This non-provisional application claims priority to and the benefit of, pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 119(a), patent application Serial No. CN201910373636.3 filed in China on May 7, 2019. The disclosure of the above application is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
Some references, which may include patents, patent applications and various publications, are cited and discussed in the description of this disclosure. The citation and/or discussion of such references is provided merely to clarify the description of the present disclosure and is not an admission that any such reference is “prior art” to the disclosure described herein. All references cited and discussed in this specification are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties and to the same extent as if each reference were individually incorporated by reference.
The present invention relates to an electrical connector and an electrical connector assembly, and particularly to an electrical connector and an electrical connector assembly having zero insertion force.
The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
Chinese Patent No. CN200720193759.1 discloses an electrical connector with zero insertion force. The electrical connector is configured to electrically connect an electronic assembly to a circuit board. The electronic assembly includes a plurality of pins. The electrical connector includes a seat and a plurality of electrical connector terminals. The seat has a plurality of terminal holes running therethrough, and each electrical connector terminal is correspondingly accommodated in each terminal hole. Each electrical connector terminal has a base. Two elastic arms bend upward and extend from a left side and a right side of the base. A space between the two elastic arms forms a zero insertion force type insertion space in a vertical direction downward from top thereof. The upper ends of the two elastic arms respectively form two guide portions and two contact portions relative to the insertion space. The two guide portions extend horizontally outward, and extend obliquely to approach each other. The two contact portions are respectively connected to the extending tail ends of the two guide portions, and extend horizontally and toward a direction away from the insertion space. A clamping space is formed between the two contact portions to clamp a corresponding pin. Each of the pins is placed in the insertion space downward from top thereof with a zero insertion force, and is guided by the two guide portions into the clamping space.
However, after the corresponding pin enter the clamping space, each pin maintains a certain distance from the base of an adjacent front electrical connector terminal along a front-rear direction, such that a distance between the two adjacent electrical connector terminals in the front-rear direction is large, which is not consistent with a development trend of dense arrangement of the electrical connector terminals.
Therefore, a heretofore unaddressed need to design an electrical connector and an electrical connector assembly exists in the art to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies.
The present invention is directed to an electrical connector and an electrical connector assembly having a denser terminal arrangement.
To achieve the foregoing objective, an electrical connector according to certain embodiments of the present invention adopts the following technical solutions.
An electrical connector is configured to be electrically connected to a mating component having a plurality of insertion portions. The electrical connector includes: a substrate, provided with a plurality of accommodating holes running through the substrate vertically; and a plurality of terminals, correspondingly accommodated in the accommodating holes, wherein each of the terminals has a base, two connecting portions formed by extending upward from the base, two guide portions and two clamping portions, a gap between the two guide portions is greater than a gap between the two clamping portions, the guide portions are respectively connected to the connecting portions, the clamping portions are respectively formed by extending forward from the guide portions, the two clamping portions are configured to clamp a corresponding insertion portion of the insertion portions, wherein after the corresponding insertion portion is inserted downward between the two guide portions, the guide portions guide the corresponding insertion portion to move forward to the clamping portions, a top end of the base is lower than top ends of the clamping portions, an accommodating space is formed right above the base and located behind the guide portions, a height of the accommodating space is between the top ends of the clamping portions and the top end of the base, and when the corresponding insertion portion is jointly clamped by the two clamping portions, a portion of the corresponding insertion portion lower than the top ends of the clamping portions partially protrudes forward from the clamping portions and is accommodated in the accommodating space of an adjacent front terminal.
In certain embodiments, the substrate is a circuit board, the base extends downward to form at least one fixing portion fixed to the accommodating hole, at least one leading portion is formed by extending obliquely downward from the fixing portion and protrudes out of the accommodating hole to be soldered to a main circuit board, the base is located outside the substrate, and a front end of each of the clamping portions passes forward beyond the fixing portion.
In certain embodiments, two fixing portions are provided, a first through slot is formed between front sides of the two fixing portions, and a second through slot is formed between rear sides of the two fixing portions.
In certain embodiments, two leading portions are provided separately, a first opening is formed between front sides of the two leading portions, and a second opening is formed between rear sides of the two leading portions.
In certain embodiments, the terminals further comprise a plurality of ground terminals, a lower surface of the substrate has a shielding layer, an inner wall of each of the accommodating holes is insulating, each of the ground terminals is soldered to a main circuit board by a solder, and the solder connects each of the ground terminals and the shielding layer.
