Abstract:
The present disclosure provides an electrical connector assembly which comprises: a mounting frame having a connector mounting space and at least one mating opening; a protective cover which can cover and latch with and uncover the mounting frame and comprises an outer cover made of a hard material and an inner cover made of a soft material, an inner surface of the outer cover is engaged with an outer surface of the inner cover, the protective cover is further provided with a strap, the strap connects with the mounting frame so as to allow the protective cover to move between an open position and a close position; and at least one connector having a connector mating portion, the connector is received and fixed in the connector mounting space, and the connector mating portion is exposed via the mating opening. The protective cover of the electrical connector assembly of the present disclosure has the advantage of being easy to operate, feel good and beautiful in appearance.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims priority to Chinese Application No. 201610631222.2, filed Aug. 1, 2016, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
       TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0002]    The present disclosure relates to an electrical connector assembly, particularly relates to an electrical connector assembly having a protective cover. 
       BACKGROUND ART 
       [0003]    It is generally known that a variety of connector interfaces (such as a USB (universal serial bus) interface, an AUX interface (audio input interface), a SD card (secure digital card) interface, a HDMI interface (high-definition multimedia interface), etc.) are often provided on an electronic device (such as a desktop computer, a laptop, a mobile phone, etc.). Since these interfaces need to connect with external connectors when these interfaces are used, these interfaces cannot be covered by a casing of the electronic device when these interfaces are used. For needs of the dust-proof, protection interface and beautiful appearance, protective covers can be used to cover these interfaces when these interfaces are not used. These protective covers are designed to be detachable so that they do not block the connection of the external connectors with these interfaces when these interfaces are required to use. 
         [0004]    However, since the connector interfaces need to be used frequently, accordingly, these protective covers need to frequently cover and uncover, therefore, these protective covers are often lost due to that the operator forgets to cover the protective covers when the connector interfaces are not used. 
         [0005]    In order to solve the above problem, a protective cover is disclosed in Chinese Patent Application No. 200710202572.8. As shown in  FIG. 1 , the protective cover  32  is made of plastic or soft rubber and is formed by an integral molding technique (e.g., injection molding). An inner surface  68  of a bottom plate  60  of a casing is provided with a fixing rod  64  which comprises a fixing end  642  and a free end  644  and substantially forms a T-shape, a mounting part  34  of the protective cover  32  passes through a through hole  620  of the bottom plate  60  of the casing and makes a sliding groove  342  sheathe onto the fixing end  642  of the fixing rod  64  so that the protective cover  32  can slide relative to the fixing rod  64 . When the protective cover  32  is pulled out, the sliding groove  342  moves relative to the fixing rod  64 , and when the fixing rod  64  contacts the lowermost end of the sliding groove  342 , the fixing rod  64  prevents the protective cover  32  from being further pulled out. 
         [0006]    However, as can be seen from the above disclosed content, the fixing rod  64  needs to be provided on the bottom plate  60  of the casing, the through hole  620  for passing and sheathing of the mounting part  34  also needs to be provided on the bottom plate  60  of the casing, these are all additional structures that are added on the casing. These additional structures will increase the complexity of the construction and the manufacturing difficulty of the casing. Moreover, one choice of the protective cover  32  is made of a hard plastic, or another alternative is made of soft rubber, both of which have their own disadvantages, for example, the operation is not easy to open the protective cover or close the protective cover, or feel is bad, or appearance is not beautiful and so on. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0007]    In order to solve at least one of the above problems, one object of the present disclosure is to provide an electrical connector assembly with good latching effect. 
         [0008]    To achieve this object and other advantages, and in accordance with the object of the present disclosure, as specifically embodied and broadly described herein, an electrical connector assembly comprises: a mounting frame having a connector mounting space and at least one opening; a protective cover which can cover and latch with and uncover the mounting frame and comprise an outer cover made of a hard material and an inner cover made of a soft material, an inner surface of the outer cover is engaged with an outer surface of the inner cover, the protective cover is further provided with a strap, the strap connects with the mounting frame so as to allow the protective cover to move between an open position where the protective cover uncovers the mounting frame and a close position where the protective cover covers and latches with the mounting frame; and at least one connector having a connector mating portion, the connector is received and fixed in the connector mounting space, and the connector mating portion is exposed via the opening. 
