Patent Publication Number: US-9425551-B2

Title: Electrical connector with two guiding posts

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a connector technology, and more particularly to an electrical connector with two guiding posts. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     A common connection way of an electrical connector is a pluggable connection. In order to ensure that the electrical connector can be inserted correctly and be fixed on a correct position, a simple guiding structure is generally disposed on the electrical connector. But even if the electrical connector is provided with the guiding structure, it is still inevitable to generate an impact when the electrical connector is inserted into a complementary connector. After multiple insertion, these impacts will cause the electrical connector fatal damage, which affects its service life. 
     Hence, it is needed to provide a new electrical connector with two guiding posts, which can reduce or even completely absorb the impact force caused by two engaged electrical connector, to comply with the requirements of high precision. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector with two guiding posts, wherein the two guiding posts are separately located on two sides of the electrical connector, and each of the two guiding posts forms two elastic and symmetrical split structures having a function of absorbing an impact force. When the electrical connector is engaged with a complementary connector, the two guiding posts not only can provide a guiding function, but also can absorb the impact force, thereby making the insertion and mating process be smoother. 
     The other object and the advantage of the present invention may be further understood from the technical features disclosed by the present invention. 
     To achieve the above object of the present invention, the present invention adopts the following technical solution. 
     The present invention provides an electrical connector with two guiding posts. The electrical connector comprises an insulation housing, multiple signal terminals and multiple power terminals. The insulation housing is upright and includes a flat base, a mating portion vertically extending upward from a top surface of the base, and two guiding posts being respectively located on a right and left sides of the mating portion and extending upward from the top surface of the base. The mating portion forms multiple signal terminal insertion openings and multiple power terminal insertion openings on a top surface of the mating portion. These insertion openings extend downward unto a bottom surface of the insulation housing for respectively forming multiple signal terminal passages and multiple power terminal passages. Each of the signal terminals is upright and has a head portion and a tail portion. The head portion is positioned in the corresponding signal terminal passage and is adjacent to the corresponding signal terminal insertion opening, and the tail portion extends out of the bottom surface of the insulation housing along the corresponding signal terminal passage. Each of the power terminals is upright and has a head and a tail. The head is positioned in the corresponding power terminal passage and is adjacent to the corresponding power terminal insertion opening, and the tail extends out of the bottom surface of the insulation housing along the corresponding power terminal passage. Wherein each of the two guiding posts is symmetrically split into two separate sub guiding posts and forms a gap between the two sub guiding posts. 
     In one embodiment, each guiding post has a vertical section vertically extending upward from the top surface of the base and being beyond the top surface of the mating portion, and an inclined section extending upward from the top of the vertical section. 
     In one embodiment, the vertical section and the inclined section commonly construct a first plane facing the mating portion. 
     In one embodiment, the vertical section and the inclined section commonly share a vertical plane facing the mating portion. 
     In one embodiment, the vertical section further has a second plane back to the mating portion, and the first plane and the second plane are parallel to each other and are separately located on two sides of the vertical section. 
     In one embodiment, the inclined section further has a curved surface back to the mating portion, and the diameter of the curved surface is reduced from bottom to top in a linear way to form a reduced top end. 
     In one embodiment, the curved surface is a conical surface. 
     In one embodiment, the mating portion further forms a guide pin insertion opening, which is located between two or two groups of adjacent power terminal insertion openings and extends downward to form a guide pin insertion hole. 
     In comparison with the prior art, the electrical connector of the present invention employs the two guiding posts, which are separately located on two sides of the electrical connector, and each of which forms two elastic and symmetrical split structures having a function of absorbing an impact force. The two guiding posts not only can provide a guiding function, but also can absorb the impact force generated during the mating process, thereby making the insertion and mating process be smoother. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective schematic view of an electrical connector of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded view of the electrical connector shown by  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is an exploded view of the electrical connector shown by  FIG. 1  along another direction; 
         FIG. 4  is a right side view of the electrical connector shown by  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 5  is a front plane view of the electrical connector shown by  FIG. 1 ; and 
         FIG. 6  is a top plane view of the electrical connector shown by  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     The following description of every embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings is used to exemplify a specific embodiment, which may be carried out in the present invention. Directional terms mentioned in the present invention, such as “top”, “bottom”, “front”, “back”, “left”, “right”, “top”, “bottom” etc., are only used with reference to the orientation of the accompanying drawings. Therefore, the used directional terms are intended to illustrate, but not to limit, the present invention. 
