GB2411778A

GB2411778A - Reinforcing connector using part of shield

Info

Publication number: GB2411778A
Application number: GB0503458A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Yasuhiro Yanagida
Original assignee: SMK Corp
Current assignee: SMK Corp
Priority date: 2004-03-02
Filing date: 2005-02-18
Publication date: 2005-09-07
Also published as: JP2005251461A; CN100364174C; CN1665069A; GB0503458D0; KR20050088910A

Abstract

A female connector has a body 21 and a shield 11 covering the body, the shield 11 having projections 17a, 17b, 20a, 20b formed by cutting and bending. The projections engage a counterpart (not shown) upon mating so as to take some of the mating force, thereby lessening the force taken by contacts of the female connector. The projections 17a, 17b, 20a, 20b may be bent perpendicularly to the mating direction and may lie loosely in corresponding cut-outs (e.g. 30a, 30b) in the body. Projections 18a, 18b on ones side of the shield may be spaced differently from those on the other.

Description

2411 778

RECEPTACLE

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a receptacle, and more particularly to a receptacle having a highly shock-resistant structure in which when a plug is inserted and fitted over a housing enclosed by a shield member provided over an outer periphery of the housing that constitutes the receptacle, tip portions of the plug are adapted to be pressed and supported by end portions formed on projecting portions provided on the shield member by being cut and erected in a plug Inserting direction, the end portions having surfaces perpendicular to a cutting and erecting direction.

As shown in Figs. 4 and 5, a receptacle in accordance with the related art includes a shield member 111 formed of a metallic member shaped in the form of a rectangular parallelepiped, as well as a housing 121 having a plurality of connection terminals covered by this shield member 111.

The shield member 111 is formed of a metallic member shaped in the form of a hollow rectangular parallelepiped. The shield member 111 generally Includes a pair of shield retaining pawls 112 formed in the shape of tongues and disposed at lower ends of its longitudinal sides; a pair of plug retaining windows 113a and 113b consisting of small windows formed in its top plate portion for retaining a plug; and a pair of rousing retaining pawls 114a and 114b formed in the shape of tongues for retaining the housing 121 and disposed at an upper end of one of its lateral sides.

The housing 121 generally includes a main body 122 formed of an insulating resin in the shape of a substantially rectangular parallelepiped and in such a shape as to be inserted and accommodated in the shield member 111 formed in the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped. The housing 121 further includes a terminal receiving portion 124 formed in such a manner as to project uprightly from one lateral side wall surface of this main body 122 at a substantially central position thereof along a longitudinal direction, connecting terminals 123 being disposed at a lower surface of the terminal receiving portion 124. Still further, the housing 121 includes a contacts-disposing portion 126 where contacts 125 which are electrically connected to the connection terminals 123 are disposed in an aligned state on an opposite side wall surface of the housing 121 to the terminal receiving portion 124; a pair of pawl engaging portions 128a and 128b disposed at positions outside the contacts-disposing portion 126 and at upper ends of which the housing retaining pawls 114a and 114b of the shield member 111 are retained by being bent; and a linear shield receiving potion 129 disposed at a position on top of the contactsdisposing portion 126 and formed with a height corresponding to the thickness of the shield member 111.

To assemble the receptacle by combining the housing 121 and the shield member 111 constructed as described above, the main body 122 of the housing 121 with its terminal rece'vir,s portion 124 facing forward is first accommodated In the shioid member 111 by being pushed in until an end of the shield member 111 abuts against the shield receiving portion 129. In this state, the housing retaining pawls 114a and 114b provided on the shield member 111 are bent, and are retained at the pawl engaging portions 128a and 128b, thereby allowing the shield member 111 to be engaged with and retained in the housing 121.

Further, in this state, the contacts 125 are soldered to a substrate 131, and the shield retaining pawls 112 of the shield member 111 which have been orthogonally outwardly bent are also soldered thereto so as to be mounted on the substrate 131, thereby completing the assembly.

Then, the housing 121 that constitutes the receptacle is engaged with and retained by the substrate 131 by the soldering of the contacts 125, and the shield member 111 is engaged with and retained by the substrate 131 by the soldering of the shield retaining pawls 112.

