Abstract:
The present invention relates to an electrical connector assembly for a printed circuit board which alleviates the need to remove stingers from the assembly when removing the printed circuit board. The assembly of the present invention comprises a male connector for receiving one or more stingers. The stinger, which is located at the end of a cable such as a coaxial cable, forms an electrical circuit within the male connector. The male connector is inserted within a female connector coupled to a printed circuit board, forming an electrical connection. If the printed circuit board is removed from the assembly, the female connector is disconnected from the male connector enabling the stinger to be maintained in place with the male connector easing the replacement operation.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims priority on U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60/199,568 filed Apr. 25, 2000, now pending. 
    
    
     FIELD OF INVENTION 
     This invention relates generally to connectors, and, more particularly, to an electrical connector assembly for allowing the removal of a printed circuit board without first having to remove the stingers from the printed circuit board. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Printed circuit boards used in a network setting frequently must be removed for repair or for replacing various components. Because designs in the prior art require a direct interconnection between the stinger and the printed circuit board, these designs frequently require removing the stingers before removing the printed circuit board may be removed. However, this process is burdensome because of the added time required for removing the stingers, and possibly other components. Furthermore, removing the stingers every time the printed circuit board must be moved places additional wear on the connection. 
     Thus, the ability to remove or repair a printed circuit board without having to remove the stinger is desirable because otherwise, any repairs made to the printed circuit board would result in having to first remove any stingers which requires additional time. Therefore, there is a need in the art for a system which allows a printed circuit board to be easily removed without having to first remove the stinger from the assembly. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention overcomes the above-described problems in the prior art by providing an electrical connector assembly which provides for the easy removal of the printed circuit board without having to first remove the stingers. The assembly comprises a female connector which is fixably mounted on a first printed circuit board, comprising an electrically conductive body defining an interior, and having a first and second end. The female connector has printed circuit contacts coupled to the second end for making contact with the printed circuit board. The present invention further comprises a male connector comprising an electrically conductive body defining a general profile for being mated with the female connector, and which also includes a stinger conduit for making electrical contact with a stinger. Overall, the assembly of the present invention overcomes the disadvantages in the prior art by allowing the printed circuit board to be removed from said assembly without having to first remove the stinger from the male connector. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a high level diagram that illustrates the exemplary environment suitable for the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
     FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the various components utilized in the assembly of the present invention. 
     FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional diagram of the components of the present invention. 
     FIG. 4A is a cross-sectional diagram of the components of the present invention taken along line  4 A when fully assembled. 
     FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional diagram of the assembly of the present invention taken along line  4 A in FIG. 1 after the first printed circuit board is removed. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Referring now in detail to the drawings in which like numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views, as shown in the illustration of FIG. 1, the electrical connector assembly in the preferred embodiment is adapted for use with a printed circuit board to maintain the integrity of the electrical connection between the stinger and the assembly. However, those skilled in the art will recognize that the present invention may be utilized in other environments involving an electrical connection between an assembly and a stinger where the integrity of the connection should be maintained during removal of a surface. 
     FIG. 1 is a high level diagram that illustrates the exemplary environment  100  suitable for the preferred embodiment of the present invention. A shielded cable  104  which carries data is used for interconnection with electrical connector assembly  102 . Shielded cable includes a conductor  103  having an exposed electrically conductive end referred to herein as a stinger  106 . Stinger  106  enters the electrical connector assembly  102  through a male connector  108  connected to a second board  110 . The second board  110  may be a printed circuit board, or any other horizontal surface capable of supporting the male connector. This male connector  108  is releasably attached in electrical connection with a female connector  112 , which is fixably mounted onto a first printed circuit board  114 . The stinger is connected in electrical connection with male connector  108 , forming an electrical connection between stinger  106  and female connector  112 . 
     FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the various components utilized in the assembly of the present invention. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the electrical connector assembly includes a male connector  108  and a female connector  112  used in conjunction with a first printed circuit board  114  and a second board  110 . 
     Female connector  112  is adapted for being fixably mounted onto printed circuit board  114 . Female connector  112  has an electrically conductive body  115  which defines a general profile. Female connector body  115  includes a female connector inner wall  123  which defines a female connector interior  117 . Female connector body  115  also includes a first end  113  and a second end  116 . First end  113  defines an opening  121  into female connector interior  117  which enables male connector  108  to be received into female connector interior  117 . Printed circuit board contacts  125  are carried by second end  116  for engaging circuits of a first printed circuit board  114 . Preferably printed circuit board contacts  125  are soldered to circuits of a first printed circuit board  114 . 
     The female connector  112  is fixably mounted to the first printed circuit board  114  over a throughhole (not shown) located in the first printed circuit board  114 , enabling the male connector  108  to be inserted into the throughhole and female connector interior  117 . 
