Electrical connector for interconnecting a circuit board and a vibration module in an electronic apparatus

[00002] This application claims priority of Taiwanese application No. 091207361, filed on May 22, 2002.

[00003] 1. Field of the Invention

[00004] The invention relates to an electrical connector, more particularly to an electrical connector for interconnecting a circuit board and a vibration module in an electronic apparatus.

[00005] 2. Description of the Related Art

[00006] A vibration module is used to generate vibrations as an alternative in notifying a mobile phone user of the presence of an incoming call. FIGS. 1 and 2 show two conventional methods of mounting a vibration module 10 in a mobile phone. The vibration module 10 has a rubber sleeve 11 sleeved thereon, and is mounted fixedly in a mobile phone housing 12. A resilient plate 13 or a conductive wire 14 is used to interconnect electrically the vibration module 10 and a circuit board 15 that is disposed above the vibration module 10 such that vibrations can be generated in the event of an incoming call.

[00007] However, when electrical connection between the circuit board 15 and the vibration module 10 is established with the use of the resilient plate 13, as shown in FIG. 1, the contact between the circuit board 15 and the resilient plate 13 is adversely affected by the quality of the assembly process and deformation of the mobile phone housing 12. Furthermore, because the circuit board 15 presses against the resilient plate 13, the contact point between the circuit board 15 and the resilient plate 13 will shift according to the pressure applied by the circuit board 15 on the resilient plate 13. Thus, to ensure proper contract, a relatively large area must be allotted on the circuit board 15 for establishing contact with the resilient plate 13, which is a waste of the limited board space.

[00008] Moreover, when electrical connection between the circuit board 15 and the vibration module 10 is established with the use of the conductive wire 14, as shown in FIG. 2, large amounts of time and labor are needed to properly install the conductive wire 14, thus resulting in a bottleneck in the assembly process.

[00009] Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector that can overcome the aforesaid drawbacks of the prior art.

[00010] According to one aspect of the present invention, an electrical connector comprises an integrally formed conductive terminal having a first contact portion, a second contact portion, and a bent retaining portion with an upper end and a lower end disposed below the upper end. The upper end of the retaining portion is connected to the first contact portion. The lower end of the retaining portion is connected to the second contact portion.

[00011] According to another aspect of the present invention, an electronic apparatus comprises a circuit board, a vibration module disposed under the circuit board, and an electrical connector disposed under the circuit board and adjacent to the vibration module. The electrical connector includes an integrally formed conductive terminal having a first contact portion to establish electrical contact with the circuit board, a second contact portion to establish electrical contact with the vibration module, and a bent retaining portion with an upper end and a lower end disposed below the upper end. The upper end of the retaining portion is connected to the first contact portion. The lower end of the retaining portion is connected to the second contact portion.

[00021] Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the preferred embodiment of an electrical connector 2 according to the present invention is shown to comprise a pair of conductive terminals 22 and an insulator seat 21 for receiving the conductive terminals 22.

[00022] Each conductive terminal 22 is integrally formed and has a first contact portion 220, a second contact portion 229, and a bent retaining portion 226 interconnecting the first contact portion 220 and the second contact portion 229. The retaining portion 226 is generally L-shaped and includes a vertical segment 227 formed with an upper end 221, and a horizontal segment 223 connected to the vertical segment 227 and formed with a lower end 228 that is disposed below the upper end 221. The vertical segment 227 of the retaining portion 226 has opposite lateral edges formed with a respective tab 2271. The upper end 221 of the retaining portion 226 is connected to the first contact portion 220, while the lower end 228 of the retaining portion 226 is connected to the second contact portion 229. The first contact portion 220 includes a planar segment 224 extending from the upper end 221 of the retaining portion 226 in a direction away from the second contact portion 229, and a curved segment 25 formed on one end of the planar segment 224 that is remote from the upper end 221 of the retaining portion 226. The second contact portion 229 is generally inverted U-shaped and includes a first arm segment 222 extending upwardly from the lower end 228 of the retaining portion 226, and a resilient second arm segment 225 connected to the first arm segment 222. The first arm segment 222 of the second contact portion 229 has a lateral edge formed with a tab 2221. The second arm segment 225 has an electrical contact end 26.

