BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is an assembled, perspective view of an electrical connector in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 2 is an exploded, perspective view of the electrical connector shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a similar view of FIG. 1, but taken from another aspect;
FIG. 4 is an exploded, perspective view of the electrical connector shown in FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 1, taken along line 5-5;
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 1, taken along line 6-6;
FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 1, taken along line 7-7; and
FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 1, taken along line 8-8.
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 the present invention comprises an insulated housing 10, a metallic shell 20 arranged to surround the housing 10, a plurality of first contacts 30 and second contacts 40 which are retained in the housing 10. In this embodiment, the first contacts 40 used for transmitting signals are defined as signal contacts, and the second contacts 40 used for grounding are defined as grounding contacts.
Referring to FIGS. 2 and 4, the insulated housing 10 is substantially elongated and comprises a base 110 extending along a longitudinal direction and a mating portion extending forward from a front surface of the base 110 along a front-to-back direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction. The mating portion has a mating cavity 140 surrounded by a top wall 120, a bottom wall 130 spaced opposite to the top wall 120 and a pair of transverse walls connecting the top and bottom wall 120, 130 together for accommodating a complementary connector (not shown).
The top wall 120 has a plurality of receiving grooves 121 in communication with the mating cavity 140 at its inner surface for retaining the first contacts 30, a pair of guiding channels 123 with a reversed trapeziform cross section recessed downward from a middle portion of its upper surface and extending from a front edge of the top wall 120 to the base 110, and a pair of slots 124 respectively located at lengthwise ends thereof and extending through the top wall 120 to be in communication with the mating cavity 140. A plurality of partition walls 122 are respectively formed between every two receiving grooves 121, and said guiding channels 123 are corresponding to the partition wall 122 in a thickness direction of the housing 10 perpendicular to the longitudinal direction and the front-to-back direction. The upper surface of the top wall 120 is substantially coplanar with that of the base 110. The bottom wall 130 has a plurality of short and long receiving channels 131 extending therethrough in a vertical direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction and the front-to-back direction and arranged in a one-two style along the longitudinal direction, and a plurality of rib portions 132 formed between every two adjacent long channels 131 to reinforce the intensity of bottom wall 130. Each rib portion 132 has a bottom surface coplanar with that of the base 110. The base 110 has a pair of concaves 125 recessed downward from its upper surface to be corresponding to and in communication with the guiding channels 123, a pair of projections 126 extending over the corresponding concaves 125 and a pair of passageways 111 respectively in communication with the slots 124 and the mating cavity 140.
Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, each first contact 30 comprises a retention portion 31 retained in the base 110, a contact beam 32 extending forward from the retention portion 31 with a contact portion at its front end exposed to the mating cavity 140 and a solder portion 33 extending rearward from the retention portion 31 to electrically connect to a printed circuit board. All the first contacts 30 are retained in the receiving grooves 121 defined on the top wall 120. For having enough space for receiving the contact portions of the first contacts 30, the top wall 130 defines a plurality of cutouts 126 extending through its front end and corresponding to the contact portions. The second contacts 40 are received in said long channels 131 and retained by the base 110. Each second 40 has a resilient beam 41 extending along the corresponding long channels 131. The resilient arm 41 has a first contact portion 410 curving toward the mating cavity 140 and a second contact portion 420 spaced rearward from the first contact portion 321 in the front-to-back direction and curing opposite to the first contact portion 410 for electrically contacting with the metallic shell 20 to form a grounding path thereby.
Referring to FIGS. 2 and 4, the metallic shell 20 has a first plate 210 for shielding the top wall 120 and a second plate 220 for shielding the bottom wall 130. For the metallic shell 20 can be firmly retained in the housing 10, the first plate 210 has a pair of bend portions 211 extending its rear end to be retained in the corresponding concaves 125 and a pair of securing portions extending rearward from its lengthwise ends, and the second plate 220 defines a plurality of opening for engaging with the corresponding rib portions 132 (shown in FIG. 3) and further defines a plurality of retaining tangs 221 extending into the corresponding receiving slits 133 in the housing 10 wherein the receiving slits are intermingled with the channels 131 along the longitudinal direction.
Further referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, it is noted that the guiding channels 123 are recessed from the upper surface of the top wall 120 with a reversed trapeziform cross section and corresponding to the partition walls 122 between the receiving grooves 121, which not only make the electrical connector in a lower profile, but also render enough intensity to the top wall 120. When assembling, the bend portions 211 are preferably guided by the guiding channels 123 to be inserted into the concaves 125, and finally firmly restricted by the canvases 125 and the projections 126 in said thickness direction, and thus the first plate 210 are hardly distorted.
Referring to FIGS. 4 and 7, the securing portions are retained in lengthwise ends of the housing 10. Each securing portion has a connecting portion 212 projecting downward from the rear edge of the first plate 210, and through the corresponding slots 124; a retaining portion 213 extending rearward from the connecting portion 212 and forming curved portions for firmly engaging with passageway 111 of the base 110; and a solder legs 214 extending from the retaining portion 213 for connecting onto the printed circuit board. Specially, the connecting portions 212, the retaining portions 213 and the solder legs 214 are constructed before assembling so as to not only achieve a preferable coplanarity of the solder legs 214 but also simplify manufacturing process, and reduce the product cost accordingly.
It is to be understood, however, 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. For example, the guiding channels 123 can extend into the partition walls 122 to further make the electrical connector in a lower profile.
Patent Application
20070275579
