Connector assembly

Abstract

A connector assembly is provided. The connector assembly includes a shield, a receptacle connector, and a light guide. The shield has walls, a receiving space defined by the walls, a front opening communicating with the receiving space, and an opening communicating with the receiving space. The receptacle connector is received in a rear portion of the receiving space of the shield. The light guide has at least two light pipes, each of the light pipes has a first portion located at a front and a second portion located at a rear, the first portions of the light pipes are located outside the shield, and the second portions of the light pipes extend into the rear portion of the receiving space of the shield through the opening.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention relates to a connector assembly, and more particularly to a connector assembly with light guides. BACKGROUND

[0002] Chinese Utility Model Patent Publication No. CN204166166U discloses a connector assembly. The top of the metal shell of the connector assembly extends and bends out several positioning pieces. The upper end of each positioning piece is provided with a clamping groove. The light guide pipes are respectively provided with positioning columns corresponding to the positions of the clamping grooves. When the light guide pipes are assembled on the top of the heat dissipation fins, each positioning column is clamped in the clamping groove at the corresponding position. However, the rear section of the disclosed light guide pipe is still outside the rear end of the metal shell, which increases the space occupied by the entire connector assembly on the board. Moreover, there is no barrier between the two light guide pipes arranged side by side, and the light at the end of the light guide pipe close to the light source can interfere with each other. SUMMARY

[0003] Therefore, one object of the present invention is to provide a connector assembly that can improve at least one disadvantage in the prior art.

[0004] Thus, in some embodiments, the connector assembly of the present invention includes a shielding cover, a receptacle connector, and a light guide. The shielding cover has multiple walls, a receiving space defined by the multiple walls, a front end opening communicating with the receiving space, and an opening communicating with the receiving space. The receptacle connector is received in the rear section of the receiving space of the shielding cover. The light guide has at least two light guide pipes, each of which has a first section located in front and a second section located in the rear. The first sections of the two light guide pipes are located outside the shielding cover, and the second sections of the two light guide pipes extend into the rear section of the receiving space of the shielding cover through the opening.

[0005] In some embodiments, the first section of each light guide pipe extends from front to rear, the second section of each light guide pipe extends from top to bottom, the multiple walls of the shielding cover include a top wall, the opening is formed at the rear end of the top wall, the first sections of the two light guide pipes are located above the two sides of the top wall of the shielding cover, and the second sections of the two light guide pipes extend into the rear section of the receiving space of the shielding cover through the opening on the top wall.

[0006] In some embodiments, the multiple walls of the shielding cover include a rear wall, and the second sections of the two light guide pipes are assembled to the rear wall.

[0007] In some embodiments, the second section of each light guide pipe has a clamping block, and the rear wall has clamping openings corresponding to the clamping blocks of the second sections of the two light guide pipes.

[0008] In some embodiments, the fastener block has a fastener neck and a fastener head, the fastener aperture has an upper first hole portion, a lower second hole portion, and a neck passage communicated between the first hole portion and the second hole portion, the first hole portion is capable of allowing the fastener head and the fastener neck to pass through, the fastener neck enters the second hole portion through the neck passage and is retained in the second hole portion.

[0009] In some embodiments, the shielding cover has two side walls among the plurality of walls, and the second sections of the two light pipes are respectively assembled at inner sides of the two side walls.

[0010] In some embodiments, each side wall has a tubular buckle integrally extended into the accommodation space, and the second sections of the two light pipes are respectively assembled in the tubular buckles of the two side walls.

[0011] In some embodiments, the tubular buckle is integrally cut from a wall body of the corresponding side wall, and the tubular buckle has a tubular structure curled towards the accommodation space, has two tube openings respectively at upper and lower ends, and has a buckle entrance communicated between the two tube openings, and the second section of each light pipe enters from the buckle entrance and is assembled in the tubular buckle of the corresponding side wall.

[0012] In some embodiments, the second section of each light pipe has a protrusion capable of abutting against the lower end of the tubular buckle.

