Connector with movable shutters

A miniature receptacle having female contacts of the type which are not uncovered when a mating plug is not inserted is provided. A insulative socket housing (1) has an opening part (11) into which a plug having male contacts of the dual in-line type is inserted. A polarity of female contact (2) are arrayed in parallel on a pair of inner walls forming the opening part (11) to be opposed each other across the opening part (11). A shutter (3) is disposed within the opening part (11). The shutter shields a front face of the opening part (11) when the plug is removed and retracts towards a rear face of the opening part when the plug is inserted. A pair of compressed coil springs (5) are provided within the opening part (11) and give force to move the shutter (3).

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from the prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-048127 filed on Feb. 25th in 2003, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a socket (or a socket connector) for electric connection.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Recently, miniature electronic devices such as cellular phones, micro video cameras, and portable information terminals can send and receive data to and from desk top personal computers. These miniature electronic devices are mounted with a socket which is used as an interface connector (or an I/O connector) for sending or receiving data.

In many cases, electronic devices with the socket use a connection base designated as a cradle (also referred to as a docking station) for sending or receiving data.

The cradle is mounted with a plug thereon and is connected to a cable by which the cradle and a desk top personal computer are connected to each other. On the other hand, an electronic device such as portable information terminals has a socket, and the socket disposed on the electronic device can be connected to the plug mounted on the cradle to secure high-speed data transfer between the electronic device and the desk top personal computer. One of the simplest forms of the cradle is a charger for cellular phones.

Additionally, when the socket disposed on the electronic device and the plug mounted on the cradle are not connected to each other, contacts provided within the socket is exposed unprotected. As a result, the contacts may be damaged by handling or dust.

To solve this problem, a socket having a cap or a cover for covering the socket so as to protect contacts arrayed in the socket from dust or handling has known.

Another dustproof connector by providing a shutter, instead of a cap or a cover for covering the socket has been provided (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2001-351747). The connector disclosed in the Patent Document comprises a socket comprising a shutter which is closed to cover contacts disposed within the socket when a plug is not inserted into the socket. Thus, when a plug is not inserted into the socket, the contacts are protected from dust, whereas when a plug is inserted, the shutter is opened by pushing back the plug, thereby enabling the plug and the socket to come into contact with each other.

However, the cap or the cover should be removed from the socket having the cap or the cover, every time a plug is connected to the socket, making the connection more troublesome. Furthermore, there is a fear that the cap or the cover may be lost.

The plug mounted on a cradle is generally a multi-polar dual in-line plug having two rows of contacts. In the dual in-line plug, the contacts arrayed in two lines are surrounded by insulating fixed vertical walls protecting the contacts from being handled. Such a dual in-line plug is called four-wall shrouded, thereby having a large outer size.

However, electronic devices (micro video cameras, for example) to be connected to a cradle equipped with a dual in-line plug are increasingly being reduced in size. For this reason, it has been sought to miniaturize a dual in-line socket which can be connected to a dual in-line plug and can be attached to the aforementioned electronic devices.

However, the shutter provided within the socket of the dustproof multi-conductor connector disclosed in the aforementioned Patent Document is a folding retractable shutter composed of a plurality of shutter components, and the multi-conductor connector also has a locking mechanism. These features inevitably increase the outer size, making the socket unsuitable as a micro socket for use in an interface, which is now being sought.

In order to solve the aforementioned problems, the present invention has an object of providing a miniature multi-polar socket which can prevent contacts thereof from being exposed unprotected all the time.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In order to accomplish the object, the inventors of the present invention have invented the following new socket.

(1) A socket comprising: an insulating socket housing having an opening part through which a plug having dual in-line male contacts is inserted; female contacts which are arrayed in parallel on a pair of inner walls opposed to each other of the opening part and come into contact with the male contacts when the plug is inserted into the opening part; and an insulating shutter which closes a front face of the opening part when the plug is removed and retracts towards a rear face of the opening part by being pushed by the plug when the plug is inserted

According to the invention described in (1), when the socket is not connected to a plug, the shutter closes the opening part of the socket, thereby protecting the female contacts from dust. On the other hand, when a plug is inserted into the socket, the shutter is retracted by being pushed back by the plug, making the male contacts of the plug come into contact with the female contacts of the socket.

