U.S. patent application number 11/159982 was filed with the patent office on 2006-05-04 for electrical connector with detachable pick-up device.
This patent application is currently assigned to HON HAI PRECISION IND.CO., LTD.. Invention is credited to Ren-Chih Li, Chi Zhang.
Application Number | 20060094271 11/159982 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 35720600 |
Filed Date | 2006-05-04 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060094271 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Zhang; Chi ; et al. |
May 4, 2006 |
ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR WITH DETACHABLE PICK-UP DEVICE
Abstract
An electrical connector (100) includes an insulative housing (1)
formed with a mating slot (12) and defining a mating direction; a
plurality of terminals (2) loaded in the housing, each terminal
provided with a resilient contact portion (21) protruding into the
mating slot, the contact portion enabled to deflect along a
direction substantially perpendicular to the mating direction; and
a pick-up device (4) having a main body (41) with a smooth upper
surface (411) for vacuum section and a retaining portion (42)
extending down from the main body and inserted into the mating
slot. The retaining portion is provided with a nose (423) pushed
through the contact portions to engage with the contact portions
along the mating direction.
Inventors: |
Zhang; Chi; (Kunsan, CN)
; Li; Ren-Chih; (Tu-Chen, TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
WEI TE CHUNG;FOXCONN INTERNATIONAL, INC.
1650 MEMOREX DRIVE
SANTA CLARA
CA
95050
US
|
Assignee: |
HON HAI PRECISION IND.CO.,
LTD.
|
Family ID: |
35720600 |
Appl. No.: |
11/159982 |
Filed: |
June 22, 2005 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
439/135 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H05K 13/0409 20180801;
Y10S 439/94 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
439/135 |
International
Class: |
H01R 13/44 20060101
H01R013/44 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Nov 4, 2004 |
CN |
2004200809287 |
Claims
1. An electrical connector assembly comprising: an insulative
housing formed with a mating slot and defining a mating direction;
a plurality of terminals loaded in the housing, each terminal
provided with a resilient contact portion protruding into the
mating slot, the contact portion deflectable along a direction
substantially perpendicular to the mating direction; and a pick-up
device having a main body with a smooth upper surface for vacuum
section and a retaining portion extending down from the main body
and inserted into the mating slot, the retaining portion provided
with a nose pushed through the contact portions to engage with the
contact portions along the mating direction, wherein the terminals
are all arranged in one side of the mating slot.
2. The electrical connector assembly as described in claim 1,
wherein a maximal size of the retaining portion in width is not
larger than that of the mating slot.
3. (canceled)
4. The electrical connector assembly as described in claim 1,
wherein the other side of the mating slot has a pair of
protuberances thereon, and the retaining portion has a block
received between the protuberances to prevent the pick-up device
from moving along the mating slot.
5. The electrical connector assembly as described in claim 4,
wherein the retaining portion defines a longitudinal direction
corresponding to the mating slot, the block located in longitudinal
middle of the retaining portion, and the nose separated into two
parts respectively positioned at longitudinal ends of the retaining
portion.
6. The electrical connector assembly as described in claim 5,
wherein the block extends from the main body to an end edge of the
retaining portion remote from the main body, and each one of the
two parts of the nose is a rim by the end edge of the retaining
portion.
7. The electrical connector assembly as described in claim 1,
further comprising a shell attached on a periphery of the
housing.
8. The electrical connector assembly as described in claim 7,
wherein the shell has a pair of stooped pieces bent down onto an
inner surface of the mating slot.
9. An electrical connector assembly comprising: an insulative
housing defining along a longitudinal direction an elongated slot
between opposite first and second longitudinal side walls thereof;
a plurality of contacts disposed in the first longitudinal side
wall of the housing by one side of said slot in a transverse
direction perpendicular to said longitudinal direction, each of
said contacts defining a flexible contact beam with a contact
portion extending into the slot; an insulative pick-up cap defining
a flat plate covering at least a portion of the slot in a vertical
direction perpendicular to both said longitudinal direction and
said transverse direction, at least one retaining leg downwardly
extending from an underside of said flat plate and into the slot, a
transversely protruding rim located around a first face of the
retaining leg, confronting the contacts in the transverse direction
and with the contact portion for holding the cap to the housing for
preventing inadvertent upward movement of said cap along the
vertical direction; a second face of said retaining leg being
opposite to said first face, a first portion of said second face,
which is located opposite to said rim, being spaced from the second
longitudinal side wall of the housing with a large distance without
engagement while a second portion of said second face, which is
offset from said rim with a distance in said longitudinal
direction, being spaced from the second longitudinal side wall of
the housing with a small distance.
