Patent Publication Number: US-2016226176-A1

Title: Power connector

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     1. Technical Field 
     The present disclosure relates to an electrical connector, and more particularly to a power connector which can be produced and assembled easily. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     A conventional power connector usually includes a plurality of power contacts and a housing receiving the power contacts. Each power contact has a mating portion electrically connecting with a complementary connector and a soldering portion connecting with a printed circuit board or a terminal device. Generally, the mating portions and the soldering portions are provided one-to-one correspondence. In other words, each mating portion connects with a respective soldering portion. However, when the conventional power connector is used in an environment needing high electric current, the power contacts of such conventional power connector are easier to be invalid, which in turn make troubles for users. 
     TW patent application no. 201405977 discloses a power connector, which connects a plurality of power contacts and a contact bus bar together by a number of screws and nuts. Therefore, the current in the contact bus bar is equal to the total current through all the power contacts. However, the plurality of screws and nuts not only increase cost, but also are assembled complicated. 
     It is desirable to provide an improved power connector and a method of making the same for solving above problems. 
     SUMMARY 
     In one aspect, the present invention includes a power connector. The power connector comprises an insulative housing, a plurality of power contacts received in the insulative housing, a contact bus bar electrically connecting with the plurality of power contacts and a fastening element fastening the contact bus bar and an outer terminal arranged behind the insulative housing together. The insulative housing has a mating face at a front side thereof. The power contacts are provided with soldering pads. The contact bus bar has a front mating pad engaging with the soldering pads. The front mating pad is formed with a plurality of soldering holes, and the front mating pad and the soldering pads being connected electrically via soldering tin set in the soldering holes. 
     The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technical advantages of the present invention in order that the detailed description of the invention that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages of the invention will be described hereinafter which form the subject of the claims of the invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The components in the drawing are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the described embodiments. In the drawings, reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout various views, and all the views are schematic. 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view illustrating a first embodiment of a power connector in the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 2  is a view similar to  FIG. 1 , while viewed from another aspect; 
         FIG. 3  is a partially exploded view of the power connector shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a view similar to  FIG. 3 , while viewed from another aspect; 
         FIG. 5  is an exploded view of the power contact, contact bus bar and fastening element of the power connector shown in  FIG. 3 ; 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective view illustrating a second embodiment of the power contact, contact bus and fastening element of the power connector; 
         FIG. 7  is an exploded view of the power contact, contact bus bar and fastening element of the power connector shown in  FIG. 6 ; 
         FIG. 8  is a perspective view illustrating a third embodiment of the power contact, contact bus and fastening element of the power connector; 
         FIG. 9  is an exploded view of the power contact, contact bus bar and fastening element of the power connector shown in  FIG. 8 ; 
         FIG. 10  is an exploded view illustrating a fourth embodiment of the power contact, contact bus and fastening element of the power connector; 
         FIG. 11  is an exploded view illustrating a fifth embodiment of the power contact, contact bus and fastening element of the power connector. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENT 
     Reference will now be made to the drawing figures to describe the embodiments of the present disclosure in detail. In the following description, the same drawing reference numerals are used for the same elements in different drawings. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 to 5 , a first preferred illustrated embodiment of the present disclosure discloses a power connector  100 . The power connector  100  comprises an insulative housing  1 , a plurality of power contacts  2  and signal contacts  3  accommodated in the insulative housing  1 , two contact bus bars  4  and two fastening elements  5  mechanically and electrically fastening the contact bus bars  4  and two second outer terminals (not shown) together respectively. 
     Please refer together to  FIGS. 3-4 , the insulative housing  1  comprises a main portion  11 , a bearing portion  12  backwardly extending from the main portion  11  and two side portions  13  located at two sides of the main portion  11 . The side portion  13  is provided with a guide pole  131  which is close to the main portion  11  and a fixing hole  132  far from the main portion  11 . The guide pole  131  is used to guide a mating connector inserting into the power connector  100 , and the fixing hole  132  is used to fix the power connector  100  to an electronic device (not shown). 
