Electrical connector having complementary configurations of opposite contacts

An electrical receptacle connector includes an insulative housing forming a pair of receiving slots, two pairs of contacts are retained in the housing and located by two sides of the corresponding receiving slots, respectively. Each contact has a frame having four sides with a pair of first spring arms extending from two opposite sides toward each other and extending into the receiving slot with the corresponding contact points at different levels. A second spring arm extends from another side into the receiving slot. A deflection direction of the first spring arms is perpendicular to that of the second spring arm, and the first spring arms contact one side of the blade type contact of the plug connector and the second spring arm contacts another side of the blade type contact of the plug connector.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

1. Field of the Disclosure

The present disclosure relates to an electrical connector assembly, and more particularly to an electrical receptacle connector forming a pair of receiving slots each equipped with a pair of opposite contacts by two sides to sandwich the blade contact of a mating plug connector wherein each contact has a pair of spring beams spaced from each other with corresponding contacting points at different levels.

2. Description of Related Arts

U.S. Pat. No. 10,135,163 having the same applicant with the instant invention, discloses a receptacle connector including an insulative housing forming a plurality of receiving slots therein. A pair of opposite contacts are respectively disposed by two sides of each receiving slot. Each contact includes a planar frame body with a pair of spring beams extending toward each other in an offset manner having two corresponding contacting points at different levels. Therefore, the blade type contact of the mating plug connector received within the receiving slot is sandwiched between the pair of contacts with total four contacting points thereof in an offset and asymmetrical manner. Even though the multiple contact points benefit the retentional mating force between the mated plug connector and receptacle connector, the more stationary coupling between the pair of receptacle contacts and the blade type plug contact is preferred.

An improved electrical receptacle connector having paired receptacle contacts for sandwiching the corresponding blade type contact of the complementary plug connector is desired.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

An object of the invention is to provide a receptacle connector which can be mated with the plug connector in a more stable manner.

To achieve the above object, an electrical receptacle connector includes an insulative housing forming a pair of receiving slots, two pairs of contacts are retained in the housing and located by two sides of the corresponding receiving slots, respectively. Each contact has a frame having four sides with a pair of first spring arms extending from two opposite sides toward each other and extending into the receiving slot with the corresponding contact points at different levels. A second spring arm extends from another side into the receiving slot. A deflection direction of the first spring arms is perpendicular to that of the second spring arm, and the first spring arms contact one side of the blade type contact of the plug connector and the second spring arm contacts another side of the blade type contact of the plug connector. Both the first spring arms and the second spring arm are of a cantilevered type. The second spring arm may enhance the retention force between the receptacle contact and the plug contact. Alternately, the pair of first spring arms may be of a fixed beam rather than a cantilevered beam to significantly increase the formal force thereof during deflection. Under such situation, the second spring arm may be omitted optionally

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the present disclosure. The reference numerals are referred to the different embodiments, respectively.

Referring toFIGS. 1-8, an electrical connector assembly100includes the receptacle connector10and the plug connector20mated with each other. The receptacle connector10includes an insulative (receptacle) housing11, two pair of conductive receptacle contacts12and a metallic (receptacle) shell13enclosing the housing11. The plug connector20includes an insulative (plug) housing21, a pair of conductive plug contacts22and a metallic (plug) shell23enclosing the housing21.

The housing11includes a first mating face128and a first mounting face129opposite to the first mating face128. A pair of receiving slots110extend through both the first mating face128and the first mounting face129in a vertical direction. Each receiving slot110is surrounded by four walls111. Each receiving slot110is equipped with a pair of opposite receptacle contacts12by two sides of the receiving slot110and spaced from each other in a longitudinal direction perpendicular to the vertical direction. Each receptacle contact12include a frame body120surrounding a void. The frame body120is retained to the corresponding wall111. The metallic shell13is downwardly assembled to the housing11. The housing11includes a first block112received within a first notch131of the metallic shell13. The metallic shell13forms a first spring tang132engaged within a first recess113of the housing11. Therefore, the metallic shell13is secured to the insulative housing11.

