Abstract:
An electrical coupler which is capable of being easily assembled into a main unit for electrically detachable interconnection of an external unit to the main unit. The coupler includes a dielectric header which carries an array of first terminal ends and an array of second terminal ends which are engageable with an arrays of first contacts of the main unit and an array of second contacts of the external unit for establishing an electrical interconnection. The header is made of a rigid material which integrally supports the array of the second terminal ends to define thereat a terminal connector responsible for detachable connection to the external unit. The header is molded to have a mount flange as an integral part for securely fixing the header to an enclosure of the main unit. A height adjusting mechanism is provided to vary a vertical position of the header relative to a main circuit board with which the first terminal ends are connected internally of the main unit, adjusting a height of the terminal connector from the main circuit board. Thus, the electrical coupler can be successfully assembled into the main unit with the terminal connector located at a suitable position for connection with the external unit, yet assuring to easily fix the terminal connector at that position to the enclosure in such a manner as to well bear the pulling and pushing force exerted at the time of connecting and disconnecting the external unit to and from the terminal connector.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention is directed to an electrical coupler for detachable interconnection between two electrical units, one being a main unit and the other being an external unit which is additional and detachable to the main unit. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     In the field of computer devices, particularly hand-held computers, the computers are usually accompanied with an optional device such as a CD-ROM unit or the like external unit which is to be coupled and decoupled to and from to a main unit of the computer, as required by an user. To meet this requirement, the main unit of the computer is provided with a terminal connector for detachable connection to the external unit. The terminal connector is internally connected to a circuit board incorporated in the main unit for connection with a corresponding control circuit that the computer inherently includes. In order to deal with varying locations of the terminal connector which are determined by other design requirements for different models of the computers, and therefore to deal with varying heights between the terminal connector of varying locations and the circuit board fixed in place at the bottom of the main unit, one solution is found to adopt a flexible coupler which is known to have a pair of terminal connectors at opposite ends of a flexible tape and to interconnect two circuit boards by pressing the terminal connectors into corresponding sockets of separate electrical systems. That is, one of the terminal connectors is used for connection with the external unit while the other terminal connector is to be connected internally with the main unit. Because of that the terminal connector is subject to pulling and pushing forces exerted at the time of connecting and disconnecting the external unit to and from the terminal connector, the flexible coupler should be rigidly supported to an enclosure or the like supporting structure of the main unit. Therefore, it is necessary to use an additional mounting bracket or the like to fix the terminal connector of the flexible coupler to the enclosure of the main unit. However, this involves the use of the separate parts and therefore complicates the assembly of the terminal connector, i.e., the flexible connector into the main unit of the computer. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention has been accomplished in view of the above problem to provide an electrical coupler which is capable of being easily assembled into an intended main unit for electrical detachable interconnection of an external unit to the main unit. The electrical coupler in accordance with the present invention is adapted in use for detachable interconnection of two separate electric units, one being a main unit having an enclosure which mounts therein a main circuit board with an array of first contacts and the other being an external unit having an array of second contacts. The coupler includes a dielectric carrier which carries a plurality of conductors having at opposite ends thereof an array of first terminal ends and an array of second terminal ends which are engageable with the arrays of the first and second contacts, respectively for establishing an electrical interconnection therebetween. The carrier includes a header of a rigid material which integrally supports the array of the second terminal ends to define thereat a terminal connector for detachable connection to the external unit. The important features of the present invention reside in that the header is molded to have a mount flange as an integral part thereof which is adapted in user to securely fix the header to the enclosure or the main circuit board of said main unit, and that a height adjusting mechanism is provided to vary a vertical position of the header relative to the main circuit board for adjusting a height of the terminal connector from the main circuit board. With this arrangement, the electrical coupler of the present invention can be successfully assembled into the main unit in such a manner as to locate the terminal connector at a position of varying height from the main circuit board of the main unit for connection with the external unit, yet assuring to easily fix the terminal connector at that position to the wall of the enclosure or the main circuit board so that the coupler is capable of bearing the pulling and pushing force exerted at the time of connecting and disconnecting a corresponding socket or plug of the external unit to and from the terminal connector. 
