Patent Publication Number: US-10770821-B2

Title: Electrical connector and connector assembly having the same

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority to Chinese Application No. 201810502737.1, filed on May 23, 2018, which application is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present disclosure relates to the field of electrical connector, particularly relates to an electrical connector and a connector assembly having the electrical connector. 
     BACKGROUND ART 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,595,509 discloses an electrical connector, an insulative housing of the electrical connector is integrally formed with a locking arm thereon. When the electrical connector and a mating connector which is mated with the electrical connector are connected, the locking arm and a corresponding locking structure of the mating connector are latched with each other, so that the electrical connector and the mating connector are locked together. When the electrical connector and the mating connector needs to be separated from each other, the locking arm is pressed down, which makes the locking arm be elastically deformed and release the latching with the locking structure of the mating connector. In such an electrical connector, if an elastic coefficient of the locking arm is designed to be too large, it is difficult to press down the locking arm, both latching and separating between the locking arm and the locking structure need more effort; if the elastic coefficient of the locking arm is designed to be too small, the locking arm will be easy to plastically deform and even damage due to excessive pressure, therefore the electrical connector is needs to be further improved. 
     SUMMARY 
     The technical problem to be resolved by the present disclosure is to provide an electrical connector and a connector assembly having the electrical connector so as to overcome the deficiency existing in the above prior art, which can efficiently prevent the locking arm being damaged due to excessive pressure while ensures the sufficient locking force between the electrical connector and the mating connector. 
     In view of the above technical problem, the present disclosure provides an electrical connector comprising an insulative housing, a plurality of conductive terminals mounted in the insulative housing and a first locking structure integrally formed on the insulative housing. The first locking structure comprises: an elastic locking member comprising an elastic locking arm and a locking portion provided on the elastic locking arm, one end of the elastic locking arm is connected to the insulative housing, the other end of the elastic locking arm is a free end and is suspended above an upper surface of the insulative housing, the elastic locking arm has a first elasticity; an elastic supporting arm positioned between the elastic locking arm and the upper surface of the insulative housing and having a second elasticity; when the elastic locking arm and the upper surface of the insulative housing together apply a pressure to the elastic supporting arm, the elastic supporting arm is capable of providing an elastic supporting force for the elastic locking arm in a direction away from the upper surface of the insulative housing. 
     In view of the above technical problem, the present disclosure further provides a connector assembly comprising an electrical connector and a mating connector which are mated with each other. The mating connector is provided with a second locking structure; the electrical connector is the electrical connector as above; when the electrical connector and the mating connector is mated with each other, the locking portion of the electrical connector and the second locking structure of the mating connector are correspondingly locked with each other. 
     In comparison with the prior art, in the present disclosure of electrical connector, by that an elastic supporting arm is added between the elastic locking arm and the insulative housing to play the displacement stopping function for the elastic locking arm, it prevents the elastic locking arm from generating plastic deformation even being damaged due to the excessive pressure; at the same time, when the elastic locking arm is subjected to a larger pressure, the elastic supporting arm can support the elastic locking arm, which ensures a sufficient locking force between the locking portion of the elastic locking arm and the second locking structure. Moreover, the elastic supporting arm and the elastic locking member are integrally formed on the insulative housing, it is convenient for manufacturing, and the structure is reliable. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective structure schematic view of a preferred embodiment of a connector assembly of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective structure schematic view of  FIG. 1  from another angle. 
         FIG. 3  is an exploded structure schematic view of the preferred embodiment of the connector assembly of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 4  is a top view of the preferred embodiment of the connector assembly of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 5  is a cross sectional schematic view along a line A-A of  FIG. 4 . 
         FIG. 6  is a cross sectional schematic view along a line B-B of  FIG. 4 . 
         FIG. 7  is a perspective structure schematic view of an electrical connector of the connector assembly as shown in  FIG. 4 . 
         FIG. 8  is a partially enlarged schematic view at a first locking structure of the electrical connector of  FIG. 4 . 
         FIG. 9  is a perspective structure schematic view of another preferred embodiment of the electrical connector of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 10  is a cross sectional schematic view of the electrical connector of the present disclosure as shown in  FIG. 9 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     While the present disclosure may be susceptible to embodiments in different forms, there are shown in the figures, and will be described herein in detail, are only specific embodiments, with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the present disclosure, and is not intended to limit the present disclosure to that as illustrated. 
