FACE-MOUNT CONNECTOR

Abstract: A receptacle (10) is provided which is easier to hold in its horizontal position so as to prevent it from being floated during a soldering step. A support plate (40) is formed integral with a circuit board (36). The circuit board and support plate are located in a common plane. Support pads (28a) are matingly connected to a corresponding header (22b) of a housing (12) of the receptacle. The housing is supported by the circuit board on its solder tail-side surface and by the support plate (40) on its header-side surface through a support pad (28a) and held at a horizontal attitude relative to the circuit board.

Description: FACE-MDUNΓ OCNNECIOR Background of the Invention 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates generally to an electric connector and, in particular, to a method for mounting an electric connector on a circuit board and an electric connector adapted to be mounted on a circuit board and a support member for mounting. For example, a PCMCIA receptacle for connecting a memory card to a printed circuit board belongs to the technical field of the present invention. 2. Description of the Related Art A through hole mount method and a face mount method using no through holes are known as a method for connecting an electric connector to a printed circuit board. The through hole mount method comprises inserting pin contacts of an electric connector into through holes of a printed circuit board to achieve their soldering. The drawbacks of this method lie in that, because of the need to pierce through holes into a printed circuit board, the method is not suitable for an electric con¬ nector with pin contacts arranged at a very small pitch from the viewpoint of a through hole formation limita¬ tion and that, because the presence of through holes, a wiring pattern to be formed on the printed circuit board is subject to a design limitation. As an electric connector for connecting a memory card to a printed circuit board, the PCMCIA (Personal Computer Memory Card International Association) recepta¬ cles are commercially available on the market. In the case where the PCMCIA receptacle is mounted on the printed circuit board, the face mount method is employed because pin contacts are arranged at a very small pitch. In the face mount method, the receptacle is placed on the printed circuit board and those solder tails of the receptacle are soldered to corresponding solder pads on the printed circuit board by an infrared radiation or a vapor-phase reflow soldering processing. According to the face mount method for the PCMCIA receptacles, it is possible to eliminate the aforementioned two drawbacks. Unless, however, the receptacle or electric connector is properly seated on the printed circuit board and solder tails are properly seated on the corresponding solder pads during a soldering time, the receptacle is floated from the printed circuit board, or tilted relative to the surface of the printed circuit board, after the soldering step has been carried out. Summary of the Invention An object of the present invention is to provide a method for mounting an electric connector on a circuit board, which ensures better horizontal alignment of the electric connector after a soldering step has been done. Another object of the present invention is to provide an electric connector which ensures its better horizontal alignment after a soldering step has been done. Another object of the present invention is to pro¬ vide a support member to be used for electric connector mounting, which achieves better horizontal alignment of the electric connector after a soldering step has been done. In one aspect of the present invention a method is provided for mounting an electric connector on a circuit board in an aligned relation with soldering pads pro¬ vided on the surface of the circuit board, the electric connector comprising an elongated housing having oppo- site first and second surfaces and a third surface intersecting with the first and second surfaces in a perpendicular relation and placeable on the surface of the circuit board and a plurality of conductive pins extending through the first and second surfaces with their solder tails extending from the first surface of the housing. This method comprises the steps of: (a) forming a support plate integral with a cir¬ cuit board, the support plate including one edge to be opposed to the second surface of the housing and having a surface to lie on substantially the same plane as the surface of the circuit board; (b) placing the third surface of the housing on the surface of the circuit board at a substantially horizontal attitude relative to the surface of the circuit board so that the solder tails of the electric connector are seated on the corresponding solder pads on the electric board; (c) supporting the second surface of the housing by the support plate through a support member so as to hold the third surface of the housing at a horizontal attitude and a positional relation between the solder tail and the corresponding solder pad; and (d) soldering the solder tails of the electric connector to the corresponding solder pads on the cir¬ cuit board; and (e) removing the support member from the housing and the support plate from the circuit board. In another aspect of the present invention, an electric connector is provided which is adapted to be mounted on a circuit board with solder pads formed on the surface of the circuit board. The electric