Electrical connection device

An electrical connection device comprises: a receptacle connector and a plug connector. The receptacle connector comprises a receptacle body, a front guide-positional limiting portion, a rear guide-positional limiting portion and a first latching member. The plug connector removably mates with the receptacle connector, and comprises a plug body and a second latching member, when the plug connector mates with the receptacle connector, the second latching member of the plug connector is latched to the first latching member of the receptacle connector and limited by the front guide-positional limiting portion, and the rear guide-positional limiting portion of the receptacle connector engages with a recessed portion of the plug connector, so that two side walls of the plug connector are respectively exposed to two side openings of the receptacle connector and generally flush with two side walls of the receptacle connector.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to Taiwanese Application No. 106204241, filed Mar. 27, 2017, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a connector, and more particularly to an electrical connection device.

BACKGROUND ART

In existing electrical connector assembly, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,146,181 (corresponding to Taiwanese Patent Application No.TW88119860) discloses a locking electrical connector for locking a plug and a header together. The locking electrical connector has interlocking portions for fixing the plug to the header. Specifically, when the plug and header are connected, the plug is mounted in a travel direction of pins, the pins are received by electrical contact portions respectively via openings of the header and plug. First interlocking portions positioned on a first side of the plug are interlocked with corresponding interlocking portions on a first surface of the header. The first interlocking portions of the plug comprise cams or other similarly shaped protruding members which are received by corresponding receiving portions (on the first surface of the header). Similarly, a second interlocking portion of the header interlocks with a second interlocking portion of the plug.

However, the interlocking structure of the abovementioned locking electrical connector has no function of guiding-positional limiting, therefore, when the plug is inserted into the header, it is easy to improperly insert due to misalignment.

SUMMARY

Therefore, an object of the present disclosure is to provide an electrical connection device which may improve the shortcomings of the prior art.

Another object of the present disclosure is to provide an electrical connection device which may reduce the whole dimension.

Therefore, in some embodiments, an electrical connection device of the present disclosure comprises a receptacle connector and a plug connector. The receptacle connector comprises a receptacle body, a front guide-positional limiting portion, a rear guide-positional limiting portion and a first latching member, the receptacle body comprises a base, a front wall and a rear wall which extend upwardly from the base and two side walls respectively positioned on left and right sides, the base, the front wall and the rear wall cooperate to define a plug receiving space, the two side walls each are formed with a side opening communicating with the plug receiving space, the front guide-positional limiting portion comprises the front wall and a guide groove positioned to the front wall and extending along an inserting direction, the rear guide-positional limiting portion comprises the rear wall and at least one rear guide-positional limiting piece formed to the rear wall, the first latching member is provided to the front guide-positional limiting portion. The plug connector removably mates with the receptacle connector along the inserting direction and comprises a plug body and a second latching member, the plug body has a front wall, a rear wall, two side walls respectively positioned on left and right sides, the rear wall of the plug body is recessed to form a recessed portion, the recessed portion is formed with a guide recessed groove into which the rear guide-positional limiting piece of the receptacle connector extends, the second latching member is provided to the front wall of the plug body. When the plug connector mates with the receptacle connector, the plug body is inserted into the plug receiving space of the receptacle body and limited between the front wall of the front guide-positional limiting portion and the rear wall of the rear guide-positional limiting portion, the second latching member of the plug connector is latched to the first latching member of the receptacle connector and limited by the front guide-positional limiting portion, the rear guide-positional limiting piece of the receptacle body extends into the guide recessed groove and the rear wall engages with the recessed portion of the plug body, the rear wall of the plug connector is generally flush with the rear wall of the receptacle connector, the two side walls of the plug body are respectively exposed to the two side openings of the receptacle body and generally flush with the two side walls of the receptacle body.

In some embodiments, the front guide-positional limiting portion of the receptacle body comprises two front guide-positional limiting pieces extending forwardly respectively from the front wall of the receptacle body, the two front guide-positional limiting pieces and the front wall cooperate to define the guide groove, the first latching member is positioned between the two front guide-positional limiting pieces, when the plug connector mates with the receptacle connector, the second latching member is positioned between the two front guide-positional limiting pieces, and the front wall of the receptacle body is positioned between the front wall of the plug connector and the second latching member.

In some embodiments, the first latching member of the receptacle connector is a latch block protruding from the front wall of the receptacle body, the second latching member of the plug connector defines a latching groove, when the second latching member is latched to the first latching member, the latch block is positioned within the latching groove.

