Patent Application
20140273643
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a terminal module, and more particularly to a terminal module applied in an electrical connector having an insulating body.
2. Related Art
An electrical connector is mainly used for joining two different devices. More particularly, an electrical connector is an indispensable part for an electronic product. As electronic products become lighter and thinner, electrical connectors also develop along with the change of time.
In a conventional electrical connector, metal terminals are usually mounted in an insulating body in the manner of inserting pins. Mainly, relatively broad barbs are provided on the metal terminals, so that the barbs are interlocked with the insulating body, and therefore the metal terminals are fixed in the insulating body effectively.
However, in such manners, a relatively large space must be reserved in an insulating body to fix metal terminals, which makes the volume of the entire electrical connector too large, and further makes it impossible to keep an electronic product light and thin.
Consequently, an electrical connector in which metal terminals are fixed through insert molding is also commercially available. In such an electrical connector, mainly, metal terminals in different rows are fixed through insert molding respectively and then are mounted in an insulating body respectively.
However, in such a manner, plastic seats must be formed through insert molding respectively on different rows of metal terminals and then the plastic seats are mounted in an insulating body respectively. Therefore, each plastic seat must be provided with a fastening device to be fastened with the insulating body, so that the plastic seats can be fastened to the insulating body respectively. In this way, fastening devices must be designed on both the plastic seats and the insulating body. Since the space inside the insulating body is limited, when the space for two fastening devices further must be reserved in the insulating body, the volume of the electrical connector cannot be reduced and the height is also limited, making it impossible to make an electrical connector thinner and lighter.
In view of the above, how to provide a terminal module whose height can be reduced is a technical measure to be provided in the present invention.
In view of the above problem, the present invention provides a terminal module, and more particularly, one that is applied in an electrical connector having an insulating body and capable of reducing the height of an electrical connector.
To achieve this objective, the terminal module of the present invention is mainly provided in an electrical connector having an insulating body. The terminal module includes a plurality of first terminals, a first fixing bracket, a plurality of second terminals, and a second fixing bracket.
The plurality of first terminals is arranged along a direction, each first terminal including a first contact portion, a first soldering portion, and a first fixing portion for connecting the first contact portion and the first soldering portion.
The first fixing bracket fixes the first terminals through insert molding, the first fixing bracket covering the first fixing portion of each first terminal, and a first positioning hole being provided on each first fixing bracket along the arrangement direction of the first terminals.
The plurality of second terminals is arranged in the same direction as the first terminals and is alternately parallel to the first terminals, each second terminal including a second contact portion, a second soldering portion, and a second fixing portion for connecting the second contact portion and the second soldering portion.
The second fixing bracket fixes the second terminals through insert molding, a first positioning portion protruding from the second fixing bracket in the direction towards the first fixing bracket, the first positioning portion extending along the arrangement direction of the second terminals and being perpendicular to the arrangement direction of the second terminals, and the first positioning portion corresponding to the first positioning hole of the first fixing bracket.
Therefore, the first fixing bracket and the second fixing bracket are inserted into each other through the insertion between the first positioning hole and the first positioning portion, and then are mounted in the insulating body, so as to complete the mounting of one electrical connector.
The first positioning hole of the first fixing bracket may further pass through the first fixing bracket, so that the first fixing portions of the first terminals are partially exposed in the first positioning hole. Furthermore, the second positioning portion on the second fixing bracket is further provided with a plurality of grooves corresponding to the first fixing portions of the first terminals, so that the first fixing portions of the first terminals are partially inserted into the grooves, so as to enhance a retention force between the first fixing bracket and the second fixing bracket.
In addition, a second positioning portion further protrudes from the first fixing bracket in the direction towards the second fixing bracket and a second positioning hole is further provided on the second fixing bracket at a position opposite to the second positioning portion, so that the second positioning portion is inserted into the second positioning hole, thereby enhancing the retention force between the first fixing bracket and the second fixing bracket.
Furthermore, in the present invention, the soldering portion of each first terminal is parallel to the arrangement direction of the first terminals. The soldering portion of each second terminal is perpendicular to the arrangement direction of the second terminals, and the soldering portions of the second terminals are arranged in two rows.
Additionally, a plurality of limit slots is further provided on the second fixing bracket on a side away from the second contact portions. Each limit slot is used for limiting the first soldering portion of each first terminal, so as to avoid the deformation of the first soldering portions of the first terminals.
