SG181193A1

SG181193A1 - Electrical connector

Info

Publication number: SG181193A1
Application number: SG2010087401A
Authority: SG
Inventors: Kestur Nagarajan Nagesh; Thambi Ayyakannu Chinna; Po Kuei Su
Original assignee: Molex Singapore Pte Ltd; Molex Inc
Priority date: 2010-11-26
Filing date: 2010-11-26
Publication date: 2012-06-28
Also published as: CN202384539U

Abstract

OF THE DISCLOSUREAn electrical connector comprises an insulating body, a plurality of terminals, a metal blade, and a metal shield housing the insulating body. The insulating body includes a base defining a front surface and a back surface opposite to the front surface, a tongue protruding forward from the front surface, and a plurality of passageways provided on the tongue and extending backward through the base. The plurality of terminals are correspondingly positioned in the plurality of passageways, and each terminal comprises a fixing portion fixed in the base, a soldering portion extending backward from a back end of the Fixing portion, and a contact portion extending forward from a front end of the Fixing portion. The metal blade is Fixed on an edge of a front end of the tongue.Figure 6

Description

ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an electrical connector, and more particularly, to an electrical connector with an anti-misinsertion feature. 2. Description of the Related Art

As shown in Figure |, a conventional HDMI receptacle connector 7 comprises an insulating body 70 and a plurality of terminals 71 received in the insulating body 70. The insulating body 70 comprises a base 700 and a tongue 701, wherein the base 700 defines a front surface and a back surface opposite to the front surface, and the tongue 701 extends forward from the front surface of the base 700. When a plug (not shown), for example an HDMI! plug, is inserted into the receptacle connector 7 at an angle, the plug may directly collide with the front end of the plastic tongue 701 and damage the tongue 701.

Other smaller 1/0 connectors, such as a Micro USB, can be inserted at various angles, causing damage to the tongue. The functional lailure of the damaged part will badly affect the electrical connection between the receptacle connector 7 and the mating plug.

In addition to the above FHIDMI receptacle connector, many other receptacle connectors also have such problem. Thus, the current electrical connector must be further improved.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An objective of the present invention is to provide an improved electrical connector with a tongue strong enough to withstand the angular misinsertion of a plug connector.

In order to achieve the above objective, several embodiments of an electrical connector are proposed. One embodiment of the present invention provides an electrical connector, comprising an insulating body, a plurality of terminals, and a metal blade. The insulating body includes a base defining a front surface and a back surface opposite to the front surface; a tongue protruding forward from the front surface; and a plurality of passageways provided on the tongue and extending backward through the base. The plurality of terminals are correspondingly positioned in the plurality of passageways, and each terminal comprises a fixing portion fixed in the base, a soldering portion extending backward from a back end of the fixing portion, and a contact portion extending forward from a front end of the fixing portion.

The metal blade is fixed on an edge of a front end of the tongue.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the tongue defines a slot that recesses backward from the edge of the front end of the tongue to receive a part of the metal blade or the whole metal blade. At least one groove further recesses backward from the slot, and accordingly, the metal blade further comprises at least one [in extending [rom a body, wherein the body is received in the slot and the at least one fin is correspondingly received in the at least one groove. The slot extends from a left side to a right side of the tongue, and the two ends of the body of the metal blade are respectively exposed to the lelt side and right side of the tongue. At least one part of the at least one fin defines a barb. The plurality of passageways are defined on an upper surface and on a lower surface of the tongue. The contact portion of the terminal 1s exposed to the corresponding passageway, a lop of cach sidewall of the passageway is provided with a resistance portion in the front end, and a front end of the contact portion defines a shoulder in cach side, wherein the shoulder is positioned under the resistance portion. The electrical connector further comprises a metal shield housing the insulating body. : The present invention provides a metal blade to the edge of the front end of the tongue, which has higher strength than the insulating body composed of normal plastic. Thus, the tongue will not be damaged even if a mismatched plug connector is inserted to the electrical connector. The present invention will obtain stable electrical connection.

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

The invention will be described according to the appended drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a conventional electrical connector;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an electrical connector of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an electrical connector of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing an electrical connector of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view showing an electrical connector of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing an insulating body and a metal blade according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a front view showing an electrical connector of the present invention; and

FIG. 8 1s a cross-sectional view along line Z-Z of FIG. 7.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention are described in detail with reference to the attached drawings.

As illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, an electrical connector 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention comprises: an insulating body 2, a plurality of terminals 3 fixed in the insulating body 2, a metal blade 4 positioned in the insulating body 2, and a metal shield 5 housing the insulating body 2. :

Referring to FIGS. 3 (o 6, the insulating body 2 includes a base 20 and a tongue 21. The base 20 defines a front surface 200 and a back surface 201 opposite to the front surface 200. The tongue 21 protrudes forward from the front surface 200 of the base 20; and defines an upper surface 210 and a lower surface 211. A plurality of passageways 22 is provided on the upper surlace 210 and the lower surface 211 of the tongue 21 and extends backward through the back surface 201 of the base 20. A top of each sidewall of each passageway 22 is provided with a resistance portion 220 in the front end. A slot 23 recesses backward from an edge of the front end 212 of the tongue 21 to receive a part of or the whole the metal blade 4, extending from the left side to the right side of the tongue 21. In other preferred embodiments, at least one groove 24 further recesses backward from the slot 23(see FIG. 6, 7, and 8).

The plurality of terminals 3 are correspondingly positioned in the plurality of passageways 22, and each terminal 3 comprises a fixing portion 30 fixed in the base 20 of the insulating body 2, a soldering portion 31 extending backward out the back surface 201 of the base 20 from a back end of the fixing portion 30, and a contact portion 32 extending forward out the front surface 200 of the base [rom a front end of the fixing portion 30. That is, the contact portion 32 of the terminal 3 is positioned in the tongue 21, and is exposed to the corresponding passageway 22. A front end of the contact portion 32 defines a shoulder 320 in each side, wherein the shoulder 320 is positioned under the resistance portion 220 of the passageway 22 to protect the contact portion 32 from moving out the passageway 22 in the horizontal direction.

The metal blade 4 further comprises a body 40 and at least one {in 41 extending from the body 40, wherein the body 40 is received in the slot 23 and the at least one fin 41 is correspondingly received in the at least one groove 24.

The front edge of the body 40 is flat or has a recess depending on different embodiments. When the part of the metal blade 4 is received in the slot 23,

the front part of the body 40 is exposed to the edge of the front end 212 of the tongue 21. In this embodiment, the metal blade 4 provides three fins 41.

The two sides of the body 40 of the metal blade 4 are correspondingly exposed to the left side and right side of the tongue 21. To be securely received in the groove 24, some of the fins 41, for example, two fins 41, define a barb 410 at each side.

The metal shield 5 comprises a top wall 50, a bottom wall 51, and two side walls 52 connecting the top wall 50 and the bottom wall 51. The top wall 50 defines two flexible arms 300 extending inward to fix an inserting plug and a resistance arm 501 depending on the back surlace 201 of the base 20 to prevent the insulating body 2 from moving backward.

The above-described embodiments of the present invention are intended to be illustrative only. Numerous alternative embodiments may be devised by persons skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the following claims. For example, according to other embodiments of the present invention, the metal blade 4 may only comprise the body 40, and accordingly, the tongue 21 can only provide the slot 23 without any groove 24. According to other embodiments of the present invention, the metal blade 4 may be fixed in part of the edge of the front end of the tongue 21, and any side will not be exposed to the left side and right side of the tongue 21.

Compared to the prior electrical connectors, the electrical connector 1 of the present invention has a metal blade 4 provided to the front end of the tongue 21 of the insulating body 2, thus even if a mismatched plug is inserted to the electrical connector in angle, the metal blade 4 will withstand the insertion force to prevent the tongue from being damaged. Accordingly, the stability of the electrical connector is improved.

Claims

What is claimed is: l An electrical connector, comprising: an insulating body, including: a base defining a front surface and a back surface opposite to the front surface; a tongue protruding forward from the {ront surface; and a plurality of passageways provided on the tongue and extending backward through the base; a plurality of terminals correspondingly positioned in the plurality of passageways, wherein each terminal comprises: a fixing portion fixed in the base; a soldering portion extending backward from a back end of the fixing portion; and a contact portion extending forward from a front end of the fixing portion; and a metal blade fixed on an edge of a front end of the tongue.
2. The electrical connector of Claim 1, wherein the tongue defines a slot that recesses backward from the edge of the front end to receive a part of the metal blade or the whole metal blade.
3. The electrical connector of Claim 2, wherein at least one groove further recesses backward from the slot, and accordingly, the metal blade further comprises at least one fin extending from a body; wherein the body is received in the slot and the at least one {in is correspondingly received in the at least one groove.
4. The electrical connector of Claim 3, wherein the slot extends from a left side to a right side of the tongue, and the two ends of the body of the metal blade are respectively exposed to the left side and right side of the tongue.
5. The electrical connector of Claim 3, wherein at least one part of the at least one fin defines a barb.
0. The electrical connector of Claim 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5, further comprising a metal shield housing the insulating body.
7. The electrical connector of Claim 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5, wherein the plurality of passageways are defined on an upper surface and a lower surface of the tongue.
8. The electrical connector of Claim 7, wherein further comprising a metal shield housing the insulating body.
9. The electrical connector of Claim 7, wherein the contact portion of the terminal is exposed to the corresponding passageway, a top of each sidewall of the passageway is provided with a resistance portion in the front end, and a front end of the contact portion defines a shoulder in each side, wherein the shoulder is positioned under the resistance portion.