Electrical connector with improved grounding structure for shielding shell thereof

An electrical connector includes a dielectric housing (1), a terminal module (2), a shielding shell (3), a pair of grounding plates (15), a pair of board locks (14) and a pair of rivets (13). The terminal module (2) is attached to the dielectric housing (1) so that a plurality of terminals (4) extends through a mating projection (8) of the housing (1). The shielding shell (3) encloses the mating projection (8). The board locks (14) and grounding plates (15) are fixed to both ends of the housing (1) by the rivets (13). A resilient finger (152) of each grounding plate (15) contacts the shielding shell (3). Engaging legs (142) of the board locks (14) are adapted to mount to a printed circuit board and connect with a grounding trace of the printed circuit board. Thus the shielding shell (3) is electrically grounded to the grounding traces via the grounding plates (15) and board locks (14).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
 1. Field of the Invention
 The present invention relates to an electrical connector, and particularly
 to an electrical connector having an improved grounding structure for a
 shielding shell thereof.
 2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
 In the electronics industry, an electrical connector is usually mounted on
 a printed circuit board (PCB) for electrically connecting an external
 device to a PCB. The electrical connector, regardless of whether it is a
 plug or a receptacle connector, has a dielectric housing receiving a
 plurality of contacts therein. The electrical connector often has a
 shielding shell, which must be grounded to properly shield the contacts
 therein and to dissipate electrostatic charges accumulated on the shell to
 ground.
 Referring to FIG. 1, U.S. Pat. No. 4,943,244 discloses a conventional
 electrical connector comprising a shielding shell 1', a housing 2', a
 board lock member 3' and terminals 4'. The housing 2' has a base 21' and a
 mating portion 20' at the front of the base 21'. A plurality of terminal
 receiving passages 22' are defined through the mating portion 20' and base
 21' for receiving the electrical terminals 4'. The shell 1' isassembled to
 the housing 2' in a direction indicated by an arrow A and a shroud 10' of
 the shell 1' surrounds the mating portion 20'. At the same time, a pair of
 ground straps 11' projecting rearwardly from a bottom edge of the shell 1'
 engages a bottom of the base 21'. A board lock member 3' is mounted to a
 lateral flange of the housing 2' in a direction indicated by an arrow B to
 a position at which a locking tab 31' fits into a corresponding recess 23'
 in the flange. The ground strap 11' is then engaged with board lock member
 3', whereby electrostatic charges accumulated on the shell 1' can be
 transmitted to ground on a printed circuit board to which locking legs 30'
 of the board lock members 3' are connected.
 However, for this conventional connector, the shell 1' and the ground strap
 11' are integrally stamped, which results in a lot of wasted material
 during the manufacturing process. In addition, when the connector requires
 a high profile, two towers are formed on lateral sides of the housing to
 increase the height of the connector. For such high profile connectors,
 the ground straps must downwardly extend a long distance relative to the
 shroud, which further increases the amount of wasted material during
 manufacturing of the shielding shell. Furthermore, when the ground straps
 extend a relatively long distance from the shroud, they become very
 flexible and thus become difficult to correctly assemble to the housing.
 Hence, an improved electrical connector is required to overcome the
 disadvantages of the prior art.
 BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
 An object of the present invention is to provide a high profile electrical
 connector having a shielding shell which can be effectively connected to
 round in an economical way.
 To achieve the above-mentioned object, an electrical connector in
 accordance with the present invention comprises a dielectric housing, a
 terminal module, a shielding shell, a pair of grounding plates, a pair of
 board locks and a pair of rivets. The dielectric housing has a base and a
 mating projection. The terminal module attaches to the base such that the
 base and the mating projection receive a plurality of terminals therein.
 Two towers downwardly extend from two lateral sides of the housing. The
 shielding shell encloses the mating projection of the housing. One board
 lock mounts in each of the towers of the housing and is adapted to mount
 the connector on a printed circuit board and to connect with a grounding
 trace of the printed circuit board. Each grounding plate electrically
 connects a corresponding board lock with the shielding shell.
 Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will
 become more apparent from the following detailed description of the
 present embodiment when taken in conjunction with the accompanying
 drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
 Referring to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, an electrical connector of the present
 invention comprises a dielectric housing 1, a terminal module 2, a
 shielding shell 3, a pair of grounding plates 15, a pair of board locks 14
 and a pair of rivets 13.
