Electrical connector having an improved terminal

An electrical connector includes: an insulative housing comprising a base portion and a tongue portion extending forwardly from the base portion; a number of upper and low terminals mounted in the insulative housing and exposed to an upper surface and a lower surface of the tongue portion, the upper terminals and the lower terminals being equal in number, both the upper terminals and the lower terminals comprising five intermediate terminals arranged centrally in succession and one grounding terminal spaced from the five intermediate terminals by two terminal positions, each of the five intermediate terminals having a reserved space for not arranging a terminal, the five intermediate terminals comprising an auxiliary terminal; and a shielding plate disposed between the upper terminals and the lower terminals.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

1. Field of the Disclosure

The present disclosure relates to an electrical connector, and more particularly to an electrical connector adapted for normally and reversely mating.

2. Description of Related Arts

China Patent No. 204315752 discloses a reversible or dual orientation USB Type-C connector comprising two rows of contacts. Each row of contacts includes a detecting terminal located at the fifth position, a positive signal terminal located at the sixth position, a negative signal located at the seventh position, a power terminal located at the ninth position, and a grounding terminal located at the twelfth position. The electrical connector is not designed to deliver high current or auxiliary signal.

An improved electrical connector is desired.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

Accordingly, an object of the present disclosure is to provide an electrical connector adapted for normally and reversely mating.

To achieve the above object, an electrical connector comprises: an insulative housing comprising a base portion and a tongue portion extending forwardly from the base portion; a plurality of upper and low terminals mounted in the insulative housing and exposed to an upper surface and a lower surface of the tongue portion, the upper terminals and the lower terminals being equal in number, both the upper terminals and the lower terminals comprising five intermediate terminals arranged centrally in succession and one grounding terminal spaced from the five intermediate terminals by two terminal positions, each of the five intermediate terminals having a reserved space for not arranging a terminal, the five intermediate terminals comprising an auxiliary terminal; and a shielding plate disposed between the upper terminals and the lower terminals.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the present disclosure. The insertion direction is a front-to-rear direction.

Referring toFIGS. 1 to 13, an electrical connector100includes an insulative housing2, a number of conductive terminals4arranged in two rows, a shielding plate6, and a shielding shell7enclosing the insulative housing2. The electrical connector100is of a sink-type that is suspended in a groove of a printed circuit board (not shown) in the electronic device (not shown).

Referring toFIGS. 1 to 13, the insulative housing2includes a base portion21and a tongue portion22extending forwardly from the base portion21. The base portion21includes a number of front resisting grooves211surrounding a front end of the base portion and a number of rear resisting grooves212surrounding a rear end of the base portion. The insulative housing2further includes a pair of lateral slots221located at two lateral sides of the tongue portion for mating with a corresponded electrical connector. The tongue portion22defines an upper surface and a lower surface opposite to the upper surface. The tongue portion22includes a number of receiving grooves241respectively located at the upper surface and the lower surface. The insulative housing2includes a first insulator23and a second insulator25. The first insulator23includes the base portion21and a first tongue portion24extending forwardly from the base portion21. The first tongue portion24and the second insulator25form the tongue portion22.

Referring toFIGS. 5 to 13, the conductive terminals4arranged in two rows include a number of upper terminals41and a number of lower terminals42. Each conductive terminal4includes a front contacting portion401exposed to the upper surface or the lower surface of the tongue portion22, a middle fixing portion402partially affixed to the tongue portion22and the base portion21, and a rear soldering/tail portion403extending outwardly from the base portion21.

