Patent Publication Number: US-8968009-B2

Title: Electrical connector

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims the priority of Chinese Patent Application No. 201310019996.6, filed on Jan. 21, 2013 in the SIPO (State Intellectual Property Office of the P.R.C.). 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a connector technical field, and particularly relates to a compact electrical connector that is power and signal mixed. 
     2. Description of Prior Art 
     An electrical connector includes electrical features of durable and convenient and is applicable in various industrial and commercial usages such as a power supply, a server, a router, a storage device, an industrial controller and a modular chassis etc. In the meanwhile, since several terminal configurations can be designed in the connector, applications of power source, signal and the combination thereof can be satisfied. 
     At present, there are a great many of manufacturers striving to introduce electrical connectors that are designed power and signal mixed, yet the common ones are low-rise mixed electrical connectors whose height coverage is relatively small but whose design of a pro-longed shape takes too much edge of the circuit board, and as there is limited edge of a circuit board, no more numbers of other types of connectors can be included. Therefore, this sort of low-rise mixed electrical connectors is only applicable in an electronic device that has a strict control on the height of electrical connector and is unable to satisfy an electronic device which requires scalability on the edge of a circuit board. 
     As a result, in the light of the defects and inconvenience in the described conventional electrical connectors, a new electrical connector shall be designed, which includes power and signal terminals that are designed to satisfy the requirement of DC power supply. In the innovative electrical connector, the configuration of power and signal terminals are re-designed, the structure is properly optimized, thereby settling the problems in the abovementioned conventional technology. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     One objective of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector whose layout of power terminal and signal terminal is compact and can save the edge space of a circuit board and enhance the air circulation in a power system of the electrical connector, thereby providing a power transmission and distribution of high efficiency. 
     Other objectives and advantages of the present invention are described in detail from the technical features disclosed in the present invention. 
     To achieve the objectives, the present invention provides: an electrical connector which comprises an insulating housing, a plurality of power terminals and a plurality of signal terminals. The insulating housing has an upright insulating base, at least one upright power receptacle body forward protruding from a front surface of the insulating base, and at least one upright signal plug body forward protruding from the front surface of the insulating base and parallel to the power receptacle body, wherein in the insulating base, at least one signal terminal assembling space and at least one power terminal receiving passage passing through the front surface, back surface and bottom surface thereof are formed; and the power receptacle body forms a vertical power port on the front surface thereof, and the power port is connected to the power terminal receiving passage, and the signal plug body forms at least one signal port in a front surface thereof, and the signal port is connected to the signal terminal assembling space; each of the power terminals is retained and mounted into the power terminal receiving passage of the insulating base, and each of the power terminal has a plate-shaped base plate, at least one spring connection end forward bent and extending from one side of the base plate, and a plurality of tails downward extending from another side of base plate perpendicular to the one side, wherein the base plate is retained into the power terminal receiving passage of the insulating base, the spring connection end extends into the power port of the power receptacle body, and the tail extends outside the bottom surface of the insulating base; the spring connection end comprises an inclining section connecting to the base plate, a contacting section connecting to the inclining section and a guiding section connected to the contacting section and disposed at the free end of the spring connection end; and each of the signal terminals is retained and mounted into the signal terminal assembling space of the insulating base, wherein each of the signal terminals has a head and a tail perpendicular to the head, wherein the head extends into the signal port of the signal plug body, and the tail extends outside the bottom surface of the insulating base; the heads of the signal terminals in the signal port being arranged straight in line vertically, and the tails are also arranged straight in line and perpendicular to the direction the heads arranged. 
     In one of the embodiments, the power terminals are divided into two groups which comprises a first group of power terminals and a second group of power terminals, the first group of power terminals is structurally larger than the second group of power terminals by size, the first group of power terminals and second group of power terminals are jointly assembled into the power port, each group of power terminals includes two pieces of the power terminals, and the base plate of each piece of power terminals in the first group of power terminals is shaped as an upside-downed L, and the base plate of each piece of power terminals in the second group of power terminals is shaped as a rectangle. 
     In one of the embodiments, the guiding sections of spring connection ends of two pieces of power terminals in each of the groups of power terminals extend from each other while the contacting sections are converging to each other to jointly form an elastic engagement structure. 
     In one of the embodiments, the heads of the signal terminals in the signal port exceed the docking ends of each of the power terminals in the first group of power terminals and second group of power terminals. 
