1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical connector, and more particularly to an electrical connector having improved contacts for guiding a mating connector.
2. Description of the Related Art
Taiwan Patent Issued Number M298826 discloses an electrical connector including an insulative housing and a plurality of contacts retained in the housing. The housing defines a receiving cavity running through a front face thereof for receiving a mating connector therein and a plurality of receiving grooves disposed at two sidewalls thereof. The receiving grooves are disposed at two sides of the receiving cavity and communicate with the receiving cavity. The contacts include a plurality of first contacts and a pair of switching contacts. Each of the first contacts defines a retaining portion and a resilient arm extending therefrom, and a contacting portion is defined at a free end of the resilient arm by projecting into the receiving cavity for contacting with the mating connector.
However, the mating connector may scrape a front edge of the contacting portions when the mating connector is inserted into the receiving cavity. Moreover, the contacts will be crushed if the inserting force of the mating connector is big, which will make the electrical connector be destroyed. Therefore, a new design to solve the problem is required.
An object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector with contacts having guiding portions for guiding a mating connector.
In order to achieve above-mentioned objects, an electrical connector includes an insulative housing and at least one contact received and retained in the housing. The housing defines a mating face, a receiving cavity running through the mating face for receiving a mating connector and at least one groove disposed at a sidewall of the receiving cavity and communicating with the receiving cavity. The at least one contact defines a retaining portion retained in the at least one groove, a contacting portion bending into the cavity and at least one guiding portion extending from the contacting portion along a mating direction for guiding the mating connector to enter into the receiving cavity, and a free edge of the at least one guiding portion extends into the corresponding at least one groove.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present embodiment when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Reference will now be made to the drawing figures to describe the preferred embodiment of the present invention in detail.
Referring to
Referring to
Three first terminals 2 of similar configuration are arranged in one of the sidewall 13. Each of the terminal includes a retaining portion 21 with bars at lateral sides thereof, a soldering portion 20 extending to the bottom face 11 from the retaining portion 21 and bending outwards, and a resilient arm 22 extending upwards and then bending downwards. A contacting portion 23 is defined at a free end of the resilient arm 22 by bending towards the cavity 101, with a protruding contacting point 231 thereof and a guiding portion 24 extending forwards from a front edge of the contacting portion 23. The contacting point 231 is partly disposed at the guiding portion 24 in this embodiment. Alternatively, the contacting point 231 may be completely set on the guiding portion 24 or apart from the guiding portion 24. The three terminals are received in the corresponding grooves 131 from the mounting face 11. The guiding portions 24 protrude into the cavity 101 with the free edge 241 adjacent to the front face 10 extending into the terminal grooves 131.
A second terminal 31 are same to the first terminal 2 and received and retained in a groove 132 in the front end of another sidewall 13. The second terminal 31 also defines a guiding portion 314 extending forwards from a front edge of the contacting portion 313. The third terminal 32 includes a retaining portion 321 with bars thereon, a resilient arm 322 extending forward from a front edge of the retaining portion 321 and a soldering portion 320 bending outward from a bottom edge of the retaining portion 321. A contacting portion 323, which bends toward the bottom face 11 from a top edge of the resilient arm 22, is provided at a free end of the resilient arm 322 with a contacting point 324 thereon. The second terminal 31 and the third terminal 32 are received in corresponding grooves 132 defined at the sidewall 13 from the mounting face 11, and form a detecting pair 3. A free edge 316 of the guiding portion 314 extends into the terminal grooves 132.
Referring to
The clip member 5 is of substantial arc-shape, and includes a connecting portion 51 substantially parallel to the bottom face 11 of the housing 1, a pair of resilient arm 52 bending from two opposite ends of the connecting portion 51, and a pair of clamping portions 53 each extending from the end portion apart from the connecting potion 51 of the resilient arm 52. The clip member 5 is received and retained to the housing 1 by the clamping portions 53 engaging with the slot 111, and the connecting portion 51 is positioned at an opening of the slot 111 at the bottom face 11 of the housing 1 and the resilient arms 52 project into the receiving cavity 101 for clipping a mating connector 200 (shown in
Referring to
The improved contacts having guiding portions 24, 314 may guide the mating connector 200 entering into the receiving cavity 101 smoothly. Moreover, the free edges 241, 316 of the guiding portions 24, 314 further enter into the corresponding grooves 131, 132 may prevent the front edges 241, 316 from being scraped to cause the contacts be destroyed easily. The contacting points 23, partly disposed on the guiding portions not only can contact with the mating connector 200, but also have a guiding function for guiding the mating connector 200.
Referring to
It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2008 2 0035886 | Apr 2008 | CN | national |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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6908343 | Hu | Jun 2005 | B1 |
7285024 | Tai | Oct 2007 | B1 |
20070249235 | Wu | Oct 2007 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
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M298826 | Oct 2006 | TW |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20090275245 A1 | Nov 2009 | US |