Abstract:
A receptacle connector for use with a plug, includes an insulative housing defining a base and a mating tongue extending, with a widen and thicken step portion defined at a root region of the mating tongue; a plurality of contacts disposed in the housing with contacting sections exposed upon the first and second surfaces of the mating tongue and categorized with signal contacts, power contacts and grounding contacts. Each of first and second surfaces of the step portion is fitly surrounded with a metallic plate, the metallic plate mechanically and electrically connects to the corresponding grounding contact.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application is a continuation of a co-pending application Ser. No. 15/161,306, filed Mar. 23, 2015, which is a continuation-in-part of the co-pending application Ser. No. 14/497,205 filed Sep. 25, 2014 and Ser. No. 14/558,732 filed Dec. 3, 2014 and further claims the benefit of and priority to, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/969,823, filed Mar. 24, 2014, the contents of which are incorporated entirely herein by reference. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    The present invention relates to an electrical connector, and more particularly to a flippable plug connector used with a receptacle connector. 
         [0004]    2. Description of Related Art 
         [0005]    In the previously filed provisional applications, the plug connector is “flippable” whereas we turn the plug over and it functions the same top and bottom. In order to be able to handle switching of the super speed signaling, a MUX (or SS switch) is built into the silicon. This can be costly and also cause some additional degredation in the super speed signals. Recently, a proposal for use with the future USB (Universal Serial Bus) was presented. 
         [0006]    Hence, a new and simple electrical plug connector and the complementary receptacle connector are desired to improve those disclosed in the aforementioned proposal. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    Accordingly, the object of the present invention is to provide a receptacle connector for use with a plug, includes an insulative housing defining a base and a mating tongue extending, with a widen and thicken step portion defined at a root region of the mating tongue; a plurality of contacts disposed in the housing with contacting sections exposed upon the first and second surfaces of the mating tongue and categorized with signal contacts, power contacts and grounding contacts. Each of first and second surfaces of the step portion is fitly surrounded with a metallic plate, the metallic plate mechanically and electrically connects to the corresponding grounding contact. 
         [0008]    The receptacle connector for mating with a plug connector, comprising: an insulative housing including a base and a mating tongue extending forwardly therefrom, with a widen and thicken step structure formed upon a root region of the mating tongue; a metallic shell enclosing said housing to define a mating cavity in which said mating tongue extends; a plurality of contacts disposed in the housing with corresponding contacting sections exposed upon a first surface and a second surface of the mating tongue, said contacts being categorized with signal contacts, power contacts and grounding contacts; a shielding plate embedded with the mating tongue and forming a pair of notches in two opposite lateral side edges as a locking device; wherein the shielding plate defines a pair of protrusions unitarily bulged downwardly therefrom to replace and function as corresponding grounding contacting section for corresponding grounding contacts to be exposed on the second surface of the mating tongue. 
         [0009]    Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0010]      FIG. 1  is an assembled perspective view of a mated receptacle connector on the printed circuit board and a plug connector of a first embodiment of the instant invention. 
           [0011]      FIG. 2  is a rear exploded perspective view of the receptacle connector and the plug connector of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0012]      FIG. 3  is a front perspective view of the receptacle connector on the printed circuit board of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0013]      FIG. 4  is a front perspective view of the receptacle connector spaced from the printed circuit board of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0014]      FIG. 5(A)  is a front partially exploded perspective view of the receptacle connector of  FIG. 4 . 
           [0015]      FIG. 5(B)  is a rear partially exploded perspective view of the receptacle connector of  FIG. 4 . 
           [0016]      FIG. 6  is a front partially exploded perspective view of the receptacle connector of  FIG. 4  without the shield thereof. 
           [0017]      FIG. 7(A)  is a front partially exploded perspective view of the receptacle connector of  FIG. 4  to show the housing and the contacts thereof. 
           [0018]      FIG. 7(B)  is a rear partially exploded perspective view of the receptacle connector of  FIG. 4  to show the housing and the contacts thereof. 
           [0019]      FIG. 8(A)  is a front partially exploded perspective view of the receptacle connector of  FIG. 4  wherein the housing and the contacts are pre-assembled together. 