     Male connector  108  has a male connector body  120  which includes an outer wall  126  defining a male connector interior  206 . Outer wall  126  defines stinger aperature  124  for receiving stinger  106 . Stinger aperature  124  communicates with male connector interior  206 . Male connector body  120  consists of an upper portion  118  and a lower portion  119 . Male connector  108  may be a unitary piece or composed of two separate pieces. The lower portion  119  of the male connector  108  includes board contacts  208  for stabilizing the male connector on a second board  110 . In the preferred embodiment, board contacts  208  are a set of legs. However, the board contacts  208  may be any other form of support suitable for stabilizing the male connector  108  on the second board  110 . 
     Female connector contacts  140  are carried by the upper portion  118  of male connector  108 . Female connector contacts  140  extend outward beyond the profile of male connector body  120  and are of metal or other electrical conductive material. Preferably, female connector contacts  140  are tabs biased to protrude outward away from the upper portion  118 . Alternatively, female connector contacts  140  may be tapered bosses. Upper portion  118  of male connector  108  has a diameter smaller than female connector interior  117  enabling the upper portion of male connector  108  to be received through opening  121  into female connector interior  117 . When the upper portion  118  of male connector  108  is received within female connector interior  117 , female connector contacts  140  engage female connector inner wall  123  establishing electrical connection between male connector  108  and female connector  112 . 
     Stinger conduit  150  is utilized to electrically connect stinger  106  with female connector contacts  140 . In one embodiment, stinger conduit is merely the outer wall of the male connector. In this embodiment, the outer wall of the male connector is metal or other electrical conductive material. As stinger  106  is received within stinger aperture  124 , stinger aperture  124  is of a size which enables stinger  106  to engage the outer wall of the male connector. Or in the alternative, a metallic contact is positioned within stinger aperture  124  for electrically communicating stinger  106  with the outer wall of male connector  126 . 
     In an alternative embodiment, male connector interior  206  is adapted for receiving stinger conduit  150 . Stinger conduit  150  includes a first end  154  which engages stinger  106  within the male connector interior  206  and a second end  152  which is in electrical connection with female connector contacts  140 . The upper portion of male connector  108  includes metallic contacts  209  which electrically connect the second end  152  of stinger conduit  150  with female connector contacts  140  for electrically engaging the stinger conduit. In the preferred embodiment, stinger conduit  150  is a set screw and metallic contacts  209  are metallic grooves which interact with the metallic body of male connector  108  for electrically connecting female connector contacts  140  with stinger conduit  150 . 
     FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional diagram of the components of the present invention. The cross section of the male connector  108  illustrates the male connector interior  206  of upper portion  118  which is adapted for receiving stinger conduit  150 . Stinger conduit  150  enters the male connector interior  206  via opening  210 , and is secured within the male connector interior  206  by the metallic contacts  209  in the interior. The upper portion  118  makes electrical contact with the interior of the female connector  117  by the female connector contacts  140  located on the outer wall. These female connector contacts  140  protrude outward from the body the of the male connector  118  to contact the interior of the female connector  117 . The biasness of the female connector contacts, or taperedness, enables the female connector  112  to slide over the male connector  108  until frictionally held in place due to the profile of the female connector contacts exceeding the diameter of female connector. 
     FIG. 4A illustrates, when assembled, the electrical connector assembly establishes an electrical connection between the stinger  106  and the first printed circuit board  114 . Stinger  106  enters the male connector  108  which is attached to the first printed circuit board  114  and contacts electrically conductive stinger conduit  150  which is located in the male connector  108 . Since stinger conduit  150  is preferably a set screw, force is applied to hold stinger  106  in place within the assembly. 
     The electrical connection between the stinger  106  and stinger conduit  150  passes to the male connector  108  by the contact of the stinger conduit  150  with the metallic contacts  209  within the interior of the male connector  206 . Since the body of male connector  108  is conductive, the electrical connection continues to female connector contacts  140 . Electrical connection is continued with the female connector  112  by the female connector contacts  140  protruding outward from the male connector body  120  and contacting the interior of the female connector  115 . Since the body of female connector is also conductive, the electrical signal from the stinger  106  passes to the printed circuit board contacts  125  and subsequently to the first printed circuit board  114 . 
     FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional diagram of the assembly of the present invention when the first printed circuit board  114  is removed. When the first printed circuit board  114  is removed, the second board  110  containing the male  108  and female  112  connectors remain attached to the second board  110 . This alleviates the need to remove the stingers  106  from the assembly, and allows the stingers  108  to remain electrically connected to the male connector which remains attached to the second board  110 . Thus, removing the first printed circuit board  114  removes the female connector  112  from the assembly but preserves the stinger connection in the male connector  108 , because the male connector  108  is detachably coupled to the female connector  112 . 
     In operation, the stinger conduit  150  is electrically connected to the first printed circuit board  114  through the male  108  and female  112  connector. The stinger  106  is maintained in place with the male connector  108  at all times. When removal of the first printed circuit board  114  is required, the male  108  and female  112  connectors are disconnected and a new female connector  112  which is attached to the new first printed circuit board  114  is subsequently positioned over the male connector  108  reestablishing electrical connection between the stinger  106  and the new first printed circuit board  114 .