Patent Publication Number: US-8529290-B2

Title: Connector apparatus having a detachable module

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a connector, in particularly to a connector apparatus capable of connecting with at least one detachable module. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     As the electronic industry growing rapidly, nowadays various kinds of electronic devices are used in our daily lives. For inputting commands to control the electronic devices, or transmitting information from one electronic device to another, at least one connector is arranged on a circuit board of the electronic device. 
     For example, a personal computer usually has a plurality of connectors such as universal serial bus (USB) connectors, external serial advance technology attachment (e-SATA) connectors, RJ-45 connectors, high definition multimedia interface (HDMI) connectors. With the connectors, the personal computer is capable of communicating with external controlling devices and receiving controlling commands, or the personal computer can be connected to another electronic device for mutually transmitting information. 
     However, in order to avoid using physical transmission line and expand the transmission distance of information, wireless transmission modules are arranged on the novel electronic devices. For example, the wireless transmission module can be radio frequency (RF) module, infrared (IR) module, Bluetooth module, and wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) module. Information can be transmitted between electronic devices through wireless transmission module, no physical transmission line is needed and the information transmission can be easier. 
     However, either connector or wireless transmission module will occupy a quite large area on the circuit board. If there are many connectors or wireless transmission module needed to arrange on the circuit board, the size of the circuit board needs to be increased. Sometimes, it will affect the circuit layout of the circuit board and make the production more difficult. 
     Therefore, a stacked connector apparatus is developed for solving the above problem. A plurality of connectors, wireless transmission module are vertically stacked on the circuit board and consequently they only occupy an area for mounting one connector on the circuit board. Moreover, Taiwan patent M403159 disclosed a wireless transmission module. The wireless transmission module is composed of a insulating body and a transmission module. The insulating body has one or more connecting ports, and a receiving space therein, and the connecting ends of plurality of terminals extend into the receiving space. The transmission module has signal transmission portion, signal processing portion and a plurality of adapting terminals. Therefore, when the transmission module is connected to the insulating body, the press-contacting portions of the adapting terminals can be elastically contacted with the connecting ends of the plurality terminals, so that the transmission module is electrically connected to the terminals of the insulating body. 
     However, the wireless transmission module of the above wireless transmission apparatus has a circuit unit in the transmission module electrically connected to the signal transmission portion and the signal processing portion. And the circuit unit has a plurality of welding portion for the adapting terminals welded thereto. Thus, the adapting terminals need to be additionally manufactured and then welded to the circuit unit. Such a process is inconvenient and the cost thereof can not be decreased. In addition, since the adapting terminals need to be arranged to contact against the adapting terminals on the insulating body, the adapting terminal needs to be bent and forms a press-contacting surface, such that the thickness of the wireless transmission module can not be decreased. 
     Therefore, a novel stacked connector apparatus is needed, it can be composed of a plurality of connectors and wireless module as wall as the types of the wireless module can be arbitrary changed and the usability can be increased. Besides, the manufacturing cost can be lowered and the dimensions of the product can be downsized. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The main objective is to provide a connector apparatus having a detachable module, which has an exchangeable connector base and various kinds detachable module electrically connected to the connector base. 
     For achieving the above objective, the present invention provides a connector apparatus having a detachable module. The connector apparatus includes a connector base and a detachable module. The connector base has an insulating body and a plurality of press-contacting terminals. A plurality of grooves are inwardly formed on a rear surface of the insulating body. The press-contacting terminals are correspondingly located in the grooves. A press-contacting portion of each of the press-contacting terminals extends along the upper surface of the insulating body and protrudes out from the upper surface. The detachable module is composed of a circuit board, an integrated circuit electrically connecting to the circuit board and a plurality of connecting pins arranged on the circuit board. When the detachable module is connected to the connector base, the connecting pins are electrically connected to the press-contacting portions of each of the press-contacting terminals, and the mainboard of a computer connected to the connector base can execute the function of the integrated circuit in the detachable module. 
     In comparison, the connector base has a plurality of press-contacting terminals for electrically connecting to different detachable module having different functions. The main board of the computer electrically connecting to the connector base can make connection with the detachable module through the connector base and execute the function of the integrated circuit of the detachable module. Users can arbitrary change the function of the connector, and integrate a specific function to the connector and save the space on the mainboard of the computer and lower the cost of the detachable module and downsize the product. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is an exploded view according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is another perspective view according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  is a side view according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 5  is a rear view according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective view of a detachable module according to another embodiment of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 7  is a perspective view according to another embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     A detailed description of the present invention will be made with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
       FIG. 1  to  FIG. 4  shows a connector apparatus  3  having a detachable module. The connector apparatus  3  mainly includes a connector base  1  and a detachable module  2 . 
     The connector base  1  has an insulating body  10  and a plurality of press-contacting terminals  14 . The insulating body  10  is substantially a shell made by plastic molding. The front surface of the insulating body  10  has two receiving recesses  111  and  112 . Each of the receiving recesses has a tongue portion  112  and  122 . A plurality of connecting terminals  113  and  123  are respectively arranged on the tongue portion  112  and  122 . Connector ports  11  and  12  are respectively composed of receiving recesses  111  and  112 , the tongue portions  112 ,  122  and the connecting terminals  113 ,  123 . 
     For example, if the number of the connecting terminals  113  in the receiving recess  111  are four. A universal serial bus (USB) connector port  11  is composed of the receiving recess  111 , the tongue portion  112  and the connecting terminal  113 . In another example, if the number of the connecting terminals  123  in the receiving recess  121  is seven. An external serial advance technology attachment (eSATA) connector port  12  is composed of the receiving recess  121 , the tongue portion  122  and the connecting terminals  123 . In this embodiment, the number of the connector ports is two for illustration only. The type of the connector port  11 ,  12  is not limited to USB and the number thereof is not limited to two. 
