Patent Publication Number: US-6659791-B1

Title: Micro coaxial cable connector having latches for securely engaging with a complementary connector

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This patent application is a continuation-in-part (C-I-P) application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/199,713, filed on Jul. 19, 2002, invented by David Tso-Chin Ko, entitled “MICRO COAXIAL CABLE CONNECTOR HAVING LATCHES FOR SECURELY ENGAGING WITH A COMPLEMENTARY CONNECTOR”, and as signed to the same assignee of this patent application. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a micro coaxial cable connector used in liquid crystal display (LCD) application, and particularly to such connector having improved latches for reliably securing the connector to a complementary connector mounted in an LCD panel. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,305,978 B1, 6,273,753 B1, 6,338,652 B1, D456,779 S, D456,780 S, D456,777 S, D457,138 S, and D444,130 S disclose low profiled micro coaxial cable connectors. This type connector is used to transmit signals between a mother board in a base of a notebook computer and an LCD panel of the notebook computer. The micro coaxial cable connector must securely engage with a complementary connector in the LCD panel, because the LCD panel is frequently pivoted relative to the base of the notebook computer. In the old design, the micro coaxial cable connector has no locking device for latching with the complementary connector when the two connectors are connected together. This cannot ensure a reliably secure connection between the two connectors, whereby the cable connector may be unintentionally disconnected from the complementary connector, and the signal transmission between the two connectors is broken. The parent application, i.e., U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/199,713 disclosed a micro coaxial cable connector having a latch device for securely engaging with a complementary connector to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art. The present invention is a further improvement of the connector shown in the &#39;713 application. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, one object of the present invention is to provide a micro coaxial cable connector having latches for securely engaging with a complementary connector. 
     In order to achieve the object set forth, an electrical connector comprising an insulative housing, a contact set received in the housing, a shield enclosing the housing, and a pair of latch devices assembled to the housing for locking with a mating connector. The housing comprises a base portion, a plurality of passageways defined in the base portion, and a pair of retention portions at a pair of lateral ends of the base portion. The contact set is assembled to a rear end of the housing and comprises an insulative insert, a plurality of signal and grounding contacts received in the insert, and a grounding bar assembled in the insert. The signal and grounding contacts extend forwardly into the passageways of the housing. The grounding bar has a plurality of grounding fingers electrically connecting the grounding contacts. The grounding plate is located above the contacts set for grounding. The pair of latch devices is assembled to the retention portions of the housing and each latch device has a latch portion for latching with a mating connector. The latch devices are pivotably mounted to retention posts integrally formed with the retention portions. The latch portions extend through passageways defined in guide posts integrally formed on front ends of the retention 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 a micro coaxial cable connector in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1, from a different aspect; 
     FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 1, from a further different aspect; 
     FIG. 4 is a partly assembled view of the micro coaxial cable connector of FIG. 3; 
     FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4, with more components of the connector being assembled together; 
     FIG. 6 is an assembled view of the micro coaxial cable connector of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 7 is an assembled view of the micro coaxial cable connector of FIG.3; and 
     FIG. 8 is a side view of the micro coaxial cable connector of FIG.  7   
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring to FIGS. 1,  2  and  3 , a micro coaxial cable connector  100  of the present invention comprises an elongate insulative housing  1 , a contact set  2  , a shield  3 , a pair of latch devices  4 , and a conductive grounding plate  5 . 
     The insulative housing  1  comprises an elongate base portion  11 , a tongue portion  12  extending forwardly from the base portion  11 , a rear portion  13  at a rear end of the base portion  11 , and a pair of retention portions  14  formed on lateral ends of the base portion  1 l. The base portion  11  and the tongue portion  12  together define a plurality of passageways  111  from the rear end of the base portion  11  to a front end of the tongue portion  12 . The rear portion  13  comprises an elongate plate  131  extending rearwardly from the base portion  11 , a pair of receiving sections  132  formed on lateral ends of the elongate plate  131 . Each of the receiving sections  132  defines a receiving channel  133  in an inner side thereof. A gap  15  is defined between each retention portion  14  and a corresponding receiving section  132 . A retention post  142  is formed on a bottom surface of each of the retention portions  14 , and the posts  142  each comprise a bottom face  1421  with a laterally inclining portion  1422  (FIG. 4) for facilitating mounting of latches onto the retention portions  14 . A pair of guiding posts  145  extends forwardly from front ends of the retention portions  14  and each guiding post  145  has a recess  146  in a top face thereof. The recess is so located that an upright wall  149  is formed on front and inner edges of the each guiding post  145 . The guiding posts  145  have flared front ends  147  for facilitating a mating of a complementary connector with the connector  100 . A passageway  148  is defined in each of the upright walls  149 , communicating with a corresponding recess  146  and extending from a corresponding flared front end  147  rearwards a distance. A plurality of protrusions  113  is formed on a bottom face  144  of the base portion  11  (FIG.  4 ). A pair of recesses  115  is defined in an upper surface face of the base portion  11  adjacent to the retention portions  14 . 
     The contact set  2  comprises an insulative insert  21 , a plurality of signal and grounding contacts  22 , and a grounding bar  23 . 
     The insulative insert  21  defines a plurality of channels  210  adjacent to a front end thereof, a receiving groove  212  adjacent to a rear end thereof. The channels  210  communicate with the receiving groove  212 . The channels  210  are extended in a front-to-rear direction. The groove  212  is laterally extended. A plurality of slots  214  extends through a rear face  213  of the insert  21  and communicates with the receiving groove  212 . The slots  214  are used to allow a plurality of wires of a cable (not shown) extending therethrough into the receiving groove  212  and the channels  210 . 
     The signal and grounding contacts  22  have the same structure; each contact  22  comprises a retention section  222 , a mating section  224  extending forwardly from the retention section  222 , and a connecting section  226  extending rearwardly from the retention section  222 . The mating sections  224  are for electrically engaging with the complementary connector. The connecting sections  226  are for electrically connecting with the wires of the cable. 
     The grounding bar  23  comprises an elongate, laterally extending main portion  232  and a plurality of grounding fingers  234  extending forwardly from the main portion  232 . 
     The shield  3  comprises an upper plate  31 , a lower plate  32 , and a pair of connecting portions  33  connecting rear portions of the upper plate  31  and the lower plate  32 . A receiving space  34  is defined between the upper and the lower plates  31  and  32 . A pair of side portions  322  extends from a pair of lateral ends of the lower plate  32  to the upper plate  31 . A plurality of resilient tabs  324  extends from the lower plate  32  into the receiving space  34  and a plurality of apertures  326  is defined in the lower plate  32 . A pair of resilient bars  312  extends from the upper plate  31  into the receiving space  34 . 
     Each latch device  4  comprises a U-shaped body portion  410  which has a top plate  411 , a bottom plate  412 , and a side plate  413  connecting side edges of the top and bottom plates  411 ,  412 . The top plate  411 , the bottom plate  412 , and the side plate  413  together define a receiving cavity  416 . The top plate  411  has a latch portion  414  in a configuration of a claw extending forwardly from a front end thereof. The latch portion  414  extends through a corresponding passageway  148  when the latch device  4  is mounted on a corresponding retention portion  14 . A retaining hole  415  is defined through the bottom plate  412  of the body portion  410 . A spring tab  417  extends forwardly from a rear end of the side plate  413  of the body portion  410  and in a direction away from the side plate  413 . A tab  419  is formed by the side plate  413  and extends inwardly. The tab  419  is used for engaging in a depression  143  defined in a side face of a corresponding retention portion  14  when the latch device  4  is mounted on the corresponding retention portion  14 , whereby the latch device  4  can be more stably mounted to the corresponding retention portion  14 . 
     The grounding plate  5  has a connecting section  51 , a plurality of grounding finger  52  and a pair of grounding beam  53  extending from two opposite ends of the connecting portion  51 . Each of the grounding beam  53  is generally in the shape of the latter L so that a free end thereof may reliably engage with the grounding bar  23 . 
     In assembly, also referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, the signal and grounding contacts  22  are respectively inserted into the channels  210  with the connecting sections  226  of the contacts  22  received in the channels  210 , and the retention sections  222  and the mating sections  224  extending forwardly beyond the a front face of the insert  21 . The grounding bar  23  is inserted into the receiving groove  212  with the grounding fingers  234  extending into corresponding channels  210  to electrically contact the grounding contacts of the contacts  22 . Therefore, the contact set  2  is assembled together. The grounding plate  5  is put on a bottom face of the insert  21 . 
     The contact set  2  together with the grounding plate  5  is then assembled to the elongate plate  131  of the rear portion  13  of the insulative housing  1  with lateral ends of the contact set  2  received in the receiving channels  133  of the receiving sections  132 , respectively, and the retention sections  222  and the mating sections  224  of the contacts  22  extending into the passageways  111  of the housing  1 , wherein the retention sections have an interferential fit with the housing  1 . 
     The housing  1  is assembled into the receiving space  34  of the shield  3  with the plurality of protrusions  113  fitted into the apertures  326 , the resilient tabs  324  extending into the receiving groove  212  and engaging with the grounding bar  23 , and the resilient bars  312  engaging in the recesses  115  of the base portion  11  of the housing  1 . The grounding plate  5  is located between the insert  21  and the lower plate  32  of the shield  3 . Thus, the insulative housing  1 , the contact set  2 , the shield  3  and the grounding plate  5  are assembled together. 
     Referring to FIGS. 6 to  8 , the latch devices  4  are respectively assembled to the retention portions  14  of the housing  1  from laterally outside of the housing  1  to a position wherein the retention portions  14  are respectively inserted into the receiving cavities  416  of the body portions  410 . The retention posts  142  are fitted into the retaining holes  415  so that the latch devices  4  are pivotably mounted on the retention portions  14 , respectively. Each latch portion  414  extends through a corresponding passageway  148  to a position in inner of the upright wall  149  of the corresponding guiding post  145 . The spring tabs  417  extend into the gaps  15  and resiliently abut against the side portions  322  of the shield  3  so that the latch devices  4  and the shield  3  are electrically connected together. The tabs  419  engage in the depressions  143  to more stably mount the latch devices  4  to the retention portions  14 . Accordingly, the micro coaxial cable connector  100  in accordance with the present invention is completed. 
     When the micro coaxial cable connector  100  engages with the complementary connector (not shown), the latch portions  414  engage in recesses defined by the complementary connector to latch therewith, whereby the connector  100  and the complementary connector are securely connected together. To separate the connector  100  from the complementary connector, rear ends of the latch devices  4  are pushed towards each other to cause the latch devices  4  to pivot about the retention posts  142  in a manner that the latch portions  414  move away from each other to be pivoted away from each other. Thus, the latch of the connector  100  with the complementary connector is released and the connector  100  can be pulled to separate from the complementary connector. The tabs  419  have front ends (not labeled) engaging with the insulative housing  1 , whereby a pulling force acting on the latch devices  4  by the complementary connector can be resisted by both the retention posts  142  and housing  1  engaging with the front ends of the tabs  419  so that the force acting on the retention posts  142  can be reduced to prevent damage of the retention posts  142  due to the pulling force. 
     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.