[0013] In some embodiments, the top wall of the shielding cover has at least two positioning pieces, and the first section of each light pipe has a positioning block matched with the corresponding positioning piece.

[0014] In some embodiments, each positioning piece has a positioning groove, and the positioning block of the first section of each light pipe has a positioning neck capable of being clamped into the positioning groove.

[0015] In some embodiments, the second sections of the at least two light pipes are respectively located at left and right sides of the socket connector and are separated by the socket connector.

[0016] The second sections of the light pipes of the connector assembly of the present application extend into the rear section of the accommodation space of the shielding cover, and since the second sections of the two light pipes are located in the shielding cover, the space occupied by the entire assembly on the circuit board can be reduced. Furthermore, the second sections of the two light pipes are respectively located at left and right sides of the socket connector and are separated by the socket connector, which can prevent or reduce mutual interference of the side-by-side light sources. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0017] Other features and effects of the present application will be clearly presented in the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0018] Figure 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of the connector assembly of the present application;

[0019] Figure 2 is a perspective view of the first embodiment of the connector assembly of the present application; Figure 1

[0020] Figure 3 is a perspective view of the first embodiment of the connector assembly of the present application; Figure 1

[0021] Figure 4 is a sectional view of the first embodiment of the connector assembly of the present application, for illustrating the assembly relationship between the positioning block of the light guide and the positioning sheet of the shield cover of the first embodiment; Figure 1

[0022] Figure 5 is a partial perspective view of the first embodiment of the connector assembly of the present application, in which the light guide of the first embodiment has not yet been completely assembled to the shield cover;

[0023] Figure 6 is a partial perspective view of the first embodiment of the connector assembly of the present application, in which the light guide of the first embodiment has been completely assembled to the shield cover;

[0024] Figure 7 is a sectional view of the first embodiment of the connector assembly of the present application, for illustrating the assembly relationship between the snap block of the light guide and the snap hole of the shield cover of the first embodiment; Figure 1

[0025] Figure 8 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the connector assembly of the present application, in which a portion of the shield cover of the second embodiment is cut away;

[0026] Figure 9 is a partial perspective view of the second embodiment of the connector assembly of the present application; Figure 8

[0027] Figure 10 is a partial perspective view of the second embodiment of the connector assembly of the present application, in which the light guide tube of the light guide of the second embodiment has not yet been assembled to the shield cover; and Figure 9

[0028] Figure 11 is a partial sectional view of the second embodiment of the connector assembly of the present application, for illustrating the assembly relationship between the light guide tube of the light guide and the tubular buckle of the shield cover of the second embodiment.

[0029] Reference signs are as follows:

[0030] 100 connector assembly

[0031] 1 shield cover ​​​​​​

[0032] 11 top wall

[0033] 111 positioning sheet

[0034] 111a positioning groove

[0035] 12 bottom wall

[0036] 13 side wall

[0037] 131 tubular buckle

[0038] 131a pipe opening

[0039] 131b clamping entrance

[0040] 14 rear wall

[0041] 141 buckle interface hole

[0042] 141a first hole part

[0043] 141b second hole part

[0044] 141c necking passage

[0045] 15 plug

[0046] 16 accommodation space

[0047] 161 front end opening

[0048] 162 opening

[0049] 163 bottom opening

[0050] 17 grounding member

[0051] 171 elastic finger

[0052] 2 socket connector

[0053] 21 seat body

[0054] 211 plug-in part

[0055] 22 terminal

[0056] 221 tail part

[0057] 3 light guide member

[0058] 31 light guide pipe

[0059] 311 first section

[0060] 311a light emitting end

[0061] 311b positioning block

[0062] 311c positioning neck

[0063] 312 second section

[0064] 312a light entry end

[0065] 312b engaging block

[0066] 312c engaging neck

[0067] 312d engaging head

[0068] 312e protrusion

[0069] 32 connecting post

[0070] 321 supporting protrusion

[0071] D1 front-rear direction

[0072] D2 up-down direction

[0073] D3 left-right direction DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0074] Before the present invention is described in detail, it is to be understood that like elements are denoted by like numerals in the drawings.

[0075] Referring to Figures 1 to 3 , a first embodiment of a connector assembly 100 of the present invention is adapted to be mated with a pluggable module (not shown). The connector assembly 100 comprises a shield 1, a receptacle connector 2, and a light guide 3. It is to be noted that the number of the shield 1, the receptacle connector 2, and the light guide 3 can be adjusted individually according to requirements and can be stacked or combined, and the number in the first embodiment is not limited.

[0076] The shield 1 is made of metal, for example, and can be formed by stamping and bending a metal plate. The shield 1 extends in a front-rear direction D1 (the direction indicated by the arrow is the front, and the reverse direction is the rear), and has a top wall 11, a bottom wall 12 opposite the top wall 11 in an up-down direction D2 (the direction indicated by the arrow is up, and the reverse direction is down), two side walls 13 opposite each other in a left-right direction D3 (the direction indicated by the arrow is right, and the reverse direction is left) and connected to the top wall 11 and the bottom wall 12 on both sides, respectively, a rear wall 14 located at the rear end and connected to the top wall 11 and the rear edges of the side walls 13, and a plurality of pins 15 extending downward from the side walls 13 and adapted to be fixed to a circuit board (not shown) and / or connected to a ground trace. In addition, the shield 1 has a receiving space 16 defined by the top wall 11, the bottom wall 12, the two side walls 13, and the rear wall 14 and located inside, a front end opening 161 located at the front end and communicating with the receiving space 16 and adapted to allow the pluggable module to be inserted, two openings 162 formed at the rear end of the top wall 11 and communicating with the receiving space 16, and a bottom opening 163 located at the rear of the bottom wall 12 and communicating with the receiving space 16.

[0077] The socket connector 2 is covered by the shield 1 through the bottom opening 163, so that the socket connector 2 is accommodated in the rear section of the receiving space 16 in the shield 1. In addition, the socket connector 2 is mechanically and electrically arranged on the circuit board, and has an insulating housing 21 having a plug-in portion 211 facing the front, and a plurality of terminals 22 arranged in the plug-in portion 211 and having tail portions 221 electrically and mechanically connected to the circuit board. After the pluggable module enters the shield 1 from the front end opening 161, a plug-in board (not shown) of the pluggable module can be inserted into the plug-in portion 211 of the socket connector 2, so that the plug-in board contacts the terminals 22 in the plug-in portion 211 of the socket connector 2, so that the pluggable module and the socket connector 2 of the connector assembly 100 are mated with each other. In addition, the front end opening 161 of the shield 1 is provided with a plurality of grounding members 17, which have a plurality of elastic fingers 171 extending rearward from the front end opening 161 and distributed on the outside of the shield 1 and the inside of the shield 1, the elastic fingers 171 on the outside of the shield 1 are used to contact a part of the periphery of a mounting hole (not shown) of a housing (not shown), and the elastic fingers 171 on the inside of the shield 1 are used to contact the pluggable module.

[0078] The light guide 3 has two light pipes 31 and a plurality of connecting columns 32 connected to the two light pipes 31. Each light pipe 31 has a first section 311 located at the front and extending from front to back, and a second section 312 located at the back and extending from top to bottom, the first sections 311 of the two light pipes 31 are located outside the shield 1 and above the two sides of the top wall 11 of the shield 1, and are assembled to the top wall 11; the second sections 312 of the two light pipes 31 respectively extend into the rear section of the accommodating space 16 of the shield 1 through the two openings 162 on the top wall 11, and are assembled to the rear wall 14, the second sections 312 of the two light pipes 31 are respectively located at the left and right sides of the socket connector 2 and are separated by the socket connector 2. The first section 311 has a light outlet end 311a located at the front end, and the second section 312 has a light inlet end 312a located at the bottom end and facing the light emitting element (not shown) on the circuit board. Since the second sections 312 of the two light pipes 31 are located inside the shield 1, the space occupied by the entire assembly on the circuit board can be reduced. Furthermore, the second sections 312 of the two light pipes 31 are respectively located at the left and right sides of the socket connector 2 and are separated by the socket connector 2, which can prevent or reduce the mutual interference of the side-by-side light sources (light leaked from between the light emitting element and the light inlet end 312a of the light pipe 31).