     In one of the embodiments, the electrical connector includes two of the power receptacle bodies which are forward protruding in parallel from the front surface of the insulating base and are both upright, and each of the two power receptacle bodies has the power port, the power ports of the two power receptacle bodies are parallel to each other, the signal plug bodies are disposed at one side of the two power receptacle bodies, and an open structure is formed on a side of signal plug body facing the two power receptacle bodies, thereby making the signal port to be semi-enclosed. 
     In one of the embodiments, these power terminals are divided into four groups which comprises a first group of power terminals, a second group of power terminals, a third group of power terminals and a forth group of power terminals, the first group of power terminals and third group of power terminals are structurally larger than the second group of power terminals and forth group of power terminals by size, wherein the first group of power terminal and second group of power terminals are jointly assembled into the power port of one of the power receptacle bodies, and the third group of power terminal and forth group of power terminals are jointly assembled into the power port of another one of the power receptacle bodies; each of the groups of power terminals comprises two pieces of the power terminals, and the base plate of each power terminal in the first group of power terminals and third group of power terminals is shaped as an upside-downed L, while the base plate of each power terminal in the second group of power terminals and forth group of power terminals is shaped as a rectangle. 
     In one of the embodiments, the guiding sections of spring connection ends of two pieces of power terminals in each of the groups of power terminals extend from each other while the contacting sections are converging to each other to jointly form an elastic engagement structure. 
     In one of the embodiments, the heads of the signal terminals in the signal port exceed the docking ends of each of the power terminals in the four groups of power terminals, and the docking ends of the first group of power terminals and second group of power terminals that are in the same power port, compared to that of the third group of power terminals and forth group of power terminals that are in another power port, are slightly shorter. 
     In one of the embodiments, a straight-lined guiding groove is respectively formed in each of the two outside walls of each of the power receptacle bodies, and at least one opening hole connecting the power interface is disposed in both the top surface and bottom surface of the power receptacle body, and a plurality of opening holes are disposed in the top surface of the insulating base to be connected to the corresponding power terminal receiving passages and signal terminal receiving passages. 
     In one of the embodiments, a plurality of protrusions are formed on the base plate of each of the power terminals, and some of the protrusions are directed at another power terminal of this group of power terminals to contact the power terminal; and some other protrusions are directed at an opposite direction to contact the inside wall of the corresponding power terminal receiving passage in the insulating base. 
     Compared with conventional technologies the present invention includes following advantages: the power receptacle body and signal plug body in the electrical connector according to the present invention are both designed to be upright or vertical so as to save the edge space of a circuit board and allowing a larger number of connecter ports of same or other kinds to be mounted onto the edge of the circuit board; the electrical connector according to the present invention includes a character of zero insertion force and is operable to control the electrical performance of the electrical connector during docking by the length design of the signal terminal and the power terminal; also, through the opening holes and gap, can enhance the air circulation in power system and thereby improving the performance of the electrical connector; moreover, via the structural design of the straight-lined guiding grooves, the docking of the electrical connector is further provided with convenience. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the electrical connector according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the electrical connector according to the present invention, which is from another angle; 
         FIG. 3  is an exploded diagram of the electrical connector according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  is an exploded diagram of the electrical connector according to the present invention, which is from another angle; 
         FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional diagram of the electrical connector along a vertical direction according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional diagram of the electrical connector along a horizontal direction according to the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The following embodiments are exemplified by referring to the accompanying drawings, for describing specific embodiments implemented by the present invention. Furthermore, directional terms described by the present invention, such as upper, lower, front, back, left, right, inner, outer, side and etc., are only directions by referring to the accompanying drawings, and thus the used directional terms are used to describe and understand the present invention, but the present invention is not limited thereto. 
     Please refer to the electrical connector  1  illustrated in  FIGS. 1 to 6  according to the present invention, wherein  FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the electrical connector  1  according to the present invention;  FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the electrical connector  1  according to the present invention, which is from another angle;  FIG. 3  is an exploded diagram of the electrical connector  1  according to the present invention;  FIG. 4  is an exploded diagram of the electrical connector  1  according to the present invention, which is from another angle;  FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional diagram of the electrical connector  1  along a vertical direction according to the present invention;  FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional diagram of the electrical connector  1  along a horizontal direction according to the present invention. 
     Please refer to  FIGS. 1 to 4 , the electrical connector  1  according to the present invention is an orthogonal receptacle connector having mixed ports and capability of power and signal transmission at the same time. The electrical connector  1  according to the present comprises an insulating housing  10 , a plurality of power terminals  20  and a plurality of signal terminals  30 . 
