Electrical connector assembly

Details Electrical connector assembly Electrical connector assembly

1998-08-17

2001-10-23

Sircus, Brian (Department: 2833)

Electrical connectors

Electromagnetic or electrostatic shield

Shielding individually surrounding or interposed between...

Reexamination Certificate

active

06305982

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of The Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical connector assembly, and particularly to an electrical connector assembly for directly connecting two printed circuit boards together which has an improved electromagnetic inferference/radio frequency interference (EMI/RFI) protection.
2. The Prior Art
A board-to-board connector assembly is used for directly connecting a daughter board to a mother board, without the necessity of using an auxiliary device such as a cable.
FIGS. 6 and 7
show a conventional board-to-board connector assembly including a receptacle connector
1
and a plug connector
2
. The receptacle connector
1
consists of a dielectric housing
11
, a number of contacts
14
(only one shown), a pair of shields
12
and a pair of solder pads
13
. The housing
11
is formed to have a generally rectangular configuration with a bottom face
18
for proximity to the plug connector
2
, a top face
19
for proximity to a mother board (not shown), a channel
111
exposed to the bottom face
18
, a number of contact passageways
112
beside the channel
111
, a pair of solder pad mounting ears
15
projecting laterally near the top face
19
and each defining a solder pad receiving recess
151
fixedly receiving a corresponding solder pad
13
, and a number of shield mounting blocks
113
on a front and rear side (not labeled) of the housing
11
near the bottom face
18
. Each shield
12
is configured to have a number of alternating engaging tabs
121
and lugs
122
near a lower edge thereof. Each engaging tab
121
is interferentially engaged between two corresponding shield mounting blocks
113
. Each lug
122
has a bead
123
projecting toward the housing
11
. Each shield
12
further forms a number of fingers
124
at an upper edge thereof projecting into corresponding contact passageways
112
to connect with corresponding contacts
14
connecting with a grounding circuit of the mother board. The solder pads
13
are soldered to the mother board to enhance the fastening of the receptacle connector
1
to the mother board.
The plug connector
2
consists of an elongate dielectric housing
21
, two solder pads
24
, a number of contacts
22
and a number of auxiliary contacts
214
. The housing
21
is formed with an outer wall
210
defining a number of auxiliary contact passageways
213
, a central ridge
211
located within the outer wall
210
, and two solder pad mounting ears
23
at lateral ends of the housing
21
fixedly receiving the two solder pads
24
, respectively. The central ridge
211
defines two rows of contact passageways
212
in a front and rear face (not labeled) thereof, respectively. The contacts
22
are fixedly received in the contact passageways
212
, and the auxiliary contacts
214
are fixedly received in the auxiliary contact passageways
213
. Furthermore, each auxiliary contact
214
has a portion contacting a corresponding contact
22
connecting with a grounding circuit of a daughter board (not shown). The solder pads
24
are soldered to the daughter board to enhance the fastening of the plug connector
2
to the daughter board.
When the receptacle and plug connectors
1
,
2
are assembled, the central ridge
211
extends into the channel
111
so that the contacts
22
,
14
of the plug and receptacle connectors
1
,
2
are electrically connected together. The beads
123
on the lugs
122
of the shields
12
of the receptacle connector
1
extend into the corresponding auxiliary contact passageways
213
to contact with the corresponding auxiliary contacts
214
of the plug connector
2
, whereby the connector assembly can be protected from EMI/RFI by the shields
12
.
However, such a conventional board-to-board connector assembly does not shield two lateral ends of the housing
11
of the receptacle connector
1
, which results in incomplete protection of the assembly from EMI/RFI. Furthermore, the connector assembly requires many components which increases manufacturing costs. Furthermore, the grounding circuit of the daughter board is only connected to the grounding circuit of the mother board via the connection between the auxiliary contacts
214
and the beads
123
. Such a connection is inadequate to ensure a reliable transmission of noise received by the plug connector
2
to the grounding circuit of the mother board. Finally, as each shield
12
has an excessively large surface/thickness ratio, it cannot have a rigidity sufficient to ensure the flatness thereof. The lower edge of each shield
12
may deflect away from the housing
11
when it is mounted thereto, which causes the beads
123
to improperly contact (or even disengage from) the auxiliary contacts
214
of the plug connector
2
, thereby unfavorably affecting the shielding effectiveness designed to be achieved by the shields
12
.
Hence, an improved board-to-board connector assembly is needed to eliminate the above mentioned defects of the conventional board-to-board connector assembly.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, an objective of the present invention is to provide a board-to-board connector assembly which can be completely protected from EMI/RFI.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a board-to-board connector assembly requiring fewer components, resulting in a lower manufacturing cost.
A further objective of the present invention is to provide a board-to-board connector assembly which reliably transmits noise received by the plug connector to the grounding circuit of the mother board.
Still a further objective of the present invention is to provide a board-to-board connector assembly which has metal shields with lower portions defining beads bent toward a plug connector of the assembly, thereby ensuring a positive engagement between the beads and auxiliary contacts of the plug connector.
To fulfill the above mentioned objectives, according to one embodiment of the present invention, a board-to-board connector assembly includes a receptacle connector connected to a mother board and a plug connector connected to a daughter board. The receptacle connector comprises a first dielectric rectangular housing having a top face connected to the mother board, a bottom face opposite the top face, a front face, a rear face and two lateral walls between the bottom and top faces, a channel in the bottom face and a number of first contact passageways beside the channel and defined from the bottom face to the top face. A number of first contacts are fixedly received in the first contact passageways each having a tail portion soldered to the mother board. A pair of shields are fixed to the front and rear faces of the first housing. Each shield is integrally formed with a pair of lateral sections each having an upper solder pad soldered to a grounding circuit of the mother board and a leg covering a corresponding lateral wall of the first housing. Each shield further forms a number of lugs on a lower edge thereof, a number of fingers on an upper edge thereof, and a bent line formed between and parallel to the upper and lower edges to cause the lower edge of the shield to extend toward the first housing. Each lug forms a bead projecting toward the first housing. The fingers extend into some of the first contact passageways to connect with some of the first contacts which are soldered to the grounding circuit of the mother board.
The plug connector comprises a second rectangular housing defining an outer wall and a ridge within the outer wall. The ridge extends into the channel of the first housing and defines a number of second contact passageways in a front and rear face thereof. A number of second contacts are received in the second contact passageways and electrically connect with the corresponding first contacts. Each second contact has a tail portion soldered to the daughter board. A number of auxiliary contacts are fixedly received in auxiliary contact passageways defined in the outer wall of the second housing and electrically connect with some of the second contacts which are solde

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