Patent Publication Number: US-6210215-B1

Title: Panel mount electrical connector assembly

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to an electrical connector assembly, and particularity to a panel mount connector electrical assembly for securing to a panel of an electric instrument. 
     2. The Prior Art 
     In conventional connector assemblies mounted to a panel of an electric instrument like a computer chassis, a first type connector as introduced in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,820,180, 4,988,308, 5,017,151, 5,049,092, 5,249,982, 5,514,000, 5,525,074, 5,575,673, 5,632,648, 5,766,041, 5,895,289, 5,931,688 and RE 34,430 presents the claw-like or sealed securement of the connector to the panel. However, the process of interference-fitting the connector through an opening defined on the panel may have the claw/seal permanently deformed in fitting dimension. The incorrect/change of fitting tolerance may loose the securement of the connector to the panel. A mating action of an external connector may forcedly push the connector assembly out of the panel, consequently. 
     A second type connector as introduced in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,678,259, 5,228,865, 5,254,010, 5,709,569, 5,772,471, 5,924,877, and Des. 415,106 presents the direct-screwed securement of the connector to the panel for enhancement of the retention. However, the manual pre-alignment among several different screwed holes defined on the connector assembly, the mating connector and the panel, and the usage of the external and separate screws easily causes the securement of the connector inconvenient and time-consuming. 
     A third type connector as introduced in U.S. Pat. No. 5,766,035 presents two lugs 8 a , 8 b  for pre-alignment of the connector with the panel before being screwed thereto. However, it is anticipated that its corresponding mating connector must be a specific one additionally installed with two screws. Other common mating connectors without additional screws are not suitable for the third type connector. Also, the screws solely driven inside the mating connector are possibly lost in delivery because of the removability of the screws from the mating connector. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, one object of the present invention is to provide a panel mount electrical connector assembly having at least a specific screw moveably secured therein for firmly, conveniently and speedily securing the electrical connector to a panel of an electrical instrument like a computer chassis. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide the panel mount electrical connector assembly having the movable built-in specific screws without possibility of loss. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide a panel of an electrical instrument like a computer chassis with a plurality of cutouts for cooperation with the screw of the connector assembly for conveniently and speedily screwing the electrical connector to the panel. 
     To fulfill the above mentioned objects, according to several embodiments of the present invention, a panel mount electrical connector assembly for mounting on a panel of an instrument, includes an insulative outermost housing, a pair of specific screws, and a traditional connector unit linking with a bunch of cables. 
     The outer insulative housing is defined with an upper and lower covers each which has a pair of first passageways for reception of the screws. A stop portion is integrally swelled within each of the first passageways and has a deep cave defined thereon. Each of the specific screw has a threaded shaft and two heads at opposite ends of the threaded shaft. A fixture portion is screwed on the shaft but restricted between the heads of each screw. 
     When the specific screws are assembled within one of the covers, the front head of each of the screws is exposed out of the cover for being driven. And, the rear head is movably restricted within the corresponding first passageway by the stop portion from removal of the entire screw out of the outer housing. The fixture portion is fixedly located within the cave of the outer housing thereby cooperating with the threaded shaft of the corresponding screw to adjustably move the screw in/out. Therefore, these screws are movably built in the outer housing of the connector assembly without possibility of loss. 
     The panel consists of opposite front and rear surfaces, a first cutout and a second cutout respectively defined through both surfaces of the panel. Each of the cutouts is divided into a wide region and a narrow region communicated and dimensioned with regard to the wide region. 
     In attachment of the electrical connector assembly to the panel, the front heads of the specific screws are firstly moved to removably enter through the wide regions of the corresponding cutouts. Then, the front heads are successively moved along but restricted from being removed out the narrow regions of the same cutouts thereby easily and speedily screwing the electrical connector assembly to the panel as long as driving the screws in. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a panel mount electrical connector assembly of a first preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a front perspective view of a cover used in the panel mount electrical connector assembly shown in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a front perspective view of a screw used in the panel mount electrical connector assembly shown in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 4 is a sub-assembled perspective view of the panel mount electrical connector assembly of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 5 is a front perspective view of a panel for used with the panel mount electrical connector assembly of FIG. 1; 
     FIGS. 6-7 show the assembly of the panel mount electrical connector assembly of FIG. 1 with the panel of FIG. 5; 
     FIG. 8 is a front perspective view of a panel mount electrical connector assembly of a second preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 9 is a sub-assembled perspective view of the panel mount electrical connector assembly of FIG. 8 showing a circuit board in dotted line attached therein; 
     FIG. 10 is a sub-assembled perspective view of another panel mount electrical connector assembly of a third embodiment in accordance with the present invention showing a bunch of cables directly soldered into a plurality of contacts of the connector; 
     FIG. 11 is a front perspective view of a cover for used in the panel mount electrical connector assembly shown in either FIG. 9 or FIG. 10; and 
     FIG. 12 is a front perspective view showing that the panel mount electrical connector assembly shown in either FIG. 9 or FIG. 10 is attached into the panel. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Detailed reference will now be made to the preferred embodiments of the present invention. 
     Referring to FIGS. 1 &amp; 4, a panel mount electrical connector assembly  10  in accordance with a first preferred embodiment of the present invention for coupling with a mating connector (not shown), includes an insulative outermost housing  120 , a connector unit  140 , a pair of specific screws  150 , and a bunch of cables  170 . Meanwhile, the connector unit  140  is optionally designated to be a standard connector like an USB (Universal serial Bus) connector, which is capable of coupling alone with the mating connector beside used in the electrical connector assembly  10 . Such a standard connector unit  140  commonly has an inner insulative housing  142  defining a mating opening  143  therein for receiving the mating connector, a plurality of contacts  144  disposed within the inner housing  142 , and an inner conductive shell  146  used to shield around the outside of the inner housing  142 . The inner shell  146  further integrally forms a plurality of grounding tabs  148  extending around a mating surface of the connector unit  140 . As shown in FIG. 4, the circuit board  160  is used to electrically interconnect between the contacts  144  of the connector unit  140  and the cables  170 . 