Next, a description will be given of the plug. As shown in Fig. 3, a plug consists of an engaging portion 41 whose front side is open and which is formed in a size for allowing engagement with the terminal engaging portion 124 of the housing 121 covered by the shield member 111, as well as a base portion 42 connected to the engaging portion 41 for supporting it.

The engaging portion 41 has a structure in which a pair of notched guide grooves 43 are provided at opposite ends of its lower portion, a pair of lock members 44a and 44b are engaged with the plug retaining windows 113a and 113b of the shield member 111 and also serve as detents that are provided on its top surface, and an engaging hole 45 of such a size as to allow the terminal receiving portion 124 of the housing 121 to be inserted and engaged therein,, is provided in its interior.

Further, the engaging portion 41 has a structure in which contact terminals 46 are disposed in parallel on a lower inner wall surface of this engaging hole 45 in such a manner as to extend in a longtudinai direction.

When the plug 40 having such a structure is inserted in the receptacle, the terminal receiving portion 124 of the housing 121 covered by the shield member 111 is inserted into the engaging hole 45 of the engaging portion 41.

The insertion is completed when the engaging portion 41 is inserted until the lock members 44a and 44b are engaged with the plug engaging windows 113a and 113b of the shield member 111. In this state, a tip of the engaging portion of the plug 40 opposes in a facing state or abuts against a side wall surface of the main body 122 of the housing 121.

Patent Document 1: JP-A-10-134866 (pages 3 and 4, Fig. 1)

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

However, in the receptacle of the related art described in the abovedescribed section, there is a problem in that if a shock is applied to the receptacle with the plug inserted therein, damage is transmitted to the contacts accommodated in the housing and to the housing itself since the tip of the plug directly presses the housing.

Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide a structure that does not transmit damage to the housing that constitutes the receptacle even if a shock is applied to the plug inserted in the receptacle.

To attain the above object, the receptacle in accordance with the Invention has the following features: ( 1) A receptacle comprising; a housing having connection terminals that is connected to contact terminals provided in a plug when the plug is engaged, and a shield member formed in such a manner as to cover an outer periphery of the housing, wherein a projecting portion that is cut and erected in a direction perpendicular to a plug inserting direction is provided on the shield member so as to allow a portion of the plug which engages with the housing to abut against the projecting portion.

(2) A receptacle according to (1), wherein, as the projecting portion, a pair of upper projecting portions are provided at positions respectively vicinity of a center of an upper portion of the shield member as viewed in the plug inserting direction, and a pair of lower projecting portions are provided at positions respectively vicinity of end portions of a lower portion of the shield member as viewed in the plug inserting direction, and wherein the upper projecting portions are disposed at the positions nearer to the center than those of the lower projecting portions.

(3) A receptacle according to (1) or (2), wherein the projecting portion is formed so as to be loosely fitted in a through groove provided in the housing.

(4) A receptacle comprising a housing that is connected to a plug electrically, and a shield member that covers the housing and includes a projecting portion which is formed by cutting and erecting a portion of the shield member and is held in contact with the plug, connected to the housing.

(5) A receptacle according to (4), wherein the projecting portion is held in contact with the plug so as not to prevent impact from been transmitted to the housing from an outside.

(6) A receptacle according to (4) or (5), wherein the projecting portion is cut and erected in a direction perpendicular to a plug inserting direction.

(7) A receptacle according to any one of (4) to (6) wherein a surface of the projecting portion that is perpendicular to the plug inserting direction is held in contact with a tip portion of the plug.

(8) A receptacle according to any one of (4) to (7), wherein the shield member includes four surfaces and a pair of the projecting portions is formed at a pair of the opposite surfaces, respectively.

(9) A receptecie according to (8), wherein the pair of the projecting portions are symmetric with respect to a center line of the surface, which is parallel to the plug inserting direction.

(10) A receptacle according to (9), wherein a distance between one pair of the projecting portions is different from a distance between the other pair of the projecting portions.

(11) A receptacle according to any one of (4) to (10), wherein the projecting portion is formed so as to be loosely fitted in a through groove provided in the housing.

