Patent Publication Number: US-9847605-B2

Title: Method of manufacturing an electrical connector having an insulative housing for two rows of terminals

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to an electrical connector, and more particularly to a receptacle connector having a combined insulative housing adapted for insertion of two rows of terminals. This invention is related to the copending application Ser. No. 14/705,217 filed May 6, 2015 having the same assignee with the instant invention. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     U.S. Pat. No. 8,262,411, issued on Sep. 11, 2012, discloses a plug connector including a housing, first and second contact groups, a conductive member, a lead connection assisting member, a shield cover, and a case. The contact groups are contained in grooves of the housing. The conductive member has a leading end portion inserted into a receiving hole of the housing to be interposed between the first and second contact groups and a rear end portion fitted in an attachment hole of the lead connection assisting member. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 8,684,769, issued on Apr. 1, 2014, discloses a receptacle connector and a mating plug connector. The receptacle connector includes an upper housing having an upper tongue, a set of upper contacts arranged upon the upper tongue, a lower housing having a lower tongue, a set of lower contacts arranged upon the lower tongue, and a ground plate between the upper housing and the lower housing. The upper housing and the lower housing are then inserted into a bracket. The plug connector includes a plug housing having a base portion and an upper and lower tongue portions, an upper and lower rows of contacts inserted into grooves of the housing, and a grounding plate insert-molded with the housing base portion and located between the two rows of terminals. 
     In another design where it is necessary to insert contacts into long and slender grooves, it may encounter difficulty in designing long and slender molding pins for forming such grooves, especially where such grooves are to be formed on a housing part of a complicated shape. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A method of manufacturing an electrical connector broadly comprises the steps of: insert-molding a base portion around a shielding plate to form two rows of passageways exposing outwardly and rearwardly; over-molding an insulative housing at a rear of the base portion; and inserting two rows of terminals through the insulative housing to the two rows of passageways, respectively. In particular, the insert-molding step further comprises exposing a rear end of the shielding plate outwardly of the base portion and the over-molding step further comprises forming a chamber at a rear of the insulative housing for accommodating the exposed rear end of the shielding plate. Therefore, the terminal grooves and the chamber need not be formed at one single molding process which is difficult. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is an assembled perspective view showing an electrical connector in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded perspective view of the connector in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a view similar to  FIG. 2  but showing a shielding plate insert molded with a base portion; and 
         FIG. 4  is a view similar to  FIG. 3  but showing an insulative housing further molded over the insert-molded shielding plate and base portion. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1-4 , an electrical connector  100 , shown as a receptacle connector omitting an outer metal shell, comprises a shielding plate  3  made from a sheet metal, a base portion  11 , two rows  21 ,  22  of terminals  2 , and an insulative housing  12 . The two rows of terminals  2  are so arranged to the base portion  11  as to allow the electrical connector  100  to receive a mating plug in two orientations, i.e., reversible or flippable. 
     The shielding plate  3  has a main body  31  and a pair of side resisting portions  32 . After insert molding, the plate  3  exposes a rear end thereof outwardly of the base portion  11 . 
     The base portion  11  defines two rows of passageways  1110  extending along a front-to-back direction and exposed upwardly and downwardly, respectively. Each passageway  1110  exposes rearwardly and has a guiding face  1111  at a rear open end thereof. The base portion  11  has an upper face  111 , an opposite lower face  112 , a front face  114 , a rear face  115 , and a pair of side faces  113 . A pair of recesses  1130  are defined at the side faces  113 . A pair of protrusions  116  are provided at rear corners of the base portion  11 . After insert molding, the resisting portions  32  of the plate  3  are exposed to outside through the recesses  1130 . 
     Each terminal  2  includes an intermediate portion  202 , a rear mounting portion  203 , and a front contacting portion  201 . The contacting portions  201  of the upper row of terminals  2  expose upwardly. The contacting portions  201  of the lower row of terminals  2  expose downwardly. 
     The insulative housing  12  comprises a rear portion  122  and a front portion  121 . The front portion  121  has a guiding face  1211 . The rear portion  122  and the front portion  121  is generally formed into a stepped configuration. The front portion  121  has a through hole  1210 . The rear portion  122  has a rear face  1221 , a pair of notches  1222 , and a chamber  1220  in communication with the through hole  1210 . The chamber  1220  accommodates the protrusions  116  of the base portion  11 , the exposed rear end of the plate  3 , and the angled portions  203  with the aid of the notches  1222 . 
     A method of manufacturing the electrical connector  100  comprises the steps of: insert-molding the base portion  11  and the shielding plate  3  to form the two rows of passageways  1110  that expose both outwardly and rearwardly; over-molding the insulative housing  12  at a rear of the base portion  11  to obtain a combined housing assembly  1  with the plate  3 ; and inserting the two rows of terminals  2  through the insulative housing  12  to the two rows of passageways  1110 , respectively. Preferably, the insert-molding step comprises exposing a rear end of the shielding plate  3  outwardly of the base portion  11  and the over-molding step comprises forming the chamber  1220  at the housing rear portion  122  for accommodating the exposed rear end of the shielding plate  3 . Alternately, the housing  12  may be independently formed and successively assembled upon the base portion  11  if a contour of the base portion  11  is made with little change which allows the formed housing  12  to be assembled to the base portion  11  along the front-to-back direction.