Abstract:
An electrical connector is provided and includes an insulative housing having a main body and a tongue plate with a plurality of terminal grooves extending along a mating direction. A plurality of terminals which are substantially signal terminals and grounding terminals are received in said terminal grooves, each of said terminals has a contacting portion and a tail portion. A metallic shell shields the insulative housing therein. A grounding plate is inserted into said insulative housing and in contact with said metallic shell so as to establish a grounding path between at least one grounding terminal and the metallic shell by a manner of the tail portion of said grounding terminal being electrically connected with said grounding plate.

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 having a mating interface in which a ground contact is installed, and with a tail portion interconnected to a shell surrounding the connector. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0004]    U.S. Pat. No. 7,077,668 issued to Lapidot et al. on Jul. 18, 2006 discloses a board mounted electrical connector including signal contacts, grounding contacts and an insulative housing for holding the signal contacts and the grounding contacts. Two rows of the grounding contacts are provided to correspond to at least one pair of the signal contacts at an engagement portion of the insulative housing. Leg portions of the signal contacts and the grounding contacts, to be mounted on a circuit board, are arranged in three rows from a position closest to an engagement surface of the insulative housing to a position farthest from the engagement surface. Therefore, a large space on the circuit board should be prepared for said leg portions to be inserted into, which is not advantage for saving space on the circuit board. Obviously, an improved electrical connector is highly desired to overcome the aforementioned problem. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector which can save the mounting space on a circuit board. 
         [0006]    Another object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector having an improved grounding path. 
         [0007]    In order to achieve the object set forth, an electrical connector includes an insulative housing having a main body and a tongue plate with a plurality of terminal grooves extending along a mating direction. A plurality of terminals which are substantially signal terminals and grounding terminals are received in said terminal grooves, each of said terminals has a contacting portion and a tail portion. A metallic shell shields the insulative housing therein. A grounding plate is inserted into said insulative housing and in contact with said metallic shell so as to establish a grounding path between at least one grounding terminal and the metallic shell by a manner of the tail portion of said grounding terminal being electrically connected with said grounding plate. 
         [0008]    In order to achieve the object set forth, an electrical connector is provided and includes an insulative housing having a main body defining a plurality of terminal grooves therein. A plurality of terminals are received in said terminal grooves and include signal terminals and grounding terminals with tail portions extending out of the main body. A metallic shell is positioned at an outer circumference of the insulative housing. A grounding plate electrically connects with the metallic shell and at least one grounding terminal. The tail portion of the at least one grounding terminal is configured as a non-solder tail, while the tail portions of the other grounding terminals and signal terminals are configured as solder tails. 
         [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 in accordance with the present invention; 
           [0011]      FIG. 2  is a front view of the electrical connector shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0012]      FIG. 3  is an exploded perspective view of the electrical connector shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0013]      FIG. 4  is a partly assembled perspective view from a rear side of the electrical connector shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0014]      FIG. 5  is another perspective view of the electrical connector shown in  FIG. 1 , which is seen from another aspect; 
           [0015]      FIG. 6  is a sectional view of the electrical connector, taken along line  6 - 6  of  FIG. 5 , which shows a grounding terminal being secured onto an insulative housing; 
           [0016]      FIG. 7  is a sectional view of the electrical connector, taken along line  7 - 7  of  FIG. 5 , which shows a grounding plate contacting with an exterior shell; 
           [0017]      FIG. 8  is a perspective view of a plurality of terminals, three of which are connected with the grounding plate; and 
           [0018]      FIG. 9  is another perspective view of the plurality of terminals and grounding plate. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0019]    Reference will now be made to the drawing figures to describe a preferred embodiment of the present invention in detail. Referring to  FIGS. 1-3 , an electrical connector  100  according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention is provided and comprises an insulative housing  1  (hereinafter, simply referred to as “housing”), a plurality of conductive terminals  2  (differential signal transmission terminals and grounding terminals) mounted on the housing  1 , a grounding plate  3  contacting with the conductive terminals  2 , and a metallic shell  4  shielding the outside of the housing  1 . The conductive terminals  2  are arranged into differential pair arrangement, i.e. a pair of signal terminals with one grounding terminal. 
         [0020]    Referring to  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the housing  1  has a main body  11  and a tongue plate  12  that protrudes forward from a front surface  104  of said main body  11 . A plurality of receiving grooves  13  are formed at a predetermined pitch on an upper surface and a lower surface of the tongue plate  12 . Said conductive terminals  2  are received in the receiving grooves  13 , and each comprises a contacting portion  21  exposed in the tongue plate  12  and a retaining portion  22  secured in the main body  11 . The arrangement of the conductive terminals  2  will be described later. A pair of ribs  14  protrude upward from opposite edges of the upper surface of the tongue plate  12  for ensuring an anti-disorientation interengegement. A receiving cavity  15 , which is in fact a recess portion, is defined at a rear edge of the upper surface  101  of the main body  11 . An aperture  151  is further defined within the receiving cavity  15  and running through a rear surface  102  of the main body  11 . A slant surface  103  is formed at one side of the main body  11  and connects with the front surface  104  and upper surface  101 , therefore two sides of the main body  11  are in an unsymmetrical configuration. Two protrusions  16  protrude outward from opposite sides of the main body  11  to prevent the rearward movement of the metallic shell  4 . A supporting board  17  extends forward from the lower edge of the front surface  104  under the tongue plate  12  and defines a narrow passageway  18  extending along a longitudinal direction. The bottom surface of the rear portion of the main body  11  is at a higher level over the supporting board  17 , which can lead the electrical connector  100  to be mounted onto the printed circuit board in a sink type. 
