CN114079178A

CN114079178A - Electrical connector

Info

Publication number: CN114079178A
Application number: CN202010796062.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 张存东; 陈敏; 何佳; 刘开文
Original assignee: Molex Interconnect Chengdu Co Ltd; Molex LLC
Current assignee: Molex Interconnect Chengdu Co Ltd; Molex LLC
Priority date: 2020-08-10
Filing date: 2020-08-10
Publication date: 2022-02-22
Anticipated expiration: 2040-08-10
Also published as: CN114079178B; TW202207549A; TWI763044B

Abstract

An electrical connector includes a housing, a plurality of terminals, and a cover. The shell is provided with a first buckling structure. The terminals are arranged in the shell, each terminal is provided with a fixing part fixed on the shell, a tail part extending downwards from the fixing part and a surface welding part connected to the tail end of the tail part and used for being welded on the surface of the circuit board. Cover the rear end that sets up at the casing, it has second lock joint structure to cover, and the terminal covers portion, cover and to move along the moving direction for the casing, second lock joint structure can correspond the lock joint in the first lock joint structure of casing two segmentations, so that cover can be operated in order to stop in pre-buckling position and terminal lock joint position, when covering in pre-buckling position, the surface weld portion of terminal appears, when covering in terminal lock joint position, the afterbody and the surface weld portion of terminal are revealed to the terminal cover portion.

Description

Electrical connector

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an electrical connector, and more particularly, to an electrical connector with a cover.

Background

In recent years, chinese patent publication No. CN1166704A (corresponding to U.S. patent No. US5,971,774) discloses a connector for connecting printed circuit boards, said connector comprising a housing having a plurality of elongate conductive terminals projecting therefrom in a first direction, a centering member being connected to the housing, said centering member being adapted to maintain the free ends of the terminals in a substantially fixed orientation relative to the housing, wherein the centering member is movable in the first direction relative to the housing from a temporary position to a final position, the terminals being tightly held in the temporary position by the centering member and loosely held in the final position by the centering member.

The centering member disclosed therein is used only for holding and positioning the free ends of the terminals. The rear section of the terminal remains exposed. In some applications, the exposed terminal tail portions may become contaminated, either during manufacture or use, resulting in damage, degradation, poor contact, or open circuits of the terminal and solder joints.

Disclosure of Invention

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an electrical connector that overcomes at least one of the disadvantages of the prior art.

Thus, in some embodiments, the electrical connector of the present invention includes a housing, a plurality of terminals, and a cover. The shell is provided with a first buckling structure. The terminals are arranged on the shell, and each terminal is provided with a fixing part fixed on the shell, a tail part extending downwards from the fixing part, and a surface welding part connected to the tail end and used for being welded on the surface of a circuit board. The cover is arranged at the rear end of the shell and is provided with a second fastening structure and a terminal cover part, the cover can move along a moving direction relative to the shell, the second fastening structure can be correspondingly fastened to the first fastening structure of the shell in a two-section mode, so that the cover can be operated to stop at a pre-fastening position and a final fastening position, when the cover is at the pre-fastening position, the surface welding part of the terminals is exposed, and when the cover is at the final fastening position, the terminal cover part covers the tail part and the surface welding part of the terminals.

In some embodiments, the first fastening structures are formed on the left and right sides of the housing, and the second fastening structures are formed on the left and right sides of the cover, so that the cover can move from the pre-fastening position to the final fastening position from top to bottom along the moving direction.

In some embodiments, the housing further has two side extensions extending laterally outward from the left and right sides of the rear end, the cover further has two downward extensions extending downward from the left and right sides, the two side extensions are correspondingly engaged with the two downward extensions, the first fastening structure is formed on the two side extensions, and the second fastening structure is formed on the two downward extensions.

In some embodiments, the first fastening structure includes a first fastening block located above and a second fastening block located below, the first fastening block and the second fastening block are respectively formed on a front side and a rear side of the corresponding side extension portion, each downward extending portion has a front fastening strip and a rear fastening strip respectively corresponding to the front side and the rear side of the corresponding side extension portion, and the second fastening structure includes a front fastening strip and a rear fastening strip formed on the corresponding downward extending portion and fastening holes for fastening the first fastening block and the second fastening block correspondingly.

In some embodiments, each side extension of the housing has a downwardly formed guiding hole, and each downward extension of the cover further has a downwardly formed guiding block located between the front fastening bar and the rear fastening bar, and the guiding block is slidably inserted into the guiding hole in an up-and-down manner, so that the cover can move from top to bottom along the moving direction.

