Socket connector

Abstract

A socket connector includes an integral insulating body, two rows of terminals, and conductive plastic. The insulating body has a tongue and a cavity. The terminals are fixed to the insulating body by injection molding, and the terminals are exposed on two opposite outer surfaces of the tongue. Each row of terminals includes a signal terminal and a ground terminal, wherein the ground terminal is exposed in the cavity. The conductive plastic is fixed in the cavity by injection molding and contacts the ground terminal. The conductive plastic of this invention improves the high-frequency performance of the connector and further enhances the overall strength of the connector's insulating body and terminals.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] This invention relates to a socket connector. [Background Technology]

[0002] U.S. Patent Publication No. 2021 / 0050683 discloses an electrical connector comprising a body and two rows of terminals. The body has opposing sidewalls and a cavity between the sidewalls. The two rows of terminals are disposed in the cavity and adjacent to the sidewalls. Two terminal modules and a resonant damping device are all housed in the cavity. The resonant damping device is located between the two rows of terminals, and its ribs engage with grooves in the body to fix the resonant damping device within the body and abut against a grounding terminal. U.S. Patent No. 10,777,921 also discloses a conductive plastic. However, these resonant damping devices and conductive plastics still have problems in actual products.

[0003] In conclusion, it is indeed necessary to improve the existing socket connectors. [Summary of the Invention]

[0004] The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a socket connector that can provide high-frequency electrical performance.

[0005] To solve the above-mentioned technical problems, the technical solution of the present invention is as follows: A socket connector includes an integral insulating body, two rows of terminals and conductive plastic. The insulating body is provided with a tongue plate and a cavity. The terminals are fixed to the insulating body by injection molding, and the terminals are exposed on two opposite outer surfaces of the tongue plate. Each row of terminals includes a signal terminal and a ground terminal, wherein the ground terminal is exposed in the cavity. The conductive plastic is fixed in the cavity by injection molding and is in contact with the ground terminal.

[0006] Another technical solution of the present invention is as follows: A socket connector is mounted on a circuit board. The socket connector includes a base, two rows of terminals fixed to the base, and a metal shell covering the base. The base includes a bottom wall, four vertical walls, and a tongue plate. A mating cavity is formed between the vertical walls and the tongue plate. The mating cavity extends upward from the bottom surface through a mating surface provided on the base. The four vertical walls include two opposing longitudinal vertical walls and two opposing transverse vertical walls. The terminals include a vertical portion and a soldering portion. The soldering portion extends out of the bottom wall, and the vertical portion has a contact portion exposed on the tongue plate. The metal shell includes two longitudinal wall plates and two transverse wall plates corresponding to the longitudinal and transverse vertical walls. The two transverse wall plates and one of the longitudinal wall plates protrude upward from the mating surface of the base, and the one of the longitudinal wall plates has a locking hole.

[0007] Compared with existing technologies, the conductive plastic of this invention not only improves the high-frequency performance of the connector but also enhances the overall strength of the connector's plastic body and terminals. The metal shell of this invention further strengthens the holding force during mating. [Attached Image Description]

[0008] Figure 1 This is a perspective view of the electrical connector assembly of the present invention, wherein the socket and plug connectors are ready to be mated, and the socket connector is mounted on the circuit board.

[0009] Figure 2 yes Figure 1 A cross-sectional view of the two connectors after they are mated.

[0010] Figure 3 yes Figure 1 Exploded 3D view of the socket connector.

[0011] Figure 4 yes Figure 3 An exploded 3D view of the insulating body and the conductive plastic.

[0012] Figure 5 yes Figure 4 Top view.

[0013] Figure 6 yes Figure 2 A 3D view of the plug connector.

[0014] Figure 7 yes Figure 6 A three-dimensional view from another angle.

[0015] Figure 8 yes Figure 6 3D exploded view.

[0016] Figure 9 yes Figure 8 Another perspective of the exploded 3D view.

