Shielded electrical connector

An electrical connector includes a dielectric housing mounting a plurality of terminals. The housing has a front face and a mating portion projecting forwardly of the front face with contact portions of the terminals located on the mating portion. A conductive shield is disposed about at least a portion of the housing and includes a flange abutting the front face of the housing and a shroud surrounding the mating portion of the housing. Complementary interengaging retaining portions are provided between the housing and the shield to properly retain the shield on the housing, including a recess in the flange of the shield and a boss projecting forwardly from the front face of the housing into the recess.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
This invention generally relates to the art of electrical connectors and, 
particularly, to a shielded electrical connector having means to prevent 
deformation of a metal shield. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
With the miniaturization of electronic appliances, it has become desireable 
to miniaturize electrical connectors. For example, right angle "D-shaped" 
electrical connectors are commonly used in the electronics industry as an 
input/output (I/O) device to interconnect various electronic appliances, 
such as interconnecting a computer to external peripheral equipment. The 
terminals of the electrical connector typically are soldered to conductive 
circuit traces on a printed circuit board, such as at a back wall or panel 
of the computer. A conductive shield surrounding the contacts in the 
housing of the connector frequently is used to protect against 
electromagnetic or radio frequency interference (EMI/RFI). 
The housings of shielded I/O connectors, as described above, typically 
include a forwardly projecting mating portion in which the mating portions 
of the terminals are located and a rear section at which the solder tails 
are located. For instance, the forwardly projecting mating portion may be 
of a "D" configuration for the right angle "D-shaped" electrical 
connectors described above. The shield extends around the forwardly 
projecting mating portion and is secured to the housing immediately behind 
a front flange of the shield from which the forwardly projecting portion 
extends. 
Heretofore, various means for securing the shield to the housing have been 
utilized, including having openings or windows on the shield into which 
projections on the housing extend generally transversely to the direction 
of elongation of the connector. Alternatively, the shield has projections 
or tabs that extend into openings in the housing. Because each of these 
means for retaining the shield typically utilize a significant amount of 
space they decrease the ability to miniaturize the connector. Some 
connectors have eliminated most of the members for retaining the shield on 
the housing, but this approach presents a potential problem as the shields 
continue to be manufactured of thinner metal in order to reduce costs and 
simplify their manufacturability. These thinner materials are more readily 
deformable and, thus, subject to damage if they are deflected in an 
undesirable manner during mating or assembly. For instance, the walls of 
the shield around the forwardly projecting mating portion are so thin that 
they have a tendency to open up or bend more easily, resulting in either 
damage to the shield or interference with mating of the connector with a 
complementary connecting device. 
This invention is directed to solving the myriad of problems identified 
above and providing a very simple means of supporting the shield on the 
connector housing yet still permitting miniaturization of the housing. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
An object, therefore, of the invention is to provide a new and improved 
shielded electrical connector of the character described, and including a 
new and improved means or system for supporting the shield on the 
connector housing. 
In the exemplary embodiment of the invention, the connector includes a 
dielectric housing mounting a plurality of terminals. The housing has a 
front face and a mating portion projecting forwardly of the front face, 
with contact portions of the terminals located on the mating portion. A 
conductive shield is disposed about at least a portion of the housing and 
includes a flange abutting the front face of the housing. The shield 
includes a shroud surrounding the mating portion of the housing. 
Generally, complementary interengaging portions are provided between the 
housing and the shield to properly retain the shield on the housing. In 
particular, a recess is formed in the flange of the shield and a boss 
projects forwardly from the front face of the housing into the recess to 
prevent movement of the shield thereat. In this manner, the thickness or 
width of the connector housing does not have to be expanded in any way. 
The mating portion of the housing is elongated to define long sides 
thereof, and the shroud of the shield has long side walls covering the 
long sides of the mating portion. The recess and the boss are located 
generally intermediate opposite ends of the long sides and long side 
walls. 
As disclosed herein, the connector is a right-angle connector for mounting 
on a printed circuit board, with the mating portion of the connector 
housing projecting generally parallel to the board and the terminals 
projecting rearwardly of the housing. Right-angled tail portions of the 
terminals extend generally perpendicular to the board for connection to 
appropriate circuit traces thereon. The housing includes a relatively 
narrow elongated body portion defining a rear face opposite the front face 
and from which the terminals project. The right-angled tail portions are 
located in an array immediately adjacent the rear face of the housing. 
Preferably, the dielectric housing is a one-piece molded structure with the 
retaining boss being integral therewith. The shield is a one-piece stamped 
and formed sheet metal structure with the recess being a notch in an outer 
edge of the flange of the shield or an opening through the flange. 
Still further, the mating portion of the housing is elongated with ends of 
the housing projecting longitudinally beyond opposite ends of the mating 
portion. Latch tabs are provided on the shield for engaging latch bosses 
on the housing at locations longitudinally beyond the opposite ends of the 
mating portion and beyond the array of tail portions at the rear face of 
the housing. The latch tabs project rearwardly generally perpendicular to 
the flange of the shield. 
Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent 
from the following detailed description taken in connection with the 
accompanying drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring to the drawings in greater detail, and first to FIGS. 1-3, the 
invention is embodied in an electrical connector, generally designated 10. 
The components of the connector are best seen in the exploded perspective 
view of FIG. 3. The components include a one-piece dielectric housing, 
generally designated 10, molded of plastic or like material. A terminal 
tail aligner, generally designated 14, is mounted on the housing. A 
one-piece stamped and formed sheet metal shield, generally designated 16, 
is mounted on the housing. A pair of boardlocks, generally designated 18, 
are mounted on the housing. Lastly, a plurality of right-angled terminals, 
generally designated 20, are mounted on the housing, with tail portions 22 
projecting through holes 24 in tail aligner 14. 
More particularly, housing 12 includes an elongated body portion 26 having 
a front face 26a and a rear face 26b. A mating portion 28 projects 
forwardly of front face 26a of body portion 26. It can be seen that the 
mating portion is of a "D" configuration commonly used in D-Shaped 
connectors. End or wing portions 30 of housing 12 project longitudinally 
beyond mating portion 28, with the front faces of the end portions forming 
a continuous flat surface with front face 26a of body portion 26. Vertical 
slots or passages 32 (FIG. 3) are formed in end portions 30 for receiving 
boardlocks 18. Additional vertical slots or passages 34 are formed in end 
portions 30 for receiving legs 36 (FIG. 3) of tail aligner 14. Through 
holes 38 are formed in end portions 30 for receiving appropriate mounting 
and guiding members for securing connector 10 to a complementary 
connecting device. A pair of shield retention latch bosses 40 project from 
the bottom edge of body portion 26 longitudinally beyond mating portion 
28, and four additional latch bosses 42 (FIG. 1) project from the top edge 
of the body portion. Lastly, as best seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, a retaining 
boss 44 projects forwardly of front face 26a of body portion 26 
intermediate the ends of mating portion 28 and immediately adjacent to the 
mating portion, both at the top and bottom of the mating portion. 
Tail aligner 14 is a one-piece structure unitarily molded of dielectric 
material such as plastic or the like. As stated above, tail portions 22 of 
terminals 20 project through holes 24 in the tail aligner. This aligns and 
properly spaces the tail portions for insertion into appropriate holes in 
a printed circuit board. In addition, the tail aligner protects the tail 
portions during shipping of the connectors. A pair of integral mounting 
posts 46 project from the bottom of the tail aligner for insertion into 
appropriate mounting holes in the printed circuit board. It can be seen 
that the posts have different shapes or sizes to allow for polarization of 
the connector on the board. Legs 36 of the tail aligner have integral 
flexible latch arms 48 (FIG. 3) for latching the tail aligner to 
appropriate latch means (not visible in the drawings) within end portions 
30 of connector housing 12, as legs 36 are inserted into passages 34 of 
the housing during assembly. 
Each boardlock 18 includes a generally planar body portion 50 having a 
through hole 52 which aligns with the respective through hole 38 in end 
portion 30 of the housing as the boardlock is inserted into its respective 
passage 32 in the direction of arrow "B" (FIG. 3). The boardlocks are 
stamped and formed of sheet metal material, and, with the mounting and 
guiding members being of metal material, a grounding system is afforded 
through the boardlocks and a pair of mounting legs 54 of each boardlock 
which lock into appropriate mounting holes in the printed circuit board. 
