Electrical connector

An electrical connector is provided for connecting an antenna to a printed circuit board. The connector includes a dielectric housing having a terminal-receiving cavity and is mountable on a surface of the printed circuit board. A terminal is received in the cavity and includes a contact portion and a terminating portion. The contact portion is disposed within the cavity and is structured for engaging a complementary contact portion of the antenna. The terminating portion projects from the cavity through the housing for termination to an appropriate circuit trace on the printed circuit board.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
This invention generally relates to the art of electrical connectors and, 
particularly, to a connector for connecting an antenna to a printed 
circuit board. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Antennas are widely used in wireless communication systems. An antenna 
often is electrically connected to a printed circuit board (PCB). The 
antenna typically is soldered directly to circuit traces on the PCB. Such 
soldering operations are labor-intensive and not cost effective. The 
soldering operations are cumbersome and require precise alignment between 
the antenna and the PCB. In addition, should an antenna become broken or 
the solder connection become damaged, the entire antenna/PCB is discarded 
and replaced. 
The present invention is directed to solving these problems by providing a 
very simple and cost effective electrical connector for providing a stable 
connection between an antenna and a PCB by mechanical interengagement. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
An object, therefore, of the invention is to provide a new and improved 
electrical connector for connecting an antenna to a printed circuit board. 
In the exemplary embodiment of the invention, the connector includes a 
dielectric housing having a terminal-receiving cavity and mounting means 
for mounting the housing on a surface of the printed circuit board. A 
terminal is received in the cavity and includes a contact portion and a 
terminating portion. The contact portion is disposed within the cavity and 
is structured for engaging a complementary contact portion of the antenna. 
The terminating portion projects from the cavity through the housing for 
termination to an appropriate circuit trace on the printed circuit board. 
As disclosed herein, a pair of the cavities and respective terminals are 
provided for receiving opposite contact ends of a loop-type antenna. The 
housing is a one-piece structure molded of plastic material, and the 
mounting means comprises at least one mounting post integrally molded with 
the housing for insertion into an appropriate mounting hole in the printed 
circuit board. 
The terminal includes a mounting portion, with the terminating portion and 
contact portion being on opposite sides of the mounting portion. The 
terminating portion is formed by a plate for surface connection to the 
printed circuit board. The contact portion is formed by a plate having a 
slot for receiving a contact blade of the antenna. 
The housing includes at least three apertures communicating each cavity 
with the exterior of the housing. One of the apertures allows the 
terminating portion of the terminal to project from the cavity. A second 
one of the apertures allows the complementary contact portion of the 
antenna to be inserted into the cavity. A third one of the apertures 
allows the antenna to project from the complementary contact portion 
through the housing. 
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 FIG. 1, the 
invention is embodied in an electrical connector, generally designated 10, 
for connecting an antenna 12 to a printed circuit board 14 shown in 
phantom. 
Referring to FIGS. 2 and 6 in conjunction with FIG. 1, antenna 12 is a 
loop-type antenna (see FIG. 6) having opposite ends defining complementary 
contact blades 12a of the antenna. Printed circuit board 14 has a pair of 
mounting holes 14a (see FIG. 2) for receiving a pair of mounting posts 16 
projecting from a housing 18 of connector 10. Therefore, the housing and 
connector are surface mounted on the printed circuit board as seen in FIG. 
6. Housing 18 is a one-piece structure unitarily molded of dielectric 
material such as plastic or the like. Mounting posts 16 are integrally 
molded with the housing. The housing includes a pair of terminal-receiving 
cavities, generally designated 20, for receiving a respective pair of 
terminals, generally designated 22. 
More particularly, as best seen in FIG. 2, each terminal 22 is stamped and 
formed of sheet metal material. Each terminal includes a central body 
plate 24, with a contact plate 26, a terminating plate 28 and a mounting 
plate 30 all projecting outwardly from the body plate at different angles. 
Contact plate 26 defines a slot 32 for receiving a respective one of the 
contact blades 12a of antenna 12. The outer side of contact plate 26 forms 
a contact spring arm 26a which is biased against the contact blade of the 
antenna. Terminating plate 28 is provided for surface connection, as by 
soldering, to an appropriate circuit trace on printed circuit board 14. 
Mounting plate 30 is provided for mounting the respective terminal in a 
respective one of the terminal-receiving cavities 20 in housing 18. 
As best seen in FIGS. 2, 4 and 5, each terminal-receiving cavity 20 
includes a first slot 34 and a second slot 36 generally perpendicular to 
the first slot. Slot 34 receives body plate 24 of the respective terminal 
22. Slot 36 receives mounting plate 30 of the terminal. In addition, 
housing 18 includes first, second and third apertures 38, 40 and 42, 
respectively, communicating with the interior of each cavity. Aperture 38 
allows terminating plate 28 of the terminal to project from the cavity for 
termination to the circuit trace on the printed circuit board. Slot 40 
allows one of the contact blades 12a of antenna 12 to be inserted 
downwardly into slot 32 in contact blade 26 of the respective terminal. 
Aperture 42 allows antenna 12 to project from the housing. As seen clearly 
in FIG. 2, aperture 42 has a camming surface 44 to guide contact blade 12a 
into the cavity and a latch hook 46 for locking the contact blade (and the 
antenna) to the connector housing, with the contact blade engaged with 
terminal 22 within slot 32 of contact plate 26. The contact blade of the 
terminal is shown best in its latched condition in FIG. 4. 
FIG. 7 shows an alternate embodiment of the connector wherein aperture 42, 
camming surface 44 and latch hook 46 are moved closer to the edge of the 
housing. This causes the biasing force of contact spring arm 26a of 
contact plate 26 to be larger, against the contact blade of the antenna. 
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.