Abstract:
An attachment unit interface electrical connector which includes a slide latch which is moveable between open and close positions utilizing a pivotally mounted tab member. The pivotally mounted tab member is mounted onto the slidably mounted latch so that the latch member is accessible even when the attachment unit interface female connector is attached to a male connector in an area of confinement.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates to an improvement in attachment unit interface electrical connectors, known as &#34;AUI&#34; connectors. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     An attachment unit interface connector, commonly called in the computer industry an &#34;AUI connector&#34; is a multiple pin-type connector which utilizes a slidable latch to attach the male and female connectors together. The female connector includes a central multi-port terminal arrangement of pins typically housed within a shell sometimes referred to as a &#34;D&#34; shell. The female connector further includes first and second mounting pins positioned on each side of the D shell. Each mounting pin includes a circular recess which receives the base of a sliding latch, which is slidably mounted for movement between latch open and latch closed positions. 
     The latch base includes spaced, tabbed end portions having slots which may be moved to positions of non-engagement or engagement with attachment pins of a male connector. 
     When the male and female AUI connectors are connected together by the latch, the edges of the slots in the spaced end portions of the latch actually engage the attachment pins of the male connector to maintain the male and female connectors in tight electrical connection. This latch has proved to be extremely successful and is commonly used. 
     However, oftentimes, the AUI connectors are used in situations where access to the latch for opening or closing the latch is extremely limited. For example, an option card for a computer may include several connectors mounted in the same slot in the rear panel of the computer housing. The proximity of the AUI connector to other connectors located in the same slot may prevent one from easily accessing the latch to move the latch to open and closed positions. Insofar as known, no one has developed a way to make this latch more accessible so that the AUI connection may be more easily connected and disconnected. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is the object of this invention to provide a new and improved attachment unit interface connector which includes a slidable latch which is readily accessible for engaging and disengaging the connection even though the attachment unit interface connector is in a confined area such as in a system card slot in a computer. 
     This object and other objects of this invention are carried out by mounting onto a slidable latch assembly of an attachment unit interface connector a suitable tab or actuation member for purposes of moving the slidable latch between latch open and latch close positions. The tab member is a rigid wire member which extends outwardly from attachment to the latch so that one may move the latch between latch open and latch close positions by as little as one finger. 
     This description is intended to be a general summary only of this invention, which will be described with particularity in the Description of the Preferred Embodiment. The scope of the patent protection sought and obtained will be set forth in the claims to follow. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of part of a computer housing showing an option board which terminates in a series of connectors, one connector being the attachment unit interface connector of this invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a front view of the attachment unit interface connector, female, illustrating the slide latch in a latch open position; 
     FIG. 3 is a top view partly end section of the connector of FIG. 2 in the latch open position; 
     FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4--4 of FIG. 3 further illustrating the connection of the slidable latch assembly to the female connector; 
     FIG. 5 is a top view of the attachment unit interface connector in the closed position; and 
     FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line 6--6 of FIG. 5 illustrating the engagement of the male and female connecting pins by the latch plate. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to the drawings and in particular FIG. 1, a part of a rear corner of a computer housing C is illustrated in a perspective view. The computer housing C includes the rear panel 10 having opening 10a. Inside the opening is mounted an option system mounting bracket 11 which is attached to the inside surface of the rear panel 10. The optional system mounting bracket 11 has a configuration typical of such mounting brackets and is attached to the back of the panel 10 by any suitable means. The bracket typically includes a series of slots such as 11b, 11c and 11d.  Slot 11b is shown as mounting an option circuit board or card generally designated as 12. The circuit board or card 12 has three different electrical connectors for external electrical communication. 
     The board 12 terminates in a card connector mounting plate 14 which is held in position by mounting in the option board mounting bracket 11 in a known manner. The left-hand connector mounted in the card connector mounting plate 14 is a D-shell 9-pin connector 15, female, providing an STP (shielded twisted pair) port for token ring technology. The center female connector is a 10-base T connector 16 for Ethernet or token ring UTP (unshielded twisted pair) depending upon card configuration. 
