Electrical connectors – Electromagnetic or electrostatic shield – Shielding individually surrounding or interposed between...
Reexamination Certificate
2000-05-12
2001-05-29
Vu, Hien (Department: 2833)
Electrical connectors
Electromagnetic or electrostatic shield
Shielding individually surrounding or interposed between...
C439S541500
Reexamination Certificate
active
06238244
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an electrical connector, more particularly to a shielded electrical connector having an insulated terminal holding frame that is capable of holding a plurality of terminals in a superposed relationship such that the superposed terminals will occupy a relatively small amount of space when mounted on a printed circuit board.
2. Description of the Related Art
Reducing the thickness, length and size of a computer, such as a desktop computer or a notebook computer, has always been the goal of manufacturers in the computer industry to make their products more attractive to consumers. However, it is noted that electrical connectors on the main board or the circuit board occupy a significant amount of space on the latter. It is therefore preferable to find some way of reducing the space occupied by an electrical connector on a circuit board without reducing the number of conductive terminals to reduce the size of the circuit board and permit further reduction in the dimensions of a computer.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,755,595, there is disclosed an electrical connector that includes an insulated terminal holding frame, first and second sets of conductive terminals mounted respectively on upper and lower terminal holding plates of the terminal holding frame in a superposed relationship, and a metal shield that encloses the terminal holding frame. The shielding effect provided by the metal shield to the conductive terminals is inadequate because the metal shield has an open rear side. In addition, the metal shield is formed with a pair of tabs that extend from front edges of left and right shield walls and that are bent toward a partition plate between the upper and lower terminal holding plates of the terminal holding frame. When the electrical connector is installed in a housing of an electronic appliance, the tabs abut against the housing of the electronic appliance for grounding purposes. Because the tabs are formed directly on the metal shield, they cannot be formed to have relatively long lengths. As such, the grounding effect provided thereby is unsatisfactory.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of this invention is to provide an electrical connector having an insulated terminal holding frame that is capable of holding a plurality of conductive terminals in a superposed relationship so that the superposed conductive terminals will occupy a relatively small amount of space when mounted on a printed circuit board.
According to this invention, an electrical connector comprises first and second sets of conductive terminals, a terminal holding frame, and first and second metal shields.
Each of the conductive terminals in each of the first and second sets has a horizontal contact portion with front and rear sections, and an upright tail portion extending downwardly from the rear section of the horizontal contact portion.
The terminal holding frame is formed from an insulator material, and includes a front wall, upper and lower terminal holding plates extending forwardly and horizontally from the front wall, a partition plate extending forwardly and horizontally from the front wall between the upper and lower terminal holding plates, and upper and lower terminal positioning plates extending rearwardly and horizontally from the front wall such that the upper terminal positioning plate is disposed at an elevation between the upper and lower terminal holding plates, and such that the lower terminal positioning plate is disposed at an elevation below the lower terminal holding plate. The front wall is formed with an upper set of through holes to permit the front sections of the horizontal contact portions of the first set of conductive terminals to extend therethrough for mounting the front sections of the horizontal contact portions of the first set of conductive terminals on the upper terminal holding plate. The upper terminal positioning plate has a rear edge and is formed with a plurality of first notches that extend from the rear edge toward the front wall to permit the upright tail portions of the first set of conductive terminals to extend downwardly through the upper terminal positioning plate. The front wall is further formed with a lower set of through holes to permit the front sections of the horizontal contact portions of the second set of conductive terminals to extend therethrough for mounting the front sections of the horizontal contact portions of the second set of conductive terminals on the lower terminal holding plate. The lower terminal positioning plate has a rear edge and is formed with a plurality of second notches that extend from the rear edge toward the front wall to permit the upright tail portions of the first and second sets of conductive terminals to extend downwardly through the lower terminal positioning plate and to project beyond a bottom edge of the front wall.
The first metal shield includes first top and bottom walls, first left and right walls interconnecting the first top and bottom walls, and a rear wall connected to a rear edge of at least one of the first top, bottom, left and right walls. The first metal shield encloses the terminal holding frame such that the rear wall is disposed rearwardly of the upper and lower terminal positioning plates so as to enhance electromagnetic shielding of the first and second sets of conductive terminals.
The second metal shield includes second top and bottom walls, and second left and right walls interconnecting the second top and bottom walls. The second top, bottom, left and right walls cooperatively form a front open end. The second metal shield further includes a pair of resilient grounding strips that extend into the front open end from a respective one of the second left and right walls. The second metal shield encloses the partition plate such that the resilient grounding strips are disposed forwardly of the partition plate.
Thus, when the electrical connector is installed in a housing of an electronic appliance, the resilient grounding strips on the second metal shield are adapted to abut against the housing of the electronic appliance for grounding purposes.
In the preferred embodiment, at least one of the first top, bottom, left and right walls of the first metal shield and the second top and bottom walls of the second metal shield is formed with a resilient tongue that projects into an interior of the first metal shield. In addition, at least one of the second left and right walls of the second metal shield is formed with a resilient tongue for engaging the first left and right walls of the first metal shield.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4612602 (1986-09-01), Weyer et al.
patent: 5037330 (1991-08-01), Fulponi et al.
patent: 5755595 (1998-05-01), Davis et al.
patent: 5797770 (1998-08-01), Davis et al.
Advanced Connecteck Inc.
Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner L.L.P.
Vu Hien
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