Patent Publication Number: US-8974249-B2

Title: Electrical connector

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a national phase of PCT Application No. PCT/US11/39369, filed Jun. 7, 2011, which claims priority to Chinese Application No. 201010200703.0, filed Jun. 10, 2010, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates to an electrical connector and, in particular, to an electrical connector suitable for helping to reduce the total height of an electrical connector and a corresponding circuit board. 
     BACKGROUND 
     With the fast development of multi-media technique, Mini-Display Port connectors are widely used in electronic devices day by day. To help meet the desire for miniaturized products, Chinese patent ZL200920001857.X discloses an electrical connector comprising an insulating housing which is provided with an accommodating chamber at the rear portion thereof and a tongue protruding forwardly from the front portion thereof; a plurality of terminals, which include an upper row of terminals mounted at the upper side and a lower row of terminals mounted at the lower side of the tongue respectively, each terminal being provided with a contact portion, a soldering portion and a bending portion connected between the contact portion and the soldering portion, the contact portion of the upper row of terminals and the lower row of terminals being mounted on the upper side and lower side of the tongue respectively, and the soldering portions of each row of terminals extend downwards from the rear portion of the insulating housing and are arranged in a front column and a back column; a shielding housing, which envelops at the periphery of the insulating housing; and two positioning modules, which are mounted in the accommodating chamber of the insulating housing and envelop the periphery of the bending portions of the terminals so as to effectively prevent the bending portions of the terminals from being bent or contacting with each other to short circuit failure due to external force. The bottom surface of the front portion of the shielding housing is higher than the bottom surface of the rear portion of the insulating housing for a preset distance, and when the electrical connector is mounted on a circuit board, the bottom surface of the rear portion of the insulating housing contacts against the upper surface of the circuit board first to prevent the electrical connector from further sinking, and the bottom surface of the front portion of the shielding housing is higher than the upper surface of the circuit board for a hanging space. 
     Therefore, both the insulating housing and the shielding housing of the conventional electrical connector are disposed above the circuit board, so the total height is large, and generally equal to the height of the electrical connector plus the height of the circuit board, which is not suitable to the electronic devices with compact space such as a notebook computer. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An electrical connector includes an insulating body with a front portion and a tongue protrudes from the front portion. The connector further includes a terminal module which can be mounted on the insulating body and may include a first and second positioning element that can each supports, respectively, a first and second row of terminals. Each terminal can be provided with a contact portion and a soldering portion, the contact portions of the first row of terminals and the contact portions of the second row of terminals being disposed on an upper side and lower side of the tongue, respectively, and the soldering portions of the first row of terminals and the soldering portions of the second row of terminals can each be configured to provide a front column and a back column of soldering portions. The connector can further include a shield which envelopes a periphery of the insulating body and the shield can include a top wall, a bottom wall and two side walls that connect the top and bottom wall so as to form a contact chamber that accommodates the tongue, and the soldering portions of the first and second rows of terminals can extend out of a rear portion of the shield. In addition, a rear portion of the electrical connector can be provided with a support surface for contacting against the circuit board, and the bottom wall at the front portion of the shield is lower than the support surface. 
     The terminals may each include a bending portion extending from the contact portion and an extending portion extending from the bending portion and the soldering portion extending from the extending portion. The extending portions of the first row of terminals can be spaced apart from the extending portions of the second row of terminals in a vertical direction; and if desired, a protecting element can be disposed between the extending portions of the first row of terminals and the extending portions of the second row of terminals. In an embodiment, the first and second positioning elements can be assembled to each other. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view showing an embodiment of an electrical connector. 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded perspective view showing the electrical connector of  FIG. 1  assembled to a circuit board. 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view showing the electrical connector of  FIG. 1  assembled to the circuit board. 
         FIG. 4  is a side view showing the electrical connector assembled to the circuit board in  FIG. 3 . 
         FIG. 5  is a front view showing the electrical connector assembled to the circuit board in  FIG. 3 . 
         FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional view along line A-A in  FIG. 5 . 
         FIG. 7  is an exploded perspective view showing an embodiment of an electrical connector. 
         FIG. 8  is an exploded perspective view showing an embodiment of an electrical connector, wherein the terminal module and the insulating body are assembled together. 
