Electrical connector

Details Electrical connector Electrical connector

2001-06-08

2002-07-09

Paumen, Gary F. (Department: 2833)

Electrical connectors

Electromagnetic or electrostatic shield

Shielding individually surrounding or interposed between...

Reexamination Certificate

active

06416359

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical connector, and particularly to a Universal Serial Bus (USB) connector stably mounted onto a printed circuit board.
2. Description of the Related Art
A Universal Serial Bus (USB) connector is commonly used in computer systems and networks.
FIG. 7
shows a conventional USB connector which comprises an insulative housing
5
, a plurality of terminals
6
received in the insulative housing
5
, and a first and second shielding shells
7
,
8
enclosing around the insulative housing
5
. The insulative housing
5
comprises a base section
51
and a mating section
52
perpendicularly extending forward from the base section
51
. The base section
51
has a pair of supporting portions
511
extending downward from a bottom thereof. The first shell
7
is formed by stamping a single piece of metal sheet and has two side panels
71
and a mating frame
70
covering the mating section
52
of the insulative housing
5
. The mating frame
70
defines a board lock
711
and a supporting leg
712
respectively extending from a bottom panel
72
thereof. The second shell
8
has a pair of board locks
83
respectively extending downwardly from two sidewalls thereof. When the USB connector is mounted onto a printed circuit board (not shown), the supporting leg
712
of the first shell
7
and the supporting portions
511
of the insulative housing
5
both abut against the printed circuit board so as to support the connector on the printed circuit board. The board locks
711
,
83
are solderably received within corresponding holes of the circuit board, whereby the connector is fixed on the printed circuit board.
However, the board lock
711
and the supporting leg
712
are respectively formed by folding with a narrow connecting portion
713
therebetween, so the mechanical strength of the connecting portion
713
is weak. When a mating connector is inserted into or pulled out from the connector, inappropriate inserting and pulling force will cause deformation of the connecting portion
713
, even breaking the connecting portion
713
. This will cause the mating frame
70
to decline and thus will cause an unreliable engagement between the USB connector and the mating connector as well as affect the quality of signal transmission therebetween. Furthermore, the board lock
711
and the supporting leg
712
are separately made and the width of the supporting leg
712
is narrow, so the supporting portion
712
is easily broken during manufacturing operation, thus increasing the cost of manufacturing the connector.
Hence, an improved electrical connector is desired to overcome the disadvantages of the related art.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector which can be securely retained on a printed circuit board, thereby ensuring a reliable engagement between the electrical connector and a mating connector.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector whose supporting leg is easy to make, and the supporting leg has a firm connection with a shell.
To achieve the above-mentioned objects, an electrical connector in accordance with the present invention comprises an insulative housing, a plurality of terminals, and a shielding shell enclosing around the insulative housing. The insulative housing comprises a base section, a mating section extending from the base section, a plurality of passageways extending through the mating section and the base section, a pair of supporting portions extending downwardly from a bottom wall of the base section. The terminals are received in the passageways of the insulative housing. Each terminal has a mating portion for electrically engaging with a mating connector and a tail portion extending out of the bottom wall of the base section for electrically connecting with a printed circuit board. A shielding shell includes a mating frame covering the mating section of the housing. The mating frame defines a T-shaped extension at a bottom panel thereof. The extension includes a supporting leg integrally connecting with the mating frame and a board lock integrally extending from the supporting portion. When the electrical connector is mounted onto the printed circuit board, the supporting portions of the insulative housing and the supporting leg of the extension both snugly abut against the circuit board for supporting the electrical connector, thereby the electrical connector is securely mounted on the printed circuit board.


REFERENCES:
patent: 5725386 (1998-03-01), Davis et al.
patent: 5938473 (1999-08-01), Nishio et al.
patent: 6132254 (2000-10-01), Wu
patent: 6135790 (2000-10-01), Huang et al.
patent: 6186830 (2001-02-01), Lin et al.

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