A connector

Connector

Reference for related applications

This application claims the priority of the following applications: U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/095,450 filed on September 9, 2008; U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/110,748 filed on November 3, 2008 ; Application for case No. 61/117,470 on November 24, 2008; case No. 61/153,579 on February 18, 2009, and case No. 61/170,956 on April 20, 2009, application For the case No. 61/171,037 dated April 20, 2009 and the case No. 61/171,066 dated April 20, 2009, the entire contents of all such applications are incorporated herein for reference.

This new model relates to a connector. Among them, it generally relates to connectors suitable for data transmission, and more specifically relates to input/input (I/O) connectors suitable for dense connector configurations and having a latch mechanism associated with them.

New background

A relatively continuous aspect of recent communications development is the need for increased performance. Likewise, there has been a continuing demand for miniaturization (for example, increased density) of objects. For I/O connectors used in data communications, these requirements create some problems. The use of high frequencies (helps increase the data rate) requires good electrical separation between the signal terminals in a connector (for example, to minimize crosstalk). However, miniaturizing the connector (for example, making the terminals closer together) makes the terminals closer to each other and easily reduces electrical separation, which may result in signal degradation.

In addition to the requirements for increased performance, there is also a need for improved manufacturing. For example, as the signal frequency increases, the tolerances of the terminal positions and their physical characteristics become more important. Therefore, improvements in a connector design that facilitate manufacturing while still providing a dense, high-performance connector will be valued.

In addition, there is a need to increase the density of I/O plug-type connectors, and this is difficult to achieve without increasing the width of the connectors. Increasing the width of the plug connectors makes it difficult to install the plugs in standard-width routers and/or servers, and will require a user to purchase non-standard equipment that adapts to the wider plug converters. Like any connector, a reliable latching mechanism needs to be provided to latch the plug connector to a shell to maintain the mating plug and socket connector together, and change the size and/or assembly of the connector shell. The structure may lead to poor support of a latch mechanism. The latch mechanism needs to be reliably supported on the connector housing to achieve multiple docking processes. Therefore, some people will like a high-density connector that does not increase the width dimension and has a reliable latching mechanism incorporated.

New summary

This new model proposes a connector. In one embodiment, a connector is provided with a shell covering a plurality of circuit cards, and the wires of the cable are terminated along the rear edge of the circuit cards. The front edges of the circuit cards have a plurality of conductive contact pads arranged thereon, and they provide points for contact with a plurality of terminals.

The circuit cards in these connectors are configured in one or more vertical stacks so as not to increase the overall width of the connector, but still increase the density of the circuits that can be used by the connector. These connectors can be grouped to be assembled in a horizontal direction, meaning that in a single connector, left and right shell side members are provided. For multiple connector housings, such as a series configuration, left, right, and center housing members are provided, which can be horizontally aligned along the centerline of an associated connector or offset from the vertical abutment surface of the centerline. To join together. Two devices for buckling the shell members together are provided, one buckling device is close to the front butting part of the connector, and the other is close to the back main part of the connector.

The front buckle device may preferably take the form of a swageable member that extends horizontally between the walls of various shell members, and is substantially transverse to a longitudinal axis of the connector, and has a swageable member. A head extending through a hole in one of the two connector housing halves can be swaged to hold the two connector halves together. The rear buckle device preferably adopts a collar form that surrounds at least more than half of the circumference of the back of the connector to apply a clamping surface to the connector shell and hold the two connector shell halves Together. This structure reduces the number of fastening members required to assemble the connector and securely hold it together, and their structure does not increase the overall size of the connector.

In another embodiment, the connector structure can be used as a co-control or series connector without excessively increasing the width of the mating portion of the connector(s). This is accomplished by using a center piece located between the left and right connector shell halves and butting with them. The center piece includes at least one groove extending backward from a front edge of the center piece at the butt end of the connector to divide the front end of the connector into two separate butt joint parts. Multiple central parts can be assembled with the right and left connector halves to expand the number of different mating parts of the connector, and this expanded connector can use the left, center and right parts of the standard list of connector parts Be made in virtually any width.

In the case where the connector of the present invention uses multiple mating parts, the circuit cards in each mating part are arranged at a common vertical interval. The fastener can be used to bind the connector shells together, and can occupy the intermediate space between the circuit cards. Since the (equal) vertical space that separates the circuit cards can be used together to accommodate a buckling device, the adjacent butting parts are the same as each other.

In yet another embodiment, the connector includes a latch mechanism, the latch mechanism includes a latch member, the latch member includes an elongated latch arm, which is along the longitudinal direction of the main body portion of the connector Extend and terminate at a connecting end, which extends on the butting part of the connector. The latch mechanism includes a fastener, which holds the latch member in a proper position on the connector shell, and the fastener applies a clamping surface to the connector shell.

In one embodiment, the fastener includes the aforementioned collar in order to reduce the number of parts required for assembly. The collar may be continuous so that it extends around the full circumference of the connector housing, but in another embodiment, the fastener engages most but not all of the periphery of the connector housing. In these embodiments, the fasteners are preferably U-shaped or C-shaped. The fasteners include protruding parts or engaging members in the form of tabs, which extend away from the fasteners and extend to contact with the connector shell, and extend to and are accommodated in the connector formed In the recesses on the outer surface of the shell. The engagement members are used to firmly hold the latch member in the proper position on the connector in an almost fixed manner.

Schematic description

Through the following detailed description process, reference will be made to the following drawings, in which the same reference numerals represent the same components, in which: Figure 1 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of a polygonal card connector; Figure shows a perspective view of the connector of Figure 1; Figure 3 shows the same view as Figure 1, but for clarity, the latch assembly is removed; Figure 3A shows the connector of Figure 3 Top plan view of the connector; Figure 3B shows the same view as Figure 3A, but for clarity, the actuator is removed, and the latch member is spaced away from the connector housing; Figure 4 shows The same view as Figure 3, but the actuator and cable are removed for clarity; Figure 5 shows a rear perspective view of the connector of Figure 3 from its underside, for clarity, The cables and actuators are removed; Figure 6 shows a perspective view of the latch assembly of the connector of Figure 1 from its lower front end, and has a continuous fixed collar form; Figure 6A shows A perspective view of another embodiment of a latch assembly, wherein the latch assembly fastener has a U-shape with an open end; Figure 6B shows a perspective view of another embodiment of a fastener, the fastener has a Roughly C-shaped with two free ends; Figure 6C shows a cross-sectional view of Figure 6B along the line CC; Figure 7 shows a partial exploded view of the left side of the connector housing of the connector of Figure 1 Figure 8 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of a series connector; Figure 8A shows a perspective view of a 1×4 socket connector assembly mated with the series connector of Figure 8; Figure 9 depicts Figure 8 shows the same view, but for clarity, the cables and latch collars are removed; Figure 10 shows the same view as Figure 9, but the actuator is shown as this Appropriate position on the connector shell; Figure 11 shows the same view as the connector in Figure 9, but the right side shell member is removed from it; Figure 12 shows a partial exploded view of the connector in Figure 1, Better explain the structure of the bolt assembly and the actuator; Figure 13 shows the same view as Figure 12, but the shell is disassembled for clarity; Figure 14 shows the connector of Figure 13 Figure 15 shows a perspective view of another embodiment of a series connector; Figure 16 shows the same view as Figure 15, but for clarity, the latch The actuator is removed; Figure 17 shows the same view as Figure 15, but for clarity, the left and right housing members and the EMI gasket are removed; Figure 18 shows the same view as Figure 17 Figure is the same view, but for clarity, the internal components are removed; Figure 19 shows a view similar to Figure 15, with a part of the latch assembly fastener removed to illustrate its differenceThe main body of the actuator and the connecting shell; and, Figure 20 shows an enlarged detailed view of the latch assembly fastener and its engagement on the connector shell.

Detailed description of the preferred embodiment

The detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein as required; however, it should be understood that the disclosed embodiments are only exemplary for the present invention, and they can be implemented in various forms. Therefore, the specific details disclosed in this article will not be construed as restrictive, but only serve as a basis for the scope of these patent applications, and as a typical basis for teaching those with ordinary knowledge in the art, in order to use virtually any appropriate method The diversified use of the present model includes combining various features disclosed in this article with features that may not be clearly disclosed.

The following disclosure illustrates a latch connector having a higher density without excessively increasing the width. The described features apply to connectors typically called plug connectors, but it does not matter whether a connector is a plug or a socket. In some embodiments, a connector can be assembled horizontally by a plurality of parts, and includes a polygonal card, which is oriented horizontally so as to be docked with an opposing connector, and is held in the connection in a reliable manner. The latch mechanism of the device.

Regarding the described connector, it can be understood that a wide range of possible configurations can be used, and various embodiments of feasible connectors are depicted in the drawings. As can be understood, these connector assemblies include a fastener located between two parallel circuit cards. The fastener holds the connector shells together, and depending on its position, the fastener can also be used as a stopper to prevent the connector from being over-inserted into the mating socket (thus helping to prevent And/or excessive force of these circuit cards).

It can be understood that this allows the position of the circuit card to be controlled with a high degree of accuracy while minimizing component costs. And because the connector part with the circuit card will be located in the mating socket, there will be no shielding problem.

