Patent Publication Number: US-9431767-B2

Title: Electrical connector with an improved shell having a vertical blade to perform a shielding function

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to the art of electrical connectors, and more particularly to an electrical connector having an improved shell for preventing cross-talk. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     U.S. Pat. No. 8,142,226, issued to Xiao et al. on Mar. 27, 2012, discloses a cable connector assembly in compliance with USB 3.0 standard. The cable connector assembly comprises an insulative housing, a plurality of contacts received in the insulative housing, a metallic shell enclosing the insulative housing, and a pair of latches retained in the insulative housing and exposed out of the metallic shell. Tail portions of the contacts extend beyond a rear end of the insulative housing to be electrically connected with a cable. 
     The metallic shell of the cable connector assembly comprises a front shell and a back shell assembled to each other along an up-to-down direction. The cable has two high speed signal wires with front aluminum foil thereof stripped away. Cross-talk may occur between two neighboring front segments where there is no aluminum foil. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention provides an electrical connector including an insulative body comprising a backward part, a widened tongue and a narrowed tongue extending forwardly from the backward part, a plurality of contacts received in the insulative body, a metallic shell enclosing the insulative body, a spacer assembled to the insulative body for supporting the contacts, and a cable electrically connected with the contacts and comprising two STP (Shielded Twisted Pair) wires for high speed signal transmission, each of the two STP wires having a front section without aluminum foil. The metallic shell comprises a front shell and a rear shell assembled with each other, the rear shell defines a vertical blade bent downwards from a top wall thereof, and the vertical blade extends downwards and is located between the front sections of the STP wires. 
     The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technical advantages of the present invention in order that the detailed description of the invention that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages of the invention will be described hereinafter which form the subject of the claims of the invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       For a more complete understanding of the present invention, and the advantages thereof, reference is now made to the following descriptions taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is an assembled, perspective view of an electrical connector according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a partly-exploded, perspective view of the electrical connector of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is an exploded, perspective view of the electrical connector of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 4  is similar to  FIG. 3 , but viewed from another aspect; 
         FIG. 5  is a cross sectional view of the electrical connector of  FIG. 1 , taken along line  5 - 5  thereof; and 
         FIG. 6  is another partly-exploded, perspective view of the electrical connector of  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Reference will be made to the drawing figures to describe the present invention in detail, wherein depicted elements are not necessarily shown to scale and wherein like or similar elements are designated by same or similar reference numeral through the several views and same or similar terminology. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 to 3 , an electrical connector  100  includes an insulative body  1  with a plurality of contact terminals  2  held therein, a metallic shell  3  shield the insulative body  1 , a pair of latches  4  retained in the insulative body  1  and exposed out of the metallic shell  3 , a spacer  5  fastened to a rear end of the insulative body  1  for supporting the contact terminals  2 , and a cable  6  electrically connected with the contact terminals  2 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 2 to 6 , the insulative body  1  includes a thick backward part  11  and a thin forward part  12  integrally extending forwardly beyond the backward part  11 . The forward part  12  is split into a widened tongue  121  and a narrowed tongue  122  side by side arranged with each other and disposed in a common plane, and the size of the widened tongue  121  is accordance with USB 2.0 standard. The narrowed tongue  122  and the widened tongue  121  are spaced apart from each other by a gap horizontally located therebetween through a front end of the forward part  12 . A pair of outlets  113  are recessed forwardly from a rear end of the backward part  11 . Both the narrowed tongue  122  and the widened tongue  121  have a plurality of passages  123  extending along a mating direction, and the passages  123  are extending through the backward part  11 . A pair of channels  124  are defined on both sides of the widened tongue  121  to receive the latches  4 , and the channels  124  are extending through the backward part  11 . 
     The contact terminals  2  include first and second sets of contacts  21 ,  22  located in the widened tongue  121  and the narrowed tongue  122 , respectively. The first contacts  21  are compatible to version 2.0 Micro Universal Serial Bus. That is to say, the definition of the first contacts  21  for signal transmission is compatible to version 2.0 Micro Universal Serial Bus. The first contacts  21  and the second contacts  22  are received in the corresponding passages  123 . Each contact terminal  2  includes a contact portion  23  extending along the mating direction, a connecting portion  24  extending backward from the contact portion  23  and a tail portion  25  linked with the connecting portion  24 . 
     The first contacts  21  include five conductive contacts, and the second contacts  22  also include five conductive contacts, and the middle one of the second contacts  22  is a grounding contact  221 , a differential pair of signal contacts  222  for transmitting high speed signal and a differential pair of signal contacts  222  for receiving high speed signal are located by both sides of the grounding contact  221 . Notably, the grounding contact  221  forms an enlarged vertical plate  221 A. A plurality of tabs  221 B extend along one edge of the enlarged vertical plate  221 A in an alternate/staggered oblique manner so as to form a V like retention groove, viewed along a front-to-back direction, to receive therein the corresponding drain wires  621  (illustrated later) wherein the tabs  221 B are offset from one another in the front-to-back direction. 
