Patent Publication Number: US-6712633-B2

Title: Electric connector having lateral fasteners arranged along and rotatable about a horizontal axis

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The invention relates to an electric connector, and in particular to an electric connector having lateral fasteners at two sides of the connector. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional electric connector includes an insulation housing  11 , a plurality of first terminals  12 , a plurality of second terminals  13 , and two lateral fasteners  14 . The first terminals  12  are arranged in the front terminal slots of the insulation housing  11 , and have pins horizontally located on the bottom surface of the insulation housing  11 . The second terminals  13  are arranged in the rear terminal slots of the insulation housing  11 , and have pins horizontally located on the bottom surface of the insulation housing  11 . The levels of the pins of the first terminals  12  and the second terminals  13  are the same. Two lateral fasteners  14  are mounted and positioned at two lateral sides of the insulation housing  11 . Each lateral fastener  14  has a positioning surface  141  having the same level as those of the first and second terminals  12  and  13 . 
     The lateral fasteners  14  are mounted to the insulation housing  11  by way of press fitting. However, the combination method does not have good effects because the combination strength is not good and the insulation housing  11  may be damaged. 
     In addition, the pins of the first and second terminals  12  and  13  as well as the positioning surfaces  141  of the lateral fasteners  14  are bonded to a circuit board, so the levels of the pins and the positioning surfaces  141  have to be the same. Since the lateral fasteners  14  are quite long, it is difficult to control the positioning surfaces  141  and the first and second terminals  12  and  13  to be located at the same level. Therefore, more precise manufacturing processes may be required, thereby increasing the manufacturing cost. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an electric connector having two lateral fasteners to be easily and firmly positioned in the insulation housing without damaging the insulation housing. 
     Another object of the invention is to provide an electric connector in which two lateral fasteners are pivotally mounted, so as to facilitate the adjustment of the positions of the positioning surfaces of the lateral fasteners. After the proper adjustment, the pins of the terminals and the positioning surfaces may be at the same level. 
     To achieve the above-mentioned objects, the invention discloses an electric connector. The electric connector includes an insulation housing formed with a plurality of terminal slots, two positioning slots formed at two sides of the insulation housing, a plurality of terminals inserted into the terminal slots of the insulation housing, respectively, and two lateral fasteners, each of which including a main body having a first end engaged with the corresponding positioning slot of the insulation housing. The first end of the main body is formed with an engagement structure. The insulation housing is formed with resilient members within the positioning slots. Each of the resilient members is formed with an engagement block. When the lateral fastener is inserted into the positioning slot, the engagement block engages with the engagement structure of the lateral fastener. 
     According to the above-mentioned structure, when the main body of the lateral fastener is inserted into the positioning slot of the insulation housing for positioning, the resilient member may be shifted away. After the main body enters the positioning slot, the engagement structure is engaged with the projection of the resilient member. Due to the formation of the slant guide surface of the projection in conjunction with elasticity of the resilient member, the assembling processes are quite easy, and the engagements are quite firm. Therefore, no further force has to be exerted for press fitting, and the insulation housing is free from being damaged. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a top view showing a conventional electric connector. 
     FIG. 2 is a top view showing an electric connector according to the preferred embodiment of the invention. 
     FIG. 3 is a side view showing the electric connector according to the embodiment of the invention. 
     FIG. 4 is front view showing the electric connector according to the embodiment of the invention. 
     FIG. 5 is a top view showing the insulation housing according to the embodiment of the invention. 
     FIG. 6 is a side view showing the insulation housing of the invention. 
     FIG. 7 is a front view showing the lateral fastener of the invention. 
     FIG. 8 is a top view showing the lateral fastener of the invention. 
     FIG. 9 is a side view showing the lateral fastener of the invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, an electric connector according to a preferred embodiment of the invention includes an insulation housing  20 , a plurality of first terminals  40 , a plurality of second terminals  45 , and two lateral fasteners  30  arranged along a horizontal axis X. 
