Electrical connector and electrical connector assembly

The present invention discloses an electrical connector and an electrical connector assembly. Each of the ground terminals is provided to be in contact with two corresponding first mating terminals in a left-right direction. The terminals may mate with the first and second mating terminals under the same specification, thus facilitating unified automatic production of the mating connector, and may achieve the objectives for increasing the shielding effect of the electrical connector and saving the quantity of the terminals without changing the size of the electrical connector.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATION

This non-provisional application claims priority to and the benefit of, pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 119(a), patent application Serial No. CN202020570911.9 filed in China on Apr. 16, 2020, and patent application Serial No. CN202021770668.1 filed in China on Aug. 21, 2020. The disclosure of each of the above applications is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.

FIELD

The present invention relates to an electrical connector and an electrical connector assembly, and particularly to an electrical connector and an electrical connector assembly capable of increasing high frequency effects.

BACKGROUND

An existing connector system used to be connected to a circuit board, such as Chinese Patent CN110707493, discloses an adapter electrical connector for conducting two circuit boards by connecting a first connector and a second connector. The adapter connector includes a plate body and a plurality of signal terminals and a plurality of ground terminals provided in the plate body and arranged in a plurality of rows. In each row, the ground terminals and a plurality of signal terminal pairs formed by the signal terminals are provided alternately. To achieve the ideal high frequency requirements, a width of each ground terminal needs to be widened, and a width of each of the ground contacts correspondingly connected to the ground terminals on the first connector and the second connector also needs to be widened correspondingly, such that after the adapter connector is mated with the first and second connectors, the ground terminals and the ground contacts are conductively connected to provide electrical shielding for the signal terminals. To further reduce the crosstalk between the signal terminals, shielding plate members are provided in front of and behind each row of the terminals for covering, thereby achieving and increasing the shielding effect between the signal terminal pairs. However, the connector system has the following deficiencies: with the increasing high frequency requirements of the connector system, the arrangement density of the terminals of the adapter electrical connector of the connector system increases, and the transmission path of each terminal is prolonged, resulting in the length of each terminal to be longer. Thus, merely relying upon the shielding plate members inserted and provided between the rows of terminals does not solve the crosstalk issue generated during the signal transmission. If additional shielding members are provided on the signal terminal pairs, it may be difficult for assembly due to the limitation of the dense arrangement of the terminals. In addition, the width of each ground terminal is different from the width of each signal terminal, resulting in the width of each ground contact to be different from the width of each signal contact, which is not convenient for mass unified production. Further, in the adapter electrically connector, the ground terminals are alternately inserted between the signal terminal pairs, and each ground terminal has a wider width and thus occupies more mounting space. If the intervals between the terminals are reduced, the signal interference between the signal terminals may increase, thus reducing the electrical characteristics of the connector system. If the length of each row of terminals is increased in order to maintain the intervals between the terminals, the connector system may have a larger size, which cannot satisfy the ultra-thin requirement of the existing connector system.

Therefore, a heretofore unaddressed need to design a novel electrical connector and an electrical connector assembly exists in the art to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies.

SUMMARY

The present invention is directed to an electrical connector and an electrical connector assembly, in which each of the ground terminals is provided to be in contact with two corresponding first mating terminals in a left-right direction, thus achieving the objectives for increasing the shielding effect of the electrical connector and saving the quantity of the terminals without changing the size of the electrical connector.

To achieve the foregoing objective, the present invention adopts the following technical solutions.

An electrical connector is configured to mate with a mating connector along a vertical direction. The mating connector includes two rows of first mating terminals and two rows of second mating terminals, each of the two rows of first mating terminals and each of the two rows of second mating terminals are arranged along a front-rear direction. The electrical connector includes: a row of ground terminals arranged along the front-rear direction, wherein the ground terminals and the first mating terminals are provided in the vertical direction, each of the ground terminals has a retaining portion in a flat plate shape, each of a front surface and a back surface of the retaining portion is a plate surface, and each of the ground terminals is in contact with two corresponding first mating terminals of the first mating terminals in a left-right direction; and two rows of signal terminals, wherein each of the two rows of signal terminals are arranged along the front-rear direction, the signal terminals and the second mating terminals are provided in the vertical direction, each of the signal terminals is one-to-one in contact with a corresponding one of the second mating terminals, and a location of each of the signal terminals in contact with the corresponding one of the second mating terminals and a location of each of the ground terminal in contact with the two corresponding first mating terminals are of a same height.

