Patent Publication Number: US-2009227138-A1

Title: Electrical connector adapter for connecting with two rows of cables

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the invention 
     The present invention relates to an electrical connector, and particularly to an electrical connector connecting with two rows of cables. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     In most of the electrical devices nowadays, an electrical connector assembly which comprises a plug connector and a receptacle connector is used to provide an electrical connection between cables and a printed circuit board (PCB), such as that disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2006-344524. The plug connector has a plurality of first contacts connecting said cables, and the receptacle connector is mating with the plug connector and mounted on the PCB. The plug connector has a plurality of contacts, which have one row of contacting portions arranged in one side of the insulating housing and a row of soldering portions extending to a rear portion of the housing to solder with the cable. 
     When the number of cables is to increase along with the tendency of high-speed transmission of cables nowadays, a longitudinal dimension of the plug connector will be larger, however it will occupy more space on PCB. It is necessary to provide a new electrical connector to solve the problems above. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector designed to connecting with two rows of cable. 
     In order to achieve above-mentioned object, an electrical connector for connecting a plurality of cables is provided which comprises an insulating housing defining a receiving cavity and a bottom wall, a plurality of contacts arranged in two rows, each contact comprising a connecting beam; two rows of cables comprising conductors connecting with the connecting beams of the contacts; the connecting beams of the two rows of the contacts extend in opposite directions and the two rows of cables extend in directions in which the connecting beams extend. 
     Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present embodiment when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is an assembled, perspective view of an electrical connector assembly according to an preferred embodiment of the present invention, showing a plug connector mated with a receptacle connector; 
         FIG. 2  is an perspective view of the electrical connector assembly, showing the plug connector and the receptacle connector before mating in accordance with  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is an exploded, perspective view of the receptacle connector in accordance with  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 4  is an exploded, perspective view of the plug connector in accordance with  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 5  is a cross-section view of the electrical connector assembly taken along lines  5 - 5  in  FIG. 2 ; and, 
         FIG. 6  is a cross-section view of the electrical connector assembly taken along lines  6 - 6  in  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention shall be discussed hereinafter in terms of a preferred embodiment illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order for the reader hereof to gain a thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be obvious, however, to those skilled in the art that certain well-know elements may not be shown in detail in order to unnecessarily obscure the present invention. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , an electrical connector assembly  1  in accordance with the present invention is provided with a plug connector  2  connecting with a plurality of cables  4  and a receptacle connector  3  mounted on a PCB (not shown). 
     Referring to  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3 , the plug connector  2  includes a first insulating housing  21 , a plurality of first contacts  22  retained in the first insulating housing  21  and a first shell  23  covered on the first insulating housing  21 . The first insulating housing  21  defines therein a rectangular receiving cavity  215  surrounded by four peripheral walls  201  and a bottom wall  202 , the receiving cavity  215  opens an exterior through a mating face  212 . A tongue portion  216  protrudes into the receiving cavity  215  from an inner side of the bottom wall  202  and extends in a first direction, with a cutout  219  formed at one tip end thereof for leading the receptacle connector  3  in a right way. 
     A plurality of first passageways  2141  are arranged on the two side surface  2161  of the tongue portion  216  along the first direction and each extending along the protruding direction of the tongue portion  216 . The second passageways  2142  partitioned by rib  218 , are arranged on the bottom wall  202  in the first direction and each runs in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction until to two opposite ends of the first insulating housing  21 . The first insulating housing  21  further extends two flanges  203  respectively at two opposite ends thereof, and the flanges  203  defines cable-receiving grooves  213  communicating with the second passageways  2142  and an end exterior, on the bottom wall  202  thereof. 
