Patent Publication Number: US-9905944-B2

Title: Flippable electrical connector

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation-in-part of the co-pending application Ser. No. 14/558,732 filed Dec. 3, 2014 and the instant application further claims the benefit of, and priority to, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/021,066, filed Jul. 4, 2014, and No. 62/035,472 filed Aug. 10, 2014, the contents of which are incorporated entirely herein by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to an electrical connector, and more particularly to a flippable plug connector used with a receptacle connector. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     In the previously filed provisional applications, the plug connector is “flippable” whereas we turn the plug over and it functions the same top and bottom. In order to be able to handle switching of the super speed signaling, a MUX (or SS switch) is built into the silicon. This can be costly and also cause some additional degredation in the super speed signals. Recently, a proposal for use with the future USB (Universal Serial Bus) was presented. 
     Hence, a new and simple electrical plug connector and the complementary receptacle connector are desired to improve those disclosed in the aforementioned proposal. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, the object of the present invention is to provide a receptacle connection assembly, the assembly comprises a printed circuit board defining two spaced slots in a front edge portion with a mating tongue formed therebetween, a plurality of pads formed on two opposite surfaces of the mating tongue in a diagonally symmetrical manner for a flippable usage and a metallic shield including a tubular capsular portion assembled to the PCB to enclose the mating tongue. Alternately, the printed circuit board and the pads thereon may be replaced with the insulative housing and the corresponding contacts while instead of having the contacts mounted to a mother board, a plurality of micro-axial wires are soldered to the corresponding contacts, respectively. 
     Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is an assembled perspective view of the mated receptacle connector on the printed circuit board and the plug connector of the instant invention. 
         FIG. 2(A)  is a front exploded perspective view of the receptacle connector and the plug connector of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 2(B)  is a rear exploded perspective view of the receptacle connector and the plug connector of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a front perspective view of the receptacle connector on the printed circuit board of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 4  is a front perspective view of the receptacle connector spaced from the printed circuit board of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 5(A)  is a front partially exploded perspective view of the receptacle connector of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 5(B)  is a rear partially exploded perspective view of the receptacle connector of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 6  is a front partially exploded perspective view of the receptacle connector of  FIG. 1  without the shield thereof. 
         FIG. 7(A)  is a front partially exploded perspective view of the receptacle connector of  FIG. 1  to show the housing and the contacts thereof. 
         FIG. 7(B)  is a rear partially exploded perspective view of the receptacle connector of  FIG. 1  to show the housing and the contacts thereof. 
         FIG. 8(A)  is a front partially exploded perspective view of the receptacle connector of  FIG. 1  wherein the housing and the contacts are pre-assembled together. 
         FIG. 8(B)  is a rear partially exploded perspective view of the receptacle connector of  FIG. 1  wherein the housing and the contacts are pre-assembled together. 
         FIG. 9  is a cross-sectional view of the receptacle connector on the printed circuit board of  FIG. 1  to show the retention tang of the shield;  FIG. 9(A)  is a cross-sectional view of the receptacle connector to show the extending plate of the collar. 
         FIG. 10  is a front assembled perspective view of the plug connector of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 11(A)  is a front partially exploded perspective view of the plug connector of  FIG. 1  wherein the cover is removed away from the remainder. 
         FIG. 11(B)  is a front partially exploded perspective view of the plug connector of  FIG. 11(A)  wherein the front and rear over-moldings have been further removed. 
         FIG. 12(A)  is a front partially exploded perspective view of the plug connector of  FIG. 1  without the cover thereof. 
         FIG. 12(B)  is a rear partially exploded perspective view of the plug connector of  FIG. 12(A) . 
         FIG. 13(A)  is a front partially exploded perspective view of the plug connector of  FIG. 12(A)  by removal of additional parts therefrom. 
         FIG. 13(B)  is a rear partially exploded perspective view of the plug connector of  FIG. 13(A) . 
         FIG. 14  is a cross-sectional view of the mated plug connector and receptacle connector of  FIG. 1  to show how the latch of the plug connector is lockable engaged with the shielding plate of the receptacle connector. 