The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given herein below for illustration only, and thus not limitative of the present invention, wherein:
To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the present invention clearer, the present invention is described in detail in the following specific embodiments in combination with the drawings.
As shown in
Please refer to
The first fixing bracket 30 fixes the first terminals 20 through insert molding. The first fixing bracket 30 mainly covers the first fixing portions 23 of the first terminals 20. Therefore, the first contact portions 21 and the first soldering portions 22 of the first terminals 20 extend outward from two corresponding sides of the first fixing bracket 30.
The first fixing bracket 30 is provided with a first positioning hole 31 which extends along the arrangement direction of the first terminals 20. The first positioning hole 31 passes through the first fixing bracket 30, so that the first fixing portions 23 of all the first terminals 20 are partially exposed in the first positioning hole 31.
In addition, a second positioning portion 32 further protrudes from the first fixing bracket 30 at a position close to an edge of the first positioning hole 31 and in the direction towards the second fixing bracket. The second positioning portion 32 is perpendicular to the arrangement direction of the first terminals 20.
Further, please refer to
The second fixing bracket 50 fixes the second terminals 40 through insert molding. The second fixing bracket 50 covers the second fixing portions 43 of the second terminals 40, so that the second contact portions 41 of the second terminals 40 extend outward from one side of the second fixing brackets 50 same as the side of the first contact portions of the first terminals.
A first positioning portion 51 protrudes from the second fixing bracket 50 at a position opposite to the first positioning hole of the first fixing bracket and in the direction towards the first fixing bracket, so that the first positioning portion 51 is inserted into the first positioning hole. Furthermore, the first positioning portion 51 is further provided with a plurality of grooves 52. Each groove 52 corresponds to one first fixing portion exposed in the first positioning hole, so that each first fixing portion exposed in the first positioning hole is inserted into each groove 52.
In addition, the second fixing bracket 50 is further provided with a second positioning hole 53 at a position close to a side edge of the first positioning portion 51. The second positioning hole 53 passes through the second fixing bracket 50, so that the second fixing portions 43 of the second terminals 40 are partially exposed in the second positioning hole 53. Furthermore, the second positioning hole 53 corresponds to the second positioning portion of the first fixing bracket, so that the second positioning portion is inserted into the second positioning hole 53.
Furthermore, a plurality of limit slots 54 protrudes from the second fixing bracket 50 on a side away from the second contact portions 41 of the second terminals 40. Each limit slot 54 corresponds to the first soldering portion of each first terminal and is used for receiving the first soldering portion of each first terminal.
Please refer to
Consequently, a retention force between the first fixing bracket 30 and the second fixing bracket 50 can be enhanced. The first fixing bracket 30 and the second fixing bracket 50 are inserted into each other. Further, the first contact portions 21 of the first terminals 20 and the second contact portions 41 of the second terminals 40 are alternately arranged in two rows. That is, the second contact portion 41 of each second terminal 40 is positioned between the first contact portions 21 of two first terminals 20. Oppositely, the first contact portion 21 of each first terminal 20 is positioned between the second contact portions 41 of two second terminals 40.
Furthermore, the first fixing bracket 30 and the second fixing bracket 50 may be further inserted into each other through the second positioning portion 32 and the second positioning hole 53, in addition to the insertion of the first positioning portion 51 into the first positioning hole 31, so as to achieve a secondary insertion effect. In this way, the first fixing bracket 30 and the second fixing bracket 50 are effectively prevented from falling off. Further, a retention force of the insertion between the first fixing bracket 30 and the second fixing bracket 50 is enhanced.
In addition, in this embodiment, the first soldering portions 22 of the first terminals 20 are generally arranged parallel to the arrangement direction of the first terminals 20. Furthermore, the first soldering portions 22 of the first terminals 20 are limited through the limit slots 54 of the second fixing bracket 50. Therefore, an offset or deformation phenomenon of the first soldering portions 22 can be avoided.
Additionally, the second soldering portions 42 of the second terminals 40 are arranged perpendicular to the arrangement direction of the second terminals 40. In this embodiment, the second soldering portions 42 are arranged in two rows. The second soldering portions 42 may certainly also be arranged in one row or three rows. In this embodiment, the two-row arrangement is a main implementation aspect.
Finally, in combination with
While the present invention has been described by the way of example and in terms of the preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention need not be limited to the disclosed embodiments. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims, the scope of which should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar structures.
