Patent Publication Number: US-6902432-B2

Title: USB connector

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a USB connector having a lock mechanism and used for electrically connecting the body of a computer such as a personal computer or a workstation and peripheral equipment including a mouse, a keyboard and so on. 
     Recently, a mouse, a keyboard, a printer, a scanner, a modem, an external memory and the like as peripheral equipment are connected to one computer body via different interfaces. For example, a mouse and a keyboard are connected to different serial interfaces for making serial transfer; a printer and a scanner to different parallel interfaces for making parallel transfer; a modem to an RS-232C for making serial transfer; and an external memory to an SCSI interface for making parallel transfer. Moreover, an interface with the same item of peripheral equipment may vary with the computer or equipment manufacturer. 
     The existence of different interfaces as described above makes it difficult to set computer bodies compatible with any peripheral equipment or integrate the computer body with the peripheral equipment; the problem is that there develops inconvenience in handling computers and peripheral equipment, thus increasing the manufacturing cost. In order to solve the problem, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) interface for use in integrating various interfaces has entered the computer field. Further, it takes on a new aspect that Mini-B interfaces for small-sized peripheral equipment including digital cameras and portable music players are to be added to USB interfaces. 
     Although the USB interface is a serial interface for making serial transfer, its transmission speed is by far improved in comparison with that of the related serial interface and is advantageous in that the USB interface is capable of simply connecting the computer body and the peripheral equipment at lower cost. Moreover, new cable connectors are being provided so as to conform to new interfaces like this. 
       FIG. 5  shows a USB connector conforming to such a USB interface as described in JP-A-2000-223218 by way of example. A USB connector  100  has a jack  101  to be directly attached to a printed circuit board (not shown) with electronic devices including transistors and capacitors mounted thereon or to a printed circuit board (not shown) without electronic devices mounted thereon but with only a wiring conductor formed thereon and a plug  120  that is inserted into the jack  101 . When the plug  120  and the jack  101  are fitted together a computer body (not shown) and peripheral equipment (not shown) are electrically connected together. 
     The jack  101  has a shield shell  102  formed by bending a conductive board and an insulating plastic portion  115  with a plurality of jack terminals  110  fixed thereto inside the shield shell  102 . Each jack terminal  110  has an elastic contact portion  111  in one side end portion and an external directly-attached type terminal portion  112  in the other side end portion, the jack terminal  110  being elbow-shaped. The jack terminal  110  is such that a substantially intermediate portion between the elastic contact portion  111  and the external directly-attached type terminal portion  112  is fixed to the plastic portion  115  and that the bent front end of the elastic contact portion  111  mates with the front end portion of the plastic portion  115  and is elastically held therein. 
     A mating space  103  for receiving the opposite plug  120  is formed inside the wall portion of the shield shell  102 . A mounting leg portion  104  extending vertically downward is formed on a base wall  102   b . The mounting leg portion  104  is fixed by solder to the circuit board (not shown). 
     The plug  120  inserted into the jack  101  has a plastic housing  121  and a cylindrical shield case  122  that is held in the housing  121 . The mating portion  123  of the shield case  122  fitted into the shield shell  102  is projected from the housing  121  and the base portion  124  of the shield case  122  is provided in a buried condition. A terminal holding portion  137  with plug terminals  130  fixed thereto and an insertion space  136  for receiving the plastic portion  115  of the jack  101  are formed inside the mating portion  123 . 
     Each plug terminal  130  is formed with an electrical contact portion  131  for making contact with the elastic contact portion  111  of the jack terminal  110  in one side end portion and with an electrical-wire connecting portion (not shown) in the other end portion, the plug terminal  130  being held straightly. The electrical contact portion  131  is fixed onto the top face of the terminal holding portion  137  and the electrical-wire connecting portion is connected to an electrical wire (not shown) located in the inner part of the housing  121 . 
