Patent Publication Number: US-6336830-B1

Title: Modular connector assembly for an electronic appliance

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a modular connector assembly for an electronic appliance, more particularly to a modular connector assembly which can be connected electrically to an electronic component of the electronic appliance without the need for forming a printed circuit on a main circuit board of the electronic appliance. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     FIG. 1 illustrates the connection between a conventional RJ11/RJ45 electrical connector  3  and a mini peripheral component interconnect (mini PCI)  2  provided on a main circuit board  1 . The electrical connector  3  is suitable for mating with a complementary electrical connector  4 , and is mounted on the main circuit board  1  adjacent to an edge portion of the latter by means of known soldering or surface mounting (SMT) techniques. The electrical connector  3  and the mini PCI  2  have contact terminals  31 ,  21  inserted through the main circuit board  1 . The main circuit board  1  is provided with a printed circuit  11  for interconnecting electrically the contact terminals  21 ,  31  of the mini PCI  2  and the electrical connector  3 . 
     However, to form the printed circuit  11 , a layout of the circuit should be designed beforehand, and the main circuit board  1  should undergo several treatment steps which include, for example, chemical etching. The contact terminals  21 ,  31  of the mini PCI  2  and the electrical connector  3  are subsequently welded to the main circuit board  1  to ensure electrical connection between the contact terminals  21 ,  31  and the printed circuit  11 . These complicate the manufacturing process of the electronic appliance. Moreover, as the printed circuit  11  is exposed from the circuit board  1 , the printed circuit  11  may possibly cause static discharge and electromagnetic interference within the electronic appliance to adversely affect the functions of other electronic components in the electronic appliance. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Therefore, the main object of the present invention is to provide a modular connector assembly which can be connected electrically to an electronic component of an electronic appliance without the need for forming a printed circuit on a main circuit board of the electronic appliance. 
     Accordingly, the modular connector assembly of the present invention is adapted for use in an electronic appliance having an electronic component on a main circuit board, and includes a connector housing, a plurality of contact terminals, and a ribbon cable. The connector housing is made of an electrically insulating material, and is adapted to be mounted on the main circuit board. The connector housing has a front end formed with a connector mating hole, a rear end opposite to the front end, parallel top and bottom walls extending between the front and rear ends, and a vertical partition wall extending downwardly from the top wall toward the bottom wall so as to define within the connector housing a front chamber proximate to the front end and communicated with the connector mating hole, and a rear chamber proximate to the rear end. The partition wall has a lower end which is spaced apart from the bottom wall and which cooperates with the bottom wall to define a channel therebetween for communicating the front and rear chambers. The bottom wall is formed with a plurality of terminal retaining grooves within the connector housing. Each of the contact terminals has an elongated main portion extending through the channel and retained in a respective one of the retaining grooves and having front and rear ends, a resilient contact portion disposed in the front chamber and extending from the front end of the main portion toward the partition wall, and a cable connecting portion extending from the rear end of the main portion and disposed in the rear chamber. The ribbon cable extends into the rear chamber, and has one end connected electrically to the cable connecting portions of the contact terminals and the other end adapted to be connected to the electronic component on the circuit board. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which: 
     FIG. 1 is a partly exploded perspective view illustrating a conventional electrical connector when mounted on a main circuit board of an electronic appliance; 
     FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a modular connector assembly of the present invention; 
     FIG. 3 illustrates the preferred embodiment when mounted on a main circuit board of an electronic appliance; and 
     FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the preferred embodiment when mounted on the main circuit board. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to FIGS. 2 to  4 , the preferred embodiment of the modular connector assembly of the present invention is shown to include a connector housing  51 , a plurality of contact terminals  52 , a cover plate  53 , and a ribbon cable  7 . 