         FIG. 15  is a perspective view of a test printed circuit board (PCB) assembly of a second embodiment according to the invention. 
         FIG. 16  is a top view of the test PCB assembly of  FIG. 18 . 
         FIG. 17  is an exploded perspective view of the test PCB assembly of  FIG. 18  wherein the dummy plug is detached from the receptacle connector. 
         FIG. 18(A)  is a further exploded perspective view of the test PCB assembly of  FIG. 15  wherein the metallic shell is further disassembled from the PCB. 
         FIG. 18(B)  is another exploded perspective view of the test PCB assembly of  FIG. 18(A) . 
         FIG. 19  is a further exploded perspective view of the test PCB assembly wherein the spring finger contact bars are removed from the PCB. 
         FIG. 20(A)  is a front assembled perspective view of a third embodiment of the waterproof receptacle connector which is mechanically and electrically connected to the wires instead of mounting on the printed circuit board. 
         FIG. 20(B)  is a rear assembled perspective view of the receptacle connector of  FIG. 30(A) . 
         FIG. 21(A)  is a front exploded perspective view of the receptacle connector of  FIG. 20(A) . 
         FIG. 21(B)  is a rear exploded perspective view of the receptacle connector of  FIG. 20(B) . 
         FIG. 22(A)  is a further front exploded perspective view of the receptacle connector of  FIG. 21(A)  without the bracket thereof. 
         FIG. 22(B)  is a further rear exploded perspective view of the receptacle connector of  FIG. 21(B)  without the bracket thereof. 
         FIG. 23(A)  is a front exploded perspective view of the terminal module assembly of the receptacle connector of  FIG. 22(A) . 
         FIG. 23(B)  is a rear exploded perspective view of the terminal module assembly of the receptacle connector of  FIG. 22(B) . 
         FIG. 24(A)  is a front exploded perspective view of the terminal module of the receptacle connector of  FIG. 23(A) . 
         FIG. 24(B)  is a rear exploded perspective view of the terminal module of the receptacle connector of  FIG. 23(B) . 
         FIG. 25(A)  is a further front exploded perspective view of the terminal module of the receptacle connector of  FIG. 24(A) . 
         FIG. 25(B)  is a further rear exploded perspective view of the terminal module of the receptacle connector of  FIG. 24(B) . 
         FIG. 26  is a cross-section view of the receptacle connector of  FIG. 20(A) . 
         FIG. 27  is perspective view of the plug connector and the receptacle connector according to another embodiment of the instant invention; 
         FIG. 28  is an exploded perspective view of the receptacle connector of  FIG. 27  and the according plug connector; and 
         FIG. 29  is an illustration cross-sectional view of the plug connector and the receptacle connector of  FIG. 27  in a ready-to-mate condition; 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Reference will now be made in detail to preferred embodiments of the present invention.  FIGS. 1-2 (B) show a plug connector  10  mated with a receptacle connector  50  mounted in a notch  102  of a printed circuit board  100  of a first embodiment. Referring to  FIGS. 3-9 , the receptacle connector  50  includes an insulative housing  52  with a mating tongue  54  forwardly extending in a capsular mating cavity  57  of a metallic shield  56  which encloses the housing  52 . Opposite upper and lower rows of contacts  58  are disposed in the housing  52  with corresponding contacting sections  60  exposed upon opposite surfaces of the mating tongue  54  in a diagonally symmetrical arrangement mechanically and electrically so as to allow a so-called flappable insertion of the plug connector  10  thereinto. A step structure  62  is formed around a root of the mating tongue  54 . A one piece metallic EMI collar  64  includes a loop structure  66  intimately surrounding the step structure  62 . The collar  64  further includes an L-shaped extending plate  65  equipped with embossments  63  thereon and received in the recess  61  of the lower piece  72  of the housing  52  (illustrated later) for mechanically and electrically connecting to the shield  56 . 
