Patent Publication Number: US-9843128-B2

Title: Waterproof electrical connector

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S) 
     This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 201520990637.X, filed on Dec. 3, 2015, the entirety of which is incorporated by reference herein. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present disclosure relates to connectors, and more particularly, to electrical connectors. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     With the rapid development of electronics industry, modern electronic products nowadays must include practical and diverse designs. Electrical connectors are connecting devices configured to electrically connect to cables, circuit boards, and other electronic components, and are widely applicable to a variety of electronic products, such as computers, laptop computers, mobile phones, etc. 
     Conventional the electrical connectors usually have slits or holes disposed on their inner case, however, the design cannot prevent the moisture or water from seeping through the case and further into the electrical connectors, thus ultimately affecting the electrical function. Accordingly, waterproof casings have been designed and provided in the market that can be attached to external electrical connectors for waterproofing, such as the disclosure in Taiwan Patent No. M496259. 
     However, the electrical connector covered with a waterproof casing occupies a greater space since the waterproof casing is bulky and designed to cover the electrical connector. Therefore, it undesirably increases the size of the electrical connector and cannot satisfy the market demand for miniaturization which may have an impact on the internal layout space for electrical connecters. 
     As such, how to avoid the problems mentioned above has become an urgent issue that needs to be addressed. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In view of the above-described drawbacks, the present disclosure provides an electrical connector, which includes: a first shell having a receiving space, a port and an opening opposite to each other and communicating the receiving space, and at least a discontinuous portion formed on the surface of the first shell and communicating the receiving space; an insulated housing received in the receiving space of the first shell; a shielding piece disposed in the insulated housing; two conductive terminal sets each having a plurality of conductive terminals arranged in a row and parallelly positioned at two opposite sides of the shielding piece, wherein each of the plurality of conductive terminals has a contacting portion exposed from the port, and a soldering portion protruding from the opening; at least a capping body attached to the first shell for covering the discontinuous portion thereof; and a sealing body coupled with the first shell and disposed around the port of the first shell. 
     In the above electrical connector, the discontinuous portion may be a cavity, a slit or a combination thereof. For example, the first shell is formed by bending a metallic sheet to allow dovetail grooves on the two ends of the metallic sheet to be coupled together, and the slit is formed at the engaged portions of the dovetail grooves. Or, the first shell has a protruding portion formed from its surface and protruding toward the receiving space to engage the insulated housing, and the cavity is defined by the protruding portion and the insulated housing. 
     In the above electrical connector, the insulated housing includes a base portion and a tongue portion extending from the base portion, where the base portion is located in the opening, and the tongue portion is disposed within the first shell and located in the port. 
     In the above electrical connector, the capping body is a plastic sheet or a plastic film. 
     In the above electrical connector, a second shell is disposed on and in contact with the surface of the first shell. For example, the second shell totally or partially covers the surface the first shell. The first shell further has a placement portion sticking out of the second shell and configured to combine with the sealing body. 
     In the above electrical connector, the sealing body leans against an external device configured to be combined with the electrical connector. 
     Based on the above, by the design of the capping body covering the discontinuous portion, the electrical connector of the present disclosure is capable of preventing water vapor or moisture from entering the first shell and seeping through the discontinuous portion, thereby protecting electrical functions of the conductive terminals from being damaged by the water vapor or moisture. 
     In addition, as the capping body is located inside the second shell, there is no need to install any waterproof structure on the external of the second shell, thereby avoiding the increase in size of the electrical connector, such that the electrical connector is not only water proof, but also remains slim, thin and light-weighted. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1A  is a schematic view of the electrical connector according to the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 1B  is a schematic side view of the electrical connector of  FIG. 1A  when in use; 
         FIG. 2A  is a schematic view of the electrical connector of  FIG. 1A  without a sealing body; 
         FIG. 2B  is a schematic view showing from under of the electrical connector of  FIG. 2A ; 
         FIG. 2A ′ is a partially exploded view of the electrical connector of  FIG. 2A ; 
         FIG. 2B ′ is a partially exploded view showing from under of the electrical connector of  FIG. 2A ′; 
         FIG. 3A  is a schematic view of the electrical connector of  FIG. 2A  without a second shell; 
         FIG. 3B  is a schematic view showing from under of the electrical connector of  FIG. 3A ; 
         FIG. 4A  is a schematic view of the electrical connector of  FIG. 3A  without a first shell and a capping body; and 
         FIG. 4B  is an exploded view of the electrical connector of  FIG. 4A . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     The following illustrative embodiments are provided to illustrate the present disclosure, these and other advantages and effects can be apparent to those skilled in the art after reading this specification. 