     However, the related USB connector involves the following problems. Even while the jack  101  and the plug  120  are connected in a latched condition, there is still fear of causing the plug  120  to come off the jack  101  when vibration or external force is applied to them. This latching structure is arranged so that the latching operation is performed by fitting opposed lock pieces  105  provided in the upper wall  102   a  and the base wall  102   b  of the shield shell  102  respectively into hole portions  125  provided in the upper wall  122   a  and the base wall  122   b  of the shield case  122 . As each lock piece  105  is shaped like a V having an inclined plane on both sides, its latching force is weak and when vibration or external force inadvertently acts on either jack  101  or plug  120 , the hole portion  125  may slide along the inclined plane  105   a  on one side of the lock piece  15  whereby to release the latching of the plug  120 . 
     On the other hand, in case that the elastic force of the lock pieces  105  is strengthened in order to prevent the plug  120  from easily slipping off the jack  101 , another problem arises in that the plug  120  will not pulled out even by giving the plug  120  a jerk. In a word, the elastic force of the lock pieces  105  is difficult to adjust; the latching of the lock pieces  105  is released inadvertently when it is unnecessary to release the latching thereof or conversely cannot be released when it is necessary to do so. 
     In addition, because the opposed lock pieces  105  are provided in the opposed wall portions  102   a  and  102   b  respectively, the shield shell  102  has no slide guide face for use when the shield case  122  is slidably fitted in and the vertical positioning of the plug  120  is not carried out, so that it is feared that backlash is produced in the vertical direction. 
     Further, though it has been arranged to keep the jack  101  and the plug  120  in the latched condition by dropping the lock pieces  105  into the hole portions  125 , the latched condition lacks the click feeling of restraint and despite the fact that the plug  120  is not connected to the jack  101  in a completely latched condition, it is likely that the latched condition is mistaken for an achieved latched condition. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a USB connector, which restrains a plug and a jack from being loosely latched together in order to prevent the plug from slipping off the jack even when vibration or external force is applied thereto and easily releases the latching of the plug as the need arises, so that an excellent fitting property is provided. 
     In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided a USB connector comprising: 
     a jack, including;
         a shield shell, having jack terminals therein; and       

     a plug, including;
         a shield case, having plug terminals to be electrically connected to the jack terminals, and fitted into the shield shell,       

     wherein the shield shell has a mating portion; 
     wherein the shield case has a latching portion which engages with the mating portion when the plug is inserted into the jack. 
     In the above configuration, the shield case is slidably fitted into the shield shell when the plug is inserted into the jack and the jack terminals and the plug terminals electrically contact and moreover a computer body and the peripheral equipment are connected with the contact portion shielded. As the shield case is provided with the latching portions and as the shield shell is provided with mating portions, the latching portions and the mating portions are engaged together so that the jack and the plug are latched together without looseness, whereby the plug is prevented from slipping off the jack because of vibration or external force inadvertently applied thereto. Therefore, the latching is certainly by far improved. 
     Preferably, the latching portion is a deformable piece having a claw at the front end, and the deformable piece being provided in the shield case and extending in a direction in which the plug is inserted into the jack. 
     Here, it is preferable that, the deformable piece is a pair of deformable pieces. 
     In the above configuration, since latching portion is the deformable piece having the claw at the front end, the claws mate with the mating portions to ensure the latching of the plug when the plug is inserted into the jack. The latching portions are provided in the one wall portion and as no lock pieces are provided in the opposed walls of the shield shell like the related example, the outer wall face of the shield case is guided and supported by the inner wall face of the shield shell when the plug is inserted into the jack, whereby the plug stably mates with the jack without prying open the jack. As the pair of latching portions are provided, further, the lateral balance is improved and the insertion is smoothly carried out with the effect of ensuring the latching further. Therefore, the effect of ensuring the latching further is achievable and the plug is smoothly fitted into the jack, so that an excellent fitting property is provided. 
     Preferably, a shield contact piece for making contact with the shield case is provided in a wall portion of the shield shell, and a groove formed between the shield contact pieces and the one wall portion forms the mating portion. 
