Card-edge connector containing latch mechanism

[00002] This application claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-098965 filed Apr. 1, 2002, which is incorporated hereinto by reference.

[00003] 1. Field of the Invention

[00004] The present invention relates to a card-edge connector capable of restricting a gap of a predetermined value between every pair of contact portions in a group of contact terminals.

[00005] 2. Description of the Related Art

[00006] In general, an edge board mounted to an electronic equipment has a terminal group (electrode group) at one end thereof on single-sided or doubled-sided surfaces and is electrically connected a mother board or others, for example, via a card-edge connector. Such a card-edge connector is disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,123,558, which comprises a base section having a slot for the attachment/detachment of the terminal group of the edge board, a contact terminal group formed in an inner surface of the slot for electrically establishing connection with the terminal group of the edge board, and a latch mechanism for holding the edge board mounted to the slot and selectively pressing one end of the edge board in the detachment direction so that the edge board is apart from the contact terminal group.

[00007] The latch mechanism includes a pair of hook members for moving one end of the edge board in the attachment/detachment direction. Each of the hook members is provided for rotation at the both end of the slot in the base section, respectively and has a nib portion entering the slot and engageable with at the edge of one end of the edge board.

[00008] Thus, when the respective hook members are made to rotate in the directions opposite to each other, one end of the mounted edge board is pushed by the nib portion in the direction detachable from the contact terminal group. At that time, the respective hook member is made to move rotationally against the elastic force of the contact terminal group nipping one end of the edge board at a predetermined pressure.

[00009] Also, gap-adjustment partition walls are provided within the slot, for properly maintaining the gap between the respective contact portions of the contact terminal group for the purpose of obtaining a suitable pressure for holding one end of the edge board in the contact terminal group as well as facilitating the attachment/detachment operation of the edge board relative to the card-edge connector. As disclosed, for example, also in U.S. Pat. No. 4,189,200, the gap-adjustment partition walls are provided so that a predetermined gap is created between every pair of contact portions of the contact terminal group when the edge board is not inserted into the slot. Accordingly, the gap-adjustment partition walls restrict the elastic displacement of all the contact terminal group so that the contact portions of the contact terminal group in the base section are not closer to or more apart from each other than a predetermined distance.

[00010] The above-mentioned edge board tends to be smaller in size because of the miniaturization of the electronic equipment on which the former is to be mounted. In such a case, it is required that the downsized edge board is also attachable and detachable without changing a dimension of the base section in the card-edge connector and an arrangement length of the contact terminal group in the slot.

[00011] However, for prolonging a dimension of the nib portion of the respective hook member to be inserted into the slot as a width of the edge board becomes narrower as well as selectively inserting the nib portion into the slot, it is necessary to cut out opposite ends of the gap-adjustment partition wall. Thus, there might be a risk in that a gap between the contact portions of the contact terminal group corresponding to a clipped portion in the gap-adjustment partition walls becomes improper.

[00012] In view of the above-mentioned problems, an object of the present invention to provide a card-edge connector capable of restricting a gap between every pair of contact sections in the contact terminal group to a predetermined value, which properly sets a gap between the contacts of the contact terminals without largely changing the design of a base section even in the edge board smaller in size.

[00013] To achieve the above object, a card-edge connector according to the present invention comprises a contact terminal group for electrically connecting an electrode group provided at one end of an edge board to an input/output substrate by selectively nipping the electrode group with a pair of contact sections, a base section disposed in the input/output substrate, for supporting the contact terminal group and guidingly supporting the outer periphery of the edge board in an attachable and detachable manner, a gap-adjustment wall section provided between a pair of contact sections in the contact terminal group of the base section, for restricting a gap between the contact sections to a predetermined value, and a latch mechanism disposed in the vicinity of each opposite end of the gap-adjustment wall section in the base section, for pressing one end of the edge board nipped by the contact terminal group in the attachment/detachment direction of the edge board to move the electrode group in the edge board to the contact terminal group, wherein the latch mechanism comprises hook members supported rotational movably by the base section, having a gap-adjustment portion for restricting a gap between the contact sections in the contact terminal group away from the end of the gap-adjustment wall section to a predetermined value and pressing one end of the edge board.

[00014] An accommodating space formed on each of opposite sides of the base section in a direction orthogonal to the arrangement direction of the contact terminal group in the gap-adjustment wall section of the base section for accommodating the respective contact terminal group may be partitioned by a plurality barrier walls for connecting the gap-adjustment wall section to the outer periphery of the base section.

[00015] The contact terminal group may be disposed so that one of the contact terminal on opposite sides of the gap-adjustment wall section is located between adjacent two contact terminals on the other side. Also, the adjacent contact terminals in the respective accommodation space may be sectioned by a barrier wall formed in the gap-adjustment wall section.

[00016] Further, the edge board may be a memory board.

[00017] As apparent from the above description, according to the card-edge connector of the present invention, together with the gap-adjustment wall section for restricting the gap between a pair of contact sections in the contact terminal group in the base section at a predetermined value, the latch mechanism provided in the vicinity of each of the opposite ends of the gap-adjustment wall section in the base section is supported on the base section in a rotatable manner to restrict the gap between the contact sections at a predetermined value, and includes a hook member having the gap-adjustment section for pressing one end of the edge board, whereby it is possible to properly set the gap between the contact sections of the contact terminals without changing the design thereof to a great extent even though the edge board becomes smaller in size.

[00018] The above and other objects, effects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description of embodiments thereof taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[00032] FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate an appearance of one embodiment of a card-edge connector according to the present invention, together with a memory board and a wiring board to be electrically connected thereto.

[00033] In FIGS. 2 and 3, the card-edge connector is, for example, a memory-socket to be fixed to a mother board 2 incorporated in the interior of an electronic equipment or others.

[00034] The card-edge connector is comprised of a body section 4 for accommodating a memory board 6 as an edge board, and hook members 8 and 10 constituting part of a latch mechanism for selectively holding the memory board 6.

[00035] The memory board 6 is a dual inline memory module (DIMM) incorporating a plurality of memory chips therein as shown in FIGS. 11A, 11B and 11C. The memory board 6 has terminal-forming surfaces 6A and 6B opposite to each other. Each of the terminal-forming surfaces 6A and 6B is provided at one end thereof with terminal group 6ai and 6bi. The terminal groups 6ai and 6bi have the same number of terminals along the width direction at the same predetermined intervals, respectively. The number of the terminal groups 6ai and 6bi is, for example, 144, 172 or 200. A thickness t of the one end of the memory board 6 at which the terminal groups 6ai and 6bi are formed is, for example, approximately 0.8 mm.

[00036] On each of the side of the terminal-forming surfaces 6A and 6B, there is a notch 6C to be engageable with a tip end of hook members 8 and 10 described later. Also, on one side of a portion in which the terminal groups 6ai and 6bi are formed, a chamfer 6D is formed for preventing the memory board 6 from reverse insert.

[00037] As shown in FIG. 2, the body section 4 has a pair of flanges 4F at opposite ends of a lower edge thereof for fixing the body section to the mother board 2. The respective flange 4F has a through-hole for inserting an attachment screw through the same. In this regard, while the description is made on the embodiment in which the flange 4F is provided, the present invention should not be limited to such a case but includes a case in which no flange 4F is provided. Of course, even in the latter case, it is needless to say that the effect of the present invention is unchanged.

[00038] As shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, there are contact terminal group 12 provided in a central recess of the body section 4, for the electrical connection of an electro-conductive layer of the mother board 2 with the terminal groups 6ai and 6bi in the memory board 6. As shown in FIG. 4B, the contact terminal group 12 includes a plurality of contact terminals 12ai and 12bi (i=1 to n, wherein n is a positive integer). The contact terminals 12ai and 12bi are provided, respectively, in recesses 4RR and 4RL formed in a central portion of the body section 4. Between the recesses 4RR and 4RL are partitioned by a gap-adjustment wall section 4W. Since the structure of the contact terminal 12ai is the same as that of the contact terminal 12bi, the description will be made solely on the contact terminal 12ai, and that on the contact terminal 12bi will be eliminated in this text.