         [0009]    In an embodiment, the mounting frame further has: a through hole communicating the inside and the outside of the mounting frame; and a connecting block positioned in the inside of the mounting frame, the strap has an elongated rail groove, the strap passes through the through hole and sheathes onto the connecting block by means of the rail groove, the connecting block is able to move relative to the rail groove. 
         [0010]    In an embodiment, the inner cover further has a latching protrusion, the mounting frame further has a latching groove, the latching protrusion is the same as the latching groove in number and the latching protrusion corresponds to the latching groove in position, the latching between the protective cover and the mounting frame is achieved by the latching protrusion being latched with the latching groove. 
         [0011]    In an embodiment, the strap and the latching protrusion are integrally formed on the inner cover. 
         [0012]    In an embodiment, the inner cover has a protruding block corresponding to the opening, and when the protective cover is in the close position, the protruding block extends into the opening and engage with the connector mating portion. 
         [0013]    In an embodiment, one end of the inner surface of the outer cover has a recessed portion, and a side of the recessed portion is exposed to the outside. 
         [0014]    In an embodiment, when the protective cover is in the open position, the rail groove is not exposed outside the mounting frame. 
         [0015]    In an embodiment, an outer surface of the outer cover is formed with a mark indicating a type of the connector. 
         [0016]    In an embodiment, the material forming the outer cover is PC, ABS or PBT. 
         [0017]    In an embodiment, the material forming the inner cover is TPE or rubber. 
         [0018]    In an embodiment, the at least one connector comprises a first connector and a second connector, the outer cover comprises a first cover portion and a second cover portion which are independent from each other, the first cover portion and the second cover portion respectively cover the connector mating portion of the first connector and the connector mating portion of the second connector when the protective cover is in the close position, a region of the inner cover where the inner cover is engaged with the first cover portion and a region of the inner cover where the inner cover is engaged with the second cover each are provided with the latching protrusion. 
         [0019]    In the present disclosure, the protective cover of the connector assembly can be directly mounted on the mounting frame and do not need to be provided on the casing of the electronic device onto which the connector assembly is mounted, and the casing of the electronic device onto which the connector assembly is mounted only needs to open a hole, so that the structure and manufacturing difficulty of the casing are greatly reduced. The protective cover of the connector assembly is divided into two parts which are the outer cover and the inner cover. The outer cover uses a harder material, and the inner cover uses a softer material. When the protective cover is covered and latched and pried, the operator&#39;s finger directly contacts the harder outer cover, which is convenient to apply a force to the protective cover, the feel of pressing and prying is good, and the inner cover contacting the mounting frame is softer and is easily deformed so that the protective cover can easily cover and latch with the mounting frame and uncover the mounting frame. In addition, the harder outer cover is also convenient to form a beautiful appearance and shape. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0020]    The organization and manner of the structure and operation of the present disclosure, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying Figures in which like reference numerals identify like elements, and in which: 
           [0021]      FIG. 1  illustrates a perspective view of a protective cover for an electrical connector and a part of a bottom plate of a casing in the prior art; 
           [0022]      FIG. 2  illustrates a top perspective view of an electrical connector assembly of the present disclosure after assembled; 
           [0023]      FIG. 3  illustrates a bottom perspective view of the electrical connector assembly of the present disclosure after assembled; 
           [0024]      FIG. 4  illustrates an exploded perspective view of the electrical connector assembly of the present disclosure in which the protective cover is separated from a mounting frame; 
           [0025]      FIG. 5  illustrates an exploded perspective view of the electrical connector assembly of the present disclosure in which the protective cover, the mounting frame and the connector are separated from each other; 
           [0026]      FIG. 6  illustrates a bottom perspective view of the mounting frame of the electrical connector assembly of the present disclosure; 
           [0027]      FIG. 6A  illustrates an enlarged partial view of an area A in  FIG. 6 ; 
           [0028]      FIG. 6B  illustrates an enlarged partial view of an area B in  FIG. 6 ; and 
           [0029]      FIG. 7  illustrates an exploded perspective view of the protective cover of the electrical connector assembly of the present disclosure. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0030]    While the disclosure may be susceptible to embodiment in different forms, there is shown in the Figures, and herein will be described in detail, specific embodiments with the understanding that the present specifications is to be considered an exemplification of the principles of the disclosure, and is not intended to limit the present disclosure to the Figures shown herein. 
