KR200210506Y1 - Dual connector assembly - Google Patents

Abstract

The improved electrical connector has a double socket receptacle. In an embodiment, the connector has an insulating housing of a single structure, for example made of molded plastic. This housing includes a base located at the rear of the connector and a pair of cantilevered vertically directed terminal platforms extending forward of the base. Each terminal platform supports a plurality of conductive terminals for connecting to mating plugs each received by two socket receptacles. Preferably, the terminals are arranged in a common row or face at the rear of the connector for mounting on the circuit board. The terminal has a complementary offset shape. In an embodiment, the connector has an improved shield comprising two plug shield members and a rear shield member. Each plug shield member surrounds each terminal platform forming a receptacle opening for receiving a respective mating plug connector. The rear shield member covers the housing and the terminal at the rear of the connector. The rear shield member includes a front extension tab for fixedly engaging the plug shield member that includes a central locking tab tab bent downward between each plug shield member.

Description

Dual Connector Assembly {DUAL CONNECTOR ASSEMBLY}

The invention generally relates to the field of electrical connectors, and more particularly to a connector having a double socket receptacle.

'Dual' connectors are commonly known. This dual connector includes a pair of socket receptacles for receiving a corresponding pair of mating plug connectors. Conventional dual connector assemblies include two separate insulating housings arranged on top and bottom, respectively. The housing is manufactured separately. In addition, the manufacture of a connector requires each assembly of a separate housing which incurs the above handling and cost.

In addition, conventional connectors have a plurality of terminals arranged to provide respective upper and lower terminals, each terminal having a contact portion protruding from the bottom of the connector. As a result, the contacts are located in separate front and rear rows at the bottom of the connector. The occupancy of the connector on the circuit board must be large enough to accommodate these two rows. This limitation makes it difficult to reduce the size of the connector.

Moreover, the conventional double socket connector has a single shield member formed from a metal plate. The front panel is shielded from an opening forming the upper and lower sockets, and a baffle between the two sockets. The front panel is folded back to form a top panel, left panel, right panel and bottom panel. Each panel has a pair of resilient inwardly bending tabs for forming ground contacts for mating plugs respectively contained within the upper and lower sockets. The left panel and the right panel are fixed to the bottom panel by the locking plate and further fixed to the rear side of the housing by the locking plate. The top panel is fixed to the left panel and the right panel by the locking flange and to the insulating housing by the locking plate. The housing has an opening at the rear side such that the terminal is not shielded against electromagnetic radiation (EMI) at the rear side of the connector.

U. S. Patent No. 5,797, 770 discloses a shielded double electrical connector with a molded plastic housing. However, the two rows of contacts are unevenly arranged so that the overall length and height are undesirably large.

In an embodiment, the present invention provides a connector assembly having a double socket receptacle, wherein the connector has a unitary housing that provides each receptacle. This single housing is used in place of the separate pair of housing structures used in conventional connectors to reduce manufacturing costs and facilitate manufacturing. By way of example, in an embodiment, the connector has three shielding structures assembled into a single housing. The housing has a rear base and two terminal platforms, each protruding forward from the base in a cantilever manner. In addition, at the rear of the connector, the terminals of each double socket receptacle have contact portions evenly arranged in a common row or plate, thus reducing the space and minimizing it.

Embodiments of the present invention preferably provide a dual connector assembly having an improved shield structure. By way of example, the connector includes two plug shield members each forming a plug receptacle around each one of the two terminal platforms. In particular, each plug shield member surrounds the side, top and bottom of each one of the terminal platforms forming a mating plug receiving receptacle opening for engaging conductive terminals mounted on each terminal platform. The rear shield member has a front protruding panel that covers the back of the base and engages plug shield members that hold the connector assembly together.

In an embodiment, each plug shield member has a top panel, left and right rear panels, a left half bottom panel arranged at the bottom side of the left panel and a right half bottom panel arranged at the bottom side of the right panel. The left and right half bottom panels are centrally connected to each other along the bottom of each plug shield member. The rear shield member includes a rear panel covering the lower portion of the insulating housing. The rear shield member has two front protruding lugs with a plurality of locking holes. The left panel and the right panel have a plurality of locking tabs fitted in the locking holes. The rear shield member has a top cover extending from the upper side thereof and covering the half rear portion of the top panel. The vertical plate extends from the front end of the top cover and reaches a bump at the center bottom side of the insulating housing.

An advantage of the present invention is to provide an improved electrical connector.