     In a preferred embodiment, the carrier is defined totally by the header which also integrally supports the array of the first terminal ends. Each of the conductors is made from a hard continuous material into a generally L-shaped configuration to have the first and second terminal ends defined on opposite ends of the conductor. The first terminal ends are arranged within a first plane intersecting the header and the second terminal ends are arranged within a second plane which intersects the header in an angled relation, preferably at a right angle, to the first plane. The header is formed with a recess adapted in use to receive therein a first socket mounted on the main circuit board and provided with the array of the first contacts. The recess has a bottom through which the array of the first terminal ends projects for connection with the array of the first contacts. The recess is configured in order to enable the first socket to be slidable within the recess along a depth of the recess. The first terminal ends are configured to have sufficient length for keeping the first terminal ends engaged with the first contacts over a prolonged distance within which the first socket is kept engaged with the recess. Thus, the recess is cooperative with the first terminal ends to define the height adjusting mechanism. 
     Preferably, the first and second terminal ends are supported on a single hard dielectric core of a generally L-shaped configuration which extends through the header to have its opposite ends projecting from first and second end faces of the header and to have the first and second terminal ends supported on the opposite ends of the core. The coupler of this configuration can be used in combination with a first socket which is adapted to be mounted on the main circuit board. The first socket has a slot which is in registration with a corresponding hole in the main circuit board, allowing the first terminal ends to extend therethrough and through the main circuit board with the first terminal ends being kept in sliding engagement with the first contacts. This slot in the first socket is cooperative with the first terminal ends of sufficient length to define the height adjusting mechanism which keeps the first terminal ends engaged with the first contacts while the header is displaced in the direction of varying the height of the terminal connector from the main circuit board. 
     Also disclosed in the present invention is a coupler which can be used in combination with a spacer adapted to rest on the main circuit board. The spacer has a mating structure which comes into registration with a portion of the header from which the first terminal ends extend, and has a vertical slot which allows first terminal ends to extend therethrough. The spacer is cooperative with the first terminal ends of sufficient length to define the height adjusting mechanism. The first terminal ends are arranged to give a dual-in-line terminal array which is adapted to extend through corresponding through-holes in the main circuit board for direct bonding thereto. 
     In a further embodiment of the present invention, the header, which integrally supports the arrays of the first and second terminal ends, are designed to have two available orientations for interconnection of the main unit and the external unit. That is, the arrays of the first and second terminal ends are of identical arrangement for selectively engageable with the arrays of the first and second contacts with the header being disposed at either of the two orientations. The first and second end faces, from which the first and second terminal ends project respectively, are configured to be capable of effecting a mating contact with a first socket provided with the array of the first contacts. The first end face is cooperative with the second plane in which the second terminal ends are arranged in the array, to define therebetween a first height. The second end face is cooperative with the first plane, in which the array of the first terminal ends are arranged, to define therebetween a second height. The first and second heights are set to be different from each other so that the height adjustment of the terminal connector can be made by selecting one of the first and second end faces for mating on the first socket, i.e., by selectively disposing the header in either of the two orientations given to the header. 
     In a still further embodiment of the present invention, the carrier includes, in addition to the header, an auxiliary header of a hard material integrally supporting the array of the first terminal ends, and a flexible tape extending from the header to the auxiliary header. The conductors extend from the second terminal ends through the header and the flexible tape to terminate at the first terminal ends of the additional header. In this case, the flexible tape defines the height adjusting mechanism for the terminal connector with respect to the main circuit board. 
     Furthermore, the carrier may be configured to have, in addition to the header, a flexible tape extending from the header and being formed at its free end with the array of the first terminal ends. 
