Abstract:
An electrical connector for connection between a CPU and a circuit board is disclosed to include an electrically insulative housing, which houses a plurality of conducting terminals and has a plurality of guide members symmetrically disposed at two opposite lateral sides and retaining members respectively vertically connected to the guide members for quick installation of a cap.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention relates to electrical connectors and more particularly, to such an electrical connector, which has guide members and retaining members arranged at two opposite lateral sides for quick installation of a cap. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0004]    An electrical connector for connection between two electronic devices, for example, between a CPU and a circuit board, is known comprised of a body shell, a cover shell for covering the body shell, and a plurality of conducting terminals mounted inside the body shell. The cover shell has a plurality of through holes for the insertion of conducting members of an external electronic device. The body shell has a plurality of terminal holes, which receive the conducting terminals respectively. For automatic installation, an electrical connector must provide a smooth surface that can be sucked up through a vacuum. This can be achieved by attaching a cap having a smooth surface to the electrically insulative housing. The cap has hooks extending from two opposite lateral sides. The cover shell of the electrically insulative housing has retaining grooves for receiving the hooks of the cap. During installation, the hooks of the cap must be aimed at the retaining grooves of the cover shell of the electrically insulative housing, and then a downward pressure is applied to the cap to force the hooks of the cap into engagement with the retaining grooves of the cover shell. However, the cap may slip relative to the cover shell of the electrically insulative housing when it is forced downwards by an external force. When this occurs, a re-alignment is necessary to have the cap be installed in the cover shell of the electrically insulative housing. In this case, much installation time is wasted. 
         [0005]    Therefore, it is desirable to provide an electrical connector that eliminates the aforesaid problem. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    The present invention has been accomplished under the circumstances in view. It is the main object of the present invention to provide an electrical connector, which has guide members and retaining members arranged at each of the two opposite sides thereof for quick installation of a cap. 
         [0007]    To achieve this and other objects of the present invention, the electrical connector comprises an electrically insulative housing, which has at least one guide member at each of two opposite lateral sides thereof and at least one retaining member respectively vertically connected to the at least one guide member at each of the two opposite lateral sides, and a plurality of conducting terminals respectively mounted inside the electrically insulative housing. 
         [0008]    By means of the guide members, the matching cap can positively and accurately guided into engagement with the retaining members during its installation in the electrically insulative housing. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0009]      FIG. 1  is top view of an electrical connector according to the present invention. 
           [0010]      FIG. 2  is a right side view of an electrical connector according to the present invention. 
           [0011]      FIG. 3  is a sectional view taken along line A-A of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0012]      FIG. 4  is a schematic drawing showing the cap fastened to the electrically insulative housing of the electrical connector according to the present invention. 
           [0013]      FIG. 5  is a right side view of  FIG. 4 . 
           [0014]      FIG. 6  is a sectional view taken along line B-B of  FIG. 4 . 
           [0015]      FIG. 7  is a schematic drawing showing an alternate form of the electrical connector according to the present invention. 
           [0016]      FIG. 8  is a schematic drawing showing another alternate form of the electrical connector according to the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0017]    Referring to  FIGS. 1˜8 , an electrical connector in accordance with the present invention is adapted for connection between a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and a circuit board, comprising an electrically insulative housing and a plurality of conducting terminals (not shown) mounted inside the electrically insulative housing. The electrically insulative housing comprises a body shell  10  and a cover shell  11  fastened to the body shell  10 . A driving device (not shown) is provided between the body shell  10  and the cover shell  11 . Under the effect of the driving device, the cover shell  11  is movable relative to the body shell  10  to control connection/disconnection between the pins of the CPU and the conducting terminals. 
         [0018]    The body shell  10  has a junction  101  facing the cover shell  11 . The junction  101  has a plurality of terminal holes (not shown) extending through the bottom side for accommodating the conducting terminals (not shown). Further, a head  102  extends from the junction  101 . 
         [0019]    The cover shell  11  has a protruding mount  111  for the mounting of the aforesaid driving device, and a bearing surface  112  for receiving a CPU. The bearing surface  112  is a continuity plane having a center protrusion  113  and a frame  114  extending around the border at an equal height relative to the center protrusion  113 . 
         [0020]    The bottom surface of the cover shell  11  opposite to the bearing surface  112  fits the junction  105  of the body shell  10 . The cover shell  11  has a plurality of through holes  115  corresponding to the conducting terminals (not shown). The cover shell  11  further has two guide members  116  and two retaining members  117  respectively vertically connected at each of the two opposite lateral sides thereof. Each guide member  116  has a recessed portion  1161  (alternatively, each guide member can be made having a downwardly tilted wedge shape  116 ′ as shown in  FIG. 7 ). Each retaining member  117  has a recessed portion  1171  (alternatively, each retaining member can be made in the form of a hole  117 ′ extending in direction perpendicular to one side of the cover shell  10 ). The recessed portion  1171  of each retaining member  117  is deeper than the recessed portion  1161  of each guide member  116 . The recessed portion  1161  of each guide member  116  and the recessed portion  1171  of the associating retaining member  117  constitute a guide passage. Further, the guide members  116  and the retaining member  117  have a same width. 
         [0021]    Further, a cam wheel for driving is provided between the body shell  10  and the cover shell  11 . The cam wheel has mounted thereon a pin  12 . 
         [0022]    The electrical connector further comprises a cap  13 . The cap  13  has two hooks  131  at each of the two opposite lateral sides for hooking up with the retaining members  117  of the cover shell  11 . As stated above, the cover shell  11  has the aforesaid guide members  116 . During installation of the cap  13 , the hooks  131  of the cap  13  are placed on the guide members  116 , and then impart a downward pressure to the cap  13  to move the hooks  131  downwards along the guide members  116  into engagement with the retaining members  117  respectively. The top surface  132  of the cap  13  is a smooth surface that can be sucked up through a vacuum during an automatic installation process. 
         [0023]    Further, if the electrical connector is formed by connecting two electrically insulative housings together, the guide members and the retaining members can be provided at one electrically insulative housing, and the two electrically insulative housings can be fastened together in the same manner as the connection between the cap and the cover shell. 
         [0024]    A prototype of electrical connector has been constructed with the features of  FIGS. 1˜8 . The electrical connector functions smoothly to provide all of the features discussed earlier. 
         [0025]    Although particular embodiments of the invention have been described in detail for purposes of illustration, various modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be limited except as by the appended claims.