Patent Publication Number: US-6210237-B1

Title: Multi-port modular jack assembly and method for making the same

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a Continuation Application (CA) of pending patent application Ser. No. 09/025,728 filed on Feb. 18, 1998 by the same inventor, now abandoned. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to an electrical connector assembly, and particularly to a multi-port, telephone-type modular jack assembly for directly coupling a number of modular plugs to a printed circuit board. The present invention also relates to a method for making such a modular jack assembly. 
     2. The Prior Art 
     U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,531,612, 5,378,172, 5,419,720, 5,249,987 and 5,478,261 and Taiwan Patent Application Nos. 83213632, 83203192, 81204566, 83202859 and 82119692 disclose some conventional modular jacks/multi-port modular jack assemblies, wherein Taiwan Patent Application Nos. 82119692 and U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,249,987 and 5,478,261 emphasize contact design, Taiwan Patent Application Nos. 83203192, 83213632, 81204566 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,419,720 mainly relate to insulative housing design, and Taiwan Patent Application No. 83202859 addresses an electromagnetic shielding shell. 
     The conventional modular jack/jack assembly includes at least eight contacts for connecting with eight contacts of a mating telephone-type modular plug for transmitting electrical signals therethrough. Mounting the contacts of the prior art modular jacks/jack assemblies in housings thereof is laborious and troublesome. Thus, the assembly and production efficiency of the prior art is relatively low. 
     Furthermore, when the conventional modular jacks/jack assemblies are mounted to electronic devices, it is difficult for grounding/shielding shells thereof to be positively connected to grounding panels (usually, front or rear panels) of the electronic devices. 
     Moreover, the grounding/shielding shells of the conventional modular jacks/jack assemblies each consist of a number of separate members which are not easily assembled with the housings thereof. 
     Additionally, the contacts of the prior art modular jacks/jack assemblies have a configuration which will interfere with an insertion of mating modular plugs thereinto so that the mating modular plugs cannot be smoothly connected to the conventional modular jacks/jack assemblies. 
     Finally, in the prior art modular jacks/jack assemblies, engaging tabs of the shielding/grouding shells engaging with the plastic housings will interfere with neighboring modular jacks/jack assemblies so that the modular jacks/jack assemblies cannot be closely juxtaposed together. 
     Therefore, an improved modular jack/jack assembly is needed to eliminate the above mentioned defects of current modular jacks/jack assemblies. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, an objective of the present invention is to provide an improved multi-port modular jack assembly having contacts which can be easily and quickly mounted within a housing of the modular jack assembly. 
     Another objective of the present invention is to provide a method for forming a multi-port modular jack assembly having an improved production/assembly efficiency. 
     A further objective of the present invention is to provide a multi-port modular jack assembly with a shielding/grounding shell which can be positively connected to a grounding panel of an electronic device when the jack assembly is mounted thereto. 
     Still another objective of the present invention is to provide a multi-port modular jack assembly having a shielding/grouding shell integrally formed with a front and a rear shielding/grounding member which can be easily assembled with a housing of the modular jack assembly. 
     Still a further objective of the present invention is to provide a multi-port modular jack assembly with contacts having a configuration which will not interfere with an insertion of mating plugs into the modular jack assembly. 
     A final objective of the present invention is to provide a multi-port modular jack assembly which can be closely juxtaposed together. 
     To fulfill the above objectives, according to one embodiment of the present invention, a multi-port modular jack assembly includes a dielectric housing defining four ports for respectively receiving four mating modular plugs, four dielectric inserts each having an L-shaped configuration with a vertical body defining two rows of alternating contact mounting holes and a horizontal plate defining eight contact passageways in communication with a space below the horizontal plate, four sets of eight contacts each having a free end connected to a common front blank portion, a V-shaped contact portion, a fit portion with barbs and a terminal portion perpendicular to the contact portion, and a grounding/shielding shell integrally formed with a front and a rear grounding/shielding member. 