     These and still other objects and advantageous features of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description of the embodiments when taken in conjunction with the attached drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a vertical section illustrating an electric coupler as fixed to a main unit for detachable interconnection with an external unit in accordance with the a first embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the coupler as fixed to the main unit; 
     FIG. 3 is a front view of the coupler; 
     FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the electrical coupler; 
     FIG. 5 is a side view of the coupler; 
     FIG. 6 is a cross section taken along line  6 — 6  of FIG. 3; 
     FIGS. 7 and 8 are vertical sections respectively illustrating the coupler being connected to first and second sockets at positions of varying heights from a main circuit board mounted to the main unit; 
     FIG. 9 is a top view of the first socket; 
     FIG. 10 is a front view of the first socket; 
     FIG. 11 is a front view of the second socket; 
     FIG. 12 is a top view of the second socket; 
     FIG. 13A is a front view of an electric coupler which is a modification of the first embodiment, shown as secured to the bottom of the enclosure; 
     FIG. 13B is a front view of the above coupler shown as secured to the main circuit board; 
     FIG. 14 is a sectional view illustrating an electric coupler in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 15 is a sectional view illustrating an electric coupler in accordance with a third embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 16 is a front view of an electric coupler in accordance with a fourth embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 17 is a side view of the coupler of FIG. 16; 
     FIGS. 18A and 18B are sectional views illustrating two orientations in which the coupler is disposed at different heights with respect to a main circuit board; 
     FIG. 19 is a sectional view illustrating an electric coupler in accordance with a fifth embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 20 is a sectional view illustrating an electric coupler in accordance with a sixth embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 21 is a sectional view illustrating another electric coupler for detachable connection between the main unit and the external unit; and 
     FIG. 22 is a top view schematically illustrating a main circuit board supporting the coupler of FIG.  21 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring now to FIGS. 1 to  6 , there is shown an electrical coupler in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention. The coupler  30  is intended for detachable electrical connection between a main unit  10  and an external unit  20 , for example, between a hand-held computer main unit and a plug-in type external CD-ROM unit. In this regard, the coupler  30  includes a terminal connector  39  which is secured to an enclosure  11  or supporting structure of the main unit  10  at a suitable level for detachable connection to the external unit  20 , and an array of first terminal ends  41  for internal connection with a main circuit board  12  mounted within the main unit  10 . The coupler  30  has a header  32  of a dielectric hard material carrying a plurality of hard conductors  40  of a generally L-shaped configuration each defining at its opposite ends the first terminal end  41  and a second terminal end  42 . The second terminal ends  42  are arranged in an array to define the terminal connector  39  for the external unit. The conductors  40  are supported on a core  44  which is made of the same dielectric material as the header into a generally L-shaped configuration to have its opposite ends projecting from the header  32  in mutually perpendicular directions. The arrays of the first and second terminal ends  41  and  42  are defined on the opposite ends of the core  44  so as to be integrally supported to the header  32  for instant connections respectively to first and second sockets  50  and  60  fixed to the main circuit board  12  of the main unit  10  and to a circuit board  22  of the external unit  20 . 
     As shown in FIGS. 9 to  12 , the first and second sockets  50  and  60  are formed to have individual slots provided with arrays of first and second contacts  51  and  62  which are engageable respectively with the first and second terminal ends  41  and  42  of the coupler. The header  32  is formed in its bottom with a recess  34  into which the first socket  50  fits slidably so as to adjust the height of the terminal connector, i.e., the array of the second terminal ends  42  relative to the main circuit board  12 , as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. The first terminal ends  41  project from the bottom of the recess  34  by a sufficient length to be kept engaged with the first contacts  51  while the first socket  50  is retained within the recess  34 . 
     The header  32  is molded to have a pair of mount flanges  35  as integral parts thereof for securing the header  32  or the terminal connector  39  to a wall of the enclosure  11  or the like supporting structure of the main unit  10 , as shown in FIG. 2, with the array of the second terminal ends  42  projecting through an opening  14  in the wall for connection with the second socket  60 . For this purpose, the mount flange  35  is formed with a hole  36  for passing therethrough a screw  15 , bolt, or the like fastening element, as best shown FIGS. 2 to  4 . The mount flanges  35  are held against threaded bosses  16  fixed on the interior of the enclosure  11  and is secured thereto by the screws  15 . 
     At the opposite ends of the array of the second terminal ends  42 , there are formed with studs  37  which are integrally molded with the header  32  to extend in parallel with the second terminal ends and to have at their distal ends tapered tips  38  for registration into corresponding cavities  68  in the front end of the second socket  60 . As shown in FIGS. 1,  3 , and  6 , the stud  37  has a thickness within which the conductors  40  on opposite faces of the core  44  are disposed. Thus, the studs  37  which extend through the opening  14  in the wall of the enclosure together with the conductors  40  provides a protection against an inadmissible contact of the second terminal ends with the enclosure wall which is normally backed-up with a metal shield. 
     As with the first socket  50 , the second socket  60  is also configured to allow the second terminal ends  42  to be kept engaged with the second contacts  62  over a prolonged distance within which the second socket  60  is capable of moving to and from the header  32  or the terminal connector  39 , thus enabling a horizontal positional adjustment of the second socket  60  relative to the terminal connector  39  fixed to the enclosure  11  of the main unit  10 . 
     Although the illustrated embodiment discloses that the conductors  40  is bent at a right angle to enable the height adjustment of the header  32  or the terminal connector  39  relative to the main circuit board  12 , the conductor may be bent at any other suitable angles to have the arrays of the first and second terminal ends arranged respectively in separate planes which crosses at that angle with each other. 
