Patent Publication Number: US-9853393-B2

Title: Electrical connector with improved waterproof performance

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a waterproof electrical connector. 
     2. Description of Related Arts 
     China Patent Issued No. CN204538371U, issued on Aug. 5, 2014, discloses an electrical connector including an insulative housing defining a base portion and a tongue portion extending forwardly from the base portion. The tongue portion defines opposite first and second surfaces. A plurality of first contacts are retained in the insulative housing and partially exposed on the first surface and a plurality of second contacts are retained in the insulative housing and partially exposed on the second surface. Due to presence of a gap between the terminals and the base portion, water may be penetrated into the electrical connector from the gap. This may cause short circuit or damage of the circuit board and can not meet the waterproof demand for electronic products. 
     An improved electrical connector having improved waterproof performance is desired. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An object of the present invention is to provide a waterproof electrical connector. 
     To achieve the above-mentioned object, an electrical connector comprises: an insulative housing and a plurality of terminals retained in the insulative housing. The insulative housing has a base portion and a mating tongue. The mating tongue comprises a stepped portion extending forwardly from the base portion along an insertion direction and a tongue portion extending forwardly from the stepped portion. The insulative housing defines an outer lateral. The stepped portion defines a front face. The base portion defines a rear face. Each of the terminals defines a connecting portion buried in the base portion and the stepped portion, a contacting portion extending forward from the connecting portion and a soldering tail extending out of the base portion. The contacting portion exposes to two surfaces of the tongue portion. The insulative housing further defines a sealing member filling in the periphery of the connecting portion. The sealing member not extends out of the front face of the stepped portion, the rear face of the base portion and the out lateral of the insulative housing. The utility model is favorable for improving the waterproof effect of the electric connector. 
     Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an electrical connector in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is another perspective view of the connector in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is an exploded perspective view of the connector in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a further exploded perspective view of the connector in  FIG. 3 ; 
         FIG. 5  is an exploded perspective view of the insulative housing in  FIG. 4 ; 
         FIG. 6  is an exploded perspective view of the insulative housing in  FIG. 5 ; 
         FIG. 7  is a further exploded perspective view of the insulative housing in  FIG. 6 ; 
         FIG. 8  is another exploded perspective view of the insulative housing in  FIG. 7 ; 
         FIG. 9  is a cross-sectional view of the electrical connector taken along line  9 - 9  in  FIG. 1 ; and 
         FIG. 10  is a cross-sectional view of the electrical connector taken along line  10 - 10  in  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 to 10 , a waterproof electrical connector  100  in accordance with the present invention comprises an insulative housing  1 , a plurality of terminals  2  retained in the insulative housing  1 , a metallic shell  3  and an insulating cover  4 . As best shown in  FIGS. 4, 9, 10 , the insulative housing  1  standing in a vertical direction, has a base portion  11  and a mating tongue  12  and surrounded with the metallic shell  3  to define a mating cavity  6  with an opening through which a plug connector (not shown) is inserted in the mating cavity  6 . The mating tongue  12  comprises a stepped portion  121  extending upward from the base portion  11  along an insertion direction of the connector and a tongue portion  122  further extending upwardly from the stepped portion  121 . The stepped portion  121  defines a front face  1211  facing the opening of the cavity  6 . The base portion  11  defines a rear face  110  opposite to the front face  1211  in the inserting direction. Each of the terminals  2  defines a connecting portion  21  buried in the base portion  11  and the stepped portion  121 , a contacting portion  22  extending forward from the connecting portion  21  and a soldering tail  23  extending out of the base portion  11 . The contacting portion  22  exposes upon two opposite surfaces  1221  of the tongue portion  122 . A sealing member  13  is filling in insulative housing  1  and around the connecting portion  21 . The sealing member  13  is disposed behind the front face  1211  of the stepped portion  121  and in front of the rear face  110  of the base portion  11  in the inserting direction and within the insulative housing  1  and do not slop over an outer periphery of insulative housing  1  connecting with the front and rear face  1211 ,  110 . 