     As such, references to a feature are intended to describe a feature of an embodiment of the present disclosure, not to imply that every embodiment thereof must have the described feature. Furthermore, it should be noted that the description illustrates a number of features. While certain features have been combined together to illustrate potential system designs, those features may also be used in other combinations not expressly disclosed. Thus, the depicted combinations are not intended to be limiting, unless otherwise noted. 
     In the embodiments illustrated in the figures, representations of directions such as up, down, left, right, front and rear, used for explaining the structure and movement of the various parts of the present disclosure, are not absolute, but relative. These representations are appropriate when the parts are in the position shown in the figures. If the description of the position of the parts changes, however, these representations are to be changed accordingly. 
     Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present disclosure are further described in detail in combination with the figures of the present disclosure. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1-10 , the present disclosure provides an electrical connector  1  and a connector assembly having the electrical connector  1 . The connector assembly further comprises a mating connector  2  which is mated with the electrical connector  1 . 
     In a preferred embodiment, the electrical connector  1  is a plug connector, correspondingly, the mating connector  2  which is mated with the plug connector is a receptacle connector. For sake of convenient description, herein ends of the electrical connector  1  and the mating connector  2  which are connected with each other are respectively referred to as front ends of the electrical connector  1  and the mating connector  2 , ends of the electrical connector  1  and the mating connector  2  which are used to be connected with a cable or be soldered to a circuit board are respectively referred to as rear ends of the electrical connector  1  and the mating connector  2 , unless otherwise specifically described, hereinafter each structure of the electrical connector  1  and the mating connector  2  related to “front” and “rear” of directional expression are all taken these as reference. 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , the electrical connector  1  comprises an insulative housing  11 , a plurality of conductive terminals  12  inserted into the insulative housing  11  and a first locking structure  13  integrally formed on the insulative housing  11 . The mating connector  2  generally comprises an outer shell  21  and a plurality of second conductive terminals  22  inserted into the outer shell  21  from a rear end of the outer shell  21 , the outer shell  21  is further integrally formed provided with a second locking structure  23 , the second locking structure  23  protrudes relative to a front end of the outer shell  21 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1, 2 and 4-6 , when the electrical connector  1  and the mating connector  2  are connected, a front end of the insulative housing  11  and the front end of the outer shell  21  are mated with each other, the conductive terminal  12  and the second conductive terminal  22  are mated with each other to establish a conductive path, the first locking structure  13  and the second locking structure  23  are correspondingly locked together, so that stable and reliable connection between the electrical connector  1  and the mating connector  2  is formed. 
     Hereinafter a specific configuration of the electrical connector  1  is described in detail in combination with figures. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 5-8 , in the preferred embodiment, the insulative housing  11  of the electrical connector  1  is an integrally injection molding structure as whole, the insulative housing  11  comprises a base body  111  and four terminal receiving protrusions  112  protruding from a front end of the base body  111 . A profile of the base body  111  generally is a rectangular structure, an interior of the base body  11  are divided into four cavities  1111  along a rectangular long side direction. The four terminal receiving protrusions  112  are arranged sided by side along the rectangular long side of the base body  111  as one row, an inner chamber of each terminal receiving protrusion  112  is communicated with the cavity  1111  in the interior of the base body  111  by one-to-one correspondence. 
     The number of the conductive terminals  12  corresponds to the number of the terminal receiving protrusions  112  of the insulative housing  11 , a front end of each conductive terminal  12  is inserted into the terminal receiving protrusion  112  of the insulative housing  11  by one-to-one correspondence, a rear end of each conductive terminal  12  is received in the cavity  1111  of the base body  111 . Corresponding to the arrangement manner of the terminal receiving protrusions  112 , in the present embodiment, the conductive terminals  12  are arranged as one row. It may be understood that, the arrangement manner of the conductive terminals  12  may be adaptively adjusted as two rows according to desired electrical connection arrangement manner, correspondingly, the arrangement manner of the terminal receiving protrusions  112  of the insulative housing  11  is also adaptively adjusted. 