In certain embodiments, each of the insertion portions is ball-shaped, a distance between the two clamping portions of each of the terminals gradually decreases upward from a bottom thereof, and a position where the two clamping portions clamp the corresponding insertion portion is higher than a virtual horizontal center line of the corresponding insertion portion.
Compared with the related art, the electrical connector according to certain embodiments of the present invention has the following beneficial effects:
By providing a portion of the corresponding insertion portion lower than the top ends of the clamping portions to protrude forward from the clamping portions and to be accommodated in the accommodating space of an adjacent front terminal, the corresponding insertion portion and an adjacent front terminal may overlap in the vertical direction without the need to keep a distance therebetween in the front-rear direction, thus shortening a distance between the adjacent terminals in the front-rear direction, and making the arrangement of the terminals denser.
To achieve the foregoing objective, an electrical connector assembly according to certain embodiments of the present invention adopts the following technical solutions.
An electrical connector assembly includes: a mating component, comprising a support plate and a plurality of insertion portions provided on the support plate and protruding downward out of the support plate; and an electrical connector, configured for the insertion portions to insert downward therein, wherein the electrical connector comprises: a substrate, provided with a plurality of accommodating holes running through the substrate vertically; and a plurality of terminals, accommodated in the accommodating holes, wherein each of the terminals has a base and two clamping portions configured to clamp a corresponding insertion portion of the insertion portions, the two clamping portions are located in front of the base, a top end of the base is lower than top ends of the two clamping portions, and when the corresponding insertion portion is jointly clamped by the two clamping portions, a portion of the corresponding insertion portion lower than the top ends of the clamping portions is located right above the base of an adjacent terminal.
In certain embodiments, two connecting portions extend upward from the base, two guide portions are respectively formed by extending backward from the two clamping portions to guide the insertion portions to move forward, a distance between the two clamping portions is less than a distance between the two guide portions, the guide portions are connected to the connecting portions, and a front end of each of the clamping portions passes forward beyond the connecting portions.
In certain embodiments, each of the insertion portions is ball-shaped and is made of copper.
In certain embodiments, the distance between two clamping portions of each of the terminals gradually decreases upward from a bottom thereof, and a position where the two clamping portions clamp the corresponding insertion portion is higher than a virtual horizontal center line of the corresponding insertion portion.
In certain embodiments, an upper surface of the support plate has a plurality of soldering regions to be correspondingly soldered with a plurality of conductors of a chip module, and a distance between two adjacent ones of the insertion portions is greater than a distance between two adjacent ones of the conductors.
In certain embodiments, the substrate is a circuit board, the base extends downward to form at least one fixing portion fixed to the accommodating hole, at least one leading portion is formed by extending obliquely downward from the fixing portion and protrudes out of the accommodating hole to be soldered to a main circuit board, the base is located outside the substrate, and a front end of each of the clamping portions passes forward beyond the fixing portion.
In certain embodiments, two fixing portions are provided, a first opening is formed between front sides of the two fixing portions, and a second opening is formed between rear sides of the two fixing portions.
In certain embodiments, two leading portions are provided separately, a first opening is formed between front sides of the two leading portions, and a second opening is formed between rear sides of the two leading portions.
In certain embodiments, the terminals further comprise a plurality of ground terminals, each of an upper surface of the substrate and a lower surface of the support plate respectively has a shielding layer, and each of the ground terminals is electrically connected to the shielding layers.
In certain embodiments, the support plate is provided with a stopped portion, a stopping portion is located in front of the stopped portion, and the stopping portion stops the stopped portion forward.
Compared with the related art, the electrical connector assembly according to certain embodiments of the present invention has the following beneficial effects:
By providing a portion of the corresponding insertion portion lower than the top ends of the clamping portions to be located right above the base of an adjacent terminal, the corresponding insertion portion and an adjacent front terminal may overlap in the vertical direction without the need to keep a distance therebetween in the front-rear direction, thus shortening a distance between the adjacent terminals in the front-rear direction, and making the arrangement of the terminals denser.
These and other aspects of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiment taken in conjunction with the following drawings, although variations and modifications therein may be effected without departing from the spirit and scope of the novel concepts of the disclosure.