           [0020]      FIG. 8(B)  is a rear partially exploded perspective view of the receptacle connector of  FIG. 4  wherein the housing and the contacts are pre-assembled together. 
           [0021]      FIG. 9  is a cross-sectional view of the receptacle connector on the printed circuit board of  FIG. 4 . 
           [0022]      FIG. 10  is a front assembled perspective view of the plug connector of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0023]      FIG. 11(A)  is a front partially exploded perspective view of the plug connector of  FIG. 10  wherein the cover is removed away from the remainder. 
           [0024]      FIG. 11(B)  is a front partially exploded perspective view of the plug connector of  FIG. 11(A)  wherein the front and rear over-moldings have been further removed. 
           [0025]      FIG. 12(A)  is a front partially exploded perspective view of the plug connector of  FIG. 10  without the cover thereof. 
           [0026]      FIG. 12(B)  is a rear partially exploded perspective view of the plug connector of  FIG. 12(A) . 
           [0027]      FIG. 13(A)  is a front partially exploded perspective view of the plug connector of  FIG. 12(A)  by removal of additional parts therefrom. 
           [0028]      FIG. 13(B)  is a rear partially exploded perspective view of the plug connector of  FIG. 13(A) . 
           [0029]      FIG. 14  is a cross-sectional view of the mated plug connector and receptacle connector of  FIG. 1  to show how the latch of the plug connector is lockable engaged with the shielding plate of the receptacle connector; 
           [0030]      FIG. 14  (A) is a cross-sectional view of another embodiment of the mated plug connector and receptacle connector of  FIG. 1  to show how the latch of the plug connector is lockable engaged with the shielding plate of the receptacle connector wherein the shielding plate has lateral extensions to mechanically and electrically connected to the collar and the shield optionally. 
           [0031]      FIG. 15  shows the footprint of the tails of the lower row contacts of the receptacle connector of  FIG. 1  on the layout of the printed circuit board wherein the upper figure shows that is disclosed in  FIG. 14 , while the lower figure shows an variation therewith. 
           [0032]      FIG. 16(A)  is a cross-sectional view of an alternative embodiment of the receptacle connector equipped with a pair of switch contacts for cooperation with another type connector different from the plug connector of the previous embodiment wherein the switch contacts is not activated. 
           [0033]      FIG. 16(B)  is the cross-sectional view of the receptacle connector of  FIG. 16(A)  cooperating with the plug connector of  FIG. 10 . 
           [0034]      FIG. 17  is an assembled perspective view of a receptacle connector and a printed circuit board according to a second embodiment of the invention. 
           [0035]      FIG. 18  is an exploded perspective view of the receptacle connector and the printed circuit board of  FIG. 17 . 
           [0036]      FIG. 19(A)  is a front exploded perspective view of the receptacle connector of  FIG. 18 . 
           [0037]      FIG. 19(B)  is a rear exploded perspective view of the receptacle connector of  FIG. 18 . 
           [0038]      FIG. 20(A)  is a further front exploded view of the receptacle connector of  FIG. 19(A) . 
           [0039]      FIG. 20(B)  is a further front exploded view of the receptacle connector of  FIG. 19(B) . 
           [0040]      FIG. 21  is an assembled perspective view of a portion of the receptacle connector of  FIG. 18 . 
           [0041]      FIG. 22  is a cross-sectional view of the receptacle connector and the printed circuit board of  FIG. 17 . 
           [0042]      FIG. 23  is an assembled perspective view of a receptacle connector according to a third embodiment of the invention. 
           [0043]      FIG. 24(A)  is a front exploded perspective view of the receptacle connector of  FIG. 23   
           [0044]      FIG. 24(B)  is a rear exploded perspective view of the receptacle connector of  FIG. 23   
           [0045]      FIG. 25(A)  is a further front exploded view of the receptacle connector of  FIG. 24(A) . 
           [0046]      FIG. 25(B)  is a further front exploded view of the receptacle connector of  FIG. 24(B)   
           [0047]      FIG. 26(A)  is a further front exploded view of the receptacle connector of  FIG. 25(A) . 