Since the shield member that constitutes the receptacle is provided with a projecting portion which is cut and erected in a direction perpendicular to the inserting direction so as to allow a portion of the plug which engages with the housing to abut against the projecting portion, even if a shock is applied to the plug, a direct impact on the housing is avoided, and the shock can be received by the shield member. Therefore, damage to the housing can be reduced correspondingly

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Fig. 1 Is a perspective view of a receptacle in accordance with the invention, Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a housing and a shield merrber that constitute the receptacle in accordance with the invention: Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a plug in accordance with the invention; Fig 4 is a perspective view of a housing and a shield member in the related art; and Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a receptacle in the related art.

DETAIL DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Next, referring to the drawings, a description will be given of a receptacle and a plug that is inserted in the receptacle in accordance with the invention.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, a receptacle includes a shield member 11 formed of a metallic member shaped in the form of a rectangular parallelepiped, as well as a housing 21 having a plurality of connection terminals covered by this shield member 11.

The shield member 11 is formed of a metallic,-r,ember shaped in the form of a hollow rectangular parallelep,ped. The shield member 11 generally includes a pair of shield retaining pawls 12 formed in the shape of tongues at positions of lower ends of its lonaitud,nal sides; a pair of plug retaining, windows 1 3a and 1 3b consisting of small windows formed in its top plate portion for retaining a plug; a pair of housing retaining pawls 14a and 14b formed in, the shape of tongues for retaining the housing 21 and disposed at an upper end of or,e Or its,aterai sides; a pair Or upper projecting portions 1 7a and 1 7b disposed between the pair of housing retainr,g pawls 14a and 14k at positior,s respectively offset toward the center and each formed by cutting a notch 1 5a in a portion of the upper end portion in such a way as to extend from its end in the longitudinal direction and by further cutting a notch 1 5b continuously from a portion of that notch in a direction perpendicular thereto to form a notched piece 16, and by inwardly bending this notched piece 16 by using its continuous portion as a reference; and a pair of lower projecting portions 20a and 20b disposed at positions respectively offset toward end portions and each formed by cutting a notch 1 8a in a portion of a lower end portion in such a way as to extend from its end in the longitudinal direction and by further cutting a notch 1 8b continuously from a portion of that notch in a direction perpendicular thereto to form a notched piece 19, and by inwardly bending this notched piece 19 by using its continuous portion as a reference.

A tip portion 47a (see Fig. 3) of a plug 40, which will be described later, abuts against an end portion 32 (see Fig. 2) of the upper projecting portion 17a (1 7b), the surface of which is perpendicular to the cutting and erecting direction.

At the same time, another tip portion 47b (see Fig. 3) of the plug 40, which will be described later, abuts against an end portion 33 (see Fig. 2) of the lower projecting portion 20a (20b), the surface of which is perpendicular to the cutting and erecting direction.

The housing 21 generally includes a main body 22 formed of an insulating resin in the shape of a substantially rectangular parallelepiped and in such a shape as to be inserted and accommodated in the shield member 11 formed in the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped The housing 21 further includes a terminal receiving portion 24 formed in such a manner as to project uprightly from one lateral side wall surface of this main body 22 at a substantially central position thereof along a longitudinal direction, connecting terminals 23 being disposed at a lower surface of the terminal receiving portion 24. Still further, the housing 21 Includes a contacts-disposing portion 26 where contacts which are electrically connected to the connection terminals 23 are disposed in an aligned state on an opposite side wall surface of the housing 21 to the terminal receiving portion 24; a pair of lower through grooves 27a and 27b consisting of linear grooves penetrating a lower end portion of the main body 22 at positions outside the cGntacts-disposir,p, portion 26; and a pair of pawi engaging portions 28a and 28b disposed at positions outside the contacts-disposing portion 26 and at upper ends of which the housing retaining pawls 14a and 14b of the shield member 11 are retained by being bent.

Furthermore, the housing 21 includes a linear shield receiving potion 29 disposed at a position on top of the contacts-disposing portion 26 and formed with a height corresponding to the thickness of the shield member 11; and a pair of upper through grooves 30a and 30b consisting of linear grooves formed by notching and penetrating this linear shield receiving portion 29 and portions of an upper portion of the main body 22 in a direction toward the terminal receiving portion 24.

