Patent Publication Number: US-11381027-B2

Title: Electronic connector

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to an electronic connector for an electronic device. 
     Description of the Prior Arts 
     Due to the fast development of technologies such as 5G, AI, edge computing, and IOT, an amount of data that is required to be transmitted is also highly increased, so more transmission wires with larger diameters are needed to transmit the increased data. Besides, as a length of the transmission wire grows larger, a diameter of the transmission wire should be larger in order to meet the requirement of the transmission speed. 
     However, in a conventional electronic connector, the inner space gradually fails to meet the requirement for accommodating wider wires. Specifically, with reference to  FIGS. 7 and 8 , the conventional electronic connector has an inserting direction D 1 , a width direction D 2 , a thickness direction D 3 , a first shell  91 , a second shell  92 , two fixing units  93 , and multiple wires  94 . The second shell  92  has two assembling segments  921 . The two assembling segments  921  are respectively located on two sides of the second shell  92  in the width direction D 2 , and the two assembling segments  921  extend inwards toward each other. The two fixing units  93  are mounted through the first shell  91  along the thickness direction D 3 , and are respectively mounted in the two assembling segments  921  of the second shell  92  along the thickness direction D 3 . The wires  94  are located in a space formed between the first shell  91  and the second shell  92 , and are arranged along the width direction with the two assembling segments  921 . 
     In this way, the wires  94  between the two shells are restricted in the width direction D 2  by a distance between the two assembling segments  921  of the second shell  92 , and therefore a diameter of each of the wires  94  is restricted. Further, in the abovementioned structure, a space  95  is still left in the thickness direction D 3 , and is not effectively used. 
     To sum up, how to effectively use the space between the two shells to enlarge the wire width that the shells can accommodate without changing the existing specifications of an appearance of the shells has become an urgent problem in this field, especially in response to the rapid increase in the amount of data transmission, and the requirement for more wires with larger diameters. 
     To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides an electronic connector to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The main objective of the present invention is to provide an electronic connector whose inner space is effectively used to enlarge the wire width that the shells can accommodate. 
     The electronic connector has an inserting direction, a width direction, a thickness direction, an inverse inserting direction, a first shell, a second shell, a space, and at least one fixing unit. The inserting direction, the width direction, and the thickness direction are perpendicular to each other. The inverse inserting direction is opposite to the inserting direction. The first shell has a cover segment and at least one first assembling segment. The at least one first assembling segment is mounted securely on the cover segment. The second shell has at least one second assembling segment. The at least one second assembling segment and the at least one first assembling segment are arranged along the width direction. The space is formed between the second shell and the cover segment of the first shell. The at least one first assembling segment of the first shell is located in the space. The at least one fixing unit is mounted through the at least one first assembling segment of the first shell and the at least one second assembling segment of the second shell along the width direction to fix the first shell and the second shell. 
     By arranging the first assembling segment and the wire along the thickness direction in the space formed between the first shell and the second shell, aligning the first assembling segment to the second assembling segment, and mounting the fixing unit through the first assembling segment and the second assembling segment along the width direction to assemble the first shell and the second shell, the wire will not be restricted by the first assembling segment and the second assembling segment in the width direction. Therefore, compared to the conventional electronic connector, which has an assembling segment arranged with the wires along the width direction but leaves an unused space in the thickness direction, the present invention has an effectively used space in the thickness direction (that is, the space in the thickness direction is used for the fixing unit to mount through and assemble the two shells), thereby enlarging the wire width that the first shell and the second shell can accommodate. 
