Patent Application
20240039221
This patent application claims priority of a Chinese Patent Application No. 202210882908.4, filed on Jul. 26, 2022 and titled “ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR ASSEMBLY”, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
The present disclosure relates to an electrical connector assembly, which belongs to a technical field of connectors.
An electrical connector assembly in the related art includes a cable, an electrical connector connected to the cable, and a housing located outside the electrical connector. In some applications, the electrical connector needs to be able to rotate at a certain angle to better mate with a mating connector. However, how to return the electrical connector back to its original position is a technical problem to be solved by those skilled in the art.
An object of the present disclosure is to provide an electrical connector assembly with a function of returning to an original/normal position.
In order to achieve the above object, the present disclosure adopts the following technical solution: an electrical connector assembly, including: a housing; and a connector rotating unit, the connector rotating unit being rotatable relative to the housing under an action of an external force, the connector rotating unit including a rotating body, a movable post and an electrical connector fixedly connected with the rotating body, the electrical connector at least partially extending beyond the housing; wherein the electrical connector assembly is further provided with an arc-shaped limiting groove mated with the movable post and an elastic member mated with the movable post; one end of the elastic member is fixed relative to the housing, and another end of the elastic member is connected to the movable post; the movable post is movable in the arc-shaped limiting groove; the elastic member is configured to drive the movable post by a restoring force of the elastic member after the connector rotating unit is rotated, so as to rotate the connector rotating unit back to an original position.
In order to achieve the above object, the present disclosure adopts the following technical solution: an electrical connector assembly, including: a housing including a first housing and a second housing, the first housing defining a first accommodating space, the second housing defining a second accommodating space; and a connector rotating unit, the connector rotating unit being rotatable relative to the housing under an action of an external force, the connector rotating unit including a rotating body, a movable post and an electrical connector fixedly connected with the rotating body, the rotating body being at least partially received in the first accommodating space and the second accommodating space, the electrical connector at least partially extending beyond the housing; wherein the electrical connector assembly is further provided with a limiting groove and an elastic member; one end of the elastic member is fixed relative to the housing, and another end of the elastic member is connected to the movable post; the movable post is movable in the limiting groove when the connector rotating unit is rotating; the elastic member is configured to drive the movable post by a restoring force of the elastic member so as to rotate the connector rotating unit back to an original position.
Compared with the prior art, the present disclosure is provided with a movable post capable of moving in the arc-shaped limiting groove. The elastic member is configured to automatically rotate the connector rotating unit back to the original/normal position by causing the restoring force of the elastic member to drive the movable post after the connector rotating unit is rotated.
Exemplary embodiments will be described in detail here, examples of which are shown in drawings. When referring to the drawings below, unless otherwise indicated, same numerals in different drawings represent the same or similar elements. The examples described in the following exemplary embodiments do not represent all embodiments consistent with this application. Rather, they are merely examples of devices and methods consistent with some aspects of the application as detailed in the appended claims.
The terminology used in this application is only for the purpose of describing particular embodiments, and is not intended to limit this application. The singular forms “a”, “said”, and “the” used in this application and the appended claims are also intended to include plural forms unless the context clearly indicates other meanings.
It should be understood that the terms “first”, “second” and similar words used in the specification and claims of this application do not represent any order, quantity or importance, but are only used to distinguish different components. Similarly, “an” or “a” and other similar words do not mean a quantity limit, but mean that there is at least one; “multiple” or “a plurality of” means two or more than two. Unless otherwise noted, “front”, “rear”, “lower” and/or “upper” and similar words are for ease of description only and are not limited to one location or one spatial orientation. Similar words such as “include” or “comprise” mean that elements or objects appear before “include” or “comprise” cover elements or objects listed after “include” or “comprise” and their equivalents, and do not exclude other elements or objects. The term “a plurality of” mentioned in the present disclosure includes two or more.
Hereinafter, some embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the case of no conflict, the following embodiments and features in the embodiments can be combined with each other.
Referring to
The housing 1 defines a slot 100 extending in a first direction A1-A1. In the illustrated embodiment of the present disclosure, part of the slot 100 is provided in the outer housing 10, and another part of the slot 100 is provided in the side housing 13. In other words, the slot 100 is jointly formed by the outer housing 10 and the side housing 13.
Referring to
Similarly, the second housing 12 includes a second accommodating space 121 and two second arc-shaped supporting portions 122 located on two sides of the second accommodating space 121, respectively. The two second arc-shaped supporting portions 122 are exposed in the second accommodating space 121.
The connector rotating unit 2 is rotatable relative to the housing 1 under the action of an external force. In the embodiment shown in the present disclosure, the connector rotating unit 2 includes a rotating body 21, a movable post 25 and an electrical connector 23 fixedly connected to the rotating body 21. The electrical connector 23 passes through the slot 100 in a second direction A2-A2 perpendicular to the first direction A-A1 so as to at least partially extend beyond the housing 1. Referring to
It is understandable to those skilled in the art that, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, a pivot (not shown) is provided between the rotating body 21 and the housing 1. The rotating body 21 is rotatable relative to the housing 1 with the pivot as a center of rotation. Of course, it is understandable to those of ordinary skill in the art that, in other embodiments, the rotating body 21 can also rotate relative to the housing 1 by means of other structural designs, which will not be repeated in the present disclosure.