         [0031]    Similarly, references to a feature or aspect are intended to describe a feature or aspect of an example of the present disclosure, not to imply that every embodiment thereof must have the described feature or aspect. Furthermore, it should be noted that the description illustrates a number of features. While certain features have been combined together to illustrate potential system designs, those features may also be used in other combinations not expressly disclosed. Thus, the depicted combinations are not intended to be limiting, unless otherwise noted. 
         [0032]    In the embodiments illustrated in the Figures, representations of directions such as up, down, left, right, front and rear, used for explaining the structure and movement of the various elements of the Present Disclosure, are not absolute, but relative. These representations are appropriate when the elements are in the position shown in the Figures. If the description of the position of the elements changes, however, these representations are to be changed accordingly. 
         [0033]    Referring to  FIG. 2 ,  FIG. 2  illustrates a top perspective view of an electrical connector assembly of the present disclosure after assembled. The electrical connector assembly  1  of the present disclosure comprises a mounting frame  10 , a protective cover  20 , a first connector  30  and a second connector  40  which can be combined with each other and fixed together so as to form the electrical connector assembly  1 . In other embodiments, the electrical connector assembly  1  may only comprise one of the first connector  30  and the second connector  40  or may comprise other connector besides the first connector  30  and the second connector  40 . 
         [0034]    Referring to  FIGS. 3-5 , the mounting frame  10  has a mating portion  110 , a connector receiving portion  120  and a mounting portion  130 . The protective cover  20  can cover and latch with the mating portion  110  of the mounting frame  10  so as to be retained on the mounting frame  10 . The first connector  30  and the second connector  40  can be received and fixed in the connector receiving portion  120  of the mounting frame  10 . The whole electrical connector assembly  1  can be fixed on an electronic device on which the electrical connector assembly  1  needs to be mounted via the mounting part  130 . For example, an opening can be simply opened on a casing of the electronic device, and the electrical connector assembly  1  is mounted on the opening via the mounting portion  130 . The mounting portion  130  can be formed in a form of a latch arm as shown in the figure so as to be latch and fixed onto the opening on the casing of the electronic device. However, the form of the latch arm is only an example, and the electrical connector assembly  1  can be mounted on the corresponding electronic device in any suitable way. In the embodiment, the mounting portion  130  is provided as two in number (only one of the mounting portions  130  is shown in  FIG. 3  to  FIG. 5  and the other is on a side of the electrical connector assembly  1  opposite to the illustrated mounting portion  130 ). However, the mounting portion  130  can also be provided as other quantity, such as 1, 4, 6, and so on. 
         [0035]    Referring to  FIGS. 5-6B , the mating portion  110  of the mounting frame  10  is a substantially rectangular plate structure, which is provided with a latching groove  1110 , mating openings  1122 ,  1124  and a through hole  1130 . The latching groove  1110  is a recessed groove formed on a side edge of the mating portion  110  and has a protruding ridge portion  1112  on a side (an upper side in  FIG. 6 ) of the latching groove  1110 , the protruding ridge portion  1112  can be engaged with a latching protrusion  2230  (see  FIG. 5 ) which will be described later. In the embodiment, the latching groove  1110  is provided as two in number which are positioned at edges of opposite sides (upper and lower sides in  FIG. 5 ) of the mating portion  110  toward one end (toward a left end of  FIG. 5 ) of the mating portion  110 . The through hole  1130  is a through hole provided at a position the mating portion  110  toward the other end (toward a right end of  FIG. 5 ) of the mating portion  110 . The mating openings  1122 ,  1124  are similarly through holes on the mating portion  110 . In the embodiment, the mating openings  1122 ,  1124  comprises a first mating opening  1122  which is circular and a second mating opening  1124  which is rectangular. It will be understood that the mating openings  1122 ,  1124  are not limited to those in shape and number, but can be differently provided in number and shape depending on the specific needs. The first mating opening  1122  and the second mating opening  1124  can be respectively aligned with the first connector  30  and the second connector  40  to allow external connectors to respectively insert into the connectors  30 ,  40 . 
