KR101784677B1

KR101784677B1 - USB Connector including EMC Spring

Info

Publication number: KR101784677B1
Application number: KR1020160020941A
Authority: KR
Inventors: 김헌채
Original assignee: 주식회사 트래닛
Priority date: 2016-02-23
Filing date: 2016-02-23
Publication date: 2017-10-12
Also published as: KR20170099058A

Abstract

A USB connector including an EMC spring is disclosed. The disclosed USB connector is a USB connector for connection with a mating connector, the mating connector comprising: a shielding shell formed of a conductive material and defining a chamber that opens forwardly to receive a portion of the mating connector; A terminal formed at a front end thereof with a contact to be exposed to the chamber and a lead at a rear end thereof; An insulator secured to the contacts and leads of the terminal and formed of an insulating material; And an EMC spring fixed to the insulator and having a knife shape and exposed to the upper side and the lower side of the inside of the chamber, wherein the EMC spring provides an elastic force in an inward direction of the chamber when connected to the corresponding connector, . According to the disclosed USB connector, durability is excellent and manufacturing cost can be reduced.

Description

USB connector including EMC spring {USB Connector including EMC Spring}

The present invention relates to a USB connector, and more particularly, to a USB connector including an EMC spring.

A connector is an electronic component that electrically connects a circuit board and a circuit board, or a circuit board, and an electronic component. Generally, plug connectors are fitted to the corresponding connectors, and when the terminal members or fins of both connectors are electrically connected to each other, the circuit board, the circuit board or the circuit board and the electronic component are electrically connected.

USB (Universal Serial Bus) is an industry standard developed in the 1990s that defines the cables, connectors and communication protocols used in the buses for connection, communication, and power supply between personal computers and electronic devices. USB has been developed to standardize the connection of computer peripherals, but it is also commonly used in a variety of devices such as smart phones, PDAs, and game consoles.

As technology evolved, the USB specification evolved, and various USB versions were developed. One of the most recently used versions is the USB Type-C standard, which is the standard for non-directional plug connectors for USB devices and USB cables. That is, in the conventional connector structure, when the USB connector is inserted into the corresponding connector, the USB connector can be inserted into the corresponding connector only when the USB connector maintains a predetermined orientation. On the other hand, So that it can be inserted into the corresponding connector not only in one correct orientation but also in a 180 degree reversed orientation.

These USB connectors include components such as shielding shells and EMC springs with electromagnetic shielding function to protect the internal terminals from electromagnetic interference. In particular, EMC springs can serve not only electromagnetic shielding function, which is a main function, but also supporting coupling with corresponding connector when coupling with corresponding connector.

1 is a view schematically showing a prior art EMC spring.

Referring to FIG. 1, the EMC spring 1000 of the prior art has a leaf spring structure. The EMC spring 1000 is mounted on the upper side and the lower side of the insulator to support the coupling with the corresponding connector on the upper side and the lower side. In order to mount the EMC spring 1000 of the prior art on the upper side and the lower side of the insulator, it is necessary to change the orientation of the insulator when assembling, which complicates the work process.

In order to solve the problems of the prior art as described above, the present invention provides a USB connector including an EMC spring having excellent durability and being easy to produce and assemble.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a USB connector for connecting with a corresponding connector, comprising: a shielding shell formed of a conductive material and defining a chamber that opens forward to receive a portion of the mating connector; A terminal formed at a front end thereof with a contact to be exposed to the chamber and a lead at a rear end thereof; An insulator secured to the contacts and leads of the terminal and formed of an insulating material; And an EMC spring fixed to the insulator and having a knife shape and exposed to the upper side and the lower side of the inside of the chamber, wherein the EMC spring provides an elastic force in an inward direction of the chamber when connected to the corresponding connector, A USB connector is provided.

And the EMC spring is electrically connected to the shielding shell to have a ground potential.

The insulator is formed with a groove on one side thereof and is coupled and fixed to the EMC spring.

A first terminal in the form of a knife having a first contact formed at a front end of the terminal and a second end at a rear end of the terminal; And a second terminal in the form of a knife having a plurality of contacts exposed at the chamber at the front end thereof and two leads at the rear end thereof.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention is advantageous in that a USB connector including an EMC spring has excellent durability and can reduce manufacturing cost.