     The housing  52  is composed of the upper piece  70  and a lower piece  72  commonly sandwiching therebetween a middle piece  74  which forms the mating tongue  54 . The upper row contacts  58  are associated with the upper piece  70 , the lower row contacts  58  are associated with a lower piece  72  and the shielding plate  76  is associated with the middle piece  74  via an insert molding process wherein the contacting sections  60  of the upper row contacts  58  and those of the lower rows contacts  58  are seated upon opposite upper surface and lower surface of the mating tongue  54 , respectively, as mentioned before. Understandably, the housing  52  and the associated contacts  58  may be deemed wholly as a so-called terminal module implying the terminals being integrally formed within an insulator. A rear portion of the step structure  62  is removed to have a front edge region  71  of the upper piece  70  and the front edge region  73  of the lower piece  72  sandwiched between the middle piece  74  and the loop structure  66  of the EMI collar  64  so as to enhance the strength during mating under some bending. In this embodiment, the shielding plate  76  defines an opening  77  and a thinner area  78  for both securing and impedance consideration, and further a pair of mounting legs  79  so as to efficiently separate the upper row contacts  58  and the lower row contacts  58  from each other wherein the upper row contacts  58  form the surface mount type tail sections while the lower row contacts  58  form the through hole type tail sections. In an alternate embodiment, the thinner area  78  may be totally removed from the shielding plate  76 . The lower piece  72  includes a pair of mounting posts  80  receiving in the corresponding through hole for mounting the housing  52  to the printed circuit board  100 . The lower piece  72  further forms a pair of recessions  49  to receive the corresponding retention tangs  37  of the shield  56 . 
     In this embodiment, the middle piece  74  forms a pair of recesses  82  to respectively receive the corresponding protrusions  84  of the upper piece  70  and the lower piece  72  for securing the upper piece  70 , the lower piece  72  and the middle piece  74  therebetween in a stacked manner wherein the upper piece  70  further include a pair of downward assembling poles  84  received in the corresponding alignment holes  86  of the middle piece  74 , and the lower piece  72  further includes an upward assembling pole  85  received in the corresponding alignment holes  86  of the middle piece  74 , and the lower piece  72  further forms a pair of upward locating posts  87  received within the corresponding recesses  89  in the upper piece  70 . In this embodiment, the lower piece  72  defines a plurality of through holes  91  and  93  to receive the tail sections of the lower row contacts  58  and the mounting legs  79  of the shielding plate  76  to extend therethough as an alignment spacer. Notably, the shielding plate  76  forms a front edge section  69  extending forwardly beyond a front edge of the mating tongue  54  for anti-mismating consideration, and a pair of lateral edge sections  67  extending either beyond or behind the side edge of the mating tongue  54  for locking with a latch  39  of the plug connector  10  (illustrated later). Understandably, the latch  39  may continuously contact the lateral edge sections  67  during the mating procedure from the initial mating position around the corner of the shielding plate  76  to the final locking position around a notch structure of the lateral edge section  67 . In brief, the shielding plate  76  is essentially multifunctional to perform shielding, grounding, reinforcing, anti-mis-mating and locking. A metallic bracket  95  is soldered under the shield  56  and forms a pair of supporting legs  97  mounted into the through hole  103  of the printed circuit board  100  for supporting the receptacle connector  50  within the notch  102  of the printed circuit board  100 . The shield  56  further includes an upside-down U-shaped structure (not labeled) on a rear portion covering the rear portion of the housing  52  with a pair of mounting legs  55  received in the through holes  104  for mounting to the printed circuit board  100  and a pair of locking tabs  59  received in the recesses  99  of the upper piece  70  after the shield  56  is rearwardly assembled to the housing  52  in a front-to-back direction. Notably, the mounting leg  79  of the shielding plate  76  share the same through hole with the neighboring grounding contact tail for enhancing grounding effect. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 10-13 (B) and further  FIG. 14 , the plug connector  10  includes an insulative housing  12  having a capsular front contour with a rectangular receiving cavity  14  therein and enclosed in a metallic shell  16 . Opposite upper and lower rows of contacts  18  are disposed in the corresponding passageways  32  of the housing with corresponding contacting sections  20  extending into the receiving cavity  14  wherein the upper and lower rows of contacts  18  are diagonally symmetrically arranged with each other in both electrical and mechanical arrangement so as to meet the so-called flappable mating, i.e., the dual opposite orientations. A pair of metallic upper and lower EMI (Electro-Magnetic Interference) spring plates  22  are enclosed in the shell  16 , and each of the EMI spring plates  22  is sandwiched between the shell  16  and the housing  12  and includes a front resilient region  24  extending inwardly toward and into the receiving cavity  14  and in front of the contacting sections  20 , a rear abutting region  26  to abut against the shell  16 , and a pair of side retention regions  28  retainably engaged within corresponding side portions of the housing  12 . A pair of tapes  30  are disposed upon two opposite sides of the housing  12  so as to isolate the contacting section  20  from the shell  16 . A spacer  34  is located behind the housing and defines a plurality of passages  35  through which the tail sections  21  of the contacts  18  rearwardly extend. A recessed region  36  is formed in a rear face of the spacer  34  to receive a front edge region of a paddle card  38  wherein the tail sections  21  of the contacts  18  extending through the corresponding passages  35 , are soldered upon the corresponding pads  37 . The spacer  34  forms a forward extending blade  31  with a pair of forward protrusions  33  on two sides to be commonly inserted into a back side of the housing  12  wherein the protrusions  33  of the blade  31  are essentially received in the side slots  13  of the housing  12 . A U-shaped metallic latch  39  of a blanking type received in the side slots  13  of the housing  12  with a pair of locking heads  40  extending into the two opposite lateral sides of the receiving cavity  14  to lock with the lateral edge sections  67  of the shielding plate  76  of the receptacle connector  50  during mating Understandably, the latch  39  is restrained by the blade  31 , the comb structures on the blade  31 , the protrusions  33  of the blade  31 , the slots  13  and an interior rear face of the housing  12 . 
     A cable  41  behind the paddle card  38 , encloses a plurality of wires  42  regulated by a pair of organizer  43  to be soldered upon a rear region of the paddle card  38 . Via the protrusions and openings (not labeled), an auxiliary rear shell  17  grasps the shell  16  to shield the paddle card  38 , and a clipper  44  grasps the rear shell  17  and further the cable  41  behind the paddle card  38 . Opposite front overcoat  45  and rear overcoat or strain relief  46  are overmolded upon the rear shell  17  and the clipper  44 , respectively. Finally, a cover  47  essentially fully covers the clipper  44 , the front overcoat  45  and the rear overcoat  46 . During mating, the mating tongue  54  is received in the receiving cavity  14  with the corresponding contacting sections  60  of the contacts  58  of the receptacle connector  50  connected to the contacting sections  20  of the contacts  18  of the plug connector  10  wherein the latch  39  is locked with the shielding plate  76 , and the front resilient region  24  of the spring plate  22  contacts the collar  64 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 15-19 , the test printed circuit board (PCB) assembly  200  includes a test PCB  202  with a pair of slots  204  in a front edge portion to form a mating tongue  206  therebewteen. A plurality of pads  208  and a plurality of grounding pads  210  are formed on opposite surfaces of the mating tongue  206 . The pads  208  are arranged with the diagonally symmetrical manner for flippable use. A pair of spring contact bars  212  are soldered upon the corresponding grounding pads  210 . A metallic shield  214  is attached to the PCB  202  with two lateral sides  215  received in the corresponding slots  204 , respectively, and includes a front tubular capsular portion  216  to enclose the mating tongue  206  to define a mating cavity  213  and a rear planar portion  218  to cover the PCB  202  with the corresponding soldering tabs  220  soldered upon the corresponding pads  223  on the PCB  202 . The shield  214  further forms a pair of grooves  222  in two lateral sides  215  to mechanically sandwich portions of the PCB  202  behind the corresponding slots  204  in a soldered manner with the corresponding pads  224  electrically. A dummy plug  226  is detachably inserted into the tubular capsular portion  216  for anti-dust in a flippable manner. Notably, in a real practice for testing, the dummy plug  226  will be replace with the real plug connector instead wherein the deflectable contacts the plug connector contact the pads  208  and the EMI spring plates contact the spring contact bars  212 . It is noted that the mating tongue  206  forms a pair of notches  228  in two opposite lateral sides with corresponding latching structures thereof for locking to the latches of the plug connector during testing. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 20-26 , a water proof receptacle connector  400  of a third embodiment of this present invention, includes a terminal module assembly  402  enclosed within a capsular metallic shield  404  which is further secured with a metallic bracket  406 . A rubber/silicon outer seal  408  is located upon a circumferential exterior surface of the shield  404  around the front edge region. The terminal module assembly  402  includes a terminal module  410  essentially composed of an upper part  412  and a lower part  414  commonly sandwiching a middle part  416  therebetween. The upper part  412  includes a plurality of upper contacts  418  integrally formed with an upper insulator  420  via an insert molding process, the lower part  414  includes a plurality of lower contacts  422  integrally formed with a lower insulator  424  via another insert molding process, and the middle part  416  includes a metallic shielding plate  426  embedded within a middle insulator  428  via another insert molding process. The shielding plate  426  defines a pair of side locking sections  427  at opposite sides thereof and includes a pair of connecting legs  425  laterally extending and exposed outside of the lower insulator  424  to mechanically and electrically connect to the shield  404 . Notably, the upper part  412  is downwardly assembled to an upper side of the middle part  416  while the lower part  414  is upwardly assembled to a lower side of the middle part  416 . The assembled terminal module  410  forms a mating tongue  430  extending from a rear base  431  and the locking sections  427  extending out of the side edge of the mating tongue  430  for engagement with the corresponding latches on the complementary plug connector. A metallic collar  432  is assembled to a root region  4301  or thicken step of the mating tongue  430  for mating with the EMI spring plate of the complementary plug connector. That is, as best shown in  FIGS. 26  (A) and  26 (B), the terminal module  402  includes an insulative housing  402   a  that consists of the upper insulator  414  and lower insulator  424 , the contacts  418 ,  422 , the shielding plate  426  and the metallic collar  432 . The insulative housing  4021  forms the rear base  431 , the mating tongue  430  and a cable supporting portion  431   a  extending rearwards from the rear base  431 . Each of the upper contacts and lower contacts (or terminals) comprises a front contacting section  4181 / 4221  located upon opposite surfaces of the mating tongue  430  and rear tail section  4181 / 4222  located upon the cable supporting portion  431   a.    
     A silicon inner seal  434  covers the rear base  431  of the terminal module  410  to not only seal the tail  4182 ,  4222  of the contacts  418 ,  422  except the soldering ends thereof but also cover the gap between the shield  404  and the terminal module  410 . A grounding bar  436  is located at a rear edge region, i.e, the cable supporting portion  431   a  of rear base of the terminal module  410  for soldering to the braiding layers  452  of the corresponding micro-coaxial cables  450  illustrated later. The metallic shell  404  is retained on the rear base  431  of the terminal module  410  and surrounding the mating tongue  430  to forming the mating cavity. The pair of connecting legs  425  of the shielding plate  426  exposed outside of the lower insulator  424  to mechanically and electrically connect to the shield  404 . The bracket  406  forms a rear wall  407  with therein a window  409  or opening through which the micro-coaxial cables  450  extend, wherein in each micro-coaxial cables  450  the inner conductor  454  is soldered to the soldering end of the corresponding contact  418 ,  422  while the braiding layer  452  is soldered upon the grounding bar  436 . The bracket  406  includes a pair of mounting portions  403  for mounting to an external part. In this embodiment, the seam of the shield  404  is welded for assuring waterproof.  FIGS. 27-29  are essentially  FIGS. 41-43  of the parent application Ser. No. 14/558,732 which reflects the similar concept of the embodiment shown in  FIGS. 15-19  of the instant invention. 
     However, the disclosure is illustrative only, changes may be made in detail, especially in matter of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention.