Electrical connector

Abstract

The present invention is an electrical connector, comprising an insulator and a plurality of terminals arranged on the insulator. At least one of the terminals has a first section and a pair of second sections, the second sections extending from the first section structure and bifurcating. On a plane where the terminal is located, the orthographic projections of the second sections on the plane are offset from each other and do not overlap.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to an electrical connector. Background Art

[0002] Universal Serial Bus (USB) is widely used by the public and has developed from USB2.0 transmission specification to the current USB3.0 transmission specification with faster transmission speed. The appearance, structure, terminal contact method, number of terminals, distance between each terminal (Pitch), and pin assignment of each terminal of the existing USB Type-C electrical connector are completely different from the current USB electrical connector. Generally speaking, the current USB Type-C socket electrical connector includes a plurality of elastic terminals and a plurality of flat terminals set in an insulator, and the outside of the insulator is covered with an outer iron shell and other structures.

[0003] However, in any case, the terminals or insulators may be damaged due to improper operation or mis-insertion of other connectors by the user during use. When damaged, the socket connector often needs to be disassembled as a whole, such as removing the socket connector from the motherboard, before further replacement or repair, which results in complicated processes and high repair costs.

[0004] Furthermore, the existing known USB Type-C socket electrical connector needs to be manufactured into a plurality of insulator parts embedded with terminals first, and then stacked and assembled with a ground plate and another insulator part embedded with terminals, or even the aforementioned components need to be subjected to a molding process again. The process is complicated and the terminals need to be matched with different stamping dies. The process is complicated and requires high precision, so it is easy to produce a high defect rate, thereby affecting production efficiency and cost. Summary of the invention

[0005] The present invention provides an electrical connector which has a simplified structure and configuration and has the possibility of preventing improper operation.

[0006] The electrical connector of the present invention comprises an insulator and a plurality of terminals disposed on the insulator. At least one of the terminals has a first section and a pair of second sections. The second sections extend from the first section structure and fork. On the plane where the terminals are located, the orthographic projections of the second sections on the plane are offset from each other and do not overlap.

[0007] In some embodiments, the at least one terminal is a power terminal, or the at least one terminal is a ground terminal, or the at least one terminal includes a power terminal and a ground terminal.

[0008] In some embodiments, the first section is located on a plane, the second sections are located on upper and lower opposite sides of the plane and are parallel to the plane, and the second sections are staggered along the arrangement direction of the terminals.

[0009] In some embodiments, the first section is located inside the insulator, and the second section is exposed outside the insulator.

[0010] In some embodiments, the at least one terminal further has a third section, each second section is connected between the first section and the third section, and the third section is located in a plane.

[0011] In some embodiments, the electrical connector further includes at least one grounding member disposed on the insulator and located on at least one side of the terminal.

[0012] In some embodiments, the electrical connector is a socket electrical connector, which further includes a circuit board having a plurality of pads, and at least one adjacent terminal and grounding member are welded to the same pad.

[0013] In some embodiments, the grounding element has a fourth section and a fifth section, the fifth section is located on a plane and exposed from a side surface of the insulator, and the fourth section is located above the first section.

[0014] In some embodiments, the orthographic projection of the fifth segment on the plane overlaps with one of the orthographic projections of the pair of second segments on the plane.

[0015] In some embodiments, the adjacent grounding members and at least one terminal form an integral structure, and the orthographic projections of the pair of second sections and the grounding member on the plane are offset from each other and do not overlap.

[0016] In some embodiments, the electrical connector is a socket electrical connector for docking with a plug electrical connector, and the plug electrical connector has a plurality of terminal pairs. When the plug electrical connector docks with the socket electrical connector, the terminal pair docking with the at least one terminal abuts against a portion of the second section along the arrangement direction of the terminals.

[0017] In some embodiments, the orthographic projection of the terminal pair on the plane is symmetrically centered at the adjacent orthographic projections of the pair of second segments on the plane.

[0018] Based on the above, the electrical connector of the present invention is configured in a plurality of terminals of an insulator, at least one of which has a first section and a pair of second sections, and the second section is extended and bifurcated from the first section structure. At the same time, the orthographic projections of the second section on the plane where these terminals are located are in a state of being misaligned and non-overlapping with each other. In other words, for the terminal having a first section and a bifurcated second section, it can adapt to the possible insertion orientation of the user, that is, no matter whether the user inserts it in the forward or reverse direction, the related terminals of the electrical connectors that are connected to each other can correspond to each other without worrying about mis-insertion, and the first section and the bifurcated second section belong to the same terminal, so there is no need to worry about the occurrence of incorrect electrode polarity.

