Patent Publication Number: US-10333250-B2

Title: Electrical connector assembly

Description:
1. FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE 
     The invention is related to an electrical connector assembly, and particularly to an electrical connector assembly with latches and partitions. 
     2. DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ARTS 
     U.S. Pat. No. 8,043,127 discloses the electrical connector assembly with mated connectors wherein the neighboring contacts lack proper partitions for separation therebetween. On the other hand the latching mechanism between the coupled connectors is applied to only one side thereof, thus tending unstable. 
     Therefore, it is desired to have an electrical connector equipped with the partitions to separate the neighboring contacts. 
     SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE 
     To achieve the aforementioned object, an electrical connector assembly including a first connector and a second connector mated with each other. The first connector is of a header type and the second connector is of a silo type. The first connector includes an insulative housing with a mating cavity sounded by opposite top wall and bottom wall, two opposite side walls and a rear wall. The rear wall forms opposite inner surface and outer surface. A plurality of pin type contacts are retained to the housing and include the contacting sections exposed in the mating cavity and soldering sections exposed outside of the housing and behind the rear wall. A plurality of inner partitions are formed on the interior surface of the rear wall and extend into the mating cavity to separate the contacting sections of the neighboring contacts, respectively. A plurality of outer partitions are formed on the exterior surface of the rear wall to separate the soldering sections of the neighboring contacts. Correspondingly, the second connector includes an insulative housing with a plurality of silos separated by grooves, and a plurality of resilient contacts disposed in the corresponding silos, respectively. During mating, the partitions of the first connector are respectively received within the corresponding partition grooves of the second connector, and the pin type contacts of the first connector are inserted into the corresponding silos and mated with the corresponding resilient contacts of the second connector, respectively. The housing of the second connector further includes three sided latches to be locked to the housing of the first connector. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the electrical connector assembly with the first connector and the second connector mated together according to the invention; 
         FIG. 2  is another perspective view of the electrical connector assembly of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the electrical connector assembly of  FIG. 1  with the first connector and the second connector are separate from each other; 
         FIG. 4  is another perspective view of the electrical connector of  FIG. 3 ; 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view of the first connector of the electrical connector assembly of  FIG. 3 ; 
         FIG. 6  is an exploded perspective view of the first connector of the electrical connector assembly of  FIG. 5 ; 
         FIG. 7  is another exploded perspective view of the first connector of the electrical connector assembly of  FIG. 6 ; 
         FIG. 8  is an exploded perspective view of the second connector of the electrical connector assembly of  FIG. 3 ; 
         FIG. 9  is another exploded perspective view of the second connector of the electrical connector assembly of  FIG. 8 ; 
         FIG. 10  is a perspective view of the contact of the first connector of the electrical connector assembly of  FIG. 5   
         FIG. 11  is a front elevational view of the first connector of the electrical connector assembly of  FIG. 5 ; 
         FIG. 12  is a cut-off perspective view of the first connector of the electrical connector of  FIG. 5 ; 
         FIG. 13  is a cross-sectional view of the first connector of the electrical connector of  FIG. 5 ; 
         FIG. 14  is a cross-sectional view of the electrical connector assembly of  FIG. 1  to show how the contact of the first connector and the contact of the second connector are mated with each other; 
         FIG. 15  is another cross-sectional view of the electrical connector assembly of  FIG. 1  to show the contact of the first connector and the contact of the second connector are mated with each other; 
         FIG. 16  is another cross-sectional view of the electrical connector assembly of  FIG. 1  to show how the first connector and the second connector are latched with each other at the opposite ends; and 
         FIG. 17  is another cross-sectional view of the electrical connector assembly of  FIG. 1  to show how the first connector and the second connector are latched with each other at the center region. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the present disclosure. The electrical connector assembly  1000  includes a first connector  100  mounted to the first printed circuit board  101 , and is adapted to be mated with a second connector  200  mounted upon a second printed circuit board  201 . The first connector  100  includes an first insulative housing  1  and a plurality of first contacts  2  retained in the first housing  1 . Correspondingly, the second connector  200  includes an second insulative housing  5  and a plurality of second contacts  6  retained in the second housing  5 . 
