Patent Publication Number: US-6663445-B1

Title: Electrical connector with staggered contacts

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to electrical connectors and more particularly to electrical connectors used to interconnect electronic assemblies, for example, printed circuit boards (PCB). 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     PCBs, which are required to be mounted one adjacent to another, but not necessarily, in a vertically arranged stack, need electrical connectors to electrically interconnect. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, U.S. Pat. No. 5,967,800 issued to Bishop on Oct. 19, 1999 discloses an electrical connector  200  for connecting a first and a second PCBs (not shown). The electrical connector  200  includes an insulative base  4  and a plurality of conductive contacts  5  received in the base  4 . The insulative base  4  defines two rows of channels  41  along opposite sides thereof and exposed to an upper surface  42  of the base  4 . Each conductive contact  5  is received in a corresponding channel  41 , comprises a solder tail  52  for soldering on the first PCB and a contact portion  51  extending beyond the upper surface  42  of the base  4  for electrically engaging with the second PCB. 
     However, when many contacts  5  are required to engage with the PCBs, a corresponding number of channels  41  is also required to be distributed along opposite sides of the base  4 . This makes the base  4  very long, relatively weak and easy to be broken. 
     Hence, an electrical connector with an improved contact arrangement is needed to overcome the foregoing shortcomings. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A main object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector with an improved contact arrangement. 
     An electrical connector for interconnecting a first and a second printed circuit boards (PCBs) in accordance with the present invention includes an insulative base and a first and a second sets of contacts received in the base. The insulative base defines a plurality of first and second channels. The first and second channels respectively have first and second exposing portions. The first exposing portions and the second exposing portions are arranged in two rows. The first and second sets of contacts respectively have first and second contact portions extending beyond an upper surface of the base through the first and second exposing portions. 
    
    
     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 exploded view of an electrical connector according to the present invention. 
     FIG. 2 is an assembled view of FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along a line  3 — 3  in FIG.  2 . 
     FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along a line  4 — 4  in FIG.  2 . 
     FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the electrical connector, taken from a bottom aspect. 
     FIG. 6 is a top view of a conventional electrical connector. 
     FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along a line  7 — 7  in FIG.  6 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, an electrical connector  100  of the present invention is provided for interconnecting a first and a second printed circuit boards (PCBs, not shown). The connector  100  includes an insulative base  1  and a first and a second sets of contacts  2 ,  3  received in the base  1 . 
     The base  1  includes a body portion  10  and a plurality of partitions  16  extending from opposite sides of the body portion  10 . A common upper surface  11  of the body portion  10  and the partitions  16  is provided for engaging with the first PCB, and a common lower surface  12  is provided for mounting on the second PCB. 
     The base  1  defines a plurality of pairs of first channels  13  and a plurality of pairs of second channels  14  through the upper and the lower surfaces  11 ,  12  for respectively receiving the first and second sets of contacts  2 ,  3 . Each pair of the first or second channels  13 ,  14  are configured symmetrically to each other about a longitudinal central line A—A. The first and the second channels  13 ,  14  are alternatingly arranged. 
     Referring to FIGS. 1 and 3, each first channel  13  has an opening  131  defined by two neighboring partitions  16 , a first exposing portion  132  defined in the body portion  10  and exposed to the upper and lower surfaces  11 ,  12 , and a first mounting recess  133  defined in the body portion  10  in communicating with the first exposing portion  132 . 
     Referring to FIGS. 1 and 4, each second channel  14  includes an second exposing portion  141  defined by two neighboring partitions  16 , and a second mounting recess  142  defined in the body portion  10  in communicating with the second exposing portion  141 . 
     Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, each of the first set of contacts  2  includes a first spring contact portion  21 , a first solder tail  22 , and a U-shaped first mounting portion  23  connecting the first contact portion  21  with the first solder tail  22 . Each of the second set of contacts  3  includes a second contact portion  31 , a second solder tail  32 , and a U-shaped second mounting portion  33 . The second contact portion  31  and the second mounting portion  33  are respectively configured substantially the same as the first contact portion  21  and the first mounting portion  23 . The first solder tail  22  is longer than the second solder tail  32  by a length of the first exposing portion  132 . 
     Referring to FIGS. 2,  3 ,  4  and  5 , in assembly, the first and the second contacts  2 ,  3  are respectively inserted into the first and the second channels  13 ,  14  from opposite sides of the base  1 . The first and second mounting portions  23 ,  33  of the first and the second contacts  2 ,  3  are respectively received in the first and the second mounting recesses  133 ,  142 . The first and the second contact portions  21 ,  31  extend beyond the upper surface  11  of the base  1  from the first and the second exposing portion  132 ,  141 , such that the first and the second contact portions  21 ,  31  are staggered in a Y direction to increase the strength of the base  1 , thereby efficiently preventing warpage of the base  1 . The first and the second solder tails  22 ,  32  extend in a common plane for mounting to the second PCB. 
     It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous, characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set fourth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosed 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.