Abstract:
A HDMI type electrical connector assembly includes an insulative body comprising at least one top recess having at least one top tab, and at least one bottom tab; parallel conductors; a metal front housing formed by bending a metal sheet and comprising a front projected sheath including upper and lower flanges extended rearwards for fastening the insulative body and the rear member; a conductor mounting unit consisting of a rear member including two side protrusions, and upper and lower holding members together for pressing the rear member therebetween; and a plastic case comprising top and bottom shells each having a U section and comprising latches and holes disposed on both sidewalls such that the bottom and the top shells can be matingly coupled together.

Description:
[0001]     This is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/011,125, filed on Dec. 15, 2004 in the name of Huang, Hung-Way and entitled “ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR” is now pending. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0003]     The present invention relates to electrical connectors and more particularly to a HDMI type electrical connector assembly with improved characteristics.  
         [0004]     2. Description of Related Art  
         [0005]     Electrical connectors are employed in the ends of cables for electrically coupling two electronic devices together for signal communication therebetween. Also, a wide variety of advanced electronic products such as LCDs (liquid crystal displays) are commercially available as time evolves. Thus, continuing improvements in the exploitation of electrical connector are constantly being sought by the manufacturers for meeting existing electrical requirements. For instance, HDMI (high definition multimedia interface) type electrical connectors are newly developed. HDMI type connectors have the advantages of DVI (digital video interface) type connectors while without its disadvantages. Also, HDMI type connectors are much compact for being easily adapted to mount in an AV (audio video) product.  
         [0006]     However, metal shrouds of the well known HDMI type connectors suffered from several disadvantages including low precision, being difficult of being machined, and low yield due to the undesired extrusion process. Thus, it is desirable to provide an improved HDMI type electrical connector.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     It is an object of the present invention to provide an electrical connector assembly being formed by a simple bending process so as to facilitate assembly.  
         [0008]     It is another object of the present invention to provide an electrical connector assembly having all components concealed so as to substantially eliminate EMI during operating.  
         [0009]     It is a further object of the present invention to provide an electrical connector assembly having a plurality of fastening arrangements in a metal front housing and a plastic case such that fastening of the internal components is more reliable.  
         [0010]     To achieve the above and other objects, the present invention provides an electrical connector assembly comprising an insulative body comprising a parallelepiped rear member including at least one top recess having at least one top tab, and at least one bottom tab; a plurality of parallel conductors; a conductor mounting unit including: an upper holding member comprising a body, a plurality of lengthwise bottom grooves being not identical each other, an enlargement formed between two adjacent grooves, two side projections formed on the enlargement, a hole formed through either side of the body, and two slits formed on the body; a lower holding member comprising a body, a plurality of lengthwise top grooves being not identical each other, an enlargement formed between two adjacent grooves, two side projections formed on the enlargement, a hole formed through either side of the body, and two slits formed on the body; and a rear member comprising a rectangular plate including a plurality of rear troughs, two top side posts, and two bottom side posts, two latches extended from two front corners of the plate, and a conductor receiving unit including a projected front opening, a plurality of cavities in the front opening, and two indentations proximate two ends of the front opening, a zone formed on each of top and bottom of the front opening, a slope extended from a top edge of the front opening to a front end of the zone, and two platforms formed at both sides of the zone; a metal front housing formed by bending a metal sheet and comprising a front projected sheath including upper and lower flanges extended rearwards for fastening the insulative body and the rear member together; and a case comprising a top shell of U section including a plurality of latches disposed on its sidewall, and a bottom shell of U section including a plurality of latches disposed on its sidewall such that the latches are adapted to snap into place on the bottom shell and the latches are adapted to snap into place on the top shell for fastening both the bottom and the top shells together; wherein the conductors are placed in the grooves, the enlargements are inserted into the troughs for fastening the conductors therein by squeezing the enlargements and the projections, in the troughs, portions of the conductors to be soldered are extended to position in the zone, the posts are inserted into the holes, for assembling the rear member, the upper holding member, and the lower holding member together, and the latches are inserted into the openings, for fastening so as to finish an assembly of the conductor mounting unit; and an assembly of the connector assembly is finished after assembling the front housing with the body, the conductors, and the conductor mounting unit.  
         [0011]     The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken with the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0012]      FIG. 1  is an exploded perspective view of a preferred embodiment of electrical connector assembly according to the invention;  
         [0013]      FIG. 2  is another exploded perspective view of the electrical connector assembly shown in  FIG. 1  viewed oppositely;  
         [0014]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the assembled electrical connector assembly;  
         [0015]      FIG. 4  is an exploded perspective view of a conductor mounting unit consisting of the rear member, the upper holding member, and the lower holding member;  
         [0016]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view of the assembled conductor mounting unit; and  
         [0017]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view of the assembled conductor mounting unit shown in  FIG. 5  viewed oppositely. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0018]     Referring to FIGS.  1  to  3 , there is shown a HDMI type electrical connector assembly  50  constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention.  
         [0019]     The parallelepiped connector assembly  50  comprises a metal front housing  1 , an insulative body  2 , a plurality of parallel conductors  3 , a rear member  4 , an upper holding member  6 , a lower holding member  7 , and a plastic case  8 . Each component will be described in detailed below.  
         [0020]     The front housing  1  is formed by bending a metal sheet and comprises a front projected sheath  10  having a HDMI type opening at either end, upper and lower flanges  11 ,  12  each having a bent member  111  or  121  formed with the sheath  10 , a pair of openings  112  formed on the upper flange  11 , a pair of openings  122  formed on the lower flange  12 , right and left positioning members  13 ,  14  protruded rearwards from a rear end, a pair of openings  131 ,  132  formed on the right positioning member  13 , a pair of openings  141 ,  142  formed on the left positioning member  14 , an upper dent  133  formed on the right positioning member  13 , an upper dent  143  formed on the left positioning member  14 , a lower leg  134  formed on the right positioning member  13 , and a lower leg  144  formed on the left positioning member  14 .  
         [0021]     The insulative body  2  comprises a rear parallelepiped member  21  and a forward extension  22 . A recess  23  is provided on a top of the parallelepiped member  21 . The recess has a width conformed to that of the upper flange  11 . Two tabs  231  are provided on the recess  23  and are adapted to insert in the openings  112  for fastening. Also, two tabs  211  are provided on a bottom of the parallelepiped member  21  and are adapted to insert in the openings  122  for fastening.  
         [0022]     Referring to FIGS.  4  to  6 , there is shown a conductor mounting unit  5  consisting of the rear member  4 , the upper holding member  6 , and the lower holding member  7 . The rear member  4  comprises a rectangular plate  42  and a conductor receiving unit  45 . The plate  42  comprises a plurality of troughs  43  along the rear end, two top posts  44  proximate sides  40 , and two bottom posts  44  proximate sides  40 . The top posts  44  are adapted to insert into two side holes  67  of the upper holding member  6  for fastening the rear member  4  and the upper holding member  6  together. The rear member  4  further comprises two latches  41  extended from two front corners of the plate  42 . The latches  41  are adapted to insert into the openings  131 ,  141  for fastening the rear member  4 .  
         [0023]     The conductor receiving unit  45  comprises a projected front opening  46 , a plurality of cavities  47  in the front opening  46 , and two indentations  48  proximate two ends of the front opening  46 . A zone  450  is formed on each of top and bottom of the front opening  46  and is adapted to rest conductors thereon. A slope  451  is extended from a top edge of the front opening  46  to a front end of the zone  450 . Two platforms  452  are formed at both sides of the zone  450  and are served as fastening means.  
         [0024]     The upper holding member  6  and the lower holding member  7  are substantially the same in construction. The upper holding member  6  comprises a body  61  and the lower holding member  7  comprises a body  71  respectively. A plurality of lengthwise grooves  62  are formed on a bottom of the upper holding member  6 . A plurality of lengthwise grooves  72  are formed on a top of the lower holding member  7 . The grooves  62 ,  72  are not identical each other so as to receive conductors of different widths. An enlargement  63  is formed between two adjacent grooves  62  and an enlargement  73  is formed between two adjacent grooves  72  respectively. Two side projections  64  are formed on the enlargement  63  and two side projections  74  are formed on the enlargement  73  respectively. Conductors received in the grooves  62 ,  72  are thus fastened by the projections  64 ,  74 . A well  65  (not shown) is formed on either side of the body  61  and a well  75  is formed on either side of the body  71  respectively. The bottom posts  44  are adapted to insert into holes  77  in the wells  75  of the lower holding member  7  for fastening the rear member  4  and the lower holding member  7  together. Two slits  69  are formed on the body  61  and two slits  79  are formed on the body  71  respectively. The slits  69 ,  79  are cooperated with the troughs  43  for fastening the conductors in the grooves  62 ,  72 .  
