Patent Publication Number: US-11381041-B2

Title: Electrical connector with improved shielding effect

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This patent application claims priority of a Chinese Patent Application No. 202020136363.9, filed on Jan. 20, 2020 and titled “Electrical connector”, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present disclosure relates to an electrical connector, which belongs to a technical field of connectors. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Existing electrical connectors usually include an insulating body, a plurality of conductive contacts fixed to the insulating body, and an outer metal shell located outside the insulating body. In addition, in order to further improve shielding effect, the existing electrical connectors are also provided with a shielding shell. As we all know, in order to achieve the purpose of shielding, the shielding shell and the outer metal shell shall be in contact with ground pins on a circuit board. For this reason, the shielding shell and the outer metal shell of the existing electrical connectors usually include a plurality of mounting parts respectively for being mounted to the circuit board. However, the existing design is complicated, takes up a lot of space, and is not facilitated for installation. 
     SUMMARY 
     An object of the present disclosure is to provide an electrical connector which has better shielding effect and is easy to be mounted to a circuit board. 
     In order to achieve the above object, the present disclosure adopts the following technical solution: an electrical connector comprising an insulating body having a tongue plate, a plurality of conductive terminals fixed to the insulating body, a shielding shell fixed to the insulating body, and an outer metal shell installed on a periphery of the insulating body. The plurality of conductive terminals include at least one ground terminal and at least one signal terminal. Each of the at least one ground terminal and the at least one signal terminal includes a contact portion exposed on the tongue plate. The outer metal shell is provided with a mounting portion for being mounted to a circuit board. The shielding shell is in contact with the at least one ground terminal, and the outer metal shell is in contact with the shielding shell. 
     Compared with the prior art, the shielding effect of the present disclosure is improved by providing the shielding shell and the outer metal shell, having the shielding shell be in contact with the ground terminal, and having the outer metal shell be in contact with the shielding shell. Besides, there is no need to provide any mounting part on the shielding shell to be directly mounted on the circuit board, thereby saving installation space and improving installation convenience. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic perspective view of an electrical connector in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure when the electrical connector is installed to a circuit board; 
         FIG. 2  is a partially exploded perspective view of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic perspective view of a first shell and an insulating body as shown in  FIG. 2  when they are separated; 
         FIG. 4  is a further perspective exploded view of  FIG. 3 , in which a shielding shell is separated; 
         FIG. 5  is a schematic perspective view of the electrical connector of the present disclosure after the outer metal shell and the insulating body are removed; and 
         FIG. 6  is a front view of  FIG. 5 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 to 6 , the present disclosure discloses an electrical connector  100  for being mounted to a circuit board  200 . The circuit board  200  is provided with an installation opening  201 . The electrical connector  100  is partially installed in the installation opening  201 . In an illustrated embodiment of the present disclosure, the electrical connector  100  is a Type C receptacle connector. Of course, in other embodiments, the electrical connector  100  may also be other type of connectors. 
     The electrical connector  100  includes an insulating body  1 , a plurality of conductive terminals  2  fixed to the insulating body  1 , a shielding shell  3  fixed to the insulating body  1 , a shielding piece  4  fixed to the insulating body  1 , and an outer metal shell  5  installed on a periphery of the insulating body  1 . 
     The insulating body  1  includes a body portion  11 , an extension portion  12  extending forwardly from the body portion  11 , a tongue plate  13  extending forwardly from the extension portion  12 , and a stopper  14  located at the rear of the body portion  11 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 4 , the plurality of conductive terminals  2  include a plurality of ground terminals G and a plurality of signal terminals S. Each of the ground terminals G and the signal terminals S includes a contact portion  20  exposed on the tongue plate  13 . The ground terminals G include a first ground terminal  21  and a second ground terminal  22 . The first ground terminal  21  and the second ground terminal  22  are respectively adjacent to two sides of the tongue plate  13 . In the illustrated embodiment of the present disclosure, the conductive terminals  2  are insert-molded in the insulating body  1 . Of course, in other embodiments, the conductive terminals  2  may also be assembled to the insulating body  1 . Referring to  FIG. 5 , in the illustrated embodiment of the present disclosure, the plurality of conductive terminals  2  include an upper row of the conductive terminals  2  and a lower row of the conductive terminals  2 . 
     The shielding piece  4  is fixed in the tongue plate  13 . In the illustrated embodiment of the present disclosure, the shielding piece  4  is insert-molded in the insulating body  1 . Of course, in other embodiments, the shielding piece  4  may also be assembled to the tongue plate  13 . The shielding piece  4  is located between the upper row of the conductive terminals  2  and the lower row of the conductive terminals  2  in order to improve the shielding effect. The shielding shell  3  and the shielding piece  4  are arranged separately, and the shielding shell  3  is in contact with the shielding piece  4 . Referring to  FIGS. 5 and 6 , the shielding piece  4  is provided with a first protrusion  41  and a second protrusion  42  which protrude outwardly along a lateral direction. 