[0017] Figure 10 yes Figure 8 An exploded 3D view of the mid-terminal module, along with a magnified view of a portion thereof.

[0018] Figure 11 yes Figure 10 Another perspective of the exploded 3D view.

[0019] Figure 12 yes Figure 10 A further decomposed 3D view.

[0020] Figure 13 yes Figure 12 A three-dimensional view from another angle.

[0021] Figure 14 yes Figure 1A perspective view of the female socket connector.

[0022] The following specific embodiments will further illustrate the present invention in conjunction with the above-mentioned drawings.

[0023]

Element Symbol Explanation

[0024]

[0025]

Specific Embodiments

[0026] Refer Figure 1-13 , the electrical connector assembly includes a female socket connector 10 and a male plug connector 50 that are docked with each other. Two rows of cables 90 are connected to the rear end of the male plug connector 50, in the form of wire-end connectors. The female socket connector 10 is mounted on a circuit board 200, in the form of a board-end connector. When designing the female socket connector 10, a pure cantilever tongue plate structure is not adopted, mainly to reduce the overall height of the connector; the male plug connector 50 uses a cantilever beam structure design to reduce the overall docking height and provide sufficient scraping force. The specific structure will be described below.

[0027] Particularly refer Figure 3-5 ]>As shown, the female socket connector 10 includes an integral insulating body 20 and two rows of terminals 30. The insulating body 20 is provided with a tongue plate 22 and a cavity 24, and a conductive plastic 40. The tongue plate 22 protrudes upward, the cavity 24 is recessed upward from the bottom surface 201 of the insulating body, and the two rows of terminals 30 are embedded in the insulating body 20 by injection molding. The terminals are exposed on two opposite outer surfaces 221 of the tongue plate. Each row of terminals 30 includes a plurality of signal terminals 32 and a plurality of ground terminals 34. Combining Figure 2 As shown, each terminal 30 includes a vertical portion 301 and a welding portion 302 that protrudes from the bottom surface 201 of the insulating body, and a part of the outer surface 303 of the vertical portion forms a contact surface 303 that is exposed on the opposite outer surface 221 of the tongue plate. It can be clearly seen from Figure 4 that the vertical portions 301 of the signal terminals are embedded in the insulating body 20, the ground terminals are exposed in the cavity 24, and the inner surface 304 of the vertical portion of the ground terminal relative to the contact surface is exposed in the cavity 24. The conductive plastic part 40 is injection molded in the cavity 24 to electrically connect the ground terminals 34. Specifically, it can be seen that the cavity 24 includes a longitudinal cavity 241 and a plurality of transverse cavities 242 located on both sides of the longitudinal cavity. The conductive plastic 40 matches the shape of the cavity, including a longitudinal plate body 41 and a plurality of transverse ribs 42 extending from the longitudinal plate body. The transverse ribs 42 are accommodated in the transverse cavities 242, and the transverse ribs 42 abut against the inner surface 304 of the vertical portion 301 of the ground terminal 34.

[0028] The socket connector 10 further includes a shield portion 28 and a metal housing 29. The shield portion 28 is made of an insulating material. The shield portion 28 surrounds the insulating body 20. A docking cavity 281 is formed between the shield portion 28 and the tongue plate 22 of the insulating body 20. The shield portion 28 and the insulating body 20 together form the housing body 20A of the socket connector 10, which is used to dock with the mating plug connector 50. The housing 29 is fixed to the shield portion 28 and surrounds the shield portion 28, providing a shielding effect. Refer Figure 3 As shown, the shield portion 28 can be further provided with related structures, such as convex ribs 282. When the insulating body 20 is installed into the shield portion, the convex ribs 282 are used to interfere and fix the insulating body 20. The housing 29 can be provided with related structures, such as tabs 292 and barbs 294, to fix the housing 29 to the shield portion 28. The signal terminals 32 can be arranged in pairs to transmit differential pair signals, forming differential terminal pairs. Refer Figure 1 As shown, the metal housing 29 protrudes upward from the top surface 202 of the housing body 20A. The top surface of the housing body forms a docking surface for docking with the plug connector 50. The metal housing 29 also forms a locking hole 296.

[0029] The conductive plastic part 40 is provided with two rows of branches, and its structure is a transverse rib 42. The transverse rib 42 is aligned with the corresponding ground terminals 34. Thus, after the conductive plastic 40 is injection-molded in the cavity 24, the conductive plastic contacts all the ground terminals 34, forming an electrical connection. Each ground terminal 34 has a contact portion (a part of the vertical portion). The conductive plastic has a top surface 402, and the top surface 402 is substantially flush with the upper end of the contact portion (i.e., the top surface of the vertical portion), as Figure 2 clearly visible, to improve the integrity of the transmitted signal, that is, the conductive plastic 40 is flush with or higher than the vertical portion of the terminal, shielding the entire vertical portion of the ground terminal.

[0030] The manufacturing method of the socket connector 10 includes the following steps. First, an insulating material and two rows of terminals are formed into an integral insulating body 20 and terminals 30 by injection molding. The insulating body includes a tongue plate 22 and a cavity 24. The terminals 30 are exposed on the two outer surfaces 221 of the tongue plate. Then, a conductive plastic material is injected into the cavity 24, and the conductive plastic 40 electrically connects the ground terminals in the terminals together.

[0031] Refer Figure 6-13As shown, the plug connector 50 includes a terminal assembly 60 with a cable 90 connected to its rear end, an upper cover 70, a lower cover 75, a pull strap 80, a locking element 85, and a rubber body 95. The cable 90 is arranged in two rows, one above the other. The terminal assembly 60 includes a front terminal unit 62, a rear terminal unit 64, an upper grounding member 66 that fixes the upper row of cables to the front terminal unit 62, and a lower grounding member 68 that fixes the lower row of cables to the rear terminal unit 64. Each front and rear terminal unit is manufactured by injection molding. The front terminal unit 62 includes an insulating plate 621 and a row of terminals 623 embedded in the insulating plate 621. The terminals 623 include a contact portion 6231 exposed on the rear side of the insulating plate 621 and a connecting portion 6232 exposed on the upper side of the insulating plate. The core 91 of cable 90 is connected to the connection portion 6232 of the signal terminal. The upper grounding member 66 has multiple fingers 662 extending forward from its front end, which connect to the connection portion 6232 of the corresponding grounding terminal. Simultaneously, the upper grounding plate is placed on the cable's shielding layer 92, forming an electrical connection. The structure of the rear terminal unit 64 and the lower grounding member is largely the same as that of the front terminal unit and the upper grounding member. The front and rear terminal units 62 and 64 are installed together by mating positioning posts 622 and positioning holes 642. The positioning posts 623 and positioning holes 642 are aligned and matched in the front-rear direction. The lower grounding member 64 is positioned and fixed by its two positioning holes mating with the positioning posts 644 and 646 of the rear terminal unit, thus fixing the grounding member to the rear terminal unit. The positioning and fixing method of the upper grounding member is similar to that of the front terminal unit. Each grounding member has multiple fingers 662 and 682 extending forward from its front end and connecting to the corresponding grounding terminal. Cable 90 can be a coaxial twisted-pair structure, which can be directly soldered to a differential terminal pair consisting of a pair of signal terminals 32, and its shielding layer 92 contacts the grounding terminal 34. After the grounding component is fixed to the cable, the above-mentioned components can be further fixed by injection molding the colloid 95 into the terminal assembly. The upper and lower covers 70 and 75 are assembled on the outside of the terminal assembly, the locking fastener is fixed to the upper cover, and the pull strap is installed on the locking fastener.

[0032] As mentioned above, the assembled socket connector includes a base 20A and two rows of terminals 30. (See reference...) Figure 2 and Figure 14As shown, the seat 20A includes a bottom wall 251, four vertical walls, and a tongue plate 22. A mating cavity 281 is formed between the vertical walls and the tongue plate, extending upward from the bottom wall. The four vertical walls include two opposing longitudinal walls 252 and two opposing transverse walls 253. The contact surfaces of the vertical portions 301 of the two rows of terminals are provided on two opposing outer surfaces 221 of the tongue plate. The metal casing 29 includes four vertical plates tightly attached to the outer side of the vertical wall of the base, namely two longitudinal wall plates 2951 and 2954 and two transverse wall plates 2952 and 2953. One of the longitudinal wall plates 2951 and the two transverse wall plates 2952 and 2953, respectively attached to one longitudinal wall 252 and one transverse wall 253, extends upwards beyond the top surface 202 of the base (i.e., the mating surface of the base). The longitudinal wall plate 2951 is provided with a locking hole 296. The other longitudinal wall plate 2954 also extends upwards beyond the top surface 202 of the base, but further has a longitudinal slot 2955, the top edge of which is approximately flush with the top edge of the base 20A. As can be seen from the figure, the transverse wall plates are divided into two parts, the top surfaces of which are flush with the corresponding longitudinal wall plates. Figure 6-7 As shown, the plug connector 5 has a mating portion 51, which includes two opposing long walls 511 and two opposing short walls 512 connected to each other, and a receiving cavity 513 located between the long walls and short walls. Two rows of terminals 623 are disposed on the inner wall surface of the long walls 511. As can be seen from the foregoing description, the socket connector 10 uses flat terminals 30, and the plug connector uses flexible bending terminals. In the mating direction, the insulating body height of the socket connector is lower, which can reduce the height on the circuit board after mating. The elongated extension of the metal shell can increase the holding force during mating, and the longitudinal slot 2955 allows the cable 90 of the plug connector to extend from this portion.

[0033] The above description is only a partial embodiment of the present invention, not all embodiments. Any equivalent changes to the technical solutions of the present invention made by those skilled in the art through reading the specification of the present invention shall be covered by the claims of the present invention.

Claims

1. A socket connector, comprising an integral insulating body, two rows of terminals, and conductive plastic, wherein the insulating body is provided with a tongue plate and a cavity, characterized in that: The terminals are fixed to the insulating body by injection molding, and the terminals are exposed on two opposite outer surfaces of the tongue plate. Each row of terminals includes signal terminals and ground terminals, wherein the ground terminals are exposed in the cavity. The conductive plastic is fixed in the cavity by injection molding and contacts the ground terminals. The cavity extends in the tongue plate. The ground terminals include vertical portions. The outer surface of the vertical portions is exposed on the outer surface of the tongue plate and abuts with the mating terminals. Its opposite inner surface is located in the cavity. The conductive plastic is injection molded to fill the cavity and cover the inner surface of the vertical portions to support the vertical portions.

2. The socket connector as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The socket connector includes a protective cover that surrounds the insulating body, and a mating cavity is formed between the protective cover and the tongue plate.

3. The socket connector as described in claim 2, characterized in that: The socket connector includes a metal housing that is fixed and surrounds the outside of the protective cover.

4. The socket connector as described in claim 3, characterized in that: The metal housing extends upward beyond the top surface of the protective cover, and the metal housing is further provided with a locking hole for engaging with a mating plug connector.

5. The socket connector as described in claim 2, characterized in that: The inner surface of the vertical portion of the signal terminal relative to its outer surface is embedded in the insulating body, while the inner surface of the vertical portion of the grounding terminal relative to its outer surface is exposed in the cavity and in contact with the conductive plastic.

6. The socket connector as described in claim 5, characterized in that: The conductive plastic includes a longitudinal plate and transverse ribs located on both sides of the longitudinal plate, the transverse ribs abutting against the inner surface of the grounding terminal.

7. The socket connector as described in claim 6, characterized in that: The top surface of the conductive plastic is not lower than the top surface of the vertical part of the terminal.

Images