     Neither the STP port connector 15 nor the 10-base T connector 16 form part of this invention but illustrate that the space between such connectors may be quite small and in fact virtually overlapping, thus making it difficult for the user to make and unmake such external connections. 
     This difficulty is particularly true for a latch-type attachment unit interface connector of the type presently known. The attachment unit interface connector 17 of this invention is illustrated in position in the card connector mounting slot 11b adjacent to the 10-base T connector 16. The attachment unit interface connector 17 is a standard AUI connector except for the latch assembly connect and disconnect mechanism to be described here. 
     The attachment unit interface connector 17 includes an internal interface block 18 which attaches to the board 12 and to the back of the card connector mounting plate 14 as illustrated in FIG. 3. The connection between the interface block 18 and the card connector mounting plate 14 is through the nut and bolt assemblies 19 and 20. Each nut and bolt assembly 19 and 20 extends through the interface connector and the card connector mounting plate to mount the interface connector. Each of the nut and bolt assemblies 19 and 20 terminate in a cap or latch mounting pin identified as 19a and 20a, respectively. 
     Referring to FIGS. 3-6 and in particular to FIGS. 4 and 6, the latch mounting pins such as 19a each include an enlarged head area 19b and a recessed portion 19c of reduced diameter which forms a circular recess in order to receive for slidable movement latch plate 30. 
     The attachment unit interface connector 17 further includes a plurality of centrally located ports in the form of a D-shell 15-pin port arrangement 17a. The D-shell port arrangement 17a includes the trapezoidal or D-shaped shell 17b housing 15 electrical ports 17c which interface with electrical connections in the interface block 18. The 15-pin D-shell central connector portion 17b is typically for an Ethernet network connection. 
     The latch plate 30 includes a base portion 30a which mounts the latch plate 30 for slidable movement with respect to latch mounting pins 19a and 20a. The latch base 30a is a generally rectangular member as viewed from the front such as in FIG. 2 and includes a generally rectangular cut-out portion 30b so that the latch plate is mounted over the D-shell 17b. The base further includes a left side slot 30c having slot edges which engage the recess in latch mounting pin 20a. Similarly, a somewhat circular slot 30d is provided on the right-hand side of the latch base as illustrated in FIG. 2 such that the slot edges engage the recessed area formed by reduced diameter pin portion 19c. In this manner, the latch base 30a mounts the entire latch 30 for movement between the latch open position as illustrated in FIGS. 2-4 and the latch closed position as illustrated in FIGS. 5-6. The latch further includes an upper, outwardly extending flange 30f and a lower, outwardly extending flange 30g. 
     A right side spaced end portion or tab 30i is integrally formed with the latch base 30a and is bent over to form a generally U-shaped portion as illustrated in the top view of FIG. 3. The spaced end portion or tab portion 30i includes a circular recess or opening 30j having a diameter slightly larger than the diameter of the pin head 19a. The circular recess terminates in ear portions 30j which engage a latch attachment pin on the male connector in a manner to be described hereinafter. 
     The left side of the latch plate 30 also includes a bent over or overlapped end portion which is designated as 30k and is also U-shaped as viewed from the top as shown in FIG. 3. The bent over end portion or tab portion 30k includes a centrally located semi-circular edge recess 30l which engages another of the latch attachment pins on the male connector in a manner to be herein described when the latch plate 30 is in the latch closed position. 
     The left end spaced tab portion 30k in its U-shaped configuration as viewed from FIG. 3 mounts the pull or actuator tab or wire member 40. The purpose of the tab member 40 is to provide access to the latch plate 30 when the latch plate is otherwise inaccessible. The actuator member 40 is a rigid wire member having what may be described as a generally U-shaped configuration in the front view as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 but terminates in a V-shaped end section 40a so that either a person&#39;s finger or even an instrument such as a screwdriver can easily fit into the V-shaped portion to pull the latch member 40. Viewing the latch member 40 from a top view, it is noted that the latch member 40 includes an attachment section 40b which is bent at 40d with respect to the outer wire section 40c which section 40c terminates into the V-shaped portion or section 40a. The purpose of the bend 40d is to form the fulcrum point to be described hereinafter. The actuator wire 40 terminates in inwardly bent sections 30m to mount the wire for pivotal movement. 