     A plurality of grooves are inwardly formed on the rear surface of the insulating body  10 . And the press-contacting terminals  14  are correspondingly arranged in the grooves  101 . One ends of the press-contacting terminals have a press-contacting portion  141 . Each of the press-contacting portions  141  extend along the upper surface of the insulating body  10  and protrude out of the upper surface. More specifically, the positions of press-contacting portions  141  are higher than the upper surface of the insulating body  10 . In this embodiment, the number of the press-contacting terminals is four for example and not limited thereto. 
     The upper surface of the insulating body  10  has a connecting tunnel  13 . Two fixing posts  131  are arranged at two sides of the connecting tunnel  13 . When the detachable module  2  is connected to the connector base  1 , the detachable module  2  can be fixed by the two fixing posts  131  for firmly fixing the detachable module  2 . 
     The detachable module  2  mainly has a circuit board  21 , an integrated circuit  211  electrically connected to the circuit board  21 , and a plurality of connecting pads  212  (connecting pads and connecting pins are seen have the same meaning herein). The connecting pins  212  are welded to a side of the circuit board  21 . The position and the number of the connecting pins  212  are corresponding to the press-contacting terminals  14  of the connector base  1 . In this embodiment, the number of the connecting pins  212  is four but not limited thereto. When the connecting pins  212  contact with the press-contacting portion  141  of the press-contacting terminals  14 , the detachable module  2  is in electrical connection with the connector base  1 . 
     The connector base  1  is electrically connected to a mainboard of an external computer through the connecting terminals  113 ,  123  and the press-contacting terminals  14 . When the connecting pins  212  contact against the press-contacting portions  141  of the press-contacting terminals  14 , the mainboard of the computer is able to execute the function of the integrated circuit  211  of the detachable module  2 . In this embodiment, the integrated circuit  211  is a wireless transmission chip, such as a Bluetooth transmission chip, a wireless fidelity (WiFi) transmission chip, radio frequency transmission chip or a third generation transmission chip, but not limited thereto. Thus, the mainboard of the computer can execute wireless internet function through the connector base  1 . 
     The detachable module  2  can further have an antenna unit  213  electrically connected to the circuit board  21 . The detachable module  2  can outwardly transmit the wireless signal generated by the wireless transmission chip, or can receive external wireless signal and deliver it to the wireless transmission chip for processing. Moreover, for preventing that the receiving direction of the antenna unit  213  is narrowed to one direction and causes the instability of the transmission intensity of the wireless signal. The detachable module  2  can have an external antenna connector  214  electrically connected to the circuit board  21 . The detachable module  2  can be electrically connected to an external antenna (not shown) through the external antenna connector  214 . By the external antenna having larger receiving area, wider receiving angle, and better arranging portion, better transmission performance can be obtained. 
     The detachable module  2  includes a top cover  22  and a bottom cover  23 . The top cover  22  and the bottom cover  23  can be correspondingly assembled, and define an accommodating space  20  for accommodating the circuit board  21 , the integrated circuit  211  and the connecting pins  212 . A side of the bottom cover  23  has at least one opening  231  for passing the connecting pins  212  of the circuit board  21  out of the detachable module  2 . 
     It should be mentioned that when the detachable module  2  is arranged on the connecting tunnel  13 , the two fixing posts  131  at two sides of the connecting tunnel  13  can press and hold the two sides of the top cover  22 . 
       FIG. 6  shows another detachable module according to another embodiment of the present invention. The detachable module  2  does not have the top cover  22  and the bottom cover  23  for accommodating the circuit board  21  and the integrated circuit  211 . The detachable module  2  can have an encapsulator  24  made by plastic injection molding. The encapsulator  24  encapsulates the circuit board  21 , the integrated circuit  211  and the connecting pins  212 . Thus, the thickness of the detachable module  2  can be appropriately decreased for saving space. A side of the encapsulator  24  has at least one opening  241  for passing through the connecting pins  212  of the circuit board  21  out of the detachable module  2 . More specifically, the connecting pins  212  pass through the opening  241  and protrude out of the detachable module  2  and contact with the press-contacting portions  141  of the press-contacting terminals  14 . 
     As  FIG. 5  shows, one end of the press-contacting terminal  14  can be a Y-shaped end  142 . The press-contacting terminal  14  can be electrically connected to more then one grounding lines through the Y-shaped end  142 . The connector apparatus  3  having the press-contacting terminals  14  will be more stable. 
     As  FIG. 7  shows, a positioning post  232  is arranged on the bottom surface of the bottom cover  23  of the detachable module  2 . A positioning groove  102  is formed on the top surface of the insulating body  10 . The position and the shape of the positioning groove  102  are corresponding to the positioning post  232 . When the detachable module  2  is arranged in the connecting tunnel  13  of the connector base  1 , the connecting pins  212  are electrically contacted with the press-contacting portions  141  of the press-contacting terminals  14 , and the positioning post  232  is inserted in the positioning groove  102 . Thus, the detachable module  2  is firmly fixed on the connector base  1 . More specifically, the positioning post  232  is of anchor-shape and the positioning groove  102  is also of anchor-shape. 
     Although the present invention has been described with reference to the foregoing preferred embodiments, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the details thereof. Various equivalent variations and modifications can still occur to those skilled in this art in view of the teachings of the present invention. Thus, all such variations and equivalent modifications are also embraced within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.