     The metallic shell  3  includes a shielding member  31 , a front shell  32  and a back shell  33 , and the back shell  33  is cooperated with rear section of the front shell  32 . The shielding member  31  comprises a front sleeve portion  311  and a plurality of fasteners  312  extending backwards from a back end of the sleeve portion  311 , the shielding member  31  has two mating cavities for receiving the widened tongue  121  and the narrowed tongue  122 . 
     The front shell  32  comprises a front pocket  321  with a rectangular box shape, and the pocket  321  defines a row of locking holes  3210  along a transverse direction. The front shell  32  has a plurality of stopping portions  323  on a front end thereof, the stopping portions  323  are bent from two opposite front edges of the front shell  32  and extending along a vertical direction. An extension portion  324  is extending rearwards from an upper wall of the front shell  32 , and the extension portion  324  is located behind the locking holes  3210 . The extension portion  324  is separated from both side walls of the front shell  32 , thus two gaps are formed between the extension portion  324  and the two side walls, and the gap corresponding to the second contacts  22  has a lager width than the gap corresponding to the first contacts  21 . 
     The rear shell  33  comprises a pair of slits  331  on both sides of a top wall thereof and a plurality of teeth  332  on a front end of the top wall, the teeth  332  are inserted into the corresponding locking holes  3210  of the front shell  32  to make the rear shell  33  combined with the front shell  32  securely. A pair of protrusions formed on both side walls of the front shell  32  are inserted into the corresponding slits  331 . A vertical blade  335  is stamped downwardly from the top wall of the rear shell  33 , thus a rectangular opening  334  is formed after stamping, the vertical blade  335  is perpendicular to the top wall of the rear shell  33 . The opening  334  has a same size as the vertical blade  335 , and the vertical blade  335  is extending downwards from a side wall of the opening  334 . 
     Each latch  4  comprises a retaining standoff  41  held in the backward part  11  of the insulative body  1  and an engaging arm  42  extending forwards from the retaining standoff  41 , the engaging arm  42  is received in the relative channel  124  of the insulative body  1 . 
     The spacer  5  is made of insulative material, and comprises a primary portion  51  and a pair of elongate arms  52  extending forwards from lateral sides of the primary portion  51 . 
     The cable  6  is divided into two groups, and the first group comprises a number of individual wires  61  connected with the first contacts  21 , and the second group comprises two STP (Shielded Twisted Pair) wires  62  for high speed signal transmission wherein each STP wire  62  includes a pair of differential wires  622  and a drain wire  621  wrapped within an aluminum foil. 
     In assembly, the contacts  2  are inserted into the insulative body  1  along a back-to-front direction, the first contacts  21  and the second contacts  22  are accommodated in the corresponding passages  123  of the widened tongue  121  and the narrowed tongue  122  respectively, the latches  4  are inserted into the channels  124  of the widened tongue  121 . The tail portions  25  of the contacts  2  are exposed beyond the insulative body  1 . Then the spacer  5  is assembled to the rear end of the insulative body  1  along the back-to-front direction, the elongate arms  52  on both sides of the spacer  5  are latched with corresponding sides of the backward part  11 . Tail portions  25  of the contacts  2  are exposed beyond the insulative body  1  and received in grooves  53  of the spacer  5 . 
     The individual wires  61  of the cable  6  are soldered to corresponding tail portions  25  of the first contacts  21 , the STP wires  62  are electrically connected with the second contacts  22 . Front parts of aluminum foils of the STP wires  62  are stripped away to expose corresponding inner conductors. 
     Then the insulative body  1  is assembled into the shielding member  31 , the forward part  12  of the insulative body  1  is received in the sleeve portion  311  of the shielding member  31 . The engaging arms  42  of the latches  4  are exposed out of the shielding member  31 . Then the aforementioned components are assembled into the front shell  32 , the stopping portions  323  on the front end of the front shell  32  are located adjacent to a front end of the backward part  11  of the insulative body  1 . The rear shell  33  is mounted to the front shell  32  along an up-to-down direction, the teeth  332  on a front end of the rear shell  33  are inserted into the corresponding locking holes  3210  of the front shell  32 . The extension portion  324  of the front shell  32  is extending rearwardly to shield under the opening  334  of the rear shell  33 , thus to suppress Electro-Magnetic Interference (EMI). The vertical blade  335  of the rear shell  33  is neighboring to one lateral surface of the extension portion  324  and extending downwards to locate between the two neighboring areas of the STP wires  62  without aluminum foil, thus to reduce cross-talk between the two STP wires  62  furthest. Thus the shielding member  31 , the front shell  32 , the rear shell  33  and the insulative body  1  are combined to a whole, and the electrical connector  100  is assembled. 
     According to the illustrated embodiment of the present invention, the vertical blade  335  of the metallic shell  3  is located between two STP wires  62 , therefore to prevent cross-talk and achieve better Electro-Magnetic Interference (EMI) suppressing effect. As shown in  FIG. 5 , the vertical blade  335  extends with a distance beyond one half of the exposed front portion of each STP wire  62  in the vertical direction for achieving the aforementioned better EMI suppressing effect. 
     While the present invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments, the description of the invention is illustrative and is not to be construed as limiting the invention. Various of modifications to the present invention can be made to preferred embodiments by those skilled in the art without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.