     The main portion  11  has a mating face  110  at a front side thereof, a mounting face  111  at a rear side thereof and a plurality of receiving slots  112  extending through the mating face  110  and mounting face  111  along a front to back direction. In the present embodiment, the receiving slots  112  comprise a plurality of power contact slots  1121  and a plurality of signal contact slots  1122 . The power contact slots  1121  are arranged along a transverse direction of the insulative housing  1 . The signal contact slots  1122  are located between the power contact slots  1121 . 
     Each power contact slot  1121  has a middle slot  1123  for receiving a mating contact and two position slots  1124  at two sides of the middle slot  1123 . The position slots  1124  is wider than the middle slot  1123  along a top to bottom direction, and the position slots  1124  are formed with stop blocks  1125  at a front side thereof. The stop blocks  1125  prevent the power contacts  2  from moving forwardly. The bearing portion  12  comprises a bottom wall  121  backwardly extending from a bottom side of the main portion  11  and a plurality of clapboards  122  backwardly extending from the mounting face  111 . The clapboards  122  are perpendicular to the bottom wall  121 , and the bottom wall  121  connects the bottom ends of the clapboards  122 . 
     Please refer together to  FIGS. 1-5 , each power contact slot  1121  is arranged with a pair of power contacts  2 . There are ten power contact slots  1121  corresponding to ten pairs of the power contacts  2  in the present invention. Each pair of the power contacts  2  comprises a first contact  21  and a second contact  22 . Each power contact  2  is provided with a contacting pad  23  and a first supporting portion  24  bending from the rear end of the contacting pad  23 . The contacting pads  23  of the first and second contacts  21 ,  22  are parallel and confront to each other. The first supporting portions  24  of the first and second contacts  21 ,  22  extend toward each other along the transverse direction. The contacting pads  23  of the first and second contacts  21 ,  22  are received in the position slots  1124 , and each contacting pad  23  is designed with a pair of resisting tabs  231  at upper and lower edges thereof. The position slots  1124  are formed with limited blocks (not shown) at a rear side of the resisting tabs  231 . The resisting tabs  231  resist the limited blocks to prevent the power contacts  2  from moving backwardly. The contacting pads  23  abut against a rear side of the stop blocks  1125  to limit the power contacts  2  from moving forwardly. 
     In the present embodiment, the power contacts  2  are arranged in three groups which comprise a first group, a second group and a third group. Each of the first and third group comprises three pairs of power contacts  2 . The second group is located between the first and third groups and comprises four pairs of power contacts  2 . The power contacts  2  in the first group are different from the power contacts  2  in the second and third groups. The power contacts  2  in the second and third groups are similar, thereby the power contacts  2  in the third group will be chose to be illustrated in detail hereinafter, and the second group will be omitted. In an alternative embodiment, the power contacts  2  in first group can be designed similar to that in the third group. 
     Please refer  FIGS. 3 and 4 , in the first group, the first and second contacts  21 ,  22  of each pair of the power contacts  2  connect with each other respectively, thus the current transmitted in each power contact slot  1121  is equal to the total current through each pair of the power contacts  2  respectively. Specifically, the first supporting portions  24  of each pair of the power contacts  2  in the first group overlap each other and are provided with fixing holes (not shown), and each pair of the power contacts  2  is fixed with a first outer terminal by a screw  54 , a nut  55  and the fixing holes. 
     Please refer  FIGS. 3-5 , for transmitting high current, the power contacts  2  in the second and third group connect in parallel by one contact bus bar  4  respectively. Therefore, the power contacts  2  in the second or third group can connect with the second outer terminal by the contact bus bar  4 , therefore the current in the second outer terminal is equal to the total current through all power contacts  2  in the second or third group. 
     For example, referring to  FIG. 5 , each power contact  2  in the third group further has a soldering pad  25  bending from the first supporting portion  25 . The contact bus bar  4  is designed with a front mating pad  41  connecting with the soldering pads  25 , a rear pad  42  opposite to the front mating pad  41  and a bridge  43  interconnecting the lower ends of the front mating pad  41  and the rear pad  42 . The rear pad  42  connects with the second outer terminal. The front mating pad  41  and the rear pad  42  extend along the bottom-to-top direction and are parallel to each other. Taking the bridge  43  as a reference, the front mating pad  41  is higher than the rear pad  42 . The bridge  43  is supported by the bottom wall  121  of the bearing portion  12 . The front mating pad  41  is formed with a plurality of soldering holes  40 , and the front mating pad  41  and the soldering pads  25  are connected electrically via soldering tin set in the soldering holes  40 . 
