Electrical connectors – With insulation other than conductor sheath – Plural-contact coupling part
Reexamination Certificate
1999-11-16
2001-04-24
Paumen, Gary F. (Department: 2833)
Electrical connectors
With insulation other than conductor sheath
Plural-contact coupling part
C439S374000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06220900
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical connector assembly, and more particularly to an ultra low profile electrical connector assembly for mating with an external electrical connector.
2. Description of the Prior Art U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,497,526, 4,647,136, 4,703,991, 4,786,259, 4,878,848, 4,878,858, 4,915,655, 5,035,641, 5,118,312, 5,378,172 and 5,702,271 indicate a prior low profile RJ connectors which extends beyond a notch of a circuit board in a half-height thereof, or/and is diminished in the thickness of a wall of a plastic housing to form a cutout where a latch of a mating plug extends through. However, the lowered-profiles of these connectors are insufficient in applying with a thinner electrical device like a PCMCIA card for computer.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,183,404, 5,336,099, 5,338,210, 5,411,405 and 5,547,401 disclose another type low profile RJ connector perpendicularly attached into the PCMCIA card. However, the vertical insertion of the RJ plug inside the RJ connector causes a protruded outgrowth of the entire assembled PCMCIA card.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,248,267, 5,562,504, 5,660,568, 5,773,332 and 5,938,480 disclose another low profile RJ connector which horizontally receives a mating RJ plug therein. The lowered profile of the RJ connector is still insufficient and lacks an EMI protection.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/404,441 filed on Sep. 22, 1999 by the same inventor and assignee as the instant application, discloses that an upper and lower metallic shells are integrally molded with an upper and lower plastic covers of a connector wherein at least a portion of one of the upper and lower shells protruding over the corresponding cover. U.S. patent application entitled “ULTRA LOW PROFILE ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR ASSEMBLY” with a Ser. No. 09/427,828 filed on Oct. 27, 1999, is a continuation-in-part of the U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/404,441, which adopts the similar principle to lower the profile/height of an entire connector like a RJ series connector. The instant application is a co-pending application with the U.S. patent application entitled “ULTRA LOW PROFILE ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR ASSEMBLY”.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An objective of this invention is to provide a low profile electrical connector assembly with a plurality of pre-loaded contacts thereby lowering the insertion force of a mating connector acted on the contacts of the connector assembly.
Another objective of this invention is to provide the low profile electrical connector assembly with a slant formed inside an insulative housing to angularly bias the insertion of the mating electrical connector into the housing on stages thereby avoiding the direct impact of the mating connector on the contacts of the connector assembly.
In order to achieve the object set forth, a lower profile electrical connector assembly in accordance a preferred embodiment of the present invention for electrical connection with an mating plug connector includes a conductive shell, an insulative housing and a plurality of contacts fixedly received inside a contact spacer. The shell is made of a metal sheet to include a planar portion and two opposed and spaced extensions. The housing is integrally and directly molded to the shell wherein the extensions of the shell are respectively enclosed inside several vertical walls formed with the housing, and a horizontal wall integrally formed perpendicular to the vertical walls is spaced opposite to the planar portion of the shell. A receiving space is defined with the vertical and horizontal walls of the housing. A holder section located on each vertical wall of the housing far away the horizontal wall. Therefore, the profile of the entire connector assembly is reduced more than those of the prior arts.
The electrical connector assembly is equipped with the contact spacer thereby pre-loading the contacts thereby lowering the insertion force of a mating connector acted on the contacts. Also, a slant formed inside the receiving spacer of the housing is capable to angularly bias the insertion of the mating electrical connector into the housing on stages to avoid the direct impact of the mating connector on the contacts for lowering the insertion force more.
These and additional objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention taken in conjunction with the appended drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5531612 (1996-07-01), Goodall et al.
patent: 5779503 (1998-07-01), Tremblay et al.
patent: 5957730 (1999-09-01), Wang
patent: 6012953 (2000-01-01), Francis
Chung Wei Te
Hon Hai - Precision Ind. Co., Ltd.
Paumen Gary F.
LandOfFree
Low profile electrical connector assembly with low insertion... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Low profile electrical connector assembly with low insertion..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Low profile electrical connector assembly with low insertion... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2536936