Electrical connector with improved shielding means

1. Field of the invention

The present invention generally relates to a shielded electrical connector, particularly to a shielded electrical connector for receiving an electrical element therein.

2. Description of Related Art

A conventional shielded electrical connector described in U.S. patent application Publication No. 2003/0218873 comprises a fastening structure for fastening an electrical element 3 having a plurality of projections. The fastening structure comprises a frame 1 with a plurality of flexible strips 11 arranged therearound, and an adapter 2 with a plurality of U-shaped contacts mounted on. However, there are a plurality of slots between adjacent strips, therefore, electromagnetic radiation of certain frequency could penetrate through the slots, the connector could not achieve desirable effect of preventing electromagnet interference. Furthermore, the adapter 2 together with the terminals is placed between the electrical element 3 and a bottom of the frame 1 , each U-shaped terminal having a soldering portion formed at a free end thereof and located below the adapter, the soldering portions extend outwardly from the bottom of the frame 1 for soldering onto a print circuit board, in this way, the electrical connector is located on one side of the printed circuit board, therefore the electrical connector together with the printed circuit board would occupy too many spaces in the height direction.

It is thus desired to provide a shielded electrical connector assembly to overcome the shortcomings described above.

An object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector having superior shielding characteristics.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector for surface mounting to a printed circuit board.

In order to achieve above-mentioned objects, a shielded electrical connector for receiving a module includes a shielding shell mounted to a printed circuit board, an insulative housing assembled to the shell and equipped with a plurality of contacts. Each contact has a contacting portion received in the receiving space for contacting with said module and a soldering portion extending beyond the shell for mounting to the printed circuit board. The shell comprises a bottom plate extending in a direction perpendicular to the module insertion direction and a plurality of side plates extending upwardly from the bottom plate and cooperating with the bottom plate to form a receiving space for receiving the module, every two adjacent side plates are electrically connected to each other.

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.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an electrical connector mounted on a printed circuit board and receiving a module according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is another perspective view of FIG. 1 taken from another aspect;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the electrical connector receiving the module and being separate from the printed circuit board according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the electrical connector receiving the module;

FIG. 5 is a partly assembled perspective view of the electrical connector and the module;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the electrical connector mounted on the printed circuit board;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the electrical connector separate from the printed circuit board;

FIG. 8 is a partly assembled perspective view of the electrical connector;

FIG. 9 is another perspective view of FIG. 8 taken from another aspect; and

FIG. 10 is an exploded view of the electrical connector.

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 and 8 , an electrical connector 100 mounted on a printed circuit board 101 for receiving an electrical module such as camera module 102 , comprises an insulative housing 1 , a plurality of contacts 2 fixed to the housing 1 , an inner shell 4 attached to the housing 1 and a substantially box-like outer shell 3 for receiving the housing 1 and the inner shell 4 .

Referring to FIGS. 9 , 10 , the insulative housing 1 includes a vertical main portion 11 and a horizontal portion 12 extending laterally from an upper edge of the main portion 11 . The main portion 11 is provided with a locking hole 111 for locking with the outer shell 3 and a retention hole 112 for engaging with the inner shell 4 .

The contacts 2 are configured in a “Z”-shape, each comprises a vertical intermediate portion 21 insert molded with said housing 1 , a contacting portion 22 extending upwardly from a bottom end of the intermediate portion 21 to contact with electrical pads formed on a bottom face of the camera module 102 and a horizontal soldering portion 23 extending laterally and outwardly from an upper end of the intermediate portion 21 and located beneath the horizontal portion 12 of the housing 1 . It should be noted that the contacts 2 may be locked with the housing 1 by interference engagement therebetween.

The outer shell 3 comprises a bottom flat plate 32 , a pair of side walls 310 , 311 and a pair of opposite end walls 312 , 313 extending vertically and upwardly therefrom, a receiving space 33 formed therebetween for accommodating the camera module 102 . The side walls 310 , 311 and the end walls 312 , 313 are formed with a number of soldering tabs 319 protrude outwardly and laterally to be in a common plane for connecting with the printed circuit board 101 . The side wall 310 is provided with an U-shaped recess 314 for receiving a protrusion 107 formed on a periphery of the camera module 102 . A cutout 315 is formed on an upper edge of the side wall 311 for preventing incorrect insertion of the camera module 102 , while the camera module 102 is inserted into the receiving space 33 in a wrong direction, a lower edge of the cutout 315 abuts against said protrusion 107 , thus preventing further insertion of said camera module 102 .

The side walls 310 , 311 each includes a pair of resilient fingers 316 protruding inwardly for pressing the camera module 102 received in the receiving space 33 . The end waUs 312 , 313 have a number of locking tabs 317 formed with barbs for interference engagement with said locking hole 111 of the housing 1 . The side walls 310 , 311 and end walls 312 , 313 have a connection device such as a plurality of connecting tabs 318 extending laterally from side edges of the side walls 310 , 311 and end walls 312 , 313 . The connecting tabs 318 establish interconnection between a side wall and a corresponding end wall adjacent to the side wall, in this way, said side walls 310 , 311 , end waIls 312 , 313 and the bottom flat plate 32 are connected together to define a shielding case for surrounding the camera module 102 , thereby achieving a more desirable effect of preventing electromagnetic interference.

The inner shell 4 has a vertical body portion 40 and a horizontal portion 41 extending laterally from an upper edge of said vertical portion 40 , said vertical portion 40 has a number of flexible fingers 44 protruding inwardly for pressing the camera module 102 , and a pair of locking tabs 43 extending outwardly for locking with retention hole 112 . A number of grounding tabs 42 are formed on a lower edge of the horizontal portion 41 .

The electrical connector 100 further comprises a thin insulative plate 5 made of insulative materials such as mylar and positioned on the bottom plate 32 of the outer shell 3 , thus eliminating electrical connection between the contacts 2 and the bottom plate 32 of the outer shell 3 .

In assembly, The housings 1 are attached to end walls 312 , 313 via interference engagement between locking tabs 317 of end walls 312 , 313 and locking holes 111 of the housings 1 , the horizontal portions 12 straddle on upper edges of the end walls 312 , 313 , the vertical portions 11 of the housings 1 and the contacting portions 22 of the contacts 2 are received in the receiving space 33 of the outer shell 3 , wherein the contacting portions 22 of the contacts 2 are disposed over the insulative plate 5 . The horizontal soldering portions 23 of the contacts 2 extend outside end walls 312 , 313 for mounting onto the printed circuit board 101 .

The locking tabs 43 of inner shells 4 are locked with retention holes 112 of the housings 1 , thus retaining the inner shells 4 to the housings 1 . When the electrical connector 100 penetrates through a opening 103 of the printed circuit board 101 for mounting onto the printed circuit board 101 , the grounding tabs 42 of the inner shell 4 , the horizontal soldering portions 23 of the contacts 2 and the soldering tabs 319 lie in a common plane for surface mounting to first solder pads 105 , second solder pads 104 , third solder pads 106 of the printed circuit board 101 respectively.

Referring to FIGS. 2 , 5 , When said camera module 102 are inserted into the receiving space 33 of the outer shell 3 , the protrusion 107 of the camera module 102 is guided into the U-shaped recess 314 of the outer shell 3 . The flexible fingers 44 of the inner shell 4 and the resilient fingers 316 of the outer shell 3 commonly abut against the camera module 102 to retain the camera module 102 in the receiving space 33 . Electrical pads on a lower surface of the camera module 102 come into contact with the contacting portions 22 of the contacts 2 , thereby establishing electrical connection between the module 100 and the camera module 102 .

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.