In some embodiments, the first blocks formed in the both side extensions are offset from each other in the left-right direction and offset from each other in the front-back direction, and the second blocks formed in the both side extensions are offset from each other in the left-right direction and offset from each other in the front-back direction.

In some embodiments, the first fastening structures are formed on the left and right sides of the housing, and the second fastening structures are formed on the left and right sides of the cover, and the cover can move from the pre-fastening position to the final fastening position from back to front along the moving direction.

In some embodiments, the housing further has two rear extensions extending rearward on left and right sides of the rear end, the cover further has two side arms on left and right sides, the two rear extensions are correspondingly engaged with the two side arms, the first fastening structure is formed on the two rear extensions, and the second fastening structure is formed on the two side arms.

In some embodiments, the first fastening structure includes a first fastening block located at the rear and a second fastening block located at the front, the first and second fastening blocks are formed on inner wall surfaces of the corresponding rear extensions, and the second fastening structure includes a fastening block formed on the corresponding side arm and used for fastening with the first and second fastening blocks.

In some embodiments, the terminal cover portion has a top wall, two side walls, a rear wall, and a receiving groove defined by the two side walls, the top wall and the rear wall and configured to at least partially receive the tail portion and the surface soldering portion of the terminals.

Before the electric connector is assembled, the cover can be combined with the second fastening structure through the first fastening structure and the second fastening structure and is arranged on the shell, so that the conveying, storage, material preparation and on-line assembly of parts are facilitated. And because the second buckling structure is correspondingly buckled with the first buckling structure of the shell in a two-stage way, the cover can be operated to stop at the pre-buckling position and the final buckling position, and when the cover is positioned at the pre-buckling position, the surface welding parts of the terminals can be exposed, so that the surface welding installation of the surface welding part of the electric connector is facilitated. After the welding operation is completed, the cover can be pushed to the final buckling position, and the terminal cover part of the cover covers the tail parts and the surface welding parts of the terminals. Therefore, after the electric connector is assembled, the cover of the invention can completely cover the tail part and the surface welding part of the terminals exposed at the rear end of the shell, and prevent pollution, damage, deterioration, poor contact or open circuit of the terminals and welding joints.

Drawings

Other features and technical effects of the present invention will be apparent from the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

fig. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of an electrical connector of the present invention disposed on a circuit board, with the cover in a pre-latched position;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the first embodiment and the circuit board of FIG. 1 from another perspective;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 1, with the cover in a final fastened position;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the first embodiment of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is another cross-sectional view of the first embodiment of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the electrical connector of the present invention disposed on the circuit board, with the cover in the pre-fastened position;

FIG. 8 is a top view of the second embodiment of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view of FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view of FIG. 9 from another perspective;

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of the second embodiment of FIG. 7;

FIG. 12 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 7, with the cover in the final fastened position; and

fig. 13 is a cross-sectional view of the second embodiment of fig. 12.

List of reference numerals

100 electric connector shell

11 butt joint part

12 terminal mounting groove

121 jack

13 terminal holding block

14 side extension

141 guide hole

15 first fastening structure

151 first fastening block

152 second buckle block

151' first fastening block

152' second fastening block

16 rear extension

161 guide chute terminal

21 fixed part

22 contact part

23 tail part

24 surface weld coverage

31 downwardly extending part

311 front fastening strip

312 rear fastening strip

313 guide block

32 second fastening structure

321 fastening hole

321a first fastening hole

321b second fastening hole

322 fastening block

33 terminal cover

331 upper wall

332 side wall

333 back wall

334 containing groove

34 side arm part

35 guide slide block

200 circuit board

D1 front-back direction

D2 left and right direction

D3 vertical direction

Detailed Description

Before the present invention is described in detail, it should be noted that in the following description, like elements are represented by like reference numerals.

Referring to fig. 1 to 4, a first embodiment of the electrical connector 100 of the present invention is suitable for being disposed on a circuit board 200, and the circuit board 200 is a flexible circuit board 200 in the present embodiment, but not limited thereto. The electrical connector 100 includes a housing 1, a plurality of terminals 2, and a cover 3.

