Electrical connectors – Preformed panel circuit arrangement – e.g. – pcb – icm – dip,... – Distinct contact secured to panel circuit
Reexamination Certificate
1999-10-26
2001-02-20
Paumen, Gary F. (Department: 2833)
Electrical connectors
Preformed panel circuit arrangement, e.g., pcb, icm, dip,...
Distinct contact secured to panel circuit
C439S567000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06190183
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an electrical connector, and particularly to an electrical connector having one row of terminals soldered to a top surface of a circuit board and another row of terminals soldered to a bottom surface of the circuit board.
An electrical connector is commonly mounted on a circuit board for electrical connection purpose. A plurality of terminals of the connector electrically connects with corresponding circuit of the circuit board by soldering.
Referring to
FIG. 1
, a conventional connector disclosed in Taiwan Patent Application No. 85213592 comprises an insulative housing
4
and a plurality of terminals
20
retained in the housing
4
. Each terminal
20
includes an arcuate contact end
201
, a securing portion
202
and a solder tail
203
. The solder tail
203
is bent to be parallel to a circuit board (not shown) and soldered to soldering conductive pad or lead located on an upper surface using Surface Mount Technology.
FIG. 2
shows another conventional connector disclosed in Taiwan Patent Application No. 84104534. The connector has a plurality of terminals
30
each including an arcuate contact end
301
, a securing portion
302
and a solder tail
303
. The solder tail
303
is substantially perpendicular to a circuit board (not shown) and soldered thereto using Through Hole Technology with solder sites located on a lower surface of the circuit board.
Nowadays, a connector tends to accommodate as many terminals as possible due to an increase in signal transmission frequency. In the prior art, a soldering process is performed on only one side of a circuit board so that a high density of soldering sites are provided on the circuit board thereby impeding the soldering process of the terminals and adversely affecting soldering quality.
In addition, a connector is required to be fixed on a circuit board by board locks before undergoing wave soldering. As shown in
FIG. 2
, a board lock
33
assembled to the connector comprises a retaining portion
331
and a pair of locking legs
332
. The retaining portion
331
is received in an insulative housing of the connector and the locking legs
332
are inserted into a hole of a circuit board thereby securing the connector to the circuit board. However, the locking legs
322
engage with the hole only along opposite edges thereof so that such a connection is not reliable.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, a primary object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector having a row of terminals soldered to a top surface of a circuit board and another row of terminals soldered to a bottom surface of the circuit board.
A second object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector having board locks which reliably secure the connector to a circuit board.
To fulfill the above-mentioned objects, an electrical connector in accordance with the present invention comprises an insulative housing, a plurality of terminals and a pair of board locks. The terminals include upper terminals and lower terminals each having a contact end, a securing portion and a solder tail. The solder tail of each lower terminal is substantially perpendicular to a circuit board and soldered to soldering sites located on a lower surface thereof using Through Hole Technology. The solder tail of each upper terminal is substantially parallel to the circuit board and soldered to soldering sites located on an upper surface thereof using Surface Mounting Technology. Since the solder tails of the upper terminals and lower terminals are soldered to opposite surfaces of the circuit board, the solder sites are not arranged in a high density thereby facilitating the soldering process.
According to one aspect of the present invention, each board lock includes a U-shaped retaining portion and a pair of locking legs each having an arcuate surface for fully engaging with an inner surface of a hole of the circuit board thereby reliably securing the connector to the circuit board.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5738541 (1998-04-01), Tseng
patent: 5876222 (1999-03-01), Gardner et al.
Yang Johnson
Zin Tai
Chung Wei Te
Hon Hai - Precision Ind. Co., Ltd.
Paumen Gary F.
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