Abstract:
A receptacle connector ( 2 ) comprises an insulative housing ( 20 ) defining a receiving space ( 200 ) and a terminal module ( 21 ) received in the receiving space. The terminal module comprises a dielectric base ( 210 ) and a plurality of terminals ( 220 ) retained in the dielectric base. The dielectric base has a plurality of upwardly extending ribs ( 215 ) each having an inclined supporting face ( 217 ). Each terminal comprising a slant contacting portion ( 225 ) in alignment with a corresponding rib. When mating with a plug connector, the contacting portions are deflected downwardly and supported by the supporting faces of the ribs.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a receptacle connector, and particularly to an RJ-45 receptacle connector that can prevent terminal thereof from being damaged even when mismating with an RJ-11 plug connector. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     A modular jack assembly, known as an RJ-45 connector assembly or an RJ-11 connector assembly, comprises a plug connector and a mating receptacle connector. An RJ-45 connector assembly used for a network communication has dimensions larger than those of an RJ-11 connector assembly which is used for a telephone. Therefore, an RJ-11 plug connector may be mistakenly inserted into an RJ-45 receptacle connector, which may result in damage to the terminals of the RJ-45 receptacle connector. 
     Hence, an improved RJ-45 receptacle connector is required to deal with mismating with a non-complementary RJ-11 plug connector. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,257,935, 6,319,070 and 6,312,293 all having the same assignee with the invention, disclose some approaches to achieve this object. Anyhow, all of them require to use additional separate parts attached to the housing, thus taking labor and time. The invention discloses a simple and easy-to-make connector in comparison with the arts. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, one object of the present invention is to provide an RJ-45 receptacle connector that can prevent terminal thereof from being damaged even when mismating with an RJ-11 plug connector. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide an RJ-45 receptacle connector that can prevent terminals from being deflected unduly. 
     In order to achieve the objects set forth, an RJ-45 receptacle connector in accordance with the present invention comprises a housing defining a receiving space for receiving a complementary RJ-45 plug connector and a terminal module assembled in the receiving space. The terminal module comprises a dielectric base and a plurality of terminals assembled on the dielectric base. The dielectric base comprises a plurality of upwardly extending front-to-back ribs. Every two adjacent ribs define a receiving groove and each rib forms an inclined supporting face. Each of the terminals comprises a spring contacting portion in alignment with a corresponding rib. The complementary plug connector comprises a plurality of separating walls and a plurality of contacts assembled between the separating walls for connecting with the terminals. When mating, front ends of the separating walls of the complementary plug connector are received in corresponding receiving grooves of the RJ-45 receptacle connector. The spring contacting portion is deflected downwardly by a corresponding contact and supported by the inclined supporting face. When a noncomplementary plug connector is inserted into the receptacle connector, the ribs would prevent the plug connector from further insertion because the number of its separating walls is not equal to that of the receiving grooves and. 
     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 a perspective, exploded view of an RJ-45 receptacle connector of the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is an enlarged, perspective view of a terminal module of the RJ-45 receptacle connector in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a perspective, assembled view of the RJ-45 receptacle connector in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 4A is a bottom, planar view of an RJ-45 plug connector; 
     FIG. 4B is a bottom, planar view of an RJ-45 plug connector; 
     FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the engagement between the RJ-45 receptacle connector and the RJ-45 plug connector; and 
     FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the engagement between the RJ-45 receptacle connector and the RJ-11 plug connector. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Reference will now be made to the drawing figures to describe the present invention in detail. 
     Referring to FIG. 1, an RJ-45 receptacle connector  2  in accordance with the present invention comprises a first insulative housing  20 , a terminal module  21  assembled in the first insulative housing  20 , a pair of LEDs (light emitting diodes)  24  assembled on the first insulative housing  20 , and a grounding shield  23  enclosing the first insulative housing  20 . 
     The first insulative housing  20  comprises a top wall  201 , an opposite bottom wall  202  and a pair of side walls  203 . The top wall  201 , the bottom wall  202  and the side walls  203  together define a receiving space  200  therebetween for receiving the terminal module  21  and an RJ-45 plug connector  3  (shown in FIG.  4 A). 
