Electrical connectors – With circuit conductors and safety grounding provision – Grounding of coupling part
Reexamination Certificate
2001-07-18
2002-12-03
Nguyen, Khiem (Department: 2839)
Electrical connectors
With circuit conductors and safety grounding provision
Grounding of coupling part
C439S924100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06488514
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electrical connectors and, particularly, to an electrical connector equipped with a ground terminal.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese patent application Kokai No. 10-255906 discloses an electrical connector of this type. This connector is shown in
FIG. 14
for facilitating understanding.
In
FIG. 14
, a connector
60
has a ground pin terminal
61
. The pin terminal
61
is made by machining a metallic material so as to provide a threaded section
62
. A housing
63
has a receiving section
64
for receiving the threaded section
62
. A ground terminal
65
is provided in the receiving section
64
and having a fixing flange
65
A, a threaded tube
65
B, and a connecting section
65
C extending from the fixing flange
65
A in an L-shaped form. Such a connector
60
is attached to a circuit board P
1
and the connecting section
65
C is connected to a corresponding section with a solder
66
.
A mating connector
70
comprises a housing
71
having a ground terminal
72
that has a fixing flange
72
A secured to the housing
71
, a threaded tube
72
B, and a connecting section
72
C extending from the fixing flange
72
A in an L-shaped form. A bush
73
has a threaded section
73
A screwed into the threaded tube
72
B, an intermediate section with a window
73
B provided above the threaded section
73
A, and an enlarged head section
73
C above the intermediate section. The connector
70
is attached to a panel
74
by screwing the bush
73
into the ground terminal
72
so that the panel
74
is held between the housing
71
and the head section
73
C. A hollow section is provided in the intermediate section and the head section
73
C of the bush
73
for receiving the pin terminal
61
. A U-shaped contact member
75
is provided on the bush
73
and has a contact section
75
A slightly projecting from the window
73
B into the hollow portion.
Similarly to the above connector
60
, the connector
70
is attached to a circuit board P
2
and the connecting section
72
is soldered to a corresponding section with a solder
76
.
When the connector
60
is plugged into the connector
70
, the pin terminal
61
enters the hollow portion of the bush
73
and makes contact with the contact section
75
and the threaded section
73
A so that it is grounded through the ground terminal
72
.
However, the above connector has several disadvantages about grounding.
First of all, the number of parts or components is very large. The connector
60
requires both the ground terminal
65
and the pin terminal
61
for grounding while the connector
70
needs the bush
73
, the contact piece
75
, and the ground terminal
72
. The structures of these components are very complicated. The ground terminals
65
and
72
for the connectors
60
and
70
require threaded tubes
65
B and
72
B, respectively. The bush
73
for the connector
70
has the three stepped sections, the window section
73
B, and the threaded section
73
A below the head section
73
C. The contact piece
75
requires complex press working so as to adapt for the pin terminal
61
of the connector
60
.
Consequently, not only the manufacturing cost is high but also the connector becomes large. Also, the assembling becomes complex, and the electrical resistance can be high and the contact can be unstable. The pin terminal for contact with the ground terminal must be made of a metal material, which requires machining for providing the required shape and size, resulting in the increased cost.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a compact electrical connector having simpler shape and structure and lower cost than ever before.
According to the invention there is provided an electrical connector equipped with a guiding column, which comprises a housing; at least one guiding column extending forwardly from the housing to be inserted into a guiding aperture of a mating connector; at least one ground terminal having a contact section for contact with a ground member of the mating connector; and a side recess provided in the guiding column to receive the ground terminal such that the contact section of the ground terminal projects from the side recess for making sliding contact with the ground member of the mating connector.
Since the ground terminal is provided within the guiding column, a compact connector is obtained. The ground terminal is made of a metal strip so that it is possible to reduce the manufacturing cost.
The guiding column may be made integrally with the housing as a unit and the ground terminal may have a connection section at the rear end so that the terminals are provided close to the guiding column, making the structure simpler and the connector smaller than before. The guiding column may be made of a metallic material and supported by the housing so as to make contact with the ground terminal and have a connection section at the rear end.
Where the shield case is attached to the housing, it is preferred that the ground terminal be made integrally with the shield case as a unit. Also, it is preferred that the guiding column be made of a metallic material so as to make contact with the shield case.
According to another aspect of the invention there is provided an electrical connector to be plugged with a connector equipped with a guiding column, which comprises a housing having an attaching face to be attached to a circuit board and a guiding aperture for receiving said guiding column; a ground member provided in said guiding aperture for sliding contact with a ground terminal of said guiding column-equipped connector; and an extended section extending from said ground member by a distance no greater than a thickness of said circuit board.
The guiding column is guided by the guiding aperture longer than before by a distance substantially equal to the thickness of the circuit board so that the contact between the ground member and the ground terminal of the mating connector is made more stable than before and the connector can be made compact by the presence of the extended section, which extends into the circuit board.
REFERENCES:
patent: RE35508 (1997-05-01), Lemke et al.
patent: 5919063 (1999-07-01), Wang
patent: 6007352 (1999-12-01), Azuma et al.
Enami Yasuhiro
Kubo Akira
Hirose Electric Co. Ltd.
Kanesaka & Takeuchi
Nguyen Khiem
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