     As shown in  FIG. 3 , each first contact  22  has a connecting beam  221 , a contacting beam  222  perpendicular to the connecting beam  221  and a jointing portion  223  therebetween for jointing the connecting beam  221  and the contacting beam  222 . The contacting beams  222  are received in the first passageways  2141  for electrically connecting with said receptacle connector  3  and the connecting beams  221  are received in the second passageways  2142 . As shown in  FIG. 5 , the connecting beams  221  are hidden in the second passageway  2142  by the ribs  218 . The jointing portion  223  is bended upwardly to be higher than the connecting beam  221  for preventing solder from flowing to the receiving cavity  215 . The first contacts  22  are arranged with two rows and the connecting beams  221  thereof extend in opposite directions. 
     The receiving cavity  215  defines a pair of holes  217  at inners of two opposite side wall of the peripheral walls  201  of the first insulating housing  21 , which run through the bottom wall  202  downwardly. The first shell  23  includes a horizontal plate  231  downwardly mounted onto the bottom face of bottom wall  202  of said first insulating housing  21 , and a pair of spring beams  232  extending vertically and downwardly from two sides of the plate  231  respectively and received in said holes  217 . The spring beams  232  protrude into the receiving cavity  215 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 4 , the receptacle connector  3  includes a second insulating housing  31 , a plurality of second contacts  32  retained in the second insulating housing  31  and a second shell  33  surrounding and shielding the second insulating housing  31 . Said second insulating housing  31  defines a receiving groove  313  surrounded by four sidewalls  301  and a bottom wall  302  thereof, which extends in the first direction for receiving said tongue portion  216  of the plug connector  2 . A protruding portion  316  are formed at one corner of the receiving groove for engaging with said cutout  219  of the tongue portion  216 . Two rows of passageways  314  are formed in two opposite sidewalls  301  and arranged along the first direction, and a pair of mounting holes  315  are downwardly recessed from one sidewall  301 . Each passageway  314  downwardly runs through the second insulating housing  312 . 
     Each second contact  32  received in the passageways  314  has a base portion  321 , a contacting portion  322  extending upwardly from one end of the base portion  321  into the receiving groove  313 , a soldering tail  323  extending from another end of the base portion  321  out of the second insulating housing  31 , and a fixing portion  324  extending from the middle of the base portion  321  upwardly for fixing the second contact  32  into the second insulating housing  31 . 
     The second shell  33  has a plate portion  331  bended to be quadrate and a pair of locking barbs  332  extending from a top edge of the plate portion  311  downwardly to be retained in said mounting holes  315  in order to fix the second shell  33  around the second insulating housing  31  and provide an EMI (Electronic Magetic Interference) protection. 
     Referring to  FIG. 3  and  FIG. 5 , two rows of the cables  4  are downwardly assembled into the plug connector  2  oppositely before the first shell  23  are assembled and retained in the cable-receiving grooves  213  and extend in directions in which the connecting portions  221  of the first contacts  22  extend. Each cable  4  has an inner conductor  41  inserted in the second passageways  2142  and soldered with said connecting beam  221  of the first contact  22  for an electrical connection. Then the first shell  23  is assembled to the bottom face of the first insulating housing  21  for shielding the cables  4  and the connecting beam  221 . Said two rows of the cables  4  extend in two opposite directions. Referring to  FIG. 6 , the plug connector  2  mates with said receptacle connector  3  to provide an electrical connection between the cables  4  and the PCB(not shown) by the electrical connection between said contacting portions  322  and contacting beams  222 . Referring to  FIG. 6 , said two spring beams  232  of the first shell  23  fasten the second shell  33  to provide an EMI protection. 
     As described above, the first contacts  22  of the plug connector  2  are divided into two rows with said connecting beams  221  arranged in opposite ends of the first insulating housing  21 , while the cables  4  could be divided into two rows as well for connecting with said first contacts  22  and extend in opposite directions respectively. In this way, the longitudinal dimension of the plug connector  2  could be reduced even if the number of said cables  4  increase, which absolutely reduces the whole dimension of the electrical connector  1  too. 
     However, while the preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown and described, it will apparent to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined by the appended claims.