(2) The socket according to (1), wherein the shutter is provided with an elastic member for moving the shutter towards the front face of the opening part when the plug is removed from the opening part.

According to the invention described in (2), when the plug inserted in the socket is removed, the force caused by the elastic member makes the shutter to close the front face of the opening part through which to insert the plug, thereby shutting off the contacts from outside. As a result, the female contacts can be protected from dust or handling. The aforementioned elastic member can be a compressed coil spring, for example.

(3) The socket according to (1) or (2), wherein legs of the female contacts is extended from the socket housing to be fixed on a printed circuit board

According to the invention described in (3), the legs of each of the female contacts are welded by soldering or the like to the positioning pattern formed on the printed-circuit board, so as to mount the socket on the surface of the board.

(4) The socket according to any one of (1) to (3) further comprising: a shell for covering the socket housing; and a pair of soldering tabs for fixing the socket housing onto the printed-circuit board disposed on side parts of the shell

According to the invention described in (4), the shell covering the socket housing can be fixed on the printed-circuit board by soldering to reinforce retention against the force caused by pulling out a plug.

(5) The socket of according to anyone of (1) to (3) further comprising: a shell for covering the socket housing, and the shell is formed of a metal thin plate and comprises a member for partially covering the front face of the opening part.

(6) The socket of according to (3): wherein the shell is formed of a metal thin plate and comprises a member for partially covering the front face of the opening part.

According to the invention described in (5) and (6), the shell formed of a metal thin plate covering the socket housing reinforces the socket housing structurally, and at the same time, shields the socket. The shell partially covers an inserting face (the front face) of the opening part formed in the socket through which a plug is inserted. Therefore, in the case where a mating plug having a plug shell covering a header part of the plug is used, when the mating plug is inserted into the socket, the plug shell and the shell of the socket come into partial contact each other, thereby making the plug and the socket integrally shielded.

(7) The socket according to any one of (1) to (6) to be used as an interface connector of a miniature electronic device

(8) The socket according to any one of (1) to (7), wherein the female contacts are arrayed in parallel at regular intervals of 0.5 mm.

(9) A method for connecting a plug to the socket according to any one of claims1to8, the plug comprising: an insulating plug housing having a frame part and a header part which is formed integrally with the frame part and is protruded from the frame part to be inserted into the socket; male contacts arrayed in parallel and pairs on the header part; and a plug shutter which covers the male contacts arrayed on the header part and can be stored in the frame part, and the method comprising: moving the plug shutter towards the rear face of the opening part along inner walls of the opening part when the plug is inserted into the opening part of the socket; and moving the plug shutter towards the front face of the opening part along the inner walls of the opening part when the plug is removed from the socket.

According to the invention described in (9), in the process of inserting the plug into the socket, the shutters are pushed backward to the opposite direction of inserting direction and make the male and female contacts exposed and come into contact with each other. In the process of removing the plug from the socket, the shutters move forward to the inserting face (front face) so as to cover the contacts, thereby protecting the contacts from dust, handling, or the like. Thus, unless the shutter of the socket or the plug shutter is intentionally pushed down, the female and male contacts are covered by the shutter or the plug shutter, respectively for protection.

(10) A plug capable of being connected to the socket according to any one of claims1to8

The “insulating socket housing” can be assumed to be a socket housing made from a material electrically isolated, and to have a function of holding and protecting the female contacts with an electrically insulating member.

The “insulating socket housing” can be integrally molded with an electrically insulating synthetic resin member. After the socket housing is molded integrally using a synthetic resin member, the socket housing can be processed mechanically in parts. Furthermore, the socket housing can be made by cutting process.

The “female contacts” of the present invention can be so-called blade contacts having a rectangular horizontal cross section and no spring properties, and when the female contacts formed to have a width of 0.3 mm or so, the female contacts can be arrayed at a pitch of about 0.5 mm.

The number of poles of the female contacts to be arrayed is preferably 40 or more when the socket is used as an interface connector. In other words, as many as 20 female contacts can be arrayed in parallel on one side, and 13 female contacts can be arrayed in parallel on one side making 26 poles as a pair lines depending on the application of the socket connector.

