Connector preventing electrostatic discharge

A connector, comprising an insulative body, a plurality of conduction terminals, and a shielding shell. The tongue panel of the insulative body comprises a first surface and a second surface. The conduction terminals are arranged as first conduction terminals in the front row and second conduction terminals in the back row, the first conduction terminals comprising a first contact portion, a bending portion bent and extended from the rear edge of the first contact portion, a first fixing portion and a first welding portion. The first surface of the tongue panel is provided with a first receiving slot for receiving the first fixing portion and a recess portion disposed at the front end of the first receiving slot, the recess portion is formed as an opening for the first contact portion to nm through the opening from the first surface to be fixed onto the second surface.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to Taiwan Patent Application No. 99209092, filed May 14, 2010, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a connector, and particularly to a socket connector capable of preventing electrostatic discharge (ESD), easy to be assembled and capable of lowering cost.

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART

Electric connectors are installed on circuit boards in various electronic devices. Said electric connector has a connecting space, while conduction terminals thereof are exposed in the connecting space for electrical connection with terminals of a connector to be connected with. For example, the Republic of China Utility Model M367470 (Application No. 98209078) discloses a socket of an electric connector, in which an insulative terminal seat primarily comprises a front wall and a rear wall and the top end of the front wall extends horizontally to form an upper tongue panel. The upper tongue panel comprises a bottom surface and a front end surface, and the external side end and internal side end of the bottom surface are provided with a plurality of first terminal slots and a plurality of second terminal slots, respectively, for containing first and second terminals, respectively.

Looking atFIG. 1. One end of the above first terminal1ais a contact member11awith ashape, the contact member11acomprises a front panel111a, a back panel112aand a bottom panel113a, two sides of the bottom panel113acan be inserted into corresponding grooves (not shown) of the first terminal slots, while external side surfaces of the front panel111aand the bottom panel113aare for electrical contact.

As shown inFIG. 2, however, the front panel111aof this type of contact member11ais exposed at the front end of the tongue panel21a, while connecting with a plug connector (not shown), ESD tends to occur between the front panel111aof the first terminal1aand the steel casing of the plug connector (not shown), which could likely damage electronic components on a circuit board, in particular components on an integrated circuit.

Moreover, the Republic of China Patent Application No. 97141258 also discloses an electric connector, which can be connected with a connecting plug, comprising an insulative body and a plurality of conduction terminals installed on the insulative body, the insulative body comprises a base portion and a tongue panel provided with a front surface, and the tongue comprises a first side and a second side perpendicular to the front surface, respectively. These terminals comprise a row of first terminals and a row of second terminals, wherein the first terminals are installed on the insulative body by means of assembly. As shown inFIG. 3andFIG. 4, the first terminal1bcomprises a first portion11band a second portion12bdisposed on the first side212band the second side213bof the tongue panel21b, respectively, wherein the first portion11band the second portion12bof the first terminal1bare connected through a connecting portion13bat the front end of the first terminal1band close to the front surface211b, and said connecting portion13bis perpendicular to the front surface211b.

However, the connecting portion13band the first terminal11bof the first terminal according to the above design are both bent and extended from one side of the second portion12b. Since this type of conduction terminals is typically pressed and bent from one strip of metal band, such a structural design bent and extended in a side direction will increase the horizontal distance between two neighboring first terminals on the metal band, and lower the material utilization rate of the metal band, which is not good for environmental protection and will increase manufacturing cost. On the other hand, if the horizontal distance between two neighboring first terminals on the metal band is greater than the horizontal distance between two neighboring first terminals when installed onto the insulative body, the first terminals have to be cut off from the metal band and then installed onto the insulative body during assembly one by one. It would be impossible to install five first terminals together onto the insulative body through a continuous band, which results in inconvenient assembly. Therefore, certain individuals would appreciate an improved connector.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A connector, comprising an insulative body, a plurality of conduction terminals disposed on said insulative body, and a shielding shell that wraps around the peripheral surface of the insulative body. The insulative body comprises a main body and a tongue panel, the tongue panel comprises a front end surface that is far away from the main body, a first surface perpendicular to the front end surface, and a second surface opposite the first surface. The conduction terminals are arranged, in the extension direction of the tongue panel, as first conduction terminals in the front row and second conduction terminals in the back row, the first conduction terminals comprising a flat panel-like first contact portion, a bending portion bent and extended from the rear edge of the first contact portion, a first fixing portion extended from the end of the bending portion, and a first welding portion bent and extended from the rear edge of the first fixing portion, the second conduction terminals comprising an elastic second contact portion, a second fixing portion, and a second welding portion, and the first contact portion and the second contact portion are disposed on the second surface of the tongue panel. The first surface of the tongue panel is provided with a plurality of first receiving slots for receiving the first fixing portions of the first conduction terminals and a plurality of recess portions disposed at the front end of the first receiving slots and open to the second surface, characterized in that the recess portion is formed as an opening on the first surface, said opening is bigger than the first contact portion of the first conduction terminal for the first contact portion of the first conduction terminal to run through the opening of the recess portion from the first surface to be fixed onto the second surface of the tongue panel. In an embodiment, the first contact portion, the bending portion, the first fixing portion and the first welding portion of the first conduction terminal are connected end to end with their axis lines all on the same plane.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The detailed description that follows describes exemplary embodiments and is not intended to be limited to the expressly disclosed combination(s). Therefore, unless otherwise noted, features disclosed herein may be combined together to form additional combinations that were not otherwise shown for purposes of brevity.

