Electrical connector for use with cradle

• US 9,722,375 B2
• Filed: 11/16/2015
• Issued: 08/01/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 11/14/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Foxconn Interconnect Technology Limited (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Foxconn Interconnect Technology Limited (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Chen, Paul, Chang, Chun-Yi, Little, Terrance F., Sedio, Stephen
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel, Tulsidas C
• Assistant Examiner(s): Leigh, Peter G
• Application Number:
  US14/942,968
• Publication Number:
  US 20160141819A1
• Time in Patent Office: 624 Days
• Field of Search: 439 65, 439 66, 439529, 439500, 439 71, 439600, 439626, 361697
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 13/2435 with opposite contact points, e.g. C beam
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 13/426 Securing by a separate resilient retaining piece supported by base or case, e.g. collar or metal contact-retention clip
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 2107/00 Four or more poles
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 2201/12 for medicine and surgery
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 31/005 Intermediate parts for distributing signals

Abstract

An electrical connector includes an insulator adapted to be downwardly assembled into the housing of the cradle, and a set of contacts upwardly assembled into the insulator. Each contact includes a vertical retention section received in the corresponding retention slot in the insulator via an upward insertion process, and an upper spring arm extending from an upper edge of the retention section for mechanically and electrically connecting to the machine case, and a lower spring arm extending from a lower edge of the retention section for mechanically and electrically connecting to the cable. The free end of the upper spring arm is downwardly abutted against by the insulator while that of the lower spring arm is not.

Claims

1. An electrical connector for use within a cradle which connects a machine case and at least one cable, comprising:

an insulator defines opposite top and bottom surfaces thereon in a vertical direction;

a plurality of contacts respectively disposed in corresponding openings of the insulator, each of said contacts including a retention section lying in a vertical plane extending along a longitudinal direction perpendicular to said vertical direction, and retainably received in a corresponding retention slot in the insulator wherein the retention slot is configured to only allow the retention section to be inserted thereinto upwardly and is equipped with a stopper around the top surface to prevent excessive upward installation of the retention section, and opposite upper and lower spring arms extending from opposite upper and lower edges of the retention section essentially along a same transverse direction perpendicular to both said vertical direction and said longitudinal direction;

wherein

the contacts are upwardly inserted into the openings from the bottom surface, and in a top view, the upper spring arm extends longer than and beyond the lower spring arm of the corresponding contact in the transverse direction;

wherein

a free end of the upper spring arm is downwardly abutted against by a step structure of the insulator while that of the lower spring arm is not.

2. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein said insulator forms a plurality of narrowed passageways in alignment with the corresponding retention slot in the transverse direction to regulate up-and-down deflection of the upper spring arm and that of the lower spring arm.

3. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein said insulator forms a plurality of locking lugs on the bottom surface for mounting to a housing of the cradle.

4. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein the retention section includes an unexposed part hidden within the retention slot, and an exposed part beside the unexposed part in the longitudinal direction and transversely exposed out of the retention slot;

the upper and lower spring arms extend from the respective exposed part.

5. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 4, wherein the stopper downwardly abuts against a top edge of the unexposed part of the retention section.

6. An electrical connector for use within a cradle, comprising:

an insulator defines opposite top and bottom surfaces thereon in a vertical direction, and a set of retention slots arranged at intervals in a longitudinal direction perpendicular to the vertical direction;

a plurality of contacts retained in the insulator, each of said contacts including a retention section retainably received in the corresponding retention slot, and opposite upper and lower spring arms extending along a transverse direction and protruding upwardly and downwardly beyond said top and bottom surfaces of the insulator respectively;

wherein

the retention section includes an unexposed part hidden within the retention slot, and an exposed part beside the unexposed part in the longitudinal direction and transversely exposed out of the retention slot;

the insulator defines a stopper at upper side of the retention slot and downwardly abutting against the unexposed part;

the upper and lower spring arms extend from respective upper and lower edges of the exposed part;

wherein

barbed structures are respectively formed on two opposite exterior side edges of said unexposed part and said exposed part in the longitudinal direction for retaining the corresponding contact in position in the insulator.

7. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 6, wherein the insulator defines a set of narrowed passageways in alignment with the corresponding retention slots and corresponding to the respective contacts;

the exposed part of each contact is transversely exposed toward the passageways in the transverse direction.

8. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 6, wherein the upper spring arm is longer than the lower spring arm in the transverse direction, and the upper spring arm defines a free end downwardly abutted against by a step structure formed at the top surface of the insulator while the lower spring arm does not.

9. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 6, wherein the contacts are divided into at least two groups, the insulator defines at least two large openings corresponding to said two groups of contacts, the exposed parts of said two groups of contacts are exposed toward said two openings respectively.

10. An electrical connection system comprising:

a cradle defining an upward receiving space and at least one small cavity located at one end of the cradle along a longitudinal direction and under a corresponding deck station of said cradle, a cable connector inserted into the small cavity along said longitudinal direction, a machine case adapted to be downwardly loaded into the receiving space and equipped with a connector unit downwardly confronting the said end, both the cable connector and the connector unit providing corresponding planar contacts;

an improvement including;

a terminal module securely mounted upon the deck station and including a plurality of contacts associated with an insulator, each of said contacts having opposite resilient upper arm and lower arm respectively obliquely upward and downwardly extending to contact the corresponding connector unit and the cable connector in a compressed manner along a vertical direction perpendicular to said longitudinal direction.

11. The electrical connection system as claimed in claim 10, wherein the terminal module includes a pair of locking lugs secured to the cradle.

12. The electrical connection system as claimed in claim 10, further including means for retaining the terminal module upon the cradle in the longitudinal direction.

13. The electrical connection system as claimed in claim 10, wherein each of said contacts each including a retention section extending in a vertical plane, the corresponding upper arm and lower arm extending therefrom respectively.

14. The electrical connection system as claimed in claim 13, wherein the upper arm is downwardly pressed by a downward step of said insulator in a preloaded manner when the upper arm is free from the connector unit.

15. The electrical connection system as claimed in claim 13, wherein the retention section further includes an unexposed part abutting against the insulator the vertical direction.

16. The electrical connection system as claimed in claim 15, wherein the contact is upwardly inserted into the insulator, and the unexposed part upwardly abuts against the insulator.

17. The electrical connection system as claimed in claim 10, wherein the upper arm and the lower arm extend along the longitudinal direction.

18. The electrical connection system as claimed in claim 17, wherein the upper arm extends longer than the lower arm.