Patent Publication Number: US-11658439-B2

Title: Male plug and female receptacle of connector and docking structure thereof

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     The present application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional Patent Application No. 62/978,431, filed on Feb. 19, 2020, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. The present application further claims priority to a CN Patent Application No. 202010981091.7, filed on Sep. 17, 2020, the disclosure of which is also hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a connector, and more particularly to a male plug and a female receptacle of a connector and a docking structure thereof. 
     Description of the Prior Art 
     Some industrial computers used for special standards, military standards or vehicles commonly adopt USB connectors as connectors for connection for signal or data transmissions. Moreover, in order to be used in coordination with universal standards, connectors in universal standards such as USB Type-C are also designed. 
     In general, universal standards are common in applicable scenarios or environments, and so testing performed on these universal standards may not be as strict as those used in special circumstances such as industrial computers. If a connector of a universal standard is to be directly configured and used in an industrial computer, issues such as inapplicability and hence reduced durability may be caused. For example, considering that a common USB Type-C connector is used in general utilization states, the holding force during plugging of such connector is not particularly designed by taking into account the conditions of an industrial computer, and so such connector is susceptible to be disengaged when pulled by an external force, causing problems of data or communication interruptions. If a universal standard is to be used, further improvement needs to be made so as to satisfy special application scenarios while also complying to the universal standard. 
     In view of the above, on the basis of extensive development with the practice of theories, the inventor has provided an invention with a reasonable design and effectively improving the issues above in aim of improving and resolving the above issues above. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a male plug and a female receptacle of a connector and a docking structure thereof. While maintaining a docking design of a universal standard, a plugging structure is further reinforced, so that the female receptacle remains applicable to a common universal standard and provides an even more stable plugging structure when plugged with the male plug. 
     It is another object of the present invention to provide a male plug and a female receptacle of a connector and a docking structure thereof, which may adopt a universal standard such as USB Type-C. 
     To achieve the above objects, a male plug of a connector provided by the present invention includes a plug body and a male connector. The plug body includes a plug head and a plurality of plug elastic pieces extending forward from a periphery of the plug head. The plug head has a plug end surface facing forward, and the male connector is provided in the plug head, protrudes from the plug end surface and is surrounded by the plug elastic pieces. The male connector has therein a first fastening structure, and a second fastening structure is provided on each of the elastic pieces. 
     To achieve the above objects, a female receptacle of a connector provided by the present invention includes a receptacle body and a female connector. The receptacle body includes a receptacle base and a receptacle member. The receptacle member has therein a hollow receiving space, and a receiving port formed by extending outward from the receiving space. The receptacle base is provided in the receiving space and has a receptacle end surface facing the receiving port, the female connector has a plugging port and is provided in the receptacle base, and the plugging port is exposed from the receptacle end surface. 
     To achieve the above objects, a connector docking structure provided by the present invention includes a female receptacle and a male plug. The female receptacle includes a receptacle body and a female connector. The receptacle body includes a receptacle base and a receptacle member. The receptacle member has therein a hollow receiving space, and a receiving port formed by extending outward from the receiving space. The receptacle base is provided in the receiving space, and an encircling receiving gap is formed between the receptacle base and a peripheral of an inner wall of the receiving space. The receptacle base further has a receptacle end surface facing the receiving port, the female connector is provided in the receptacle base and has a plugging port exposed from the receptacle end surface. The male plug includes a plug body and a male connector. The male connector has therein a first fastening structure. The plug body has a plug head and a plurality of plug elastic pieces extending forward from a periphery of the plug head. The plug head has a plug end surface facing forward, and the male connector is provided in the plug head, protrudes from the plug end surface and is surrounded by the plug elastic pieces. Each of the plug elastic pieces is provided with a second fastening structure. When the male plug is docked with the female receptacle, the plug elastic pieces are plugged into the receiving gap, the male connector is fitted with the female connector by the first fastening structure, and the male plug is fitted with the female receptacle by the second fastening structures. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG.  1    is an exploded three-dimensional schematic diagram of a male plug and a female receptacle of the present invention; 
         FIG.  2    is a schematic diagram of an end surface of a male terminal of a connector of the present invention; 
         FIG.  3    is a schematic diagram of an end surface of a female terminal of connector of the present invention; and 
         FIG.  4    is a section schematic diagram of an assembly of a male plug and a female receptacle of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
     To enable the examiner to better understand the features and technical contents of the present invention, details of the present invention are given with the accompanying drawings below. It should be noted that the accompanying drawings are for reference and illustration purposes and are not to be construed as limitations to the present invention. 
       FIG.  1    shows a three-dimensional exploded schematic diagram of a male plug and a female receptacle of the present invention. Referring to  FIG.  1   , the present invention provides a male plug and a female receptacle of a connector and a docking structure thereof, including a male plug  1 , and a female receptacle  2  matching docking with the male plug  1 . 
