Abstract:
A signal connector to be coupled to a circuit board includes a main body for receiving an external signal connector, thereby conducting electric connection between the signal connectors; and a coupling member extending from a front surface of the main body, and having a free end for engaging with a through-hole structure of the circuit board to couple the signal connector to the circuit board; wherein the coupling member extends from the main body in a manner that the coupling member entirely rests on the circuit board while the main body partially or entirely protrudes from the circuit board when the signal connector has been coupled to the circuit board.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This patent application is a continuation-in-part (CIP) application of a U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/377,867 filed Mar. 16, 2006 and now pending. The contents of the related patent application are incorporated herein for reference. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention relates to a signal connector, and more particularly to a signal connector to be mounted on a substrate such as a printed circuit board with a miniaturized coupling member. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    For extending and diversifying the usage of electronic devices, many peripheral devices are developed. For example, video players (e.g. VCD player, DVD player, etc.) are often connected to TV sets (e.g. CRT, LCD, etc.) for displaying image data stored in video storage media (e.g. VCD, DVD, hard disk, etc.). That is to say, in addition to displaying TV programs, other functions of the TV set can be exhibited through connecting to a peripheral device like a video player. Another well-known example is the usage of the Personal Computer&#39;s peripherals such as mice, monitors, keyboards, printers, plotters, and network adapters, etc. These peripherals facilitate the operation of the personal computer and make its function more complete. In most cases, peripherals are physically connected to their master electronic devices through connectors. Electric signals are also transmitted between peripherals and master electronic devices through connectors. Electric connection is built when a plug of a peripheral device is inserted into a compatible socket or jack built in the master electronic device and removed by detaching the plug from the jack. Accordingly, electric current and electronic signals can be transferred or interrupted between the peripheral and the master electronic device. Therefore, the quality of the connector will not only influence the reliability of the power and signal transmission between a peripheral and a master device but also show effect on the operation of the entire master electronic device. 
         [0004]    Various connectors are provided for different needs according to different specifications and characters of various electronic devices. These connectors include TNC series coaxial connectors, BNC series RF coaxial connectors, N series RF coaxial connectors, MICROAX (MCX) RF coaxial connectors, sub miniature version A (SMA) RF coaxial connectors, sub miniature version B (SMB) RF coaxial connectors, and sub miniature version C (SMC) RF coaxial connectors, etc. Each of the above-mentioned connectors has its own specific features and applicable frequency range. For satisfying the needs of portability, the electronic devices are designed to be smaller and smaller. Therefore, the connectors are also miniaturized. One of the examples is the development of MMCX (miniature microax) RF coaxial connectors. The MMCX RF coaxial connector can be mounted on the printed circuit board (PCB) by surface mount technology (SMT) such as surface mount soldering or surface mount gluing, and the resulting device can be arbitrarily rotated in 360 degrees. The above-mentioned advantages make the MMCX RF coaxial connectors become the main string among the connectors in the market. 
         [0005]      FIG. 1A  illustrates a conventional RF connector  10 , while  FIG. 1B  indicates the assembling of the conventional RF connector  1  and the PCB  11 . The conventional RF connector  10  has two junction surfaces  101  and  102  on two sides thereof. The conventional RF connector  10  is mounted to the PCB  11  by surface mounting the two junction surfaces  101  and  102  on the PCB  11 , for example by soldering or gluing. In order that the junction surfaces  101  and  102  can be soldered or glued on the PCB  11 , it is necessary to additionally create a recess  110  in the circuit board  11  for partially embedding the RF connector  10 . It thus wastes some area of the circuit board. 
         [0006]    For exempting from the laboring for creating the recess, a conventional RF connector with another PCB-coupling configuration is developed, as shown in  FIG. 2 . The RF connector  20  of  FIG. 2  is coupled to a circuit board  21  via a coupling member  201  by way of surface mounting technology (SMT) such as soldering or gluing. Since the RF connector  20  is completely disposed above the circuit board  21 , no recess is required for embedding the main body of the RF connector  20 . However, the thickness of the assembled device is undesirably increased. 
