Patent Publication Number: US-2023155327-A1

Title: Electrical connector

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims the priority benefit of China application serial no. 202111351922.3, filed on Nov. 16, 2021. The entirety of the above-mentioned patent application is hereby incorporated by reference herein and made a part of this specification. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Technical Field 
     The disclosure relates to an electrical connector. 
     Description of Related Art 
     With the development of science and technology, a variety of connectors for different electronic products have emerged. One of the most widely used and popular electrical connectors equipped on electronic devices is the USB connector. At present, the USB TYPE-C connector is widely used to realize positive and negative insertion. However, the length of the grounding piece of the current TYPE-C connector is long, leading to a corresponding increase in the length of the USB product, which in turn affects the high-frequency characteristics of the TYPE-C connector. 
     SUMMARY 
     The disclosure provides an electrical connector with excellent high-frequency characteristics. 
     The electrical connector according to an embodiment of the disclosure includes a shell, two insulating bodies, a plurality of terminals, and a grounding piece. The shell has an insertion space and comprises an inner shell and an outer shell. The inner shell comprises two inner shell components. Another electrical connector is adapted to be inserted into the insertion space along an insertion axis. The two insulating bodies are respectively arranged on both sides of the inner shell. The plurality of terminals are arranged on the two insulating bodies along an alignment axis. The grounding piece is sandwiched between the two inner shell components. The grounding piece includes a fixed portion, two first connecting portions, two second connecting portions, two clamp arms, and two grounding legs. The two first connecting portions respectively extend from the fixed portion. The two second connecting portions respectively extend from the fixed portion. Extending directions of the two first connecting portions are opposite to each other. Extending directions of the two second connecting portions are opposite to each other. The two clamp arms respectively extend from the two first connecting portions towards the insertion space. The two grounding legs respectively extend from the two second connecting portions. An extending direction of each of the two clamp arms and an extending direction of each of the two grounding legs are opposite to each other. 
     According to an embodiment, the plurality of terminals are located between the two clamp arms on the alignment axis. The two clamp arms respectively have clamp heads to clamp the another electrical connector. 
     According to an embodiment, the fixed portion, the two first connecting portions, and the two clamp arms are connected to one another to form a U-shaped structure. An opening of the U-shaped structure faces the insertion space. 
     According to an embodiment, the fixed portion, the two second connecting portions, and the two grounding legs are connected to one another to form an inverted U-shaped structure. An opening of the inverted U-shaped structure faces away from the insertion space. 
     According to an embodiment, a distance is maintained between each of the two first connecting portions and each of the two second connecting portions along the insertion axis. 
     According to an embodiment, the inner shell has the insertion space and covers the grounding piece. The outer shell covers the inner shell and the two insulating bodies, and the plurality of terminals. The inner shell has two first positioning protrusions. Each of the two first positioning protrusions protrudes into the distance to clamp each of the two first connecting portions and each of the two second connecting portions along the alignment axis. 
     According to an embodiment, the inner shell comprises the two inner shell components to form a closed annular structure and forms the insertion space. The grounding piece is assembled between the two inner shell components and the two grounding legs extend out of the inner shell. The two first positioning protrusions are located in at least one of the two inner shell components. 
     According to an embodiment, the two inner shell components further form two accommodating notches located on the alignment axis. The two clamp arms respectively extend into the insertion space from the two accommodating notches. 
     According to an embodiment, the inner shell further has two second positioning protrusions that are located in at least one of the two inner shell components. The fixed portion has two fixed holes corresponding to the two second positioning protrusions. The fixed portion of the grounding piece is assembled on the two second positioning protrusions through the two fixed holes and is positioned between the two inner shell components. 
     According to an embodiment, the two second positioning protrusions are located between the two first positioning protrusions along the alignment axis. 
