Patent Publication Number: US-6210218-B1

Title: Electrical connector

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a connector, and particularly to a connector which can be more readily assembled and has EMI shielding with a simple and reliable grounding connection. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     Prior art connectors generally have means to provide EMI shielding, but such means may be complex or may not be reliable. U.S. Pat. No. 4,943,244 discloses a connector having a housing with base, a shield from which a pair of grounding fingers rearwardly extends and a pair of board locks each comprising a flat clamp at one end thereof and a pair of L-shaped feet at the other end thereof. The clamp and the feet define a channel therebetween. In assembly, the board lock is pressed to sandwich the base and a rear end of the grounding finger in the channel of the board lock. Since the housing and the shield will forwardly move during an unmating of a complementary connector, the grounding fingers may disengage from the board locks after a number of mating/unmating of the connector with/from the complementary connector. 
     Furthermore, for the &#39;244 connector, it is laborious and troublesome to assemble contacts to the housing thereof. 
     Hence, an improved electrical connector is required to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A first object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector providing effective EMI shielding; 
     A second object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector having a pair of grounding elements reliably engaging with a shield; and 
     A third object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector having a contact module assembly which securely fits in the connector. 
     An electrical connector of the present invention has a dielectric housing forming a pair of abutment walls extending from a bottom end thereof, a contact module assembly received in the housing, a pair of grounding elements and a shield attached to the housing and establishing solid grounding contact with the grounding elements. 
     A pair of integrally formed locking recesses is provided adjacent to the abutment walls of the housing for receiving the grounding elements. Each grounding element includes a flat joining part with a grounding finger and a board lock extending from one lateral edge of the joining part, and a plurality of interfering bumps on an opposite edge of the joining part. Each grounding finger extends approximately horizontally for fitting along an abutment wall of the housing. The plurality of interfering bumps helps to fix the grounding elements in the locking recesses. The shield includes a pair of top and bottom extending arms which attach the shield to the housing and the grounding elements. 
     In assembly, when the grounding elements are received in the locking recesses of the housing, the grounding fingers thereof fit along the abutment walls of the housing and the board locks thereof extend downwardly from the bottom of the housing for mounting the connector to a PCB. The shield is then mated to the housing and the top and bottom extending arms are bent to engage with the top, bottom and rear sides of the housing. Furthermore, the bottom extending arms concurrently fix the grounding fingers to the abutment walls of the housing while establishing electrical grounding contact between the shield and the grounding elements. 
     The housing also defines a receiving recess in a rear thereof which forms a plurality of apertures and spaced-apart channels for fitting with a plurality of embossments and projections on a contact module assembly to secure the contact module assembly in the housing. 
     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 exploded view of an electrical connector of the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view of a housing of the electrical connector of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged view of a bottom, front portion of the housing of FIG. 2 showing a locking recess; 
     FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a contact module assembly comprising three contact modules stacked together; 
     FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the contact module assembly of FIG. 4 about to be received into the housing of FIG. 2; and 
     FIGS. 6 and 7 show sequential views from a bottom rear aspect of mounting a shield to the connector. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION 
     Referring to FIG. 1, an electrical connector  100  provided for mating with a complementary connector (not shown) includes an insulative housing  1 , a contact module assembly  2  to be received in the housing  1 , a spacer  3  for equidistantly spacing soldering tails of terminals of the connector  100  and securing the contact module assembly  2  in the housing  1 , a conductive shield  4  to be attached to a front end of the housing  1  and a pair of grounding elements  5  for mounting the connector  100  on a PCB (not shown) and connecting the shield  4  to ground. 
     The housing  1  has a front mating surface  10  from which a mating portion  12  forwardly projects and a connecting surface  11  at a rear side thereof opposite the mating surface  10 . The mating portion  12  defines a plurality of receiving passages  13  oriented in direction “A”. The mating portion  12  further defines a grounding slot  14  proximate to a lateral end thereof through which a grounding element of a complementary connector (not shown) inserts. A pair of securing holes  15  is defined in opposite ends of the housing  1 . Further referring to FIG. 2, a pair of opposite holding walls  17  depends perpendicularly rearward from the connecting surface  11  and a rearward facing receiving opening  16  is defined in the connecting surface  11  of the housing  1  between the holding walls  17 . The receiving opening  16  is divided by a divider  163  to form a recess  165  for receiving a corresponding grounding portion of the complementary connector and a receiving recess  164 . The receiving recess  164  is adapted to receive the contact module assembly  2  and has integrally constructed spaced-apart channels  161  defined in opposite interior sides thereof (only one side being shown in FIG.  2 ). Top and bottom walls (not labeled) for defining the receiving recess  164  respectively forming a plurality of apertures  162  therethrough for securing the contact module assembly  2  in the receiving recess  164 . The distance between the holding walls  17  equals the lateral dimension of the spacer  3 . The holding walls  17  each further define a notch  171  and a cutout  172  adjacent to a bottom edge of an interior side thereof for securing the spacer  3  therebetween. A pair of fixing channels  183  is defined at opposite ends of a top surface  181  of the housing  1 . 
     Referring to FIGS. 1 and 3, a pair of locking recesses  184  (only one shown) proximate to a bottom surface  182  communicates with the mating surface  10  of the housing  1  and rearwardly extends from the mating surface  10  for insertion of the grounding elements  5 . A pair of stepped abutment walls  185  (only one shown) formed on two lateral sides of the mating surface  10  above locking recesses  184  for abutting the grounding elements  5 , respectively. 