Arrangement of the upper terminals41and the lower terminals42on the tongue portion22is generally symmetrical in the sense that orientation of the electrical connector can be flipped. As shown inFIG. 14, twelve terminal positions, A1through A12from left to right, are defined on the upper surface of the tongue portion22and twelve terminal positions, B1through B12from right to left, are defined on the lower surface of the tongue portion22. The six upper terminals41occupy the positions A5, A6, A7, A8, A9, and A12while the six lower terminals42occupy the positions B5, B6, B7, B8, B9, and B12. Each row of the conductive terminals4includes four first contacts43occupying the positions A5, A6, A7, A8, one power terminal occupying the position A9, and one grounding terminal occupying the position A12. The first contacts43are a detecting terminal occupying the position A5, a USB2.0 positive signal terminal occupying the position A6, a USB2.0 negative signal terminal occupying the position A7, and an auxiliary terminal occupying the position A8. The detecting terminal occupying the position A5, the USB2.0 positive signal terminal occupying the position A6, the USB2.0 negative signal terminal occupying the position A7, the auxiliary terminal occupying the position A8and the power terminal occupying the position A9are called intermediate terminals. There is a respective reserved space formed between every two adjacent terminals of the five intermediate terminals. The auxiliary terminal is disposed at eighth position A8out of the twelve terminal positions on the tongue portion22and can be used for transmitting required signals as needed. There is no conductive terminal at the first through the fourth terminal positions, the tenth terminal position, and the eleventh terminal position in order to form a space. The space enlarges the distance between the conductive terminals4, enabling the electrical connector100to conduct large current of about 3 A to 5 A. Each first contact43includes a front portion431and an ear432extending laterally from the contacting portion401. The reserved space receives the ears432that is to be pressed by molds during manufacturing.

The upper terminals41and the lower terminals42are equal in number and each includes six conductive terminals4. Each contacting portion401of the upper terminals41is positioned in reverse symmetry with respect to a respective one of the lower terminals42. The auxiliary terminal could transmit auxiliary signal according to specialized demand increasing the diversity of the signal transmission.

Referring toFIGS. 5 to 13, the shielding plate6is planar and has a main portion61. The shielding plate6further includes a left section62, a right section63arranged in symmetry with the left section62, and a connecting arm64connecting the left section62and the right section63.

Referring toFIGS. 1 to 4, the shielding shell7includes a top wall71, a bottom wall72opposite to the top wall, and a pair of lateral walls73connecting the top wall71and the bottom wall72for forming a mating room700. The shielding shell7includes a number of front resisting portions74located at the top wall71and the bottom wall72, a number of rear resisting portions75located at the top wall71and the bottom wall72, a number of dimples or tubers76located at the top wall71and the bottom wall72, and a number of fixing pins77located at the lateral walls73. The front resisting portions74and the rear resisting portions75are bent and formed in the mating room700by shearing and forming operation. The tubers76protrude into the mating room700by stamping and forming operation. Corresponding shielding shell of a mating electrical connector contacts the tubers76for grounding. The fixing pins77are symmetrically disposed on both lateral walls73and are bent outwardly by shearing and forming operation.

Referring toFIGS. 1 to 14, the upper terminals41, the lower terminals42, the shielding plate6and the first insulator23are insert molded to be an integrated unit. Firstly, during insert molding, the upper terminals41, the lower terminals42, and the left section62and the right section63of the shielding plate6are resisted in the vertical direction by the mold. The first contacts43are resisted in the vertical direction by way of the ears432. Secondly molten insulative material are insert molded with the upper terminals41, the lower terminals42, and the shielding plate6. Eventually the mold is withdrawn and cutoff bridges of the conductive terminals4exposed to the receiving grooves241are severed.

The shielding plate is sandwiched between the upper terminals and the lower terminals. The contacting portion401of the upper terminals41are exposed to an upper surface of the first tongue portion24. The contacting portion401of the lower terminals42are exposed to a lower surface of the first tongue portion24. A number of front ends of the contacting portions401of the power terminals and the grounding terminals of the upper terminals41and the lower terminals42are embedded in a front end of the first tongue portion24. The front portions431of the first contacts43of the upper terminals41and lower terminals42are embedded in the front end of the first tongue portion24. The front portions431of the first contacts43of the lower terminal42are laterally offset with respect to the front portions431of the first contacts43of the upper terminal41for allowing the mold from resisting against and preventing the first contacts43of the two rows of conductive terminals4from connecting with each other. The soldering portions403of the upper terminals41and the lower terminals42are engaged in a row in a transverse direction.

