Patent Publication Number: US-11398693-B2

Title: Card edge connector

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATION 
     This application claims the benefit of priority to Taiwan Patent Application No. 109205476, filed on May 7, 2020. The entire content of the above identified application is incorporated herein by reference. 
     Some references, which may include patents, patent applications and various publications, may be cited and discussed in the description of this disclosure. The citation and/or discussion of such references is provided merely to clarify the description of the present disclosure and is not an admission that any such reference is “prior art” to the disclosure described herein. All references cited and discussed in this specification are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties and to the same extent as if each reference was individually incorporated by reference. 
     FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE 
     The present disclosure relates to a connector, and more particularly to a card edge connector. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE 
     A conventional card edge connector includes a plurality of conductive terminals arranged in two rows and two plastic cores that respectively fix the two rows of the conductive terminals in position. As the structure of the conventional card edge connector has tended to mature, the research and development personnel in this field have gradually ignored the structural improvement of the internal components (e.g., plastic cores) of the conventional card edge connector. 
     SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE 
     In response to the above-referenced technical inadequacies, the present disclosure provides a card edge connector to effectively improve on the issues associated with conventional card edge connectors. 
     In one aspect, the present disclosure provides a card edge connector, which includes an insulating housing, a terminal module, and a connection bridge. The insulating housing includes an insertion surface and an assembling surface. The insulating housing has an insertion slot recessed in the insertion surface and an accommodating slot that is recessed in the assembling surface. The insertion slot is configured to accommodate an electronic card along a first direction. The terminal module includes two plastic cores and a plurality of conductive terminals that are respectively fixed by the two plastic cores so as to be arranged in two rows. The two plastic cores are restricted in position by being linearly slidable with each other along the first direction, and each of the two plastic cores is received in the accommodating slot of the insulating housing. The connection bridge is arranged between the two rows of the conductive terminals respectively fixed by the two plastic cores. The connection bridge has at least two elastic arms respectively abutted against at least two of the conductive terminals that are respectively fixed by the two plastic cores. 
     Therefore, by virtue of “the card edge connector” in the present disclosure, the two plastic cores are restricted in position by being linearly slidable with each other, and the two plastic cores are configured to be linearly slidable with each other along the first direction, so that the two plastic cores can be firmly assembled into the accommodating slot of the insulating housing. 
     These and other aspects of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following description of the embodiment taken in conjunction with the following drawings and their captions, although variations and modifications therein may be affected without departing from the spirit and scope of the novel concepts of the disclosure. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The present disclosure will become more fully understood from the following detailed description and accompanying drawings. 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a card edge connector according to the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the card edge connector from another angle of view according to the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 3  is an exploded view of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 4  is an exploded view of  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 5  is an exploded view showing a terminal module and a connection bridge of  FIG. 3 . 
         FIG. 6  is an exploded view showing the terminal module and the connection bridge of  FIG. 4 . 
         FIG. 7  is an exploded view showing the terminal module and the connection bridge from another angle of view. 
         FIG. 8  is a cross-sectional view taken along line VIII-VIII of  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS 
     The present disclosure is more particularly described in the following examples that are intended as illustrative only since numerous modifications and variations therein will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Like numbers in the drawings indicate like components throughout the views. As used in the description herein and throughout the claims that follow, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise, the meaning of “a”, “an”, and “the” includes plural reference, and the meaning of “in” includes “in” and “on”. Titles or subtitles can be used herein for the convenience of a reader, which shall have no influence on the scope of the present disclosure. 
     The terms used herein generally have their ordinary meanings in the art. In the case of conflict, the present document, including any definitions given herein, will prevail. The same thing can be expressed in more than one way. Alternative language and synonyms can be used for any term(s) discussed herein, and no special significance is to be placed upon whether a term is elaborated or discussed herein. A recital of one or more synonyms does not exclude the use of other synonyms. The use of examples anywhere in this specification including examples of any terms is illustrative only, and in no way limits the scope and meaning of the present disclosure or of any exemplified term. Likewise, the present disclosure is not limited to various embodiments given herein. Numbering terms such as “first”, “second” or “third” can be used to describe various components, signals or the like, which are for distinguishing one component/signal from another one only, and are not intended to, nor should be construed to impose any substantive limitations on the components, signals or the like. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1  to  FIG. 8 , an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a card edge connector  100  for being inserted with an electronic card (not shown in the figures) along a first direction D 1 . It should be noted that the card edge connector  100  in the present embodiment is a right angle connector, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, in other embodiments of the present disclosure, the card edge connector  100  can be a vertical connector by omitting the following terminal comb  23 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 1  to  FIG. 4 , the card edge connector  100  includes an insulating housing  1 , a terminal module  2  assembled in the insulating housing  1 , and a connection bridge  3  that is assembled to the terminal module  2 . In order to clearly describe the structure and connection relationship of each component of the card edge connector  100 , the card edge connector  100  further defines a second direction D 2  and a third direction D 3  that is perpendicular to the first direction D 1  and the second direction D 2 , and the second direction D 2  is perpendicular to the first direction D 1 . 
