end of the connected lower and upper covers; a front-mounted fastening member for fastening around a front portion of the elastic-leaf member that is forward protruded from the front open end; at least one heat sink; at least one heat-sink fastening member having at least two hold-down tabs separately located at a front and a rear end of the heat-sink fastening member, a bent portion formed at a lower front end of the heat-sink fastening member for engaging with the second catcher, a third catcher formed at a lower rear end of the heat-sink fastening member for engaging with the locating element, and the heat-sink fastening member holding the heat sink to the top of the upper cover; and at least one light guiding member being disposed above the heat-sink fastening member. 
   With the above arrangements, the connector assembly of the present invention is indeed suitable for use with connector chip modules that would produce a high amount of heat during operation thereof, and can therefore be widely applied to various kinds of connector chips. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The structure and the technical means adopted by the present invention to achieve the above and other objects can be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings, wherein 
       FIG. 1  is an exploded perspective view of a connector assembly according to a first embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 2  is an assembled view of  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 3  is a sectional view taken along line A-A of  FIG. 2 ; 
       FIG. 4  is an exploded perspective view of a connector assembly according to a second embodiment of the present invention; and 
       FIG. 5  is an assembled view of  FIG. 4 . 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
   Please refer to  FIGS. 1 and 2  that are exploded and assembled perspective views, respectively, of a connector assembly according to a first embodiment of the present invention; and to  FIG. 3  that is a sectional view taken along line A-A of  FIG. 2 . As shown, the connector assembly in the first embodiment includes a lower cover  10 , an upper cover  20 , an elastic-leaf member  30 , a front-mounted fastening member  40 , a heat sink  50 , a heat-sink fastening member  60 , and a light guiding member  70 . 
   The lower cover  10  is provided at predetermined positions with a plurality of first through holes  12 , and at two opposite lateral sides with a plurality of first catchers  14 . The upper cover  20  has an overall length longer than that of the lower cover  10 , and includes a plurality of outward extended first projections  22 , a plurality of insertion tabs  24 , two second catchers  26 , and a locating element  28 . The first projections  22  are provided on two opposite lateral walls of the upper cover  20 , the insertion tabs  24  are provided along lower edges of the two opposite lateral walls of the upper cover  20 , the two second catchers  26  are located on a top of the upper cover  20  near a front end thereof, and the locating element  28  is formed on a rear end wall of the upper cover  20 . When the upper cover  20  is closed onto the lower cover  10 , the first projections  22  are engaged with the first catchers  14  to thereby connect the upper cover  20  to the lower cover  10 . And, the connected lower and upper covers  10 ,  20  define a front open end. 
   The elastic-leaf member  30  is partially set in the front open end of the connected lower and upper covers  10 ,  20 , and the front-mounted fastening member  40  is fitted around a front portion of the elastic-leaf member  30  that is forward protruded from the front open end. The assembled lower cover  10 , upper cover  20 , elastic-leaf member  30 , and front-mounted fastening member  40  together define an insertion space for connecting terminals. 
   The heat-sink fastening member  60  has four hold-down tabs  62 , a bent portion  64 , and a third catcher  66 . The four hold-down tabs  62  are divided into two pairs separately located at a front and a rear end of the heat-sink fastening member  60 . The bent portion  64  is formed at a lower front end of the heat-sink fastening member  60  for engaging with the two second catchers  26 , which are provided on the top of the upper cover  20 . The third catcher  66  is formed at a lower rear end of the heat-sink fastening member  60  for engaging with the locating element  28 . The heat-sink fastening member  60  holds the heat sink  50  to the top of the upper cover  20 . The light guiding member  70  is disposed above the heat-sink fastening member  60  for guiding light beams emitted by a light-emitting-diode (LED) lamp mounted on a circuit board, and the LED lamp can be used to indicate whether a connector chip module on the connector assembly is in a normal state for use or not. And, it is noted the connector chip module will produce a large amount of heat during the operation thereof. 
   With the heat sink  50  being detachably mounted to the top of the upper cover  20  by the heat-sink fastening member  60 , heat produced by the connector chip module can be effectively dissipated via the heat sink  50  into ambient environment to reduce the possibility of a damaged connector chip module due to overheating. 
   In the connector assembly according to the first embodiment of the present invention, the heat-sink fastening member  60  can be further provided at the front and rear ends with an open-topped recess  68  each. Meanwhile, the light guiding member  70  is further provided with two round posts  72  corresponding to the two recesses  68 , so that the light guiding member  70  is disposed on the top of the heat-sink fastening member  60  with the two round posts  72  engaged with the two recesses  68 . 
   In the connector assembly according to the first embodiment of the present invention, the upper cover  20  can be further provided on the rear end wall with a pair of spaced second through holes  29 . Meanwhile, the light guiding member  70  is further provided at positions corresponding to the pair of second through holes  29  with two forward projected bosses  74  for extending through and thereby engaging with the pair of second through holes  29 . 