The “insulating shutter” can be assumed to be a shutter made from a material electrically isolated, and not shorting when it contacts with the female contacts. The shutter can be assumed to cover the front face of the opening part so as to protect the female contacts from dust, except for the state where the socket is connected to a mating plug.

The shutter can be assumed to be moved towards the side of the front face of the opening part by a power caused by a pair of elastic members (compressed coil springs, for example) disposed at both flanks of a back face of the shutter. The shutter can be assumed to be slid into the opening part towards the rear face by being pushed by the inserted plug when the plug is inserted into the opening part.

The shell made of a metal thin plate having a thickness of about 0.2 mm reinforces the socket structurally by covering the insulating socket housing, and further fixing firmly the socket by being soldered to the printed-circuit board.

The socket with such a simple structure can be lowered in height, making it possible to be mounted on a miniature electronic device, thereby successfully miniaturizing a mating plug.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFRRED EMBODIMENT

The embodiments of the present invention will be explained as follows based on the drawings.

FIG. 1is a disassembled perspective view showing the structure of a socket in an embodiment of the present invention. In the embodiment shown inFIG. 1, the socket10includes a socket housing1, female contacts2, a shutter3, a shell4, and compressed coil springs5.

In the embodiment ofFIG. 1, the insulating socket housing1includes an upper wall110, a lower wall111, and vertical frames11aand11b. The upper wall110and the face wall111are toward each other, and the vertical frame11aand the vertical frame11bare toward each other respectively, and there is an opening part11surrounded by the vertical frames11aand11b, the upper wall110, and the lower wall111. In other words, inner walls of the opening part11contain the vertical frames11aand11b, the upper face wall110, and the lower face wall111. And the female contacts2are arrayed in parallel on a pair of opposed inner walls of the opening part11making a pair of paralleled rows of the female contacts2. To be more specific, the female contacts2are arranged in parallel on an inner side of the upper wall10aand on an inner side of the lower wall10bof the opening part11.

The socket housing1is equipped with a pair of back walls112aand112bon a face (rear face) which is opposed to a face (front face) toward which a mating plug100(refer toFIG. 7) is inserted. The plug100is inserted into the opening part11of the socket housing1from the front face side. The opening part11keeps the shutter3inside via the compressed coil springs5which are the elastic members.

The socket housing1is laid in such a manner that the lower wall111is attached to a printed-circuit board, and the upper wall110is intended to be an upper side when the socket10is welded to the printed-circuit board. The upper wall110has a pair of latch grooves12aand12b. The latch grooves12aand12block latches41aand41bof the shell4, which will be described later.

The shell4is formed by folding a thin metal plate in such a manner as to be a rectangular tube having a shell opening part40inside. The shell4includes an upper face wall400and a lower face wall410opposed to each other, and an outer wall411aand411bopposed to each other. The upper face wall400covers the upper wall110of the socket housing1; the lower face wall410covers the lower wall111; the outer wall411acovers the vertical frame11a; and the outer wall411bcovers the vertical frame11brespectively.

The shell opening part40has a size sufficient to cover the socket housing1, and the socket10is assembled so that the socket housing1is inserted within the shell opening40of the shell4from the front face side of the opening part11. The upper face wall400of the shell4includes the pair latches41aand41beach formed by being cut out in the form of the letter U. The latches41aand41bare slightly bent inward.

On the front face of the shell4through which to insert the plug100are provided a pair of bezels42aand42bprotruding from the outer walls411aand411btoward the shell opening part40. The bezels42aand42bextend parallel to the front face of the shell opening part40from the outer walls411aand411bof the shell4, and are bent towards the rear face opposed to the front face. The bezels42aand42beach have a L-shaped horizontal cross section (cross section taken along the line X—X ofFIG. 2B) which is parallel to the upper face400. The bezels42aand42bare assembled so as to be engaged with the vertical frames11aand11b, respectively, of the socket housing1.

The upper face wall400of the shell4is provided with a pair of contact pieces42cand42dprotruding towards the shell opening part40. The contact pieces42cand42dextend parallel to the front face of the shell opening part40and further extend towards the rear face of the shell opening part40. Similarly, the lower face wall410of the shell4is provided with a pair of contact pieces42eand42fprotruding towards the shell opening part40.

