Patent Publication Number: US-2023163525-A1

Title: Connector

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims priority to Taiwan Application Serial Number 110143571, filed Nov. 23, 2021, which is herein incorporated by reference. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Technical Field 
     The present disclosure relates to a connector, and more particularly, to a connector including a springless position-returning structure. 
     Description of Related Art 
     At present, a small form-factor pluggable (SFP) connector is a common optical/electrical communication transceiver module. Usually, a locking mechanism is provided on the SFP connector. When the SFP connector is docked with a socket connector, the SFP connector needs to be inserted into a storage device (i.e., a plugged member) first, and the locking mechanism is used to fix the SFP connector in the storage device to ensure the safety of docking with the socket connector. When the connectors needs to be disconnected, the user pulls back the handle of the SFP connector to drive the guiding arms to slide along the housing of the locking connector, and retract the unlocking pieces at the ends to separate the SFP connector from the storage device. When the hand of the user releases, the position-returning unit in the SFP connector will provide restoring force to restore the guiding arms to their original state. 
     Most of the existing position-returning units use cylindrical springs to provide restoring force, but this design has the problems of complicated assembly and high cost. In view of this, some manufacturers have developed various springless position-returning mechanisms. For example, the slope of the housing of the SFP connector is used to cooperate with the deformation of the handle to provide the restoring force, or an elastic arm structures that are overlapped up and down are produced by a molding process to buckle the recesses of the housing to provide the restoring force. However, no matter the slope design or the overlapping elastic arm structures is adopted, in addition to the high production cost of the position-returning unit, it is necessary to make corresponding adjustments to the housing before it can be applied, and the practicability is not high. 
     Accordingly, it is necessary to provide a connector including a springless position-returning unit with a simple design and low cost. 
     SUMMARY 
     An aspect of the disclosure is to provide a connector that can efficiently solve the aforementioned problems. 
     According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a connector includes a housing, a handle, and an arm member. Two sides of the housing are respectively provided with guiding grooves extending in a forward-backward direction. An upper surface of the housing has at least two protrusions. The arm member is connected to the handle. The arm member includes two guiding arms, a connecting wall, and two elastic rods. The guiding arms are movably embedded in the guiding grooves respectively. The connecting wall is connected to the guiding arms and located between the guiding arms. The elastic rods each include a bending portion. The elastic rods respectively abut against the protrusions and are arranged in series at the same height. 
     According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a connector includes a housing and an unlocking module. Two sides of the housing are respectively provided with guiding grooves extending in a forward-backward direction. An upper surface of the housing has at least two protrusions. The unlocking module includes an arm member and a handle connected to each other. The arm member includes two guiding arms, a connecting wall, and two elastic rods. The guiding arms are movably embedded in the guiding grooves respectively. The connecting wall is connected to the guiding arms and located between the guiding arms. The elastic rods are respectively connected to the guiding arms. The elastic rods respectively abut against the protrusions and are arranged in series. Each of the elastic rods has a bending portion and a contacting portion. The contacting portion is connected to a corresponding one of the guiding arms through the bending portion. At least a part of the bending portion is covered by the handle and is accommodated therein. 
     In an embodiment of the disclosure, each of the elastic rods extends from a corresponding one of the guiding arms in a direction facing another of the guiding arms. 
     In an embodiment of the disclosure, the elastic rods are parallel to each other when not pressed by the protrusions, and the elastic rods are elastically deformed and inclined to each other when pressed by the protrusions respectively. 
     In an embodiment of the disclosure, the arm member is composed of a bent metal sheet and has a uniform thickness. 
     In an embodiment of the disclosure, the arm member further includes two supporting plates. The supporting plates are formed by extending backward from distal ends of the guiding arms respectively. Each of the supporting plates includes at least one through hole. 
     In an embodiment of the disclosure, the handle wraps at least a part of the supporting plates. 
     In an embodiment of the disclosure, the elastic rods are formed by bending inward from upper portions of side surfaces of the distal ends of the guiding arms respectively. A minimum angle between one of the elastic rods and a corresponding one of the guiding arms is not less than 70 degrees. Each of the supporting plates extends outward from a lower portion of the side surface of the distal end of a corresponding one of the guiding arms in a manner of first expanding and then contracting. A gap exists between each of the elastic rods and an adjacent one of the supporting plates. The handle wraps the supporting plates, the bending portions of the elastic rods, and the gap. The connecting wall extends backward and forms a baffle plate for covering the elastic rods. 