     To assemble the jack assembly, a set of eight contacts are mounted to a corresponding insert by extending the terminal portions into the mounting holes to reach a position in which the free ends and the fit portions are received in the contact passageways and the V-shaped contact portions extend below the horizontal plate. Then, the insert together with the contacts is inserted into a corresponding port of the housing to reach a position in which the insert is fixed to the housing, eight pressing ribs formed on a bottom face of an upper wall of the housing depress the fit portions thereby fixing the contacts to the insert and the housing, and the V-shaped contact portions extend into the port. 
     Thereafter, the front blank portion is bent away from the free ends. The other three inserts and three sets of contacts are sequentially assembled to the housing in the same manner mentioned above. The front grounding/shielding member is then mounted to the housing by respectively extending two engaging tabs into two engaging recessions defined in two lateral walls of the housing whereby the front shielding/grounding member encloses the upper wall and the two lateral walls of the housing. 
     Finally, the rear grounding/shielding member which has two lateral wings is bent toward the front grounding/shielding member to respectively connect the two lateral wings with the two lateral walls of the front grounding/shielding member whereby a rear side of the housing is enclosed by a rear wall of the rear grounding/shielding member. 
     The two engaging recessions are positioned at different levels, whereby the modular jack assembly in accordance with the present invention can be closely juxtaposed together. The front rounding/shielding member has upper grounding tabs extending upwardly and rearwardly from a front end of the upper wall and lower grounding tabs extending downwardly and forwardly from a middle portion of a bottom wall thereof, whereby when the modular jack assembly is mounted to an electronic device, the shielding/grounding shell can be positively connected to a rounding panel of the electronic device via the grounding tabs. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is an exploded, perspective view showing the components which constitute a multi-port modular jack assembly in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective assembled view of the modular jack assembly of FIG. 1 wherein front blank portions of contacts of FIG. 1 are removed; 
     FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic side view showing contacts of FIG. 1 mounted to an insert of the modular jack assembly in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 4 is a front elevational view of a housing of the modular jack assembly in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing an inner surface of a top wall of a housing of the modular jack assembly in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VI—VI of FIG. 2; and 
     FIG. 7 is a perspective view of two sets of raw contacts in accordance with the present invention connected to a front and a rear blank portion. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
     FIG. 1 shows a multi-port modular jack assembly  1  in accordance with the present invention. Also referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, the assembly  1  includes a housing  11  made by plastic injection molding with a top wall  14 , a bottom wall  15 , a right side wall  16 , a left side wall  17 , a front face  18  for connecting with mating modular plugs (not shown), a rear face  19  opposite the front face  18  and three partitions  162  to cooperatively define four modular plug receiving ports  112 . 
     Particularly referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, the top wall  14  is formed with four sets of eight pressing ribs  115  extending downwardly from a rear portion (also seen in FIG. 6) of a bottom face  142  of the top wall  14  into the four modular plug receiving ports  112  respectively. 
     To clearly show the configuration of the ports  112 , in FIG. 1, a part of the top wall  14  near the right side wall  16  is cut away. Each port  112  respectively defines a pair of guiding grooves  110  (only one shown in FIG. 1) on two upper, lateral sides thereof. Each of the partitions  162  and the right and left side walls  16  and  17  is formed with a protrusion  164  below a corresponding guiding groove  110  and defines a trench  111 . The protrusions  164  are located in the trenches  111 , respectively. The bottom wall  15  is formed with a stop face  166  in each of the ports  112 . Two board locks  152  extend downwardly from two lateral sides of the bottom wall  15 , respectively. The right side wall  16  defines a grounding/shielding shell engaging recession  163 . The left side wall  17  also defines a grounding/shielding shell engaging recession  172  but at a lower level than the recession  163 . 
     An insert  10  is formed by plastic injection molding to have a generally L-shaped configuration with a vertical body  102  and a horizontal plate  104 . The body  102  defines two rows of four vertical holes  1022  therethrough. The holes  1022  in different rows have an alternating relationship. Two locking ridges  1024  are formed on two lateral sides of the body  102 , respectively. An engaging face  1026  is formed on a front side of the body  102  below the horizontal plate  104 . The horizontal plate  104  is formed with seven spacers  1042  to define eight contact passageways  1044 , and two alignment rails  1046  on two respective lateral sides thereof. 