     The electrical connector according to an embodiment of the disclosure includes a shell, two terminal modules, and a grounding piece. The shell has an insertion space and comprises an insulative housing and a metallic shell. Another electrical connector is adapted to be inserted into the insertion space along an insertion axis. The two terminal modules are respectively arranged on both sides of the insulative housing. The grounding piece is located inside the insulative housing. The grounding piece includes a fixed portion, two first connecting portions, two second connecting portions, two clamp arms, and two grounding legs. The two first connecting portions respectively extend from the fixed portion. Extending directions of the two first connecting portions are opposite to each other. The two second connecting portions respectively extend from the fixed portion. Extending directions of the two second connecting portions are opposite to each other. The two clamp arms respectively extend from the two first connecting portions towards the insertion space. The two grounding legs respectively extend from the two second connecting portions. An extending direction of each of the two clamp arms is opposite to an extending direction of each of the two grounding legs. 
     According to an embodiment, the insulative housing comprises two insulative housing components to form a closed annular structure and forms the insertion space and the grounding piece is sandwiched between the two insulative housing components. 
     According to an embodiment, the two insulative housing components are symmetrically arranged relative to the insertion axis. 
     According to an embodiment, each of the two terminal modules comprises an insulating body and a plurality of terminals arranged on the insulating body along an alignment axis, wherein the insulating body is arranged on the insulative housing. 
     According to an embodiment, along the alignment axis, the plurality of terminals are located between the two clamp arms, and the two clamp arms respectively have clamp heads to clamp the another electrical connector. 
     According to an embodiment, the fixed portion, the two first connecting portions, and the two clamp arms are connected to one another to form a U-shaped structure, and an opening of the U-shaped structure faces the insertion space. 
     According to an embodiment, the fixed portion, the two second connecting portions, and the two grounding legs are connected to one another to form an inverted U-shaped structure, and an opening of the inverted U-shaped structure faces away from the insertion space. 
     According to an embodiment, a distance is maintained between each of the two first connecting portions and each of the two second connecting portions along the insertion axis. 
     The electrical connector according to an embodiment of the disclosure includes a shell, a plurality of terminals, and a grounding piece. The shell has an insertion space and comprises an insulative housing and a metallic shell. Another electrical connector is adapted to be inserted into the insertion space along an insertion axis. The plurality of terminals is arranged on the insulative housing along an alignment axis. The grounding piece is located inside the insulative housing. The grounding piece includes a fixed portion, two first connecting portions, two second connecting portions, two clamp arms, and two grounding legs. The two first connecting portions respectively extend from the fixed portion. Extending directions of the two first connecting portions are opposite to each other. The two second connecting portions respectively extend from the fixed portion. Extending directions of the two second connecting portions are opposite to each other. The two clamp arms respectively extend from the two first connecting portions towards the insertion space. The two grounding legs respectively extend from the two second connecting portions. An extending direction of each of the two clamp arms is opposite to an extending direction of each of the two grounding legs. 
     According to an embodiment, the fixed portion, the two first connecting portions, and the two clamp arms are connected to one another to form a U-shaped structure. An opening of the U-shaped structure faces the insertion space. The fixed portion, the two second connecting portions, and the two grounding legs are connected to one another to form an inverted U-shaped structure. An opening of the inverted U-shaped structure faces away from the insertion space. 
     Based on the above, by means of the structural design of the grounding piece, the electrical connector of the disclosure is provided with the first connecting portions and the clamp arms extending therefrom, and the second connecting portions and the grounding legs extending therefrom, with the fixed portion as the structural reference, to shorten the length of the grounding piece along the insertion axis without affecting the clamping force of the grounding piece for another electrical connector (not shown), thereby controlling the length of the electrical connector along the insertion axis. Accordingly, compared with conventional electrical connectors in which the length of the electrical connector along the insertion axis is increased due to the structure of the grounding piece, which affects the high-frequency characteristics of the electrical connector, the electrical connector of the disclosure has excellent high-frequency characteristics. 
     In order to make the above-mentioned and other features and advantages of the disclosure clearer and easier to understand, the following embodiments are given and described in detail with accompanying drawings as follows. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG.  1    is a schematic view of an electrical connector in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG.  2    is an exploded view of the electrical connector shown in  FIG.  1   . 