     The male 15-pin D-shell attachment unit interface (AUI) connector is generally identified by the number 50. The male connector 50 includes a housing 50a which terminates in a D-shell 50b which is complementary to the D-shell 17b on the female connector 17 such that when connection is made, the D-shell 50b of the male connector fits over the D-shell 17b of the female connector and the pins 50c are inserted into the ports 17c of the female connector. The housing 50a includes a first latch attachment pin 51 which is directly alignable with the latch mounting pin head 19a when the connectors are attached together such as illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6. A second latch attachment pin 52 is mounted on the opposite side of the D-shell 50b from the latch attachment pin 51 and aligns with the pin head 20a of the latch mounting pin 20 when the connectors are attached together such as illustrated in FIG. 5. The latch attachment pin 51 includes a portion 51a of reduced diameter to provide a circular recess. Similarly, the latch attachment pin 52 includes a portion 52a of reduced diameter to provide a circular recess. 
     In operation and use, the male connector 50 is aligned with the female connector 17 as illustrated in FIG. 3 and then moved into engagement such that the pins 50c are inserted into the ports 17c. In order to allow the connection to be made, the latch plate 30 is in the latch open position as illustrated in FIGS. 2-4. In the latch open position, the latch plate is positioned to the left of the latch closed position so that the semi-circular end edge recess 30l on the latching end portion 30k is out of contact with the pin 52 and similarly, the circular recess 30j in the latching end portion 30i is directly aligned with the pin member 51 so that the pin member 51 may be inserted through the opening 30j. Therefore, in a latch open position, the pin members 51 and 52 are moved into a position of substantial proximity if not engagement with the heads 19a and 20a of the pins on the female connector. 
     In order to close the latch member 30 from the open position of FIGS. 2-4 to the latch closed position of FIGS. 5-6, the tab or actuator member 40 may be pushed to the right to move the latch member 30 to the right and thus to the closed position. In the closed position, the bent over latching end portion 30k, which is spaced from the base portion 30a as illustrated in the top view of FIG. 5, is moved into engagement against the male connector pin 52 such that the circular edge of the semi-circular recess 30l engages the male connector pin portion 52a of reduced diameter. At the same time, the ears 30j on the right-hand spaced tabbed portion 30i are moved into a position of engagement with the reduced area 51a of pin 51 such that the bent over tab portions 30k and 30i engage the male connector pins 51 and 52 to hold the male connector in a connected position against the female connector. 
     As the reader can see from the view in FIG. 1, the connection area is very crowded when a male connector is provided for each of the female connectors 15, 16 and 17. Without the pivotally mounted actuator member 40, it is extremely difficult for someone to access the latch member 30 in order to move the latch member to either the closed or open position. With the addition of the tab member 40 in its pivotally mounted position with the latch plate 30, a user may simply insert his or her finger into the wire loop of the tab member 40 to move the latch member 30 from the latch close position of FIGS. 5 and 6 to the latch open position of FIGS. 2-4. In the alternative, the corner 40d of the bent portion of the latch member 40 may be rotated into a position of engagement against the wing 50d of the male connector housing 50a so that pressure may be applied to the V-shaped end to cause the tab member 40 to pivot so that the latch member is moved to the latch open position. Thus the bent portion 40d when in engagement against the male connector housing wing 50d, is used as a fulcrum to pivot the tab member 40 thus causing movement of the latch plate from right to left and thus from the latch closed to the latch open position. 
     Having described the invention above, various modifications of the techniques, procedures, material and equipment will be apparent to those in the art. For example, while the combination of an accessible actuator member for the latch 30 has been described for the particular attachment unit interface connector 17, this invention may be applied to other latchable electrical connectors. It is intended that all such variations within the scope and spirit of the appended claims be embraced.