10. The electrical connector assembly as claimed in claim 9,
wherein said flat plate defines an opening in alignment with said
rim in the vertical direction.
11. The electrical connector assembly as claimed in claim 9,
wherein a metallic shield essentially horizontally encloses
exterior faces of the housing, said shield including an inner
portion covering a portion of an interior face of the second side
wall of the housing facing the slot, and wherein the first portion
of the pick-up cap is spaced from said inner portion while said
second portion of the pick-up cap is engaged with said inner
portion.
12. An electrical connector assembly comprising: an insulative
housing defining along a longitudinal direction a longitudinal slot
between opposite first and second longitudinal side walls thereof;
a plurality of contacts disposed in the first side wall of the
housing with contact portions extending into the slot; a metallic
shield horizontally covering exterior faces of the housing and
further including an inner portion covering a portion of an
interior face of the second side wall of the housing facing the
slot; and a pick-up cap defining a flat top plate covering at least
a portion of the slot, a retaining leg downwardly extending from
the flat top plate and into the slot; wherein said retaining leg
defining first and second engagement portions respectively on
opposite first and second faces thereof while being offset from
each other in said longitudinal direction, said first engagement
portion engaging the contact portions but not the inner portion of
shield, and said second engagement portion engaging the inner
portion of the shield but not the contact portion.
13. The electrical connector assembly as claimed in claim 12,
wherein said flat plate defines an opening in alignment with the
first engagement portion rim in a vertical direction.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to an electrical connector,
and more particularly to an electrical connector having a
detachable pick-up cap.
[0003] 2. Description of Related Art
[0004] Electrical connectors including pick-up means for
facilitating picking up and positioning by a pick-up machine such
as a vacuum suction nozzle or the like are well-known. For example,
U.S. Pat. No. 5,688,133 discloses such a connector with a pick-up
cap. The pick-up cap comprises a flat cover plate and pairs of
resilient legs descending downwardly from edges of the cover plate
to engage sidewalls of the connector. The legs include main legs
gripping outside of the sidewalls and auxiliary legs abutting
against inner surfaces of the sidewalls. With this arrangement,
each sidewall of the connector is, in effect, sandwiched between
the main and auxiliary legs to be picked up via the force applied
thereto by the legs while the pick-up cap is taken up by suction of
a vacuum suction nozzle upon the flat cover plate thereof. Then the
connector is transferred to a printed circuit board (PCB) and
positioning them in a preselected position for soldering. The
pick-up cap remains in place upon the connector until after it is
joined to the PCB by soldering. So, the sidewalls of the connector
are under the gripping force applied by the legs of the pick-up cap
all the while during passing through the reflow vessel for
soldering. As the auxiliary legs punched out of the main legs are
shorter than the main legs, the auxiliary legs and the main legs
respectively abut against the sidewalls on their upper portions and
lower portions. As a result, the main legs press the sidewalls
slightly inwardly while the auxiliary legs press the sidewalls
slightly outwardly, which may cause deformation or warpage of the
connector on the sidewalls. If once such deformation or warpage
occur, it will potentially result in misalignment and misengagment
between the connector and its mating connector.
[0005] U.S. Pat. No. 6,019,617 discloses another conventional
connector with a pick-up cap. The pick-up cap disclosed therein has
two pairs of resilient legs each provided with a hook-like end to
be forced into channel formed in sidewall of the connector. In the
process of the resilient legs being forced into the channel, the
hook-like ends thereof apply a force to the sidewalls, but that
force is in a longitudinal direction along the sidewalls and will
rarely cause deformation of the connector. Once the legs detained
in the channels, the pick-up cap will not apply force to the
sidewalls anymore, except a hooking force upwardly along the
sidewalls when the pick-up cap is taken up by suction of a vacuum
suction nozzle and the connector is hooked up by the pick-up cap.
Thus the connector will rarely suffer deformation or warpage while
passing through the reflow vessel for soldering. However, this kind
of pick-up cap requires channels to be defined in sidewalls of the
connector for its legs with hook-like ends, which not only
complicates the machining procedure of the connector but also
weakens the sidewalls of the connector.
[0006] Therefore, to overcome the disadvantages of the prior arts,
an improved connector with a pick-up cap is desired.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] An object of the present invention is to provide a connector
having a pick-up cap which farthest reduces the deformation in the
connector while passing through a reflow vessel.
[0008] Another object of the present invention is to provide a
connector with a pick-up cap, which is easy to produce and
assemble.
[0009] In order to achieve above-mentioned objects, an electrical
connector in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present
invention includes an housing formed with a mating slot and
defining a mating direction; a plurality of terminals loaded in the
housing, each terminal provided with a resilient contact portion
protruding into the mating slot and enabled to deflect along a
direction substantially perpendicular to the mating direction; and
a pick-up device having a main body with a smooth upper surface for
vacuum section and a retaining portion extending down from the main
body and inserted into the mating slot. The retaining portion is
provided with a nose pushed through the contact portions to engage
with the contact portions along the mating direction.