It can be further understood that a three-piece housing can be used to provide a co-control assembly, such as two ports suitable for docking an opposed, co-control connector, such as a 1×4 co-control connector, and the housing includes An integrated latch mechanism to engage and hold a connector that is butt-joined with an opposite butt-joint structure or socket.

Figures 1-7 show an embodiment of a connector 600. As shown in the figure, the connector 600 has a hollow connector shell 601 with an enlarged main body portion 604 and an elongated butting portion 605, and has a hollow inner recess 606 supporting a pair of circuit cards 607 located therein. In the mating piece, the individual wires 616 contained in the cable 615 are terminated in the circuit card 607. The circuit card 607 is mated and connected with conductive terminals of a mating connector (not shown in the figure) to connect these terminals to the wires 616 of the cable 615. In this regard, the circuit cards 607 adopt the form of "switching cards" known in the art, and they are arranged in a vertical interval sequence, and are preferably parallel to each other. In this way, the number of circuits in the connector 600 that are connected to an opposite mating connector (not shown in the figure) is increased (in the configuration shown, the number is doubled) without increasing the lateral direction of the connector 600 size. The vertical direction of the main body part 604 of the connector housing allows the wires and cables 615 of the connector 600 to be arranged vertically, preferably one by one, so that the width of the connector does not increase. As described below, the connector housing 601 is provided with a specially configured rear end to securely clamp the cable 615 and to hold the wire 615 in its preferred vertical direction.

The main portion 604 of the connector housing is larger in size, especially in height, than the adjacent narrow butting portion 605. In this way, the main body part 604 has a higher height than the butting part 605. The inside of the connector housing 601 includes a hollow cavity 602, as best shown in FIGS. 7 and 13. The inner cavity 602 occupies most of the connector housing 601, especially the main body portion 604 thereof, but communicates with the hollow inner recess 606 defined in the mating portion 605 of the connector housing.

The connector housing 601 is formed of two different parts shown as two housing halves 610, 611, respectively configured as the left and right housing halves, or the first and second housing halves. If necessary, the two shell halves 610, 611 can be mirror images of each other. These shell halves 610, 611 are assembled together in a horizontal or transverse direction, and are held together along opposite butting surfaces by at least two different fastening devices. The front buckle device 612 is configured to be close to the connector housing mating portion 605, while the rear buckle device 620 is preferably configured on the main body of the connector housing. It can be understood from the figures that the two buckling devices exert a holding force on the connector housing 601, and the holding force connects the first and second connector housing halves 610, 611 of the housing 601 to each other. The way of cohesion is maintained together. The holding force is desirably a compression, or clamping force. In any case, the two buckling devices force the two connector housing halves to contact each other along relatively vertical mating surfaces, which extend longitudinally through the connector housing 601. As shown in the embodiment in Figures 1-7, the mating surfaces are aligned along a vertical axis and are consistent with a longitudinal centerline of the connector, but it should be understood that the pair of wires can be offset, that is, the first connection The bottom edge of the shell half 610 may extend farther than in the figure.

In order to apply the required holding force to the mating portion 605 of the connector, the front fastening device may include a horizontally extending fastening rod 630 (Figure 7). The rod can be cylindrical or square. The two shell halves themselves are suitable to be simply manufactured by a casting method, and in this way, the fastening rod 630 can be cast integrally with one of the two shell halves 610. The rod 630 is shown as having a narrow swaged protrusion 631 at its free end 632, which is preferably received in a corresponding opening 633 formed in the opposite connector half-shell 611. When the two shell halves are assembled together, the protruding part 631 is swaged in the opening, or a dead point is formed to create a connection. In one embodiment, the rod 630 can be integrally formed with one of the two shell halves 610 to facilitate manufacturing and assembly, but separate fastener components such as a screw and a threaded boss can also be optionally used. Or a rivet.

In the illustrated embodiment, the first buckling device 612 is preferably located in the vertical intermediate space configured between the two circuit cards 607a, 607b, and advantageously, does not increase the total height of the connector housing butting portion 605 , But uses the space used to separate the two circuit cards 607a, 607b. The circuit cards 607a and 607b have contact pads 607c, which are arranged along the front edge 607f for connection to a terminal of an opposite mating connector, and arranged along the rear edge 607g for connection to the wire 616 of the connector cable 615. As shown in Figure 7, positioning the front buckle rod 630 between the two circuit cards 607a, 607b also allows the rod 630 to act as a stop to limit the range in which the connector 600 can be inserted into an opposite socket connector .

