CN217823338U - Electric connector, connecting assembly and terminal equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to an electrical connector, a connecting assembly and a terminal device, the electrical connector includes: at least one conductive terminal; the protective coating is positioned on the surface of the conductive terminal, and at least comprises: the first plating layer, the second plating layer and the third plating layer are sequentially stacked along the direction far away from the surface of the conductive terminal; the first plating layer is a platinum gold plating layer, the second plating layer is a platinum alloy plating layer, and the third plating layer is a palladium alloy plating layer or a palladium plating layer. The electrolytic resistance and the wear resistance are improved, the electrolytic resistance and the wear resistance stability of the electric connector in the use process are enhanced, and the service life of the electric connector is prolonged. And the cost is lower, and the cost of the electric connector is reduced.

Description

Electric connector, connecting assembly and terminal equipment

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to the field of electronic devices, and in particular, to an electrical connector, a connecting assembly, and a terminal device.

Background

With the development of communication technology, terminal devices such as mobile phones and the like have become an essential electronic device in daily life. The use scenes of terminal equipment such as mobile phones and the like are more and more, the use environment is more and more complex, and the quality requirement on the terminal is higher and higher.

A terminal performs data transmission, charging, and the like through an input/output (I/O) device, and generally employs an electrical connector as an I/O device. The electrical connector is generally exposed to the outside, and in order to maintain the stability of functions such as data transmission and charging, it is necessary to perform electrolytic corrosion prevention treatment on the electrical connector.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

The disclosure provides an electric connector, a connecting assembly and a terminal device.

In a first aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, an electrical connector is provided, including: at least one conductive terminal; the protective coating is positioned on the surface of the conductive terminal, and at least comprises: the first plating layer, the second plating layer and the third plating layer are sequentially stacked along the direction far away from the surface of the conductive terminal; the first plating layer is a platinum plating layer, the second plating layer is a platinum alloy plating layer, and the third plating layer is a palladium alloy plating layer or a palladium plating layer.

In some embodiments, the second plating layer comprises at least one of: the plating layer is a platinum-ruthenium alloy plating layer, a platinum-rhodium alloy plating layer, a platinum-iridium alloy plating layer, a platinum-silver alloy plating layer, a platinum-gold alloy plating layer, a platinum-titanium alloy plating layer, a platinum-zinc alloy plating layer, a platinum-copper alloy plating layer, a platinum-nickel alloy plating layer and a platinum-rhodium alloy plating layer.

In some embodiments, the palladium alloy plating comprises at least one of: palladium ruthenium alloy plating, palladium rhodium alloy plating, palladium iridium alloy plating, palladium silver alloy plating, palladium gold alloy plating, palladium titanium alloy plating, palladium zinc alloy plating, palladium copper alloy plating, palladium nickel alloy plating, and palladium rhodium alloy plating.

In some embodiments, the conductive terminal comprises: a body; a substrate layer between the body and the first plating layer.

In some embodiments, the substrate layer comprises at least one of: nickel layer, nickel alloy layer, copper alloy layer, zinc layer and zinc alloy layer.

In some embodiments, the body is a copper body or a stainless steel body.

In some embodiments, the substrate layer and the third plating layer further comprise therebetween: at least one metal layer.

In some embodiments, the electrical connection device comprises: a connection device having a universal serial bus interface.

In a second aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a connecting assembly, including: an electrical connector as in any preceding embodiment.

In a third aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, a terminal device is provided, including: an electrical connector as in any preceding embodiment.

The technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the disclosure can have the following beneficial effects:

the electric connecting device of the embodiment has a protective coating on the surface of the conductive terminal, the protective coating at least comprises a first coating, a second coating and a third coating which are sequentially stacked, the first coating is positioned on the surface of the conductive terminal, the first coating is a platinum coating, the second coating is a platinum alloy coating, and the third coating is a palladium alloy coating or a palladium coating. The palladium alloy plating layer or the palladium plating layer has higher wear resistance, so that the wear resistance of the third plating layer is improved. The platinum alloy has better wear resistance and electrolysis resistance, and the platinum plating layer has better electrolysis resistance, so that the electrolysis resistance and wear resistance can be improved, the electrolysis resistance and wear resistance stability of the electric connector in the use process is enhanced, and the service life of the electric connector is prolonged. And the cost is lower, and the cost of the electric connector is reduced.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the disclosure.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with the present invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional schematic view of an electrical connector according to an exemplary embodiment;

fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a conductive terminal shown in accordance with an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating the structure of a substrate layer in accordance with an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a terminal according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating the construction of an electrical connector assembly according to an exemplary embodiment;

fig. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating another electrical connector assembly according to an exemplary embodiment.

Detailed Description

Reference will now be made in detail to the exemplary embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. When the following description refers to the accompanying drawings, like numbers in different drawings represent the same or similar elements unless otherwise indicated. The embodiments described in the following exemplary embodiments do not represent all embodiments consistent with the present invention. Rather, they are merely examples of apparatus and methods consistent with certain aspects of the invention, as detailed in the appended claims.

The terminal performs data transmission and charging power transmission through an input/output (I/O) device, and generally adopts an electrical connector as the I/O device. The electrical connector is generally exposed to The outside, and if The surface of The connector is corroded or worn, it may cause connection abnormalities, such as slow charging of The terminal equipment, flickering of The charging icon, no sound, and no recognition by OTG (On The Go), so that it is necessary to perform an electrolytic corrosion prevention treatment and a wear prevention treatment On The surface of The connector.

The surface of the electric connector is treated in an electrolytic corrosion and abrasion prevention way, a protective coating is usually plated on the surface of the electric connector, the protective coating adopts an anti-corrosion coating structure of electroplating rhodium and rhodium alloy, but as the price of the rhodium continuously rises, the cost performance advantage is obviously reduced, and the cost pressure of a supply chain is increased sharply.

Referring to fig. 1, a schematic cross-sectional view of an electrical connector is shown, the electrical connector comprising:

at least one conductive terminal 1;

the protective plating layer 2 is positioned on the surface of the conductive terminal 1, and the protective plating layer at least comprises: the first plating layer 201, the second plating layer 202 and the third plating layer 203 are sequentially stacked in a direction away from the surface of the conductive terminal 1. The first plating layer is a platinum-gold plating layer, the second plating layer 202 is a platinum alloy plating layer, and the third plating layer 203 is a palladium alloy plating layer or a palladium plating layer.

In this embodiment, one of the conductive terminals 1 is taken as an example for explanation, and the conductive terminal is disposed on the electrical connection device, and the conductive terminal can form an input/output (IO) port, so as to complete functions of data transmission or charging and the like through the conductive terminal.

Referring to fig. 2, a schematic diagram of a conductive terminal 1 is shown. Since the conductive terminal 1 needs to be electrically connected to an interface of an external device, a part of the conductive terminal 1 is exposed to the outside, and this part of the region exposed to the outside may be referred to as an exposed region 11. The surface of the conductive terminal in the exposed area 11 shown in fig. 2 has a protective plating 2. In the use process, the exposed area 11 in the conductive terminal 1 is electrically connected with an interface of external equipment so as to perform data interaction.

In the daily use, since the electrical connector may be contaminated with water, sweat, beverage or other liquids, which may be corrosive, may be an acidic liquid, and may be an alkaline liquid, the conductive terminal 1 may be corroded by the corrosive liquids. In addition, since the conductive terminals are metal conductive terminals, electrical leakage may occur after the surface is contaminated with liquid, and electrolytic corrosion may further occur.

The protective coating 2 has the characteristics of corrosion resistance and abrasion resistance, the conductive terminal can be effectively protected by forming the protective coating 2 on the surface of the conductive terminal 1, the damage to the conductive terminal 1 caused by abrasion and electrolytic corrosion in the using process is reduced, and the service life of the electric connector is prolonged.

