Method and apparatus involving a housing with a sealed electrical connector
AssigneeSavi Technology, Inc.
InventorSergei Abramov
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method and apparatus involve: configuring a wall portion to have an opening therethrough and to have a first annular surface extending around the opening; supporting on a circuit board an electrical connector having a plurality of electrical contacts and having a second annular surface; and resisting fluid flow from one side of the wall portion to an opposite side thereof through the opening, including compressing between the first and second annular surfaces a seal ring having third and fourth annular surfaces that respectively engage the first and second annular surfaces, the electrical contacts each having a portion that is accessible through the opening.
Claims20
An apparatus comprising:
- a wall portion having an opening therethrough, and having a first annular surface thereon that extends around said opening;
- a circuit board;
- an electrical connector supported on said circuit board, the electrical connector comprising:
- a second annular surface;
- a plurality of electrical contacts that each extend through said connector and have opposite ends disposed on opposite sides of said connector;
- and
- an overmold, the overmold being tightly molded around the contacts and having a coefficient of thermal expansion that is approximately equal to a coefficient of thermal expansion of the contacts, wherein:
- the overmold sealingly engages the contacts to prevent fluid flow therealong through said connector;
- a seal ring having third and fourth annular surfaces thereon that respectively engage said first and second annular surfaces;
- and
- structure cooperable with the wall portion and the connector in a manner compressing said seal ring between said first and second annular surfaces so that said seal ring effects a fluid seal between said first and second annular surfaces, said electrical connector and said seal ring preventing fluid flow through said opening from one side of said wall portion to the other side thereof, and said electrical contacts each having a portion that is accessible through said opening.
A method of manufacturing an apparatus having a housing including an externally accessible electrical connector, comprising:
- configuring a wall portion of the housing to have an opening therethrough and to have a first annular surface extending around said opening;
- forming the electrical connector and coupling the electrical connector to a circuit board, wherein forming the electrical connector comprises:
- tightly molding an overmold around a plurality of electrical contacts to sealingly engage the contacts to prevent fluid flow therealong through said connector, the overmold having a coefficient of thermal expansion that is approximately equal to a coefficient of thermal expansion of the contacts;
- providing a seal ring having third and fourth annular surfaces that are respectively compressed between the first and second annular surfaces, the seal ring and the overmold configured to resist fluid flow from one side of said wall portion to an opposite side thereof through said opening, said electrical contacts each having a portion that is accessible through said opening.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.