Electrical connectors – Preformed panel circuit arrangement – e.g. – pcb – icm – dip,... – Within distinct housing spaced from panel circuit arrangement
Reexamination Certificate
2000-07-20
2001-12-04
Abrams, Neil (Department: 2839)
Electrical connectors
Preformed panel circuit arrangement, e.g., pcb, icm, dip,...
Within distinct housing spaced from panel circuit arrangement
Reexamination Certificate
active
06325639
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an input/output (I/O) connector for a portable communications device. More specifically, the present invention discloses an I/O connector that requires less surface area on a circuit board.
2. Description of the Prior Art
I/O connectors are used in a wide variety of electronic devices to electrically connect different types of devices to each other. In particular, such connectors are found on portable communications devices, such as cellular telephones. They may perform a variety of functions, such as the connecting of the cellular telephone to a computer to establish a communications link, or the docking of the cellular telephone to a docking station for the recharging of batteries, etc.
I/O ports are traditionally mounted on a circuit board of the personal communications device, and protrude through the casing to establish an electrical connection between the circuitry on the circuit board and an external device. Please refer to FIG.
1
.
FIG. 1
is an exploded view diagram of a prior art cellular telephone
10
. The cellular telephone
10
is a well-known portable personal communications device, and comprises a circuit board
12
set between an upper casing
14
and a lower casing
16
. The circuit board
12
has a prior art I/O connector
20
electrically connected to other devices (not shown) disposed on the circuit board
12
. Various methods are used to establish the electrical connection between the I/O connector
20
and the devices on the circuit board
12
, which are discussed below. The I/O connector
20
has an external interface end
22
that is used to electrically connect to a corresponding I/O connector on a separate device (not shown). Besides comprising a plurality of electrical contacts
24
to establish electrical connections with the external device, the I/O connector
20
may also optionally comprise a locking mechanism
26
to establish a firm mechanical connection between the respective devices. In this manner the cellular telephone
10
will not become unintentionally unplugged from the external device. The upper and lower casings
14
and
16
each have an opening
18
. When the upper and lower casings
14
and
16
are brought together, the circuit board
12
is held snugly between them and the external interface end
22
peeks through the opening
18
so that it can mate with its corresponding connector on the external device.
As noted above, a variety of methods can be used to electrically connect the I/O connector
20
to the other components on the circuit board
12
. The most commonly used method is surface mounting technology (SMT). Please refer to
FIG. 2
, which is a diagram of the prior art I/O connector
20
mounted to the circuit board
12
using SMT. Protruding from the back end of the I/O connector
20
are a plurality of pins
21
. Each pin
21
should have a corresponding contact
24
on the external interface end
22
of the I/O connector
20
. Using SMT, the pins
21
are soldered to the circuit board
12
at predetermined soldering points
23
. These soldering points
23
have traces (not shown) which lead away from the soldering points and electrically connect to other components on the circuit board
12
. Using SMT, the I/O connector
20
is firmly fixed to the circuit board
12
.
Alternatively, the I/O connector
20
may simply clamp onto the circuit board
12
. This is depicted in FIG.
3
. The circuit board
12
can have a variety of traces (not shown) on both its top and bottom surfaces. These traces lead up to the edge of the circuit board
12
. The I/O connector
20
has a plurality of elastic contacts
25
that electrically connect to their corresponding contacts
24
on the external interface end
22
. When the I/O connector
20
is slid onto the edge of the circuit board
12
, the elastic contacts
25
make electrical contact with their respective traces, and also firmly hold the I/O connector
20
to the circuit board
12
. When disposed within the upper and lower casings
14
and
16
, the casings
14
,
16
prevent the I/O connector
20
from sliding back off the circuit board
12
if it is pulled or jerked.
Another method used to connect the I/O connector
20
to the circuit board
12
is depicted in FIG.
4
. The method is very similar to that discussed in FIG.
3
. Traces (not shown) lead up to an edge of the circuit board
12
. A plurality of elastic conductors
27
, each connected to a corresponding contact (not shown) on the external interface end
22
, make electrical contact with their respective traces. However, instead of clamping onto the circuit board
12
, as is done in
FIG. 3
, the I/O connector
20
is held in place by the upper and lower casings
14
and
16
, which both firmly press the I/O connector
20
against the circuit board
12
and also locks it into position.
All of the above prior art methods used to electrically connect the I/O connector
20
to the circuit board
12
require a significant amount of area on the circuit board
12
in comparison to the area of the I/O connector
20
. That is, a large portion of the I/O connector
20
actually resides on the circuit board
12
, taking up space. With the continuing trend of reducing the sizes of portable communications devices, the total size of the circuit board must also be reduced. This, however, is hampered by the area consumed on the circuit board
12
by the I/O connector
20
. Hence, the prior art I/O connector
20
is inhibiting miniaturization trends in portable communications devices.
Additionally, a limited tolerance is permitted between the I/O connector
20
and its opening
18
in the casings
14
and
16
. Small misalignments of the circuit board
12
in the casings
14
,
16
, or of the I/O connector
20
on the circuit board
12
can result in difficulty, or a complete failure, to mate the upper casing
14
with the lower casing
16
. Consequently, the prior art method of mounting the I/O connector
20
onto the circuit board
12
exacerbates tolerance requirements, and complicates the manufacturing process of the cellular telephone
10
.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore a primary objective of this invention to provide an input/output (I/O) connector that requires very little area on a circuit board, and which can be easily mounted within the casings of a portable communications device.
The present invention, briefly summarized, discloses an input/output (I/O) connector for a portable communications device. The portable communications device has a housing with a circuit board set within the housing. The I/O connector has an interface connector that mounts on the housing. The interface connector thus has an internal and an external side. Conductors on the external side present an I/O interface for an external device. These conductors have corresponding contacts on the internal side. The contacts on the internal side make electrical connections with contacts set on an edge of the circuit board.
It is an advantage of the present invention that the contacts on the edge of the circuit board use almost no area on the circuit board, and thus the total area of the circuit board can be reduced. Also, because the I/O connector is mounted on the housing, assembly tolerances are relieved.
These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment, which is illustrated in the various figures and drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3550062 (1970-12-01), Drenten et al.
patent: 4785533 (1988-11-01), Seinto et al.
patent: 5865648 (1999-02-01), Clyatt, III
The IBM Technical Disclosure vol. 29 No. 6. Published date Nov. 1986.
Abrams Neil
Acer Communications and Multimedia Inc.
Dinh Phuong KT
Hsu Winston
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