Connector structure

A connector structure comprises a base, a D connector arranged at one portion of the base and a plurality of audio connectors arranged transversely another portion layer of the base, wherein the audio connector comprises a metal frame arranged on the mounting hole of the base, a metal pipe looped with plastic ring having identification color riveted to the metal frame, and a ground plate sandwiched therebetween. The ground plate is firmly arranged between the metal pipe and the metal frame. The contact area between the ground plate and the metal frame is increased and the grounding will not be affected by the disturbance of the ground plate or the ground terminal. Moreover, the ground plate can be rotated with respect to the metal pipe to change the location of the elastic plate such that optimal contact between the elastic plate and the case can be achieved. The surface of the metal pipe is formed with concave and convex rings such that plastic ring with identification color can be arranged thereon according to the practical circuit layout.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to an improved connector structure, more 
particularly, to a stacking-type connector comprising a D connector on 
upper layer and a plurality of audio connectors on lower layer. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
FIG. 1 shows a conventional stacking type connector which comprises a high 
density (high pin number) D connector 11 on a base 10 and a plurality of 
audio connectors 12 arranged transversely with respect to the D connector 
11. The audio connectors 12 are a plurality of plastic tubes 120 formed by 
mold injection from the bottom of the base 10 and having different colors 
for identification. A plurality of grooves 101 are arranged at one end of 
the base 10 and in front of the conductive terminal 100. The grooves 101 
are connected with the dents 102 on bottom side of the plastic tubes 120 
and each contains a ground plate 121. The ground plate 121 is of U shape 
and has one end being pressed to form a -shaped elastic plate 122 and 
another end extending to form an L-shape contact plate 123. The elastic 
plate 122 projects into the dent 102 and the contact plate 123 is in 
spot-contact with the ground terminal 103 when the ground plate 121 is 
placed within the groove 101. 
However, the above-mentioned connector structure has following drawbacks. 
First, the ground plate 121 is in contact to the narrow ground terminal 103 
with the narrow contact plate 123 thereof in a spot-contact fashion. The 
contact area therebetween is too small and the problem of poor contact is 
wont to occur. For example, the ground plate 121 may be obliquely arranged 
within the groove 101 because there is no suitable guiding means within 
the groove 101 and the ground plate 121 is arranged into the groove simply 
by pushing. Therefore, the contact plate 123 is hard to substantially 
contact the ground terminal 103. Otherwise, the contact plate 123 will 
have poor contact with the ground terminal 103 if the ground terminal 103 
is shifted or bent. 
Moreover, as shown in FIG. 2, the elastic plate 122 of the ground plate 121 
is placed within the dent 102 below the plastic tube 120 of the audio 
connector 12 in order to contact to the case 20. However, the elastic 
plate 122 is placed within the concave dent 102 and exposes on portion 
thereof outside the dent 102. Therefore, the elastic plate 122 has only 
small area of contact with the case 20 and is wont to be buried within the 
dent 102 caused by the pressing of the case 20 or the elastic deformation 
thereof. The ground effect is accordingly degraded. Moreover, the elastic 
plate 122 is permanently arranged adjacent the plastic tube 120, the 
position thereof is hard to adjust to match the best contact position with 
the case 20. 
Furthermore, the tube 120 of the audio connector 12 are formed integrally 
with the base 10 by mold injection, thus limit the color selection 
thereof. This makes the product hard to have plentiful color. 
In one aspect of the present invention, the inventive audio connector 
comprises a metal frame arranged on the mounting hole of the base, a metal 
pipe riveted to the metal frame, and a ground plate sandwiched 
therebetween. The ground plate is firmly arranged between the metal pipe 
and the metal frame. The contact area between the ground plate and the 
metal frame is increased and the grounding will not be effected by the 
skewness of the ground plate or the ground terminal. 
In another aspect of the present invention, an elastic plate is formed by 
pressing on one end of the ground plate. The elastic plate can be wholly 
extruded out of the front surface of the base and has large contact area 
with the case. Moreover, the ground plate can be rotated with respect to 
the metal pipe to change the location of the elastic plate such that 
optimal contact between the elastic plate and the case can be achieved. 
