Patent Publication Number: US-2022239028-A1

Title: Electrical connector contact having inner and outer contacting arms and a soldering portion beside the contacting arms

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to an electrical connector comprising: an insulative housing defining a channel; and a plurality of contacts secured to the insulative housing and each having a first arm exposed to the channel, a second arm exposed to the channel, a bottom arm connected to the first and second arms, and a soldering portion. 
     2. Description of Related Arts 
     China Patent No. 110444932 discloses a shielded board-to-board electrical connector assembly comprising a receptacle connector having: an insulative housing defining a channel; and a plurality of contacts secured to the insulative housing and each having a first inner arm exposed to the channel, a second outer arm exposed to the channel, a bottom arm connected to the inner and outer arms, and a soldering portion connected to the outer arm through a third upstanding arm. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An electrical connector comprises an insulative housing defining a channel and a plurality of contacts secured to the insulative housing, each contact having a first arm exposed to the channel, a second arm exposed to the channel, a bottom arm connected to the first and second arms, and a soldering portion connected to the bottom arm. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a contact for an electrical connector in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a top view of the contact; 
         FIG. 3  is a side view of the contact; 
         FIG. 4  shows a state of plural contacts and associated contact carrier strip during manufacturing; 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view of an electrical connector in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 6  is an exploded view of the electrical connector; 
         FIG. 7  is a view similar to  FIG. 6  but from another perspective; 
         FIG. 8  is a top view showing arrangement of the contacts; 
         FIG. 9  is a cross-sectional view of the electrical connector taken along line A-A in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 10  is a cross-sectional view of the electrical connector taken along line B-B in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 11  is a perspective view of a mating electrical connector; 
         FIG. 12  is an exploded view of the mating electrical connector; 
         FIG. 13  is a view similar to  FIG. 12  but from another perspective; 
         FIG. 14  is a perspective view of the electrical connector and the mating electrical connector before mating; 
         FIG. 15  is a perspective view of a mated assembly of the electrical connector and the mating electrical connector; 
         FIG. 16  is a cross-sectional view of the electrical connector assembly taken along line C-C in  FIG. 15 ; and 
         FIG. 17  is a cross-sectional view showing engagement of respective metallic shells of the electrical connector and the mating electrical connector. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1-10 , an electrical connector  100  comprises an insulative housing  2  defining a channel  23  and a plurality of contacts  1  secured to the insulative housing  2 . Each contact  1  has a first arm  11  exposed to the channel  23 , a second arm  12  exposed to the channel  23 , a bottom arm  13  connected to the first and second arms  11  and  12 , and a soldering portion  14  connected to the bottom arm  13 . The first arm  11 , the second arm  12 , and the bottom arm  13  form a substantially U-shaped structure. The first arm  11  has a contacting portion  111  and the second arm  12  has a contacting portion  121 , the two contacting portions facing each other along a first direction. In the embodiment shown, the first arm  11  is a stationary inner arm and the second arm  12  is a flexible outer arm. The bottom arm  13  has two opposite sides along a second direction perpendicular to the first direction. The soldering portion  14  extends outwardly in the first direction from one side of the bottom arm  13 . A gap  15  is formed in the second direction between the soldering portion  14  and the bottom arm  13 . Arrangement of the soldering portion  14  at a side of the bottom arm  13  reduces a dimension of the contact  1  in the first direction. 
     The first arm  11  has a body  110 , an upper portion  113 , a curved junction  16  between the body  110  and the upper portion  113 , and a rib  112  protruding from the body  110 . As shown in  FIG. 4 , a metallic carrier strip  300  is connected with plural contacts  1  and respective bridges  301  to be severed later are interconnected between every two adjacent contacts  1 . 
     The electrical connector  100  is to be mated with a complementary connector  200  specifically shown in  FIGS. 11-13 . In this embodiment the insulative housing  2  of the electrical connector  100  is insert-molded with the contacts  1 . The electrical connector  100  may further include a metallic shell  3 . 
     The insulative housing  2  has a base  21  and a peripheral wall  22 , together defining the channel  23 , and an island  24 . The peripheral wall  22  includes a pair of side walls  221  and a pair of end walls  222 . The first arm  11  of the contact  1  is secured to the side wall  221 . Specifically, the first arm  11  is disposed at an inner face  2210  of the side wall  222  to expose the contacting portion  111  to the channel  23 . The bottom arm  13  is secured to the base  21 . The contacting portion  121  of the second arm  12  is also exposes to the channel  23 . The soldering portion  14  extends outwardly of the side wall  221 . Two rows of contacts  1  are secured to the pair of side walls  221 , respectively; the island  24  has two rows of grooves  241  receiving the second arms  12  of the two rows of contacts  1 , respectively. In this embodiment, the first arm  11 , the bottom arm  13 , and the soldering portion  14  are insert-molded to be stationary while the second arm  12  is flexible to move toward or away from the first arm  11  along the first direction. The curved junction  16  of the first arm  11  may guide the complementary connector  200  during mating. 
     In  FIG. 8 , the first and second arms  11  and  12  of the contact  1  in one row are aligned with those of the opposing contact  1  in the other row while associated soldering portions  14  are staggered, though not aligned and/or not staggered may be implemented in different applications. 
     The metallic shell  3  may be insert-molded with the insulative housing  2 . The shell  3  includes a pair of side plates  32  at outer faces  2211  of the pair of side walls  221 ; the outer faces  2211  form recesses  223 . From a top view, ends  141  of the soldering portions  14  extend to the recess  223  within the side plate  32 . Each side plate  32  has a pair of upper abutting portions  321 , at two outer sides of each row of contacts  1 , configured in a way similar to the first arm  11  exposed at the inner face  2210  of the side wall  222 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 11-16 , the mating connector  200  has an insulative housing  4 , two rows of contacts  5  secured to the insulative housing  4 , and a metallic shell  6  that is insert-molded with the insulative housing  4  and has plural grounding legs  61 . The insulative housing  4  has a base  41  and a peripheral wall  42  together defining a slot  43  for receiving the island  24  of the insulative housing  2 . The peripheral wall  42  includes a pair of side walls  421  and a pair of end walls  422 . The two rows of contacts  5  are insert-molded with pair of side walls  421 , respectively. Each contact  5  includes an outer arm  51  exposed to an outer face of the side wall  421  and having a contacting portion  511 , an inner arm  52  exposed to an inner face of the side wall  421  and having a contacting portion  521 , and a soldering portion  53  extending outwardly from the inner arm  52 . The metallic shell  6  has a peripheral wall  62  and a bottom wall  63 . The bottom wall  63  has a pair of securing blades  631  insert-molded with the pair of end walls  422  of the insulative housing peripheral wall  42 . The peripheral wall  62  surrounds and engages an outer faced of the metallic shell  3  when the electrical connector  100  and the mating connector  200  are mated. The securing blade  631  has a base  6311  and a pair of wings  6312 . The wing  6312  has a protrusion  63121  extending outwardly of the end wall  422  for engaging the upper abutting portion  321  of the shell side plate  32 . Specifically, the peripheral wall  62  has a pair of side plates  621  and a pair of end plates  622 . The bottom wall  63  is connected to the pair of side plates  621 . End of the soldering portion  53  of the contact  5  is situated inwardly of the side plate  621 . The pair of securing blades  621  are located at two outer sides of each row of contacts  5 . A pair of bottom openings  64  are defined between the metallic shell  6  and the insulative housing  4  for accommodating the soldering portions  53  of the contacts  5 . The side plate  621  is provided with one or more inspection windows  6211 .