Plug connector

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6435915
  • Patent Number
    6,435,915
  • Date Filed
    Thursday, June 29, 2000
    24 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, August 20, 2002
    22 years ago
Abstract
A charger plug of the present invention comprises an insulative casing, a terminal unit received within the insulative casing, a conductive terminal received in the terminal unit, and a shielding unit. The terminal unit includes a longitudinal length and defines an elongated opening along the longitudinal length. The shielding unit covers the longitudinal length and have a second terminal extended from the side of the longitudinal length, moreover, between the terminal and the insulative casing have a embedding groove and a projected jut, and which have a joining post and a joining groove disposed on the insulative casing, such structures can be securely assembled into the terminal unit and the insulative casing together.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




1. Field of the Invention




The present invention relates to a plug connector, particularly to a charger plug having a compact telecommunication terminal, which can reliably transmit signals and can avoid misalignment when mating.




2. Background of the Invention




Referring to

FIG. 1

, a conductive terminal


10


of a conventional charger plug


1


is integrally made of a piece of metal and has a structure of a hollow cylinder. To avoid short-circuit, the hollow part of the conductive terminal


10


includes an insulative layer (not shown in the drawing). In other words, the conductive terminal


10


includes an insulative layer which is sandwiched between a pair of metal layers (not shown). Correspondingly, a charging unit


2


for mating with the charger plug


1


comprises a pair of insulative layers (not shown) and a metal layer (not shown) which is sandwiched between the two insulative layers. The thickness of the insulative layer of the charger plug


1


should be big enough so as not to be damaged when the charger plug


1


is frequently mated with the charging unit


2


. Therefore, the charger plug


1


can not be made compact. Correspondingly, a connector mating with the charge plug can not become compact, and thus a mobile phone with such a connector can not become compact, either. Therefore, a charger plug having a compact structure for use with a mobile phone, is desired.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




One objective of the present invention is to provide a charge plug having a compact structure. Therefore, a connector mated with the charge plug also can be made compact, and a mobile phone with such a connector also can be made compact.




Another objective of the present invention is to provide a charger plug which can avoid misalignment when connecting and reliably transmit signals.




CHARACTERISTICS OF THE INVENTION




According to one aspect of the present invention, a charger plug comprises an insulative casing, a terminal unit received in the insulative casing, a conductive terminal received in the terminal unit, and a shielding unit. The terminal unit includes a longitudinal portion and an elongated opening defined along one side of the longitudinal portion. The longitudinal portion of the terminal unit extends into the shielding unit. The elongated opening of the longitudinal portion and one side of the shielding unit cooperatively define a passageway.




According to another aspect of the present invention, the insulative casing and the terminal unit respectively include an embedding groove and a jut for reliably assembling the insulative casing and the terminal unit together.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

is a side view of a conventional charger plug and a charging unit.





FIG. 2

is an exploded perspective view of a charger plug of the present invention.





FIG. 3

is an assembled perspective view of FIG.


2


.





FIG. 4

is a cross-sectional view of a charger plug of

FIG. 3

of the present invention taken along a line A—A in FIG.


3


.





FIG. 5

is another cross-sectional view of the charger plug of

FIG. 3

of the present invention.





FIG. 6

is a cross-sectional view of the charger plug of

FIG. 3

of the present invention and a charger socket connecting to the charger plug.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS




Referring to

FIG. 2

, a charger plug


3


of the present invention comprises an insulative casing


4


, a terminal unit


5


, a conductive terminal


6


and a shielding unit


7


. The insulative casing


4


includes a matching side


42


and a connecting side


43


opposite to the matching side


42


. The insulative casing


4


includes a first casing


40


and a second casing


41


. The first casing


40


forms four downwardly extending joining posts


401


. Correspondingly, the second casing


41


defines four joining grooves


411


. Each joining post


401


can be inserted into the corresponding groove


411


thereby assembling the first and second casing


40


,


41


together. A plurality of embedding grooves


44


are defined in the first and second casing


40


,


41


for fixing the terminal unit


5


(described in detail later) in place. The first casing


40


includes a surface


431


which is undulating for facilitating manual operation.




The terminal unit


5


is assembled between the first and the second casings


40


,


41


. The terminal unit


5


includes a longitudinal portion


50


. The longitudinal portion


50


defines an elongated opening


51


along one side thereof for receiving the conductive terminal


6


. The terminal unit


5


includes a pair of juts


52


for insertion into the embedding grooves


44


of the first and second casings


40


,


41


thereby properly fixing the terminal unit


5


between the first and the second casings


40


,


41


.




The conductive terminal


6


includes a contact part


60


, an interference part


61


and a connecting part


62


. The contact part


60


of terminal


6


is partly received in the elongated opening


51


of the terminal unit


5


. Also referring to

FIG. 4

, when assembled, the connecting part


62


rearwardly extends out of the terminal unit


5


adjacent to the connecting side


43


of the insulative casing


4


for electrically connecting with a conductor (not shown). The contact part


60


of the terminal


6


is received in the elongated opening


51


of the terminal unit


5


. The contact part


60


slightly extends out of the elongated opening


51


for electrically connecting with a corresponding terminal (not shown). The shielding unit


7


is intergratedly formed from a piece of metal and includes a rectangular joining groove


70


. When assembled, the longitudinal portion


50


of the terminal unit


5


extends into the joining groove


70


of the shielding unit


7


. The shielding unit


7


includes a second terminal


72


rearwardly extending for electrically connecting with a corresponding conductor (not shown). The shielding unit


7


forms a snap


73


for securing a charger socket


9


(shown in

FIG. 6

) when connecting.




Referring to

FIGS. 2

,


3


, and


4


, in assembly, the conductive terminal


6


is assembled into the terminal unit


5


. The juts


52


of the terminal unit


5


are inserted into the embedding grooves


44


of the first and second casings


40


,


41


thereby properly fixing the terminal unit


5


between the first and second casings


40


,


41


. Also referring to

FIG. 5

, the shielding unit


7


includes a connecting space


71


for receiving the longitudinal portion


50


of the terminal unit


5


. Since the width of the connecting space


71


is larger than that of the longitudinal portion


50


, a conductive terminal


90


(referring to

FIG. 6

) of charger socket


9


can extend into one side of the connecting space


71


opposite to the terminal unit


5


. Such a structure avoids misalignment of the connection between the charger plug


3


and the charger socket


9


. The conductive terminal


90


of the charger socket


9


electrically contacts the shielding unit


7


. The snap


73


can secure the charger plug


3


to the charger socket


9


thereby reliably connecting the charger plug


3


and the charger socket


9


together. The conductive terminal


90


electrically contact the shielding unit


7


. Such a charger plug


3


is obviously more compact than that of a prior art.




The invention has been described with exemplary preferred embodiments. However, it is to be understood that the scope of the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements. The scope of the claims, therefore, should be accorded the broadest interpretations so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements.



Claims
  • 1. A charger plug comprising:an insulative casing including a first casing and a second casing, each of which has a matching side and a connecting side opposite to the matching side, a joining post disposed on the first casing, a joining groove disposed on the second casing, an embedding groove formed in one of the first and second casings; a terminal unit assembled between the first and second casings, the terminal unit including a longitudinal portion with an elongated opening along one side of the longitudinal portion and having a jut formed around the terminal unit; a conductive terminal including a contact part, an interference part and a connecting part, said conductive terminal assembled into the elongated opening of the terminal unit, said connecting part extending out of the terminal unit and located at the connecting side of the insulating casing, said contact part received in the elongated opening of the terminal unit and slightly extending out of the elongated opening on the end; and a shielding unit made of metal and covering the longitudinal portion of terminal unit that defining a connecting space and a joining groove therein, and having a second terminal; wherein the jut is engaged within the embedding groove, and the joining post is engaged to the joining groove, thereby securing the terminal unit and the insulative casing together.
  • 2. The charger plug as claimed in claim 1, wherein the joining groove of the shielding unit is rectangular.
  • 3. The charger plug as claimed in claim 2, wherein the first casing includes an undulating surface.
US Referenced Citations (3)
Number Name Date Kind
5797771 Garside Aug 1998 A
5820412 Koegel et al. Oct 1998 A
5836774 Tan et al. Nov 1998 A