Patent Publication Number: US-6663406-B1

Title: Slanted electrical connector having board lock

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to an electrical connector, and particularly to a slanted electrical connector comprising a metallic board lock. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Introduced in the 1980s, the Parallel ATA (Advanced Technology Attachment) interface has been the dominant PC storage interface protocol for many years for desktop and portable computers due to the following three primary reasons: low cost, simplicity and high performance. 
     However, people in the recent years find the Parallel ATA interface dissatisfying for the present needs due to the following pressing drawbacks: firstly, Parallel ATA requires 5-volt transceivers, which imposes integration problems with new silicon processes. On the other hand, evolving parallel ATA beyond 100 MB/sec could require the implementation of technical enhancements, including Low Voltage Differential (LVD) signaling. 
     Secondly, the electrical connector used for the Parallel ATA interface is featured in high pin count, thereby often having problems in manufacturing, assembling and using. Furthermore, the ribbon header connector can be difficult to seat in the system board during the assembly processes, and can lead to reliability and support issues. 
     Finally, the 80-conductor cable required to support parallel ATA is relatively expensive and unwieldy to route inside the PC chassis, even worse, the flat ribbon cable used can interfere with air flow and cooling. 
     Therefore, people in the pertinent art are developing another interface called serial ATA interface to overcome the above-mentioned shortcomings of Parallel ATA interface. Electrical connectors for the serial ATA interface comprise less pin counts than electrical connectors for parallel ATA interface, for example, one type of serial ATA connector comprises only 7 electrical contacts while another type of serial ATA connector comprises only 22 electrical contacts. 
     The assignee of this application is endeavoring in developing the serial ATA connectors and has disclosed some earlier designs related thereto with the co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 10/159,458 filed on May 31, 2002 and entitled ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR WITH SELF-RETAINING BOARD LOCKS, with the Ser. No. 10/215,977 filed on Aug. 8, 2002 and entitled ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR WITH IMPROVED TERMIANL RETAINING SYSTEM, with the Ser. No. 10/210,383 filed on Jul. 31, 2002 and entitled TWO PORTS INTEGRAL ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR. 
     The above mentioned co-pending applications of the assignee the same as this application disclose electrical connectors either in horizontal type or in vertical type. However, some times people want the electrical connector to be somewhat slanted, that is, a mating face of the electrical connector is obliquely arranged with respect to a mounting face, thereby a vertical height of the electrical connector and a space, i.e., the horizontal dimension, occupied by the electrical connector on a printed circuit board being able to get an acceptable balance therebetween. 
     U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,917,624, 5,041,005, 5,460,537, 5,511,985, and 5,961,346 respectively disclose slanted electrical connectors. All the slanted electrical connectors disclosed in the above mentioned patents are in high pin counts and mate with memory cards inserted into slots thereof. Nevertheless, the serial ATA connector with which we are now concerned is featured in lower pin count and is mated with a complementary cable connector. 
     Therefore, an electrical connector is desired to match the needs. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A major object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector defining a mating face obliquely arranged with respect to a mounting face thereof. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector which comprises a small number of electrical contacts and a metallic board lock to secure the electrical connector to a printed circuit board. 
     An electrical connector in accordance with the present invention comprises an insulative housing, a plurality of electrical contacts and a pair of board locks. The insulative housing comprises a base portion defining a mating face and a mounting face, and a mating tongue extending from the mating face. The mating face and the mounting face are arranged obliquely with respect to each other so that an angle α is defined between the mating tongue and the mounting face. The angle α is less than 90 degrees. 
     The base portion comprises a pair of mounting ends each defining a cavity and the board locks are inserted in an upward and forward direction into the cavity. Each board lock is formed with a pair of spaced teeth, an upper tab and a lower tab to provide a retention to the insulative housing. 
    