1 is a view schematically showing a prior art EMC spring.
Figure 2 shows a pinout for a USB Type-C.
3 (a) is a perspective view of a USB connector according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 (b) is a front view of a USB connector according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a perspective view of terminals included in a USB connector according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5 is an exploded perspective view showing a USB connector and components according to an embodiment of the present invention.
6 is a perspective view and a plan view of an EMC spring mounted on a USB connector according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 7 illustrates a state in which an EMC spring mounted on a USB connector according to an embodiment of the present invention is mounted on an insulator.
FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of a portion in which a USB connector and a corresponding connector are combined and an EMC spring is mounted according to an embodiment of the present invention.

While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the invention is not intended to be limited to the particular embodiments, but includes all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention. Like reference numerals are used for like elements in describing each drawing.

The terms first, second, etc. may be used to describe various components, but the components should not be limited by the terms. The terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another. For example, without departing from the scope of the present invention, the first component may be referred to as a second component, and similarly, the second component may also be referred to as a first component. Hereinafter, embodiments according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Figure 2 shows a pinout for a USB Type-C.

Fig. 2 shows how each terminal (pin) plays a role in a USB type-C connector. Many of the electrical connectors used in recent years are implemented in a structure including terminals arranged in a line on the upper side and terminals arranged in a line on the lower side.

As shown, the pinout of the USB type-C connector includes a ground pin, a power pin, a data pin, a sideband pin, and a configuration pin. Here, it can be seen that the pins A1, A12, B1, and B12 for grounding are divided into four pins having the same function. The power supply pins (A4, A9, B4, B9) are also divided into four pins that have the same function.

Terminals included in the USB connector are configured such that a contact is formed on one side and is in contact with a contact of the corresponding connector and a lead is formed on the other side to be connected to other parts of the electronic device to which the USB connector is attached have.

When a USB connector having the pinout shown in FIG. 2 is mounted on an electronic device or the like, the leads of each terminal can be connected to a circuit of a printed circuit board (PCB), respectively, or can be connected to a cable or a wire individually.

3 (a) is a perspective view of a USB connector according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 (b) is a front view of a USB connector according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The USB connector according to one embodiment of the present invention may basically include a shielding shell 100, an insulator 500, and a plurality of terminals 310, 340, and 370.

The shielding shell 100 may define a chamber 10 that opens forward. The chambers 10 are exposed at the contacts 320, 352, 354, 382 and 384 of the terminals 310, 340 and 370 and as the part of the corresponding connector (not shown) is inserted into the chamber 10, Contacts the contacts of the terminals to make an electrical connection. The shielding shell 100 has a ground potential and may be formed of a conductive material to protect the terminals 310, 340, and 370 from electromagnetic interference.

The insulator 500 may serve to fix the terminals 310, 340, and 370 to a predetermined position. Since the insulator 500 is formed of an insulating material, a short circuit between the terminals 310, 340, and 370 does not occur. The insulator 500 may be such that the contacts of the terminals are exposed in the chamber 10 in front of the insulator 500 and the leads of the terminals are exposed at the rear of the insulator 500 and the middle portion of the terminals is securely fastened by the insulator 500. [ Lt; / RTI > It is common that the middle portion of the terminal is formed inside the insulator 500.

In the USB connector according to the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 3, the shielding shell 100 is coupled to the insulator 500. A predetermined flange 125 may be formed in the shielding shell 100 and a protrusion 505 inserted into the hole formed in the flange 125 may be formed on the insulator 500. [ In addition, it will be appreciated that the shielding shell 100 and the insulator 500 are provided with various types of coupling means.

3B, seven contacts are exposed on the upper side of the chamber 10 in the USB connector according to the embodiment of the present invention, and four contacts are exposed on the lower side of the chamber 10 Respectively. The arrangement of the terminal contacts reflects the pin-out of the USB type-C connector shown in FIG. 1. When the USB type-C connector is conformed to the USB 2.0 standard other than the USB 3.1 standard, the pins of the shaded area in FIG. , A3, A8, A10, A11, B2, B3, B5 to B8, B10 and B11 are not used. Of course, the number of contacts shown in Figure 2 (b) is only one exemplary embodiment, and the invention is not limited to any particular number of terminals or pins.

Each terminal included in the USB connector is exposed to the chamber 10 inside the shielding shell 100 at the front of the connector as described above and the lead portion is exposed to the surface of the insulator 500 at the rear of the connector . The contact portion makes electrical contact with the corresponding connector while contacting the contact of the corresponding connector, and the lead portion can be connected to a wire such as a cable or a PCB substrate.

The USB connector according to the embodiment of the present invention has seven contacts on the upper side and four contacts on the lower side in FIG. 3 (b). 3 (a), the number of leads 330, 360, 390 formed on the rear side is different from the number of contacts 320, 352, 354, 382, 384 exposed in the chamber 10 .

