Patent Publication Number: US-2023163529-A1

Title: Electrical connector with reinforcing members

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to an electrical connector. 
     Description of Related Arts 
     U.S. Pat. No. 11,245,208 discloses an electrical connector which includes an insulative housing with a card slot, a plurality of conductive terminals retained in the housing, and two metallic guiding members retained at opposite insides of the two opposite end walls for guiding a complementary card. The end walls and the metallic guiding members increase an entire length of the electrical connector. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 11,381,015 discloses a conductive shell enclosing an insulative housing and having a pair of integral tabs located at end walls of the insulative housing. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An electrical connector comprises: an insulative housing comprising two side walls extending along a longitudinal direction thereof and two end walls connecting with the two side walls to together define a mating slot; a plurality of conductive terminals arranged on the side walls and comprising contacting portions protruding into the mating slot; a metallic shell surrounding the insulative housing and comprising two side plates covering the side walls and two end plates covering the end walls; and a pair of reinforcing members retained in the end walls, respectively, wherein the end wall defines a recess accommodating the reinforcing member, an inside of the reinforcing member directly faces the mating slot, and an outside of the reinforcing member is attached with the end plate. 
     Other advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present embodiment when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
         FIG.  1    is a perspective view of an electrical connector of an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG.  2    is another 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 a further exploded perspective view of the electrical connector of  FIG.  3   ; 
         FIG.  5    is a cross-sectional view of the electrical connector of  FIG.  1    taken along lines  5 - 5 ; and 
         FIG.  6    is an enlarged view of a circled portion in  FIG.  5   . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention. 
     Referring to  FIGS.  1 - 4    illustrating an electrical connector  100 , the electrical connector  100  comprises an insulative housing  1  made from insulating material, a plurality of conductive terminals  2 , a metallic shell  3  and a pair of reinforcing members  4 . The insulative housing  1  has two side walls  11  extending along a longitudinal direction and two end walls  12  connecting with the two side walls  11 , commonly defining a mating slot  13  surrounded by the side walls  11  and the end walls  12 . The plurality of terminals  2  are arranged on the side walls  11  and comprise contacting portions  21  protruding into the mating slot  13 . The metallic shell  3  surrounds the insulative housing  1  and comprises two side plates  31  covering two side walls  11  and two end plates  32  covering the end walls  12 . The end wall  12  comprises a recess  14  extending in an upper-lower direction and a transverse direction perpendicular to the upper-lower direction and the longitudinal direction. The recess  14  connects with the mating slot  13  in the longitudinal direction. The reinforcing member  4  is accommodated and retained in corresponding recess  14 . An inside of the reinforcing member  4  directly faces the mating slot  13 , an outside of the reinforcing member  4  is attached with an inside of the end plate  32  of the metallic shell  3 . When the mating slot  13  of the electrical connector  100  is plugged with a mating connector, the mating connector is guided by the reinforcing member  4  firstly and then interfered with the reinforcing member  4 , avoid interference with the end walls  12 . Therefore, insulative housing  1 , especially the end walls  12  are prevented from destroying in a condition of an oblique insertion or a mis-insertion of the mating connector happens. Since the reinforcing members  4  are arranged in the end walls  12 , a length in the longitudinal direction of the electrical connector  10  will not be increased additionally, which is beneficial to miniaturization of the electrical connector  100 . 
     The reinforcing member  4  is a metal member and, in this embodiment, may be made of stainless steel. The reinforcing member  4  and the corresponding end plate  32  are fixed together by welding. A welding connection can improve a bonding strength between the end plate  32  and the reinforcing member  4  and overcome a disadvantage of easily falling off of the reinforcing member  4 , so as to provide a better protection for the insulative housing  1 . In other embodiments, the reinforcing member  4  can be made of other stiff materials. The end plate  32  and the reinforcing member  4  can be fixed together by other means, such as bonding with an adhesive or riveting. As shown in  FIGS.  3 - 4   , the insulative housing  1  defines a mating face  15 . The mating slot  14  is recessed from the mating face  15 . A top of the reinforcing member  4  is higher than the mating face  15  as shown in  FIG.  6   . Referring to  FIGS.  4  and  6   , a top edge  41  of the reinforcing member  4  comprises an inside guide face  42  facing the mating slot  13  extending obliquely downward. Two transverse sides of the recess  14  define inclined faces  16  matched with the guide faces  42 . The inclined faces  16  extend obliquely downward away from the mating face  15 . When oblique insertion or mis-insertion of the mating connector happens, the reinforcing member  4  is prevented from being damaged. 
     Referring to  FIGS.  3  and  6   , the recess  14  exceeds the mating slot  13  in the transverse direction. The reinforcing member  4  also exceeds the mating slot  13  in the transverse direction. Viewed from the longitudinal direction as shown in  FIG.  4   , the recesses  14  overlap the side walls  11 . The reinforcing members  4  at least overlap the side walls  11  in the transverse direction. The end wall  12  defines a convex part  18  protruding outward in the longitudinal direction. The convex part  18  defines a first resisting face  180  at an upper face thereof. The end plate  32  seats on the first resisting face  180 . The recess  14  defines a second resisting face  141 . The reinforcing member  4  seats on the second resisting face  141 . The second resisting face  141  is higher than the first resisting face  180 , alternatively flush with the second resisting face  141 . The second resisting face  141  is closer to the mating face  15  than the first resisting face  180 . In this way, the end plate  32  can better protect the corresponding reinforcing member  4 . The mating slot  13  defines a bottom face  17 . The bottom face  17  is lower than the first resisting face  180 . 
     In this embodiment, the metallic shell  3  is sleeved on the insulative housing  1  from top to bottom. In order to prevent the metallic shell  3  from being separated from the insulative housing  1 , the side wall  11  of the insulative housing  1  has protruding rib  110 . The side plate  31  comprises a side protrusion  310  abutting against the protruding rib  110  downward and covering the protruding rib  110 . In addition, the side plate  31  defines buckling tabs  33  formed by tearing from the metallic shell  3 . The side wall  11  of the insulative housing  1  defines buckling holes  19  locked with the corresponding buckling tabs  33 . 
     In this embodiment, the reinforcing member  4  is fixed with the metallic shell  3  firstly, and then the metallic shell  3  with the reinforcing member  4  is assembled to the insulative housing  1 . In other embodiments, the reinforcing member  4  is installed into the recess  14  firstly, then the metallic shell  3  is assembled to the insulative housing  1 , and a weld, bonding or riveting process is applied on the metallic shell  3  and the reinforcing member  4 . 
     Although the present invention has been described with reference to particular embodiments, it is not to be construed as being limited thereto. Various alterations and modifications can be made to the embodiments without in any way departing from the scope or spirit of the present invention as defined in the appended claims.