Abstract:
An electrical connector that includes a housing that has a mounting face with a cavity that is in fluid contact with the ambient environment via an opening formed in a front side of the mounting face and a backplate that abuts a rear side of the mounting face. A contact, wherein a portion of the contact is positioned within the cavity. A compression rod that engages the mounting face and the backplate in a compressive manner towards one another.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The present invention relates to the field of electrical connectors, in particular power jacks.  
           [0003]    2. Discussion of Related Art  
           [0004]    Electrical connectors with light indicators are well known in the art as evidenced by U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,876,239 and 5,876,240, the entire contents of each are hereby incorporated herein by reference. In such electrical connectors, the attachment of the light indicator to the housing often is complicated.  
           [0005]    It is also known to have electrical connectors and associated indicators, such as LED&#39;s, that are separate from one another. In such a case, there is an increase in defects and manufacturing costs when the indicators are separate from the electrical connector. In particular, added costs result from buying the components independent of one another. In addition, the separate indicators take up additional room on the PC board to which they are connected. Furthermore, separate indicators make it difficult to locate the indicators above an electrical connector, such as a DC power jack.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0006]    One aspect of the present invention regards an electrical connector that includes a housing that has a mounting face with a cavity that is in fluid contact with the ambient environment via an opening formed in a front side of the mounting face and a backplate that abuts a rear side of the mounting face. A contact, wherein a portion of the contact is positioned within the cavity. A compression rod that engages the mounting face and the backplate in a compressive manner towards one another.  
           [0007]    The above aspect of the present invention provides the advantage of a simple way of constructing an electrical connector, such as a power jack.  
           [0008]    The above aspect of the present invention provides the additional advantage of saving space in electrical connectors.  
           [0009]    The above aspect of the present invention provides the advantage of simplifying the mounting of indicators associated with an electrical connector.  
           [0010]    The above aspect of the present invention provides the advantage of reducing manufacturing costs and defects by allowing an electrical connector and associated indicator to be purchased integrally with one another.  
           [0011]    The above aspect of the present invention provides the additional advantage of reducing the amount of room traditionally taken up by an electrical connector and separate indicator on a PC board to which they are connected. In particular, the present invention allows an electrical connector to be integral with an indicator without increasing the footprint of the electrical connector.  
           [0012]    The present invention, together with attendant objects and advantages, will be best understood with reference to the detailed description below in connection with the attached drawings.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0013]    [0013]FIG. 1 is a front elevational perspective view of an embodiment of an electrical connector according to the present invention;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 2 is a bottom perspective view of the electrical connector of FIG. 1;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the electrical connector of FIG. 1;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 4 is a right side view of the electrical connector of FIG. 1;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 5 is a top view of the electrical connector of FIG. 1;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 6 is a bottom view of the electrical connector of FIG. 1;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 7 is a front view of the electrical connector of FIG. 1;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 8 is a side cross-sectional view of the electrical connector of FIG. 1 taken along line  8 - 8  of FIG. 7;  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 9 is perspective view of an embodiment of a visual indicator to be used with the electrical connector of FIG. 1 according to the present invention;  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 10 is an exploded left side perspective view of the electrical connector of FIG. 1;  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 11 is an exploded top perspective view of the electrical connector of FIG. 1;  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 12 is a rear view of an embodiment of a mounting face to be used with the electrical connector of FIG. 1;  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 13 is a bottom view of the mounting face of FIG. 12;  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 14 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a backplate to be used with the electrical connector of FIG. 1;  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 15 is a bottom view of the backplate of FIG. 14;  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 16 is a bottom perspective view of an embodiment of a top cover to be used with the electrical connector of FIG. 1; and  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 17 is a bottom view of the top cover of FIG. 16. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0030]    Referring to the drawings, FIGS.  1 - 17  show an embodiment of an electrical connector, such as the stacked dc power jack  20 . As shown in FIGS. 3, 8,  10  and  11 , the power jack  20  includes a housing  22  that includes three separate components: a mounting face  24 , a backplate  26  and a top cover  28 .  
         [0031]    The mounting face  24  includes a bottom channel  30  that has a substantially rectangular cross-section. As shown in FIGS. 10 and 12, the bottom corners of channel  30  have grooves  32  formed therein. A top, right corner of the channel  30  has a groove  34 . A portion of the top, left corner of the channel  30  has a slot  36  formed between a bottom surface  38  of a rear extension  40  of the mounting face  24  and a top surface  42  of an indented section  44 . In addition, a rectangular cutout  46  is formed at the bottom and rear of the channel  30  as shown in FIGS. 10, 12 and  13 . With the channel  30  so formed, a spring contact  48  is inserted into the channel  30 , where the bottom, side edges  50  of the spring contact  48  are slid into the grooves  32 . During insertion of the spring contact  48  into the channel  30 , two downwardly extending leads  52  enter and extend through the cutout  46 . When the spring contact  48  is fully inserted within the channel  30 , the leads  52  abut a forward edge  54  that defines a closed end of the cutout  46 , as shown in FIG. 2.  
