Abstract:
The present invention relates to an electrical connector and method of making the same. The electrical connector includes an insulative housing, an internal circuit board extending from the front side of the insulative housing, a contact module received in the insulative housing and connected with the internal circuit board, and a shell covering the insulative housing and the internal circuit board. The shell and the internal circuit board form a mating space therebetween. The mating space is used to receive a mating plug.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention relates to an electrical connector and method of making the same, and more particularly to an electrical connector is easy to fabricate. 
         [0003]    2. Description of Related Art 
         [0004]    In the end of 2008, USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) released USB 3.0 specification. The USB 3.0 electrical connector adds two pair of differential contacts and a grounding contact to the USB 2.0 for increasing the speed rate up to 5 GB/s and is backward compatible with USB 2.0. With the development of electronic industry, USB 3.0 can&#39;t meet the requirements of consumer. Thus, USB-IF announced USB Type-C connectors which is reversible so that it can be used in any orientation. Moreover, it gets faster and EMI of which is improved. However, USB C-type connector is complicated and challenges the manufacturing and the assembling ability. 
         [0005]    Hence, it is desired to provide an electrical connector to overcome the problems mentioned above. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector which facilitates to manufacture and has improved transmitting speed. 
         [0007]    The present invention is directed to an electrical connector comprises an insulative housing having a front portion and a rear portion, an internal circuit board attached to the insulative housing and projecting forwardly from the insulative housing, a contact module attached to the insulative housing and having a plurality of electrical contacts connected with the internal circuit board, and a shell surrounding the insulative housing and the internal circuit board. The shell and the internal circuit board define a receiving space for accommodating a mating plug. 
         [0008]    The present invention is directed to a method for making an electrical connector, comprises the steps of providing a plurality of electrical contacts each having a connecting section and a solder tail. Provide a base to secure the electrical contacts and form a contact module with the connect section and the solder tail extending out of the base. Provide an internal circuit board having a plurality of first golden fingers exposed at a front end thereof and a plurality of conductive traces corresponding to the first golden fingers. The first golden fingers and the conductive traces form a plurality of electrical circuits. Connect the connecting section with the electrical circuits respectively. Provide an insulative housing surrounding a rear end of the internal circuit board and the contact module. Provide a metal shell surrounding to the insulative housing and the internal circuit board to form a receiving space for accommodating a plug. 
         [0009]    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 
         [0010]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an electrical connector according to the present invention; 
           [0011]      FIG. 2  is an exploded view of the electrical connector shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0012]      FIG. 3  is similar to  FIG. 2  but viewed from another aspect; 
           [0013]      FIG. 4  is an exploded view of the contact module and the internal circuit board shown in  FIG. 2 ; 
           [0014]      FIG. 5  is an exploded view of the internal circuit board; 
           [0015]      FIG. 6  is an assembled view of the contact module and the internal circuit board according to a second embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0016]      FIG. 7  is an exploded view of  FIG. 6 ; 
           [0017]      FIG. 8  is similar to  FIG. 7  but viewed from a different aspect; and 
           [0018]      FIG. 9  is an exploded view of the internal circuit board shown in  FIG. 6 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0019]    Reference will be made to the drawing figures to describe the present invention in detail, wherein depicted elements are not necessarily shown to scale and wherein like of similar elements are designated by same or similar reference numeral through the several views and same or similar terminology. 
         [0020]    Please referring to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 , the present invention is directed to an electrical connector  100  mounting to a mother board (not shown) for mating with a plug (not shown). The electrical connector  100  includes an insulative housing  1 , an internal circuit board  2  and a contact module secured to the insulative housing  1 , and a metal shell  3  surrounding the insulative housing  1  and the internal circuit board  2 . 
         [0021]    Please referring to  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3 , the insulative housing  1  has a front portion  11  surrounding part of the internal circuit board  2  and a rear portion  12  surrounding the contact module. The front portion  11  protrudes from the rear portion  12  thereby forms a stopping face  121  on the rear portion  12  for abutting against the plug. The rear portion  12  defines a pair of recesses  122  on a top thereof and a pair of protrusions  123  at opposite sides thereof. 
         [0022]    The shell  3  and the internal circuit board  2  form a receiving space  31  for accommodating the mating plug. The shell  3  includes a front portion  32  surrounding the insulative housing  1  and the internal circuit board  2 , and a rear portion  33  shielding a rear end of the insulative housing  1  and the contact module. The front portion  32  has a top wall  321 , a bottom wall  322 , and a pair of sidewalls  323  connected with the top wall  321  and the bottom wall  322 . 
         [0023]    The rear portion  33  has a plurality of spring tabs  34  projecting into the recesses  122  for securing the shell  3  to the insulative housing  1 . The front portion  32  is provided with a pair of first tails  36  torn from the bottom wall  322  and bending downwardly from the sidewalls  323 . The rear portion  33  includes a pair of second tails  37  projecting downwardly, an extending arm  371  perpendicular to the second tails  37  and a rear wall  35  bending from the top wall  321 . The first and second tails  36 ,  37  are soldered to the mother board. The rear portion  33  forms a pair of notches  372  adjacent to the extending arm  371  and corresponding to the protrusions  123 . 
         [0024]    Referring to  FIGS. 4 and 5 , the internal circuit board  2  is secured to the front portion  11  of the insulative housing  1  and includes a plurality of first golden fingers  21  at a front end thereof, a plurality of second golden fingers  24  at a rear end thereof and a plurality of conductive traces  22  connected with the first and second golden fingers  21 ,  24 . The conductive traces  22  are coated with insulation paint for preventing the plug from directly contacting with the conductive traces  22 . The second golden fingers  24  are connected with a plurality of electrical contacts  5  of the contact module thereby form a plurality of electrical circuits. 
         [0025]    The configuration of the electrical connector  100  conforms to USB Type-C and the first and second golden fingers  21 ,  24  and the conductive traces  22  are arranged on both top and bottom surface of the internal circuit board  2 . A pair of notches  23  is provided on opposite sides of the internal circuit board  2 . 
         [0026]    The present invention is provided with an internal circuit board  1  which facilitates to manufacture and has improved transmitting speed. The internal circuit board  2  has a top layer  201 , a bottom layer  202 , and a middle layer  203 . The first and second golden fingers  21 ,  24  and the conductive traces  22  are disposed on the top and bottom layers  201 ,  202 . Each of the top layer  201  and the bottom layer  202  include two grounding circuits  13  at outermost sides and a plurality of signal circuits  14  located therebetween. The signal circuits  14  includes two pair of high frequency signal circuits  141  adjacent to the grounding circuits  13  respectively, two power circuits  142  at inner side of the high frequency signal circuits  141  and four low frequency signal circuits  143  located between the two power circuits  142 . The electrical circuits on the top layer  201  and the bottom layer  202  are similar but disposed in opposite directions. 
         [0027]    The middle layer  203  has two grounding copper foils  204  at opposite sides thereof and a middle copper foil  205  located between the grounding copper foils  204 . The grounding copper foils  204  are sandwiched by the high frequency signal circuits  141  and the grounding circuits  13  of the top layer  201  and the bottom layer  202  thereby preventing crosstalk between the top layer  201  and the bottom layer  202 . Furthermore, the grounding circuits  13  of the top and bottom layers  201 ,  202  contact with a plurality of plated-through holes (not labeled) of the grounding copper foils  204  to establish a grounding path and improve shielding. The grounding copper foils  204  extend into the notches  23  so as to contact with grounding tabs (not shown) of the plug. 
         [0028]    The middle copper layer  205  is sandwiched by the power circuits  142  of the top layer  201  and the bottom layer  202 . The middle copper layer  205  contacts with the power circuits  142  respectively via plated-through holes (not labeled) thereby form two parallel power paths between the top and bottom layers  201 ,  202  and decrease the resistance for transmitting biggish current. 
         [0029]    Please further refer to  FIG. 4 , the contact module includes a base  4  and a plurality of electrical contacts  5  retained in the base  4 . The electrical contacts  5  are arranged in two groups named first contacts  501  and second contacts  502  for contacting with the top layer  201  and the bottom layer  202  respectively. Each of the contacts  5  has a connecting section  51  connecting with the second golden fingers  24  and a solder tail  52  extending out of the base  5  and soldered to the mother board. 
         [0030]    Please further refer to  FIG. 4 , the base  4  has an upper part  41  and a lower part  42  assembled together. The first contacts  501  are insert-molding with the upper art  41  and the second contacts  502  are insert-molding with the lower part  42 . 
         [0031]      FIGS. 6-9  illustrate an internal circuit board  2 ′ according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The electrical contacts  5 ′ include a plurality of first contacts  501 ′ and second contacts  502 ′. The internal circuit board  2 ′ is provided a plurality of golden fingers  24 ′ on a bottom layer  202 ′ thereof for contacting with the second contacts  502 ′. A plurality of soldering holes  25  extend through the internal circuit board  2 ′ for electrically connecting with the first contacts  501 ′. 
         [0032]    The first contacts  501 ′ are insert-molding with a base  4 ′ and connecting sections  51 ′ thereof are connected with the second golden fingers  24 ′. The base  4 ′ defines a plurality of passageways  43  for receiving the second contacts  502 ′. Connecting sections  51 ′ of the second contacts  502 ′ project into the soldering holes  25  and electrically connect with the soldering holes  25 . Solder tails  52 ′ of the first contacts  501 ′ extend out of the base  4 ′ for soldering to the mother board. Solder tails  52 ′ of the second contacts  502 ′ are soldered to the mother board by SMT. 
         [0033]    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.