     Here it is preferable that, the shield contact piece is a pair of shield contact pieces, and the groove is a pair of grooves. 
     In the above configuration, as the grooves formed between the shield contact pieces and the one wall portion form the mating portions, it is unnecessary to newly form hole portions with which the lock pieces mate as in the related example, whereby the connector can be equipped with lock means without increasing the number of processing steps. 
     Here it is preferable that, the USB connector further comprising a housing which holds the shield case therein; and 
     a push member, which is pivotably coupled to the housing, and having a projection which is brought into contact with the deformable piece to release the engagement between the shield shell and the shield case. 
     In the above configuration, the projection is brought into contact with the deformable pieces by pushing the push member when the plug is pulled out of the jack and the deformable pieces are bent in the direction in which the latching is released with the claws slipped off the grooves, whereby the plug is easily removed from the jack. Therefore, the plug is easily removed from the jack and this improves the property of releasing the latching. 
     Here it is preferable that, ribs positioned on both sides of the push member are provided on the housing, and a height of the ribs protruded outward is equal to and greater than that of the push member. 
     In the above configuration, the provision of the projections in the wall portion of the housing prevents the push member from being inadvertently pressed because of interference with the outside, so that the plug is prevented from slipping off the jack. Therefore, the latching reliability is secured even when the push member as a latch-releasing member is provided. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The above objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent by describing in detail preferred exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
         FIG. 1  shows a perspective view of a USB connector according to the invention; 
         FIGS. 2A ,  2 B, and  2 C show a diagram of a jack for use in forming the USB connector of FIG.  1 :  FIG. 2A  is a plan view of the jack;  FIG. 2B  is a right side view of the jack; and  FIG. 2C  is a sectional view taken on line A—A of  FIG. 2A ; 
         FIGS. 3A ,  3 B, and  3 C show a diagram of a plug for use in forming the USB connector of FIG.  1 :  FIG. 3A  is a plan view of the plug;  FIG. 3B  is a left side view of the plug; and  FIG. 3C  is a sectional view taken on line B—B of  FIG. 3A ; 
         FIGS. 4A and 4B  show a diagram showing the USB connector with the jack and the plug connected together:  FIG. 4A  is a plan view of the USB connector; and  FIG. 4B  is a sectional view taken on line C—C of  FIG. 4A ; and 
         FIG. 5  shows a sectional view of a related USB connector. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     A detailed description will now be given of a preferred embodiment of the invention by reference to the drawings.  FIGS. 1  to  4  show a USB connector of a embodiment according to the invention. 
     A USB connector  10  of  FIG. 1  is a cable connector conforming to the USB interface standard and mainly used for connecting a computer body (not shown) and peripheral equipment (not shown). 
     A USB connector  10  has a jack  15  fixed to a circuit board  75  such as a printed circuit board and a printed wiring board and a plug  40  provided on the peripheral equipment (not shown) side and used for setting up an electrical connection by mating with the jack  15 . The jack  15  is fixed to the circuit board  75  by means of a fastening member or solder and the plug  40  is connected to the terminal portion of an electrical wire  74  drawn from the peripheral equipment. The jack  15  and the plug  40  of the USB connector  10  connected together will successively be described hereafter. 
     The jack  15  is a connecting part on one side of the USB connector  10 . The jack  15  is formed with a cover-like shield shell  16  and a plastic portion  30  (see  FIG. 2 ) to which jack terminals  35  are fixed. The shield shell  16  is formed by punching from a conductive sheet of copper, copper alloy or aluminum alloy and bending the punched part. The plastic portion  30  is an insulating integrally molded part by injection molding using synthetic resin like propylene. 
     The base portion of the shield shell  16  is formed with a rectangular upper wall  16   a , a base wall  16   b  (see  FIG. 2 ) facing the upper wall  16   a , side walls  16   c  for linking the edge portions of the upper wall  16   a  and the base wall  16   b , a front wall  16   d  (see  FIG. 2 ) having an opening  23  and a rear wall  16   e  from which an external directly-attached type terminal portion  37  (see  FIG. 2 ) formed at the rear end of each jack terminal  35  is drawn. An internal space where the plastic portion  30  is incorporated is formed inside the wall portion. 