     The first housing  1  includes opposite top wall  11  and bottom wall  12 , a rear wall  13  connected between the top wall  11  and the bottom wall  12 , and a pair of end walls  14  linked among the top wall  11 , the bottom wall  12  and the rear wall  13  to commonly form a mating cavity  15 . The rear wall  13  includes opposite interior surface  131  and exterior surface  132 , and a plurality of passageways  133  extending therethrough. A plurality of grooves  1321  and a plurality of tail grooves  1322  are formed in the exterior surface  132  by the corresponding outer partitions  4  which extend rearwardly from the exterior surface  132  wherein the tail grooves  1322  are communicatively located under the corresponding grooves  1321 , respectively. The passageways  133  are communicatively located at a mid-level of the corresponding grooves  1321 , respectively. A plurality of inner partitions  3  are formed on the interior surface  131  and extend into the mating cavity  15  from the top wall  11  to the bottom wall  12 . The inner partition  3  includes two opposite recesses  31  and a head  32  therebetween in the vertical direction wherein the one recess is joined to the top wall  11  and the other recess is joined to the bottom wall  12 . The inner partitions  3  and the outer partitions  4  are aligned with each other in a front-to-back direction, respectively, while the outer partitions  4  are wider than the corresponding inner partitions  3 , respectively, in the longitudinal direction of the electrical connector assembly  1000 . 
     The first contact  2  is made by stamping and of a pin type, and includes a horizontal section  21 , a vertical section  22  extending downwardly from the rear end of the horizontal section  21 , and a soldering section  23  extending forwardly from the bottom end of the vertical section  22  so that both the horizontal section  21  and the soldering section  23  are located on a same side of the vertical section  22 . The horizontal section  21  includes a pin type contacting section  211  and two pairs of barbs  212 . Notably, the soldering section  23  is essentially located behind the barbs  212  in the front-to-back direction. The contacting section  211  extends through the passageway  133  and into the mating cavity  15 . The barbs  212  are retained to the rear wall  13 . The vertical section  22  is located in the corresponding groove  1321 . The soldering section  23  is exposed outside of the exterior surface  132  while still within the corresponding tail groove  1322 . In brief, the contacting section  211  is protectively located between the pair of inner partitions  3  by two sides and the soldering section  23  is protectively located between the pair of outer partitions  4  by two sides. 
     The second housing  5  of the second connector  200  includes a base  51  and a plurality of silos  52  extending from the base  51  and alternately arranged with the partition grooves  53  along the longitudinal direction of the base  51 . Each silo  52  forms a hole  521  to receive a second contact  6 . The base  51  includes opposite top face  54  and bottom face  55 , and the partition grooves  53  extend through both the top face  51  and the bottom face  52  and the front face (not labeled) of the second housing  5 . The housing  5  further includes a deflectable latch  551  adapted to be moved along the channel  121  in the bottom wall  12  of the first housing  1  for locking the first housing  1  and the second housing  2  together. Similarly, the housing  5  further includes a pair of deflectable latches  552  at two opposite longitudinal ends adapted to be engaged with corresponding steps  141  of the first housing  1  during mating. Notably, the three sided latching, i.e., the latch  551  and the pair of latches  552 , may provide reliable securing between the first connector  100  and the second connector  200 . The second contact  6  includes the clamping arm  61  disposed in the hole  521 . During mating, the inner partitions  3  are respectively received in the corresponding partition grooves  53 , and the contacting section  211  of the first contacts  2  are gripped by the clamping arms  61  of the second contacts  6 . 
     While a preferred embodiment according to the present disclosure has been shown and described, equivalent modifications and changes known to persons skilled in the art according to the spirit of the present disclosure are considered within the scope of the present disclosure as described in the appended claims.