Another advantage of the present invention is the provision of a double socket connector, where each socket receptacle is surrounded by a plug shield member respectively, and an additional rear shield member is applied for additional shielding. This arrangement provides better electromagnetic shielding and noise reduction, thereby widening the range of use of the shield member for a single socket connector.

Another advantage of the present invention is to provide a connector that has fewer parts and is economical to manufacture and assemble.

Another advantage of the present invention is to provide a connector that is compact and has a small footprint.

An advantage of the present invention is to provide a double socket connector with an improved electronic shield. This expands the scope of use of the connector.

Additional features and advantages of the present invention are described below and are apparent from the detailed description, drawings, and claims.

1 is a front view of a conventional connector.

Figure 2 is a side view of the conventional connector of Figure 1;

3 is a front perspective view of another embodiment of a conventional connector.

4 is a rear perspective view of the conventional connector of FIG.

Figure 5 is a bottom view of the connector of Figures 3 and 4;

6 is a perspective view of a connector according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 7 is another perspective view of the connector of Figure 6;

Figure 8 is a front perspective view of the insulated housing and terminal of the connector of Figures 6 and 7;

9 is a rear perspective view of the housing and terminal of FIG. 8;

Fig. 10 is a front view of the housing and the terminals of Figs. 8 and 9;

Figure 11 is a side view of the housing and the terminals of Figures 8 and 9;

12 is a plan view of the insulated housing and terminals of FIGS. 8 to 11;

Figure 13 is a perspective view of another connector according to an embodiment of the present invention having a plug shield member with an outwardly extending plate around the periphery of the receptacle opening.

14 is a front view of a connector according to another embodiment of the present invention with an improved shield structure.

Figure 15 is a rear perspective view of the connector of Figure 14;

Figure 16 is a bottom view of the connector of Figures 14 and 15;

Figure 17 is an exploded view of the connector of Figures 14-16.

<Description of the code | symbol about the principal part of drawing>

40: connector

42: insulated housing

44: left plug shield member

46: right plug shield member

48: rear shield member

50: conductive terminal

52, 54: terminal platform

58: beauty

59: left socket receptacle

60: right socket receptacle

62: vertical rear base

63: terminal cavity

64: Shelf

66: notch

70: front protrusion top panel

72: tab

79: mounting legs

1 and 2 show a conventional double socket connector 20 having two socket receptacles 22, 24, which are typically arranged in upper and lower positions, respectively. Each socket receptacle 22, 24 includes an insulating housing 26, 28, respectively. The housings 26 and 28 are manufactured separately. Thus, since the two housings 26 and 28 are manufactured separately, manufacturing is complicated and manufacturing time is wasted. The conventional connector 20 also includes a single shield 30 covering the outside of the two housings 26, 28. The housings 26 and 28 are not internally shielded from each other.

Other connectors 20 'of the prior art shown in Figures 3-5 have upper and lower socket receptacles 22', 24 ', and upper and lower housings 26', 28 ', and outer shield 30', respectively. It includes. As shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 to 5, the conventional connectors 20, 20 'have a plurality of upper terminals 32, 32' and bottom which provide upper socket receptacles 22, 22 '. And a plurality of bottom terminals 34, 34 'each providing a socket receptacle 24, 24'. In Figures 2-5, each conventional connector 20, 20 'is shown with upper and lower terminals arranged in two spaced rows (denoted 36, 38 in Figure 2 and 36', 38 'in Figure 5). Each has its tail. With such a configuration, it is necessary to increase the overall depth dimension of the connectors 20, 20 '. Also, as shown in Fig. 5, the shield 30 'of the conventional connector 20' typically has an open rear portion, exposing the terminal and not shielding the rear portion.

6 and 7 show the dual socket connector 40. The connector 40 is configured to receive a pair of mating plug connectors (not shown), each of which may take a USB configuration as is known in the art. Of course, the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to the USB connector. The connector 40 includes an insulating housing 42, a left plug shielding member 44, a right plug shielding member 46, a rear shielding member 48, and a plurality of conductive terminals 50. The housing 42 includes a pair of terminal platforms 52, 54 that support the contact portion 56 of each terminal 50. The tail 58 of the terminal 50 protrudes downward from the rear of the connector 40. As shown, the plug shield member 44 surrounds the terminal platforms 52, 54 to form left and right socket receptacles 59, 60.

In order to reduce manufacturing costs, the housing 42 has a unitary structure, as shown in FIGS. The single housing 42 includes a vertical rear base 62 and each terminal platform 52, 54 protrudes forward from the base 62 in a cantilever fashion. Preferably, the terminal platforms 52, 54 are oriented parallel and perpendicular to each other. The housing 42 includes a plurality of terminal cavities 63 formed therein to securely hold the conductive terminals 50.