     FIG. 13A shows an electric coupler in accordance with a modification of the first embodiment in which a like header  32 A is designed to be secured to a bottom wall of the enclosure  11  of the main unit  10  by use of like mount flanges  35 A and optionally in combination with a spacer  70 . The mount flanges  35 A are molded integrally with the header  32 A to extend from the lower end of the header  32 A and are formed with like holes  36 A for passing therethrough a screw  15 , bolt, or the like fastening element. The mount flange  35 A is formed in its bottom with a concavity for engagement with the spacer  70 . The mount flanges  35 A are placed upon threaded bosses  16 A on the bottom wall of the enclosure  11  with or without the spacer  70  interposed therebetween and are secured by screws  15 . The other configurations of the coupler is identical to those of the first embodiment. Like parts are designated by like numerals with a suffix letter of “A”. 
     As shown in FIG. 13B, the coupler of the above modification can be directly secured to the main circuit board  12  rather than being secured to the bottom of the enclosure, with or without the use of like spacer  71 . Screws  15  extends through the holes  36 A of the mount flanges  35 A and through corresponding holes in the main circuit board  12  to fix the mount flanges  35 A to the main circuit board  12  by use of nuts  17 . The spacer  70  is optional and is not necessary when the first socket  50  is fully received in the bottom recess of the header  32 A. 
     FIG. 14 shows an electric coupler in accordance with the second embodiment of the present invention which is identical to the first embodiment except that a first socket  50 B has a bottom-opened slot  52 B and that the first terminal ends  41 B as well as the core  44 B thereof project beyond the bottom of the header  32 B. Like parts are designated by like reference numerals with a suffix letter of “B”. The first terminal ends  41 B supported by the core  44 B are allowed to pass vertically through the first socket  50 B and through a corresponding hole  13  in the main circuit board  12 , thus facilitating to effect the height adjustment over a greater distance than made with a combination of the header and the first socket of the first embodiment. The header  32 B is molded to have integral mount flanges by which the header is secured to the wall of the enclosure of the main unit  10 , in the like manner as in the first embodiment. 
     FIG. 15 shows an electric coupler in accordance with a third embodiment of the present invention which is intended to connect the first terminal ends  41 C directly to first contacts  51 C arranged in an array on the bottom of the main circuit board  12 C. For this purpose, the first terminal ends  41 C project from the bottom of the header  32 C without being supported by the core  44 C. Other structures are similar to the first embodiment, therefore like parts are designated by like reference numerals with a suffix letter of “C”. In order to adjust the height of the header  32 C from the main circuit board  12 C, a spacer  54  of suitable height is interposed between the header  32 C and the circuit board  12 C. The spacer  54  has a vertical slot  55  for passing therethrough the first terminal ends  41 C and is formed in its upper end with a catch recess  56  which comes into registration with the bottom of the header  32 C. The exposed first terminal ends  41 C is guided through holes  13 C in the circuit board  12 C for soldering to the associated first contacts. Also in this embodiment, the header  32 C has integrally molded mount flanges for securing the header  32 C to the enclosure wall of the main unit. 
     FIGS. 16 to  18  show an electric coupler in accordance with a fourth embodiment of the present invention which is similar to the first embodiment but it is intended to give two available orientations in which the header  32 D can be connected to the first socket of the main unit  10  in order to vary a height at which the coupler is connected to the second socket  60  of the external unit  20  with respect to the main circuit board  12 . Like parts are designated by like numerals with a suffix letter of ‘D’. The header  32 D integrally supports the arrays of first and second terminal ends  41 D and  42 D which are of the same arrangement so as to be selectively engageable with the first second socket  50 D and the second socket  60 D. In this sense, any one of the arrays of the first and second terminal ends constitutes the terminal connector for detachable connection to the external unit. 
     As shown in FIGS. 18A and 18B, the header  32 D has a rectangular section defining first and second end faces  101  and  102  from which first and second terminal ends  41 D and  42 D project. The first and second end faces are shaped to come into mating engagement with the first socket  50 D, when engaging either of the first and second terminal ends  41 D and  42 D to the first contacts  51 D of the first socket  50 D. The first end face  101  is spaced by a distance of H 1  from the second plane within which the second terminal ends  42 D are arranged, while the second end face  102 , which is perpendicular to the first end face  101 , is spaced by a distance of H 2  from the first plane within which the first terminal ends  41 D are arranged. In this embodiment, H 1  is made greater than H 2 . Thus, by selecting one of the first and second end faces  101  and  102  for mating contact with the first socket  50 D, it is possible to adjust the height of the terminal connector defined by either one of the first and second terminal ends from the main circuit board  12 . 
