Electrical connector with reliable structure and method for making the same

Abstract

An electrical connector (100) mounted on an outer PCB for mating with corresponding plugs includes an insulative housing (1), a couple of contact modules (3) and a metal shield (2) enclosing the insulative housing. The housing includes a first plug-receiving cavity (101) and a second plug-receiving cavity (102) stacked under the first cavity (101). The contact modules (3) include a number of conductive contacts (33) defining a plurality of inclined contact portions (331) extending into the cavities (101, 102). The metal shield includes a planar top face (21), a pair of side face (22) integrally extending downward from the lateral edges of the top face, and a slant rear face (23) integrally bending from the side face. A lower edge of said side face is larger than an upper edge of the side face in a plug insertion direction.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an electrical connector according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is another perspective view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a further perspective view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an explode view of the electrical connector of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is another explode view of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a partially assembled view showing a grounding member secured within an insulative housing;

FIG. 7 is a partially assembled view of a contact module;

FIG. 8 is a partially assembled view showing an internal PCB mounted to a connecting module;

FIG. 9 is a cross sectional view taken along line 9-9 of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a partially assembled view of the electrical connector according to the present invention before assembly of the contact module;

FIG. 11 is a partially assembled view of the electrical connector according to the present invention with assembly of the contact module;

FIG. 12 is a plane view of a metal shield; and

FIG. 13 is an enlarged view taken from a circled portion of FIG. 4.

Claims

1. An electrical connector mounted on a printed circuit board (PCB) for mating with a corresponding plug, comprising: an insulative housing having a receiving cavity through a mating wall thereof;a plurality of conductive contacts, each contact including a tail portion and a contact portion extending into the receiving cavity; anda metal shield enclosing the insulative housing, the metal shield defining a top face, a pair of side face extending downwardly from lateral edges of the top face, and a slant rear face, a lower edge of said side face being larger than an upper edge of the side face in a plug insertion direction.

2. The electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein the rear face is integrally bending from the side face.

3. The electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein the rear face includes a first portion and a second portion for mating with the first portion.

4. The electrical connector according to claim 3, wherein the first portion includes a tuber and the second portion includes a dent for locking with the tuber.

5. The electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein the top face forms a tab, said rear face including a projecting section with an aperture for retaining the tab, thereby consolidating the rear face with the top face.

6. The electrical connector according to claim 1, further comprising a grounding member retained in the insulative hosing and connecting with the metal shield, said grounding member including a resilient finger extending into the receiving cavity for abutting against the corresponding plug, the metal shield defining a soldering tail mounted on the PCB.

7. The electrical connector according to claim 6, wherein the top face of the metal shield defines a hole, said grounding member comprising a tab portion received the hole, thereby connecting the grounding member with the metal shield.

8. The electrical connector according to claim 6, further comprising an anti-mismating device mounted to the insulative housing to abut against the grounding member, said anti-mismating device defining a cantilever with a hook in a distal end, the cantilever being extending into the receiving cavity for preventing incorrect connectors inserted therein.

9. The electrical connector according to claim 1, further comprising a contact module having a base portion, a tongue extending forward from the base portion, a plurality of transition terminals retained in the base portion, said conductive contacts being retained in the tongue.

10. The electrical connector according to claim 9, further comprising a connecting module and an internal PCB, the connecting module having an insulator and a plurality of connecting terminals retained in the insulator, the internal PCB including a plurality of circuit points and electric pads in communication of the circuit points, the circuit points being adapted for mating with the conductive contacts and the connecting terminals, and the electric pads electrically connecting with the transition terminals.

11. The electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein the contact portion is inclinedly bent at an angle.

12. The electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein the electrical connector is a stacked modular jack connector which defines another receiving cavity stacked under said receiving cavity.

13. A method for making an electrical connector assembly comprising the steps of: a. providing an insulative housing defining a first plug-receiving cavity and a second plug-receiving cavity stacked under the first plug-receiving cavity both through a mating wall thereof;b. providing a plurality of conductive contacts retained in the insulative housing, each contact including a tail portion and a contact portion extending into the first and second receiving cavities; andc. providing a metal shield enclosing the insulative housing, the metal shield defining a top face, a pair of side face extending downwardly from the lateral edges of the top face, and a slant rear face, a lower edge of said side face being larger than an upper edge of the side face in a plug insertion direction.

14. The method for making an electrical connector assembly according to claim 13, wherein insulative housing includes a bottom wall and an extending portion projecting rearward from the bottom wall, the electrical connector further comprising an insulator mating with the extending portion.

15. An electrical connector assembly comprising: an insulative housing defining two stacked spaced first and second receiving cavities isolated from each other by a partition;two groups of contacts disposed in said receiving cavities, respectively; anda unitary grounding member positioned on the housing and defining an long bar with first and second short spaced beams extending from two opposite ends thereof and a third short beam from a middle portion thereof thus commonly forming an upstanding E-shaped configuration; whereinthe first beam defines a first resilient finger extending into an outer side of the first receiving cavity, the second beam defines a second resilient finger extending into an outer side of the second receiving cavity, while the third beam defines a pair of spaced resilient fingers respectively extending inner side of said first and second receiving cavities, located by two sides of the partition and facing the corresponding first and second resilient fingers, respectively.

16. The assembly as claimed in claim 15, wherein said grounding member is assembled to the housing forwardly and the long bar is essentially located on a rear face of the housing.

17. The assembly as claimed in claim 15, further a metallic shell encloses said housing, wherein said shell defines an oblique rear face covering the rear face of the housing so that a side face of the shell defines a trapezoid form having a right angle at a front edge thereof.

18. The assembly as claimed in claim 17, wherein a printed circuit board is located around a bottom of the housing with a rear edge of said printed circuit board approaching a bottom edge of said rear face of the shell.

19. The shield according to claim 1, wherein said side face is right-angle trapezia shaped.