4 is a perspective view of terminals included in a USB connector according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In the USB connector according to an embodiment of the present invention, two or more types of terminals may be used. A terminal referred to herein as a "first terminal" is a terminal having one contact. In contrast, a terminal referred to herein as a " second terminal " is a terminal having a plurality of contacts.

Referring to FIG. 4, it can be seen that the first terminals 310 each have one contact 320. These may be, for example, terminals corresponding to D + (USB data), D- (USB data) and CC (Configuration Channel) in FIG. 1 and may be terminals having unique functions that can not be connected with other terminals.

On the other hand, the ground terminal 370 is a kind of the second terminal. In Figure 4, the ground terminal 370 is connected to another component having a ground potential as it maintains the ground potential at the USB connector. Due to this characteristic, one of the contacts 352, 354 of the ground terminal 370 may contact other components having a ground potential, including other grounding contacts 352, 354.

In the USB connector according to the embodiment of the present invention, the two contacts 352 and 354 of the ground terminal 370 are connected to each other, and the ground contacts 352 and 354 are connected to each other. Although it appears to have two leads per terminal, each lead of a terminal can be seen as a single lead electrically connected to each other.

Similarly, the power terminal 340 is a kind of the second terminal. In FIG. 4, the power supply terminal 340 supplies power through a USB connector. Due to this characteristic, one of the contacts 382 and 384 of the power terminal 340 may be connected to other power contacts 382 and 384 for power supply.

The power supply terminal 340 in the USB connector according to an embodiment of the present invention is configured such that two power supply contacts 382 and 384 are connected to each other so that two leads But each lead of a terminal can be seen as a single lead electrically connected to each other.

The structure of such a terminal electrically connects A1, A4, A9 and A12 to B12, B9, B4 and B1 respectively in the pinout of Fig. 1 to connect the 11 contacts 320, 352, 354, 382 and 384 of the terminal to seven leads (330, 360, 390), thereby facilitating the mounting of the circuit element and the circuit configuration.

In addition, since the number of leads is reduced, the width or the area of each lead can be increased as compared with the prior art. Since a small number of leads are implemented with a greater width or area, it is significantly easier to connect the leads of each terminal to the wires and the like, which can significantly reduce the effort and cost of mounting the USB connector.

The insulator 500 of the USB connector according to an embodiment of the present invention may mount the EMC spring 120 and the latch spring 250 to maintain the engagement with the corresponding connector inserted into the chamber 10. [ The EMC spring 120 and the latch spring 250 may be made of a conductor.

5 is an exploded perspective view showing a USB connector and components according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, the EMC spring 120 may be mounted on the insulator 500. The method of mounting the EMC spring 120 to the USB connector may vary. 5, a groove corresponding to the EMC spring 120 is formed on the insulator 500, and the EMC spring 120 is inserted and fixed in the formed groove. Thus, As shown in Fig. Also, the shielding shell 100 is coupled to the outside of the groove of the insulator 500 having the EMC spring 120 inserted thereto, thereby preventing the EMC spring 120 from being separated from the inserted groove. More than two such EMC springs 120 can be mounted as needed.

Referring to FIG. 3 (b), a part of the EMC spring 120 may have a structure protruding into the chamber 10. The EMC spring 120 is designed so that the protruding portion has elasticity so that when the corresponding connector is inserted into the chamber 10, the elastic spring constantly moves from the upper side and the lower side of the chamber 10 toward the inside of the chamber 10 So that the coupling with the corresponding connector can be maintained.

Also, the latch spring 250 may be mounted on the insulator 500 as well. Referring to FIG. 3 (b), a portion of the latch spring 120 may protrude into the chamber 10. The latch spring 120 is mounted on both sides of the inside of the chamber 10 so that the protruding portion is made to have an elastic force so that when the corresponding connector is inserted into the chamber 10, It is possible to apply a constant elastic force to maintain the coupling with the corresponding connector.

The EMC spring 120 mounted on the USB connector according to an embodiment of the present invention is in the form of a knife spring. The EMC spring 120 may have a specific shape and may have a shape as shown in FIG. 6, for example.

6 is a perspective view and a plan view of an EMC spring mounted on a USB connector according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 illustrates a state in which an EMC spring mounted on a USB connector according to an embodiment of the present invention is mounted on an insulator.