     The first locking structure  13  comprises an elastic locking member  130 , an elastic supporting arm  133  provided below the elastic locking member  130  and a pressing mechanism  134  provided above the elastic locking member  130 . The elastic locking member  130  is used to cooperate with the second locking structure  23  of the mating connector  2  to perform locking; the elastic supporting arm  133  is used to provide a supporting force for the elastic locking member  130  if necessary; and the pressing mechanism  134  is used to apply a pressure to the elastic locking member  130  to release the locking state of the elastic locking member  130  and the mating connector  2 . 
     Taking the view angle of  FIGS. 6 and 8  as reference, the elastic locking member  130  comprises an elastic locking arm  131  and a locking portion  132  formed to a front end of the elastic locking arm  131 . The elastic locking arm  131  protrudes from an upper surface of the base body  111  of the insulative housing  11 , a rear end of the elastic locking arm  131  is connected with an upper surface of a rear end of the base body  111 , the front end of the elastic locking arm  131  is a free end, is slightly beyond a front end surface of the base body  111  and suspended above the terminal receiving protrusion  112 . The elastic locking arm  131  is suspended above an upper surface of the insulative housing  11  and has a first elasticity k1 by means of an elastic cantilever structure thereof. 
     Referring to  FIG. 8 , in the present embodiment, the elastic locking arm  131  generally comprises two side support plates  1311  spaced apart from each other, a front end edge portion  1312  connecting two front ends of the two side support plates  1311  and a base plate  1313  connected between the two side support plates  1311 . A rear end of the side support plate  1311  is connected to the upper surface of the base body  111 , and in a direction from the rear end of the side support plate  1311  to the front end of the side support plate  1311 , a cross section of the side support plate  1311  is tapered, that is, a thickness of the side support plate  1311  gradually becomes small. Such a structure of the elastic locking arm  131  makes the elastic locking arm  131  not only have better structure strength, but also have better elasticity. An end surface of a front end of the front end edge portion  1312  is designed as an oblique surface which forms a certain guiding effect and facilitates insertion of the mating connector  2 . 
     The locking portion  132  is adaptively provided according to the second locking structure  23  of the mating connector  2 , and referring to  FIGS. 3, 6 and 8  together, in the present embodiment, a middle portion of the second locking structure  23  is formed with a latching hole  231  penetrating in an up-down direction, correspondingly, the locking portion  132  of the first locking structure  13  preferably is a latching hook protruding upwardly from the elastic locking arm  131 , the latching hook can adaptively latch and fix with the latching hole  231  of the second locking structure  23 . The locking portion  132  is positioned on the front end of the elastic locking arm  131 , a width of the locking portion  132  is smaller than a width of the front end of the elastic locking arm  131 , and generally is positioned in a middle portion of the elastic locking arm  131  in a width direction of the elastic locking arm  131 . 
     Still referring to  FIG. 8 , in the present embodiment, the elastic supporting arm  133  comprises an oblique segment  1331  obliquely extending forwardly and upwardly from the upper surface of the base body  111  and a parallel segment  1332  bending from an upper end of the oblique segment  1331  and extending forwardly. An angle between the oblique segment  1331  and the upper surface of the base body  111  generally may be 25°˜35° or so, two ends of the oblique segment  1331  are respectively smoothly transited to the upper surface of the base body  111  and the parallel segment  1332 ; a pressure bearing surface of the parallel segment  1332  generally is parallel to the upper surface of the base body  111 , the parallel segment  1332  is a free end, preferably is suspended between the base body  111  and the elastic locking arm  131 , the parallel segment  1332  and the upper surface of the base body  111  are spaced apart from each other and the parallel segment  1332  and a lower surface of the elastic locking arm  131  are spaced apart from each other, which makes the elastic supporting arm  133  also have a second elasticity k2 by means of an elastic cantilever structure of the elastic supporting arm  133 . The elastic supporting arm  133  is provided close to the front end of the base body  111 , the parallel segment  1332  of the elastic supporting arm  133  preferably extends to just below the locking portion  132 , so that the parallel segment  1332  of the elastic supporting arm  133  may better provides a supporting force for the locking portion  132 . 
