This patent application claims priority of a Chinese Patent Application No. 202122884896.2, filed on Nov. 22, 2021 and titled “PLUG CONNECTOR”, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
The present disclosure relates to a plug connector, which belongs to a technical field of connectors.
A plug connector in the related art includes a housing, a tongue plate, a cable, a locking mechanism, and a pull strap connected to the locking mechanism. A plurality of conductive pads are provided on at least one surface of the tongue plate.
The locking mechanism includes locking arms on opposite sides, a connection portion connecting the locking arms and a return spring abutting against the connection portion. The pull strap includes a force applying portion located at a front end and abutting against the connection portion. When a backward pulling force is applied to the pull strap, the force applying portion of the pull strap drives the locking arms to move together, thereby achieving unlocking.
However, since only one return spring is provided by the plug connector in the related art, it is necessary to ensure that the return spring is installed in the middle of the connection portion. On one hand, this design increases the difficulty of manufacturing; and on the other hand, once the return spring is deflected, it may cause the locking mechanism to deflect, thereby causing unlocking failure. In addition, in the related art, the force applying portion directly abuts against the connection portion, since the pull strap has a certain flexibility, this easily causes the force acting on the connection portion to have other components. This easily causes the force applying portion and the connection portion to jam, thereby reducing the reliability of the plug connector.
An object of the present disclosure is to provide a plug connector with high reliability.
In order to achieve the above object, the present disclosure adopts the following technical solution: a plug connector, including: a housing; a built-in circuit board, the built-in circuit board being partially located in the housing, the built-in circuit board including a tongue plate and a plurality of conductive pads provided on the tongue plate; and a cable, the cable being electrically connected to the built-in circuit board; wherein the plug connector further includes two locking arms installed in the housing, a driving member mated with the locking arms, and a pull strap connected with the driving member; wherein each locking arm includes a locking protrusion at a front end of the locking arm, an abutting portion located at a rear end of the locking arm, and a pivot portion located between the locking protrusion and the abutting portion, the locking protrusion protrudes beyond the housing along a thickness direction of the plug connector; wherein the driving member includes two driving arms, each driving arm matches with a corresponding locking arm, each driving arm includes a protruding portion for pulling the abutting portion; wherein the locking arm is rotatable around the pivot portion when the pull strap is pulled by an external force, so that the locking protrusion moves along the thickness direction inside the housing; and wherein the plug connector further includes two return springs, each return spring abuts against a corresponding locking arm, and each return spring is adapted to return the corresponding locking arm to an original position after the external force is removed.
Compared with the prior art, the pull strap of the present disclosure indirectly drives the locking arms through the driving member, which reduces the probability of the locking arms being jammed. In addition, the present disclosure is provided with two return springs corresponding to the locking arms, respectively, so that the force applied to the locking arms is more uniform, and the smoothness of the movement of the locking arms is improved. As a result, the reliability of the plug connector is improved.
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.
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
The second housing 12 includes a second base 121 and a second extension portion 122 extending from the second base 121. The first base 111 corresponds to the second base 121, wherein the first base 111 is located above the second base 121 as a whole, and the first base 111 and the second base 121 are aligned in the vertical direction. The first extension portion 112 corresponds to the second extension portion 122, wherein the first extension portion 112 is located above the second extension portion 122 as a whole, and the first extension portion 112 and the second extension portion 122 are aligned in the vertical direction. The second extension portion 122 includes a second front end surface 1220. The first front end surface 1140 and the second front end surface 1220 are aligned with each other in the thickness direction T-T to jointly form the mating surface 10. The second extension portion 122 includes a second surface 1221 (for example, a lower surface). The first surface 1121 and the second surface 1221 are disposed opposite to each other along the thickness direction T-T. A front side of the second extension portion 122 includes a locking slot 1222. In the illustrated embodiment of the present disclosure, the locking slot 1222 is of a U-shaped configuration. The locking portion 1141 is fixed in the locking slot 1222 to prevent the first housing 11 and the second housing 12 from being separated from each other in the thickness direction T-T. The second extension portion 122 further includes two positioning posts 1223 on opposite sides. The positioning posts 1223 are used for positioning the built-in circuit board 2. A rear side of the second extension portion 122 is further provided with a limiting protrusion 1224 which protrudes into a corresponding opening 1122 along the thickness direction T-T.
In the illustrated embodiment of the present disclosure, the plug connector 100 further includes a bolt 14 to assemble and fix the first base 111 and the second base 121. Of course, in other embodiments, the first housing 11 and the second housing 12 may be assembled through a mutual locking structure (for example, a locking arm and a locking groove for mating with the locking arm).
