Patent Publication Number: US-2003232517-A1

Title: Electrical connector assembly

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001] 1. Field of the Invention  
       [0002] The present invention relates to an electrical connector assembly, and more particularly to an audio jack assembly with a flexible printed circuit board (PCB).  
       [0003] 2. Description of the Prior Art  
       [0004] An audio jack is mounted in an electronic device for transmitting audio signals. A conventional audio jack is, for example, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,224,408 B1. The audio jack includes a dielectric housing  6 , a plurality of terminals  1 - 5  received in the housing  6 , and a plug receptacle  7  formed on the housing  6 . Each terminal  1 - 5  has a soldering portion  102 - 502  extending out of a bottom portion of the housing  6 . In use, the audio jack is disposed at a predetermined position on a printed circuit board (PCB) in an electronic device, with the soldering portions  102 - 502  of the terminals  1 - 5  being soldered to corresponding circuit traces on the PCB.  
       [0005] However, the audio jack with such a design requires a relatively complex installation process. In addition, the space in the electronic device for the audio jack is limited, while the configuration of the audio jack is fixed and cannot be adjusted, so it is difficult to employ the same audio jack in different kinds of electronic devices because of configuration mismatches.  
       [0006] Hence, an improved audio jack is required to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art.  
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007] A main object of the present invention is to provide an audio jack assembly which can be conveniently installed in an electronic device.  
       [0008] Another object of the present invention is to provide an audio jack assembly with a flexible printed circuit board (PCB), wherein the configuration and dimension of the flexible PCB can be adjusted to fit a space in the electronic device.  
       [0009] An audio jack assembly according to the present invention comprises an audio jack and a flexible PCB.  
       [0010] The audio jack includes an insulative housing and a plurality of contacts received therein. Each contact has a soldering portion extending out of the housing. The flexible PCB includes a plurality of solder pads and a plurality of terminals electrically connected with corresponding solder pads. The soldering portions of the contacts of the audio jack are soldered to corresponding solder pads. The terminals are disposed on a first surface of an end portion of the flexible PCB and extend rearwardly. A rigid panel is attached to a second surface of the end portion. The end portion and the terminals are inserted into an interface in an electronic device by assistance of the rigid panel.  
       [0011] 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  
     [0012]FIG. 1 is an exploded, upside-down view of an audio jack assembly according to the present invention.  
     [0013]FIG. 2 is a right-side up view of FIG. 1.  
     [0014]FIG. 3 is an assembled view of FIG. 1.  
     [0015]FIG. 4 is an assembled view of FIG. 2.  
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
     [0016] Referring to the drawings and particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, an audio jack assembly  1  in accordance with the present invention comprises an audio jack  2  and a flexible printed circuit board (PCB)  3 .  
     [0017] The audio jack  2  comprises an insulative housing  20  and a plurality of conductive contacts (not labeled) received in the housing  20 . Each contact has a soldering portion  22  extending out of the housing  20 . A post  23  protrudes downwardly from a bottom surface  21  of the housing  20 . A plug receptacle portion  24  protrudes forwardly from a front surface (not labeled) of the housing  2 . The audio jack  2  has a configuration similar to that of a conventional audio jack, for example, the audio jack as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,224,408 B1. Therefore, detailed internal structure of the audio jack  2 , which can be found by referring to the prior art, is omitted herein.  
     [0018] The flexible PCB  3  comprises a substantially rectangular base portion  31 , an end portion  34  extending rearwardly from a rear edge of the base portion  31 , and a rigid panel  35  attached to a bottom surface of the end portion  34 . A pair of holding portions  351  protrudes laterally from two opposite edges of the rigid panel  35 . A hole  33  is defined in the base portion  31 , corresponding to the post  23  of the audio jack  2 . A plurality of solder pads  32  are formed on a top surface of the base portion  31 , corresponding to the soldering portions  22  of the contacts of the audio jack  2 . A plurality of metal terminals  36  are formed on a top surface of the end portion  34 . Each terminal  36  is electrically connected with a corresponding solder pad  32  by a circuit trace (not shown) in the flexible PCB  3 .  
     [0019] Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, in assembly, the audio jack  2  is mounted onto the flexible PCB  3 , with the bottom surface  21  resting on the top surface of the base portion  31 , the post  23  being inserted into the hole  33  and the soldering portions  22  of the contacts being soldered to the corresponding solder pads  32 .  
     [0020] During the installation process, the audio jack assembly  1  can be connected in an installation space of an electronic device (not shown) without needing a further soldering process. An assembler can hold the holding portions  351  to insert the rigid panel  35  together with the end portion  34  into an interface of another PCB of the electronic device. The electrical connection between the audio jack  2  and the PCB is achieved by the terminals  36  electrically connecting with the interface.  
     [0021] The circuit traces and the terminals  36  can be redesigned to provide a desired audio channel configuration, such as for stereo or mono-channel. The configuration and dimensions of the flexible PCB  3  can be adjusted to match the installation space of the electronic device in which it is installed. The whole audio jack assembly  1  can also be conveniently replaced, since the audio jack assembly  1  can be removed simply by pulling the rigid panel  35  together with the end portion  34  from the interface of the electronic device.  
     [0022] 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.