[00023] The insulator seat 21 is formed with a pair of upwardly opening terminal receiving cavities 23 and an engaging cavity 24 adjacent to and communicated with the terminal receiving cavities 23. Each terminal receiving cavity 23 receives the retaining portion 226 of a respective conductive terminal 22 such that the first and second contact portions 220, 229 of the respective conductive terminal 22 extend outwardly of the terminal receiving cavity 23. In this embodiment, the second arm segments 225 of the second contact portions 229 of the conductive terminals 22 extend into the engaging cavity 24. Each terminal receiving cavity 23 has a cavity-defining wall 20 formed with a pair of vertically extending slots 236 to engage the tabs 2271 on the vertical segment 227 of the retaining portion 226 of the respective conductive terminal 22, and another vertically extending slot 238 to engage the tab 2221 on the first arm segment 222 of the second contact portion 229 of the respective conductive terminal 22. Furthermore, the insulator seat 21 is formed with a support plate 234 for supporting the first contact portions 220 of the conductive terminals 22 thereon. The support plate 234 is formed with a pair of positioning holes 235.

[00024] Referring to FIG. 5, the electrical connector 2 is to be installed in an electronic apparatus, such as a mobile phone 3 in this embodiment, that includes an insulator housing 30, a circuit board 33, and a vibration module 34.

[00025] The housing 30 includes an upper housing part 32 and a lower housing part 31. The lower housing part 31 has a stepped bottom wall to define a deeper portion 311 and a shallower portion 312. The height difference is designed for retaining the vibration module 34 and the electrical connector 2 underneath the circuit board 33 while maintaining the circuit board 33 flatly in the housing 30.

[00026] The circuit board 33 has a known number dialing unit, which includes a keypad 35 and an LCD display unit 36, mounted thereon.

[00027] The vibration module 34 is disposed under the circuit board 33 and includes a motor body 341 wrapped by a rubber sleeve, and an eccentric axle 342 driven by the motor body 341 to produce vibrations. As shown in FIG. 7, the motor body 341 has a coupling end 343 provided with an insulator block 344. Positive and negative contact terminals 345 of the motor body 341 are provided on the insulator block 344.

[00028] The electrical connector 2 is disposed under the circuit board 33 and is used to connect the vibration module 34 electrically to the circuit board 33.

[00029] Referring to FIG. 6, the deeper portion 311 of the lower housing part 31 is formed with a positioning seat 37 for positioning the vibration module 34 and the electrical connector 2 relative to the circuit board 33. In this embodiment, the positioning seat 37 is formed with a first positioning cavity 371 to receive the electrical connector 2, and a second positioning cavity 372 communicated with the first positioning cavity 371 to receive the vibration module 34. The shallower portion 312 of the lower housing part 31 is formed with pins 373 that cooperate with the positioning holes 235 in the support plate 234 of the insulator seat 21 of the electrical connector 2 to form a pin-and-hole engaging unit for reinforcing engagement therebetween. Particularly, when the electrical connector 2 is mounted in the first positioning cavity 371, the support plate 234 rests on the shallower portion 312 to permit engagement between the pins 373 and the positioning holes 235.

[00030] Referring to FIG. 7, when the vibration module 34 is mounted in the second positioning cavity 372, the coupling end 343 of the motor body 341 extends removably into the engaging cavity 24. As described above, the second arm segment 225 of the second contact portion 229 of each conductive terminal 22 extends into the engaging cavity 24. As such, the contact ends 26 of the conductive terminals 22 abut against the contact terminals 345 to establish electrical connection with the vibration module 34 and to position the insulator block 344 in the engaging cavity 24.

[00031] Referring to FIG. 8, during assembly, the electrical connector 2 is first positioned in the first positioning cavity 371. Then, the vibration module 34 is positioned in the second positioning cavity 372. At this stage, because the coupling end 343 of the motor body 341 extends into the engaging cavity 24, the vibration module 34 can be connected electrically to the conductive terminals 22 of the electrical connector 2. Then, the circuit board 33 is disposed over the electrical connector 2 such that contact points thereon are in contact with the curved segments 25 of the first contact portions 220 of the conductive terminals 22. At this time, the circuit board 33 is connected electrically to the vibration module 33 via the conductive terminals 2.

[00032] Since the positions of the planar segments 224 of the conductive terminals 22 relative to the circuit board 33 are predetermined and fixed, the curved segments 25 can be easily aligned with and can properly contact the corresponding contact points on the circuit board 33 without allocating large areas for the contact points.

[00033] It should be noted that, although the mobile phone of the preferred embodiment incorporates a numeric keypad for dialing purposes, the electronic apparatus of the present invention should not be limited thereto. The electronic apparatus of this invention can be in the form of other types of mobile phones, such as touch panel or voice-activated mobile phones, or even other kinds of communications apparatus, such as personal digital assistants (PDA). In practice, the insulator seat of the electrical connector may be formed integrally with the housing of the electronic apparatus, as long as the electrical connector can be used to connect the circuit board and the vibration module and also for firmly positioning the vibration module in the housing of the electronic apparatus.

[00034] While the present invention has been described in connection with what is considered the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiment but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.