Abstract:
A plug connector ( 100 ) mating with a complementary connector includes a housing ( 1 ) and a latching mechanism ( 4 ) having a latch ( 41 ) and a puller ( 42 ). The latch includes a latching portion ( 411 ) provided with a claw ( 4110 ), a bar section ( 412 ) secured in the base, and a connecting portion ( 413 ) having a forwardly extending abutting portion ( 4133 ). The puller includes an actuator ( 422 ) and an operator ( 421 ) supported on the bar section and having an engaging portion ( 4217 ) engaged with the abutting portion. The operator slides rearwardly, in response to a rearward movement of the actuator, to upwardly and rearwardly move the engaging portion together with the abutting portion to thereby lift the claw from a latched position to a released position.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This patent application is related to a pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/236,085, filed on 2011 Sep. 9, and entitled “PLUG CONNECTOR HAVING AN IMPROVED LATCHING MECHANISM”, which is invented by the same inventor as this patent application and assigned to the same assignee with this application. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention generally relates to a plug connector, and more particularly to a plug connector used for high-speed signal transmission. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     A committee called SFF is an ad hoc group formed to address storage industry needs in a prompt manner. When formed in 1990, the original goals were limited to define de facto mechanical envelopes within disk drives can be developed to fit compact computer and other small products. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 7,559,785 issued to Wu on Jul. 14, 2009 discloses a plug connector mating with a complementary connector. The plug connector comprises a housing, a latching mechanism having a driver and a latch assembled to the housing, and a metal shell attached to the housing. The driver has a head portion provided with a resisting portion, a shaft and a depressing portion opposite to the resisting portion relative to the shaft. The latch has a nest engageable with the resisting portion, and a latching portion provided with a pair of claws. The metal shell has a resilient beam resisting against the pressing portion of the driver. The driver is rotatable around the shaft to move the latch together with the claws between a latching position and an unlatching position, due to an engagement between the resisting portion of the driver and the nest of the latch. 
     The metal shell should be formed with a resilient beam resisting against the pressing portion of the driver in order to rotate the driver. The plug connector has a complicated configuration and the latching mechanism takes a difficult operation. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 7,134,914 issued to Wu on Nov. 11, 2006 discloses a plug connector for mating with a complementary connector. The plug connecting comprises a housing, a latching mechanism having a driver and a latch assembled to the housing, and a metal shell attached to the housing. The driver has a head portion provided with a resisting portion, and an actuator opposite to the head portion. The latch has a nest engageable with the resisting portion, a beam portion inclining rearwardly downwardly from the nest, and a latching portion provided with a pair of claws. When the actuator is pulled rearwardly, the resisting portion moves rearwardly and slides along the inclined beam portion to lift the latching portion from a latching position to a released position. The driver has a clumsy configuration and operates the latching portion in a unique way. 
     Hence, a plug connector having an improved latching mechanism is desired. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a plug connector having a latching mechanism having a simple configuration and capable of taking an easy operation. 
     In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a plug connector mating with a complementary connector comprises a housing and a latching mechanism. The housing includes a base having a supporting face and a tongue portion extending forwardly from the base for fitting with the complementary connector. The latching mechanism includes a latch and a puller. The latch includes a latching portion provided with a claw, a bar section secured in the base, and a connecting portion connected between the latching portion and the bar section and having a forwardly extending abutting portion. The puller includes an actuator and an operator opposite to the actuator. The operator is supported on the bar section and has an engaging portion engaged with the abutting portion. The operator slides rearwardly, in response to a rearward movement of the actuator, to upwardly and rearwardly move the engaging portion together with the abutting portion to thereby lift the claw from a latched position to a released position. 
     It is easy to drive the latching mechanism to perform the latching and releasing operation, if only rearwardly pulling the puller or releasing the puller. The latching mechanism has a simple light configuration and is capable to take an easy operation. 
     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 
         FIG. 1  is an assembled perspective view of a plug connector in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional view of the plug connector, taken along line  2 - 2  of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a partially exploded perspective view of the plug connector as shown in  FIG. 1 , with a metal shell and a latching mechanism being separated; 
         FIG. 4  is another partially exploded view similar to  FIG. 3 , taken from another aspect; 
         FIG. 5  is an exploded perspective view of the plug connector as shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective view showing the latching mechanism; and 
         FIG. 7  is a cross-sectional view taken along line  7 - 7  of  FIG. 1 , when the latching mechanism is positioned in a released position. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Reference will now be made to the drawing figures to describe the present invention in detail. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1-6 , a plug connector  100  mating with a complimentary connector (not shown) in accordance with the present invention comprises a housing  1 , a bracket  2 , a pair of circuit boards  3 , a shielding plate  7  received in the housing  1 , a cable  6  electrically connected to the circuit boards  3  via a connecting member  8 , a latching mechanism  4  assembled to the housing  1 , a metal shell  5  attached to the housing  1  and partially covering the latching mechanism  4 , and a plurality of screws  9  fixing the metal shell  5  on the housing  1 . If desired, the cable  6  can be replaced by other suitable structures or interfaces. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1-5 , the housing  1  comprises an upper portion  1   a  and a lower portion  1   b  engaged with each other to define a receiving space (not shown) therebetween for retaining the bracket  2 , the pair of circuit boards  3  and the shielding plate  7 . Both upper portion  1   a  and lower portion  1   b  are preferably die-casted. The housing  1  has a base  1   d  and an elongated tongue portion  1   c  extending forwardly from the base  1   d.    
     The base  1   d  has a top face  12 . The top face  12  has a concave recess  120 , and a receiving recess  121  at a level lower than the concave recess  120  to form a vertically extending resisting wall  127  disposed adjacent to the concave recess  120  and facing the receiving recess  121 . The concave recess  120  defines a pair of ear recesses  125 , a pair of retaining recesses  123  in front of the ear recesses  125 , and a pair of downwardly extending screw holes  15 . 