     The connector housing  51  is formed as a housing of an RJ11/RJ45 electrical connector, and has left and right connector mating portions which are formed integrally from an electrically insulating material. The connector housing  51  has a front end  5103 , a rear end  5104 , and parallel top and bottom wall  5101 ,  5102  between the front and rear ends  5103 ,  5104 . The front end  5103  is formed with a connector mating hole  516  in each of the connector mating portions. A vertical partition wall  515  extends downwardly from the top wall  5101  toward the bottom wall  5102  so as to define, within each of the connector mating portions of the housing  51 , a front chamber  512  proximate to the front end  5103  and a rear chamber  513  proximate to the rear end  5104 . The front chamber  512  is communicated with the respective connector mating hole  516 , and is adapted for receiving a complementary electrical connector  6  that is plugged into the connector mating hole  516 . The partition wall  515  has a lower end which is spaced apart from the bottom wall  5102  and which cooperates with the bottom wall  5102  to define a channel  517  therebetween for communicating the front and rear chambers  512 ,  513 . The bottom wall  5102  has a top side formed with a plurality of parallel and elongated terminal retaining grooves  514  which extend from the rear end  5104  toward the front end  5103 . The connector housing  51  is further formed with two pairs of anchoring legs  511  which extend downwardly from the bottom wall  5102  and which has hooked distal ends. 
     Each of the contact terminals  52  is formed by bending an elongated strip, and has an elongated main portion  522  with front and rear ends, a resilient contact portion  521  extending rearwardly from the front end of the main portion  522 , and a cable connecting portion  523  extending upwardly from the rear end of the main portion  522 . The main portion  522  extends through the channel  517 , and is retained in a respective one of the terminal retaining grooves  514  within the connector housing  51 . The resilient contact portion  521  is disposed in the front chamber  512 , and extends toward the partition wall  515 . The cable connecting portion  523  is disposed in the rear chamber  513 , and has a forked end  5231  which extends toward the rear end  5104  of the connector housing  51 . 
     The ribbon cable  7  includes a plurality of conductive wires, each of which has an insulating sheath. The ribbon cable  7  has a first end extending into the rear chamber  513  via the rear end  5104  of the connector housing  51 . The forked end  5231  of the cable connecting portion  523  of each of the contact terminals  52  pierces through the insulating sheath of a respective one of the conductive wires of the ribbon cable  7  for connecting electrically with the ribbon cable  7 . The ribbon cable  7  further has an opposite second end provided with a cable connector  71 . 
     The cover plate  53  is disposed vertically at the rear end  5104  of the connector housing  51 , and is retained fittingly between left and right side walls  518  of the connector housing  51  for covering an open rear end of the rear chamber  513  and for concealing the forked ends  5231  of the cable connecting portions  523  of the contact terminals  52 . The cable  7  is clamped and positioned between the cover plate  53  and a rear edge of the top wall  5101 . The contact terminals  52  are shielded by the cover plate  53  to minimize electromagnetic interference. 
     FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate the modular connector assembly of the present embodiment when applied to a main circuit board  1 ′ of an electronic appliance. The main circuit board  1 ′ is provided with an electronic component  2 ′, such as a mini Peripheral Component Interconnect, having a socket connector  22 . The connector housing  51  is adapted to be mounted on the main circuit board  1 ′ by inserting the anchoring legs  511  into a pair of anchoring holes  12  formed in the main circuit board  1 ′ so as to engage the anchoring holes  12 . The cable connector  71  of the ribbon cable  7  is then mated with the socket connector  22  of the electronic component  2 ′ to establish electrical connection therewith. In this manner, the main circuit board  1 ′ need not be formed with a printed circuit to establish connection between the connector assembly and the electronic component  2 ′, thereby avoiding the occurrence of static discharge and electromagnetic interference that are commonly encountered in the aforesaid prior art. 
     In other embodiments, the connector housing  51  may be formed with screw holes so as to be adapted for mounting on a side wall of a housing of the electronic appliance by means of screw fasteners. 
     While the present invention has been described in connection with what is considered the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiment but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.