         [0007]    A further problem is encountered with the above conventional connectors. Generally speaking, the strength for plugging into the jack  104  or  204  of a commercialized RF connector  10  or  20  is about 3.4 pounds, while unplugging from the jack  104  needs about 1.4-3.4 pounds of force. Under this circumstance, the life time of the connector would be about 500 times plug/unplug actions. The surface mounting structure is subject to damage by more than 500 times plug/unplug actions. Since a RF connector is typically built in the housing of an electronic device and need not switch plugs frequently, 500-times plug/unplug actions may be satisfactory. However, once the RF connector is exposed from the housing to be used as a terminal socket for users&#39; frequent plug/unplug actions, generally over 500 times, the RF connector may detached from the circuit board. The problem would become even worse if the applied SMT is a non-lead soldering process. 
         [0008]    A connector coupled to a circuit board by way of pin attachment as shown in  FIG. 3  or  4 , instead of surface mounting, may ameliorate the damage problem. The coupling portion of the connector  30  includes two extending arms  301 , each of which is secured thereon a couple of attachment pins (not shown) downwardly penetrating through corresponding holes arranged in the circuit board  31 . In this way, the plugging/unplugging operations into/from the jack will minimize the damage of the coupling between the connector and the circuit board. The connector as shown in  FIG. 4  uses attachment pins in a similar way. That is, the coupling portion of the connector  40  includes two wings  401 , each of which is secured thereon a couple of attachment pins (not shown) downwardly penetrating through corresponding holes arranged in the circuit board  41 . Since the coupling manner of  FIG. 3  sustains against the edge  310  of the circuit board  31  with a shoulder  302  thereof, the main body  300  of the connector  30  does not protrude too much from both surfaces of the circuit board  31 . Therefore, the thickness of the assembled device is not increased as much as in the case of  FIG. 2 . On the other hand, for avoiding undesirable thickness increase of the assembled device of  FIG. 4 , a recess  410  is created in the circuit board  41  for embedding the main body  400  of the connector  40 . 
         [0009]    The connectors illustrated in  FIG. 3  and  FIG. 4 , although solving the above-mentioned problems to a certain extent, still suffer from some other problems. For example, the shoulder  302  of the connector  30  protruding from the edge  310  still occupies a certain space rendering the assembled device not compact enough. On the other hand, the wings  401  of the connector  40  may hinder engagement of upper and lower housing parts (not shown) for enclosing the assembled device in a subsequent assembling procedure. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0010]    Therefore, according to the present invention, an improved connector structure is provided to enhance the reliability of the combination of the connector and the printed circuit board so as to raise resistance to frequent plug/unplug actions. 
         [0011]    In another aspect, an improved connector structure according to the present invention is provided, exempting from the need of additional recess in the circuit board where the connector is to be coupled. 
         [0012]    Furthermore, an improved connector structure having a miniaturized coupling member and easy to be enclosed with upper and lower housing parts in a subsequent assembling procedure is provided according to the present invention. 
         [0013]    According to the present invention, a signal connector to be coupled to a circuit board includes a main body for receiving an external signal connector, thereby conducting electric connection between the signal connectors; and a coupling member extending from a front surface of the main body, and having a free end for engaging with a through-hole structure of the circuit board to couple the signal connector to the circuit board; wherein the coupling member extends from the main body in a manner that the coupling member entirely rests on the circuit board while the main body partially or entirely protrudes from the circuit board when the signal connector has been coupled to the circuit board. 
         [0014]    In an embodiment, the circuit board has a recess from an edge thereof for receiving a front section of the main body, and the coupling member laterally and forwardly extends from the front section of the main body to be surface-mounted onto the circuit board beside the recess. 
         [0015]    In an embodiment, the coupling member is an arc-shaped structure protruding from the front surface of the main body and having two end teeth for engaging with two through holes of the circuit board, respectively. 
         [0016]    In an embodiment, the coupling member is a gate-shaped structure protruding from the front surface of the main body and having two end teeth for engaging with two through holes of the circuit board, respectively. 
         [0017]    In an embodiment, the main body includes a jack having therein a signal line structure, and the signal line structure has one end to be electrically connected to the external signal connector and the other end to be inserted into an additional through hole of the circuit board, thereby conducting the external signal connector with the circuit board. On the other hand, the main body further includes a grounding shell structure surrounding the signal line structure and separate from the signal line structure with an insulating spacer plate. 
         [0018]    Preferably, the coupling member is electrically insulated from the signal line structure by way of the insulating spacer plate. 
         [0019]    Preferably, the coupling member is integrally formed with the grounding shell structure of the main body. 
         [0020]    In an embodiment, the coupling member extends from the front surface of the main body in a first direction substantially normal to the front surface, and the free end of the coupling member turns into a second direction in substantially parallel to the front surface of the main body. 
         [0021]    Preferably, a width of the coupling member is smaller than that of the front surface in the second direction. 
         [0022]    For example, the signal connector can be an audio/video signal or a coaxial cable connector. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0023]    The above objects and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art after reviewing the following detailed description and accompanying drawings, in which: 
           [0024]      FIG. 1A  is a schematic perspective view of a conventional signal connector; 
           [0025]      FIG. 1B  is a schematic perspective view showing how the connector of  FIG. 1A  is mounted onto a printed circuit board; 
           [0026]      FIG. 2A  is a schematic perspective view of another conventional signal connector; 
           [0027]      FIG. 2B  is a schematic perspective view showing an assembled device of the connector of  FIG. 2A  onto a printed circuit board; 
           [0028]      FIG. 3  is a schematic perspective view showing an assembled device of a further conventional connector onto a printed circuit board; 
           [0029]      FIG. 4  is a schematic perspective view showing an assembled device of a still further conventional connector onto a printed circuit board; 
           [0030]      FIG. 5A  is a schematic perspective view illustrating a structure of a signal connector according to a first embodiment of the present invention; and 
           [0031]      FIG. 5B  is a schematic perspective view showing how the signal connector of  FIG. 5A  is mounted onto a printed circuit board; 
           [0032]      FIG. 5C  is a schematic perspective view showing an assembled device of the connector of  FIG. 5A  onto a printed circuit board; 
           [0033]      FIG. 5D  is a schematic side view partially showing an electronic device including the assembled device of  FIG. 5C  enclosed with upper and lower housings; 
           [0034]      FIG. 6A and 6B  are schematic perspective views from two directions showing how a signal connector is mounted onto a printed circuit board according to a second embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0035]      FIG. 6C and 6D  are schematic perspective views from two directions showing an assembled device of the connector of  FIG. 6A  and  FIG. 6B  onto the printed circuit board; 
           [0036]      FIG. 6E  is a schematic side view partially showing an electronic device including the assembled device of  FIG. 6C  and  FIG. 6D  enclosed with upper and lower housings; 
           [0037]      FIG. 7A and 7B  are schematic perspective views from two directions showing how a signal connector is mounted onto a printed circuit board according to a third embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0038]      FIG. 7C and 7D  are schematic perspective views from two directions showing an assembled device of the connector of  FIG. 7A  and  FIG. 7B  onto the printed circuit board; 
           [0039]      FIG. 8A and 8B  are schematic perspective views from two directions showing how a signal connector is mounted onto a printed circuit board according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0040]      FIG. 8C and 8D  are schematic perspective views from two directions showing an assembled device of the connector of  FIG. 8A  and  FIG. 8B  onto the printed circuit board; 
