High Density Electrical Connector

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a high density electrical connector for electrically connecting an exterior mating connector to a circuit board, and particularly to an electrical connector with a plurality of high density contacts which is quickly and precisely inserted into a plurality of apertures defined on a circuit board by means of gradual guidance.

2. The Prior Art

To increase the transmission speed of input/output messages between electrical connectors in electrical apparatus like computer systems, high density electrical connectors, which have a plurality of contacts in a high density arrangement, are proposed. However, the high density arrangement of the contacts results in a very small pitch between adjacent contacts. Therefore, such high density electrical connectors are usually equipped with a spacer to orient the contacts thereby preventing them from coming too close to each other and assuring that the contacts are precisely inserted into the associated apertures formed on a circuit board. To further assure that the contacts are correctly inserted as mentioned above, guiding posts are often utilized with the connector to retentively cooperate with the orienting holes formed on the circuit board.

Although some conventional high density electrical connectors as disclosed in Taiwan Patent Application Nos. 83,217,760, 83,216,747 and 83,217,761, are assembled with a space to orient a plurality of contacts thereof, one portion of each contact extending through the space is long enough to cause difficulty to exactly insert the contacts into the corresponding apertures of the circuit board, which may result in the buckling of the contacts.

Accordingly, to resolve the above disadvantages, an object of the present invention is to provide a high density electrical connector with a pair of two-stage locking means to cooperate with a spacer to gradually orient and guide a plurality of contacts to be precisely inserted into the corresponding apertures defined on a circuit board. The two-stage means includes a first stage for allowing a tail portion of each contact to extend through the space in a tip area thereof to be oriented and correctly aligned with the apertures of the circuit board, and a second stage for allowing the tail portion to be further inserted through the spacer in a longer length thereof.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a high density electrical connector for precisely mounting on a circuit board mainly comprises a shell, an insulative housing, a plurality of contacts, and a spacer. The insulative housing defines a plurality of passageways for receiving the contacts therein, and forms a pair of two-stage locking means including a first stage and a second stage wherein a groove is located above each stage which is defined by a guiding surface and an engaging surface. The spacer forms a pair of latching portions and defines a plurality of cavities therein. By means of retentive and gradual cooperation between the two-stage locking means and the latching portions, the contacts can be oriented and guided in stages by the cavities of the spacer to be precisely inserted into a plurality of apertures defined on the circuit board without resulting in a buckling of the contacts.

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a high density electrical connector according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the assembled high density electrical connector of FIG. 1.

FIGS. 3(A)-3(B) are cross-sectional views along line III--III of FIG. 2 of the high density electrical connector in accordance with the present invention showing the gradual insertion of the contacts with regard to a circuit board.

References will be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the invention. As shown in FIG. 1, a high density electrical connector for electrically connecting an exterior mating connector (not shown) and a circuit board (not shown) includes an insulative housing (1), a plurality of contacts (2), a shell (3) and a spacer (4).

Furthermore, as shown in FIGS. 1, 3(A) & 3(B), the insualtive housing (1) includes a first surface (10) and a second surface (11) having two rows of passageways (12) defined therethrough, for receiving the contacts (2) therein. The first surface (10) integrally forms a mating portion (13) thereon which defines a mating slot (130) communicating with said passageways (12) for receiving the exterior mating connector.

The shell (3) formed by stamping a metal sheet, defines a hollow portion (30) and a pair of holes (31) for shielding the first surface (10) and the mating portion (13) of the housing (1). The contacts (2) received within said passageways (12), each includes a contact portion (20), an interfering portion (21) and a tail portion (22) wherein the tail portion (22) is extended outward from said second surface (11) as shown in FIG. 3(A)

