Patent Description:
Devices and systems often require data to be gathered for service or technical support. Today, data is gathered in various ways and subject to interpretation of the device being recorded leaving data sometimes very subjective.

Patent <CIT> discloses a module for plugging into an electronic device. The module includes a housing containing plural contacts each of which is contactable by a contact on a memory card which is removably inserted into the housing. Each contact electrically engages a terminal which is configured to make contact with a corresponding terminal of the electronic device. Patent <CIT> discloses a similar module in which each contact directly connects a contact on a memory card to a terminal of an electronic device. Patent <CIT> discloses a USB type connector which can receive not only a female USB plug but also a memory card closely adjacent and parallel thereto. The connector may be permanently connected to a circuit board to which the USB plug and memory card are electrically connected. Patent <CIT> discloses a device in which a memory card is sandwiched between two interconnected plastic frame portions. At one end of the device a connector is provided which includes contacts which are permanently soldered onto the memory card.

It would, therefore, be beneficial to provide a cost-effective, pluggable electrical connector which incorporates a memory card, such as an EEPROM device, which allows for the storage of data which is specific or personally identifiable to the device and which allows information to be easily conveyed, thereby facilitating trouble shooting and repair of the device.

According to the invention there is provided a plug-in connector as claimed in claim <NUM>.

As best shown in <FIG>, an illustrative connector assembly <NUM> has a receptacle connector <NUM> and a plug or plug-in connector <NUM>. The receptacle connector <NUM> has a housing <NUM> with a plug receiving recess <NUM> which extends therein. Keying slots <NUM> are provided in the plug receiving recess <NUM>.

Contact pins <NUM> are provided in the housing <NUM>. The contact pins <NUM> have circuit board mating portions <NUM> which extend outside of the housing <NUM>, and plug connector mating portions <NUM> which extend into the plug receiving recess <NUM>. The circuit board mating portions <NUM> are configured to be inserted into through holes of a substrate or printed circuit board (not shown). Other configurations of the circuit board mating portions <NUM> can be used without departing from the scope of the invention. A latch receiving projection <NUM> is provided on the housing <NUM>.

As best shown in <FIG>, plug or plug-in connector <NUM> has a housing <NUM> with a top wall <NUM>, and oppositely facing bottom wall <NUM> and side walls <NUM> which extend between the top wall <NUM> and the bottom wall <NUM>. Keying projections <NUM> are provided on respective side walls <NUM>. A latch <NUM> is provided on a respective side wall <NUM>. A cover retention member <NUM> (<FIG>) also extends from the respective side wall <NUM> proximate the latch <NUM>.

Terminal receiving cavities <NUM> extend through the plug connector <NUM> from the top wall <NUM> toward the bottom wall <NUM>. Longitudinal axes <NUM> of the terminal receiving cavities <NUM> are parallel to the longitudinal axis <NUM> of the housing <NUM> of the plug connector <NUM>. In the embodiment shown, two terminal receiving cavities <NUM> are provided. However, other number of terminal receiving cavities <NUM> may be provided without departing from the scope of the invention. Pin receiving openings <NUM> extend through the bottom wall (<FIG> and <FIG>) and are positioned in alignment with the terminal receiving cavities <NUM>.

A memory card receiving slot <NUM> extends from the top wall <NUM> of the plug connector <NUM> toward the bottom wall <NUM>. The longitudinal axis <NUM> of the memory card receiving slot <NUM> is parallel to the longitudinal axis of the housing <NUM> of the plug connector <NUM> and parallel to the longitudinal axes of the terminal receiving cavities <NUM>. As best shown in <FIG>, the memory card receiving slot <NUM> spans the terminal receiving cavities <NUM>, such that a portion of the memory card receiving slot <NUM> is in alignment with each of the terminal receiving cavities <NUM>. An elongated opening <NUM> extends between the memory card receiving slot <NUM> and the terminal receiving cavities <NUM>.

Terminals <NUM> are positioned in the terminal receiving cavities <NUM>. The terminals <NUM> have contact pin receiving sections <NUM> and memory card engagement sections <NUM>. The contact pin receiving sections <NUM> have longitudinal extending openings <NUM> (<FIG>) for receipt of the plug connector mating portions <NUM> the contact pins <NUM> therein. The contact pin receiving sections <NUM> also have projections or shoulders <NUM> which cooperate with the walls of the terminal receiving cavities <NUM> to retain and stabilize the terminals <NUM> in the terminal receiving cavities <NUM>. The retention can occur by latching, press fit, material displacement or other known methods for retaining terminals in the terminal receiving cavities.