As described above, the main body portion 604 of the connector housing is larger than the butting portion 605 in its height. This is important because the cables 615 are allowed to be vertically stacked, or configured, when they enter the body part behind the connector housing 601. In this way, the increase in circuit density in the connector 600 does not result in an increase in the width of the connector. In order to accomplish this, the connector housing body 604 preferably has an irregular polygonal configuration, such as the trapezoidal structure shown in Figures 1-15, but regular polygons such as rectangular bodies or the like can also be used .

The circuit card 607 itself may include a device for positioning itself in the hollow interior 606 of the mating portion, and may be used for connecting the two shell halves 610, 611. The devices may take the form of notches 607d, which are formed on opposite sides of the cards 607 to accommodate protrusions or cylinders (not shown in the figure), and the protrusions or cylinders may be in the two shell halves 610, 611 are formed in the inner surface. Or this device can also take the form of a wing, or a tab 607e, which protrudes laterally from the main body of the circuit card and can be accommodated in the corresponding groove 6085 formed in the two connector housing halves 610, 611 middle.

As shown in Figures 1-3, the connector 600 may also include an operable latching member 608 having a longitudinal latching arm 608a that terminates at a free end 608b. The free end 608b has a pair of latch hooks spaced apart from each other in the lateral direction. 608c. The general structure of this bolt assembly is described in US Patent No. 7,281,937 issued on October 16, 2007. The application is owned by the assignee of this application, and its entire content is hereby incorporated into this article. Reference materials. The latch hooks 608c are accommodated in corresponding openings, and the openings are formed in a shell of a mating connector (not shown in the figure). The latch arm 608a extends along the longitudinal direction of the main body portion 604 of the connector, and preferably extends along the top side of the main body portion 604, and has a specific lengthwise range (Figure 3). An actuator 6010 is provided for operating the latch member, and it has an elongated, longitudinal body portion 6010a, the body portion 6010a has a pull or push piece 6010b at one end, and at the opposite end A cam surface or member 6010c. The actuator body part 6010a may include a guide for at least partially holding the actuator 6010 in place on the connector 600, and the guide is shown as a slot in the drawings 6010d, which is connected to a protrusion or the like formed on the main part 604 of the connector housing, or as shown in the drawings, a protrusion formed on the collar part 608d of the latch member 608Out608e.

As shown in FIG. 4, the main body portion 604 of the connector housing includes an inclined or sloped surface 603, which leads downwardly from the top to the connector housing butting portion 605. The ramp surface 603 is bounded by a pair of vertical side rails, or ribs 603a, which define a longitudinal channel in which the latch arm 6080a of the latch member 608 is received. The butting portion 605 of the connector housing has two openings 603b formed as recesses, which are arranged close to the sides of the butting portion. When the connector 600 is not docked to an opposing device, the openings 603b accommodate the latch arm engagement hooks 608c. When docked, these openings accommodate the ends of the engagement hooks 608c extending through the docking holes of the opposing connector.

In this embodiment, the rear buckle device 620 not only exerts a holding force on the two shell halves 610, 611, but also holds the latch member in a proper position on the connector, without the need for manual assembly. Rivets, screws or other types of fasteners. The rear buckle device 620 is in the form of a fastener. The fastener preferably includes a collar portion 621, at least partially surrounding, and preferably completely surrounding the connector body near the tail end or the proximal end of the connector 600 The outer periphery or surroundings of part 604. The collar portion 621 slides on the main body portion 604, and preferably adopts an interference fit form to connect the shell main body portion 604 in a manner that the two shell halves are pressed together along their opposite butting surfaces.

As shown in FIG. 6A, a type of fastener 700 may have a substantially U-shape, with a main portion 701 and two legs 702 that terminate at free ends 703. The engagement member 704 may be punched or formed on the fastener 700 to engage the recess 614b formed on the connector housing 601 and particularly formed in the housing channel 625. The fastener engaging member 704 is shown as being adjacent to the free end 703, adjacent to the connecting portion of the main portion 701 and a leg portion 702, and disposed on the main portion itself. The length of the leg 702 can make the fastener 700 contact more than half of the circumference of the connector shell, so that this type of fastener will exert a clamping force on the two connector shell halves 610 and 611. This length should extend through the line "C" in the center of the leg length shown in Figure 6a.