The mounting legs can be soldered to ground traces on the printed circuit 
board. 
Terminals 20 have body portions 56 which project through body portion 26 of 
housing 12 and into mating portion 28 of the housing. The body portions 56 
terminate in contact portions 58 of the terminals which are located in 
troughs or channels 60 within forwardly projecting mating portion 28. 
Shield 16 is a one-piece structure stamped and formed of sheet metal 
material. The shroud 66 is drawn from flange 62 as is known in the art. 
Therefore, the shield is conductive to provide further grounding means for 
the connector as well as to provide EMI/RFI protection for the contact 
portions of the terminals within mating portion 28 of housing 12. More 
particularly, the shield includes a flange 62 which abuts against front 
face 26a of body portion 26 and the front surfaces of end portions 30 of 
connector housing 12. The ends of the flange have through holes 64 which 
are alignable with holes 38 in the housing and holes 52 of boardlocks 18 
for receiving the conductive mounting bolts. A D-shaped shroud 66 projects 
forwardly of flange 62 for generally surrounding or encircling mating 
portion 28 of the housing and the contact portions therewithin. Like body 
portion 26 and mating portion 28 of the housing, shroud 66 is elongated 
and defines a pair of long side walls 66a. A pair of apertured latch tabs 
68 project rearwardly from the bottom edge of flange 62 for snapping 
interengagement with latch bosses 40 on the bottom of connector housing 
12. In addition, four apertured latch tabs 70 (FIG. 1) project rearwardly 
from the top edge of flange 62 for snapping interengagement with latch 
bosses 42 on the bottom of connector housing 12. Lastly, a recess in the 
form of a notch 72 (FIG. 3) is formed in each of the top and bottom edges 
of flange 62 intermediate the ends of side walls 66a of shroud 66. These 
recesses receive retaining bosses 44 projecting forwardly from front face 
26a of body portion 26 of the connector housing. 
FIGS. 4, 5 and 7 show in greater detail how retaining bosses 44 project 
forwardly of front face 26a of body portion 26 of the connector housing 
into recesses or notches 72 in the top and bottom edges of flange 62 of 
shield 16. It can be seen that the boss need only project a small 
distance, i.e., approximately the thickness of the sheet metal of the 
flange. This clearly shows that the overall dimensions of the connector 
housing and the connector itself, do not have to be enlarged to 
accommodate the complementary interengaging retaining means provided by 
bosses 44 and recesses 72. 
FIG. 6 shows in detail how retaining bosses 44 project forwardly of front 
face 26a of body portion 26 of the housing into recesses 72 in flange 62 
of the shield. Therefore, it can be understood that the thin metal side 
walls 66a of shroud 66 of the shield cannot spread apart or bend in the 
direction of arrows "C" because of the interengagement of retaining bosses 
44 of the housing within recesses 72 of the shield. This depiction also 
shows that the bosses do not need to project forwardly of front face 26a 
of the housing beyond the thickness of flange 62 of the shield. As best 
seen in FIGS. 2, 3 and 6, by utilizing retaining boss 44 and recess 72 on 
the bottom of the housing, the lower portion 27 of housing body 26 may be 
extremely thin in a direction transverse to the housing. This permits 
reduction of the distance between body 26 and the shortest terminals or 
those whose tails 22 are closest to body 26. This reduction in distance 
between the shortest terminals and body 26 likewise reduces the overall 
lateral depth of the connector which means it requires less "real estate" 
on a circuit board. 
FIGS. 7 and 8 show an alternate embodiment of the invention wherein 
retaining bosses 44a are spaced from the top and bottom surfaces of the 
connector and project forwardly of front face 26a of housing 12 into 
apertures 80 (rather than notches 72) in flange 62 of the shield. Again, 
the bosses do not have to project more than the thickness of the sheet 
metal material of the flange. 
It will be understood that the invention may be embodied in other specific 
forms without departing from the spirit or central characteristics 
thereof. The present examples and embodiments, therefore, are to be 
considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, and the 
invention is not to be limited to the details given herein.