The memory card engagement sections <NUM> are resilient contact arms which extend from the contact pin receiving sections <NUM>. The memory card engagement sections <NUM> have arcuate configurations to provide lead-in surfaces <NUM> and contact sections <NUM>. The contact sections <NUM> are configured to make mechanical and electrical connection with a memory card <NUM>.

The memory card <NUM> is positioned in the memory card receiving slot <NUM>. The memory card <NUM> may be, but is not limited to, an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) device. The memory card <NUM> has contact pads <NUM> which are configured to engage the memory card engagement sections <NUM> of the terminals <NUM>.

A cover <NUM>, as best shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, has a top planar member <NUM> with cover latching member <NUM> and terminal position assurance members <NUM> extending therefrom. The longitudinal axis of the cover latching member <NUM> and the terminal position assurance members are parallel to the longitudinal axis of the housing <NUM> of the plug connector <NUM> and parallel to the longitudinal axes of the terminal receiving cavities <NUM>.

During assembly of the plug connector <NUM>, the terminals <NUM> are inserted into the terminal receiving cavities <NUM> and retained therein as previously described. In this position, the memory card engagement sections <NUM>, and in particular, the contact sections <NUM>, are not stressed and extend through the elongated opening <NUM> into the memory card receiving slot <NUM>.

With the terminals <NUM> properly positioned, the memory card <NUM> is inserted into the memory card receiving slot <NUM> through the top wall <NUM> of the housing <NUM> of the plug connector <NUM>. As this occurs, the memory card <NUM> engages the lead-in surface <NUM> of the memory card engagement sections <NUM>, causing the memory card engagement sections <NUM> to move to a stressed position. The continued insertion of the member card <NUM> causes the contact sections <NUM> of the memory card engagement sections <NUM> to engage and move across the contact pads <NUM> of the memory card <NUM>. As the memory card engagement sections <NUM> are in a stressed position, the contact sections <NUM> exert a force on the contact pads <NUM>, causing the contact sections <NUM> to create a wiping action across the contact pads <NUM>, thereby facilitating a reliable electrical connection between the contact sections <NUM> and the contact pads <NUM>. With the memory card <NUM> fully inserted, the contact sections <NUM> remain in mechanical and electrical contact with the contact pads <NUM>. In other illustrative embodiments, the memory card <NUM> may also have latches or another known retention device to retain the memory card <NUM> in the memory card receiving slot <NUM>.

With the memory card <NUM> properly inserted into the housing <NUM> of the plug connector <NUM>, the cover <NUM> is moved into position. In the fully inserted position, the cover latching member <NUM> is position under the latch <NUM> and cooperates with the cover retention member <NUM> to retain the cover <NUM> in position on the housing <NUM>. In this position, the terminal position assurance members <NUM> of the cover are positioned proximate to or in contact with the projections or shoulders <NUM> of the terminals <NUM>. If the terminals <NUM> are not properly positioned in the terminal receiving cavities <NUM>, the terminal position assurance members <NUM> engage the projections or shoulders <NUM> of the terminals <NUM> to move them into position as the cover <NUM> is moved to the fully inserted position. Alternatively, if the terminals <NUM> are not properly positioned in the terminal receiving cavities <NUM> and are prevented from being properly positioned, the engagement of the terminal position assurance members <NUM> with the projections or shoulders <NUM> of the terminals <NUM> will prevent the proper insertion of the cover <NUM>, thereby providing a visual indication that the terminals <NUM> are not properly positioned.

With the cover <NUM> properly positioned, the top planar member covers the terminal receiving cavities <NUM> and the member card receiving slot <NUM> to prevent the removal of or damage to the terminals <NUM> and the memory card <NUM>.

With the plug connector <NUM> fully assembled, the plug connector <NUM> is inserted into the plug receiving recess <NUM> of the receptacle connector <NUM>. As this occurs, the keying projections <NUM> are moved into the keying slots <NUM>. With the plug connector <NUM> properly aligned with the receptacle connector <NUM>, the contact pins <NUM> are inserted through the pin receiving openings <NUM> in the bottom wall <NUM> of the housing <NUM> and into the opening <NUM> of the contact pin receiving sections <NUM> of the terminals <NUM>. In the fully assembled position, the latch <NUM> of the plug connector <NUM> cooperates with the latch receiving projection <NUM> of the receptacle connector <NUM> to retain the plug connector <NUM> in the plug receiving recess <NUM> of the receptacle connector <NUM>.