   The engaged recesses  68  and round posts  72  ensure firm and stable connection of the light guiding member  70  to the top of the heat-sink fastening member  60 ; and the engaged second through holes  29  and bosses  74  ensure firm and stable connection of the light guiding member  70  to the upper cover  20 . 
     FIGS. 4 and 5  are exploded and assembled perspective views, respectively, of a connector assembly according to a second embodiment of the present invention. As can be seen from  FIGS. 4 and 5 , the connector assembly in the second embodiment includes a lower cover  10 ′, an upper cover  20 ′, an elastic-leaf member  30 ′, a front-mounted fastening member  40 ′, a plurality of heat sinks  50 ′, a plurality of heat-sink fastening members  60 ′, a plurality of light guiding members  70 ′, and at least one spacer  25 . 
   The lower cover  10 ′ is provided at predetermined positions with a plurality of first through holes  12 ′, and at two opposite lateral sides with a plurality of first catchers  14 ′. The upper cover  20 ′ has an overall length longer than that of the lower cover  10 ′, and includes a plurality of outward extended first projections  22 ′, a plurality of insertion tabs  24 ′, a plurality of second catchers  26 ′, and a plurality of locating elements  28 ′. The first projections  22 ′ are provided on two opposite lateral walls of the upper cover  20 ′, the insertion tabs  24 ′ are provided along lower edges of the two opposite lateral walls of the upper cover  20 ′, the second catchers  26 ′ are located on a top of the upper cover  20 ′ near a front end thereof, and the locating elements  28 ′ are formed on a rear end wall of the upper cover  20 ′. When the upper cover  20 ′ is closed onto the lower cover  10 ′, the first projections  22 ′ are engaged with the first catchers  14 ′ to thereby connect the upper cover  20 ′ to the lower cover  10 ′. And, the connected lower and upper covers  10 ′ and  20 ′ define a front open end. 
   The elastic-leaf member  30 ′ is partially set in the front open end of the connected lower and upper covers  10 ′ and  20 ′, and the front-mounted fastening member  40 ′ is fitted around a front portion of the elastic-leaf member  30 ′ that is forward protruded from the front open end. The spacer  25  is disposed between the lower cover  10 ′ and the upper cover  20 ′ to divide a space defined in the connected lower and upper covers  10 ′ and  20 ′ into a plurality of insertion spaces for connecting terminals. The spacer  25  also functions to guide the connector terminals into the insertion spaces. 
   The heat-sink fastening members  60 ′ each have four hold-down tabs  62 ′, a bent portion  64 ′, and a third catcher  66 ′. The four hold-down tabs  62 ′ are divided into two pairs separately located at a front and a rear end of the heat-sink fastening member  60 ′. The bent portion  64 ′ is formed at a lower front end of the heat-sink fastening member  60 ′ for engaging with two of the second catchers  26 ′ provided on the top of the upper cover  20 ′. The third catcher  66 ′ is formed at a lower rear end of the heat-sink fastening member  60 ′ for engaging with one of the locating elements  28 ′. The heat-sink fastening members  60 ′ hold the heat sinks  50  to the top of the upper cover  20 ′. The light guiding members  70 ′ are separately disposed above the heat-sink fastening members  60 ′ for guiding light beams emitted by LED lamps correspondingly mounted on a circuit board, and the LED lamps each can be used to indicate whether a corresponding connector chip module on the connector assembly is in a normal state or not. And, it is noted the LED lamps will produce a large amount of heat during the operation thereof. 
   With the heat sinks  50 ′ being detachably mounted to the top of the upper cover  20 ′ by the heat-sink fastening members  60 ′, heat produced by the connector chip modules can be effectively dissipated via the heat sinks  50 ′ into ambient environment to reduce the possibility of damaged connector chip modules due to overheating. 
   In the connector assembly according to the second embodiment of the present invention, each of the heat-sink fastening members  60 ′ can be further provided at the front and rear ends with an open-topped recess  68 ′ each. Meanwhile, each of the light guiding members  70 ′ is further provided with two round posts  72 ′ corresponding to the two recesses  68 ′, so that each of the light guiding members  70 ′ is disposed on the top of one of the heat-sink fastening members  60 ′ with the two round posts  72 ′ engaged with the two recesses  68 ′. 
   In the connector assembly according to the second embodiment of the present invention, the upper cover  20 ′ can be further provided on the rear end wall with a plurality of pairs of spaced second through holes  29 ′. Meanwhile, the light guiding members  70 ′ each are further provided at positions corresponding to one pair of the second through holes  29 ′ with two forward projected bosses  74 ′ for extending through and thereby engaging with the pair of second through holes  29 ′. 
   The engaged recesses  68 ′ and round posts  72 ′ ensure firm and stable connection of the light guiding members  70 ′ to the top of the heat-sink fastening members  60 ′; and the engaged second through holes  29 ′ and bosses  74 ′ ensure firm and stable connection of the light guiding members  70 ′ to the upper cover  20 ′. 
   The present invention has been described with some preferred embodiments thereof and it is understood that many changes and modifications in the described embodiments can be carried out without departing from the scope and the spirit of the invention that is intended to be limited only by the appended claims.