In order to advantageously reduce the space occupied by the connector 50, the tails 58 of all terminals 50 are aligned in a common plane or column, as shown in FIGS. 7, 9, 11 and 12. . 8 and 9, the terminal 50 accommodates the vertical alignment of the contacts 56 on the two terminal platforms 52, 54 and the common thermal alignment of the tails 58 at the rear of the connector 40. In FIG. It is manufactured in the form of a complementary offset so as to. As shown in Figures 7, 9 and 12, the housing 42 includes a lower shelf 64 with a number of notches 66 formed thereon. Each notch 66 supportsally receives one of the tails 58 to maintain proper alignment.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, by shielding the rear of the connector 40, the rear shield member 48 is adapted to remove the base 62 of the housing 42 and the tail 58 of the terminal 50 at the rear of the housing. It has a back panel 68 that covers it. Moreover, as shown in FIG. 6, the rear shield member 48 includes a front protruding top panel 70 with a center tab 72 projecting downward between two plug shield members 44, 46.

As shown in Figs. 6 and 7, the rear shield member 48 further includes a front extending side panel 74. As shown in Figs. Each side panel has a locking tab 76 folded inwardly to seat firmly in each locking channel 78 formed along the bottom of the shelf 64 of the housing 42. In addition, the mounting leg 79 protrudes from the plug shielding members 46 and 48 for inserting the connector 40 into the circuit board (not shown).

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 13, the connector 40 'includes a left and right plug shield member 44' comprising a plurality of externally expanding guide flanges 80 disposed circumferentially around each receptacle opening. , 46`) is shown. These guide flanges 80 assist in aligning each mating plug connector while being inserted for proper mating.

14-17 show connector 140 according to another embodiment. The connector 140 is configured to receive a pair of mating plug connectors. The connector 140 includes an insulating housing 142, left and right conductive plug shielding members 144, conductive rear shielding members 148, and a plurality of conductive terminals 150. The housing 142 includes a pair of terminal platforms 152, 154 that support the contact portion 156 of each terminal 150. The tail 158 of the terminal 150 protrudes downward from the rear of the connector 14. As shown, the plug shield member 144 surrounds each terminal platform 152, 154 and forms left and right socket receptacles 159, 160.

In order to reduce the manufacturing cost, as shown in the exploded view of Fig. 17, the housing 142 has a single structure. The single housing 142 includes a vertical rear base 162. Each terminal platform 152, 154 protrudes forward from the base 162 in a cantilever fashion. Preferably, the terminal platforms 152, 154 are oriented parallel and perpendicular to each other. Housing 142 has a plurality of terminal cavities 163 formed therein to firmly hold conductive terminals 150.

In order to advantageously reduce the space occupied by the connector 140, as shown in Figures 15-17, the tails 158 of all terminals 150 are aligned on a common face or column. The terminal 150 is formed in a stepped offset method to accommodate the vertical alignment of the contacts 156 on the two terminal platforms 152, 154 and the common thermal alignment of the tails 158 at the rear of the connector 140. do. As shown in Figures 16 and 17, the housing 142 further includes a lower shelf 164 having a plurality of notches 166 formed thereon. Each notch 166 supportably receives one of the tails 158 to maintain proper alignment.

In Fig. 17, in order to provide good electromagnetic shielding, each of the two plug shielding members 144 protrudes downward from the upper panel 190, the left panel 192 protruding from the upper panel 190, and the upper panel 190. The right bottom panel 194, the left bottom half panel 196 protruding inwardly from the left panel 192, and the right bottom half panel 198 protruding inwardly from the right panel 194. The left and right bottom half panels 196, 198 meet centrally with each other under each terminal platform.

By providing shielding at the rear of the connector 140, the rear shielding member 148 has a rear panel 168 covering the base 162 and the tail 158 of the housing 142. 14 and 17, the rear shield member 148 projects downwardly between the two plug shield members 144 and engages the front facing surface of the housing 173 (in FIG. 17). A front protruding top panel 170 with a central tab 172.

As shown in FIGS. 16 and 17, the rear shield member 148 includes a front extension side locking tab 174 that includes a plurality of locking openings 176. Each locking opening 176 fixedly engages a ramp locking protrusion 178 formed in each one of the plug shielding members 144.

