Abstract:
An improved terminal structure of a coaxial cable connector, especially a terminal structure with bendable leg portions in the coaxial cable connector, by connecting the said leg portion of the terminal structure to the central conductor of the coaxial cable, the connection between said terminal structure and central conductor is able to be held firmly, therefore better enhances a smooth electrical signal transmission between the connectors.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The present invention relates to an improved terminal structure of a coaxial cable connector, especially a terminal structure that uses a clamp to connect the conductor of a coaxial cable connector.  
         [0003]     2. Description of the Prior Art  
         [0004]     Coaxial cable connector is a widely used cable connector for transmitting radio frequency signal. Conventional coaxial cable connector is an L-shaped body in general, comprising a conductive shell, an insulating housing, a central terminal which is connected to a coaxial cable and a connecting portion at one end of central terminal; prior to assembly, a conductive shell comprising of a circular substrate and a shielding piece stands vertically; while in assembly, the central terminal and the central conductor of the coaxial cable assembly connected to the connecting portion are inserted into the insulating housing first, after the insertion, the insulating housing is placed into the circular substrate of the conductive shell, then the shielding piece is bent at a 90 degree angle to wrap up and cover the insulating housing; in addition, several side wings located at the front end of the shielding piece also provide added protection by wrapping around the coaxial cable assembly.  
         [0005]     Conventional method to mount the terminal onto the coaxial cable conductor is by soldering. However, the conventional method has the following drawbacks or disadvantages. That is, it is very difficult to solder the central conductor to the central terminal within a small space in the insulating housing, resulting in frequent defective soldering. In addition, the separate conductive shell increases the number of assembly steps and thus the manufacturing cost.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0006]     It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved terminal structure of a coaxial cable connector comprising a terminal having a clamp structure for better clamping of the central conductor of a coaxial cable onto the terminal. The clamp structure can be of a bendable arm or a clamp, thus providing an improved terminal structure, which could connect the conductor of the coaxial cable onto the terminal without soldering.  
         [0007]     To achieve the above object, the present invention provides an improved terminal structure of a coaxial cable connector comprising a conductive shell and an central terminal, the terminal comprises of a bending portion, a base plate and a plurality of contact pieces, the base plate connects the bending portion on one side and extends into an engaging portion on the other side, the lower part of the base plate connects to said plurality of contact pieces, the bending portion comprises a substrate having a plurality of bendable leg portions, the leg portion and the substrate defines the clamping portion, the central conductor of the coaxial cable could be placed into the clamping portion, the leg portion is bent toward the substrate to make the central conductor and the bending portion engage with each other, thus ensuring a smooth circuit signal transmission.  
         [0008]     The conductive shell includes a shielding piece and a circular substrate, shielding piece is divided into a first locking piece and a second locking piece, said first locking pieces are generally used to cover the insulating housing and the retaining slot thereof inside the circular substrate, said second locking piece is used for holding the electrical conductor of the coaxial cable; the insulating housing is a cylindrical body, having a round opening on the bottom and a square terminal insertion hole on the top, an opening which connects electrical conductor is located on a side of the insertion hole, a fixing piece extending out from a sidewall which is used for holding the terminal and the electrical conductor within the therein housing and to maintain stability of connection is located on the other side of the body; the terminal is a square-shaped body, on one side of the terminal is a pair of contact pieces which extends outwardly from the sidewalls of the body and bends slightly toward one of its side edge, on the other side of the body is a terminal bearing portion, said terminal bearing portion can be comprises a bent-mode or a clamp-mode, the terminal bearing portion is used for engaging the electrical conductor with the terminal firmly in a bent-mode or a clamp-mode to ensure circuit signal transmission.  
         [0009]     The above object, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken with the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS  
       [0010]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the embodiment of the invention in a first state.  
         [0011]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the embodiment of the invention in a second state.  
         [0012]      FIG. 3  is an exploded perspective view of the embodiment of the invention.  
         [0013]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of a first embodiment of the invention.  
         [0014]      FIG. 5  is another perspective view of a first embodiment of the invention.  
         [0015]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the invention.  
         [0016]      FIG. 7  is another perspective view of a second embodiment of the invention.  
         [0017]      FIG. 8  is an application view of a first embodiment of the invention.  
         [0018]      FIG. 9  is an application view of a second embodiment of the invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0019]     Please refer to  FIGS. 1-5 , which show a first embodiment of the improved structure of the cable connector according to the invention, the improved structure of the cable connector in the invention is a clamp-mode terminal structure, which is used in coaxial cable connector  1 ; as shown in  FIGS. 1-3 , the coaxial cable connector is mainly consisting of a conductive shell  2 , an therein housing  3 , a clamp-mode terminal  4 , thereof, the conductive shell  2  and the therein housing  3  are of the prior arts, so only given a brief description thereto:  
         [0020]     The conductive shell  2  includes a shielding piece  21  and a substrate  22 , the shielding piece  21  has first locking pieces  212  and a plurality of second locking pieces  213  bending out from the body portion  210  thereof, the first locking pieces are used for holding the braid portion  53  of the coaxial cable, and the second locking pieces  213  are used for holding the outer therein layer  54 , the body portion  210  has vertically bent cover pieces  211  adjacent to the substrate  22 , the substrate  22  of the conductive shell  2  is an unitarily formed pillar body, the body is generally like a circular tube  221 , the circular tube  221  opens bent walls  222  bending inward on an end, and the circular tube  221  has a guarding piece  223  bending outward slightly on the other end, around the guarding piece  223  having a plurality of notches  224 , in the middle of the substrate  22  having a hollow portion  225  which will be covered by the conductive shell  2  for disposing the therein housing  3  and the terminal  4 .  
