TW201534002A - Electrical connector and method of making the same - Google Patents

Abstract

An electrical connector comprises an insulative housing having a tongue portion defining a plurality of passageways, a plurality of contacts insert molded in the passageways and an insulative portion. The contact has a contact portion exposed on the tongue portion. The tongue portion defines a hole communicating with the passageways. The insulative portion seals the hole.

Description

Electrical connector and method of manufacturing same

The present invention relates to an electrical connector and a method of manufacturing the same, and more particularly to an anti-fire socket connector and a method of fabricating the same.

U.S. Patent No. 7,682,199 discloses a receptacle connector. The socket connector includes an insulative housing having a tongue, a plurality of terminals injection molded on the tongue of the insulative housing, and a metal reinforcement. The lower surface of the tongue plate is provided with a rib. The terminals are spaced apart by the ribs and exposed on the lower surface of the tongue. The metal reinforcement covers the upper surface, the front end surface, and a pair of side surfaces of the tongue.

When the terminal is injection molded on the tongue of the insulating body, it needs to be positioned by means of the positioning mold. Removing the positioning mold after the terminal is formed leaves a positioning hole on the tongue. The conductive material easily falls into the positioning hole to cause a short-circuit fire.

In view of this, it is indeed necessary to provide an electrical connector for sealing a positioning hole on a tongue to prevent a short-circuit fire and a method of manufacturing the same to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector, and more particularly to an electrical connector for sealing a positioning die hole on a tongue plate to prevent short circuit fire and a method of manufacturing the same.

The electrical connector of the present invention can be realized by the following technical solutions: an electrical connector comprising an insulative body and a plurality of terminals, the insulative housing having a tongue plate for providing a plurality of terminal slots, the plurality of terminals being injection molded into the terminal slots of the insulative housing The terminal is provided with a contact portion exposed to the tongue plate, wherein the tongue plate is provided with a positioning hole exposed to the tongue plate and penetrating through the terminal slot, and the electrical connector further comprises a sealing tongue plate The insulating portion of the positioning hole.

As a further improvement of the present invention, the electrical connector further includes a metal reinforcement member, and the metal reinforcement member is injection-molded together with the terminal to the insulative housing, and the metal reinforcement member is provided with the positioning hole Opening the hole, the insulating portion covers the open hole to block the positioning hole.

As a further improvement of the present invention, the tongue of the insulative housing includes a front end portion and a rear end portion, and the plurality of terminal slots include a plurality of first terminal slots disposed at the front end portion and a plurality of second terminals disposed at the rear end portion a plurality of terminals including a plurality of first terminals held in the first terminal slot and a plurality of second terminals held in the second terminal slot, the positioning holes including the front end portion and the a first positioning hole through which the first terminal slot passes and a second positioning hole provided at the rear end portion and penetrating the second terminal slot, the open hole including a first opening penetrating the first positioning hole a hole and a second opening hole penetrating the second positioning hole, the insulating portion includes a first insulating portion covering the first opening hole to block the first positioning hole and covering the second opening hole Thereby blocking the second insulating portion of the second positioning hole.

As a further improvement of the present invention, the tongue plate has an upper surface and a lower surface, the terminal groove is disposed on a lower surface of the tongue plate, and the positioning hole is disposed on an upper surface of the tongue plate.

As a further improvement of the present invention, the insulating portion is injection molded into the open hole to block the positioning hole.

As a further improvement of the technical solution of the present invention, the method for manufacturing an electrical connector includes the following steps: a first step of punching a plurality of terminals provided with a contact portion with a metal piece, and a second step of positioning the terminal by using a positioning mold and connecting the terminal Injection molding on the insulative housing, the insulative housing has a tongue plate, the tongue plate is provided with a plurality of terminal slots for receiving the terminals, and a third step is to remove the positioning mold to form a plurality of positioning holes penetrating the terminal slots on the tongue plate a fourth step of providing an insulating portion and blocking the positioning hole by the insulating portion.

As a further improvement of the present invention, wherein the first step further comprises stamping the metal reinforcement with a metal sheet, and in the second step, the metal reinforcement is injection molded with the terminal to the insulating body, An opening hole penetrating the positioning hole is formed in the metal reinforcement member, and the insulating portion covers the opening hole in the fourth step to block the positioning hole.

As a further improvement of the technical solution of the present invention, the fourth step is also injection molding.

As a further improvement of the present invention, wherein the fourth step is followed by cutting a strip of the metal piece that punches out the terminal and the metal reinforcement.

As a further improvement of the present invention, the tongue plate has an upper surface and a lower surface, the terminal groove is disposed on a lower surface of the tongue plate, and the positioning hole is disposed on an upper surface of the tongue plate.

Compared with the prior art, the insulating portion of the present invention blocks the positioning hole to prevent the conductive material from falling into the positioning hole to avoid short-circuit fire.

The first figure is a perspective assembled view of the electrical connector of the present invention;

2 is a partial exploded perspective view showing the insulating body, the terminal, the metal reinforcing member and the insulating portion of the electrical connector shown in the first embodiment of the present invention when the insulating portion is not inserted into the shielding case;

Figure 3 is a partially exploded perspective view of the electrical connector from another angle shown in the second figure of the present invention;

The fourth figure is a partially exploded view of the insulation portion, the shielding shell and the insulating body, the terminal, and the metal reinforcement;

Figure 5 is an exploded perspective view of the electrical connector shown in Figure 1;

Fig. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the electrical connector shown in Fig. 5 from another angle.

Referring to the first to sixth figures, the electrical connector 100 of the present invention includes an insulative housing 1, a plurality of terminals 2, a metal reinforcement 3, an insulating portion 4, a fixing portion 5, and a shielding case 6.

The insulative housing 1 has a base portion 13 and a tongue plate 11 extending forward from the base portion 13 and provided with a plurality of terminal slots 111. A pair of support portions 15 and a mounting hole 14 between the pair of support portions 15 are provided at the rear end of the base portion 13. The tongue plate 11 includes a front end portion 112 and a rear end portion 113. The plurality of terminal slots 111 include a plurality of first terminal slots 111a extending from the front end portion 112 to the support portion 15 and a plurality of second terminal slots 111b provided at the rear end portion 113. The tongue plate 11 further includes a pair of snap grooves 114.

The plurality of terminals 2 include a plurality of first terminals 2a held by the first terminal slots 111a and a plurality of second terminals 2b held by the second terminal slots 111b. The first terminal 2a includes a first contact portion 21a and a first solder portion 22a. The second terminal 2b includes a second contact portion 21b and a second welded portion 22b.

The metal reinforcement 3 includes a main body portion 31 provided with an open hole 33 and a pair of holding portions 32 extending from the main body portion 31. The opening hole 33 includes a first opening hole 33a provided at the front end of the main body portion 31 and a second opening hole 33b located behind the first opening hole 33a.

The insulating portion 4 is made of resin, rubber or other insulating material, and includes a first insulating portion 4a corresponding to the first opening hole 33a and a second insulating portion 4b corresponding to the second opening hole 33b.

The fixing portion 5 is provided with a plurality of through grooves 51 whose upper end is open to the front and the lower end is opened downward. The through groove 51 communicates with the second terminal groove 111b.

Fabricating the electrical connector 100 includes the following steps. In the first step, a plurality of first terminals 2a provided with the first contact portion 21a and the first welded portion 22a and a plurality of second terminals 2b provided with the second contact portion 21b and the second welded portion 22b are punched out from the metal piece. At the same time, the metal reinforcement 3 is punched out with a metal sheet.

In the second step, the terminal 2 and the metal reinforcement 3 are positioned using a positioning mold (not shown) and the terminal 2 and the metal reinforcement 3 are simultaneously injection-molded to the insulative housing 1. At this time, the front end portion 112 of the tongue plate 11 forms the first terminal groove 111a in which the first terminal 2a is housed, and the rear end portion 113 forms the second terminal groove 111b in which the second terminal 2b is housed. The first welded portion 22a passes through the first terminal groove 111a of the support portion 15. The side edge of the metal reinforcement member 3 is fastened to the locking groove 114 of the insulative housing 1, and the front edge of the metal reinforcement member 3 covers the front end surface of the tongue plate 11.

In the third step, the positioning mold is removed to form a first positioning hole 115a formed by the positioning mold and penetrating through the first terminal groove 111a and a second positioning hole 115b penetrating through the second terminal groove 111b. The first opening hole 33a of the metal reinforcement 3 penetrates the first positioning hole 115a, and the second opening hole 33b and the second positioning hole 115b penetrate. The first positioning hole 115a and the second positioning hole 115b are collectively referred to as a positioning hole 115.

In a fourth step, the first insulating portion 4a covers the first opening hole 33a to block the first positioning hole 115a by re-injection molding, and the second insulating portion 4b covers the second opening hole 33b to block The second positioning hole 115b.

In the fifth step, the strip of the terminal 2 and the metal reinforcement 3 is cut. The fixing portion 5 is assembled to the mounting hole 14 of the insulative housing 1 in any of the third to fifth steps. The second welded portion 22b is passed through the through groove 51 and bent horizontally rearward.

In the sixth step, the insulative housing 1 of the fixed terminal 2 and the metal reinforcement 3 is housed in the shielding case 6. Thereby, the electrical connector 100 is fabricated.

The insulating portion 4 blocks the positioning hole 115 to prevent the conductive material from falling into the positioning hole 115 to avoid short-circuit fire.

In the embodiment, the positioning terminal 2 and the metal reinforcement 3 are simultaneously injection molded on the insulative housing 1 . In this way, the tongue 11 of the insulating body 1 can be reinforced and the manufacturing process can be saved. In other embodiments, the metal reinforcement 3 can also be assembled or molded to the insulative housing 1 after the terminal 2 is held by the insulative housing 1 .

In the present embodiment, the strip of the metal piece that is punched out of the terminal 2 and the metal reinforcement 3 occurs after the fourth step. In this way, not only in the injection molding process of the second step, the strip of the metal sheet of the punched terminal 2 and the metal reinforcement 3 can be fixed to the outer mold, but also can be punched out during the re-injection molding process of the fourth step. The strip of the metal piece of the terminal 2 and the metal reinforcement 3 is fixed to the outer mold. In other embodiments, the cutting strip can also occur before the fourth step, so that the terminal 2 and the metal reinforcement 3 need to be fixed to the outer mold by other means.

In summary, the present invention complies with the requirements of the invention patent and submits a patent application according to law. However, the above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and the scope of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and those skilled in the art will be able to make equivalent modifications or variations in accordance with the spirit of the present invention. It should be covered by the following patent application.

100‧‧‧Electrical connector

1‧‧‧Insulating body

11‧‧‧ tongue plate

111‧‧‧Terminal slot

111a‧‧‧First terminal slot

111b‧‧‧second terminal slot

112‧‧‧ front end

113‧‧‧ Back end

114‧‧‧Snap slot

115‧‧‧Positioning holes

115a‧‧‧First positioning hole

115b‧‧‧Second positioning hole

13‧‧‧ base

14‧‧‧Installation holes

15‧‧‧Support Department

2‧‧‧ terminals

2a‧‧‧first terminal

21a‧‧‧First contact

22a‧‧‧First Welding Department

2b‧‧‧second terminal

21b‧‧‧Second Contact

22b‧‧‧Second Welding Department

3‧‧‧Metal reinforcements

31‧‧‧ Main body

32‧‧‧ Holding Department

33‧‧‧Open hole

33a‧‧‧First open hole

33b‧‧‧Second open hole

4‧‧‧Insulation

4a‧‧‧First insulation

4b‧‧‧Second insulation

5‧‧‧ Fixed Department

51‧‧‧through slot

6‧‧‧Shaded housing

no

100‧‧‧Electrical connector

1‧‧‧Insulating body

3‧‧‧Metal reinforcements

4‧‧‧Insulation

4a‧‧‧First insulation

4b‧‧‧Second insulation

6‧‧‧Shaded housing

Claims (10)

An electrical connector includes an insulative housing and a plurality of terminals, the insulative housing having a tongue plate for providing a plurality of terminal slots, the plurality of terminals being injection molded into a terminal slot of the insulative housing, the terminal being provided with a contact portion exposed to the tongue plate The tongue plate is provided with a positioning hole exposed to the tongue plate and penetrating through the terminal slot, and the electrical connector further comprises an insulating portion for sealing the positioning hole of the tongue plate. The electrical connector of claim 1, wherein the electrical connector further comprises a metal reinforcement, the metal reinforcement being injection molded with the terminal on the insulative body, the metal reinforcement being provided An opening hole penetrating the positioning hole, the insulating portion covers the opening hole to block the positioning hole. The electrical connector of claim 2, wherein the tongue of the insulative housing comprises a front end portion and a rear end portion, the plurality of terminal slots including a plurality of first terminal slots disposed at the front end portion and disposed at the rear a plurality of second terminal slots at the end, the plurality of terminals including a plurality of first terminals held in the first terminal slot and a plurality of second terminals held in the second terminal slot, the positioning holes being included in the a first positioning hole that penetrates the first terminal slot and a second positioning hole that is formed at the rear end portion and that penetrates the second terminal slot, the opening hole includes the first hole a first opening hole through which the positioning hole penetrates and a second opening hole penetrating the second positioning hole, the insulating portion including a first insulating portion covering the first opening hole to block the first positioning hole and Covering the second opening hole to block the second insulating portion of the second positioning hole. The electrical connector of claim 2, wherein the tongue plate has an upper surface and a lower surface, the terminal slot is disposed on a lower surface of the tongue plate, and the positioning hole is disposed on an upper surface of the tongue plate. The electrical connector of claim 2, wherein the insulating portion is injection molded into the open hole to block the positioning hole. A method of manufacturing an electrical connector, comprising the steps of:
In the first step, the plurality of terminals provided with the contact portions are punched out with a metal piece,
In a second step, the positioning die is used to position the terminal and the terminal is injection molded into the insulative housing, the insulative housing has a tongue plate, and the tongue plate is provided with a plurality of terminal slots for receiving the terminal.
In the third step, the positioning mold is removed to form a plurality of positioning holes penetrating through the terminal slots on the tongue plate.
In the fourth step, the insulating portion is provided and the insulating portion is used to block the positioning hole. The method of manufacturing the electrical connector of claim 6, wherein the first step further comprises stamping the metal reinforcement with a metal sheet, and in the second step, the metal reinforcement is together with the terminal The injection molding is formed on the insulating body, and the metal reinforcement member forms an open hole penetrating the positioning hole. In the fourth step, the insulating portion covers the open hole to block the positioning hole. The method of manufacturing the electrical connector of claim 7, wherein the fourth step is also injection molding. The method of manufacturing the electrical connector of claim 7, wherein the fourth step is followed by cutting a strip of the metal sheet of the terminal and the metal reinforcement. The method of manufacturing the electrical connector of claim 7, wherein the tongue plate has an upper surface and a lower surface, the terminal slot is disposed on a lower surface of the tongue plate, and the positioning hole is disposed on the tongue plate Upper surface.