Referring to fig. 1 to 5, the housing 1 has a docking portion 11 located at a front end in a front-rear direction D1 (arrow direction is forward, reverse is backward), and a terminal mounting groove 12 formed forward from the rear end, the terminal mounting groove 12 has a plurality of insertion holes 121 formed at a front end of the docking portion 11, the insertion holes 121 are spaced side by side in a left-right direction D2 (arrow direction is right, reverse is left) in the first embodiment, and are divided into upper and lower rows in an up-down direction D3 (arrow direction is upward, reverse is downward). The terminals 2 are disposed on the housing 1, and each terminal 2 has a fixing portion 21 fixed on the housing 1, a contact portion 22 extending forward from the fixing portion 21 and corresponding to the insertion holes 121, a tail portion 23 extending downward from the fixing portion 21 along the up-down direction D3, and a surface soldering portion 24 connected to an end of the tail portion 23 and used for soldering a circuit contact (not shown) on the surface of the circuit board 200. Specifically, the housing 1 further has a terminal holding block 13 assembled to the rear section of the terminal mounting groove 12 and a fixing portion 21 for assembling the terminals 2, so that the terminals 2 are fixedly mounted on the housing 1. The fixing portions 21 of the terminals 2 may be formed with a configuration such as a barb and fixed to the terminal holding block 13 with a tight fit by the configuration; or the fixing portions 21 of the terminals 2 may be fixed to the terminal holding block 13 by insert molding.

Referring to fig. 1 and 4 to 6, the cover 3 is disposed at the rear end of the housing 1, and in the first embodiment, the housing 1 further has two side extensions 14 located at the rear end and extending outward laterally along the left-right direction D2, and first buckling structures 15 formed on the two side extensions 14 located at the left and right sides of the housing 1. The cover 3 includes two downward extending portions 31 extending downward from left and right sides and corresponding to the two side extending portions 14, second engaging structures 32 formed on the two downward extending portions 31, and a terminal cover portion 33. The cover 3 can move along a moving direction relative to the housing 1, and the second fastening structure 32 can be correspondingly fastened to the first fastening structure 15 of the housing 1 in two stages, so that the cover 3 can be operated to stop at a pre-fastening position and a final-fastening position. When the cover 3 is at the pre-buckling position, the surface welding parts 24 of the terminals 2 are exposed; when the cover 3 is in the final-snap-fit position, the terminal cover portions 33 cover the tail portions 23 and the surface solder portions 24 of the terminals 2. Specifically, in the first embodiment, the terminal covering portion 33 has an upper wall 331, two sidewalls 332 connecting the upper wall 331 and extending downward, a rear wall 333 connecting the upper wall 331 and the two sidewalls 332, and a receiving groove 334 defined by the two sidewalls 332, the upper wall 331 and the rear wall 333 and configured to at least partially receive the tail portion 23 and the surface soldering portion 24 of the terminals 2.

In detail, in the first embodiment, the moving direction is the up-down direction D3, and the cover 3 can move from the pre-fastening position to the final fastening position from the top to the bottom along the moving direction. The first fastening structure 15 includes two first fastening blocks 151 located above and two second fastening blocks 152 located below, and the two first fastening blocks 151 and the two second fastening blocks 152 are respectively formed on the front side and the rear side of the corresponding side extension portion 14. Wherein, the two first blocks 151 respectively formed on the two side extensions 14 are staggered left and right and front and back, one of the two first blocks 151 is formed on the front side surface of the side extension 14 on the right side, and the other is formed on the back side surface of the side extension 14 on the left side; the two second blocks 152 respectively formed on the two side extensions 14 are staggered left and right and front and back, one of the two second blocks 152 is formed on the rear side of the side extension 14 on the right side, and the other is formed on the front side of the side extension 14 on the left side.

Each descending portion 31 has a front fastening strip 311 and a rear fastening strip 312 corresponding to the front and rear sides of the corresponding side extension portion 14, respectively. The second fastening structure 32 includes a plurality of fastening holes 321 formed on the front fastening strip 311 and the rear fastening strip 312 of the corresponding downward extending portion 31 for fastening with the two first fastening blocks 151 and the two second fastening blocks 152. The fastening holes 321 include two first fastening holes 321a corresponding to the two first fastening blocks 151 and two second fastening holes 321b corresponding to the two second fastening blocks 152. When the cover 3 is at the pre-fastening position, the two first fastening holes 321a are fastened to the two first fastening blocks 151, and the two second fastening holes 321b are not fastened to the two second fastening blocks 152, in detail, the bottom edges of the front fastening strip 311 and the rear fastening strip 312, which form the second fastening holes 321b at this time, can abut against the two second fastening blocks 152, so that the cover 3 stops at the pre-fastening position; when the cover 3 moves from the pre-fastening position to the final fastening position, the two first fastening holes 321a are still fastened to the two first fastening blocks 151, and the two second fastening holes 321b are fastened to the two second fastening blocks 152, so that the cover 3 stops at the final fastening position. That is, the cover 3 can be pre-assembled to the housing 1 through the first fastening hole 321a and the two first fastening blocks 151. The second fastening hole 321b and the two second fastening blocks 152 can make the cover 3 completely assembled to the housing 1 and stop at the final fastening position. In addition, the top surface of each side extension 14 of the housing 1 has a guiding hole 141 formed downward, each downward extension 31 of the cover 3 further has a guiding block 313 formed downward and located between the front fastening strip 311 and the rear fastening strip 312, and the guiding blocks 313 of the two downward extensions 31 are slidably inserted into the guiding holes 141 of the two side extensions 14 up and down, so that the cover 3 can move from top to bottom along the moving direction.