In certain embodiments, each of the signal terminals is in contact with the corresponding one of the second mating terminals along the front-rear direction, and one of a front surface and a back surface of each of the ground terminals is in contact with the two corresponding first mating terminals in the left-right direction.

In certain embodiments, the electrical connector further includes a row of insulating blocks arranged along the front-rear direction, wherein each of the insulating blocks is located between and clamped by the retaining portions of two of the ground terminals adjacent to each other in the front-rear direction, and the signal terminals are retained in the insulating blocks.

In certain embodiments, each of the signal terminals is in contact with the corresponding one of the second mating terminals along the left-right direction, and each of the ground terminals is clamped by the two corresponding first mating terminals in the left-right direction.

In certain embodiments, the mating connector is provided with an insulating body retaining the first mating terminals and the second mating terminals, each row of the two rows of signal terminals is fixed in an insulating block, one of an upper end and a lower end of the retaining portion is stopped by the insulating block, and the other of the upper end and the lower end of the retaining portion is stopped by the insulating body, such that the insulating block and the insulating body limit the retaining portion from moving vertically.

In certain embodiments, each of the ground terminals has a grounding portion, the grounding portion is in contact with the two corresponding first mating terminals in the left-right direction, each of a front surface and a back surface of the grounding portion is a plate surface, and a width of the retaining portion along the left-right direction is greater than a width of the grounding portion along the left-right direction.

In certain embodiments, the retaining portion is provided with a clamping slot, a shielding plate is clamped in the clamping slot, the shielding plate is located between the two rows of signal terminals in the left-right direction, and each of a left surface and a right surface of the shielding plate is a plate surface.

In certain embodiments, the electrical connector further includes an insulating outer frame, wherein an inner side surface of the insulating outer frame is provided with a plurality of fixing slots, two clamping arms are provided respectively at a front side and a back side of the shielding plate, a side edge of each of the two clamping arms is provided with a protruding sheet and a protruding hook, the clamping arms are accommodated in the fixing slots, each of the fixing slots is provided with a fixing concave portion to correspondingly clamp the protruding sheet of a corresponding one of the clamping arms, and each of the fixing slots is provided with a fixing protruding portion to correspondingly clamp the protruding hook of the corresponding one of the clamping arms.

An electrical connector assembly includes: a mating connector, comprising two rows of first mating terminals and two rows of second mating terminals, wherein each of the two rows of first mating terminals and each of the two rows of second mating terminals are arranged along a front-rear direction, each of the first mating terminals is provided with a first contact portion, each of the second mating terminals is provided with a second contact portion, and the first contact portion and the second contact portion are of a same height; and an electrical connector, configured to mate with a mating connector along a vertical direction. The electrical connector includes: a row of ground terminals arranged along the front-rear direction, wherein the ground terminals and the first mating terminals are provided in the vertical direction, each of the ground terminals has a retaining portion in a flat plate shape, each of a front surface and a back surface of the retaining portion is a plate surface, and each of the ground terminals is in contact with the first contact portions of two corresponding first mating terminals of the first mating terminals in a left-right direction; and two rows of signal terminals, wherein each of the two rows of signal terminals are arranged along the front-rear direction, the signal terminals and the second mating terminals are provided in the vertical direction, each of the signal terminals has a first mating portion, and the first mating portion is one-to-one in contact with the second contact portion of a corresponding one of the second mating terminals.

In certain embodiments, the first mating portion is in contact with the second contact portion of the corresponding one of the second mating terminals along the front-rear direction, and one of a front surface and a back surface of each of the ground terminals is in contact with the first contact portions of the two corresponding first mating terminals in the left-right direction.

In certain embodiments, the electrical connector assembly further includes a row of insulating blocks arranged along the front-rear direction, wherein each of the insulating blocks is located between and clamped by the retaining portions of two of the ground terminals adjacent to each other in the front-rear direction, and the signal terminals are retained in the insulating blocks.

In certain embodiments, the first mating portions of the two rows of signal terminals are located between the two second contact portions of the two rows of second mating terminals, the first mating portion of each of the signal terminals is in contact with the second contact portion of the corresponding one of the second mating terminals along the left-right direction, and each of the ground terminals is clamped by the first contact portions of the two corresponding first mating terminals in the left-right direction.

