Electrical connectors – With coupling movement-actuating means or retaining means in... – Retaining means
Reexamination Certificate
2001-11-21
2004-01-13
Ta, Tho D. (Department: 2833)
Electrical connectors
With coupling movement-actuating means or retaining means in...
Retaining means
C439S352000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06676434
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a connector for printed circuit boards such that a magazine case can be loaded therewith allowing each of them to smoothly move through the case.
PRIOR ART
In order to supply an automatic feeder or the like apparatus with the connectors, a number of them have sometimes been accommodated in a magazine case. A few or several magazine cases have been put in the automatic feeder in a sequential manner so as to deliver successively the connectors to any desired destination.
Shown in
FIG. 8
, are the prior art connectors
1
intended for use in printed circuit boards and each having one pin contact
2
fixed in a narrow and elongate housing
3
. However, those housings
3
usually have each a pair of lockable elastic legs
5
disposed at lower end regions of opposite lateral walls
4
and
4
in each housing. The legs
5
have locking pawls
6
protruding sideways therefrom in opposite directions. Distance ‘A’ between those pawls
6
is larger than width ‘B’ of the body of housing
3
, so that when feeding the connectors
1
through the magazine case
7
said pawls
6
belonging to two adjacent connectors are likely to abut each other. Those connectors
1
will thus tilt back and forth, with their corners colliding with the inner surface of the magazine case
7
. In such an event, they could hardly move through the case smoothly, thus causing it to be jammed with the connectors.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the invention made to resolve this problem in the prior art is therefore to provide, for use in printed circuit boards, a connector that will not tilt back and forth in a magazine case, never jamming or clogging it with the connectors.
In order to achieve this object, a connector provided herein for printed circuit boards does comprise, as in the prior art ones, a housing that is designed narrow and elongate to hold therein one to three contacts, a pair of lockable elastic legs disposed at lower end regions of opposite lateral walls of the housing and protruding sideways in opposite directions, and locking pawls formed integral with the respective elastic legs. The connector of the invention does further comprise characteristically a pair of supplementary lugs disposed at upper end regions of the lateral walls and also protruding sideways the same distance as the locking pawls.
A plurality of this type connector may also be transported through a magazine case. Those supplementary lugs belonging to adjacent connectors and disposed at the lateral walls thereof will then come into mutual contact, simultaneously with the locking pawls also colliding with each other. By virtue of such a behavior of those parts, the connectors will never tilt at all in the magazine case but will advance smoothly in row in an orderly way.
The connector of the invention is designed in particular as a one-pole type connector that accommodates therein only one contact. However, the present invention may also apply to other connectors of the two-pole type or several-pole type insofar as these connectors whose housings are so narrow and elongated that they are more or less likely to tilt within a magazine case.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3154365 (1964-10-01), Crimmins
patent: 3813634 (1974-05-01), Wigby et al.
patent: 5302140 (1994-04-01), Arnett
patent: 5389006 (1995-02-01), Noschese
patent: 5915987 (1999-06-01), Reed et al.
patent: 6146179 (2000-11-01), Denny et al.
Horii Toshiaki
Kawamoto Ryoichi
Makita Takaaki
Ushio Kohei
Antonelli Terry Stout & Kraus LLP
Harvey James R.
J.S.T. Mfg. Co. Ltd.
Ta Tho D.
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