In addition, the mounting leg 179 protrudes from the plug shield member 144 to insertably mount the connector 140 on a circuit board (not shown). Further, in this embodiment, each plug shield member 144 includes a plurality of outwardly extending guide flanges 180 disposed circumferentially around each receptacle opening. Also, in order to secure the inserted mating plug connector and to form a good ground connection between the shield member 144 and the mating plug connector, the plug shield member 144 is a resilient ground connection spring protruding into the receptacle cavity 159, 160. 182 may include.

Although the present invention has been described in accordance with the preferred embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the features of the described embodiments. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various replacements and modifications of the present invention are possible within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention. Accordingly, the appended claims may include such replacements and variations.

The connector of the present invention has a single housing which reduces manufacturing costs and makes manufacturing easier than conventional connectors, and the terminals of each double socket receptacle at the rear of the connector are evenly arranged in a common row or plate. Because of the wealth, space can be reduced and minimized. In addition, by providing a double socket connector, it provides electromagnetic shielding and noise reduction, the use range of the shield member for a single socket connector can be widened, and with fewer parts, economical manufacturing and assembly are possible.

Claims (17)

An electrical connector for receiving a pair of mating plug connectors, A monolithic insulating housing having a rear base and two parallel vertically oriented planar shaped terminal platforms extending forward from the base; Each of which is mounted to each one of the terminal cavities and includes a plurality of conductive terminals having contacts located on the terminal platform for connecting to respective mating plug connectors and tails protruding downward from the rear of the connector; , Each terminal platform having a plurality of terminal cavities formed therein, And wherein all of the tails are aligned on a common side. 2. The housing of claim 1, wherein the housing includes a rear protruding shelf, the shelf having a plurality of notches formed therein, each tail of the terminal being supportably positioned in each one of the notches. Electrical connector made. The electrical connector of claim 1 further comprising a shield at least partially surrounding the housing. The method of claim 3, wherein the shielding portion, A pair of plug shield members surrounding each one of the terminal platforms and forming a receptacle opening for receiving each one of the mating plug connectors; And a plurality of front protruding locking tabs for covering the tail of the terminal at the base of the housing and the rear of the housing and for mountingly coupling each plug shield member. 5. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 4, wherein the rear shield member comprises a center tab protruding downward between two plug shield members. 5. The device of claim 4, wherein each plug shield member comprises a top panel, a left panel and a right panel extending downward from the top panel, a left bottom half panel projecting from the left panel and a right bottom half panel projecting from the right panel, And the left and right panels meet each other. 5. An electrical connector as in claim 4 wherein each plug shield member comprises a plurality of guide flanges that extend outwardly about each receptacle opening. 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the housing comprises a lower locking channel and the rear shield member comprises a plurality of lower locking tabs seated in each locking channel. Electrical connector made. 5. An electrical connector as in claim 4 wherein each plug shield member comprises a plurality of downward protruding mounting legs for mounting the connector to a circuit board. A double socket electrical connector for receiving a pair of mating plug connectors, A housing having a vertical rear base and a pair of terminal platforms projecting forward from the base; A plurality of conductive terminals, each having a contact portion mounted to each one of the terminal platforms and a tail portion projecting downward from the rear of the connector for connecting to the circuit board; A pair of plug shield members surrounding each one of the terminal platforms and forming a receptacle opening for receiving each one of the mating plug connectors; And a rear shield member positioned at the rear of the base, the rear shield member covering the base and tail of the terminals, the rear shield member having a front extending locking tab that couples the housing and the plug shield member to securely hold them together. Electrical connector. 11. The dual socket electrical connector of claim 10 wherein the housing is monolithic. 11. The dual socket electrical connector of claim 10 wherein each terminal platform is vertically oriented and parallel to each other. 11. The double socket electrical connector of claim 10 wherein all of the bases are aligned in a common row. 12. The device according to claim 10, wherein each plug shield member has a top panel, a left panel projecting downward from the top panel, a right panel projecting downward from the top panel, a left bottom half panel projecting from the left panel and a right bottom projecting from the right panel. And a half panel, wherein the left and right lower half panels meet centrally under each terminal platform. 15. The double socket electrical connector of claim 14, wherein the locking tab of the rear shield member includes a plurality of locking holes, each plug shield member including one or more locking protrusions each coupled to the locking hole. 12. The double socket electrical connector of claim 10, wherein the rear shield member includes a center locking tab that projects downward between the front projecting top panel and the plug shield members to retain the housing in the plug shield member. 11. The double socket electrical connector of claim 10, wherein the housing includes a pair of lower locking channels along the lower side of the housing, the two locking tabs of the rear shield member seated in the locking channels. .