One advantage of the depicted disclosure is that the assembly structure between the recess portions of the insulative body and the first contact portions of the first conduction terminals keeps the first conduction terminals from being exposed at the front end surface of the tongue panel, which can prevent ESD.

Secondly, the first contact portion, the bending portion, the first fixing portion and the first welding portion of the first conduction terminal are connected end to end with their axis lines all on the same plane, such that when the first conduction terminals are pressed and bent from a metal band, the horizontal distance between two neighboring first terminals can be reduced to improve the material utilization rate of the metal band and first conduction terminals can be assembled to the insulative body together through a continuous metal band, making the assembly further convenient.

As shown inFIG. 5throughFIG. 7, a connector is disclosed and, its preferred embodiment being an Universal Serial Bus (USB) 3.0 socket connector, comprising an insulative body3, a plurality of conduction terminals4and a shielding shell6.

The insulative body3comprises a main body31and a tongue panel32extended forwardly from the main body31, wherein the tongue panel32comprises a front end surface321that is far away from the main body31, a first surface322perpendicular to the front end surface321, and a second surface323opposite the first surface322(as shown inFIG. 7). Moreover, the insulative body3is provided with a plurality of first receiving slots33and a plurality of recess portions34on the first surface322of the tongue panel32, said recess portion34being formed as an opening342on the first surface322, said recess portion34open to the second surface323and open to the first receiving slot33.

In a further aspect, a plurality of raised strips35are disposed by extending in a front to back direction on the first surface322of the tongue panel32, the above first receiving slots33are formed between these raised strips35on the first surface322, and a notch351is formed in the central portion of each of these raised strips35. Two side walls of the rear end portions and the central portions of these raised strips35that form the first receiving slots33are provided with a front groove352and a rear groove353, respectively (as shown inFIG. 8) with the front groove352disposed at the front end of the notch351and the rear grove353disposed at the rear end of the notch351. The insulative body3is further provided with a plurality of second receiving slots36on the second surface323of the tongue panel32, the insulative body3is further provided with a plurality of fixing holes37(as shown inFIG. 7) with the fixing holes37open to corresponding second receiving slots36. The insulative body3is further provided with a plurality of grooves38on the second surface323of the tongue panel32, these grooves38are disposed at the front end of the second receiving slots36, and these recess portions34are of a partially closed structure on the second surface323with the front ends thereof open to the corresponding grooves38and the rear ends thereof partially open to neighboring second receiving slots36. Moreover, the opening342of the recess portion34of the insulative body3is of a closed structure at the front end of the first surface322, more specifically, the front end surface321of the tongue panel32is of a closed structure that is not open to these recess portions34.

The conduction terminals4are grouped into five first conduction terminals40in the front row and four second conduction terminals50in the back row, the first conduction terminals40comprising a flat panel-like first contact portion41, a bending portion42, a first fixing portion43, and a first welding portion44, the second conduction terminals50comprising an elastic second contact portion51, a second fixing portion52, and a second welding portion53. The bending portion42is formed by bending and extending vertically in a upward direction from the rear edge of the first contact portion41, the first fixing portion43is formed by extending horizontally in a backward direction from the end of the bending portion42, and the first welding portion44is formed by extending vertically in a downward direction from the rear edge of the first fixing portion43. The second fixing portion52is formed by extending from the end of the second contact portion51, and the second welding portion53is formed by bending and extending vertically in a downward direction from the rear edge of the second fixing portion52. The first fixing portion43of each of the first conduction terminals40can be provided with front spurs431and rear spurs432that are opposite to each other by projecting from two sides of the central portion and the rear end thereof.