     As shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 , the sealing member  13  is a flat plate-like structure formed by solidification of glue. The electrical connector  100  comprises a terminal module assembly  5  and an injection molding body  15  over the terminals module  5 . The terminal module assembly  5  comprises an insulative portion  14  with a front face  140  and the plurality of terminals  2  retained in the insulative portion  14 . The insulative portion  14  defines a groove  1401  recessed from the front face  140 . The upper portion of connecting portions  21  of the terminals  2  extend out the front face  140  of the insulative portion  14 . The sealing member  13  is formed by solidification of glue injected into the groove  1401 . The injection molding body  15  then is injected on the front face  140  of the insulative portion  14  to form the complete insulating housing  1 . The injection molding body  15  encloses a part of the connecting portion  21  of the terminals  2  to form the stepped portion  121 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 4 to 5 , the base portion  11  comprises a first base portion  111  connecting the stepped portion  121  and a second base portion  112  located behind the first base portion  111 . In preferred embodiment, the second base portion  112  is larger in size than the first base portion  111 . The sealing member  13  is located at the second base portion  112 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 3 to 4 , the metallic shell  3  is fixed to the first base portion  111 . The metal shell  3  surrounds the mating tongue  12  to form the mating cavity  6 . As shown in  FIGS. 3, 4 and 9 , a first sealing ring  7  is disposed on the outer periphery of the first base portion  111 . so that the first sealing ring  7  seals any gap between the first base portion  111  and the metallic shell  3 . The first base portion  111  is provided with a sealing groove  1111 . The first sealing ring  7  is arranged in the sealing groove  1111  to realize the waterproofing between the insulating housing  1  and the metal shell  3 . The first sealing ring  7  also has the function of dust prevention. In this embodiment, the first sealing ring  7  is made of rubber material. The second base portion  112  has recesses  1121  extending through the outer surface thereof which is beneficial to prevent the warpage of the plastic when the second base portion  112  is formed. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 1 to 9 , the electrical connector  100  further comprises an insulating cover  4  injection molding on the outer periphery of the metallic shell  3  and on the outer side of the second base portion  112 . A second sealing ring  8  is provided at the joint of the metallic shell  3  and the second base portion  112 . The second sealing ring  8  is pressed between the metallic shell  3  and the insulating cover  4  which is further realizes the waterproof of the electric connector. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 6 to 7 , the terminal module assembly  5  comprises two sub-terminal modules  51 ,  52  and a shielding plate  50  sandwiched between the two sub-terminal modules. The shielding plate  50  is provided with a locking edge  501  which is exposed upon opposite sides of the tongue portion  122 . The locking edge  501  is to be held with the plug connector to increase stability of the engagement of the connector and the plug connector. The two sub-terminal modules  51 ,  52  have a same structure. It is only necessary to use one set of molds to produce the first terminal module  51  and the second terminal module  52 , which is advantageous for saving the cost of manufacturing. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 7 to 8 , the terminal  2  includes a plurality of first terminals  24  and a plurality of second terminals  25 . The insulative portion  14  includes a first insulative portion  141  and a second insulative portion  142 . The first terminals  24  are retained in the first insulative portion  141  to form the first terminal module  51 . The second terminals  25  are retained in the second insulative portion  142  to form the second terminal module  52 . The first terminal module  51  is assembled with the second terminal module  52 , and the first insulative portion  141  and the second insulative portion  142  commonly form the complete insulative portion  14 . The first terminal module  51  further includes a first fixing plate  511 . The first terminal  24 , the first fixing plate  511 , and the first insulative portion  141  are integrally molded. The second terminal module  52  further includes a second fixing plate  521 . The second terminal  25 , the second fixing plate  521 , and the second insulative portion  142  are integrally molded. The first fixing plate  511  defines a first mating surface  5113  facing to the mating cavity  6 . The contacting portion  22  is protruded and exposed to the first mating surface  5113 . The second fixing plate  521  defines a second mating surface  5213  facing to the mating cavity  6 . The contacting portion  22  is protruded and exposed to the second mating surface  5213 . The first and second mating surfaces  5113 ,  5213  are part of the surfaces  1221  of the tongue portion  122 . 
