Patent Publication Number: US-6705903-B2

Title: Electrical connector with staggered pin holes

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to electrical connectors, and more particularly to an electrical connector having high density contacts and pin holes for transferring more information. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     With the development of electronic technology and information technology, more and more information is required to transmit between different electronic devices. On the other hand, it is a trend of miniaturization in electronic industry. Therefore, it is desired that an electrical connector used to connect between two electronic devices has a compact configuration. 
     Referring to FIG. 5, a conventional electrical connector has a housing  100  and a plurality of contacts (not shown). The housing  100  defines a plurality of rectangular pin holes  120  arranged in two rows in opposite sides for receiving the contacts therein. A pitch between two adjacent pin holes is about 0.5 mm. If the pitch is minished, the configuration strength will be reduced and thus the portion between the two adjacent pin holes is brittle. Thus, the amounts of the contacts and the distributing position of the pin hole cannot offer enough information for high-tech products. Furthermore, the pitch of 0.5 mm adversely affects the compact configuration of the electrical connector. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector having high density contacts and pin holes for miniaturization of the electrical connector. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector having high density contacts and pin holes for offering enough information for high-tech products. 
     In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, an electrical connector with the present invention includes a housing and a plurality of contacts. The housing includes a bottom wall, a pair of side walls extending from opposite sides of the bottom wall, and a pair of end walls extending between the side walls. Each side of the bottom wall defines a plurality of stagger pin holes receiving the contacts therein. 
     Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will be drawn from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments of the present invention with attached drawings, in which: 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an electrical connector in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of an electrical connector in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention with a section cut away; 
     FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of an electrical connector in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention with a section cut away; 
     FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a housing of an electrical connector in accordance with a further embodiment of the present invention; and 
     FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a housing of a conventional electrical connector. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, an electrical connector  1  in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention includes an insulative housing  10  and a plurality of electrical contacts  20 . The housing  10  includes a bottom wall  12 , a pair of side walls  14  extending from opposite sides of the bottom wall  12 , and a pair of end walls (not labeled) extending from opposite ends of the bottom wall  12  and connected between the side walls  14 . Therefore, an elongate receiving slot  11  is defined in the housing  10  for receiving a complementary connector (not shown). Two rows of elongate pin holes  13   a,    13   b  staggered relative to each other are defined in each side of the bottom wall  12 . Each side wall  14  forms a plurality of spaced ribs  15  corresponding the pin holes  13   b.  Therefore, a plurality of spaced recesses  16  is defined in the side wall  14  corresponding to the pin holes  13   a.    
     Each contact  20  includes a securing portion  21  engagingly received in the corresponding pin hole  13   a  or  13   b,  and a mating portion  22  extending from the securing portion  21 . The contacts extending through the pin holes  13   a  are received in the recesses  16  and abut against the side wall  14 . The contacts extending through the pin holes  13   b  abut against the ribs  15  of the side wall  14 . Thus, the pin holes  13   a,    13   b  and contacts  20  are compact thereby maximizing the capacity of information transmission of the connector  1 . Furthermore, the configuration of the electrical connector  1  is miniaturized. 
     Referring to FIG. 3, an electrical connector in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention includes a housing l 0 ′, and a plurality of first contacts  20   a  and a plurality of sccond contacts  20   b  received in the housing  10 ′. A bottom wall  12  of the housing  10 ′ defines staggered elongate pin holes  13   a,    13   b  in each side thereof. Each of side walls  14  extending from the bottom wall  12  has a planar inner surface  17 . Each first contact  20   a  comprises a base portion  22   a  engagingly received in a corresponding pin hole  13   a,  a contact portion  21   a  extending from a top of the base portion  22   a,  and a tail portion  23   a  depending from a bottom of the base portion  22   a.  Each second contact  20   b  comprises a contact portion  21   b,  a shoulder  22   b  bendingly extending from a bottom of the contact potion  21   b,  and a tail portion  23   b  depending from a bottom of the shoulder  22   b.  The first contacts  20   a  extend through the pin holes  13   a  and abut against the inner surface  17  of the side wall  14 . The second contacts  20   b  extend through the pin holes  13   b  and abut against the inner surface  17  of the side wall  14  with die shoulder  22   b  thereof being supported by the bottom wall  12 . Thus, the pin holes  13   a,    13   b  and first and second contacts  20   a,    20   b  are compactly arranged thereby maximizing the capacity of information transmission of the connector  1 ′. Furthermore, the configuration of the electrical connector  1 ′ is miniaturized. 
     Also referring to FIG.  4 . in a third embodiment of the present invention, the housing  10 ′ has substantially all the parts of the above-mentioned housing  10 ′ of the second embodiment of the present invention, except for the elongated holes  13   a,    13   b.  A plurality of isosceles triangular pin holes  13   a ′,  13   b ′ is defined in the bottom wall  12  of the housing  10 ′. Every two adjacent pin holes  13   a ′,  13   b ′ are oriented in opposite directions to each other. A partition wall between every two adjacent pin holes  13   a ′,  13   b ′ is obliquelyoriented relative to a lengthwise direction of the housing  10 ′. 
     It is noted that the traditional high density staggered arrangement for the contact tails may have limitations due to tiny dimension of the corresponding core pins, which form the pin holes in the housing, tending to break. Oppositely, using the large dimensioned core pins to form such pin holes may result in interference between every adjacent two pin holes because of fine pitch arrangement thereof. Thus, using the alternating triangular core pins to form the corresponding alternating triangular pin holes for retaining the corresponding staggered contact tails therein, may comply with the fine pitch requirement while still maintaining the sufficient partition wall thickness between every adjacent two pin holes for strength of the whole connector housing. Understandably, the pin holes with other shapes which are arranged in an alternating/complementary manner to hold the staggered contact tails is included in this invention. 
     While the present invention has been described with reference to a few specific embodiments, the description is illustrative of the invention and is not to be construed as limiting the invention. Various modifications may occur to those skilled in the art without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.