     For convenience of explanation of the invention, the vertical direction (the direction of height) X, the lateral direction (the direction of width) Y and the longitudinal direction (the longer direction) Z will be defined as follows (see FIG.  1 ). The vertical direction X is designated a direction in which flexible pieces (latching portions)  50  are bent and in this case, upward means the side on which the flexible pieces  50  are positioned and downward means the side on which the jack  15  is fixed to the circuit board  75 . The lateral direction is designated a direction in which the pair of flexible pieces  50  are arranged; however, right and left are not distinguished from each other because of bilateral symmetry. The longitudinal direction is designated a direction in which the jack  15  and the plug  40  mate with each other and the front means the side where the jack  15  and the plug  40  face each other. 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , the upper wall  16   a  is flat and a cantilever tongue piece  18  is provided in the central portion of the upper wall  16   a , the central portion thereof being positioned close to the front wall  16   d . Cantilever shield contact pieces  19  are provided on both sides of the tongue piece  18  in the width direction Y. Each shield contact piece  19  has a width approximately half the width of the tongue piece  18  and a length shorter than that of the tongue piece  18 . 
     The tongue piece  18  has a base portion  18   a  linked with the side of the front wall  16   d  of the upper wall  16   a  and a free end portion  18   b  extending rearward from the base portion  18   a  in the longer direction Z. On the front end side of the free end portion  18   b , a curved portion  18   c  projecting inside the shield shell  16 . Consequently, the tongue piece  18  is allowed to bend with the base portion  18   a  as a fulcrum. When an opposite shield case  41  enters an insertion space  25  (see FIG.  3 ), the curved portion  18   c  is pressed against the shield case  41  and caused to rise once outside the shield shell  16  so as to mate with the depression  45  of the shield case  41 , whereby the primary latching is carried out. 
     Each shield contact piece  19  is formed so that the directions of the base portion  19   a  and the free end portion  19   b  are set opposite in direction to the tongue piece  18 . More specifically, the base portion  19   a  is linked with the substantially central side of the side wall  16   c  of the upper wall  16   a  and the free end portion  19   b  is extended forward in the longer direction Z. Like the tongue piece  18 , a curved portion  19   c  is formed on the front end side of the free end portion  19   b . Like the tongue piece  18 , the shield contact piece  19  is also allowed to bend with the base portion  19   a  as a fulcrum. When the plug  40  is inserted into the jack  15 , the curved portions  19   c  are brought into contact with the upper wall  41   a  of the shield case  41 , and the shield shell  16  and the shield case  41  are connected together in a shielded condition, so that the whole USB connector  10  is shielded. 
     Each of the U-shaped grooves  20  is formed by punching along the ridge line of the shield contact piece  19  between the shield contact piece  19  and the upper wall  16   a . The groove  20  positioned on the front end side of the shield contact piece  19  serves as a mating portion with which the claw  51  of the flexible piece  50  formed in the shield case  41  mates. The jack  15  and the plug  40  are thus latched together secondarily by mating the claws  51  with the grooves  20 . 
     The base wall  16   b  (see  FIG. 2B ) is a wall facing the circuit board  75  and integrally formed by butting both end portions  21  and  21  (see  FIG. 2B ) of a bent conductive sheet against each other and engaging together barrel portions (not shown) formed in both end portions  21  and  21 . When the jack  15  is fixed to the circuit board  75 , the base wall  16   b  is fixed in such a condition as to be slightly raised from the board face. This is because unless the base wall  16   b  is in the slightly raised condition, the wiring conductor (not shown) of the circuit board  75  is short-circuited. 
     The side walls  16   c  on both sides are formed so as to intersect the upper wall  16   a  and the base wall  16   b  substantially at right angles. Although each of the side walls  16   c  has a substantially flat face, a mounting leg portion  22  is formed in the lower part of and along the ridge line of the side wall  16   c . The mounting face of the mounting leg portion  22  is projected downward so that it is positioned lower than the base wall  16   b , whereby the base wall  16   b  is not brought in direct contact with the circuit board  75 . In the end portion of the mounting leg portion  22 , a semi-arcuate cutout portion  22   a  for receiving a fastening member such as a bolt (not shown) is formed. Two of the mounting leg portions  22  are provided on both side walls  16   c  and with four fastening members in total, the jack  15  is fixed to the circuit board  75 . In this case, the mounting leg portions  22  may be fixed thereto by brazing such as soldering. 
     The front wall  16   d  ( FIG. 2B ) has the opening for receiving the shield case  41  into the mating space  25  of the shield shell  16 . The opening  23  has an upper half portion and a lower half portion that are different in width and the width of the lower half portion is narrower than that of the upper half portion. The reason for the formation of the upper and lower half portions different in width is to prevent the plug  40  from being fitted in upside down by mistake. 
     As shown in  FIG. 2C , the height of the rear wall  16   e  is substantially half the height of the side walls  16   c  (see FIG.  2 B). Therefore, the lower half portion of the rear wall  16   e  is kept open and this is because the external directly-attached type terminal portions  37  are connected to the circuit board  75  (see  FIG. 1 ) by exposing the external directly-attached type terminal portions  75  to the outside through the open space in the lower half portion thereof. 
     The plastic portion  30  (see  FIG. 2C ) in which the jack terminals  35  are secured is made of insulating synthetic resin. The plastic portion  30  has a front portion  31  for supporting the elastic contact portion  36  of each jack terminal  35  and a rear portion  32  continuously positioned in the rear of the front portion  31  and used for supporting the external directly-attached type terminal portion  37  of the jack terminal  35 . The front portion  31  is formed with the annular mating space  25  (see  FIG. 2B ) left inside the shield shell  16 . The rear portion  32  is formed into what has the same internal dimension as that of the shield shell  16  so that the rear portion  32  can be fixedly stuck to the inner wall of the shield shell  16  without any space. The front wall of the rear portion  32  functions as a stopper wall  34  with respect to the front end of a terminal holding portion  63  (see  FIG. 3C ) which will be described later. 
     A through-hole  33  for passing the jack terminal  35  therethrough is formed from the front portion  31  to the rear portion  32 . In this case, a plurality of through-holes  33  are arranged at predetermined intervals in the lateral direction and in a row in the height direction. The intermediate portions of the jack terminals  35  excluding the elastic contact portions  36  are secured by the respective through-holes  33  and the elastic contact portions  36  are exposed to the outside from an opening (not shown) on the front end side of the front portion  31 . The bent front end portions next to the elastic contact portions  36  are latched by the edge portions of the opening. The external directly-attached type terminal portions  37  of the jack terminals  35  are drawn from the rear portion  32  and connected to the wiring conductor of the circuit board  75  (see FIG.  1 ). 
     The plug  40  will subsequently be described. The plug  40  is another connecting part forming the USB connector  10 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 3 , the plug  40  has a plastic housing  55  and the shield case  41  held in the housing  55 . A terminal holding portion  63  (see  FIG. 3C ) fixed to plug terminals  70  is arranged inside the shield case  41 . Flexible pieces  50  are provided to the shield case  41 , and a push member  58  and ribs (protruded portions)  59  are provided in the housing  55 . Like the shield shell  16 , the shield case  41  is formed by punching from a conductive sheet of conductive metal and bending the punched part. Like the plastic portion  30  (see FIG.  2 C), the housing  55  is an insulating molded part and made of synthetic resin. 
     The shield case  41  is cylindrical in shape and formed with an upper wall  41   a , a base wall  41   b  (see  FIG. 3B ) and side walls  41   c  (see  FIG. 3B ) for linking edge portions of the upper wall  41   a  and the base wall  41   b  together. A front wall  41   d  (see  FIG. 3B ) and a rear wall are formed in a pass-through condition. The shield case  41  has as shown in  FIG. 3C  a mating portion  42  as the first half portion and a base portion  43  as the second half portion in the longer direction Z. 