Note that the range of the exposed region is not limited to the portion illustrated in fig. 2, and the shape of the conductive terminal 1 is not limited to the portion illustrated in fig. 2, and the shape of the conductive terminal may be different and the range of the exposed region may be different depending on the arrangement shape of the electrical connection device.

Referring to fig. 1, the protective coating 2 is disposed on the surface of the conductive terminal 1, and the protective coating 2 at least includes: the first plating layer 201, the second plating layer 202, and the third plating layer 203 are sequentially stacked in a direction away from the surface of the conductive terminal 1. The first plating layer 201 is a platinum-gold plating layer, the second plating layer 202 is a platinum alloy plating layer, and the third plating layer 203 is a palladium alloy plating layer or a palladium plating layer.

The platinum plating layer has good corrosion resistance, and the first plating layer 201 is the platinum plating layer, so that damage to the conductive terminal caused by electrolytic corrosion, liquid corrosion and the like can be reduced, and the conductive terminal is protected. The platinum plating layer may be electroplated on the surface of the conductive terminal 1 by a vacuum electroplating method, or may be electroplated on the surface of the conductive terminal 1 by an aqueous solution electroplating method, and the electroplating method is not limited. The first plating layer 201 may be on the surface of the conductive terminal 1, and is the plating layer closest to the conductive terminal 1 in the protective plating layer 2.

The second plated layer 202 is located on a surface of the first plated layer 201 facing away from the conductive terminal 1, i.e., the first plated layer 201 is located between the second plated layer 202 and the conductive terminal 1. The second plating layer 202 is a platinum alloy plating layer, which has low cost and corrosion resistance and wear resistance, and the platinum alloy plating layer is used as the second plating layer, so that the cost is reduced, and the protection performance of the protective plating layer 2 in terms of wear and corrosion is improved.

The second plating layer 202 is located between the first plating layer 201 and the third plating layer 203, and the third plating layer 203 is an outermost layer of the protective plating layer 2, exposed to the outside, and in contact with an interface of an external device in use, thereby achieving electrical connection. The third plating layer 203 is a palladium alloy plating layer or a palladium plating layer, and since the palladium alloy plating layer or the palladium plating layer has good wear resistance, the palladium alloy plating layer or the palladium plating layer is used as the outermost layer of the protective plating layer 2. Because the conductive terminal 1 needs to be connected with an interface of an external device in the using process, for example, through a plugging form, friction exists in the plugging process, and the conductive terminal can be abraded by multiple times of friction after long-time repeated use. Therefore, the palladium alloy plating layer or the palladium plating layer with good wear resistance is used as the outermost layer of the protective plating layer 2, so that the abrasion caused by repeated contact friction in the use process can be reduced, the abrasion to the second plating layer 202, the first plating layer 201 and the conductive terminal 1 in the use process is reduced, the protection to the conductive terminal 1 is improved, and the service life of the electric connector is prolonged.

The cost of the palladium or palladium alloy used in the first plating layer 201, the cost of the platinum alloy used in the second plating layer 202 and the cost of the platinum used in the third plating layer 203 are lower than those of rhodium and rhodium alloy, so that the cost of the protective plating layer 2 is reduced while the protective performance of the protective plating layer 2 is improved, the cost and the protective performance are considered, and the cost performance is improved. In addition, the protective coating also has good conductivity, so that normal use is not influenced.

The third plating layer has higher wear resistance, so the thickness of the third plating layer can be reduced, thereby reducing the cost for manufacturing the protective plating layer. The thicknesses of the second plating layer 202 and the first plating layer 201 can also be increased accordingly without increasing the overall thickness of the electrical connector.

Due to the fact that the corrosion resistance and the wear resistance of the second plating layer 202 are high, the thicknesses of the second plating layer 202 and the first plating layer 201 can be reduced, the cost of the protective plating layer is reduced, and meanwhile the overall thickness of the whole electric connector is reduced.