     In detail, referring to  FIG. 5 , the first supporting portions  24  in the third group are parallel to the front mating pad  41 . The first supporting portions  24  of each pair of the power contacts  2  in the third group are located at a common plane and abut against the front mating pad  41 . The soldering pads  25  of each pair of the power contacts  2  bends from adjacent ends of the supporting portions  24  and abut against each other face to face. Then the soldering pads  25  of each pair of the power contacts  2  are perpendicular to the front mating pad  41  and commonly received in a same soldering hole  40 . 
     Referring to the configuration of the contact has bur  4  which connects with the power contacts  2  of the second group shown in  FIG. 3 , the soldering hole  40  presents as a shape corresponding to the combined shape of the soldering pads  25  of each pair of the power contacts  2 . Alternatively, referring to the configuration of the contact has bur  4  which connects with the power contacts  2  of the third group shown in  FIG. 5 , the soldering hole  40  is provided with a main hole  400  and two extension holes  401  extending outwardly from two sides of the main hole  400 . The main hole  400  presents as a shape corresponding to the combined shape of the soldering pads  25  of each pair of the power contacts  2  to receive the soldering pads  25 . The extension holes  401  are the expansion of the main holes  400  for increasing soldering tin and strengthening the connection between the power contacts  2  and the contact bas bur  4 . Besides, the first supporting portion  24  further defines a recess  240  around the soldering pad  25  for receiving soldering tin and further strengthening the connection between the power contacts  2  and the contact bas bur  4 . 
     The soldering pad  25  is narrower than the first supporting portion  24 . The first supporting portion  24  is provided with a base portion  241  and at least an extension portion  242  extending from the base portion  241 . The soldering pad  25  bends from the base portion  241  and is parallel to the contacting pad  23 . In the transverse direction of the insulative housing  1 , the base portion  241  is located at outside of the soldering pad  25 . The contacting pad  23  defines a width direction which is perpendicular to the transverse direction, and in the width direction of the contacting pad  23 , the extension portion  242  is adjacent to the soldering pad  25 . 
     Please refer  FIG. 5 , in the first embodiment, the soldering pad  25  bends from a middle position of the base portion  241 . Each first supporting portion  24  is provided with two extension portions  242  at two sides of the soldering pad  25  along the width direction of the contacting pad  23 . The soldering pad  25  and the free ends of the extension portions  242  are located at a common plane. Thereby the extension portions  242  of the power contacts  2  in each receiving slot  112  abut against each other too. 
     Besides, each power contact  2  in the third group is further provided with a second supporting portion  26  extending toward the front mating pad  41  from the contacting pad  23 . The second supporting portion  26  is perpendicular to and abuts against the front mating pad  41 . The first supporting portion  24  and the second supporting portion  26  extend from two sides of the rear end of the contacting pad  23 , which can supply a stable position between the power contacts  2  and the contact bus bar  4 . The second supporting portion  26  is close to the bridge  43 , and the first supporting portion  24  is far from the bridge  43 , then the fastening element  5  can be conveniently arranged on the contact bus bar  4  to connect the contact bus bar  4  and the outer terminal together easily. In the present embodiment, the first supporting portion  24  and the second supporting portion  26  space apart from each other along the width direction of the contacting pad  23 . Of course, the first supporting portion  24  and the second supporting portion  26  can be alternatively designed to be adjacent to each other. 
     Please refer  FIGS. 3-5 , each fastening element  5  comprises a positioning nut  51  and a screw  52  for interconnecting the contact bus bar  4  and the second outer terminal. The rear pad  42  defines a positioning hole  421 . The positioning nut  51  is positioned between the front mating pad  41  and the rear pad  42 , and defines a screw hole  511  corresponding to the positioning hole  421 . The contact bus bar  4  is formed with a plurality of protrusions  44  to fix the positioning nut  51  between the front mating pad  41  and the rear pad  42 . The protrusions  44  protrude from the bridge  43 . The screw  52  extends through the positioning hole  421  and matches with the screw hole  511  to fix the second outer terminal and the rear pad  42  together. 
     As described above, the soldering pads  24  of the power contacts  2  in the second and third groups electrically connect with the contact bas bars  4  via soldering tin set in the soldering holes  40 , that make the power connector  100  have a simple structure, be assembled easily and have a lower cost. 
     Please refer  FIGS. 6 and 7 , in a second embodiment of the present invention, the matching construction between the contact bas bar  4 ′ and the power contacts  2 ′ in the second and third groups is different from that in the first embodiment. Same to that in the first embodiment, the power contacts  2 ′ in the second and third groups are similar, thereby the power contacts  2 ′ in the third group will be chose to be illustrated in detail hereinafter, and the second group will be omitted. 
     In detail, each first supporting portion  24 ′ of the power contact  2 ′ in the third group is provided with only one extension portion  242 ′ at one side of the soldering pad  25 ′. Besides, each power contact  2 ′ in the third group further has a limit portion  27  located at another side of the soldering pad  25 ′. The soldering pad  25 ′ and the free end of the extension portions  242 ′ of each power contact  2 ′ are located at a common plane, which make the extension portions  242 ′ of each pair of the power contacts  2 ′ abut against each other. The limit portion  27  extends beyond the soldering pad  25 ′ along the transverse direction, which can limit the soldering pad  25 ′ from moving along the width direction of the contacting pad  23 ′, and is convenient to position the soldering pads  25 ′ of each pair of the power contacts  2 ′. The limit portion  27  and the first supporting portion  24 ′ of the first contact  21 ′ are located at another common plane, while the limit portion  27  of the second contact  22 ′ laps over the limit portion  27  of the first contact  21 ′. The front mating pad  41 ′ further defines a plurality of limit holes  410  to receive the limit portions  27  of the second contacts  22 ′. The limit holes  410  communicate with the soldering holes  40 ′. The combination of the limit hole  410  and the soldering hole  40 ′ presents as T-shape. 
     Please refer to  FIG. 7 , the limit portion  27  of the second contact  22 ′ has a lateral portion  271  and a lap portion  272  bending from the lateral portion  271 . The lateral portion  271  is adjacent to the base portion  241 ′ of the first supporting portion  24 ′, and is located at a common plane with the base portion  241 ′. The lap portion  272  laps over the limit portion  27  of the first contact  21 ′. The lateral portion  271  and the base portion  241 ′ abut against the front mating pad  41 ′. The lap portion  272  is received in the limit hole  410 . 
       FIGS. 8 and 9  illustrates an overview of a group of power contacts  2 ″, a contact bus  4 ″ and a fastening element according to a third embodiment. In  FIGS. 8 and 9 , the same elements as those of  FIGS. 6 and 7  are referred to by the same characters, and a description thereof is omitted. 
     In the third embodiment, the whole limit portion  27 ″ of the second contact  22 ″ in each pair of the power contacts  2 ″ is located in a same plane, and the limit portion  27 ″ of the second contacts  22 ″ and the base portion  241 ″ are arranged on different planes. The limit portion  27 ″ of the second contact  22 ″ laps over the limit portion  27 ″ of the first contact  21 ″. Besides, the whole limit portion  27 ″ of the second contact  22 ″ is received in the limit hole  410 ″. The combination of the limit hole  410 ″ and the soldering hole  40 ″ present as 7-shape. 
       FIG. 10  illustrates an overview of a group of power contacts  6 , a contact bus  7  and a fastening element according to a fourth embodiment. In  FIG. 10 , the same elements as those of  FIGS. 1-5  are referred to by the same characters, and a description thereof is omitted. 
     In the fourth embodiment, each first supporting portion  64  of the power contacts  6  in the third group is provided with only one extension portion  642 . The extension portion  642  extends beyond the soldering pad  65  along the transverse direction, and the extension portions  642  of each pair of the power contacts  6  are located at different sides of the soldering pads  65  and stagger to each other. In each pair of the power contacts  6 , the extension portion  642  of one power contact  6  resists opposite end surface of the base portion  641  of another power contact  6 . Thus the extension portion  642  of one power contact  6  can limit the soldering pad  65  of another power contact  6  from moving along the width direction of the contacting pad  63 . 
       FIG. 11  illustrates an overview of a group of power contacts  8 , a contact bus  9  and a fastening element according to a fifth embodiment. In  FIG. 11 , the same elements as those of  FIGS. 1-5  are referred to by the same characters, and a description thereof is omitted. 