In certain embodiments, the mating connector is provided with an insulating body retaining the first mating terminals and the second mating terminals, each row of the two rows of signal terminals is fixed in an insulating block, one of an upper end and a lower end of the retaining portion is stopped by the insulating block, and the other of the upper end and the lower end of the retaining portion is stopped by the insulating body, such that the insulating block and the insulating body limit the retaining portion from moving vertically.

In certain embodiments, the first mating terminals and the second mating terminals are arranged to align in the front-rear direction, the mating connector is provided with a metal sheet extending along the front-rear direction between the two rows of first mating terminals, and a plurality of conductive portions are protrudingly provided at a left side and a right side of the metal sheet to be in contact with the corresponding two rows of first mating terminals.

In certain embodiments, the mating connector is provided with an insulating body, each of the first mating terminals is provided with a positioning portion retained in the insulating body, and the retaining portion of each of the ground terminals vertically overlaps with the positioning portion of each of the two corresponding first mating terminals.

In certain embodiments, a plate surface of the first mating portion of each of the signal terminals is in contact with a plate surface of the second contact portion of the corresponding one of the second mating terminals, and each of the first mating terminals and each of the second mating terminals have identical structures.

In certain embodiments, the electrical connector assembly further includes another mating connector, wherein the mating connector and the another mating connector are located at an upper side and a lower side of the electrical connector, the another mating connector comprises two rows of third mating terminals and two rows of fourth mating terminals, each row of the two rows of third mating terminals and each row of the two rows of fourth mating terminals are arranged along the front-rear direction, each of the third mating terminals is provided with a third contact portion, each of the fourth mating terminals is provided with a fourth contact portion, the third contact portion and the fourth contact portion are of a same height, each of the ground terminals is in contact with the third contact portions of two corresponding first mating terminals of the first mating terminals in the left-right direction, each of the signal terminals is provided with a second mating portion, the second mating portion is one-to-one in contact with the fourth contact portion of a corresponding one of the fourth mating terminals, an upper end of each of the ground terminals passes upward beyond an upper end of each of the signal terminals, a lower end of each of the ground terminals passes upward beyond a lower end of each of the signal terminals, and the upper end and the lower end of each of the ground terminals enter the mating connector and the another mating connector.

In certain embodiments, the electrical connector comprises a plurality of upper insulating blocks and a plurality of lower insulating blocks, each of the signal terminals comprises an upper retaining section retained in a corresponding one of the upper insulating blocks, a lower retaining section retained in a corresponding one of the lower insulating blocks, and a connecting section connecting the upper retaining section and the lower retaining section and exposed to the corresponding one of the upper insulating blocks and the corresponding one of the lower insulating blocks, and an upper end of the retaining portion is upward stopped by the corresponding one of the upper insulating blocks.

In certain embodiments, the retaining portion is provided with a clamping slot, a shielding plate is clamped in the clamping slot, the shielding plate is located between the two rows of signal terminals in the left-right direction, each of a left surface and a right surface of the shielding plate is a plate surface, the plate surfaces of the shielding plate is protrudingly provided with a plurality of elastic sheets, and the elastic sheets downward abut the corresponding one of the lower insulating blocks.

In certain embodiments, each of the ground terminals has a grounding portion, the grounding portion is in contact with the first contact portions of the two corresponding first mating terminals in the left-right direction, each of a front surface and a back surface of the grounding portion is a plate surface, and a width of the retaining portion along the left-right direction is greater than a width of the grounding portion along the left-right direction.

Compared with the related art, in certain embodiments of the present invention, each of the ground terminals is provided to be in contact with two corresponding first mating terminals in a left-right direction. The terminals may mate with the first and second mating terminals under the same specification, thus facilitating unified automatic production of the mating connector, and may achieve the objectives for increasing the shielding effect of the electrical connector and saving the quantity of the terminals without changing the size of the electrical connector.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Furthermore, relative terms, such as “center,” “upper” or “top,” “lower” or “bottom,” “left,” “right,” “vertical,” “horizontal,” “inner” or “outer” may be used herein to describe one element's directional or positional relationship to another element as illustrated in the Figures. It will be understood that the relative terms are used to describe the features of certain embodiments of the invention, and not to indicate or imply a required directional or positional relationship between the elements. Thus, the relative terms are not intended to limit the scope of all aspects of the invention. It will be understood that relative terms are intended to encompass different orientations of the device in addition to the orientation depicted in the Figures. For example, if the device in one of the figures is turned over, elements described as being on the “lower” side of other elements would then be oriented on “upper” sides of the other elements. The exemplary term “lower”, can therefore, encompasses both an orientation of “lower” and “upper,” depending of the particular orientation of the figure. Similarly, if the device in one of the figures is turned over, elements described as “below” or “beneath” other elements would then be oriented “above” the other elements. The exemplary terms “below” or “beneath” can, therefore, encompass both an orientation of above and below.