     Referring to FIG. 2, the terminal module  21  comprises a dielectric base  210  and a plurality of terminals  220  insert molded with the dielectric base  210 . The dielectric base  210  comprises a horizontal bottom wall  211 , a rear wall  212  extending upwardly from a rear end of the bottom wall  211 , and a plurality of block walls  213  extending forwardly from the rear wall  212 . Every two block walls  213  define a guiding groove  214 . The dielectric base  210  further comprises a plurality of ribs  215  extending upwardly from the bottom wall  211  between and out of the guiding grooves  214 . Every two ribs  215  define a receiving groove  216  and each rib  215  forms an inclined supporting face  217  at a certain angle with the bottom wall  211 . Also referring to FIG. 5, each of the terminals  220  comprises a mounting portion  222  insert molded with the bottom wall  211  of the dielectric base  210 , a tail portion  221  projecting rearwardly from a rear end of the mounting portion  222  beyond the rear wall  212  for soldering on a mating printed circuit board (PCB) (not shown), a bent portion  223  extending upwardly from a front end of the mounting portion  222 , a horizontal portion  224  extending rearwardly from a top end of the bent portion  223 , and a spring contacting portion  225  extending slantly from a rear end of the horizontal portion  224  in alignment with a corresponding rib  215 . 
     Referring to FIG. 3, in assembly, the terminal module  21  is assembled in the receiving space  200  from a rear end of the first insulative housing  20 . The LEDs  24  are assembled on a top side of the first insulative housing  20 . Finally, the grounding shield  23  encloses the first insulative housing  20  with a rear portion bent downwardly. 
     Referring to  4 A, the RJ-45 plug connector  3  comprises a second insulative housing  31  and a plurality of contacts  32  assembled in the second insulative housing  31 . The second insulative housing  31  comprises a pair of sidewalls  313  at transverse sides thereof and a plurality of bottom separating walls  311  between the sidewalls  313  at a front end thereof. A plurality of receiving channels  312  are defined between adjacent separating walls  311  and sidewalls  313  for receiving the contacts  32 . Referring to FIG. 4B, an RJ-11 plug connector  4  comprises a pair of sidewalls  413  and a plurality of separating walls  411  between the sidewalls  413 . It should be noted that the number of the separating walls  411  of the RJ-11 plug connector  4  is less than that of the separating walls  311  of the RJ-45 plug connector  3 . In other words, the RJ-45 plug connector  3  and the RJ-11 plug connector  4  have the same height(thickness) with each other while the RJ-11 plug connector  4  has a smaller lateral dimension than the RJ-45 plug connector  3 . 
     Referring to FIG. 5, in mating, the RJ-45 plug connector  3  is plugged into the receiving space  200  with front ends of the separating walls  311  being aligned with the corresponding receiving grooves  216  of the RJ-45 receptacle connector  2 . The contacting portions  225  of the terminals  22  of the RJ-45 receptacle connector  2  connect with corresponding contacts  32  of the RJ-45 plug connector  3 , thereby achieving an electrical connection between the RJ-45 receptacle connector  2  and the RJ-45 plug connector  3 . Under this situation, the outer terminal  220  experiences less deflection and the rib  215  thereunder will not hinder its deflection. It is because the corresponding outer contact  32  of the RJ-45 plug connector  3  which engages the outer terminal  220 , is hidden in the channel  312  and structurally offset behind and lower than the corresponding separating wall  311  or side wall  313 . In opposite, referring to FIG. 6, if the RJ-11 plug connector  4  is inserted into the RJ-45 receptacle connector  2 , the RJ-11 plug connector  4  cannot be fully inserted into the receiving space  200  of the RJ-45 receptacle connector  2  because the number of the separating walls  411  is less than that of the receiving grooves  216 . During insertion, the side walls  413  of the RJ-11 plug connector  4  press outer terminals  220  downwardly, with more deflection in comparison with that in FIG. 5, to abut against the supporting faces  217  of the ribs  215  of the terminal module  21 . Thus, further insertion of the RJ-11 plug connector  4  into the RJ-45 receptacle connector  2  is efficiently prevented by the ribs  215 . In addition, even if a plug connector, which may be of any other noncomplementary type to the RJ-45 receptacle connector  2 , were unduly inserted into the receiving space  200  of the RJ-45 receptacle connector  2 , all the contacting portions  225  of the terminals  22  would be resiliently supported by the ribs  215  to prevent over deflection and damage to the terminals  22 . 
     It is to be understood, however, that 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 function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, 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.