Patent Publication Number: US-7214087-B2

Title: Cable connector having fastening member

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The present invention generally relates to a cable connector, and more particularly to a cable connector having fastening member. 
   2. Description of Related Art 
   To satisfy current particular commands in market, in April 2002, Hitachi, Panasonic, Phillips, Sony, Thomason, Toshiba and Silicon Image et al. found High-definition Digital Multimedia Interface (HDMI) Association to develop new standard for high-definition video and channel audio. An HDMI cable assembly comprises an insulative housing, a plurality of contacts assembled to the insulative housing, a conductive shell surrounding the insulative housing, and a cable electrically connecting with the contacts. Referring to  FIG. 5 , a conventional HDMI cable assembly has a mating portion  101 . When the cable assembly mates with a mating connector, the mechanism connection of the cable assembly and the mating connector only depends on the friction produced between the contacts of each other and/or between the mating portion  101  and the mating connector body. However, when such type HDMI cable assembly is usually used out of a chassis, after the HDMI cable assembly has been used for a long time, or when inaccidental pulling force is exerted to the cable, it often leads to the HDMI cable assembly apart from the mating connector, thus influenting the normal signal transmission. 
   Therefore, designers usually utilize a pair of fastening members, such as screws, disposed at lateral portions of the connector to enhance the mechanism and electric connection between the two mating connectors. However, this manner certainly increases the transverse size of the connector. With the increase of the numbers of different connector interfaces arranged on the mounting board, the distribution of connector correspondingly become more and more densely, establishing screws at lateral portions is not benefit for connectors&#39; distribution. 
   Therefore, it is desirable to provide a cable connector, which eliminates the aforesaid drawbacks. 
   BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a cable connector with improved fastening member and having reduced size. 
   In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, A cable connector, comprising an insulative housing defining a plurality of passageways therethrough, a plurality of contacts assembled to the insulative housing and respectively received in the passageways, a cable comprising a plurality of conductors respectively electrically connecting with the contacts to form a plurality of junctions, a cover enclosing the rear end of the housing and junctions between the contacts and the cable, the cover having a mating face having at least a longer edge and a projection formed on outer periphery of the cover with front surface coplanar with the mating face of the cover the projection defining a fastening hole therethrough, and a fastening member fixed to the cover coupling with the fastening hole for fastening the cable connector to a coupling device. 
   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 assembled, perspective view of a cable connector in accordance with the present invention; 
       FIG. 2  is an exploded, perspective view of  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 3  is a view similar to  FIG. 2 , but viewed from a different aspect; 
       FIG. 4  is a cross-section view taken from line  4 — 4  of  FIG. 1 ; and 
       FIG. 5  is a perspective view of a conventional cable connector. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   Reference will now be made to the drawing figures to describe the present invention in detail. 
   Referring to  FIGS. 1–4 , a cable connector  100  in accordance with the present invention is according to HDMI (High-Definition Digital Multimedia Interface) standard and comprises an insulative housing  1 , a plurality of contacts  2  assembled to the insulative housing  1 , a spacer  3  sealing the rear end of the insulative housing  1 , a conductive shell  4  shielding the insulative housing  1 , a cable  5  electrically connecting with the contacts  2 , a cover  6  comprising an inner mold  61  and an outer mold  62 , and a fastening member  7  assembled to a fastening hole  6210  located on the cover  6 . 
   The insulative housing  1  defines a front portion  14  mating with a complementary connector and a rear portion  15  coupling with the shell  4  and the spacer  3 . The insulative housing  1  comprises an upper wall  10 , a lower wall  11  and a receiving space  12  formed therebetween. The upper wall  10  parallels the lower wall  11  with shorter length. The upper wall  10  and the lower wall  11  both define a plurality of passageways  13  on inner surfaces thereof communicating with the receiving space  12  from the front portion  14  to the rear portion  15  for receiving the contacts  2 . In addition, the number of the passageways  13  of the upper wall  10  is not equal to that of the passageways  13  of the lower wall  11 . 
   The spacer  3  forms a plurality of grooves  302  therethrough corresponding to the passageways  13  of the insulative housing  1 . The contacts  2  respectively protrude through the grooves  302  with mating portions  21  received in the passageways  13 , connecting portions  22  electrically connecting with conductors  50  of the cable  5 , preferably soldering in the embodiment. The rear end  30  of the spacer  3  forms two pairs of protrusions  305  respectively on upper and lower surfaces thereof. The spacer  3  is assembled to the insulative housing  1  from rear-to-back direction and seals the rear portion of the insulative housing  1 ; the front end  31  of the spacer  3  is received in the rear of the receiving space  12 . 
   Referring to  FIGS. 1–4 , the conductive shell  4  is stamped from a metal sheet and then bent to form the current shape. The conductive shell  4  comprises a body portion  40  enclosing the insulative housing  1  and a pair of stretching portions  41  extending rearwardly from the body portion  40 . Corresponding to the protrusions  305  of the spacer  3 , each stretching portion  40  forms a pair of rectangular engaging holes  410  serving as blocking means. The conductive shell  4  encloses the outer periphery of the insulative housing  1  and the engaging holes  410  thereof latchably engage with the protrusions  305  of the spacer  3  assembled to the insulative housing  1 . Via the above engagement, the conductive shell  4  and the spacer  3  both assembled to the insulative housing  1  are reliably assembled to each other. 
   The outer mold  62  has a mating face  620  including a pair of longer edges  622  and a triangle projection  621  extending from outer periphery of the outer mold  62  with front surface thereof locating adjacent to the mating face  620  or coplanar with the mating face  620 . The projection  621  is formed with the longer edge  622 . When the cable connector  100  is assembled to a panel of a chassis, the mating face  620  will be close to the panel, and so does the projection  621 . The projection  621  defines the cylindrical fastening hole  6210  therethrough and a step (not labeled) is formed in inner periphery of the fastening hole  6210  and located near the rear end of the projection  621 , thus, since the diameter of the rear portion of the fastening hole  6210  is smaller than that of the front portion of the fastening hole  6210 . Additionally, the wider front portion of the fastening hole  6210  is longer than the narrower rear portion. 
   The fastening member  7  in the preferred embodiment is a screw and comprises an rear operating portion  72 , a front screw portion  73  having screw threads thereof, and a base portion  71  connecting the operating portion  72  with the screw portion  73 . A flange  710  protrudes outwardly from the end of the base portion  71  and adjoins the screw portion  73  to couple with the step formed in the fastening hole  6210  in the outer mold  62 . The diameter of the base portion  71  is slightly smaller than that of the rear portion of the fastening hole  6210 ; and the diameter of the block  710  is slightly smaller than that of the front portion of the fastening hole  6210 . Nevertheless, both the diameters of the flange  710  and the operation portion  72  are larger than that of the rear portion of the fastening hole  6210 . Thus, when the fastening member  7  is inserted into the fastening hole  6210  from rear to front direction, the fastening member  7  is capable of sliding rearward or frontward relative to the fastening hole  6210  and has no possibility of divorcing from the fastening hole  6210 . The screw portion  73  can project outward from the mating face  620  of the outer mold  62  to fasten the cable connector  100  to the coupling device reliably. 
   Please refer to  FIG. 4 , after the assembly of the insulative housing  1 , the contacts  2 , the spacer  3 , the conductive shell  4  and the cable  5 , the inner mold  61  is formed by overmolding method and molded with the rear portion of the insulative housing  1 , the stretching portions  41  of the conductive shell  4 , the rear end  30  of the spacer  3  and the junctions of the contacts  2  and the cable  5 . Then, the outer mold  62  is assembled or overmolded to the above assembly, and thus, encloses the rear end of the conductive shell  4  and the inner mold  61 . Finally, the fastening member  7  is inserted into the fastening hole  6210  from rear to front direction. 
   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.