Electrical connectors – With coupling movement-actuating means or retaining means in... – Coupling part for receiving edge of planar board moving...
Patent
1997-02-18
1998-11-24
Paumen, Gary F.
Electrical connectors
With coupling movement-actuating means or retaining means in...
Coupling part for receiving edge of planar board moving...
439328, H01R 1362
Patent
active
058399135
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention concerns an edge connector which electrically connects daughter boards such as memory cards or the like to a mother board.
Edge connectors which electrically connect daughter boards such as memory cards or the like to mother boards have been known in the past (for example, see Japanese Utility Model Application Kokai No. 4-38093, Japanese Patent Application Kokai No. 6-31088 and Japanese Patent Application Kokai No. 6-111887). Generally, edge connectors have a C-shaped configuration with a housing which receives the leading edge portion of a daughter board, the leading edge having a plurality of conductive pads thereon, and arm parts which receive both side edges of the daughter board. An array of terminals are arranged in rows in the housing. The daughter board is electrically connected to the mother board by the connection of the respective terminals with the conductive pads of the daughter board.
Among the conventional edge connectors mentioned above, the edge connector disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Kokai No. 6-111887 is an edge connector in which a daughter board is connected to a mother board by first inserting the leading edge portion of the daughter board with a linear motion into a long, slender board-receiving opening in the housing of the edge connector, and then pivoting the daughter board in one direction about the leading edge portion.
In cases where a plurality of daughter boards are to be held by an edge connector of this type, the following structure is conceivable: a plurality of the board-receiving openings described above are formed adjacent to each other in the housing; respective daughter boards are inserted into this plurality of board-receiving openings, and these daughter boards are pivoted as described above so that the daughter boards are held by latch members, thus causing a plurality of daughter boards to be held in the edge connector.
In edge connectors having such a structure, the daughter boards held in the edge connector are removed as follows: the latch members holding the daughter board which is to be removed are released, and the daughter board is reverse pivoted and then withdrawn in a direction opposite to the insertion direction described above. A problem arises when it is desired to remove one daughter board from among the plurality of daughter boards which are held by latch members in the connector. In that case, the daughter board will reverse pivot in a direction which causes it to collide with an adjacent daughter board positioned on the upstream side (with respect to the pivoting insertion direction). Thus, the daughter board on the upstream side will interfere with removal of the one daughter board, thereby preventing its removal, causing damage to the daughter boards, or both.
The present invention was devised to overcome the stated problem. An advantage of the present invention is that an edge connector which accommodates a plurality of daughter boards which are pivotally inserted into the connector may have any one of the daughter boards removed from the connector without interference from an adjacent daughter board.
The present invention provides an edge connector for interconnecting a plurality of daughter boards with a mother board, the edge connector including a housing having a plurality of adjacent board-receiving openings each configured to receive an edge portion of a respective one of the daughter boards, the daughter boards being insertable first in a common linear insertion direction and then being pivotable about their respective edge portions from respective upstream to downstream positions in a common pivoting insertion direction, a plurality of terminals disposed in the housing for electrically interconnecting respective conductive pads on the edge portions of the daughter boards with the mother board, and a plurality of latch members attached to the housing and associated with respective ones of the openings, the latch members being operable to retain the daughter boards in their respective said openings when t
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patent: 5641295 (1997-06-01), Koyama
patent: 5697802 (1997-12-01), Kawabe
Kapalka Robert
Paumen Gary F.
Ta Tho Dac
The Whitaker Corporation
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