Patent Publication Number: US-8523577-B1

Title: Electrical connector

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to an electrical connector, and more particularly to an electrical connector adapted for connecting with a mated connector by virtue of magnetic attraction. 
     2. The Related Art 
     With the development of electronic technology, electrical connectors are widely used in electronic products. A traditional electrical connector connected with a mated connector by magnetic attraction generally includes an insulating housing, a plurality of terminals and a plurality of magnet units assembled in the insulating housing respectively. In use, the interconnection between the electrical connector and the mated connector is apt to be influenced by the magnetic force of the magnet units. However, the size of the magnet unit often affects the magnetic force of the electrical connector. Moreover, the rapid developments of the electronic products call for more stringent requirements to miniaturization of the electrical connectors. As a result, the traditional electrical connector generally fails to meet the requirements of both miniaturization and strong magnetic force at the same time. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector. The electrical connector includes an insulating housing having a base body of which a front surface is inclined to act as a mating face. The mating face is concaved rearward to define a plurality of terminal grooves penetrating through the base body and a plurality of receiving grooves of substantial U-shape each surrounding one of the terminal grooves. Wherein there are some terminal grooves without being surrounded by any receiving grooves and each of them is located between every two adjacent receiving grooves. A plurality of terminals inserted forward in the terminal grooves of the insulating housing respectively. Each terminal has a contact end exposed outside through a front end of the corresponding terminal groove. A plurality of magnet units each is of substantial U-shape and is assembled in the receiving groove of the insulating housing. 
     As described above, each of the magnet units is of substantial U-shape and is assembled in the corresponding receiving groove of substantial U-shape to surround the corresponding terminal, so that is in favor of enlarging the size of the magnet unit so as to reinforce the magnetic attraction between the electrical connector and a mated connector, even though it is under the circumstances of no affecting the miniaturization of the electrical connector. Therefore, the electrical connector can meet the requirements of both miniaturization and strong magnetic force at the same time. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art by reading the following description thereof, with reference to the attached drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is an assembled perspective view of an electrical connector in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded perspective view of the electrical connector shown in  FIG. 1 ; and 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of an insulating housing of the electrical connector shown in  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1-2 , an electrical connector  100  according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an insulating housing  10 , a plurality of terminals  20  and a plurality of magnet units  30  assembled in the insulating housing  10 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3 , the insulating housing  10  has a base body  101  of which a front surface is inclined to act as a mating face  11 . The mating face  11  is concaved rearward to define a plurality of terminal grooves  12  penetrating through the base body  101  and a plurality of receiving grooves  14  of substantial U-shape each surrounding one of the terminal grooves  12 . Wherein there are some terminal grooves  12  without being surrounded by any receiving grooves  14  and each of them is located between every two adjacent receiving grooves  14 . An inner sidewall of the receiving groove  14  defines an interfering rib  141 . A rear end of each terminal groove  12  is spread outward to form a positioning fillister  13 . An inner sidewall of the positioning fillister  13  shows a flat shape and is acted as a foolproof wall  131 . A rear surface of the base body  101  protrudes rearward to form at least one locating portion  15  with a locating hole  151  opened therein, and a tongue board  16  with a buckle portion  161  protruding therefrom. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 , the terminals  20  are inserted forward in the terminal grooves  12  of the insulating housing  10  respectively. Each terminal  20  has a contact end  21  exposed outside through a front end of the corresponding terminal groove  12 . Each of the terminals  20  has a cylindrical connecting portion  26  inserted forward in the terminal groove  12 . A front end of the connecting portion  26  is slantwise designed to form the contact end  21 . A rear end of the connecting portion  26  protrudes outward to form a blocking portion  23  positioned in the positioning fillister  13 , and protrudes rearward to form a soldering portion  25  stretching behind the base body  101 . A part of the blocking portion  23  corresponding to the foolproof wall  131  is cut off to form a foolproof face  24  cooperating with the foolproof wall  131  to avoid mis-inserting the terminal  20  in the terminal groove  12  and further ensure the contact end  21  of the terminal  20  and the mating face  11  of the insulating housing  10  in the same inclined plane. An outer periphery of the connecting portion  26  protrudes outward to form a fastening portion  22  interfering with an inner periphery of the corresponding terminal groove  12  to secure the terminal  20  in the terminal groove  12 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 , each of the magnet units  30  is of substantial U-shape and steadily assembled in the corresponding receiving groove  14  of the insulating housing  10  by interfering with the interfering rib  141 . A front side (not labeled) of the magnet unit  30  is inclined to make the contact ends  21  of the terminals  20 , the mating face  11  of the base body  101  and the front sides of the magnet units  30  located in the same inclined plane. 
     As described above, each of the magnet units  30  is of substantial U-shape and is assembled in the corresponding receiving groove  14  of substantial U-shape to surround the corresponding terminal  20 , so that is in favor of enlarging the size of the magnet unit  30  so as to reinforce the magnetic attraction between the electrical connector  100  and a mated connector (not shown), even though it is under the circumstances of no affecting the miniaturization of the electrical connector  100 . Therefore, the electrical connector  100  can meet the requirements of both miniaturization and strong magnetic force at the same time. 
     The foregoing description of the present invention has been presented for the purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed, and obviously many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. Such modifications and variations that may be apparent to those skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of this invention as defined by the accompanying claims.