Abstract:
An electrical connector comprising electrical signal contacts and power contacts; and a housing. The housing has the electrical contacts connected thereto. The housing includes at least two vertically offset electrical plug receiving areas. The signal contacts extend into the receiving areas in a universal serial bus (USB) electrical conductor location configuration. The power contacts also extend into the receiving areas, but in an opposite direction from the signal contacts.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The present invention relates to electrical connectors and, more particularly, to a universal serial bus electrical connector.  
           [0003]    2. Brief Description Of Prior Developments  
           [0004]    Universal serial bus (USB) electrical connectors are well known in the art. There also exists in the art a form of USB electrical connector system which includes power contacts on the plug and in the receptacle. One such USB and power electrical connector system is sold by FCI USA, Inc. under the part numbers 742394 for the receptacle and 74233 for the plug. U.S. Pat. No. 5,637,015 discloses a USB connector having shielding and two areas vertically aligned for receiving two USB connectors. However, the receptacle disclosed in this patent is not adapted to have USB+power electrical plugs connected to it.  
           [0005]    There is a desire to provide a USB+power electrical receptacle which can receive more than one USB+power electrical plug. However, there is also a desire to keep USB electrical receptacles and plugs relatively small. This can be extremely beneficial in a relatively small component such as a laptop computer, or an electrical or electronic device where space for mounting USB plugs is limited. There is also a desire to ensure that the electrical power supplied through power contacts in a multi-plug receiving receptacle does not cause false electrical signals in the associated signal contacts or conductors in the receptacle or mating plugs.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0006]    In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, an electrical connector is provided comprising electrical signal contacts and power contacts; and a housing. The housing has the electrical contacts connected thereto. The housing includes at least two vertically offset electrical plug receiving areas. The signal contacts extend into the receiving areas in a universal serial bus (USB) electrical conductor location configuration. The power contacts also extend into the receiving areas, but in an opposite direction from the signal contacts.  
           [0007]    In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, a universal serial bus (USB) electrical connector is provided comprising a housing and electrical contacts. The housing forms a plurality of USB plug receiving areas. The electrical contacts include signal contacts and power contacts. The electrical signal contacts are connected to the housing, and extend into the receiving areas, arranged for operably electrically connecting to the USB plugs inserted into the USB plug receiving areas. The electrical power contacts are connected to the housing and extending into the receiving areas. The housing has a section between two of the receiving areas. The power contacts extend from the section in opposite directions into the two receiving areas.  
           [0008]    In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, an electrical connector is provided comprising a housing having two plug receiving areas vertically offset relative to each other; and electrical contacts connected to the housing and extending into the two plug receiving areas. The contacts comprise signal contacts and power contacts. The power contacts extend into the two receiving areas and the signal contacts extend into the two receiving areas. The signal and power contacts which extend into a first one of the receiving areas are arranged in an array which is substantially a mirror image of the signal and power contacts in a second one of the receiving areas.  
           [0009]    In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, a universal serial bus (USB) electrical connector receptacle for receiving a plurality of USB electrical connector plugs is provided. The receptacle comprises a housing having at least one plug receiving area; and electrical contacts connected to the housing. The contacts comprise signal contacts and power contacts. The at least one plug receiving area is sized and shaped to receive the plurality of USB plugs with signal contact supporting decks of two of the plugs being located vertically offset relative to each other and power contact supporting sections of the two plugs being at least partially laterally adjacent each other.  
           [0010]    In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, an electrical connector is provided comprising a housing having at least one plug receiving area; and electrical contacts connected to the housing. The contacts comprise signal contacts and power contacts. The at least one plug receiving area comprises a first receiving area section sized and shaped to receive a first electrical plug having a signal contact supporting deck and a power contact section; and a second receiving area section sized and shaped to receive a second electrical plug having a signal contact supporting deck and a power contact section. At least one of the first and second receiving area sections is sized and shaped to alternatively receive a third electrical plug having a signal contact supporting deck, but not having a power contact section.  
