Electrical connectors – With insulation other than conductor sheath – Plural-contact coupling part
Reexamination Certificate
2003-06-04
2004-08-17
Bradley, P. Austin (Department: 2833)
Electrical connectors
With insulation other than conductor sheath
Plural-contact coupling part
Reexamination Certificate
active
06776664
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electrical connectors, and more particularly to an electrical connector for electrically interconnecting a complementary electrical connector with an electrical interface such as a flexible printed circuit (FPC) board.
2. Description of the Prior Art
With the trend toward miniaturization of electrical components, accurate orientation of the electrical components in an apparatus becomes increasingly problematic. The reliability of the apparatus depends in large part on the precision with which the electrical components are oriented therewithin.
FIG. 6
shows a typical FPC connector
6
, which comprises a dielectric housing
60
, a plurality of terminals
61
received in the housing
60
, and a slider member
62
slidably inserted in the housing
60
. A plurality of terminal-passages
600
is defined in the housing
60
, the terminal-passages
600
receiving the corresponding terminals
61
therein. In use, an FPC board
5
is inserted in an opening
602
defined in the housing
60
. The slider member
62
is then inserted in the opening
602
, for enabling conductive pads of the FPC board
5
(not shown) to mate with corresponding engaging portions
610
of the terminals
61
. A soldering portion
611
of each terminal
61
is soldered onto a printed circuit board (not shown). Thus electrical engagement between the printed circuit board and the FPC board
5
is attained.
Over time, the FPC board
5
may be repeatedly inserted into and removed from the housing
60
. After a time, the slider member
62
and the housing
60
at the opening
602
are liable to become worn, with the slider member
62
only loosely engaging with the housing
60
. Thus electrical engagement between the printed circuit board and the FPC board
5
is prone to be unreliable. If a new connector
6
is needed to replace the worn connector
6
, the worn connector
6
must be unsoldered from the printed circuit board. Heat generated during the unsoldering process is liable to damage the printed circuit board and adjacent electrical components thereof. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,695,359 and 5,741,154 disclose connectors having similar problems to those described above.
In order to overcome the above problems, Japan Patent Publication Numbers 2000-106235 and 11-233212 disclose an FPC adaptor connector. The adaptor connector electrically interconnects with a complementary connector and an FPC board. The complementary connector is soldered on a printed circuit board. The adaptor connector mates with the FPC board by the same means as described above. If a slider member of the adaptor connector is damaged, the entire adaptor connector is replaced by a new adaptor connector without removal of the complementary connector.
Referring to
FIG. 7
, an FPC adaptor connector
6
′ of the kind described above comprises a housing
60
′, a base
63
′ mounted on the housing
60
′, a plurality of terminals
61
′ received in the housing
60
′ and the base
63
′, a slider member
62
′ slidably inserted in the housing
60
′, and an actuator member
64
′ pivotally mounted on the housing
60
′.
An island
65
′ is defined in a middle of the housing
60
′. Two rows of terminal-passages
651
′ are defined in longitudinal opposite sides of the island
65
′. Slots (not shown) are defined in the base
63
′, corresponding to the terminal-passages
651
′. A plurality of spacer
652
′ is formed on the opposite sides of the island
65
′, each spacer
652
′ separating two adjacent terminal-passages
651
′. Each terminal
61
′ has a first engaging portion (not shown) and a second engaging portion (not labeled). The first engaging portion is received in a corresponding slot, for engaging with a contact pad (not shown) on an FPC board. The second engaging portion is received in a corresponding terminal-passage
651
′, for engaging with a corresponding mating contact of a complementary electrical connector mounted on a printed circuit board (not shown). Electrical engagement between the printed circuit board and the FPC board is thus attained.
However, each spacer
652
′ is essentially a parallelepiped-shaped block, without means for preventing the corresponding second engaging portions of two adjacent terminals
61
′ from deflecting away from the corresponding side of the island
65
′. Thus the second engaging portions of the terminals
61
′ are liable to be bent or displaced outwardly from the sides of the island
65
′. If this happens, during insertion of mating contacts of the complementary electrical connector into the FPC adaptor connector
6
′, top ends of the second engaging portions are liable to interfere with bottom ends of the mating contacts. Both the terminals
61
′ and the contacts are liable to be damaged in this process.
Additionally, a distance between two adjacent spacers
652
′ is greater than a corresponding width of each second engaging portion, and greater than a width of an engaging portion (not shown) of each mating contact of the complementary electrical connector. If the mating contacts are themselves not precisely positioned in the complementary electrical connector, during said insertion of the mating contacts, engagement between the terminals
61
′ and the corresponding mating contacts is reliable to be misaligned. If this happens, secure electrical engagement may not be attained, and open circuits may be created. As a result, electrical connection between the adaptor connector
6
′ and the complementary connector is unreliable.
Accordingly, there is a need to provide an improved electrical connector to overcome the above-mentioned problems.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, a main object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector that securely locates terminals in a housing thereof.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector able to securely and reliably receive mating contacts of a complementary electrical connector therein.
To fulfill the above-mentioned objects, an electrical connector of the present invention comprises a second housing, a first housing mounted on the second housing, a plurality of terminals received in the first and second housings, a slider member slidably inserted in the second housing, and an actuator member pivotally mounted on the first housing. An island is formed in the first housing. A plurality of spacers is formed on opposite side surfaces of the island respectively. Each two adjacent spacers and the corresponding side surface cooperatively define a terminal-passage. Each terminal has an engaging portion received in a corresponding terminal-passage. Two retention portions are formed on each spacer. Each retention portion is configured with a slanted guiding surface and a positioning surface.
With this structure, during insertion of the terminal into the corresponding terminal-passage of the first housing, the two opposing retention portions of the terminal-passage prevent the engaging portion of the terminal from moving between the retention portions and the corresponding side surface. Thus the terminal is securely located in the terminal-passage of the first housing. Moreover, the adjacent opposing guiding surfaces of the terminal-passage guide insertion of a mating contact of a complementary electrical connector until the mating contact is received between the two opposing positioning surfaces of the terminal-passage. Thus the mating contact is securely and reliably received in the terminal-passage.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
REFERENCES:
patent: 5695359 (1997-12-01), Fujikura et al.
patent: 5741154 (1998-04-01), Fujikura et al.
patent: 5882212 (1999-03-01), McHugh et al.
patent:
Bradley P. Austin
Chung Wei Te
Hon Hai Precision Ind. Co. LTD
Nguyen Phuongchi
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