     Referring to FIG. 7, two sets of raw contacts  12  are formed by stamping a metal sheet. Each set includes eight contacts. Each contact  12  is formed with a free end  1201  in connection with a front blank portion  20 , a V-shaped contact portion  1202 , a fit portion  1203  with barbs  122  and a terminal portion  121  in connection with a rear blank portion  21 . A notch  202  is defined in each of the raw contacts  12  between the free end  1201  and the front blank portion  20 , whereby the front blank portion  20  can be easily removed from the free ends  1201  by bending the front blank portion  20  relative to the free ends  1201 . The rear blank portion  21  is split thereby separating the two sets of raw contacts  12 . Each set of raw contacts  12  can be further divided into two symmetrical groups along a middle line (not shown) thereof. 
     The terminal portion  121  of each contact  12  is laterally shifted from the contact portion  1202  thereof a distance which is increased in correspondence with the distance between the contact  12  and the middle line. In other words, the right-most contact  12  in FIG. 7, for example, has its terminal portion  121  laterally shifted from its contact portion  1202  a distance larger than the other three contacts of the corresponding group of the contacts  12 . 
     To transform the contacts  12  from the configuration of FIG. 7 to that as shown in FIG. 1, the front blank portion  20  is further split to totally separate the two sets of raw contacts  12 . Then, the rear blank portion  21  is cut away from the terminal portions  121 . Finally, the terminal portions  121  are bent to have the configuration as shown in FIG. 1, wherein each odd contact (as counted from the right side of FIG. 1) is bent at a location closer to the terminal end thereof than the even contacts, whereby when the terminal portions  121  are fitted into the corresponding vertical holes  1022 , the free ends  1201  and the fit portions  1203  are fitted into the corresponding contact passageways  1044  and the V-shaped contact portions  1202  project downward through slits  1048  (FIG. 3) defined in the plate  104  into a space below the plate  104  (best seen in FIG.  3 ). 
     Still referring to FIG. 1, the modular jack assembly  1  in accordance with the present invention has a grounding/shielding shell  2  consisting of a front grounding/shielding member  13  integrally formed with a rear grounding/shielding member  40  along a pivotable edge  401 . The front grounding/shielding member  13  is formed with a top wall  131  having three upper grounding tabs  132  projecting rearwardly and upwardly from a front end thereof. A right side wall  133  is formed with a housing engaging tab  1332  horizontally projecting from a middle portion toward a front end thereof and a board mounting foot  1334  extending downwardly from a bottom edge thereof. Two buttons  136  are formed near a rear end of the right side wall  133 . Like the right side wall  133 , a left side wall  134  is also formed with a housing engaging tab  1342 , a board mounting foot  1344  and two buttons (not shown). However, the housing engaging tab  1342  of the left side wall  134  is located at a lower level than the housing engaging tab  1332  of the right side wall  133 . A bottom wall  135  is formed with three lower grounding tabs  1352  extending downwardly and forwardly from a middle portion of the bottom wall  135  (best seen in FIG.  6 ). By the design of the upper and lower grounding tabs  132 ,  1352  which project in opposing directions, when the modular jack assembly  1  is mounted to an electrical device, the grounding tabs  132 ,  1352  can positively engage with a grounding panel (usually a metallic front or rear panel of the electrical device) to ensure that the modular jack assembly  1  is firmly connected to the grounding panel. 
     A front wall  136  is formed with five columns  1362  generally connected with the front ends of the top and bottom walls  131 ,  135  to divide a front face of the front grounding/shielding member  13  into four openings  137 . Four pairs of contacting tabs  1364  are formed extending rearwardly from the openings  137  along a length of each column  1362 . The contacting tabs  1364  engage with grounding/shielding shells of mating modular plugs, whereby electrostatic charges carried by the modular plugs can be transmitted to ground via the grounding tabs  132 ,  1352  of the front grounding/shielding member  13  in connection with a grounding panel of an electrical device. 