An electrical connector having a conductive terminal formed with a protective plating layer including the first plating layer 201, the second plating layer 202, and the third plating layer 203 is within the scope of this embodiment.

In another embodiment, the thicknesses of the first, second and third plating layers 201, 202 and 203 are not limited and may be determined according to actual use requirements.

In another embodiment, the second plating layer comprises at least one of:

a platinum-ruthenium alloy plating layer, a platinum-rhodium alloy plating layer, a platinum-iridium alloy plating layer, a platinum-silver alloy plating layer, a platinum-gold alloy plating layer, a platinum-titanium alloy plating layer, a platinum-zinc alloy plating layer, a platinum-copper alloy plating layer, a platinum-nickel alloy plating layer, and a platinum-rhodium alloy plating layer. Other platinum alloy coatings may of course be included, not to mention a few.

In another embodiment, when the third plating layer is a palladium alloy plating layer, the palladium alloy plating layer includes at least one of:

palladium ruthenium alloy plating, palladium rhodium alloy plating, palladium iridium alloy plating, palladium silver alloy plating, palladium gold alloy plating, palladium titanium alloy plating, palladium zinc alloy plating, palladium copper alloy plating, palladium nickel alloy plating, and palladium rhodium alloy plating. Other palladium alloy coatings may of course also be included.

In another embodiment, the first plating layer 201 completely covers the conductive terminal 1. Generally, the surface of the conductive terminal 1 is not a plane, but is a curved surface at the edge position of the conductive terminal 1, i.e., is curved inward from the surface of the conductive terminal 1. The portion of the conductive terminal 1 that is bent from the surface to the inside remains the conductive terminal 1 surface and is easily contacted by corrosive substances.

The first plating layer 201 completely covers the conductive terminal 1, i.e. the first plating layer 201 covers the curved surface or the side surface portion at the edge of the conductive terminal 1. With such an arrangement, the exposed part of the conductive terminal 1 can be further protected, and the conductive terminal 1 can be prevented from being corroded in all directions.

In another embodiment, the second plating layer 202 completely covers the first plating layer 201, and the third plating layer completely covers the second plating layer 202.

In another embodiment, the formation of the protective coating 2 generally comprises the steps of:

s1: electroplating on the conductive terminal to form a first plating layer;

s2: electroplating on the first plating layer to form a second plating layer;

s3: and electroplating on the second plating layer to form a third plating layer.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the first plating layer may be formed on the surface of the conductive terminal by aqueous solution plating. The second plating layer may be formed on the first plating layer by aqueous solution plating, and the third plating layer may be formed on the second plating layer by aqueous solution plating.

The aqueous solution electroplating method has low cost and can completely cover the surface of the conductive terminal. The water solution electroplating is a chemical plating film, which is a processing method that a chemical reducing agent is added into a plating solution containing a metal salt solution, and metal ions in the plating solution are reduced and then deposited on the surface of a processed part.

The aqueous solution electroplating has good uniform plating capability and uniform plating thickness. The plating layer can be formed on the shadow area such as the curved surface or the side surface at the edge of the conductive terminal by adopting an aqueous solution electroplating method. The aqueous solution electroplating method is not influenced by the structure of the conductive terminal, and the surface of the conductive terminal can be completely covered by the aqueous solution electroplating method no matter what the structure of the conductive terminal.

The compactness of the second plating layer formed by adopting the aqueous solution for titanium plating is higher, namely the corrosion resistance of the second plating layer can be stronger, and the service life of the electric connection device is further prolonged.

In addition, by adopting the aqueous solution electroplating method, the plating solution can be recycled, so that the production cost of the electric connection device can be further reduced.

In another embodiment, referring to fig. 1, the conductive terminal 1 includes:

a body 101;

a substrate layer 102, the substrate layer 102 being located between the body 101 and the first plating layer 201.

As shown in fig. 1, the substrate layer 102 is disposed on a surface of the body 101 of the conductive terminal 1. The body 101 is a part for electrically connecting the device to an external conductor, and is generally a terminal, which may be a single hole, a double hole, a socket, a hook, or the like. After the protective plating layer 2 is formed on the body 101, the body 101 is electrically connected to an interface of an external device through the protective plating layer 2.

