Electrical connectors – With insulation other than conductor sheath – Plural-contact coupling part
Reexamination Certificate
2002-08-09
2003-11-18
Ta, Tho D. (Department: 2833)
Electrical connectors
With insulation other than conductor sheath
Plural-contact coupling part
Reexamination Certificate
active
06648695
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an electrical adapter, and particularly to an electrical adapter for interconnecting two connectors of different interface.
DESCRIPTION OF PRIOR ART
In the recent years, a three-in-one header connector of Intelligent Drive Electronics (IDE) interface becomes a popular connection interface. Generally, an IDE receptacle connector is mounted on a fiber channel backplane in the computer and an IDE plug connector is connected to a hard drive which is adapted to be attached to the fiber channel backplane for establishing signal transmission between the hard drive and the fiber channel backplane through the interconnection of such IDE receptacle and plug connectors.
Now, the serial Advanced Technology Attachment (serial ATA) interface is developing to connect storage devices such as hard disks to a computer motherboard. The storage devices will be collectively referred to hereinafter as “hard drive”. The serial ATA interface offers more advantages compared to prior specialized interfaces. For example, the serial ATA system supports a low voltage requirement, low pin count, improves data robustness and high-speed transmission. Correspondingly, the serial ATA connectors are defined and are provided to respectively connect hard drive and backplane. Therefore, different interface standard connection may be applied in a computer interior structure.
As stated above, the present problem people in the art confronts, is that a hard drive using a serial ATA plug connector may be required to connect with an existing fiber channel backplane which originally uses an IDE receptacle connector to connect with the hard drive, for the speed or other considerations. Under this situation, it is not convenient to wholly replace the system, which adds cost. Accordingly, an electrical adapter interconnecting the serial ATA plug connector and the IDE receptacle connector is desired. Hence, an electrical adapter is desired to meet the above-mentioned requirements.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A first object of the present invention is to provide an electrical adapter which can connect one connector for an IDE HDD (hard disk drive) to another connector for a serial ATA system backplane;
Another object of the present invention is to provide an electrical adapter assembly for electrically connecting an IDE HDD to a serial ATA system backplane;
To fulfill the above-mentioned objects, an electrical adapter in accordance with the present invention is adapted for electrically connecting a serial ATA system backplane on which a serial ATA receptacle connector is mounted to an HDD on which an Intelligent Drive Electronics (IDE) three-in-one header connector is mounted. The adapter has a serial ATA plug connector for engaging with the serial ATA receptacle connector of the backplane, and an IDE receptacle connector opposite to the serial ATA plug connector for electrically connecting with a corresponding plug connector of the IDE three-in-one header connector.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5411416 (1995-05-01), Balon et al.
patent: 6050831 (2000-04-01), Wu et al.
patent: RE36968 (2000-11-01), Shieh
patent: 6361372 (2002-03-01), Chiang
patent: 6558201 (2003-05-01), Begley et al.
Chung Wei Te
Hammond Briggette
Hon Hai - Precision Ind. Co., Ltd.
Ta Tho D.
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