         [0032]    As shown in FIG. 8, a front end of the channel  30  is connected to a cavity  56  that is exposed to the outside environment via a circular opening  58  formed in the front of the mounting face  24 . An inverted V-shaped portion  59  of the spring contact  48  is positioned within the cavity  56 . It is possible that more than one spring contact is placed within the cavity  56 .  
         [0033]    As shown in FIGS.  1 - 4 ,  6 ,  10  and  11 , a third downwardly extending lead  60  is attached to the mounting face  24 . The lead  60  is a shunt terminal that creates a normally closed internal switch inside the power jack  20 . For certain uses of the power jack  20 , the lead  60  can be removed. The lead  60  is L-shaped where a horizontal leg  62  has an edge  64  inserted into the groove  34 . The horizontal leg  62  extends through the slot  36  so that a vertical leg  66  is placed adjacent to the indented section  44 . Once attached to the mounting face  24 , the horizontal leg  62  lies above the spring contact  48  and has a portion that contacts the spring contact  48  as shown in FIG. 8.  
         [0034]    As shown in FIGS. 8 and 10- 12 , a top recess  68  is formed in the mounting face  24 . The top recess  68  is aligned with a top circular opening  70 . A plastic cover  71  of a visual indicator  72  is inserted past the top recess  68  and inserted into the top circular opening  70 . A single or bi-color light emitting diode (LED) is contained within the cover  71  and are in parallel with one another and are connected to leads  74 . In the case of a bi-color LED, the colors may be blue and amber. In addition, the lead  60  is used when the bi-color LED is used. The leads  74  extend downwardly and are inserted into corresponding holes  76  formed in the backplate  26 .  
         [0035]    The backplate  26  is positioned adjacent to the rear extension  40  and is riveted to the mounting face  24 . Upon attachment of the backplate  26  to the mounting face  24 , a tongue  78  of the backplate  26  is inserted into the cutout  46  so as to form a flush bottom surface. In addition, a bottom edge  80  of a rear contact  82  is inserted into grooves  84  formed at the rear of the backplate  26 .  
         [0036]    The top cover  28  has an L-shaped inner surface  86  that includes a pair of horizontal grooves  88  and a pair of vertical grooves  90 . The horizontal portions  91  of the leads  74  are inserted into the horizontal grooves  88  and the vertical portions  93  of the leads  74  are inserted into the vertical grooves  90 . The grooves  88  and  90  thus align the leads  74  at a 90° downward bend. The top cover  28  further includes a guide pin  92  that is inserted into the top recess  68  so that edges of the guide pin  92  are inserted into grooves  94  of the top recess  68 . The guide pin  92  prevents the top cover  28  from moving up or to either side. The top cover  28  further includes a locking tab  96  that is inserted into slot  98  formed in the rear extension  40 . The locking tab  96  prevents the top cover  28  from sliding backwards. Once the locking tab  96  is inserted into slot  98 , a top and rear portion of the cover  71  of the visual indicator  72  is inserted into a semi-circular-like recess  100  formed in the top cover  28 .  
         [0037]    Note that attachment of the backplate  26  to the mounting face  24  also results in the alignment of the circular openings  102 ,  104  and  106  of the mounting face  24 , backplate  26  and rear contact  82 , respectively. As shown in FIG. 8, the opening  102  is in fluid communication with the cavity  56 . The aligned openings  102 ,  104  and  106  allow a rear portion  107  of rod  108  to be inserted therein. An annular collar  109  of the rod  108  snugly engages a front recess of the opening  102 , thus limiting the amount of rod  108  that passes rearwardly of the front recess of the opening  102 . Once the annular collar  109  engages the front recess of the opening  102 , the rear end of the rod  108  extends past the opening  106 . At this position, the rear end is bent back and riveted to the rear of the rear contact  82 . Such riveting compresses the contact  82 , backplate  26  and mounting face  24  against one another.  
         [0038]    As shown in FIGS.  1 - 9 , the power jack  20  has seven leads/contacts that protrude from the power jack  20  and are to be installed onto a printed circuit board (not shown). Once the power jack  20  is installed to the printed circuit board, a plug can be inserted into the cavity  56  containing the rod  108 . Once the plug contacts the rod  108 , electrical power and/or signals are transferred from the plug to the rod  108  and PC board and vice versa. During the transfer of electrical power and/or signals, the single or bi-color LED of the visual indicator is illuminated so as to signal to the user that at that moment a change in system status, via a transfer of electrical power and/or signals, is occurring. For example, the illumination of the single or bi-color LED can be used to indicate the level of voltage that is being supplied to the PC board via the rod  108  where one color indicates one voltage level and another color indicates another voltage level. Another possibility is for one of the bi-color LED&#39;s to be lit indicating battery power is being used by the system while the other bi-color LED is lit when DC power is being used by the system.  
         [0039]    The foregoing description is provided to illustrate the invention, and is not to be construed as a limitation. Numerous additions, substitutions and other changes can be made to the invention without departing from its scope as set forth in the appended claims.