Electrical connectors – Connector movable between accessible and inaccessible positions
Reexamination Certificate
2000-12-28
2001-10-16
Sircus, Brian (Department: 2839)
Electrical connectors
Connector movable between accessible and inaccessible positions
Reexamination Certificate
active
06302713
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a card connector, and particularly to a card connector which rotates for facilitating insertion of an electrical card.
2. Description of Prior Art
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,068,510, 6,071,135 and 6,077,088 disclose some conventional card connectors. In these designs, the card connector is normally fixed at an edge of a printed circuit board (PCB) located in an electronic device. In assembly, an electrical card is inserted through a cutout defined in a side plate of an enclosure of the electronic device into the card connector along a direction parallel to the card connector. In other words, this design is only suitable in situations where the card connector occupies an edge of the PCB. However, in some special situations, the edge of the PCB is not available for mounting the card connector since the space on PCBs is becoming increasingly critical. Accordingly, the conventional mounting arrangement is no longer applicable in these special situations. In other words, conventional card connectors cannot be used in situations where use of the board edge is denied. Hence, an improved card connector is required to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art.
Copending U.S. application Ser. No. 09/627,353, which was filed on Jul. 28, 2000 and is assigned to the same assignee as the present invention, discloses a rotatable card connector having two fixing clips fixed to a PCB. The fixing clips are pivotably engaged with two pivots integrally formed on opposite ends of an insulative housing of the card connector for allowing rotation of the card connector relative to the PCB. However, although this design has proven to be practical, a rotatable card connector having its fixing clips easily assembled to an insulative housing thereof is still desired. For facilitating understanding of the description of the present invention, the disclosure of the U.S. application Ser. No. 09/627,353 is incorporated herewith by reference.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, one object of the present invention is to provide a rotatable card connector which can be mounted to a PCB of an electronic device, on one side of and not limited to the edges of the PCB;
Another object of the present invention is to provide a rotatable card connector for receiving an external electrical card from an inclined direction relative to the plane of the PCB on which the card connector is mounted.
Accordingly, a rotatable card connector in accordance with the present invention comprises an insulative housing with a plurality of terminals received therein, two fixing clips each with one end fixed to a PCB and another end attached to the housing, and two separate locking members for securing the fixing clips to the insulative housing. The insulative housing has a header forming a pair of protrusions at opposite ends thereof and two guiding bars. The locking members extend through aligned holes in the fixing clips and the protrusions to securely attach the fixing clips to the insulative housing and to provide a rotational axis for the fixing clips. Each fixing clip has a base plate for being fixed to a PCB, a joint portion extending from the base plate to prevent over-rotation of the housing, and an engaging portion for engaging with the protrusion.
When the card connector is retained in an inclined, open position where a front surface of the protrusion of the housing abuts against the joint portion of the fixing clip, an external electrical card is insertable into the card connector in an inclined direction along the guiding bar. The housing is rotatable from the inclined, open position to a horizontal, closed position where the electrical card can be completely inserted into the card connector and the front surface of the protrusion of the housing is spaced from the joint portion of the fixing clip.
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: 6231371 (1999-06-01), Helot
Chung Wei Te
Hon Hai - Precision Ind. Co., Ltd.
Nasri Javaid
Sircus Brian
LandOfFree
Rotatable card connector does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Rotatable card connector, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Rotatable card connector will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2614236