         [0036]    The connector receiving portion  120  and the mounting portion  130  are integrally formed on one side surface of the mating portion  110 . The connector receiving portion  120  can encompass a connector mounting space  1210  which receives connector mating portions  310 ,  410  (described below) and connector main portions  320 ,  420  (described in detail below) of the first connector  30  and the second connector  40 . The connector receiving portion  120  is provided with latching holes  1230 , a connecting block  1220  and a plurality of reinforced ribs. A position of the connecting block  1220  corresponds to the through hole  1130 . As can be clearly seen from  FIG. 6A , the connecting block  1220  has a shape similar to an umbrella (or a mushroom) and has a neck portion  1222  and an enlarged head portion  1224 . An outer periphery of the enlarged head portion  1224  is significantly larger than an outer periphery of the neck portion  1222 . 
         [0037]    In the embodiment, the first connector  30  and the second connector  40  respectively are an AUX connector and a USB connector. However, the first connector  30  and the second connector  40  can also be other connectors, such as one or more of the AUX connector, the USB connector, a SD card connector and a HDMI connector. In addition, the connectors may not be limited to two in number (i.e., the first connector  30  and the second connector  40 ), and may be provided as one, three, or more in number as desired. The first connector  30  and the second connector  40  respectively have a connector mating portion  310 ,  410  for insertion of the external connector, a connector main portion  320 ,  420  provided with a latch  322 , 422  on a surface thereof and a cable  330 ,  430  connecting conductive terminals of the first connector  30  and the second connector  40 . The first connector  30  and the second connector  40  are fixed in the connector mounting space  1210  by mean of the latch  322 ,  422  engaging with the latching holes  1230 . The number of latches  322 ,  422  can be any number as long as the number of latches  322 ,  422  is the same as the number of latching holes  1230 . In the embodiment, the number of the latches  322 , 422  is four (i.e., two latches  322 , two latches  422 ). When the electrical connector assembly  1  is in an assembled state (as shown in  FIGS. 2-3 ), the connector mating portions  310 ,  410  can be respectively positioned at the first mating opening  1122  and the second mating opening  1124 . 
         [0038]    Then referring to  FIG. 5  and  FIG. 7 , the protective cover  20  can have a rectangular shape whose outer peripheral contour is substantially the same as an outer peripheral contour of the mating portion  110  of the mounting frame  10  and comprises an outer cover  210  and an inner cover  220 . The outer cover  210  has: a recessed portion  2110  provided at one end in a length direction of the rectangular protective cover  20  and forms a cavity which is opened to the outside at one end of the cavity to allow an operator&#39;s finger to insert therein; an accommodating cavity  2140  having a shape which is substantially the same as an outer peripheral contour of the inner cover  220  so that inner surfaces of the whole protective cover  20  are in the same plane after the inner cover  220  is engaged with the outer cover  210 ; and a rib portion  2120  partitioning the recessed portion  2110  and the accommodating cavity  2140 . An outer surface of the outer cover  210  (a surface opposite to the accommodating cavity  2140 ) may be formed with marks, such as letters, digits, symbols or patterns and the like, to provide the operator with information that which connector interface is covered below a position of the mark of the protective cover  20  (as shown in  FIG. 2 ). The above marks may be formed on the outer cover  210  in any suitable manner, such as integrally molded with the outer cover  210 , laser etching, spraying and the like. Also, the above marks can be formed in such a way that the marks are recessed in the outer cover  210  or protrude from the outer cover  210 . Preferably, the marks are formed in a protruding form by being integrally molded with the outer cover  210 . The outer surface of the outer cover  210  can have a certain curvature which can be adapted to a shape of the casing of the electronic device to which the outer cover  210  is applied. The inner cover  220  has: an inner cover body portion  2240  formed with a sheet body; and a straight elongated strap  2210  provided on the inner cover body portion  2240  and positioned near an end of the protective cover  20  opposite to the recessed portion  2110 , the strap  2210  has a strap body portion  2212  and an elongated rail groove  2214  provided toward one side of the strap body portion  2212 ; and a first protruding block  2222  and a second protruding block  2224  provided on the inner cover body portion  2240  and arranged in the length direction of the protective cover  20 ; and two latching protrusions  2230  also provided on the inner cover body portion  2240  and positioned respectively at both side edges of the protective cover  20  at one end of the inner cover body portion  2240  which is the same end as the end where the recessed portion  2110  is present. The outer cover  210  and the inner cover  220  are made of different materials. Specifically, the outer cover  210  can be molded from a harder, higher strength material (such as PC, ABS, PBT, etc.). The inner cover  220  can be molded from a softer, higher elasticity material (such as TPE, rubber, etc.). The outer cover  210  and the inner cover  220  can be firmly engaged together in a certain way (such as injection molding, or bonding and the like). The outer cover  210  has greater hardness and strength than the inner cover  220 . 