         FIG. 9  is another exploded perspective view showing the electrical connector depicted in  FIG. 8 . 
         FIG. 10  is an exploded perspective view of an embodiment of an electrical connector. 
         FIG. 11  is an exploded perspective view showing two positioning elements configured to be assembled together. 
         FIG. 12  is an elevated side view of the position elements shown in  FIG. 11 . 
         FIG. 13  is an exploded perspective view showing an embodiment of a terminal module and an insulating body of an electrical connector. 
         FIG. 14  is another perspective view showing the features depicted in  FIG. 13  from another angle of view. 
         FIG. 15  is an exploded perspective view of an embodiment of an electrical connector. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Hereinafter, by taking the mini-DisplayPort cable connector as an example, the embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The detailed description that follows describes exemplary embodiments and is not intended to be limited to the expressly disclosed combination(s). Therefore, unless otherwise noted, features disclosed herein may be combined together to form additional combinations that were not otherwise shown for purposes of brevity. 
     The electrical connector disclosed herein could reduce the total height of the connector and a corresponding circuit board by the structure provided. For example, the front portion of the shield is designed to recessed into the circuit board, thereby reducing the total height of the connector and the circuit board. As a result, the electrical connector is especially adapted to applications such as the notebook computer with compact space. Furthermore, by providing a bending portion upwardly bending and extending between the contact portion and the extending portion, the front portion of the electrical connector with the contact portion can be recessed into the circuit board, and there is also a proper distance between the extending portion and the circuit board in the up-and-down direction. The shield can be designed to be a two-piece combined structure, which makes it easier to change the depth that the front portion of the shield sinks into the circuit board. In addition, by providing the protecting element, the second row of terminals are prevented from bending upwardly and being short-circuited due to contact with the first row of terminals when an external force is applied on. Furthermore, by providing fixing pins at the first housing and the second housing, the whole electrical connector is fixed to the circuit board under uniform force, therefore, the lifespan of the electrical connector can be prolonged. 
       FIG. 1  to  FIG. 12  depict features of an electrical connector  10 . The electrical connector  10  includes an insulating body  1 , a terminal module  2  mounted on the insulating body  1  and a shield  3  enveloping the periphery of the insulating body  1 . As shown in  FIG. 2 , the electrical connector  10  may be mounted in an accommodating recess  201  of the circuit board  20 . 
     As depicted in  FIGS. 13-15 , a tongue  11  protrudes forwardly from a front portion of the insulating housing  1 , an accommodating chamber  12  is formed in the middle of the insulating housing  1 , and a frame  13  is protrude backwardly and upwardly from the rear portion of the insulating housing  1 . A plurality of terminal accommodating grooves  111  are provided at both upper side and the lower side of the tongue  11 . The accommodating chamber  12  is formed by an upper wall  121 , a lower wall  122  and two side walls  123 . The side wall  123  has two fastening holes  1231  and  1232 . The frame  13  is formed by an upper wall  131 , two side walls  132  and a front wall  133 . Each side wall  132  is provided with a fixing hole  1321  at front part thereof, and a fixing block  1322  protruding at rear part thereof and extending in a fore-and-aft direction; besides, the inner part of each side walls  123  is recessed with a fixing slot  1323  which extends in a fore-and-aft direction. The front wall  133  is provided with a through slot  1331  which extends and penetrates from front to back. Two supporting pins  134  are protruded downwardly from the bottom of the two side walls  132  respectively. Each bottom of the supporting pins  134  has a support surface  135 . As shown in  FIG. 4 , when the electrical connector  10  is mounted into the accommodating recess  201  of the circuit board  20 , the support surface  135  contacts against the upper surface  202  of the circuit board  20  as long as the electrical connector  10  is sunk to a preset depth, so as to prevent the electrical connector  10  from further sinking, which facilitates the subsequent soldering process. 
     As shown in  FIG. 11  to  FIG. 15 , the terminal module  2  includes a first positioning element  25  which supports a first row of terminals  22  and a second positioning element  26  which supports a second row of terminals  23 . A protecting element  24  is mounted between the two rows of the terminals  22  and  23  and a spacing element  27  may be provided adjacent soldering portions of the terminals. 