    
     Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present embodiment when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is an exploded view of an electrical connector in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is an assembled perspective view of the electrical connector of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 1, but taken from another perspective; 
     FIG. 4 is an assembled perspective view of FIG. 3; 
     FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 1, but taken from yet another perspective; 
     FIG. 6 is an assembled perspective view of FIG. 5; 
     FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line  7 — 7  of FIG. 4; 
     FIG. 8 is another cross-sectional view taken along line  8 — 8  of FIG. 2; 
     FIG. 9 is yet another cross-sectional view taken along line  9 — 9  of FIG. 6; 
     FIG. 10 is still another cross-sectional view of the electrical connector; and 
     FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a board lock of the electrical connector when still connecting with a carrier strip. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, an electrical connector  1  in accordance with the present invention comprises an insulative housing  20 , a plurality of electrical contacts  30  and a pair of metallic board locks  40 . 
     The insulative housing  20  comprises a base portion  21  and a mating tongue  22  extending from the base portion  21 . The base portion  21  comprises a pair of opposite mounting ends  23 , a beam section  24  extending between and connecting the mounting ends  23  and a shoulder  29  extending from one of the mounting ends  23  beside one end of the mating tongue  22 . The shoulder  29  defines a U-shaped channel  290  extending therethrough. The base portion  21  defines a mating face  25  extending through the mounting ends  23  and the beam section  24 , a mounting face  26  on bottom faces of the mounting ends  23 , through which the electrical connector  1  is mounted to a printed circuit board (not shown), a front face  27  connecting the mating and the mounting faces  25 ,  26 , and a rear face  28  opposite to the front face  27 . Referring also to FIG. 7, the mating face  25  is obliquely arranged with respect to the mounting face  26  in such a way that the mating tongue  22  extending from the mating face  25  defines an angle α with respect to the plane the mounting face  26  lies in. The angle α is preferred at the range of less than 90 degrees. 
     Referring also to FIGS. 8 to  10 , each of the mounting ends  23  defines a cavity  230  extending from the rear and the mounting faces  28 ,  26  thereof, and a pair of passageways  230  extending respectively from the mating and the front faces  25 ,  27  and communicating with the cavity  230 . Each of the mounting ends  23  comprises an upper step  233  protruding into a rear and relatively upper portion of the cavity  230  and a lower step  232  protruding into a rear and relatively lower portion of the cavity  230 . 
     Referring also to FIGS. 3-7, the mating tongue  22  defines an under face  220  facing the printed circuit board (not shown) to which the electrical connector  2  is mounted and comprises a stop wall  221  extending downward at one end thereof distal from the shoulder  29 . The under face  220  defines a plurality of terminal passageways  223  recessed therefrom and extending from the mating tongue  22  through the beam section  24 . 
     Each of the electrical contacts  30  comprises a contact portion  31  accommodated in the passageway  223  on the under face  220  of the mating tongue  22 , a fixing portion  32  extending straightly from the contact portion  31  and engaging with the insulative housing  20  to retain the electrical contact  30  to the insulative housing  20 , a connection portion  33  extending angularly from the fixing portion  32  beyond the beam section  24  into between the mounting ends  23  of the insulative housing  20 , and a tail portion  34  extending angularly from the connection portion  34  to abut against the printed circuit board (not shown) to which the electrical connector  1  is mounted. 
     Each of the board locks  40  comprises a generally planar retaining portion  41  and a locking portion  42  extending downwardly from the retaining portion  41 . The retaining portion  41  is formed with a pair of spaced teeth  410  at a front section thereof, a rearwardly-extending upper tab  411  deflected sidewardly from adjacent a front section thereof and a rearwardly-extending lower tab  412  deflected sidewardly from adjacent a rear section thereof. The locking portion  42  comprises a pair of spaced legs  420 . 
     Referring also to FIGS. 8 and 11, the board lock  40  is connected to a carrier strip  50  at a rear section  413  of the retaining portion  41  thereof. In such a way, the board lock  40  is inserted in a forward and upward direction B into the cavity  230  of the mounting end  230  of the insulative housing  20 . The direction B defines an angle β with respect to a direction which perpendicular to the mounting face  26  of the insulative housing  20 . The angle β is identical to the angle α although it could be other degrees under the condition of less than 90 degrees. 
     The spaced teeth  410  of the board locks  40  are received in the passageways  231  of the insulative housing  20  to stop the board locks  40  from forwardly and downwardly escaping from the insulative housing  20 . The upper and the lower tabs  411 ,  412  are engaged with the upper and the lower steps  233 ,  232  of the insulative housing  20  to prevent the backward and downward movement of the board locks  40 . In such a way, the board locks  40  are reliably secured to the insulative housing  20  and after the electrical connector  1  is mounted to the printed circuit board, the retention between the legs  420  of the locking portions  42  of the board locks  40  significantly enhances the retention between the insulative housing  20  and the printed circuit board. 
     It is noted that referring to FIG. 7, in this embodiment the mounting end  23  of the U-shaped base portion  21  includes a triangular pier below an imaginary line B which extends along a the lower oblique plane of the beam section  24  so as to support the angled housing  20  wherein a dimension of such a triangular pier of one mounting section along a longitudinal direction of the housing under the shoulder  29  is larger than that of the other which is not located under the shoulder  29 . Moreover, the center line A of the board lock  40  may be aligned with a position along the longitudinal direction where the contacts  30  are just leaving the back face of the beam section  24 . Those arrangements may provide a reliable engagement between the instant slanted type serial ATA connector and the printed circuit board on which the serial ATA connector is seated. 
     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.