The description will be made as to the embodiments of the present invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings inFIGS. 1-15. In accordance with the purposes of this invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, this invention, in one aspect, relates to an electrical connector and an electrical connector assembly.

FIG. 1toFIG. 10show a first embodiment of the present invention. The electrical connector assembly includes an upper mating connector100and a lower mating connector200provided opposite to each other, and an electrical connector300located between and electrically connecting the upper mating connector100and the lower mating connector200. (In other embodiments, it is possible to provide only one of the upper mating connector100and the lower mating connector200, and the electrical connector300is only electrically connected to the one of the upper mating connector100and the lower mating connector200.) For convenience of understanding the drawings, a forward direction in a front-rear direction is defined as the positive direction of the X-axis, a leftward direction in a left-right direction is defined as the positive direction of the Y-axis, and an upward direction in a vertical direction is defined as the positive direction of the Z-axis. As shown inFIG. 1,FIG. 2,FIG. 3andFIG. 9, the upper mating connector100includes an upper insulating body11, and a plurality of first mating terminals12and a plurality of second mating terminals13retained in the upper insulating body11. The first mating terminals12are used for providing grounding functions, and the second mating terminals13are used for providing signal transmission functions. An upper mating terminal group P is formed by an arrangement in a successive sequential order of one first mating terminal12and two second mating terminals13in one row and aligning along the front-rear direction. In other embodiments, the first mating terminals12and the second mating terminals13may be provided not to align in the front-rear direction. Multiple upper mating terminal groups P are arranged along the left-right direction. In two adjacent upper mating terminal groups P, each of the first mating terminals12aligns in the left-right direction, and each of the second mating terminals13aligns in the left-right direction. Each first mating terminal12has an upper positioning portion m in a flat plate shape and retained in the upper insulating body11, and a first contact portion121bending and extending downward from the upper positioning portion m. Each second mating terminal13has a second contact portion131bending and extending downward. The first contact portion121and the second contact portion131are of the same height. Each of a left surface and a right surface of each of the upper positioning portion m, the first contact portion121and the second contact portion131is a plate surface. An upper end portion of each of the first mating terminals12and the second mating terminals13is fixed and provided with a solder ball to be soldered to an upper circuit board (not shown). In this embodiment, the first mating terminals12and the second mating terminals13have identical structures. In other embodiments, the structures of the first mating terminals12and the second mating terminals13may be different.

As shown inFIG. 1,FIG. 7andFIG. 9, the lower mating connector200includes a lower insulating body21, and a plurality of third mating terminals22and a plurality of fourth mating terminals23retained in the lower insulating body21. The third mating terminals22are used for providing grounding functions, and the fourth mating terminals23are used for providing signal transmission functions. A lower mating terminal group Q is formed by an arrangement in a successive sequential order of one third mating terminal22and two fourth mating terminals23in one row and aligning along the front-rear direction. In other embodiments, the third mating terminals22and the fourth mating terminals23may be provided not to align in the front-rear direction. Multiple lower mating terminal groups Q are arranged along the left-right direction. In two adjacent lower mating terminal groups Q, each of the third mating terminals22aligns in the left-right direction, and each of the fourth mating terminals23aligns in the left-right direction. Each third mating terminal22has a lower positioning portion n retained in the lower insulating body21, and a third contact portion221bending and extending upward from the lower positioning portion n. Each fourth mating terminal23has a fourth contact portion231bending and extending upward. The third contact portion221and the fourth contact portion231are of the same height. A lower end portion of each of the third mating terminals22and the fourth mating terminals23is fixed and provided with a solder ball to be soldered to a lower circuit board (not shown). In this embodiment, the third mating terminals22and the fourth mating terminals23have identical structures, and the upper mating connector100and the lower mating connector200have identical structures. In other embodiments, the structures of the first mating terminals12and the second mating terminals13may be different, and the structures of the upper mating connector100and the lower mating connector200may be different.

