This patent application claims priority of a Chinese Patent Application No. 202210573367.7, filed on May 25, 2022 and titled “ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR, MANUFACTURING METHOD, AND CONNECTOR ASSEMBLY”, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
The present disclosure relates to an electrical connector, a manufacturing method and a connector assembly, which belongs to a technical field of connectors.
A connector assembly in the related art generally includes a receptacle connector and a plug connector. The plug connector generally includes a plug insulating body, a plug conductive terminal, and a cable riveted and fixed with the plug conductive terminal. In some embodiments, when the cable needs to be at 90° with respect to an extension direction of the plug conductive terminal, in a connection manner of the cable and the plug conductive terminal in the related art, since the cable needs to be bent, a large space needs to be reserved at a bending position. This design is not beneficial to miniaturization of the connector. In addition, since the cable is prone to damage at the bending position, this design is also not beneficial to improve the product reliability.
An object of the present disclosure is to provide an electrical connector, a manufacturing method and a connector assembly which are capable of realizing miniaturization and high product reliability.
In order to achieve the above object, the present disclosure adopts the following technical solution: an electrical connector, including: an insulating body defining a terminal receiving groove which extends along a first direction; a conductive terminal secured in the terminal receiving groove, the conductive terminal including a fixing portion fixed in the insulating body, a mating portion located on one side of the fixing portion, and a mounting portion located on an opposite side of the fixing portion; wherein the mating portion, the fixing portion and the mounting portion extend along the first direction, and the mating portion is located in the terminal receiving groove; an adapter circuit board including a conductive hole, the mounting portion of the conductive terminal being inserted into the conductive hole, the conductive terminal being electrically connected with the adapter circuit board; and a cable electrically connected to the adapter circuit board, the conductive terminal being electrically connected to the cable through the adapter circuit board, the cable extending in a second direction, the first direction and the second direction being perpendicular to each other.
In order to achieve the above object, the present disclosure adopts the following technical solution: a method of manufacturing the aforementioned electrical connector, the method including following steps: S1, providing the insulating body; S2, providing the conductive terminal and assembling the conductive terminal to the insulating body; S3, providing the adapter circuit board and the cable, and soldering or welding the cable to the adapter circuit board; and S4, mounting the adapter circuit board and the cable as a whole to the mounting portion of the conductive terminal.
In order to achieve the above object, the present disclosure adopts the following technical solution: a connector assembly, including: an electrical connector including: an insulating body defining a terminal receiving groove which extends along a first direction; a conductive terminal secured in the terminal receiving groove, the conductive terminal including a fixing portion fixed in the insulating body, a mating portion located on one side of the fixing portion, and a mounting portion located on an opposite side of the fixing portion; wherein the mating portion, the fixing portion and the mounting portion extend along the first direction, and the mating portion is located in the terminal receiving groove; an adapter circuit board including a conductive hole, the mounting portion of the conductive terminal being inserted into the conductive hole, the conductive terminal being electrically connected with the adapter circuit board; and a cable electrically connected to the adapter circuit board, the conductive terminal being electrically connected to the cable through the adapter circuit board, the cable extending in a second direction, the first direction and the second direction being perpendicular to each other; and a mating connector including a mating insulating body and a mating conductive terminal fixed to the mating insulating body, the mating insulating body including a mating receiving cavity, the mating conductive terminal including a needle-shaped insertion portion extending into the mating receiving cavity; wherein the insulating body is at least partially inserted into the mating receiving cavity, and the insertion portion of the mating conductive terminal is inserted into the mating portion of the conductive terminal.
Compared with the prior art, the present disclosure is provided with the adapter circuit board, and the conductive terminal is electrically connected to the cable through the adapter circuit board. The present disclosure avoids the problem that the cable needs to be bent when the cable is directly connected to the conductive terminal, thereby saving space and facilitating miniaturization. In addition, the present disclosure is beneficial to improve the reliability of the electrical connection between the cable and the conductive terminal.
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.
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A plurality of mating conductive terminals 9 are provided. Each of the mating conductive terminals 9 includes a pin-shaped insertion portion 91 extending into the mating receiving cavity 80 and a tail portion 92 extending beyond the mounting surface 82.
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The first wall portion 111 is provided with a plurality of first locking protrusions 1111 protruding upwardly. The second wall portion 112 is provided with a plurality of second locking protrusions 1121 protruding downwardly. The second wall portion 112 is further provided with a cable escape slot 1122 which extends through the second wall portion 112 downwardly and communicates with the installation space 110.