         FIG.  3    to  FIG.  6    are schematic views of some components of the electrical connector of  FIG.  1   . 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
       FIG.  1    is a schematic view of an electrical connector in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure. At the same time, Cartesian coordinates X-Y-Z are provided to facilitate the related description and reference of components hereinafter. Referring to  FIG.  1   , the electrical connector  100  of this embodiment is, for example, a TYPE-C connector suitable for being applied to an USB, and for connecting with the other electrical connector (not shown) along an insertion axis A 1  (equivalent to the X axis). 
       FIG.  2    is an exploded view of the electrical connector shown in  FIG.  1   . Referring to  FIG.  2   , in this embodiment, the electrical connector  100  includes a shell  110 , two insulating bodies  120 , a plurality of terminals  130 , and a grounding piece  140 . The shell  110  includes an inner shell  112  and an outer shell  113 . The inner shell  112  has an insertion space  111  ( FIG.  1   ), and the other electrical connector is adapted to be inserted into the insertion space  111  of the inner shell  112  along the insertion axis A 1 . The outer shell  113  is a metallic shell and has an accommodating space  113 - 1  for accommodating the inner shell  112 , the two insulating bodies  120 , the terminals  130 , and the grounding piece  140 . The inner shell  112  is an insulative housing and is composed of two inner shell components  112   a  and  112   b  along the Z axis to form a closed annular structure and forms the insertion space  111 , and the two inner shell components  112   a  and  112   b  are symmetrically arranged relative to the insertion axis A 1 . In other words, two inner shell components  112   a  and  112   b  are two insulative housing components. Essentially the grounding piece  140  is sandwiched between the two inner shell components  112   a  and  112   b.  The inner shell  112  covers the grounding piece  140 , and the outer shell  113  covers the inner shell  112 , the two insulating bodies  120 , and the terminals  130 . 
     In detail, in this embodiment, the two insulating bodies  120  are respectively assembled in the two inner shell components  112   a  and  112   b  of the inner shell  112  along the Z axis, and are arranged symmetrically above and below relative to the insertion axis A 1 . The terminals  130  are arranged along the alignment axis A 2  (equivalent to the Y axis), and the terminals  130  are respectively arranged on the two insulating bodies  120 . The grounding piece  140  is assembled to be clamped between the two inner shell components  112   a  and  112   b  of the inner shell  112 . 
     Specifically, in this embodiment, each insulating body  120  includes a first component  121  and a second component  122 . The terminals  130  are divided into upper row terminals and lower row terminals. The upper row terminals and the lower row terminals are respectively combined with the corresponding first component  121  to from an upper terminal module and a lower terminal module, and portions of the terminals  130  that extend out of the first component  121  pass through the inner shell  112 . The second component  122  extends along the X axis in succession from the structure of the first component  121  to shield the portions of the terminals  130  which extend out of the first component  121 . 
     It should be noted that, in this embodiment, the first component  121  and the terminals  130  are combined by, for example but not limited to, the technique of insert molding. In this embodiment, the first component  121  and the second component  122  are two independent components that can be assembled separately, but in other embodiments, the first component  121  and the second component  122  can be integrated into one depending on the requirements of the manufacturing process. 
       FIG.  3    to  FIG.  6    are schematic views of some components of the electrical connector of  FIG.  1   . It should be noted that, in order to clearly illustrate the structural relationship of the electrical connector  100 ,  FIG.  3    only shows one of the inner shell components  112   a,  some of the terminals  130 , and the grounding piece  140 , and  FIG.  4    only shows the other inner shell component  112   b,  the other terminals  130 , and the grounding piece  140 . In addition, the outer shell  113  is omitted in  FIGS.  5  and  6   . 
     Referring to  FIGS.  3  and  4   , in this embodiment, the grounding piece  140  includes a fixed portion  141 , two first connecting portions  142 , two second connecting portions  143 , two clamp arms  144 , and two grounding legs  145 . The two first connecting portions  142  respectively extend from two opposite sides of the fixed portion  141  along the Y axis and face gradually away from the fixed portion  141 , and the two clamp arms  144  respectively extend from the two first connecting portions  142  along the X axis. The two second connecting portions  143  respectively extend from two opposite sides of the fixed portion  141  along the Y axis and face gradually away from the fixed portion  141 , and the two grounding legs  145  respectively extend from the two second connecting portions  143  along the X axis. 