     Please refer to  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the insulating housing of the electrical connector  1  according to the present invention has an insulating base  12 , two independent power receptacle bodies  14  forward and protruding in parallel from a front surface of the insulating base  12 , a signal plug body  16  forward protruding from the front surface of the insulating base  12  and is parallel to the two power receptacle bodies  14 . 
     In the present embodiment, the insulating base  12  is an upright rectangle, two power receptacle bodies  14  and the signal plug body  16  are also upright rectangles and are parallel and forward protruding from the front surface of the insulating base  12 , the signal plug body  16  is disposed at one side of the two power receptacle bodies  14  and having a side facing the two power receptacle bodies  14  forming an open structure. The detailed structure will be explained later. When the electrical connector  1  is mounted onto a circuit board (not shown), a bottom surface of the insulating base  12  is disposed on the circuit board, while the power receptacle body  14  and signal plug body  16  are protruding outside the edge of the circuit board so as to connect to a docking connector. 
     Please refer to  FIGS. 3 and 4 , two power terminal receiving passages  120  passing through the front surface, a back surface and the bottom surface of the insulating base  12  are formed in the insulating base  12  to receive the power terminals  20 . An upright power port  140  is formed in each of the front surfaces of the two power receptacle bodies  14 , which is backward extending to the insulating base  12 . The power port  140  is connected to the corresponding power terminal receiving passage  120 . 
     Please refer to  FIGS. 3 and 4 , an signal terminal assembling space  122  adjacent to an outside wall and passing through the front surface, back surface and bottom surface of the insulating base  12  is formed on the insulating base  12  to receive the signal terminal  30 . A plurality of semi-enclosed signal ports  160  arranged vertically are formed in a front surface of the signal plug body  16 , which is backward extending to the insulating base  12 . The signal ports  160  are connected to the signal terminal assembling space  122 . In the present embodiment, an arced gap  124  is formed in the outside wall of the insulating base  12  thereby making the signal terminal assembling space  122  to be semi-enclosed to provide convenience to the assembling of signal terminals  30  and help the signal terminals  30  to enter into the signal terminal assembling space  122  successfully and further to insert into the signal plug body  16  successfully. 
     In the present embodiment, as the number of the power receptacle bodies  14  is two and the signal plug bodies  16  is one. It should be understood that in other embodiment, the number of power receptacle bodies  14  and signal plug bodies  16  can be adjusted based on practical needs such as one, two or above. Therefore, the number of the power receptacle bodies  14  and signal plug bodies  16  are not limited in the present invention. 
     In the present embodiment, three signal ports  160  are formed in the signal plug body  16 , each of which receives two signal terminals  30 . And as a matter of course, likewise, the number of signal ports  160  as well as the signal terminals  30  thereof is not limited. 
     Please refer to  FIGS. 3 and 4 , a straight-lined guiding groove  141  is respectively formed in each of the two outside walls of each of the power receptacle bodies  14  to provide guiding for the docking connector. Additionally, a plurality of opening holes  142  are disposed in the top surface and bottom surface of each of the power receptacle bodies  14 , each of which is connected to the corresponding power port  140 . At the same time, a plurality of opening holes  126  are disposed in the top surface of the insulating base  12  to be connected to the corresponding power terminal receiving passages  120  and signal terminal assembling space  122 . By the designing of the opening hole  142  and gap  126 , the electrical connector  1  according to the present invention can enhance the air circulation in the insulating housing  10 , improve the heat dissipation of the electrical connector  1  and protect the power device or electronic device. 
     Please refer to  FIG. 3 , the power terminal  20  of the electrical connector  1  according to the present invention is retained and mounted into the power terminal receiving passage  120  of the insulating base  12 , these power terminals  20  can be, based on the sizes, divided into four groups, which comprises a first group of power terminals  21 , a second group of power terminals  22 , a third group of power terminals  23  and a forth group of power terminals  24 , each of the group of power terminals  21 ,  22 ,  23 ,  24  is provide with two structurally symmetrical power terminals  20 . In the present embodiment, the first group of power terminals  21  and the second group of power terminals  22  are jointly assembled into one of the power port  140 , while the third group of power terminals  23  and the forth group of power terminals  24  are jointly assembled into another power port  140 . 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 3 , the four groups of power terminals  21 ,  22 ,  23 ,  24  are generally identical in structure except for size. 