In some embodiments, the second latching member is a general U-shaped structure and surrounds to define the latching groove, and both back ends of the U-shaped structure extend backwardly to connect with the front wall of the plug connector.

In some embodiments, the front wall of the receptacle body is formed with two grooves, the two grooves split the front wall of the receptacle body into two side column portions and the first latching member positioned between the two side column portions, the first latching member comprises an elastic plate portion and a latching block protruding inwardly from an end of the elastic plate portion toward the plug receiving space, the guide groove is formed between an inner surface of the elastic plate portion and the two side column portions; the second latching member is a latch block protruding from the front wall of the plug body.

In some embodiments, a thickness of the elastic plate portion of the first latching member is thinner than a thickness of each of the two side column portions and a width of the second latching member in a left-right direction is smaller than a width between the two side column portions, when the plug connector mates with the receptacle connector, the second latching member of the plug connector is positioned with the guide groove and limited between the two side column portions.

In some embodiments, the rear wall of the receptacle body is formed with the three rear guide-positional limiting pieces, the recessed portion of the plug connector is formed with the three guide recessed grooves.

In some embodiments, the plug body is formed with a plurality of terminal grooves, each terminal groove has a terminal mounting hole and a mating insertion hole which are communicated, the plug connector further comprises plug terminals respectively for fixing to end segments of a pair of cables and mounting in the terminal grooves, each plug terminal comprises a mating portion positioned to the mating insertion hole, a tail portion for clamping and fixing one cable and a stepped connecting portion connecting the mating portion and the tail portion, the mating portion is close to the front wall of the plug body relative to the tail portion and the tail portion is close to the rear wall of the plug body relative to the mating portion, the receptacle connector further comprises receptacle terminals to respectively mate with the mating portions of the plug terminals, when the mating portion of the plug terminal mates with the receptacle terminal, the cable is offset from the receptacle terminal in the inserting direction without contact.

In some embodiments, a position of the recessed portion corresponds to a position of the mating portion of the plug terminal.

In some embodiments, the stepped connecting portion of each plug terminal extends obliquely.

The present disclosure at least has the following effects: the thickness of the elastic plate portion of the first latching member is thinner than the thickness of each of the side column portions, thus the guide-positional limiting portion is formed, and the width of the second latching member in the left-right direction is smaller than the width between the side column portions, when the plug connector mates with the receptacle connector, the first latching member of the plug connector can slip in the guide-positional limiting portion and is limited between the side column portions. The guide recessed grooves of the plug connector are respectively guided and limited by the rear guide-positional limiting pieces of the receptacle connector such that the rear wall of the receptacle connector is received in the recessed portion of the plug connector, and in turn the rear wall of the plug connector is generally flush with the rear wall of the receptacle connector, and the left, right side walls of the plug connector are respectively positioned to the two side openings of the receptacle connector, the left, right side walls of the plug connector are respectively flush with the left, right side walls of the receptacle connector, which in turn the whole dimension of the electrical connection device is reduced. Through the structural design of the stepped connecting portion of each plug terminal, when the mating portion of the plug terminal mates with the receptacle terminal, the conductor of the cable is offset from the receptacle terminal in the inserting direction without contact, which helps to make the dimension of each plug terminal short.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Before the present disclosure is described in detail, it should be noted that similar elements are indicated as the same reference numeral in the following description.

The following description relates to specific embodiments in combination with figures which may implement the present disclosure. Representations of directions, such as up, down, front, rear, left, right and the like, in the present disclosure are only the directions shown in the figures. Therefore, representations of directions are only used for explanation, but are not used to limit the present disclosure.

Referring toFIG. 1,FIG. 2andFIG. 3, a first embodiment of an electrical connection device of the present disclosure comprises a receptacle connector1and a plug connector2which are mated along an inserting direction I (an up-down direction shown in the figures).