     Other objectives, 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 a perspective view of an electronic connector in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded view of the electronic connector in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIGS. 3 and 4  are operational views of the electronic connector in  FIG. 1 , showing the assembling of the first shell and the second shell; 
         FIG. 5  is a top view of the electronic connector in  FIG. 1 , shown without the first shell; 
         FIG. 6  is a front view in cross-section of the electronic connector in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 7  is a top view of a conventional electronic connector, shown without the first shell; and 
         FIG. 8  is a front view in cross-section of the conventional electronic connector in  FIG. 7 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     With reference to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , an electronic connector in accordance with the present invention comprises an inserting direction D 1 , a width direction D 2 , a thickness direction D 3 , an inverse inserting direction D 4 , a first shell  10 , a second shell  20 , a space  30 , multiple wires  40 , and at least one fixing unit  50 . 
     The inserting direction D 1 , the width direction D 2 , and the thickness direction D 3  are perpendicular to each other, and the inverse inserting direction D 4  is opposite to the inserting direction. 
     The first shell  10  has a cover segment  11  and at least one first assembling segment  12 . The at least one first assembling segment  12  is mounted securely on the cover segment  11 . 
     The second shell  20  has at least one second assembling segment  21 . The at least one second assembling segment  21  and the at least one first assembling segment  12  of the first shell  10  are arranged along the width direction D 2 . Specifically, the at least one second assembling segment  21  and the at least one first assembling segment  12  are arranged along the width direction D 2  in a straight line, in order to be mounted through and be fixed by the at least one fixing unit  50 . 
     With further reference to  FIGS. 2, 3, and 4 , specifically, in this embodiment, an amount of the at least one first assembling segment  12  of the first shell  10  is one, and an amount of the at least one second assembling segment  21  of the second shell  20  is two. The two second assembling segments  21  extend along the thickness direction D 3 , are respectively located on two sides of the first shell  10  in the width direction D 2 , and clamp the first assembling segment  12 . 
     Each of the second assembling segments  21  has a side surface located in the inverse inserting direction D 4 , wherein said side surface is a surface of the second assembling segment  21  that faces the inverse inserting direction D 4 . A second positioning inclined surface  211  is formed on the side surface of the second assembling segment  21  in the inverse inserting direction D 4 . A normal line of the second positioning inclined surface  211  is perpendicular to the width direction D 2 , is inclined with respect to the inserting direction D 1  and the thickness direction D 3 , and extends toward the inverse inserting direction D 4 . 
     The first shell  10  further has at least one protruding segment  13  mounted securely on the cover segment  11 . In this embodiment, an amount of the at least one protruding segment  13  is two, and the two protruding segments  13  protrude from the cover segment  11  respectively toward the width direction D 2  and opposite to the width direction D 2 . Each of the protruding segments  13  abuts the side surface, which faces toward the inverse inserting direction D 4 , of the second assembling segment  21 . Each of the protruding segments  13  has a first positioning inclined surface  130  being parallel to the second positioning inclined surface  211 . The two first positioning inclined surfaces  130  of the two protruding segments  13  respectively abut the two second positioning inclined surfaces  211 . 
     The amounts of the first assembling segment  12  and the second assembling segment  21  are not limited to the abovementioned, as the amounts of the first assembling segment  12  and the second assembling segment  21  can also both be two, and the two first assembling segments  12  are respectively assembled with the two second assembling segments  21 , or the amounts of the first assembling segment  12  and the second assembling segment  21  can both be one. Further, the electronic connector of the present invention can also be implemented without the second positioning inclined surface  211  and the first positioning inclined surface  130 , such that the first assembling segment  12  and the second assembling segment  21  can be positioned and aligned by any other structures. 
     Additionally, in this embodiment, the first shell  10  and the second shell  20  are arranged along the thickness direction D 3 , which means the first shell  10  and the second shell  20  are assembled with each other along the thickness direction D 3  and are detached from each other opposite to the thickness direction D 3 . But the configuration of the first shell  10  and the second shell  20  is not limited to the abovementioned, as in another embodiment, the first shell  10  and the second shell  20  can also be arranged along the width direction D 2 . 
     In more detail, in this embodiment, the first shell  10  further has a first front end positioning segment  14  and a first rear end positioning segment  15 , and the second shell  20  further has a second front end positioning segment  22  and a second rear end positioning segment  23 . 