         [0039]    The strap  2212 , the first protruding block  2222 , the second protruding block  2224  and the latching protrusions  2230  are all integrally formed with the inner cover body portion  2240 . As shown in  FIG. 7 , the first protruding block  2222  comprises two wedge-shaped halves which leave a gap therebetween. The second protruding block  2224  is formed as an annular rib in form of “mouth”. When the protective cover  20  covers on the mounting frame  10 , the first protruding block  2222  and the second protruding block  2224  respectively insert into the first mating opening  1122  and the second mating opening  1124 , or respectively extend into the connector mating portion  310  of the first connector  30  and the connector mating portion  410  of the second connector  40 . The strap  2210  can pass through the through hole  1130  on the mounting frame  10  and sheath on the connecting block  1220  so as to be slidably connected. The two latching protrusions  2230  can be respectively latched with the two latching grooves  1110  of the mounting frame  10 . 
         [0040]    Hereinafter, an assembling process of the electrical connector assembly  1  will be described in detail referring to  FIG. 5 . First, the first connector  30  and the second connector  40  are inserted and mounted into the connector mounting space  1210  of the mounting frame  10  from the rear of the mounting frame  10 . A height of the first connector  30  and a height of the second connector  40  each are slightly greater than a height of the connector mounting space  1210  formed by the connector receiving portion  120  due to the presence of the latches  322 ,  422 . Thus, during the insertion of the first connector  30  and the second connector  40 , the connector receiving portion  120  will generate slight elastic deformation due to squeeze of the first connector  30  and squeeze of the second connector  40 . When the first connector  30  and the second connector  40  are mounted in place, the latches  322 ,  422  respectively extend into the latching holes  1230  so that the connector receiving portion  120  returns to the initial shape of the connector receiving portion  120 . At this time, since the latching holes  1230  restrict the latches  322 ,  422  therein, the first connector  30  and the second connector  40  are fixed in the connector mounting space  1210  (as shown in  FIG. 4 ). 
         [0041]    Then, the strap  2210  of the protective cover  20  passes through the through hole  1130  on the mating portion  110 , and extends into the position where the connecting block  1220  is present. Next, under the action of external force, the enlarged head portion  1224  of the connecting block  1220  passes through the rail groove  2214  of the strap  2210 . A width of the enlarged head portion  1224  is significantly greater than a width of the rail groove  2214  to ensure that the strap  2210  does not detach from the connecting block  1220  when the protective cover  20  moves. As the rail groove  2214  has a certain length, the strap  2210  can slide within the above length relative to the connecting block  1220 . Finally, the protective cover  20  covers onto the mating portion  110  of the mounting frame  10 , in which the latching protrusions  2230  of the protective cover  20  are respectively aligned with the latching grooves  1110  of the mating portion  110 , and the first protruding block  2222  and the second protruding block  2224  of the protective cover  20  are respectively aligned with the first mating opening  1122  and the second mating opening  1124  of the mating portion  110 . Due to the blocking of the protruding ridge portion  1112  of the latching groove  1110  to the latching protrusions  2230  and the relative movement resistance caused by the first protruding block  2222  and the second protruding block  2224  respectively engaging with the first mating opening  1122  and the second mating opening  1124 , the mounting frame  10  has a certain retaining force to the protective cover  20  so that the protective cover  20  will not easily detach from the mounting frame  10  when the protective cover  20  covers onto the mounting frame  10 . The assembled electrical connector assembly  1  can be wholly mounted on an electronic device to which the assembled electrical connector assembly is applied via the mounting portion  130 . 