The rear buckle member engages the connector shell in a circumferential manner, which means that it engages a sufficient circumferential portion to exert a clamping force on the two shell halves 610, 611. The term "perimeter" as used herein is equal to "peripheral" and means a selection range around the outer surface of the connector housing 601, regardless of whether the shape of the outer surface is circular or cylindrical. As mentioned above, this will typically require it to extend on the connector housing for more than one-half of the circumference, or perimeter, but it should be noted that in a square or rectangular housing, three of the four sides will provide a clamping force. As shown in Figure 6A, preferably, the fastener legs have at least some engaging members 704 near their free ends. The fastener 700 in FIG. 6A not only connects the two opposing connector housing halves 610, 611, but also connects the three abutting surfaces of the connector housing 601, namely, the left side, the top surface, and the right side.

Other fasteners can also have a more sleek C-shaped structure instead of the rectangular or U-shaped structure shown. As shown in FIGS. 6B and 6C, the fastener 720 may have a semicircle or a substantially C-shape, with a trunk portion 771 extending from the trunk portion 771 with two arm portions terminating in a free end 772. The free ends 772 include connecting members shown in the form of tabs 773, and the tabs 773 are formed on the collar 770 by stamping or other methods. In this alternative embodiment, the rear end 775 of the main body portion 604 of the connector housing may be cylindrical and include a channel 625 in which the fastener 770 is received. The fastener 770 is connected to a part of the circumference of the connector shell 601, that is, its outer periphery, and in order to apply a holding force to the two connector shell halves 610, 611, the arc length of the fastener 770 "<img file="TWM388152U_D0001.tif" />'' (or the length of the connection from one free end to the other free end) should be greater than 180^o(Or more than half of the outer periphery), as illustrated in Figure 6C. It can be seen that the free end 772 extends through the range of the midpoint, which is indicated by "Θ" in Figure 6C.

In all embodiments, preferably, the main body of the connector housing includes a recess, or channel 625, extending around the periphery of the main body to define a channel for accommodating the fastener 621, 700, or 770. The channel 625 preferably has a depth greater than or equal to the thickness of the fastener, so that the fastener can be flush with the outer surface of the connector shell(s) to maintain the required size of the connector. It can be understood from FIGS. 3A and 3B that the rear channel 625 tapers in the lateral direction. This taper is an inward taper extending at an angle "AC1" from the meeting point of the channel and the main body portion 604 of the connector housing, and cooperates with the overlying fastener to provide a required amount of the connector housing The clamping force will be described in detail below.

It can be seen that the first fastening device horizontally applies a linear fastening force along the line F1 in Figure 1, while the second fastening device applies a tangential force along the line F2 in the horizontal and vertical directions along the line F2 in Figure 1.

The fastener 621 of the connector is also tapered, with a corner "AC2" tapering inward in the horizontal direction from a reference line shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B. In order to provide a reliable interference fit and hold the cables in place, and a lateral clamping force to hold the main parts of the shell together, and to provide support for the cantilevered latch arm 608a, it is preferable The taper angle AC2 of the fastener is greater than the taper angle AC1, so that the collar portion 608d of the fastener 621 is slightly elastically deformed, so that when a compressive force is applied to the two shell halves 610, 611, it bears tension. The same compression force pair configuration can be provided by using devices other than cones, such as by the full outer diameter, or circumference, of the connector housing 604, and the inner diameter of the fastener collar 608d, or the circumference. Poor, and provided by other devices.

The collar portion 608g may have, for example, an engagement tab 614a formed therein by stamping. The engagement lugs 614a are preferably formed on the relative range of the fixed collar as shown in the figure, and four such lugs 614a are shown to be arranged close to the corners of the fixed collar. Although it is shown as being formed on the vertical wall portion thereof, the engaging tabs 614a may also be formed on the horizontal wall portion thereof. Preferably, the engagement tabs 614a are arranged on opposite sides of a longitudinal centerline of the connector housing.

The connecting tabs 614a help to hold the collar 621 on the main portion 604 of the connector housing. The main body portion 604 of the connector housing includes a plurality of concave portions, or grooves 614b are formed on the outer surface of the main portion 604, and the concave portions correspond in number to the grooves of the engaging tab 614a, making a single engaging tab It is contained in a single recess 614b. The recesses 614b have shoulders 618 which are used as stop surfaces for connecting the free ends 619 of the tabs to compress. The opposite relationship serves to hold the collar in place in the passage near the end of the main body portion 604. As shown in Figure 4, the recess 614b may have a variable depth that increases behind the shoulder 618 of the recess. When the connector is connected or disconnected from a device, the interference holds the collar in place on the connector housing and prevents it from being detached.

In this regard, the rear fastener 620 can be regarded as being attached to the connector housing, and in order to remove it, it needs to be pried or pried off. Also advantageously, the fastener has a structure that allows it to be installed on the connector housing. Compared with rivets or screw-type fasteners, only one assembly step is required. These rivets or screw-type fasteners require multiple Work steps. Therefore, the fastener is also used to fixedly attach the latch member 608 to the connector housing 601 so that its latch arm 608a is completely cantilevered. As shown in FIG. 6, the engagement tabs 614a are arranged close to the corners of the fastener 621. As shown in other embodiments, they are located at least close to the free end of the fastener.