     The first terminal module  51  defines a first mounting surface  5111 , the second terminal module  52  defines a second mounting surface  5211  facing to the first mounting surface  5111 . The first and second mounting surfaces  5111 ,  5211  define dowel pins and locating holes mating with the dowel pins to assemble the first and second terminal modules  51 ,  52  together. Specifically, the first terminal module  51  defines a first dowel pin  5112  protruding out of the first mounting surface  5111 . The second mounting surface  5211  defines a second locating hole  5212  corresponding to the first dowel pin  5112 . The shielding plate  50  defines a through hole  502 . In this embodiment, the first dowel pin  5112  passes through the through hole  502  and is fixed to the second locating hole  5212 . The first insulative portion  141  is provided with a first positioning block  1411  and a first positioning groove  1412 , the second insulative portion  142  is provided with a second positioning groove  1421  and a second positioning block  1422 . The first positioning block  1411  is fixed to the second positioning groove  1421 ; the second positioning block  1422  is fixed to the first positioning groove  1412 . That makes the installation of the first and second terminal modules  51 ,  52  more stable. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 2 to 5 , the metallic (shielding) shell  3  includes four grounding portions or mounting legs  31  extending in the inserting direction. The insulating housing  1  comprises slits  1122  through which the grounding portions  31  go. The grounding portions  31  are fixed in the slits  1122  so that the metallic shell  3  is assembled on the insulating housing  1 . The grounding portions  31  can be welded to an electronic equipment (not shown) and have a function of grounding and fixing. The metallic shell  3  comprises an elastic fingers  32  protruding into the mating cavity  6 . The elastic fingers  32  may be elastically deformed along a thickness direction of the electrical connector  100  perpendicular to the inserting direction. The elastic fingers  32  abuts against the plug connector inserted in the mating cavity  6  to achieve a grounding function. At the same time, the elasticity of the elastic fingers  32  can also increase the stability of the engagement between the electrical connector  100  and the plug connector. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 1 to 3 , electrical connector  100  further comprises a third sealing ring  9 . The outer periphery of the insulating cover  4  defines a groove  41 . The third sealing ring  9  is arranged in the groove  41 . When the electrical connector  100  is mounted on the electronic equipment (not shown), the third sealing ring  9  is arranged at the joint to further realize the waterproof function. The third sealing ring  9  is made of rubber material. This allows the electrical connector  100  to be closely integrated with the electronic equipment (not shown) to prevent foreign matter from entering the equipment, such as water, dust, etc. In addition, the third sealing ring  9  can prevent the wobble of the electrical connector  100  when the electrical connector  100  mates with the mating connector (not shown). 
     Referring to  FIGS. 9 to 10 , the specific position of the sealing member  13  is mainly determined by the shape of the first terminal module  51  and the second terminal module  52 . If the front face  140  of the first and second insulative portion  141 ,  142  extend forward to the position of the first base portion  111  or the stepped portion  121 , the position of the sealing member  13  is also extend forward correspondingly. That is, the sealing member  13  may also be set in the first base portion  111  or the stepped portion  121 . In short, the position of the sealing member  13  not extends out of the front face  1211  of the stepped portion  121 , the rear face  110  of the base portion  11  and the out periphery of the insulative housing  1 . Conclusively speaking, one feature of the invention is to provide the sealing member  13  protectively intimately enclosed between the insulative portion  14  of the terminal module assembly  5 , i.e., the first insulative portion  141  of the first terminal modules  51  and the second insulative portion  142  of the second terminal module  52  both of which are made via a first stage insert-molding process, and the first base portion  111  of the injection molding body  15  which is made via a second stage insert-molding process. Differently, in the convention designs, the sealing member may be either exposed to an exterior or covered by the metallic shielding shell, not protectively and intimately hidden behind/under the insert-molded insulative body. Notably, in this embodiment the sealing member  13  is sandwiched between the insulative portion  14  and the injection molding body  15  in a vertical direction while the shielding plate  50  is sandwiched between the first terminal module  51  and the second terminal module  52  in a transverse direction perpendicular to the vertical direction, and the first terminals  24  and the second terminals  24  are arranged in two respective rows along the longitudinal direction perpendicular to both the vertical direction ant the transverse direction. Another feature of the invention is to have the metallic shell  3  attached upon the unified piece, i.e., the pre-assembled terminal module assembly  5  and injection molding body  15  after the second stage insert-molding process, and apply the insulative cover  4  thereupon in an overmolding process to secure the metallic shell  3  and the unified piece together. 
     However, the disclosure is illustrative only, changes may be made in detail, especially in matter of shape, size, and arrangement of sections within the principles of the invention.