Electrical connector

Abstract

The present invention discloses an electrical connector for installation on a circuit board, the electrical connector comprising an insulating body and a conductive terminal fixed on the insulating body, the insulating body being provided with two side walls extending in the longitudinal direction and two end walls connecting the two side walls. The conductive terminal is provided with an inner wall contact portion located on the inner wall of the side wall, an outer wall contact portion located on the outer wall of the side wall, and a connecting portion connecting the inner wall contact portion and the outer wall contact portion. The conductive terminal is provided with a welding portion extending outward from the bottom of the inner wall contact portion to the insulating body and an extending portion extending downward from the bottom of the outer wall contact portion, the welding portion being welded on the circuit board, and the extending portion abutting against the welding portion or being welded on the circuit board. When the electrical connector is mated with a docking connector, the shortest flow path is formed between the extending portion and the docking terminal of the docking connector, so that the overall impedance of the electrical connector is small, which is beneficial to improving the flow capacity.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an electric connector, and in particular to an electric connector with good current carrying capacity. Background Art

[0002] A board-to-board connector (BTB) is a connector commonly used in electronic devices (such as mobile phones, tablet computers, etc.). Its function is to achieve mechanical and electrical interconnection between the motherboard of the electronic device and various modules (such as display modules, touch modules, camera modules, etc.). At present, with the development of fast charging technology, mobile phone users have put forward higher requirements for the battery life of mobile phones and shortening the charging time of mobile phone batteries. In order to achieve fast charging of mobile phone batteries, it is required that the devices on the fast charging path, such as batteries, board-to-board connectors, printed circuit boards (PCBs) and chips, can carry large current transmission. For board-to-board connectors, in order to improve their own fast charging capabilities, it is necessary to reduce the transmission impedance of the board-to-board connector. In the case that the copper material of the terminals of the existing board-to-board connectors has been made of the material with the highest conductivity, increasing the contact area between the terminals is a common design solution to reduce impedance. However, increasing the contact area between the terminals will cause the area size of the board-to-board connector to become larger, so that it occupies a larger space inside the mobile phone, which is contrary to the development trend of reducing the size of internal components of the mobile phone to increase the setting of mobile phone functional modules. Therefore, how to improve the current flow capacity of the board-to-board connector while reducing its size has become a technical problem that technicians in this field need to solve urgently.

[0003] Therefore, it is hoped to provide a new electrical connector to overcome the above defects. Summary of the invention

[0004] An object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector having a shortest current-passing path, wherein the shortest current-passing path reduces the overall impedance of the electrical connector and is conducive to improving the current-passing capacity.

[0005] To achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the present invention adopts the following technical solution: an electrical connector for installation on a circuit board, the electrical connector comprising an insulating body and a conductive terminal fixed on the insulating body, the insulating body being provided with two side walls extending in the longitudinal direction and two end walls connecting the two side walls. The conductive terminal is provided with an inner wall contact portion located on the inner wall of the side wall, an outer wall contact portion located on the outer wall of the side wall, and a connecting portion connecting the inner wall contact portion and the outer wall contact portion, the connecting portion being located at the top end of the side wall. The conductive terminal is provided with a welding portion extending outward from the bottom of the inner wall contact portion to the insulating body and an extending portion extending downward from the bottom of the outer wall contact portion, the welding portion being welded on the circuit board, and the extending portion abuts against the welding portion or is welded on the circuit board.

[0006] In a preferred embodiment, the welding portion is provided with a clearance hole corresponding to the extending portion, and the extending portion extends downward from the bottom of the outer wall contact portion into the clearance hole.

[0007] In a preferred embodiment, the extension portion is in an inverted U-shape and has two pins extending downward from the bottom of the outer wall contact portion, and the two pins are located on both sides of the welding portion in the longitudinal direction.

[0008] In a preferred embodiment, the conductive terminals include a signal terminal located in the center in the longitudinal direction and power terminals located on both sides of the signal terminal in the longitudinal direction, and the longitudinal length of the power terminal is greater than the longitudinal length of the signal terminal.

[0009] In a preferred embodiment, when the electrical connector is mated with a docking connector, a first flow path is formed between the welding portion, the inner wall contact portion and the docking terminal of the docking connector, and a second flow path is formed between the extension portion, the outer wall contact portion and the docking terminal of the docking connector, and the second flow path is smaller than the first flow path.

[0010] In a preferred embodiment, the inner wall contact portion, the connecting portion and the outer wall contact portion together form an inverted U-shaped contact portion, one of the inner wall contact portion and the outer wall contact portion has a smooth contact surface, and the other has a locking portion located at the upper end and protruding outward.

[0011] In a preferred embodiment, the electrical connector includes a protective bracket integrally injection molded at the longitudinal ends of the insulating body, the protective bracket is fixed on the end wall and includes an end wall reinforcement plate covering the end wall and a side wall reinforcement plate at least partially covering the side wall, and the side wall reinforcement plate is connected to the lateral ends of the end wall reinforcement plate.

[0012] In a preferred embodiment, the end wall reinforcement plate includes an end wall top surface shielding portion covering the end wall top surface, an end wall outer wall shielding portion extending downward from the longitudinal outer side of the end wall top surface shielding portion, a bending portion bent inward and extending downward from the bottom edge of the end wall outer wall shielding portion, and a welding leg portion of the insulating body extending from the bottom edge of the bending portion, the end wall outer wall shielding portion shields the outer wall surface of the end wall, and the bending portion is buried in the end wall of the insulating body.

[0013] In a preferred embodiment, the side wall reinforcement plate includes a side wall outer wall shielding portion covering the side wall outer wall surface, a bent portion bent inward from the side wall outer wall shielding portion, and a welding foot of the insulating body extending from the bottom edge of the bent portion, the bent portion is buried in the side wall of the insulating body, and there is a spacing between the bottom edge of the side wall outer wall shielding portion and the welding foot and is filled with plastic of the insulating body.

[0014] In a preferred embodiment, the bent portion is formed by bending inwardly from the bottom edge of the front end of the shielding portion of the outer wall of the side wall and extending downward, and the bent portion is buried in the side wall of the insulating body.

[0015] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects: the conductive terminal is provided with a welding portion extending outward from the bottom of the inner wall contact portion to form an insulating body and an extension portion extending downward from the bottom of the outer wall contact portion, the welding portion is welded on the circuit board, and the extension portion abuts against the welding portion or is welded on the circuit board. When the electrical connector is matched with the docking connector, a first flow path is formed between the welding portion, the inner wall contact portion and the docking terminal of the docking connector, and a second flow path is formed between the extension portion, the outer wall contact portion and the docking terminal of the docking connector, and the second flow path is smaller than the first flow path. The second flow path is the shortest flow path, which is beneficial to minimize the flow path of the electrical connector on the basis of effectively controlling the overall size of the electrical connector, thereby making the overall impedance of the electrical connector smaller, which is beneficial to improving the flow capacity of the electrical connector. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] Figure 1 It is a three-dimensional schematic diagram of an electrical connector in a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0017] Figure 2 yes Figure 1 An exploded schematic diagram of the electrical connector is shown.

[0018] Figure 3 yes Figure 2 A three-dimensional schematic diagram of a power terminal in an electrical connector is shown.

[0019] Figure 4 yes Figure 3 A cross-sectional view of the power terminal is shown.

[0020] Figure 5 yes Figure 2 A three-dimensional schematic diagram of a protective bracket in an electrical connector is shown.

[0021] Figure 6 yes Figure 5 A three-dimensional schematic diagram of the protective bracket shown in another angle. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0022] See also Figures 1 to 6 As shown, a preferred embodiment of the present invention discloses an electrical connector 100, which is used to be installed on a circuit board (not shown) and to cooperate with a docking connector (not shown). The electrical connector 100 includes an insulating body 10 extending in the longitudinal direction, a conductive terminal 20 fixed on the insulating body 10, and a protective bracket 30 located at both ends of the insulating body 10 in the longitudinal direction. The insulating body 10 is provided with two side walls 11 extending in the longitudinal direction and two end walls 12 connected to the two side walls 11. The two side walls 11, the two end walls 12 and the bottom wall of the insulating body 10 jointly define a central slot 13, and the slot 13 can be plugged into the docking connector (not shown).

[0023] Combination Figure 3 and Figure 4 As shown, the conductive terminal 20 is fixed on the side wall 11 and is provided with an inner wall contact portion 21 located on the inner wall of the side wall 11, an outer wall contact portion 22 located on the outer wall of the side wall 21, a connecting portion 23 connecting the inner wall contact portion 21 and the top of the outer wall contact portion 22, a welding portion 24 extending outward from the bottom of the inner wall contact portion 21 from the insulating body 10, and an extending portion 25 extending downward from the bottom of the outer wall contact portion 22, wherein the connecting portion 23 is located at the top of the side wall 11. The inner wall contact portion 21, the connecting portion 23 and the outer wall contact portion 22 together form an inverted U-shaped contact portion for contacting with the docking terminal of the docking connector; one of the inner wall contact portion 21 and the outer wall contact portion 22 has a smooth contact surface, and the other has a locking portion located at the upper end and protruding outward. In this embodiment, the inner wall contact portion 21 has a smooth contact surface, and the outer wall contact portion 22 has a locking portion 221 located at the upper end and protruding outward.

[0024] The welding portion 24 is provided with a clearance hole 241 corresponding to the extension portion 25, and the extension portion 25 extends downward from the bottom of the outer wall contact portion 22 into the clearance hole 241. The welding portion 24 and the extension portion 25 are both exposed on the bottom surface of the insulating body 10 and are located in the same plane so as to be welded on the circuit board. The electrical connector 100 is welded on the circuit board through the two welding portions of the conductive terminal 20, thereby increasing the overall welding strength of the electrical connector 100. Of course, the extension portion 25 may also be other structures. Specifically, the extension portion 25 is in an inverted U shape and has two pins extending downward from the bottom of the outer wall contact portion 22. The two pins are located on both sides of the longitudinal direction of the welding portion 24 and are welded to the circuit board. In this embodiment, the extension portion 25 is welded on the circuit board to form a current flow path; in other embodiments, the extension portion 25 may also be abutted against the welding portion 24, and in this case, the extension portion 25 may form a current flow path through the welding portion 24.

[0025] In this embodiment, the conductive terminal 20 includes a pair of signal terminals 201 located in the center in the longitudinal direction and two pairs of power terminals 202 located on both sides of the signal terminal 201 in the longitudinal direction, and the power terminals 202 are used to connect with the power terminals in the docking terminal. The power terminals 202 of the conductive terminal 20 and the signal terminals 201 have substantially the same structure in the transverse cross section, and the difference between the two is that the longitudinal length of the power terminals 202 is much greater than the longitudinal length of the signal terminals 201 to ensure that they can conduct large currents; and the power terminals 202 have the above-mentioned extension 25 and the clearance hole 241 located on the welding part 24, while the signal terminal 201 does not have the above-mentioned extension and clearance hole. At the same time, the thickness of the power terminals 202 of the conductive terminal 20 is 0.1 mm, thereby reducing the impedance of the power terminals 202.

[0026] When the electrical connector 100 is mated with the docking connector, the docking terminal contacts the inner wall contact portion 21 and the outer wall contact portion 22 of the conductive terminal 20 at the same time. Specifically, the docking terminal elastically abuts against the contact surface of the inner wall contact portion 21, and the locking portion 221 of the docking terminal and the outer wall contact portion 22 are locked with each other. Thereby, a first flow path is formed between the welding portion 24, the inner wall contact portion 21 and the docking terminal of the docking connector, and a second flow path (i.e., the flow path of the current) is formed between the extension portion 25, the outer wall contact portion 22 and the docking terminal of the docking connector. Compared with the conventional technology that only forms a single flow path, the present invention increases the flow capacity between the terminals by setting multiple flow paths.

[0027] The second flow path formed between the extension portion 25, the outer wall contact portion 22 and the docking terminal of the docking connector is smaller than the first flow path formed between the welding portion 24, the inner wall contact portion 21 and the docking terminal of the docking connector, so that the second flow path is the shortest flow path, which is beneficial to minimize the flow path of the electrical connector 100 on the basis of effectively controlling the overall size of the electrical connector 100, thereby realizing fast charging of the terminal device. In this embodiment, the maximum current conducted by the flow path between the power terminals 202 is 20A.

[0028] Combination Figure 5 and Figure 6 As shown, the protection bracket 30 is formed by punching and bending a metal part and fixed on the end wall 12 of the insulating body 10 to improve the overall strength of the electrical connector 100. At the same time, the protection bracket 30 is integrally injection molded on both longitudinal ends of the insulating body 10, thereby improving the strength of the insulating body 10 and avoiding damage to the insulating body 10 when the electrical connector 100 is plugged in and out. The protection bracket 30 includes an end wall reinforcement sheet 40 covering the end wall 12 and a side wall reinforcement sheet 50 at least partially covering the side wall 11, and the side wall reinforcement sheet 50 is connected to both lateral ends of the end wall reinforcement sheet 40.

[0029] The end wall reinforcement sheet 40 includes an end wall top surface shielding portion 41 covering the top surface of the end wall 12 and an end wall outer wall shielding portion 42 extending downwardly from the longitudinal outer side of the end wall top surface shielding portion 41, and the end wall outer wall shielding portion 42 shields the outer wall surface of the end wall 11. The end wall top surface shielding portion 41 does not extend beyond the top surface of the end wall 12, and the end wall outer wall shielding portion 42 does not extend beyond the outer wall surface of the end wall 12, that is, the end wall top surface shielding portion 41 and the end wall outer wall shielding portion 42 improve the strength of the end wall 12 of the insulating body 10 without additionally increasing the overall volume of the electrical connector 100.

[0030] The end wall reinforcement sheet 40 further includes a bent portion 43 bent inwardly and extending downwardly from the bottom edge of the end wall outer wall shielding portion 42, and a welding leg 44 extending from the bottom edge of the bending portion 43 to the insulating body 10, and the welding leg 44 can be fixedly mounted on a circuit board (not shown) electrically connected to the electrical connector 100. The bending portion 43 is embedded in the end wall 12 of the insulating body 10, and the welding leg 44 extends out of the end wall 12 of the insulating body 10 in the longitudinal direction, that is, there is a gap between the bottom end of the end wall outer wall shielding portion 42 and the welding leg 44 and the plastic of the insulating body 10 is filled, so that the sealing and nickel isolation and tin creep prevention functions are achieved.

[0031] The side wall reinforcement sheet 50 is integrally injection molded on the insulating body 10 and includes a side wall top surface shielding portion 51 that at least partially covers the top surface of the side wall 11, a side wall outer wall shielding portion 52 that covers the outer wall surface of the side wall 11, a bending portion 53 that bends inwardly from the side wall outer wall shielding portion 52, and a welding leg 54 of the insulating body 10 that extends from the bottom edge of the bending portion 53. The side wall outer wall shielding portion 52 is formed by bending downwardly and extending from the lateral outer side of the side wall top surface shielding portion 51, and the bending portion 53 is formed by bending inwardly and extending downwardly from the bottom edge of the front end of the side wall outer wall shielding portion 52, and the bending portion 53 is buried in the side wall 11 of the insulating body 10. The welding foot 54 is exposed to the bottom surface of the bottom wall of the insulating body 10 and extends out of the insulating body 10 in the horizontal direction. The side wall outer wall shielding portion 52 is located above the welding foot 54, that is, there is a gap between the bottom edge of the side wall outer wall shielding portion 52 and the welding foot 54 and is filled with the plastic of the insulating body 10, thereby having the effect of sealing and isolating nickel and preventing tin creeping.

[0032] In this embodiment, the side wall top shielding portion 51 is connected to the lateral ends of the end wall top shielding portion 41, and the side wall outer wall shielding portion 52 and the end wall outer wall shielding portion 42 are arranged at intervals from each other, so that the end wall reinforcement piece 40 and the side wall reinforcement piece 50 are connected as a whole. The side wall top shielding portion 51 does not exceed the top surface of the side wall 11, and the side wall outer wall shielding portion 52 does not exceed the outer wall surface of the side wall 11, that is, the side wall top shielding portion 51 and the side wall outer wall shielding portion 52 improve the strength of the side wall 11 of the insulating body 10 without additionally increasing the overall volume of the electrical connector 100.

[0033] The welding pins 54 of the protective bracket 30 can be fixedly welded on a circuit board electrically connected to the electrical connector 100. When the electrical connector 100 is installed on the circuit board, the welding pins 54 of the protective bracket 30 are soldered to the circuit board by soldering. At the same time, since there is a gap between the bottom edge of the side wall outer wall shielding portion 52 and the welding pins 54 and the plastic of the insulating body 10 is filled, it has the effect of sealing and isolating nickel to achieve the effect of preventing tin creeping. Therefore, the protective bracket 30 effectively solves the problem of tin creeping while ensuring the strength of the electrical connector 100 itself. At the same time, the side wall outer wall shielding portion 54 covers the outer wall surface of the side wall 11, ensuring that the protective bracket 30 has sufficient contact margin when the electrical connector 100 is plugged in, thereby ensuring the stability of the contact when the electrical connector 100 is mated.

[0034] In the present invention, the conductive terminal 20 is provided with a welding portion 24 extending outward from the bottom of the inner wall contact portion 21 of the insulating body 10 and an extension portion 25 extending downward from the bottom of the outer wall contact portion 22. The welding portion 24 is welded on the circuit board, and the extension portion 25 abuts against the welding portion 24 or is welded on the circuit board. When the electrical connector 100 is matched with the docking connector, a first flow path is formed between the welding portion 24, the inner wall contact portion 21 and the docking terminal of the docking connector, and a second flow path is formed between the extension portion 25, the outer wall contact portion 22 and the docking terminal of the docking connector, and the second flow path is smaller than the first flow path. Therefore, the second flow path is the shortest flow path, which is conducive to shortening the flow path of the electrical connector 100 on the basis of effectively controlling the overall size of the electrical connector 100, thereby making the overall impedance of the electrical connector 100 smaller, which is conducive to improving the flow capacity of the electrical connector 100.

[0035] In summary, the above are only preferred embodiments of the present invention, and should not be used to limit the scope of the present invention. That is, all simple equivalent changes and modifications made according to the claims and description of the present invention should still fall within the scope of the patent of the present invention.

Claims

1. An electrical connector for mounting on a circuit board, the electrical connector comprising an insulating body and a conductive terminal fixed on the insulating body, the insulating body having two side walls extending in the longitudinal direction and two end walls connecting the two side walls, the conductive terminal having an inner wall contact portion located on the inner wall of the side wall, an outer wall contact portion located on the outer wall of the side wall, and a connecting portion connecting the inner wall contact portion and the outer wall contact portion, wherein the connecting portion is located on the top end of the side wall; characterized in that: The conductive terminal is provided with a welding portion extending outward from the bottom of the inner wall contact portion of the insulating body and an extending portion extending downward from the bottom of the outer wall contact portion. The welding portion is welded on the circuit board, and the extending portion abuts against the welding portion or is welded on the circuit board.

2. The electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein: The welding portion is provided with a clearance hole corresponding to the extending portion, and the extending portion extends downward from the bottom of the outer wall contact portion into the clearance hole.

3. The electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein: The extension portion is in an inverted U shape and has two pins extending downward from the bottom of the outer wall contact portion. The two pins are located at two longitudinal sides of the welding portion.

4. The electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein: The conductive terminals include a signal terminal located in the center in the longitudinal direction and power terminals located at both sides of the signal terminal in the longitudinal direction. The longitudinal length of the power terminal is greater than the longitudinal length of the signal terminal.

5. The electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein: When the electrical connector is mated with a docking connector, a first flow path is formed between the welding portion, the inner wall contact portion and the docking terminal of the docking connector, and a second flow path is formed between the extension portion, the outer wall contact portion and the docking terminal of the docking connector, and the second flow path is smaller than the first flow path.

6. The electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein: The inner wall contact portion, the connecting portion and the outer wall contact portion together form an inverted U-shaped contact portion, one of the inner wall contact portion and the outer wall contact portion has a smooth contact surface, and the other has a locking portion located at the upper end and protruding outward.

7. The electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein: The electrical connector includes a protective bracket integrally injection-molded at both longitudinal ends of the insulating body, the protective bracket is fixed on the end wall and includes an end wall reinforcement plate covering the end wall and a side wall reinforcement plate at least partially covering the side wall, and the side wall reinforcement plate is connected to the lateral ends of the end wall reinforcement plate.

8. The electrical connector according to claim 7, wherein: The end wall reinforcement plate includes an end wall top surface shielding portion covering the end wall top surface, an end wall outer wall shielding portion extending downward from the longitudinal outer side of the end wall top surface shielding portion, a bending portion bent inward and extending downward from the bottom edge of the end wall outer wall shielding portion, and a welding leg portion of the insulating body extending from the bottom edge of the bending portion, the end wall outer wall shielding portion shields the outer wall surface of the end wall, and the bending portion is buried in the end wall of the insulating body.

9. The electrical connector according to claim 7, wherein: The side wall reinforcement sheet includes a side wall outer wall shielding portion covering the side wall outer wall surface, a bent portion bent inward from the side wall outer wall shielding portion, and a welding leg of the insulating body extending from the bottom edge of the bent portion. The bent portion is buried in the side wall of the insulating body, and there is a gap between the bottom edge of the side wall outer wall shielding portion and the welding leg and is filled with plastic of the insulating body.

10. The electrical connector according to claim 9, wherein: The bent portion is formed by bending inwardly from the bottom edge of the front end of the side wall outer wall shielding portion and extending downward, and the bent portion is buried in the side wall of the insulating body.

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