To assemble the receptacle by combining the housing 21 and the shield member 11 constructed as described above, the main body 22 of the housing 21 with its terminal receiving portion 24 facing forward is first accommodated in the shield member 11 by being pushed in until an end of the shield member 11 abuts against the shield receiving portion 29 In tints state. the housing retaining pawls 14a and 14b provided on the shield member 11 are bent, and are retained at the pawl engaging portions 28a and 28b, thereby allowing the shield member 11 to be engaged with and retained in the housing 21.

At this time, the upper projecting portions 17a and 17b of the shield member 11 are loosely fitted in the upper through grooves 30a and 30b of the housing 21 and are set in a through state. At the same time, the lower projecting portions 20a and 20b of the shield member 11 are loosely fitted in the lower through grooves 27a and 27b of the housing 21 and are set in a through state. Ends of the upper projecting portions 17a and 17b and the lower projecting portions 20a and 20b are disposed in a state of being at least flush with or slightly project from the end of the main body 22.

Further, in this state, the contacts 25 are soldered to a substrate 31, and the shield retaining pawls 12 of the shield member 11 which have been orthogonally outwardly bent are also soldered thereto so as to be mounted on the substrate 131, thereby completing the assembly.

Then, the housing 21 that constitutes the receptacle is retained by the substrate 31 by the soldering of the contacts 25, and the shield member 11 is retained by the substrate 31 by the soldering of the shield retaining pawls 12.

As the pair of lower projecting portions 20a and 20b of the shield member 11 are loosely fitted in the pair of lower through grooves 27a and 27b, and the pair of upper projecting portions 17a and 17b of the shield member 11 are loosely fitted in the pair of upper through grooves 30a and 30b, when the plug 40, which will be described later, is inserted in the receptacle, and a shock has been applied thereto, the shock is not directly transmitted to the housing 21, but is transmitted to the upper and 'ower projecting portions 17a, 17b, 2Ga, and 20b of the shield member 11. Thus, it becomes possible to avoid the effect on the housing 21 as practically as possible.

Furthermore, since the structure adopted is such that the pair of upper projecting portions 17a and 17b are provided at positions respectively offset toward the center of the upper portion of the shield member 11, and the pair of lower projecting portions 20a and 20b are provided at positions respectively offset toward end portions of the lower portion thereof, when the plug 40, which will be described later, is inserted, and a shock has been applied, the shock is transmitted to the upper and lower projecting portions 17a, 17b, 20a, and 20b with a good balance. Therefore, the arrangement provided is such that an offset shock can be absorbed any of the projecting portions (17a, 17b, 20a, and 20b) or can be absorbed by the whole.

Next, a description will be given of the plug. The plug has a structure similar to the one described above. As shown in Fig. 3, the plug 40 consists of an engaging portion 41 whose front side is open and which is formed in a size for allowing engagement with the shield member 11, as well as a base portion 42 connected to the engaging portion 41 for supporting it.

The engaging portion 41 has a structure in which a pair of notched guide grooves 43 are provided at opposite ends of its lower portion, a pair of lock members 44a and 44b are engaged with the plug retaining windows 13a and 13b of the shield member 11 and also serve as detents are provided on its top surface, and an engaging hole 45 of such a size as to allow the terminal receiving portion 24 of the housing 21 to be inserted and engaged therein is provided in its interior.

Further, the engaging portion 41 has a structure in which contact terminals 46 are disposed in parallel on a lower inner wall surface of this engaging hole 45 In such a manner as to extend in the longitudinal direction.

When the plug 40 having such a structure is inserted in the receptacle, the terminal receiving portion 24 of the housing 21 covered by the shield member 11 is inserted into the engaging hole 45 of the engaging portion 41.

The insertion is completed when the engaging portion 41 is inserted until the lock members 44a and 44b are engaged with the plug engaging windows 13a and 13b of the shield member 11. In this state, the tip portions 47a and 47b of the engaging portion of the plug 40 opposes in a facing state the end portions 32 and 33 of the upper projecting portions 17a and 17b and the lower projecting portions 20a and 20b of the shield member 11, the surfaces of which are perpendicular to the cutting and erecting direction, so as to be brought into abutment against them.

