Abstract:
A cable end connector assembly ( 100 ) includes an insulative housing ( 1 ) defining a number of passageways ( 14 ) therein, a number of contacts ( 2 ) received in the housing, and an organizer ( 3 ) separably attached to the housing to receive the tail portions of the contacts. Each contact includes a contact portion ( 20 ) and an opposite tail portion ( 24 ). The organizer has a supporting portion ( 31 ) defining an inclined rear surface ( 3112 ). The tail portions of the contacts project outside the housing and are bent along the rear surface of the supporting portion so as to arrange the tail portions in a substantially vertical position.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     This application is related to U.S. patent application filed on Apr. 20, 2004 with unknown serial number and entitled “CABLE END CONNECTOR ASSEMBLY HAVING PULL MECHANISM”, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/775,524 filed on Feb. 9, 2004 and entitled “CABLE END CONNECTOR ASSEMBLY WITH IMPROVED ORGANIZER”, both of which have the same applicant and assignee as the present invention. The disclosure of these related applications is incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0003]     The present invention generally relates to a cable end connector assembly, and more particularly to a right angle cable end connector assembly having an organizer.  
         [0004]     2. Description of Prior Art  
         [0005]     There exits in the art an electrical connector known as a serial Advanced Technology Attachment (serial ATA) connector which is generally used for disk drives and storage peripherals. Especially, the serial ATA connector according to the serial ATA standard are featured in fewer electrical contacts than other conventional electrical connectors and are relatively tiny in configuration. Generally, a right angle serial ATA cabled end connector assembly comprises an elongated housing, a plurality of terminals received in a plurality of terminal-receiving passageways defined in the housing, a plurality of wires and a cover over molded with the housing and the solder joints of the wires and the contacts. Each of the contacts comprises a contact portion retentively retained in the housing and a tail portion exposed beyond a rear end of the housing and bent downwardly at a right angle for soldering with a corresponding conductor of the wire. However, the right angle bent tail portions will outwardly spring back after bending force withdrawn therefrom, so the tail portions can not be soldered with conductors of the wire in a predetermined position, which leads to a poor soldering effect and further adversely affects performance of the cable end connector assembly.  
         [0006]     Hence, a right angle cable end connector assembly having an improved organizer is desired to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art.  
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a right angle cable end connector assembly having an improved organizer which can ensure a reliable connecting between contacts and cable.  
         [0008]     In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a cable end connector assembly in accordance with the present invention comprises an insulative housing defining a plurality of passageways therein, a plurality of contacts received in the housing, and an organizer separably attached to the housing to receive the tail portions of the contacts. Each contact includes a contact portion and an opposite tail portion. The organizer has a supporting portion defining an inclined rear surface. The tail portions of the contacts project outside the housing and are bent along the rear surface of the supporting portion so as to arrange the tail portions in a substantially vertical position.  
         [0009]     Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present embodiment when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0010]      FIG. 1  is an exploded, perspective view of a cable end connector assembly in accordance with the present invention;  
         [0011]      FIG. 2  is a view similar to  FIG. 1 , but taken from a different aspect;  
         [0012]      FIG. 3  is an enlarged, perspective view of an organizer shown in  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0013]      FIG. 4  is a partially assembled view illustrating relationship of the organizer, contacts and a cable of the cable end connector assembly shown in  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0014]      FIG. 5  is an assembled view of the cable end connector assembly shown in  FIG. 1 ; and  
         [0015]      FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional view taken along line  5 - 5  of  FIG. 5 . 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0016]     Reference will now be made to the drawing figures to describe the present invention in detail.  
         [0017]     Referring to  FIGS. 1-2 , a cable end connector assembly  100  in accordance with the present invention comprises an insulative housing  1 , a plurality of contacts  2 , an organizer  3 , a cable  4 , a cover  5 , and a locking member  6 .  