           [0011]    In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, a universal serial bus (USB) electrical connector plug is provided comprising a signal contact supporting deck; electrical signal conductors directly stationarily attached to a first side of the supporting deck; and electrical power conductors directly stationarily attached to an opposite second side of the supporting deck. The supporting deck is sized and shaped to be inserted into a supporting deck receiving aperture of a USB electrical connector receptacle. The electrical signal conductors are aligned in a USB contact array configuration. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0012]    The foregoing aspects and other features of the present invention are explained in the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an electrical connector incorporating features of the present invention;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the connector shown in FIG. 1;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 3 is a right side elevational view of the connector shown in FIG. 1;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of the connector shown in FIG. 2 taken along line  4 - 4 ;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 5A is a perspective view of a USB+power electrical connector plug incorporating features of the present invention adapted for insertion into the electrical connector receptacle shown in FIG. 1;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 5B is a perspective view of the USB+power electrical connector plug shown in FIG. 5A from an opposite direction;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 5C is a bottom plan view of the connector plug shown in FIG. 5A;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 6 is a schematic view of an alternate embodiment of the electrical connector receptacle with two plugs connected thereto;  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 7 is a schematic front elevational view of one of the plugs shown in FIG. 6;  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 8 is a schematic front elevational view of one of the plugs shown in FIG. 6; and  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 9 is a schematic view of the electrical connector receptacle shown in FIG. 6 having two other types of USB plugs connected thereto. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0024]    Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a perspective view of an electrical connector  10  incorporating features of the present invention. Although the present invention will be described with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings, it should be understood that the present invention can be embodied in many alternate forms of embodiments. In addition, any suitable size, shape or type of elements or materials could be used.  
         [0025]    The connector  10  generally comprises a housing  12 , electrical contacts  14 , and an outer shell  16 . Referring also to FIGS.  2 - 4  the housing  10  is preferably comprised of a two-piece member made of molded plastic or polymer material. However, in an alternate embodiment, the housing could he comprised of more or less than two members  13 ,  15 . In addition, the housing could be comprised of any suitable materials) and could be manufactured by any suitable type of manufacturing process. The second member  15  is fixedly connected to the first member  13 . The second member  15  comprises holes for locating bottom ends of the contacts  14  relative to each other.  
         [0026]    In the embodiment shown, the first member  13  of the housing  12  generally comprises a rear section  18 , a middle section  20 , and a front section  22 . However, the housing could have any suitable type of shape. The rear section  18  comprises an open space  24 . The open space  24  is provided for rear ends of the contacts  14 . The middle section  20  comprises channels  26  for middle sections of the electrical contacts  14  to pass through.  
         [0027]    The front section  22  generally comprises three projections  28 ,  29  and  30 . In this embodiment, the three projections  28 - 30  are vertically offset from each other. The middle projection  28  is about the same width as the middle section  20 . The middle projection  28  has channels  32  extending therethrough. Front ends of the channels  32  have holes  34  through top and bottom sides of the middle projection  28 .  
         [0028]    In this embodiment, the top and bottom projections  29 ,  30  are substantially mirror images of each other. However, in alternate embodiments, the projections  28 - 30  could have any suitable size and shape. In this embodiment, the top and bottom projections  29 ,  30  each comprise a channel  36  extending from the channels  26 . The top projection  29  also comprises a hole  38  from its channel  36  through its bottom wall. The bottom projection  30  also has a hole  40  through its top side from its channel  36 . However, the sections of the housing which houses front ends of the signal contacts  58  could have any suitable size or shape. Portions of the top and bottom projections  29 ,  30 , located in front of the holes  38 ,  40 , form preload sections  42  for the signal contacts  58 . However, preload sections might not be provided. In this embodiment, the top and bottom projections  29 ,  30  have a width which is less than the width of the center projection  28 . Thus, spaces  44  are provided on the lateral sides of the projections  29 ,  30 . However, in alternate embodiments, the spaces  44  might not be provided.  
         [0029]    The front section  22  of the housing  12 , in cooperation with the shell  16 , generally forms two receiving areas  46 ,  48 . The two receiving areas  46 ,  48  are generally sized and shaped to matingly received a USB plug, such as the plug shown in FIGS.  5 A- 5 C. However, in alternate embodiments, the receiving areas could be sized and shaped to receive any suitable type of USB plug. In another alternate embodiment, the receiving areas could be formed solely by the housing. In addition, although the embodiment shown has only two receiving areas, the connector could have more than two receiving areas.  
         [0030]    The top projection  29  is offset from the top end  54  of the housing  12 . Therefore, because of this offset and the spaces  441  the top receiving area  46  has a general ring shape extending inward from the front end of the connector  10 . The top projection  29  is located inside the general ring shape. The section  50  between the top projection  29  and the middle projection  28  forms an area for receiving a contact supporting deck of the mating plug. The top section  52  of the receiving area  46  forms another area for receiving a different section of the mating plug. However, in alternate embodiments the top receiving area  46  might not have a ring shape. The top receiving area  46  could be comprised of multiple separate areas which receive portions of a single mateable plug. Alternatively, the top receiving area  46  could be comprised of a single, generally block shaped, receiving area.  
