Electrical connector

An electrical connector including an insulating body, a plurality of terminals disposed in the insulating body, a first shell, and a second shell is provided. The insulating body has a front side and a rear side opposite to each other, and has a protruding portion located at the rear side. The first shell is sheathed on the insulating body to form an insertion space located at the front side. The second shell is superposed on the first shell and has a locking hole at the rear side, wherein the protruding portion is locked with the locking hole, such that the second shell is fixed to the insulating body.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the priority benefit of Taiwan application serial no. 109203052, filed on Mar. 18, 2020. The entirety of the above-mentioned patent application is hereby incorporated by reference herein and made a part of this specification.

BACKGROUND

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to an electrical connector.

Description of Related Art

As the amount of data transmitted between electronic devices continuously increases, in order to provide users with a more user-friendly experience, the speed of transmitting signals between electronic devices increases. An electrical connector is an electronic signal communication bridge between different electronic devices, so it is frequently applied to various electronic devices with the above situation.

However, under the trend of downsizing electronic device bodies, the size of an electrical connector is required to be reduced. What follows is that it affects the structural stability of the electrical connector package on the circuit board, which is easy to gradually decrease as the number of times the electrical connector is used (connecting and plugging) increases.

Accordingly, how to effectively improve the structural strength of the electrical connector configurated on the circuit board under the above-mentioned trend is a problem that people skilled in the art need to consider and solve.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure provides an electrical connector. The protruding portion of the insulating body and the locking hole of the shell are locked to each other, thereby increasing the strength of assembling the shell and the insulating body.

In an exemplary embodiment, the electrical connector includes an insulating body, a plurality of terminals, a first shell and a second shell. The insulating body has a front side and a rear side, which are opposite to each other, and a protruding portion located on the rear side. The terminals are disposed in the insulating body. The first shell is sheathed on the insulating body to form an insertion space, and an opening of the insertion space are located on the front side. The second shell is superposed on the first shell and has a locking hole on the rear side. The locking hole is locked to the protruding portion, such that the second shell is fixed on the insulating body.

In an exemplary embodiment, the electrical connector includes an insulating body, a plurality of terminals, a metallic plate, a first shell and a second shell. The insulating body has a front side and a rear side, which are opposite to each other, and a protruding portion located on the rear side. The insulating body comprises a base portion and a tongue portion, wherein the tongue portion is the front side of the insulating body, the base portion is the rear side of the insulating body, and two depressed regions are respectively formed on two sides of the tongue portion. The terminals are disposed in the insulating body and partially disposed on two tongue surfaces of the tongue portion. The metallic plate is disposed in the insulating body, wherein two sides of the metallic plate are respectively and partially exposed on the two depressed regions formed on the two sides of the tongue portion. The first shell is sheathed on the insulating body to form an insertion space, and the insertion space are located on the front side. The second shell is superposed on the first shell and has a locking hole on the rear side. The locking hole is locked to the protruding portion, such that the second shell is fixed on the insulating body.

In an exemplary embodiment, the second shell has a-shaped body and a rear cover bent and extended from the-shaped body. The-shaped body surrounds a part of the insulating body, the rear cover covers the rear side of the insulating body, the locking hole is located on the rear cover, and the rear cover is fixed to the insulating body by locking the locking hole to the protruding portion.

In an exemplary embodiment, the second shell further has a locking portion bent and extended from the rear cover, the locking portion is bent toward the-shaped body and abuts the insulating body, and the locking hole extends from the rear cover to the locking portion.

In an exemplary embodiment, the locking portion is formed by stamping and bending the second shell to form a hollow portion between the-shaped body and the rear cover.

In an exemplary embodiment, the insulating body has a depression located on the rear side, the protruding portion is located in the depression, the locking hole is locked to the protruding portion, and the locking portion abuts the depression.

In an exemplary embodiment, the first shell and the-shaped body are superposed and locked to each other.

In an exemplary embodiment, the first shell exposes a depression of the insulating body, and the protruding portion is located in the depression.

In an exemplary embodiment, there is a gap between the rear cover and the two side wings of the-shaped body, respectively.

In an exemplary embodiment, the electrical connector is a socket electrical connector for being configured on a circuit board, wherein the second shell further has a plurality of pins, which are inserted into the circuit board.

In an exemplary embodiment, the electrical connector is a Type-C electrical connector.

Based on the electrical connector above, the first shell and the second shell are assembled to the insulating body respectively. The insulating body has the front side and the rear side, which are opposite to each other, and the first shell and the insulating body form the insertion space on the front side, the insulating body has a protruding portion located on the rear side, and the second shell has the locking hole on the rear side. Because the second shell is superposed on the first shell, during the process of assembling the first and second shells to the insulating body, the strength of combining the second shell and the insulating body may be increased by locking the locking hole and the protruding portion to each other. When plugging or unplugging with another electrical connector, the combination of the first and second shells and the insulating body as above can effectively resist the plugging force of the electrical connector at the insertion space, and the deformation of the first and second shells due to the insertion and removal force may be avoided.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1is a schematic diagram of an electrical connector according to an exemplary embodiment, andFIG. 2is an exploded view of some components of the electrical connector ofFIG. 1. Referring toFIG. 1andFIG. 2, in the present exemplary embodiment, the electrical connector100is, for example, a USB Type-C electrical connector, which includes an insulating body110, a plurality of terminals120, a first shell130, a metallic plate150, and a second shell140. The insulating body110has a front side S1and a rear side S2disposed along the axial direction F1and opposite to each other. The insulating body110also has a protruding portion112located on the rear side S2. The terminals120are disposed in the insulating body110. The first shell130is sheathed on the insulating body110to form an insertion space Al, and an opening of the insertion space Al is located on the front side S1. The second shell140is superposed on the first shell130, the second shell140has a locking hole144, the locking hole144and the protruding portion112are located on the rear side S2and opposite to the insertion space Al, wherein the locking hole144is locked to the protruding portion112to fix the second shell140on the insulating body110. The insulating body110comprises a base portion B I and a tongue portion B2, wherein the tongue portion B2is the front side of the insulating body110, the base portion B1is the rear side of the insulating body110, and two depressed regions113are respectively formed on two sides of the tongue portion B2. The terminals120are partially disposed on two tongue surfaces of the tongue portion B2. The metallic plate150is disposed in the insulating body110, wherein two sides of the metallic plate150are respectively and partially exposed on the two depressed regions113formed on the two sides of the tongue portion B2.

