Electrical connector

Details Electrical connector Electrical connector

2002-03-27

2003-10-28

Luebke, Renee (Department: 2833)

Electrical connectors

With supporting means for coupling part

Having resilient means engaging panel opening

C439S079000, C439S573000, C439S954000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06638104

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an electrical connector and, more specifically, to an electrical connector designed so that the direction of mating with a mating connector is inclined with respect to a circuit board.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
In the past, a technique has been known in which two circuit boards are connected to each other, or a circuit board and electrical wires are connected to each other, by the mutual mating of a set consisting of an electrical connector and a mating connector. In connecting the two circuit boards to each other, or connecting the circuit board and the electrical wires to each other, an approach is generally used in which a board attachment face in a housing of the electrical connector is oriented perpendicular to the direction of mating with the mating connector, so that the direction of mating with the mating connector is oriented perpendicular to the circuit board.
However, depending on the application in which the electrical connector and the mating connector are mounted, there may be cases in which it is necessary to incline the board attachment face in the housing of the electrical connector by a specified angle from the plane that is perpendicular to the direction of mating with the mating connector, so that the mating direction is inclined with respect to the circuit board. First and second examples of conventional electrical connectors of this type are shown in
FIGS. 14 and 15
.
A first example of a conventional electrical connector of this type is shown in
FIG. 14
(see Japanese Utility Model Application Kokai No. S62-18984). The electrical connector
200
is constructed from a housing
210
having a plurality of contacts
220
attached to the housing
210
in two rows. The housing
210
comprises a mating face
210
a
that mates with a mating connector
250
to which electrical wires W are connected and a board attachment face
210
b
that is attached to a circuit board PCB. The board attachment face
210
b
is formed so that the board attachment face
210
b
is inclined by a specified angle of &agr;° from a plane that is perpendicular to the direction of mating with the mating connector
250
(which coincides with the normal direction of the mating face
210
a
).
Each contact
220
is constructed from an attachment part
221
that is attached to the housing. A contact part
222
extends from one end of the attachment part
221
and makes contact with the mating connector
250
. A connecting part
223
extends from the other end of the attachment part
221
and is connected to the circuit board PCB. The contact part
222
extends parallel to the direction of mating with the mating connector
250
(which coincides with the normal direction of the mating face
210
a
), and the attachment part
221
and connecting part
223
extend in a direction perpendicular to the board attachment face
210
b.
The electrical connector
200
is manufactured by bending the respective contact parts
222
all at one time relative to the attachment parts
221
after the attachment parts
221
of the respective contacts
220
have been press-fitted in the housing
210
. Then, the electrical connector
200
is mounted on the circuit board PCB by passing the connecting parts
223
of the contacts
220
through the through-holes (not shown) of the circuit board PCB and making solder connections.
Shown in
FIG. 15
is a second example of an electrical connector in which the board attachment face is inclined by a specified angle from the plane perpendicular to the direction of mating with the mating connector (see Japanese Utility Model Application Kokai No. S63-192689). The electrical connector
300
is constructed from a housing
310
, and a plurality of contacts
320
that are attached to the housing
310
in a single row. The housing
310
comprises a mating face
310
a
that mates with a mating connector (not shown) to which electrical wires (not shown) are connected, and a board attachment face
310
b
which is attached to a circuit board (not shown). The board attachment face
310
b
is formed so that the board attachment face
310
b
is inclined by a specified angle of &agr;° from the plane that is perpendicular to the direction of mating with the mating connector (which coincides with the normal direction of the mating face
310
a
).
Each contact
320
is constructed from an attachment part
321
that is attached to the housing
310
. A contact part
322
extends from one end of the attachment part
321
and makes contact with the mating connector. A connecting part
323
extends from the other end of the attachment part
321
and is connected to the circuit board. The contact part
322
extends parallel to the direction of mating with the mating connector (which coincides with the normal direction of the mating face
310
a
), while the attachment part
321
and connecting part
323
extend in a direction that is perpendicular to the board attachment face
310
b.
The electrical connector
300
is manufactured by bending the contact parts
322
of the respective contacts
320
relative to the attachment parts
321
, and then insert-molding root portions of the attachment parts
321
and contact parts
322
in the housing
310
. Then, the electrical connector
300
is mounted on the circuit board by passing the contact parts
323
of the contacts
320
through the through-holes (not shown) of the circuit board and making solder connections.
However, the following problems have been encountered in the conventional electrical connectors
200
and
300
shown in
FIGS. 14 and 15
. Specifically, in both of the conventional electrical connectors
200
and
300
shown in
FIGS. 14 and 15
, it is necessary that the contact parts
222
,
322
of the contacts
220
,
320
be bent by an angle of &agr;° with respect to the attachment parts
221
,
321
. Since a spring-back effect occurs during this bending, it is difficult to bend all of the contact parts
222
,
322
of the contacts
220
,
320
to the appropriate angle with good precision. Furthermore, since there is some variation in the amount of spring-back among the individual contacts
220
,
320
, it is impossible to bend the contact parts
222
,
322
of all of the contacts
220
,
320
to the appropriate angle with good precision by means of a single bending operation. Accordingly, there may be cases in which a separate bending operation is necessary in order to improve the precision of the bending angle of the contact parts
222
,
322
, resulting in a higher manufacturing cost.
It is therefore desirable to develop an electrical connector in which the direction of mating with the mating connector is inclined with respect to the circuit board so that there is no need to bend the leg parts of the numerous contacts at an inclination with respect to the direction of mating with the mating connector. In an electrical connector of this type, the location of the connector parts can be controlled and an increase in the cost of manufacture caused by such a bending process can be avoided.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention is directed to an electrical connector having a housing with a board attachment face inclined a specified angle from a plane that is perpendicular to a direction of mating with a mating connector. Contacts are connected to the housing and have leg parts that extend parallel to the direction of mating that are inserted into a circuit board. A leg part alignment plate aligns the leg parts and is movable along the direction of mating. A fastening fitting has a screw attachment plate part that extends parallel to the board attachment face and a female screw part that extends perpendicular to the board attachment face that is formed in the approximate center of the screw attachment plate part. Anchoring leg parts are connected to the screw attachment plate part and extend parallel to the direction of mating.
The invention is also directed to an electrical connector having a housing with a board attachment face inclined by a specified angle from a plane that i

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