     The rear grounding/shielding member  40  is formed with a rectangular rear wall  402  having a dimension slightly larger than that of the rear wall  19  of the housing  11 . Two wings  404  (only one shown in FIG. 1) extend downwardly from two respective lateral edges of the rear wall  402 , and three board mounting feet  406  extend rearwardly from a bottom edge of the rear wall  402 . Each wing  404  defines two square holes  4042  therein. 
     To assemble the modular jack assembly  1 , the insert  10  together with the contacts  12  mounted thereon is inserted into the right-most plug receiving port  112  of the housing  11  from a rear opening (not labeled) thereof by sliding the alignment rails  1046  along the guiding grooves  110  to reach a position in which the engaging face  1026  abuts against the stop face  166  and the locking ridges  1024  surpass the protrusions  164  so that the rear edge (not labeled) of each protrusion  164  abuts against a front edge of the corresponding locking ridge  1024  whereby the insert  1  is securely fixed in the right-most plug receiving port  112 . Thereafter, the eight pressing ribs  115  (FIGS. 4 and 5) on the bottom face  142  of the top wall  14  of the housing  11  depress the fit portions  1203  of the contacts  12  to cause the barbs  122  thereof to interferentially engage with the spacers  1042 , whereby the contacts  12  are firmly fixed to the insert  10  within the housing  11  (FIG.  6 ). 
     FIG. 1 shows only one set of contacts  12  and one insert  10 , however, it is understood by those skilled in the art that three inserts respectively mounted with three sets of contacts are each sequentially inserted into the other three plug receiving ports  112  in the manner as mentioned above so that the multi-port modular jack assembly  1  in accordance with the present invention connects with four modular plugs. The front blank portions  20  of the contacts  12  as shown in FIG. 3 are then bent away from the free ends  1201  thereof as shown in FIG.  6 . 
     Next, the front grounding/shielding member  13  is mounted to the housing  11  by respectively sliding the housing engaging tabs  1332 ,  1342  of the front grounding/shielding member  13  into the recessions  163 ,  172  of the right and left side walls  16 ,  17  of the housing  11 , and the contacting tabs  1364  are received in the corresponding trenches  111  to reach a position where the top, right and left walls  131 ,  133  and  134  of the front grounding/shielding member  13  enclose the top, right and left walls  14 ,  16  and  17  of the housing  11 , respectively, and the bottom wall  135  of the front grounding/shielding members  13  confronts a front portion of the bottom wall  15  of the housing  11 . 
     Finally, the rear grounding/shielding member  40  is bent along the pivotable edge  401  thereof toward the front grounding/shielding member  13  thereby causing the right and left wings  404  to engage with the right and left side walls  133 ,  134  of the front grounding/shielding member  13  by fixedly fitting the buttons  136  into the holes  4042  of the wings  404 . Therefore, the assembly of the present modular jack assembly  1  is complete, as shown in FIG. 2, and the rear side  19  of the housing  11  is enclosed by the rear wall  402  of the rear shielding/grounding member  40  (best seen in FIG.  6 ). 
     To mount the modular jack assembly  1  onto an electric circuit board (not shown), the board locks  152  are fitted into holes defined in the board at predetermined positions. Then, the board together with the jack assembly  1  is subject to a soldering operation to solder the terminal portions  121  of the contacts  12  and the board mounting feet  1334 ,  1344 ,  406  to the board. 
     Referring to FIG. 6, the contact portions  1202  of the contacts  12  have a V-shaped configuration extending into the plug receiving port  112 . Modular plugs  30  can, thus, be easily and smoothly inserted into the plug receiving ports  112  so that contacts of the modular plugs can electrically engage with the contact portions  1202  of the contacts  12 . 
     Since the present invention has right and left housing engaging tabs  1332 ,  1342  of the front shielding/grounding member  13  located at different levels, the multi-port modular jack assembly  1  can be closely juxtaposed together without interference resulting between neighboring engaging tabs  1332 ,  1342 . 
     While the present invention has been described with reference to a specific embodiment, 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 embodiment by those skilled in the art without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.