In such a state as well, when some shock is applied to the plug 40 and is pressed in the Inserting direction, for instance, the shock is transmitted from the tip portions of the engaging portion to the upper projecting portions 17a and 17b and the lower projecting portions 20a and 20b of the shield member 11. Since these upper projecting portions 17a and 17b and the lower projecting portions 20a and 20b of the shield member 11 are loosely fitted in the upper through grooves 30a and 30b and the lower through grooves 27a and 27b of the housing 21, the shock is not directly transmitted to the housing 21, and Is transmitted to the shield member 11 alone. The stress Is transmitted to the soldered shield retaining pawls 12, and Is buffered by through the substrate 31. Since the tip portions 47a and 47b of the engaging portion 41 of the plug 40 is bought into abutment against the end portions 32 and 33 of the upper projecting portions 1 7a and 1 7b and the lower projecting portions 20a and 20b, the surfaces of which are perpendicular to the cutting and erecting direction. Therefore, the strength is extremely high, and deformation or the like does not occur easily.

Accordingly, even if a shock is applied to the plug 40 inserted in the receptacle, the pressing force of the shock is not directly transmitted to the housing 21. Therefore, the effect on the contacts 25 being retained by the housing 21 can be made extremely small, and it is possible to realize a receptacle having a structure extremely resistant against a shock.

It should be noted that the pair of upper projecting portions 17a and 1 7b and the pair of lower projecting portions 20a and 20b provided on the shield member 11 are so structured as to be provided at positions respectively offset toward the center and at positions respectively offset toward end portions of the shield member 11. However, the invention is not limited to the same, and it goes without saying that the number of such projecting portions as well as their positional relationship and the like may be modified, as required.

In the receptacle in accordance with the invention, the shield member that constitutes the receptacle is provided with projecting portions in the same direction as the plug inserting direction, and the tip portions of the plug are abutted against end portions o, the projecting portions, the end portions having surfaces perpendicular to the cutting and erecting direction. Therefore, it is possible to provide a receptacle in which even if a shock is applied to the plug being inserted in the receptacle, a direct impact on the housing can be avoided, and the shock can be buffered by the shield member, making it possible to reduce damage to the housing correspondingly.

Claims

1. A receptacle comprising; a housing having connection terminals that is connected to contact terminals provided in a plug when the plug is engaged, and a shield member formed in such a manner as to cover an outer periphery of the housing, wherein a projecting portion that is cut and erected in a direction perpendicular to a plug inserting direction is provided on the shield member so as to allow a portion of the plug which engages with the housing to abut against the projecting portion.

2. A receptacle according to claim 1, wherein, as the projecting portion, a pair of upper projecting portions are provided at positions respectively vicinity of a center of an upper portion of the shield member as viewed in the plug inserting direction, and a pair of lower projecting portions are provided at positions respectively vicinity of end portions of a lower portion of the shield member as viewed in the plug inserting direction, and wherein the upper projecting portions are disposed at the positions nearer to the center than those of the lower projecting portions.

3. A receptacle according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the projecting portion is formed so as to be loosely fitted in a through groove provided In the housing.

4 A receptacle comprising.

a housing that is connected to a plug electrically; and a shield member that covers the housing and includes a projecting portion which is formed by cutting and erecting a portion of the shield member and is held in contact with the plug, connected to the housing.

5. A receptacle according to claim 4, wherein the projecting portion is held in contact with the plug so as not to prevent impact from been transmitted to the housing from an outside.

6. A receptacle according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the projecting portion is cut and erected in a direction perpendicular to a plug inserting direction.

7. A receptacle according to any one of claims 4 to 6, wherein a surface of the projecting portion that is perpendicular to the plug inserting direction is held in contact with a tip portion of the plug.

8. A receptacle according to any one of claims 4 to 7, wherein the shield member includes four surfaces and a pair of the projecting portions is formed at a pair of the opposite surfaces, respectively.

9. A receptacle according to claim 8, wherein the pair of the projecting portions are symmetric with respect to a center line of the surface, which is parallel to the plug inserting direction.

1G. A receptacle according to clam 9, wherein a distance between one pair of the projecting portions is different from a distance between the other pair of the projecting portions.

11. A receptacle according to any one of claims 4 to 10, wherein the projecting portion is formed so as to be loosely fitted in a through groove provided in the housing.