 The housing 1 has a high profile structure and forms a base 7 extending its
 full height, and a mating projection 8 providing forwardly from an upper
 portion of the base 7. A slot 11 is defined horizontally through the
 mating projection 8 and the base 7 of the housing 1. A plurality of
 terminal receiving passageways 111 is formed in inner upper and lower
 surfaces of the mating projection 8 and the base 7 and in communication
 with the slot 11. A pair of recesses 101 is defined at two lateral sides
 of the slot 11 (FIG. 5) and in communication with the slot 11. A pair of
 projection 112 is formed on a top surface 113 of the base 7. Each of two
 sides of the housing 1 forms a tower 10 downwardly extending a distance
 relative to the slot 11. A round hole 120 and a rectangular slit 121 are
 defined vertically through each of towers 10 with the round hole 120
 located to a rear of the rectangular slit 121.
 The terminal module 2 consists of a vertical board 21 and a plurality of
 terminals 4 assembled in the board 21 by insert molding. Each terminal 4
 has a contact portion 40 horizontally extending to a front of an upper
 portion of the board 21 for mating with a corresponding contact of a
 complementary connector (not shown). A tail portion 41 (better seen in
 FIG.5) horizontally rearwardly extends at a bottom of the board 21 for
 soldering to a printed circuit board (not shown) by surface mounting
 technology. An ear 210 is formed on each of two sides of the vertical
 board 21.
 The shell 3 has a hollow shroud 31 and a plurality of latching tabs 32
 project rearwardly from the shroud 31.
 The rivets 13 are used to fix the board locks 14 and the grounding plates
 15 to the towers 10. The rivets 13 each consist of a rectangular flat base
 130 and a tubular member 131 extending upwardly from the base 130. The
 board locks 14 each include a flake 1411 which defines a central hole 141
 therein and engaging legs 142 perpendicularly and downwardly extending
 from the flake 1411. The grounding plate 15 includes a flat body 1511
 defining a central hole 151 therein and a resilient finger 152 extending
 from a side of the flat body 1511.
 In assembly, also referring to FIGS. 3-5, the terminal module 2 is attached
 to the housing 1 from a rear side of the housing 1, the contact portions
 40 of the terminals 4 being inserted into the slot 11 and being received
 in corresponding terminal receiving passageways 111. The ears 210 of the
 terminal module 2 are received in the recesses 101 of the housing 1 to
 secure the terminal module 2 in the housing 1. The shielding shell 3 is
 then assembled to the housing 1 by engaging the latching tabs 32 with the
 protrusions 112 on the top surface 113 of the base 7, The shroud 31
 thereby encloses the mating projection 8 to shield the contact portions 40
 of the terminals 4. The rivets 13 are assembled to the towers 10 of the
 housing 1 by extending the tubular members 131 into the round holes 120,
 respectively, from a bottom of the towers 10. Afterwards, the grounding
 plates 15 are assembled to the rivets 13 and the towers 10 by extending
 the tubular members 131 through the central holes 151, so that free ends
 of the resilient fingers 152 resiliently abut against two lateral sides of
 the shroud 31. The board locks 14 are then assembled to the rivets 13, the
 grounding plates 15 and the towers 10 by inserting the engaging legs 142
 of the board locks 14 downwardly through the rectangular slits 121 from a
 top of the towers 10. The tubular members 131 extend through the central
 holes 141 of the board locks 14. The flat bodies 1511 of the grounding
 plates 15 are thereby sandwiched between the top of the towers 10 and the
 flakes 1411 of the board locks 14. Finally, a top end of the tubular
 members 131 is subjected to a riveting operation, thereby fixedly
 connecting the rivets 13,the board locks 14 and the grounding plates 15 to
 the towers 10 of the housing 1.
 FIGS. 6 and 6A show a second embodiment of the present invention, which is
 substantially the same as the first embodiment except for the
 configuration of the resilient fingers. In the second embodiment, the
 fingers 152a are configured so that a curved angle of the finger 152a,
 rather than a free end of the finger 152 as in the first embodiment
 resiliently abut against a corresponding side of the shroud 31 of the
 shielding shell 3.
 When the connector is mounted to a printed circuit board, electrostatic
 charges accumulated on the shielding shell 3 can be transmitted to ground
 by the grounding plates 15 and the board locks 14 since the engaging legs
 142 of the board locks 14 are soldered to grounding traces on the printed
 circuit board, and the shroud 31 of the shielding shell 3, the grounding
 plates 15 and the board locks 14 are electrically connected together.
 From the above disclosures, it is clear that the present invention provides
 an effective and economical apparatus for grounding a shielding shell of a
 high profile connector.
 It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics
 and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the
 foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function
 of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be
 made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of
 parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated
 by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are
 expressed.