     It should be noted that the extending directions of the two first connecting portions  142  and the extending directions of the two second connecting portions  143  are parallel to the alignment axis A 2 . The extending direction of the two clamp arms  144  is opposite to the extending direction of the two grounding legs  145 , in which the extending directions of the two clamp arms  144  and the two grounding legs  145  are parallel to the insertion axis A 1 . The above-mentioned restriction features of the extending directions allow these components to be better combined, which facilitates the assembly and is therefore suitable for mass production. 
     Therefore, in this embodiment, the fixed portion  141 , the two first connecting portions  142 , and the two clamp arms  144  are connected to each other to form a U-shaped structure, in which the opening  146  of the U-shaped structure faces the insertion space  111 . The fixed portion  141 , the two second connecting portions  143 , and the two grounding legs  145  are connected to each other to form an inverted U-shaped structure, in which and the opening  147  of the inverted U-shaped structure faces away from the insertion space  111 . 
     Specifically, referring to  FIG.  3    and  FIG.  4   , in this embodiment, along the alignment axis A 2 , the plurality of terminals  130  are located between the two clamp arms  144  and in the opening  146  of the U-shaped structure. Each end of the two clamp arms  144  opposite to the fixed portion  141  has a clamp head  144 - 1  for clamping the other electrical connector. 
     When the other electrical connector is inserted into the insertion space  111  of the electrical connector  100  along the insertion axis A 1 , the terminals  130  are connected with the other electrical connector, and the clamp head  144 - 1  of the grounding piece  140  is adapted to clamp the other electrical connector, so as to firmly fix the other electrical connector in the insertion space  111  of the inner shell  112 . 
     It is worth mentioning that, for the structure of the grounding piece  140  of this embodiment, since the extending direction of each of the first connecting portions  142  (parallel to the alignment axis A 2 ) is different from the extending direction of the clamp arms  144  which are connected to the first connecting portion  142  (parallel to the insertion axis A 1 ), and the extending direction of each of the second connecting portions  143  (parallel to the alignment axis A 2 ) is different from the extending direction of the grounding legs  145  which are connected to the second connecting portion  143  (parallel to the insertion axis A 1 ), the length of the grounding piece  140  along the insertion axis A 1  can be shortened without affecting the clamping force of the grounding piece  140  for the other electrical connector. 
     Compared with conventional electrical connectors in which the arm portion of the grounding piece is in a straight line along the X axis (that is to say, the arm portion only extends along the insertion axis A 1  and cannot be shortened in length, thereby affecting the high-frequency characteristics of the electrical connectors), the electrical connector  100  of this embodiment effectively reduces the length of the overall structure along the insertion axis A 1  through the structural design of the grounding piece  140  (that is to say, by changing the clamp arm  144  and the first connecting portion  142  into an L shape), leaving only the length of the clamp arm  144  along the X axis. Such arrangement is equivalent to controlling the length of the electrical connector  100  along the insertion axis A 1 , so that the electrical connector  100  has excellent high-frequency characteristics. 
     The structural relationship between the inner shell  112  and the grounding piece  140  is further described below. 
     Referring to  FIG.  3    and  FIG.  4    at the same time, in this embodiment, the two inner shell components  112   a  and  112   b  of the inner shell  112  include two first positioning protrusions  112 - 1 . There are two distances G 1  corresponding to the two first positioning protrusions  112 - 1  between the two first connecting portions  142  and the two second connecting portions  143  along the insertion axis A 1 , and the two distances G 1  are located on two opposite sides of the fixed portion  141  along the alignment axis A 2 . In fact, the inner shell components  112   a  and  112   b  of the embodiment, each of which has one first positioning protrusion  112 - 1 , are in complementary structural relationship with each other in the assembly process, as shown in  FIG.  2   , which is equivalent to the fact that the structural features of the inner shell components  112   a  and  112   b  are the same as each other. Therefore, only one set of molds is required to complete the inner shell components  112   a  and  112   b,  which is beneficial to simplifying the manufacturing process and reducing the manufacturing cost. 