     It should be noted that structures, scales, sizes, etc., shown in all the drawings in reference with the specification, are not intended to limit the present disclosure, but merely facilitate the understanding and reading for those skilled in the art. Modifications and variations in different scale or sizes can be made without departing from the spirit of the present disclosure. Further, the terms such as “upper”, “lower”, “front”, “back”, “left”, “right”, “first”, “second”, “on”, “a” etc. are merely for illustrative purposes and should not be construed to limit the scope of the present disclosure, and any amendment or adjustment of relative relations without substantively changing the technical content is rendered to be in the scope of the present disclosure. 
       FIGS. 1A, 2A, 2A ′,  3 A,  4 A and  4 B are schematic views of the electrical connectors according to the present disclosure;  FIGS. 2B, 2B ′ and  3 B are schematic views showing from under of the electrical connectors according to the present disclosure. 
     An electrical connector  1  includes an insulated housing  10 , a first shell  11 , a second shell  12 , a shielding piece  16 , two rows of conductive terminal sets  13 ,  13 ′, a plurality of capping bodies  14   a ,  14   b  and a sealing body  15 . 
     In an embodiment, the electrical connector  1  is, for example, a Universal Serial Bus (USB), in particular a USB Type-C configuration. 
     The insulated housing  10  includes a base portion  100 , a tongue portion  101  and a board portion  102 , where the blade tongue portion  101  extends from the base portion  100 , and the base portion  100  and the board portion  102  protrude out the rear side of the first shell  11 . 
     As shown in  FIGS. 4A and 4B , the shielding piece  16  is disposed inside the insulated housing  10 . 
     The conductive terminal sets  13  and  13 ′ include a plurality of conductive terminals  130  and  130 ′ (as shown in  FIG. 4A ), respectively. The conductive terminal sets  13  and  13 ′ are firmly disposed on the upper and lower sides of the insulated housing  10 , and the conductive terminals  130  and  130 ′ have contacting portions  13   a  and  13   a ′ disposed on the tongue portion  101 , respectively, and further have soldering portions  13   b  and  13   b ′ protruding from the rear side of the first shell, where the soldering portions  13   b  and  13   b ′ are configured to electrically connect to electronic devices (not shown). 
     In the embodiment, the conductive terminals  130  and  130 ′ extend from the tongue portion  101  toward the base portion  100 , and bend and further extend downwardly to present like bending beams. 
     Moreover, the conductive terminals  130  and  130 ′ include ground terminals (Gnd), power source terminals (Power/VBUS) and reserve terminals (RFU), and further include differential signal terminal pairs when needed. 
     Furthermore, the upper conductive terminal set  13  is formed on the board portion  102 , where the contacting portions  13   a  are located on the tongue portion  101  (shown in  FIG. 4A ), the lower conductive terminal set  13 ′ extends on the base portion  100  and the tongue portion  101  and has ground pieces  17  and  17 ′ disposed on the base portion  100  and the board portion  102 , respectively. 
     In addition, the conductive terminal sets  13  and  13 ′ are arranged as rows and disposed on the upper and lower sides of the shielding piece  16 , i.e., the shielding piece  16  is disposed between the upper conductive terminal set  13  and the lower conductive terminal set  13 ′. 
     In view of the conventional designs of USB conductive terminals that are well known to persons skilled in the art, further descriptions thereof are not to be elaborated for concise and brevity. 
     The first shell  11  is a metallic housing, such as an iron shell to be used as the inner case and have a receiving space S for receiving the insulated housing  10  and the conductive terminal sets  13  and  13 ′. 
     In the embodiment, the first shell  11  further includes at least a discontinuous portion  11   a ,  11   b  formed on the surface of the first shell  11  and communicating the receiving space S. 
     In the embodiment, when forming the first shell  11 , a metallic sheet is designed to have dovetail grooves on its two ends, then the metallic sheet is bended to allow the dovetail grooves to be coupled together, forming an annular shell having a slit (as the discontinuous portion  11   b  shown in  FIG. 2B ′) located at engaged portions of the dovetail grooves. Protruding portions  113  (shown in  FIGS. 2A ′ and  2 B′ where two protruding portions  113  on the upper surface of the first shell  11 , and four protruding portions  113  on the lower surface of the first shell  11 ) are formed on the upper and lower surfaces of the first shell  11  by pressing or stamping the same, and protrude toward the receiving space S, i.e., the protruding portions  113  are also located in the receiving space S, such that the protruding portions  113  engage the insulated housing  10 . Cavities such as the discontinuous portions  11   a  shown in  FIGS. 2A ′ and  2 B′ are formed on the front and rear sides of the protruding portions  113 . 
