Audio jack assembly

An audio jack assembly includes an electrically insulative housing that has plug holes for the insertion of a respective audio plug and multiple sets of terminal slots corresponding to the plug holes, terminal sets respectively mounted in the terminal slots, each terminal set including a grounding terminal, two signal terminals and two switching terminals, each terminal having a base for mounting, a spring arm and/or a retaining portion, and a locating block fastened to the back side of the housing to hold multiple leads in vertical lead grooves thereof, the leads having a top end press-fitted into engagement with the retaining portion of one terminal and a bottom end for bonding to an external motherboard beneath the housing and the locating block.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to audio jacks and more particularly, to an audio jack assembly, which utilizes modularized terminals for the connection of leads by means of press-fitting, simplifying the installation procedure and saving much the cost.

2. Description of the Related Art

A multimedia player (stereo, PC or DVD player) has speakers connected thereto for voice output. The number of the speakers is determined subject to the number of audio output channels of the multimedia player. For example, a music CD player has a left channel and a right channel for output of stereo sound. A computer may be equipped with an AC '97 5.1 sound card to provide 5 discrete channels and one low frequency channel for audio output through a respective speaker. In 2004 Analia was created for delivering high-definition audio that is capable of playing back more channels at higher quality than previous integrated audio codecs like AC '97.

Further, a multimedia player generally has an audio connector (audio jack assembly) provided at its motherboard, and the audio connector has one or a number of plug holes for the insertion of a respective audio plug for audio output.FIG. 8is an exploded view of an audio jack assembly according to the prior art. According to this design, the audio jack assembly comprises an electrically insulative housing A that has a plurality of vertically spaced accommodation chambers A2and a plurality of plug holes A1respectively disposed corresponding to the accommodation chambers, and multiple terminal sets respectively accommodated in the accommodation chambers A2. Each terminal set includes signal terminals B and switching terminals C. Each signal terminal B has a base B1mounted in one accommodation chamber A2of the electrically insulative housing A, and a bonding endpiece B2backwardly extending from the back side of the base B1for bonding to a circuit board. Each switching terminal C has a base C1mounted in one accommodation chamber C2of the electrically insulative housing A, and a bonding endpiece C2backwardly extending from the back side of the base C1for bonding to a circuit board. When an audio plug is inserted into one plug hole A1, the switching terminals C of the respective terminal set are electrically connected by the audio plug to switch on the circuit, allowing audio output through the associating signal terminals B.

According to the aforesaid designs, the terminal sets are arranged in the electrically insulative housing A at different elevations, and the bonding endpieces B2or C2of an upper terminal set are relatively longer than that of a lower terminal set, i.e., the terminal sets have different sizes. Further, the terminals B and C are respectively made out of a then metal sheet by means of a stamping technique and then bent into shape. This design wastes a big amount of the metal material. Further, because of low structural strength, the narrow elongated bonding endpieces of the terminals can easily be deformed or broken by an external force during installation. Further, because the narrow elongated bonding endpieces of the terminals are arranged in a narrow space, they may be bonded to the circuit board erroneously, resulting a high defect rate. Further, because different stamping dies are necessary for making the signal terminals B and the switching terminals C, the tooling cost is high.

To eliminate the aforesaid problems, an adapter board may be used in an audio jack assembly. According to this design, as shown inFIG. 9, signal terminals B and switching terminals C are bonded to an adapter board D that electrically connects the terminals to the motherboard. This design reduces waste of metal material. However, the use of the adapter board D relatively increases the fabrication cost and complicates the installation procedure. Further, when bonding signal terminals B and switching terminals C to the adapter board D, a bonding error may occur, increasing the defect rate.

Therefore, it is desirable to provide an audio jack assembly that eliminates the drawbacks of the aforesaid prior art designs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been accomplished under the circumstances in view. According to one aspect of the present invention, the audio jack assembly comprises an electrically insulative housing holding a respective terminal set in each of vertically spaced plug holes thereof, and a locating block fastened to the back side of the housing and holding multiple leads. Each terminal of each terminal set has a base for mounting, a spring arm and/or a retaining portion. Each lead has a top end press-fitted into engagement with the retaining portion of one terminal by means of a machine, and a bottom end for bonding to an external motherboard beneath the housing and the locating block. According to this design, the leads can be coiled copper wires, metal wires or stamped metal strip terminals. By means of the application of a machine, the installation of the terminal sets and the leads is simple and labor saving, and therefore the invention greatly improves the manufacturing efficiency and lowers the defect rate.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the terminals can be directly stamped from metal by means of a same stamping die. Because it is no necessary to stamp a narrow elongated tail end on each terminal for bonding, the invention reduces metal waste, and the finished terminals have better strength. By means of modularized signal terminal and switching terminal design, the invention saves molding cost and greatly lowers terminal fabrication and material cost.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, the arrangement of the terminal sets in the housing and the leads in the locating block to match the terminal sets eliminates the installation drawback of the bonding of terminals to a circuit board as see in the prior art designs, simplifying the installation procedure and lowering the fabrication cost.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring toFIGS. 1 and 2, an audio jack assembly in accordance with the present invention is shown comprising an electrically insulative housing1, multiple terminal sets2and a locating block3.