[00039] As shown in FIG. 4B, the contact terminal 12ai includes a proximal end terminal 12C fixed to the mother board 2, a contact section 12A to be electrically connected to the terminal group 6bi of the memory board 6, and a connecting section 12B for coupling the proximal end terminal 12C to the contact section 12A.

[00040] As shown in FIGS. 4B and 7, the connecting section 12B is press-fit into a narrow groove 4g formed in the bottom of the recess 4RR. At that time, the connecting section 12B is press-fit into the groove 4g so that part of a straight portion of the contact section 12A having a bending tip end is brought into contact with the upper portion of the gap-adjustment wall section 4W. Also, as shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, one contact terminal 12ai is disposed at a position between the adjacent two contact terminals 12bi. That is, the contact terminals 12ai and 12bi are arranged in a so-called staggered manner. At that time, as shown in FIG. 4B, the upper portions of the connecting sections 12B of the contact terminal 12ai and 12bi touch to the outer periphery of the upper portion of the gap-adjustment wall section 4W at a predetermined pressure.

[00041] The gap-adjustment wall section 4W extends by a predetermined length along the arrangement directions of the contact terminals 12ai and 12bi, respectively. In this connection, the opposite ends of the gap-adjustment wall section 4W do not coincide with the extremity ends of the terminal row of the contact terminals 12ai, 12bi. That is, as shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, the notch 4wc are formed, respectively, at the opposite ends of the gap-adjustment wall section 4W in correspondence to several contact terminals 12ai and 12bi positioned in the vicinity of the opposite ends of the contact terminal group 12. Within the respective notch 4wc, the gap-adjustment section of the hook members 8 and 10 described later is selectively entered.

[00042] As shown in FIG. 7, in a top of the gap-adjustment wall section 4W, a groove 4wg in which the terminal groups 6bi and 6ai of the memory board 6 are arranged extends in a predetermined depth along the arrangement direction thereof. Also, as shown in FIG. 6, in a guiding section 4I provided at each of the opposite ends of the gap-adjustment wall section 4W, a guiding groove 4P is formed. The guiding groove 4P render locating relatively the terminal groups 6ai and 6bi of the attached and detached memory board 6 relative to the contact terminals 12ai and 12bi.

[00043] Accordingly, a predetermined gap, for example, of approximately 0.3 mm is formed in an initial state (when no memory board 6 is mounted) between the bending portion of the contact section 12A in the contact terminal 12ai and the bending portion of the contact section 12A in the contact terminal 12bi.

[00044] As shown in FIG. 4B, the proximal end terminal 12C is electrically connected to the mother board 2 by soldering the former to the electro-conductive layer of the mother board 2.

[00045] As shown in FIG. 4B, a partition wall 4BR for sectioning the adjacent contact terminals 12ai along the direction generally orthogonal to the arrangement direction thereof is provided between the adjacent contact terminals 12ai. Also, a partition wall 4BL for sectioning the adjacent contact terminals 12bi along the direction generally orthogonal to the arrangement direction thereof is provided between the adjacent contact terminals 12bi.

[00046] As further shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, three barrier walls 4HR for sectioning a space within the recess 4RR into a plurality of compartments at a predetermined intervals are formed generally in parallel to the partition wall 4BR. In the similar manner, three barrier walls 4HL for sectioning a space within the recess 4RL into a plurality of compartments at a predetermined intervals are formed generally in parallel to the partition wall 4BL.

[00047] By providing the barrier walls 4HR and 4HL as reinforcement means in such a manner, the flexural rigidity of the body section 4 itself is enhanced to prevent the deformation or others of the body section 4 due to the heat expansion from occurring.

[00048] As shown in FIG. 6, in the respective guiding section 4I described before, a recess 4Ir in which hook members 8 and 10 are disposed is formed to be apart from the guiding groove 4P. In a wall defining the recess 4Ir, a pair of through-holes 4h are formed opposite to each other for allowing a pin member 14 to be inserted for supporting the hook members 8 and 10 in a rotatable manner. The opposite ends of the pin member 14 are press-fit into the through-hole 4h in a wall of the respective guiding section 4I as shown in FIG. 3.

[00049] As shown in FIGS. 13A and 13B, the hook member 8 includes a an operating section 8T actuated, a base section 8L having a through-hole 8h for allowing the pin member 14 to be inserted, and a connecting section 8B for coupling the operating section 8T with the base section 8L. In the operating section 8T, a holder section 8F for holding the memory board 6 is formed hook in shape relative to the connecting section 8B, which is selectively engageable with the notch 6C of the memory board 6 as above.

[00050] As shown in FIG. 9B, in the connecting section 8B, a recess 8R is formed for accommodating a return spring 18 wound around the pin member 14. One end of the return spring 18 touches to a wall surface defining the recess 8R, and the other end of the return spring 18 touches to the lower portion of the body section 4. Thereby, the return spring 18 biases the holder section 8F of the hook member 8 in the direction in which the holder section 8F of the hook member 8 is engaged with the notch 6C of the memory board 6.

[00051] As shown in FIGS. 13A and 13B, in a portion of the base section 8L opposed to the above-mentioned holder section 8F, an adjustment end section 8N is provided for adjusting a gap between the contact sections 12A of the contact terminals 12ai and 12bi. A tip end of the adjustment end section 8N has a step as shown in FIG. 5B in an enlarged manner. A length of the tip end of the adjustment end section 8N is selected so that the respective gap in the contact sections 12A of two pairs of contact terminals 12ai and 12bi are adjustable. A thickness of the tip end of the adjustment end section 8N is selected to be equal to that of the end of the memory board 6 or somewhat larger than the latter.

[00052] Thus, as shown in FIG. 1A, when the hook member 8 is provided in the guiding section 4I so that the adjustment end sections 8N thereof are disposed in a space encircled by the contact sections 12A of the contact terminals 12ai and 12bi, the respective gap of the contact sections 12A in two pairs of contact terminals 12ai and 12bi which is located at one end of the terminal array away from the end portion of the gap-adjustment wall section 4W is set to a proper value in the same as the above-mentioned predetermined value. On the other hand, when the hook member 8 is made to move rotationally against the biasing force of the return spring 18 as shown in FIG. 1B, the adjustment end section 8N touches to both the inner surfaces of the contact sections 12A of the contact terminals 12ai and 12bi, after which the contact sections 12A of the contact terminal sections 12ai and 12bi are further made to move rotationally so that the contact sections 12A of the contact terminals 12ai and 12bi are furthermore away from each other.

[00053] As shown in FIGS. 12A and 12B, the hook member 10 includes an operating section 10T actuated, a base section 10L having a through-hole 10h to be inserted with a pin member 14 and a connecting section 10B for coupling the operating section 10B with the base section 10L. In the operating section 10T, a holder section 10F is formed hook in shape relative to the connecting section 8B. The holder section 10F is selectively engageable with a notch 6C of the above-mentioned memory board 6 to hold the latter.

[00054] In the connecting section 10B, a recess 10R is provided for accommodating a return spring 18 wound around the pin member 14. One end of the return spring 18 touches a wall surface defining the recess 10R, and the other end of the return spring 18 touches to the lower portion of the body section 4. Thereby, the return spring 18 biases the hook member 10 so that the holder section 10F thereof is biased in the direction that engages the notch 6C in the memory board 6.