In addition, the insulating body 1 further includes a locking arm 13 fixed to the first wall portion 111 and integrally formed with the main body portion 11. The locking arm 13 extends beyond the main body portion 11 along the first direction A1-A1. Referring to
In the embodiment shown in the present disclosure, a plurality of mating protrusions 12 are provided and arranged in a matrix. Specifically, the mating protrusions 12 are arranged in a 2*4 matrix, and any two adjacent mating protrusions 12 are arranged at intervals. The mating protrusions 12 are configured to be inserted into the mating receiving cavity 80 of the mating connector 200. Each of the mating protrusions 12 includes a terminal receiving groove 120 extending therethrough along the first direction A1-A1. The terminal receiving groove 120 communicates with the installation space 110. The terminal receiving groove 120 is used for receiving the conductive terminal 2. In addition, corresponding to each terminal receiving groove 120. The main body portion 11 further includes a first positioning groove 115 and a second positioning groove 116. The first positioning groove 115 and the second positioning groove 116 communicate with the terminal receiving groove 120. The first positioning groove 115 and the second positioning groove 116 are configured for positioning the conductive terminal 2.
In the embodiment shown in the present disclosure, a plurality of conductive terminals 2 are provided and are secured in the terminal receiving grooves 120. Referring to
The fixing portion 21 includes inclined abutting portions 211 extending outward from two sides of the fixing portion 21, and a first positioning protrusion 212 and a second positioning protrusions 213 which extend upwardly from a top of the fixing portion 21, respectively. The first positioning protrusion 212 is fixed in the first positioning groove 115. The second positioning protrusion 213 is fixed in the second positioning groove 116. When the conductive terminal 2 is inserted into the terminal receiving groove 120, the inclined abutting portions 211 are firstly deformed by pressing inward. When the conductive terminal 2 is installed in place, the inclined abutting portions 211 release the elastic force, and are then locked in the insulating body 1 so as to prevent the conductive terminal 2 from being separated from the insulating body 1 along a direction opposite to an insertion direction.
In the embodiment shown in the present disclosure, the mating portion 22 of the conductive terminal 2 is in the shape of a sleeve. The mating portion 22 includes a mating space 220 configured to receive the insertion portion 91 of the mating conductive terminal 9. The mating portion 22 is located in the terminal receiving groove 120, that is, the mating portion 22 does not extend beyond the mating protrusion 12. The mating portion 22 is further provided with a plurality of engaging dimples 221 protruding inwardly into the mating space 220, so as to improve the plugging force when mating with the insertion portion 91 of the mating conductive terminal 9.
The mounting portion 23 of the conductive terminal 2 is in the shape of a sleeve. The mounting portion 23 of the conductive terminal 2 is formed by winding a metal sheet. In the embodiment shown in the present disclosure, the conductive terminal 2 is also formed by stamping, bending and winding a piece of metal sheet as a whole. Compared with the sheet-shaped structure, the sleeve-shaped mounting portion 23 has a larger outer surface, which is beneficial to improve the connection reliability with the adapter circuit board 4. The mounting portion 23 of the conductive terminal 2 extends backwardly into the installation space 110.
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In addition, by adjusting the thickness of the support plate 3, the installation depth of the support plate 3 and the installation depth of the adapter circuit board 4 can be adjusted, so as to have better adaptability. In the present disclosure, the support plate 3 and the transition circuit board 4 are received in the installation space 110. With this arrangement, a length of the main body portion 11 along the first direction A1-A1 can be used to receive the support plate 3 and the transition circuit board 4, thereby saving space. Referring to
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The cable 5 is electrically connected to the adapter circuit board 4. Specifically, the cable 5 is divided into an inner layer and an outer layer, which are soldered or welded to the first soldering pads 43 and the second soldering pads 44, respectively. The conductive terminal 2 is electrically connected to the cable 5 through the adapter circuit board 4. The cable 5 extends in a second direction A2-A2. The first direction A1-A1 and the second direction A2-A2 are perpendicular to each other. The cable 5 passes through the cable escape slot 1122 along the second direction A2-A2 to extend beyond the second wall portion 112 and the end cover 6.
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The present disclosure also discloses a method for manufacturing the electrical connector 100, which includes the following steps:
Specifically, after step S2 and before step S3, the method further includes the following step:
In addition, after step S5, the method further includes the following step:
When the electrical connector 100 is mated with the mating connector 200, the mating protrusions 12 of the electrical connector 100 are inserted into the mating receiving cavity 80 of the mating connector 200, and the insertion portions 91 of the mating conductive terminals 9 are inserted into the mating portions 22 of the conductive terminals 2.
Compared with the prior art, the present disclosure is provided with the adapter circuit board 4, and the conductive terminal 2 is electrically connected to the cable 5 through the adapter circuit board 4. The present disclosure avoids the problem that the cable 5 needs to be bent when the cable 5 is directly connected to the conductive terminal 2, thereby saving space and facilitating miniaturization. In addition, the present disclosure is beneficial to improve the reliability of the electrical connection between the cable 5 and the conductive terminal 2.
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 |
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202210573367.7 | May 2022 | CN | national |