     In an embodiment of the disclosure, each of the elastic rods has a free end. A maximum stroke of the free end in the forward-backward direction is less than 5 mm. 
     In an embodiment of the disclosure, a shortest linear distance between each of the protrusions and the handle is 35% to 65% of a shortest linear distance between the guiding arms. 
     Due to the application of the above technical solutions, the connector of the present disclosure has at least the following advantages compared with the prior art: simple structure, low cost, easy and fast unlocking during use, long service life, and easy assembly. 
     It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are by examples, and are intended to provide further explanation of the disclosure as claimed. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The disclosure can be more fully understood by reading the following detailed description of the embodiment, with reference made to the accompanying drawings as follows: 
         FIG.  1    is a perspective view of a connector according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  2    is another perspective view of the connector in  FIG.  1   , in which a housing and an unlocking module are separated; 
         FIG.  3    is a perspective view of the unlocking module in  FIG.  1   ; 
         FIG.  4    is an exploded view of the unlocking module in  FIG.  1   ; 
         FIG.  5 A  is a schematic diagram showing a cross section of the connector in  FIG.  1    when viewed along a direction  5 A; 
         FIG.  5 B  is a schematic diagram showing another cross section of the connector in  FIG.  1    when viewed along a direction  5 A; 
         FIG.  6    is a partial enlarged view showing some components of the unlocking module in  FIG.  4   ; 
         FIG.  7    is a three-dimensional schematic diagram illustrating a metal sheet according to another embodiment of the present disclosure; and 
         FIG.  8    is a perspective view of the metal sheet in  FIG.  7    after being bent. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Reference will now be made in detail to the present embodiments of the disclosure, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts. However, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are merely representative for purposes of describing example embodiments, and thus may be embodied in many alternate forms and should not be construed as limited to only example embodiments set forth herein. Therefore, it should be understood that there is no intent to limit example embodiments to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, example embodiments are to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope of the disclosure. 
       FIGS.  1  to  4  and  6    of the drawings of the present disclosure are drawn according to actual scales. Therefore, the size of the connector  100  conforms to the SFP standard except that the relative size of each component is part of the content of the specification. In this regard, the absolute size of each element in the drawings can also be calculated accurately, so the absolute size of each element should also be regarded as a part of the present disclosure. 
     Reference is made to  FIGS.  1  to  5 B .  FIG.  1    is a perspective view of a connector  100  according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.  FIG.  2    is another perspective view of the connector  100  in  FIG.  1   , in which a housing  110  and an unlocking module are separated.  FIG.  3    is a perspective view of the unlocking module in  FIG.  1   .  FIG.  4    is an exploded view of the unlocking module in  FIG.  1   .  FIG.  5 A  is a schematic diagram showing a cross section of the connector  100  in  FIG.  1    when viewed along a direction  5 A.  FIG.  5 B  is a schematic diagram showing another cross section of the connector  100  in  FIG.  1    when viewed along a direction  5 A. 
     As shown in  FIGS.  1  and  2   , the connector  100  of the present embodiment is a connector for pluggable connection with a plugged member (not shown in the figures, such as a storage device) having elastic plates. 
     In some embodiments, the housing  110  includes an upper case  110   a  and a lower case  110   b  which are engaged together. The housing  110  after being engaged together is substantially a rectangular parallelepiped. Two ends of the housing  110  in a forward-backward direction A are the front end and the rear end, respectively. The front end constitutes an insertion end for inserting the plugged member, and the rear end constitutes a handle end. Therefore, “front” referred to below refers to relatively close to the front end of the housing  110  (i.e., the insertion end), and “rear” refers to relatively close to the rear end of the housing  110  (i.e., the handle end). 
     In some embodiments, the upper case  110   a  and the lower case  110   b  may be connected by plurality sets of plugging assemblies and fixing assemblies. The plugging assemblies may take various structural forms. For example, a set of plugging assembly includes a convex portion provided on the upper case  110   a  and a concave portion provided on the lower case  110   b , or a set of plugging assembly includes a concave portion provided on the upper case  110   a  and a convex portion provided on the lower case  110   b . The convex portion and the concave portion are engaged with each other. The fixing assemblies may include screw holes  112   b  and screws  140  matched with the screw holes  112   b , and the screw holes  112   b  and the screws  140  are formed on the upper case  110   a  and the lower case  110   b , respectively. The connection between the upper case  110   a  and the lower case  110   b  can be better achieved by adding the fixing assemblies on the basis of the plugging assemblies. 