Figures 8-15 show a series connector 635 constructed according to the principles of the present invention. In this embodiment, a center piece 640 is provided and is aligned with the left and right half shell parts 610, 611 to increase the size of the connector laterally, and a pair of hollow butt parts 605 are provided from the main body Portion 604 extends outward. Each mating part 605 includes a pair of circuit cards 607a, 607b, 607a', and 607b'. Not only are the circuit cards in each pair preferably parallel (that is, located in parallel planes), and the circuit ends of the two different pairs are preferably located in respective planes (that is, the cards 607a and 607a' are located in the same plane). Plane, while the cards 607b and 607b' are located on another plane), it means that the circuit cards of each pair are located on different parallel planes, and that each pair of circuit cards is consistent with their counterparts in the remaining pairs.

The two butting parts 605 are separated by an intermediate groove 642 extending backward from the front edge of the intermediate groove 642 to the front wall 644 of the main body 604. The groove 642 allows the two mating parts 605 to be hollow cladding with side walls 646 and top and bottom walls 647 and 648, respectively, but it can also be used for other purposes. For example, the multifunctional slot 624 can accommodate a partition wall 1002, which separates two adjacent hollow connector areas 1004, 1005 of a 1×4 socket connector assembly 1000 (Figure 8A), the connector 640 and The connector assembly 1000 is paired so that the two adjacent butting portions 605 are respectively accommodated in the adjacent areas 1004 and 1005. It also provides a channel to accommodate some parts of a pair of EMI gaskets 649 (Figure 21) or one or two holes of a single gasket (not shown in the figure). In addition, the groove 642 can provide a groove opposite to the free end 633 of the front buckle rod 630, and a plate can be inserted into the groove 642 to act as a reaction surface when the protruding portion 631 of the buckle member before forging is formed, so that the swaging The manufacturing process does not cause the fastening rods to break through the inner side wall 646 of the center piece 640. In addition, the central groove 642 also communicates with a peripheral groove 650, and the peripheral groove 650 extends completely around the abutting portion(s) and accommodates the gasket(s) 649.

In the series connector, a latch member 635 is provided wider than the corresponding embodiment in FIGS. 1-6. The fixed collar portion 660 and the latch arm 661 extending toward and extending from the butting portion 605 are wider. The latch arm 661 is received in a channel 664 formed by all three shells 610, 642, and 611. The left and right half shell parts 610, 611 already have their openings 630b formed therein, so the connector shell mating part 605 of the tandem connector does not need to be modified to accommodate the engagement hook 665 of the latch arm. The actuator 662 has a wider main body, and the pull-tab or push-tab end 663 is also increased in size, preferably doubled. The latch arm 661 extends through the mating portions 605 of the two connector housings.

The center piece 640 has an opposite butting surface 652 (FIG. 13), which is adjacent to the supporting surfaces of the two shell halves 610, 611. The connector housing can be provided with a rear partition wall 652. The partition wall 652 has a plurality of cable support walls 651. Each support wall 651 includes grooves 653. The grooves 653 are provided to hold the cables 615 and to Fix them vertically. The walls 1651 are spaced apart to provide a means for the wire cable 615 to relax. As shown in Figure 23, preferably, the cable groove 653 is aligned with the front buckle rod, which means that one cable 615 should be arranged just above the height of the front buckle rod 630, and the other cables Below. This effectively divides the inner cavity 602 into two equal areas for the cable wires 616 to extend onto the circuit cards 607a, 607b. Since the cable wires 616 are much smaller than the cables 615, the ladder configuration helps to provide more internal space for the wires and circuit cards while maintaining a small overall size of the connector.

Figures 16-18 show another connector 800 of the present invention, which uses a latch mechanism integrated with the connector housing 801, the actuator 802, and a latch/buckle collar 803. In this embodiment, the actuator 802 has a pair of ribs 802a added for stability. It has a cam member 804 at its front end 805, and the connector housing 801 has a recess 807 to accommodate the cam member 804. The cam member 804 is shown in the form of a cylindrical roller pin 809, but other shapes can also be used. The actuator 802 and the latch collar latch arm 810 are accommodated in a channel formed at the top of the actuator housing 801.

In operation, with this embodiment and other described embodiments, the user typically pulls the pull tab portion of the actuator 802 backwards. This causes the cam member 804 to be pulled out of the recess 807 and upward along the slope surface 828, where it contacts the lower side of the latch arm 810 of the latch member 803 on the slope surface 802, thereby using US Patent No. 7,281,937 It is improved by the same operation method described in. The horizontal pulling movement of the pull tab is converted into a vertical movement of raising or lowering the free end of the latch arm. Similarly, the same connector and operating principle can be used to raise the latch arm to achieve the purpose of latching or opening the latch member with a relative device by a pushing movement of the actuator. In this case, the actuator is preferably composed of a rigid material so that it does not flex when it is pushed forward from the rear end of the actuator. This forward movement brings the cam member into contact with the lower side of the latch arm, and due to its inclined structure, the cam member travels along the sloped outer surface of the connector housing. This movement and contact results in the raising of the latch arm. In this type of structure, the cam member of the free end of the actuator may include a flat free end of the actuator, or it may include an enlarged member.

The two shell halves 812a, 812b are joined together along a line that coincides with the center line of the shell, and it will be understood that the top and bottom of the abutment can be offset to provide another way of mating. The shell 801 may be formed with a groove at 804 to accommodate a resilient or other type of gasket 815 for reducing EMI. The shell may include one or more blocks 816, used as a stop for the circuit card 607, or used as a pre-molded support for the free end of a wire exiting the cable 817 (not shown in the figure). This embodiment also uses an insulator buckle rod 830, which has two opposite ends, and each has a swaging protrusion 833 disposed thereon. The rod 830 is inserted between the side walls of the mating portion of the connector 800 so that their protrusions 833 extend through the corresponding holes 835 on the side walls and then the two protrusions are swaged.

Figures 19-26 show another embodiment of a tandem connector 850, which has a fixed collar 851 with a latch arm 852 that also has a longer width. The latch arm 852 has an expanded range in which its width varies from the narrow width w at the top of the latch arm₁Increase to the wider width w of its free end 853₂, As shown in Figure 20. The narrow upper part of the latch arm facilitates the operation of the latch member and has the effect of reducing the required pulling force or pushing force.

As shown in Figure 20, the fixed collar 851 is stamped and formed as shown by its construction. The entire assembly is stamped from a single metal sheet. The stamped part has two free ends 854 which are connected together by a dovetail configuration 856.

In other serial embodiments, the front buckle member 612 is shown inserted between the top and bottom circuit cards 607a, 607b, and two such buckle members in the form of rods 630 are used to connect the two shell halves The nose ends are held together.

With this type of horizontal structure, the cost of the assembly and the list of parts are reduced. The right and left half shell parts are preferably mirror images of each other, so that when a multi-slot connector is assembled, only the right, left, and center pieces are needed to form a two-slot serial connector. Additional slots can be added by using additional centerpieces. For example, two center pieces and a right piece and a left piece can be combined to form a three-socket plug connector. The added center piece can be used to expand the number of docking parts, and the slots (the number of docking parts) will be one more than the number of center pieces.

The rear edge of the shell 801 forms a groove, and is provided with several pairs of ribs 820, which are assembled to clamp the end of the cable 817 in two positions. The structure of the ribs 820 has recesses 821 that are preferably complementary to the shape of the cable.

As shown in Figures 25-26, the latch member of the fixed collar 851 is stamped or stamped to form inwardly bent engagement tabs 822, which are received in corresponding grooves 823, The grooves 823 are formed on the outer surface of the connector housing 801 on the collar mounting channel or recess 675 of the connector housing 801. The free end of each engagement tab 822 is adjacent to a wall of the housing groove 823 or the shoulder 828 as shown, and the tab 822 is used to hold the collar 803 in the proper position of the connector housing 801. Similarly, the collar 803 may have an additional tab 824 on the top of it, and it can hang through an opening 825 on the actuator to fix it in a permanent manner on the connector housing 801 in place . The collar 803 can also be made slightly smaller in size, or the same as the rear edge of the connector housing 801, to provide a tight interference fit to the connector housing, and to apply a buckle to the multiple pieces that make up the housing pressure.

It will be understood that the above-mentioned embodiments have many modifications that are obvious to those who are accustomed to the art, such as the connector assembly and/or its components, including the many changes and modifications of the feature combinations individually disclosed and claimed in this document, including explicitly Other combinations of these features, or alternatively other types of contact array connectors. In addition, there are many possible changes in materials and structures. These modifications and/or combinations fall into the technology related to the new model, and belong to the scope of the following patent applications. By convention, the use of a singular element in a claim is intended to cover one or more of this element.