     Each of the first row of terminals  22  is provided with a contact portion  221 , a bending portion  223  upwardly bending and extending from the rear end of the contact portion  221 , and an extending portion  224  further backwardly bending and extending from the upper edge of the bending portion  223 , and a soldering portion  222  further downwardly bending and extending from the rear end of the extending portion  224 . Each of the second row of terminals  23  is also provided with a contact portion  231 , a bending portion  233  upwardly bending and extending from the rear end of the contact portion  231 , an extending portion  234  backwardly bending and extending from the upper edge of the bending portion  233 , a soldering portion  232  further downwardly bending and extending from the rear end of the extending portion  234 . Thus, the terminals each are formed in a U-shaped bend. Also referring to  FIG. 6 , since bending portions  223 ,  233  upwardly bending and extending from the contact portion  221 ,  231  are positioned between the contact portions  221 ,  231  and the extending portions  224 ,  234 , the contact portions  221 ,  231  are located at a lower position and the extending portions  224 ,  234  are located at a higher position. Therefore, the front portion of the electrical connector  10  where the contact portions  221 ,  231  are positioned can be sunk into the accommodating recess  201  of the circuit board  20 , and there is a suitable distance between the extending portions  224 ,  234  and the circuit board  20  in the up-and-down direction. The contact portions  221 ,  231  of the two rows of terminals  22 ,  23  are mounted in the accommodating grooves  111  at the upper and lower sides of the tongue  11 , and the soldering portions  222 ,  232  of the two rows of the terminals  22 ,  23  are each arranged in a front column and a back column so as to provide a total of four columns. The bending portion  223  of the terminal  22  is spaced apart from the bending portion  233  of the terminals  23  in the fore-and-after direction, and the extending portion  224  of the terminal  22  is spaced apart from the extending portion  234  of the terminals  23  in the up-and-down direction. 
     As shown in  FIG. 12 , in the first row of terminals  22 , there is a height difference in the up-and-down direction between the rear portions of the extending portions  224  of the terminals whose soldering portions  222  are at the front column and the rear portions of the extending portions  224  of the terminals whose soldering portions  222  are at the back column The height difference is equal to the thickness of the extending portion  224 . In the second row of terminals  23 , there is a height difference in the up-and-down direction between the extending portions  234  of the terminals whose soldering portions  232  are at the front column and the rear portions of the extending portions  234  of the terminals whose soldering portions  232  are at the back column, and the height difference is also equal to the thickness of the extending portion  234 . 
     The protecting element  24  is made of insulating materials, and includes a horizontal portion  241  and a vertical portion  242 . The horizontal portion  241  is correspondingly disposed between the extending portions  224  and  234  of the first and second row of the terminals  22  and  23 . The vertical portion  242  is disposed between the bending portions  223  and  233  of two rows of the terminals  22  and  23 . A plurality of recesses  243  are provided at the bottom of the protecting element  24  for accommodating the extending portions  234  of the second row of terminals  23 . When forwardly inserting and assembling the terminal module  2  (which does not include the spacing element  27 ) to the accommodating chamber  12  of the insulating body  1 , the vertical portion  242  can prevent the bending portions  223  of the first row of terminals  22  and the bending portions  233  of the second row of terminals  23  from deforming and being short-circuiting. When mounting the electrical connector  10  onto the circuit board  20 , the horizontal portion  241  can prevent the extending portion  234  of the second row of terminals  23  from being bended upwardly due to an external force when it is inserted into the bonding pad  204  on the circuit board  20 , thereby preventing a short circuit between the extending portions  234  of the second row of terminals  23  and the extending portions  224  of the first row of terminals  22 . 
