Amp LLC

The Whitaker Corporation

Amp Incroporated

Warren C Hillbish

John W Kaufman

Jeffrey Byron McClinton

Earl William McCleerey

Keith S Koegel

William Gary Lenker

Thomas J Lynch

Jeffrey J Brown

Robert J Hnatuck

Donald T Biechler

Steven G Smith

Richard A Burgit

Douglas C Rubendall

Grover A Zwieg

Emad K Ibrahim

Brian J Vogl

A stacked assembly (,) including an upper connector (,) and a lower subassembly having an insulative frame (,) and a plurality of lower connectors (,) disposed therein, for mounting on a circuit board. A rear insulative member (,) fastens to the frame, holds the lower connectors (,) in the frame and aligns legs (,) of contacts (,) of the upper connector. Ground plates (,) may be positioned in the frame forwardly of the lower connectors (,), with panel-engaging arms (,) projecting forwardly of the frame.

Stacked electrical connector

A contact assembly (90) includes separate conductive members (42,54) with insulative material (90) molded about body sections (50,64) to define an integral unit for handling during connector assembly. The method includes stamping the conductive members (656,658,660,662) from a common blank (680) to have beams (610,612,614,616) associated in pairs to define sockets (606,608), second contact sections (648,650,652,654) at other ends, and body sections (656,658,660,662) joining the respective beams and second contact sections (648,650,652,654). Final separation of the conductive members may occur after molding of the insulative material (670), prior to which the conductive members may be retained on carrier strip facilitating the stamping, plating and molding processes. One contact assembly (604) provides sockets (606,608) having pairs of beams (610,612 and 614,616) with the beams defined on separate conductive members (640,642,644,646) and is inserted into a housing doubling the contact density of the connector without increasing the size of the housing.

Method of making a contact assembly

Electrical connector with contact assembly

A connector assembly (10) including at least one audio jack (36,38,40) stacked in an insulative housing spacer (24) with an electrical connector (80). The connector assembly is arranged for surface mounting to a circuit board (12) which is orthogonal to a metal panel (14) having openings (16,18,20,22) which provide access to the audio jacks and to the connector of the connector assembly. The electrical connector includes a forward mating end (92) surrounded by a metal shroud (98) which engages the metal panel. To ground the shroud to the circuit board, a combined ground strap and board lock (90) has one end secured to the circuit board and another end (116) clamped between the housing and a rearwardly extending tab (118) of the shroud.

Combined ground strap and board lock for electrical connector assembly

A connector assembly (10) including at least one audio jack (36,38,40) stacked in a housing (24) with an electrical connector (80). The connector assembly is arranged for surface mounting to a circuit board (12) which is orthogonal to a metal panel (14) having openings (16,18,20,22) which provide access to the audio jacks and to the connector of the connector assembly. A ground clip (62) captured between the audio jacks and the connector assembly housing engages ground terminals (50) of the audio jacks and includes a projecting spring arm (66) which engages the metal panel, thereby providing electrical grounding.

Hybrid grounded and stacked connector assembly with audio jacks

A stacked connector assembly is disclosed which includes two connectors attached to a bracket which, in turn, is attached to the surface of a printed circuit board. The bracket is of unitary construction and includes two side members interconnected by two lateral members. Openings are provided in the bracket through which solder tails of the two connectors extend. Each of the side members includes surface portions that mount to the connectors and to the printed circuit board.

Stacked connector assembly

An electrical connector assembly includes a receptacle member (14) and a pin shroud member (16) adapted to be mounted to opposite sides of a printed circuit board. Each receptacle member (14) is adapted to mate with a pin shroud member (16) mounted to another circuit board so that a parallel stack of circuit boards may be interconnected and supported. Each pin shroud member (16) has ground shields (60) which engage terminals (42) in the mating receptacle member (14). The ground shield (60) and the engaged terminal members (42) have pin portions (62, 64) extending through apertures of the respective circuit boards for connection to ground planes on the circuit boards. Each receptacle member (14) is also provided with further terminal members (36) having portions (38) which extend through respective apertures (35) in the circuit board and through the pin shroud member (16) mounted to the opposite side of the circuit board for engagement with corresponding terminal members (36) of a receptacle member (14) mounted to another circuit board, which latter receptacle member (14) is mated with the pin shroud member (16).

