ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR AND ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR ASSEMBLY WITH IMPROVED CONTACT STRUCTURES

• US 20110250769A1
• Filed: 12/06/2010
• Published: 10/13/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 04/07/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Alltop Electronic Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Alltop Electronic Company Limited
• Inventors: SHEN, Ya-Hui, WANG, Chin-Li
• Granted Patent: US 8,545,275 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 439/108
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 13/44 Means for preventing access to live contacts making use of a switch actuated by engagement of counterpart H01R13/7036
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 13/64 Means for preventing incorrect coupling
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 2103/00 Two poles
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 24/22 with additional earth or shield contacts
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 24/70 with additional earth or shield contacts

Abstract

An electrical connector includes an insulative housing, at least one contact and at least one protecting insulator. The insulative housing defines a mating direction, a mating face and a receiving cavity recessed from the mating face along said mating direction. The at least one contact is received in the insulative housing and includes a contacting portion exposed into the receiving cavity, a retaining portion extending from one end of the contacting portion to be interferentially received in the insulative housing, and a forward end extending from the other end of the contacting portion to locate more closely to the mating face of the insulative housing than the contacting portion, and a connecting portion extending from the retaining portion to be exposed beyond the insulative housing. The protecting insulator entirely covers the forward end of the at least one contact.

Claims

1. An electrical connector adapted for electrically connecting with a complementary connector, comprising:

an insulative housing defining a mating direction, a mating face and a receiving cavity recessed from the mating face along said mating direction;

at least one contact received in the insulative housing adapted for electrically connecting with a contact of the complementary connector, the at least one contact comprising a contacting portion exposed into the receiving cavity adapted for electrically connecting with the contact of the complementary connector, a retaining portion extending from one end of the contacting portion to be interferentially received in the insulative housing, a forward end extending from the other end of the contacting portion to locate more closely to the mating face of the insulative housing than the contacting portion, and a connecting portion extending from the retaining portion to be exposed beyond the insulative housing; and

a protecting insulator entirely covering the forward end of the at least one contact.

2. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein the protecting insulator is inset-molded/assembled to the forward end of the at least one contact.

3. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein the forward end is shrunk forwardly from the contacting portion, and wherein the protecting insulator covered the forward end has outer surfaces respectively coplanar with those of the contacting portion.

4. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein the electrical connector comprises three contacts for power transmission, each contact has a forward end covered by a protecting insulator.

5. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 4, wherein the contacts are arranged in triangle relationship with a positive contact and a negative contact arranged on the same line, while a grounding contact is arranged at the top of the triangle.

6. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 5, further comprising an additional grounding contact assembled to the insulative housing to locate below the grounding contact.

7. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 6, wherein the grounding contact and the additional grounding contact electrically connect with the same contact of the complementary connector, and wherein the additional grounding contact forms electrical connection with said contact of the complementary connector later than the grounding contact.

8. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 6, wherein the additional grounding contact comprise an additional contacting portion, an additional retaining portion interferentially received in the insulative housing and an additional connecting portion exposed beyond the insulative housing, and wherein the additional retaining portion comprises a plurality of first barbs and second barbs locating in surfaces perpendicular to each other.

9. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 5, wherein the insulative housing forms a plurality of partition racks extending into the receiving cavity to separate the receiving cavity into three contact-receiving passageways, and wherein the contacts are respectively received in the contact-receiving passageways and spaced from one another by the partition racks.

10. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 9, further comprising an additional grounding contact assembled to the same contact-receiving passageway together the grounding contact adapted for electrically connect with the same contact of the complementary connector.

11. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 5, further comprising a retainer assembled to the insulative housing to hold the contacts together with the insulative housing.

12. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 11, wherein the retainer is insert-molded with the contacts and assembled to the insulative housing together with the contacts.

13. An electrical connector assembly comprising:

a plug connector comprising;

a first insulative housing defining a mating face and a receiving cavity recessed along a mating direction from the mating face;

at least one first contact received in the first insulative housing and comprising a first contacting portion exposed in the receiving cavity, a first retaining portion extending from one end of the first contacting portion and retained in the first insulative housing, a forward end extending from the other end of the first contacting portion to be closer to the mating face than the first contacting portion; and

at least one protecting insulator entirely covering the forward end of the at least one first contact; and

a receptacle connector electrically mating with the plug connector and comprising;

a second insulative housing; and

at least one second contact received in the second insulative housing and comprising an elastic second contacting portion electrically connecting with the first contacting portion of the at least one first contact; and

wherein

the second insulative housing is received in the receiving cavity of the first insulative housing, and the elastic second contacting portion of the at least second contact slides along the protecting insulator then forms electrical connection with the first contacting portion of the at least one first contact.

14. The electrical connector assembly as claimed in claim 13, wherein the protecting insulator is insert-molded with the forward end of the at least one first contact to cover the forward end.

15. The electrical connector assembly as claimed in claim 13, wherein the plug connector comprises three first contacts arranged in triangle relationship for power transmission, and the receptacle connector comprises three second contacts arranged in triangle relationship to electrically connect with the first contacts for power transmission, and wherein two first/second contacts are positive contact and negative contact arranged in a horizontal surface and the other one first/second contact is a grounding contact located at the top of the triangle.

16. The electrical connector assembly as claimed in claim 15, wherein the plug connector further comprises an additional grounding contact located below the grounding first contact, and wherein the additional grounding contact and the grounding first contact both electrically connect with the same grounding second contact.

17. The electrical connector assembly as claimed in claim 16, wherein the grounding first contact forms electrical connection with the grounding second contact before the additional grounding contact.

18. The electrical connector assembly as claimed in claim 17, wherein the additional grounding contact forms a plurality of first barbs and a second barbs to interferentially engage with the first insulative housing, and wherein the first barbs and the second barbs are respectively located in different surfaces perpendicular to each other.

19. The electrical connector assembly as claimed in claim 13, wherein the second insulative housing defines at least one second contact-receiving passageway to receive the at least one second contact, and wherein at least one of the first insulative housing and the second insulative housing defines a plurality of heat-radiating holes therethrough to communicate with at least one of the receiving cavity of the first insulative housing and the at least one second contact-receiving passageway of the second insulative housing.

20. The electrical connector assembly as claimed in claim 13, wherein the plug connector comprises a retainer insert-molded with the at least one first contact, and assembled to the first insulative housing together with the at least one first contact.