Abstract:
An electrical connector ( 100 ) comprises a first insulative housing ( 10 ), a second insulative housing ( 30 ) engaging with the first insulative housing ( 10 ), and a plurality of contacts. Said second insulative housing ( 30 ) has a first platform ( 321 ) and a second platform ( 322 ) arranged at different levels. Each of the contacts ( 20 ) includes a mating portion ( 21 ) supported by the first insulative housing and a tail portion ( 23 ) supported by the second insulative housing, the tail portions ( 23 ) of the contacts are spaced into two rows and located on the first and second platforms; another contact has a tail portion disposed inside the second insulative housing.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention generally relates to an electrical connector, and more particularly to an electrical connector with a two-piece configured housing. 
         [0003]    2. Description of Related Art 
         [0004]    Nowadays, miniaturization of electronic devices, such as notebooks, PDA, etc has become a trend such that the dimension and size of electronic connectors used therein have to be modified and reduced so as to meet the requirements. 
         [0005]    A typical electrical connector comprises an insulative housing, a group of contacts received in the housing and a metal shielding assembled to the housing. Each contact defines a tail portion exposed beyond the insulative housing. It&#39;s difficult to solder the contact with a corresponding wire automatically, in manual soldering process, additional tubes are needed to prevent short circuit, so it&#39;s inconvenient for manufacturing the electrical connector. 
         [0006]    Hence, it is desirable to have an improved structure to overcome the above-mentioned disadvantages of the prior art. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    Accordingly, the object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector with a two-piece housing for soldering conveniently and preventing short circuit. 
         [0008]    In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, an electrical connector in accordance with the present invention comprises a first insulative housing, a second insulative housing engaging with the first insulative housing, and a plurality of contacts. Said second insulative housing has a first platform and a second platform arranged at different levels. Each of the contacts includes a mating portion supported by the first insulative housing and a tail portion supported by the second insulative housing, the tail portions of the contacts are spaced into two rows and located on the first and second platforms; another contact has a tail portion disposed inside the second insulative housing. 
         [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 an assembled view of an electrical connector in accordance with the present invention; 
           [0011]      FIG. 2  is an exploded view of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0012]      FIG. 3  is a view similar to  FIG. 2 , but viewed from a different angle; 
           [0013]      FIG. 4  is an assembled view of the electrical connector, with shells thereof removed away; 
           [0014]      FIG. 5  is a partially exploded view of  FIG. 4 ; and 
           [0015]      FIG. 6  is a cross-section view of  FIG. 4  taken along line  6 - 6 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0016]    Reference will now be made to the drawing figures to describe the present invention in detail. 
         [0017]    Referring to  FIGS. 1-2 , an electrical connector  100  in accordance with the present invention comprises a first housing  10 , a contact set  20  inserted into the first housing  10 , a second housing  30  assembled to the first housing  10  for supporting tail portions  23  of the contact set  20 , a bottom shell  50  enclosing the first housing  10  and a top shell  40  assembled to a back portion of the bottom shell  50  along a up-to-down direction. 
         [0018]    Referring to  FIGS. 2-3 , the first housing  10  is made of insulative material, and comprises a base portion  11 , a U-shape tongue  12  extending forwardly from the base portion  11  along a mating direction and a pair of arms  13  extending rearwards from the base portion  11 . The arms  13  respectively define a leading slot  131 , and the pair of leading slots  131  are opposite to each other. A plurality of passageways  121  are defined in the tongue  12 , the passageways  121  extend to the base portion  11  and then penetrate through thereof. The base portion  11  defines an engaging hole  112  recessed forwardly from a back side thereof. 
         [0019]    The contact set  20  comprises five contacts arranged side-by-side in the lateral direction and respectively numbered as  20   a  to  20   e . Each contact comprises a contacting portion  21  for electrically connected with a complementary connector (not shown), a retention portion  22  extending rearwards from the contacting portion  21 , and a tail portion  23  extending rearwardly from the retention portion  22 . The contacting portions  21 , the retention portions  22  and the tail portions  23  of the contact set  20  are at a same plane except the contact  20   d . The two contacts  20   a ,  20   e  located at lateral sides of the contact set  20  have longer contacting portions  21 . The second contact  20   b  on left is partially cut to form the tail portion  23  shorter than the other. The tail portion  23  of the fourth contact  20   d  on left is firstly bent upwards then extending horizontally to locate at a first plane, the tail portions  23  of the contact set  20  except the contact  20   d  locate at a second plane lower than the first plane, in this manner, a distance between the adjacent contacts is larger for soldering the contacts to wires (not shown) without circuit short problem. 