The receptacle connector1comprises a receptacle body110, a front guide-positional limiting portion121, a rear guide-positional limiting portion19and a first latching member122. The receptacle body110comprises a base11, a front wall12and a rear wall13which extend upwardly from the base11and are spaced apart in a front-rear direction and two side walls16respectively positioned on left and right sides, the base11, the front wall12, the rear wall13and the side walls16cooperate to define a plug receiving space14, each side wall16is formed with a side opening140communicating with the plug receiving space14. In the embodiment, the front guide-positional limiting portion121comprises the front wall12, two front guide-positional limiting pieces121aprotruding forwardly from an outer wall surface of the front wall12and extending along the inserting direction I and a guide groove121bwhich is defined cooperatively by the two front guide-positional limiting pieces121aand the front wall12and extends along the inserting direction I; and the first latching member122is configured as a latch block and positioned within the guide groove121band between the two front guide-positional limiting pieces121a.In an embodiment, preferably, the two front guide-positional limiting pieces121amay be respectively aligned with the two side walls16, but may be not aligned with the side walls16. In an embodiment, preferably, the front wall12is higher than the rear wall13, but the present disclosure is not limit to this. In an embodiment, preferably, the latch block of the first latching member122is configured to have an inclined guide surface122apositioned above along the inserting direction I and a latching surface122bpositioned at a lower end along the inserting direction I, the latching surface122bis configured as a sloped surface with a large angle of inclination.

The rear guide-positional limiting portion19comprises the rear wall13of the receptacle body110and at least one rear guide-positional limiting piece131formed to the rear wall13and extending along the inserting direction I, in the illustrated embodiment, the rear guide-positional limiting portion19comprises the three rear guide-positional limiting pieces131formed to the rear wall13and protruding inwardly toward the plug receiving space14. Preferably, the left and right rear guide-positional limiting pieces131of the three rear guide-positional limiting pieces131are aligned with the two side walls16, the third rear guide-positional limiting piece131is positioned between the left and right rear guide-positional limiting pieces131, but the left and right rear guide-positional limiting pieces131also may be not aligned with the side walls16. The receptacle connector1further comprises two receptacle terminals15provided to the base11and positioned within the plug receiving space14.

The plug connector2comprises a plug body21and a second latching member22. The plug body21has a front wall211, a rear wall212, left and right side walls213,214. In addition, the plug body21further has a mating end surface21bfor facing the receptacle connector1when mating and a back end surface21aopposite to the mating end surface21b.The plug body21is provided with two terminal grooves20passing through the back end surface21aand the mating end surface21bof the plug body21along the inserting direction I, each terminal groove20has a mating insertion hole202(seeFIG. 3) toward the mating end surface21band a terminal mounting hole201(seeFIG. 4) toward the back end surface21a,the terminal mounting holes201are used for the insertion of plug terminals3mounted with cables4, which will be described later.

The second latching member22is integrally provided to the front wall211of the plug body21, and spaced apart from the front wall211, In the embodiment, the second latching member22is a generally U-shaped structure, the U-shaped structure defines a latching groove221, both back ends of the U-shaped structure of the second latching member22extend toward the back end surface21ato connect with the front wall211of the plug body21and the U-shaped structure extends toward the mating end surface21band is spaced apart from the front wall211of the plug body21. And a region of the rear wall212of the plug body21generally corresponding to the rear wall13of the receptacle connector1is formed with a recessed portion216, the recessed portion216is recessed relative to a surface of the rear wall212to form a step portion216a,and the recessed portion216further comprises three guide recessed grooves217recessed deeper along the inserting direction I, two of the three guide recessed grooves217are exposed to the left, right side walls213,214of the plug body21, respectively, the other guide recessed groove217is provided between the aforementioned two guide recessed grooves217, positions of the three guide recessed grooves217respectively correspond to the three rear guide-positional limiting pieces131of the rear wall13of the receptacle connector1and the three rear guide-positional limiting pieces131may slip in and may be received in the three guide recessed grooves217respectively.

Referring toFIG. 3toFIG. 5andFIG. 9, the two plug terminals3are used to respectively fix to end segments of the two cables4and mount in the two terminal grooves20of the plug connector2. Each plug terminal3comprises a mating portion31, a tail portion32, and a stepped connecting portion33. Specifically, the tail portion32has a conductor fixed section321and an insulator fixed section322which are connected, the insulator fixed section322is used to clamp and fix a portion of the cable4covered with an insulation layer42, and the conductor fixed section321is used to clamp and fix a section of the cable4which the insulation layer42is removed and the conductor41is exposed. The mating portion31is a generally clamp-shaped structure, the stepped connecting portion33obliquely extends to connect the mating portion31and the tail portion32. When the plug terminal3is mounted in the terminal groove20, the tail portion32is positioned within the terminal mounting hole201, the mating portion31is positioned to the mating insertion hole202of the terminal groove20, and provision of the oblique structure of the stepped connecting portion33makes the mating portion31close to the front wall211of the plug body21relative to the tail portion32and the tail portion32close to the rear wall212of the plug body21relative to the mating portion31.

