ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR UPPER AND LOWER CONTACT MODULE UNITS MADE BY HOLDING RESPECTIVE CONTACT CARRIER STRIPS AGAINST EACH OTHER FOR SUBSEQUENT OVER-MOLDING OPERATION

• US 20200136293A1
• Filed: 10/30/2019
• Published: 04/30/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 10/30/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Foxconn Computer Connector Company Limited (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.), Foxconn Interconnect Technology Limited (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Foxconn Computer Connector Company Limited (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.), Foxconn Interconnect Technology Limited (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: ZHAO, JUN
• Granted Patent: US 11,349,246 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 13/405 Securing in non-demountable manner, e.g. moulding, riveting
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 13/504 different pieces being moulded, cemented, welded, e.g. ultrasonic, or swaged together
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 13/6585 Shielding material individually surrounding or interposed between mutually spaced contacts
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 2107/00 Four or more poles
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 24/60 Contacts spaced along planar side wall transverse to longitudinal axis of engagement
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 43/16 for manufacturing contact members, e.g. by punching and by bending
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 43/24 Assembling by moulding on contact members

Abstract

A method of making an electrical connector which includes an insulative housing having a tongue and a first and second rows of contacts with respective contacting portions exposed to the two opposite surfaces of the tongue and respective soldering portions is characterized by the steps of: forming the first row of contacts from a first contact carrier to have the soldering portions thereof connected to a first carrier strip; forming the second row of contacts from a second contact carrier to have the soldering portions thereof connected to a second carrier strip; insert-molding the first row of contacts with a first insulator to form a first contact module unit; insert-molding the second row of contacts with a second insulator to form a second contact module unit; holding the first carrier strip and the second carrier strip against each other for further over-molding to form the complete contact module.

Claims

1. A method of making an electrical connector which includes an insulative housing having a tongue with two opposite surfaces and a first and second rows of contacts with respective contacting portions exposed to opposite first and second surfaces of the tongue and respective soldering portions, characterized by the steps of:

forming the first row of contacts from a first contact carrier to have the soldering portions thereof connected to a first carrier strip;

forming the second row of contacts from a second contact carrier to have the soldering portions thereof connected to a second carrier strip;

insert-molding the first row of contacts with a first insulator to form a first contact module unit;

insert-molding the second row of contacts with a second insulator to form a second contact module unit;

holding the first carrier strip and the second carrier strip against each other; and

over-molding a third insulator with the first contact module unit and the second contact module unit.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a step of bending the second carrier strip to break from the second row of contacts after the step of over-molding.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a step of forming a shielding plate, and wherein the step of holding comprises positioning the shielding plate between the first contact module unit and the second contact module unit and the step of over-molding comprises molding the third insulator with the first and second contact module units and the shielding plate.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the soldering portions of the second row of contacts and the soldering portions of the first row of contacts are located at a same horizontal plane for common surface mounting.

5. The method as claimed in claim 4, wherein the soldering portions of the second row of contacts are located in front of the soldering portions of the first row of contacts in a front-to-back direction.

6. The method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the first row of contacts and the second row of contacts have respective contacting portions respectively located upon the first surface and second surface of the tongue, and the first surface is higher than the second surface in a vertical direction perpendicular to the front-to-back direction.

7. The method as claimed in claim 4, wherein the soldering portions of the second row of contacts are connected to the second carrier strip via corresponding connecting sections, and a V-shaped cut is formed between each soldering portion and the corresponding connecting section.

8. The method as claimed in claim 7, wherein the soldering portion of the first row of contacts are exposed to an exterior in the vertical direction while the soldering portion of the second row of contacts are hidden under the housing in the vertical direction.

9. The method as claimed in claim 7, wherein a bend is formed between each soldering portion of the second row contacts and the corresponding connecting section of the second carrier strip in the front-to-back direction.

10. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the soldering portions of the first row of contacts are linked to the first carrier strip via corresponding connecting sections, and no bend is formed between each soldering portion and the corresponding connecting section in the front-to-back direction.

11. The method as claimed in claim 7, wherein a rear end face of each soldering portion of the second row of contacts forms an inclined face due to said V-shaped cut.

12. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein a rear end face of each soldering portion of the upper row of contacts is vertical.

13. An electrical connector assembly comprising:

a first contact module unit including a plurality of first row of contacts integrally formed within a first insulator via an insert-molding process;

a second contact module unit including a plurality of second row of contacts integrally formed within a second insulator via another insert-molding process;

each of said first row of contacts and said second row of contacts including a front contacting portion and a rear soldering portion along a front-to-back direction;

both said first contact module unit and said second contact module unit integrally formed and stacked with each other through a third insulator via an over-molding process to form a whole contact module, said first contact module unit being higher than the second contact module unit in a vertical direction perpendicular to the front-to-back direction;

wherein

an end face of each soldering portion of the second row of contacts is an inclined face due to a V-shaped cut formed between the soldering portion and a corresponding connecting section of a carrier strip which is removed after the over-molding process.

14. The electrical connector assembly as claimed in claim 13, wherein the soldering portions of the second row of contacts are hidden under the contact module in the vertical direction.

15. The electrical connector assembly as claimed in claim 14, wherein the soldering portions of the first row of contacts are located behind the soldering portions of the second row of contacts in the front-to-back direction and upwardly exposed to an exterior in the vertical direction.

16. The electrical connector assembly as claimed in claim 14, wherein said inclined face is upwardly oblique.

17. The electrical connector assembly as claimed in claim 14, wherein an end face of each soldering portion of the first row of contacts is vertical.

18. The electrical connector assembly as claimed in claim 17, wherein each connecting section forms a bend adjacent to the V-shaped cut.

19. The electrical connector assembly as claimed in claim 18, wherein the soldering portions of the first row of contacts are originally linked to another carrier strip via corresponding connecting sections in a straight manner.

20. The electrical connector assembly as claimed in claim 19, wherein the carrier strip linked with the soldering portions of the second row of contacts is adapted to be intimately stacked with said another carrier strip linked with the soldering portions of the first row of contacts during the over-molding process via the bends of said connecting sections of said carrier strip.