The receiving grooves241are allocated among the first terminal position to forth terminal position, the tenth terminal position to the eleventh terminal position and between the first contacts43. The lower surfaces of the power terminal and the grounding terminal of the upper terminals41are partially exposed to the receiving grooves241. The upper surfaces of the power terminal and the grounding terminal of the lower terminal42are partially exposed to the receiving grooves241. The ears432of the first contacts43of the upper terminals41and the lower terminals42are exposed to the receiving grooves241. The left section62and the right section63of the shielding plate6are partially exposed to the receiving grooves241. The ears432of the lower terminals42, the connecting arm of the shielding plate6, and the ears432of the upper terminals41are offset from each other in the front-to-rear direction.

The second insulator25is insert-molded with the integrated unit. The second insulator25fills in the receiving grooves241and encloses the front portions431of the first contacts43. The two lateral sides of the main portion61extend outwardly from two sides of the tongue portion22for mating with the corresponded electrical connector.

The insulative housing2affixed with the conductive terminals2and the shielding plate6is assembled to the shielding shell7along a rear-to-front direction opposite to the front-to-rear direction. The front resisting portions74of the shielding shell7resist rearward against the front resisting grooves211while the rear resisting portions75of the shielding shell7resist forwardly against the rear resisting grooves212for fixing the insulative housing2in the front-to-rear direction and the rear-to-front direction. The fixing pins77are mounted to a printed circuit board (not shown) of an electrical device (not shown). The soldering portions403of the upper terminals41and the lower terminals42are soldered to the print circuit board.

In the embodiment, the shielding plate6is not connected with the shielding shell7rather they are connected with a mating electrical connector for grounding purpose. In other embodiments, the shielding plate6includes a pair of grounding pins (not shown) located at two sides of the main portion61. The grounding pins extend outwardly from the base portion21to connect with an inner surface of the shielding shell7for grounding.

Compared with the prior arts, the electrical connector100of the present invention has a total of twelve conductive terminals4, which not only meets USB2.0 specification, large current applications from 3 A to 5 A, and is intermateable with Type C plug, but also transmits auxiliary signals as needed. The ears431of the first contacts43contribute to the mold resisting against the first contacts43making the process easier and improving yield. Notably, on one hand, the left ear and the right ear of each contact are offset from each other in the front-to-back direction for preventing interfering with the ears of the neighboring contact in the same row; on the other hand, for the paired upper terminal and lower terminal aligned with each other in the vertical direction, the ears of the upper terminal are offset from those of the corresponding lower terminal in the front-to-back direction so as to prevent interference of the corresponding mold used for supporting the upper terminal and that used for supporting the lower terminal. It is also noted that as mentioned before the front portions431of the upper terminals41are offset from the front portions431of the lower terminals42in both the front-to-back direction an the transverse direction wherein on one hand, the front portions431of the upper terminals41are located behind the front portions431of the lower terminals42; one the other hand, the front portions431of the upper terminals41are essentially aligned with the corresponding contacting portions401in the front-to-back direction while the front portions431of the lower terminals42are offset from the corresponding contacting portions401in the transverse direction. It is also noted that as shown inFIG. 7, the front portions431of the upper terminals41are hidden behind the first insulator23while the front portions431of the lower terminals42are exposed outside of the first insulator. Anyhow, the front portions431of the upper terminals41and those of the lower terminals42are both hidden behind the second insulator25which is applied upon the first insulator23. Referring toFIGS. 12-13, another feature of the invention is to have the tail portions403of the upper terminals41arranged with two groups each having three as well as those of the lower terminals42, and further alternately arranged with each other so as to have three tail portions403of the upper terminals41, three tail portions403of the lower terminals42, three tail portions403of the upper terminals41and three tail portions403of the lower terminals42in sequence with equal intervals along the transverse direction wherein the tail portions are aligned with the corresponding terminal positions along the front-to-back direction in a top view.

While a preferred embodiment in accordance with the present disclosure has been shown and described, equivalent modifications and changes known to persons skilled in the art according to the spirit of the present disclosure are considered within the scope of the present disclosure as described in the appended claims.