<p>600,800Connector</p><p>601,801Connector shell</p><p>602Hollow cavity</p><p>603,828Sloping surface</p><p>603aErected side rail (rib)</p><p>603b, 633, 825 opening</p><p>604Enlarge the main part</p><p>605Long butt part</p><p>606hollow concave part</p><p>607, 607a, 607a', 607b, 607b'circuit card</p><p>607cContact pad</p><p>607dNotch</p><p>607e,773Protrusion</p><p>607fFront edge</p><p>607gBack edge</p><p>608,803Latch components</p><p>608a, 810, 852, 6080aLatch arm</p><p>608b, 632, 703, 772, 853 free end</p><p>608cLatch hook</p><p>608eProtrusion</p><p>610, 611, 812a, 812bShell half</p><p>612Front buckle device</p><p>614a,822Connecting tab</p><p>614b, 807, 821recess</p><p>615,817Cable</p><p>616Wire</p><p>620Rear buckle device</p><p>621, 660, 770, 851Collar part</p><p>625Shell channel</p><p>630, 830 Fastening rod</p><p>631Forged protrusion</p><p>635,850Series connector</p><p>640Centerpiece</p><p>642Intermediary slot</p><p>644Front Wall</p><p>649EMIGasket</p><p>650 Peripheral groove</p><p>651Support Wall</p><p>652Next door</p><p>653Groove</p><p>661Latch Arm</p><p>662, 802, 6010 Actuator</p><p>663,6010bPull or push</p><p>664channel</p><p>700, 720 fasteners</p><p>701, 771Main part</p><p>702Legs</p><p>704Connecting component</p><p>775Back</p><p>802a, 820rib</p><p>804Cam member</p><p>805Front end</p><p>809Cylindrical Roller Pin</p><p>815Gasket</p><p>816, 6010d, 6085 block</p><p>823Slot</p><p>824Additional tab</p><p>835hole</p><p>856Dovetail configuration</p><p>10001×4 socket connector assembly</p><p>1002Partition wall</p><p>1004, 1005Hollow connection area</p><p>6010aMain part</p><p>6010cCam surface</p><p>AC1, AC2corner</p><p>Line C, F1, F2</p><p><img file="TWM388152U_D0002.tif" />Arc length</p><p>ΘExtended range</p><p>w₁, W₂width</p>

Figure 1 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of a polygonal card connector; Figure 2 shows a perspective view of the connector of Figure 1; Figure 3 shows the same view as Figure 1, but is For clarity, the latch assembly is removed; Figure 3A shows a top plan view of the connector of Figure 3; Figure 3B shows the same view as Figure 3A, but for clarity, the actuator Is removed, and the latch member is spaced away from the connector housing; Figure 4 shows the same view as Figure 3, but for clarity, the actuator and cable are removed; Figure 5 shows A rear perspective view of the connector in Figure 3 from its underside. For clarity, the cables and actuators are removed; Figure 6 shows the latch assembly of the connector in Figure 1 from its A perspective view of the lower front end with a continuous fixed collar; Figure 6A shows a perspective view of another embodiment of a latch assembly, in which the latch assembly fastener has a U-shape with an open end; Figure 6B shows a perspective view of another embodiment of a fastener, which has a roughly C-shape with two free ends; Figure 6C showsFigure 6B shows a cross-sectional view along the line CC; Figure 7 shows a partial exploded view of the left side of the connector housing of the connector of Figure 1; Figure 8 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of a series connector Figure; Figure 8A shows a perspective view of a 1×4 socket connector assembly mated with the serial connector of Figure 8; Figure 9 shows the same view as Figure 8, but for clarity, the Wait for the cable and latch collar to be removed; Fig. 10 shows the same view as Fig. 9, but the actuator shown is shown in place on the connector housing; Fig. 11 shows the same view as Fig. 9 Figures are the same view of the connector, but the right side shell member is removed from it; Figure 12 shows a partial exploded view of the connector of Figure 1, to better illustrate the structure of the latch assembly and actuator; Figure 13 shows the same view as Figure 12, but the shell is exploded for clarity; Figure 14 shows an exploded view of the connector of Figure 13, explaining its internal components; Figure 15 shows a A perspective view of another embodiment of the tandem connector; Figure 16 shows the same view as Figure 15, but for clarity, the latch assembly and actuator are removed; Figure 17 shows the same view as Figure 15 Figure 15 is the same view, but for clarity, the left and right shell members and EMI gasket are removed; Figure 18 shows the same view as Figure 17, but for clarity, the internal components are removed Remove; Figure 19 shows a view similar to Figure 15, a part of the latch assembly fastener has been removed to illustrate its connection with the actuator and the main part of the connection housing; and, Figure 20 An enlarged detailed view of the latch assembly fastener and its connection on the connector housing is shown.