     The first front end positioning segment  14  is located in front of the first assembling segment  12  in the inserting direction D 1 , and the first front end positioning segment  14  has an extending segment  141  and a hook segment  142 . The extending segment  141  extends toward the second shell  20 . The hook segment  142  is formed on an end of the extending segment  141  and extends from the extending segment  141  along the inverse inserting direction D 4 . The first rear end positioning segment  15  is located in back of the first assembling segment  12  in the inserting direction D 1 . In this embodiment, the first rear end positioning segment  15  has a protrusion protruding toward a direction opposite to the thickness direction D 3 . 
     The second front end positioning segment  22  is located in front of the second assembling segment  21  in the inserting direction D 1 , and buckles the first front end positioning segment  14  of the first shell  10 . The second front end positioning segment  22  is a notch with an opening facing toward the inserting direction D 1 . The hook segment  142  of the first front end positioning segment  14  engages with the notch. The second rear end positioning segment  23  is located in back of the second assembling segment  21  in the inserting direction D 1 , and buckles the first rear end positioning segment  15  of the first shell  10 . The second rear end positioning segment  23  has a groove concaved toward the direction opposite to the thickness direction D 3 . The protrusion of the first rear end positioning segment  15  engages in the groove. 
     By the abovementioned configurations, when assembling the first shell  10  and the second shell  20 , a user first aligns the first front end positioning segment  14  to the second front end positioning segment  22 , and makes the first front end positioning segment  14  abut the second front end positioning segment  22  to form a pivot. After then, the user turns the first shell  10  to buckle the first rear end positioning segment  15  with the second rear end positioning segment  23 . At the same time, the hook segment  142  engages in the notch via turning, and the assembling process of the first shell  10  and the second shell  20  is accomplished. In addition, while the user is turning the first shell  10 , the first positioning inclined surface  130  cooperates with the second positioning inclined surface  211  to assist with positioning to facilitate the assembly. 
     With further reference to  FIGS. 2, 5, and 6 , the space  30  is formed between the cover segment  11  of the first shell  10  and the second shell  20 , and the first assembling segment  12  of the first shell  10  is located in the space  30 . 
     Multiple wires  40  are located in the space  30 , extend along the inserting direction D 1 , and are arranged along the width direction D 2 . The wires  40  and the first assembling segment  12  of the first shell  10  are arranged along the thickness direction D 3 . Therefore, the wires  40  will not be squeezed or restricted by the first assembling segment  12 , and therefore a diameter of the wires  40  is allowed to be enlarged. 
     The at least one fixing unit  50  is mounted through the first assembling segment  12  of the first shell  10  and the second assembling segment  21  of the second shell  20  along the width direction D 2  to fix the first shell  10  and the second shell  20 . Specifically, in this embodiment, an amount of the at least one fixing unit  50  is two, and the two fixing units  50  are respectively mounted through two opposite side surfaces of the first shell  10  in the width direction D 2 , and are respectively mounted through two opposite side surfaces of the second shell  20  in the width direction D 2 . But in other embodiments, the amount of the fixing unit  50  can also be one, and in this case, the single fixing unit  50  can be mounted through the two opposite side surfaces of each of the first shell  10  and the second shell  20  in the width direction D 2 . 
     By arranging the first assembling segment  12  and the wires  40  along the thickness direction D 3  in the space  30  formed between the first shell  10  and the second shell  20 , aligning the first assembling segment  12  to the second assembling segment  21 , and mounting the fixing unit  50  through the first assembling segment  12  and the second assembling segment  21  along the width direction D 2  to assemble the first shell  10  and the second shell  20 , the wires  40  will not be restricted by the first assembling segment  12  and the second assembling segment  21  in the width direction D 2 . Therefore, the present invention has an effectively used space  30 , thereby enlarging the wire width that the first shell  10  and the second shell  20  can accommodate. 
     Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and features of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only. Changes may be made in the details, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.