Electrical connector with improved board locks

Details Electrical connector with improved board locks Electrical connector with improved board locks

2001-07-24

2002-10-22

Nguyen, Khiem (Department: 2839)

Electrical connectors

With supporting means for coupling part

Having resilient means engaging panel opening

C439S572000, C439S607070

Reexamination Certificate

active

06468108

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical connector with board locks, and particularly to an SCA-2 connector with board locks that can make the SCA-2 connector stably mounted on a printed circuit board.
2. Description of Related Art
SCA-2 (single connector attachment) connectors provide a standard interface between SCSI (Small Computer System Interface) disk drives, Fiber Channel disk drives, GBIC (Gigabit Interface Converter) modules and back-plane systems. The SCA-2 connectors can be classified into three types, i.e., 20-pin, 40-pin and 80-pin SCA-2 connectors. The 20-pin SCA-2 connectors are used with GBIC modules used as media interface modules for fiber channel; the 40-pin SCA-2 connectors are used with 3.5″ Fiber Channel disk drives; and the 80-pin SCA-2 connectors are used with 3.5″ SCSI disk drives. A conventional SCA-2 connector comprises an insulative housing with a plurality of contacts received therein and a pair of board locks retained in the housing. Each board lock comprises a contact portion for engaging with a corresponding ground contact of a complementary SCA-2 connector, an intermediate portion perpendicularly extending from the contact portion, and a tail portion perpendicularly extending from the intermediate portion. The tail portion consists of a pair of legs for being inserted into corresponding through holes of a printed circuit board (PCB). Thus, the SCA-2 connector is mounted on the PCB via the board locks.
However, because the board lock is too long, the legs of the board lock is easy to warp upwardly when the legs are inserted into the through holes of the PCB. Therefore, the SCA-2 connector is unstably retained in the PCB before the contacts are subjected to a soldering process. This will cause the instability during the soldering process of the contacts and increase the difficulty of soldering. As a result, the electrical connection between the SCA-2 connector and the PCB may be unreliable and the quality of signal transmission therebetween may be adversely affected. Hence, an electrical connector with improved board locks is required to overcome the disadvantages of the related art.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, the object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector with board locks which can make the electrical connector stably mounted on a printed circuit board, thereby ensuring a reliable electrical connection therebetween.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector with board locks for establishing a grounding path between a complementary connector and a printed circuit board on which the electrical connector is mounted.
In order to achieve the objects set forth, an electrical connector comprises an insulative housing defining a plurality of passageways therein, a plurality of contacts received in the passageways of the housing, and a pair of board locks retained in the housing. The housing has a pair of rearwardly extending projections. Each projection defines a channel therein. Each board lock comprises a front contact portion for contacting with a corresponding ground contact of a complementary connector and a rear tail portion for connection with a printed circuit board. The rear tail portion includes an anchoring device and a pair of spaced legs for being compliantly inserted into corresponding through holes of the printed circuit board. The anchoring device is received and retained in the channel of the projection to prevent the legs of the board lock from warping upwardly. Thus, the electrical connector is stably retained on the printed circuit board before the contacts are subjected to a soldering process. Meanwhile, the rear tail portion of the board lock is connected with grounding circuits of the printed circuit board, whereby a grounding path is established between the complementary connector and the printed circuit board via the board lock.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.


REFERENCES:
patent: 5094624 (1992-03-01), Bakke et al.
patent: 5827089 (1998-10-01), Beck, Jr.
patent: 6287146 (2001-09-01), Avery et al.

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