connec- tor has an elongated housing having opposite first and second elongated surfaces and a third elongated surface intersecting with the first and second surfaces in a perpendicular relation and placeable on the surface of the circuit board and a plurality of conductive pins extending through the first and second surfaces of the housing and each having a solder tail extending from the first surface of the housing, the housing further having a support plate formed integral with the housing, the support plate having a surface to lie on substantially the same plane as the surface of the circuit board in a manner to include its one edge to be opposed to the second surface of the housing; and a support member supporting the housing at a predetermined position on the surface of the circuit board so as to hold the third surface of the housing at a horizontal attitude and a positional relation between the solder tail and the corresponding solder pad, the support member having a mating section detachably fitted over the second surface of the housing and a seating section to be seated on the support plate as one unit relative to the mating section. In another aspect of the present invention, there is provided on support pad for supporting an electric connector at a predetermined position on a surface of a circuit board when the electric connector is mounted on the circuit board with solder pads formed thereon, the electric connector has an elongated housing having opposite first and second elongated surfaces and a third elongated surface intersecting with the first and second surfaces in a perpendicular relation and placeable on the surface of the circuit board and a plurality of conductive pins extending through the first and second surfaces and each having a solder tail extending from the first surface of the housing, the housing further having a support plate formed integral with the housing, the support plate having a surface to lie on substan¬ tially the same plane relative to the surface of the circuit board in a manner to include its one edge to be opposed to the second surface of the housing, the sup¬ port pad comprises a mating section detachably fitted over the second surface of the housing and a seating section to be seated on a support plate as one unit rel¬ ative to the mating section. According to the present invention, prior to the soldering process, the housing of the electric connector is supported by the circuit board at its solder tail- side surface and by the support plate at its header-side surface. Since the surface of the support plate and surface of the circuit board are located on substan¬ tially the same plane, the housing of the electric con¬ nector is held in a horizontal position to the surface of the circuit board. Brief Description of the Drawings Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing an electric connector according to a first embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 2 is an expanded, perspective view showing a support pad in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is an upper plane view showing the electric connector of Fig. 1 together with a printed circuit board; Fig. 4 is a side view corresponding to an arrange¬ ment of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing a support pad in a second embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 6 is a perspective view showing, together with a printed circuit board, an electric connector according to a third embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 7 is an upper plane view corresponding to an arrangement of Fig. 6; Fig. 8 is a side view corresponding to the arrangement of Fig. 7; Fig. 9 is an expanded, perspective view showing a support pad in Fig. 6; and Fig. 10 is an expanded, perspective view showing a support pad in a fourth embodiment of the present invention. Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments An electric connector, that is, a PCMCIA (Personal Computer Memory Card International Association) recepta- cle 10, as shown in Fig. 1 has an insulating housing 12 obtained by molding and stretching and possessing conductive pins 20 extending from one of opposed sur¬ faces 14 and 16 of the housing 12 to the other surface. The conductive pins 20 are arranged, as a 2 x 34 array, along the stretching direction (X-axis direction) of the housing 12. The respective conductive pin 20 has a solder tail 22a at its one end on the surface 14 side and a header 22b at its other end on the surface 16 side of the housing 12. It is preferred that a pair of ribs 24 be provided, in an X-direction, at opposite longitudinal edges of the surface 16 of the housing 12. A positioning peg 26a is provided one at each opposed end face of the housing 12 as viewed in the X-axis direction. As shown in Fig. 2 in particular, a support pad 28a is substantially T-like in cross-section and has a sup- port section 30 to be contacted with the surface 16 of the housing 16 and a grip section 32. The support sec¬ tion 30 has pins 34 to be fitted into the corresponding header 22b. The configuration of the grip section 32 is properly so designed that the grip section 32 can be readily placed on a surface 36a of a printed circuit board 36 as will be set out below and be readily gripped by a human hand. As shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the PCMCIA receptacle 10 is placed on one surface 36a of the printed circuit board 36 from a substantially normal direction (Z-axis direction) to