This application claims the benefit of the filing date under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a)-(d) of Chinese Patent Application No. CN201720644069.7 filed on Jun. 5, 2017.
The present invention relates, in general, to a housing for a wire and, in particular, to an electrical connector and a housing for the electrical connector.
In an electronic device, two wires are usually connected to a plug connector and a receptacle connector, respectively, to facilitate an electrical connection of the two wires. The electrical connection of the two wires is achieved by mutual engagement between the plug connector and the receptacle connector.
Existing plug connectors and receptacle connectors each comprise a housing and a connection terminal mounted within the housing. For ease of operation, the wires are generally electrically connected to the connection terminal in such a manner that a portion of the connection terminal pokes in a conductor portion of the wire. However, the existing plug connector and receptacle connector are used separately in pair. In case of connecting a plurality of wires, a plurality of plug connectors and a plurality of receptacle connectors are required. However, the plug connector and the receptacle connector in pair are arranged independently, which is inconvenient to be operated and managed.
Embodiments of the disclosure have been made to provide an electrical connector and a housing for the electrical connector in which a plurality of housings may be stacked together.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, a housing for an electrical connector includes an accommodation passage passing through the housing and through which a wire can pass. This housing also includes a first surface having a first engagement portion and a second surface, opposite the first surface, having a second engagement portion matched with the first engagement portion, with the first engagement portion or the second engagement portion adapted to be detachably engaged with a second engagement portion or a first engagement portion of another housing, so as to stack the housing and the another housing together.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, an electrical connector includes a housing that has an accommodation passage passing through the housing and through which a wire can pass. The housing of this electrical connector also has a first surface having a first engagement portion and a second surface, opposite the first surface, having a second engagement portion matched with the first engagement portion, with the first engagement portion or the second engagement portion adapted to be detachably engaged with a second engagement portion or a first engagement portion of another housing, so as to stack the housing and the another housing together. This electrical connector also has a connection terminal detachably mounted in the accommodation passage and a wire inserted into and electrically connected to the connection terminal.
Advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, and may give a comprehensive understanding of the disclosure.
The above and other features of the present invention will become more apparent by describing in detail exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
The present invention will be described hereinafter in further detail with reference to the following embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In the specification, the same or similar reference numerals indicate the same or similar parts. The description of the embodiments of the present invention hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings, is intended to explain the general inventive concept of the present invention and should not be construed as a limitation on the scope of the present invention. In addition, in the following detailed description, for the sake of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosed embodiments. It will be apparent, however, that one or more embodiments may also be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are illustrated schematically in order to simplify the drawing.
As shown in
According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, referring to
As shown in
With continued reference to
Further, the first surface 12 has a second blocking portion thereon and the second surface 14 has a mating blocking portion 154 configured to be engaged with a mating blocking portion of the another housing 1′ to prevent the another housing 1′ from being disengaged from the housing 1.
In one embodiment, the second blocking portion 136 is between the socket ends 134 of the two first frames 131 and the mating blocking portion 154 is between the tail ends of the two second frames 151. Specifically, the second blocking portion 136 projects from the first surface 12 and the mating blocking portion 154 is connected between the tip ends of the two second frames 151 and at least partially suspended. Since the mating stopper 154 is at least partially suspended, it may be elastically bent upon being pressed. In this way, the housing 1 is engaged with the another housing 1′, the mating stopper of the another housing 1′ may cross over the second blocking portion 136 of the housing 1, and then the second blocking portion 136 of the housing 1 is abutted against an outside of the mating stopper of the another frame 1′ to prevent the second frame of the another housing 1′ from being disengaged from the first frame 131 of the housing 1. Thus, the two housings may be reliably held together.
In another embodiment, the second blocking portion may have on the first frame 131 and may comprise, for example, a protrusion. Accordingly, the mating blocking portion is on the second frame 151 and may comprise, for example, a groove engaged with the protrusion. When the housing 1 is slidingly engaged with the another housing 1′, the projection may be engaged with the groove in a snap fit manner.
As shown in
In one embodiment, the cantilever 18 of the housing is inserted into an insertion hole of the another housing in a snap-fit manner. For example, the cantilever 18 has a protrusion 181. The protrusion 181 may be engaged with a groove in the insertion hole of the another housing so that the cantilever 18 of the housing is inserted into the insertion hole of the another housing in the snap-fit manner.
Referring to
In one embodiment, the clamping portion and the body portion 21 are connected integrally and have a substantially U-shaped cross-section in a direction perpendicular to the insertion direction of the wire 300 (i.e., a transverse direction or width direction) and an opening of the U-shaped cross-section has the release portion 24 through which the wire 300 may be detached from the connection terminal 2.
In a further exemplary embodiment of the connection terminal 2, the clamping portion 23 has a cantilever 231 obliquely extending at a side thereof located downstream of the insertion direction. The cantilever 231 obliquely extends from the clamping portion 23 toward the body portion 21. The cantilever 231 has a free end formed as a sharp portion 232 in contact with the wire 300. A stopper 211 is at a position on the body portion 21 away from the clamping portion 3 to limit an insertion length of the wire 300 into the connection terminal. A connection portion between the clamp portion 23 and the body portion 21 has an auxiliary positioning portion 212 extending in the insertion direction. In this way, after peeling a protective layer of the wire 300 to expose a conductor portion 301 thereof, the wire 300 is inserted into the connection terminal 2 in the inserting direction near the connection portion between the clamping portion 23 and the body portion 21. The auxiliary positioning portion 212 may further hold the wire within the body portion 21. When a front end of the wire 300 is moved to be in contact with the stopper 211, the stopper 211 will prevent a further movement of the wire in the insertion direction from being generated, thereby limiting the insertion length of the wire into the connection terminal 2.
In addition, the body portion 21 has at least one holding protrusion 214 at either side thereof for stably holding the connection terminal 2 in the accommodation passage 11 of the housing 1. As shown in
As shown in
The electrical connector of the present invention will be described below taking an embodiment in which the electrical connector is the receptacle connector 100 as shown in
As shown in
In the housing and the electrical connector according to the above various embodiments of the present invention, since the first engagement portion or the second engagement portion is configured to be detachably engaged with the second engagement portion or the first engagement portion of the another housing, the housing may be stacked with the another housing together. In this way, it is possible to sequentially stack a plurality of electrical connector together to prevent a plurality of wires from being intertwined.
In addition, since the connection terminal may be removed from the housing by operation and has the release portion thereon, it is possible to remove the wire secured onto the connection terminal by a simple operation without any damage to the connection terminal and then to replace a new wire. This eliminates the need to discard the entire connection terminal with the broken wire. Thus, the connection terminal may be reused, thereby saving cost of the entire electrical connector.
It should be appreciated by those skilled in this art that the above embodiments are intended to be illustrative and many modifications may be made to the above embodiments by those skilled in this art and various structures described in various embodiments may be freely combined with each other without conflicting in configuration or principle.
After the preferred embodiments of the present invention are described in detail, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes or modifications may be made to these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the present invention, and the present invention will not be limited to the exemplary embodiments above described.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2017 2 0644069 U | Jun 2017 | CN | national |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20180351290 A1 | Dec 2018 | US |