     The insulating housing  1  in the present embodiment is a substantial cuboid, and includes an insertion surface  11  and an assembling surface  12 . The insertion surface  11  is arranged on one side of the insulating housing  1  that can be defined as a front side of the insulating housing  1  (as shown in  FIG. 1 ). The insulating housing  1  has an insertion slot  13  that is recessed from the insertion surface  11  toward the assembling surface  12  along the first direction D 1  and that is configured to accommodate the electronic card along the first direction D 1 . The assembling surface  12  is arranged on another side of the insulating housing  1  that can be defined as a rear side of the insulating housing  1  (as shown in  FIG. 1 ). The insulating housing  1  has an accommodating slot  14  recessed from the assembling surface  12  toward the insertion surface  11  along the first direction D 1 , and the accommodating slot  14  is in spatial communication with the insertion slot  13 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 5  to  FIG. 8 , the terminal module  2  includes two plastic cores  21 , a plurality of conductive terminals  22  respectively fixed by the two plastic cores  21  so as to be arranged in two rows, and a terminal comb  23  that is abutted against the two plastic cores  21 . Each of the two plastic cores  21  has a plurality of troughs  211  each extending along the second direction D 2 . One of the two plastic cores  21  (e.g., the plastic core  21  shown in  FIG. 5  located under the terminal comb  23 ) has a transverse groove  212  that is in spatial communication with the troughs  211 . The transverse groove  212  in the present embodiment is parallel to the third direction D 3 . 
     Moreover, the two plastic cores  21  are restricted in position by being linearly slidable with each other, and the two plastic cores  21  are configured to linearly slidable with each other along the first direction D 1 . In the present embodiment, the two plastic cores  21  have a plurality of first dovetail slots  213  and a plurality of first dovetail tenons  214  that are in cooperation with the first dovetail slots  213 . The first dovetail tenons  214  can be respectively inserted into the first dovetail slots  213  along the first direction D 1 . Therefore, the two plastic cores  21  are slidably assembled with each other along the first direction D 1  by the first dovetail tenons  214  and the first dovetail slots  213 . For example, each of the two plastic cores  21  has a plurality of first dovetail slots  213  and a plurality of first dovetail tenons  214 , and the first dovetail slots  213  and the first dovetail tenons  214  of one of the two plastic cores  21  are in cooperation with the first dovetail tenons  214  and the first dovetail slots  213  of the other one of the two plastic cores  21 . In addition, in other embodiments of the present disclosure, one of the two plastic cores  21  has a plurality of first dovetail slots  213 , and the other one of two plastic cores  21  has a plurality of first dovetail tenons  214 . 
     Specifically, when the two plastic cores  21  are assembled with each other, the first dovetail slots  213  and the first dovetail tenons  214  are arranged at one side of the transverse groove  212  away from the troughs  211  (e.g., the right side of the transverse groove  212  shown in  FIG. 8 ). 
     Each of the conductive terminals  22  includes an embedded segment  221  embedded in the corresponding plastic core  21 , a contact segment  222  extending from an end of the embedded segment  221  to insert into the insertion slot  13 , and a soldering segment  223  that extends from another end of the embedded segment  221  to pass through the accommodating slot  14 . In addition, any one of the conductive terminals  22  can be defined as a signal terminal, a ground terminal, or a power terminal according to functional requirements. 
     Specifically, the conductive terminals  22  of one of the two rows respectively correspond in position to the conductive terminals  22  of the other one of the two rows. Any one of the conductive terminals  22  fixed by the plastic core  21  having the transverse groove  212  has a length that is smaller than a length of any one of the conductive terminals  22  fixed by the other plastic core  21 . In other words, two of the conductive terminals  22  corresponding in position to each other have different lengths that are caused by the soldering segments  223  thereof. For example, as shown in  FIG. 5 , the conductive terminal  22  fixed by one of the two plastic cores  21  (e.g., the plastic core  21  shown in  FIG. 5  arranged above the terminal comb  23  or formed without the transverse groove  212 ) has a length that is greater than a length of the conductive terminal  22  fixed by the other one of the two plastic cores  21  (e.g., the plastic core  21  shown in  FIG. 5  arranged under the terminal comb  23  or having the transverse groove  212 ). 