     Please refer to  FIGS. 1 to 6 ,  FIG. 1  is a perspective schematic view of an electrical connector  1  with two guiding posts of the present invention;  FIG. 2  is an exploded view of the electrical connector  1  shown by  FIG. 1 ;  FIG. 3  is an exploded view of the electrical connector  1  along another direction;  FIG. 4  is a right side view of the electrical connector  1 ;  FIG. 5  is a front plane view of the electrical connector  1 ; and  FIG. 6  is a top plane view of the electrical connector  1 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , the electrical connector  1  with two guiding posts is a vertical receptacle, the mating direction of which is perpendicular to a circuit board (not shown) and which can transport signal and power. The electrical connector  1  comprises an insulation housing  10 , multiple signal terminals  20  and multiple power terminals  30 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , the insulation housing  10  is upright and has a flat base  12 , a mating portion  14  extending upward on a top surface of the base  12 , and two guiding posts  16  being respectively located on a right and left sides of the mating portion  14  and extending upward on the top surface of the base  12 . 
     Please refer to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the mating portion  14  forms multiple signal terminal insertion openings  140 , multiple power terminal insertion openings  142  and a guide pin insertion opening  144  on a top surface thereof. The guide pin insertion opening  144  is located between two or two groups of adjacent power terminal insertion openings  142 . These insertion openings  140 ,  142  and  144  extend downward unto a bottom surface of the base  12  to form multiple signal terminal passages  146 , multiple power terminal passages  148  and a guide pin insertion hole  149  for respectively receiving and fixing the signal terminals  20 , the power terminals  30  and a guide pin (not shown) of a complementary connector. Namely, the signal terminal insertion openings  140  extend downward to form the signal terminal passages  146 , the power terminal insertion openings  142  extend downward to form the power terminal passages  148 , and the guide pin insertion opening  144  extends downward to form the guide pin insertion hole  149 . The guide pin insertion hole  149  is located between two or two groups of adjacent power terminal passages  148 . 
     Please refer to  FIG. 2 , the two guiding posts  16  vertically extend upward from the top surface of the base  12  and are symmetrically disposed on two sides of the mating portion  14 . Each guiding post  16  forms an elastic and symmetrical split structure. Specifically, the guiding post  16  is symmetrically split into two separate sub guiding posts  18  and forms a gap  19  between the two sub guiding posts  18 . The gap  19  makes the guiding post  16  have an ability of elastic deformation along a direction of being perpendicular to the gap  19 , thereby absorbing an impact force. 
     Please refer to  FIGS. 2 to 6 , each sub guiding post  18  has a vertical section  180  and an inclined section  182 . The vertical section  180  vertically extends upward from the base  12  and is beyond the top surface of the mating portion  14  of the insulation housing  10 . The inclined section  182  extends upward from the top of the vertical section  180 . The vertical section  180  and the inclined section  182  commonly construct a first plane  184  facing the mating portion  14 . Namely, the vertical section  180  and the inclined section  182  commonly share a vertical surface (that is, the first plane  184 ) facing the mating portion  14 . Moreover, the vertical section  180  further has a second plane  186  back to the mating portion  14 . The first plane  184  and the second plane  186  are parallel to each other and are separately located on two sides of the vertical section  180 . The inclined section  182  further has a curved surface  188  back to the mating portion  14 . In this embodiment, the curved surface  188  is a conical surface, the diameter of which is reduced from bottom to top in a linear way, so that the inclined section  182  forms a reduced top end. As shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5 , the curved surface  188  of the inclined section  182  is in favor of mating and guiding. 
     Please refer to  FIG. 2 , each signal terminal  20  is upright and has a head portion  22  and a tail portion  24 . The head portion  22  is mounted in the corresponding signal terminal passage  146  and is adjacent to the corresponding signal terminal insertion opening  140  for being ready to be mated with a signal contact of the complementary connector. The tail portion  24  extends out of the bottom surface of the insulation housing  10  along the corresponding signal terminal passage  146 . 
     Please refer to  FIG. 2 , each power terminal  30  is also upright and has a head  32  and a tail  34 . The head  32  is mounted in the corresponding power terminal passage  148  and is adjacent to the corresponding power terminal insertion opening  142  for being ready to be mated with a power contact of the complementary connector. The tail  34  extends out of the bottom surface of the insulation housing  10  along the corresponding power terminal passage  148 . 
     As described above, the electrical connector of the present invention disposes the two guiding posts  16  separately located on two sides thereof. Each of the two guiding posts  16  is symmetrically split into two separate sub guiding posts  18  and forms a gap  19  between the two sub guiding posts  18 . This structure has a function of absorbing the impact force along a direction of being perpendicular to the gap  19 . When the electrical connector  1  is engaged with the complementary connector, the two guiding posts  16  of the electrical connector  1  not only can provide a guiding function, but also can absorb the impact force generated during the mating process, thereby making the mating process be smoother. 
     It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.