         [0021]    The metallic shell  4  is made by stamping and bending a metal plate. The shell  4  comprises: a top wall  41 , which is generally rectangular; side walls  42 , which are formed by bending the two lateral edges of the top wall  41  downward; a bottom wall  43 , which is formed by bending the side walls  42  inward. Corresponding with the slant surface  103 , the shell  4  also forms a guiding wall  44  parallel with the slant surface  103 . Combining with  FIG. 5 , the metallic shell  4  is assembled onto the housing  1  from a front side of the tongue plate  12 . The rear edges of the shell  4  abut against the protrusions  16  on the main body  11  for stopping the rearward movement, and the guiding wall  44  is tightly attached onto the slant surface  103 , further, the rear edge of the lower wall  43  is inserted into the passageway  18  under the tongue plate  12  for obtaining a retaining force. Moreover, a pair of hook portions  45  which are formed at rear edges of the side walls  42  are bended toward each other so as to hold the housing  1  therein. A pair of first tails  47  and a pair of second tails  46  are respectively formed at front and rear sides of the side walls  42  and extend outwardly and downwardly. 
         [0022]    The positions of the contacts  2  illustrated in  FIG. 2  have been labeled with consecutive numbers from 1 to 20. The contacts, at positions labeled as 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 15, 17 are designated as differential signal terminals S, and the contacts, as positions labeled as 2, 5, 8, 11, 13, 14, 16 are designated as grounding terminals G. Every two signal terminals S at one side of the tongue plate together with a grounding terminal G at the opposite side of the tongue plate are grouped as a differential pair, while the grounding terminal G is located right above the middle of the two signal terminals S. Referring to  FIG. 4 , the terminals of the upper row comprises four grounding terminals G, respectively labeled as 2, 8, 14, 16, wherein three of them (G 2, 8, 16) are connected with the metallic shell  4 , and are specially labeled as G′. Each of the grounding terminals G′ comprises a retaining portion  22  and a tail  25  extending rearward from the retaining portion  22 , wherein the tail  25  extends upward to contact with the grounding plate  3 , while the other terminals of the upper row and the lower row of the terminals form solder tails  24  extending downward for soldering onto the circuit board. That is to say, the terminals  2  of the upper row have two differential tails, the soldering type and the non-soldering type. 
         [0023]    In the present embodiment, the grounding terminals G′ are unitarily formed with the grounding plate  3 . Referring to  FIGS. 5-9 , the grounding plate  3  is made by stamping a metal sheet and bending said metal sheet into a vertical shape. The grounding plate  3  has a flat platform  31  and a vertical portion  32  extending downward from said flat platform  31 . A pair of tangs  33  are respectively formed on the flat platform  31  and each has a curved contacting portion  331  on the roof of the tang  33  and a tip end  332  at a lower end of the tang  32 . The vertical portion  32  is joined with the tails  25  of the grounding terminals G′, therefore the grounding plate  3  together with the grounding terminals G′ form a clip configuration and insert into said main body  11  in a rear-to-front direction. The flat platform  31  of the grounding plate  3  is snugly engaged with circumference of the receiving cavity  15  to hold the grounding plate  3  on the main body  11 . 
         [0024]    As shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7 , part of the main body  11  is sandwiched between the flat platform  31  and the contacting portion  21  of the grounding terminals G′, therefore the rigidity of the main body  11  can be strengthened. After the shell  4  is assembled onto the housing  1 , the contacting portion  331  of the tang  33  is pressed downwardly by the top wall  41  of the shell  4 , and a grounding path through the grounding terminal G′, the grounding plate  3  and the shell  4  is established; meanwhile, the tip end  332  of the tang  33  is pressed fit into the aperture  151  and locked with the main body  11 . 
         [0025]    In the present invention, the grounding terminals G′ are not directly connected to the circuit board, but through an indirectly path to realize the grounding function, which will not effect the accurate of the signal transmission. As the tails of the grounding terminals G′ extend upward, the other terminals in the upper row with tails extending downward can enjoy a large terminal pitch therebetween, which is helpful for improving the electrical performance of the electrical connector. Moreover, the circuit board on which the electrical connector is mounted can arrange less traces for the solder tails, therefore the space of the electrical connector occupied on the circuit board can be saved. 
         [0026]    The grounding plate  3  is unitarily formed with the grounding terminals G′ in the preferred embodiment of the present invention, while the grounding terminals G′ and said grounding plate  3  can be individually formed. More, said grounding terminals G′ can also be arranged at the lower row to contact with the grounding plate  3  under the main body  11 . 
         [0027]    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.