Electrical connectors – Preformed panel circuit arrangement – e.g. – pcb – icm – dip,... – With provision to conduct electricity from panel circuit to...
Patent
1996-11-20
1998-12-01
Paumen, Gary F.
Electrical connectors
Preformed panel circuit arrangement, e.g., pcb, icm, dip,...
With provision to conduct electricity from panel circuit to...
4395401, H01R 909
Patent
active
058428747
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to electrical connectors and, more particularly, to an improved surface mount, board-to-board connector having an increased number of electrical terminals and a structure which decreases the likelihood of encountering misalignment of the connector terminals during installation to a circuit board.
Board-to-board connectors for electrically connecting a pair of parallel circuit board or members are well known in the art. These board-to-board connectors typically utilize two opposing connector components mounted to respective opposing surfaces of the circuit boards and which project away from the circuit board mounting surfaces. One of the connector components is a male member and includes a plug member, while the other of the two connector components is a female member and includes a receptacle. The male plug member fits into the female receptacle in order to connect the two circuit boards together.
Board-to-board connectors further include a series of electrical terminals disposed in the two interengaging male and female connector members which contact each other when the male member is fitted into the female member. These terminals have solder tail portions which extend out from the connector member bottom portions and either extend through holes in a circuit board or engage a like number of electrical contact pads, or traces, formed on the surfaces of the respective circuit boards and are subsequently soldered thereto. This latter mounting method is referred to in the art as surface mounting.
Surface mount connectors present certain problems which may compromise the reliability of the connection between the connector terminal tails and the circuit board contact pads. The contact terminals of surface mount board-to-board connectors extend along the length of the connectors and thus, the number of circuits that a surface mount connector can accommodate is limited by the length of the connector. A surface mount connector that accommodates a small number of circuits, such as 20 circuits, is much shorter than a connector that must accommodate a large number of circuits, such as 200 circuits or more.
In surface mounting of board-to-board electrical connectors onto circuit boards, it is desirable to have all of the connector terminal tails lie in a common plane which is adjacent to the mounting surface of the circuit boards so that the terminal tails will contact the circuit board traces. However, it is often difficult to achieve this objective because circuit boards may be formed according to low tolerances that may lead to warping or other distortion in circuit boards which may occur during the manufacture of the circuit boards, during assembly of components onto the circuit boards or during assembly of secondary circuit boards to a mother board.
For example, heat generated by soldering components, or terminals of a connector, to a circuit board may create thermal stresses within the circuit board which induce warpage or distortion into the circuit board. Additionally, when secondary circuit boards are mechanically mounted to a mother board, such as by standoffs, they may be mounted either unevenly or the securement screws overtightened such that internal stresses may develop within the circuit boards which also may induce warpage or distortion into the circuit board.
This area of distortion typically manifests itself as a depressed or raised area of the circuit board that is no longer co-planar with the mounting surface of the circuit board. This warpage or distortion may prevent some of the connector terminals from lying adjacent to and in contact with the circuit board contact pads. Rather, some of the connector terminal tails may be spaced apart from the opposing circuit board contact pads by a gap equal to the displacement of the warped area from the board mounting surface. With such a gap, the possibility exists that the terminals may not contact the solder paste or at least not become reliably attached to the circuit board during the s
REFERENCES:
patent: 4134632 (1979-01-01), Lindberg et al.
patent: 4971565 (1990-11-01), Fox
patent: 4993965 (1991-02-01), Eck
patent: 5013263 (1991-05-01), Gordon et al.
patent: 5076804 (1991-12-01), Bertho et al.
patent: 5306163 (1994-04-01), Asakawa
patent: 5558540 (1996-09-01), Kato
COmponent Product Information "0.5mm staking PCB Connector WR Series (2 rows)", Japan Aviation Electronics Ind. Ltd. (Sep. 1994) (2 pages).
Ikesugi Hiroshi
Ito Yoshikazu
Yagi Masanori
Cohen Charles S.
Molex Incorporated
Paumen Gary F.
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