Referring to <FIG>, an alternate illustrative embodiment is shown. In this embodiment, the illustrative connector assembly <NUM> has a receptacle connector <NUM> and a plug or plug-in connector <NUM>. The receptacle connector <NUM> has a housing <NUM> with a plug receiving recess <NUM> which extends therein. Resilient contact arms <NUM> are provided integral with the housing <NUM>. The contact arms <NUM> have memory card engagement portions <NUM> which extend into the plug receiving recess <NUM>. Latch receiving recesses <NUM> with resilient latch receiving arms <NUM> are provided on the housing <NUM>. In the embodiment shown, the receptacle connector <NUM> is a universal serial bus (USB) connector.

The plug or plug-in connector <NUM> has a housing <NUM> with a top wall <NUM>, and oppositely facing bottom wall <NUM> and side walls <NUM> which extend between the top wall <NUM> and the bottom wall <NUM>. Latches <NUM> are provided on respective side walls <NUM>.

A portion of a memory card <NUM> extends from the bottom wall <NUM> of the housing <NUM>. A top portion of the memory card <NUM> is retained or embedded in the housing, such as for example, by overmolding the housing <NUM> over a portion of the memory card <NUM>. The memory card <NUM> may be, but is not limited to, an EEPROM device. The memory card <NUM> has contact pads <NUM> which are configured to engage the memory card engagement portions <NUM> of the resilient contact arms <NUM> of the receptacle connector <NUM>.

During insertion of the plug connector <NUM> into the receptacle connector <NUM>, the memory card <NUM> is inserted into the plug receiving recess <NUM>. As this occurs, the memory card <NUM> engages the lead-in surface <NUM> the memory card engagement portions <NUM> of the resilient contact arms <NUM>, causing the memory card engagement portions <NUM> to move to a stressed position. The continued insertion of the member card <NUM> causes contact sections <NUM> of the memory card engagement portions <NUM> to engage and move across the contact pads <NUM> of the memory card <NUM>. As the memory card engagement portions <NUM> of the resilient contact arms <NUM> are in a stressed position, the contact sections <NUM> exert a force on the contact pads <NUM>, causing the contact sections <NUM> to create a wiping action across the contact pads <NUM>, thereby facilitating a reliable electrical connection between the contact sections <NUM> and the contact pads <NUM>. With the memory card <NUM> fully inserted, the contact sections <NUM> remain in mechanical and electrical contact with the contact pads <NUM>.

In the fully assembled position, the latches <NUM> of the plug connector <NUM> cooperate with the resilient latch receiving arms <NUM> of the receptacle connector <NUM> to retain the plug connector <NUM> in the plug receiving recess <NUM> of the receptacle connector <NUM>. In various embodiments, the receptacle connector <NUM> is positioned in a substrate or printed circuit board (not shown) to allow the memory card <NUM> to be in electrical communication with the substrate or printed circuit board.

Claim 1:
A plug-in connector (<NUM>) comprising:
a housing (<NUM>) and a memory card (<NUM>) which stores data which is identifiable to a specific device to which the connector is configured to be electrically connected and which allows the data to be easily conveyed;
at least one latch (<NUM>) provided on the housing (<NUM>), the at least one latch (<NUM>) configured to cooperate with a mating connector (<NUM>) to maintain the plug-in connector (<NUM>) in position relative to the mating connector (<NUM>);
terminal receiving cavities (<NUM>) provided in the housing (<NUM>) and extending from a top wall (<NUM>) of the housing (<NUM>) toward a bottom wall (<NUM>) of the housing (<NUM>), longitudinal axes (<NUM>) of the terminal receiving cavities (<NUM>) being parallel to a longitudinal axis (<NUM>) of the housing (<NUM>),
wherein a memory card receiving slot (<NUM>) is provided in the housing (<NUM>), the memory card receiving slot (<NUM>) extends from the top wall (<NUM>) toward the bottom wall (<NUM>), a longitudinal axis (<NUM>) of the memory card receiving slot (<NUM>) is parallel to the longitudinal axis (<NUM>) of the housing (<NUM>) and parallel to the longitudinal axes (<NUM>) of the terminal receiving cavities (<NUM>),
wherein terminals (<NUM>) are positioned in the terminal receiving cavities (<NUM>), the terminals (<NUM>) have memory card engagement sections (<NUM>), the memory card engagement sections (<NUM>) are resilient contact arms, the memory card engagement sections (<NUM>) have lead-in surfaces (<NUM>) and contact sections (<NUM>), the contact sections (<NUM>) are provided in mechanical and electrical connection with the memory card (<NUM>); and
wherein a cover (<NUM>) cooperates with the housing (<NUM>), the cover (<NUM>) has a planar member (<NUM>) with a cover latching member (<NUM>) and terminal position assurance members (<NUM>) extending therefrom.