Connector Assembly

This application makes reference to, incorporates the same herein, and claims all benefits accruing under 35 U.S.C. .sctn.119 from my application CONNECTOR ASSEMBLY filed with the Korean Industrial Property Office on 26 Sep. 1998 and there duly assigned Serial No. 18434/1998.

1. Field of The Invention

The present invention concerns a connector assembly, and more particularly a connector assembly for connecting a coaxial cable with an audio board of a computer system having a tuner function.

2. Background of the Invention

A conventional audio board of a computer usually includes a mic-in (microphone-input) jack, a line-out jack, a headphone-out jack and a line-in jack. In order to add a tuner function to the audio board, an additional socket is required to receive the tuner input. That is, the audio board must be provided with a tuner input socket to receive a coaxial connector connected to a coaxial cable. This requires a change in the structure of the existing bracket, increasing the production cost. Further, the bracket of such an audio board is so limited in space that an additional connector may not be easily provided.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved audio board for a computer.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an improved connector assembly for an audio board.

It is a yet further object of the invention to provide a connector assembly for an audio board which can be used with an existing jack bracket.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a connector assembly which can be used for both audio stereo input or tuner input.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a connector assembly for connecting a coaxial cable with an audio board provided with a tuner function, includes a line-in jack provided the audio board for receiving an audio input plug, a coaxial connector connected with the coaxial cable, and an adapter for electrically connecting the coaxial connector with the line-in jack. Preferably, the line-injack has a plug insertion hole sequentially provided with a tuner input contact, audio input contacts and ground (GND) contact outwardly from the bottom of the plug insertion hole. The adapter includes a body part having two end parts, a post plug provided in one of the end parts so as to have contact zones for respectively contacting the tuner input contact and GND contact when inserted into the plug insertion hole, and a socket provided in the other end part to connect with the coaxial connector.

The present invention will now be described more specifically with reference to the drawings attached only by way of example.

A more complete appreciation of the invention, and may of the attendant advantages, thereof, will be readily apparent as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like reference symbols indicate the same or similar components, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional audio board of a computer system;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view for illustrating a connector assembly according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates cross sectional views of the inventive connector assembly;

FIG. 4A is a partially cross sectional view for illustrating an audio input plug inserted into the line-in jack of an audio board; and

FIG. 4B is a partially cross sectional view for illustrating a coaxial cable connected to an adapter inserted into the line-in jack according to the present invention.

Turning now to the drawings, in FIG. 1, the conventional audio board discussed earlier usually includes a mic-in (microphone-input) jack 102, line-out jack 104, headphone-out jack 106 and line-in jack 108. In order to add a tuner function to the audio board 100, an additional socket 124 is required to receive the tuner input. That is, the audio board 100 should be provided with the tuner input socket 124 to receive a coaxial connector 122 connected to a coaxial cable 120. This requires a change in the structure of the existing bracket 110, increasing the production cost. Further, the bracket of the audio board is so limited in space that an additional connector may not be easily provided.

The present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the inventive connector assembly includes line-in jack 18, coaxial connector 42, and adapter 30. The line-in jack 18 is provided in an audio board 10, which further includes an mic-in jack 12, line-out jack 14, headphone-out jack 16, and bracket 20. The line-in jack 18 is a common jack for receiving both audio stereo input and tuner input. That is, the common line-in jack can be used for two separate inputs. To this end, the line-in jack 18 includes audio input contacts 26a, 26b to receive the right and left audio stereo inputs, ground (GND) contact 24, and an additional tuner input contact 28 to receive the tuner input, as show in FIG. 3. This contact 28 is formed in the plug insertion hole or sleeve 22 of the line-in jack 18. The tuner input contact 28 is formed in the bottom of the plug insertion hole 22. These contacts 24, 26a, 26b, 28 are preferably positioned spaced from one another.

The coaxial connector 42 is connected with a coaxial cable 40. The adapter 30 is to electrically connect the coaxial connector 42 with the line-in jack 18. The adapter 30 comprises a body part 32, post plug 36, and socket 34. The socket 34 is paired with the coaxial connector 42, and the post plug 36 with the line-in jack 18. The post plug 36 is shaped in the form of a conventional audio plug 60 for a phono connector, but longer than the audio plug 60. The post plug 36 has first and second contact zones 38 and 39. The first contact zone 38 is formed on the tip 36a of the post plug 36, and the second contact zone 39 on the base of the post plug 36. Hence, inserting the post plug 36 into the plug insertion hole 22, the first contact zone 38 contacts the tuner input contact 28, and the second contact zone 39 the GND contact 24, as shown in FIG. 4B. The socket 34 is provided in the other end part of the body part 32. The socket 34 is connected with the coaxial connector 42. The socket 34 is electrically connected with the post plug 36 through conductor wires 44.

As described above, the inventive structure is characterized in that the common line-in jack is provided with the additional tuner input contact to receive the tuner input together with the audio input, and the adapter is additionally provided to electrically connect the coaxial connector with the line-in jack. As shown in FIG. 4A, inserting the audio input plug 60 into the plug insertion hole 22 of the line-injack 18, the contact zones 62, 64, 66 of the audio input plug 60 respectively contact the GND contact 24, and left and right audio input contacts 26a and 26b. Meanwhile, the coaxial connector 42 is connected with the socket 34 of the adapter 30 whose post plug 36 is connected with the line-in jack 18 of the audio board 10. In this case, the first contact zone 38 of the post plug 36 contacts the tuner input contact 28, and the second contact zone 39 the GND contact 24.

While the present invention has been described in connection with specific embodiments accompanied by the attached drawings, it will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made thereto without departing the gist of the present invention.