Electrical connectors – Electromagnetic or electrostatic shield – Multi-part shield body
Reexamination Certificate
2001-04-11
2003-12-16
Ta, Tho D. (Department: 2833)
Electrical connectors
Electromagnetic or electrostatic shield
Multi-part shield body
C439S607070, C439S108000, C439S939000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06663430
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to connectors and connector connection structures that are applied to electronic equipment, and in particular, to a connector which is electrically connected to another connector in a manner where a connector having a convex metal shell section is fitted into a connector having a concave metal shell section, a connector connection structure, and electronic equipment provided with the connector or connector connection structure.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
In general, regarding electronic equipment, in a connector for connection to external equipment, reinforcing countermeasures relating to grounding are taken against EMI (Electro Magnetic Interference) and ESD (Electro Static Discharge).
In an example of a notebook type personal computer (hereinafter, notebook PC)
120
and a docking station
130
shown in
FIG. 4
, a multipole type interface connector for electrically connecting those pieces of equipment with each other for communication is devised for the reinforcement of the grounding.
As shown in
FIGS. 5 and 6
, a conventional interface connector
100
that is provided on the docking station
130
comprises a synthetic resin connector body
102
where a convex metal shell
104
is mounted, a signal terminal section
106
with 240 pins, and a power supply and ground terminal section
108
with 4 pins.
In addition, guide posts
109
protrude from both end sections of the connector body
102
for positioning the connector at the time when the connector connection is established, and an end of each guide post
109
is made to be a tapered shape.
When this interface connector
100
is installed in the docking station
130
, a terminal section
104
E of the metal shell
104
that protrudes from a back face of the connector is made to be grounded (earth) through a chassis and the like.
Furthermore, on this metal shell
104
, five protruding portions
110
which are arranged in almost equal intervals along the width direction of the connector are formed on each of a top face
104
A and a bottom face
104
B of the outer surface that becomes a fitting section, and one protruding portion
110
is provided also on each of a right-hand side face
104
C and a left-hand side face
104
D. All of these protruding portions
110
have the same shape and the same height.
Owing to this, when an interface connector
122
in the notebook PC
120
is connected to the interface connector
100
, the metal shell sections of both connectors fits together, and the protruding portions
110
strongly contact to the inner surface of the concave metal shell section of the connector in the notebook PC. Hence, contact resistance is reduced, and hence conductivity (electric conductivity) is improved and grounding is reinforced. In this manner, a malfunction of equipment caused by EMI/ESD is prevented from occurring.
However, in the interface connector
100
described above, as shown in
FIG. 7
, when the interface connector
122
of the notebook PC is connected thereto, the metal shell
124
of the interface connector
122
is deformed so that the vicinity of a central portion thereof swells out in its width direction (directions shown by an arrow A and an arrow B) by being pressed by the protruding portions
110
arranged near the ends of a top face
104
A and a bottom face
104
B of the metal shell
104
. In the figure, a state of the central portion of the metal shell
124
swelling out is schematically shown by a chain double-dashed line.
Owing to this, there are problems occurring, between the protruding portions
110
arranged in the vicinity of the central portion of the metal shell
104
and the metal shell
124
, such as contact pressure (surface pressure) decreases, conductivity deteriorates, and hence a grounding effect in that part worsens.
In present notebook PCs and docking stations, high-level operation guarantees against EMI/ESD are demanded. Since, contact pressure varies in these structures among the protruding portions and the grounding effect often becomes partially weakened as a result, electromagnetic noise is easily superimposed on a signal line, and trouble caused by electro-static discharge readily occurs.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In consideration of the above-described facts, an object of the present invention is to provide a connector, in which conductivity is improved by reducing contact resistance in a connector fitting section, having a connector connection structure, and electronic equipment to which the connector or connector connection structure is applied.
According to one embodiment, the invention is directed to a connector having a convex metal shell section, comprising a plurality of protruding portions provided on a outer surface of the convex metal shell section where a concave metal shell section fits, wherein, protruding portions provided toward a central portion of the outer surface are made higher than protruding portions provided toward edge sides of the outer surface
Furthermore, another object of the present invention is to provide a connector, in which stabilization of operation of the electronic equipment against EMI/(ESD is planned by reinforcing grounding of the entire connector, a connector connection structure, and electronic equipment to which the connector or connector connection structure is applied.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4934960 (1990-06-01), Capp et al.
patent: 5752854 (1998-05-01), Capp et al.
patent: 6015304 (2000-01-01), Yagi et al.
patent: 6042398 (2000-03-01), Wu et al.
Komiyama Hirohide
Nakano Masayoshi
Usui Hideyuki
Schelkopf J. Bruce
Ta Tho D.
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