Electrical connectors – With insulation other than conductor sheath – Plural-contact coupling part
Reexamination Certificate
2002-05-17
2004-03-09
Duverne, Jean F. (Department: 2839)
Electrical connectors
With insulation other than conductor sheath
Plural-contact coupling part
Reexamination Certificate
active
06702621
ABSTRACT:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application is a co-pending application of patent applications with unknown serial numbers, respectively entitled “ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR WITH PIVOTABLE CONTACT” and “BATTERY CONNECTOR”, invented by the same inventor, filed on the same date, and assigned to the same assignee of the present invention.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a battery connector, and more particularly to a battery connector having dual compression terminals.
2. Description of the Related Art
Portable electrical or electronic appliances normally use rechargeable batteries as power sources. The batteries have contact faces, which, when the batteries are inserted in the electrical or electronic appliances, engage with resilient contact elements of battery connectors in the electrical or electronic appliances. As those electrical or electronic appliances are becoming more and more compact, the battery connectors used therein have a reduced size, which results in that the terminals of these battery connectors have a reduced size accordingly. It is usually difficult for a small contact to have a good resilience.
Referring to.
FIG. 6
, U.S. Pat. No. 6,068,519 discloses an electrical connector
7
for a rechargeable battery. The electrical connector
7
has an elongate insulative base
71
with a plurality of terminals
72
fixed thereto and a cover
73
. Each terminal
72
has a soldering portion
721
, a connection portion
722
and a contacting portion
723
. A bore
711
is defined in a top wall
713
of the insulative base
71
. Two pairs of grooves
712
are respectively defined in opposite sides of a bottom wall
714
of the insulative base
71
. The cover
73
has a top wall
736
and two side walls
730
depending downwardly from two lateral sides of the top wall
736
. A plurality of slots
735
is defined in the top wall
736
for receiving the terminals
72
. Two pairs of resilient arms
733
protrude downwardly from the top wall
736
into an interior space (not labeled) of the cover
73
. A protrusion
732
is formed on a free end of each resilient arm
733
for engaging with a corresponding groove
712
of the insulative base
71
. A pin
734
extends from the top wall
736
into the interior space of the cover
73
for being inserted into the bore
711
of the insulative base
71
.
However, the formation of the two pairs of resilient arms
733
and the pin
734
formed on the cover
73
and the bore
711
defined in the insulative base
71
complicate the structure of the connector. The manufacturing process of the connector is further complicated and the production cost is increased, since the terminals are mounted on a printed circuit board (PCB, not shown) by tedious soldering.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,027,381 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/037,350, assigned to the same assignee as the present invention, disclose related battery connectors. The terminals of the battery connectors are soldered to PCBs, whereby a simple manufacturing process and a low cost is not achievable. U.S. Pat. No. 5,746,626 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,113,440 disclose conventional battery connectors, each having terminals soldered to PCBs. The terminals of these conventional connectors, due to their configurations, do not have good resilience so that after a period of use of these connectors, the terminals thereof may be no longer resilient sufficiently to have a reliable engagement with the batteries.
Hence, an improved battery connector with simple structure and improved terminals is needed to overcome the foregoing-shortcomings.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of this invention to provide a battery connector having a simple structure.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a battery connector having dual-compression terminals, so that the terminals can be electrically connected to a printed circuit board (PCB) on which the connector is mounted without soldering, and the terminals are resilient enough to undergo repeated stress for a long period without fatigue.
It is still an object of this invention to provide a battery connector with terminals firmly secured in a housing thereof.
A battery connector according to the present invention includes an insulative housing, an insert and a plurality of terminals insert molded with the insert. The housing has a front wall, side walls, a rear wall, a top wall and inner walls together defining a plurality of passageways therebetween. A plurality of grooves is defined in a lower portion of the rear wall, and a plurality of slots is defined in the top wall in communication with the passageways. A hole and a cutout are defined in each of the side walls. An opening is defined in a bottom of the housing transecting the passageways. The insert has a body portion and two lock portions formed respectively on opposite ends of the body portion for engaging with the housing. Each terminal has a contacting portion, a first spring portion, a connection portion, a second spring portion and a mounting portion. The contacting portion has a convexity and a free end portion. A pair of tabs is formed on opposite edges of the connection portion of each terminal. The second spring portion is shaped generally having a profile of three-fourth circle.
REFERENCES:
patent: 6027381 (2000-02-01), Lok
patent: 6068519 (2000-05-01), Lok
patent: 6113440 (2000-09-01), Fijten et al.
patent: 6132265 (2000-10-01), Shih et al.
Chung Wei Te
Duverne Jean F.
Hon Hai - Precision Ind. Co., Ltd.
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