           [0041]      FIG. 9A and 9B  are schematic perspective views from two directions showing how a signal connector is mounted onto a printed circuit board according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0042]      FIG. 9C and 9D  are schematic perspective views from two directions showing an assembled device of the connector of  FIG. 9A  and  FIG. 9B  onto the printed circuit board; 
           [0043]      FIG. 10A and 10B  are schematic perspective views from two directions showing how a signal connector is mounted onto a printed circuit board according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0044]      FIG. 10C and 10D  are schematic perspective views from two directions showing an assembled device of the connector of  FIG. 10A  and  FIG. 10B  onto the printed circuit board; 
           [0045]      FIG. 11A and 11B  are schematic perspective views from two directions showing how a signal connector is mounted onto a printed circuit board according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention; and 
           [0046]      FIG. 11C and 11D  are schematic perspective views from two directions showing an assembled device of the connector of  FIG. 11A  and  FIG. 11B  onto the printed circuit board. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0047]      FIGS. 5A˜5D  illustrate an electronic device including a printed circuit board (PCB)  51  and a signal connector  50  mounted onto the PCB  51 . The connector  50  includes a main body  500 , mounting arms  501 , coupling pins  5011  and a jack portion  504 . The jack  504  is provided for electric connection to a coaxial cable (not shown). The two mounting arms  501  laterally and forwardly extend from the front sections of opposite sides of the main body  500 , respectively. The coupling pins  5011 , which are preferably but not necessarily integrally formed of a conductive material with the mounting arms  501 , protrude from the ends of the mounting arms  501  so as to provide hook structures for the connector  50 . The coupling pins  5011  penetrate through and engage with corresponding through holes  511  of the PCB  51 , and the bottoms of the mounting arms  501  are seated on and secured to the PCB  51  via suitable means, e.g. surface mount soldering or surface mount gluing, thereby providing further fixing between the connector  50  and the PCB  51 . 
         [0048]    In this embodiment, the mounting arms  501  are designed to extend from the main body  500  in the direction C parallel to the coaxial-cable plugging/unplugging force F (preferably but not necessarily), and the coupling pins  5011  are designed to protrude from the mounting arms  501  normally (preferably but not necessarily). By way of the engagement of the coupling pins  5011  with the through holes  511  and the surface mounting of the mounting arms  501  to the PCB  51 , the connector  50  can be easily and firm-fly mounted to the PCB  51 . 
         [0049]    Due to the mounting arms  501  laterally and forwardly extend from only the front sections of opposite sides of the main body  500 , the coupling means is miniaturized compared to the prior art. In addition, it is thus feasible to have the mounting arms  501  entirely lie on the PCB without extending outside the PCB  51  after assembling as shown in  FIG. 5C . In this way, the rear section of the main body  500  will be the only portion protruding from the PCB range. As such, as illustrated in the side view of  FIG. 5D , when the assembly of the connector  50  and PCB  51  is enclosed with two pieces of housings, e.g. upper housing  521  and lower housing  522 , the opening of the combined housing for exposing the jack  504  need only conform to the configuration of the main body  500  itself without taking the configuration of the mounting arms into consideration. The assembly is relatively compact. 
         [0050]    In this embodiment, a recess  510  is created so that the bottoms of the mounting arms  501  may be seated on and secured to the PCB  51  to provide further fixing between the connector  50  and the PCB  51 . Nevertheless, the recess  510  is not essential to the present invention. The connector  50  may just rely on the coupling pins  5011  to engage with the through holes  511  so as to be mounted onto the PCB  51 . 
         [0051]    In this embodiment, the connector  50  is a RF connector such as a MMCX RF coaxial connector, but it can also be MCX, SMA, SMB, SMC or any other micro/miniature connector. 
         [0052]    Hereinafter, several embodiments of connectors that do not need recesses to work with are described. 