     The terminal comb  23  has a plurality of terminal channels  231  formed in different sides thereof. The two plastic cores  21  are assembled with each other, the terminal comb  23  and one of the two plastic cores  21  (e.g., the plastic core  21  formed without the transverse groove  212 ) are restricted in position by being linearly slidable with each other along the second direction D 2 , and each of the terminal channels  231  is configured to accommodate at least one of the conductive terminals  22 . 
     In other words, the solder segments  223  of the conductive terminals  22  of one of the two rows are disposed on one side of the terminal comb  23  and are fixed in the corresponding terminal channels  231 , and the solder segments  223  of the conductive terminals  22  of the other one of the two rows are disposed on another side of the terminal comb  23  and are fixed in the corresponding terminal channels  231 . Specifically, in the conductive terminal  22  having a longer length, the soldering segment  223  extends from the embedded segment  221  to cross over the terminal comb  23 . 
     In the present embodiment, the terminal comb  23  and the corresponding plastic core  21  can have engagement structures in cooperation with each other, so that the terminal comb  23  and the corresponding plastic core  21  can be assembled with each other along the second direction D 2 . Specifically, the terminal comb  23  and one of the two plastic cores  21  have a plurality of second dovetail slots  232  and a plurality of second dovetail tenons  215  that are respectively inserted into the second dovetail slots  232 , and are slidably assembled with each other along the second direction D 2  by the second dovetail tenons  215  and the second dovetail slots  232 . In other words, the second dovetail slots  232  and the second dovetail tenons  215  can be defined as the engagement structures of the terminal comb  23  and the corresponding plastic core  21 . Moreover, in the present embodiment, one of the two plastic cores  21  has a plurality of second dovetail tenons  215 , and the terminal comb  23  has a plurality of second dovetail slots  232  respectively in cooperation with the second dovetail tenons  215 , but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. 
     For example, in other embodiments of the present disclosure, the terminal comb  23  and one of the two plastic cores  21  each have a plurality of second dovetail slots  232  and a plurality of second dovetail tenons  215  that are respectively inserted into the second dovetail slots  232 . In other words, the second dovetail slots  232  and the second dovetail tenons  215  of one of the two plastic cores  21  are in cooperation with the second dovetail slots  232  and the second dovetail tenons  215  of the terminal comb  23 . In addition, the plastic core  21  can have a plurality of second dovetail slots  232 , and the terminal comb  23  can have a plurality of second dovetail tenons  215  that are respectively inserted into the second dovetail slots  232 . 
     Moreover, the terminal comb  23  and one of the two plastic cores  21  are assembled with each other, the second dovetail tenons  215  are arranged on one side of the corresponding plastic core  21  away from the troughs  211  (e.g., the right side of the troughs  211  of the plastic core  21  shown in  FIG. 7  arranged above the terminal comb  23  or formed without the transverse groove  212 ), and the second dovetail slots  232  are arranged on one side of the terminal comb  23  that has the terminal channels  231  (e.g., the terminal channels  231  provided for the conductive terminals  22  that are fixed to the plastic core  21  having the transverse groove  212 ) arranged adjacent to the corresponding plastic core  21  (e.g., the plastic core  21  shown in  FIG. 7  arranged under the terminal comb  23  or having the transverse groove  212 ). 
     In addition, the two plastic cores  21  in the present embodiment are abutted against the terminal comb  23  along the first direction D 1 , and the terminal comb  23  and the two plastic cores  21  are jointly assembled into the accommodating slot  14  of the insulating housing  1  along the first direction D 1 , so that the two plastic cores  21  are jointly sandwiched between the insulating housing  1  and the terminal comb  23 . In other words, each of the two plastic cores  21  is received in the accommodating slot  14  of the insulating housing  1 , and at least part of the terminal comb  23  is received in the accommodating slot  14  of the insulating housing  1 . 
     Specifically, the accommodating slot  14  of the insulating housing  1  and one of the two plastic cores  21  are in an interference fit, and the terminal comb  23  and the accommodating slot  14  of the insulating housing  1  are in an interference fit, so that the two plastic cores  21  and the terminal comb  23  can be firmly assembled into the accommodating slot  14  of the insulating housing  1 , but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, in other embodiments of the present disclosure, the terminal module  2  can be provided only by interference fitting the terminal comb  23  and the accommodating slot  14  of the insulating housing  1 , and the insulating housing  1  and the terminal comb  23  are configured to clamp the two plastic cores  21 , thereby fixing the above components of the terminal module  2 . 