     In order to fix the header  32 D to the enclosure of the main unit  10  irrespective of the orientation of the coupler, i.e., whether it is oriented as shown in FIGS. 18A or  18 B, the mount flanges  35 D integrally formed with the header  32 D are each configured to have two holes  36 D extending in mutually perpendicular directions, as shown in FIGS. 16 and 17, for receiving screws or the like fastening element utilized to fix the header to the enclosure or the like supporting structure. A pair of studs  37 D extend integrally from each of the first and second end faces  101  and  102  to be disposed on opposite ends of each array of the first and second terminal ends  41 D and  42 D, in the like fashion as in the first embodiment. 
     FIG. 19 shows an electric coupler in accordance with a fifth embodiment of the present invention which utilizes a flexible tape  90  for height adjustment of a header  32 E relative to the main circuit board  12 E. The coupler includes, in addition to the header  32 E integrally supporting the array of the second terminal ends  42 E, a sub-header  80  integrally supporting the array of the first terminal ends  41 E which are interconnected to the array of the second terminal ends by the conductors  40 E carried partly on the flexible tape  90 . Thus, the header  32 E can be fixed to the wall of the enclosure at a designated height, while making an internal connection through the flexible tape  90  to the main circuit board  12 E fixed in the enclosure. Like parts are designated by like numerals with a suffix letter of “E”. The header  32 E has integrally molded mount flanges for securing the header  32 E to the enclosure wall of the main unit. 
     FIG. 20 shows an electric coupler in accordance with a sixth embodiment of the present invention which is similar to the fifth embodiment except that the array of the first terminal ends  41 F are defined on one end of the flexible tape  90 F for direct bonding to an associated array of first contacts formed on the main circuit board  12 F. Like parts are designated by like reference numerals with a suffix letter of “F”. Also in this embodiment, the header  32 F has integrally molded mount flanges for securing the header  32 F to the enclosure wall of the main unit. 
     FIG. 21 shows another electric coupler for detachable interconnection between the main unit  10  and the external unit  20 . The coupler includes a header  132  made of a dielectric hard material and a generally Z-shaped core  144  holding a plurality of conductors  140 . The core  144  and the conductors  140  extend horizontally through the header  132  to define the array of first terminal ends  141  and the array of second terminal ends  142  respectively on the projected opposed ends of the core  144  for detachable connection to first and second sockets  50  and  60 . The first and second sockets  50  and  60  are fixed respectively on a main circuit board  12  of the main unit  10  and a circuit board  22  of the external unit  20 , and are provided respectively with the arrays of first and second contacts  51  and  62  in correspondence to the first and second terminal ends  141  and  142 . The header  132  is formed integrally with a pair of mount flanges which are secured to the wall of the enclosure  11  of the main unit in the same manner as discussed with reference to the previous embodiments and modification. The core  144  and the conductors  140  bent in a vertical section into the Z-shaped configuration enables to interconnect the first and second sockets  50  and  60  at different height levels. Projecting on the bottom of the header  132  is a rectangular guide projection  133  which is engaged with a groove in the main circuit board  12  for positively retaining the header  132  also on this main circuit board. As shown in FIG. 22, the groove is of a generally Z-shaped configuration with a leading slot  111  and an ending slot  112  which are intercommunicated through a transition slot  113 . The leading slot  111  is provided to introduce the guide projection  133  for engaging the header  132  on the board prior to connecting the first terminal ends  141  to the first socket  50 . Then, the header  132  is shifted laterally with the guide projection  133  following through the transition slot  113  to the ending slot  112  for registering the first terminal ends  141  with the first contacts  51  of the first socket  50 . Finally, the header  132  is pushed towards the first socket  50  with the guide projection  133  proceeding through the ending slot  112  for engaging the first terminal ends  141  with the first contacts  51 . Thus, the header can be easily guided on the main circuit board  12 , as indicated by an arrow in FIG. 22, to be successfully connected to the fist socket  50 . After being connected to the first socket  50 , the header  132  is secured to the wall of the enclosure of the main unit by means of mount flanges integrally formed on opposite side faces of the header  132 , in the like manner as in the first embodiment.