     The shielding shell  3  is provided with a first plate-shaped portion  31  which is insert-molded in the insulating body  1 , and a first bent portion  311  and a second bent portion  312  which extend from two sides of the first plate-shaped portion  31 , respectively. The first bent portion  311  is in contact with the first ground terminal  21 . The second bent portion  312  is in contact with the second ground terminal  22 . In an embodiment of the present disclosure, a contact position of the first bent portion  311  and the first ground terminal  21 , and a contact position of the second bent portion  312  and the second ground terminal  22  are hidden in the insulating body  1 . With this arrangement, the contact of the first bent portion  311  and the first ground terminal  21 , and the contact of the second bent portion  312  and the second ground terminal  22  can be more stable at these contact positions. 
     Besides, the shielding shell  3  is further provided with a second plate-shaped portion  32  which is insert-molded in the insulating body  1 , and a third bent portion  321  and a fourth bent portion  322  which extend from two sides of the second plate-shaped portion  32 . The second plate-shaped portion  32  protrudes from the first plate-shaped portion  31  along a thickness direction (i.e., a top-to-bottom direction) of the insulating body  1 . Referring to  FIGS. 4 and 5 , in the illustrated embodiment of the present disclosure, the second plate-shaped portion  32  of the shielding shell  3  at the upper side is higher than the first plate-shaped portion  31  so as to form a stepped portion. The third bent portion  321  is in contact with the first protrusion  41 . The fourth bent portion  322  is in contact with the second protrusion  42 . In order to ensure the reliability of contact, the third bent portion  321  and the first protrusion  41  may be welded together, for example, by spot welding. The fourth bent portion  322  and the second protrusion portion  42  may be welded together for example, by spot welding. The second plate portion  32  is provided with a raised portion  323  protruding beyond the insulating body  1 . The raised portion  323  is welded and fixed to the outer metal shell  5 . For example, the raised portion  323  and the outer metal shell  5  can be welded together by spot welding. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 5 and 6 , in the illustrated embodiment of the present disclosure, the two shielding shells  3  are symmetrically arranged on an upper side and a lower side of the tongue plate  13 . It can be understood that at this time, the second plate-shaped portion  32  of the shielding shell  3  at the lower side is lower than the first plate-shaped portion  31  so as to form a stepped portion. 
     In the illustrated embodiment of the present disclosure, the outer metal shell  5  includes a first shell  51  and a second shell  52  which is fixed to the first shell  51  by welding. The first shell  51  includes a cylindrical portion  511  at least partially surrounding the insulating body  1 . The cylindrical portion  511  has an upper surface  512 , a lower surface  513  and two side surfaces  514  connecting the upper surface  512  and the lower surface  513 . In the illustrated embodiment of the present disclosure, the cylindrical portion  511  is formed by bending a piece of metal shell. The upper surface  512  includes a first portion  5121 , a second portion  5122  and a seam  5123  between the first portion  5121  and the second portion  5122 . The raised portion  323  is respectively welded and fixed to the first portion  5121  and the second portion  5122 . Through this arrangement, on the one hand, it realizes a reliable contact between the shielding shell  3  and the first shell  51 ; on the other hand, it can reduce the cracking risk of the seam  5123 . The second shell  52  includes a top wall  521  shielded on the upper surface  512  and mounting portions  522  extending from two sides of the top wall  521 . The top wall  521  is respectively welded and fixed to the first portion  5121  and the second portion  5122 . By this arrangement, on the one hand, it realizes a reliable contact between the second shell  52  and the first shell  51 ; on the other hand, it can further reduce the cracking risk of the seam  5123 . In assembling, the cylindrical portion  511  is sleeved on the body portion  11  and its rear end is restricted by the stopper  14 . Of course, in other embodiments, the cylindrical portion  511  can also be integrally formed to improve the strength of the product and reduce the risk of cracking the port of the electrical connector. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , the mounting portions  522  are used for being mounted to the circuit board  200 . In the illustrated embodiment of the present disclosure, the electrical connector  100  is mounted to the circuit board  200  in a sunk-in-board manner, that is, at least part of the outer metal shell  5  protrudes below the circuit board  200 . With this arrangement, the installation height of the electrical connector  100  can be reduced. 
     Compared with the prior art, the shielding shell  3  of the present disclosure is in contact with the ground terminals G and the shielding piece  4 , the shielding shell  3  is in contact with the first shell  51 , and the first shell  51  is in contact with the second shell  52 , and the second shell  52  is finally mounted to the circuit board  200  through the mounting portions  522 . With this arrangement, the shielding shell  3  itself does not need to be provided any mounting portion to be directly mounted to the circuit board  200 , thereby saving installation space and improving installation convenience. 
     The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the present disclosure and not to limit the technical solutions described in the present disclosure. The understanding of this specification should be based on those skilled in the art. Descriptions of directions, such as “front”, “back”, “left”, “right”, “top” and “bottom”, although they have been described in detail in the above-mentioned embodiments of the present disclosure, those skilled in the art should understand that modifications or equivalent substitutions can still be made to the application, and all technical solutions and improvements that do not depart from the spirit and scope of the application should be covered by the claims of the application.