Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US20090298352?ie=ISO-8859-1
Timestamp: 2014-07-11 00:32:06
Document Index: 183449694

Matched Legal Cases: ['Application No. 2008', 'art 8', 'art 8', 'art 37', 'arts 25', 'arts 25', 'art 23', 'art 24', 'art 37', 'arts 25', 'art 23', 'art 23', 'art 24', 'arts 25', 'art 23', 'art 24', 'art 37', 'arts 25', 'arts 25', 'art 37', 'art 37']

Patent US20090298352 - Electronic apparatus and connector - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Sign in<nobr>Advanced Patent Search</nobr>PatentsAccording to one embodiment, an electronic apparatus includes a connector into which a plug of a USB cable is insertable. The connector includes a housing and a terminal portion provided in the housing. The housing includes an insertion opening part which exposes the terminal portion outside, a back...http://www.google.com/patents/US20090298352?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US20090298352 - Electronic apparatus and connectorAdvanced Patent SearchPublication numberUS20090298352 A1Publication typeApplicationApplication numberUS 12/355,579Publication dateDec 3, 2009Filing dateJan 16, 2009Priority dateMay 28, 2008Also published asCN101593918A, CN101593918B, CN102522650A, US7819702, US8029321, US8133080, US8137140, US20100003849, US20110312195, US20110312227Publication number12355579, 355579, US 2009/0298352 A1, US 2009/298352 A1, US 20090298352 A1, US 20090298352A1, US 2009298352 A1, US 2009298352A1, US-A1-20090298352, US-A1-2009298352, US2009/0298352A1, US2009/298352A1, US20090298352 A1, US20090298352A1, US2009298352 A1, US2009298352A1InventorsYutaka MurakamiOriginal AssigneeKabushiki Kaisha ToshibaExport CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManReferenced by (2), Classifications (6), Legal Events (2) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetElectronic apparatus and connectorUS 20090298352 A1Abstract According to one embodiment, an electronic apparatus includes a connector into which a plug of a USB cable is insertable. The connector includes a housing and a terminal portion provided in the housing. The housing includes an insertion opening part which exposes the terminal portion outside, a back part positioned at an end part opposite to the insertion opening part in the housing, and a side part provided between the insertion opening part and the back part and configured to oppose to the plug when the plug is inserted into the connector. The side part includes an inclined part which continues to the insertion opening part and is inclined such that a distance between the inclined part and the plug increases in a direction from the back part toward the insertion opening part to form a gap between the inclined part and the plug.
a case comprising an opening portion; and, a connector in the case exposed outside of the case through the opening portion and configured to hold a plug of a Universal Serial Bus(USB) cable, wherein the connector comprises:
a plastic housing larger than an outer size of a plug of an external Serial Affachment (eSATA) cable; and
a terminal portion in the housing,
the connector being configured to selectively connect to the eSATA cable and the USB cable, the housing comprising an insertion opening portion configured to expose the terminal portion outside of the housing, a back portion positioned opposite to the insertion opening portion in the housing, and a side portion between the insertion opening portion and the back portion configured to laterally oppose to the plug of the USB cable when the plug of the USB cable is inserted into the connector, and the side portion comprising a slope leading to the insertion opening portion and a distance between the slope and the plug of the USB cable that increases in a direction from the back portion toward the insertion opening portion in order to form a gap between the slope and the plug of the USB cable. 2. The electronic apparatus of claim 1, wherein a length of the slope is eciual to or larger than half of a length of the side portion in a direction from the insertion opening portion toward the back portion.
4. The electronic apparatus of claim 1, wherein the side portion of the housing comprises a first region laterally opposite to the plug of the USB cable when the plug of the USB cable is inserted into the connector, and a second region laterally opposite to the plug of the eSATA cable when the plug of the eSATA cable is inserted into the connector, and
the slope is in the first region. 5. The electronic apparatus of claim 4, wherein the first region and the second region are partially overlapped with each other, and
the slope is in the first region away from the second region. 6. The electronic apparatus of claim 1, wherein the slope is in a region away from the plug of the eSATA cable when the plug of the eSATA cable is inserted into the connector.
7. A connector into which a plug of a USB cable is insertable, comprising:
a plastic housing larger than an outer size of a plug of an external Serial Attachment (eSATA) cable; and a terminal portion in the housing, wherein the connector is configured to selectively connect to the eSATA cable and the cable the housing comprises an insertion opening portion exposing the terminal portion outside of the housing, a back portion positioned opposite to the insertion opening portion in the housing, and a side portion between the insertion opening portion and the back portion configured to laterally oppose to the plug of the USB cable when the plug of the USB cable is inserted into the connector, and the side portion comprises a slope leading to the insertion opening portion and a distance between the slope and the plug of the USB cable that increases in a direction from the back portion toward the insertion opening portion in order to form a gap between the slope peften and the plug of the USB cable. Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2008-139554, filed May 28, 2008, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
An electronic apparatus such as a portable computer is provided with a Universal Serial Bus (USB) connector to which a USB cable is connectable. Such a USB connector generally comprises a metal housing (i.e., shell) and a terminal portion provided in the housing. At a distal end portion of the USB cable, a plug (i.e., a terminal portion) insertable into the housing of the USB connector is provided.
Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2005-353517 discloses a memory card socket which prevents inclined insertion of a memory card. The memory card socket comprises entrance guide tapers at an open end of a base shell. The memory card socket further comprises stoppers covering the entrance guide tapers.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION Various embodiments according to the invention will be described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings. In general, according to one embodiment of the invention, an electronic apparatus comprises a case comprising an opening part, and a connector contained in the case and exposed outside of the case through the opening part and into which a plug of a USB cable is insertable. The connector comprises a housing and a terminal portion provided in the housing. The housing comprises an insertion opening part which exposes the terminal portion outside of the housing, a back part positioned at an end part opposite to the insertion opening part in the housing, and a side part provided between the insertion opening part and the back part and configured to oppose to the plug of the USB cable when the plug is inserted into the connector. The side part comprises an inclined part which continues to the insertion opening part and is inclined such that a distance between the inclined part and the plug increases in a direction from the back part toward the insertion opening part to form a gap between the inclined part and the plug.
As shown in FIG. 1, a hinge part 8 is provided at the rear edge of the main unit 2. The hinge part 8 swingably couples the display unit 3 to the main unit 2. The display unit 3 is thereby swingable between a first position in which the display unit 3 is bent covering the upper wall 4 a and a second position in which the display unit 3 is raised from the upper wall 4 a. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the main unit 2 comprises a connector 11. The connector 11 is an example of a �connector� as referred to by the present invention. The present invention refers to a socket as a �connector�, which denotes a receptacle for a plug (i.e., a terminal portion) of a cable.
As shown in FIG. 7, the inclined part 37 of each of the first and second side parts 25, 26 is formed longer than half the length of each of the side parts 25, 26 in the direction from the insertion opening part 23 toward the back part 24. That is, the inclined part 37 of each of the first and second side parts 25, 26 extends along a length of more than L/2 from the insertion opening part 23, where L denotes the length (i.e., the distance between the insertion opening part 23 and the back part 24) of each of the side parts 25, 26 in a direction from the insertion opening part 23 toward the back part 24. As an example, the inclined part 37 according to the present embodiment has half the length (i.e., L/2) of the side parts 25, 26.
The present inventor conducted the load test on a connector (i.e., a connector in which the side parts 25, 26 are formed straight) not comprising the inclined part 37. The present inventor then confirmed that the plug 15 of the USB cable 14 does not withdraw from the connector 11 even when the lateral force F exceeds 30 N, and that the synthetic-resin housing 21 is deformed rather significantly. The present inventor further confirmed that the terminal portion 22 reaches the critical limit and the mold portion 27 of the terminal portion 22 is damaged when the lateral force F exceeds approximately 40 N.
The present inventor conducted the load test on the connector 11 in which the inclined part 37 is provided. As a result, the present inventor has confirmed that the plug 15 withdraws from the connector 11 spontaneously when the lateral force F applied to the USB cable 14 reaches a level (such as 30 N).
Referenced byCiting PatentFiling datePublication dateApplicantTitleUS7988499 *Dec 3, 2009Aug 2, 2011Hon Hai Precision Ind. Co., Ltd.Receptacle connector having shuttle to selectively switch to different interfacesUS8079879 *Jul 3, 2009Dec 20, 2011Taiwin Electronics Co., Ltd.Receptacle connector for dual signal transmission protocol* Cited by examinerClassifications U.S. Classification439/682International ClassificationH01R13/10Cooperative ClassificationH01R27/00, H01R2201/06, H01R13/629European ClassificationH01R27/00Legal EventsDateCodeEventDescriptionMar 26, 2014FPAYFee paymentYear of fee payment: 4Jan 16, 2009ASAssignmentEffective date: 20081222Owner name: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOSHIBA, JAPANFree format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:MURAKAMI, YUTAKA;REEL/FRAME:022122/0895RotateOriginal ImageGoogle Home - Sitemap - USPTO Bulk Downloads - Privacy Policy - Terms of Service - About Google Patents - Send FeedbackData provided by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services©2012 Google