Turning insertion type electrical connector system

A turning insertion type electrical connector system is disclosed. The system includes a receptacle side connector (20) which mates to a plug side connector (40) by a turning motion. The receptacle side connector (20) includes recesses (23) which are arc-shaped in cross section and which receive arc-shaped protrusions (43) when the connectors (20,40) are mated. Further a projection (24) on one connector (20) has multiple protrusions (24') which lock into holes (44') on a projection part (44) on the second connector (40).

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
The present refers to an electrical connector system and in particular to a 
type of electrical connector system which can be mated by turning. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
In recent years, there has been a great deal of progress in the manufacture 
of electrical devices which are smaller and have greater performance than 
the conventional one. There has correspondingly been a demand for hard 
disks which can easily be attached and detached in laptop personal 
computers. In order to make the hard disk easily attachable and detachable 
in the body of the personal computer, a hard disk drive (HDD) should be 
able to be installed or mounted in the body so that it can easily be 
attached and detached. However, the following problems arose when the hard 
disk drive was installed mechanically and electrically. 
In order to couple a hard disk drive to the body (of the PC) mechanically, 
a connector is placed (a) on the front insertion end of a hard disk drive 
and (b) on the side of the body which this front end touches when the hard 
disk drive is inserted and coupled so that it rubs and makes contact 
horizontally against a notched part which is located on the lower side of 
the body. There were a number of problems which arose when this type of 
brushing contact and fitting type was used. When the connector started to 
make contact, the insertion resistance increased when the hard disk drive 
was inserted so that it could be coupled and fought this resistance when 
the hard disk drive was pressed in. A great mechanical impact occurred 
when the insertion was completed, that is to say, when the hard disk drive 
and the body made contact with each other. This imparted a mechanical 
impact to the hard disk drive, which was undesirable for the hard disk 
drive (which is a precision machine). 
It is an object of the present invention to take these problems into 
consideration and provide an electrical connector system which is suitable 
for these applications and which can be easily attached and detached with 
a minimum of shock. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
According to the invention a turning insertion type electrical connector 
system is provided which includes a receptacle side connector and a mating 
plug side connector. The receptacle side connector is provided with a 
recess which is arc-shaped in cross section for receiving a complementary 
shaped protrusion on the plug side connector when the two connectors are 
mated.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
As FIG. 1 indicates, the connector in the present invention is used to 
install hard disk drive 4 in the bottom part of laptop computer body 2 so 
that it can be attached and detached easily. 
In FIG. 2, receptacle side connector 20 is fixed to personal computer body 
2 In FIG. 3, plug side connector 40 is fixed to hard disk drive 4. When 
hard disk drive 4 is installed in personal computer body 2, the end part 
of the side of connector 40 of hard disk drive 4 is brought into contact 
with connector 20. The lower edge part of the surface which makes contact 
with the connector as indicated by arrow A in FIG. 1 is used as a support 
point and hard disk drive 4 is installed by turning it from the position 
indicated by the dotted line to the position indicated by the continuous 
line. Connector 20 on the receptacle side (hereafter referred to as 
"receptacle") is equipped with ear parts 22 and 22 which are fixed to both 
ends of housing 21 and to personal computer body 2, as indicated in FIG. 
2. It is equipped with recessed parts 23 and 23 (which are arc-shaped when 
seen in cross-section) on both ends of the front surface (the side which 
faces plug side connector 40). The lower front side is provided with a 
projection part 24 which is equipped with multiple protrusions 24' for the 
interlocking which forms support points on the bottom. Housing 21 is 
provided with shelf or ledge part 25 which is located on the upper part of 
the front surface at an interval from the projection part 24. Housing 21 
is equipped with multiple electric contacts 27 (please refer to FIG. 4 and 
FIG. 5) on the upper part of space 26 which is formed between this shelf 
part 25 and the projection part 24. 
Plug side connector 40 (hereafter, referred to simply as "plug connector") 
is equipped with ear parts 42 and 42 which are used for fixing to the hard 
disk drive 4 on both sides of the housing 41 as indicated in FIG. 3. It is 
provided with protrusions 43 and 43 which are arc-shaped when seen in 
cross-section on both ends of the front (the side which faces receptacle 
connector 20). It is provided with projection part 44 which extends to the 
lower part of the front surface in the width direction, receives the 
protrusion 24 used for interlocking with the receptacle connector 20 on 
the upper surface and which is equipped with multiple holes 44' which 
interlock with this. It is provided with a cover part 45 which extends in 
the width direction and fits onto the top of the above-mentioned shelf 
part 25 when it is coupled with the receptacle connector 20 on the upper 
part of the front surface. It is provided with projection part 46 which 
extends in the width direction and fits into the space 26 in the center of 
the receptacle connection mentioned previously in the middle of the front 
surface. It is equipped with multiple electric contacts 47 (please refer 
to FIG. 4 and FIG. 5) which are connected electrically with the 
above-mentioned electric contacts 27 on the receptacle connector 20 on the 
upper surface of projection part 46 in the middle. 
FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 are cross-sections of the center parts of connectors 20 
and 40 (the part for electric contacts 27 and 47). FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 are 
cross-sections of the end part (the part for recessed arc-shaped part 23 
and protrusion 43). (Hatching for each cross-section has been omitted). 
FIG. 4 and FIG. 6 show the device just before it is mounted. FIG. 5 and 
FIG. 7 show the device after being mounted. 
As FIG. 4 indicates, electric contacts 27 of receptacle connector 20 pass 
through the printed circuit board (PCB) 30 on the side of computer 
mainframe which has been fixed to the lower surface of receptacle 
connector 20. It is provided with tine part 27' which has been soldered to 
this and is fixed to receptacle connector 20 using a commonly known method 
Electric contacts 47 of the plug connector 40 are connected electrically 
to the circuit board (not shown in figure) of the side of hard disk drive 
4 and is fixed to plug connector 40. 
When hard disk drive 4 is mounted onto the PC mainframe 2, the front end of 
hard disk drive 4 (the end part on which plug connector 40 is placed) is 
brought into contact on an incline with the end part (the side on which 
the receptacle connector 20 is placed) of the concave part used for 
mounting the hard disk drive on the lower surface of PC mainframe 2, as 
indicated in FIG. 1. Protrusions 24' on projection part 24 on the lower 
part of receptacle connector 20 extend into holes 44' on projection part 
44 on the lower part of plug connector 40. The top edge of projection part 
44 on the lower part of this plug connector 40 is used as a support point 
and hard disk drive 4 is turned to the position indicated in FIG. 5. 
At this time, arc-shaped protrusions 43 and 43 on plug connector 40 are 
guided into arc-shaped recessed parts 23 and 23 on the receptacle 
connector 20 and are fitted in and the turning motion is guided centering 
on the above-mentioned support point, as indicated in FIG. 7. At this 
time, when the support point interlocking system is configured by 
interlocking the convex part (protrusions 24') on receptacle connector 20 
into the concave part (holes 44') of the plug connector, the force applied 
is nearly zero and the center (support point) of the turning is determined 
by just inserting. Arc-shaped protrusion 43 and the recessed parts 23 on 
both sides of the connector become a guide for turning so that the 
connector can be attached and detached quite easily and smoothly. Since 
this is a turning and fitting operation rather than a brushing contact and 
fitting operation, there is no shock to the hard disk drive and other 
electrical mounted parts. 
When hard disk drive 4 (which is an electrical mounting part connected to 
plug connector 40) is held and fitted in instead of fitting together both 
connectors by holding plug connector 40 in the hand, the distance from the 
support point to the dynamic point (the part which grips hard disk drive 
4) is longer than the distance from the support point (turning center) to 
the operational point (contact point for electric contacts 27 and 47). The 
force required for fitting using the lever principle can be reduced and 
used for reliable electrical connection using sufficient contact pressure. 
In addition, both connectors are guided when fitted together by arc-shaped 
protrusion 43 used for guiding and by recessed parts 23. At the same time, 
the protrusion and the recessed part are coupled after fitting so that 
both connectors can be prevented from falling apart in the arc-shaped 
radius direction (the up and down direction on the side of the diagram) of 
these [the protrusion and the recessed parts]. The electrical mounting 
part (hard disk drive 4) is retained for the electrical device (computer 
mainframe 2) after fitting together and can withstand that retaining force 
sufficiently even when the electrical mounting part is heavy. 
The force required for turning and fitting together can be adjusted by 
changing the dimensions of arc-shaped protrusion 43 and recessed parts 23. 
This means that the closer the dimensions of these two parts is, the 
greater the force required to turn and fit together. The more disparate 
the dimensions of these two parts are, the less force required to fit 
together. 
The concave part and the convex parts which have an arc-shaped surface as 
mentioned previously need by no means be placed on both ends of the 
housing and may be placed between adjoining electric contact points 27 and 
47. 
FIG. 8 through FIG. 12 are detailed diagrams of the above-mentioned 
receptacle connector 20. FIG. 12 is a cross-section along the lines 
XII--XII of FIG. 10. FIG. 13 to FIG. 17 are detailed diagrams of the 
above-mentioned plug connector 40. FIG. 17 is a cross-section along the 
lines XVII--XVII of FIG. 15. The symbols used for these correspond to 
FIGS. 1 through 7 and there is no need to go into detail describing them.