The frame body120includes opposite first/lower side/bar121and second/upper side/bar123spaced from each other in the vertical direction, and opposite third/lateral side/bar125and four/lateral side/bar127spaced from each other in a transverse direction perpendicular to both the vertical direction and the longitudinal direction, and connecting the first side121and the second side123. A pair of barbs (not labeled) are formed on two opposite sides for retention. A pair of first spring arms124respectively extend from the first side121and the third side123in an offset manner along the transverse direction, and toward each other in the vertical direction with corresponding first contacting sections1240extending into the receiving slot110in an offset manner along the vertical direction. Notably, the pair of first contacting sections1240extend away from the frame body120with a same extent in the longitudinal direction and terminated at a same vertical plane. In each receiving slot110, the pair of first spring arms124of one of the paired receptacle contacts12are complementary/coupled with another pair of first spring arms124of the other of the paired receptacle contacts12along the vertical direction in an offset manner without interference therebetween. In other words, the first contacting section1240of one spring arm124of the one of the paired receptacle contacts12, which is located at a high position, complementarily confronts the first contacting section1240of the other of the paired receptacle contacts12, which is locate at a low position, in a cross-sectional plane, and the first contacting section1240of the other spring arm of the one of the paired receptacle contacts12, which is located low position, complementarily confronts the first contacting section1240of the other of the paired receptacle contacts12, which is located in a high position, in another cross-sectional plane spaced from the aforementioned cross-sectional plane in the transverse direction. In brief, the first spring arms124of one of the paired receptacle contacts12are complementary/coupled with those of the other of the paired receptacle contacts12in both the vertical direction and the longitudinal direction.

The receptacle contact12further includes a second spring arm126extending from the third side125and including a base1260connected to the third side of the frame body120and closer to the first side121than to the second side123, and a second contacting section1261extending from the base1260toward the second side123and into the receiving slot110. Notably, the second spring arms126of the paired receptacle contacts12are respectively located upon the corresponding walls111opposite to each other in the transverse direction. For each receptacle contact12, the deflection direction of the first spring arm124is perpendicular to that of the second spring arm126. The receptacle contact12further includes a leg122extending downwardly from the first side121. For each receptacle contact12, the second spring arm126is closer to one first spring arm124, which downwardly extends from the second side123and has the corresponding first contacting section1240at the lower position, than to the other first spring arm124which upwardly extends from the first side121and has the corresponding first contacting section1240at the upper position.

The housing21of the plug connector20has opposite second mating face211and second mounting face212, and a pair of retention slots213extending through both the second mating face211and second mounting face212. The plug contact22has a retention section221retained in the retention slot213, and a blade type mating section222extending beyond the second mating face211and inserted into the receiving slot110of the receptacle connector10to contact with the first contacting sections1240and the second contacting section1261of the paired receptacle contacts12.

In mating, the pair of plug contacts22of the plug connector20are inserted into the pair of receiving slots110of the receptacle connector10, respectively, along the mating/vertical direction. As mentioned before, the downwardly extending first spring arms124of the paired receptacle contacts12are offset from each other in the transverse direction, and the upwardly extending first spring arms124of the paired receptacle contacts are as well so that in a cross-sectional view, the upwardly extending first spring arm124of one of the paired receptacle contacts12couples with the downward extending first spring arm124of the other of the paired receptacle contacts12in a complementary/coupled manner without interference. Correspondingly, the blade type mating section222of the plug contact22includes two wide/spanning faces223and two narrow/edge faces224. The pair of first spring arms124of each of the paired receptacle contact12abuts against the same one wide face223and the second spring arm126abuts against one narrow face224. Therefore, each blade type mating section222is stably surrounded by four sides on the pair of wide faces223and the pair of narrow faces224by the pair of receptacle contacts12. In the plug connector20, the insulative housing21includes the second block214and the second recess215for engagement with the second notch231and the second spring tang232of the plug shell23.