Shielded stacking electrical connector assembly

Improved means for securing an externally mounted ground plate to an electrical connector, the ground plate being secured along one of the sides of the connector and having a leading edge thereof exposed at the mating face of the connector and adapted to be received within the housing of a complementary connector upon the connector being mated thereto. The improved means includes a pair of tabs extending from the ground plate proximate the leading edge thereof and engagable with and latchingly securable in cooperating slots on end walls of the connector housing and an inwardly directed rolled portion extending substantially along the entire length of the leading edge of the ground plate, the rolled portion being received within a cooperating recess of the associated housing side wall. The recess is configured to receive rolled edge of the ground plate such that the ground plate lies securely against the side wall and the overall dimensions of the mating face are not substantially increased thereby.

Electrical connector having externally mounted ground plates

Improved means for securing an externally mounted ground plate to an electrical connector, the ground plate being secured along one of the sides of the connector and having a leading edge thereof exposed at the mating face of the connector and adapted to be received within the housing of a complementary connector upon the connector being mated thereto. The improved means includes a pair of tabs extending from the ground plate proximate the leading edge thereof and engagable with and latchingly securable in cooperating slots on end walls of the connector housing and a plurality of ground plate flared apertures lockingly secured within corresponding slots of the connector sidewalls proximate the leading edges thereof. The secured ground plate lies against the side wall and the overall dimensions of the mating face are not substantially increased thereby.

Means for securing ground plates to electrical connector housing

An electrical connector assembly 10 includes a receptacle member 12 and a pin header 60. The receptacle member 12 has housing means 14 including an inner body portion 22 and two opposed outer side walls 24, which together define elongate cavities 36 between inner body section 22 and respective outer side walls 24; and a plurality of first contact terminal members 40 disposed in inner body portion 22 and a plurality of second contact terminal members 46 disposed in the elngate cavities 36. The pin header 60 includes a housing member 62 having a plurality of third electrical contact terminal members 78 disposed therein and adapted to mate with the first terminal members and at least one ground bus member 92 disposed continuously along at least one side of pin header housing 62, the bus member 92 being adapted to be received in one of the respective elongate cavities 36 of receptacle member 12 and electrically engage the second terminal members 46 therein, when the receptacle member 12 and pin header 60 are mated.

Electrical connector assembly

A method for manufacturing electrical connectors (22) which include rows of contact members (78, 90) held in a housing (24) includes feeding contact members in a wire form in parallel (74, 90), trimming such contact members to provide a partial form therefore at a trim station A, insert-molding such contact members to form a housing (62) and provide a carrier to tie such contact members together at a station (B), trimming said contact members to appropriate lengths, forming said contact members at further stations (C, D) into a multiple contact connector with rows of contact members in common planes held by the housing formed by insert-molding. Stamped and formed contact members (78', 90') are also contemplated utilized in an alternative method and both methods contemplate plating of the contact members either prior to molding or thereafter in alternative constructions, facilitated partially by the forming of the contact members into common planes.

Method of manufacturing electrical connectors

An electrical connector assembly ( b 10) includes a connector (22) for interconnecting circuit boards such as a daughter board (12) to a mother board (102) wherein contact pads on the boards are on very small centers. Connector (22) includes a housing having an upper housing portion (24) and a pair of lower housing subassemblies (60), each subassembly including housing (62) having first and second contact members (74, 92) affixed thereto with the contact members having upper ends (78, 92) made to lie on a common plane and engage one side of a circuit board (12) inserted into the connector (22) in a resilient engagement therewith, anfd having lower ends which form solder tails (88, 96) held for soldering to pads (106, 108) on a mother board with such contact membrs being formed with the solder tails (88, 96) interdigitated to lie in a common row and a common plane on center spacings substantially less than center spacings of the upper ends.

High density electrical connector

A power contact having a mating component removably mounted in a base. More particularly, the mating component includes a stem with a mating socket at one end and a threaded portion at another end which is threaded into one opening of a bore extending through the base. A screwdriver slot at the end face of the threaded portion is accessible through the other opening to the bore to remove and replace the mating component.

Growing community of inventors

Hummelstown, PA, United States of America

Warren C Hillbish