           [0048]      FIG. 26(B)  is a further front exploded view of the receptacle connector of  FIG. 25(B) . 
           [0049]      FIG. 27  is a cross-sectional view of the receptacle connector of  FIG. 23 . 
           [0050]      FIG. 28  is a cross-sectional view of the shielding plate of the receptacle connector of another embodiment variant with regard to that of the receptacle connector in  FIG. 23 . 
           [0051]      FIG. 29  is a cross-sectional view of a receptacle connector of a fourth embodiment of the invention. 
           [0052]      FIG. 30  is a front exploded perspective view of a partial portion of a receptacle connector according to a fifth embodiment of the invention as shown in the previous Ser. No. 61/953,737. 
           [0053]      FIG. 31  shows a plug connector according to a sixth embodiment of the invention. 
           [0054]      FIG. 32  is an exploded perspective view of the plug connector of  FIG. 15 . 
           [0055]      FIG. 33  is a further exploded perspective view of the plug connector of  FIG. 32 . 
           [0056]      FIG. 34  is a further exploded perspective view of the plug connector of  FIG. 33 . 
           [0057]      FIG. 35  is a further exploded front perspective view of a partial portion of the plug connector of  FIG. 34 . 
           [0058]      FIG. 36  is a further exploded rear perspective view of the partial portion of the plug connector of  FIG. 34 . 
           [0059]      FIG. 37  is a cross-sectional view of the plug connector according to another embodiment of the invention wherein the paddle card is removed and the contact tail is soldered to the corresponding wire in the corresponding groove of the spacer attached to the rear side of the housing. 
           [0060]      FIG. 38  is a perspective view of the metallic shell set made of one piece in place of the two halves shell in the previous embodiment. 
           [0061]      FIG. 39  is a perspective view of a latch of a plug connector according to a seventh embodiment of the invention. 
           [0062]      FIG. 40  is an exploded perspective view of a portion of the plug connector of  FIG. 39  to show how the latch is assembled in the housing in front of the spacer. 
           [0063]      FIG. 41  is a partially assembled perspective view of the plug connector of  FIG. 40  to show how the latch is assembled in the housing in front of the spacer. 
           [0064]      FIG. 42  is a partially perspective view of the plug connector of  FIG. 41  to show how the latch is assembled in the spacer. 
           [0065]      FIG. 43  is a front assembled perspective view of the plug connector of  FIG. 42  to show how the latch is assembled to the paddle card. 
           [0066]      FIG. 44  is a rear assembled perspective view of the plug connector of  FIG. 42  to show how the latch is assembled to the paddle card. 
           [0067]      FIG. 45  is a cross-sectional view of the plug connector of  FIG. 44  to show how the latch is engaged with the paddle card. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0068]    Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
         [0069]      FIGS. 1-2 (B) show a plug connector  10  mated with a receptacle connector  50  mounted in a notch  102  of a printed circuit board.  100 , of a first embodiment of this present invention. Referring to  FIGS. 3-9  showing the receptacle connector  50 , the receptacle connector  50  includes an insulative housing  52  with a mating tongue  54  forwardly extending in a capsular mating cavity  57  of a metallic shield  56  which encloses the housing  52 . Opposite upper and lower rows of contacts  58  are disposed in the housing  52  with corresponding contacting sections  60  exposed upon opposite surfaces of the mating tongue  54  in a diagonally symmetrical arrangement mechanically and electrically so as to allow a so-called flappable insertion of the plug connector  10  thereinto. A step structure  62  is formed around a root of the mating tongue  54 . A one piece metallic EMI collar  64  includes a loop structure  66  intimately surrounding the step structure  62 . 
