Electrical connector

An electrical connector for connecting an FPC includes an insulating housing having a receiving space, a plurality of contacts received in the insulating housing and an actuator retained on two ends of said insulating housing. Each contact includes a pivot arm engaging with said actuator and frontwardly extending into said receiving space. Said pivot arm defines a first engaging notch and a protrusion on a bottom edge thereof. The actuator has a rotatable cam portion rotatablely engaged with said first engaging notch. Said protrusion is formed on a frontal tip end of said pivot arm and extends much lower than said rotatable cam portion in a vertical direction, which prevents the FPC from contacting with said rotatable portion firstly during the process of the insertion.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an electrical connector, and more particularly to an electrical connector connecting an FPC (Flexible Printed Circuit) to a PCB (printed circuit board).

2. Description of Related Art

An electrical connector for connecting an FPC is widely used in electronics device nowadays. As disclosed in JP. Pat. No. 3513751B2, an FPC electrical connector comprises a housing having a receiving space, a plurality of contacts each of which has an upper pivot arm, and a rotatable actuator having a cam portion to engage with the upper pivot arm. Said FPC has a front side edge which inserts into said receiving space firstly. The cam portion of the actuator is located much closer to an opening of the receiving space than a frontal tip end of the upper pivot arm, so in the process of the insertion of said FPC, said front side edge of the FPC may push against the cam portion firstly and drive the actuator to rotate from an open position to a close position before the FPC is fully inserted into said receiving space, which may prevent the FPC from having a deeper insertion into said receiving space.

So it is necessary to provide a new electrical connector to solve the problems above.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector for connecting an FPC, in which the FPC is easy to be inserted.

In order to achieve above-mentioned object, an electrical connector is provided which comprises an insulating housing having a plurality of passageways and a receiving space, a plurality of contacts received in said passageways, and an actuator having a rotating portion rotatablely engaging with said pivot arm. Each contact has a contacting arm and a pivot arm frontwards extending into said receiving space. Said pivot arm of the contact has a protrusion thereof which is formed on a front side of said rotating portion and at least extends downwardly to a same level with the rotating portion.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention shall be discussed hereinafter in terms of a preferred embodiment illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order for the reader hereof to gain a thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be obvious, however, to those skilled in the art that certain well-know elements may not be shown in detail in order to unnecessarily obscure the present invention.

Referring toFIGS. 1 and 2, an electrical connector in accordance with the present invention is provided. The electrical connector comprises an insulating housing1, a plurality of contacts2retained in said insulating housing1, a rotatable actuator3assembled on said insulating housing1and a pair of retaining member4retained in two ends of said insulating housing1.

Referring toFIG. 2, the insulating housing1includes a top wall11, a bottom wall12and a pair of sidewalls13connecting with said top wall11and said bottom wall12, which defines a receiving space10for receiving an FPC. A plurality of passageways14are formed on an inner surface of both said top wall and bottom wall to pass through into said receiving space10. Each said sidewall13has a slot130receiving each said retaining member4for retaining the electrical connector on a printed circuit board firmly.

Referring toFIG. 3, each contact2, which is forwardly assembled into said passageway14of the insulating housing1from the back, comprises a base portion20, a pivot arm21extending into said receiving space10horizontally from a top edge of the base portion20, a contacting arm22extending from a bottom edge of the base portion20parallel to said pivot arm21, and a soldering leg23downwardly extending from said base portion20. The pivot arm21has a longitudinal body which defines a pivot portion and a protecting portion on a bottom edge of a front end thereof. Said pivot portion comprises a first engaging notch211, a second engaging notch214and a projecting portion212between said two notches. Said protection portion includes a protrusion213which is formed on a frontal tip end of the pivot arm21and near a front side of said receiving space10. The protrusion213has a slanted surface for guiding the FPC and extends much lower than said projecting portion212in a vertical direction, which makes the FPC insert into the receiving space much easier by contacting with the protrusion213firstly. Said second engaging notch214is formed between said projecting portion212and protrusion213.

Referring toFIG. 2, said actuator3, which rotates between an opening position and a locking position, includes a longitudinal operating portion31and a rotating portion32formed on a lateral side of said operating portion31with a plurality of grooves30defined thereon for receiving the pivot arms21of the contacts2. Combine withFIG. 3, said rotating portion32has a pair of spindles33on two longitudinal ends thereof for engaging with the insulating housing1rotatablely, a cam portion321rotatablely engaging with said first engaging notch211, and a stiffening rib322extending downwardly from said cam portion321for engaging with said second engaging notch214. A concave34is defined between said cam portion321and said stiffening rib322for engaging with said projecting portion212of the contact2.

As shown inFIG. 2, said retaining member4includes a base portion41, a retaining bar42extending from said base portion41for retained into said slots130of the insulating housing1, and a soldering portion43formed on a bottom edge of said base portion41for retaining on the printed circuit board firmly. The retaining bar42sustains said spindles of said rotating portion32, which makes it easier for said actuator3for rotating between said opening position and said locking position.

Referring toFIG. 4, when the actuator3is at the opening position, at which said FPC can be inserted into said receiving space10of the insulating housing1, the cam portion321and the stiffening rib322of the actuator3are received into said first engaging notch211and said second engaging notch214of the contact2respectively, while the projecting portion212is received into said concave34of the rotating portion32. Said protrusion213at least extends to a same level with said rotating portion32in a vertical direction in order to protect the rotating portion32in an inserting direction. Thus, during the insertion of the FPC, the FPC will contact with the protrusion213firstly, which will not drive the actuator3rotating. In other embodiment of the invention, said protrusion213also can extend much lower than said rotating portion32in a vertical direction to prevent the FPC from contacting with the rotating portion32firstly. Referring toFIG. 3, when the actuator3rotates around the cam portion321to the locking position, said stiffening rib322rotates outwardly from said second engaging notch214and urges a top surface of the FPC (not shown) toward the contacting arm22of the contact2for electrical connection.

However, while the preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown and described, it will apparent to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined by the appended claims.