Patent Publication Number: US-6709288-B1

Title: Electrical connector with positioning members

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to an electrical connector, and particularly to an electrical connector having at least one positioning member for assisting in mounting the connector on a circuit substrate such as a printed circuit board (PCB). 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     A typical piece of electronic equipment commonly uses a variety of electrical connectors for accomplishing electrical connections between inner components of the electronic equipment or between systems, for signal transmission and power transfer. Commonly, there are several electrical connectors to be mounted on a same printed circuit board (PCB) for electrically connecting with each other. Methods of mounting the connectors on the PCB usually involve Through Hole Technology (THT) or Surface Mount Technology (SMT). 
     Regardless of the method used, solder ends of the connector are connected with the PCB by welding. The miniaturization of connectors has continued to advance, and a density of contacts of a modem connector is commonly very high. This requires that a housing of the connector be secured to the PCB, to provide strain relief for the multiple soldered ends of the contact connections. Further, positioning members mounted on opposite sides of the housing of the connector are soldered to the PCB to enhance the connecting strength between the housing and the PCB. 
     A conventional positioning member is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,704,807. The positioning member comprises an engaging portion, and a solder portion bending perpendicularly from the engaging portion. The engaging portion defines an opening. In assembly, the engaging portion is mounted in a channel of a flange formed on one side of the housing, and a retention tab formed in the channel is plugged into the opening. The solder portion extends outwardly from the housing for being mounted on a PCB by welding. As a result, valuable space on the PCB for accommodating items such as circuit lines is reduced. In addition, the configuration of the side of the housing for mounting the positioning member thereon is complex. This increases the difficulty of mounting the positioning member on the housing, and the difficulty of manufacturing the housing. 
     Another conventional positioning member is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,083,045. Each of two positioning members comprises a solder portion received within a bottom of a housing. Thus, the solder portion does not take up valuable space on the PCB for accommodating items such as circuit lines. The positioning member is S-shaped, and is stamped and formed from a metal sheet. This makes manufacturing of the positioning member more difficult. In addition, the housing must be formed with a configuration for receiving the positioning members therein. This makes manufacturing of the housing more difficult. 
     In view of the above, a new electrical connector with positioning members that overcome the above-mentioned disadvantages is desired. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector having positioning members for assisting in firmly mounting the connector on a circuit substrate such as a printed circuit board (PCB), wherein the positioning members facilitate accommodating of other electronic equipment and/or circuit lines on the PCB. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector comprising a housing and positioning members mounted on the housing, wherein configurations of the positioning members and corresponding configurations of the housing are simple. 
     To achieve the above-mentioned objects, an electrical connector in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises an insulative housing, a plurality of contacts received in the housing, and a pair of positioning members mounted on opposite sides of the housing. The housing defines a pair of recesses in respective opposite sides of a bottom portion thereof, and a pair of symmetric grooves in opposite sides of a rear surface thereof respectively. Each groove has an L-shaped profile, and defines a slot in an adjacent sidewall of the housing. Each positioning member comprises an engaging portion having an L-shaped profile engaging in the corresponding groove of the housing, a medial portion extending from the engaging portion alongside the corresponding sidewall of the housing, and a solder portion extending perpendicularly from the medial portion into the corresponding recess of the housing. The solder portion is adapted for mounting on a corresponding surface of a PCB by welding. 
    
    
     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, in which: 
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is an isometric view of an electrical connector in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is an exploded view of FIG. 1, but showing the electrical connector inverted; and 
     FIG. 3 is an assembled view of FIG.  2 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION 
     Reference will now be made to the drawings to describe the present invention in detail. 
     Referring to FIGS. 1,  2  and  3 , an electrical connector  1  is for mounting on a circuit substrate such as a printed circuit board (PCB)(not shown). The connector  1  comprises an insulative housing  2 , a multiplicity of contacts  3  received in the housing  2 , and a pair of positioning members  4  mounted on opposite sides of the housing  2 . 
     The housing  2  comprises a front surface  21  for mating with a component such as another electrical connector (not shown), an opposite rear surface  25 , a pair of sidewalls interconnecting the front surface  21  with the rear surface  25 , and a bottom  27  adapted for being mounting on the PCB. The housing  2  defines a generally rectangular opening  22  in a middle portion of the front surface  21  thereof. A plurality of parallel elongate passageways  23  is defined in the housing  2 , in communication with the opening  22 . A pair of symmetric grooves  24  is defined in opposite sides of the rear surface  25  respectively. Each groove has an L-shaped profile, and defines a slot  26  in an adjacent sidewall. A pair of recesses  28  is defined in respective opposite side portions of the bottom  27  of the housing  2 . 
     The contacts  3  are respectively received in the passageways  23 . Solder ends of the contacts  3  extending outwardly from the passageways  23 , and protrude coplanarly with each other from the rear surface  25  of the housing  2 . A plane defined by the solder ends of the contacts  3  is parallel to the bottom  27  of the housing  2 . 
     The positioning members  4  are each stamped and formed from a sheet of metallic material. Each positioning member  4  comprises an engaging portion  41  having an L-shaped profile, a medial portion  42  extending perpendicular from the engaging portion  41 , and a solder portion  43  extending perpendicularly from the medial portion  42 . The engaging portion  41  is adapted to slide into a corresponding groove  24 , thereby mounting the positioning member  4  to the housing  2 . The medial portion  42  abuts a corresponding sidewall of the housing  2 . The solder portion  43  is received in a corresponding recess  28  of the housing  2 , and is substantially flush with the bottom  27  of the housing  2 . 
     The solder ends of the contacts  3  can electrically connect with corresponding solder pads of the PCB by welding. The solder portions  43  of the positioning members  4  are mounted on a corresponding surface of the PCB by welding, which facilitates firm mounting of the connector  1  on the PCB. As can be seen from FIGS. 1 and 2, the solder portions  43  are received entirely within the recesses  28  of the housing  2 . Thus, welding of the solder portions  43  to the PCB is achieved without having to take up extra space on the PCB adjacent the bottom  27  of the housing  2 . Accordingly, valuable space on the PCB is available for accommodating other electronic equipment and/or circuit lines. In addition, the configuration of each positioning member  4  and the corresponding configuration of the housing  2  are simple, thereby facilitating easy and inexpensive manufacturing. 
     While a preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention has been shown and described, equivalent modifications and changes known to persons skilled in the art according to the spirit of the present invention are considered within the scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims.