1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cable assembly, and particularly to a cable assembly with a block such that the cable is well arranged by the block. When a plurality of cable assemblies are mounted to a panel, the blocks define an open channel together with the connector housing thereby the cables can be well organized within the open channel.
2. Description of Prior Art
Conventionally, a cable assembly includes a connector with a cable attached thereto. The cable is attached to the connector from a rear end of the connector. When a plurality of cable assemblies are mounted on a panel in-row, organization of the cable become an issue. Since the cable extends rearward, it can either shift to left or right. As such, it creates an issue in organizing the cables extend from the connectors.
A conventional cable connector, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,785,555 and in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 2001/0023146 A1, is configured with a straight cable exit, in which a cable extends straight outwards from a back face of the cable connector. Obviously, such cable connectors can only be arranged side by side and a lot of space at the back of the connectors is occupied due to the rearwardly extending cables. Cable connector structures, such as that shown in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 2001/0046798 A1, require that the cable connectors be positioned vertically side by side, if adequate space for adjacent cable connectors is to be provided for, since the cables exit along a direction perpendicular to the mating face of the connectors. Als o, such cable connector structures bring a problem of cables organization and simultaneously waste a lot of space at a side thereof. U.S. Pat. No. 4,789,358 describes yet another type of cable connector, which has an angled cable exit and an external cable extending upwardly and rearwardly from the angled cable exit. Similarly, the external cables of such cable connectors cannot be well organized and such configurations also waste a lot of connection space at the back thereof.
All the above cable connectors have a same issue in that none of the cable exits effectively save the connection space and well organizes the corresponding cables so that none of the cable connectors allows an increase in density of cable connectors as arranged on a panel of an electronic device, while avoiding interference with neighboring cables. This problem is getting more important as the needs for higher density applications.
Hence, an improved cable assembly is required to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art.
A first object of the present invention is to provide an improved cable assembly for mounting onto a panel, the cable assembly having a block to organize an outwardly extending cable.
A second object of the present invention is to provide a cable assembly, wherein multiple such cable connectors are arranged together only occupying a limited space.
A third object of the present invention is to provide a cable assembly, wherein the cables can be well organized when a plurality of such cable assembly are arranged on panels.
A cable assembly in accordance with the present invention includes a cable connector and an external cable terminated with the cable connector. The cable connector is mountable on a side of a panel for mating with a board mountable connector which is secured to an opposite side of the panel and is terminated onto an electronic card. The cable connector includes a dielectric housing having a main body and a projecting portion projecting outwards from a side of the main body. The main body defines a receiving space therein for receiving an end of a corresponding cable. The projecting portion forms a guiding face, which is slanted relative to the panel, and defines a cable exit channel on an outside of the dielectric housing between the guiding face and an outer side of the main body. An opening is defined through a bottom side of the projecting portion, through which the end of the cable is insertable into the receiving space of the dielectric housing. The cable connector has a plurality of terminals fixed in the dielectric housing, each being connected to a wire of the cable.
When plural cable connectors are assembled side by side and each has a cable extending therefrom, the cable which protrudes from the projecting portion of its associated cable connector is received in the cable exit channel of an adjacent cable connector, and extends along the guiding face of the adjacent cable connector. Therefore, the plurality of cables terminated by different cable connectors do not interfere with each other.
Furthermore, the cable connector has a central axis xe2x80x9cAxe2x80x9d normal to the panel, which defines an acute angle xcex1 with a central axis xe2x80x9cBxe2x80x9d of the associated cable attached thereto and is offset from the central axis xe2x80x9cBxe2x80x9d a predetermined distance xe2x80x9cDxe2x80x9d (FIGS. 4 and 5).
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present embodiment when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.