In summary, before the electrical connector 100 is assembled, the cover 3 can be disposed on the housing 1 by combining the first fastening structure 15 and the second fastening structure 32, which is beneficial to transportation, storage, stock preparation and on-line assembly of parts. Moreover, since the second fastening structure 32 is two-stage and correspondingly fastened to the first fastening structure 15 of the housing 1, the cover 3 can be operated to stop at the pre-fastening position and the final fastening position, and when the cover 3 is located at the pre-fastening position, the surface soldering portions 24 of the terminals 2 will be exposed, so as to facilitate surface soldering installation of the surface soldering portions 24 of the electrical connector 100 and the circuit contacts of the circuit board 200. When the soldering operation is completed, the cover 3 can be pushed to the final-locking position, and the terminal-covering portion 33 of the cover 3 covers the tail portions 23 and the surface-soldering portions 24 of the terminals 2. Therefore, after the electrical connector 100 is assembled, the cover 3 of the present invention can completely cover the tail portion 23 and the surface soldering portion 24 of the terminals 2 exposed at the rear end of the housing 1, so as to prevent contamination, damage, deterioration, poor contact, or disconnection of the terminals 2 and soldering points.

Referring to fig. 7 to 10, a second embodiment of the electrical connector 100 of the present invention is different from the first embodiment in that the housing 1 further has two rear extensions 16 extending rearward and located at the left and right sides of the rear end, the cover 3 further has two side arms 34 located at the left and right sides and extending forward from the left and right side edges of the rear wall 333, the two rear extensions 16 are correspondingly matched with the two side arms 34, the first locking structures 15 are formed on the two rear extensions 16 located at the left and right sides of the housing 1, and the second locking structures 32 are formed on the two side arms 34 located at the left and right sides of the cover 3.

Referring to fig. 7 and fig. 11 to 13, the moving direction is the front-back direction D1, and the cover 3 can move from the pre-fastening position to the final fastening position from back to front along the moving direction. The first fastening structure 15 includes two first fastening blocks 151 'located at the rear and two second fastening blocks 152' located at the front, the two first fastening blocks 151 'and the two second fastening blocks 152' are formed on the inner wall surfaces of the rear extension 16, and the second fastening structure 32 includes fastening blocks 322 respectively formed on the outer side surfaces of the corresponding side arm portions 34 and used for fastening the two first fastening blocks 151 'and the two second fastening blocks 152'.

The inner wall surface of each rear overhang portion 16 of the housing 1 is formed with a guide sliding groove 161 extending in the front-rear direction D1 and opening rearward, and the cover 3 is further formed with two guide sliders 35 extending outward from the left and right side edges of the upper wall 331 and slidably inserted into the guide sliding grooves 161 of the two rear overhang portions 16, so that the cover 3 can move from rear to front in the moving direction.

When the cover 3 is at the pre-fastening position, each fastening block 322 is fastened to the first fastening block 151 ' and located between the first fastening block 151 ' and the second fastening block 152 ', respectively, so that the cover 3 stops at the pre-fastening position; when the cover 3 moves from the pre-fastening position to the final fastening position, the two fastening blocks 322 are fastened to the two second fastening blocks 152' respectively and the two guiding sliding blocks 35 can abut against the inner wall surfaces of the front ends of the two guiding sliding grooves 161, so that the cover 3 stops at the final fastening position.