One feature of the invention is that in the cross-sectional view the complementarily coupled upwardly extending first spring arm124of one of the pair of receptacle contacts12and downwardly extending first spring arm124of the other of the pair of receptacle contact12are overlapped in the vertical direction in a maximum manner. In other words, as shown inFIG. 7(A), the apex of the first contacting section1240crosses almost four fifths of a width D of the receiving slot110in the longitudinal direction, thus significantly enhancing the retention force with regard to the inserted blade type mating section222of the plug connector20. Understandably, compared with the symmetrically arranged contacting sections by two sides of the receiving slot of the paired receptacle contacts, the asymmetrically and complementarily arranged paired receptacle contacts12may such an enhancement benefit advantageously. Anyhow, to achieve this feature, the apex of the contacting section1240had better not be located at the mid-position of the receiving slot110in the vertical direction but either above or below the mid-position so as to result in different positions of the pair of spring arms124in the vertical direction. Clearly, in each receptacle contact12the pair of first spring arms124prefer to be same with each other; otherwise, no perfect complementary/coupled arrangement may be obtained for the paired receptacle contacts in the same receiving slot110. In this embodiment, in each receptacle contact12the contacting section1240of one first spring arm124should be symmetrically arranged with that of the other first spring arm124with regard to the mid-position of the receiving slot110in the vertical direction. In this embodiment, the pair of first spring arms124share the same name; anyhow, the pair of spring arms124can be respectively named as the first spring arm/beam and the second spring arm/beam for easy illustration. Thus, the original second spring arm126can be rename as the third spring arm/beam alternately. In another embodiment, the pair of first spring arms maybe extend from the same lower bar or upper bar as long as the contacting sections of the pair of spring arms are located at different positions in the vertical direction. In this embodiment, in a side view the contacting sections of the pair of spring arms extend beyond the mid-level between the upper and lower sides and further pass each other in the vertical direction; alternately, in another embodiment, in a side view the contacting sections of the pair of first spring arms may be stopped before reaching each other in the vertical direction.

Referring toFIGS. 9-15, a connector100includes an insulative housing1, two pairs of contacts2retained in the housing, and a metallic shell3enclosing the housing1. The housing1includes a mating face11and a mounting face12opposite to the mating face11, and four side faces13. A pair of receiving slots101extend through both the mating face11and the mounting face12. A divider14is formed between the pair of receiving slots101. A pair of retention slots102are formed in the housing1beside each receiving slot101. Each contact2is received within the retention slot101. Notably, the retention slot102extends through the mounting face12to allow the contact2to be assembled upwardly thereinto. Similar to the first embodiment, the face13forms a recess131to receive a spring tang311of the shell3therein, and another face13forms a block132to be received within a notch312of the shell3, thus assuring securement between the housing1and the shell3. The housing1further includes a pair of positioning posts15and four standoffs16at four corners. The shell forms a shielding portion31covering four faces13of the housing. A pair of securing legs313extend downwardly from the bottom edge of the shielding portion31.

Each contact2is of a plate structure includes a first/lower side/bar21, a second/upper side/bar22opposite to each other in the vertical direction, and a pair of lateral sides/bars23connected therebetween so as to form a frame body. A leg24extends downward from the first side21. A first spring arm25and a second spring arm26commonly unitarily extend between the first side21and the seconds side26in a fixed beam type. The first spring arm25forms a first spring section251extending into the receiving slot101in the longitudinal direction, and the second spring arm26forms a second contacting section261extending into the receiving slot101as well. The first contacting section251is lower than the second contacting section in the vertical direction and closer to the first side21than to the second side22. Analogous to the first embodiment, the distance between the first contacting section251and the first side21is equal to that between the second contacting section261.

Notably, each receiving slot101is equipped with a pair of contacts2by two sides spaced with each other in the longitudinal direction. Therefore, the first spring arm25of one of the pair of contacts2is aligned with the second spring arm26of the other of the pair of contacts2in the longitudinal direction, and vice versa. Similar to those in the first embodiment, in a cross-sectional view the coupled first spring arm25and second spring arm26are overlapped in the vertical direction in a complementary/coupled manner. Each first spring arm25and each second spring arm26forms a slit27for stress relief consideration during mating. Understandably, in this embodiment, the third sides23may be omitted because both the first spring arm25and the second spring arm26inherently link the first side21and the second side22together due to characters of the fixed beam structure thereof. Similar to the first embodiment, the housing1further includes a recess103behind the retention slot102to allow deflection of the first/second spring arm25/26. In brief, the apex of the first contacting section251and that of the second contacting section261had better be symmetrically arranged with each other with regard to the mid-level/position of the receiving slot101in the vertical direction so as to achieve the complementary/coupled arrangement between the coupled first spring arm251of one of the pair of contacts2and second spring arm261of the other of the pair of contacts2in a cross-sectional 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.