Electrical connector

Details Electrical connector Electrical connector

1999-11-23

2001-04-03

Paumen, Gary F. (Department: 2833)

Electrical connectors

With supporting means for coupling part

Having resilient means engaging panel opening

C439S079000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06210218

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector, and particularly to a connector which can be more readily assembled and has EMI shielding with a simple and reliable grounding connection.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Prior art connectors generally have means to provide EMI shielding, but such means may be complex or may not be reliable. U.S. Pat. No. 4,943,244 discloses a connector having a housing with base, a shield from which a pair of grounding fingers rearwardly extends and a pair of board locks each comprising a flat clamp at one end thereof and a pair of L-shaped feet at the other end thereof. The clamp and the feet define a channel therebetween. In assembly, the board lock is pressed to sandwich the base and a rear end of the grounding finger in the channel of the board lock. Since the housing and the shield will forwardly move during an unmating of a complementary connector, the grounding fingers may disengage from the board locks after a number of mating/unmating of the connector with/from the complementary connector.
Furthermore, for the '244 connector, it is laborious and troublesome to assemble contacts to the housing thereof.
Hence, an improved electrical connector is required to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A first object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector providing effective EMI shielding;
A second object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector having a pair of grounding elements reliably engaging with a shield; and
A third object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector having a contact module assembly which securely fits in the connector.
An electrical connector of the present invention has a dielectric housing forming a pair of abutment walls extending from a bottom end thereof, a contact module assembly received in the housing, a pair of grounding elements and a shield attached to the housing and establishing solid grounding contact with the grounding elements.
A pair of integrally formed locking recesses is provided adjacent to the abutment walls of the housing for receiving the grounding elements. Each grounding element includes a flat joining part with a grounding finger and a board lock extending from one lateral edge of the joining part, and a plurality of interfering bumps on an opposite edge of the joining part. Each grounding finger extends approximately horizontally for fitting along an abutment wall of the housing. The plurality of interfering bumps helps to fix the grounding elements in the locking recesses. The shield includes a pair of top and bottom extending arms which attach the shield to the housing and the grounding elements.
In assembly, when the grounding elements are received in the locking recesses of the housing, the grounding fingers thereof fit along the abutment walls of the housing and the board locks thereof extend downwardly from the bottom of the housing for mounting the connector to a PCB. The shield is then mated to the housing and the top and bottom extending arms are bent to engage with the top, bottom and rear sides of the housing. Furthermore, the bottom extending arms concurrently fix the grounding fingers to the abutment walls of the housing while establishing electrical grounding contact between the shield and the grounding elements.
The housing also defines a receiving recess in a rear thereof which forms a plurality of apertures and spaced-apart channels for fitting with a plurality of embossments and projections on a contact module assembly to secure the contact module assembly in the housing.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present embodiment when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.


REFERENCES:
patent: 5356313 (1994-10-01), Niwa et al.
patent: 5599207 (1997-02-01), Lai
patent: 5738541 (1998-04-01), Tseng
patent: 5921811 (1999-07-01), Hsu
patent: 6012954 (2000-01-01), Wu
patent: 6022243 (2000-02-01), Yang et al.

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