[0079] It should be noted that the number of openings 162 can be only one in a variant embodiment, in which the second sections 312 of the two light pipes 31 extend into the rear section of the accommodating space 16 of the shield 1 through one long strip-shaped opening. Also, in other embodiments, the number of light pipes 31 of the light guide 3 can be more than three, and the number of openings 162 can also be adjusted to be more than three corresponding to the number of light pipes 31 of the light guide 3, not limited to the first embodiment.

[0080] Referring to Figures 1 to 4 In the first embodiment, the top wall 11 of the shield 1 has two positioning pieces 111 extending upward from the left and right sides of the front section and respectively corresponding to the two light pipes 31 of the light guide 3, and the first section 311 of each light pipe 31 has a positioning block 311b extending outward and cooperating with the corresponding positioning piece 111. Each positioning piece 111 has a positioning groove 111a with an opening upward, and the positioning block 311b of the first section 311 of each light pipe 31 has a positioning neck 311c located at the proximal end and capable of being clamped into the positioning groove 111a.

[0081] Referring to Figures 1 to 2 and Figures 5 to 7The second section 312 of each light guide 31 has a fastening block 312b extending rearwardly, and the rear wall 14 has two fastening openings 141 corresponding to the fastening blocks 312b of the second sections 312 of the two light guides 31. The fastening block 312b has a fastening neck 312c and a fastening head 312d connected to the rear end of the fastening neck 312c. Each fastening opening 141 has an upper first hole portion 141a, a lower second hole portion 141b, and a necked passage 141c connecting the first hole portion 141a and the second hole portion 141b. In the assembly process, the fastening head 312d and the fastening neck 312c can pass through the first hole portion 141a. When the fastening neck 312c passes through the first hole portion 141a (as shown in Figure 5 ), the second section 312 of the light guide 31 is pressed downwardly, so that the fastening neck 312c passes through the necked passage 141c and is held in the second hole portion 141b (as shown in Figure 6 ). In addition, the second section 312 can be assembled to the fastening openings 141 of the rear wall 14 first, and then the first section 311 is assembled to the positioning piece 111 of the top wall 11. Furthermore, in the first embodiment, the connecting columns 32 are connected between the first sections 311 of the two light guides 31, and each connecting column 32 of the light guide 3 has a support protrusion 321 extending downwardly and abutting against the top wall 11, so that the first sections 311 of the two light guides 31 and the top wall 11 are kept at a fixed distance.

[0082] Referring to Figure 8 and Figure 11The second embodiment of the connector assembly 100 of the present application differs from the first embodiment in that the second sections 312 of the two light pipes 31 are assembled at the inner sides of the two side walls 13, each side wall 13 has a tubular buckle 131 integrally extending into the accommodating space 16, and the second sections 312 of the two light pipes 31 are assembled in the tubular buckles 131 of the two side walls 13. For example, each tubular buckle 131 is integrally cut from the wall body of the corresponding side wall 13, and the tubular buckle 131 is curled toward the accommodating space 16 and close to the rear wall 14, each tubular buckle 131 has two tubular openings 131a at the upper end and the lower end respectively, and a buckle entrance 131b opening forward and communicated between the two tubular openings 131a, and the second section 312 of each light pipe 31 enters the tubular buckle 131 of the corresponding side wall 13 from the buckle entrance 131b rearward and is assembled therein. In this second embodiment, the second section 312 of each light pipe 31 has a protrusion 312e which can be used to abut against the lower end of the tubular buckle 131 to enhance the positioning of the light pipe 31 relative to the shield 1 in the up-down direction D2.