The electrically insulative housing1comprises a plurality of plug holes11horizontally forwardly extending to the front side and arranged at different elevations, multiple sets of terminal slots12formed in the back side and respectively disposed around and in communication with the plug holes11for the mounting of the terminal sets2, and multiple retaining grooves13formed in the back side corresponding to the terminal slots12, and multiple pairs of back hooks14horizontally and bilaterally extending from the back side at different elevations.

The terminal sets2are mounted in the terminal slots12corresponding to the plug holes11. Each terminal set2includes two signal terminals21, two switching terminals22and one grounding terminal23. The signal terminals21are arranged in parallel at two sides relative to the grounding terminal23. Each signal terminal21has a base211, a retaining portion212protruded from the base211at the rear side, and a spring arm213extending from the base211at the front side and suspending in the corresponding plug hole11. The two switching terminals22are arranged at different elevations, each having a base221and a retaining portion222protruded from the base221. Further, the bottom-sided switching terminal22has a spring arm223extending from the front side of the base221thereof and suspending in the corresponding plug hole11. The grounding terminal23is set between the two signal terminals21, having a base231, a U-shaped retaining portion232protruded from one side, i.e., the rear side of the base231, and a spring arm233extending from the other side, i.e., the front side of the base231and suspending in the corresponding plug hole11.

Further, connecting terminals24are arranged at the bottom sides of the housing1, each having a retaining portion241protruded from the top side and a bonding portion242extending downwardly.

The locating block3is connectable to the back side of the housing1, having a plurality of lead grooves31vertically formed in the front and back sides thereof for the mounting of leads4, a plurality of retaining portions311respectively disposed at two sides of each of the lead grooves31, and pairs of hooks32arranged at two opposite lateral sides of the locating block3at different elevations.

After connection of the locating block3to the back side of the housing1, a terminal block5is provided at the bottom side of the combination of the housing1and the locating block3, enabling the connecting terminals24and the leads4to be respectively positioned in the terminal block5. Further, a metal shield6is covered on the housing1. The metal shield6has insertion holes61corresponding to the plug holes11of the housing1.

Referring toFIGS. 3 through 7, the terminal sets2are respectively mounted in the terminal slots12of the housing1to engage the retaining portions212and222of the respective signal terminals21and the switching terminals22into the corresponding retaining grooves13of the housing1(seeFIG. 3), and then the leads4are respectively pressed into tight engagement with the U-shaped retaining portions232of the grounding terminals23. Therefore, one single lead4connects the grounding terminals23of the multiple (for example, 3) terminal units2that are mounted in the vertically spaced plug holes11in series for grounding (seeFIG. 4).

Thereafter, the leads4are forced through a gap in between each two retaining portions311and retained to the lead grooves31(seeFIG. 5), and then the locating block3is fastened to the back side of the housing1to force the hooks32of the locating block3into engagement with the back hooks14of the housing1(seeFIG. 6). After connection of the locating block3to the housing1, the leads4that are mounted in the locating block3are respectively inserted into the retaining grooves13and secured to the retaining portions212and222of the respective signal terminals21and the switching terminals22(seeFIG. 7), and therefore the leads4are respectively and electrically connected to the terminal sets2.

Further, the connecting terminals24are arranged at the bottom sides of the housing1to contact the signal terminals21in the lowest plug hole11of the housing1and to force the respective retaining portions241into engagement with the corresponding leads4. This arrangement eliminates the drawback of complicated bending and mounting procedure of the signal terminals21and the switching terminals22of the lowest terminal set2and the corresponding leads4. Thereafter, the terminal block5is provided at the bottom side of the combination of the housing1and the locating block3to have the connecting terminals24and the leads4be respectively inserted through respective through holes51and electrically bonded to a motherboard (not shown), and at final the metal shield6is covered on the housing1and affixed thereto, finishing the installation.

Therefore, when an audio plug is inserted into the plug hole11of the housing1, the audio plug pushes the spring arms213of the signal terminals21and then pushes the spring arm223of the bottom-sided switching terminal22upwards into contact with the top-sided switching terminal22, causing the switching terminals22to be shifted from OFF status to ON status. At this time, the audio plug has been set in position for audio signal input/output through the signal terminals21.

According to the aforesaid design, the installation of the switching terminals22of the invention meets 5.1 or 7.1 channel audio specification. The switching terminals22give an On signal upon insertion of an audio plug, or Off signal after removal of the audio plug. The switching terminals22can be made subject to 5.1-channel specifications or 7.1-channel specifications, and then installed in the corresponding terminal slots12.

In general, the invention provides an audio jack assembly, which has the following features and advantages:

1. The leads4in the locating block3can be prepared from coiled copper wires or metal wires, or directly stamped from a metal sheet. The leads4can be directly fastened to the retaining portions212and222of the signal terminals21and the switching terminals22in the retaining grooves13by means of a machine, simplifying installation and saving much labor and cost.

2. The terminal sets2can be made out of a metal sheet by means of one same stamping die. Because it is not necessary to make a narrow elongated endpiece on each terminal of each terminal set for bonding, the fabrication of the terminal sets reduces waste of metal material, and the modularized design of the signal terminals21and the switching terminals22saves much tooling cost, and therefore the invention greatly reduces terminal fabrication and material cost.

3. The invention eliminates the use of an adapter board. Therefore the invention avoids the problem bonding of terminals to an adapter board, saves the manufacturing cost, and increases product competivity.