Patent Application
20230140195
This application claims the benefit of the filing date under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a)-(d) of Chinese Patent Application No. 202122636057.9, filed on Oct. 29, 2021.
The disclosure generally relates to an electrical connector.
A fitting between a conductive terminal and an insulation body of a connector at a buckle is generally a transition fitting or a clearance fitting, and a gap at the buckle depends on machining sizes and accuracy of parts of the connector. A portion of the conductive terminal engaged with the insulation body is often movable relative to the insulation body, and thus mechanical properties of the connector itself are disturbed by movement resulting from the clearance fitting between the conductive terminal and the insulation body.
SUMMARY
A connector includes an insulation body having a first side surface and a second side surface adjacent with each other at a corner, a buckle protrusion on the first side surface, and a notch portion at the corner. The connector includes a conductive terminal partially pressed against the second side surface of the insulation body and an engagement member having a main body and a wing. The main body is disposed on the second side surface. The wing extends from the main body in a first direction in which the main body faces the second side surface. The wing has a buckle opening interference fitted with the buckle protrusion. The engagement member presses the conductive terminal partially against the second side surface and the notch portion is covered by a portion of the engagement member between the main body and the wing.
The features of the present invention will become more apparent by describing in detail exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Hereinafter, embodiments of the disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numerals and symbols shown in the drawings of the disclosure refer to elements or components performing substantially the same function.
The terminology used herein is intended to describe the embodiments, and is not intended to limit and/or constrain the disclosure. The singular forms “a”, “an”, “the” and “said” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In the disclosure, the terms such as “include”, “comprise”, “have” and the like, are intended to specify the presence of stated features, number, steps, operations, elements, components and combinations thereof, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, number, steps, operations, elements, components and combinations thereof.
Although the terms such as “first”, “second” and the like are used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only intended to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and a second element could be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of the disclosure. The term “and/or” includes a plurality of combinations of the associated items or any one of a plurality of associated items.
In the following detailed description, for convenience of illustration, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosed embodiments. However, one or more embodiments may be embodied without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in schematic form in order to simplify the drawings.
As best shown in
The insulation body 20 includes two opposite first side surfaces XY and two opposite second side surfaces YZ, as shown in
The first side surface XY has a buckle protrusion 201 protruding in the third direction Z. The conductive terminal 10 includes a buckle opening 101 corresponding to the buckle protrusion 201, where the buckle opening 101 is configured to be interference fitted with the buckle protrusion 201 so that the conductive terminal 10 and the insulation body 20 are assembled together. In the shown embodiment, the first side surface XY has a recess, which has a depth in the third direction Z greater than or equal to a thickness of a wing 103 of the conductive terminal 10 in the third direction Z. The buckle protrusion 201 is disposed in the recess.
As shown in
In an embodiment, a side surface of the buckle protrusion 201 close to the second side surface YZ is in the form of a ramp inclined from a top of the buckle protrusion 201 toward the first side surface XY, which facilitates an outer edge portion of the buckle opening 101 of the conductive terminal 10 to pass over the buckle protrusion 201, so that the buckle opening 101 and the buckle protrusion 201 are snap-fitted with each other. The buckle protrusion 201 may also be in the shape of a cube, a cylinder, a hemispheroid and the like, which is not limited in the disclosure. The cross-sectional area of the buckle protrusion 201 is less than that of the buckle opening 101 of the conductive terminal 10.
The insulation body 20 has a notch portion 202, shown in
The engagement member 102 may be made of an elastic material, and the engagement member 102 includes a main body and the wing 103 extending from the main body in a direction in which the main body faces the second side surface YZ. The buckle opening 101 is provided in the wing 103. In the shown embodiment, one engagement member 102 includes two wings 103; however, in other embodiments, the number of the wings 103 may be three, four and the like, which is not limited in the disclosure. In an embodiment, the wing 103 extends perpendicularly to the main body of the engagement member 102.