     The pressing mechanism  134  comprises a pressing arm  1341 , a supporting portion  1342  connecting a rear end of the pressing arm  1341  to the upper surface of the base body  111  and a pressing portion  1343  protruding from below a front end of the pressing arm  1341 . The pressing arm  1341  is suspended above the elastic locking arm  131 , may provide protection for the elastic supporting arm  133  positioned below, an upper surface of the front end of the pressing arm  1341  is step-shaped, which may increase friction and facilitate to apply a force by an operator. Preferably, the pressing portion  1343  correspondingly presses on a position in a middle portion of the side support plate  1311  of the elastic locking arm  131 , which thus may provide an effort-saving lever to save the effort of the operator. When applying a force to the front end of the pressing arm  1341  to make the pressing portion  1343  press against the elastic locking arm  131 , that is, the force may be applied to the elastic locking arm  131 . The supporting portion  1342  is arranged to two sides of the pressing arm  1341  and is positioned at an outer side of the side support plates  1311  of the elastic locking arm  131 , the supporting portion  1342  extends forwardly to the front end of the base body  111 , which forms a surrounding structure positioned at an outer side of the elastic locking arm  131  and playing a certain protection effect. 
     Based on the above configuration, when the electrical connector  1  and the mating connector  2  are connected or connection between the electrical connector  1  and the mating connector  2  is released, by applying a pressure to the front end of the elastic locking arm  131 , the elastic locking arm  131  generate elastic deformation toward the base body  111 , so that the locking portion  132  can be correspondingly latched into the latching hole  231  or is removed from the latching hole  231 . 
     At an initial stage of applying a pressure to the elastic locking arm  131 , because the elastic locking arm  131  and the elastic supporting arm  133  are spaced apart from each other, the pressure only needs to overcome an elastic force F=k1x1 of the elastic locking arm  131  itself, where x1 is an amount of elastic deformation of the elastic locking arm  131 , only applying the smaller pressure may make the elastic locking arm  131  generate elastic deformation. After the lower surface of the elastic locking arm  131  comes into contact with the elastic supporting arm  133 , the elastic supporting arm  133  will play the supporting function for the elastic locking arm  131 . If it is intended to further press down the elastic locking arm  131 , it needs to overcome an elastic force F=k1x1+k2x2 of the elastic locking arm  131  and the elastic supporting arm  133 , where x2 is an amount of elastic deformation of the elastic supporting arm  133 , at this time a restoring force of the elastic deformation of the elastic supporting arm  133  will provide an upward supporting force for the elastic locking arm  131 , preferably, the elastic supporting arm  133  is more difficult to generate deformation than the elastic locking arm  131 , that is to say, the second elastic coefficient k2 is larger than the first elastic coefficient k1, so that the elastic supporting arm  133  may efficiently prevent the elastic locking arm  131  from generating plastic deformation even being broken off due to excessive pressure, at the same time also may ensure a sufficient locking force between the locking portion  132  of the elastic locking arm  131  and the latching hole  231  of the mating connector  2  and the locking portion  132  of the elastic locking arm  131  is not easily removed from the latching hole  231  of the mating connector  2 . However, in other embodiments which are not shown, the second elastic coefficient k2 may be smaller than or equal to the first elastic coefficient k1. In addition, the elastic supporting arm  133  may further generate sound when the electrical connector  1  and the mating connector  2  are mated with each other due to the elastic deformation of the elastic supporting arm  133 , which facilitates identification by the operator. 