     In some embodiments, the upper case  110   a  and the lower case  110   b  are made of metal, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. 
     As shown in  FIGS.  1  and  2   , in the present embodiment, two sides of the housing  110  are respectively provided with guiding grooves  111  extending in the forward-backward direction A. According to  FIG.  5 A , an upper surface  112  of the housing  110  has two protrusions  112   a  close to the rear end of the housing  110 . 
     As shown in  FIGS.  3  to  5 A , in the present embodiment, the unlocking module of the connector  100  includes an arm member  130  and a handle  120  connected to each other. The arm member  130  includes two guiding arms  131 , a connecting wall  132 , and two elastic rods  133 . The guiding arms  131  are movably embedded in the guiding grooves  111  at the two sides of the housing  110 , respectively. The front ends of the guiding arms  131  form unlocking pieces  131   a  that can cooperate with the elastic plates. The connecting wall  132  is connected to the guiding arms  131  and located between the guiding arms  131 . The elastic rods  133  are respectively connected to the guiding arms  131  and arranged in series along the forward-backward direction A. The elastic rods  133  can respectively abut against the protrusions  112   a  of the housing  110  directly, or indirectly with an adhesive layer or like disposed therebetween. In some embodiments, the elastic rods  133  are located at the same height relative to the upper surface  112  of the housing  110 . When necessary, the elastic rods  133  may be designed not at the same height, but the benefit will be relatively insignificant. In addition, as shown in  FIG.  5 A , the elastic rods  133  each have a bending portion  133   a  and a contacting portion  133   b.    
     The contacting portion  133   b  is connected to a corresponding one of the guiding arms  131  through the bending portion  133   a . At least a part of the bending portion  133   a  is covered by the handle  120  and is accommodated therein. As shown in  FIG.  5 A , an entirety of the bending portion  133   a  of each of the elastic rods  133  is covered in the interior of the handle  120 . In the present embodiment, the uncovered portions protruding from the left side in the figure are parts of the guiding arms  131 . Each of the elastic rods  133  extends from a corresponding one of the guiding arms  131  in a direction facing another of the guiding arms  131 . 
     As shown in  FIG.  5 A , the elastic rods  133  are parallel to each other when not pressed by the protrusions  112   a  of the upper surface  112  of the housing  110 . As shown in  FIG.  5 B , when a user holds the handle  120  and pulls the entire unlocking module away from the housing  110  along the forward-backward direction A, the elastic rods  133  will be pressed by the protrusions  112   a  of the upper surface  112  of the housing  110  to be elastically deformed and inclined to each other respectively. In some embodiments, each of the elastic rods  133  has a free end (that is, the end of the contacting portion  133   b  away from the bending portion  133   a ). A maximum stroke of the free end in the forward-backward direction A is less than 5 mm. 
     Reference is made to  FIG.  6   .  FIG.  6    is a partial enlarged view showing some components of the unlocking module in  FIG.  4   . As shown in  FIGS.  4  and  6   , in the present embodiment, the arm member  130  further includes two supporting plates  134 . The supporting plates  134  are formed by extending backward from distal ends of the guiding arms  131  respectively. Each of the supporting plates  134  includes a plurality of through holes  134   a . Specifically, as shown in  FIGS.  3  and  4   , the handle  120  wraps at least the parts of the supporting plates  134  having the through holes  134   a . Thereby, each of the through holes  134   a  allows glue to enter during the molding process to enhance the bonding strength between the arm member  130  and the handle  120 . The handle  120  wraps at least a part of the supporting plates  134 . In addition, as shown in  FIG.  6   , each of the supporting plates  134  is provided with an opening  134   b  (not a through hole) at the upper right in the figure. The design of the opening  134   b  is also beneficial to the connection strength between the handle  120  and the arm member  130 . 
     Furthermore, as shown in  FIG.  4  or  6   , in the present embodiment, a gap G exists between each of the elastic rods  133  and an adjacent one of the supporting plates  134 . In addition, the handle  120  further wraps the supporting plates  134 , the bending portions  133   a  of the elastic rods  133 , and the gap G. In addition, the connecting wall  132  extends backward and forms a baffle plate  135  for covering the elastic rods  133 . 