     Hereinafter, a power terminal  20  of the first group of power terminals  21  is described in details as an example to explain the structure of the power terminal  20  according to the present invention. 
     Please refer to  FIG. 3 , the power terminal  20  of the electrical connector  1  according to the present invention includes a plate-shaped base plate  201 , an elastic docking terminal  202  bent forward and extending from one side of the base plate  201 , and a plurality of tails  203  downward extending from another side that is perpendicular to the one side, thus the tails  203  and the spring connection end  202  are respectively formed on each of the two perpendicular sides of the base plate  201 . As illustrated in  FIG. 5 , the base plate  201  of the power terminal  20  is retained into the power terminal receiving passage  120  of the insulating base  12 , the spring connection end  202  extends into the power port  140  of the power receptacle body  14  to facilitate the docking to the corresponding terminal of docking connector, while the tail  203  extends outside the bottom surface of insulating base  12  and is operable to be connected to the power access point on the circuit board. 
     In the present embodiment, as illustrated in  FIG. 3 , a plurality of protrusions  204  are formed on the base plate  201  of the power terminals  20 , and some of the protrusions  2041  are directed at another power terminal  20  of this group of power terminals  20 , so as to contact the power terminal  20  and thereby keeping the assembling interval between two power terminals  20  in the same group; and some other protrusions  2042  are directed at an opposite direction to contact the inside wall of the power terminal receiving passage  120  in the insulating base  12  so as to maintain certain assembling stability. On structure of the protrusions  204  ( 2041 ,  2042 ), reference can be made to  FIG. 6 . 
     In the present embodiment, as illustrated in  FIG. 3 , the number of spring connection ends  202  of power terminals  20  is two, each of the spring connection end  202  includes an inclining section  2021  connecting to the base plate  201 , a contacting section  2022  connecting to the inclining section  2021 , and a guiding section  2023  connecting to the contacting section  2022  and disposed on the free end of the spring connection end  202 . 
     During practical assembling, the guiding sections  2023  of spring connection ends  202  of two power terminals  20  in the first group of power terminals  21  extend from each other, while the contacting sections  2022  of spring connection ends  202  of two power terminals  20  are converging to each other, as illustrated in  FIG. 3 . Thus, the spring connection ends  202  of two structurally symmetrical power terminals  20  in the first group of power terminals  21  jointly form an elastic engagement structure, wherein the guiding sections  2023  can jointly guide the docking terminal of docking connector to be inserted, the contacting sections  2022  can jointly engage the docking terminal, and the inclining sections  2021  can provide certain resilience for the contacting sections  2022 . Accordingly, the electrical connector  1  according to the present invention can establish a stable electrical connection wi the docking connector. 
     In the present embodiment, the tails  203  of the power terminal  20  are needle-eyed, which can be fixed to the electrical conductive holes in the circuit board by press welding, thereby connecting the power access point on the circuit board. 
     Likewise, the second group of power terminals  22  includes the similar structure mentioned above, only that the first group of power terminals  21  is shaped tall and long while the second group of power terminals  22  is shaped low and short. Particularly, in the present embodiment, the difference between the first group of power terminals  21  and second group of power terminals  22  is that the base plate  201  of each power terminal  20  in the first group of power terminals  21  is shaped as an upside-downed L, while the base plate  201 ′ of each power terminal  20  in the second group of power terminals  22  is shaped as an rectangle. 
     Similarly, the structures of the third group of power terminals  23  and first group of power terminals  21  are more alike while the structures of the forth group of power terminals  24  and second group of power terminals  22  are more alike. Specifically speaking, in the present embodiment, the difference between the third group of power terminals  23  and first group of power terminals  21  is that the spring connection end  202 ′ of each piece of power terminals  20  in the third group of power terminals  23  is slightly longer (as illustrated in  FIG. 6 ), while the spring connection end  202  of each piece of power terminals  20  in the first power terminal  21  is a little shorter, the effect thereof will be discussed in detail later. 
     As illustrated in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the first group of power terminals  21  and second group of power terminals  22  of the electrical connector according to the present invention are jointly assembled into a power port  140  thereof, and the spring connection ends  202  of the two groups of power terminals  20  are arranged straight in line vertically in the power port  140 , while the tails  203  of the two groups of power terminals  20  can be arranged in parallel into two rows based on the circuit layout on the circuit board. Correspondingly, the third group of power terminals  23  and forth group of power terminals  24  of the electrical connector  1  according to the present invention are jointly assembled into another power port  140 , and the spring connection ends of the two groups of power terminals  20  are arranged straight in line vertically in the power port  140 , while the tails  203  of the two groups of power terminals  20  can be arranged in parallel into two rows based on the circuit layout on the circuit board. 
