KR100659930B1 - Electrical connector with shutter member - Google Patents

Abstract

The electrical connector includes a dielectric housing having a receptacle for receiving a mating mating connecting device. The shutter is pivotally mounted on the housing for pivotal movement within an angular range between the closed position blocking the receptacle and the open position allowing the mating of the corresponding mating connecting device. The shutter includes a pivot shaft insertable across the bearing hole in the housing. The bearing hole has a restricted mouth with a predetermined width and a width smaller than the predetermined width. The pivot shaft has major cross sectional dimensions for rotation within the bearing bore and minor cross sectional dimensions for insertion through the restricting mouth allowing the pivot shaft to be inserted across the bearing bore.

Electrical connector, receptacle, housing, pivot shaft, bearing hole

Description

Electrical connector with shutter member {ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR WITH SHUTTER MEMBER}

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates generally to the electrical connector art, and more particularly to an electrical connector comprising a shutter member for closing a mating receptacle of the connector.

Most electrical connectors include a dielectric housing having an opening or receptacle for receiving a mating mating connector or other mating connecting device. The plurality of conductive terminals have a contact portion exposed to or in the receptacle that engages a suitable contact of the mating connector. Other protective parts may also be exposed in the receptacle. One example of such a connector is a memory card connector having a receptacle for receiving a memory card or a flat circuit connector having a receptacle for receiving a flat flexible circuit, a flexible printed circuit, or the like.

One of the problems with electrical connectors with receptacles that expose terminals or other components may be that the contact portions of the terminals are coupled by an operator's finger or other external object, for example, which may cause damage or deformation of the terminals. Is that there is. To alleviate this problem, some such electrical connectors are provided with a protective cover or shutter that closes the mating receptacle and is movable to an open position during mating. For example, such a shutter is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication No. 5-23446, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 9-266028, and Japanese Patent No. 2601801.

In the shuttered connector as described above, the shutter may be pivotally mounted to the receptacle by hinge means comprising a pivot shaft made of metal or similar material as a separate part. Unfortunately, this separate pivot shaft adds to the cost of the connector and, including an additional assembly step, the shaft must be kept in stock.

When the pivot shaft is integral with the shutter or connector housing in the receptacle to reduce the number of parts, the shaft is usually forced into the bearing hole during assembly. This type of structure is likely to cause breakage of the shaft, and the assembly process is often difficult. When the pivot shaft is inserted into the narrow insertion groove of the bearing hole, the shaft is likely to be pulled out of the hole during repeated use. The present invention is directed to a shutter type system which seeks to solve these various problems.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a newly improved electrical connector with an improved shutter system.

In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the electrical connector comprises a dielectric housing having a receptacle for receiving a corresponding mating connecting device. The plurality of conductive terminals have contact portions exposed on the receptacle that are mounted on the housing and that engage with the appropriate contacts of the mating connecting device. The shutter is pivoted to provide pivotal movement of the shutter within an angular range between the closed position blocking the receptacle to prevent unnecessary engagement of the external object with the contact portion of the terminal and the open position allowing the mating of the corresponding mating connecting device. It is pivotally mounted on the housing by means.

The present invention intends that the pivoting means for the shutter comprises a bearing hole in the housing. The bearing hole has a restricted mouth with a predetermined width and a width smaller than the predetermined width. The pivot shaft is provided on the shutter and pivotally positionable within the bearing bore. The pivot shaft has major cross-sectional dimensions that are smaller than a predetermined width of the bearing hole but larger than the width of the restricting mouth so that the shutter can be pivoted between the closed and open positions. The pivot shaft has a minor cross-sectional dimension that is smaller than the width of the restricting mouth to allow the pivot shaft to be inserted into the bearing bore, but the minor cross-sectional dimension is such that when the shutter pivots within the angular range between the closed and open positions, Not aligned

As disclosed herein, the shutter is long. A pair of bearing holes and an individual pair of pivot shafts are located at opposite ends of the shutter.

