A novel terminal pin, conductive terminal and electrical connector

Abstract

The present invention relates to a novel terminal pin, a conductive terminal and an electrical connector thereof, including a plug-in end for press-fitting and plugging with a plug-in hole of a circuit board. The plug-in end includes a front end face, a rear end face opposite to the front end face, and arc-shaped side end faces located on the left and right sides. The front end face, the rear end face and the two side end faces together form a shuttle-shaped plug-in main body portion. The plug-in main body portion is provided with a hollow portion penetrating through the front end face and the rear end face from front to back and a solid portion located within the hollow portion. The hollow portion and the solid portion together form a semi-hollow and semi-solid elastic space. With such a setting, when it is necessary to plug and cooperate the terminal pin with the circuit board, it is only necessary to insert the terminal pin into the plug-in hole of the circuit board. The two side end faces of the terminal pin can be closely cooperated with the circuit board to achieve a stable plug-in between the terminal pin and the circuit board, without the need for additional processes such as using solder. The process is simple, the manufacturing process is shortened, and the assembly efficiency of the terminal pin is greatly improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of connectors, and particularly to a terminal pin, a conductive terminal and an electrical connector with a novel structure. Background Art

[0002] An electrical connector generally includes an insulating body, conductive terminals mounted on the insulating body, and a metal housing covering the outside of the insulating body. The conductive terminal includes a contact portion for electrically connecting to a mating connector, a holding portion connecting the contact portion and for being held on the insulating body, and a soldering portion further extending from the holding portion and for being inserted and held on a circuit board.

[0003] In the prior art, the soldering portion needs to be first inserted into the insertion hole of the circuit board, and then the soldering portion and the insertion hole of the circuit board are fixed by soldering. With such a setting, two processes are required during the assembly process of the conductive terminal. The first is the insertion process, and the second is the soldering process, and there are more processes. On the other hand, during the soldering process, if the distance between the soldering portions of the conductive terminals is small, the situation of bridging is very likely to occur, greatly reducing the yield rate of the electrical connector.

[0004] Especially in the current trend of miniaturization of electrical connectors, the existing assembly method of the soldering portion is more unfavorable for the miniaturization development trend of the electrical connector.

[0005] Therefore, it is necessary to improve the existing novel terminal pin, conductive terminal and electrical connector to overcome the above-mentioned defects in the prior art. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The purpose of the present invention is to provide a novel terminal pin, a conductive terminal and an electrical connector that are beneficial to improving the assembly efficiency.

[0007] A novel terminal pin includes an insertion end for being press-fitted and inserted into the insertion hole of the circuit board. The insertion end includes a front end face, a rear end face opposite to the front end face, and arc-shaped side end faces on the left and right sides. The front end face, the rear end face and the two side end faces together form a shuttle-shaped insertion main body portion. The insertion main body portion is provided with a hollow portion penetrating through the front end face and the rear end face in the front and rear directions and a solid portion located in the hollow portion. The hollow portion and the solid portion together form a semi-hollow and semi-solid elastic space.

[0008] As a further improvement of the present invention, the hollow portion includes a first through hole penetrating through the front end face and the rear end face in the front and rear directions, and a second through hole located below the first through hole and penetrating through the front end face and the rear end face in the front and rear directions. The solid portion includes a support portion spanning left and right and located between the first through hole and the second through hole in the up and down direction. The support portion is used to support the hollow portion in the left and right directions.

[0009] As a further improvement of the present invention, the insertion end is provided with a recessed portion that further recesses upward from the first through-hole.

[0010] As a further improvement of the present invention, the first through-hole is in the shape of a horizontally flattened round hole with a width in the left-right direction greater than the width in the up-down direction, the second through-hole is in the shape of a vertically flattened round hole with a width in the up-down direction greater than the width in the left-right direction, the first through-hole and the second through-hole are distributed in a T-shape in the front-back direction, and in the left-right direction, the width of the insertion main body portion on both sides of the first through-hole is greater than the width of the insertion main body portion on both sides of the second through-hole.