     After the locking portion  132  is latched into the latching hole  231  and the locking is established, the elastic locking arm  131  may be in a free state or may be in a slightly pressed state (the elastic locking arm  131  is subjected to a downward pressure from the second locking structure  23 ), but at this time, an amount of deformation of the elastic locking arm  131  preferably is not sufficient to make the elastic locking arm  131  come into contact with the elastic supporting arm  133 , the elastic locking arm  131  and the elastic supporting arm  133  still are in a state that the elastic locking arm  131  and the elastic supporting arm  133  are spaced apart from each other, that is, the free end of the elastic supporting arm  133  preferably in a suspended state. In this way, when it needs to separate the locking portion  132  from the latching hole  231 , a pressure applied at an initial stage only needs to overcome an elastic force of the elastic locking arm  131 , which is beneficial to reduce an acting force required to apply for separation of the locking portion  132  from the latching hole  231 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 9 and 10 , in another preferred embodiment of the electrical connector  1  of the present disclosure, an elastic supporting arm  133 ′ of the first locking structure  13  and the elastic locking arm  131  are integrally connected together. The elastic supporting arm  133 ′ obliquely extends backwardly and downwardly from the lower surface of the elastic locking arm  131 , is in an oblique state as whole, and only comprises an oblique segment. A front end of the elastic supporting arm  133 ′ is smoothly transited and connected to the lower surface of the elastic locking arm  131 , and the front end of the elastic supporting arm  133 ′ close to the elastic locking arm  131  is positioned just below the locking portion  132 , the elastic supporting arm  133 ′ obliquely extends in a direction from up to down toward a direction away from the front end of the elastic locking arm  131  and forms a free end, a rear end of the elastic supporting arm  133 ′ has a chamfer, a chamfered surface  1335 ′ formed by the chamfer is generally parallel to the upper surface of the base body  111 , so the chamfered surface  1335 ′ may better apply a pressure to the upper surface of the base body  111 . And the chamfer surface  1335 ′ and the upper surface of the base body  111  are spaced apart from each other. In the present embodiment, other configurations of the electrical connector  1  are the same as those of the previous embodiment, so description thereof is not repeated herein. 
     In the present embodiment, similarly, at the initial stage of applying a pressure to the elastic locking arm  131 , it only needs to overcome an elastic force of the elastic locking arm  131  itself, when applying a further pressure to make the elastic supporting arm  133 ′ abut against the base body  111  of the insulative housing  11 , the elastic supporting arm  133 ′ will play the supporting function for the elastic locking arm  131  to prevent excessive deformation of the elastic locking arm  131 . 
     In comparison with the prior art, the present disclosure at least has the following advantages. 
     By that an elastic supporting arm  133 ,  133 ′ is added between the elastic locking arm  131  and the base body  111  of the insulative housing  11  to play the displacement stopping function for the elastic locking arm  131 , when the elastic locking arm  131  is subjected to an excessive pressure, the elastic supporting arm  133 ,  133 ′ play the function thereof to generate elastic deformation, a rebound force of the elastic supporting arm  133 ,  133 ′ provides a supporting force for the elastic locking arm  131 , prevents the elastic locking arm  131  from generating plastic deformation even being damaged due to the excessive pressure; at the same time, when the elastic locking arm  131  is subjected to an unintentional downward (that is, toward the upper surface of the insulative housing  11 ) pressure, the elastic supporting arm  133 ,  133 ′ can support the elastic locking arm  131 , which ensures a sufficient locking force between the locking portion  132  of the elastic locking arm  131  and the second locking structure  23  of the mating connector  2 , prevents the locking portion  132  of the elastic locking arm  131  from being unintentionally removed from the second locking structure  23  of the mating connector  2 , so as to promote reliability of the connection. And, the elastic supporting arm  133 ,  133 ′ and the elastic locking member  130  are integrally formed on the insulative housing  11 , it is convenient for manufacturing, and the structure is reliable. 
     Further, the free end of the elastic supporting arm  133 ,  133 ′ is suspended between the insulative housing  11  and the elastic locking arm  131 , when the elastic locking member  130  is in a locking state (that is, the locking portion  132  and the latching hole  231  of the second locking structure  23  are latch and fixed with each other), the free end of the elastic supporting arm  133 ,  133 ′ preferably is still maintained in a suspended state (that is, in the configuration as shown in  FIG. 8 , the parallel segment  1332  of the elastic supporting arm  133  does not come into contact with elastic locking arm  131 , in the configuration as shown in  FIG. 10 , the lower end of the elastic supporting arm  133 ′ does not come into contact with the upper surface of the insulative housing  11 ), which is beneficial to reduce the downward pressure required to apply to the elastic locking member  130  when the separation is performed. 
     The above described contents are only the preferred embodiments of the present disclosure, which cannot limit the implementing solutions of the present disclosure, those skilled in the art may conveniently make corresponding variation or modification based on the main concept and spirit of the present disclosure, therefore the extent of protection of the present disclosure shall be determined by terms of the Claims.