Electrical connector having improved shield

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to a shielded electrical connector, and particularly to a shielded electrical connector in which an electrical element such as a camera module is fitted.

[0003] 2. Description of Prior Arts

[0004] With development of miniature and multifunctional electronic devices, consumer electronics such as cell phone, Personal Digital Assistant etc., are designed to provide a camera module in virtue of an electrical connector. Generally, a shield member is assembled to the electrical connector to reduce EMI (electromagnetic interference).

[0005] A conventional electrical connector for receiving a camera module is described in Chinese Patent No. CN2733635Y issued on Oct. 12, 2005. The electrical connector comprises a shield, an insulative housing and a plurality of terminals mounted in a plurality of periphery walls of the insulative housing. The shield surrounds the insulative housing and comprises four side walls stamped from a punched metal sheet. Each side wall has a locking portion extending horizontally from an upper portion thereof and a ground plate extending downwardly therefrom and projecting inwardly not only for grounding the camera module but also for resisting against the camera module.

[0006] However, it is so complicated to manufacture the shield as a whole that it would result in poor dimensional precision. Additionally, the shield described above could not provide sufficient resilient force to resist against the camera module firmly.

[0007] Hence, it is desirable to provide an improved electrical connector to overcome the aforementioned disadvantages.

[0008] An object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector having an improved shield for firmly fastening an electrical element.

[0009] To achieve the above object, an electrical connector for receiving an electrical element comprises an insulative housing, a shield and a plurality of terminals received in the insulative housing. The insulative housing has a bottom wall, a plurality of periphery walls, and a receiving space defined therebetween for receiving the electrical element. The shield encloses the insulative housing and comprises a plurality of separated side walls each having a pair of slots paralleled, a connecting portion between the pair of slots and a fixing portion extending into the receiving space from the connecting portion.

[0010] Advantages of the present invention are to provide a shield having four separated side walls for simplifying the process of manufacturing the shield and improving the precision of the shield in size. Additionally, the fixing portions of the shield provide sufficient resilient force to resist against the electrical element firmly.

[0011] Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present embodiment when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0018] Reference will now be made to the drawing figures to describe the present invention in detail. Referring to FIGS. 1-6, an electrical connector 5 in accordance with the present invention is adapted for firmly fastening an electrical element. The electrical element referred to in this embodiment is a camera module 6. The electrical connector 5 comprises an insulative housing 51, a plurality of terminals 52 and a shield 53 surrounding the insulative housing 51.

[0019] The insulative housing 51 has a rectangular bottom wall 510, four periphery walls 511 and a receiving space 100 defined therein. Each periphery wall 511 defines a plurality of first passageways 5116 thereon for communicating with corresponding second passageways 5100 defined on the bottom wall 510 for receiving the terminals 52. The insulative housing 51 comprises a recess 5111 defined at each corner thereof for engaging with the shield 53 and a projecting portion 5112 adjoining the recess 5111. A depression 5113 is defined on a middle portion of an inner surface of one of the periphery walls 511 for engaging with a protruding portion (not shown) of the camera module 6. Each periphery wall 511 is provided with a pair of cutouts 5114 each extending in a top-to-bottom direction from a top portion thererof. The rectangular bottom wall 510 has a pair of protruding portions 5101, 5120 extending outwardly from each edge and a groove 5102 defined between the pair of protruding portions 5101, 5120 for receiving a soldering portion 5308 extending downwardly from a lower portion of the shield 53.

[0020] The shield 53 comprises four separated side walls 530 stamped from metal material. Each side wall 530 comprises a protruding blade 5310 bent inwardly from a side edge thereof. The protruding blade 5310 comprises a downwardly extending foot portion 5312 for engaging with the recess 5111 and an indentation 5301 defined between the foot portion 5312 and a lower portion of the side wall 530 for receiving the projecting portion 5112. Each side wall includes a second soldering portion 5303 below the protruding blade 5310. The side wall 530 further defines thereon a pair of open slots 5309 paralleled with each other to form a connecting portion 5311 between the pair of slots 5309 and a fixing portion 5306 bent inwardly from the connecting portion 5311. The fixing portion 5306 is adopted for resisting against the camera module 6 and has a L-shaped vertical portion 5304 bent inwardly vertically from the connecting portion 5311 and a guiding wall 5305 obliquely upwardly extending from the vertical portion 5304. The guiding wall 5305 has a slick surface and an arced protrusion 5307 disposed on the slick surface for guiding the camera module 6. Each side wall 530 further comprises a pair of locking portions 5302 bent downwardly from a top portion thereof and received in corresponding cutouts 5114 of the insulative housing 51 for firmly fastening the shield 53 to the insulative housing 51.

[0021] Referring to FIG. 5, the terminal 52 comprises a U-shaped base potion 520 having a first bending portion 5201, an opposite second bending portion 5200 and a middle portion 5202 for connecting with the first bending portion 5201 and the second bending portion 5200. The terminal 52 has a contacting portion 5220 extending from the first bending portion 5201 for electrically resisting against a pad (not shown) disposed below the camera module 6 and a soldering portion 521 extending from the second bending portion 5200 for connecting with a printed circuit board (not shown). The terminal 52 has one or more barbs 5203 on the second bending portion 5200 for firmly engaging with the first passageways 5116.

[0022] In assembling of the electrical connector 5, firstly, the terminals 52 are received in the first passageways 5116 and the second passageways 5100. Secondly, the shield 53 encloses the insulative housing 51, with the locking portions 5302 of the shield 53 inserted into the corresponding cutouts 5114 of the insulative housing 51. The fixing portion 5306 extends toward the receiving space 100 through a corresponding indentation 5110 of the insulative housing 51.

[0023] When the camera module 6 is guided in, the fixing portions 5306 of the side walls 530 are pressed and deflected outwardly. The camera module 6 could be guided into receiving space 100 easily via the arced portion 5307 and the slick surface of the guiding wall 5305. When the camera module 3 is completely inserted in, the L-shaped vertical portions 5304 firmly abut against the camera module 6. At the same time, the contacting portions 5220 of terminals 52 are electrically resisting against the pads of the camera module 6.

[0024] 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 disclosure 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.