Electrical connectors – Electromagnetic or electrostatic shield – Shielding individually surrounding or interposed between...
Reexamination Certificate
2000-08-14
2001-10-09
Nguyen, Khiem (Department: 2839)
Electrical connectors
Electromagnetic or electrostatic shield
Shielding individually surrounding or interposed between...
Reexamination Certificate
active
06299481
ABSTRACT:
RELATED APPLICATION
This application claims the priority of Japanese Patent Application No.11-233216 filed on Aug. 19, 1999, which is incorporated herein by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a shielded connector which comprises a plurality of electrical contacts which are aligned in a row in an electrically insulative housing and an electrically conductive shield member which covers the insulative housing.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Such shielded connectors have been known. An example of shielded connector is shown in FIG.
12
. This shielded connector
90
includes an electrically insulative housing
91
, upper and lower shield members
92
a
and
92
b
and a plurality of electrical cables
95
. The insulative housing
91
retains a plurality of female contacts (not shown), and the cables
95
are connected to these contacts, respectively, in the insulative housing
91
, each cable extending outward. The upper and lower shield members
92
a
and
92
b
cover the upper and lower surfaces and the lateral surfaces of the insulative housing
91
. Furthermore, the insulative housing
91
includes a plurality of contact insertion slots
91
a
at the front surface thereof, into which slots the male contacts of a matable connector are inserted for electrical connection with the female contacts in the insulative housing
91
. The upper and lower shield members
92
a
and
92
b
, which cover the outer surfaces of the insulative housing
91
, function to prevent the signals being transmitted through the contacts from generating any electrical noise outward or any outside noise from entering the shielded connector and affecting the signals being transmitted. Therefore, generally, the upper and lower shield members are electrically grounded.
In this shield connector, the upper and lower shield members
92
a
and
92
b
are formed in complex configurations, such that the shield members are mountable fittingly onto the insulative housing
91
, covering the upper and lower surfaces and the lateral surfaces thereof. For example, the shield members are formed in two pieces in configurations to fit and cover the exterior of the insulative housing tightly as shown in FIG.
12
. As the two shield members are to fit and engage securely over the insulative housing, these members are provided with complex features. This design for the shield members is disadvantageous as far as the productivity and the cost of the connector are concerned.
There is another possible option for providing an electrical connector with a shield member. A metal plate as the shield member can be wound around the insulative housing of the connector. In this case, the metal plate must be bent and placed over the insulative housing during the assembly of the connector (i.e., the shield member is not prefabricated in a predetermined figure). However, this way of providing the shield member is laborious and can increase the production cost. In addition, it presents another problem that the exterior dimensions of the shielded connector are enlarged by the provision of the shield member, which is added to cover the insulative housing of the connector.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a shielded connector whose shield member can be produced easily and can be mounted on an insulative housing easily and compactly.
To achieve this objective, a shielded connector according to the present invention comprises a plurality of contacts and a shield member. The contacts are aligned and retained in a row extending in a right and left direction in an electrically insulative housing, and the shield member is mounted over the exterior of the insulative housing. When the shielded connector is engaged with a matable connector, the contacts of the shielded connector come into contact with corresponding contacts of the matable connector at the front of the insulative housing. The above mentioned shield member is formed of an electrically conductive plate and bent in a “U” figure, and it is mounted on the insulative housing and covers the upper and lower surfaces and the front surface of the insulative housing. In addition, the shield member is provided with a plurality of through holes at a front thereof, which meets the front surface of the insulative housing when the shield member is mounted on the insulative housing, such that the contacts of the shielded connector are engaged with the corresponding contacts of the matable connector through these through holes.
An embodiment of shielded connector according to the present invention comprises a plurality of female contacts, which are aligned and retained in a row extending in a right and left direction in an insulative housing, and a shield member (for example, the shield cover
30
of an embodiment described in the following section) is mounted on the insulative housing, covering the exterior thereof. The insulative housing is provided with a plurality of contact insertion slots at the front thereof, such that the male contacts of a matable connector are inserted into the contact insertion slots for engagement with the female contacts of the shielded connector. As the shield member is formed of an electrically conductive plate with a plurality of through holes and bent in a “U” figure to cover the upper and lower surfaces and the front surface of the insulative housing, the through holes of the shield member meet the contact insertion slots of the insulative housing at the front of the insulative housing when the shield member is mounted on the insulative housing.
In this shielded connector, as the shield member is formed of an electrically conductive plate and bent in a “U” figure, the construction of the shield member is relatively simple and can be produced in a cost-effective manner. Also, because the shield member covers only the upper and lower surfaces and the front surface of the insulative housing and leaves the lateral sides of the insulative housing exposed, this design of the connector is compact with a relatively small width dimension. If the lateral sides of the insulative housing were covered as in a prior-art connector, then the width of the connector would be larger. Furthermore, because the shield member covers the front of the insulative housing and has the through holes to let the male contacts of a matable connector pass through for the engagement with the female contacts of the shielded connector, each pair of female and male contacts in engagement is shielded electrically to prevent crosstalk among the contacts.
Another embodiment of shielded connector according to the present invention comprises a plurality of male contacts, which are aligned and retained in a row extending in a right and left direction in an insulative housing, and a shield member (for example, the shield cover
65
of another embodiment described in the following section) is mounted on the insulative housing to cover the exterior thereof. In this case, the male contacts extrude forward at the front of the insulative housing, such that when the shielded connector is engaged with a matable connector, the male contacts enter the female contacts of the matable connector for electrical connection. As the shield member is formed of an electrically conductive plate with a plurality of through holes and bent in a “U” figure and mounted on the insulative housing, covering the upper and lower surfaces and the front surface of the insulative housing, the through holes of the shield member are positioned where the male contacts extrude from the insulative housing at the front thereof, letting the male contacts pass through.
Also, in this shielded connector, as the shield member is formed of an electrically conductive plate and bent in a “U” figure, the design of the shield member is relatively simple and can be produced in a cost-effective manner. In addition, because the shield member covers only the upper and lower surfaces and the front surface of the insulative housing and leaves the lateral sides of the insulative housing exposed, the
KEL Corporation
Nguyen Khiem
Usher Robert W. J.
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