Electrical connector with insert-molding structure

[0002] This present application is related to a contemporaneously filed U.S. patent applications entitled to “MULTI-PORT MODULAR JACK ASSEMBLY WITH DETACHABLE INSERT SUBASSEMBLES” with a Ser. No. 10/253,186, and entitled to “ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR” with a Ser. No. 10/253,954, invented by the same inventor, and assigned to the common assignee.

[0003] 1. Field of the Invention

[0004] The present invention generally relates to an electrical connector, and more particularly to a stacked modular jack.

[0005] 2. Description of the Prior Art

[0006] Modular jacks are often used in computers to interconnect the computers with electronic peripheral equipments. As multi-function trend becomes more popular in computer industry, while spaces on printed circuit boards (PCBs) of the computers are limited, stacked modular jacks have been widely adopted in electrical connectors.

[0007] U.S. Pat. No. 5,639,267 discloses a modular jack having a housing with a rear loading bay, and a backplate sub-assembly with an L-shaped backplate and a plurality of contact pin arrays mounted to the L-shaped backplate. A plurality of channels are formed in inner walls of the L-shaped backplate. Each contact pin array has an L-shaped unitary insulative member engaging with the channels of the L-shaped backplate. The backplate sub-assembly further has a shield plate disposed between two rows of the contact pin arrays. The backplate sub-assembly is received in the rear loading bay of the housing.

[0008] However, there is no engaging means between the two rows of the contact pin arrays, so that during the process of assembling the sub-assembly to the housing, the two contact pin arrays may relatively move, and the contact pins of the modular jack may be deformed.

[0009] Hence, an improved modular jack is needed to eliminate the above-mentioned defects of the conventional modular jacks.

[0010] The main object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector with terminals of subassemblies fixed relatively.

[0011] An electrical connector according to the present invention has an insulative housing, a plurality of subassemblies. Each subassembly has a base member, a first, second and third printed circuit boards (PCBs), a pair of insert portions respectively mounted on the first and second PCBs, and a plurality of terminals insert molded in the insert portions. One of the insert portions has a first upper surface, a first pair of positioning posts protruding on first the upper surface, a first pair of mounting holes defined in the first upper surface, and a first latch formed on one lateral side thereof. The other insert portion has a second upper surface, a second pair of positioning posts and a second pair of mounting holes respectively protruding on and defined in the second upper surface, and a second latch formed on one lateral side thereof. The first positioning posts and the first mounting holes engage with corresponding second mounting holes and second positioning posts. The first, second and third PCBs respectively have a plurality of through holes. The base member has a plurality of contacts for soldering to or engaging with the through holes of the first, second and third PCBs.

[0012] Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0013] FIG. 1 is an exploded view of an electrical connector of the present invention.

[0014] FIG. 2 is an assembled view of FIG. 1.

[0015] FIG. 3 is another view of FIG. 1.

[0016] FIG. 4 is an assembled view of FIG. 3.

[0017] FIG. 5 is another view of FIG. 4.

[0018] FIG. 6 is an exploded view of a subassembly of the electrical connector.

[0019] FIG. 7 is another view of FIG. 6.

[0020] Referring to FIGS. 1-5, an electrical connector 9 of the present invention has an insulative housing 1, a plurality of subassemblies 3 received in the insulative housing 1.

[0021] The housing 1 has a top wall 11, a pair of side walls 12, a bottom wall 13, a front wall 16, a plurality of clapboards 17, and a plurality of partitioners 18. The plurality of clapboards 17 are longitudinally formed between the two side walls 12 with proportional spacing, and the plurality of partitioners 18 are transversely formed between every two clapboards 17 or between the clapboard 17 and the side wall 12. Each partitioner 18 defines a plurality of slots 181. The side walls 12 and the clapboards 17 together define a plurality of mating openings 162 for receiving complementary plugs (not shown). The mating openings 162 are arranged in an upper and lower rows, and the upper row of the mating openings 162 has a mirror-image structure of the lower row of the mating openings 162. The side walls 12 and the clapboards 17 define a plurality of groove 121 for receiving engaging parts of the complementary plugs. The bottom wall 13 of the housing 1 has a pair of poles 15 extending downwardly therefrom. The front wall 16 forms a plurality of L-shaped tabs 161 extending into the mating openings 162 of the housing 1. Each clapboard 17 has a block 171, and a notch 172 defined in the block 171. Every two blocks 171 define a channel 173, and each side wall 12 and corresponding block 171 adjacent to the side wall 12 define a channel 173. The plurality of channels 173 are defined by every two adjacent blocks 171 and the blocks 171 with corresponding side walls 12 for receiving corresponding subassemblies 3 of the electrical connector 9.

[0022] Referring to FIGS. 6 and 7, each subassembly 3 has a base member 4, a first printed circuit board (PCB) 71, a second PCB 72, a third PCB 73, a pair of insert portions 6 respectively mounted onto the first and second PCBs 71, 72, and a plurality of terminals 5 insert molded in the insert portions 6.

