Patent Publication Number: US-2012040545-A1

Title: Transceiver connector having improved releasing mechanism

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a transceiver connector, and more particularly to a SFP (Small Form-Factor Pluggable) transceiver connector adapted for releasably latching with a receptacle. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2009/0274468 published on Nov. 5, 2009 discloses an SFP transceiver connector mating with a receptacle having a latching tab defining a latching hole. The transceiver connector comprises a housing having a latching protrusion engaging with the latching hole, and a releasing mechanism assembled to the housing. The releasing mechanism includes an actuator, a lever assembled at one end of the actuator, a pivot, and a sliding member mounted at another end of the actuator and the housing via the pivot. The lever operates the sliding member moving from a latched position to a released position. The sliding member includes a releasing portion having an inclined releasing face for being inserted beneath the latching tab and expelling the latching tab to release the latching protrusion from the latching hole. 
     The releasing portion may be further improved to make the releasing operation more easily and labor-savingly. 
     Hence, a transceiver connector having an improved releasing mechanism is desired. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a transceiver connector including a releasing mechanism having a releasing portion having an inserting portion and an expelling portion inclined at different angles to take a releasing operation more easily and reliably. 
     In order to achieve the object set forth, a transceiver connector is adapted for inserting into a receptacle having a latching tab defining a latching hole. The transceiver includes a releasing mechanism and a housing having a pair of sliding slots and a latching protrusion latched with the latching hole of the receptacle. The releasing mechanism includes an actuator defining a pair of inserting holes, a sliding member including a through hole and at least one releasing portion having an expelling portion and an inserting portion connected with and situated in front of the expelling portion, and a pivot inserting though the inserting holes of the actuator, the sliding slots of the housing and the through hole of the sliding member. The inserting portion inclines at a first angle smaller than a second angle at which the expelling portion inclines. The sliding member is movable forwardly by the actuator to insert the inserting portion of the sliding member beneath the latching tab and then to move the expelling portion to expel the latching tab outwardly to release the latching protrusion from the latching hole of the receptacle. 
     The inserting portion of the sliding member inclines at the first angle of a smaller degree for inserting beneath the latching tab  41  easily. The expelling portion of the sliding member inclines at the second angle of a larger degree for expelling the releasing tab outwardly more easily and laborsavingly. The releasing operation is easy to perform. The releasing portion inclines at one angle as described in the prior art would have the releasing operation more difficult. 
     Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is an assembled perspective view showing a transceiver connector in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded perspective view showing the transceiver connector as shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view showing a sliding member; 
         FIG. 4  is an assembled perspective view showing the transceiver connector latching with the receptacle; 
         FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view of the transceiver connector and the receptacle in a latched position, taken along line  5 - 5  of  FIG. 4 ; 
         FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional view of the transceiver connector and the receptacle in a released position, taken along line  5 - 5  of  FIG. 4 ; and 
         FIG. 7  is a perspective view showing the sliding member referred in a second embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 4 , a transceiver connector  100  in accordance with a first embodiment is connected with a cable  200  and is adapted for inserting into a receptacle  400  having a latching tab  41  defining a latching hole  411 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the transceiver connector  100  comprises a housing  10  insertion of at least one board  20  connected with the cable  200 , and a releasing mechanism  3  assembled to the housing  10 . The housing  10  comprises a bottom wall  12 , a pair of side walls  13 , and a separatable top wall  11 . The housing  10  includes a concave recess  122  recessed from the bottom wall  12 , a latching protrusion  121  formed at a front end of the concave recess  122 , a pair of supporting portions  123  extending downwardly from opposite sides of the concave recess  122 , and a pair of protrusions  131  respectively projecting outwardly from the pair of side walls  13 . The concave recess  122  is recessed from the bottom wall  12  to form a pair of stepped portions  124  at opposite sides of the latching protrusion  121 . Each supporting portion  123  defines a longitudinally extending sliding slot  132  and an inwardly projecting platform  133  behind the sliding slot  132 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the releasing mechanism  3  comprises an actuator  31 , a lever  34 , a sliding member  32 , and a pivot  33 . 
     The actuator  31  includes a handle portion  311 , and a pair of beam portions  312  extending from opposite ends of the handle portion  311 . Each beam portion  312  has a mounting hole  313  defined at substantially a middle portion of the beam portion  312 , and an inserting hole  315  defined at a free end  314  of the beam portion  312 . 
     The sliding member  32  includes a body portion  321 , a pair of releasing portions  322  extending forwardly from the body portion  321 , a through hole  325  extending through the body portion  321  along the transverse direction, and a pair of restricting slots  326  behind the through hole  325 . 
     Each releasing portion  322  includes an expelling portion  324  extending from the body portion  321 , and an inserting portion  323  extending forwardly from the expelling portion  324 . The inserting portion  323  inclines at a first angle, substantially no more than 20 degrees and the expelling portion  324  inclines at a second angle, substantially about 35 degrees, with respect to horizontal level. The first angle is smaller than the second angle. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1-5 , in assembling of the transceiver connector  100 , the top wall  11  is attached to the bottom wall  12  to form the housing  1 , with the board  20  received in the housing  10 . The lever  34  is mounted at the handle  311  of the actuator  31 . The actuator  31  is assembled to housing  10 , with the protrusions  131  of the housing  1  engaging with the mounting holes  313  of actuator  31 . The sliding member  32  is mounted into the concave recess  122  along the front-to-back direction, with the platforms  133  moveable within the restricting slots  326  of the sliding member  32 . The pivot  33  is inserted through the inserting holes  315  of the actuator  31 , the sliding slots  132  of the housing  1 , and the through hole  325  of the sliding member  32 . The actuator  31  is pivotable about the mounting holes  313  and the protrusions  131 . The sliding member  32  is slidable in the concave recess  122  along a front-to-back direction. 
     When the transceiver connector  100  is inserted into the receptacle  400 , the latching protrusion  121  of the transceiver connector  100  engages with the latching hole  411  of the receptacle  400 . 
     In extraction of the transceiver connector  100  from the receptacle  400 , when the lever  34  is pulled rearwardly, the sliding member  32  slides forwardly in the concave recess  122  till a first position shown in  FIG. 5 . In the first position, the inserting portions  323  are inserted beneath the latching tab  41  of the receptacle  4 . In further operation, the sliding member  32  moves forwardly from the first position to a second position shown in  FIG. 6 , the expelling portions  324  expels the releasing tab  41  outwardly to allow the latching protrusion  121  to escape from the latching hole  411 . The sliding member  32  is blocked by the stepped portions  124  and the the platforms  133 . 
     The inserting portion  323  of the sliding member  32  inclines at the first angle of a smaller degree, especially no more than 20 degrees relative to a horizontal, for inserting beneath the latching tab  41  easily. The expelling portion  324  of the sliding member  32  inclines at the second angle of a larger degree, especially about 35 degrees, for expelling the releasing tab  41  outwardly more easily and laborsavingly. The releasing operation is easy to perform. The releasing portion  322  inclines at one angle as described in the prior art would have the releasing operation more difficult. 
     Referring to  FIG. 7 , in a second embodiment, the releasing portion  322 ′ of the sliding member  32 ′ is formed into a concaved circular configuration, with the inserting portion  323 ′ situated in front of the expelling portion  324 ′. A radius of curvature of the inserting portion  323 ′ is always smaller than that of the releasing expelling  324 ′. 
     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.