In the disclosed example, the body 101 may be a copper or stainless steel body. The two materials are low in price and excellent in conductivity, and can meet the functional requirements of electric connection devices for transmitting electric signals or conducting electricity.

The hardness of copper or stainless steel is higher, can satisfy the demand that electric connector needs often to peg graft. The body 101 of the conductive terminal 1 has certain hardness, which is beneficial to maintaining the conductive terminal not to deform, and can be accurately matched with another port in the using process, so that the signal transmission or conductive efficiency of the electric connection device can be improved.

It should be noted that the body 101 of the conductive terminal 1 of the present disclosure is not limited to include copper and stainless steel, and in other possible embodiments, the body 101 of the conductive terminal 1 may also include aluminum, iron, etc. as long as the function of transmitting electrical signals or conducting electricity can be achieved.

In the present disclosure, the conductive terminal 1 may be a high potential PIN (PIN), such as VBUS, CC, and SBU. Alternatively, the conductive terminal 1 may be a low potential pin.

In the present disclosure, the substrate layer 102 is disposed on a surface of the body 101, so as to prevent the body 101 from being damaged due to friction during the plugging process, and to facilitate maintaining a function of the body 101 of transmitting signals or conducting electricity.

The electrical connection device transmits signals and conducts electricity through the body 101 to complete the function of transmitting electrical signals or conducting electricity, and during the use process, the body 101 needs to be electrically connected with an interface of another device. Generally, in the service life range of one electrical connection device, the process of repeatedly connecting and disconnecting with another device exists.

If the body 101 is exposed to the outside, it will cause abrasion of the body 101, reduce the service life of the electrical connection device, and reduce the quality of the electrical connection device. The abrasion of the body 101 can be reduced through the substrate layer 101, so that the service life of the electric connection device is prolonged, namely, the quality of the electric connection device is improved, and the market competitiveness of the electric connection device is increased.

In the present disclosure, substrate layer 102 may be composed of the following metal layers: nickel layer, nickel alloy layer, copper alloy layer, zinc alloy layer. The metal layers have the function of abrasion resistance and do not influence the function of the conductive terminal body.

It should be noted that the substrate layer is not limited to one layer, and may be multiple layers in some embodiments. Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a structure of a substrate layer according to an exemplary embodiment. As shown in fig. 3, the substrate layer 102 may include a first substrate layer 1021, a second substrate layer 1022, and a third substrate layer 1023 stacked in sequence.

The first substrate layer 1021 may be composed of at least one of the following metal layers: nickel layer, nickel alloy layer, copper alloy layer, zinc alloy layer.

Second substrate layer 1022 may be comprised of at least one of the following metal layers: nickel layer, nickel alloy layer, copper alloy layer, zinc alloy layer.

The third substrate layer 1023 may be made of at least one of the following metal layers: nickel layer, nickel alloy layer, copper alloy layer, zinc alloy layer.

In another embodiment, substrate layer 102 and first plating layer 201 further comprise therebetween: at least one metal layer. The metal layer can increase the conductivity between the substrate layer 102 and the first plating layer 201, and improve the conductivity.

In another embodiment, the electrical connector comprises a connector having a universal serial bus interface.

The electrical connector may be a connector in the form of a Universal Serial Bus (USB) hardware interface, i.e., a USB electrical connector. The USB electric connector in the present disclosure can be used for transmitting information and exchanging data. For example, the USB electrical connector may be used to connect a portable computer and a smart phone, and data exchange between the portable computer and the smart phone, such as exchanging pictures or videos, may be implemented through the USB electrical connector. It is to be understood that the electrical connector of the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

Based on the same concept, the present disclosure also provides a terminal comprising an electrical connection device as in any of the previous embodiments.