         [0053]    Please refer to  FIGS. 6A˜6E . In this embodiment, the connector  60  includes a main body  600  and a coupling member  601  extending from the front side of the main body  600 , preferably but not necessarily in a direction normal to the front surface. The coupling member  601  is configured as an arc with two end teeth  6011 . The arc  601  has a size preferably but not necessarily smaller than the front surface of the main body  600 , i.e. d&lt;D. The end teeth  6011  are turned into a direction in parallel to the front surface of the main body  600  so as to be engageable with corresponding through holes  611  in a PCB  61 . With proper conformation of the position of the through holes  611  to the length of the coupling member  601 , the coupling member  601  entirely rests on the PCB without extending outside the PCB  61  after assembling as shown in  FIG. 6C and 6D . As a result, the connector  60  can be secured onto the PCB  61 . Meanwhile, a signal line conductor  605  of the connector  60 , which forms a part of a jack  604  to be electrically connected to an external signal connector (not shown) by one end, is inserted into a through hole  610  of the PCB  61  by the other end for electric conduction between the external signal connector and the PCB  61 . The coupling member  601  of the connector  60  preferably but not necessarily has a configuration narrower than the main body  600  instead of laterally extending from the sides of the main body. Thus the coupling member is further miniaturized and occupies less area of the PCB  61 . Meanwhile, as illustrated in the side view of  FIG. 6E , when the assembly of the connector  60  and PCB  61  is enclosed with two pieces of housings, e.g. upper housing  621  and lower housing  622 , the opening of the combined housing for exposing the jack  604  need only conform to the configuration of the main body  600  itself. The assembly is relatively compact. 
         [0054]    In this embodiment, the connector  60  further includes a grounding shell structure  606  in addition to the signal line structure  605 . It is to be noted that the signal line structure  605  and grounding shell structure  606  should be electrically insulated from each other, and coupling member  601  is also electrically insulated from the signal line structure  605 . A plastic spacer plate (not shown) disposed between the signal line structure  605  and grounding shell structure  606  can be used for this purpose. The coupling member  601  with the end teeth  6011  is preferably but not necessarily integrally formed of a conductive material with the grounding shell structure  606 . 
         [0055]    In this embodiment, the connector  60  is an audio/video signal connector. Nevertheless, the connector can also be other kinds of signal connectors such as a coaxial cable connector.  FIGS. 7A˜7D  illustrate the coupling of a coaxial cable connector  70  to a PCB  71  in a manner similar to that shown in  FIG. 6A˜6E . 
         [0056]    In this embodiment, the coupling member  601  is arc-shaped. Nevertheless, the coupling member  601  can also have other configurations as long as proper hook structures like the end teeth  6011  can be readily provided to engage with the through holes of the PCB. 
         [0057]      FIGS. 8A˜8D  illustrate an audio/video signal connector  80  mounted onto a PCB  81  in a manner similar to that shown in  FIG. 6A˜6E , wherein the coupling member  801  of the connector  80  is gate-shaped. Likewise, with such a coupling member, no recess is required, no additional thickness is rendered, and upper and lower housings can be easily manufactured and combined. On the other hand,  FIGS. 9A˜9D  illustrate the coupling of a coaxial cable connector  90  to a PCB  91  also in a manner similar to that shown in  FIG. 6A˜6E . 
         [0058]      FIGS. 10A˜10D  illustrate an audio/video signal connector  83  mounted onto a PCB  84  in a manner similar to that shown in  FIG. 6A˜6E , wherein the coupling member of the connector  83  simply includes two hooks  8311  separately protruding from a front surface of the main body  830  to be inserted into corresponding through holes  841  of the PCB. In addition to the hooks  8311 , the front surface includes a plastic spacer plate  832  disposed between a signal line structure  833  and a grounding shell structure  834  for electric insulation. A signal line conductor  8331  of the signal line structure  833  penetrates through the plastic spacer plate  832  to be inserted into a corresponding through hole  842  of the PCB  84 . Likewise, with such a coupling member, no recess is required, no additional thickness is rendered, and upper and lower housings can be easily manufactured and combined. On the other hand,  FIGS. 11A˜11D  illustrate the coupling of a coaxial cable connector  93  to a PCB  94  also in a manner similar to that shown in  FIG. 6A˜6E . 
         [0059]    To sum up, the present invention provides a miniaturized coupling architecture for mounting a signal connector onto a printed circuit board with or without additional recess in the circuit board. In addition, the coupling means has no effect on the overall thickness of the assembled device. Moreover, the enclosing of the assembled device with two pieces of housings can be readily achieved. 
         [0060]    While the invention has been described in terms of what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention needs not be limited to the disclosed embodiment. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims which are to be accorded with the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar structures.