         [0070]    The housing  52  is composed of the upper piece  70  and a lower piece  72  commonly sandwiching therebetween a middle piece  74  which forms the mating tongue  54 . The upper row contacts  58  are associated with the upper piece  70 , the lower row contacts  58  associated with a lower piece  72  and the shielding plate  76  is associated with the middle piece  74  via an insert molding process wherein the contacting sections  60  of the upper row contacts  58  and those of the lower rows contacts  58  are seated upon opposite upper surface and lower surface of the mating tongue  54 , respectively, as mentioned before. A rear portion of the step structure  62  is removed to have a front edge region  71  of the upper piece  70  and the front edge region  73  of the lower piece  72  sandwiched between the middle piece  74  and the loop structure  66  of the EMI collar  64  so as to enhance the strength during mating under some bending. In this embodiment, the shielding plate  76  defines an opening  77  and a thinner area  78  for both securing and impedance consideration, and further a pair of mounting legs  79  so as to efficiently separate the upper row contacts  58  and the lower row contacts  58  from each other wherein the upper row contacts  58  form the surface mount type tail sections while the lower row contacts  58  form the through hole type tail sections. The lower piece  72  includes a pair of mounting posts  80  receiving in the corresponding through hole for mounting the housing  52  to the printed circuit board  100 . 
         [0071]    In this embodiment, the middle piece  74  forms a pair of recesses  82  to respectively receive the corresponding protrusions  84  of the upper piece  70  and the lower piece  72  for securing the upper piece  70 , the lower piece  72  and the middle piece  74  therebetween in a stacked manner wherein the upper piece  70  further include a pair of downward assembling poles  84  received in the corresponding alignment holes  86  of the middle piece  74 , and the lower piece  72  further includes an upward assembling pole  85  received in the corresponding alignment holes  86  of the middle piece  74 , and the lower piece  72  further forms a pair of upward locating posts  87  received within the corresponding recesses  89  in the upper piece  70 . In this embodiment, the lower piece  72  defines a plurality of through holes  91  and  93  to receive the tail sections of the lower row contacts  58  and the mounting legs  79  of the shielding plate  76  to extend therethough as an alignment spacer. Notably, the shielding plate  76  forms a front edge section  69  extending forwardly beyond a front edge of the mating tongue  54  for anti-mismsting consideration, and a pair of lateral edge sections  67  for locking with a latch  39  of the plug connector  10  (illustrated later). In brief, the shielding plate  76  is essentially multifunctional to perform shielding, grounding, reinforcing, anti-mis-mating and locking. A metallic bracket  95  is soldered under the shield  56  and forms a pair of supporting legs  97  mounted into the through hole  103  of the printed circuit board  100  for supporting the receptacle connector  50  within the notch  102  of the printed circuit board  100 . The shield  56  further includes a pair of mounting legs  55  received in the through holes  104  for mounting to the printed circuit board  100  and a pair of locking tabs  59  received in the recesses  99  of the upper piece  70  after the shield  56  is rearwardly assembled to the housing  52  in a front-to-back direction. Notably, the mounting leg  79  of the shielding plate  76  share the same through hole with the neighboring grounding contact tail for enhancing grounding effect. 
         [0072]    Referring to  FIGS. 10-13 (B) and further  FIG. 14 , the plug connector  10  includes an insulative housing  12  having a capsular front contour with a rectangular receiving cavity  14  therein and enclosed in a metallic shell  16 . Opposite upper and lower rows of contacts  18  are disposed in the corresponding passageways  32  of the housing with corresponding contacting sections  20  extending into the receiving cavity  14  wherein the upper and lower rows of contacts  18  are diagonally symmetrically arranged with each other in both electrical and mechanical arrangement so as to meet the so-called flappable mating, i.e., the dual opposite orientations. A pair of upper and lower EMI (Electro-Magnetic Interference) spring plates  22  are enclosed in the shell  16 , and each of the EMI spring plates  22  is sandwiched between the shell  16  and the housing  12  and includes a front resilient region  24  extending inwardly toward the receiving cavity  14  and in front of the contacting sections  20 , a rear abutting region  26  to abut against the shell  16 , and a pair of side retention regions  28  retainably engaged within corresponding side portions of the housing  12 . A pair of tapes  30  are disposed upon two opposite sides of the housing  12  so as to isolate the contacting section  20  from the shell  16 . A spacer  34  is located behind the housing and defines a plurality of passages  35  through which the tail sections  21  of the contacts  18  rearwardly extend. A recessed region  36  is formed in a rear face of the spacer  34  to receive a front edge region of a paddle card  38  wherein the tail sections  21  of the contacts  18  extending through the corresponding passages  35 , are soldered upon the corresponding pads  37 . The spacer  34  forms a forward extending blade  31  with a pair of forward protrusions  33  on two faces in the vertical direction to be commonly inserted into a back side of the housing  12  wherein the blade  31  is essentially received in the side slots  13  of the housing  12 . A U-shaped metallic latch  39  of a blanking type received in the side slots  13  of the housing  12  with a pair of locking heads  40  extending into the two opposite lateral sides of the receiving cavity  14  to lock with the lateral edge sections  67  of the shielding plate  76  of the receptacle connector  50  during mating. Understandably, the latch  39  is restrained by the blade  31 , the forward protrusions  33 , the slots  13  and an interior rear face of the housing  12 . 