Referring toFIG. 1,FIG. 2andFIG. 6toFIG. 8, when inserting, the plug body21of the plug connector2is inserted into the plug receiving space14of the receptacle connector1along the inserting direction I and limited between the front wall12of the front guide-positional limiting portion121and the rear wall13of the rear guide-positional limiting portion19in the front-rear direction, during the insertion of the plug connector2into the receptacle connector1, firstly, the front wall12of the receptacle connector1extends between the front wall211and the second latching member22of the plug connector2and the second latching member22is inserted into the guide groove121b,and both sides of the second latching member22are limited by the two front guide-positional limiting pieces121ain a left-right direction and guided by the insertion along the inserting direction Ito slip downwardly along the guide groove121b,until the second latching member22is guided by the inclined guide surface122aof the latch block of the first latching member122so that the second latching member22is elastically deformed, after passing the first latching member122, the latching groove221of the second latching member22and the latching surface23bat the lower end of the latch block of the first latching member122form a latching due to elastic recovery of the second latching member22, as shown inFIG. 8, the first latching member122is positioned within the latching groove221of the second latching member22as latching and positional limiting in the inserting direction I, and the latching surface122bwith the large angle of inclination may prevent the latch block of the first latching member122from being easily separated from the latching groove221of the second latching member22. In addition, in the process of inserting, the rear wall13of the base11of the receptacle connector1is positioned within the recessed portion216of the plug connector2and the three rear guide-positional limiting pieces131of the receptacle connector1also respectively slip into the three guide recessed grooves217of the plug connector2as positional limiting in left-right direction and inserting guidance along the inserting direction I. And a top edge of the rear wall13of the receptacle body110may abut against the step portion216aof the recessed portion216of the plug body21, which acts as a positioning position for completion of insertion, but the top edge of the rear wall13of the receptacle body110is not required to abut against the step portion216aof the recessed portion216of the plug body21, it may be also that the mating end surface21bof the plug connector2may abut against the base11of the receptacle connector1as the positioning position for completion of insertion. After the insertion is completed, the two side walls213of the plug connector2are exposed to the side openings140at both sides of the receptacle connector2, preferably, the two side walls213of the plug connector2are generally flush with the two side walls16of the receptacle connector1, also, the rear wall13of the base11of the receptacle connector1is positioned within the recessed portion216of the plug connector2, preferably, the rear wall212of the plug connector2is also generally flush with the rear wall13of the receptacle connector1.

And at the part of the receptacle terminal15, referring toFIG. 9, when the plug connector2mates with the receptacle connector1, the receptacle terminal15of the receptacle connector1extends into the mating insertion hole202of the plug connector2and enters into the clamp-shaped structure of the mating portion31of the plug terminal3to contact with the mating portion31, so that the plug terminal3contacts with electrically connected with the receptacle terminal15.

In the present disclosure, by the provision of the second latching member22of the plug connector2and the front guide-positional limiting portion121of the receptacle connector1, when the plug connector2mates with the receptacle connector1, besides the front guide-positional limiting portion121may guide the second latching member22, the front guide-positional limiting portion121may limit the second latching member22in the left-right direction, so that the plug connector2can be inserted into the receptacle connector1accurately and stably. In addition, the provision of the recessed portion216of the plug connector2and the rear guide-positional limiting pieces131of the receptacle connector1may also function of guiding the mating of the receptacle connector1with the plug connector2and positional limiting, by that the rear guide-positional limiting portion19of the receptacle connector1engages with and positioned within the recessed portion216of the plug connector2, and in turn the rear wall212of the plug connector2is generally flush with the rear wall13of the receptacle connector1, and the left, right side walls213,214of the plug connector2are respectively positioned in the two side openings140of the receptacle connector1, the left, right side walls213,214of the plug connector2are respectively flush with the left, right side walls16of the receptacle connector1, a whole dimension of the electrical connection device is reduced.