     In some embodiments, the material of the handle  120  is a material that can be used for molding, such as a flexible polymer material or various plastics, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. 
     In detail, as shown in  FIG.  5 A , the elastic rods  133  are formed by bending inward from upper portions of side surfaces of the distal ends of the guiding arms  131  respectively. A minimum angle between one of the elastic rods  133  and a corresponding one of the guiding arms  131  is not less than 70 degrees at any time after the molding is completed (including after the deformation). For example, in  FIG.  4   , the guiding arms  131  extend along the forward-backward direction A, the elastic rods  133  extend along the direction perpendicular to the forward-backward direction A, and the angle at this time is about 90 degrees, but the disclosure is not limited to this. 
     In the present embodiment, a shortest linear distance D 1  between each of the protrusions  112   a  and the handle  120  is 80% to 100% of a shortest linear distance D 2  between the guiding arms  131 . However, in application, depending on the demand for restoring force, the shortest linear distance D 1  between each of the protrusions and the handle can be adjusted to be 35% to 65% of the shortest linear distance D 2  between the guiding arms  131  (not shown). That is, each of the protrusions  112   a  may be disposed at a position closer to the middle of a corresponding one of the contacting portions  133   b , rather than near the end of the corresponding one of the contacting portion  133   b  as shown in  FIGS.  5 A and  5 B . 
     As shown in  FIG.  6   , in the present embodiment, each of the supporting plates  134  extends outward from an end of the side surface of the distal end of a corresponding one of the guiding arms  131  in a manner of first expanding and then contracting (i.e., the upper side in the figure). Each of the elastic rods  133  is disposed on the other end of the side surface of the distal end of a corresponding one of the guiding arms  131  (i.e., the lower side in the figure). That is, the elastic rods  133  and the guiding arms  131  are separated by a gap G (see  FIG.  6   ) and are adjacent to each other up and down. When using the connector  100 , the user can insert the connector  100  into a plugged member (e.g., a storage device). The unlocking pieces  131   a  on the two guiding arms  131  of the unlocking module and the corresponding elastic plates in the storage device are engaged and fixed to be locked. When the connector  100  needs to be pulled out, the handle  120  of the unlocking module is pulled backward, and the handle  120  drives the connecting wall  132  and the elastic rods  133  connected thereto to move backward. Since the elastic rods  133  abut against the protrusions  112   a  on the upper surface  112  of the housing  110  respectively, the elastic rods  133  will be squeezed by the protrusions  112   a  during the movement, thereby driving the two guiding arms  131  and the unlocking pieces  131   a  thereon to push out the elastic plates in the storage device. In this way, unlocking can be achieved to smoothly pull out the connector  100 . After the connector  100  is pulled out, the handle  120  is released, and the deformed elastic rods  133  will elastically recover, thereby driving the two guiding arms  131  to return their original positions. 
     Reference is made to  FIGS.  7  and  8   .  FIG.  7    is a three-dimensional schematic diagram illustrating a metal sheet  200  according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.  FIG.  8    is a perspective view of the metal sheet  200  in  FIG.  7    after being bent. From  FIGS.  7  and  8   , the general formation of the arm member  130  can be roughly understood. In the present embodiment, the arm member  130  of the unlocking module may be formed of a bent metal sheet  200 ′ and has a uniform thickness. Specifically, both sides of the metal sheet  200  can be bent upward first, and the central portion of the metal sheet  200  forms the connecting wall  132  and the baffle plate  135 . Next, the upwardly bent portions on both sides of the metal sheet  200  may be further bent to form the supporting plates  134  and the elastic rods  133  connected to each other. It can be seen that, according to the above-mentioned manufacturing processes, the arm member  130  of the present embodiment at least has the advantages of easy manufacturing and low manufacturing cost. 
     According to the foregoing recitations of the embodiments of the disclosure, it can be seen that the connector of the present disclosure can be unlocked and return to the original position without a spring, which not only has a simple structure, low cost, but also is easy and fast to be unlocked. 
     Although the present disclosure has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain embodiments thereof, other embodiments are possible. Therefore, the spirit and scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the embodiments contained herein. 
     It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the present disclosure without departing from the scope or spirit of the disclosure. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present disclosure cover modifications and variations of this disclosure provided they fall within the scope of the following claims.