Electrical connector having reinforcing shell for mounting and operation

An electrical connector includes an insulative cover enclosing the terminal module via an overmolding process. The cover includes a base and a tongue portion extending forwardly from the base and forming opposite mating surfaces thereon. The terminal module includes a plurality of terminals retained in the insulator wherein a contacting section of the terminal is exposed upon the mating surface. A pair of reinforcing metal plates are disposed upon the terminal module and enclosed by said cover except front portions of said reinforcing metal plates exposed outside of the cover.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

1. Field of the Disclosure

The invention is an electrical connector, and particularly to the electrical connector having reinforced structure thereof.

2. Description of Related Arts

The traditional connector enclosed within the cylindrical holder, which is essentially linked by a cable, except the mating tongue and mounted upon a printed circuit board in the holder, includes an insulative cover enclosing the terminal module via an overmolding process while lacking the reliable metallic mechanism thereof to reinforce the whole connector structure, thus tending to be broken during some impact applied upon the connector.

A electrical connector with reliable strength thereof is desired.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

To achieve the above desire, an electrical connector includes an insulative cover enclosing the terminal module via an overmolding process. The cover includes a base and a tongue portion extending forwardly from the base and forming opposite mating surfaces thereon. The terminal module includes a plurality of terminals retained in the insulator wherein a contacting section of the terminal is exposed upon the mating surface. A pair of reinforcing metal plates are disposed upon the terminal module and enclosed in said cover except front portions thereof exposed outside of the cover.

An electrical connector assembly includes the aforementioned electrical connector enclosed within a cylindrical holder having a narrow slot extending along the longitudinal/axial direction wherein a root region of the tongue portion forms a pair of notches at two opposite ends along the longitudinal direction, to receive a portion the cylindrical holder, which is located at the inner end of the slot, and a distal end portion of sealing pole of the cap, respectively The reinforcing metal plates confront the narrow slot in a direction perpendicular to the tongue portion for efficiently resisting an impact, i.e., the shearing force, upon the tongue portion. A printed circuit board is disposed in the holder, on which the terminals, the reinforcing metal plates and the cover are mounted. The reinforcing metal plate further includes a mounting leg embedded within the mounting post of the cover for reinforcing securing between the cover and the printed circuit board.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring toFIGS. 1-10(A), an electrical connector assembly1000includes a cylindrical holder100extending along a longitudinal direction and an electrical connector unit200assembled in the holder100. The holder100includes a tube101and the cap102positioned upon one end of the tube101. The tube101has a narrow slot1010extending along the axial/longitudinal direction. The cap102includes a round lid1021and a sealing pole1022extending along one side of the lid1021. After assembled, the lid1021covers the end opening of the tube101and the sealing pole1022covers the slot1010.

The connector unit200includes a printed circuit board201, a pair of magnets202and the subject connector1which is mechanically and electrically connected to the printed circuit board201in a surface mounting manner. The pair of magnets are located by two ends of the connector1and mounted upon the same surface of the printed circuit board201for attracting the complement connector during mating. The printed circuit board201is equipped with an LED203on the other surface for indicating the status during mating. The electrical connector assembly1000further includes a restriction block103on the interior surface of the tube101for holding the connector unit200in position within the tube101.

The connector1includes a cover3enclosing a pair of terminal modules4and two reinforcing metal plates5. The two terminal modules4joined together as a terminal module subassembly (not labeled), are originally made to be discrete from each other while successively stacked in a vertical/transverse direction perpendicular to both the axial direction and the front-to-back direction, and integrally formed with each other via the cover3in an overmolding process wherein the two reinforcing metal plates5are also disposed upon the outer surfaces of the terminal modules4during the overmolding process. After the overmolding process, the cover3includes a base31and a tongue portion32extending forwardly from the base31.

The base31includes holes310. The tongue portion32forms opposite mating surfaces321and a front face323. Each mating surface321forms a recess322to reduce the mating force during mating. A root region of the tongue portion32forms a pair of notches for engagement within the notch1010.

The terminal module4includes a row of terminals41and an insulator42retaining the terminals41via an insert-molding process. The terminals includes the contacting sections411exposed upon the mating surface321, the tail sections413and the connecting sections412wherein the connecting sections are embedded within the insulator42while the contacting sections411and the tail sections413are exposed outside of the insulator42. In this embodiment, the contacting sections are coplanar with the mating surface, and located by two sides of the recess322equally.

The reinforcing metal plate5includes the opening50aligned with the hole420of the insulator42so as to receive the material of the cover3. The reinforcing metal plate5includes a main body51and a plurality of legs52extending rearwardly from the main body51. The main body51is intimately located upon the surface of the insulator42, and the legs52are mounted to the printed circuit board201, both of which reinforce the connector1in the holder100. Notably, when the electrical connector unit200is assembled into the tube101, a root region of the tongue portion32including front exposed portions (not labeled) of the reinforcing metal plates5are received within the slot1010so that any shearing force imposed upon the root region of the tongue portion32will be absorbed by the reinforcing metal plates5, thus avoiding breaking of the tongue portion32. In addition, the front exposed portions may be grounded with the complementary connector during mating.

The reinforcing metal plate5further includes a pair of connecting sections53and the pair of mounting legs54extending rearwardly from the connecting sections53. The mounting legs54of the two reinforcing metal plates5abut against each other in the transverse/vertical direction perpendicular to both the axial/longitudinal direction and the front-to-back direction. Notably, the cover3includes a pair of mounting posts311at two opposite ends. In this embodiment, the mounting legs54′ are terminated before reaching the corresponding mounting post311′ as shown inFIG. 11(A). Anyhow, in other embodiments as shown inFIG. 11(B), the mounting legs54″ extend into the corresponding mounting posts311″ for reinforcing the corresponding mounting posts311″, and inFIG. 11(C), the mounting legs54′″ further extend rearwardly beyond the corresponding shortened mounting posts311′″ for cooperating with the additional soldering in the corresponding holes of the printed circuit board for efficiently securing the connector1upon the printed circuit board201. In brief, the additional reinforcing metal plates5may not only reinforce the connector unit200in the holder100during mating but also reinforce the connector1upon the printed circuit board201.

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.