     The first positioning element  25  is formed by overmolding process at the periphery of the rear part of the contact portions  221  of the first row of terminals  22 , and the second positioning element  26  is formed by overmolding process at the periphery of the rear part of the contact portions  231  of the second row of terminals  23 . As depicted, the lower surface of the first positioning element  25  is provided with buckling grooves  251 , and each of the two side surfaces thereof is provided with a protruding block  252 , the upper surface of the second positioning element  26  is protruded with fixing blocks  261 , and each of the two side surfaces of the second positioning element  26  is protruded with a protruding block  262 . The fixing blocks  261  and the buckling grooves  251  are configured to engage with each other to assemble the two positioning elements  25 ,  26  together. The protruding blocks  252 ,  262  are engaged with the fastening holes  1231 ,  1232  on the side wall  123  of the accommodating chamber  12  to assemble and fix the two positioning elements  25 ,  26  to the accommodating chamber  12  of the insulating body  1 . This assembling structure makes it easier to assemble and fix the terminals  22 ,  23  to the insulating body  1 . 
     The spacing element  27  is made of insulating material, and envelops at the soldering portion  222 ,  232 . The spacing element  27  includes a base  271  and a plurality of fastening blocks  272  protruded outwardly from the both sides of the base  271 . The base  271  is provided with a plurality of through holes  2711  which run through up and down and allow the soldering portion  222 ,  232  pass through, such that it can prevent the soldering portion  222 ,  232  from deforming and contacting with each other. The fastening blocks  272  can be inserted into the fixing slots  1323  of the frame  13  of the insulating body  1  so as to assemble the spacing element  27  with the insulating body  1  together. 
     As shown in  FIG. 7  to  FIG. 10 , the front portion of the shield  3  and is assembled with the insulating body  1  to form a contact chamber  33  which accommodates the tongue  11  therein and has an opening at the front end thereof. The rear portion of the shield  3  is assembled with the insulating body  1  and envelops the periphery of the frame  13 . The soldering portions  222 ,  232  of the two rows of the terminals  22 ,  23  extend out of the bottom surface  32  at the rear portion of the shield  3  in directly inserting mode. It should be noted that, the soldering portion  222 ,  232  may extend out of the rear portion of the shield  3  in a surface soldering mode. In the present embodiment, the shield  3  is composed of a first housing  4  and a second housing  5 , the first housing  4  forming the front portion of the shield  3 , and the second housing forming the rear portion of the shield  3 . 
     The first housing  4  includes a body  41  and two side arms  42  extending from both sides of the rear end of the body  41 . The body  41  is formed by a top wall  411 , a bottom wall  412  and two side walls  413  connected between the top wall  411  and the bottom wall  412 , where the tongue  11  is accommodated. A protruding plate  4111 , which is protruded backwardly from the rear end of the top wall  411 , may be inserted into the through slot  1331  at the front wall  133  of the frame  13  and fastened with the front wall  133 . A fixing plate  421  provided at the front part of each side arm  42  and an opening recess  422  provided at the rear part of each side arm  42  may be engaged with the fixing hole  1321  and the fixing block  1322  at two side walls  132  of the frame  13  respectively, thereby connecting the two side arms  42  with the two side walls  132  of the frame  13 . Each side arm  42  is further provided with a fastening portion  423  protruded outwardly. A fixing pin  43  is bended outwardly and downwardly from the rear part of each side wall  413 , such that the first housing  4  can be fastened onto the circuit board  20  firmly. 
     The second housing  5  is formed by a top wall  51 , two side walls  52 , a front wall  53  and a back wall  54 . The profile of the second housing  5  matches that of the frame  13 . A fixing hole  521  is provided at each side wall  52  respectively, which is engaged with the fastening portion  423  on the side arm  42  of the first housing  4 , thereby assembling the second housing  5  with the first housing  4 . A fixing pin  55  is downwardly protruded at the rear part of each side wall  52 , such that the second housing  5  can be fastened onto the circuit board  20  firmly. 
     The manufacturing and assembling process of the electrical connector  10  may include the process steps that are provided below: forming an insulating body  1  by molten plastic material in an injecting molding process; forming two rows of terminals  22  and  23  that form the terminals of the terminal module  2  and the connected metal strip (not shown) and then separately manufacturing two positioning elements  25 ,  26  in an insert molding process so as to provide the terminal module  2 ; bending the first and second row of terminals  22 ,  23  to form soldering portions  222 ,  232  arranged in two columns in fore-and-aft direction; then positioning the two positioning elements  25 ,  26  together, and interposing the protecting element  24  between the two rows of terminals  22 ,  23  at the same time so as assemble the terminal module  2  (without the spacing element  27 ) together and then to the insulating body  1  from back to front; mounting the spacing element  27  into the frame  13  of the insulating body  1  from bottom to top; enveloping the first housing  4  of the shield  3  to the insulating body  1  from the front of the insulating body  1  to back until two side arms  42  are fastened to the two side walls  132  of the frame  13  of the insulating body  1 ; afterwards, enveloping the second housing  5  of the shield  3  to the frame  13  of the insulating body  1  from top to bottom until the fixing holes  521  at the two side walls  52  of the second housing  5  are engaged with the fastening portions  423  at the side arms  42  of the first housing  4 , thereby assembling the second housing  5  with the first housing  4 . 
     It should be noted that that the process of manufacturing the first positioning element to the first row of terminals, the terminals whose soldering portions  222  are arranged at the front column and the terminals whose soldering portions  222  are arranged at the rear column can be formed in different rows of metal strips in a stamping process. By providing a height difference between the rear parts of two columns of extending portion  224  of the terminals, which can be equal to the thickness of the extending portion  224 , it is easier to overlap two rows of metal strips with each other and mold the first positioning element  25  on the periphery at the rear part of two columns of the contact portion  221  of the terminals. As can be appreciated, the molding process of the second positioning element  26  can be similar to that of the first positioning element  25 . 
       FIG. 2  to  FIG. 6  show the assembly and application of the electrical connector  10  and the circuit board  20 . It can be seen that the bottom wall  412  of the shield  3  at the front portion of the electrical connector  10  is lower than the support surface  135  of the insulating body  1 , the first housing  4  as the front portion of the shield  3  can be sunk into the accommodating groove  201  of the circuit board  20 , and the support surface  135  of the electrical connector  10  contacts against the upper surface  202  of the circuit board  20  to prevent the electrical connector  10  from being further sunk. This assembled structure makes good use of the height of the circuit board  20 , and the total height thereof equals to that of the electrical connector  10 . As can be appreciated, the total height is reduced by an amount that is equivalent to the height of the circuit board  20 , thus space is saved. 
     Consequentially, the recessed structure of the electrical connector  10  can reduce the total height of the electrical connector  10  and the circuit board  20 , and therefore, it is especially beneficial for compact designs such as notebook computer with compact space requirements. Furthermore, by providing a protecting element  24  between the bending portions  223  and the extending portions  224  of the first row of terminals  22  and the bending portions  233  and the extending portions  234  of the second row of terminals  23 , the second row of terminals  23  and the first row of terminals  22  may be prevented from deforming and being short circuited during the assembling process. Moreover, by providing a distance between the extending portions  224  of the first row of terminals  22  and a distance between the extending portions  234  of the second row of terminals  23 , which is respectively equal to the thickness of the extending portions  224 ,  234 , it is easier to mold the first and second positioning elements  25  and  26 . By configuring the shield  3  as an assembling structure having two housings  4  and  5 , it is not only convenient to punch the complex shield  3 , but also easy to change the sinking depth of the front portion of the electrical connector  10  just by changing the punching mold of the second housing  5 , without changing the punching mold of the first housing  4 . Furthermore, by providing the fixing pin  43  in the first housing  4  and the fixing pin  55  in the second housing  5  and soldering the fixing pins  43 ,  55  in the bonding pad  205  of the circuit board  20 , the electrical connector  10  fixed to the circuit board  20  would be subjected to uniform force, thereby prolonging the lifespan of the electrical connector  10 . 
     The above illustrations are merely exemplary. For example, in a preferred embodiment, the support surface  135  is disposed at the bottom of the rear part of the electrical connector  10 , however, in other embodiments (not shown), the support surface also may be disposed at the bottom of the rear part of the shield  3  of the electrical connector  10  (such as partially thickening the upper part of the fixing pin  55  of the second housing  5  to make the upper part of the fixing pin  55  unable to pass through the bonding pad  205 , therefore the support surface contacts against the upper surface  202  of the circuit board  20  to help prevent the electrical connector  10  from being further recessed). The disclosure provided herein describes features in terms of preferred and exemplary embodiments thereof. Numerous other embodiments, modifications and variations within the scope and spirit of the appended claims will occur to persons of ordinary skill in the art from a review of this disclosure.