     In the fifth embodiment, each first supporting portion  84  is provided with a base portion  841  and an extension portion  842  extending from the base portion  841 . The soldering pads  85  of the power contacts  8  bend from the extension portions  842  and are perpendicular to the contacting pads  83 . In the transverse direction, the base portion  841  is located at outside of the soldering pad  85 . In each pair of the power contacts  8 , the extension portion  842  of one power contact  8  resists opposite end surface of the base portion  841  of another power contact  8 . Besides, the soldering pad  85  has a width same to that of the extension portion  842 . 
     According to above illustration of the power connector  100 , the present invention further discloses a method of making the power connector  100 . The method comprises: first, providing a plurality of power contacts  2 ,  2 ′,  2 ″,  6 ,  8  and an insulative housing  1 , and fixing the power contacts  2 ,  2 ′,  2 ″,  6 ,  8  to the insulative housing  1 , the power contacts  2 ,  2 ′,  2 ″,  6 ,  8  being provided with soldering pad  25 ,  25 ′,  25 ″,  65 ,  85 ; secondly, providing a contact bus bar  4 ,  4 ′,  4 ″,  7 ,  9  and a fastening element  5 , and fastening the contact bus bar  4 ,  4 ′,  4 ″,  7 ,  9  and an outer terminal together via the fastening element  5 , the contact bus bar  4 ,  4 ′,  4 ″,  7 ,  9  having a front mating pad  41 ,  41 ′,  41 ″,  71 ,  91  to engage with the power contacts  2 ,  2 ′,  2 ″,  6 ,  8 , and the front mating pad  41 ,  41 ′,  41 ″,  71 ,  91  being formed with soldering hole  40 ,  40 ′,  40 ″,  70 ,  90 ; thirdly, fixing the contact bus bar  4 ,  4 ′,  4 ″,  7 ,  9 , the fastening element  5  and the second outer terminal to a rear side of the insulative housing  1  and enabling the front mating pad  41 ,  41 ′,  41 ″,  71 ,  91  of the contact bus bar  4 ,  4 ′,  4 ″,  7 ,  9  abut against the first supporting portions  24 ,  24 ′,  24 ″,  64 ,  84 ; finally, welding the soldering pads  25 ,  25 ′,  25 ″,  65 ,  85  of the power contacts  2 ,  2 ′,  2 ″,  6 ,  8  and the front mating pad  41 ,  41 ′,  41 ″,  71 ,  91  at the position of the soldering hole  40 ,  40 ′,  40 ″,  70 ,  90  via soldering tin. 
     The contact bus bar  4 ,  4 ′,  4 ″,  7 ,  9 , the fastening element  5  and the outer terminal are supported by the bottom wall  121  and clapboards  122 . Besides, the contact bus bar  4 ,  4 ′,  4 ″,  7 ,  9  is further positioned by the engagement between soldering pads  25 ,  25 ′,  25 ″,  65 ,  85  and the soldering holes  40 ,  40 ′,  40 ″,  70 ,  90  designed on the front mating pad  41 ′,  71 ,  91 , that enable the welding connection between the power contacts  2 ,  2 ′,  2 ″,  6 ,  8  and the contact bus bar  4 ,  4 ′,  4 ″,  7 ,  9  more conveniently, and the contact area is increased by the contact between the first supporting portion  24 ,  24 ′,  24 ″,  64 ,  84  and the front mating pad  41 ,  41 ′,  41 ″,  71 ,  91 . 
     As described above, the electrical connection between the contact bus bar  4 ,  4 ′,  4 ″,  7 ,  9  and the power contacts  2 ,  2 ′,  2 ″,  6 ,  8  can be realized by the soldering holes  40 ,  40 ′,  40 ″,  70 ,  90  and soldering tin, that can make the power connector  100  be produced and assembled easier. Besides, the structure of the power connector  100  can avoid many position elements, hence the cost for making the power connector  100  is down too. 
     It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of preferred and exemplary embodiments have been set out in the foregoing description, together with details of the structures and functions of the embodiments, the disclosure is illustrative only; and that changes may be made in detail within the principles of present disclosure to the full extent indicated by the broadest general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.