Electrical connector

Details Electrical connector Electrical connector

2001-12-07

2002-11-05

Vu, Hien (Department: 2833)

Electrical connectors

Electromagnetic or electrostatic shield

Shielding individually surrounding or interposed between...

C439S364000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06475034

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical connector, and more particularly to a Universal Serial Bus (USB) connector having a fixing device which secures the connector to a panel of an electrical device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Universal Serial Bus (USB) connectors are often used to connect peripheral devices, such as Hard Disk Drive (HDD) and Compact Disc-Read Only Memory (CD-ROM), to electrical devices such as a desktop computer and a notebook computer. A conventional USB connector is shown in
FIG. 7
of the attached drawings, comprising a first shell
101
, a second shell
103
, an insulative housing
102
enclosed by the first shell
101
, and a plurality of conductive contacts
104
retained in the insulative housing
102
. The insulative housing
102
comprises a base section
1021
, a pair of mating sections
1022
extending from the base section
1021
and a protrusion
1023
formed between the mating section
1022
.
However, the connector shown in
FIG. 7
is not securely fixed, when a mating connector is inserted into the connector, an insertion force induced by the mating connector and acting upon the connector may cause undesired movement of the connector, resulting in poor mating between the two connectors. Such an undesired movement of the connector may even break the electrical connection between the connector and the PCB on which the connector is mounted. Hence, it is desired to improve the electrical connector in order to overcome the disadvantages thereof.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an electrical connector which can be firmly fixed to a panel of an electrical device.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a fixing device of an electrical connector which can firmly fix the connector to a panel of an electrical device.
To achieve the above objects, an electrical connector in accordance with the present invention that can be fixed to a panel of an electrical device comprises an insulative housing, a plurality of conductive contacts, a shielding device and a metal pad. The insulative housing comprises a base section, two mating sections extending from the base section and a protrusion between the mating sections. Each mating section defines passageways for receiving the contacts. The protrusion has a front face with a locating hole formed therein. The shielding device comprises two front shells respectively surrounding the mating sections, and a rear shell enclosing the base section and engages the front shells. Each front shell forms a tab with a hole defined therein. The metal pad comprises a front plate overlapping the front face of the protrusion, a body section extending from the front plate and received in the locating hole with an inner-threaded hole defined therein. A bolt extends through a through hole defined in a panel of the electrical device and the holes of the tabs of the front shells in sequence and then engages with the inner-threaded hole of the insulative housing thereby securing the electrical connector to the panel of the electrical device.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments thereof when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:


REFERENCES:
patent: 5603639 (1997-02-01), Lai et al.
patent: 5871373 (1999-02-01), Pacini et al.
patent: 6074218 (2000-06-01), Wu et al.
patent: 6227880 (2001-05-01), Zhu et al.

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