BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an electrical connector, and more particularly, to a novel structure of an electrical connector preventing the contacts from deforming or damaging.
2. Description of Related Art
An electrical connector includes an insulative housing and a plurality of contacts secured in passageways of the insulative housing. Each contact defines a retention portion retained in the passageway and an elastic contacting portion protruding out of the passageway. The contacting portion of the contact may excess to extend beyond the passageway during the long process of application. Thus, the contact will be deformed or damaged by a complementary contact in a process of the electrical connector mating with a complementary connector. The contact also may sways in the passageway along a lateral direction, it is harmful to electrical connecting of the electrical connector. Thus, an electrical connector with novel contacts for improving intensity of the contacts and protecting electrical connecting of the electrical connector is desired to overcome the disadvantages of the related art.
Hence, the present invention is directed to solving this problem in the related art.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the invention is to provide an electrical connector preventing the contacts from deforming or damaging.
In order to achieve the object set forth, an electrical connector includes an insulative housing defining a plurality of passageways extending in a mating direction and a plurality of contacts secured in the passageways of the insulative housing. The insulative housing further defines a plurality of communicating slots extending downwardly and communicating with the passageways. Each passageway is wider than the communicating slot which is thereabove. Each contact defines a connecting portion receiving in the passageway and a contacting portion bending upwardly from the connecting portion and extending beyond the communicating slot. The connecting portion defines a pair of restricting portions respectively extending from two sides thereof in a direction perpendicular to the mating direction, the pair of restricting portions is prevented in the passageway from extending beyond the communicating slot.
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
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an electrical connector of an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the electrical connector as shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2, while taken from a different aspect;
FIG. 4 is a cross section view of the electrical connector of FIG. 1 taken along line 4-4; and
FIG. 5 is a cross section view of the electrical connector of FIG. 1 taken along line 5-5.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, an electrical connector 100 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention comprises an insulative housing 1 defining a plurality of passageways 14 extending in a mating direction and a plurality of contacts 2 secured in the passageways 14 of the insulative housing 1 and arranged in a lateral direction perpendicular to the mating direction.
Referring to FIGS. 2 and 5, the insulative housing 1 defines a base 10, a tongue portion 11 extending from the base 10 in the mating direction and a mating port 12 receiving the tongue portion 11 and extending from the base 11 in the mating direction. The plurality of passageways 14 extend through the base 10 and the tongue portion 11 in the mating direction. The tongue portion 11 defines a top surface 111 and a plurality of communicating slots 15 recessing downwardly from the top surface 111 thereof and communicating with the passageways 14. In the lateral direction, each passageway 14 is wider than each communicating slot 15 which is above the corresponding passageway 14 (refer to FIG. 4). The mating port 12 defines a mating surface 121, a mounting surface (not shown) perpendicular to the mating surface 121 and a pair of positioning slits 122 extending through the mating surface 121 and the mounting surface and located at two sides of the mating surface 121. The electrical connector 100 further includes a pair of soldering pads 3 retained in the positioning slits 122 for mounting the electrical connector 100 on a print circuit board (not shown). The mating port 12 applies to USB (Universal Serial Bus) interface. The insulative housing 1 further a pair of protecting walls 13 extending in a direction which is opposite to the tongue portion 11 extending and located at two sides of the base 10 for protecting the contacts mounted on the printed circuit board.
Referring to FIGS. 2 and 5, each contact 2 is assembled in the passageway of the insulative housing 10 from back to front. Refer to FIG. 5, each contact 2 has a horizontal retention portion 21 interfered with the passageway 14, a connecting portion 22 leaning upwardly from the retention portion 21 and receiving in the passageway 14, a contacting portion 23 bending upwardly from the connecting portion 22 and extending beyond the communicating slot 15 from the passageway 14 and a soldering portion 24 extending from the retention portion 21 and extending through the base 10. The connecting portion 22 defines a pair of restricting portions 221 respectively extending from two sides thereof in the lateral direction and opposite to the retention portion 21. Because a distance between the pair of restricting portions 221 is wider than the contacting portion 23 in the lateral direction, and the pair of restricting portion 221 is higher than the retention portion 21, the pair of restricting portions 221 prevents the connecting portion 22 in the passageway 14 from extending beyond the communicating slot 15. The pair of restricting portion 221 is located under the contacting portion 23 for limiting the contacting portion 23 excessively protruding out of the communicating slot 15. The connecting portion 22 defines a through-hole 222 between the pair of restricting portions 221 for improving intensity of the contact 2. The contacting portion 23 is curve-shape and defines a tuber 231 protruding therefrom for improving contacting impact. The retention portion 21 defines a plurality of interferential portion 211 at two sides thereof for making the contact retained in the passageway 14. The soldering portion 24 has an upright section 241 perpendicular to the retention portion 21 and a horizontal section 242 parallel to the retention portion 21. The upright section 241 connects with the retention portion 21 and the horizontal portion 242. The soldering portion 24 is between the pair of the protecting walls 13.
In the invention, the contact 2 defines a pair of restricting portions 221 at two sides of the connecting portion 22 for preventing the contacts from deformation or damaging. And the contact 2 defines a through-hole 222 on the connecting portion 22 for improving intensity of the contact 2. It can overcome the disadvantages of the contact in industry.
The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to a preferred embodiments thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that the present invention may be practiced without some or all of these specific details. In other instances, well known process steps have not been described in detail in order to not unnecessarily obscure the present invention.