     Furthermore, in the present embodiment, since the electrical connector  1  according to the present invention includes two power receptacle bodies  14 , thus it is needed to arrange four groups of power terminals  21 ,  22 ,  23 ,  24 , so that all the power receptacle bodies  14  each can be mounted with two groups of power terminals  20  of different sizes at the same time. Nevertheless, in other embodiments, if the electrical connector  1  has only one power receptacle body  14 , then only two groups of power terminals  20  of different sizes are needed. Similarly, the number of power terminals  20  can be calculated when more other power receptacle bodies  14  are provided. 
     Please refer to  FIG. 4 , the signal terminal  30  of the electrical connector  1  according to the present invention is retained and mounted into the signal terminal assembling space  122  of the insulating base  12  and each includes a head  32  and a tail  34  perpendicular to the head  32 . In the present embodiment, the signal terminal  30  is mounted into the signal terminal assembling space  122  as terminal module  30 ′, that is, the signal terminal  30  and plastic cement  35  are integrated to form an independent signal terminal module  30 ′, the signal terminal  30  having the head  32  extended outside the front end of the signal terminal module  30 ′ and tail extended outside the bottom surface of the signal terminal module  30 ′. As illustrated in  FIG. 4 , the heads  32  of these signal terminals  30  are arranged straight in line vertically while the tails  34  are arranged straight in line based on the circuit layout on the circuit board, thus the tails  34  are arranged in a direction that is perpendicular to the direction in which the heads  32  are arranged. When the signal terminal  30  is assembled into the signal terminal assembling space  122  of the insulating base  12  as a module, the signal terminal  30  having head  32  extended into the signal port  160  of the signal plug body  16  and tail  34  extended outside the bottom surface of the insulating base  12  to facilitate a connection to the signal access point on the circuit board. As illustrated in  FIG. 2 , the tails  34  of the signal terminals  30  are basically arranged straight in line at one side of a row that is formed by the tails  203  of the power terminals  20 . In the present embodiment, the tail  34  of the signal terminal  30  is needle-eyed, which is also fixed into the corresponding electrical conductive hole in the circuit board by press-welding, so as to connect the signal access point on the circuit board. 
     In the present embodiment, the number of signal terminals  30  is six. 
     Additionally, as illustrated in  FIG. 6 , the heads  32  of the signal terminals  30  of the electrical connector  1  according the present invention all exceed the spring connection ends  202 ,  202 ′ of each of the power terminals  20 , and the spring connection ends  202 ′ of the third group of power terminals  23  and forth group of power terminals  24  in the same power port  140 , compared to that of the first group of power terminals  21  and second group of power terminals  22  that are in another power port  140 , are slightly longer. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the docking of the electrical connector  1  is stepped. Namely, when a docking connector is docking to the electrical connector  1  according to the present invention, the signal terminals  30  are the first the be connected, and the power terminals  20  (the third and fourth group of power terminals  23 ,  24 ) in one of the power port  140  are second to be connected, and finally the power terminals  20  (the third group and fourth group of power terminals  21 ,  22 ) in another power port  140  are connected, this design allows the electrical connector  1  according to the present invention with a character of a low insertion force while, at the same time, controlling the electrical performance of the electrical connector  1  during docking, thereby making the electrical connector  1  operable to satisfy the requirements of safety and diversity of current electronic devices. 
     All in all, the electrical connector  1  according to the present invention includes following advantages: the power receptacle body  14  and signal plug body  16  in the electrical connector  1  according to the present invention are both designed to be upright or vertical so as to save the edge space of a circuit board and allowing a larger number of connector ports of same or other kinds to be mounted onto the edge of the circuit board; the electrical connector  1  according to the present invention includes a character of zero insertion force and is operable to control the electrical performance of the electrical connector  1  during docking by the length design of the signal terminal  30  and the power terminal  20 ; also, through the opening holes  142  and gap  126 , can enhance the air circulation in power system and thereby improving the performance of the electrical connector  1 ; moreover, via the structural design of the straight-lined guiding grooves  141 , the docking of the electrical connector  1  is further provided with convenience.