Retaining Clip for an Electrical Connector

1. Technical Field

This invention relates to an electrical connector retaining clip for securely holding a socket and mating plug in physical engagement.

2. Background Art

Frequently, several printed circuit boards are connected by socket terminated cables. The socket mates with a plug soldered on the circuit board. Such circuit boards are subject to occasional vibration and other undesired movement which may cause the connectors to loosen and ultimately become disconnected. An additional problem encountered with such connectors is that the plug and socket forming the connection will not be in the desired alignment when mated thus resulting in malfunction or damage to the circuitry mounted on the circuit board.

This invention relates to an apparatus for releasably maintaining a socket in engagement with a plug securely soldered to a printed circuit board. The plug includes at least two spaced pins maintained in relative position by a molded strip. The pins are bent and soldered to the circuit board so that the free ends of the pins extend along a plane parallel to the circuit board. The clip is "U" shaped and includes a pair of extending legs and a base. The base is sized to fit between the spaced pins of the plug, and the legs of the clip define means for grasping the socket thus securely retaining the socket within the legs of the "U" shaped clip. A pair of fingers are secured to and extend from the legs toward each other and prevent misalignment between the plug and the socket. Thus, the facing surfaces of the fingers, the legs and the circuit board serve to direct the socket and plug into accurate mating engagement.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a clip in combination with a connector plug mounted to a circuit board;

FIG. 2 is a front plan view of the clip of FIG. 1 and a connector socket prior to engagement with the plug;

FIG. 3 is a front plan view similar to FIG. 2 with the connector socket and plug in engagement;

FIG. 4 is a side view of the clip of FIG. 3 with the connector socket shown in phantom to more clearly illustrate certain features of this invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an alternate embodiment of a clip in combination with a connector plug mounted to a circuit board; and

FIG. 6 is a side view of the apparatus of FIG. 5 with a connector socket shown in phantom to more clearly illustrate certain features of this invention.

As illustrated, the connector 10 with which the clip 12 is designed to cooperate includes a male plug 14 having two parallel rows of pins 16. The pins 16 are maintained in spaced orientation by a molded plastic insulating strip 18. The pins 16 of the plug 14 are bent over at a right angle and a first end of each pin is soldered to foil pads 20 on a printed circuit board 22. The second terminal ends of the pins 16 are parallel to the circuit board 22 and spaced therefrom. The plug 14 is adapted to mate with a socket 24 to which a cable 26 is connected as shown in FIG. 3. The connector 10 is similar to that manufactured and sold by the Berg Electronics a Division of DuPont Corporation under the trademark "BergStik" headers and is described in their brochure, "Panel Products 500 Bulletin".

The clip 12 includes a "U" shaped body 30 having a pair of substantially parallel elongated resilient legs 32 and a base member 34 connecting the legs 32 at the ends thereof. The body 30 is preferably fabricated by molding nylon or other similar resilient insulating material. The base 34, as shown in FIG. 1, passes between the two rows of plug pins 16 before the plug 14 is soldered to the circuit board 22 and the clip 12 is thus captively held in place by the circuit board 22, the pins 16 and the plastic insulating strip 18. Molded to the ends of the base 34 on the surface thereof adjacent the circuit board 22 are a pair of feet 36 which space the base 34 from the circuit board 22. The feet 36 project beyond the legs 32 and serve to prevent rotational movement of the clip 12 with respect to the pins 16. As illustrated, the legs 32 of the U-shaped body member 30 exteend along the line of the pins 16 and, at their terminal ends are flared as at 40 defining camming surfaces 42. As will be subsequently more fully appreciated, the flared ends of the legs 32 facilitate movement of the legs 32 outwardly, thus increasing the distance between the legs 32 allowing entry and removal of the connector socket 24. Serving to prevent accidental removal of the socket 24 when engaged with the plug pins 16, the inwardly disposed surfaces of the legs 32 define opposing locking tabs 44 having a flattened surface 46 disposed toward the base 34 of the "U" shaped body 30 of the clip 12.

Additionally, the legs 32 are spaced from the circuit board 22 by a pair of short spacers 47 which project from the surface of each of the legs 32 and are disposed toward the circuit board 22. The spacers 47 and the feet 36 locate the plane of the clip 12 generally parallel to the circuit board 22 and parallel to the second terminal end of the plug pins 16. Serving to facilitate orientation of the plug 14 and the socket 24 are a pair of opposing fingers 48 which extend and project inwardly from the legs 32. The space defined by the surface of the circuit board 22, the opposite surfaces of the legs 32 and the fingers 48 is approximately the size and shape of a cross-section of the socket 24. Thus, during connection, alignment between the socket 24 and the plug pins 16 is assured.

In use, the clip 12 is positioned within the pins 16 and the pins 16 are soldered to the circuit board 22 thus holding the clip 12 securely in place. It should be appreciated that no portion of the clip 12 extends below the lower surface of the circuit board 22, and thus circuit components may be flow soldered to the circuit board 22 without damage to the clip 12. The socket 24, with the cable 26 attached, is roughly aligned with the pins 16 and advanced toward the pins 16. As the socket 24 engages the clip 12, the body of the socket 24 strikes the camming surfaces 42 of the flared ends 40 of the legs 32. The legs 32 are forced apart, as shown in phantom in FIG. 2, thus allowing engagement of the socket 24 with the plug pins 16 mounted upon the circuit board 22. In the event the socket 24 is misaligned with respect to the plug pins 16, advance of the socket 24 will be obstructed by either the circuit board 22 or the alignment fingers 48 thus preventing engagement of the plug 14 and socket 24. Once alignment has been obtained, the connection is completed by forcing the socket 24 against the plug 14 and the locking tabs 44 will pass over the end of the socket 24 thus preventing accidental removal of the socket. Due to the resiliency of the structural material of the legs 32, the legs will move together and the locking surfaces 46 will pass over the end of the socket 24 as shown in FIG. 3. To remove the socket 24, the flared ends 40 of the legs 32 are manually forced apart to release the locking tabs 44 and the socket 24 is freely withdrawn from the pins 16.

A second embodiment of a clip 49 is illustrated in FIG. 5 wherein those components of the second embodiment which correspond to the first embodiment are designated by the same reference number with the subscript "a". Extending from and medially positioned on the surface of each leg 32a, adjacent the circuit board 22a, are locking arms 50 which are offset and bent to extend along the axis of the legs 32a toward the base 34a along the solder side of the circuit board 22a. The arms 50 serve to limit movement of the clip 49 relative to the circuit board 22a. The clip 49, in the embodiment of FIGS. 5 and 6, is mounted by positioning the clip 12a on the circuit board 22a in the desired location and thereafter soldering the pins 16a thus holding the clip 49 captive to the circuit board 22a. The operation of the clip 49 of the second embodiment is similar to the operation of the clip 12 of the first embodiment and the readers attention is directed to the preceding discussion.

Although the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to two embodiments, it will be understood that various changes in form and detail may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as defined by the following claims.