the surface 36a of the printed circuit board 36. Further, a positioning peg 26a provided at the face 18 of the housing 12 is fitted into a corre¬ sponding through hole 26b of the printed circuit board at a predetermined place. In this state, the respective solder tail 22a is seated on a corresponding solder pad 38 on one edge 36b side of the printed circuit board 36. The PCMCIA receptacle 10 and one edge 36b of the printed circuit board 36 have substantially the same length as viewed in the X-axis direction. Before or immediately after the receptacle 10 is placed on the surface 36a of the printed circuit board 36, at least one support pad 28a is mounted on a surface 16 of the housing 12 by fitting the pins 34 into the mating header 22b. A support plate 40 for placing the PCMCIA receptacle 10 in place has an opening or cutout 42 cor¬ responding to an edge 36b-side portion and housing 12 and a pair of projections 44 mounted relative to the corresponding positioning pegs 26a of the housing 12. One surface 40a of the support plate 40 lie substan- tially flush with the surface 36a of the printed circuit board 36. The support plate 40 is made of the same material as that of the printed circuit board 36. The support plate 40 is connected by the pair of projections 44 only to the housing 12 of the receptacle 10 and not directly to the printed circuit board 36. The support plate 40 can be removed, by a breakage or shearing of the projections 44, from the receptacle 10 and printed circuit board 36. One edge 42a of the opening facing the surface 16 of the housing 12 is spaced apart from the surface 16 of the housing. The support pad 28a mounted on the surface 16 of the housing is placed on the surface 40a of the support plate 40 on the edge 42a side of the opening 42. The housing 12 is supported, by the projections 44 of the support plate 40, at both the ends of the housing in the X-direction through the positioning pegs 26a and, by the surface 40a of the support plate 40, at the surface 16 of the housing 12 through the support pad 28a. The receptacle 10 is held in a horizontal direction to the surface 36a of the printed circuit board 36. In this state, the solder tails 22a of the receptacle 10 are soldered to the solder pads 38 of the printed circuit board 36 by a radiation beam or a vapor-phase reflow soldering processing so that the receptacle 10 is held at a horizontal attitude after such a soldering processing has been achieved. After the soldering processing step, the support plate 40 is removed from the receptacle 10 by breaking or shearing the projections 44. Further, the support pad 28a is removal from the receptacle 10. After the soldering processing step it is desired that the printed circuit board 36 be washed before or after the removable of the support pad 28a and support plate 40. Fig. 5 shows a support pad 28b in a second embodi¬ ment of the present invention. The support pad 28b is different from the support pad 28a in the previous embodiment in that a support section 30 has a pair of grooves 46 to be fitted over a corresponding pair of ribs 24 (see Fig. 1) provided on a surface 16 of a housing 12. The ribs 24 of the housing 12 are neces¬ sary when the support pad 28b is employed. The support pad 28b can be detachably fitted over the pair of ribs 24 from each longitudinal end of the housing 12. Further, the support pad 28b can be selectively positioned on the surface 16 of the housing by being slidably moved along the ribs. The second embodiment can obtain not only advantages of the first embodiment but also advantages in that it is easier to change the mount position of the support pad 28b rela¬ tive to the surface 16 of the housing. Figs. 6 to 9 show a third embodiment of the present invention. The third embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that a support pad 28c and support plate 40' are used in place of the support pad 28a and support plate 40 and that a housing 12 has no position¬ ing peg 26a. The support plate 40' has a pair of holes 48 one in the neighborhood of its corresponding edge 42a, and support pads 28c each have a positioning pin 50 to be detachably fitted into a corresponding hole 48. Except for those, the support pad 28b and support plate 40' in the embodiment shown in Figs. 6 and 9 are the same as the support pad 28a and support plate 40 in the first embodiment of the present invention. According to the third embodiment of the present invention, the same advantages as those of the first embodiment can be obtained by positioning the housing 12 with the use of a pair of positioning pins 50 in place of the positioning pegs 26a. Fig. 10 shows a support pad 28d in a fourth embodi¬ ment of the present invention. The support pad 28d is the same as the support pad 28b shown in Fig. 5 except that the support pad 28d has a positioning pin 50 to be detachably fitted into a corresponding hole 48 (see Fig. 6) of the support 40'. According to the fourth embodiment, it is possible to achieve the same advan¬ tages as those of the third embodiment of the present invention. According to the present invention, since an electric connector can be held in a horizontal attitude during the soldering step, it is possible to prevent the electric connector from being floated after the soldering step. According to the support pad of the present invention, the electric connector can be supported by a simple structure and hence it is easier to position and hold the electric connector during the soldering step.

Claims: What is claimed is: 1. A method for mounting an electric connector on a circuit board in an aligned relation to the circuit board with solder pads formed thereon, the electric con- nector comprising an elongated housing having opposite first and second elongated surfaces and a third elon¬ gated surface intersection with the first and second elongated surfaces in a perpendicular relation and placeable on the surface of the circuit board and a plu- rality of conductive pins extending through the first and second elongated surfaces with their solder tails extending from the first surface of the housing, the method comprising the steps of: (a) forming a support plate integral with the circuit board, the support plate including its one edge to be opposed to the second surface of the housing and having a surface to lie on substantially the same plane as the surface of the circuit board; (b) placing the third surface of the housing on the surface of the circuit board at a substantially horizontal attitude relative to the surface of the circuit board so that the solder tails of the electric connector are seated on the corresponding solder pads on the electric board; (c) supporting the third surface of the housing at a horizontal attitude by the support plate through the support member so as to hold the third surface of the housing at a horizontal attitude and a positional relation between the solder tail and the corresponding solder pad; (d) soldering the solder tails of the electric connector to the corresponding solder pads on the circuit board; and (e) removing the support member from the housing and the support plate from the circuit board. 2. An electric connector adapted to be mounted on a circuit board with solder pads formed on a surface of the circuit board, comprising: an elongated housing having opposite first and sec¬ ond elongated surfaces and a third elongated surface intersecting with the first and second surfaces in a perpendicular relation and placeable on the surface of the circuit board and a plurality of conductive pins extending through the first and second surfaces of the housing and each having a solder tail extending from the one surface of the housing, the housing further having a support plate formed integral with the housing, the support plate having a surface to lie on substan¬ tially the same plane as the surface of the circuit board in a manner to include its one edge to be opposed to the second surface of the housing; and a support member supporting the housing at a predetermined position on the surface of the circuit board so as to hold the third surface of the housing at a horizontal attitude and a positional relation between the solder tail and the corresponding solder pad, the support member having a mating section detachably fitted over the second surface of the housing and a seating section to be seated on the support plate as one unit relative to the mating section. 3. A support pad for supporting an electric con¬ nector at a predetermined position on a surface of a circuit board when the electric connector is mounted on the circuit board with solder pads formed thereon, the electric connector comprising an elongated housing hav¬ ing opposite first and second elongated surfaces and a third elongated surface intersecting with the first and second surfaces in a perpendicular relation and placea- ble on the surface of the circuit board and a plurality of conductive pins extending through the first and sec¬ ond surfaces and each having a solder tail extending from the first surface of the housing, the housing fur¬ ther having a support plate formed integral with the housing, the support plate having a surface to lie on substantially the same plane relative to the surface of the circuit board in a manner to include its one edge to be opposed to the second surface of the housing, the support pad comprising: a mating section detachably fitted over the second surface of the housing; and a seating section to be seated on the support plate as one unit relative to the mating section.

Inventors: LWEE NAI HOCK, LWEE, NAI, HOCK
Applicants: BERG TECH INC, LWEE NAI HOCK, BERG TECHNOLOGY, INC.
Application year: 1993
Main classification: H01R23
IPC codes: H01R12, H01R43, H05K3