[0083] In summary, the second sections 312 of the light pipes 3 of the connector assembly 100 of the present application are located in the rear section of the accommodating space 16 of the shield 1, and since the second sections 312 of the two light pipes 31 are located in the shield 1, the space occupied by the entire assembly on the circuit board can be reduced. Furthermore, the second sections 312 of the two light pipes 31 are located at the left and right sides of the socket connector 2 and separated by the socket connector 2, which can prevent or reduce the mutual interference of the side-by-side light sources.

[0084] However, the above only describes the embodiments of the present application, and cannot limit the scope of the present application, and any simple equivalent changes and modifications made according to the claims and the content of the specification of the present application are still within the scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A connector assembly, comprising: a shield having a plurality of walls, a receiving space collectively defined by the plurality of walls, a front opening communicating with the receiving space, and an opening communicating with the receiving space; a receptacle connector received in a rear section of the receiving space of the shield; and a light guide having at least two light pipes, each of the light pipes having a first section located at a front side and a second section located at a rear side, the first sections of the light pipes being located outside the shield, and the second sections of the light pipes extending into the rear section of the receiving space of the shield through the opening. The first sections of the light pipes extend from front to rear, the second sections of the light pipes extend from top to bottom, the plurality of walls of the shield includes a top wall having the opening formed at a rear end thereof, the first sections of the light pipes are located above both sides of the top wall of the shield, and the second sections of the light pipes extend into the rear section of the receiving space of the shield through the opening of the top wall.

2. The connector assembly of claim 1, wherein, The plurality of walls of the shield includes a rear wall, and the second sections of the light pipes are assembled to the rear wall.

3. The connector assembly of claim 2, wherein, The second sections of the light pipes each have a fastening block, and the rear wall has fastening openings corresponding to the fastening blocks of the second sections of the light pipes.

4. The connector assembly of claim 3, wherein, The fastening blocks each have a fastening neck and a fastening head, the fastening openings each have a first hole portion located at a top side, a second hole portion located at a bottom side, and a neck passage communicating between the first hole portion and the second hole portion, the first hole portion is capable of allowing the fastening head and the fastening neck to pass therethrough, the fastening neck enters the second hole portion through the neck passage and is retained in the second hole portion.

5. The connector assembly of claim 4, wherein, The plurality of walls of the shield includes two side walls, and the second sections of the light pipes are assembled to inner sides of the two side walls, respectively.

6. The connector assembly of claim 2, wherein, Each of the side walls has a tubular buckle integrally extending into the receiving space, and the second sections of the light pipes are assembled to the tubular buckles of the two side walls, respectively.

7. The connector assembly of claim 6, wherein, The tubular buckles are integrally cut from the walls of the corresponding side walls and have a tubular structure curled toward the receiving space, the tubular buckles each have two pipe openings located at a top end and a bottom end, respectively, and a buckle entrance communicating between the two pipe openings, and the second sections of the light pipes enter the buckle entrances and are assembled into the tubular buckles of the corresponding side walls, respectively.

8. The connector assembly of claim 7, wherein, The second sections of the light pipes each have a protrusion capable of abutting against the bottom end of the tubular buckle.

9. The connector assembly of claim 8, wherein, The top wall of the shield has at least two positioning pieces, and the first sections of the light pipes each have a positioning block corresponding to a corresponding positioning piece.

10. The connector assembly of claim 2, wherein, Each of the positioning pieces has a positioning groove, and the positioning block of the first section of each of the light pipes has a positioning neck capable of being clamped into the positioning groove.

11. The connector assembly of claim 10, wherein, The second sections of the at least two light pipes are located at left and right sides of the receptacle connector and are separated by the receptacle connector, respectively.

12. The connector assembly of claim 1, wherein, ​

Images