According to one aspect of the invention, the restricting mouth of the bearing hole is inserted into the bearing hole outside the angular range of the pivoting motion of the shutter between the closed and open positions of the pivot shaft. Stop means are provided to prevent pivoting of the shutter beyond the angular range after the pivot shaft is inserted into the bearing bore. As disclosed herein, the stop means comprise a flexible arm on the housing engageable with the stop shoulder on the shutter. The flexible arm is bent to allow the pivot shaft to be inserted inside the bearing bore and the flexible arm is snap stop engaged when the shutter is pivoted within an angular range.

According to another aspect of the present invention, an attempt to pivot the shutter over an angular range is attempted so that an overstress preventing means is provided to allow elastic surrender of the stop means when an excessive force is applied to the shutter. As disclosed herein, the overstress preventing means are provided by the same flexible arm providing the stopping means.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Features of the invention which are considered novel are particularly described in the appended claims. The invention, together with its objects and advantages, may be best understood by reference to the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals indicate similar elements in construction.

1 is a plan view of an electrical connector incorporating the present invention therein.

2 is a front view of the connector.

Fig. 3 is a side view of the connector as seen from the bottom, as shown in Fig. 1;

4 is a side view of the connector in the opposite direction to FIG.

5 is an enlarged plan view of the receptacle end of the connector, with the shutter removed from the connector housing.

FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional view taken along line 6-6 of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 6 taken along line 7-7 of FIG.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 8-8 of FIG. 1 showing the shutter in the closed or closed position.

FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIG. 8 showing the pivotal movement range of the shutter between its closed and open positions.

10-14 are continuous views of the assembly of the shutter into the connector housing taking the range of the pivoting means for the shutter.

15 to 19 are continuous views similar to FIGS. 10 to 14, respectively, taking the range of the stop means for the shutter.

20 and 21 show how the stop means for the shutter performs the dual function of the overstress preventing means.

Fig. 22 is a partial sectional view showing the inner terminal of the connector.

Referring now to the drawings in more detail, first of all, in Figures 1 to 4, the present invention is incorporated into an electrical connector in the form of a memory card connector, generally designated by reference numeral 10. However, it should be understood that the shutter concept of the present invention herein is equally applicable to a wide variety of other forms of electrical connectors. From this understanding, the connector 10 includes a dielectric housing 12 that mounts a plurality of terminals 14 at the inner extremes of the inner card receiving cavity 16. The housing has a bottom wall 18 and a pair of side walls 20. The metal shell 22 is mounted across the housing and includes the top plate 24. Basically, the bottom wall and sidewall of the housing engage with the top plate 24 of the metal shell to form the inner card receiving cavity 16. The front opening or receptacle 26 accommodates the memory card 28 for insertion into the cavity so that the contacts on the memory card are engageable with the terminal 14 inside the rear end of the cavity.

With continued reference to FIG. 1, an ejection mechanism, generally designated 30, is provided for ejecting the memory card 28. The ejection mechanism comprises a cam slider 32 that is of a completely conventional configuration and is movable relative to the memory card. The discharge mechanism acts on the coil spring 34. Since the discharge mechanism can consist essentially of a known configuration, its detailed description is not described herein.

5 is a front end of a connector including a receptacle 26 leading to the card receiving cavity 16 between the bottom wall 18 and the side wall 20 of the housing, with the metal shell removed for ease of explanation. An enlarged plan view of the. The long shutter, indicated generally at 36, allows the blocking receptacle 26 to be inserted into the cavity 16 of the memory card 28 and the blocking or closing position shown in Figure 8, which prevents unnecessary engagement of external objects with the terminals. It is pivotally mounted on the connector housing at its front end for pivoting movement within an angular range between the open positions virtually shown in FIG.

Referring specifically to FIGS. 5-7, the pair of support plates 38 protrude forward or outward from the housing as an extension of the housing bottom wall 18 as best shown in FIG. 6. The stop arm 40 also projects outwardly from the bottom wall as shown in FIG. 7 between the support plates 38 as shown in FIG. Each support plate 38 has a circular or cylindrical bearing hole 42 (see FIG. 6) and the stop arm 40 has a stop surface 40a (see FIG. 7) at the distal end of the flexible stop arm.