     The base portion  43  is buried inside the housing  55 . The base portion  43  is extended until it reaches the rear end portion of the housing  55  and an electrical-wire connecting portion  72  as the rear end portion of each plug terminal  70  is protected in a shielded condition. 
     As shown in  FIG. 3A , the upper wall  41   a  of the mating portion  42  is formed with a depression  45  positioned close to the opening end and the flexible pieces  50  positioned close to both side walls  41   c  (see  FIG. 3B ) in the rear of the depression  45 . The depression  45  is a hole made by punching from a conductive sheet and formed into what dimensionally mates with the curved portion  18   c  of the tongue piece  18  formed beneath the shield shell  16 . Each flexible piece  50  is slender in shape so as to be flexible and extended in the longer direction Z of the shield case  41 . The base of the flexible piece  50  is linked with the upper wall  41   a  of the base portion. Each claw  51  protruding outside the upper wall  41   a  is formed at the front end of the flexible piece  50 . The claws  51  are mated with the respective grooves  20  (see  FIG. 2A ) of the shield shell  16 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 3C , the claw  51  has a inclined plane  51   a  that is positioned on its front end side and inclined gradually backward in the longer direction Z, a communicating plane  51   b  linked with the inclined plane  51   a  and extending in parallel to the longer direction Z and a vertical latching plane  51   c  substantially vertically crossing the communicating plane  51   b . The formation of the inclined plane  51   a  is intended to smoothly insert the shield case  41  into the shield shell  16  (see  FIG. 1 ) without catching. The formation of the vertical latching plane  51   c  is to ensure that the jack  15  (see  FIG. 1 ) and the plug  40  are latched together by improving the engagement of the claws  51  with the grooves  20 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 3B , the base wall  41   b  of the mating portion  42  is such that like the base wall  16   b  of the shield shell  16 , both end portions  44  and  44  of the bent conductive sheet are butted against each other and the barrel portions (not shown) are meshed together before being integrally pressed. 
     The opening  46  in the front wall  41   d  is, like the opening  23  of the shield shell  16 , arranged so that the width of the lower half portion is smaller than that of the upper half portion so as to prevent any erroneous fitting. In case where proper fitting is made possible even though the directions of the shield shell  16  and the shield case  41  are vertically turned upside down, the jack terminals  35  and the plug terminals  70  are prevented from being deformed or damaged. 
     As shown in  FIG. 3A , the housing  55  is formed integrally with a housing body  56  and a tube  60  for use in drawing the electrical wire  74  (see  FIG. 1 ) outside. An internal space for receiving the base portion  43  (see  FIG. 3C ) of the shield case  41  is formed in the housing body  56  and an internal space for passing the electrical wire  74  therethrough is formed in the tube  60  in a manner communicating with the internal space for receiving the base portion  43 . 
     The push member  58  having projections  58   a  (see  FIG. 3B ) in its lower portion and the ribs  59  positioned on both side of the push member  58  and extending in the longer direction are formed on the upper wall  56   a  of the housing body  56 . The push member  58  is a member for releasing the latching of the plug  40  from the jack  15 ; more specifically, a member for drawing the claws  51  formed in the front end portions of the flexible pieces  50  out of the grooves  20  (see  FIG. 1 ) of the shield shell  16 . The push member  58  is coupled via hinges  58   b  (see  FIG. 3C ) to the housing body  56 . The projections  58   a  are provided opposite to each other above the pair of flexible pieces  50 . Each push member  58  is pivotable with the hinge  58   b  as a fulcrum and by pivoting the push members  58  in a direction approaching the upper wall  41   a  of the shield case  41  and pressing the flexible pieces  50  with the projections  58   a , the latching of the plug  40  is released from the jack  15 . 