As shown inFIG. 2, the first shell130is sheathed on the tongue plate structure of the insulating body110to form the insertion space Al. After that, the second shell140is superposed on and locked to the first shell130.

Furthermore, the second shell140has a-shaped body141and a rear cover142bent and extended from the-shaped body141. The-shaped body141surrounds a part of the insulating body110, the rear cover142is opposite to the insertion space Al, the locking hole144is located in the rear cover142, and the rear cover142is fixed to the insulating body110by locking the locking hole144to the protruding portion112. Moreover, the second shell140further has a locking portion143bent and extended from the rear cover142, the locking portion143is bent toward the-shaped body141and abuts the insulating body110, the locking hole144extends from the rear cover142to the locking portion143to correspond to the protruding portion112.

In detail, the locking portion143is formed by stamping and bending the second shell140to form a hollow portion145between the-shaped body141and the rear cover142. That is, the structure of the second shell140is stamped and bent to form the locking portion143, and the removed structure is the hollow portion145. Correspondingly, the insulating body110has a depression111located on the rear side S2and opposite to the insertion space A1, the protruding portion112is located in the depression111, the locking hole144is locked to the protruding portion112, such that the locking portion143abuts the structural plane within the depression111. Accordingly, the second shell140and the insulating body110may maintain a fixed relationship with each other in the axial direction F1by locking the locking holes144and the protruding portions112of the insulating body110to each other, and the axial direction F1is also equivalent to the plug/unplug axial direction of the electrical connector100.

Additionally, in the present exemplary embodiment, the-shaped body141of the second shell140is sheathed on the first shell130to form a double-layer structure, and as shown inFIG. 2, the-shaped body141has opposite side wings W1and W2and the locking structures141bon the side wings W1and W2. Similarly, the opposite sides of the first shell130also have corresponding locking structures131, so that the-shaped body141may be superposed smoothly and locked out of the first shell130. The first shell130exposes the rear side S2and the depression111of the insulating body110, which facilitates the protruding portion112located at the depression111to be locked smoothly to the locking hole144of the second shell140

Referring toFIG. 1andFIG. 2again, because the rear cover142and the locking portion143are structurally combined with the protruding portion112of the insulating body110through the locking hole144, for the second shell140, the rear cover142of the-shaped body141does not need to be additionally provided with a structure for interconnecting the side wings W1and W2. That is, the rear cover142and the two side wings W1and W2of the-shaped body141in the present exemplary embodiment are in a separated state with gaps G1and G2, respectively. This is because the connection relationship of structure between the rear cover142and the insulating body110has completed, thereby effectively reducing the possibility of deformation due to the connecting and plugging of the electrical connector100.

FIG. 3is a cross-sectional view of the electrical connector ofFIG. 1, and further illustrates the state of the electrical connector100disposed on the circuit board200. Referring toFIG. 1toFIG. 3, in the present exemplary embodiment, the-shaped body141of the second shell140further has a plurality of pins141adisposed on the side wings W1and W2, and the rear cover142of the second shell140also has a plurality of pins142a. The pins141aand142aare used to be inserted into the circuit board200to achieve the effect of structural configuration and relative grounding. Furthermore, the-shaped body141and the rear cover142of the second shell140are directly structured and fixed to the circuit board200, and thus the structural connection and fixing effect between the insulating body110, the first shell130, the second shell140and the circuit board200are completed, such that the structural strength of the insulating body110, the first shell130and the second shell140can be considered as an integrated one, and it can more effectively resist the force of the electrical connector100due to the plugging and unplugging, and has better structural stability.

In summary, in the above-mentioned exemplary embodiments, the electrical connector is formed with a protruding portion on the opposite side of the insertion space by the insulating body, the second shell is also formed with a locking hole on the opposite side of the insertion space, such that during the process of sheathing the first shell to the insulating body and superposing on and locking the second shell to the first shell, the combined (fixed) strength of the first shell130, the second shell140and the insulating body110may be increased by locking the locking hole and the protruding portion to each other. Furthermore, the second shell is further directly fixed on the circuit board by inserting a plurality of pins on the circuit board, thereby forming the integration structure of the insulating body, the first shell, the second shell and the circuit board.

Accordingly, when plugging or unplugging with another electrical connector, the combination of the first and second shells and the insulating body at the opposite side of the insertion space as above can effectively resist the plugging force of the electrical connector at the insertion space, and the deformation of the first and second shells due to the insertion and removal force may be avoided.