Electrical connectors – Electromagnetic or electrostatic shield – Shielding individually surrounding or interposed between...
Reexamination Certificate
2002-04-17
2004-09-28
Gilman, Alex (Department: 2833)
Electrical connectors
Electromagnetic or electrostatic shield
Shielding individually surrounding or interposed between...
C439S098000, C439S616000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06796838
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a shield connector which is directly mountable on equipment, for example, on an electrically-conductive casing of an on-vehicle equipment by screws. Such the shield connector is generally referred hereinafter to “direct-mounting shield connector”.
The present invention is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-119757, which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Related Art
FIGS. 8 and 9
show conventional direct-mounting shield connectors, respectively.
The direct-mounting shield connector
1
, shown in
FIG. 8
, is disclosed in JP-U-6-58560, and this connector comprises a metal shell
5
, having a cylindrical portion
5
a
for connection to a shielding portion
3
a
of a shielded wire
3
, and a grounding flange portion
5
b
, and a connector housing
7
made of an insulative resin.
The connector housing
7
includes a housing body
11
, which fits on and holds a connection terminal
9
, connected to a conductor
3
b
of the shielded wire
3
, and has the cylindrical portion
5
a
of the metal shell
5
embedded therein, and a mounting flange
12
which extends outwardly from an outer surface of the housing body
11
for screwing purposes.
A front end portion of the housing body
11
is passed through a connector passage hole
14
a
, formed through a connector mounting wall
14
of an equipment, and the mounting flange
12
, abutted against the connector mounting wall
14
, is fastened to this connector mounting wall by screws
16
, thus fixedly securing the connector housing
7
to the connector mounting wall
14
.
The metal shell
5
is fitted and held on the connector housing
7
, and in this condition a rear end portion of the cylindrical portion
5
a
is electrically connected to the shielding portion
3
a
via a connection member
17
, and the cylindrical portion
5
a
is embedded in the housing body
11
.
The grounding flange portion
5
b
of the meta shell
5
is mated with that surface of the mounting flange
12
which is to be opposed to the connector mounting wall
14
, and when the mounting flange portion
12
is screwed, the grounding flange portion
5
b
is electrically connected to the connector mounting wall
14
.
As shown in
FIG. 9
, the direct-mounting shield connector, which is disclosed in JP-A-2000-48912, comprises a connector housing
23
, which receives and holds a connection terminal
22
connected to a shielded wire, and a metal shell
25
which is separate from the connector housing, and is electrically connected to a shielding portion of the shielded wire. The connector housing
23
and the metal shell
25
are fastened together by screw members
27
, with a connector mounting wall
26
of an equipment interposed therebetween, and by doing so, the connector housing
23
is fixedly secured to the connector mounting wall
26
, and at the same time mounting piece portions
25
a
of the metal shell
25
are electrically connected to the connector mounting wall
26
.
With respect to the connector housing
23
, when a terminal receiving portion
23
a
is passed through a connector passage hole
26
a
formed through the connector mounting wall
26
, the screw members
27
, inserted in a mounting flange
23
b
, pass respectively through collar insertion holes
26
b
formed through the connector mounting wall
26
.
However, in the direct-mounting shield connector
1
shown in
FIG. 8
, the mounting flange
12
, made of the resin, is fastened to the connector mounting wall
14
by the screws, and the grounding flange portion
5
b
of the metal shell
5
is brought into contact with the connector mounting wall
14
of the equipment by a pressing force produced by the mounting flange
12
. Thus, the grounding flange portion is not directly fastened to the connector mounting wall by the screws, and therefore it is difficult to achieve the firm electrical connection therebetween, and there has been encountered a problem that electrical connection characteristics of the grounding contact are liable to become unstable by a thermal shock, caused by heat generated in a vehicle on which the equipment is mounted, vibrations and others.
In the direct-mounting shield connector
21
shown in
FIG. 9
, the screw members
27
are passed respectively through the mounting piece portions
25
a
of the metal shell
25
, and therefore fastening forces of the screw members
27
act directly on the mounting piece portions
25
a
, so that the firm electrical connection can be achieved. However, the connector housing
23
and the metal shell
25
are separate from each other, and therefore the connector housing
23
and the metal shell
25
are supported separately in predetermined positions, respectively, with the connector mounting wall
26
interposed therebetween, and in this condition the fastening operation must be carried out by the screw members
27
, and therefore there has been encountered a problem that the efficiency of the mounting operation is low.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention has been made under the above circumstances, and an object of the invention is to provide a direct-mounting shield connector in which a metal shell can be so firmly electrically connected to a connector mounting wall that this electrical connection will not become unstable by a thermal shock, caused by heat generated in a vehicle, vibrations and others, and besides a connector housing and the metal shell can be mounted on the connector mounting wall from one side of the connector mounting wall so that the mounting operation can be carried out easily.
The above object has been achieved by a shield connector directly-mountable on an equipment comprising: a mounting flange provided in a connector housing and attachable to a mounting wall of the equipment by screwing; a metal shell having a cylindrical portion and a grounding flange portion which is clamped between the mounting flange and the mounting wall to thereby electrically connected to the mounting wall and on which a screw engagement hole for inserting a screw is formed; a collar fittingly inserted into a collar insertion hole formed on the mounting flange; wherein an end surface of the collar is brought into abutment with the grounding flange at a peripheral edge portion of the screw engagement hole, and the collar presses the grounding flange portion against the mounting wall when the screw passed through the collar is fastened.
In the above construction, when the connector housing is fastened to the mounting wall by the screws, the axial fastening force of each screw serves as a force to press the grounding flange portion, formed on the metal shell, against the mounting wall through the collar fitted in the collar insertion hole in the mounting flange of the connector housing.
Namely, the fastening force of each screw for fastening the connector housing to the mounting wall serves as a force to contact the grounding flange portion with the mounting wall, and acts directly on the grounding flange portion of the metal shell.
And besides, the metal shell is fitted in the connector housing, and is joined thereto in a unitary manner, and therefore the connector housing and the metal shell can be mounted on the mounting wall from one side of the mounting wall.
Preferably, in the shield connector of the above construction, the collar may include a collar cylindrical portion and an inner diameter of the screw engagement hole may be set to be larger than an inner diameter of the collar cylindrical portion and smaller than an outer diameter of the collar cylindrical portion.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5018920 (1991-05-01), Speakman
patent: 5417587 (1995-05-01), Katsuda et al.
patent: 6280208 (2001-08-01), Masuda et al.
patent: 6-58560 (1994-08-01), None
patent: 2000-48912 (2000-02-01), None
patent: 2000-294344 (2000-10-01), None
Gilman Alex
Yazaki -Corporation
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