Patent Publication Number: US-7722387-B2

Title: Board connector, mating connector, and electronic device including the same

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     Applicants claim priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 of Japanese Application No. 2007-195087 filed Jul. 26, 2007. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to a board connector having an SMT (Surface Mount Technology) terminal, a mating connector to be connected with the board connector, and an electronic device including the board connector and the mating connector. 
     There have been proposed various kinds of connector assemblies for connecting a plurality of cables to a circuit-board in an electronic device such as a notebook computer or a cellular phone. JP-U 3118719 and JP-A 2005-302417, each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, disclose the conventional type of the connector assembly and discuss the measures against the noise. However, JP-U 3118719 and JP-A 2005-302417 do not present the sufficient countermeasures. 
     SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a connector assembly having a structure capable of reducing a noise. 
     In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a board connector comprising a plurality of contacts each having an SMT (Surface Mount Technology) terminal to be connected to a wiring pattern on a board, an insulator; and a shell covering, at least in part, the insulator. The insulator has a first insulator portion extending in a first direction and two second insulator portions each extending in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction. The first insulator portion has first ends in the first direction. The first insulator portion has a bottom surface. Each of the second insulator portions has a second end. The second insulator portions extend from the first ends to the second ends, respectively. The second ends are positioned on an imaginary straight line. The first insulator portion, the second insulator portions and the imaginary straight line define a predetermined area. The first insulator portion holds the plurality of contacts so that the SMT terminal is positioned in the predetermined area or on the bottom surface of the first insulator portion as seen from below the board connector. 
     In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a mating connector fittable with the board connector. The mating connector comprises a mating shell. When the board connector and the mating connector are fitted with each other, the shell of the board connector and the mating shell are positioned over the SMT terminals to electrically shield the SMT terminals. 
     The board connector and the mating connector occupying a specific area when the board connector and the mating connector are fitted with each other. Assuming the specific area is equally divided into three regions in the second direction, the SMT terminals are positioned in a middle one of the three regions. 
     In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic apparatus comprising the board connector and the mating connector, wherein the board connector is fitted with the mating connector. 
     An appreciation of the objectives of the present invention and a more complete understanding of its structure may be had by studying the following description of the preferred embodiment and by referring to the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a connector assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view showing a mating connector constituting the connector assembly of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a board connector constituting the connector assembly of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a cross sectional view showing the connector assembly taken along lines IV-IV in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view of an insulator included in the board connector of  FIG. 3 ; 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective view of a shell included in the board connector of  FIG. 3 ; and 
         FIG. 7  shows a contact included in the board connector of  FIG. 3 . 
     
    
    
