Patent Publication Number: US-7909618-B2

Title: Board to board connector with an offset mounting profile

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a board to board electrical connector, and more particularly to a board to board electrical connector with low board mounting profile. The instant invention relates to the application Ser. No. 12/313,168, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,572,157, filed on Nov. 17, 2008 having the same inventor and the same assignee with the instant invention. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Board to board connector, which is widely used for interconnecting circuits between two parallel boards, has been asked for smaller size and lower board mounting profile. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,395,250 issued to Englert, Jr. et al on Mar. 7, 1995 discloses a board to board connector. According to Englert, Jr., said board to board connector  20  including a receptacle  22  and a plug  70 , each having a housing  24 , 72  with respective arrays of improved contacts  44 , 92  secured therein, the contacts  44 , 92  being of thin metal set on edge in the housings  24 , 72  and including edge contact surfaces  50 , 98  projecting from the housings  24 , 72  in a common plane for soldering to the circuits. Upon mating of the receptacle  22  and plug  70 , said board to board connector  20  can be resulted in low profile. While in this face to face board mounting, the distance between two parallel boards are limited by the height of housings  24 ,  72 . 
     Hence, a board to board connector with low board mounting profile is highly desired to overcome the disadvantages of the related arts. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, the object of the present invention is to provide a board to board connector with low board mounting profile. 
     In order to achieve the object set forth, a board to board connector comprising an insulating housing and a plurality of terminals formed on said insulating housing, said connector forms two offset mating faces in relative inside of the insulating housing, and each terminal forms two elastic-ends protruded from said mating faces, when assembling, the board to board connector can receive two circuit boards in the first mating face and the second mating face, because of this offset board to board connector design, the two boards can be lied spreadably, so that the total height of board mounting profile will be improved. 
     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 an exploded, perspective view of the board to board connector of an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is an assembled, perspective view of the board to board connector as shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a cross-section view taken along line  3 - 3  of  FIG. 2  with circuit boards mounted; 
         FIG. 4  is another exploded, perspective view of the board to board connector of an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 5  is another exploded, perspective view of the board to board connector of an embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1-2 , a board to board connector  1  comprises an insulating housing  2 , a plurality of terminals  3  retained in said insulating housing  2  and a removable cover  4  that is engaged with the insulating housing  2 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1&amp;4 , said insulating housing  2  has a first mating portion or region  21  located in a first level, a second mating portion or region  22  located in a second level which is offset from the first level, and a medium or bending portion or a retention base  23  interconnecting the first mating portion  21  and the second mating portion  22  in the horizontal direction C. On the first mating portion  21 , the face which is facing to the second level in a first vertical direction A is defined as a first mating face  251 , and the other relative face is defined as a first base face or mounting face  241  with mounting posts  240  thereon. In the similar way, the face on the second mating portion  22  which is facing to the first level in a second vertical direction B is defined as a second mating face  252 , and the other relative face is defined as a second base face  242 . A plurality of slots  28  are formed on the first mating portion  21  and opening from said first base face  241  to the first mating face  251 . 
     Still referring to  FIGS. 1&amp;4 , Each of said terminals  3  in the shape of longitudinal sheet comprises a first elastic-end  31 , a second elastic-end  32  and a engaging portion  33  set between the first elastic-end  31  and the second elastic-end  32 , a opening  34  is further formed on said engaging portion  33 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1-5 , Said board to board connector  1  further including a removable cover  4  with a pair of latches  42 . When assembling, each of the terminals  3  is lined through the first mating portion  21 , the bending portion  23  and the second mating portion  22 . Said first elastic-end  31  is protruded on the first mating face  251  through the slots  28 , and the second elastic-end  32  is protruded on the second mating face  251 . A plurality of ribs  26  are formed on the insulating housing  2 , and each of these ribs  26  is lined from the second mating portion  22  to the bending portion  23 , which can help positioning the terminals  3  and enhancing the strength of insulating housing  2 . Some protrusions  20  are formed on the insulating housing  2  to provide location for corresponding opening  34  on the terminals  3 . Then said cover  4  is attached to the insulating housing  2  to help engaging the terminals  3 , some press portions  43  are further formed on the cover  4  to hold the terminals  3 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , two circuit boards ( 51 , 52 ) are defined to mate with said first mating face  251  and the second mating face  252 . As the first mating face  251  and the second mating face  252  staggered in the mating direction, said boards ( 51 , 52 ) linked by connector  1  can be located on the mating faces ( 251 , 252 ) spreadably, so that the total height of board mounting profile can be improved. 
     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 illustrated 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.