[0011] As a further improvement of the present invention, the outer periphery of the first through-hole is provided with a first inner side surface, the outer periphery of the second through-hole is provided with a second inner side surface, the hollow part is further provided with a third inner side surface and a fourth inner side surface, the third inner side surface and the fourth inner side surface are respectively located on both sides of the hollow part and extend in an inclined shape, and the third inner side surface and the fourth inner side surface are respectively tangent to the first inner side surface and the second inner side surface on the same side.

[0012] As a further improvement of the present invention, the support portion is connected to the third inner side surface and the fourth inner side surface, and in the left-right direction, one end of the support portion is close to the front end surface, the other end of the support portion is close to the rear end surface, and the cross-section of the support portion in the up-down direction is S-shaped.

[0013] As a further improvement of the present invention, the terminal pin includes an insertion head portion located at the lower end of the insertion main body portion, the front end of the insertion head portion is provided with an inclined guiding surface, and an arc-shaped chamfered surface is provided between the front end surface, the rear end surface and the side end surface.

[0014] As a further improvement of the present invention, a connection end is connected above the terminal pin, a recessed connection arc surface is provided between the connection end and the insertion main body portion, the connection arc surface is located above the first through-hole in the up-down direction, and the width between the two connection arc surfaces in the left-right direction is less than the width of the insertion main body portion on both sides of the first through-hole.

[0015] The present invention can also be implemented by the following technical solutions:

[0016] A conductive terminal includes the aforementioned novel terminal pin and a holding portion and a contact portion connecting the terminal pin, and the conductive terminal is used for transmitting electrical signals.

[0017] The present invention can also be implemented by the following technical solutions:

[0018] An electrical connector includes the aforementioned conductive terminal, and the electrical connector includes an insulating body for holding the conductive terminal and a metal shell covering the outside of the insulating body.

[0019] Compared with the prior art, the plugging main body part of the novel terminal pin, conductive terminal and its electrical connector of the present invention is provided with a hollow part penetrating through the front end face and the rear end face from front to back and a solid part located inside the hollow part, and the hollow part and the solid part together form an elastic space that is semi-hollow and semi-solid. With such a setting, when it is necessary to plug the terminal pin into cooperation with the circuit board, it only needs to insert the terminal pin into the plugging hole of the circuit board. The two side end faces of the terminal pin can be closely cooperated with the circuit board to achieve a stable plugging between the terminal pin and the circuit board, without the need to use additional processes such as solder. The process is simple, the manufacturing process is shortened, and the assembly efficiency of the terminal pin is greatly improved. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] Figure 1 is the front view of the novel terminal pin of the present invention.

[0021] Figure 2 is the side view of the novel terminal pin of the present invention.

[0022] Figure 3 is the three-dimensional structure schematic diagram of the novel terminal pin of the present invention.

[0023] Figure 4 is Figure 3 the three-dimensional structure schematic diagram from another angle in

[0024] Figure 5 is Figure 3 the three-dimensional structure schematic diagram from the third angle in

[0025] Figure 6 is Figure 3 the three-dimensional structure schematic diagram from the fourth angle in

[0026] Figure 7 is Figure 3 the three-dimensional structure schematic diagram from the fifth angle in

[0027] Reference numerals:

[0028] Terminal pin 100 Connection end 1

[0029] Plugging end 2 Front end face 201

[0030] Rear end face 202 Side end face 203

[0031] Plugging main body part 21 First perforation 211

[0032] First inner side face 2110 Second perforation 212

[0033] Second inner side face 2120 Support part 213

[0034] The third inner side surface 2131, the fourth inner side surface 2132

[0035] The hollow part 20, the insertion head 22

[0036] The side surface of the head 221, the guiding surface 2210

[0037] The connecting arc surface 3, the chamfered surface 4

[0038] The recessed part 2111 Detailed implementation manners

[0039] Now, various exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that: unless otherwise specifically stated, the relative arrangements of components and steps, numerical expressions and values set forth in these embodiments do not limit the scope of the present invention.

[0040] The following description of at least one exemplary embodiment is merely illustrative in nature and is in no way a limitation on the present invention or its application or use.

[0041] Technologies and devices known to those of ordinary skill in the relevant art may not be discussed in detail, but where appropriate, such technologies and devices should be regarded as part of the specification.

[0042] In all the examples shown and discussed herein, any specific values should be construed as merely exemplary and not as a limitation. Thus, other examples of the exemplary embodiments may have different values.

[0043] It should be noted that: like reference numerals and letters denote like items in the following drawings, and thus, once an item is defined in one drawing, it need not be further discussed in subsequent drawings.

[0044] Please refer to Figures 1 to 7As shown, it is a schematic structural diagram of the novel terminal pin 100 of the present invention. A novel terminal pin 100 includes a plug-in end 2 for being press-fitted and plugged with a circuit board plug-in hole (not shown). The plug-in end 2 includes a front end face 201, a rear end face 202 opposite to the front end face 201, and arc-shaped side end faces 203 on the left and right sides. The front end face 201, the rear end face 202, and the two side end faces 203 together form a shuttle-shaped plug-in main body 21. The plug-in main body 21 is provided with a hollow part 20 that penetrates through the front end face 201 and the rear end face 202 from front to back, and a solid part located within the hollow part. The hollow part 20 and the solid part together form a semi-hollow and semi-solid elastic space. The "shuttle shape" means that the lower end of the plug-in main body 21 is narrower, while the middle end and / or the upper end is wider. In this way, the plug-in main body 21 can be smoothly inserted into the circuit board plug-in hole, and the wider part of the plug-in main body 21 can achieve a lateral extrusion fit with the circuit board plug-in hole. Specifically, the side end face 203 can be an arc-shaped surface, a flat surface, or other forms.

[0045] Specifically, in this embodiment, the hollow part 20 includes a first through hole 211 that penetrates through the front end face 201 and the rear end face 202 from front to back, and a second through hole 212 located below the first through hole 211 and penetrating through the front end face 201 and the rear end face 202 from front to back. The solid part includes a support part 213 that spans left and right and is located between the first through hole 211 and the second through hole 212 in the up and down direction. The support part 213 is used to support the hollow part 20 in the left and right directions. The "shuttle shape" refers to a shape that is thinner at both ends compared to the middle. With such a setting, the shuttle-shaped plug-in main body 21 is internally provided with a hollow part 20 that penetrates through from front to back. When the plug-in main body 21 is plugged into a relatively narrow circuit board plug-in hole, the plug-in main body 21 is deformed by extrusion in the left and right directions. The hollow part 20 can provide the space required for the deformation of the plug-in main body 21. The support part 213 located within the hollow part 20 can support the hollow part 20, enabling the plug-in main body 21 to still have a certain elastic restoring force in the left and right directions after being extruded, making the fit between the plug-in main body 21 and the circuit board plug-in hole more tight and stable, and preventing the plug-in main body 21 from detaching from the circuit board plug-in hole. In this way, when it is necessary to plug the terminal pin 100 with the circuit board, only need to insert the terminal pin 100 into the circuit board plug-in hole. The two side end faces 203 of the terminal pin 100 can be closely fitted with the circuit board, realizing a stable plug-in between the terminal pin 100 and the circuit board, without the need for additional processes such as soldering. The process is simple, the manufacturing process is shortened, and the assembly efficiency of the terminal pin 100 is greatly improved. In other embodiments of the present invention, the solid part can also be other shapes or other connection methods with the hollow part 20, as long as the semi-hollow and semi-solid elastic space is achieved.

[0046] The plug-in end 2 is provided with a recessed portion 2111 that further recesses upward from the first through hole 211. With such a setting, the recessed portion 2111 enables the hollow portion 20 to achieve better compression deformation when being squeezed from both sides. In other embodiments, the recessed portion 2111 may not be provided.

[0047] In this embodiment, the cross-section of the support portion 213 in the up-down direction is S-shaped. With such a setting, when the plug-in main body portion 21 is squeezed in the left-right direction, the S-shaped support portion 213 has a compressible deformation space for the plug-in main body portion 21 to be compressed in the left-right direction, and enables the plug-in main body portion 21 to have a better restoring force, avoiding the plug-in main body portion 21 from being unable to rebound after being compressed. In other embodiments of the present invention, the support portion 213 may also be of other shapes.

[0048] The first through hole 211 is in the shape of a horizontally flattened oval with a left-right width greater than the up-down width, the second through hole 212 is in the shape of a vertically flattened oval with an up-down width greater than the left-right width, the first through hole 211 and the second through hole 212 are distributed in a T shape in the front-back direction, and in the left-right direction, the width of the plug-in main body portion 21 on both sides of the first through hole 211 is greater than the width of the plug-in main body portion 21 on both sides of the second through hole 212. With such a setting, when the plug-in main body portion 21 initially starts to cooperate with the circuit board plug-in hole, the portions of the plug-in main body portion 21 on both sides of the second through hole 212 can guide the terminal pins 100 to be inserted into the circuit board plug-in hole. When the widest part of the plug-in main body portion 21 cooperates with the circuit board plug-in hole, the first through hole 211 is elastically squeezed and deformed, and the second through hole 212 is also squeezed and deformed to a certain extent, enabling the plug-in main body portion 21 to have good elastic deformation force as a whole. In other embodiments of the present invention, the first through hole 211 may also be a through hole shape such as an oval, a rectangle, a rhombus, a triangle, etc.

[0049] The first through hole 211 and the second through hole 212 together form the hollow portion 20. The outer periphery of the first through hole 211 is provided with a first inner side surface 2110, the outer periphery of the second through hole 212 is provided with a second inner side surface 2120, the hollow portion 20 is further provided with a third inner side surface 2131 and a fourth inner side surface 2132, the third inner side surface 2131 and the fourth inner side surface 2132 are respectively located on both sides of the hollow portion 20 and extend in an inclined shape, and the third inner side surface 2131 and the fourth inner side surface 2132 are respectively tangentally connected to the first inner side surface 2110 and the second inner side surface 2120 on the same side. Thus, the hollow portion 20 is generally in the shape of an inverted isosceles triangle. When the plug-in main body portion 21 is squeezed, the triangular hollow portion 20 can provide a larger space required for deformation.

[0050] Specifically, the supporting portion 213 is connected to the third inner side surface 2131 and the fourth inner side surface 2132, and in the left-right direction, one end of the supporting portion 213 is close to the front end surface 201, and the other end of the supporting portion 213 is close to the rear end surface 202. With such a setting, the supporting portion 213 can be substantially S-shaped, so that the plugging main body portion 21 has better deformable space and better restoring force in the left-right direction.

[0051] The terminal pin 100 includes a plugging head 22 located at the lower end of the plugging main body portion 21, and an inclined guiding surface 2210 is provided at the front end of the plugging head 22. With such a setting, the plugging head 22 can guide the terminal pin 100 to be inserted into the circuit board plugging hole. The plugging head 22 has two head side surfaces 221 extending vertically, and the front end surface 201 and the rear end surface 202 integrally extend to the plugging head 22. Thus, the plugging head 22 is substantially vertical, so that the plugging head 22 has a certain strength, and at the same time, it is avoided that the plugging head 22 is too pointed and scratches other parts of the circuit board.

[0052] A connection end 1 is connected above the terminal pin 100. A concave connection arc surface 3 is provided between the connection end 1 and the plugging main body portion 21. The connection arc surface 3 is located above the first through hole 211 in the up-down direction, and the width between the left and right connection arc surfaces 3 is smaller than the width of the plugging main body portion 21 on the left and right sides of the first through hole 211. The connection end 1 can be a holding portion of the conductive terminal or a part of other parts. The distance between the two connection arc surfaces 3 is relatively narrow, which can make the plugging main body portion 21 in a shuttle shape, facilitating the elastic deformation of the plugging main body portion 21.

[0053] An arc-shaped chamfer surface 4 is provided between the front end surface 201, the rear end surface 202 and the side end surface 203. Thus, the arc-shaped chamfer surface 4 can make the terminal pin 100 have a relatively smooth outer surface, avoiding unnecessary damage to the circuit board plugging hole.

[0054] The present invention also protects a conductive terminal (not shown), the conductive terminal includes the novel terminal pin 100 described above and a holding portion (not shown) and a contact portion (not shown) connecting the terminal pin 100. The conductive terminal is used for transmitting electrical signals. With such a setting, when the conductive terminal needs to be assembled to the circuit board, only the terminal pin 100 needs to be inserted into the circuit board plugging hole, and the plugging and assembling of the conductive terminal and the circuit connection can be realized, without using solder welding anymore, greatly simplifying the assembling process of the conductive terminal. In other embodiments of the present invention, the terminal pin 100 can also be a common plugging and fixing pin that does not need to transmit electrical signals. Thus, the plugging and fixing process of the terminal pin 100 can be simplified.

[0055] The present invention further protects an electrical connector (not shown), which includes the aforementioned conductive terminals, an insulating body (not shown) for holding the conductive terminals, and a metal housing (not shown) covering the outside of the insulating body. When the electrical connector needs to be assembled to a circuit board, only the terminal pins 100 of the conductive terminals need to be inserted into the insertion holes of the circuit board, so that the insertion and assembly of the electrical connector and the circuit connection can be realized, without the need to use solder welding anymore, greatly simplifying the assembly process of the electrical connector.

[0056] Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by those skilled in the technical field to which this invention belongs. The terms used in the description of the present invention herein are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the present invention. The term "or / and" used herein includes any and all combinations of one or more of the related listed items.

[0057] The technical features of the above-described embodiments can be combined arbitrarily. For the sake of brevity of description, not all possible combinations of the technical features in the above-described embodiments are described. However, as long as there is no contradiction in the combination of these technical features, it should be considered as the scope described in this specification.

[0058] The above-described embodiments only represent several implementation manners of the present invention, and the description thereof is relatively specific and detailed, but it cannot be understood as a limitation on the scope of the invention patent. It should be noted that for those of ordinary skill in the art, without departing from the concept of the present invention, several modifications and improvements can still be made, and these all belong to the protection scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the invention patent should be subject to the appended claims.

Claims

1. A new type of terminal pin, characterized in that: It includes a plug-in end for squeezing and plugging into the plug-in hole of the circuit board. The plug-in end includes a front end face, a rear end face opposite to the front end face, and arc-shaped side end faces on the left and right sides. The front end face, the rear end face, and the two side end faces together form a shuttle-shaped plug-in main body part. The plug-in main body part is provided with a hollow part that penetrates the front end face and the rear end face from front to back and a solid part located in the hollow part. The hollow part and the solid part together form a semi-hollow and semi-solid elastic space. The hollow part includes a first perforation that penetrates the front end face and the rear end face from front to back, and a second perforation located below the first perforation and penetrating the front end face and the rear end face from front to back. The solid part includes a support part that spans left and right and is located between the first perforation and the second perforation in the up and down direction. The support part is used to support the hollow part in the left and right directions. The plug-in end is provided with a recessed part that further depresses upward from the first perforation. The first perforation is in the shape of a horizontally flattened round hole with a width in the left and right direction greater than the width in the up and down direction. The second perforation is in the shape of a vertically flattened round hole with a width in the up and down direction greater than the width in the left and right direction. The first perforation and the second perforation are distributed in a T shape in the front and back direction. In the left and right direction, the width of the plug-in main body part on both sides of the first perforation is greater than the width of the plug-in main body part on both sides of the second perforation. The first perforation is provided with a first inner side face on its outer periphery, and the second perforation is provided with a second inner side face on its outer periphery. The hollow part is also provided with a third inner side face and a fourth inner side face. The third inner side face and the fourth inner side face are respectively located on the left and right sides of the hollow part and extend in an inclined shape, and the third inner side face and the fourth inner side face are respectively tangent to the first inner side face and the second inner side face on the same side. The support part is connected to the third inner side face and the fourth inner side face, and in the left and right direction, one end of the support part is close to the front end face, and the other end of the support part is close to the rear end face. The cross-section of the support part in the up and down direction is S-shaped. The terminal pin includes a plug-in head part located at the lower end of the plug-in main body part. The front end of the plug-in head part is provided with an inclined guiding surface. An arc-shaped chamfer surface is provided between the front end face, the rear end face, and the side end face. A connection end is connected above the terminal pin. A recessed connection arc surface is provided between the connection end and the plug-in main body part. The connection arc surface is located above the first perforation in the up and down direction. The width between the two connection arc surfaces on the left and right is less than the width of the plug-in main body part on both sides of the first perforation.

2. A conductive terminal, including the new type of terminal pin as described in claim 1, and a holding part and a contact part connecting the terminal pin. The conductive terminal is used to transmit electrical signals.

3. An electrical connector, including the conductive terminal as described in claim 2. The electrical connector includes an insulating body for holding the conductive terminal and a metal shell covering the outside of the insulating body.

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