Electrical connector

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to an electrical connector, and particularly to an electrical connector having improved press-fit conductive contacts which can be securely and reliably retained to a housing of the electrical connector.

[0003] 2. Description of Related Art

[0004] With the development of computer technology, a new product, named as a serial ATA (Advance Technology Attachment) electrical connector, is proposed for use as an interface of fast-talking drives, which will effectively improve the bandwidth, or capacity for data, between hard disk drives and other PC components, with respect to the parallel ATA connector. The serial ATA connector also has some other improvements with respect to the parallel ATA, such as low cost, low pin count, and low voltage requirement, and so on. In a word, the serial ATA connector provides a long-term solution for high performance, and easier, more flexible system design.

[0005] Com monly, a serial ATA connector mounted on a circuit board includes an insulative housing and a plurality of signal, power and ground contacts retained in the housing. For simplifying the connection or disconnection of the serial ATA connector from the circuit board, the conductive contacts thereof are provided with press-fit tails to be directly inserted into or withdrawn from corresponding holes defined in the circuit board, which needs relative large insertion or withdrawal force during insertion or withdrawal from the circuit board. The large insertion/withdrawal force causes the contacts to separate from the housing, if the conductive contacts are not securely retained to the housing.

[0006] Hence, a serial ATA connector with improved press-fit contacts is desired to resolve the above-mentioned problems or disadvantages.

[0007] A main object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector having improved press-fit contacts which can be prevented from moving with respect to a dielectric body of the electrical connector or being damaged during assembly.

[0008] To fulfill the above-mentioned object, an electrical connector in accordance with the present invention comprises a dielectric body and a plurality of conductive contacts retained to the dielectric body. The dielectric body defines two rows of positioning holes and a row of retaining holes between the positioning holes. Each contact has a retaining portion retained to a corresponding retaining hole, a mating beam and a press-fit or complaint type tail extending from opposite ends of the retaining portion. A pair of resilient beams project from a joint portion between the retaining portion and the press-fit tail for insertion into a corresponding positioning hole, and upper ends of the resilient beams abut against a slanted portion formed adjacent to the positioning hole.

[0009] 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.

[0010] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an electrical connector in accordance with the present invention;

[0011] FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of FIG. 1;

[0012] FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 1 from a bottom aspect;

[0013] FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of FIG. 3;

[0014] FIG. 5 is a rear view of FIG. 1;

[0015] FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 5;

[0016] FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 7-7 of FIG. 1; and

[0017] FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of taken along line 8-8 of FIG. 1.

[0018] Reference will now be made to drawings and particularly to FIG. 1, an electrical connector 1, named as a serial ATA connector, for being mounted on a backplane or a circuit board (not shown) in accordance with the present invention, comprises an elongated dielectric body 10 and a plurality of conductive contacts 20 retained in the dielectric body 10.

[0019] Further referring to FIGS. 2 to 4, the dielectric body 10 has a base portion 12, a pair of short and long tongues 16 projecting upward from a top face 101 of the base portion 12, and a pair of end portions 14 extending upward from opposite ends of the base portion 12. As best seen in FIGS. 4 and 5, the base portion 12 defines two rows of positioning holes 11 extending through opposite top and bottom faces 101, 102 thereof for receiving corresponding contacts 20. The bottom face 102 of the electrical body 10 further defines a pair of short and long slots 15 between the two rows of positioning holes 11, aligned with the short and long tongues 16, respectively. A row of retaining holes 13 is defined beneath and communicated with corresponding long and short slots 15 and the number thereof is equal to that of the two rows of the positioning holes 11 in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention. Additionally, a notch 17 is defined beside and communicated with each positioning hole 11. The notch 17 is defined in the bottom face 102 of the dielectric body 10. Back to FIG. 1, two rows of enlarged recesses 112 are defined in the top face 101 of the base portion 12 and each recess 112 corresponds to and communicates with one positioning hole 11. A slanted portion 114 is formed in each enlarged recess 112 and adjacent to the associated positioning hole 11, as best seen in FIGS. 7 and 8. Each of the long and short tongues 16 defines a plurality of positioning slits 15 for positioning corresponding contacts 20, and each positioning slit 15 is aligned and communicated with a corresponding retaining hole 13 therebelow. Furthermore, a pair of through slits 18 are defined outside the end portions 14 for receiving a pair of retaining mechanisms 4 to thereby retain the electrical connector 1 to the backplane or the circuit board.

[0020] The conductive contacts 20 all have the same structure as mentioned above, except that some of them are relatively higher than the others. The higher contacts 20 are adopted for transmitting power and providing grounding function between two electronic devices (not shown), while the other relatively lower contacts 20 are used for transmitting signals between the two electronic devices. Each contact 20 has a retaining portion 22, a planar mating beam 24 and a press-fit tail 26 extending from opposite ends of the retaining portion 22. The retaining portion 22 has an L shape and comprises a vertical section 21 connected to the mating beam 24 and a horizontal section 23 connected to the press-fit tail 26. The vertical section 21 forms several barbs 25 on opposite sides thereof for retaining to a corresponding retaining hole 13 of the dielectric body 10. Additionally, a pair of retaining beams 28, perpendicular to the horizontal section 23, project upward from a joint portion between the horizontal section 23 and the press-fit tail 26 for insertion into a corresponding positioning hole 11 of the dielectric body 10.

[0021] In assembly, further referring to FIGS. 5 to 8, the two rows of the conductive contacts 20 are first retained to the dielectric body 10 from the underside of the body 10. The mating beams 24 of the two rows of contacts are straggeredly inserted through corresponding retaining holes 13 into the communicated positioning slits 15, and the vertical sections 21 of the retaining portions 22 are thus retained to the corresponding positioning holes 13. At the same time, the retaining beams 28 are fitted into corresponding positioning holes 11 of the dielectric body 10, with the upper ends 282 thereof projecting into the associated enlarged recesses 112. Additionally, the horizontal sections 23 of the contacts 20 are interferingly fitted into corresponding notches 17 of the dielectric body 10. The horizontal sections 23 abut the bottom face 102 of the dielectric body 10. Then, the upper ends 282 of the retaining beams 28 are punched inward to securely abut against corresponding slanted portions 114 formed in the enlarged recesses 112. Finally, the retaining mechanisms 4 are inserted into corresponding slits 18 from an upper side of the dielectric body 10. The retaining mechanisms 4 are used to retain the electrical connector 1 to the backplane or the circuit board.

[0022] In this way, on one hand, when the contacts 20 are inserted into corresponding holes (not shown) of the backplane or the circuit board by a relatively large insertion force, due to the horizontal sections 23 which abut against the bottom face 102 of the dielectric body 10, an upward pushing force acting on the contacts 20 can be effectively resisted by the dielectric body 10; thus, the upward pushing force will not cause the contacts 20 to separate from the dielectric body 10. One the other hand, when the contacts 20 are pulled to separate from the backplane or the circuit board by a relatively large withdrawal force, due to the upper ends 282 which abut against the slanted portions 114 of the dielectric body 10, a downward pulling force acting on the contacts 20 is effectively resisted by the dielectric body 10; thus the downward pulling force will not causes the contacts 20 to separate from dielectric body 10. Thus, the conductive contacts 20 in accordance with the present invention are always securely retained in the dielectric body 10 during the mounting/dismounting of the connector 1 to/from the backplane or the circuit board in which the connector 1 has the press-fit contacts 20.

[0023] It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.