In summary, before the electrical connector 100 is assembled, the cover 3 can be disposed on the housing 1 by combining the first fastening structure 15 and the second fastening structure 32, which is beneficial to transportation, storage, material preparation and on-line assembly of parts. Moreover, since the second fastening structure 32 is two-stage and correspondingly fastened to the first fastening structure 15 of the housing 1, the cover 3 can be operated to stop at the pre-fastening position and the final fastening position, and when the cover 3 is located at the pre-fastening position, the surface soldering portions 24 of the terminals 2 will be exposed, so as to facilitate the surface soldering of the surface soldering portions 24 of the electrical connector 100. When the soldering operation is completed, the cover 3 can be pushed to the final-locking position, and the terminal-covering portion 33 of the cover 3 covers the tail portions 23 and the surface-soldering portions 24 of the terminals 2. Therefore, after the electrical connector 100 is assembled, the cover 3 of the present invention can completely cover the tail portion 23 and the surface soldering portion 24 of the terminals 2 exposed at the rear end of the housing 1, so as to prevent contamination, damage, deterioration, poor contact, or disconnection of the terminals 2 and soldering points.

The above description is only an example of the present invention, and the scope of the present invention should not be limited thereby, and all the simple equivalent changes and modifications made according to the claims and the contents of the patent specification should be included in the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. An electrical connector, comprising:

a housing having a first fastening structure;

a plurality of terminals disposed on the housing, each terminal having a fixing portion fixed on the housing, a tail portion extending downward from the fixing portion, and a surface soldering portion connected to a tail end of the tail portion and adapted to be soldered to a surface of a circuit board; and

a cover arranged at the rear end of the shell and having a second fastening structure and a terminal covering part, wherein the cover can move along a moving direction relative to the shell, the second fastening structure can be correspondingly fastened to the first fastening structure of the shell in two sections, so that the cover can be operated to stop at a pre-fastening position and a final fastening position, when the cover is at the pre-fastening position, the surface welding part of the terminals is exposed, and when the cover is at the final fastening position, the terminal covering part covers the tail part and the surface welding part of the terminals.

2. The electrical connector of claim 1, wherein the first snap-fit structures are formed on left and right sides of the housing, and the second snap-fit structures are formed on left and right sides of the cover, the cover being capable of moving from the pre-snap-fit position to the final-snap-fit position from top to bottom along the moving direction.

3. The electrical connector of claim 2, wherein the housing further has two side extensions extending laterally outward on left and right sides of the rear end, the cover further has two downward extensions extending downward on left and right sides, the two side extensions are correspondingly engaged with the two downward extensions, the first snap structure is formed on the two side extensions, and the second snap structure is formed on the two downward extensions.

4. The electrical connector of claim 3, wherein the first fastening structure includes a first fastening block disposed above and a second fastening block disposed below, the first and second fastening blocks being formed on front and rear sides of the corresponding side extensions, respectively, each of the downward extensions having a front fastening strip and a rear fastening strip corresponding to the front and rear sides of the corresponding side extension, respectively, and the second fastening structure includes fastening holes formed on the front and rear fastening strips of the corresponding downward extensions for fastening with the first and second fastening blocks, respectively.

5. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 4, wherein each side extension of the housing has a downwardly formed guiding hole, each downwardly extending portion of the cover further has a downwardly formed guiding block located between the front and rear fastening bars, and the guiding block is slidably inserted into the guiding hole in a vertical direction so that the cover can move from top to bottom along the moving direction.

6. The electrical connector of claim 5, wherein the first blocks formed in the side extensions are offset left-right and front-back, and the second blocks formed in the side extensions are offset left-right and front-back.

7. The electrical connector of claim 1, wherein the first snap features are formed on left and right sides of the housing, and the second snap features are formed on left and right sides of the cover, the cover being movable from the pre-snap position to the final-snap position from back to front in the moving direction.

8. The electrical connector of claim 7, wherein the housing further has two rear extensions extending rearward on left and right sides of the rear end, the cover further has two side arms on left and right sides, the rear extensions correspondingly engaging with the side arms, the first engaging structure is formed on the rear extensions, and the second engaging structure is formed on the side arms.

9. The electrical connector of claim 8, wherein the first engagement structure includes a first engagement block at a rear and a second engagement block at a front, the first and second engagement blocks being formed on inner wall surfaces of the respective rear portions, and the second engagement structure includes an engagement block formed on the respective side arm portions for engagement with the first and second engagement blocks.

10. The electrical connector of claim 1, wherein the terminal cover portion has a top wall, two side walls, a rear wall, and a receiving cavity defined by the two side walls, the top wall and the rear wall for at least partially receiving the tail portion and the surface solder portion of the terminals.