Card edge connector

Details Card edge connector Card edge connector

2001-12-19

2003-10-21

Luebke, Renee (Department: 2833)

Electrical connectors

With coupling movement-actuating means or retaining means in...

Coupling part for receiving edge of planar board moving...

Reexamination Certificate

active

06634899

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a card edge connector, and more specifically to a card edge connector mounted onto a mother board having a detachably connected daughter board.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
Card edge connectors, such as those commonly used in personal computers or the like, are mounted on a mother board and have a daughter board such as Single Inline Memory Module (SIMM) or Double Inline Memory Module (DIMM) detachably connected. An example of one such connector is shown in
FIG. 9
(see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-190967).
This card edge connector
101
, as shown in
FIG. 9A
, has an insulated housing
110
mounted on a mother board (not shown). The housing has two daughter board receiving recesses
111
,
211
extending in the longitudinal direction. A plurality of contacts
121
,
221
is attached in two upper and lower rows along the longitudinal direction of the daughter board receiving recesses
111
,
211
and are connected to the mother board. At both ends of the daughter board receiving recess
111
of the housing
110
are latch portions
131
for holding a daughter board
300
that has been placed in a horizontal position by being rotated after being obliquely inserted into the daughter board receiving recess
111
, at a horizontal angle. Similarly, at both ends of the daughter board receiving recess
211
are latch portions
231
for holding the daughter board
300
that has been placed at a horizontal angle by being rotated after being obliquely inserted into the daughter board receiving recess
211
, at a horizontal angle.
Each latch portion
131
,
231
is formed integrally with the housing
110
. At the front end of the latch portion (right end in FIG.
9
B), there are provided restraining portions
132
,
232
and daughter board locking portions
133
,
233
. Each of the restraining portions
132
,
232
projects inwardly from the top part of the front end of the latch portion
131
,
231
. When the daughter board
300
is inserted into the daughter board receiving recess
111
,
211
and rotated to a horizontal position from an oblique position, each of the restraining portions
132
,
232
is resiliently displaced away from the board and is then returned to its original or unstressed state by means of an elastic force of the latch portions
131
,
231
. In the unstressed position, the restraining portions
132
,
232
come into contact with the top surface of the edge portion of the daughter board
300
to prevent the daughter board
300
from being inadvertently rotated from the horizontal position. Each of the daughter board locking portions
133
,
233
projects, as shown in
FIG. 9B
(in
FIG. 9B
only the daughter board locking portion
133
is shown), inwardly from a position adjacent to the restraining portion
132
,
232
of the latch portion
131
,
231
. When the daughter board
300
is placed in a horizontal position with respect to the mother board, each of the daughter board locking portions
133
,
233
enters a semicircular recess
301
formed at the edge portion of the daughter board
300
. When a force is applied to the daughter board
300
in the horizontal direction (direction indicated by an arrow in FIG.
9
B), press surfaces
133
A,
233
A (only
133
A is shown) thereof act so as to press an abutting surface
301
A formed on the inner wall of the semicircular recess
301
, preventing the daughter board
300
from being removed from the connector
101
in the horizontal direction.
While the prior art connector described above maintains the board in position when fully inserted into the connector
101
, it is not difficult to overcome the locking portions. Therefore, it is likely that the daughter board will disengage from the connector due to an impact such as falling, which is unacceptable in many applications.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide a card edge connector capable of effectively restraining a daughter board from disengaging from a conductor in the horizontal direction even under adverse conditions by increasing the holding pressure applied by a latch member to the daughter board. The card edge connector of the present invention has an insulated housing mounted onto a mother board and a latch member attached to the housing for holding the daughter board. The latch member has a daughter board locking portion for restraining the daughter board from inadvertent removal in the horizontal direction. The latch member engages with an inner wall of a semicircular recess formed at an edge portion of the daughter board. The daughter board locking portion has a pointed edge portion that cooperates with the inner wall of the semicircular recess to maintain the daughter board in position.
In the embodiment, the latch member is a metal latch which is stamped and formed from a metal plate. The pointed edge portion is a burr edge provided at a tip end of the latch member that is formed when the metal plate is stamped. The pointed edge portion is inclined in a direction perpendicular to the horizontal direction, and enters in the vicinity of a top end of the inner wall of the semicircular recess.


REFERENCES:
patent: 5766031 (1998-06-01), Yeh
patent: 6126472 (2000-10-01), Choy
patent: 6176725 (2001-01-01), Kobayashi et al.
patent: 08190967 (1996-07-01), None
patent: 2000208183 (2000-07-01), None

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