Patents Represented by Attorney Timothy M. Morella
  • Patent number: 8092254
    Abstract: A wire to board connector has improved contact reliability and includes a receptacle connector for mounting to a circuit board and a plug connector with a mating blade for insertion into an opening of the receptacle connector. Both connectors have shields that are formed around their exterior and the receptacle connector has an interior shield member that envelops the insertion opening of the receptacle connector. Individual connect legs are formed with this interior shield member and they are spaced apart from each other widthwise of the insertion opening. A contact spring is disposed within the interior of the receptacle connector to exert a contact force on the mating plug connector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 1, 2008
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2012
    Assignee: Molex Incorporated
    Inventors: Tatsuya Miyazaki, Tomonari Kaneko
  • Patent number: 8085344
    Abstract: A module socket for use with camera modules has an insulative housing with a base and four walls extending upward. The base and walls have L-shaped terminal-receiving cavities that receive terminal therein. The terminals extend between the two legs of the L-shaped cavities so as to position a terminal contact portion in opposition to contacts on the bottom surface of a camera module. Two metal retainers are applied to two opposing walls of the housing and these retainers have locking arms that extend horizontally into the interior space of the housing. The locking arms each include separate angled guide members and engagement members, the first of which guide a module into the socket and the second of which retain the module in place within the socket.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 2006
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2011
    Assignee: Molex Incorporated
    Inventor: Akinori Mizumura
  • Patent number: 8083527
    Abstract: A board-to-board connector pair includes first and second intermateable connectors with each including a housing and a plurality of terminals therein. The first connector includes a first planar reinforcing locking bracket stamped from sheet metal and the second connector includes a second planar reinforcing locking bracket stamped from sheet metal and configured to mate with the first planar reinforcing locking bracket.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 10, 2008
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2011
    Assignee: Molex Incorporated
    Inventors: Ryotaro Takeuchi, Taichi Taniguchi
  • Patent number: 8079861
    Abstract: A flat flexible cable connector (10) has a housing (31) with an insertion opening (33) in its front face. Two lengths of flexible cable (51a, 51b) are placed end to end and are inserted into the opening. The connector has terminals (41) with top and bottom opposing contact portions (43a, 44a) which are aligned with the exposed conductive leads on the two lengths of flexible cables. A moveable actuator (11) applies pressure to the terminal contact portions to effect a reliable connection between the flexible cables.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2007
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2011
    Assignee: Molex Incorporated
    Inventors: Teruhito Suzuki, Hideyuki Hirata, Koji Murakami, Cong Li
  • Patent number: 8043104
    Abstract: A cable connector (1) for receiving a flexible circuit member (101) includes an insulative housing (11) with a receptacle (13) for receiving the flexible circuit member therein. A plurality of terminals are provided in terminal receiving cavities (14a, 14b). The housing includes a pair of end portions located at opposite ends of said housing with the end portions having a pair of spaced apart walls (16, 35) to provide flexibility to at least one of said walls. Each the flexible wall has a locking member (30) thereon. An actuator i(21) is mounted on the housing and moveable between first and second operative positions. The flexible circuit member being insertable when the actuator is at the first open position and being engaged by the terminals in an operative manner when the actuator is at the second closed position. The actuator includes an actuator body generally extending along the receptacle when in the second closed position and a locking portion (26) disposed on opposite ends of the actuator body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 1, 2007
    Date of Patent: October 25, 2011
    Assignee: Molex Incorporated
    Inventor: Kousuke Taketomi
  • Patent number: 8043113
    Abstract: A connector (1) comprises a housing (11) including a base plate portion (12) facing one surface of a pair of flat cables (101), and a plurality of terminals (51) for contacting conductive wires of the flat cables, wherein the base plate portion includes a plurality of hook members (31) disposed side by side with the terminals for engaging with engaging holes (112) of the flat cable.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 11, 2007
    Date of Patent: October 25, 2011
    Assignee: Molex Incorporated
    Inventor: Toshihiro Niitsu
  • Patent number: 8043114
    Abstract: A reduced height wire to board connector assembly includes mating plug and receptacle connectors. The receptacle connector has an internal recess which opens vertically and receives a plug connector therein. Wires are terminated to terminals of the plug connector and they extend out through a wire insertion portion in one of the sidewalls of the receptacle connector. The receptacle connector has a conductive member supported thereby and this fixing member provides a ground connection and a retaining function to the receptacle connector. The plug connector has insulation displacement type terminals and two wire clamps to retain the wires terminated thereto in place.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 9, 2006
    Date of Patent: October 25, 2011
    Assignee: Molex Incorporated
    Inventors: Tomonari Kaneko, Seigo Yoneyama
  • Patent number: 8042605
    Abstract: A heat conduction device is fixed into a radiator (2) and abutted a heat-generating component (42). This radiator (2) has a through-hole (10). The heat conduction device includes a column body (1). One end of the column body (1) is recessed to form a hollow part in order to increase the radiating surface; the other end of the column body (1) is a contact surface (12). The outer surface of the column body (1) is fixed inside the through-hole (10) of the radiator (2), the contact surface (12) is abutted the heat generating component (42); Due to the formation of the hollow part, the radiating surface is increased, the radiating effect is enhanced, and the cost can be decreased greatly due to the simple configuration of the column body (1).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 10, 2004
    Date of Patent: October 25, 2011
    Assignee: Molex Incorporated
    Inventor: Jun-Liang Hu
  • Patent number: 8033844
    Abstract: A connector comprises housing, a lever and a lock portion. The lever, attached to the housing, is configured to be rotatable between a first position, where the connector is initially fit to another is established, and a second position, where the fitting is completed. The lock portion is capable of locking the lever at the second position, is slidably attached to a body portion of the lever, and is configured to be slid between a lock position (where the lever is locked) and a lock release position (re-leased). The lever is provided with a positioning latch-portion, which is configured to latch the lock portion at the lock position and the lock release position and is pro-vided with a concaved latch-portion and a convexed latch-portion that is configured to be elastically displaced to be engaged in or disengaged from the concaved latch-portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 3, 2009
    Date of Patent: October 11, 2011
    Assignee: Molex Incorporated
    Inventors: Kohtaro Kobayashi, Naoya Matsuura
  • Patent number: 7997913
    Abstract: A card connector includes a housing having a receptacle to receive therein a card in an insertion direction and the card has a terminal member. A connection terminal is secured to the housing and is configured to contact the terminal member of the card. A card ejecting action detecting switch is configured to detect when the card is ejected from the housing. A card guide mechanism is provided with an urging member for urging the card in a direction opposite the insertion direction. The card guide mechanism is configured to hold the card at a locked position to ensure that the terminal member of the card is in contact with the connection terminal and to permit movement of the card in the opposite direction by a pushing force exerted on the card in the insertion direction. The card guide mechanism ejects the card after performing a pushing action on the card a plurality of times.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 5, 2007
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2011
    Assignee: Molex Incorporated
    Inventors: Ayako Ida, Hisato Takase, Junichi Miyazawa, Akihiro Tezuka, Hideo Nagasawa, Katsunori Kasahara
  • Patent number: 7988471
    Abstract: A card connector has a housing with a base and a side rail extending from the base to define a card-insertion cavity. A plurality of conductive terminals are supported by the housing and extend at least partially into the card-insertion cavity for contacting a card inserted into the card-insertion cavity. A push-push style card locking and ejection mechanism retains the card in the card-insertion cavity upon a first push and which ejects an inserted card upon a second push. The mechanism includes a slide member positioned for slidable movement on the side rail and a biasing member contacting the slide member for selectively exerting an ejection force on the slide member. The slide member includes a slide surface that slides along a guide surface of the side rail. A damping material is interposed between the slide member slide surface and the guide rail guide surface for retarding movement of the slide member on the side rail in response to an ejection force from the biasing member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 24, 2006
    Date of Patent: August 2, 2011
    Assignee: Molex Incorporated
    Inventors: Yasuyoshi Matsumoto, Mitsuhiro Tomita, Yoko Takeuchi
  • Patent number: 7980859
    Abstract: A connector holder has a U-shaped frame and supports an internal connector-receiving part within the U-shaped frame. Guide pieces are provided that grip the ends of a connector and the cable to which the connector is attached. The connector-receiving part thereby floats inside of the U-shaped frame so as to be positioned accurately for mounting to an opposing connector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 20, 2007
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2011
    Assignee: Molex Incorporated
    Inventors: Akinori Mizumura, Teruhito Suzuki
  • Patent number: 7976327
    Abstract: A card connector is adapted to receive first and second electronic cards, each having a plurality of contact pads. The second card being wider than the first card. The connector includes an insulative housing with a plurality of first and second terminals mounted therein for engaging respective ones of the contact pads of the electronic cards when the cards are inserted into the connector. A cover member is pivotally mounted on the housing to permit movement of the cover member between an open position at which one of said first and second electronic cards may be inserted and a closed position at which the electronic card inserted into the cover is operatively positioned within the connector. The cover member has first and second sets of positioning members configured to position and hold electronic cards exclusively at the desired location for such card and wherein some of the positioning members of the first set also act as positioning members of the second set.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 27, 2008
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2011
    Assignee: Molex Incorporated
    Inventors: Yasuyoshi Matsumoto, Mitsuhiro Tomita, Jun Matsukawa, Kazuo Matsukawa, legal representative, Yuji Naito
  • Patent number: 7963704
    Abstract: The connector system provides two identical hermaphroditic housings, which accomplish a reliable connection of standard optical fiber connectors without the use of an adaptor. The connector system includes a first housing mounted to a first printed wiring board and a second housing mounted to a second printed wiring board. Each housing supports an optical fiber connector therein. Each housing includes an inner member and an outer member. Springs are provided between the inner and outer members to provide biasing of the housings in the mating direction of the optical connectors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 24, 2006