         [0021]     The lower portion of the body  32  of the therein housing  3  has a base portion  31 , on the bottom of the base portion  31  having an aperture, in the middle of the body  32  having a terminal insertion hole  321 , the terminal insertion hole  321  communicates with the above said aperture, the insertion hole  321  extends forward and forms into an opening  323 , on the two sides of the body  32  having a recess  322  respectively, the body  32  has a fixing piece  324  extending upward on the opposite side edge of the opening  323 , after the therein housing  3  is inserted into the substrate  22  of the conductive shell  2 , the fixing piece  324  could be bent at a right angle to cover the insertion hole  321  to achieve a safeguard effect.  
         [0022]     As shown in  FIG. 3 , the coaxial cable  5  includes a central conductor  51  and a braid portion  53 , between the central conductor  51  and the braid portion  53  having an inner therein layer  52  and an outer edge of the braid portion  53  wrapped by an outer therein layer  54 .  
         [0023]     In the invention, the main point of the improved structure of the coaxial cable connector terminal is the improvement of the terminal, thus given a detailed description of it thereafter; please refer to  FIGS. 4 and 5 , which show a first embodiment of the invention, the terminal  4  generally consists of a bending portion  40 , a base plate  41 , and two contact pieces  44 , the base plate  41  connects to the bending portion  40  on one side, and the other side extends and forms into an engaging portion  42 , on the two sides of the engaging portion  42  having spurs  43 , below the two sides of the base plate  41  having contact pieces  44  extending downward and slightly bending inward used for making electrical connection with a mating terminal, on the above said bending portion  40  having a substrate  401 , the center of the substrate  401  extends upward to connect a bendable leg portion  403  through a convex arm  402 , the leg portion  403  and the substrate  401  defines a clamping portion  404 , the central conductor  51  of the coaxial cable could be rested on the clamping portion  404 , then the leg portion  403  is bent toward the substrate  401  by tool, cause the bending portion  40  make electrical connection with the central conductor  51 .  
         [0024]     The clamp-mode terminal  4  of the invention also could be embodied in other ways, please refer to  FIGS. 6 and 7 , the terminal consists of a bending portion  40 , a base plate  41 , and two contact pieces  44 , the base plate  41  connects to the bending portion  40  on one side, and the other side extends and forms into an engaging portion  42 , on the two sides of the engaging portion having spurs  43 , below the two sides of the base plate  41  having contact pieces  44  which extend downward and then bend inward slightly, the contact pieces  44  are used for making electrical connection with a mating terminal, on the above said bending portion  40  having a substrate  401 , the two side edges of the substrate  401  extend upward and form a bendable leg portion  405  respectively, then the leg portions  405  are bent toward the substrate  401 , cause the bending portion  40  make electrical connection with the central conductor  51 .  
         [0025]     Please refer to  FIGS. 1, 2 ,  3 ,  8  and  9 , the assembly steps of the coaxial cable connector of the invention are described in the following:  
         [0026]     Step 1, insert the central conductor  51  of the coaxial cable  5  into the clamping portion  404  of the clamp-mode terminal  4 , press the leg portion  403  and  405  toward the center of the substrate  401  by means of an automatic producing tool with the central conductor  51  is held on the substrate  401 .  
         [0027]     Step 2, place the clamp-mode terminal  4  into the terminal insertion hole  321  of the therein housing  3  with the bending portion  40  facing the opening  323  on a side of the therein housing  3 .  
         [0028]     Step 3, face the fixing piece  324  of the therein housing  3  at the centerline of the first locking piece  212  or the second locking piece  213  on two sides of the shielding piece  21 , then place into the hollow portion  225  of the substrate  22 .  
         [0029]     Step 4, after the therein housing  3  and the terminal  4  are inserted, bend the shielding piece  21  of the conductive shell  2  in a direction toward the substrate  22 , in doing so the fixing piece  324  will also be bent to cover and stabilize the therein housing  3 , the clamp-mode terminal  4  and the central conductor  51 .  
         [0030]     Step 5, the first locking pieces  212  of the shielding piece  21  are bent toward each side so as the braid portion  53  of the coaxial cable  5  could be held firmly, and the outer therein layer  54  of the coaxial cable  5  is held by the second locking pieces  213  surely.  
         [0031]     The mode utilized in the invention lies in the central conductor of the coaxial cable could be held firmly by means of a conductor clamping design in the bending portion of the clamp-mode terminal to achieve the maximum effect of the connector.  
         [0032]     While the invention herein disclosed has been described by means of specific embodiments, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention set forth in the claims.