6 and 7, the EMC spring 120 mounted on the USB connector according to the embodiment of the present invention can be firmly attached to the insulator 500 through the mounting portion 610. [ A part of the insulator 500 is inserted into the mounting portion 610 and the fixing portion 620 is inserted into the insulator so that the EMC spring 120 does not move forward and backward inside the USB connector, . Also, the mounting method can easily perform the assembling process. For example, a groove corresponding to the insulator 500 is formed on the upper side of the insulator 500, so that a plurality of EMC springs 120 can be mounted from the upper side. Further, if a groove is formed on the lower side of the insulator 500, it is obvious that the insulator 500 can be inserted in the opposite direction. The shielding shell 100 is coupled to the outside of the groove of the insulator 500 in which the EMC spring 120 is inserted so that the EMC spring 120 can be prevented from being separated from the inserted groove.

In the case of the conventional leaf spring type EMC spring 1000, there is a problem that the assembly process is difficult due to the orientation of the insulator at the time of assembly when mounted on the upper and lower sides of the insulator. However, the USB connector according to the embodiment of the present invention can mount the EMC spring in the form of a knife spring without changing the direction of the insulator, thereby increasing the production efficiency.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of a portion in which a USB connector and a corresponding connector are combined and an EMC spring is mounted according to an embodiment of the present invention.

6 through 8, the resilient portion 630 of the EMC spring 120 also extends in a curve inwardly of the chamber 10 to define an internal direction of the chamber 10 As shown in Fig. In addition, the latching portion 640 of the EMC spring 120 protrudes into the chamber to provide a clock feeling when a part of the corresponding connector is inserted and coupled between the two latching portions 640, Thereby allowing the connector to be more firmly coupled to the mating connector. The latching portion 640 may be formed so that its protruding shape curves to facilitate coupling and disconnection with the corresponding connector. Further, the support portion 650 is formed to be wide in the front-rear direction of the connector, so that the durability of the EMC spring 120 can be enhanced. The EMC spring 120 according to an embodiment of the present invention having such a structure is advantageous in that its shape is simple and the production cost is also reduced.

Further, since the EMC spring 120 is made of a conductor and has a ground potential, it functions as an electromagnetic wave shielding which is a main function of the EMC spring 120. The EMC spring 120 may be electrically connected to the shielding shell 100 having a ground potential to have a ground potential, which may be directly or indirectly connected to the shielding shell 100 to have a ground potential.

6 and 8, the EMC spring 120 may contact the shielding shell 100 at the protruded ground 660 and have a ground potential. Thus, the EMC spring 120, together with the shielding shell 100, can protect the terminals 310, 340, and 370 from electromagnetic interference. In addition, the latching portion 640 of the EMC spring 120 can contact the portion 700 having the ground potential of the corresponding connector to form a common ground potential with the corresponding connector.

As described above, the USB connector according to the embodiment of the present invention uses the EMC spring in the form of a knife spring, which is excellent in durability and can be easily manufactured and assembled, thereby improving the workability and reducing the manufacturing cost of the equipment.

As described above, the present invention has been described with reference to particular embodiments, such as specific elements, and specific embodiments and drawings. However, it should be understood that the present invention is not limited to the above- Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications and changes may be made thereto without departing from the scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the spirit of the present invention should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments described, and all of the equivalents or equivalents of the claims, as well as the following claims, belong to the scope of the present invention .

100: Shielding shell
120: EMC spring
250: Latch spring
310: Terminal 1
340: Power terminal
370: Grounding terminal
500: Insulator

Claims

A USB connector for connecting with a corresponding connector,
A shielding shell defining a chamber that opens forwardly to receive a portion of the mating connector and is formed of a conductive material;
A terminal formed at a front end thereof with a contact to be exposed to the chamber and a lead at a rear end thereof;
An insulator secured to the contacts and leads of the terminal and formed of an insulating material; And
And an EMC spring fixed to the insulator and being exposed to the upper side and the lower side of the inside of the chamber,
Wherein the EMC spring is electrically connected to the shield shell to protect the terminal from electromagnetic interference and has a ground potential,
Wherein the EMC spring is in contact with the mating connector upon connection with the mating connector and provides resilient force to the mating connector in an inward direction of the chamber to securely hold the mating connector.

delete

The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the insulator has a groove formed on one side thereof and is engaged with and fixed to the EMC spring.

The method of claim 3,
The terminal
A first terminal in the form of a knife having one contact exposed at the front end of the chamber and two leads at the rear end thereof; And
And a second terminal in the form of a knife having a plurality of contacts exposed at the chamber at the front end thereof and two leads at the rear end thereof.