As shown in
When the buckle opening 101 of the engagement member 102 is engaged with the buckle protrusion 201 of the insulation body 20, due to the existence of the notch portion 202, the buckle opening 101 is snap-fitted or buckle-fitted with the buckle protrusion 201, although the second distance D2 is less than the first distance D1. After the assembly is completed, by virtue of the elasticity of the engagement member 102, the outer edge of the buckle opening 101 and the side surface of the buckle protrusion 201 are tightly clamped together, so as to realize the interference fitting between the buckle opening 101 and the buckle protrusion 201. In this way, the portion of the conductive terminal 10 pressed against the insulation body 20 is not moveable relative to the insulation body 20. In other words, the engagement member 102 is in a tensioned state, after the buckle protrusion 201 is fitted into the buckle opening 101.
As shown in
The engagement member 102 may be integral with the conductive terminal 10 so that the engagement member 102 is a part of the conductive terminal 10. In this case, the engagement member 102 is made of a conductive elastic material, for example, the same material as the conductive terminal 10. Alternatively, the engagement member 102 and the conductive terminal 10 may be separated components. When the conductive terminal 10 and the insulation body 20 are assembled together, the engagement member 102 may be firstly assembled with the conductive terminal 10. For example, the engagement member 102 may be coupled with the conductive terminal 10 by welding or by glue. However, in another embodiment, the engagement member 102 may not be coupled with the conductive terminal 10. In use, the conducting terminal 10 is arranged between the engagement member 102 and the insulation body 20 when the engagement member 102 is snap-fitted with the insulation body 20. In this case, the engagement member 102 may be made of a conductive elastic material, or the engagement member 102 may be made of an insulative elastic material.
In the shown embodiment, the insulation body 20 includes two connection portions 203, and the conductive terminal 10 is partially disposed on the outer side of the connection portion 203. Opposite inner side surfaces of the two connection portion 203 may be provided with other terminals, such as a signal terminal. The conductive terminal 10 may include at least one elastic arm 107, shown in
In the shown embodiment, the insulation body 20 further includes two supporting portions 204, shown in
In the shown embodiment, a side surface of the supporting portion 204 facing the fin 106 is provided with a groove in which the fin 106 can be accommodated, so that the engagement portion 105 is not moveable relative to the supporting portion 204 in the first direction X. In an embodiment, the depth of the groove of the supporting portion 204 in the third direction is greater than or equal to the thickness of the fin 106.
The side of the supporting portion 204 facing the conductive terminal 10 includes a protruding portion 205, and the engagement portion 105 of the conductive terminal is provided with an opening 108. The opening of the engagement portion 105 is larger than the protruding portion 205 of the supporting portion 204, so that the protruding portion 205 of the supporting portion 204 may pass through the opening 108 of the engagement portion 105, as shown in
In the prior art, there are usually errors in manufacturing processes, so that a buckle opening and a buckle protrusion may not be perfectly aligned with each other during initial assembly, and thus resulting in a clearance fitting or a transition fitting formed between the buckle opening and the buckle protrusion.
According to the structures of the insulation body 20 and the conductive terminal 10 of the connector provided in the disclosure, especially by the notch portion 202 provided in the insulation body 20, an interference fitting between the buckle opening 101 and the buckle protrusion 201 can be achieved instead of the transition fitting or the clearance fitting there between in the existing design, so that the portion of the conductive terminal 10 contacting with the insulation body 20 is not moveable relative to the insulation body 20. Further, the contact height of the conductive terminal 10 upon being assembled depends on the conductive terminal 10 itself, but is not disturbed by the clearance fitting between the terminal 10 and the insulation body 20. Thus, the connector of the present disclosure does not require materials with too high mechanical properties, and also has a reduced size compared with the prior art.
Through the design of the disclosure, especially by the notch portion 202 provided in the insulation body 20, a slight bending of the engagement member 102 toward the insulation body 20 at the notch portion 202 enables the buckle opening 101 to move to be aligned with the opening protrusion, when the conductive terminal 10 is assembled onto the insulation body 20, even if the buckle opening 101 and the buckle protrusion 201 are initially misaligned with each other. Upon completion of the assembly, the buckle opening 101 and the buckle protrusion 201 are tightly clamped together to form an interference fitting. Through the interference fitting between the buckle protrusion 201 and the buckle opening 101, a portion of the conductive terminal 10 contacting the insulation body 20 is not moveable relative to the insulation body 20.
Although various embodiments of the disclosure have been shown and described, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that changes may be made to these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the disclosure, the scope of which is defined by the appended claims and the equivalents thereof.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 202122636057.9 | Oct 2021 | CN | national |