    Date of Patent: June 21, 2011
    Assignee: Molex Incorporated
    Inventors: Bogdan Andrei, Yuriy Belenkiy, Barbara Grzegorzewska, Malcolm Hodge, Ilya Makhlin, Thomas Marrapode, Thomas Schiltz
  • Patent number: 7950952
    Abstract: A cable connector includes a housing with an insertion recess for receiving an end of a flat cable and a plurality of terminals disposed in the housing for connecting to conductive leads of the flat cable. An actuator is attached to the housing so that the attitude of the actuator can be changed between a first position at which the flat cable can be inserted into the opening and a second position at which the actuator presses the conductive leads of the inserted flat cable into contact with the terminals. The actuator is attached to the housing at a cable insertion end side thereof and brought to the second position when the attitude of the actuator is changed in an insertion direction of the flat plate-like cable. A fulcrum of the attitude-changing movement of the actuator in the insertion direction is positioned further from the second position, as viewed from an effort point of a force applied by the flat cable to the actuator at the second position, than a point of action of the force being applied.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 16, 2007
    Date of Patent: May 31, 2011
    Assignee: Molex Incorporated
    Inventors: Teruhito Suzuki, Hideyuki Hirata
  • Patent number: 7946889
    Abstract: A circuit board edge connector includes an insulative housing and two opposing mating ends with a plurality of conductive terminals supported by the housing and extending between the two ends. One end of the connector mates with an opposing connector and the other end has a slot disposed therein that receives the mating edge of a printed circuit card or board. The terminals at the end of the connector extend outwardly in a cantilevered fashion and they terminate in free ends that contact conductive pads on the edge of the circuit card. A preload cap is provided that includes two parts that interfit with each other and with the circuit card mating end of the connector. These preload caps engage the terminal free ends and impart a preload to the terminals so that the circuit card may be easily inserted into the connector slot and the caps are subsequently removed from the connector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 15, 2007
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2011
    Assignee: Molex Incorporated
    Inventor: Akinori Mizumura
  • Patent number: 7938697
    Abstract: A terminal (51) utilizes a torsional spring as its contact portion. The terminal is formed form a plate of sheet metal and first (52), second (53) and third (54) members are defined by two spaced apart slits formed in the plate. The members are formed in circular arcs and the first member has a free end that is extended out and away from of the arc and bent into a general U-shape to define the contact portion. The remainder of the plate serves as a base portion (57) for attaching the terminal to a connector or circuit board.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2007
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2011
    Assignee: Molex Incorporated
    Inventors: Kenji Inaba, Kazushige Asakawa
  • Patent number: 7938651
    Abstract: A substrate connector includes a housing (11), a plurality of terminals (51, 52, 53, 54) which project from the housing and are connected to a substrate, and a guide plate (41) which is secured to the housing for guiding at least some of the terminals. The guide plate includes a main part formed in a meandering shape, and end portions which are joined to opposite sides of the main part and are attached to guide plate attaching portions arranged on opposite sides of the housing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 2007
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2011
    Assignees: Molex Incorporated, Nintendo Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Takuji Hanyu, Yuji Hori
  • Patent number: 7931491
    Abstract: A cable connector comprising having a housing with an opening for receiving an end of a flat cable therein. The housing also has a plurality of terminal recesses, and a plurality of conductive terminals disposed in the recesses for connecting to conductive leads of the flat cable. The terminals are provided with solder connecting portions for adhering to conductive pads by soldering, and contact portions for contacting the flat cable conductive leads. The terminals recesses are at least partly defined by terminal holding walls confronting external surfaces of the terminals received therein, by broad width portions, and a cut-away portions formed between parts in the terminals holding walls, the parts facing the terminal solder connecting portions and contact portions, respectively.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 13, 2007
    Date of Patent: April 26, 2011
    Assignee: Molex Incorporated
    Inventors: Kazuya Takahashi, Masami Sasao
  • Patent number: 7931477
    Abstract: An electrical connector comprises a generally rectangular dielectric housing with a mating face and a mounting face. A plurality of terminal support posts extend in a direction from the mounting face towards the mating face and each support post has oppositely facing first and second sidewalls and a connecting surface. A plurality of terminal receiving cavities are spaced along a longitudinal axis of the housing for receiving terminals therein. A plurality of terminals are provided with each including a solder tail portion and a generally U-shaped contact portion. The solder tail portion is positioned along the mounting face and the contact portion includes a first, distal contact leg, a second, proximal contact leg spaced from and generally parallel to the first contact leg and a connecting portion extending between the first and second contact legs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 18, 2006
    Date of Patent: April 26, 2011
    Assignee: Molex Incorporated
    Inventors: Toshihisa Hirata, Tetsuya Asakawa