[0010] Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present
invention will become more apparent from the following detailed
description of the present embodiment when taken in conjunction
with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] FIG. 1 is an assembled view of a connector with a pick-up
cap in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present
invention;
[0012] FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the connector of
FIG. 1;
[0013] FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the connector of
FIG. 1 taken from another aspect;
[0014] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the pick-up cap of FIG.
1;
[0015] FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the connector of FIG. 1
taken along line 5-5; and
[0016] FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the connector of FIG. 1
taken along line 6-6.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0017] Reference will now be made to the drawing figures to
describe the preferred embodiment of the present invention in
detail. Referring to FIGS. 1-3, a connector in accordance with the
present invention comprises an insulative housing 1, a plurality of
terminals 2 loaded in the housing 1, a shell 3 attached to a
periphery of the housing 1, and a pick-up cap 4 detachably
assembled to the housing 1.
[0018] The housing 1 that is of a rectangular structure has a pair
of opposite longitudinal sidewalls 13, 14 which define a slot 12
therebetween opening to a mating face 11 of the housing 1 to
receive a mating connector. One of the sidewalls 13 defines a
plurality of terminal-receiving grooves, each of which receives one
terminal 2. The terminal 2 has a crooked head 21 protruding into
the mating slot 12 to serve as a contact portion for electrically
contacting a conductor on the mating connector and a tail 22
horizontally coming out of the housing 1 to serves as a solder
portion to be soldered to a printed circuit board (PCB). Turning to
FIG. 5, to join the crooked head 21 and the horizontally tail 22,
the terminal 2 further has a S-shaped body portion (not labeled),
which enable the contact portion 21 to perform resilience in a
breadth direction. The crooked head 21 gives a lower section 23 of
the terminal 2 closely extending therefrom, that is a joint of the
crooked head 21 and the body portion, a concavity appearance.
[0019] Referring to FIG. 3, the shell 3 attached on the periphery
of the housing 1 has a pair of stooped pieces 31 bent down onto an
inner surface of the sidewall 14. That pair of pieces 31 are
comparted by an inwardly bulged middle of the sidewall 14 in a
longitudinal direction, and each has a rib 311 thereon protruding
into the mating slot 12.
[0020] Referring to FIGS. 2-4, wherein FIG. 4 shows the pick-up cap
4 being inverted, the pick-up cap 4 comprises a flat cover plate 41
having a smooth upper surface 411 for receiving vacuum suction from
a pick-up machine (not shown) and a retaining leg 42 extending
downwardly from the cover plate 41 to be inserted into the mating
slot 12 of the housing 1. From a first side 421 of the retaining
leg 42 project a pair of rims 423 at its edge remote from the cover
plate 41. Oppositely, there is a protuberant block 424 formed at
the opposite second side 422 of the retaining leg 42 and extending
from an end of the retaining plate 42 adjacent to the cover plate
41 to the other end remote from the cover plate 41. Wherein along a
longitudinal direction of the retaining leg 42 corresponding to
that of the elongated mating slot 12, the block 424 is located in
middle of the pair of rims 423. Additionally, the cover plate 41
defines a pair of aperture 410 therethrough corresponding to the
rims 423 for purpose of mold-pulling.
[0021] Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6 together, in use, the pick-up cap
4 is assembled to the housing 1 with the retaining leg 42 thereof
inserted into the mating slot 12 and the cover plate 41 thereof
covering upon the mating face 11. During the inserting process, the
block 424 on the retaining leg 42 slides into the mating slot 12
from a gap between the pair of ribs 311 to be locked therebetween
for preventing the pick-up cap 4 from longitudinally moving, and
the rims 423 pushes through the contact portions 21 of the
terminals 2 to be detained at the concavity 23 thereof. Thus, the
connector 100 can be picked up via an upward force on the contact
portions 21 applied by the rims 423 of the pick-up cap 4. The
retaining leg 42 of the pick-up cap 4 is sized to being fitly
received in the mating slot 12 but not inflicting a force onto the
sidewalls 13, 14, that is to say, a maximal size of the retaining
leg 42 in width is not larger than that of the mating slot 12. So,
when the connector 100 is taken into a reflow vessel for soldering
via the pick-up cap 4, the sidewalls 13, 14 will rarely suffer
deformation or warpage.
[0022] The disclosure is illustrative only, changes may made in
detail, especially in matter of shape, size, and arrangement of
parts within the principles of the invention.
* * * * *