         [0042]    The assembled electrical connector assembly  1  has two use positions, the protective cover  20  moved between an open position and a close position . The open position is a position where the protective cover  20  uncovers the mounting frame and the close position is a position where the protective cover  20  covers and latch with the mounting frame  10 . The close position is described as the above assembling process (hereinafter is not repeated). The open position of the protective cover  20  is that the connector mating portions  310 ,  410  of the electrical connector assembly  1  need to be used. An operation from the close position to the open position is that an operator puts a distal end of a finger into the recessed portion  2110  and then applies a force to the protective cover  20  in a direction away from the mounting frame  10 , and the force overcomes the retaining force of the mounting frame  10  to the protective cover  20  so that the protective cover  20  takes one end of the protective cover  20  away from the recessed portion  2110  as a fulcrum and is opened (or is pried), and when the latching protrusions  2230 , the first protruding block  2222 , and the second protruding block  2224  are respectively detached from the latching grooves  1110 , the first mating opening  1122  and the second mating opening  1124 , the protective cover  20  may be further away from the mounting frame  10  and expose the connector mating portion  310  of the first connector  30  and the connector mating portion  410  of the second connector  40  due to gravity of the protective cover  20  or the continuously applied force of the operator. Due to restriction of the connection of the strap  2210  with the connecting block  1220 , the movement of the protective cover  20  stops when the protective cover  20  is moved away from the mounting frame  10  so that the connecting block  1220  contacts a distal end of the rail groove  2214  away from the protective cover  20 . It should be noted that the length of the rail groove  2214  of the strap  2210  can be set so that the rail groove  2214  will be not exposed to a surface of the mating portion  110  when the protective cover  20  is pulled out to the farthest position (i.e., the connecting block  1220  contacts the distal end of the rail groove  2214  away from the protective cover  20  as above). Thus, it can ensure that the through hole  1130  is in a sealed state in any case and does not allow the dust or foreign matter to enter into the electrical connector assembly  1  from the through hole  1130 . 
         [0043]    Hereinafter a second embodiment of the electrical connector assembly  1  of the present disclosure will be described. Since the second embodiment is generally similar to the first embodiment, only differences between the second embodiment and the first embodiment will be described below. In the second embodiment, the strap  2210  is also provided on the inner cover  220  but is positioned in the center near an end in a width direction of the protective cover  20 ; and the two latching protrusions  2230  are provided on edges of two sides of an end of the inner cover  220  opposite to the strap  2210 ; the recessed portion  2210  is provided on the end of the outer cover  210  opposite to the strap  2210 . The latching grooves  1110  and the through hole  1130  on the mating portion  110  of the mounting frame  10  and the connecting block  1220  are respectively at positions on the mounting frame  10  which respectively correspond to the latching protrusions  2230  and the strap  2210 . That is, in the second embodiment, the rectangular protective cover  20  can be opened in the width direction rather than be opened in the length direction of the protective cover  20  as described in the first embodiment. 
         [0044]    While the present disclosure has been described with reference to a number of exemplary embodiments, it should be understood that numerous other modifications and embodiments that would be apparent to those skilled in the art are fallen within the scope of the concept of the present disclosure. Specifically, various changes and modifications may be made to the components and/or devices of the primary combination device within the scope of the disclosed content, the figures and the appended claims. Alternative use will be apparent to those skilled in the art in addition to variations and modifications to the components and/or devices.