[0023] The base member 4 has a pair of magnetic module receptacles 42, a grounding bar 41 sandwiched in between the magnetic module receptacles 42. The magnetic module receptacles 42 have flat portions 43 respectively formed on an upper and lower surfaces of the magnetic module receptacles 42, and a plurality of contacts 45, 46 received in the magnetic module receptacles 42. The contacts 45, 46 respectively have a plurality of intervening portions 451, 461. Each flat portion 43 defines a plurality of recesses 44 for receiving corresponding intervening portions 451, 461 of the contacts 45, 46. The base member 4 further has a plurality of magnetic coils (not shown) received in the magnetic module receptacles 42 for both transmitting signals and filtering noises.

[0024] The terminals 5 have contacting sections 51, C-shaped spring sections 52, connecting sections insert molded in corresponding insert portions 6, and soldering sections 53 extending rearwardly for soldering to surfaces of the first PCB 71 and the second PCB 72.

[0025] The pair of insert portions 6 of each subassembly 3 respectively have a first and second upper surfaces 61, 66, a first and second pairs of positioning posts 62, 67 diagonally protruding on corresponding first and second upper surfaces 61, 66, a first and second pairs of mounting holes 63, 68 diagonally defined in corresponding first and second upper surfaces 61, 66 and aligned with corresponding pair of positioning posts 67, 62, and a first and second latches 64, 69 formed on lateral sides of corresponding insert portions 6 for engaging with corresponding blocks 171 of the housing 1. The first and second latches 64, 69 has a first and second clasps 641, 691 formed on front portions of the first and second latches 64, 69 for engaging with corresponding notches 172 of the housing 1. Both the insert portions 6 have a pair of engaging portions 65 formed on lower surfaces opposite to corresponding first and second upper surfaces 61, 66 thereof.

[0026] The third PCB 73 has a plurality of filtering elements 733 mounted on an upper surface thereof for filtering noises. The second PCB 72 has one of the insert portions 6 mounted on a lower surface thereof, and the first PCB 71 has the other insert portion 6 mounted on an upper surface thereof. The first, second and third PCBs 71, 72, 73 respectively have a plurality of through holes 732, 731 for the grounding bar 41 and the contacts 45, 46 extending through.

[0027] Referring to FIGS. 1-7, in assembly, the connecting sections of the terminals 5 are insert molded in the insert portions 6, the insert portions 6 together with the terminals 5 are respectively placed on the upper surface of the first PCB 71 and the lower surface of the second PCB 72. The engaging portions 65 of the insert portions 6 engage with corresponding holes (not labeled) of the first and second PCBs 71, 72. The soldering sections 53 of the terminals 5 are respectively soldered to the upper surface of the third PCB 71 and the lower surface of the second PCB 72.

[0028] The intervening portions 451, 461 of the contacts 45, 46 are received in corresponding recesses 44 of the magnetic module receptacles 42. The magnetic module receptacles 42 with the contacts 45, 46 are placed back-to-back and separated by the grounding bar 41. Attaching the first PCB 71 above the base member 4, the contacts 45 of the rear magnetic module receptacles 42 extend through corresponding through holes 731 of the first PCB 71, and the contacts 45 of the front magnetic module receptacle 42 are soldered to the first PCB 71 for transmitting signals. The grounding bar 41 extends through the through hole 732 of the first PCB 71.

[0029] Attaching the second PCB 72 above the first PCB 71, the first positioning posts 62 and the first mounting holes 63 of the insert portion 6 on the second PCB 72 engage with corresponding second mounting holes 68 and the second positioning posts 67 of the insert portion 6 on the first PCB 71. The first and second latches 64, 69 of the insert portions 6 respectively abut against opposite sides of each other. The contacts 45 of the rear magnetic module receptacle 42 are soldered to the second PCB 72 for transmitting signals. The grounding bar 41 and the contacts 45 of the front magnetic module receptacle 42 are respectively extending through the through holes 732, 731 of the second PCB 72.

[0030] Attaching the third PCB 73 above the second PCB 72, the contacts 45 of the pair of magnetic module receptacles 42 are soldered to the first PCB 71 for filtering noises. The ground bar 41 is soldered to the through hole 732 of the third PCB 73, thereby finishing the assembly of the subassembly 3.

[0031] The inserted subassembly 3 is inserted into a corresponding channel 173 of the housing 1. The first and second latches 64, 69 of the subassembly 3 engage with corresponding blocks 171 of the housing 1 with the clasps 641 thereof received in corresponding notches 172. Free ends of the contacting sections 51 of the terminals 5 are received in corresponding slots 181 of the partitioners 18 of the housing 1 preventing the contacting sections 51 being deformed in a lateral direction. The tabs 161 of the housing 1 hold the first and second PCBs 71, 72 firmly.

[0032] An advantage of the present invention over the prior art is that the first positioning posts 62 and the first mounting holes 63 of one insert portion 6 engage with corresponding second mounting holes 68 and second positioning posts 67 of the other insert portion 6, and the first and second latches 64, 69 of the subassembly 3 engage with corresponding blocks 171 of the housing 1. As a result, after the subassembly 3 is assembled in the housing, the first and second PCBs 71, 72 are secured with each other firmly. Another advantage is that the terminals 5 are insert molded in the insert portions 6 and mounted together by the mounting holes 63 engaging with positioning posts 62, thus, one insert portion 6 with the terminals 5 could be replaced easily by a new one when the terminals 5 are destroyed.

[0033] 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 disclosed 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.