         [0018]     The insulative housing  1  comprises an upper wall  10 , a lower wall  11  opposite to the upper wall  10 , and a pair of sidewalls  12  connecting with the upper wall  10  and the lower wall  11 . The upper wall  10 , the lower wall  11  and the sidewalls  12  together define an L-shaped receiving space  13  therebetween. The lower wall  11  defines a plurality of passageways  14  extending therethrough along a front-to-back direction. A rectangular recess  17  is defined in a rear face  16  of the housing  1  in communication with the passageways  14 . A flat portion  15  protrudes upwardly and rearwardly from a middle portion of a front flange of the upper wall  10 . A gap  150  is formed between the flat portion  15  and a top surface of the upper wall  10 . The upper wall  10  defines a pair of first grooves  151 , a pair of second grooves  152  and a pair of third grooves  153  at a front portion thereof in communication with the gap  150 . One of the sidewall  12  is integrally formed with an expanded portion  120  for enhancing the strength of the housing  1  thus that can resist breakage when the cable end connector assembly  100  is mating with a complementary connector. A guiding protrusion  121  protrudes outwardly from the other side wall  12 . A pair of wing portions  18  respectively extend rearwardly from the sidewalls  12 . Each wing portion  18  defines a cutout  180  in a rear portion thereof.  
         [0019]     The contacts  2  are respectively disposed in the passageways  14  of the insulative housing  1 . Each of the contacts  3  comprises a curved contact portion  20  exposed in a corresponding passageway  14  of the insulative housing  1 , a retention portion  22  inferentially retained in the corresponding passageway  14 , and a tail portion  24  projecting beyond the rear face  16  of the housing  1 . The tail portion  24  is formed with a rearwardly extending connecting portion  240  and a soldering portion  241  downwardly bent from the connecting portion  240 .  
         [0020]     Particularly referring to  FIG. 3 , the organizer  3  has a stepped configuration and comprises an elongated base portion  30  and a supporting portion  31  connecting with the base portion  30 . The base portion  30  defines a plurality of through holes  301  allowing the tail portions  24  of the contacts  2  passing therethrough. The base portion  30  comprises a positioning protrusion  305  formed in a front face  304  thereof below the through holes  301 , and two pairs of projections  303  respectively formed at opposite upper and lower face  302 ,  308 . The supporting portion  31  defines a horizontal top surface  3110  and an adjacent rear surface  3112 . The top surface  3110  of the supporting portion  31  is coplanar with bottom inner faces of the through holes  301 . The rear surface  3112  is forwardly inclined thus that forming an acute angle with the top surface  3110  of the supporting portion  31 . The supporting portion  31  comprises a plurality of parallel spaced partition portions  310  respectively extending along the top surface  3110  and the rear surface of  3112  of the supporting portion  31  for separating the tail portions  24  of the contacts  2  from each other. Each partition portion  310  has a rear face perpendicular to the top surface  3110 . Every two adjacent partition portions  310  define a receiving groove  312  therebetween in communication with corresponding through holes  301  of the base portion  30 .  
         [0021]     The cable  4  comprises a plurality of conductors  40  for being respectively soldered to the tail portions  24  of the contacts  2 .  
         [0022]     The cover  5  comprises a rectangular body portion  50  and a protective sleeve  51  downwardly extending from a front bottom of the body portion  20 . The body portion  50  is formed with a top wall  500 , an opposite bottom wall  501 , a pair of side walls  502  parallel extending between the top, the bottom walls  500 ,  501 . A receiving cavity  503  is defined between the top and the bottom walls  500 ,  501  for receiving a rear end of the insulative housing  1 . A pair of passages  504  is defined at opposite sides of the top wall  500  in communication with the receiving cavity  503 . The top wall  500  further comprises a holding bar  505  between the two passages  504 . In order to provide a large enough space for a user handling, the protective sleeve  51  should be formed at the most front portion of the cover  5 , on condition that the joint portions of the contacts  2  and the cable  4  are well protected.  