When the socket housing1and the shell4are combined, the contact pieces42cand42dlock the upper wall110of the socket housing1, whereas the contact pieces42eand42flock the lower wall111of the socket housing1.

In addition, a tab43aand a tab43bare provided at the bottom parts of the opposed outer walls411aand411bprotruding from the shell4. The tabs43aand43bare solderable and fixed on the printed-circuit board. The tab43bis not illustrated inFIG. 1.

The structure of the socket10in the present embodiment will be further explained as follows.FIG. 2Ais a plan view of the socket10when assembled,FIG. 2Bis the front view thereof,FIG. 2Cis a side view thereof, andFIG. 2Dis a cross sectional view taken along the line X—X ofFIG. 2B.

FIG. 3Ais a cross sectional view taken along the line Y—Y ofFIG. 2D, andFIG. 3Bis a cross sectional view taken along the line Z—Z ofFIG. 2A.

As shown inFIG. 3A, the socket housing1has two kinds of female contacts; long contacts2aare disposed on the upper wall110and short contacts2bare disposed on the lower wall111. The long contacts2aand the short contacts2bare opposed to each other with the opening part11therebetween. The long contacts2aand the short contacts2bform a multi-polar dual in-line type which includes two rows of paralleled arrayed contacts as mentioned above.

A long contact2aincludes a flat part in contact with the upper wall110and a leg extending from the socket housing1. The leg is bent at right angles at two stages, so that a final end is bent to be parallel to the flat part and can be seated on a printed-circuit board (not illustrated in the Figs.). Similarly, a short contact2bincludes a flat part in contact with the lower wall111and a leg extending from the socket housing1. The leg is bent in the direction orthogonal to the flat part, so that a final end is bent to be parallel to the flat part and can be seated on the unillustrated printed-circuit board.

The difference between the long contacts2aand the short contacts2bin this embodiment is the length of the extension from the socket housing1and the shape. The long contacts2aare disposed to be the upper, and the short contacts2bare disposed to be the lower in the socket10. Since the present invention arranges the female contacts2at a small pitch of 0.5 mm or so, the female contacts2will be seated onto the surface of a printed-circuit board.

Next, the shutter3will be explained as follows. As shown inFIG. 2D, the insulating shutter3is held in the opening part11in a state of being movable within the opening part11. The opening part11contains the pair compressed coil springs5which are elastic members. One end of each of the compressed coil springs5is locked to a pair of projections32aor32bprovided on the shutter3, whereas the other end of each of the compressed coil springs5is locked to the back wall112aor112bof the opening part.

By the aforementioned structure, the pair of compressed coil springs5gives a force to move the shutter3towards the front face of the opening part11. In other words, the compressed coil springs5push the shutter3towards the front face of the opening part11when the plug100is not inserted, so the opening part11is shielded by the shutter3. When the plug100is not inserted, an overrun of the shutter3is blocked by the pair of bezels42aand42b, making the shutter3to stay within the socket housing1.

The pair of bezels42aand42bprevent the vertical frames11aand11bfrom being worn out or damaged by the insertion of a plug.

In the aforementioned socket10, the female contacts2are welded to the printed-circuit board, and the shell4covering the socket10is also fixed on the printed-circuit board.FIG. 4is a pattern layout of the positioning pattern formed on a surface of the printed-circuit board on which the socket10is mounted.

As shown inFIG. 4, the printed-circuit board includes positioning patterns6aand6bto which the tabs43aand43bof the shell4are soldered, and a positioning pattern group60to which the legs of the female contacts2are soldered. The female contacts2are fixed on the positioning pattern group60and soldered, like a surface mounting device, to the printed-circuit board with which the socket10is intended to be mounted.

The following is a description of the effects of the present invention.FIG. 5is an external appearance of the socket10, showing the state where the shutter3shields the front face of the opening part11.FIG. 6is another external appearance of the socket10, showing the state where the opening part11is not shielded by the shutter3.

FIG. 7is an external perspective view of the plug100of an embodiment which is connected to the socket10ofFIG. 1. InFIG. 7, the plug100is provided with an insulating plug housing10aand plural male contacts20. The plug housing10aincludes a frame part1b, and a header part1aprotruding from the frame part1b. The header part1ais formed integrally with the frame part1band provided with a plug shutter part31composed of a pair of insulating plug shutters30covering the male contacts20.