     The receiving recess  121  has a flat supporting face  1211  disposed therein, a pair of securing slots  124  substantially aligned with the resisting wall  127 , and a pair of protrusions  126  formed at a front edge of the receiving recess  121 . 
     The tongue portion  1   c  has an upper face  11  at a level lower than the top face  12 . The upper face  11  defines a pair of latching slits  111 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 3-6 , the latching mechanism  4  comprises a latch  41  and a puller  42  assembled to the latch  41 . The latch  41  is made of metal material and is formed into a cantilever-type. The latch  41  comprises a transverse bar section  412 , a flat latching portion  411  located in a horizontal surface and an inclined connecting portion  413  connecting the bar section  412  and the latching portion  411 . 
     The bar section  412  has a pair of securing portions  4122  formed at opposite sides thereof and a pair of cutouts  4125  defined at the upper side thereof. Each securing portion  4122  is formed with a plurality of click portions  4124  on outmost edge thereof. 
     The flat latching portion  411  defines a pair of rectangular engaging holes  4112 , and a pair of claws  4110  bending downwardly from opposite sides of the front edge of the latching portion  411  for clasping the complementary connector. 
     The connecting portion  413  has a bent portion  4132  bent upperwardly and connected with the flat latching portion  411 , and a tail portion  4134  connected with the bar second  412  and extending upwardly across the bar second  412 . The connecting portion  413  has an abutting portion  4133  punched therefrom and is bent forwardly. The connecting portion  413  also defines a hole therein for adjusting spring force of the latch  41  through changing size and shape of the hole. 
     The puller  42  comprises an operator  421 , an actuator  422  opposite to the operator  421 , a pair of ear portions  4212  and a pair of resilient portions  4211  in front of the ear portions  4212 . Each resilient portion  4211  is S-shaped and has a free end connected with the puller  42 . 
     The operator  421  includes a pair of beam portions  4218  separated from each other to define a front opening  4214  and a rear opening  4216  between the pair of beam portions  4218  and a connecting bar  4215  between the front and rear openings  4214 ,  4216 . The operator  421  has a cooperating portion  4213  connected with the pair of beam portions  4218  and in front of the front opening  4214 , and an engaging portion  4217  formed at a middle portion of the cooperating portion  4213 . 
     The metal shell  5  comprises a flat top wall  50 , a pair of L-shaped side walls  51  extending from opposite side edges of the top wall  50 , a front flange  53  extending from a front edge of the top wall  50 , and a pair of mounting holes  54  defined in the top wall  50 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1-6 , in assembling of the plug connector  100 , the bracket  2  is received in the housing  1 . The pair of circuit boards  3  are attached to upper and lower sides of the bracket  2 . The shielding plate  7  is inserted through the bracket  2  and is electrically connected with the pair of circuit boards  3 . The cable  6  is electrically connected to the circuit boards  3  via the connecting member  8 . 
     The latching mechanism  4  is assembled to the housing  1 . The puller  42  is mounted in concave recess  120 , with the ear portions  4212  received in the ear recesses  125  and the resilient portions  4211  plunged in the retaining recesses  123 . 
     The latch  41  is inserted in the receiving recess  121 . The bar section  412  is resisted against the resisting wall  127 , and the securing portions  4122  are secured in the securing slots  124 , with the click portions  4124  engaged with the securing slots  124 . The pair of engaging holes  4112  engage with the pair of protrusions  126 . The operator  421  of the puller  42  is supported on the bar section  412 , with the beam portions  4218  accommodated in the cutouts  4125 , the tail portion  4134  inserted in the rear opening  4216  and the bent portion  4132  plunged in the front opening  4214  along an bottom-to-up direction. The engaging portion  4217  is abutted to the abutting portion  4133 . 
     The metal shell  5  is fixed on the housing  1  and partially covers the latching mechanism  4 , with the screws  9  inserted through the mounting holes  54  into the screw holes  15 . 
       FIG. 6  illustrates the plug connector  100  located in a released position. When the actuator  422  of the puller  42  is pulled rearwardly, the beam portions  4218  slide rearwardly through the cutouts  4125  of the latch  41 . At the same time, the cooperating portion  4213  together with the engaging portion  4217  moves upwardly and rearwardly. Due to the engagement between the engaging portion  4217  and the abutting portion  4133 , the abutting portion  4133  is operated to move upwardly and rearwardly by the engaging portion  4217 . Finally, the latching portion  411  together with the claws  4110  is lifted upwardly from a latched position to a released position. The resilient portions  4211  are compressed in the retaining recesses  123 . The ear portions  4212  are movable in the ear recesses  125  along the front-to-back direction to prevent the puller  42  from dropping. 
     When the plug connector  100  is located in the released position as shown in  FIG. 7 , the complementary connector could be mounted onto or removed from the plug connector  100 . When the actuator  422  of the puller  42  is released, the resilient portions  4212  would restore themselves from the released position to the latched position. The latching mechanism  4  revert to the latched position. 
     When the actuator  422  is pulled rearwardly, the latch  41  would be driven from the latched position to the released position automatically. When the actuator  422  is released, the latch  41  would restore to the initial position automatically. It is easy to drive the latching mechanism  4  to perform the latching and releasing operation, if only pulling the actuator  422  or releasing the actuator  422 . Additionally, the claws  4110  would latch the complementary connector reliably, since the latch  41  restores itself to the latched position via the resilient restoring force provided by the resilient portions  4211 . The latching mechanism  4  has a simple configuration and is capable to take an easy operation. 
     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.