[00055] In a portion of the base section 10L opposed to the above-mentioned holder section 10F, as shown in FIGS. 12A and 12B, an adjustment end section 10N is provided for adjusting a gap between the contact sections 12A of the contact terminals 12ai and 12bi. As shown in FIG. 5A in an enlarged manner, a tip end of the adjustment end section 10N has a step. A length of the tip end of the adjustment end section 10N is selected so that the respective gap in the contact sections 12A of two pairs of contact terminals 12ai and 12bi are adjustable. Accordingly, in the same manner as in the above-mentioned hook member 8, when the hook member 10 is provided in the guiding section 4I so that the adjustment end section 10N is disposed in a space encircled by the contact sections 12A of the contact terminals 12ai and 12bi, the respective gap of the contact sections 12A in two pairs of contact terminals 12ai and 12bi which is located at an end portion of the terminal array away from the end of the gap-adjustment wall section 4W is set at the above-mentioned predetermined value. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 1B, when the hook member 10 is made to move rotationally against the biasing force of the return spring 18, the adjustment end section 8N touches both the inner surfaces of the contact sections 12A of the contact terminals 12ai and 12bi, after which the contact sections 12A of the contact terminal sections 12ai and 12bi are further made to move rotationally so that the contact sections 12A of the contact terminals 12ai and 12bi are furthermore away from each other.

[00056] Accordingly, even if a width of the terminal-forming surfaces 6A and 6B of the memory board 6 becomes somewhat smaller as shown by a chain double-dashed dashed line in FIGS. 8A and 8B whereby the contact sections 12A of several contact terminals 12ai and 12bi are not usable, it is possible for the adjustment end sections 8N and 10N of the hook members 8 and 10 to be inserted between the contact sections 12A in the contact terminals 12ai and 12bi.

[00057] In such a structure, when memory board 6 is mounted to the body section 4 and the terminal group of the terminal-forming surfaces 6A and 6B of the memory board 6 are electrically connected to the contact portion 12A of the contact terminals 12ai and 12bi, the memory board 6 is inserted in the direction shown by an arrow in FIG. 8A. First, the operating sections 8T and 10T of the hook members 8 and 10 are once made to move rotationally against the biasing force of the return spring 18 in the direction that separates the both away from each other, and thereafter, the terminal-forming surfaces 6A and 6B of the memory board 6 are inserted into the space between the contact sections 12A in the direction shown by an arrow in FIG. 8A. Thus, as shown in FIGS. 8A, 9A and 9B, a portion of the end section of the terminal-forming surfaces 6A and 6B in the memory board 6 is engaged with the adjustment end sections 8N and 10N of the hook members 8 and 10. At that time, the chamfer 6D of the memory board 6 is engaged with a projection 4E of the body section 4 for preventing the memory board from being inserted in reverse. Also, immediately thereafter, the holder sections 8F and 10F of the hook members 8 and 10 are close to each other and engaged with the notch 6C, whereby the memory board 6 is held onto the body section 4.

[00058] On the other hand, when the memory board 6 held onto the body section 4 is removed from the latter, first, the operating sections 8T and 10T are made to move rotationally against the biasing force of the return spring 18 so that the holder sections 8F and 10F of the hook members 8 and 10 are away from the notch 6C in the direction shown by an arrow R in FIG. 8B, and then part of the end-sections of the terminal-forming surfaces 6A and 6B of the memory board 6 is moved by the adjustment end sections 8N and 10N of the hook members 8 and 10 so that the terminal-forming surfaces 6A and 6B are away from the contact sections 12A in the direction shown by an arrow in FIG. 8B.

[00059] At that time, a gap between the contact sections 12A of the contact terminals 12ai and 12bi located in the vicinity of the opposite ends of the contact terminal group 12 are enlarged by the adjustment end sections 8N and 10N, which facilitates the detachment of the memory board 6.

[00060] The present invention has been described in detail with respect to preferred embodiments, and it will now be apparent from the foregoing to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made without departing from the invention in its broader aspects, and it is the intention, therefore, in the appended claims to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit of the invention.