     While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended to limit the invention to the particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims. 
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     With reference to  FIGS. 1 to 3 , a connector assembly  300  according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises a board connector  100  to be mounted on a board and a mating connector  200  connected to a plurality of cables  400 . The board connector  100  is fittable with the mating connector  200 . The connector assembly  300  is generally used in electronic devices such as a cellular phone. 
     With reference to  FIGS. 2 and 4 , the mating connector  200  according to this embodiment has a mating insulator  220 , a mating shell  240 , and a plurality of mating contacts  260 . 
     The mating insulator  220  extends in an X-direction and holds the plurality of mating contacts  260 . 
     The mating shell  240  extends in the X-direction and covers the mating insulator  220 . The mating shell  240  is connected to the shield portions  420 . The mating shell  240  has two end portions  242 , a front end portion  244 , and two connection portions  246 . Each of the end portions  242  protrudes from the mating shell  240  in the X-direction. The front end portion  244  is formed on a front end of the mating shell  240  in a Y-direction. 
     Each mating contact  260  has a first connect portion  262  to be connected to a signal conductor  440  of the cable  400  and a second connect portion  264  for establishing a connection with the board connector  100 . 
     With reference to  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the board connector  100  comprises an insulator  120 , a shell  140  covering a part of the insulator  120 , and a plurality of contacts  160  held by the insulator  120 . 
     With reference to  FIGS. 3 ,  4 , and  7 , each contact  160  has an SMT (Surface Mount Technology) terminal  162 , a contact portion  166 , and a coupling portion  164 . The SMT terminals  162  are connected to a wiring pattern on the board. Each contact portion  166  is connected with the first connect portion  264  of the mating contact  260 . The SMT terminal  162  and the connection portion  166  are coupled by the coupling portion  164 . 
     With reference to  FIGS. 3 to 5 , the insulator  120  has a first insulator portion  122  extending in the X-direction and two second insulator portions  126  each extending in the Y-direction. The first insulator portion  122  has a bottom surface  123  and first ends  122   a  and  122   b  in the X-direction. Each second insulator portion  126  has a second end  126   a ,  126   b . The second insulator portions  126  extend from the first ends  122   a  and  122   b  to the second ends  126   a  and  126   b , respectively. The second ends  126   a  and  126   b  are positioned on an imaginary straight line L 1 . The first insulator portion  122 , the second insulator portions  126 , and the imaginary straight line L 1  define a predetermined area  130  as shown in  FIG. 5 . 
     The first insulator portion  122  has a plurality of hold portions  124  each holding the contact  160 . The hold portion  124  is provided with a bottom portion  124   a  which has a certain thickness. With this structure, when seen from below the board connector  100 , the bottom portion  124   a  hides the contacts  160  except for the SMT terminals  162 . This structure enables more effective use of the surface of the board in a way by, for example, forming the wiring patterns on the board at the position directly under the bottom surface  123 . 
     More specifically, according to the present embodiment, each hold portion  124  holds the contact  160  so that the SMT terminal  162  is positioned within the predetermined area  130 . The SMT terminals  162  may be positioned under the first insulator portion  122 . 
     As is most clearly shown in  FIG. 5 , the first insulator portion  122  and the second insulator portions  126  are provided with recesses  122   c  and recesses  126   c , respectively. In addition, each second insulator portion  126  is provided with a depression  128 . 
     With reference to  FIGS. 3 and 6 , the shell  140  has a first shell portion  142  covering a part of the first insulator portion  122  and second shell portions  144  covering the second insulator portions  126 . The first shell portion  142  and the second shell portions  144  are formed integrally with each other. 
     With reference to  FIG. 6 , the first shell portion  142  has first ends  142   a  and  142   b  in the X-direction. Each second shell portion  144  has a second end  144   a ,  144   b . The second shell portions  144  extend from the first ends  142   a  and  142   b  to the second ends  144   a  and  144   b , respectively. The second ends  144   a  and  144   b  are positioned on an imaginary straight line L 2 . 
     The first shell portion  142  has a plurality of projections  142   c  projecting downward in a Z-direction. Similarly, each of the second shell portions  144  has a second projection  144   c  projecting downward in the Z-direction. The first projections  142   c  are pressly-fitted into the recess  122   c , respectively. The second projections  144   c  are pressly-fitted into the recess  126   c , respectively. Thus, the shell  140  is fixed to the insulator  120  as shown in  FIG. 3 . In this state, the SMT terminals  162  are positioned within the predetermined area  130  when seen from above in the Z-direction. 
     Furthermore, the first shell portion  142  has first spring contact portions  143 . Each second shell portion  144  has a second spring contact portion  146 . With reference to  FIG. 2  together with  FIG. 6 , the first spring contact portions  143  and the second spring contact portions  146  are connected to the front end portion  244  and the connection portions  246  of the mating shell  240 , respectively. 
     With reference to  FIGS. 5 and 6 , each of the second shell portions  144  has a cover  145  covering the depression  128  and a hold-down portion  147  for fixing the board connector  100  to the board. A pair of the depression  128  and the cover  145  constitutes a receiver portion which receives the end portion  242  of the mating connector  200  in the Z-direction. 
     With reference to  FIG. 4 , the shell  140  of the board connector  100  and the mating shell  240  are positioned over the SMT terminals  162  to electrically shield the SMT terminals  162  when the board connector  100  and the mating connector  200  are fitted with each other. The board connector  100  and the mating connector  200  occupy a specific area when the board connector  100  and the mating connector  200  are fitted with each other. On the assumption that the specific area is equally divided into three regions A, B and C in the Y-direction, the SMT terminals  162  are positioned in a middle region B of the three regions. With this structure, the connector assembly  300  is highly resistive against the noise. 
     Moreover, the mating connector  200  is configured to hold a plurality of cables  400  which extend in a predetermined direction in a plane perpendicular to the X-direction. The SMT terminal  162  extends in the predetermined direction when the mating connector  200  holding the cables  400  is fitted with the board connector  100 . Each of the mating contacts  260  has the first connect portion  264  to be connected to the contact  160  and the second connect portion  262  to be connected to the cable  400 . Each of the SMT terminals  162  are positioned between the first and the second connect portions  262 ,  264  in the Y-direction when the mating connector  200  holding the cables  400  is fitted with the board connector  100 . 
     The present application is based on a Japanese patent application of JP2007-195087 filed before the Japan Patent Office on Jul. 26, 2007, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
     While there has been described what is believed to be the preferred embodiment of the invention, those skilled in the art will recognize that other and further modifications may be made thereto without departing from the spirit of the invention, and it is intended to claim all such embodiments that fall within the true scope of the invention.