A pair of board retaining means (7) are respectively located at two opposite lateral ends of the housing (1) and each consists of a receiving portion (70) and a retentive portion (71). The receiving portion (70) longitudinally extends through both first surface (10) and second surface (11) at each lateral end of the housing (1) and defines a pit (701) and a notch (702) adjacent to said second surface (11) for receiving the retentive portion (71) therein. The retentive portion (71) consists of a sleeve (710) and a board Lock (711) wherein the board lock (711) defines a through hole (riot labeled) for receiving said sleeve (710) which defines a screw hole (71021) therein. In assembly, when the sleeve (710) of the retentive portion (71) is received within the receiving portion (70), a lip (7101) of the sleeve (710) and a ring (7111) of the board lock (711) are both received within the pit (701) of the receiving portion (70), and a pair of spaced claws (7112) of the board lock (711) vertically extend outward through the notch (702) of the receiving portion (70) to interlock with a corresponding hole (not shown) on the circuit board (8) as shown in FIG. 2.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 3(A) & 3(B), a two-stage locking means (not labeled) is integrally formed on an inner wall of each receiving portion (70) adjacent to the two rows of passageways (12) on the second surface (11). The locking means consists of a first stage (52) and a second stage (53) located at different levels wherein each stage (52, 53) is configured by an oblique guiding surface (501) on one side and a horizontal engaging surface (502) on the other. A groove (50) is further located above the engaging surface (502) of each stage (52, 53). Therefore, the first stage (52) and the second stage (53) of each locking means lie in a tooth-like arrangement.

The spacer (4) is bound by a top surface (40) and a bottom surface (41) and defines a plurality of orienting cavities (42) from said top surface (40) to said bottom surface (41) for receiving the tail portions (22) of the contacts (2). A pair of spring latching portions (51) respectively and vertically extend from opposite ends of the bottom surface (41) of the spacer (4) to retentively cooperate with said locking means (not labeled) of the housing (1). A pair of posts (60) are formed on the bottom surface (41) of the spacer (4) to be retained within a pair of corresponding orienting holes (80) defined in the circuit board (8) as shown in FIG. 3(A).

FIGS. 3(A) & 3(B) illustrate the mounting of the connector to the circuit board (8). Referring firstly to FIG. 3(A), by means of a first manual operation, each latching portion (51) of the space (4) is compressed inwardly by the guiding surface (501) of each first stage (52) to elastically enter the groove (50) located above the first stage (52) and to retentively engage with the engaging surface (502) of the first stage (52) whereby the spacer (4) can be temporary retained in the housing (1). Concurrently, the tail portions (22) of the contacts (2) are inserted through the cavities of the spacer (4) in a tip area thereof for initial orientation. Therefore, by inserting the posts (60) of the spacer (4) into the corresponding orienting holes (80) of the circuit board (8), the tips of the tail portions (22) of the contacts (2) are easily and precisely aligned with the apertures (not labeled) on the circuit board (8).

Secondly, as shown in FIG. 3 (B), when the connector located on the circuit board (8) is further depressed by a second manual operation, each latching portion (51) of the spacer (4) is inwardly compressed again by another guiding surface (501) of the second stage (53) to elastically enter another groove (50) located above the second stage (53) and to retentively engage with the engaging surface (502) of the second stage (53) whereby the spacer (4) can be permanently retained in the housing (1). Concurrently, the tail portions (22) of the contacts (2) are precisely inserted through both of the cavities of the spacer (4) and the apertures of the circuit board (8) with a longer length thereof. Therefore, by means of gradual cooperation between the two-stage locking means (7) of the housing (1) and the latching portions (51) of the spacer (4), the contacts can be gradually oriented and guided in two stages by the cavities of the spacer (4) to be precisely inserted into the corresponding apertures of the circuit board (8) without resulting in a buckling of the contacts. The result of said assembly is shown in FIG. 2.

Additionally, the locking means of the housing (1) can be exchanged with the latching portion (51) of the spacer (4) to be another embodiment of the present invention (not shown), but the function thereof is identical with that of the first embodiment.

While the present invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments, the description is illustrative of the invention and is not to be construed as limiting in any way. Various modifications to the present invention can be made to the preferred embodiments by those skilled in the art without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Therefore, person of ordinary skill in this field are to understand that all such equivalent structures are to be included within the scope of the following claims.