As shown inFIG. 3,FIG. 5andFIG. 6, the electrical connector300includes a plurality of upper insulating blocks31arranged along the left-right direction and a plurality of lower insulating blocks32located below the upper insulating blocks31, and a plurality of signal terminals34arranged along the front-rear direction and fixed to the upper insulating blocks31and the lower insulating blocks32. In this embodiment, the signal terminals34are injection molded to the upper insulating blocks31and the lower insulating blocks32. In other embodiments, the signal terminals34may be fixed to the upper insulating blocks31and the lower insulating blocks32by insertion or other methods, and is thus not hereinafter limited thereto. Each row of the signal terminals34is fixed to a corresponding one of the upper insulating blocks31. Each of a left surface and a right surface of each signal terminal34is a plate surface, and a front surface and a back surface of each signal terminal34are plate edges. Each signal terminal34includes an upper retaining section341aretained in the corresponding upper insulating block31and a lower retaining section341bretained in a corresponding lower insulating block32. A first mating portion342is connected to the upper retaining section341aand protrudes above the corresponding upper insulating block31. Two rows of the first mating portions342of the signal terminals34are located between two rows of the second contact portions131of the second mating terminals13, and the first mating portions342of the signal terminals34are one-to-one in contact with the second contact portions131of the second mating terminals13along the left-right direction to facilitate electrical conduction. A second mating portion343is connected to the lower retaining section341band protrudes below the corresponding lower insulating block32. Two rows of the second mating portions343of the signal terminals34are located between two rows of the fourth contact portions231of the fourth mating terminals23, and the second mating portions343of the signal terminals34are one-to-one in contact with the fourth contact portions231of the fourth mating terminals23along the left-right direction to facilitate electrical conduction. A connecting section344is vertically connected between the upper retaining section341aand the lower retaining section341b, and is exposed between the corresponding upper insulating block31and the corresponding lower insulating block32.

As shown inFIG. 3andFIG. 9, a plurality of ground terminals35extend along the left-right direction and are retained to the upper insulating blocks31and the lower insulating blocks32, and are arranged in a successive sequential order of one ground terminal35and two signal terminals34and aligning along the front-rear direction. Each ground terminal35includes a retaining portion351, a plurality of upper grounding portions353connected to an upper end of the retaining portion351, and a plurality of lower grounding portions354connected to a lower end of the retaining portion351. The retaining portion351of each ground terminal35vertically overlaps with the upper positioning portion m of the corresponding first mating terminal12and the lower positioning portion n of the corresponding third mating terminal22. Each ground terminal35is in a flat plate shape, and each of a front surface and a back surface of each of the retaining portion351, the upper grounding portion353and the lower grounding portion354is a plate surface. The retaining portions351of the ground terminals35are retained to the upper insulating blocks31and the lower insulating blocks32. In addition, a protruding block311protrudes forward from a front end surface of each upper insulating block31. The protruding block311is located at an upper end of the retaining portion351of a corresponding ground terminal35, thereby stopping the retaining portion351from moving upward. The retaining portion351of each ground terminal35shields the connecting section344, the upper retaining section341aand the lower retaining section341bof a corresponding signal terminal34along the front-rear direction. A width of the retaining portion351along the left-right direction is greater than a width of each upper grounding portion353and each lower grounding portion354along the left-right direction. The upper grounding portion353protrudes out above the corresponding upper insulating block31. When the electrical connector300is mated with the upper mating connector100, as shown inFIG. 3andFIG. 9, each upper grounding portion353is located between two corresponding first mating terminals12and elastically clamped by two corresponding first contact portions121. The lower grounding portion354protrudes out below the corresponding lower insulating block32. When the electrical connector300is mated with the lower mating connector200, each lower grounding portion354is located between two corresponding third mating terminals22and elastically clamped by two corresponding third contact portions221, thereby facilitating electrical conduction of each ground terminal35with the corresponding first mating terminals12and the corresponding third mating terminals22. Further, the lower end of the retaining portion351is stopped by a top portion of the lower insulating body21, and the corresponding upper insulating block31and the lower insulating body21limits the retaining portion351from moving vertically.

In addition, in this embodiment, the upper grounding portion353of each ground terminal35extends upward to pass beyond the first mating portion342of each signal terminal34and enters the upper mating connector100, and the lower grounding portion354of each ground terminal35extends downward to pass beyond the second mating portion343of each signal terminal34and enters the lower mating connector200.

As shown inFIG. 1,FIG. 3,FIG. 5andFIG. 10, each retaining portion351is provided with a plurality of first clamping slots3511and a plurality of second clamping slots3541. Each first clamping slot3511runs upward through the retaining portion351, and each second clamping slot3541runs downward through the corresponding lower grounding portion354. A plurality of first shielding plates4are arranged in parallel along the left-right direction and correspondingly clamped in the first clamping slots3511. Each first shielding plate4extends along the front-rear direction. (That is, each of a left surface and a right surface of each first shielding plate4is a plate surface.) Each first shielding plate4is clamped in the first clamping slots3511aligned along the front-rear direction. The plate surfaces of each first shielding plate4are protrudingly provided with a plurality of first elastic sheets41, and the first elastic sheets41downward abut the lower insulating blocks32. In addition, a front side and a back side of each first shielding plate4are respectively provided with two first clamping arms42. A side edge of each first clamping arm42is provided with a first protruding sheet43and a first protruding hook44. As shown inFIG. 5, an upper end of each first shielding plate4is higher than the first mating portion342of each signal terminal34, and a lower end of each first shielding plate4is lower than the second mating portion343of each signal terminal34, thereby further increasing the shielding area of the first shielding plate4to the signal terminals34to increase the shielding effect.

Further, a plurality of second shielding plates5are arranged in parallel along the left-right direction and correspondingly clamped in the second clamping slots3541. Each second shielding plate5extends along the front-rear direction. (That is, each of a left surface and a right surface of each second shielding plate5is a plate surface.) Each second shielding plate5is clamped in the second clamping slots3541aligned along the front-rear direction. The plate surfaces of each second shielding plate5are protrudingly provided with a plurality of second elastic sheets51, and the second elastic sheets51downward abut the lower insulating blocks32to prevent the lower insulating blocks32from moving upward. In addition, a front side and a back side of each second shielding plate5are respectively provided with two second clamping arms52. A side edge of each second clamping arm52is provided with a second protruding sheet53and a second protruding hook54. The first protruding sheet43and the second protruding sheet53are flush, and the first protruding hook44and the second protruding hook54are flush. An upper end of each second shielding plate5is higher than the first mating portion342of each signal terminal34, and a lower end of each second shielding plate5is lower than the second mating portion343of each signal terminal34, thereby further increasing the shielding area of the second shielding plate5to the signal terminals34. In this embodiment, the first shielding plates4and the second shielding plates5are of the same height, and the first shielding plates4and the second shielding plates5are arranged alternately along the left-right direction.

As shown inFIG. 1,FIG. 2andFIG. 4, the electrical connector300further includes an insulating outer frame101in a frame shape. The inner surfaces at a front side and a back side of the insulating outer frame101are provided with a plurality of fixing slots1011, and the inner surfaces at a left side and a right side of the insulating outer frame101are provided with a plurality of fixing slots1012. A left side edge and a right side edge of the retaining portion351are respectively provided with two third clamping arms352extending upward. A distance exists between each first clamping arm42, each second clamping arm52and the plate surfaces of the retaining portion351. The fixing slots1011accommodate the first clamping arms42and the second clamping arms52, and the positioning slots1012accommodate the third clamping arms352. A fixing concave portion1011aand a fixing protruding portion1011bis provided in each fixing slot1011. The fixing concave portions1011aof the fixing slots1011are correspondingly clamped with the first protruding sheets43and the second protruding sheets53, and the fixing protruding portions1011bof the fixing slots1011are correspondingly clamped with the first protruding hooks44and the second protruding hooks54.

FIG. 11toFIG. 16show a second embodiment of the present invention, which is different from the first embodiment in that: each first shielding plate4is not provided with the first elastic sheets41. The front surface and the back surface of each signal terminal34are plate surfaces. The plate surfaces of the upper grounding portions353extending along the left-right direction are parallel to the plate surfaces of the first mating portions342extending along the left-right direction, and the plate surfaces of the lower grounding portions354extending along the left-right direction are parallel to the plate surfaces of the second mating portions343extending along the left-right direction. The front surface and the back surface of each of the first mating terminals12, the second mating terminals13, the third mating terminals22and the fourth mating terminals23are plate surfaces. The first contact portion121, the second contact portion131, the third contact portion221and the fourth contact portion231are formed by puncturing. A plurality of insulating blocks3are arranged in a row along the front-rear direction, and each insulating block3is located between and clamped by two adjacent retaining portions351in the front-rear direction. The signal terminals34are retained in the insulating blocks3. A plate surface of each first mating portion342is in contact with a plate surface of a corresponding second contact portion131along the front-rear direction, and a plate surface of each second mating portion343is in contact with a plate surface of a corresponding fourth contact portion231along the front-rear direction. A back surface of each upper grounding portion353is correspondingly in contact with the front surfaces of a plurality of first contact portions121arranged along the left-right direction, and a back surface of each lower grounding portion354is correspondingly in contact with the front surfaces of a plurality of third contact portions221arranged along the left-right direction. In other embodiments, a front surface of each upper grounding portion353is correspondingly in contact with the back surfaces of two corresponding first contact portions121arranged along the left-right direction, and a front surface of each lower grounding portion354is correspondingly in contact with the back surfaces of two corresponding third contact portions221arranged along the left-right direction, and are thus not hereinafter limited thereto. A plurality of metal sheets6are respectively provided between two rows of the first mating terminals12and two rows of the third mating terminals22. Each metal sheet6extends along the front-rear direction (in other words, each of a left side surface and a right side surface of each metal sheet6is a plate surface), and a left side and a right side of each metal sheet6are respectively provided with a plurality of conductive portions61. The conductive portions61located on the upper insulating body11are in contact with the corresponding two rows of the first contact portions121, and the conductive portions61located on the lower insulating body21are in contact with the corresponding two rows of the third contact portions221, thereby further increasing the shielding effect of the electrical connector300. Other structures of the second embodiment are identical to those of the first embodiment, and are thus not elaborated hereinafter.

In sum, the electrical connector300according to certain embodiments of the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

1. Each of the ground terminals35is provided to be in contact with two corresponding first mating terminals12in a left-right direction. The terminals may mate with the first and second mating terminals12,13under the same specification, thus facilitating unified automatic production of the mating connector, and may achieve the objectives for increasing the shielding effect of the electrical connector300and saving the quantity of the terminals without changing the size of the electrical connector300.

2. In the first embodiment, each of the signal terminals34is in contact with the corresponding second mating terminal13along the left-right direction, and each of the ground terminals35is clamped by the two corresponding first mating terminals12in the left-right direction, thus increasing the shielding effect of the electrical connector300, preventing the ground terminals35from loosening and moving during mating, and enhancing the mating stability of the ground terminals35and the corresponding first mating terminals12.

3. In the first embodiment, each of the signal terminals34is in contact with the corresponding second mating terminal13along the front-rear direction, and the back surface each of the ground terminals35is in contact with the two corresponding first mating terminals12in the left-right direction, thus increasing the shielding effect of the electrical connector300, and ensuring the ground terminals35to be easily in contact with the corresponding first mating terminals12by surface contacting.

4. A width of the retaining portion351along the left-right direction is greater than a width of each of the upper grounding portion353and the lower grounding portion354along the left-right direction, such that the retaining portion351may provide sufficient locations for inserting the second shielding plates5and the first shielding plates4, facilitating the shielding functions of the second shielding plates5and the first shielding plates4to the signal terminals34, and allowing the second shielding plates5and the first shielding plates4to be electrically conductive to the ground terminals35, thereby further increasing the grounding functions of the electrical connector300.

5. By providing the first and second clamping arms42,52, the first and second protruding hooks44,54and the first and second protruding sheets43,53, the second shielding plates5, the first shielding plates4and the ground terminals35are altogether clamped and fixed to the insulating outer frame101, thus ensuring the first and second shielding plates4,5to stably fix to the ground terminals35without loosening. A distance exists between each first clamping arm42, each second clamping arm52and the retaining portion351, thus ensuring that the first and second clamping arms42,52do not deform and scratch the retaining portions351during the clamping process with the insulating outer frame101.

6. The first contact portion121and the second contact portion131are of a same height, and the third contact portion221and the fourth contact portion231are of a same height, allowing the electrical connector300to simultaneously perform grounding and signal transmission, which is conducive to stabilizing the transmission efficiency of the electrical connector300.