     The male plug  1  includes a plug body  10  and a male connector  11 . The plug body  10  includes a plug head  100  and a plurality of plug elastic pieces  101  extending forward from a periphery of the plug head  100 . The plug head  100  has a plug end surface  102  (as shown in  FIG.  4   ) facing forward. The male connector  11  is provided in the plug head  100  of the plug body  10 , protrudes from the plug end surface  102  and is surrounded by the plug elastic pieces  101 . 
     As shown in  FIG.  2   , the foregoing male connector  11  may be a connector in the USB Type-C standard, and has a male tongue  110  and a covering housing  111  covering outside the male tongue  110 . The male tongue  110  has a connector port  112 , a plurality of male terminals  113  are respectively provided on upper and lower parts of an inner wall of the connector port  112 , and a first fastening structure  114  is provided on each of two sides of the inner wall of the connector port  112 . 
     As shown in  FIG.  1   ,  FIG.  2    and  FIG.  4   , the male plug  1  and the matching female receptacle  2  docked thereto achieve plugging stability through the first fastening structures  114  and a second fastening structures  103 . Moreover, as shown in  FIG.  2   , the first fastening structure  104  may be two snapping arms  114   a  respectively provided on inner lateral sides of the connector port  112 , and the two snapping arms  114   a  protrude inward so as to provide a horizontal holding force to be applied on the female receptacle  2 . As shown in  FIG.  4   , the second fastening structure  103  may be two clamping edges  103   a  respectively located on upper and lower parts of the covering housing  111 , and the two clamping edges  103   a  protrude outward so as to provide a vertical holding force to be applied on the female receptacle  2 . 
     Further, as shown in  FIG.  1   , the plug body  10  further includes a cable  104  extending from an end of the plug head  100 , a pulling portion  105  is formed between the plug head  100  and the cable  104 , and a buffer structure  106  is further extended from the end of the plug head  100 , wherein the pulling portion  105  can be integrally connected to an end of the buffer structure  106  so as to form a cable connector. It should be noted that, the pulling portion  105  may further include a concentrator section  105   a , and a holding ring  105   b  connected between the buffer structure  106  and the concentrator section  105   a . The holding ring  105   b  is radially greater than the concentrator section  105   a  and the end of the buffer structure  106 , so as to facilitate the hand to hold the holding ring  105   b  of the pulling portion  105  to apply a force on the male plug  1 , further removing or separating the male plug  1  from the female receptacle  2 . 
     Again referring to  FIG.  1    and  FIG.  4   , the female receptacle  2  includes a receptacle body  20  and a female connector  21 . The receptacle body  20  includes a receptacle base  200  and a receptacle member  201 . The receptacle member  201  has therein a hollow receiving space  202 , and a receiving port  203  formed by extending outward from the receiving space  202 . The receptacle base  200  is provided in the receiving space  202 , and an encircling receiving gap d (as shown in  FIG.  4   ) is formed between the receptacle base  200  and a peripheral of an inner wall of the receiving space  202 . The receptacle base  200  further has a receptacle end surface  204  facing the receiving port  203 , and the female connector  21  is provided in the receptacle base  200  and has a plugging port  210  exposed from the receptacle end surface  204 . 
     As shown in  FIG.  3   , the female receptacle  21  may also be a connector in the USB Type-C standard, and includes a shielding housing  211  forming the plugging port  210 , and a female tongue  212  located in the shielding housing  211 . The female tongue  212  is provided with a plurality of female terminals  212 , and two fitting edges  214  for fastening with the first fastening structures  114 , and the female terminals  213  correspond to the male terminals  113 , as shown in  FIG.  2   . 
     Again referring to  FIG.  1   ,  FIG.  3    and  FIG.  4   , the receptacle member  201  may be provided with two fitting walls  205  respectively located on upper and lower parts of an inner wall of the receiving space  202 . The two fitting walls  205  are for fastening with the second fastening structures  103  of the male connector  11 , so as to enable the second fastening structures  103  to provide the foregoing vertical holding force to be applied on the female receptacle  2 . 
     Again referring to  FIG.  4   , when the male plug  1  is docked with the female receptacle  2 , the plug elastic pieces  101  of the male plug  1  are plugged into the receiving gap d of the female receptacle  2 , the male connector  11  is fitted with the female connector  21  by the first fastening structures  114 , and the male plug  1  is fitted with the female receptacle  2  with the second fastening structures  103 . 
     Accordingly, the male plug and the female receptacle of a connector and the docking structure thereof of the present invention can be obtained as the structural configurations above. 
     Thus, with the male plug and the female receptacle of a connector and the docking structure thereof, the plugging stability between the male plug  1  and the female receptacle  2  is reinforced by the foregoing horizontal and vertical holding forces. 
     In conclusion, the present invention achieves the expected application objects, solves the issues of the prior art, and is novel and involves an inventive step, fully meeting the requirements of a patent application. Therefore, a patent application is filed accordingly, and granting the application with patent rights is respectfully requested to ensure rights of the inventor. 
     Preferred feasible embodiments of the present invention are described as above, and are not to be construed as limitations to the scope of protection of the present invention. Similarly, equivalent changes made to the techniques and means practicing the contents of the description and drawings of the present invention are to be encompassed within the scope of the present invention.