Electrical power connector

Details Electrical power connector Electrical power connector

1999-06-08

2001-01-09

Nguyen, Khiem (Department: 2839)

Electrical connectors

Electromagnetic or electrostatic shield

Shielding individually surrounding or interposed between...

Reexamination Certificate

active

06171148

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an electrical power connector, and in particular to a power connector surface mountable to a circuit board.
2. The Prior Art
The connection of a circuit board to a power supply cable may be achieved by means of an electrical power connector fixed on the circuit board for receiving a mating connector of the power supply cable. Conventionally, the power connector is mounted to the circuit board by means of a through hole technique, namely free ends of conductors of the connector extend through holes formed on the circuit board and are then soldered thereto as seen in
FIG. 1
of the attached drawings.
The connector
60
comprises a nonconductive housing
62
having a plurality of conductors
64
arranged therein. Free ends
66
of the conductors
64
extend through holes (not labeled) defined in a circuit board
68
and then solder
70
is applied thereto. The through hole technique renders the connector
60
to be unable to withstand forces acting thereupon when connecting/disconnecting with a mating connector of the power supply cable. Pertinent examples are disclosed in Taiwan Patent Application No. 79208184 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,640,566. In addition, the housing
62
of the connector
60
is located entirely above the circuit board
68
thereby occupying a significant space on the circuit board which is disadvantageous for devices that require a strict conservation of space, such as notebook computers.
Furthermore, since conductors of a power connector are positioned in a triangle arrangement, the conductors are shaped differently to suit such an arrangement,. Thus, manufacturing costs are increased
It is thus desirable to have an electrical power connector that overcomes the problems discussed above.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an electrical power connector having conductors arranged with free ends thereof substantially coplanar and surface mountable to a circuit board and a lower portion located below the circuit board thereby reducing the space occupied by the connector on the circuit board.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an electrical power connector supported against an edge of a circuit board wherein the connector comprises two side wings supported on the circuit board thereby securely fixing the connector to the circuit board and withstanding forces applied thereto from connection/disconnection with a mating connector.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an electrical power connector having substantially identical conductors arranged in two groups and inverted with respect to each other whereby free ends thereof to be surface mounted to the circuit board are coplanar.
To achieve the above objects, an electrical power connector in accordance with the present invention comprises a nonconductive housing defining a central channel and two side channels on opposite sides of the central channel. The central channel has an inner step formed on an upper inside surface thereof. The side channels each have an inner step formed on a lower inside surface thereof. A conductor is received in each of the channels. The conductor has a mating section and a soldering section parallel to and offset from each other. The mating section and the soldering section are connected together by a connection section thereby forming a Z-shaped configuration having an inner shoulder and an outer shoulder. The inner shoulder is disposed against the inner step of the corresponding channel and the outer shoulder is substantially flush with a rear face of the housing beyond which the soldering section extends. The conductors in the central and side channels are inverted with respect to each other thus the soldering sections are coplanar and surface mountable to a circuit board. The housing is supported against an edge of the circuit board whereby a lower portion thereof is positioned below the circuit board and is supported by the surface mounted conductors. The circuit board edge abuts against the outer shoulders of the second conductors. Two side wings extend from the housing and are supported on the circuit board. A U-shaped metal shield member is selectively fit over the housing. The shield member has two outer extensions surface mounted to the circuit board.


REFERENCES:
patent: 5842886 (1998-12-01), Illg et al.
patent: 5951335 (1999-09-01), Kurotori et al.
patent: 5989040 (1999-11-01), Nishimatsu
patent: 6000953 (1999-12-01), Quillet et al.
patent: 6000968 (1999-12-01), Hagiwara

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