     Both the ribs  59  are provided so as to protect the push member  58  from being pushed down when the push member  58  inadvertently interferes with the outside. The front ends of the ribs  59  conform to the front end of the push member  58  and the rear ends of the ribs  59  are extended backward beyond the rear end of the push member  58 . The projected height of the ribs  59  from the upper wall  56   a  is set equal to or greater than that of the push member  58  (see FIG.  3 C). This is because the push member  58  cannot be protected from external interference in case that the projected height of the ribs  59  is less than that of the push member  58 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 3C , the terminal holding portion  63  is a plastic member for fixedly holding the plug terminals  70  and formed on the rear side of the upper wall  41   a  inside the shield case  41 . The plurality of plug terminals  70  are fixedly lined up in a position corresponding to the elastic contact portions  36  (see  FIG. 2C ) of the jack terminals  35 . The internal space between the terminal holding portion  63  and the lower half of the shield case  41  is used as the insertion space  65  for allowing the plastic portion of the jack  15  to be fitted in. 
     Each plug terminal  70  is extended straightly in the longer direction and as described above an electrical contact portion  71  (see  FIG. 3B ) for making contact with the elastic contact portion  36  of the jack terminal  35  is formed in one side end portion of the plug terminal  70 , whereas the electrical-wire connecting portion  72  is formed in the other side end portion thereof. The electrical wire  74  (see  FIG. 1 ) may be connected to the electrical-wire connecting portion  72  by contact bonding, pressure welding, solvent welding or the like. 
     Subsequently, the USB connector  10  with the jack  15  and the plug  40  connected together will be described by reference to FIG.  4 . 
     When the shield case  41  is fitted into the mating space  25  (see  FIG. 2C ) of the shield shell  16  with the jack  15  and the plug  40  set opposite to each other, the inner wall face of the shield shell  16  is guided and supported by the outer wall face of the shield case  41 . Then the plastic portion  30  (see  FIG. 4B ) of the shield shell  16  is caused to enter the insertion space  65  (see  FIG. 4B ) of the shield case  41  in a well-balanced condition and the elastic contact portions  36  (see  FIG. 2C ) of the jack terminals  35  are brought into contact with the electrical contact portions  71  (see  FIG. 3B ) of the plug terminal  70 . The front end portion of the terminal holding portion  63  (see  FIG. 4B ) is brought into contact with the stopper wall  34  of the plastic portion  30  and positioned in the longer direction Z, so that the jack  15  and the plug  40  are fitted together. 
     The latching of the USB connector  10  will be described. When the shield case  41  is fitted into the mating space  25  of the shield shell  16 , the front wall  16   d  of the shield shell  16  runs onto the inclined planes  51  (see  FIG. 3C ) of the claws  51  formed at the front ends of the flexible pieces  50  first. Then the flexible pieces  50  are bent in the direction in which the latching is released. When the shield case  41  is inserted further in this condition, the claws  51  proceed up to the position where the shield shell  16  faces the grooves  20  and the flexible pieces  50  return to the original state after restoring their elasticity. Further, the claws  51  and the grooves  20  mate one another and the edge portions of the grooves  20  are brought into contact with the vertical latching planes  51   c  of the claws  51 , whereby the jack  15  and the plug  40  are mated together. 
     When the plug  40  is pulled out of the jack  15 , the push member  58  is pivoted toward the upper wall  41   a  of the shield case  41  whereby to make the projections  58   a  of the push member  58  press the flexible pieces  50 . Then the flexible pieces  50  are bent in the direction in which the latching is released and the claws  51  slip out of the grooves  20 . With the latching released, the plug  40  is separated from the jack  15  by pulling the plug  40  backward. 
     As set forth above, the plug  40  can be fitted into the jack  15  with moderate strength without backlash in the vertical direction X as well as the lateral direction Y to ensure that the latching operation is performed by making the claws  51  formed on the flexible pieces  50  mate with the grooves  20 . Moreover, the jack  15  and the plug  40  can easily be separated from each other by pushing the push member  58  so that the bending of the flexible pieces  50  causes the latching of the claws  51  to be released from the grooves  20 .