Patent ID: 7407390

Claim:
A Universal-Serial-Bus (USB) device comprising: a printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) including: a printed circuit board (PCB) having opposing upper and lower surfaces and including a PCB body section and a PCB plug section, a plurality of metal contacts disposed on the upper surface of the PCB plug section, and at least one integrated circuit (IC) mounted on the PCB body section, the IC including means for processing USB signals transmitted to the plurality of metal contacts; and a plastic handle portion including a front wall defining a front handle opening, a rear wall, and first and second side handle walls respectively extending between the front and rear walls and defining a hollow handle region; a plug shell structure attached to and extending from the front wall of the plastic handle portion, the plug shell structure including a lower shell wall, first and second shell side walls extending upward from the lower shell wall, and an upper shell wall integrally connected to upper ends of the first and second shell side walls, wherein the plug shell defines a hollow interior region that communicates with the hollow handle region via the front handle opening, and wherein front edges of the lower shell wall, the first and second shell side walls, and the upper shell wall define a front opening; and a plug support structure having a first end portion that is coupled to the plastic handle portion, and a second end portion that extends through the front handle opening and is received in the plug shell structure, wherein the PCBA is mounted into the handle portion such that the PCB body section is disposed between the front and rear walls, and the PCB plug portion extends through the front handle opening and is supported on the plug support structure such that the upper shell wall is positioned over and spaced from the upper surface of the PCB plug section by a predetermined gap.