Electrical connector assembly and cap connector

#The invention relates to an electrical connector. More specifically, the invention relates to an electrical connector assembly having a plug connector and a cap connector.

#An example of an electrical connector assembly mounted between two printed circuit boards that face each other for use in personal computers and the like is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,159,021. The electrical connector assembly includes a plug connector mounted on a first circuit board and a cap connector mounted on a second circuit board that faces the first circuit board and engages the plug connector. The plug connector has an insulative housing and a plurality of elastic contacts arranged on both sides of a central wall of the insulative housing. The cap connector has an insulative housing for receiving and engaging the insulative housing of the plug connector and a plurality of planar contacts for electrically contacting the elastic contacts. The planar contacts are arranged in two lines facing each other and correspond to the elastic contacts. Exterior sides of the elastic contacts contact the planar contacts on a 1 to 1 basis. When the elastic contacts contact the planar contacts, the elasticity of the elastic contacts, that is, the contact force, urges the planar contacts toward the exterior. The outwardly urging contact force is applied to an exterior wall of the cap connector, which supports the planar contacts from the exteriors thereof.

#As a result of advances in the functionality of electrical equipment, there is an increased need to mount a higher quantity of circuit boards in electrical equipment and thereby miniaturize the electrical connector assemblies of the type described above. In the existing electrical connector assembly, however, it is necessary that the outer wall of the insulative housing of the cap connector be of a thickness capable of withstanding the contact force exerted thereon during engagement with the plug connector. Specifically, as the number of contacts increases, the contact force also increases, and there is a risk that the outer wall of the insulative housing may deform or be damaged. Accordingly, the outer wall of the insulative housing of the cap connector must be made of a sturdy construction or a thickness capable of withstanding the increased contact force. The size of the electrical connector assembly, therefore, must be large, which limits the degree of miniaturization capable for the electrical connector assembly and the cap connector. In addition, it is necessary to insert the plug connector so that the planar contacts correspond to the elastic contacts, while changing the orientations thereof making operability during assembly difficult.

#FIG. 1 is a front plan view of a plug connector.

#FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the plug connector of FIG. 1.

#FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view of the plug connector of FIG. 1.

#FIG. 10 shows an electrical connector assembly 100. The electrical connector assembly 100 includes a plug connector 1 and a cap connector 50. The plug connector 1 will first be described in greater detail with reference to FIGS. 1 though 4. The cap connector 50 will then be described in greater detail with reference to FIGS. 5 through 9.

#As shown in FIGS. 1 through 4, the plug connector 1 has an insulative plug housing 4 provided with a plurality of elastic first contacts 2. The plug housing 4 has an elongated main body 8. An engagement protrusion 12 is arranged perpendicular to a circuit board 3 at substantially a center of the main body 8 in the longitudinal direction thereof and is integrally formed therewith. The engagement protrusion 12 has a substantially inverted T-shape in a cross section taken in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the main body 8. The first contacts 2 are arranged alternately on both sidewalls 14 of the engagement protrusion 12 in a zigzag manner with respect to the longitudinal direction thereof, as best shown in FIG. 3. As best shown in FIG. 2, ribs 16 are formed at both longitudinal ends of the engagement protrusion 12 and at positions deviated from a centerline (not shown) in the longitudinal direction of the engagement protrusion 12. The ribs 16 act as keying guides during engagement with the cap connector 50, to be described later, to prevent erroneous assembly of the plug connector 1 with the cap connector 50.

#Mounting portions 10 that are wider than the main body 8 are provided at both ends of the plug housing 4 and are formed integrally therewith. Rectangular recesses 18, which are open toward an exterior in the longitudinal direction of the plug housing 4, are formed in each of the mounting portions 10. Grooves 20 are formed so that they face each other in the interior sides of the rectangular recesses 18 in directions perpendicular to the circuit board 3. Mounting members 6 extend from the plug housing 4 for soldering the plug housing 4 to the circuit board 3. The mounting members 6 are arranged within the recesses 18. The mounting members 6 are substantially L-shaped in cross section and have a solder foot 6a and a press-fit portion 6b, as best shown in FIG. 2. The solder foot 6a is soldered onto conductive pads (not shown) of the circuit board 3 and the press fit portion 6b is press-fit into the grooves 20.