         [0073]    A cable  41  behind the paddle card  38 , encloses a plurality of wires  42  regulated by a pair of organizer  43  to be soldered upon a rear region of the paddle card  38 . An auxiliary rear shell  17  grasps the shell  16  to shield the paddle card  38 , and a clipper  44  grasps the cable  41  behind the paddle card  38 . Opposite front overcoat  45  and rear overcoat or strain relief  46  are overmolded upon the rear shell  17  and the clipper  44 , respectively. Finally, a cover  47  essentially fully covers the clipper  44 , the front overcoat  45  and the rear overcoat  46 . During mating, the mating tongue  54  is received in the receiving cavity  14  with the corresponding contacting sections  60  of the contacts  58  of the receptacle connector  50  connected to the contacting sections  20  of the contacts  18  of the plug connector  10  wherein the latch  39  is locked with the shielding plate  76 , and the front resilient region  24  of the spring plate  22  contacts the collar  64 . It is noted that in  FIG. 14(A)  in an alternate embodiment, the latch  39  laterally contacts the shell  16  to establish grounding, and the shielding plate  76  may optionally laterally extend to contact the EMI collar  64  at B or the shield  56  at A to establish additional grounding thereof other than the mounting leg  79 . Alternately, the shielding plate may be equipped with a pair of opposite resilient side fingers, at the rear side, respectively contacting the shield. 
         [0074]    In the first embodiment, the shield  56  of the receptacle connector  50  can be optionally equipped with inward bumps  561  (as shown in  FIG. 3 ) thereon (as shown in Ser. No. 61/926,270) to contact the shell  16  of the plug connector  50  for enhancement of retention between the receptacle connector  50  and the plug connector  10  while still keeping the shield  56  in a complete sealed manner compared with the traditional type having the retaining spring tangs stamped therefrom. Similarly, the bumps may be formed on an exterior surface of the shell  16  of the plug connector  10 . 
         [0075]    As shown in  FIG. 15 , it is also noted that the through hole type contact tail of the lower row contacts  58  to intentionally enlarge the distance between the two neighboring tails in the same row so as to compromise the occupying space of the footprint of the tails of the whole row contacts while allowing the tails of the same differential pair signal contacts to be in the same row. Also, in this embodiment, the two pairs of differential signal contacts are arranged commonly in one row and the D+ and D− are commonly locate in another row. Alternately, the footprint of the tails of the lower row contacts  58  may be arranged as shown in  FIG. 15  wherein the two differential signal pairs are respectively located in two different rows, and the D+ and D− also are located in two different rows, respectively. Moreover, in the first embodiment the tails of the upper row of contacts are arranged in one row of a surface mount type. Alternately, the tails of the upper row of contacts may be arranged in two rows similar to those of the lower row of contacts, either in a same manner or in a mirror image manner. Under such a situation, the tail of the outermost grounding contact of the lower row of contact and that of the upper row of contact may closely located with each other or even sharing the same through hole in the printed circuit board, or those two grounding contacts may be unified together, or mechanically and electrically linked via a common transverse grounding bar as one piece. To enhance the grounding effect, the tail portion of the corresponding grounding contact may be laterally expanded compared with those of the remaining contacts. It is also noted that for the tails of the lower row of contacts, a tapered configuration of the lower piece is formed around each tail to assuring precise position of the corresponding tail. Alternatively, the shielding plate is equipped with a pair of spring fingers to contact the selected grounding contacts. 