And at the part of the plug terminal3, referring toFIG. 9, in the present disclosure, by the provision of the stepped connecting portion33, when the mating portion31of the plug terminal3mates with the receptacle terminal15, the conductor41of the cable4is offset from the receptacle terminal15in the inserting direction I without contact, in other words, the conductor41of the cable4and the receptacle terminal15may allowed to overlap in a direction perpendicular to the inserting direction I but do not contact with each other, which in turn helps to make the dimension of the plug connector2short; moreover, in the present disclosure, by the provision of the stepped connecting portion33of the plug terminal3, the rear wall212of the plug body21can have enough space to form the recessed portion216to make the position of the recessed portion216correspond to the position of the mating portion31of the plug terminal3. In addition, as shown inFIG. 9, in the embodiment, a latching step portion218positioned within the mating insertion hole212is further formed in the terminal groove20of the plug body21, the mating portion31of each plug terminal3is formed with a latching member311protruding outwardly and being latched to the corresponding latching step portion218, so each the plug terminal3can be firmly mounted in the plug connector2.

Referring toFIG. 10toFIG. 12, a second embodiment of the electrical connection device of the present disclosure is illustrated, compared to the first embodiment, besides it is different in the front guide-positional limiting portion of the receptacle connector1, a structure of the first latching member of the receptacle connector1and a structure of the second latching member of the plug connector2also are different.

In the second embodiment, the first latching member18of the receptacle connector1is an elastic hook structure formed to the front wall12′, the first latching member18comprises an elastic plate portion181and a latching block182, more specifically, the front wall12′ of the receptacle connector1of the embodiment is formed with two grooves123along a direction parallel to the inserting direction I, the two grooves123split the front wall12′ into two side column portions121′ and the first latching member18, the elastic plate portion181of the first latching member18is positioned between the two side column portions121′, the latching block182protrudes inwardly from an end of the elastic plate portion181toward the plug receiving space14. And in the embodiment, a thickness of the elastic plate portion181is thinner than a thickness of the front wall12′ so that a region between an inner surface of the elastic plate portion181facing the plug receiving space14and opposite side surfaces of the two side column portions121′ is recessed, so as to define a guide groove121b′ of the front wall12′ positioned between an inner surface of the elastic plate portion181and the two side column portions121′ and inwardly toward the plug receiving space14. And the second latching member23is a latch block integrally formed on the front wall211of the plug body21in the second embodiment, the latch block has an inclined guide surface23aat the bottom and a latching surface23bat an upper end, and a width of the latch block is smaller than a width of the guide groove121b′ of the front wall12′ in the left-right direction. The front guide-positional limiting portion17comprises the front wall12′ and the guide groove121b′ formed by the first latching member18and the two side column portions121′.

In combination with referring toFIG. 13andFIG. 14, when the plug connector2mates with the receptacle connector1, guided by the inclined guide surface23aof the latch block of the second latching member23, the latching block182of the first latching member18is pushed to displace outwardly and the elastic plate portion181is elastically deformed outwardly, and then the latch block of the second latching member23enters into the guide groove121b′, after the latch block of the second latching member23passes the latching block182of the first latching member18, the elastic plate portion181rebound such that the latching block182is latched to the latching surface23bat the upper end of the latch block of the second latching member23, meanwhile, the plug body21of the plug connector2is received in the plug receiving space14of the receptacle connector1, and the latch block of the second latching member23of the plug connector2is limited between the two side column portions121′ on both sides of the guide groove121b′ in the left-right direction and latched and limited by the first latching member18from above, so the mating of the plug connector2with the receptacle connector1is more stable and firm. Also, the guide recessed grooves217of the plug connector2are respectively guided and limited by the rear guide-positional limiting pieces131of the receptacle connector1such that the rear wall13of the receptacle connector1is received in the recessed portion216of the plug connector2, and in turn the rear wall212of the plug connector2is generally flush with the rear wall13of the receptacle connector1, and the left, right side walls213,214of the plug connector2are respectively positioned to the two side openings140of the receptacle connector1, the left, right side walls213,214of the plug connector2are respectively flush with the left, right side walls16of the receptacle connector1, which in turn the whole dimension of the electrical connection device is reduced. Also, in the illustrated embodiment, seeFIG. 14, the latching block182and the latching surface23bat the upper end of the latch block are latched horizontally, which thus has a stronger latch force, but they may be latched obliquely as the first embodiment.

The above described are only the embodiments of the present disclosure, which cannot limit the scope of the implementation of the present disclosure, that is, simple equivalent variations and modifications made according to the scope of the Claims and the description content of the present disclosure are still fallen within the scope of the present disclosure.