         [0031]    The bottom projection  30  is offset from the bottom end  56  of the housing  12 . Therefore, because of this offset and the spaces  44 , the bottom receiving area  48  has a general ring shape extending inward from the front end of the connector  10 . The bottom projection  30  is located inside the general ring shape. The bottom receiving area  48 , in this embodiment, is substantially a mirror image of the top receiving area  46 . However, in an alternate embodiment, the two receiving areas could have different sizes and shapes. Similar to the top receiving area  46 , the bottom receiving area  48  has a section  51  between the bottom projection  30  and the middle projection  28 . This section  51  forms an area for receiving a contact supporting deck of a mating plug. The section  51  is substantially a mirror image of the section  50 . Similar to the top receiving area  46 , the bottom receiving area  48  has a section  53  on the opposite side of the projection. The section  53  forms an area for receiving a different portion of the mating plug. Similar to noted above with reference to the top receiving area  46 , the bottom receiving area  48  could be comprised of multiple separate areas which receive portions of a single mateable plug. Alternatively, the bottom receiving area  48  could be comprised of a single, generally block shaped, receiving area.  
         [0032]    In the embodiment shown, the two receiving areas  46 ,  48  are vertically offset from each other. The two receiving areas  46 ,  48  are vertically aligned one above the other. However, in alternate embodiments, the two receiving areas  46 ,  48  could be at least partially horizontally offset from each other. Although the receiving areas  46 ,  48  have been described as being substantially mirror images of each other, in an alternate embodiment the receiving areas could be aligned in a substantially identical orientation.  
         [0033]    The contacts  14  in this embodiment generally comprises signal contacts  58  and power contacts  60 . A first set of the signal and power contacts  58 ,  60  extend into the first receiving area  46 . A second set of the signal and power contacts  58 ,  60  extend into the second receiving area  48 . The first set of signal and power contacts comprise four of the signal contacts  58  and two of the power contacts  60 . Similarly, the second set of signal and power contacts comprise four of the signal contacts  58  and two of the power contacts  60 . However, in alternate embodiments, the sets of contacts could have different numbers and types of contacts relative to each other. Each set of contacts might not include both power and signal contacts. Each set of contacts could comprise more or less than four signal contacts, and more or less than two power contacts. In the embodiment shown, the first and second sets of contacts are arranged as substantially mirror images of each other. However, in alternate embodiments, the arrangements of the contacts in the first and second sets might be different relative to each other, or the sets might be aligned in a common orientation.  
         [0034]    The signal contacts  58  generally comprises a spring contact section  62 , a middle section  64 , and a tail  66 . The spring contact sections  62  are located in the channels  32  of the top and bottom projections  29 ,  30 . The spring contact sections  62  have contact areas which extend out of the holes  38 ,  40  in opposite directions, generally towards an inward direction, and extend into the deck receiving sections  50 ,  51  of the two receiving areas  46 ,  48 . In this embodiment, front ends of the spring contact sections  62  are preloaded against the preload sections  42 .  
         [0035]    The middle sections  64  are generally bent. This allows the tails  66  to be directed towards the bottom end of the housing. The tails  66  extend from the bottom side of the connector for insertion into holes of a printed circuit board or other electronic component. This provides the connector  10  as a general right angle connector. In an alternate embodiment, the middle section  64  might not be bent, such as when connector is a vertical or horizontal connector rather than a right angle connector. In an alternate embodiment, the tails  66  could have any suitable type of shape, such as being configured to be surface mounted.  
         [0036]    The power contacts  60  generally comprises a spring contact section  68 , a middle section  70 , and a tail  72 . The spring contact sections  68  are located in the channels  32  of the middle projection  28 . The spring contact sections  68  have contact areas which extend out of the channels  32 . The contact areas for the spring contact sections  68  of the first set of contacts extend out of the middle projection  28  in an opposite, outward direction relative to the contact areas for the spring contact sections of the second set of contacts. The contact areas for the spring contact sections of the first set of contacts extend upward generally towards the top projection  29  and towards the spring contact sections  62  of the signal contacts  58  in the top projection  29 . The contact areas for the spring contact sections of the second set of contacts extend downward generally towards the bottom projection  30  and towards the spring contact sections  62  of the signal contacts  58  in the bottom projection  30 .  
         [0037]    The middle sections  70  are generally bent. This allows the tails  72  to extend towards and out of the bottom end of the housing. The tails  72 , similar to the tails  66 , are intended for insertion into holes of a printed circuit board. In an alternate embodiment, the tails  72  could have any suitable type of shape, such as being configured to be surface mounted. In an alternate embodiment, the power contacts could have any suitable type of shape. Although the power contacts have been described herein as having a spring contact section, in an alternate embodiment the power contacts might not have a spring contact section, such as when ends of the power contacts are formed as male pins.  
         [0038]    The spring contact sections  62 ,  68  of the signal and power contacts generally extend towards each other in the two respective deck receiving sections  50 ,  51  of the receiving areas  46 ,  48 . The spring contact sections  62  of the signal contacts  58  are arranged in an array or configuration that is adapted to operably mate with electrical contacts of a mating USB plug. The USB standards are well known in the art. The deck receiving sections  50 ,  51  of the receiving areas  46 ,  48  are sized and shaped to receive a contact supporting deck of a USB plug.  
         [0039]    The outer shell  16  generally comprises an electrically conductive ferromagnetic material. The shell  16  forms a ground for the connector as well as an electromagnetic shield. The shell  16  generally surrounds substantially all sides of the housing  12 . The shell  16  generally comprises mounting posts  74  which extend from the bottom of the connector. The mounting post are intended to be inserted into holes in a printed circuit board. However, any suitable means could be provided to mount the connector  10  to another component. The shell  16  also comprises spring contact arms  76 . In this embodiment, the contact arms  76  extend in inward directions from the four sides of the connector. The contact arms  76  extend into both of the receiving areas  46 ,  48 . For each receiving area  46 ,  48 , two of the contact arms  76  extend into the spaces  44  and two of the contact arms  76  extend into the sections  52 ,  53  of the receiving areas. However, in alternate embodiments, any suitable type of outer shell could be provided and any suitable means for making an electrical connection with a mating USB plug and could be provided.  
         [0040]    Referring now to FIGS.  5 A- 5 C, one embodiment of a USB plug  80  intended for insertion into the receiving areas of the connector  10  is shown. The plug  80  is shown as part of a cable assembly  82  having an electrical cable  84  connected thereto. The plug  80  generally comprises a housing  86 , a contact supporting deck  88 , and a shell  90 . The contact supporting deck  88  has a general planar shape. The deck  88  extends from a front end of the housing  86 . A first side of the deck  88  comprises signal conductors or contacts  92  therealong. In this embodiment, the contacts  92  are arranged in a USD contact configuration. An opposite second side  94  of the deck  88  has two power contacts or conductors  96  therealong. The signal contacts  92  and power contacts  96  are electrically connected to signal and power conductors in the cable  84 . The connection between the conductors from the cable and the contacts  92 ,  96  is protected by the housing  86 . In addition, the housing  86  forms a strain relief with the cable  84 .  
         [0041]    The shell  90  is comprised of electrically conductive ferromagnetic material. The shell extends from the housing  86  in a forward direction. The shell  90  is connected to a ground wire in the cable  84 . The shell  90  surrounds three sides of the contact supporting deck  88 . The shell  90  wraps partially around the side  94  of the deck, but stops before the shell reaches the power contacts  96 . Thus, the power contacts  96  are exposed at the side  94  of the deck. The top side  100  of the shell  90  is spaced from the first side  93  of the deck  88 . Therefore, a space  98  is formed between the shell  90  and the side  93  of the deck. This space  98  is sized and shaped to matingly receive either one of the top or bottom projections  29 ,  30  of the connector  10 . The thickness of the shell  90  is sized and shaped to be inserted into the spaces  44 ,  52  and  53  of the connector  10 .  
         [0042]    In this embodiment, the shell  90  comprises holes  102  therethrough. The holes  102  are located on the top side  100  and the two lateral sides of the shell. The holes  102  are sized, shaped and located such that when the front end of the plug  80  is inserted into one of the receiving areas  46  or  48  of the connector  10 , the spring contact arms  76  of the shell  16  extend into the holes  102  to form a retaining engagement. This retaining engagement helps to prevent the plug  80  from being inadvertently disconnected from the connector  10 . In addition, because the two shells  16 ,  90  are comprised of an electrically conductive ferromagnetic material, the shells  16 ,  90  are electrically grounded to each other and form a shield around the connection of the signal contacts  58 ,  92  to each other. However, in alternate embodiments, any suitable type of shell could be provided. In addition, any suitable type of retaining engagement between the plug and the receptacle could be provided.  
