Conductive terminals and reversible USB sockets

Abstract

A conductive terminal comprises a retaining portion, a contact portion extending forward from the retaining portion, and a solder foot extending rearward from the retaining portion, wherein the front end of the contact portion forms a front end portion, the thickness of the front end portion is less than the thickness of the contact portion, the front end portion comprises a thin portion and an embedded portion extending from the front end of the thin portion, and a horizontal sealing surface is formed above the thin portion; the application also provides a forward and reverse plug-in USB socket.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of electrical connectors, and in particular to a conductive terminal and a reversible USB socket. Background Art

[0002] Type C USB connectors have been widely used in the electronics field. Due to their small size and complex structure, there are many problems in production and manufacturing, and the manufacturing cost is also relatively high. Traditional conductive terminals generally include a retaining portion, a contact portion extending forward from the retaining portion, and a solder foot extending from the other end of the retaining portion. In order to prevent the end edge of the contact portion of the terminal from lifting up and detaching from the insulating body during plugging and unplugging, the end edge of the contact portion is generally buried in plastic. Therefore, a bending portion is provided at the front of the terminal to be buried in the plastic. However, when the bending portion is buried in the plastic, during injection molding, the mold needs to cooperate with the R angle of the bending portion to seal the glue, which is easy to overflow and easily damage the terminal or cause displacement.

[0003] In actual applications, some customers have very high requirements for the electrolytic corrosion resistance of conductive terminals, and usually require electroplating of precious metals such as rhodium and ruthenium. However, the electroplating cost of precious metals such as rhodium and ruthenium is very high; the electroplating cost of one terminal is as high as more than 0.2 yuan, and the entire Type C has 24 terminals. And the customer's requirements do not require such high performance for all terminals, and may only require certain terminals to have such high performance. Summary of the invention

[0004] In view of this, it is necessary to provide a conductive terminal and a reversible USB socket in which the free end of the terminal is not easily separated from the plastic and is easy to seal with glue.

[0005] In order to solve the above-mentioned technical problems, the present application provides a conductive terminal, including a holding portion, a contact portion extending forward from the holding portion, and a solder foot extending rearward from the holding portion, wherein the front end of the contact portion forms a front end portion, the thickness of the front end portion is less than the thickness of the contact portion, the front end portion includes a thinning portion and an embedded portion formed by bending and extending from the front end of the thinning portion, and a horizontal sealing surface is formed above the thinning portion.

[0006] Preferably, the horizontal position of the sealing surface is lower than the upper surface of the contact portion, and an inclined surface is formed between the sealing surface and the upper surface of the contact portion to facilitate the plugging and unplugging of the plug terminal.

[0007] Preferably, the embedding portion extends horizontally, and an embedding plane is formed on the upper surface of the embedding portion, and the embedding plane is buried in the insulating body.

[0008] Preferably, the thickness of the front end portion is between 1 / 2 and 2 / 3 of the thickness of the contact portion.

[0009] In order to solve the above technical problems, the present application also provides a forward and reverse plug-in USB socket, comprising an upper terminal group, a lower terminal group, a metal piece placed between the upper terminal group and the lower terminal group, and an insulating body that molds the upper terminal group, the lower terminal group and the metal piece into one body, the insulating body comprising a base and a docking tongue extending forward from the base, each conductive terminal of the upper and lower terminal groups comprises a retaining portion formed in the insulating body, a contact portion extending forward from the retaining portion and exposed on the upper and lower surfaces of the docking tongue, and a welding foot extending backward from the retaining portion out of the insulating body, the front end of the conductive terminal contact portion forms a front end portion, the thickness of the front end portion is less than the thickness of the contact portion, the front end portion comprises a thin portion and an embedded portion formed by bending and extending from the front end of the thin portion, a horizontal sealing surface is formed above the thin portion, and when the insulating body is injection molded, the mold core assembly is sealed by positive crimping on the sealing surface.

[0010] Preferably, the horizontal position of the sealing surface is lower than the upper surface of the contact portion, and an inclined surface is formed between the sealing surface and the upper surface of the contact portion to facilitate the plugging and unplugging of the plug terminal.

[0011] Preferably, the embedding portion extends horizontally, and an embedding plane is formed on the upper surface of the embedding portion, and the embedding plane is buried in the plastic body.