[0019] Furthermore, for the terminal with the first section and the forked second section, only one set of molding mold is needed in the manufacturing process, that is, in the manufacturing process of the terminal, the designer does not need to match different molding molds for the terminals at different locations. In this way, the manufacturing process and manufacturing cost of the terminal can be effectively simplified.

[0020] In order to make the above features and advantages of the present invention more clearly understood, embodiments are given below and described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a pair of electrical connectors according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0022] Figure 2 yes Figure 1 A schematic diagram of some components of an electrical connector.

[0023] Figure 3 yes Figure 1 An exploded view of one of the electrical connectors.

[0024] Figure 4 and Figure 5 Partial schematic diagrams of the terminal groups are respectively drawn.

[0025] Figure 6 Draw Figure 4 A partial side view of an electrical connector.

[0026] Figure 7 The schematic diagram is a top view of some components of the electrical connector when it is docked.

[0027] Figure 8 The diagram is a schematic diagram of some components of the electrical connector when it is docked, viewed from a bottom up perspective.

[0028] Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of an electrical connector according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[0029] Explanation of symbols

[0030] 100, 200, 300: Electrical connector

[0031] 110, 230, 310: Terminal group

[0032] 121, 122: Grounding parts

[0033] 121a: contact portion

[0034] 130: Insulator

[0035] 131: Main body

[0036] 132: Tongue

[0037] 133: Slotting

[0038] 134: Side depression

[0039] 140: Shell

[0040] 150: Circuit board

[0041] 151: Pad group

[0042] 210, 220: Grounding shrapnel

[0043] A1~A8, 312: terminals

[0044] B1, B2: pads

[0045] C1: Center of symmetry

[0046] P1, P3: plane

[0047] P2: Reference Lines

[0048] S1, S1a: first paragraph

[0049] S2, S2a, S2b, S2c: Second paragraph

[0050] S21, S22: Structural parts

[0051] S21a, S22a: Orthographic projection

[0052] S3, S3a: The third paragraph

[0053] S4: The fourth paragraph

[0054] S5: The fifth paragraph

[0055] t, t / 2: size

[0056] XYZ: Cartesian coordinates. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0057] Figure 1is a schematic diagram of a pair of electrical connectors according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 yes Figure 1 A schematic diagram of some components of an electrical connector. Figure 3 yes Figure 1 An exploded view of one of the electrical connectors. At the same time, the present invention also provides rectangular coordinates XYZ to facilitate component description. Please refer to Figures 1 to 3 In this embodiment, the electrical connector 100 is, for example, a socket electrical connector, used to connect with the electrical connector 200 (for example, a plug electrical connector). The electrical connector 100 includes an insulator 130, a terminal set 110, grounding members 121 and 122, a housing 140, and a circuit board 150, wherein the terminal set 110 is disposed on the insulator 130, and after the two are combined, they are assembled into the housing 140, and then the housing 140 and the insulator 130 and the terminal set 110 therein are disposed on the circuit board 150, and the terminal set 110 is correspondingly soldered to the pad set 151 on the circuit board 150, so that the terminal set 110 can complete the effect of electrical connection with the circuit board 150 through the pad set 151.

[0058] Please refer to Figure 3 , this embodiment divides the terminal group 110 into a plurality of terminals A1 to A8, and it is worth noting that the terminals A1, A2, A7 and A8 have a different structure from the terminals A3 to A6. Here, terminals A1 and A8 are ground terminals (GND), terminals A2 and A7 are power terminals (Vbus / PWR), and terminals A3 to A6 are, for example, differential signal transmission terminals. It should be noted that the present invention does not limit the transmission form of terminals A3 to A6, so in one embodiment, the electrical connector 110 may be an electrical connector that complies with the USB2.0 transmission specification. In addition, although this embodiment simultaneously illustrates the same bifurcated structure for terminals A1, A2, A7 and A8 (ground terminals and power terminals), it is not limited thereto, that is, in other embodiments not illustrated, the electrical connector may have only the ground terminal or only the power terminal with the bifurcated structure.

[0059] It should be further explained that in this embodiment, the terminal group 110 is located in the XY plane, and the terminals A1 to A8 of the terminal group 110 are arranged along the X axis, and each terminal is considered to extend toward the positive Y axis direction, and the positive Y axis direction is also the docking direction of the electrical connector 100. In other words, in this embodiment, the arrangement direction (lateral direction) of the terminals A1 to A8 is considered to be orthogonal to the docking direction (plugged into the electrical connector 200) of the electrical connector 100, and the XY plane where the terminal group 110 is located is formed accordingly.

[0060] like Figure 2 and Figure 3 As shown, the insulator 130 has a main body 131, a tongue 132 and a plurality of slots 133 ( Figure 3 Only one is marked), the tongue 132 extends from the body 131, and the slots 133 are located on the upper and lower surfaces of the tongue 132. The terminal group 110 is suitable for being embedded in the insulator 130 by molding means (such as insert molding). Here, with the reference line P2 as the boundary, during the extension process of the terminals A1-A8 of the terminal group 11 along the positive Y-axis direction, the part exceeding the reference line P2 is exposed to the insulator 130, and the part not exceeding the reference line P2 is covered by the insulator 130.

[0061] Figure 4 and Figure 5 The partial schematic diagrams of the terminal groups are respectively shown, wherein Figure 5 It can be seen as further magnification from another perspective Figure 4 of the local area, and Figure 4 The right side also provides additional disassembly diagrams of the terminal and the plane as a reference for describing the terminal with a bifurcated structure. Please also refer to Figures 3 to 5 , terminal A1 is taken as an example here, and the other terminals A2, A7 and A8 have the same structure and are not repeated here. In the present embodiment, terminal A1 is further divided into a first section S1 and a pair of second sections S2, and the second section S2 is structurally extended and bifurcated from the first section S1 toward the positive Y-axis direction. As the terminal set 110 is combined with the insulator 130, the first section S1 of the terminal A1 is enclosed in the insulator 130, and the second section S2 is exposed from the insulator 130 from the upper and lower surfaces of the tongue 132 through the slot 133, and in the process of extending along the terminals A1 to A8 toward the positive Y-axis direction, the bifurcation of the structure is located inside the insulator 130. Furthermore, the end of the terminal A1 to A8 away from the tongue 132 will be exposed from the main body 131 to correspond to the pad 151 of the circuit board 150 and be welded together.

[0062] exist Figure 4 and Figure 5 In order to clearly describe the corresponding relationship between the first section S1 and the second section S2, the plane P1 where the terminal group 110 is located is provided as a description reference, and Figure 4 The right side shows the decomposition diagram. Here, the second segment S2 is split into the structural member S21 and the structural member S22. The plane P1 is parallel to the XY plane and passes through a pair of second segments S2. At the same time, the plane P1 also meets the aforementioned conditions for the arrangement direction and docking direction of the terminals A1 to A8. In this way, Figure 4 It can be clearly seen from the exploded diagram of the second section S2 and the plane P1 that among the terminals A1-A8 having a bifurcated structure, when the plane P1 is used as a reference, the orthographic projections S21a and S22a of the structural members S21 and S22 on the plane P1 are offset from each other and do not overlap.

[0063] In other words, for terminal A1, its first section S1 is substantially located on plane P1, and its second section S2 is substantially located on the upper and lower opposite sides of plane P1 and parallel to plane P1, wherein structure S21 is considered to be above plane P1, and structure S22 is considered to be below plane P1. Accordingly, both structure S21 and S22 generate structural bifurcation from first section S1 along the positive Y-axis direction, and are also staggered from each other along the arrangement direction (transverse direction, i.e., X-axis direction) of terminals A1 to A8.

[0064] In addition, the terminal A1 of this embodiment also has a third section S3, which is located on the plane P1, and the pair of second sections S2 are each connected between the first section S1 and the third section S3. In other words, in the positive Y-axis direction, the terminal A1 is first bifurcated from the first section S1 structure into a pair of second sections S2, and then merged into one at the third section S3. This allows the terminal A1 to have a better structural strength, that is, during the molding process with the insulator 130, the first section S1 and the third section S3 can be enclosed in the insulator 130, thereby preventing the second section S2 from warping out of the insulator 130.

[0065] Based on the above, since the ground terminal and / or the power terminal of the electrical connector 100 has the above-mentioned bifurcated structure, that is, the same terminal has an upper and lower mirror-image structure relative to the plane P1, the electrical connectors 100 and 200 will not be affected by the different positive and negative insertion methods during the docking process, that is, there is no need to worry about the terminals of the electrical connector being damaged due to mis-insertion.

[0066] Figure 6 Draw Figure 4 Partial side view of the electrical connector. Please also refer to Figures 4 to 6 In this embodiment, the grounding members 121 and 122 of the electrical connector 100 are respectively arranged on opposite sides of the arrangement direction (X-axis direction) of the terminal group 110, and are overmolded with the insulator 130 together with the terminal group 110. Furthermore, since the grounding members 121 and 122 are adjacent to the grounding terminals (terminals A1 and A8) of the terminal group 110, the grounding member 121 of this embodiment is welded together with the terminal A1 on the pad B1 of the pad group 151, and the grounding member 122 is welded together with the terminal A8 on the pad B2 of the pad group 151, thereby further simplifying the configuration of the pad group 151 on the circuit board 150 and making the electrical connector 100 have a consistent ground potential.

[0067] On the other hand, the grounding members 121 and 122 are adjacent to the terminals A1 and A8 and partially overlap along the X-axis. Here, the grounding members 121 and 122 are further divided into a fourth segment S4 and a fifth segment S5, wherein the fourth segment S4 is located above the first segment S1 (that is, above the plane P1), so the orthographic projection of the fifth segment S5 on the plane P1 overlaps with one of the orthographic projections of the second segment S2 on the plane P1. At the same time, the fifth segment S5 is located on the plane P1 and is exposed from the side recess 134 of the insulator 130, as shown in FIG. Figure 2 shown.

[0068] Figure 7 The schematic diagram is a top view of some components of the electrical connector when it is docked. Figure 8 This is a diagram showing some of the components of the electrical connector when it is docked, from a bottom-up perspective. Please also refer to Figure 7 and Figure 8 The electrical connector 200 has a terminal group 230 and grounding springs 210 and 220, wherein all the terminals of the terminal group 230 are arranged between the grounding springs 210 and 220, and the terminals of the terminal group 230 are arranged in a terminal pair along the Z axis. When the electrical connectors 100 and 200 are connected, since the grounding member 121 has an abutting portion 121a exposed from the side recess 134 at the fifth section S5, the grounding spring 210 of the electrical connector 200 is correspondingly held in the side recess 134 and is also structurally abutted at the abutting portion 121a, thereby achieving the effect of potential grounding. Here, since the electrical connector 200 meets the technical specifications of the existing plug electrical connector, its detailed structure is not described in detail.

[0069] It should be noted that although some terminals of the electrical connector 100 have a bifurcated structure, they can still maintain a structural abutment and electrical connection with the terminal set 230 of the electrical connector 200. Specifically, when the electrical connector 200 is docked with the electrical connector 100, the terminal pairs docked with the terminals A1, A2, A7, and A8 are structurally abutted against a portion of the second segment S2 along the arrangement direction (transverse direction, i.e., X-axis direction) of the terminals A1 to A8, such as Figure 7 and Figure 8 As shown in the provided partial enlarged view, the orthographic projection of the terminal pair on the plane P1 is symmetrically centered at the point where the orthographic projection of the second segment S2 on the plane P1 adjoins.

[0070] Further, in this bottom view ( Figure 8 ) and top view ( Figure 7) is used as a reference for the description of the orthographic projection, and the terminal A1 is taken as an example. For the terminal A1, its pair of second segments S2 are adjacent to each other and the symmetry center C1 is used as an example. When the electrical connectors 100 and 200 are connected to each other, since the pair of second segments S2 are staggered along the X-axis, the terminal pairs of the terminal set 230 are actually respectively structured to abut against a part of each second segment S2, and the preferred one is half of the dimension t of the second segment S2 along the X-axis, that is, the dimension t / 2 shown. That is to say, the same terminal pair of the terminal group 230 corresponds to each other along the Z axis (mirrored relative to the XY plane), so when corresponding to the misaligned pair of second segments S2, it is equivalent to one of the terminal pair abutting against a portion of one of the second segments S2 (structural member S21), and the other terminal pair abutting against a portion of the other second segment S2 (structural member S22), and when the terminal width (i.e., the dimension of the terminal A1 along the X axis) is used as the measurement standard, the terminal pair abuts against half the width of the second segment S2 respectively, where the width of the terminal A1 in the second segment S2 is dimension t, and the width of the second segment S2 abutting against the terminal pair of the terminal group 230 is dimension t / 2.

[0071] Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of an electrical connector of another embodiment of the present invention, in which components other than the terminals are drawn with dotted lines, so that the outline of the terminals drawn with solid lines can be clearly identified. In the terminal group 310 of the electrical connector 300, at least one terminal is included that has the aforementioned bifurcated structure. A partial enlarged view of the terminal is provided on the right side of the figure, and plane P3 is used as a reference datum. Taking the (grounding) terminal 312 as an example, similar to the aforementioned embodiment, the terminal 312 also has second sections S2a and S2b that are offset from each other, that is, it also extends from the first section S1a structure and bifurcates into a pair of second sections S2a and S2b, and then merges into one at the third section S3a. However, unlike the aforementioned embodiment, the grounding member of this embodiment is actually a structural feature that is integrally formed with the (grounding) terminal 312.

[0072] That is, along the extension direction of the terminal 312, the grounding element has a second segment S2c corresponding to the same range as the second segments S2a and S2b, and the orthographic projections of the second segments S2a, S2b and S2c on the plane P3 are mutually (horizontally) offset and do not overlap each other, but for the first segment S1a and the third segment S3a, the grounding element and the grounding terminal share a single structure. This can further simplify the structure and the required manufacturing process and cost by combining the adjacent grounding element and the grounding terminal.

[0073] In summary, in the above embodiments of the present invention, the electrical connector has a bifurcated structure through its ground terminal and / or power terminal, that is, the ground terminal and / or power terminal each have a common first section and a bifurcated and misaligned second section, and the second section is not only bifurcated along the terminal extension direction, but also misaligned along the terminal arrangement direction. In this way, the ground terminal and / or power terminal are designed symmetrically up and down, so that the electrical connector can provide the required functions for both forward and reverse insertion of the electrical connector to which it is connected, and avoid the situation where the terminal is damaged due to the user's misinsertion.

[0074] Furthermore, for the terminal with the first section and the forked second section, only one set of molding mold is needed in the manufacturing process, that is, in the manufacturing process of the terminal, the designer does not need to match different molding molds for the terminals at different locations. In this way, the manufacturing process and manufacturing cost of the terminal can be effectively simplified.

Claims

1. An electrical connector, characterized in that: an insulator having a body and a tongue, the tongue extending from the body; as well as A plurality of terminals are arranged on the insulator, wherein at least one terminal has a first section and a pair of second sections, the pair of second sections extend and fork from the first section structure, and on a plane where the terminal is located, the orthographic projections of the pair of second sections on the plane are offset from each other and do not overlap, the first section is enclosed in the insulator, and the pair of second sections are exposed from the upper and lower surfaces of the tongue to the insulator.

2. The electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein: The at least one terminal is a power terminal, or the at least one terminal is a ground terminal, or the at least one terminal includes a power terminal and a ground terminal.

3. The electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein: The first section is located on the plane, the pair of second sections are located on upper and lower opposite sides of the plane and are parallel to the plane, and the pair of second sections are staggered with each other along the arrangement direction of the terminals.

4. The electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein: The first section is located in the insulator, and the pair of second sections are respectively exposed from the insulator.

5. The electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein: The at least one terminal further has a third section, each of the second sections is connected between the first section and the third section, and the third section is located in the plane.

6. The electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein: Also includes: At least one grounding element is disposed on the insulator and located on at least one side of the terminal.

7. The electrical connector according to claim 6, wherein: The invention is a socket electrical connector, and further comprises a circuit board, which is provided with a plurality of pads, and the at least one adjacent terminal and the grounding piece are welded to the same pad.

8. The electrical connector according to claim 6, wherein: The grounding element has a fourth section and a fifth section. The fifth section is located on the plane and exposed from the side surface of the insulator. The fourth section is located above the first section.

9. The electrical connector according to claim 8, wherein: The orthographic projection of the fifth segment on the plane overlaps with one of the orthographic projections of the pair of second segments on the plane.

10. The electrical connector according to claim 6, wherein: The adjacent grounding members and the at least one terminal form an integral structure, and the orthographic projections of the pair of second sections and the grounding members on the plane are offset from each other and do not overlap.

11. The electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein: It is a socket electrical connector used to dock with a plug electrical connector. The plug electrical connector has multiple terminal pairs. When the plug electrical connector docks with the socket electrical connector, the terminal pair docking with at least one terminal abuts against a portion of the second section along the arrangement direction of the terminals.

12. The electrical connector according to claim 11, wherein: The orthographic projection of the terminal pair on the plane is symmetrically centered at the point where the orthographic projections of the second segments of the pair on the plane are adjacent.

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