         [0043]    The plug  80  can be inserted into either one of the receiving areas  46 ,  48 . However, the plug  80  must be flipped  180  degrees based upon which of the two receiving areas  46 ,  48  the plug is being inserted into. If the plug  80  is inserted into the top receiving area  46 , then the top side  100  of the shell  90  would be located towards the top side of the connector and received in the section  52 . However, if the plug is inserted into the bottom receiving area  48 , then the top side  100  of the shell would be located towards the bottom side of the connector and received in the section  53 . As noted above, in an alternate embodiment the configurations of the plug receiving areas  46 ,  48  might not be mirror images of each other but could be similarly orientated. In that type of alternate embodiment the plug  80  would not need to be flipped to be inserted into either one of the plug receiving areas.  
         [0044]    When the plug  80  is inserted into one of the receiving areas  46 ,  48  the deck  88  is received in one of the sections  50 ,  51  and sandwiched between the contact areas of the corresponding signal contacts  58  and power contacts  60 . The power contacts  60  make a mating electrical connection with the power contacts  96  on the plug  80 . The signal contacts  58  make a mating electrical connection with the signal contacts  92  on the opposite side of the deck  88 . The top or bottom projection  29 ,  30  is received in the area  98  of the plug  80 .  
         [0045]    One of the features of the present invention is the compact design of the connector  10 . In particular, the connector  10  provides a section  28  between the two receiving areas  46  and  48  which separates the two areas from each other, but also provides a housing function for power contacts for both of the receiving areas. This allows the front face of the connector  10  to be smaller than otherwise could be provided. This may be particularly important for smaller electronic devices, such as a laptop computer.  
         [0046]    Another feature of the present invention is the compact design of the plug  80 . By providing the signal contacts  92  and the power contacts  96  on opposite sides of the same contact supporting deck  88 , the height of the front end of the connector  80 , which is inserted into one of the receiving areas of the connector  10 , can be much smaller than a conventional USB plug having power contacts. The deck  88  can comprise a shield layer to shield the signal contacts  92  from electromagnetic interference from electricity traveling through the power contacts  96 .  
         [0047]    This front end reduced height of the connector  80  also allows the plug receiving areas of the receptacle  10  to be smaller than otherwise possible for a USB+power connection system. However, in alternate embodiments, the receptacle  10  could be configured to receive any suitable type of USB+power plug. The receiving areas  46 ,  48  of the receptacle  10  are also adapted to receive standard USB plugs (i.e. USB plugs which do not have power electrical contacts) in sections  50  and  51 . In addition, the USB+power plug  80  could be used with other types of electrical connector receptacles.  
         [0048]    Referring now to FIGS.  6 - 8  there is shown a schematic view of an alternate embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the USB+power electrical connector  110  has a receiving area  112  with a first section  114  and a second section  116 . The first section  114  is sized and shaped to receive a first USB+power plug  118 . The second section  116  is sized and shaped to receive a second different USB+power plug  120 . The first plug  118  comprises a contact supporting deck  122  and USB signal contacts  124  on a bottom side of the deck  122 . The first plug  118  also comprises a power section  126  having two power contacts  128 . The power section  126  is located opposite the signal contacts  124 .  
         [0049]    The second plug  120  comprises a contact supporting deck  130 , USB signal contacts  124  on a bottom side of the deck  130 , and a power section  132 . The power section  132  comprises power contacts  134 . The power section  132  is located on an opposite side of the deck  130  than the signal contacts  124 . As seen in FIG. 6, when the first and second plugs  118 ,  120  are inserted into the receiving area  112  the signal contacts  124  of the two connectors  118 ,  120  all face in a same direction. The power sections  126 ,  132  are both located between the two decks  122 ,  130 . In this embodiment, the two power sections  126 ,  132  are located laterally adjacent each other. However, in an alternate embodiment, the two power sections  126 ,  132  could be vertically offset, at least partially, from each other.  
         [0050]    Referring now also to FIG. 9, the receptacle connector  110  is shown having two other different types of USB plugs  140  connected thereto. The plugs  140  do not comprise a power section. The plugs  140  are standard USB plugs. The plugs  140  can be received in either one of the sections  114 ,  116  of the receiving area  112 . Thus, the receptacle connector  110  is adapted to receive three different types of USB plugs; the first USB+power plug  118 , the second USB+power plug  120 , and/or the standard USB without power plug  140 . The receptacle  110  could receive one of the standard USB without power plugs  140  with one of the other USB+power plugs  118  or  120 .  
         [0051]    It should be understood that the foregoing description is only illustrative of the invention. Various alternatives and modifications can be devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the present invention is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications and variances which fall within the scope of the appended claims.