Electrical connector

An electrical connector is disclosed to include an electrically insulative housing, which houses a plurality of metal contact pins, each metal contact pin having a bottom bonding face protruding over the bottom side of the housing, a metal shield, which is coupled to the housing and has two bonding portions at two sides, and a bonding adjustment architecture provided between the metal shield and the housing for allowing vertical movement of the metal shield relative to the housing to adjust the elevation of the bonding portions so that the bonding portions and the bonding face of each metal contact pin can be positively bonded to a circuit board by SMT.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an electrical connector and more particularly, to an electrical connector, which has a metal shield that is vertically adjustable relative to the electrically insulative housing of the electrical connector so that the electrical connector can positively be bonded to a circuit board by SMT (Surface Mounting Technique).

2. Description of the Related Art

An electrical connector for high frequency communication generally has a metal shield covered on the electrically insulative housing to protect the internal metal contact pins against EMI (Electromagnetic Interference).

According to conventional designs, the metal shield and the electrically insulative housing are fixedly fastened together, i.e., the metal shield is not movable relative to the electrically insulative housing and the electrically insulative housing is not movable relative to the metal shield. When bonding a conventional electrical connector to a circuit board, the bonding portions of the metal shield may be not kept in contact with the corresponding bonding portions of the circuit board due to deformation of the electrically insulative housing or the metal shield, thereby affecting the bonding quality.

Therefore, it is desirable to provide an electrical connector that eliminates the aforesaid problem.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been accomplished under the circumstances in view. It is one object of the present invention to provide an electrical connector, which allows vertical movement of the metal shield relative to the electrically insulative housing so that so that the bonding portions of the metal shield and the bonding face of each metal contact pin in the electrically insulative housing can positively be bonded to a circuit board by SMT (Surface Mounting Technique).

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the electrical connector comprises an electrically insulative housing, the electrically insulative housing having two guide blocks respectively protruded from two opposite sides thereof; at least one metal contact pin respectively mounted in the electrically insulative housing, the at least one metal contact pin having a bottom bonding face protruding over a bottom side of the electrically insulative housing for bonding to a circuit board; and shield means capped on the electrically insulative housing and vertically movable relative to the electrically insulative housing, the shield means having two vertical sliding slots disposed at two sides and respectively coupled to the guide blocks of the electrically insulative housing to guide vertical movement of the shield means relative to the electrically insulative housing within a limited distance, and two bottom bonding portions disposed at two sides for bonding to the circuit board to which the bonding face of each of the at least one metal contact pin is bonded.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the electrical connector comprises an electrically insulative housing, the electrically insulative housing having two guide blocks respectively protruded from two opposite sides thereof; at least one metal contact pin respectively mounted in the electrically insulative housing, the at least one metal contact pin having a bottom bonding face protruding over a bottom side of the electrically insulative housing for bonding to a circuit board; and shield means capped on the electrically insulative housing, the shield means having two bonding portions disposed at two sides, the bottom bonding portions each having a bonding hole and a solder material mounted in the bonding hole for bonding to the circuit board to which the bonding face of each of the at least one metal contact pin is bonded.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring toFIGS. 1˜3, an electrical connector in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention is shown bonded to a circuit board40by SMT (Surface Mounting Technique). The electrical connector comprises an electrically insulative housing10, a plurality of metal contact pins20, and a metal shield30.

The metal contact pins20are mounted in the electrically insulative housing10, each having a bonding face21soldered to the circuit board40. The metal shield30is capped on the electrically insulative housing10, having two bonding portions31respectively outwardly extending from the bottom of two opposite vertical sidewalls thereof at right angles and two vertical sliding slots33respectively formed on the two opposite vertical sidewalls. The electrically insulative housing10has two guide blocks11respectively protruded from the two opposite vertical sidewalls thereof and respectively engaged into the vertical sliding slots33of the metal shield30so that the metal shield30can be moved vertically up and down relative to the electrically insulative housing10within a distance corresponding to the length of the vertical sliding slots33.

Before bonding the bonding portions31of the metal shield30to the circuit board40, the metal shield30can be moved vertically relative to the electrically insulative housing10. When moved the metal shield30downwards relative to the electrically insulative housing10to the lower limit, the bonding portions31(the bottom side) of the metal shield30are suspending below the elevation of the bonding face21of each metal contact pin20. On the contrary, when moved the metal shield30upwards relative to the electrically insulative housing10to the upper limit, the bonding portions31(the bottom side) of the metal shield30are suspending above the elevation of the bonding face21of each metal contact pin20. This relatively movable design between the metal shield30and the electrically insulative housing10constitutes a bonding adjustment architecture.

When bonding the electrical connector to the circuit board40, the aforesaid bonding adjustment architecture allows adjustment of the elevation of the bonding portions31of the metal shield30relative to the bonding faces21of the metal contact pins31so that the bonding portions31of the metal shield30and the bonding faces21of the metal contact pins31can be positively soldered to the circuit board40.

FIGS. 4 and 5show an electrical connector in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention. According to this embodiment, the metal shield50has a plurality of bonding legs502perpendicularly outwardly extending from the bottom of the vertical peripheral wall thereof at an elevation slightly above each metal contact pin's bonding face21′. Each bonding leg502has a bonding hole501(not shown) that holds a solder material, for example, a solder ball51. The solder ball51is positioned in the associating bonding hole501by a mechanical mechanism. By means of friction resistance, the solder ball51is firmly secured to the associating bonding hole501. According to this embodiment, the metal shield50is not movable relative to the electrically insulative housing of the electrical connector. The solder balls51in the bonding holes501of the bonding legs502of the metal shield50constitute a bonding adjustment architecture. When the solder balls51are melted, the molten solder is lowered and bonded to the circuit board40′.

FIGS. 6˜8show an electrical connector in accordance with a third embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment is substantially similar to the aforesaid first embodiment of the present invention with the exception that the metal shield70has a plurality of bonding legs702perpendicularly outwardly extending from the bottom of the vertical peripheral wall thereof. Each bonding leg702has a bonding hole701(not shown) that holds a solder material, for example, a solder ball71. The solder ball71is positioned in the associating bonding hole701by a mechanical mechanism. By means of friction resistance, the solder ball71is firmly secured to the associating bonding hole701. According to this embodiment, the metal shield70is vertically movable relative to the electrically insulative housing of the electrical connector. During installation, the solder balls71are bonded to the circuit board40″.

As indicated above, the invention provides an electrical connector, which comprises an electrically insulative housing that houses a plurality of metal contact pins, and a metal shield caped on the electrically insulative housing and providing a bonding adjustment architecture that allows the metal contact pins and the metal shield to be positively bonded to a circuit board by SMT.

A prototype of electrical connector has been constructed with the features ofFIGS. 1˜8. The electrical connector functions smoothly to provide all of the features disclosed earlier.