     Accordingly, moisture or water vapor seeps through the slits or cavities that are defined as the discontinuous portions  11   a  and  11   b  on the first shell  11 . It should be noted that the variety of the discontinuous portions are not limited to the above configurations. 
     The first shell  11  further has a port  111  formed on the front side of the receiving space S and an opening  110  formed on the rear side of the receiving space S, where the base portion  100  is located in the opening  110 , the tongue portion  101  is disposed on the first shell  11  and located in the port  111 , such that the tongue portion  101  and the contacting portions  13   a  and  13   a ′ are exposed from the port  111 , and the base portion  100 , the board portion  102 , and the soldering portions  13   b  and  13   b ′ protrude from the opening  110 . 
     The second shell  12  is a metallic casing, such as an iron shell to be used as an external case disposed on and in contact with the surface of the first shell  11 , so as to cover the first shell  11  and conceal the rear upper side of the base portion  100 , such that the first shell  11  protrudes from the front side of the second shell  12  to form a placement portion  112 , as shown in  FIG. 2A , i.e., the first shell  11  has the placement portion  112  sticking out of the second shell  12 . 
     In the embodiment, as shown in  FIG. 2B , the base portion  100  and the soldering portions  13   b  and  13   b ′ are exposed from the rear lower side of the second shell  12 . 
     In addition, the second shell  12  further has a plurality of pins  120  on the left side and right side of the second shell  12 , and the pins  120  are close to the front side and rear side of the second shell  12 , allowing the electrical connector  1  to be assembled to an electronic device (not shown). 
     And, the second shell  12  partially covers the surface of the first shell  11 . Nevertheless, it should be understood that the second shell  12  can also totally cover the surface of the first shell  11 . 
     The capping bodies  14   a  and  14   b  are disposed on and in contact with the upper and lower sides of the first shell  11  for covering entirely the discontinuous portions  11   a  and  11   b  (shown in  FIGS. 3A and 3B ), and the capping bodies  14   a  and  14   b  are received in the second shell  12 , such that the second shell  12  covers the capping bodies  14   a  and  14   b  (shown in  FIGS. 2A and 2B ). 
     In the embodiment, the capping bodies  14   a  and  14   b  are sheets or films formed in the shape corresponding to the distribution layout of the discontinuous portions  11   a  and  11   b , such as shaped as a bar, a cross or the like. 
     In particular, the capping bodies  14   a  and  14   b  are formed by a plastic material, such as mylar products produced by E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company. 
     The sealing body  15  is combined with the placement portion  112  of the first shell  11 , and is exposed from the second shell  12 . 
     In the embodiment, the sealing body  12  is an annular-shaped insulating pad or an elastic ring (so called O-ring), or the like. 
     Also, as shown in  FIG. 1B , the height of the sealing body  15  relative to the first shell  11  is greater than the height of the second shell  12  relative to the first shell  11 . 
     Therefore, by covering the capping bodies  14   a  and  14   b  over the discontinuous portions  11   a  and  11   b , the electrical connector  1  of the embodiment is capable of preventing water vapor or moisture from entering the first shell  11  and seeping through the discontinuous portions  11   a  and  11   b , thereby protecting electrical functions of the conductive terminals  13  and  13 ′ from water vapor or moisture. 
     Moreover, since the capping bodies  14   a  and  14   b  are located inside the second shell  12 , there is no need to install any waterproof structure on the external of the second shell  12 , avoiding the increase in size of the electrical connector  1 , such that the electrical connector  1  remains thin and light-weighted. 
     Further, when the electrical connector  1  is combined with an external device  9  to form a product (not shown), the sealing body  15  leans against the external device  9 , which prevents moisture from passing through the flowing space F between the external device  9  and the second shell  12 , thereby preventing moisture from entering the product through the flowing space F and effectively achieving waterproofing of the device. Therefore, the electrical connector  1  of the present disclosure is equipped with the waterproofing feature by merely forming the sealing body  15  on the first shell  11 , which avoids the conventional bulky waterproof casing that covers the second shell  12 . Although the outer profile around the port  111  of the electronic connect  1  is slightly enlarged, the internal layout space of the product is not affected, thereby satisfying the market demand for slim, thin and light-weighted products. 
     In conclusion, by the use of the capping bodies over the discontinuous portions of the first shell, the electrical connector of the present disclosure not only prevents water vapor or moisture from seeping through the discontinuous portions of the first shell, but also the electrical connector is slim, thin and light-weighted. 
     The above-described descriptions of the detailed embodiments are only to illustrate the preferred implementation according to the present disclosure, and it is not to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Accordingly, all modifications and variations completed by those with ordinary skill in the art should fall within the scope of present disclosure defined by the appended claims.