[0012] Preferably, the insulating body includes a first insulator integrally formed with the upper row of terminal groups, a second insulator integrally formed with the lower row of terminal groups and metal parts, and a third insulator formed by integrating the first and second insulators. The contact portion and the front end portion of the upper row of terminal groups are not embedded in the first insulator, and the front end portion of the lower row of terminal groups is embedded in the second insulator and crimped onto the sealing surface of the lower row of terminal groups through a mold.

[0013] Preferably, the second insulator protrudes upward toward the first insulator at the contact portion and the embedding portion corresponding to the upper row of terminal groups to form a plurality of first and second bosses, and a plurality of flow gaps are formed between the first bosses and the second bosses to facilitate the flow of molten plastic.

[0014] Preferably, the upper terminal group and the first insulator are superimposed on the second insulator and then the third insulator is injection molded. The lower surfaces of the contact portion and the embedded portion of the upper terminal group are respectively abutted against the first and second bosses of the second insulator. The embedded portion of the upper terminal group is embedded in the third insulator and is crimped onto the sealing surface of the upper terminal group through a mold.

[0015] The front end portion of the conductive terminal of the USB socket for forward and reverse insertion of the present application is thinned and then bent and extended to form an embedded portion, and a horizontal sealing surface is formed above the thinned portion. The sealing surface is directly crimped on the front side by a mold core component to perform sealing to avoid damaging the terminal. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] The drawings described herein are used to provide further understanding of the present application and constitute a part of the present application. The illustrative embodiments of the present application and their descriptions are used to explain the present application and do not constitute improper limitations on the present application.

[0017] Figure 1 This is a three-dimensional diagram of the USB socket for this application.

[0018] Figure 2 This is a three-dimensional exploded view of the USB socket for forward and reverse insertion of this application and its partial enlarged view;

[0019] Figure 3 This is a three-dimensional exploded view of the USB socket for forward and reverse insertion of this application from another angle and a partial enlarged view;

[0020] Figure 4 A three-dimensional diagram of the conductive terminal connection strip of the present application;

[0021] Figure 5 It is a combined diagram of the first and second terminal groups of the upper row of terminal groups;

[0022] Figure 6 For along Figure 1 A cross-sectional view taken along the dashed line AA is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] In order to make the objectives, technical solutions and advantages of the present application clearer, the technical solutions of the present application will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the specific embodiments of the present application and the corresponding drawings.

[0024] See also Figures 1 to 3 As shown, the reversible USB socket of the present application includes a plurality of conductive terminals, a metal member 40 and an insulating body that forms the conductive terminals and the metal member 40 into one body;

[0025] The conductive terminal includes an upper terminal group 20 and a lower terminal group 30, and the metal member 40 is placed between the upper terminal group 20 and the lower terminal group 30. The insulating body includes a first insulator 50 first formed on the upper terminal group 20, a second insulator 60 formed on the lower terminal group 30 and the metal member 40, and a third insulator 10 that integrates the first and second insulators 50 and 60.

[0026] The third insulator 10 includes a base 11 , a docking tongue 12 extending forward from the base 11 , a thickened portion 13 between the docking tongue 12 and the base 11 , and slots 14 disposed on both sides of the docking tongue 12 .

[0027] Please continue reading Figure 4 As shown, each conductive terminal 20, 30 includes a retaining portion 21, a contact portion 22 extending forward from the retaining portion 21 and exposed on the upper and lower surfaces of the mating tongue portion 12, and a solder foot 23 extending backward from the retaining portion 21. The upper terminal group 20 and the lower terminal group 30 respectively include a first terminal group 201 and a second terminal group 202. The outer surface of the first terminal group 201 is electroplated with a rhodium or rhodium alloy layer, and the outer surface of the second terminal group 202 is electroplated with a copper or copper alloy layer. The solder foot 23 of the first terminal group 201 is connected to a first rear strip 2011, and the front edge of the contact portion 22 of the first terminal group 201 is connected to a first front strip 2012. The first terminal group 201 includes at least two power terminals 203, and the first terminal group 201 also includes a pair of signal terminals 204. The solder feet 23 of the second terminal group 202 are connected to the second rear strip 2021 , the front edge of the contact portion 22 of the second terminal group 202 is connected to the second front strip 2022 , and the second terminal group 202 includes at least a pair of ground terminals 205 and a plurality of signal terminals (not numbered).

[0028] The first terminal group 201 and the second terminal group 202 do not overlap in the vertical direction, and the signal terminal of the first terminal group 201 is preferably a pair of signal terminals 204 between two power terminals 203. During injection molding, the first rear material strip 2011 is firstly superimposed on the second rear material strip 2021, and the first front material strip 2012 is superimposed on the second front material strip 2022. The first rear material strip 2011 and the first front material strip 2012 are bent away from the second terminal group 202, so that after the material strips are stacked on each other, the upper and lower surfaces of the first terminal group 201 and the second terminal group 202 are still kept on the same horizontal plane. Then, injection molding is performed to form the first insulator 50.

[0029] The first and second terminal groups 201, 202 of the lower terminal group 30 have the same structure as the upper terminal group 20, but before injection molding, the first and second terminal groups 201, 202 of the lower terminal group 30 need to be fixed in the mold with the metal part 40 after being stacked to form the second insulator 60. Finally, the first insulator 50 and the second insulator 60 are fixed and injection molded again to form the third insulator 10.

[0030] Key References Figure 2 , Figure 6 As shown, the contact portion 22 of each terminal of the upper terminal group 20 and the lower terminal group 30 includes a front end portion 25. The front end portion 25 is thinned so that its thickness is less than the thickness of the contact portion 25. The front end portion 25 includes a thin portion 252, an embedded portion 251 formed by bending from the front end of the thin portion 252 toward the side of the metal member 40, and a bent portion 255 connecting the thin portion 252 and the embedded portion 251. The upper surface of the embedded portion 251 is an embedded plane 253, and the upper surface of the thin portion 252 forms a horizontal sealing surface 256. The rear end of the sealing surface 256 and the contact portion 22 form an inclined surface 254, and the inclined surface 254 can facilitate the plugging and unplugging of the docking plug terminal to prevent the plugging and unplugging from damaging the terminal. The thickness of the front end portion 25 is between 1 / 2 and 2 / 3 of the thickness of the contact portion 22.

[0031] During injection molding, when the lower terminal group 30 and the metal part 40 are fixed in relative position to perform injection molding of the second insulator 60, the front end portion 25 of the lower terminal group 30 is sealed with the second insulator 60 and is sealed by crimping the mold core to the sealing surface 256. The embedded portion 251 and the bent portion 255 are both embedded in the second insulator 60. The second insulator 60 is provided with a plurality of first bosses 61 and second bosses 62 protruding upward at the position of the docking tongue portion 12 on one side of the metal part 40. The first boss 61 corresponds to the contact portion 22 of each terminal of the upper terminal group 20, and the second boss 62 corresponds to the embedded portion 251 of each terminal of the upper terminal group 20. A plurality of flow gaps are formed between the first bosses 61 and the second bosses 62. Each first boss 61 and the second boss 62 corresponds to a conductive terminal, and the flow gaps facilitate the flow of molten plastic.

[0032] When the upper terminal group 20 is injection molded into the first insulator 50, one side of the contact portion 22 of the upper terminal group 20 is embedded in the first insulator 50 and is in a suspended state; when the upper terminal group 20 is superimposed on the second insulator 60, one side of the contact portion of the upper terminal group 20 abuts against the boss 61 on the second insulator 60, so as to prevent the upper terminal group 20 from shifting in the vertical direction and causing product defects when the high-pressure plastic is pressed into the third insulator 10. When molding the third insulator 10, the front end portion 25 of the upper terminal group 20 is sealed with glue. The sealing principle is the same as that of the lower terminal group 30, which will not be repeated here.

[0033] The reason why the contact portion 22 of the upper terminal group 20 is not sealed with glue but is in a suspended state is that, in order to facilitate the molding of the third insulator 10, the third insulator 10 covers more of the docking tongue 12 to prevent the outermost third insulator 10 from failing to stably hold the first and second insulators 50, 60. The reason why the lower terminal group 30 is sealed with glue during the first injection molding is that it needs to be integrally molded with the metal part 40. In order to fix the relative position between the metal part 40 and the lower terminal group 30, the lower terminal group 30 needs to be sealed with glue.

[0034] In actual production, the metal member 40 may be injection molded first, and bosses are formed at the upper and lower sides of the metal member 40 to respectively abut against the upper and lower rows of terminal groups.

[0035] The front end portion 25 of the conductive terminal of the USB socket for forward and reverse insertion of the present application is thinned and then bent to extend to form an embedded portion 251, and a horizontal sealing surface 256 is formed above the thinned portion 25. The sealing surface 256 is directly crimped to the front by the mold core component to seal the glue to avoid damaging the terminal. At the same time, the first terminal group 201 and the second terminal group 202 of the upper and lower rows of terminal groups 20, 30 of the present application are stamped separately and connected by different material strips and stacked before being formed. Therefore, different metal layers can be electroplated on the first and second terminal groups 201, 202 to meet the customer's high performance requirements for some terminals, avoiding the high cost of electroplating precious metals for all terminals.

[0036] The above is only an embodiment of the present application and is not intended to limit the present application. For those skilled in the art, the present application may have various changes and variations. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made within the spirit and principle of the present application should be included in the scope of the claims of the present application.

Claims

1. A conductive terminal, comprising a holding portion, a contact portion extending forward from the holding portion, and a solder foot extending backward from the holding portion, wherein the front end of the contact portion forms a front end portion, characterized in that: The thickness of the front end portion is smaller than the thickness of the contact portion, and the front end portion includes a thin portion and an embedded portion formed by bending and extending from the front end of the thin portion, and a horizontal sealing surface is formed above the thin portion; when the insulating body is injection molded, it is positively crimped on the sealing surface for sealing, and the horizontal position of the sealing surface is lower than the upper surface of the contact portion, and an inclined surface is formed between the sealing surface and the upper surface of the contact portion to facilitate the insertion and removal of the plug terminal.

2. The conductive terminal according to claim 1, characterized in that: The embedding portion extends horizontally, and an embedding plane is formed on the upper surface of the embedding portion, and the embedding plane is buried in the plastic body.

3. The conductive terminal according to claim 1, wherein: The thickness of the front end portion is between 1 / 2 and 2 / 3 of the thickness of the contact portion.

4. A reversible USB socket, comprising an upper terminal group, a lower terminal group, a metal piece placed between the upper terminal group and the lower terminal group, and an insulating body that forms the upper terminal group, the lower terminal group and the metal piece into one body, the insulating body comprising a base and a docking tongue extending forward from the base, each conductive terminal of the upper terminal group and the lower terminal group comprising a retaining portion formed in the insulating body, a contact portion extending forward from the retaining portion and exposed on the upper and lower surfaces of the docking tongue, and a solder foot extending backward from the retaining portion out of the insulating body, characterized in that: The front end of the contact portion of the conductive terminal forms a front end portion, the thickness of the front end portion is less than the thickness of the contact portion, the front end portion includes a thin portion and an embedded portion formed by bending and extending from the front end of the thin portion, and a horizontal sealing surface is formed above the thin portion. When the insulating body is injection molded, the mold core assembly is sealed on the sealing surface by positive crimping. The horizontal position of the sealing surface is lower than the upper surface of the contact portion, and an inclined surface is formed between the sealing surface and the upper surface of the contact portion to facilitate the insertion and removal of the plug terminal.

5. The reversible USB socket as claimed in claim 4, characterized in that: The water on the sealing surface The flat position is lower than the upper surface of the contact portion, and an inclined surface is formed between the sealing surface and the upper surface of the contact portion to facilitate the plugging and unplugging of the plug terminal.

6. The reversible USB socket as claimed in claim 4, characterized in that: The embedding portion extends horizontally, and an embedding plane is formed on the upper surface of the embedding portion, and the embedding plane is buried in the insulating body.

7. The reversible USB socket as claimed in claim 4, characterized in that: The insulating body includes a first insulator integrally formed with the upper row terminal group, a second insulator integrally formed with the lower row terminal group and a metal part, and a third insulator formed by integrally forming the first insulator and the second insulator. The contact portion and the front end portion of the upper row terminal group are not embedded in the first insulator, and the front end portion of the lower row terminal group is embedded in the second insulator and is crimped to the sealing surface of the lower row terminal group through a mold core assembly.

8. The reversible USB socket as claimed in claim 7, characterized in that: The second insulator protrudes upwards toward the first insulator at the contact portion and the embedding portion corresponding to the upper row of terminal groups to form a plurality of first bosses and second bosses, and a plurality of flow gaps are formed between the first bosses and the second bosses to facilitate the flow of molten plastic.

9. The reversible USB socket as claimed in claim 8, characterized in that: The upper row terminal group and the first insulator are superimposed on the second insulator to form the third insulator by injection molding. The lower surfaces of the contact portion and the embedded portion of the upper row terminal group are respectively abutted against the first and second bosses of the second insulator. The embedded portion of the upper row terminal group is embedded in the third insulator and is crimped onto the sealing surface of the upper row terminal through a mold assembly.

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