The electrical connector assembly is further provided with an arc-shaped limiting groove 240 mated with the movable post 25 and an elastic member mated with the movable post 25. One end of the elastic member is fixed relative to the housing 1, and the other end of the elastic member is connected to the movable post 25. The movable post 25 is movable in the arc-shaped limiting groove 240. The elastic member is configured to drive the movable post 25 by a restoring force of the elastic member after the connector rotating unit 2 is rotated, so as to rotate the connector rotating unit 2 back to its original/normal position.
Referring to
In the illustrated embodiment of the present disclosure, the electrical connector assembly includes a built-in circuit board 24 and a cable 4. The arc-shaped limiting groove 240 is formed on the built-in circuit board 24. The cable 4 includes a plurality of conductive portions 41. The plurality of conductive portions 41 are electrically connected to the built-in circuit board 24. Specifically, in the embodiments shown in the present disclosure, the built-in circuit board 24 includes a first surface 241, a second surface 242 opposite to the first surface 241, and a counterbore area 243 recessed from the first surface 241 toward the second surface 242. The counterbore area 243 is provided with a mounting hole 2431 extending through the second surface 242. The arc-shaped limiting groove 240 is located adjacent to the counterbore area 243. The built-in circuit board 24 further includes a plurality of arc-shaped conductive pads 244 arranged at intervals. In the embodiment shown in the present disclosure, the plurality of arc-shaped conductive pads 244 are located on the first surface 241 and the second surface 242 of the built-in circuit board 24. For the plurality of arc-shaped conductive pads 244 located on the same side, arc lengths of the plurality of arc-shaped conductive pads 244 decrease sequentially along a direction away from the arc-shaped limiting groove 240. In the embodiment shown in the present disclosure, the counterbore area 243 includes a first limiting side surface 2432 on one side and a second limiting side surface 2433 on an opposite side. The first limiting side surface 2432 and the second limiting side surface 2433 form an included angle. The mounting hole 2431 is approximately located at an apex of the included angle. The arc-shaped limiting groove 240 is curved toward a direction of the mounting hole 2431.
In the illustrated embodiment of the present disclosure, the electrical connector 23 is a connector plug (e.g., a USB Type C plug), which includes a plurality of conductive terminals 231 corresponding to the plurality of arc-shaped conductive pads 244. Each of the plurality of conductive terminals 231 is always in contact with a corresponding arc-shaped conductive pad 244 no matter whether the connector rotating unit 2 rotates or not. The plurality of conductive terminals 231 protrude toward the built-in circuit board 24 in a cantilever shape. Specifically, the plurality of conductive terminals 231 include a plurality of cantilever portions 2313 protruding toward the built-in circuit board 24. Each cantilever portion 2313 is provided with a dimple 2313a (see
The built-in circuit board 24 is clamped between the first row of conductive terminals 2311 and the second row of conductive terminals 2312. Regardless of the position of the connector rotating unit 2, the first row of conductive terminals 2311 and the second row of conductive terminals 2312 are always in contact with the built-in circuit board 24. The built-in circuit board 24 is received in the receiving slot 213 of the rotating body 2. The built-in circuit board 24 is fixed relative to the housing 1, that is, the built-in circuit board 24 will not rotate with the rotation of the connector rotating unit 2.
In the illustrated embodiment of the present disclosure, the elastic member is a tension spring 6. The electrical connector assembly is provided with a fixing post 26 which is fixed in the mounting hole 2431 of the built-in circuit board 24. One end of the tension spring 6 is fixed to the fixing post 26, and the other end of the tension spring 6 is connected to the movable post 25.
Specifically, referring to
The arc-shaped limiting groove 240 includes a stop recess 2401 at the top thereof. After the connector rotating unit 2 is rotated from a rotated position back to the original/normal position, the movable post 25 is at least partially positioned in the stop recess 2401. It is understandable to those skilled in the art that, in the embodiment shown in the present disclosure, the stop recess 2401 deviates outward from other portions of the arc-shaped limit groove 240. That is, the stop recess 2401 and other portions of the arc-shaped limiting groove 240 are not smoothly communicated. The design advantage of the stop recess 2401 is that it has a certain foolproof effect when the connector rotating unit 2 is rotated back to the original/normal position. That is, the movable post 25 needs a relatively large force to realize a second rotation.
The plurality of magnets include a first magnet 33 and a second magnet 34 disposed in the housing 1. The first magnet 33 and the second magnet 34 are located on two sides (e.g., left and right sides) of the rotating body 21, respectively. The first magnet 33 and the second magnet 34 are configured to be attracted to a magnetic attraction element (e.g., a magnet or an iron) of a mating device, so as to improve the mating reliability. It should be noted that the technical term “magnetic attraction element” used in the present disclosure is intended to indicate that the element can attract or repel a corresponding element by utilizing the principle of a magnetic field.
The electrical connector assembly further includes another electrical connector 7 connected to the cable 4. The another electrical connector 7 is electrically connected to the electrical connector 23 via the cable 4 and the built-in circuit board 24. In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the another electrical connector 7 may be a USB Type C plug, a USB Type A plug, a Micro USB plug, an HDMI plug, a DisplayPort plug, a Thunderbolt plug, or the like.
Referring to
The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the present disclosure and not to limit the technical solutions described in the present disclosure. The understanding of this specification should be based on those skilled in the art. Descriptions of directions, although they have been described in detail in the above-mentioned embodiments of the present disclosure, those skilled in the art should understand that modifications or equivalent substitutions can still be made to the application, and all technical solutions and improvements that do not depart from the spirit and scope of the application should be covered by the claims of the application.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 202210882908.4 | Jul 2022 | CN | national |
