Patent Publication Number: US-7717753-B2

Title: Electrical connector with a sleeve therein

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to an electrical connector, and particularly to an electrical connector with a ring assembled therein. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     U.S. Pat. No. 6,551,127 issued to Li et al. on Apr. 22, 2003 discloses an electrical connector for signal transmission. The electrical connector includes a housing mounted with a plurality of terminals and forming a cylindraceous mating portion protruding forward from the housing for receiving a mating plug therein. The electrical connector further comprises an insulating sleeve assembled in an inner side of the mating portion and locked with the mating portion by a pair of hooks buckling with an end of the mating portion and a plurality of ribs interfering with the inner side of the mating portion. However, the sleeve may release from the mating portion after multiple usage of the mating plug. Hence, an electrical connector which can solve the problem is needed. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector for steadily fastening a sleeve therein. 
     In order to achieve the object set forth, an electrical connector includes an insulating housing defining a receiving cavity with an opening opened forward and running through a mating face. A plurality of terminals are mounted in the insulating housing. A cover defines a space for partly receiving the insulating housing therein and has a front wall with an aperture corresponding with the opening. A sleeve has a base portion sandwiched between the mating face and front wall of the cover, and a ring projecting forward through the aperture. A shell is provided for shielding the insulating housing and cover. 
     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 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an electrical connector in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a partly exploded view of the electrical connector shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is an exploded view of the electrical connector shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view of a cover of the electrical connector shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view of the cover with a sleeve mounted therein; and 
         FIG. 6  is another perspective view of the cover with the sleeve mounted therein. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Reference will now be made to the drawing figures to describe a preferred embodiment of the present invention in detail. Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 3 , an electrical connector  100  according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention is provided and comprises an insulating housing  1 , a plurality of terminals  2  mounted in the housing  1 , a sleeve  3  mounted in the housing  1 , a cover  4  fastening the sleeve  3  and mounted on the housing  1 , a shell  5  surrounding the housing  1  and the cover  4 , and a flake  6  attached to a mating face  11  of the housing  1 . 
     The insulating housing  1  defines a receiving cavity  10  running through the mating face  11  thereby defining an opening  101  for guiding a mating plug to be inserted. A recess portion  111  is defined around the opening  101  and recessed rearward, with a gap  112  defined at an upper portion of the housing and communicating with the receiving cavity  10 . A grounding terminal  2  is fixed in an upper wall of the housing and includes a contacting portion  21  projecting into the receiving cavity through the gap  112 . Each side wall of the insulating housing  1  is in a step configuration and comprises a first side wall  12  at a front end thereof and a second side wall  13  at a rear end and protruding outward. Each first and second side walls  12 ,  13  form a protrusion portion  121 ,  131  protruding outward for locking with the shell  5 . 
     The metallic sleeve  3  includes an annular base portion  32  and a ring  31  extending forward from the base portion  32 , wherein the ring is in a smaller dimension than the base portion  32 . A hole  311  is defined on the sleeve  3  corresponding with the gap  112  on the insulating housing  1 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the cover  4  includes a rectangular body portion  41 , a pair of side wall  42  extending downward from opposite side edges of the body portion  41 , a front wall  43  extending downward from a front edge of the body portion  41  and connecting with the side wall  42 , thereby defining a space surrounded by the three walls. An aperture  430  is defined on the front wall  43  for receiving the sleeve  3  and in communication with the space, and an annular extending portion  431  projecting forward from circumference of the aperture  430 . A slot  4311  corresponding with the hole  311  is defined at a joint portion of the body portion  41  and front wall  43 . A plurality of ribs  4312  are provided in an inner side wall of the extending portion  431  for improving the interfering force. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 5 and 6 , the sleeve  3  is inserted into the cover  4  from a rear end, the ring  31  of the sleeve  3  projects forward and exposes to an exterior of the extending portion  431  by running through the aperture  430 , meanwhile, circumference of the ring  31  is interfering with the ribs  4312  on the extending portion  431  for retention, and the base portion  32  is blocked by a rear end of the extending portion  431  (i.e. an inner face  432  of the front wall  43 ) for preventing the forward movement of the sleeve  3 . The slot  4311  on the extending portion  431  is aligned with the hole  311  on the ring  31  at this time, therefore, the sleeve  3  is primarily mounted on the cover  4 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the cover  4  together with the sleeve  3  is assembled onto the insulating housing  1 . The side walls  42  of the cover  4  are tightly affixed to the first walls  12  with rear ends abutting against front ends of the second walls  13 , and the protrusion portions  121 ,  131  of the first and second walls  12 ,  13  are received in apertures  421  defined at lower ends of the side walls  42 . The front wall  43  is tightly affixed to the mating face  11  of the housing  1  with the base portion  32  received in the recess portion  111  and the contacting portion  21  of the contact  2  projecting into the hole  311  on the sleeve and slot  4311  on the extending portion. The body portion  41  covers the upper wall of the housing  1  and sandwiches the terminal  2  together with the upper wall of the housing. Under this condition, the sleeve  3  is finally retained between the cover  4  and the insulating housing  1 , and can not move toward any direction. Then, the shell  5  is assembled onto the housing  1  with a top wall  51  covering the base portion  41  of the cover  4 , locking holes  521 ,  522  defined on each side wall  52  being locked with corresponding protrusion portions  121 ,  131 , and a rear wall  53  shielding the rear ends of the housing  1  and cover  4 . Finally, the flake  6  is attached onto the front wall  43  of the cover  4  for beautiful looking, therefore, an integral electrical connector has been made with steadily retention effect. 
     In the present invention, the sleeve  3  is primarily assembled onto a cover  4  and then assembled onto the housing  1  so that the sleeve  3  is sandwiched between the housing  1  and the cover  4  and can not release from the housing easily. 
     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.