The frame part1bcontains unillustrated compressed coil springs, and the compressed coil springs give force to raise the plug shutters30in the direction where the plug100is inserted into the socket10(upwards inFIG. 7). By this structure, as shown inFIG. 7, the plug shutter part31covers the male contacts20, when the plug100is not inserted into the socket10. On the other hand, when the plug100is inserted into the socket10, the compressed coil springs contract to house the plug shutters30within the frame part1b, making the male contacts20come into contact with the female contacts2.

FIG. 8shows the state where the plug shutters30are retracted and stored in the frame part1b. InFIG. 8, the male contacts20are arrayed on the header part1ain the form of a dual in-line type. A male contact20is a flexible leaf spring having flexible top part21.

FIG. 9is a cross sectional view showing the case where the socket10and the plug100are disposed opposed to each other. InFIG. 9, when the plug100is not inserted into the socket10, the shutter3closes the front face of the opening part11in the socket10. On the other hand, in the plug100, the plug shutters30cover the male contacts20.

As shown inFIG. 9, the pair of male contacts20opposed to each other across a plate is held within the header part1ain such a manner where the flexible top parts21of their flexible leaf springs are protruded towards opposite directions to each other.

When the header part1aof the plug100is inserted into the opening part11of the socket10from the state ofFIG. 9, the plug shutters30retract so as to be stored in the frame part1balong the upper wall110and the lower wall111composing the opening part11. On the other hand, the shutter3of the socket10is pushed by the header part1aand retracted towards the rear face of the opening part11.

When the header part1aof the plug100is completely inserted into the opening part11of the socket10, the female contacts2are exposed as shown inFIG. 6in the socket10. On the other hand, as shown inFIG. 8, in the plug100the male contacts20are exposed and set to come into contact with the female contacts2.

FIG. 10is a cross sectional view in which the header part1aof the plug100is inserted into the opening part11of the socket10.FIG. 10is the cross sectional view taken along the line Z—Z ofFIG. 2AlikeFIG. 3B, and the plug100is cross-sectioned along a vertical support13aofFIG. 7.

InFIG. 10, the frame part1bof the plug housing10ais covered with the metal plug shell104which is not illustrated inFIG. 7norFIG. 8. The plug shell104also partially covers the vertical supports13aand13b.

InFIG. 10, the plug shell104is in contact with the contact pieces42cand42eof the socket10. Although it is not illustrated, the plug shell104is also in contact with the contact pieces42dand42fof the socket10.

Thus, in the shell4of the socket10, the contact pieces42cto42fpartially cover the front face of the opening part11. The header part1a, the vertical supports13aand13bof the plug100on the other end are partially covered with the plug shell104made of a metal plate. When the plug100is inserted into the socket10, the plug shell104and the shell4of the socket10partly contact each other, which makes the plug100and the socket10be shielded integrally.

In the embodiment shown inFIG. 8, the plug100has a lateral width W1of 19.6 mm, a depth D1of 4.1 mm, and a height H1of 9.5 mm. The protruding header part1aof the plug100has a lateral width W2of 14.7 mm, a depth D2of 2.4 mm, and a height H2of 3.2 mm. The male contacts20have a pitch of 0.5 mm and 42 poles; however, two poles become unusable (not contactable) because of a key groove15, so the substantial number of poles is40.

On the other hand, in the embodiment shown inFIG. 5, the socket10has a lateral width W3of 17.4 mm, a depth D3of 4.7 mm, and a height H3of 4.1 mm. The female contacts2(SeeFIG. 1) have a pitch of 0.5 mm and 42 poles; however, two poles become unusable (not contactable) because of a key, so the substantial number of poles is40. Thus, the socket small in size and with multi poles is suitable as the interface connector for use in miniature electronic devices.

The socket of the present invention can protect the female contacts from dust because the front face of the opening part holding the female contacts inside is shielded by the shutter when the socket is not connected to a mating plug.

When the mating plug is connected to the socket, the shutter is pushed by the plug, making the male contacts of the plug come into contact with the female contacts of the socket.

Covering the male contacts of the dual in-line type from both sides and using a plug having a reciprocating thin plate shutter in combination with the socket of the present invention can provide dust-proof measures for both the plug and the socket.