         [0076]    As shown in  FIGS. 16(A) and 16(B)  which are derived from  FIG. 14 , the receptacle connector  150  can be optionally equipped with a pair of switch contacts  181 ,  182  spaced from each other in an open status when no plug or another type plug  152  which forms a recess  154  to receive the switch contact  182  during mating for not activating the switch function, is mated as shown in  FIG. 16(A) , or in a closed status when the corresponding plug  156  is mated which activates the switch function as shown in  FIG. 16(B) . 
         [0077]      FIGS. 17-22  show a receptacle connector according to another embodiment of the invention wherein the primary differences with regard to the that disclosed in the first embodiment is the metallic collar  264  which further forms a retaining plate  268  rearwardly extending from the loop structure  266  and retained in the slit  270  of the upper piece  272  wherein a plurality of spring tabs  274  are formed on the loop structure  266  to mechanically and electrically connect to the corresponding grounding contacts  276 . 
         [0078]      FIGS. 23-27  show a receptacle connector according to a third embodiment of the invention wherein the primary differences with regard to that disclosed in the first embodiment is the shielding plate  376  including further a subsidiary plate  378  stacked thereupon. A pair of protrusions  380  unitarily bulged downwardly from the shielding plate  376  to replace and function as the corresponding grounding contacting section for the corresponding grounding contact  382  to be exposed on the lower surface of the mating tongue  384  wherein the front end of the corresponding grounding contact  382  mechanically and electrically connect to the protrusion  380 . Understandably, the grounding contact  382  can be connected to other position of the shielding plate  376 . Similarly, the subsidiary plate  378  forms a pair of bulged protrusions  386  unitarily extending upwardly to be exposed upon the upper surface of the mating tongue  384  for functioning as the contacting section of the corresponding grounding contact  382  with mechanical and electrically connection to the corresponding grounding contact  382 . The similar structure, i.e., the raised-up portion of the shielding plate to replace the contacting section of the corresponding grounding contact can be further referred to the co-pending application Ser. No. 13/757,740 filed Feb. 2, 2013. Understandably, the shielding plate  376  and the subsidiary plate  378  may be unified as one piece  388  and form the corresponding aligned upper and lower protrusions  389 ,  390  unitarily as shown in  FIG. 28 . 
         [0079]      FIG. 29  shows the receptacle connector  200  of a fourth embodiment of this invention, with the insulative housing  202  having an through opening and the upper terminal module  204  with the mating tongue  206  extending through the through opening and the lower terminal module  208  assembled to the upper terminal module  204  with the corresponding contacting sections of the contacts exposed upon the mating tongue. Understandably, the design shown in  FIG. 22  of the provisional application 61/926,270 is another approach. The design shown in  FIG. 35  of the provisional application 61/953,737 also shows another approach wherein the upper terminal module may be modified to allow the shielding plate to be first assembled thereto compared with insert molded therein, and later the upper contacts may be assembled into the mating tongue. 
         [0080]      FIG. 30  shows a receptacle connector of a fourth embodiment of this invention in the instant application is to correct the positions of the spring fingers  413  so as to have it correctly aligned with the outermost grounding contacts in the vertical direction for connection therebetween. Understandably, the grounding contact may be deformed to contact the shielding plate instead as shown in 61/773,150 filed Mar. 6, 2013. 