The accompanying drawings illustrate one or more embodiments of the disclosure and together with the written description, serve to explain the principles of the disclosure. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like elements of an embodiment, and wherein:
The present invention is more particularly described in the following examples that are intended as illustrative only since numerous modifications and variations therein will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Various embodiments of the invention are now described in detail. Referring to the drawings, like numbers indicate like components throughout the views. As used in the description herein and throughout the claims that follow, the meaning of “a”, “an”, and “the” includes plural reference unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Also, as used in the description herein and throughout the claims that follow, the meaning of “in” includes “in” and “on” unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Moreover, titles or subtitles may be used in the specification for the convenience of a reader, which shall have no influence on the scope of the present invention.
It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being “on” another element, it can be directly on the other element or intervening elements may be present therebetween. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly on” another element, there are no intervening elements present. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.
Furthermore, relative terms, such as “lower” or “bottom” and “upper” or “top,” may be used herein to describe one element's relationship to another element as illustrated in the Figures. It will be understood that relative terms are intended to encompass different orientations of the device in addition to the orientation depicted in the Figures. For example, if the device in one of the figures is turned over, elements described as being on the “lower” side of other elements would then be oriented on “upper” sides of the other elements. The exemplary term “lower”, can therefore, encompasses both an orientation of “lower” and “upper,” depending of the particular orientation of the figure. Similarly, if the device in one of the figures is turned over, elements described as “below” or “beneath” other elements would then be oriented “above” the other elements. The exemplary terms “below” or “beneath” can, therefore, encompass both an orientation of above and below.
As used herein, “around”, “about” or “approximately” shall generally mean within 20 percent, preferably within 10 percent, and more preferably within 5 percent of a given value or range. Numerical quantities given herein are approximate, meaning that the term “around”, “about” or “approximately” can be inferred if not expressly stated.
As used herein, the terms “comprising”, “including”, “carrying”, “having”, “containing”, “involving”, and the like are to be understood to be open-ended, i.e., to mean including but not limited to.
The description will be made as to the embodiments of the present invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in
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To sum up, the electrical connector 300 and the electrical connector assembly according to certain embodiments of the present invention have the following beneficial effects:
(1) The distance between two clamping portions 11 of each terminal 1 gradually decreases upward from bottom thereof, and the position where the clamping portions 11 clamp the insertion portion 2 is higher than the virtual horizontal center line L of the insertion portion 2, such that the clamping portions 11 form a downward pressure on the insertion portion 2, thereby avoiding the upward movement of the chip module 500 due to an upward pushing force applied to the insertion portion 2.
(2) Each insertion portion 2 is ball-shaped, so the insertion portion 2 has a smaller length and a greater width in the vertical direction, and the insertion portion 2 has sufficient strength to resist against impact of external force, such that the insertion portion 2 is not easily deformed, thereby ensuring good contact between the terminal 1 and the corresponding insertion portion 2. In addition, each insertion portion 2 has a smaller length in the vertical direction, so the lower end of the insertion portion 2 is near a position P where the insertion portion 2 is clamped by the clamping portions 11, thus alleviating an open stub effect may be alleviated, and thereby improving a high frequency. Further, each insertion portion 2 is made of copper, so the insertion portion 2 has a high melting point, allowing the insertion portion 2 to sustain a high temperature when the chip module 500 operates without deviating from the clamping portions 11 due to creeps and impacting the stability of the electrical connection between the chip module 500 and the electrical connector 300. In addition, the hardness of copper is good, so an antioxidation coating layer plated on the surface of copper is not easily damaged due to scrapes of the clamping portions 11.
(3) A portion of the insertion portion 2 lower than the top ends of the guide portions 12 protrudes forward from the clamping portions 11 and is accommodated in the accommodating space 15 of the adjacent terminal 1. That is, the portion of the insertion portion 2 lower than the top ends of the clamping portions 11 is located right above the base 13 of the adjacent terminal 1, such that a distance between the two adjacent terminals 1 in the front-rear direction is shortened, and the arrangement of the terminals 1 may be denser.
(4) The inner walls of the accommodating holes 31 are insulating, such that electrical conduction of the third shielding layer 33 and the fourth shielding layer 34 is performed without passing through the inner walls of the accommodating hole 31, thereby reducing a capacity and improving a high frequency.
The foregoing description of the exemplary embodiments of the invention has been presented only for the purposes of illustration and description and is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching.
The embodiments were chosen and described in order to explain the principles of the invention and their practical application so as to activate others skilled in the art to utilize the invention and various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. Alternative embodiments will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains without departing from its spirit and scope. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims rather than the foregoing description and the exemplary embodiments described therein.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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201910373636.3 | May 2019 | CN | national |