FIG. 5 shows that the long shutter 36 has a pair of side flaps 44. Pivot shaft 46 projects inwardly from each side wing 44. As will be discussed later, the pivot shaft 46 pivotally mounts the shutter 36 by inserting the pivot shaft into the bearing bore 42. The shutter includes a stop shoulder 48 for engaging the stop surface 40a of the resilient stop arm 40 as will be described later. Finally, the shutter 36 includes a spring post 50 wound around the torsion coil spring 52 (see FIG. 1) to bias the shutter to the closed or shut off position.

Referring specifically to Figure 6, it can be observed that each bearing hole 42 is generally circular or cylindrical and has a predetermined width "W". The bearing hole is located in the bearing portion 38a at the distal end of the individual support plate 38. The bearing hole has a restricting mouth 54 having a width "W1" that is smaller than the predetermined width of the bearing hole. Each pivot shaft 46 is also generally cylindrical or circular in cross section. The shaft is defined by the vertical diameter of the cylindrical shaft and has a major cross-sectional dimension "D" which is slightly smaller than the predetermined width "W" of the bearing hole 42 so that the shaft can be mounted inside the hole for pivotally mounting the shutter to the connector housing. Pivot easily Each pivot shaft 46 has a flat side face 56 that defines a subsection dimension "T" that is slightly smaller than the width "W1" of the restricting mouth 54 of the bearing hole. Thus, when the shutter is taken in the same direction as shown in Fig. 6, the shutter may be moved in the direction of arrow "A" to move the pivot shaft 46 through the restricting mouth 54 into the bearing hole 42. Can be. Once inserted in this way, the shutter is pivoted slightly in the direction of arrow “B” in FIG. 8 so that the minor cross-sectional dimension of the pivot shaft is no longer aligned with the restricting mouth 54 and the pivot shaft has the major cross-sectional dimension “D” of the shaft. Is larger than the width " W1 " of the restricting mouth 54, so that it cannot be pulled out of the bearing hole.

9 shows the shutter 36 shown in solid line in the blocked or closed position. The "angle range" of the shutter movement is shown by the double arrow "C". In the closed or closed position of the shutter, the stop shoulder 48 on the shutter engages the stop surface 40a at the distal end of the stop arm 40. In the open position of the shutter shown virtually in FIG. 9, the shutter is adjacent to the top of the stop arm 40 so that the memory card 28 (see FIG. 1) is connected to the inner card receiving cavity 16 through the receptacle 26. FIG. Exposing the receptacle 26 to allow it to be inserted into it.

10-14 show a continuation of the assembly of the shutter 36 into the connector. The shutter takes the direction as shown in Fig. 10 and moves downward in the direction of arrow " A " in Figs. 10 to 12 to move the pivot shaft 46 into the bearing hole. In the orientation of the shutters in Figures 10-12, the smaller dimension "T" of the pivot shaft (see Figure 6) is the restriction of the bearing hole 42 so that the pivot shaft can pass through the restricting mouth into the bearing hole. Aligned with mouth 54. The shutter can then be pivoted in the direction of arrow "B" (see Figures 13 and 14), as a result of which the pivot shaft is larger because the major section dimension "D" (see Figure 6) of the pivot shaft is larger than the width of the restricting mouth. It cannot be pulled out again through the restrictive entry.

Figures 15-19 correspond sequentially to Figures 10-14, but Figures 15-19 take a range of stop means to prevent the shutter from pivoting beyond its vertical angle range, including the shut off position of the shutter. . Specifically, since the shutter is assembled in the assembled state in the direction of the arrow " A " in Figs. 15 to 17 in response to the movement of the shutter described above in the relationship of Figs. 10 to 12, the rounded abutting end 60 of the shutter is ) Engages with the top of the resilient stop arm 40 at its distal end. The resilient stop arm is bent downward in the direction of arrow "D" in Figure 17 until the stop shoulder 48 on the shutter removes the distal end of the bent stop arm and snaps to the stop surface 40a of the arm. As the shutter is pivoted in the direction of the arrow " B " shown in Figs. 18 and 19 in response to the above-described operation in the relationship shown in Figs. 12 and 13, the elastic stop arm 40 is distal to the abutting end of the shutter. By being free from 60, the resilient stop arm is moved to the closed or closed position outward again, with the stop surface 40a in the proper position to engage the stop shoulder 48 of the shutter. Return to the position shown in FIG.