In still another aspect of the invention, the surface of the metal pipe is 
formed with concave and convex rings such that plastic ring with 
identification color can be arranged thereon according to the practical 
circuit layout. 
The various objects and advantages of the present invention will be more 
readily understood from the following detailed description when read in 
conjunction with the appended drawing, in which:

DETAIL DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, those pictures show the perspective view and the 
exploded view of the inventive connector. The inventive connector 
comprises a base 3, a D connector 4 and a plurality of audio connectors 5 
arranged transversely adjacent the base 3. 
The audio connector 5 comprises a metal frame 51 having an opening 511 
arranged within the assembling hole 30 formed in the base 3, which is 
provide for the arrangement of the audio connector 5. The metal frame 51 
further comprises a ground terminal 510 extending therefrom to project out 
of one end of the base 3. A metal ground plate 52 with through hole 520 
attaches on the rear side of the metal frame 51 and a metal pipe 53 passes 
through the through holes 520 and opening 511 and is riveted to the metal 
frame 51 such that the ground plate 52 is rotatably sandwiched between the 
metal pipe 53 and the metal frame 51. The ground plate 52 has a -shaped 
elastic plate 521 formed on one end thereof by pressing. 
Moreover, a first convex ring 530, a concave ring 531, and a second convex 
ring 532 is formed surrounding the metal pipe 53, and plastic colored ring 
54 with same number with the metal pipes 53 and different color for 
identification are provided. Each plastic colored ring 54 has a first 
concave ring 540, a convex ring 541 and a second concave ring 542 formed 
on inner annulus thereof and corresponding to the metal pipe 53. As shown 
in FIG. 5, the plastic ring 54 is covered over the corresponding metal 
pipe 53 such that the wiring of audio circuit can be matched. 
The inventive connector with above-mentioned structure has following 
advantages. 
First, the ground plate of the invention is connected to the ground 
terminal 510 integrally formed with the metal frame 51 in a surface 
contact fashion with the help of the metal pipe 53. Therefore, the contact 
area between the ground terminal 510 and the ground plate 52 is 
advantageously increased. Moreover, the ground plate 52 is firmly 
sandwiched between the metal pipe 53 and the metal frame 51 wherein the 
metal pipe 53 is riveted on the metal frame 51. The contact area between 
the ground plate 52 and the metal frame 51 can be kept sufficiently large 
even though the metal pipe 53 is loosened or the ground terminal 510 is 
bent. The contact area is enhanced with security. 
Secondly, the ground plate 52 of the invention is sandwiched between the 
metal pipe 53 and the metal frame 51, that is, the ground plate 52 is 
positioned abutting to the front surface of the base 3. Therefore, the 
elastic plate 521 of the ground plate 52 always extrude out of the front 
surface of the base 3. As shown in FIG. 6, the elastic plate 521 will be 
kept in contact with the case 60 when the case 60 is pressed over the 
elastic plate 521. When the pressing force of the case 60 against the 
elastic plate 521 increases, the contact area therebetween increases. 
Moreover, the relative position between the audio connector 5 and the case 
60 may be varied according to different unit. The ground plate 52 of the 
invention can rotate with respect to the metal pipe 53 such that the 
position of the elastic plate 521 can be adjusted flexibly in upper/lower 
direction or right/left direction such that an optimal contact between the 
elastic plate 521 and the case 60 can be achieved. 
Third, the plastic colored ring 54 for the identification of audio 
connector 5 is arranged on the metal pipe 53 in attaching fashion such 
that plastic ring 54 with suitable color are selectively arranged on the 
corresponding metal pipe 53 without being limited by the existing layout 
of the connector or the circuit board. Therefore, the prevent invention is 
more flexible in application and has a lower cost. 
Although the present invention has been described with reference to the 
preferred embodiment thereof, it will be understood that the invention is 
not limited to the details thereof. Various substitutions and 
modifications have suggested in the foregoing description, and other will 
occur to those of ordinary skill in the art. Therefore, all such 
substitutions and modifications are intended to be embraced within the 
scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.