         [0023]     The locking member  6  is stamped and formed from a metallic plate and comprises a retaining portion  60 , a locking portion  61  extending upwardly and rearwardly from the retaining portion  60 , a pressing portion  62  extending rearwardly from the locking portion  61 , and a supporting portion  63  extending rearwardly and downwardly from the pressing portion  62 . The retaining portion  60  has a pair of side tabs  601  extending rearwardly from opposite ends thereof, a pair of snap tabs  602  extending rearwardly and upwardly from a middle portion of a front end thereof, a pair of positioning portions  603  extending forwardly from the front end thereof and a pair of curved portions  604  protruding opposite to the positioning portions  603 . The locking portion  61  has a pair of latch tabs  610  protruding upwardly and rearwardly therefrom. The pressing portion  62  is formed with two ribs  622  on a top surface thereof, and a pair of side beams  620  extending downwardly from opposite ends thereof. Each side beam  620  is stamped with a spring tab  621  extending outwardly therefrom.  
         [0024]     Particularly referring to  FIG. 4  and in conjunction with  FIGS. 1-3 , in assembly, the contacts  2  are inserted into the corresponding passageways  14  of the housing  1  before the soldering portion  241  of the tail portions  24  are downwardly bent. The organizer  3  is then assembled to the rear end of the housing  1 . The base portion  30  of the organizer  3  is received in the recess  17  of the housing  1 , with protrusions  303  interferentially engaged with opposite inner top and bottom surfaces of the recess  7 , and with the positioning protrusion  305  completely inserted into a corresponding passageway  14 . The tail portions  24  outside the housing  1  pass through the corresponding through holes  301  of the organizer  3  and further extend along the corresponding receiving grooves  312  with connecting portion  240  thereof being juxtaposed on the top surface  3110  of the supporting portion  31 . Then the tail portions  24  are downwardly bent along the inclined rear surfaces  3112  of the supporting portion  31  thus that forms the soldering portions  241 . During the bending procedure, because the connecting portion  240  of tail portions  24  are supported and restricted within the receiving grooves  312 , to bend all of the contacts  2  at a specified angle without left or right offset is more easily achieved. After the bending procedure, the soldering portions  241  of the tail portions  24  rearwardly spring back to a position substantially vertical to the horizontal top surface  3110  of the supporting portion  31  for conductors  40  of the cable  4  overlapping thereto at a predetermined position. The tail portions  24  are still separated from adjacent ones by the associated partition portions  310 . A gap is formed between the tail portion  24  and the rear surface  3112  of the supporting portion  31 . Thus the conductors  40  of the cable  4  are respectively soldered with the tail portions  24  of the contacts  2  in a substantial vertical direction in a separated manner, and the solder tin fills the gaps between the tail portions  24  and the rear surface  3112 , therefore the soldering effect is ensured.  
         [0025]     Referring to  FIGS. 5-6  and in conjunction with  FIGS. 1-4 , the joint portions of the contacts  2  and the cable  4  are over-molded by the protective sleeve  51  of the cover  5 . The body portion  50  of the cover  5  is molded over the wing portions  18  of the housing  1 . The wing portions  18  are partially exposed beyond the passages  504  of the cover  5 . The organizer  3  prevents plastic from seeping into the passageways  14  of the insulative housing  1  during the molding process of the cover  5 . The locking member  6  is then assembled to the cover  5  and the housing  1  under a pressing force. The retaining portion  60  of the locking member  6  is pushed into the gap  150  of the housing  1 , with the pair of side tabs  601  received in the first grooves  151  of the housing  1 , with the pair of snap tabs  602  lockingly received in the second grooves  152 , and with the pair of positioning portions  603  inserted into the third grooves  153 . The side beams  621  of the pressing portions  62  are respectively partially inserted into the passages  504  with the spring tabs  621  pressed into the cutouts  180  of the wing portions  18  and being slideable therealong. The supporting portion  63  abuts against the top surface of the top wall  500 .  
         [0026]     When the cable end connector assembly  100  is to be mated with a complementary connector in the front-to-back direction, the user will press the pressing portion  62  of the locking member  6  in cooperation with holding the body portion  50  of the cover  5 . The pressing portion  62  of the locking member  6  moves downwardly till contacting with the holding bar  505  of the cover  5 . Correspondingly, the latch portion  610  downwardly moves a big enough distance to realize the locking/unlocking between the cable end connector assembly  100  and the complementary connector easily.  
         [0027]     It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.