     As shown in FIGS. 1,  4  and  5 , the contact module assembly  2  includes three stacked and fastened together contact modules  21 ,  22  and  23 , each having a plurality of conductive terminals  24  arranged in a line and insert molded within an insulative body  25 . The terminals  24  each have an engaging end  242  and an opposite soldering tail  241  perpendicularly and downwardly bent from the engaging end  242  The similar contact modules  21  and  23  each have a pair of embossed sections  26  on engaging faces  29  of their respective insulative bodies  25  to interlock with the apertures  162  in the housing  1 . A pair of projections  27  outwardly protrudes from opposite lateral sides of each of the insulative bodies  25 , each projection  27  forming a plurality of interfering barbs  271  thereon for further interferentially fitting in the channels  161  of the housing  1 . The barbs  271  are located on top faces of the projections  27  of the contact module  21  and on bottom faces of the projections  27  of the contact module  23 . Two mounting devices each including a peg  281  and an aperture  282  are formed on surfaces opposite the engaging surfaces  29  of the contact modules  21  and  23  to fit with corresponding receiving apertures  282  and pegs  281  on opposing surfaces of the contact module  22 . The position of the peg  281  and aperture  282  of a mounting device on a surface of a module is reversed to that of the other mounting device on the corresponding surface of the module. When the contact modules  21 ,  22  and  23  are fastened together to form the contact module assembly  2 , the tips of the soldering tails  241  of the terminals  24  are coplanar. 
     As shown in FIGS. 1,  6  and  7 , the integrally constructed insulative spacer  3  includes a first portion  31  and a second portion  32  adjacent to the first portion  31 . The first portion  31  is configured in steps of a selected height to couple with the terminals of the contact modules  21 ,  22  and  23 . A plurality of positioning holes  311  in the first portion  31  receives soldering tails  241  of the terminals  24 , thereby spacing two neighboring soldering tails  241  with a predetermined distance. A pair of retaining ribs  321  (only one shown) and latch caps  322  (only one shown) formed on opposite lateral sides (only one shown) of the spacer  3  respectively fit with the notches  171  and the cutouts  172  of the holding walls  17  to fix the spacer  3  in the housing  1 . 
     Securing posts  43  are integrally stamped and formed with the shield  4  and have inner screw threads  431  to lock with securing screws attached to lateral sides of the complementary connector when the connector  100  is mated with the complementary connector. An integrally formed shroud  44  rearwardly extends from the middle of a top edge of the shield  4 . A pair of top extending arms  45  is formed separately to either side of the shroud  44  and a pair of bottom extending arms  46  bends rearwardly from a bottom edge of the shield  4 . 
     A pair of grounding elements  5  (see FIG. 1) is integrally stamped and formed from a metal plate. Each grounding element  5  comprises a horizontal joining part  51  adjoining a horizontal grounding finger  53  and a vertical board lock  52 . The board lock  52  has a pair of latch legs which depends downwardly from an edge of the joining part  51 . The grounding fingers  53  horizontally extend from a lateral edge of the joining part  51  for making electrical contact with the bottom extending arms  46  of the shield  4  to keep the shield electrically grounded (detail description hereinafter). A plurality of interfering bumps  54  on an edge of each joining part  51  opposite the board locks interferentially engages with the locking recesses  184 . 
     Referring to FIGS. 1 through 7, in assembling, when the pegs  281  and the receiving apertures  282  are appropriately interlocked, the contact modules  21 ,  22  and  23  constitute the contact module assembly  2 . The contact module assembly  2  is then slidingly inserted into the receiving recess  164  in direction “A” (FIG.  1 ), the engaging ends  242  of the conductive terminals  24  being received in the receiving passages  13  in the mating portion  12  of the housing  1 . The projections  27  engage with the spaced apart channels  161  of the housing  1  and the embossed sections  26  lock with the apertures  162  in the receiving opening  16 . The spacer  3  is inserted from the bottom upward and the soldering tails  241  are received into the positioning holes  311 . The retaining ribs  321  and the latch caps  322  on the spacer  3  engage with the notches  171  and the cutouts  172  in the holding walls  17  so as to retain the spacer  3  between the holding walls  17 . Then, the grounding elements  5  are inserted into the locking recesses  184  from the front to the rear so that the board locks  52  protrude from the bottom of the housing  1  for fixing into the PCB and the grounding fingers  53  lie against a bottom face of the abutment walls  185  of the housing  1 . The shield  4  is then engage with the mating surface  10  of the housing  1 , the securing posts  43  inserting into the securing holes  15 . The bottom extending arms  46  of the shield  4  are bent in compliance with a contour of an end portion of each of the abutment walls  185 , thereby tightly pressing the horizontal grounding fingers  53  of the grounding members  5  onto the abutment walls  185 , thus, the shield  4  and the grounding members  5  are mechanically and electrically connected together. By the bending of the bottom extending arms  46  onto the abutment walls  185 , the bottom edge of the shield  4  is secured to the housing  1 . At the same time, the top extending arms  45  are bent into the corresponding fixing channels  183  to engage with the housing  1 , thereby securing the top edge of the shield  4  to the housing  1 . 
     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.