Abstract:
An electrical connector comprises an insulating seat, a plurality of conductive terminals inserted on the insulating seat, and a cage covering on the insulating seat. The insulating seat comprises a body, a tongue plate projecting forward from the body for the arrangement of the conductive terminals, and a bottom plate extending along from the body under the tongue plate. The cage includes a bottom wall located between the tongue plate and the bottom plate of the insulating seat. The electrical connector further comprises a securing part for securing the insulating seat. The securing part comprises a main body abutting above the bottom plate of the insulating seat and two soldering parts bend downwards and extending from two ends of the main body respectively.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority to Chinese Application No. 200910179461.9, filed Oct. 20, 2009, and to PCT Application No. PCT/CN2010/001644, filed Oct. 20, 2010, both of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. 
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates to an electrical connector, and in particular it relates to an electrical connector that, when there is a considerable difference in height between the cage of the electrical connector and the circuit board, can guard against the deformation and shifting of the cage. 
     BACKGROUND ART 
     Chinese Patent CN200820037488.5 discloses a DisplayPort electrical connector comprising an insulating seat, a plurality of conductive terminals inserted on the insulating seat, and a cage situated on this insulating seat. This insulating seat comprises a main body and a tongue plate and base plate extending forward from the main body; the cage has a top wall, two side walls, and a bottom wall, and the bottom wall of the cage is positioned between the tongue plate and base plate of the insulating seat. The front part of the cage in this connector is stamped and bent into two soldering arms that extend straight down. These two soldering arms can be soldered to the circuit board, and they are used to help prevent deformation and shifting of the cage. 
     However, when this type of soldering arm is stamped and bent, the bottom wall at the front of the cage must have a corresponding opening, and the bottom wall of the cage also needs to be equipped with a flexible arm used for clamping to another cable connector. Therefore, because it is restricted by structural limitations such as the port size of the DisplayPort connector and the cage&#39;s flexible arm, the length of this opening is limited, and thus the length of the downward extension of the soldering arms is also limited. Consequently, an electrical connector with this type of structure can only be used when the difference in height between the cage and the circuit board is quite small. 
     However, in real-life applications, if the opening for the electrical connector in the computer case cover is designed so that the electrical connector must be installed at a considerable height—that is, when there is a considerable difference in height between the cage of the electrical connector and the circuit board—it will not be possible to solder the soldering arm at the front of the existing electrical connector to the positioning holes of the circuit board due to its insufficient length. As a result, it will be difficult to firmly attach the front of the cage, which means the cage will be vulnerable to deformation and shifting after inserting and removing a mating cable connector multiple times, eventually making it difficult for the user to insert and remove another mating cable connector from the outside. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In an embodiment, an electrical connector comprises an insulating seat, a plurality of conductive terminals inserted on the insulating seat, and a cage installed on the insulating seat; this insulating seat comprises a body, a tongue plate extending forward from the body and used for the installation of the conductive terminals, and a base plate extending forward from the body and located below the tongue plate; the cage has a top wall, two side walls, and a bottom wall, and the bottom wall of the cage is positioned between the tongue plate and base plate of the insulating seat; the two sides of the front portion of the cage each bend and extend out into locking arms, and these two locking arms are locked to the base plate of the insulating seat; this electrical connector also comprises a securing part to secure the insulating seat, and the securing part comprises a main body abutting the top of the insulating seat&#39;s base plate and two soldering portions bending and extending downward from the two ends of the main body. The top of the base plate of the insulating seat can be equipped with step portions that are low in front and high in back, and the back end of the main body of the securing part presses against the front edge of the step portions. The base plate of the insulating seat can be equipped with at least two grooves that extend longitudinally; the main body of the securing part comprises multiple compression portions and bent portions arranged between neighboring compression portions and protruding downward; the compression portions are arranged between the base plate of the insulating seat and the bottom wall of the cage, the shape of the bent portions corresponds to the grooves, and they press into the grooves. In an embodiment, each of the two outer side surfaces of the insulating seat&#39;s base plate have a fastening groove running longitudinally, and the front end of this fastening groove is wide open, enabling the locking arms of the cage to be inserted from the front end of the fastening grooves and to be locked inside these fastening grooves. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is an exploded perspective view of the electrical connector of an embodiment of the present invention and a circuit board; 
         FIG. 2  is another exploded perspective view of the electrical connector of an embodiment of the present invention and a circuit board, wherein the securing part has been assembled to the base plate of the insulating seat; 
         FIG. 3  is an assembly perspective view of the electrical connector of an embodiment of the present invention and a circuit board; 
         FIG. 4  is an assembly perspective view of the electrical connector of an embodiment of the present invention and a circuit board from another angle; 
         FIG. 5  is a front view of the electrical connector of an embodiment of the present invention and a circuit board following assembly; 
         FIG. 6  is a side view of the electrical connector of an embodiment of the present invention and a circuit board following assembly. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     The following, in combination with the attached drawings, elaborates further on the preferred embodiment of the present invention&#39;s electrical connector, using the socket of the DisplayPort connector as an example. In this application, for ease of description, the direction in which another mating cable connector is inserted is designated as “longitudinal”, and the direction perpendicular to the insertion direction is designated as “lateral”. 
     One benefit of the concepts disclosed is the ability to provide an electrical connector that can effectively guard against deformation and shifting of the cage when there is a considerable height difference between the cage and the circuit board. Compared to existing technologies, such an electrical connector can provide certain beneficial technical results. 
     For example, a connector can employ a securing part to press and attach the base plate of the insulating seat to the circuit board, and the two locking arms at the front of the cage are also fixed to the base plate of the insulating seat. This provides a mode in which the cage is locked to the base plate of the insulating seat using locking arms, and the insulating seat is fixed to the circuit board using a securing part in place of the structure employed by existing electrical connectors in which soldering arms at the front of the cage are directly soldered to the circuit board. Because the length of the securing part&#39;s locking arms is not limited, it is possible to fix the front portion of the cage when there is a considerable height difference between the bottom wall of the cage and the circuit board, guarding against deformation and shifting of the cage. 
     The top surface of the insulating seat&#39;s base plate is equipped with step portions that are low in front and high in back, and the back end of the securing part&#39;s main body presses against these step portions, thus preventing the forward longitudinal shift of the insulating seat when another mating cable connector (not shown) is being unplugged. By designing the main body of the securing part to comprise multiple compression portions and bent portions arranged between neighboring compression portions, the shape of the bent portions corresponds to the grooves, and they press into the grooves in the base plate of the insulating seat, thus guarding against the lateral shift of the insulating seat to the left and right when another mating cable connector (not shown) is being plugged and unplugged. By placing a longitudinal fastening groove along each of the two side surfaces of the insulating seat&#39;s base plate, with a wide open front end, the locking arms can be slid in from the front end and locked inside these fastening grooves, for fast assembly of the cage and insulating seat. 
     As shown in  FIG. 1  through  FIG. 4 , an electrical connector comprises an insulating seat  1 , a plurality of conductive terminals  2  inserted on the insulating seat  1 , and a cage  3  and securing part  4  installed on the insulating seat  1 . This electrical connector can be soldered and attached to a circuit board  5 . 
     The insulating seat  1  comprises a body  11  and a tongue plate  12  and base plate  13  extending longitudinally forward from the body  11 . Each of the two sides on top of the back end of the body  11  has a stop block  111 . The tongue plate  12  is a bottom opening frame that can prevent the reverse insertion of another cable connector (not shown), and the top and bottom surfaces of the tongue plate  12  have a number of terminal grooves  121  running longitudinally. The base plate  13  is made by the body  11  as it extends forward longitudinally, the base plate  13  is parallel to the tongue plate  12  and located below the tongue plate  12 , and there is a certain gap between it and the tongue plate  12 . The top surface  131  of this base plate  13  has three step portions  132  that are low in front and high in back and are separated from each other by lateral gaps, as well as two grooves  135  running longitudinally between neighboring step portions  132 . The front of each of the two outer side surfaces of the base plate  13  has a fastening groove  134  running longitudinally, and the front end of the fastening groove  134  is wide open and has a lead-in ramp  1341 . 
     The insulating seat  1  also comprises a terminal block  14  (see  FIG. 4 ) situated at the back end of the body  11 . This terminal block  14  has two rows of through-holes  141  to link top and bottom. 
     Each conductive terminal  2  comprises a mating end  21  for connecting electrically to another mating cable connector (not shown) and a soldering end  22  for connecting electrically to the circuit board  5 . The mating ends  21  of these conductive terminals  2  are lined up in two top and bottom rows, and they extend forward longitudinally to be contained within the terminal grooves  121  on the top and bottom surfaces of the tongue plate  12 . The soldering ends  22  of the multiple conductive terminals  2  are lined up in two front and back rows, and they extend downward through and are fixed within the through-holes  141  of the terminal block  14 , in order to ensure that the soldering ends  22  of the conductive terminals  2  do not come into contact with each other, which would result in a signal transmission failure. 
     The cage  3  uses a top wall  31 , two side walls  32 , and a bottom wall  33  to form an enclosure and make a holding cavity  34  to contain the insulating seat  1 . The top wall  31  and two side walls  32  of this cage  3  connect with the outer sides of the insulating seat  1  and press up against the stop blocks  111  at the back end of the insulating seat  1 . The bottom wall  33  of the cage  3  is situated between the tongue plate  12  and base plate  13  of the insulating seat  1 . In this way, the insulating seat  1  is partially enclosed within the cage  3 . Each of the two side walls  32  bend and extend out from their back edges into fastening parts  321  that are fastened to the back end of the insulating seat  1  in order to prevent the insulating seat  1  from separating backward from the cage  3  when another mating cable connector (not shown) is inserted. Each of the two side walls  32  extend downward from their back bottom edges into soldering arms  322 , to be soldered to the circuit board  5 . At the front of the cage  3 , where the two side walls  32  and bottom wall  33  meet, they are processed by stamping to form two locking arms  323  that first bend downward then inward, and there are two corresponding openings  324  in the cage  3 . These two locking arms  323  can be locked inside the corresponding fastening grooves  134  on the two sides of the cage&#39;s  1  base plate  13 . There are two flexible arms  331  extending longitudinally from the bottom wall  33  of the cage  3 , and the top wall  31  and two side walls  32  each have a flexible arm ( 311  and  325 ) extending longitudinally. These flexible arms ( 311 ,  331 , and  325 ) work together to clamp another mating cable connector (not shown). 
     Please refer to  FIG. 5  and  FIG. 6 . The securing part  4  is laterally constructed on the top surface  131  of the insulating seat&#39;s  1  base plate  13 , and it is located between the locking arms  323  of the cage  1  and the step portions  132  of the insulating seat&#39;s  1  base plate  13 . This securing part  4  is a metal part that has been stamped and bent, and it comprises a main body  41  and two soldering portions  42  bending and extending downward from the two ends of the main body  41  to the outer sides of the insulating seat&#39;s  1  base plate  13 . 
     This main body  41  comprises three compression portions  411  and two bent portions  412  situated between neighboring compression portions  411  and protruding downward. 
     The main body  41  is pressed against the top of the insulating seat&#39;s  1  base plate  13 , and the back ends of the three compression portions  411  press up against the front edge of the step portions  132 , in order to prevent forward longitudinal shifting of the insulating seat  1  when another mating cable connector (not shown) is being unplugged. The shape of the two bent portions  412  corresponds to the grooves  135  on the insulating seat  1 , and they press into the grooves  135 , thus guarding against the lateral shift of the insulating seat to the left and right when another mating cable connector (not shown) is being plugged and unplugged. 
     The following is a brief description of the assembly process for the electrical connector. First, insert the two rows of mating ends  21  of the multiple conductive terminals  2  forward into the body  11  of the insulating seat  1  until the mating ends  21  are fully inserted into the terminal grooves  121  on the top and bottom surfaces of the tongue plate  12 , then line the through-holes  141  of the terminal block  14  up with the soldering ends  22  and push up until the terminal block  14  is fastened to the back end of the insulating seat&#39;s  1  body  11 ; 
     Next, fit the securing part  4  to the three step portions  132  and two grooves  135  of the top surface  131  of the insulating seat&#39;s  1  base plate  13 . Finally, push the cage  3  backward and install it onto the insulating seat  1 , causing its locking arms  33  to go along the fastening grooves  134  on the two outer sides of the insulating seat&#39;s  1  base plate  13  via the lead-in ramp  1341 , from front to back, until the back end of the cage  3  meets the two stop blocks  111  on top of the back end of the insulating seat&#39;s  1  body  11 , then bend the fastening parts  321  of the cage  3  inward and fasten them to the insulating body  1 , thus attaching the cage  3  to the insulating seat  1  to form a whole. 
     When the depicted electrical connector is actually used with a circuit board  5 , the top surface of the circuit board  5  has two front positioning holes  51  corresponding to the two soldering portions  42  of the securing part  4 , two rear positioning holes  52  corresponding to the two soldering arms  322  of the cage  3 , and multiple soldering holes  53  corresponding to the soldering ends  22  of the conductive terminals  2 . In this way, by inserting the two soldering portions  42  of the securing part  4  located on the front of the cage  3  and the two soldering arms  322  located on the back of the cage  3  into the front positioning holes  51  and rear positioning holes  52 , respectively, and by soldering the soldering ends  22  of the conductive terminals  2  to the soldering holes  53 , it is possible to solder the electrical connector to the circuit board  5 . 
     The electrical connector employs a securing part  4  to attach the base plate  13  of the insulating seat  1  to the circuit board  5 , and the two locking arms  323  on the front of the cage  3  are locked to the two sides of the insulating seat&#39;s  1  base plate  13 . Compared to the structure of the existing DisplayPort electrical connector, in which the soldering arms at the front of the cage are directly soldered to the circuit board, the depicted connector introduces a securing part  4 ; because the soldering portion  42  of the securing part  4  is not limited by the size of the connector&#39;s port, the length of the soldering portion  42  is unlimited; thus, it is possible to effectively attach the front portion of the cage  3  when there is a considerable height difference between the bottom surface of the cage&#39;s  3  bottom wall  33  and the top surface of the circuit board  5 , guarding against deformation and shifting of the cage  3 , which would make it impossible to normally insert and remove another mating cable connector (not shown). 
     The preceding details are merely a preferred embodiment of the present invention and are not intended to limit the implementation schemes of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of protection for the present invention shall be determined by the scope of protection set forth in the claims.