     The outer insulative housing  120  is defined with a upper and lower covers  1202  which are the same as shown in FIG. 2 for convenience of fabrication. Each of the cover  1202  as shown in FIGS. 2 &amp; 4 forms a platform  1204  adjacent a front end thereof for reception of the connector unit  140 . A pair of first passageways  1206  is integrally located at opposite sides of the platform  1204 , along a front-to-rear direction for reception of the screws  150 . A pit  1208  is defined at rear portion of the platform  1204  for reception of the circuit board  160 . A stop portion  1216  is integrally swelled within each of the first passageways  1206  in position adjacent to the front end of the same cover  1202 . A second passageway  1218  defined above each stop portion  1216  is dimensioned smaller than the corresponding first passageway  1218 . A deep recess  1220  is defined at central region of each of the stop portion  1216  to cut the corresponding second passageway  1218  off. 
     Further referring to FIG. 3, the specific screw  150  is fabricated to have a threaded shaft  1502  and two heads  1504 ,  1506  wider than the shaft  1502 , located at opposite ends of the shaft  1502 . A fixture portion  1508  with an inner thread like a nut is screwed on the threaded shaft  1502  but restricted between the heads  1504 ,  1506  of the screw  150 . Optionally, the rear head  1506  is shaped by soldering another nut to the rear end of the screw  150 , or by a stamping process to deform the rear end of the screw  150 . In assembly of the screws  150  within the cover  1202  of the outer housing  120  as shown in FIG. 4, the front head  1504  of each of the screws  150  is exposed out of the cover  1202  for being driven. When the front head  1504  is driven, the rear head  1506  is movably restricted within the corresponding first passageway  1206  by the stop portion  1216  from removal of the entire screw  150  out of the outer housing  120 . The fixture portion  1508  is fixedly located within the cave  1220  of the outer housing  120  thereby cooperating with the threaded shaft of the screw  150  to adjustably move the screw  150  in/out. Therefore, these screws are movably built in the outer housing of the connector assembly without possibility of loss. Then, the sub-assembled lower cover  1202  and the upper cover  1202  are combined, as the result shown in FIG. 1, where the connector unit  140  and the circuit board  160  are fully enclosed almost except the grounding tabs  148  for electrical contact with a panel  20  shown in FIG.  5 . The efficient retention between both covers  1202  is optionally built by an ultrasonic welding. 
     The panel  20  shown in FIG. 5 serves for an electrical instrument like a computer, and consists of opposite front and rear surfaces. A first cutout  22  and a second cutout  24  are respectively defined through both surfaces of the panel  20 , each is divided into a wide region  222 ,  242  and a narrow region  224 ,  244  communicated below with and dimensioned smaller than the wide region  222 ,  242  in width. Beside, the wider region  242  of the second cutout  24  is dimensioned sufficient to permit entrance/removal of the mating connector for coupling with the electrical connector assembly  10 . 
     In assembly of the electrical connector assembly  10  with the panel  20  as shown in FIGS. 5 &amp; 6, the front heads  1504  of the specific screws  150  are firstly moved to removably enter through the wide regions  222 ,  242  of the corresponding cutouts  22 ,  24  so that the front heads  1504  are exposed outside the panel  20  in opposition to the surface where the electrical connector assembly  10  is disposed. Then, the front heads  1504  are successively moved along the narrow regions  224 ,  244  of the same cutouts  22 ,  24  while being restricted from being removed therefrom due to hooking relationship between the heads  1504  and the narrow regions  224 ,  244 . This is because each of the front heads  1504  is dimensioned larger than the narrow region  224 ,  244  of the corresponding cutout  22 ,  24  in width but the threaded shafts  1502  are dimensioned smaller or equal to the cutouts  22 ,  24 . Accordingly, any one user can easily and speedily screw the electrical connector assembly to the panel as long as driving the screws  150  in, as the result shown in FIG.  7 . Meanwhile, it is understood that the mating surface of the connector unit  140  of the connector assembly  10  is aligned with the wide region  242  of the second cutout  24  for coupling with the mating connector. It is appreciated that a resilient dimple portion may be optionally formed around the distal end of the narrow regions  224 ,  244  for preventing inadvertently moving the screw  150  in a reverse direction along the narrow regions  224 ,  244  when the screw  150  has not been fully driven to its final fixed position. 
     A second preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention as shown in FIGS. 8,  9  &amp;  11  indicates a plug type connector assembly  10 ′ similar to the forgoing first embodiment expect the differences in the appearances. A pair of complementary posts  180 ′,  182 ′ are supposed to be formed within each cover  1202 ′ for alignment before welding therebetween. 
     A third preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention as shown in FIG. 10 indicates a difference from the second embodiment, where a direct-soldering connection between the contacts  144 ″ and the cables  170 ″ replaces the interconnection of the circuit board. However, attachment of either the plug type connector assembly of the first or second embodiment to the panel  20 ′ has the same result as shown in FIG.  12 . 
     While the present invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments, the description is illustrative of the invention and is not to be construed as limiting the invention. Various modifications to the present invention can be made to the preferred embodiments by those skilled in the art without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.