20 and 21 show the feature that the resilient stop arm 40 performs the dual function of providing an overstress preventing means when the shutter is forced outward in the direction of the arrow " D " (see FIG. 20). If the shutter is improperly rotated outward in the direction of arrow "D", the stop shoulder 48 on the shutter pushes up the resilient stop arm 40 upwards and the stop arm surrenders upward in the direction of arrow "E". When the shutter is released, the shutter is released under the influence of the arrow " F " (Fig. Spring return in the upward direction.

Finally, FIG. 22 simply shows that the terminal is mounted in the passage 64 of the connector housing 12. The terminal has a flexible contact arm 66 that projects forward into the inner card receiving cavity 16.

It is to be understood that the invention may be embodied in other specific forms within its spirit or core characteristics. Accordingly, the present embodiments are to be considered in an illustrative sense rather than a restrictive sense and the invention is not limited to the details herein.

According to the present invention there is provided an improved shutter system provided with means for preventing overstress.

Claims (5)

Electrical connector (10), A dielectric housing 12 having a receptacle 26 for receiving a corresponding mating connecting device 28, A plurality of conductive terminals 14 mounted on the housing with contact portions 66 exposed in the receptacle for engaging with the appropriate contacts of the mating connecting device, Pivoting the shutter in the angular range (C) between the closed position blocking the receptacle 26 and the opening position allowing the mating of the corresponding mating connecting device to prevent unnecessary engagement of the contact portion of the terminal with an external object. A shutter 36 pivotally mounted on the housing by providing pivot means 42, 46, The pivot means Bearing holes 42 in the housing, A pivot shaft 46 located on the shutter 36 and pivotally positionable within the bearing bore; Stop means (40, 40a, 48) for preventing pivoting of the shutter (36) beyond the angular range (C) after the pivot shaft (46) is inserted into the bearing hole (42); An attempt to pivot the shutter 36 over the angular range and overstress preventing means 40 allowing elastic yielding of the stop means 40a in case of excessive force being applied to the shutter, The bearing hole has a limiting mouth 54 of a predetermined width W and a width W1 smaller than the predetermined width, The pivot shaft has a major cross-sectional dimension D that is less than the predetermined width W of the bearing hole 42 but greater than the width W1 of the restricting mouth 54 such that the shutter pivots between the closed and open positions. The pivot shaft 46 may have a minor cross-sectional dimension T that is smaller than the width W1 of the restricting mouth 54 to allow the pivot shaft to be inserted and rotated inside the bearing bore. The cross-sectional dimension is aligned with the restricting mouth to prevent the shaft from moving out of the bearing hole, And a portion of the stop means forms at least a portion (40) of the overstress preventing means. 2. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein the shutter (36) is elongated and comprises a pair of bearing holes (42) and an individual pair of pivot shafts (46) located at opposite ends of the shutter. Electrical connector (10), A dielectric housing 12 having a receptacle 26 for receiving a corresponding mating connecting device 28, A plurality of conductive terminals 14 mounted on the housing with contact portions 66 exposed in the receptacle for engaging with the appropriate contacts of the mating connecting device, Pivoting the shutter in the angular range (C) between the closed position blocking the receptacle 26 and the opening position allowing the mating of the corresponding mating connecting device to prevent unnecessary engagement of the contact portion of the terminal with an external object. A shutter 36 pivotally mounted on the housing by providing pivot means 42, 46, Stop means 40, 40a, 48 for preventing pivoting of the shutter beyond the angular range C after the pivot shaft 46 is inserted into the bearing hole 42, And an overstress preventing means (40) to allow the elastic yielding of the stop means (40a) in the event that an attempt is made to pivot the shutter (36) over the angular range and excessive force is applied to the shutter. 4. The stop means according to claim 3, wherein the stop means comprises a flexible arm (40) on a housing (12) having a stop surface (40a) for engaging a stop shoulder (48) on a shutter (36), said flexible The arm is yieldable to form part of the overstress preventing means. 4. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 3, wherein the shutter (36) is elongated and comprises a pair of bearing holes (42) and an individual pair of pivot shafts (46) located at opposite ends of the shutter.

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