The shielding shell6is formed by pressing and bending a metal panel, which can comprise four board portions61and one backboard62.

As depicted, the connector further comprises a positioning base7, which is provided with positioning slots71arranged in front and rear rows.

The conduction terminals4are disposed on the insulative body3, and along the extension direction of the tongue panel32, the first conduction terminals40are disposed in the front row, while the second conduction terminals50are disposed in the back row. As shown inFIG. 8andFIG. 9, in the assembly process, the second conduction terminals50can be first assembled, the second conduction terminals50are inserted from the rear of the insulative body3to the fixing holes37, and further pushed forward such that the second fixing portions52are fixed inside corresponding fixing holes37, and the second contact portions51are received inside the second receiving slots36of the insulative body3such that the second contact portions51are installed on the second surface323of the tongue panel32(as shown inFIG. 14andFIG. 15).

Subsequently, these first conduction terminals40can be inserted from above the first surface322of the tongue panel32downwardly into the recess portions34of the tongue panel32, and pushed further forward to be installed to said tongue panel32(refer to the imaginary line inFIG. 13), such that the first fixing portions43are received inside corresponding first receiving slots33, and such that the first contact portions41run through corresponding openings342of the recess portions34from the first surface322and then are inserted and installed into the grooves38of the second surface323of the tongue panel32.

Preferably, in the assembly process, as shown inFIG. 9throughFIG. 11, the front spurs431of the first fixing portions43are aligned with the notches351and inserted into the first receiving slots33from up down via the notches351, and then push forward the first conduction terminals40, namely make the front spurs431move to the direction of the front groove352, such that the front spurs431and the rear spurs432of the first fixing portions43are locked correspondingly into the front grooves352and the rear grooves353to fix the first conduction terminals40. At the same time, when the first conduction terminals40are pushed forward, as shown inFIG. 12andFIG. 13, the first contact portions41are pushed forward into the grooves38such that the grooves38receive corresponding first contact portions41. Different changes can be made herein, e.g. forming only one spur (i.e. rear spur) on the first fixing portion, also forming only one groove (i.e. rear groove) on two side walls that form the first receiving slot such that the spur of the first fixing portion is locked inside the groove.

Moreover, the front end of the opening342of the recess portion34on the first surface322is of a closed structure, and the opening342of the recess portion34is bigger than the first contact portion41of the first conduction terminal40for the first contact portion41to run from up down through the opening342of the recess portion34and then to be fixed onto the second surface323of the tongue panel32. Secondly, the bending portion42of the first conduction terminal40is contained in a corresponding recess portion34and is completely shielded at the front by the front end surface321of the tongue panel32to be in a nearly parallel configuration with the front end surface321of the tongue panel32.

Please refer toFIG. 5andFIG. 6again, the positioning base7is fixed at the rear end of the insulative body3, the first welding portion44and the second welding portion53of the first conduction terminal40and the second conduction terminal50are inserted into corresponding positioning slots71with the ends thereof extending out of the positioning slots71.

The shielding shell6wraps around the peripheral surface of the insulative body3, and the backboard62covers the positioning base7. Moreover, the shielding shell6forms a plug-in space63having a socket631, the tongue panel32, as well as the first contact portions41and the second contact portions51of the conduction terminals4, are correspondingly disposed inside the plug-in space63for another connector (not shown) to be inserted into the plug-in space63through the socket631so as to contact the first contact portions41or the second contact portions51. The first conduction terminals40are used to transmit USB3.0 signals, while the second conduction terminals50are used to transmit USB2.0 signals.

According to the above description, with the assembly structure between the recess portions of the insulative body and the first contact portions of the first conduction terminals, the depicted disclosure keeps the first conduction terminals from being exposed at the front end surface of the tongue panel, which can prevent ESD. Secondly, the first contact portion, the bending portion, the first fixing portion and the first welding portion of the first conduction terminal are connected end to end with their axis lines all on the same plane defined by the front to back extension direction and the up to down extension direction of the first conduction terminals, such that when the first conduction terminals are pressed and bent from a metal band, the horizontal distance between two neighboring first terminals can be reduced to improve the material utilization rate of the metal band, and the horizontal distance between two neighboring first terminals on the metal band at pressing can be designed the same as the horizontal distance between two neighboring first terminals when they are installed to the insulative body, such that during assembly, five first conduction terminals can be assembled to the insulative body together through a continuous metal band, making the assembly further convenient.

The above description is directed to preferred and exemplary embodiments and is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, all equivalent structural changes made according to specifications and drawings herein shall be encompassed into the scope defined by claims herein.