Patent Publication Number: US-6699074-B1

Title: Cable connector assembly having improved grounding means

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This patent application is a co-pending application of U.S. Patent Application contemporaneously filed on the same date with the present invention with Ser. No. 10/330,990, entitled “CABLE CONNECTOR ASSEMBLY”, invented by Zhou hong bin and Zhi gang cai, and assigned to the same assignee as the present application. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention generally relates to a cable connector assembly, and particularly to a cable connector assembly having an improved grounding means. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     A cable connector assembly is often devised to electrically connect two or more electronic apparatuses, such as a mother board of a computer and a peripheral equipment. The cable connector assembly includes an electrical connector and a cable electrically connected with the electrical connector. The electrical connector comprises a grounding member electrically connecting with the electronic apparatuses for eliminating noise. 
     Furthermore, the cable of the cable connector assembly contains a plurality of grounding conductors electrically soldered on the shielding member of the electrical connector for providing a grounding transmission therebetween. Understandably, the grounding transmission is an important factor for the cable connector assembly which directly result the shielding effect. However, the mechanical connection of the grounding conductors and the shielding member by merely soldering therebetween is not reliable. The grounding transmission may be possibly affected. 
     Hence, a cable connector assembly having an improved grounding means is required to overcome the disadvantages of the related art. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An object of the present invention is to provide a cable connector assembly having an improved grounding means. 
     In order to achieve the object set forth, a cable connector assembly in accordance with the present invention includes a housing, a plurality of electrical connectors, a shielding member, a plurality of cables and outstretched wires. The housing defines a plurality of positioning slits recessing inwardly from a bottom face. The positioning slit has a receiving part at a front end thereof and a holding part communicating with the receiving part. The shielding member encloses a front portion of the housing with a retaining portion received in the receiving part of the positioning slit. Each outstretched wire electrically connects with a grounding conductor of the cable and can be securely retained in the holding part of the positioning slit of the housing with a front end thereof soldered on the retaining portion of the shielding member thereby providing a reliable grounding transmission. 
     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, perspective view of a cable connector assembly in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is an assembled perspective view of the cable connector assembly of FIG. 1, from a top aspect; 
     FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2, but taken from a bottom aspect; 
     FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a housing of the cable connector assembly of FIG. 1; and 
     FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a shielding member of the cable connector assembly of FIG.  1 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring to FIGS. 1-2, a cable connector assembly in accordance with the present invention, generally designated  1 , is adapted for mating with a plurality of complementary connectors (not shown). The cable connector assembly  1  includes a dielectric housing  10 , a set of electrical connectors consisted of a pair of first connectors  20  and a pair of second connectors  30 , a shielding member  40 , a pair of first cables  50  and a second cable  60 . In the preferred embodiment, the first electrical connectors  20  are typical standard Universal Serial Bus (USB) connectors and the second electrical connectors  30  are audio jack connectors. However, in alternative embodiments, the electrical connectors could be provided with any suitable types connectors. 
     The dielectric housing  10  generally molded of plastic or polymer material has an elongate base  103 . As shown in FIG.  1  and FIG. 4, the base  103  has a mating face  105 , a rear face  106  opposite to the mating face  105 , a top face  108 , a bottom face  109  opposite to the top face  108 , and a pair of lateral ends  107  connecting the mating face  105  and the rear face  106 . The base  103  defines a pair of first cavities  101  communicating with each other for respectively receiving the first connectors  20  therein, a pair of second cavities  102  communicating with each other for respectively receiving the second connectors  30  therein, and an intermediate wall  104  partitioning the first cavities  101  and the second cavities  102 . The base  103  defines a pair of slots  17  from the top face  108  and each slot  17  communicates with a corresponding second cavity  102 . A plurality of wedge protrusions  11  respectively projects upwardly and downwardly from the top face  108  and the bottom face  109  of the base  103 . A plurality of holding portions  12  respectively projects upwardly and downwardly from the top face  108  and the bottom face  109  and aligning with the wedge protrusions  11 . The holding portion  12  is L-shaped and defines a cutout (not labeled) at the front end thereof between the holding portion  12  and the top face  108  of the base  103  for receiving edges of the shielding member  10 . A pair of side blocks  15  protrudes outwardly from the pair of lateral ends  107  of the base  103 . Each side block  15  defines a retaining hole  13 . A pair of wedge ribs  14  is disposed respectively at a top and a bottom of each side block  15 . 
     A plurality of passageways  16  is defined in the base  103  from the rear face  107  recessing inwardly and respectively communicates with the first cavity  101  and the second cavity  102 . The passageways  16  are provided for receiving the first cables  50  and the second cable  60 . The base  103  defines a plurality of positioning slits  110  recessing inwardly from the bottom face  109  and aligning with the passageways  16  thereof, as best shown in FIG.  4 . The positioning slits  110  extend forwardly and parallel to the lateral ends  107 . Each positioning slit  110  has a holding part  112  adjacent to the rear face  107  and a receiving part  111  at the front end thereof communicating with the holding part  112 . The receiving part  111  extends towards the mating face  105  and has a transverse dimension larger than that of the holding part  112 . 
     Also referring to FIG. 1, the first connectors  20  are a pair of typical USB connectors arranged in a side by side manner. The second connectors  30  are a pair of typical audio jack connectors side by side arranged. Structures of the USB connectors and audio jack connectors are well known to persons skilled in the art, detailed description thereof is omitted here. Each first connector  20  has a mating port  24  at the front portion thereof. A capacitor  202  is disposed between the rear portions of the first connectors  20  for providing a filterable function. Each second connector  30  defines a cutout  34  on a top face thereof and adjacent to a mating port  31  thereof. The second electrical connector  30  further comprises a grounding terminal  33  extending into the cutout  34  and exposed therein. 
     The pair of first cables  50  is respectively connected with the pair of first connectors  20 . Each first cable  50  contains a plurality of signal conductors (not shown) electrically connected with corresponding terminals (not labeled) of the first connector  20 , a plurality of grounding conductors (not shown), and an insulative layer  51  enclosing the signal conductors and the grounding conductors. The tip part of each first cable  50  is stripped of the insulative layer  51  so that the grounding conductors are exposed for being soldered on an outer shield of the first connector  20 . A first outstretched wire  26  soldered on the outer shield of the first connector  20  extends rearward from the first connector  20 . The grounding path from the outstretched wire  26 , the outer shield of the first connector  20 , and the grounding conductors of the first cable  50  is thus established. It should be noted that in an alternative embodiment, the first outstretched wire  26  can be directly electrically connected with the grounding conductor of the first cable  50 . Furthermore, the first outstretched wire  26  can be defined as a part of the grounding conductor of the first cable  50  which is also feasible. 
     The second cable  60  has a pair of segments at the front end thereof for respectively connected with the second electrical connectors  30 . Similar to the first cables  50 , each second cable  60  contains a plurality of signal wires  62  electrically connected with corresponding terminals (not labeled) of the second connector  30 , a plurality of grounding wires (not shown), and an insulative layer  61  enclosing the signal wires and the grounding wires. The second cable  60  has a retaining board  63  over-molded with and enclosing an end of the second cable  60 . The retaining board  63  is rectangular and engages with the housing  10  for providing a retention between the housing  10  and the second cable  60 . The tip part of second cable  60  is stripped of the insulative layer  61  so that a front end of the grounding wire is exposed to form a second outstretched wire  36 . The second outstretched wire  36  extends forwardly under the retaining board  63 . 
     Referring to FIG.  1  and FIG. 5, the shielding member  40  is generally stamped from a piece of metal or other conductive materials. The shielding member  40  is in an elongate frame shape for substantially shielding the front portion of the housing  10 . The shielding member  40  comprises a front wall  403 , a top wall  404  and a bottom wall  406  respectively extending rearward from opposite top and lower sides of the front wall  403 , and a pair of lateral walls  405  connecting with opposite lateral sides of the top wall  404  and the bottom wall  406 . The front wall  403  defines a pair of first holes  401  aligning with the first cavities  101  and a pair of second holes  402  aligning with the second cavities  102  so as for allowing mating ports  31  of the second electrical connectors  30  extending therethrough. The first hole  401  is rectangular and the second hole  402  is round. Each of the top wall  404  and the bottom wall  406  is stamped to form a plurality of engaging taps  41  protruding outwardly and a pair of contact taps  45  protruding inwardly therefrom. The engaging taps  41  are devised for electrically engaging with a panel of a computer when the cable connector assembly  1  is assembled in the computer. The contact taps  45  extend through the slots  17  of the housing  10  and electrically mates with the grounding terminals  33  retained in the cutouts  34  therein. 
     A plurality of retaining flakes  42  extends rearward from the top wall  404  and the bottom wall  406  which define a cutout (not labeled) for receiving the wedge protrusions  11  of the base  101 . Each retaining flake  42  of the bottom wall  406  defines a retaining portion  407  adjacent to rear side thereof. The retaining portion  407  is formed in the shape of an arc by stamping. The arc retaining portion  407  is a recess compared to the bottom wall  406  and an aperture  408  (shown in FIG. 3) is defined at the front end of the retaining portion  407 . A pair of side plates  48  each bends from a rear side of the lateral walls  405 . Each side plate  48  defines a hole  43  corresponding to the retaining hole  13  of the side block  15  of the housing  10  for a corresponding screw extending therethrough. A plurality of engaging taps  46  is stamped and protrudes forwardly therefrom for electrically engaging with the panel of the computer which is similar to the engaging taps  41  formed on the sidewalls  404 . A pair of retaining flakes  47  respectively bends from the top and lower sides of each side plate  48  which defines a cutout (not labeled) for receiving a corresponding wedge rib  14  of the side block  15  for providing a retention therebetween. 
     In assembly, as shown in FIGS. 1-3, the first connectors  20  and the second connectors  30  respectively connect with the first cables  50  and the second cable  60  with the terminals (not labeled) thereof respectively soldered to the corresponding signal conductors of the first cables  50  and the second cable  60  which is well known for persons skilled in the art and the detailed description is omitted here. The first electrical connectors  20  and the second electrical connectors  30  are respectively inserted into the first cavities  101  and the second cavities  102  from a mating face  105  of the base  101  with the mating ports  24  and the mating ports  31  thereof exposed away the mating face  105 . Correspondingly, the first cables  50  and the second cable  60  extend through the passageway  16  and beyond the rear face  106  of base  101 . 
     Subsequently, the shielding member  40  is assembled to the housing  10  with the front wall  403  thereof abutting against the mating face  105  of the base  101 . The top wall  404 , the bottom wall  406  and the lateral walls  405  of the shielding member  40  enclose the front portion of the base  101  with the rear edges retained in the cutouts of the holding portion  12 . Each side plate  48  of the shielding member  40  engages with the side block  15  of the housing  10 . The retaining flakes  42 ,  47  are respectively engaged with the wedge protrusions  11  and the wedge ribs  14  of the base  103  for providing a reliable retention therebetween. The first holes  401  and the second holes  402  respectively aligns with the first cavities  101  and the second cavities  102  for allowing the mating ports  24  of the first electrical connectors  20  and the mating ports  31  of the second electrical connectors  30  extending therethrough. 
     The retaining portion  407  of the shielding member  40  is snugly retained in the receiving part  111  of the positioning slit  110  of the housing  10 . Each of the outstretched wires  26 ,  36  is respectively received in the hold part  112  of the positioning slit  110  with a free end thereof soldered on the retaining portion  407  retained in the receiving part  111 . Since the housing  10  of the cable connector assembly  1  defines the positioning slits  110  respectively receiving the outstretched wires  26 ,  36  and the retaining portions  407  of the shielding member  40  therein, so that the outstretched wires  26 ,  36  are thus reliably retained. The electrical and mechanical connection between the outstretched wires  26 ,  36  and the shielding member  40  is corresponding enhanced. 
     In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the cable connector assembly  1  defines the positioning slits  110  in the bottom face  109  of the housing  10 . Of course, it is easily understood the persons skilled in the art that the positioning slits  110  can be defined in the top face  108 , or the lateral end  107  of the housing  10 . Furthermore, it should be noted that the cable connector assembly  1  comprises a plurality of connectors, such as the first connectors  10 , the second connectors  20 . However, the cable connector assembly  1  can have only one connector in an alternative embodiment. Understandably, only one cable is required to electrically connected with the connector. 
     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.