         [0020]    Referring to  FIGS. 2-6 , the second housing  30  is made of insulative material, and comprises a main body  31  and a supporting portion  32  extending rearwards from the main body  31 . The main body  31  is thicker than the supporting portion  32  and defines a protruding member  313  extending forwardly from a front surface thereof, the protruding member  313  is arranged adjacent to a top edge of the main body  31 . A pair of leading ribs  312  are defined at lateral sides of the main body  31 . A plurality of receiving slot  314  are arranged below the protruding member  313  and respectively numbered as  314   a  to  314   e  from right to left. The receiving slot  314   d  is larger than the other ones. The supporting portion  32  comprises a first platform  321  and a second platform  322  lower than the first platform  321 , the second platform  322  is protruded beyond back end of the first platform  321 . The receiving slot  314   d  penetrates rearwards the main body  31  and the back end thereof located in the first platform  321 , the receiving slot  314   b  penetrates rearwards the main body  31  to a certain distance and terminates in the supporting portion  32 . 
         [0021]    The bottom shell  50  comprises a sleeved portion  51 , a U-shaped extension portion  52  extending backwards from the sleeved portion  51  and a sustaining portion  54  extending rearwards from the extension portion  52 . The sleeve portion  51  is bending upwards to form a locking tab  510 , both sides of the sleeve portion  51  are connected with first lateral walls  520  of the extension portion  52  by inclined conjoint portions  512 . The extension portion  52  defines a block  523  on a inner wall thereof, the first lateral wall  520  defines a pair of receiving holes  521 . 
         [0022]    The top shell  40  comprises a U-shaped casing portion  41  and a wrapping portion  42  located behind the casing portion  41 , the casing portion  41  defines a locking hole  410  along a transverse direction and a pair of second lateral walls  412 , the locking hole  410  is in front end of the casing portion  41 . The second lateral wall  412  defines a pair of protrusions  414  corresponding to the receiving holes  521 . 
         [0023]    Referring to  FIG. 1  and conjunction with  FIG. 4 , in assembling, the contact set  20  is inserted into the first housing  10 , the contacting portions  21  of the contact set  20  are received in the passageways  121  of the first housing  10 , the retention portions  22  are retained in the base portion  11 . The second housing  30  is assembled to the first housing  10  along a back-to-front direction, the leading ribs  312  slide along the leading slots  131 , the protruding member  313  is received in the engaging hole  112 . Tail portions  23  are received in the receiving slots  314  of the second housing  30 , the tail portion  23  of the fourth contact  20   b  is received in the receiving slot  314   b , the main body  31  is longer enough to close in the tail portion  23  of the contact  20   b , so that the tail portion  23  of the contact  20   b  is not exposed on the supporting portion  32 . 
         [0024]    Then wires (not shown) are soldered to the tail portions  23  of the contact set  20 , the first housing  10 , the second housing  30  with the contact set  20  and the wires are assembled to the bottom shell  50  along the back-to-front direction, a rear surface  320  of the second housing  30  is adjacent to a front surface  5230  of the block  523 . The tongue  12  and the base portion  11  of the first housing  10  are located in the sleeved portion  51  of the bottom shell  50 , the second housing  30  is located in the extension portion  52 , the wires are located on the sustaining portion  54 . The top shell  40  is assembled to the extension portion  52  of the bottom shell  50  along the up-to-down direction, the locking tab  510  is protruding into the locking hole  410 , the protrusions  414  are positioning in the corresponding receiving holes  521 , the wrapping portion  42  encloses the wires together with the sustaining portion  54 . 
         [0025]    Then, a cover (not shown) is over-molded on the above-mentioned component. Therefore, the electrical connector  100  is assembled. 
         [0026]    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.