Referring to
As shown in
The slot 13 is provided on the first extension portion 112; or the slot 13 is provided on the second extension portion 122; or the slot 13 is formed between the first extension portion 112 and the second extension portion 122 in the thickness direction T-T of the plug connector 100. In the illustrated embodiment of the present disclosure, the slot 13 is provided on the convex portion 114. The slot 13 extends backwardly to communicate with the corresponding opening 1122. A distance between the slot 13 and the first surface 1121 in the thickness direction T-T is smaller than a distance between the slot 13 and the second surface 1221. In other words, the slot 13 is arranged on an upper side.
Referring to
Each locking arm 41 includes a locking protrusion 411 located at a front end of the locking arm 41, an abutting portion 412 located at a rear end of the locking arm 41, and a pivot portion 413 located between the locking protrusion 411 and the abutting portion 412. The locking arm 41 is rotatable around the pivot portion 413. The slot 13 extends backwardly to be adjacent to the locking protrusion 411. This arrangement increases a length of each slot 13 along the mating direction M and is beneficial to increase an insertion depth of the plug connector 100, thereby improving the insertion reliability of the plug connector 100.
In the illustrated embodiment of the present disclosure, the return spring 43 is a compression spring. One end of the compression spring abuts against the top of the locking arm 41; and another end of the compression spring abuts against a lower surface of the first extension portion 112. A contact position of the locking protrusion 411 and the locking arm 41, and a contact position of the return spring 43 and the locking arm 41 are located on two sides of the pivot portion 413, respectively. With this arrangement, the locking arm 41 is equivalent to a seesaw of which a fulcrum is the pivot portion 413. When no external force is applied, under the action of the compression spring, the locking protrusion 411 is located in the corresponding opening 1122 and protrudes upwardly beyond the first surface 1121. Under this condition, the locking protrusion 411 can be matched with a corresponding locking structure of the receptacle connector, that is, this state is a locking state when the plug connector 100 is inserted into the receptacle connector.
As shown in
In the illustrated embodiment of the present disclosure, in order to better fix the compression spring, each locking arm 41 further includes a mounting post 414. One end of the compression spring is sleeved on the mounting post 414 to prevent the compression spring from leaving its original position after being stressed.
In the illustrated embodiment of the present disclosure, the pivot portion 413 includes a pivot hole. The first housing 11 includes a pivot shaft 116 that matches with the pivot hole. The pivot shaft 116 is integrally formed on the first housing 11. The locking arm 41 is rotatable around the pivot shaft 116 under the action of the external force. Of course, in other embodiments, the pivot shaft 116 may also be integrally formed on the second housing 12; or the pivot shaft 116 is a separate shaft assembled to the first housing 11 and/or the second housing 12. Each locking arm 41 is rotatable in an imaginal plane P (e.g., a vertical plane, referring to
Of course, in other embodiments, the return spring 43 may also be a tension spring. One end of the tension spring is fixed to the locking arm 41, and the other end of the tension spring is fixed to the housing 1.
In addition, each locking arm 41 further includes a first recess 415 located between the abutting portion 412 and the pivot portion 413, and an inner abutting surface 412a exposed in the first recess 415. In the illustrated embodiment of the present disclosure, the first recess 415 is located below the mounting post 414 and is aligned with the mounting post 414 in the vertical direction. The inner abutting surface 412a is provided on the abutting portion 412. In the illustrated embodiment of the present disclosure, the inner abutting surface 412a is an inclined surface.
The driving member 42 is connected to the pull strap 5. The driving member 42 includes two driving arms 421 located on opposite sides and a connecting rod 422 which connects the two driving arms 421. Each driving arm 421 is located at a rear end of the corresponding locking arm 41 and abuts against the locking arm 41. Each driving arm 421 includes a protruding portion 4211 received in the first recess 415, a second recess 4212 for receiving the abutting portion 412, a base portion 4213 connected to the protruding portion 4211 and a fixing portion 4214 protruding backwardly from the base portion 4213. The protruding portion 4211 includes an outer abutting surface 4211a which abuts against the inner abutting surface 412a. In the illustrated embodiment of the present disclosure, the outer abutting surface 4211a is a curved surface. Through the cooperation of the curved surface and the inclined surface, the smoothness of the interaction between the driving arm 421 and the locking arm 41 is improved. As shown in
As shown in
The pull strap 5 is movable in a direction opposite to the mating direction M under the pulling of the external force, so as to directly or indirectly drive the locking protrusions 411 to move away from the first surface 1121 in the thickness direction T-T. Specifically, referring to
When the external force is removed, the return springs 43 release elastic force, so that the abutting portions 412 move downwardly. At the same time, the locking protrusions 411 move upwardly, and the locking arms 41 return to their original positions.
In the present disclosure, the two return springs 43 are provided to make the force of the locking arms 41 more even, which improves the stability of the movement of the locking arms 41.
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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202122884896.2 | Nov 2021 | CN | national |