         [0025]     Following is a description of the assembly of the conductor mounting unit  5  of the invention. First, place a first portion of conductors in the grooves  62  of the upper holding member  6  and conductors in the grooves  72  of the lower holding member  7  respectively. Then place a second portion of conductors into the troughs  43  such that conductors are fastened in the troughs  43  and also in the grooves  62  of the upper holding member  6  and the grooves  72  of the lower holding member  7 . Portions of conductors to be soldered are extended to position in the zone  450 . Next, insert the posts  44  into the holes  67  for assembling the rear member  4 , the upper holding member  6 , and the lower holding member  7  together. Finally, insert the latches  41  into the openings  131 ,  141  for finishing the assembly of the conductor mounting unit  5 .  
         [0026]     A next stage of assembly of the connector assembly  50  is finished after assembling the front housing  1  with the body  2 , the conductors  3 , and the conductor mounting unit  5 .  
         [0027]     The parallelepiped case  8  comprises a top shell  82  and a bottom shell  81  each formed by bending a metal sheet. The bottom shell  81  comprises a rectangular flat  811 , a curved rear extension  812  formed with the flat  811 , an elongate lip  813  at a forward end, the lip  813  adapted to snap onto the bent member  121 , two sidewalls  814 ,  815 , two openings  8141 ,  8142  formed on one sidewall  814 , two openings  8151 ,  8152  formed on the other sidewall  815 , an upright trough  8143  having a curved section provided between the openings  8141  and  8142 , and an upright trough  8153  having a curved section provided between the openings  8151  and  8152 .  
         [0028]     The top shell  82  comprises a rectangular flat  821 , a curved rear extension  822  formed with the flat  821 , the extensions  812  and  822  together adapted to clamp a passed cable, an elongate lip  823  at a forward end, the lip  823  having a groove  8231  in its intermediate portion to be matingly engaged with an outer surface of the sheath  10 , the lip  823  adapted to snap onto the bent member  111 , the lips  813  and  823  together adapted to prevent a removal of the components provided in the case  8 , two sidewalls  824 ,  825 , two protuberances  8241 ,  8251  provided on both sidewalls  824 ,  825  adjacent the lips  823 , the protuberances  8241 ,  8251  adapted to insert into the openings  132 ,  142  for fastening, latches  8242 ,  8252  provided on both sidewalls  824 ,  825  adjacent the protuberances  8241 ,  8251  respectively, the latches  8242 ,  8252  adapted to insert into the dents  133 ,  143  for fastening, a pair of tabs  8243 ,  8244  provided on the sidewall  824 , the tabs  8243 ,  8244  being at the same elevation as the protuberance  8241  and the latch  8242 , the tabs  8243 ,  8244  adapted to insert into the openings  8141 ,  8142  for fastening respectively, a pair of tabs  8253 ,  8254  provided on the sidewall  825 , the tabs  8253 ,  8254  being at the same elevation as the protuberance  8251  and the latch  8252 , the tabs  8253 ,  8254  adapted to insert into the openings  8151 ,  8152  for fastening respectively, an upright projection  8245  having a curved section provided between the tabs  8243  and  8244 , the projection  8245  adapted to slide into the trough  8143  for positioning, and an upright projection  8255  having a curved section provided between the tabs  8253  and  8254 , the projection  8255  adapted to slide into the trough  8153  for positioning. As a result, the top shell  82  and the bottom shell  81  are fastened together. This finishes the assembly of the connector assembly  50  as shown in  FIG. 3 .  
         [0029]     Note that suitable gaps should be provided on the sides of the body  2  after assembling the body  2  and the rear member  4  such that the latches  8242 ,  8252  are adapted to insert thereinto later.  
         [0030]     The benefits of the invention include: As compared with the prior extrusion process, the bending process of the invention is much simple and an assembly thereof is much easy. Also, many fastening arrangements are provided in the front housing  1  and the case  8  such that the fastening of the internal components is more reliable. Moreover, both signal transmission quality and speed are increased.  
         [0031]     While the invention herein disclosed has been described by means of specific embodiments, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention set forth in the claims.