Patent Publication Number: US-6712632-B2

Title: Electrical connector having latches for reducing warpage thereof

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to an electrical connector, and particularly to an electrical connector having means for reducing warpage thereof. 
     2. Description of Prior Art 
     It is known that in some situation, an electrical connector is requested to connect a printed circuit board (PCB) and a plurality of complementary plug connectors. A conventional electrical connector of this type is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,549,480, 5,584,709, 5,238,413, 5,281,165 or 5,584,709. Such an electrical connector includes an insulative housing, such as an insert molding plastic housing, and a plurality of terminals received in the insulative housing. The insulative housing includes a front mating surface with the terminals extending therefrom, and a rear terminating surface, from which tails of the terminals are extended for being soldered to solder pads of the PCB. 
     In addition, an article, entitled “Introducing Serial ATA White Paper” announced by Serial ATA group on Nov. 7, 2000 at the website, http://www.maxtor.com/Quantum/src/whitepapers/wp 13  serialata.htm, indicated that as a next generation personal computer (PC) storage interface, Serial ATA will replace the Ultra ATA/100 interface used to connect most PCs to their primary storage, which is projected to become a bottleneck within two years. This article introduces the Serial ATA interface together with comparison to alternative storage interface and a standard of a Serial Advanced Technology Attachment ATA connector, which is not described in detail afterward. As widely used in PC, Serial ATA connector is possible to be used together with other kinds of connectors and combined with other connector sections into an X-in-one connector. 
     Some electrical connectors described above are designed or mounted at an edge of the printed circuit board. The insulative housing includes a plurality of opposite mounting ears extending beyond the rear terminating surface for positioning the connector on the PCB. 
     However, problems arise in designing above X-in-one connectors with a Serial ATA connector section. These problems often are associated with manufacturing the insulative housing or assembling the electrical connector on the PCB. For instance, the insulative housing, which is formed by plastic molding and relatively is long and thin, often has a problem of warpage about its middle portion so as to become vaulted or curvilinear. In addition, during assembling the connector on the PCB by soldering the terminals of the connector on the PCB, the heat produced thereby bring the thinner portion of the insulative housing into warpage. Therefore, the terminals of the electrical connector will improperly engage with solder pads of the PCB while assembling the electrical connector on the PCB. 
     Hence, an improved electrical connector is required to overcome the disadvantages of the conventional connector. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, a first object of the present invention is to provide an improved electrical connector having means for solving warpage issue of a housing thereof. 
     A second object of the present invention is to provide an improved electrical connector whose terminals can be precisely soldered to a PCB by surface mounting technology (SMT). 
     A third object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector which can by securely mounted to an edge of a PCB. 
     In order to achieve the objects above mentioned, an electrical connector assembled on a printed circuit board (PCB) comprises an elongated insulative housing, a plurality of terminals received in the insulative housing and four pairs of mounting ears formed by the insulative housing for clamping the PCB. The terminals are divided into three groups for achieving different functions. The insulative housing comprises a front mating surface adapted for mating with a complementary connector, an opposite terminating surface and a pair of staggered latches at a middle portion of the terminating surface of the housing. The latches extend rearwardly from the terminating surface and each has a hook at a free end thereof for engaging with the PCB. 
     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 
     FIG. 1 is a front, perspective view of an electrical connector in accordance with the present invention, 
     FIG. 2 is a rear, perspective view of the electrical connector shown in FIG. 1; and 
     FIG. 3 is a rear, perspective view of the electrical connector mounted to an edge of a printed circuit board. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Reference will now be made to the drawing figures to describe the present invention in detail. 
     Referring to FIGS. 1-3, an electrical connector  3  of the present invention comprises an elongated insulative housing  30  with a front mating surface  301  and an opposite terminating surface  302 . The insulative housing  30  includes three housing sections  31 ,  32  and  33  integrally arranged along a length thereof. The three sections  31 ,  32  and  33  are correspondingly termed power section  31 , jumper section  32  and data section  33 . 
     A plurality of power terminals  311  are accommodated in the power section  31  with front ends  313  thereof disposed at the mating surface  301 . Rear ends  315  of the power terminals  311  extend beyond the terminating surface  302  for soldering to corresponding solder pads  21  on a PCB  2  in a straddle manner. A shroud  312 , which is for med integrally with the insulative housing  30 , envelops the front ends  313  of the power terminals  311  of the power section  31  to protect the power terminals  311 . The jumper section  32  comprises a shroud  320  and a plurality of pins  321  enclosed by the shroud  320 . Ends of the pins  321  extending from the mating surface  301  are arranged in an upper row and a lower row. Each pin  321  in the upper row is aligned with a corresponding one in the lower row. The other ends of the pins  321  extend rearwardly from the terminating surface  302  for soldering to the corresponding solder pads  21  of the PCB  2 . In the present embodiment, the data section  33  is a serial ATA plug connector and includes a plurality of signal and power terminals  331 . 
     The insulative housing  30  further comprises four pairs of opposite mounting ears  303  extending rearwardly from the terminating surface  302  and a pair of lengthwise staggered latches  304  extending rearwardly from upper and lower parts of a middle portion of the terminating surface  302 . The latches  304  point toward each other and each of the latches  304  comprises a hook  305  extending from a free end thereof. Each hook  305  defines an inclined guiding face  306  for facilitating attaching the PCB  2  to the rear terminating surface  302  of the insulative housing  30 . The middle portion of the housing  30  is the thinnest portion of the housing  30 . The housing defines a through aperture  300  in a front-to-back direction aligned with each of the hook  305  for fully exposing the hook  305  to an exterior in a back-to-front direction so as not to use the expensive slide mold during molding for forming the hook  305 . 
     In manufacturing the elongate insulative housing  30  by insert molding the insulative housing  30  with the terminals  311 ,  331  and the pins  321 , the latches  304  in the middle of the insulative housing  30  may reducing a possible warpage of the housing  30  about the middle portion thereof. In addition, when the electrical connector  3  is mounted to an edge of the PCB  2 , an end face of the PCB abuts against the terminating surface  302  of the housing  30 , the mounting ears  303  clamp the edge of the PCB  2  and the hooks  305  are received in corresponding holes  22  of the PCB  2 . Thus, even if the elongate housing  30  produces a little warpage, the engagement between the hooks  304  and the holes  22  may correct the warpage and ensures an exact connection between solder pads  21  of the PCB  2  and the terminals  311 ,  331  and the pins  321  of the electrical connector  3 . 
     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.