Electrical connector assembly with latching metal ears

Details Electrical connector assembly with latching metal ears Electrical connector assembly with latching metal ears

2001-11-29

2003-11-11

Vu, Hien (Department: 2833)

Electrical connectors

With supporting means for coupling part

Coupling part or mating part extending into panel opening

C439S074000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06645005

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an electrical connector assembly, and particularly to a board to board connector assembly having metal latches for providing reliable mating and grounding.
2. Description of Related Art
Electrical connector assembly for connecting one Printed Circuit Board (PCB) to another PCB is widely used in computer, notebook and other electrical products. U.S. Pat. No. 5,556,286 discloses a conventional board to board connector assembly. Usually, a conventional board-to-board connector assembly includes a female connector, which is referred to as a receptacle and fixed to one PCB, and a corresponding male connector, which is referred to as a plug and fixed to the other PCB. Each of the plug and receptacle has an elongated insulative housing and a plurality of conductive terminals arranged within the housing at predetermined intervals. The housing has two elongated longitudinal sidewalls and two transverse sidewalls. A pair of metal ears are attached on the two transverse sidewalls for soldering to the PCB to provide fixation and grounding. The plug and receptacle engage with each other by a press-fit engagement.
As understood from the above, it can be appreciated that conventional board-to-board connector assembly has the following disadvantages. First, after the plug and receptacle are mated with each other, when an unexpected external force is exerted on the PCB, the retention force between the plug and receptacle may not be sufficient to maintain the plug in the receptacle, and the plug may disconnect from the receptacle. Secondly, conventional board to board connectors often attach shields on the longitudinal sidewalls for grounding and preventing Electromagnetic Interference (EMI), but because the transverse sidewalls are very short, they usually have no shield thereon. Therefore, the connectors have an insufficient prevention from EMI, and the performance of the connectors is adversely affected.
The present invention overcomes these disadvantages and provides benefits over the prior art by providing an additional metal latch on the metal ear to improve the reliability of the mating and EMI characteristics.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, one object of the present invention is to provide a board to board connector assembly which has latches to improve mating reliability between a plug and a receptacle thereof.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a board to board connector assembly having metal latches to improve the grounding and EMI characteristics.
In order to achieve the objects set forth, an electrical connector assembly for connecting one Printed Circuit Board to another Printed Circuit Board comprises a plug connector and a receptacle connector. The plug connector has a first insulative housing comprising a pair of longitudinal sidewalls and a pair of transverse sidewalls, a plurality of first terminals received in the longitudinal sidewalls, and a pair of first metal ears attached on the transverse sidewalls. One of the first metal ears has an upwardly extending metal latch. The receptacle connector engaged with the plug connector has a second insulative housing comprising a base and a tongue protruding downwardly from the base and being received between the pair of longitudinal sidewalls of the first insulative housing, a plurality of second terminals retained on the tongue, and a pair of second metal ears attached on opposite ends of the base. One of the second metal ears has a second metal latch engaged with the first metal latch.


REFERENCES:
patent: 5120256 (1992-06-01), Walden
patent: 5395265 (1995-03-01), DiMondi et al.
patent: 5697799 (1997-12-01), Consoli et al.
patent: 5971809 (1999-10-01), Ho
patent: 6250935 (2001-06-01), Mochizuki et al.

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