     When the grounding piece  140  is assembled and clamped between the two inner shell components  112   a  and  112   b  of the inner shell  112 , the two first positioning protrusions  112 - 1  respectively protrude into the two distances G 1 , to clamp the two first connecting portions  142  and the two second connecting portions  143  along the insertion axis A 1  and clamp two opposite sides of the fixed portion  141  along the alignment axis A 2 . 
     That is, in this embodiment, when the grounding piece  140  is assembled and clamped between the two inner shell components  112   a  and  112   b  of the inner shell  112 , the two first positioning protrusions  112 - 1  are located between the two first connecting portions  142  and the two second connecting portions  143  along the insertion axis A 1 , and the fixed portion  141  is located between the two first positioning protrusions  112 - 1  along the alignment axis A 2 , so as to limit the movement of the grounding piece  140  along the insertion axis A 1  and the alignment axis A 2 . 
     In addition, in another embodiment not illustrated herein, the above-mentioned two first positioning protrusions  112 - 1  can also be both provided on the same inner shell component  112   a  or on the same inner shell component  112   b,  which also achieves the clamping effect as mentioned above. 
     Referring to  FIGS.  3  and  4   , in this embodiment, the two inner shell components  112   a  and  112   b  of the inner shell  112  further include two second positioning protrusions  112 - 2  protruding from the insertion space  111 , and the two second positioning protrusions  112 - 2  are located between the two first positioning protrusions  112 - 1 . The fixed portion  141  has two fixed holes  141 - 1  corresponding to the two second positioning protrusions  112 - 2 , so that the fixed portion  141  is fixated on the two second positioning protrusions  112 - 2  of the inner shell  112  through the two fixed holes  141 - 1 , thereby restricting the movement of the grounding piece  140  along the insertion axis A 1  and the alignment axis A 2 . Just as the aforementioned inner shell components  112   a  and  112   b  have the same structural features as their counterparts, the second positioning protrusions  112 - 2  as illustrated are composed of a hollow column (connected with the reference numeral in the figure) and a solid column (connected with no reference numeral in the figure) as is shown in the figure, so the two solid columns are inserted into the hollow columns of the counterpart to complete the assembly. Referring to  FIG.  5    and  FIG.  6    at the same time, in this embodiment, the inner shell  112  has two symmetrical accommodating notches  112 - 3  along the alignment axis A 2 . The two clamp arms  144  are respectively located in the two accommodating notches  112 - 3  of the inner shell  112 , and the terminals  130  ( FIG.  3   ,  FIG.  4   ) are located between the two clamp arms  144  along the alignment axis A 2 . 
     Specifically, the insertion space  111  is located between the two accommodating notches  112 - 3  along the alignment axis A 2 . The two clamp arms  144  respectively extend into the insertion space  111  of the inner shell  112  from the two accommodating notches  112 - 3  to connect with the other electrical connector and securely clamp the other electrical connector in the insertion space  111  of the inner shell  112 . 
     In addition, referring to  FIG.  6   , in this embodiment, on one side relative to the insertion space  111  of the inner shell  112 , the joint surfaces of the terminals  130  combined with the two first components  121  are coplanar with the grounding legs  145 , and the joint surfaces of the terminals  130  and the grounding legs  145  can be bonded to a circuit board (not shown) by means of Surface Mount Technology (SMT), but not limited thereto. 
     Based on the above, in the electrical connector of the disclosure, by means of the structural design of the grounding piece, the length of the grounding piece along the insertion axis is shortened without affecting the clamping force of the grounding piece for another electrical connector (not shown), thereby controlling the length of the electrical connector along the insertion axis. Accordingly, compared with conventional electrical connectors in which the length of the electrical connector along the insertion axis is increased due to the structure of the grounding piece, which affects the high-frequency characteristics of the electrical connector, the electrical connector of the disclosure has excellent high-frequency characteristics. 
     It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the disclosed embodiments without departing from the scope or spirit of the disclosure. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the disclosure covers modifications and variations provided that they fall within the scope of the following claims and their equivalents.