Electrical connectors – Interrelated connectors relatively movable during use – Movement about axis
Reexamination Certificate
2003-03-20
2004-09-07
Ta, Tho D. (Department: 2833)
Electrical connectors
Interrelated connectors relatively movable during use
Movement about axis
C439S031000, C439S640000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06786734
ABSTRACT:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application claims priority of Taiwanese application no. 091214214, filed on Sep. 10, 2002.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an electrical adapter, such as one that is used to interconnect electrically two different types of electrical connectors, more particularly to an electrical connector with a foldable housing.
2. Description of the Related Art
Most electrical equipments, such as desktop computers, notebook computers, mobile phones, Personal Digital Assistants (PDA), etc., available in the market are equipped with Universal Serial Bus (USB) connectors for connecting to computer peripherals. Referring to
FIG. 1
, a set of USB connector ports
211
is mounted on the rear panel of a notebook computer
21
. The USB connector port
211
of the notebook computer
21
is connected to a computer peripheral, e.g., an external CD-ROM drive
22
.
The CD-ROM drive
22
has a signal cable
11
. A conventional USB connector
12
is fixed and electrically connected to one end of the signal cable
11
and is coupled electrically to the USB connector port
211
of the notebook computer
21
. Since the USB connector
12
typically includes a rigid housing, the USB connector
12
protrudes by a substantial distance from the rear panel of the notebook computer
21
once the USB connector
12
is mounted on the USB connector port
211
. The protruding distance as such increases an effective width of the notebook computer
21
from W1 to W2 such that extra space is required on a table when the USB connector
12
is mounted on the USB connector port
211
of the notebook computer
21
. The protruding distance also prevents the signal cable
11
from being placed close to the rear panel of the notebook computer
21
, thereby making the surrounding area of the notebook computer
21
unsightly.
In addition, the current trend is to equip notebook computers
21
with several USB connector ports
211
. In most notebook computers, the USB connector ports
211
are arranged in close proximity. Hence, when each of these ports
211
is connected to the USB connector
12
of a respective computer peripheral, the housings of the USB connectors
12
may be in physical contact with each other. It is thus possible for the USB connector
12
to block other USB connector ports
211
on the rear panel of the notebook computer
21
. As such, it is inconvenient to insert another USB connector
12
into an available USB connector port
211
. Further, since the USB connectors
12
cannot be reoriented, signal interference among the connectors
12
is likely to occur.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, the main object of the present invention is to provide an electrical adapter with a foldable housing that can overcome the aforesaid drawbacks of the prior art.
According to the present invention, an electrical adapter comprises:
a first electrical connector unit;
a second electrical connector unit coupled electrically to the first electrical connector unit; and
a foldable housing including first and second housing parts, the first electrical connector unit being mounted in the first housing part, the second electrical connector unit being mounted in the second housing part, the foldable housing further including a pivot joint that interconnects the first and second housing parts and that permits relative rotation between the first and second housing parts about a pivot axis.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5658152 (1997-08-01), Selker
patent: 6213782 (2001-04-01), Derstine
patent: 490100 (2002-01-01), None
Merchant & Gould P.C.
Ta Tho D.
Wistron Neweb Corporation
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