     The connection bridge  3  is arranged between the two rows of the conductive terminals  22  respectively fixed by the two plastic cores  21 , and the connection bridge  3  has at least two elastic arms  32  respectively abutted against at least two of the conductive terminals  22  that are respectively fixed by the two plastic cores  21 . In the present embodiment, the conductive terminals  22  abutted against the elastic arms  32  of the connection bridge  3  are used as ground terminals, thereby electrically coupling at least two conductive terminals  22  (e.g., the ground terminals) respectively arranged in different rows. 
     In the present embodiment, the connection bridge  3  is integrally formed as a one piece structure, and includes a transverse beam  31  and the at least two elastic arms  32  that respectively extend from two opposite sides of the transverse beam  31 . The quantity of the elastic arm  32  extending from any one of the two sides of the transverse beam  31  is more than one. Specifically, the transverse beam  31  is in a strip-shape parallel to the third direction D 3 , and the elastic arms  32  respectively extend from two long edges of the transverse beam  31  (e.g., the top edge and the bottom edge of the transverse beam  31  shown in  FIG. 7 ) toward the same side and away from each other. 
     In the present embodiment, the elastic arms  32  connected to one of the two long edges of the transverse beam  31  are spaced apart from each other by equal intervals, and respectively face toward the elastic arms  32  connected to the other one of the two long edges of the transverse beam  31  along the second direction D 2 . The quantity of the elastic arms  32  of the connection bridge  3  in the present embodiment is equal to the quantity of the ground terminals of the terminal module  2  defined by the conductive terminals  22 . 
     In addition, the transverse beam  31  of the connection bridge  3  is arranged in the transverse groove  212  and is sandwiched between the two plastic cores  21 , and the elastic arms  32  of the connection bridge  3  are respectively arranged in the troughs  211  of the two plastic cores  21 . Each of the elastic arms  32  of the connection bridge  3  is restricted in one of the troughs  211  of the corresponding plastic core  21  by being linearly slidable, and is configured to be linearly slidable along the second direction D 2 . 
     Moreover, the elastic arms  32  of the connection bridge  3  are respectively abutted against all ground terminals of the terminal module  2  defined by the conductive terminals  22 , thereby achieving a common ground effect and improving high-frequency performance of the card edge connector  100 . Each of the elastic arms  32  is abutted against the embedded segment  221  of the corresponding conductive terminal  22  (or the ground terminal) that is supported by the corresponding plastic core  21 , so that the connection between each of the elastic arms  32  and the corresponding embedded segment  221  can be effectively maintained. 
     It should be noted that the components of the card edge connector  100  (e.g., the insulating housing  1 , the two plastic cores  21 , the connection bridge  3 , and the terminal comb  23 ) are assembled with each other along a single direction by the structural design thereof, thereby effectively increasing the assembling stability of the card edge connector  100 . In addition, in other embodiments of the present disclosure, the card edge connector  100  can further include a metallic shield covering an outer surface of the insulating housing  1 , thereby effectively increasing the structural strength of the card edge connector  100 . 
     In conclusion, by virtue of “the card edge connector” in the present disclosure, the two plastic cores  21  are restricted in position by being linearly slidable with each other, the two plastic cores  21  are configured to be linearly slidable with each other along the first direction D 1 , the terminal comb  23  and one of the two plastic cores  21  are restricted in position by being linearly slidable with each other along the second direction D 2 , the accommodating slot  14  of the insulating housing  1  and one of the two plastic cores  21  are in an interference fit, and the terminal comb  23  and the accommodating slot  14  of the insulating housing  1  are in an interference fit, so that the two plastic cores  21  and the terminal comb  23  can be firmly assembled into the accommodating slot  14  of the insulating housing  1 . 
     Moreover, by virtue of “the card edge connector” in the present disclosure, the connection bridge  3  is arranged between the two rows of the conductive terminals  22 , and the at least two elastic arms  32  of the connection bridge  3  are respectively abutted against at least two of the conductive terminals  22  that respectively belong to the two rows, thereby electrically coupling at least two conductive terminals  22  (e.g., the ground terminals) respectively arranged in different rows. 
     The foregoing description of the exemplary embodiments of the disclosure has been presented only for the purposes of illustration and description and is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure to the precise forms disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. 
     The embodiments were chosen and described in order to explain the principles of the disclosure and their practical application so as to enable others skilled in the art to utilize the disclosure and various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. Alternative embodiments will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which the present disclosure pertains without departing from its spirit and scope.