Abstract:
An electrical connector includes an insulative housing ( 1 ) defining a receiving cavity ( 121 ) therein, at least one terminal ( 2 ) arranged in the housing, a sleeve ( 4 ) retained in an inside of the receiving cavity and a grounding contact ( 5 ) defining a clip portion ( 52 ) to lock the sleeve in the housing.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention relates to an electrical connector, and more particularly to an electrical connector with an inner sleeve therein. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Prior Art 
         [0004]    A conventional audio jack or power connector generally includes an insulative housing defining a mating portion with a plug insertion columnar hole thereof and a sleeve assembled inside the columnar hole so as to completes an electrical connection between the connector and a counter connector. In common use, the counter connector is used to be inserted into the mating portion to establish an electrical engagement and pulled out to cutoff the engagement. However, during the iterative operate process, the inner sleeve may break off the mating portion thereby resulting in a disconnection of the electrical connector with the counter connector. Therefore, a new design to solve the problem is required. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    An object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector with a grounding contact to prevent an inner sleeve from breaking off the electrical connector. 
         [0006]    In order to achieve above-mentioned objects, an electrical connector includes an insulative housing defining a receiving cavity therein, at least one terminal arranged in the housing, a sleeve retained in an inside of the receiving cavity and a grounding contact defining a clip portion to lock the sleeve in the insulative housing. 
         [0007]    Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present embodiment when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0008]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an electrical connector in accordance with the present invention; 
           [0009]      FIG. 2  is an exploded perspective view of the electrical connector of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0010]      FIG. 3  is an exploded perspective view of the housing and the sleeve; 
           [0011]      FIG. 4  is an exploded perspective view of the housing and the grounding contact; 
           [0012]      FIG. 5  is an assembly of the housing and the grounding contact of  FIG. 4 ; 
           [0013]      FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional view of the electrical connector taken along line  6 - 6  of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0014]      FIG. 7  is a cross-sectional view of the electrical connector taken along line  7 - 7  of  FIG. 1 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0015]    Reference will now be made to the drawing figures to describe the preferred embodiment of the present invention in detail. 
         [0016]    Referring to  FIG. 1 , an electrical connector  100  according with the present invention comprises an insulative housing  1 , a plurality of terminals in the housing and a shielding shell  6  surrounding an outer surface of the housing  1 . 
         [0017]    Referring to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the insulative housing  1  comprises a main body  11  in shape of a rectangular block and a cylindrical mating portion  12  extending from a front side of the main body  11 . A receiving cavity  121  is defined through the front side of the mating portion  12  and the back of the main body  11  along a front-to-back direction to allow an insertion of a plug (not shown). A plurality of terminal grooves  111  is defined at the rear wall of the housing and extends forwardly along a back-to-front direction at two sides of the receiving cavity  121 . The terminals  2  are inserted into the terminal grooves  111  from the rear of the housing  1 . 
         [0018]    In this embodiment, the connector sets two groups of terminals, a first terminal group  2  comprising a moveable terminal  21  and a fixing terminal  22 , and a second terminal group  3  comprising three terminals cooperating with each other. The assemble process and work theory of the terminals is conventional, which can be refered to U.S. Pat. No. 7,094,088. 
         [0019]    Referring to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , a sleeve  4  made from metal material is provided and comprises a base portion  41  received in the receiving cavity  121 . An annular groove  412  is provided between two annular protrusions  411 ,  413  along an outer perimeter surface at one end of the sleeve  4 . An annular blocking portion  42  is formed at the front distal end opposite to said one end of the sleeve. The sleeve  4  is inserted into the mating portion  12  along the front-to-back direction, with the blocking portion  42  being blocked by the front surface of the mating portion  12 . 
         [0020]    Referring to  FIG. 4 , a receiving groove  113  near the mating portion  12  is defined at a bottom of the main body  11 . The receiving groove  113  runs through the opposite two sidewalls of the main body  11  transversely and forms T-shape receiving slots  116  in the sidewalls. A through hole  115  connecting with the receiving cavity  121  is defined in the middle of the receiving groove  113 . A pair of slots  114  is defined in an interface between the mating portion  12  and the main body  11 , and aligned with the annular groove  412 . Referring to  FIG. 2 , a symmetrical grounding contact  5 , which is provided to retain the sleeve  4  in the mating portion  12 , defines a base portion  51 , a clip portion  52  with two clip legs extending vertically from one side of the base portion  51  and a grounding leg  54  extending from an opposite side of the base portion  51 . The grounding leg  54  extends to an opposite direction to the clip leg. The middle portion of the base portion  51  is shaped in an arch portion  511 , and the grounding leg  54  is extending from the arch portion  511 , a projecting portion  512  is defined on the arch portion  511  and to contact the counter connector (as best shown in  FIG. 6 ). The two clip legs are symmetrically positioned at two sides of the arch portion  511 . Each clip leg provides with an arc inside edge, which corresponds with the annular groove  412 . A T-shape retaining portion  53  corresponding the receiving slot  116 , extends from each free end of the base portion  51 . 
         [0021]    Referring to  FIGS. 4 and 5 , the grounding contact  5  is retained in the receiving groove  113  with the retaining portions  53  received in the receiving slots  116 . The retaining portion  53  defines a retaining block  531  at each end, and each retaining block  531  is blocked by protrusions  117  positioned beside the receiving slot  116  to retain the grounding contact  5  in the bottom of the housing  1  steadily. The arch  511  is received in the through hole  115 , and the projecting portion  512  extends into the receiving cavity  121  to connect with the inserted counter connector. The clip legs of the clip portion  52  are foisted into the annular groove  412  through the slots  114  and blocked by the two protrusions  411 ,  413 . At two sides of the clip portion  52 , a plurality of tips  521  is provided to retain the grounding contact  5  in the housing (as best shown in  FIG. 7 ). The grounding contact  5  fixes the sleeve  4  in the mating portion  12  smoothly, and prevents it from moving forwardly or backwardly. 
         [0022]    Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the housing  1  is covered with the shielding shell  6 . The rectangle shaped shield  3  comprises two side walls  61 , a top wall  62  and a back wall  63 . Two windows portion  611  are respectively defined at middle of the two side walls for cooperating with the protrusions  112  formed on the housing  1  to maintain the shied  3  on the housing  1 . A pair of soldering legs  612  respectively extends downwardly from a bottom edge of the side wall  61 . At the front end of each side wall  61 , a hole  613  is defined thereof to receive a corresponding protrusion  532  defined in the retaining portion  53 . A elastic portion  614  extends upwardly from an inside edge of the hole  613  and blocks the bottom of the protrusion  532  to prevent the shield  6  from moving off. 
         [0023]    It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of-the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.