         [0081]      FIGS. 31-36  show sixth embodiment of the plug connector  110 , which includes an insulative housing  112  having a capsular front contour with a rectangular receiving cavity  114  therein and enclosed in a metallic shell  116 . Opposite upper and lower rows of contacts  118  are disposed in the corresponding passageways  132  of the housing  112  with corresponding contacting sections  120  extending into the receiving cavity  114 . A pair of upper and lower EMI (Electro-Magnetic Interference) spring plates  122  are enclosed in the shell  116 , and each of the EMI spring plates  122  is sandwiched between the shell  116  and the housing  112  and includes a front resilient region  124  extending inwardly toward the receiving cavity  114  and in front of the contacting sections  120 , a rear abutting region  126  to abut against the shell  116 , and a pair of side retention regions  128  retainably engaged within corresponding side portions of the housing  12 . A pair of insulating tapes  130  is disposed upon two opposite sides of the housing  112  so as to isolate the contacting section  120  from the shell  116 . 
         [0082]    Each of the upper and lower rows of contacts  118  are integrated by an insulator  132  via an insert molding process to form a terminal module  134  thereof. Each insulator  132  located behind the housing  112 , forms an assembling post  131  and an assembling hole  133  on an inner side to be coupled with those of the other insulator  132  to assembling the pair of terminal module  132  together wherein a U-shaped recess  135  is formed in the inner side of each insulator  132  to receive a U-shaped metallic latch  139 . The housing forms a pair of side slots  111  to receive two opposite side arms of the latch  139  wherein the heads  147  of the side arms extend into the receiving cavity  114 . A pair of posts  137  are located on a front side of the insulator  132  to be inserted into the corresponding pair of holes  113  in a rear side of the housing  112  to assemble the housing  112  and the insulator  132  together. Each contact  118  further includes a tail  119  mounted to a front region of a paddle card  138  which is located behind the insulators  132 . A cable  141  located behind the paddle card  138 , includes a plurality of wires  142  respectively soldered upon the rear region of the paddle card  138 . Understandably, alternately the paddle card  138  may be replaced by a spacer  170  ( FIG. 21 ) with grooves  172  each to regulate and receive therein the corresponding tails  119  and wires  142  soldered with each other. 
         [0083]    In this embodiment, the paddle card  138  and the insulator  132  are enclosed within a metallic shell set composed of a first half shell  144  and a second half shell  146  which are assemble to each other in a vertical direction perpendicular to both the front-to-back direction and the lateral direction. Each of the first and second half shell  144 ,  146  is mechanically and electrically connected to the shell  116  in a vertical direction. Understandably, as shown in  FIG. 22 , the shell set could be alternately made of one piece via bending/forming to form the rectangular tube configuration with the sealed seam, or even in form of a seamless rectangular tube. It is optional to apply an insulator  158 , i.e., the so-called inner mold, between the shell set  144 ,  146  and the paddle card  13  as a protection device. Finally, an insulative cover or an overmold  149  is applied upon the rear section of the shell  116 , the shell set  144 ,  146  and a front section of the cable  141  to form the complete plug/cable connector  110 . Optionally, in this embodiment, an LED (Laser Emitting Device)  160  may be mounted upon the paddle card  138  and applying the corresponding light to an exterior via a light pipe set (not shown) linked between the LED and the exterior so as to let the user to identify the operation status thereof. Additionally, a ring type magnetic set (not shown) could be optically located on a front face of the cover of the plug connector to actuate magnetic attraction between the shield of the receptacle connector and the shell of the plug connector. 
         [0084]      FIGS. 39-45  shows seventh embodiment of a portion of the plug connector including an insulative housing  412  with a pair of side slots  413 , two rows of contacts  418 , an insulative spacer  434  and a paddle card  438 . The structures of the plug connector are similar to those disclosed in the first embodiment except the latch  439  defines an H-shaped configuration instead of the U-shaped configuration. The latch  439  includes a transverse bar  440  with a pair of latching arms  441  respectively extending forwardly at two opposite ends to reach the receiving cavity in the housing and retained in the side slots  413 , and a pair of mounting legs  443  respectively rearwardly extending from the two opposite ends restrictively through the guiding slots  435  of the spacer  434  to reach the paddle card  438  wherein each of the latching arms  441  includes a locking head  442  for locking to the shielding plate of the corresponding receptacle connector for grounding and latching and the mounting leg  443  is soldered to the paddle card  438  for grounding. 
         [0085]    However, the disclosure is illustrative only, changes may be made in detail, especially in matter of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention.