Electrical connector assembly having a placement member

Details Electrical connector assembly having a placement member Electrical connector assembly having a placement member

2002-05-02

2003-07-29

Luebke, Renee (Department: 2833)

Electrical connectors

With contact preventer or retractable cover part

C439S940000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06599140

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an electrical connector assembly, and more particularly to an electrical connector assembly having a placement member assembled thereon to provide a vacuum suction pick-up surface.
2. Description of Related Art
Vacuum suction mechanisms are well known in the electronic assembly art and are used for retrieving electronic components, such as connectors, from a supply source and transferring the component by applying negative air pressure to the component and placing the component on a printed circuit board in a preselected position for soldering. Generally, the vacuum suction mechanism comprises a suction nozzle. A connector is grasped by the suction nozzle and is robotically transferred to the position on the printed circuit board with great accuracy.
Most electrical connectors, however, are devoid of flat, solid surface suitable for being grasped by the suction nozzle. To overcome this problem, transfer or placement members having a flat, non-porous surface have been developed for attaching to connectors. Such connector placement members are described in the U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,688,133; 4,396,245; 5,249,977; and 5,681,174. These patents describe placement members designed for an electrical connector having two opposite sidewalls extending upward from a connector body. The placement members have a flat top surface suitable for being grasped by a vacuum suction nozzle and downwardly extending legs for engaging with the sidewalls of the connector body.
For example,
FIGS. 4 and 5
show the placement cover of U.S. Pat. No. 5,688,133. The placement cover
8
is made of metallic material, is formed by stamping, and has a cover plate
80
with a flat top surface. Two pairs of resilient arms extend downwardly from each end of the cover plate
80
. Each pair of arms has an outer engagement arm
81
and an inner engagement arm
82
. The outer and inner arms
81
,
82
are spaced apart from each other to define a receiving space
83
. The dielectric housing
90
of connector
9
has a pair of opposing longitudinal sidewalls
901
and a center wall (not labeled). A pair of slots
902
are defined between the sidewalls
901
and the center wall. When the placement cover
8
is assembled on the connector
9
, each space
83
receives a sidewall
901
of the connector housing
90
and the outer and inner arms
81
,
82
abut against the outer and inner surfaces of the sidewalls
901
. However, since the placement cover
8
of the '133 patent is made of metal, the shape and dimension of the outer and inner engagement arms
81
,
82
must be precisely formed so that they mate with the connector reliably. The manufacturing method therefore, adds expense.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,439,901, which has the same assignee as the present invention, discloses a placement member made of a resilient dielectric material, as shown in FIG.
6
. The placement member
7
is assembled on a connector
6
and has a pair of downwardly projecting legs
71
at each end thereof. A retaining foot
710
is formed at an end of each leg
71
for abutting against an inner surface of longitudinal sidewalls
61
of the connector
6
. The manufacturing method of the placement member
7
is simple. However, since the placement member
7
has no positioning element, the placement member
7
may end up being positioned in any place along the longitudinal direction N. The precision of the robotic assembly, thereof, is reduced.
Hence, an electrical connector with an improved placement member is desired to overcome the above-mentioned disadvantages.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, one object of the present invention is to provide an improved placement member with guiding, or positioning legs.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector assembly having an improved placement member reliably and precisely assembled on an electrical connector.
In order to achieve the above-mentioned objects, an electrical connector assembly in accordance with the present invention comprises an improved placement member assembled on a connector. The placement member provides vacuum suction surface for vacuum placement mechanism to attach to. The placement member is made of a resilient insulative material and comprises a main plate, which has a substantially planar upper surface and an opposite lower surface, a plurality of positioning legs extending downwardly from said lower surface, and two U-shaped retaining portions extending from the two lateral edges of the main plate. Each retaining portion has a beam portion connecting with the edge of the main plate and a pair of projecting legs extending downwardly from ends of the beam. The pairs of projecting legs abut against the inner surfaces of the connector body and the positioning legs are positioned in slots on the outer surfaces of the connector sidewalls.


REFERENCES:
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patent: 5026295 (1991-06-01), Fong et al.
patent: 5249977 (1993-10-01), Tanaka et al.
patent: 5681174 (1997-10-01), Correll, et al.
patent: 5688133 (1997-11-01), Ikesugi et al.
patent: 5910023 (1999-06-01), McHugh et al.
patent: 6015305 (2000-01-01), McHugh et al.
patent: 6135795 (2000-10-01), Ho et al.
patent: 6168444 (2001-01-01), Wu et al.
patent: 6371776 (2002-04-01), Li et al.
patent: 6439901 (2002-08-01), Ji et al.

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