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a structure of a terminal according to an exemplary embodiment, and as shown in fig. 4, a terminal device a may include an electrical connector B. The electrical connector B may be arranged in an intermediate position at the lower end of the terminal device a.

The surface of the conductive terminal of the electric connecting device on the terminal is provided with the protective coating in each embodiment, so that the damage frequency of the electric connector in the terminal equipment A is reduced, and the service life of the terminal equipment A is prolonged.

The terminal of the present disclosure may be any device having communication and storage functions, for example: the system comprises intelligent equipment with a network function, such as a tablet Personal Computer, a mobile phone, an electronic reader, a remote controller, a Personal Computer (PC), a notebook Computer, vehicle-mounted equipment, a network television, wearable equipment and the like.

Based on the same concept, the present disclosure also provides an electrical connector assembly comprising an electrical connection device as in any of the previous embodiments.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of an electrical connector assembly according to an exemplary embodiment. Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of an electrical connector assembly in accordance with another exemplary embodiment.

As shown in fig. 5, the electrical connector assembly C of the present disclosure may be a USB Type-B connector, including electrical connector B.

As shown in fig. 6, the electrical connector assembly D of the present disclosure may be a USB Type-C connector, including electrical connector B. The Type-C connector is a connector of a USB interface, can be inserted without dividing the front side and the back side, has the size of about 8.3mm multiplied by 2.5mm, and can be used for functions of charging, data transmission, display output and the like.

It should be noted that the electrical connector assembly of the present disclosure is not limited to the USB Type-B connector and the USB Type-C connector, and in some embodiments, may also be USB Type-a connector, and may also be a connector that appears later, such as USB Type-D, USB Type-E, etc.

Other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. This application is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention following, in general, the principles of the invention and including such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art to which the invention pertains. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the following claims.

It will be understood that the invention is not limited to the precise arrangements described above and shown in the drawings and that various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope thereof. The scope of the present invention is limited only by the appended claims.

Claims (10)

1. An electrical connector, comprising:

at least one conductive terminal;

the protective coating is positioned on the surface of the conductive terminal, and at least comprises: the first plating layer, the second plating layer and the third plating layer are sequentially stacked along the direction far away from the surface of the conductive terminal; the first plating layer is a platinum gold plating layer, the second plating layer is a platinum alloy plating layer, and the third plating layer is a palladium alloy plating layer or a palladium plating layer.

2. The electrical connector of claim 1, wherein the second plating layer comprises at least one of:

the plating layer is a platinum-ruthenium alloy plating layer, a platinum-rhodium alloy plating layer, a platinum-iridium alloy plating layer, a platinum-silver alloy plating layer, a platinum-gold alloy plating layer, a platinum-titanium alloy plating layer, a platinum-zinc alloy plating layer, a platinum-copper alloy plating layer, a platinum-nickel alloy plating layer and a platinum-rhodium alloy plating layer.

3. The electrical connector of claim 1, wherein the palladium alloy plating comprises at least one of:

palladium ruthenium alloy plating, palladium rhodium alloy plating, palladium iridium alloy plating, palladium silver alloy plating, palladium gold alloy plating, palladium titanium alloy plating, palladium zinc alloy plating, palladium copper alloy plating, palladium nickel alloy plating, and palladium rhodium alloy plating.

4. The electrical connector of claim 1, wherein the conductive terminal comprises:

a body;

a substrate layer between the body and the first plating layer.

5. The electrical connector of claim 4, wherein the substrate layer comprises at least one of:

nickel layer, nickel alloy layer, copper alloy layer, zinc layer and zinc alloy layer.

6. The electrical connector of claim 4, wherein the body is a copper body or a stainless steel body.

7. The electrical connector of claim 4, further comprising, between the substrate layer and the third plating layer: at least one metal layer.

8. The electrical connector of claim 1, wherein the electrical connector comprises: a connection device having a universal serial bus interface.

9. A connection assembly, comprising:

an electrical connector as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8.

10. A terminal device, comprising:

the electrical connector of any one of claims 1 to 8.

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