     Referring to FIGS. 4 to  6  correspondingly, the insulation housing  20  is formed with a row of first terminal slots  21  arranged along the horizontal axis X and a row of second terminal slots  22  arranged along the horizontal axis X. The row of first terminal slots  21  may be defined as a lower front row, while the row of second terminal slots  22  may be defined as an upper rear low. Two positioning slots  23  are formed at two sides of the connector and arranged along the horizontal axis X. A resilient member  24  is provided at one side of the positioning slot  23 . An engagement block such as a projection  25  is formed at the inner side of the resilient member  24 . The projection  25  has a slant guide surface  26 . 
     The first terminals  40  arranged along the horizontal axis X are inserted into the first terminal slots  21  of the insulation housing, respectively, and have pins horizontally positioned on the bottom surface of the insulation housing  20 . 
     The second terminals  45  arranged along the horizontal axis X are inserted into the second terminal slots  22  of the insulation housing, respectively, and have pins horizontally positioned on the bottom surface of the insulation housing  20 . 
     Referring to FIGS. 7 to  9  correspondingly, each lateral fastener  30  includes a main body  31 . The main body  31  has a first end formed with an engagement structure, which may be a circular engagement hole  33 . The main body  31  also has a second end, which is opposite to the first end and formed with a handle  34  and a protruding fastener member  35 . The main body  31  has a sub-body  32  extending from a side thereof. The sub-body  32  is formed with a positioning surface  36  and a stopper  37 . The stopper  37  is positioned at an external side of the main body  31  in order to prevent the main body  31  from being over-shifted externally. The fastener members  35  are used to fasten a circuit board to the electric connector at engaging holes (not shown) formed at two sides of the circuit board. The main body  31  of the lateral fastener  30  is inserted into the positioning slot  23  of the insulation housing  20 . The projection  25  may engage with the engagement hole  33  of the lateral fastener  30 . The positioning surface  36  is positioned at the bottom end or lower side of the lateral fastener  30 , and the level of the positioning surface  36  is the same as those of the pins of the first and second terminals  40  and  45 . 
     According to the above-mentioned structure, when the main body  31  of the lateral fastener  30  is inserted into the positioning slot  23  of the insulation housing for positioning, the resilient member  24  may be shifted away. After the main body  31  enters the positioning slot  23 , the engagement hole  33  is engaged with the projection  25  of the resilient member  24 . Due to the formation of the slant guide surface  26  of the projection  25  in conjunction with elasticity of the resilient member  24 , the assembling processes are quite easy, and the engagements are quite firm. Therefore, no further force has to be exerted for press fitting, and the insulation housing is free from being damaged. 
     The reasons for the easy assembly of the lateral fastener of the invention will be described in the following. During assembly, the engagement structure of the lateral fastener enters the positioning slot of the insulation housing under a relaxed state. Then, the engagement process is done by way of the elastic motion of the resilient member of the insulation housing, thereby simplifying the assembling processes. 
     Furthermore, when the engagement hole  33  is a circular hole, the main body  31  of the lateral fastener  30  may be rotated about the projection  25  of the insulation housing  20  serving as a pivotal axis. Accordingly, the position of the positioning surface  36  may be adjusted by the rotation of the main body  31  so that the pins of the first and second terminals  40  and  45  may be located at the same plane. That is, the main body  31  of the lateral fastener  30  may be rotated about the horizontal axis X so that the positioning surface  36  of the fastener  30  may be located at the same level as the pins of the terminals  40  and  45  because the projector  25  serving as the pivotal axis is extended along the horizontal axis X, as shown in FIG.  2 . 
     Since the lateral fastener of the invention may be rotated according to the design choice, a vertical movement of the fastener may be adjusted, and the manufacturing tolerance may be well treated. Therefore, the requirement of making the lateral fasteners and the terminals at the same plane may be easily satisfied. 
     In the above-mentioned embodiment, the engagement structure of the lateral fastener includes an engagement hole to be engaged with the engagement block (projection) of the resilient member of the insulation housing. However, if the engagement structure of the lateral fastener is designed to be a projection, a recess or a through hole for engagement may be formed at the middle of the engagement block of the resilient member of the insulation housing. 
     While the invention has been described by way of an example and in terms of a preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiment. To the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications. Therefore, the scope of the appended claims should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications.