Electrical connectors

Abstract

This application relates to the field of electronic device technology, and more particularly to an electrical connector, which includes an insulating body, conductive terminals, and a metal housing. The insulating body includes two oppositely disposed side walls, two oppositely disposed end walls, an oppositely disposed top surface and bottom surface, and a slot penetrating the top surface. The metal housing is a stainless steel housing, which includes two side plates and two end plates. The side plates are attached to the side walls, and the end plates are attached to the end walls. The electrical connector provided by this application has a stainless steel housing attached to the side walls and end walls outside the insulating body. The stainless steel housing maintains high strength even with a relatively thin wall thickness, reducing the weight of the electrical connector while suppressing the deformation of the insulating body, thereby enhancing the mechanical strength of the electrical connector.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of electronic device technology, and more particularly to an electrical connector. Background Technology

[0002] Currently, with the increasing computing power of graphics cards and other devices, the heat generated by these devices is also increasing daily, leading to a corresponding increase in the size and weight of auxiliary functional modules such as heat dissipation modules. Against this backdrop, electrical connectors, as core components for transmitting electrical signals and mechanically fixing the graphics card to the circuit board, face increasingly stringent requirements for mechanical strength. However, due to the signal transmission performance calibration requirements of electrical connectors, their internal insulation cannot be made of higher-strength engineering plastics, thus posing a significant challenge to the mechanical strength of electrical connectors. Utility Model Content

[0003] The main objective of this invention is to provide an electrical connector with high mechanical strength.

[0004] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention adopts the following technical solution: an electrical connector, comprising an insulating body, conductive terminals and a metal housing, wherein the insulating body comprises two oppositely arranged side walls and two oppositely arranged end walls, as well as a top surface, a bottom surface and a slot penetrating the top surface, and the metal housing is a stainless steel housing, comprising two side plates and two end plates, wherein the side plates are attached to the side walls and the end plates are attached to the end walls.

[0005] Compared with the prior art, the electrical connector of this utility model has a stainless steel shell attached to the outside of the insulating body. The side plates and end plates of the stainless steel shell protect the side walls and end walls of the insulating body, respectively. The stainless steel shell still has high strength even with a relatively thin wall thickness. While reducing the weight of the electrical connector, it can suppress the deformation of the insulating body, thereby enhancing the mechanical strength of the electrical connector. Attached Figure Description

[0006] Figure 1 This is a perspective view of an electrical connector provided in Embodiment 1 of this application, wherein an electronic card is inserted into the electrical connector.

[0007] Figure 2 for Figure 1 An exploded 3D view of the electrical connector.

[0008] Figure 3 for Figure 1 A 3D view of the electronic card.

[0009] Figure 4 for Figure 2 A three-dimensional view of the metal casing.

[0010] Figure 5 for Figure 4 A three-dimensional view of a portion of the metal casing.

[0011] Figure 6 This is a perspective view of the electrical connector provided in Embodiment 2 of this application.

[0012] Figure 7 for Figure 6 Exploded 3D view of an electrical connector.

[0013] Figure 8 for Figure 7 A three-dimensional view of the metal casing from another angle.

[0014] Explanation of key component symbols:

[0015] 10. Electrical connector; 20. Electronic card; 201. Signal connection part; 202. Limiting part;

[0016] 1. Insulating body; 11. Side wall; 12. End wall; 13. Top surface; 14. Bottom surface; 15. Slot; 151. Signal connection slot; 152. Limiting slot; 16. Foolproof part; 17. Plug-in protrusion; 171. Plug-in hole; 18. Engaging slot; 19. Terminal mounting hole;

[0017] 2. Metal shell; 21. Side plate; 211. Protruding post; 22. End plate; 23. Top plate; 24. Bending plate; 241. Opening; 25. Wing; 251. Bending part; 252. Fixing part; 2521. Riveting hole; 26. Insertion arm; 261. Engaging protrusion; 27. Hook part; 28. Receiving cavity.

[0018] 3. Conductive plastic; 4. Conductive terminals;

[0019] X, length direction; Y, lateral direction; Z, docking direction. Detailed Implementation

[0020] The following detailed description of some embodiments of this application is provided in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Unless otherwise specified, the embodiments and features described below can be combined with each other.

[0021] Figure 1-5 Example 1 of the embodiment is shown. This application provides an electrical connector 10, please refer to... Figure 1 and Figure 2The electrical connector 10 includes a longitudinally elongated insulating body 1, conductive terminals 4, and a metal housing 2. The insulating body 1 serves as the mounting base for components such as the conductive terminals 4 and the metal housing 2. The insulating body 1 includes two opposing side walls 11, two opposing end walls 12, a opposing top surface 13 and a bottom surface 14, and a slot 15 penetrating the top surface 13. The slot 15 is formed from the top surface 13 towards the bottom surface 14 and is used for inserting electronic cards 20 such as graphics cards. For ease of understanding, in this embodiment, the direction in which the two end walls 12 of the insulating body 1 are opposite is defined as the length direction X, the direction in which the two side walls 11 of the insulating body 1 are opposite is defined as the transverse direction Y, and the direction in which the top surface 13 and the bottom surface 14 of the insulating body 1 are opposite is defined as the mating direction Z. The length direction X, the transverse direction Y, and the mating direction Z are orthogonal to each other.

[0022] Please continue to refer to Figure 2 In some embodiments, the insulating body 1 includes a foolproof part 16, which is a plate-like structure within the slot 15 and can be integrally formed with the insulating body 1. The foolproof part 16 reduces errors during the docking process of the electronic card 20, such as incorrect insertion direction, poor contact, or damage to the electrical connector 10. It also limits the displacement of the electronic card 20 during the operation of the electrical connector 10, ensuring stable installation of the electronic card 20. Specifically, the foolproof part 16 spans the slot 15 and divides the slot 15 into a signal connection slot 151 and a limiting slot 152, which are distributed along the length direction X. Please refer to... Figure 3 The electronic card 20 inserted into the card slot 15 is provided with a signal connection part 201 and a limiting part 202. It can be understood that when the electronic card 20 is inserted into the card slot 15, the signal connection part 201 of the electronic card 20 is inserted into the signal connection groove 151, and the limiting part 202 is inserted into the limiting groove 152, thereby completing the signal connection and mechanical fixation of the electronic card 20, and further limiting the movement trend and movement range of the electronic card 20.

[0023] Please continue to refer to Figure 2 In some embodiments, the insulating body 1 has two rows of terminal mounting holes 19 for mounting conductive terminals 4. The two rows of terminal mounting holes 19 are located on both sides of the card slot 15 along the length direction X, and the two ends of the terminal mounting holes 19 penetrate the top surface 13 and bottom surface 14 of the insulating body 1 along the mating direction Z. The two rows of terminal mounting holes 19 include a first terminal hole and a second terminal hole, both of which penetrate the card slot 15. The first terminal hole and the second terminal hole are used to mount conductive terminals 4, so that after the electronic card 20 is mated with the card slot 15, the portion of the conductive terminals 4 extending into the card slot 15 from the first terminal hole and the second terminal hole can be connected to the electronic card 20, thereby realizing a reliable electrical connection and stable signal transmission between the electronic card 20 and the electrical connector 10.

[0024] Please continue to refer to Figure 2In some embodiments, the electrical connector 10 includes a conductive plastic 3, which is mounted on the bottom of the insulating body 1 along the mating direction Z and abuts against at least a portion of the conductive terminals 4.

[0025] Please refer to Figure 4 and Figure 5 The metal housing 2, which covers at least a portion of the outer surface of the insulating body 1, is generally rectangular. The metal housing 2 used in this application is a stainless steel housing. The stainless steel housing attached to the outside of the insulating body 1 improves the mechanical strength of the electrical connector 10. The metal housing 2 includes a top plate 23, two side plates 21, and two end plates 22. The top plate 23, the two side plates 21, and the two end plates 22 enclose a receiving cavity 28 for the metal housing 2, and both the top plate 23 and the bottom of the metal housing 2 are provided with slots. When the metal housing 2 is assembled with the insulating body 1, at least part of the insulating body 1 can be slotted along the bottom of the metal housing 2 and enter the receiving cavity 28. At this time, the side plate 21 of the metal housing 2 is attached to the side wall 11 of the insulating body 1, the end plate 22 of the metal housing 2 is attached to the end wall 12 of the insulating body 1, and the top plate 23 of the metal housing 2 is attached to the top surface 13 of the insulating body 1. The slotted top will not affect the installation of the electronic card 20 and the conductive terminal 4. Thus, the metal housing 2 can resist external forces such as vibration, impact or compression, and can reduce or even avoid the impact of external forces on the insulating body 1 and the conductive terminal 4.

[0026] In some embodiments, the top plate 23 and side plate 21 of the metal shell 2 are connected by a bending plate 24, which has multiple openings 241. Therefore, the metal shell 2 of this application is a one-piece structure formed by stamping. It is understood that stamping has high production efficiency, and the metal shell 2 can achieve lightweighting while maintaining higher mechanical strength.

[0027] Furthermore, the bending plate 24 is provided with multiple openings 241. It can be understood that the setting of the openings 241 on the bending plate 24 can reduce the weight of the metal shell 2, while the three-dimensional structure formed by bending can improve the bending stiffness of the metal shell 2. Moreover, the distribution of multiple openings 241 on the bending plate 24 can guide the force path when the metal shell 2 is subjected to external impact, reduce stress concentration, and improve the impact resistance of the metal shell 2.

[0028] In some embodiments, the wall thickness of the stainless steel casing is 0.5mm to 0.7mm, and can be any value within the above range. The wall thickness of the stainless steel casing can be selected according to actual needs and is not limited here. It is understood that a wall thickness of stainless steel casing within the above range has the advantages of being both lightweight and thin, and having high mechanical strength.

[0029] In some implementation methods, please continue to refer to Figure 4 and Figure 5A pair of wings 25 extend from both sides of the end plate 22 of the metal housing 2. The wings 25 are bent and connected to the side plates 21 of the metal housing 2. Specifically, the wings 25 include a bent portion 251 formed by bending towards the adjacent side plate 21 and a fixing portion 252 bent onto the side plate 21. The fixing portion 252 is provided with a riveting hole 2521. The side plate 21 is provided with a protrusion 211 passing through the riveting hole 2521. The outer edge of the protrusion 211 is riveted to the fixing portion 252. Thus, the wing 25 can ensure the tight installation of the end plate 22 attached to the end face of the insulating body 1 through the riveting action of the protrusion 211 and the riveting hole 2521.

[0030] In some implementation methods, please continue to refer to Figure 4 and Figure 5 The side plate 21 of the metal housing 2 is provided with multiple plug arms 26 at the bottom along the mating direction Z. The plug arms 26 are columnar structures extending along the mating direction Z. The outer surface of the side wall 11 of the insulating body 1 is provided with plug protrusions 17. The plug protrusions 17 are provided with plug holes 171 that pass through the plug protrusions 17 along the mating direction Z. When the metal housing 2 is attached to the outer surface of the insulating body 1, the plug arms 26 of the metal housing 2 are inserted into the plug holes 171 of the insulating body 1 to ensure precise mating between the insulating body 1 and the metal housing 2. At this time, the relative movement of the insulating body 1 and the metal housing 2 along the length direction X and the transverse direction Y is restricted. Furthermore, the plug arms 26 are structures formed by the extension of the metal housing 2 and are made of the same metal material as the metal housing 2. Their high rigidity can provide buffer and support for the electrical connector 10 during operation, absorb vibrations during equipment operation, and ensure the installation stability of the electrical connector 10 on the equipment.

[0031] For further details, please refer to [link / reference]. Figure 5 The plug arm 26 is provided with multiple engaging protrusions 261. The engaging protrusions 261 increase the width of the plug arm 26 along the length direction X or the lateral direction Y. When the plug arm 26 is inserted into the plug hole 171, the engaging protrusions 261 interfere with the inner surface of the plug hole 171 to fix the two together. By setting the engaging protrusions 261, the relative movement of the insulating body 1 and the metal shell 2 along the mating direction Z is restricted, and the connection stability of the two is further improved.

[0032] Figure 6-8 Example 2 is shown. Unlike Example 1, please refer to... Figures 6-8 The metal shell 2 includes a top plate 23, two side plates 21 and an end plate 22 formed by stamping. The metal shell 2 also includes a hook portion 27, which is formed by extending from the bottom surface 14 of the end plate 22 along the docking direction Z and bending along the length direction X. That is, the hook portion 27 is approximately an L-shaped structure.

[0033] When the metal housing 2 is installed on the insulating body 1, the area where the bottom surface 14 of the insulating body 1 abuts against the hook portion 27 is recessed to form a locking groove 18, and the hook portion 27 is engaged in the locking groove 18 to connect the metal housing 2 and the insulating body 1.

[0034] Compared to Embodiment 1, the addition of a hook portion 27 to the metal housing 2, and the engaging action of the hook portion 27 and the engaging groove 18, can further improve the connection stability between the metal housing 2 and the insulating body 1.

[0035] Furthermore, those skilled in the art should recognize that the above embodiments are merely illustrative of this application and are not intended to limit this application. Any appropriate changes and variations made to the above embodiments within the essential spirit and scope of this application fall within the scope of this application's disclosure.

Claims

1. An electrical connector comprising an insulating body, conductive terminals, and a metal housing, wherein the insulating body includes two opposing side walls, two opposing end walls, a top surface and a bottom surface opposing each other, and a slot penetrating the top surface, characterized in that, The metal casing is a stainless steel casing, which includes two side plates and two end plates. The side plates are attached to the side walls, and the end plates are attached to the end walls.

2. The electrical connector according to claim 1, characterized in that, The metal casing also includes a top plate, which is attached to the top surface. The top plate and the side plate are connected by a bent plate, which has multiple openings.

3. The electrical connector according to claim 1, characterized in that, The wall thickness of the stainless steel shell is 0.5mm to 0.7mm.

4. The electrical connector according to claim 1, characterized in that, The end plate has a pair of wings extending from both sides. The wings include, in sequence, a bent portion formed by bending towards the adjacent side plate and a fixing portion bent onto the side plate. The fixing portion is fixed to the side plate by riveting.

5. The electrical connector according to claim 4, characterized in that, The fixing part is provided with a riveting hole, and the side plate is provided with a protrusion that passes through the riveting hole. The outer edge of the protrusion is riveted to the fixing part.

6. The electrical connector according to claim 1, characterized in that, The bottom of the side plate is provided with multiple plug arms; The outer surface of the sidewall is provided with a plug-in protrusion, and the plug-in protrusion is provided with a plug-in hole that passes through the plug-in protrusion. The plug-in arm is inserted into the plug-in hole to connect the insulating body to the metal shell.

7. The electrical connector according to claim 6, characterized in that, The plug arm is provided with multiple engaging protrusions. When the plug arm is inserted into the plug hole, the engaging protrusions interfere with the inner surface of the plug hole to achieve fixation.

8. The electrical connector according to claim 1, characterized in that, The metal housing also includes a latch portion, which is formed by bending from the bottom surface of the end plate; The bottom surface of the insulating body is provided with a locking groove, and the hook portion engages with the locking groove to connect the metal shell to the insulating body.

9. The electrical connector according to claim 1, characterized in that, The metal casing is a stamped structure.

10. The electrical connector according to claim 1, characterized in that, The insulating body also includes a foolproof part, which spans the slot and divides the slot into a signal connection slot and a limiting slot. The card slot is used to insert an electronic card. The electronic card has a signal connection part and a limiting part. The signal connection part is inserted into the signal connection slot, and the limiting part is inserted into the limiting slot.

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