Electrical connector with improved structure

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention generally relates to an electrical connector and, more particularly, to a power jack.

2. Description of the Prior Art

An electric product such as a notebook computer, a PDA, a digital camera or the like is required to be made as compactly as possible, therefore, electrical connectors used therein are also strongly required to be made in extremely compact designs by minimizing outer dimensions thereof. U.S. Pat. No. 5,007,851 issued to Hosiden on Apr. 16, 1991 discloses a power socket having a housing, a pin, a stationary contact and a movable contact, all of which are received in the housing. The pin and the stationary and movable contacts are disposed in a direction parallel to a mounting surface of a printed circuit board on which the power socket is mounted. The pin is secured to the housing of the power socket by an additional engagement fixing body integrally formed with a rear wall of the housing. Therefore, the occupied space of the power socket on the printed circuit board is increased, which is out of current trend. The engagement fixing body has a complex structure, thus, increasing manufacturing difficulty and cost.

Hence, an electrical connector having thin improved structure is required to overcome the disadvantage of the prior art.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an electrical connector, which has a low profile.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, an electrical connector in accordance with the present invention includes an insulative housing having a body portion and an annular section extending from the body portion. The body portion has a front face and a rear face. A first receiving room, which receives a resilient contact is defined in the rear face of the body portion and extends into the body portion. A second receiving room communicating with the first receiving room is defined in the rear face of the body portion and extends into the body portion. A third receiving room is defined in the rear face of the body portion and extends into the body portion. A retaining cavity is defined in the body portion of the insulative housing and in communication with the third receiving room. A central contact has a retention member engaging with the retaining cavity.

Additional novel features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent by reference to the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of an electrical connector in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a rear exploded, perspective view of the electrical connector in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3 is an assembled view of FIG. 2 ;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the electrical connector taken along line 4 — 4 of FIG. 1 ; and

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the electrical connector taken along line 5 — 5 of FIG. 3 .

Reference will now be made in detail to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 , an electrical connector 7 in accordance with the present invention includes an insulative housing 1 , a central contact 4 accommodated in the insulative housing 1 , a resilient contact 2 and a fixed contact 3 located in the insulative housing 1 above the central contact 4 . The contacts 2 , 3 , 4 are stamped and configured from metal sheets.

The insulative housing 1 comprises a body portion 1 A and an annular section 1 B extending forwardly from the body portion 1 A. The body portion 1 A comprises a front face 10 from which the annular section 1 B extends, a rear face 20 opposite to the front face 10 , opposite left and right lateral walls 30 , 40 , and opposite upper and lower surfaces 50 , 60 . The body portion 1 A has a first receiving room 101 , a second receiving room 102 and a third receiving room 103 . The first receiving room 101 , which is located adjacent to the upper surface 50 of the body portion 1 A, is defined in the rear face 20 and extends forwardly into the body portion 1 A. The second receiving room 102 in communication with and below the first receiving room 101 is defined in the rear face 20 and extends forwardly into the body portion 1 A. The third receiving room 103 below but not communicating with the second receiving room 102 is defined in the rear face 20 . A post 10 a is formed in the body portion 1 A and extends beyond the front face 10 . The post 1 a defines a passageway 10 b , which communicates with the third receiving room 103 . The annular section 1 B is positioned outside the post 10 a and beyond the front face 10 of the body portion 1 A. The annular section 1 B and the post 10 a define a receiving space 11 therebetween, which extends in a predetermined distance in the body portion 1 A and communicates with the first and second receiving rooms 101 , 102 . With the existence of the post 10 a and the annular section 1 B, a mating plug (not shown) cooperates with the electrical connector 7 correctly and properly by a pin of the plug inserted into the passageway 10 b and a sleeve of the plug into the receiving space 11 . The left and right lateral walls 30 , 40 are respectively provided in inner surfaces thereof with notches 12 a , 13 a , 12 b , 13 b for holding the resilient and fixed contacts 2 , 3 . A cutout 301 is defined in the outer surface of the left lateral wall 30 . A retaining cavity 6 close to the rear face 20 is defined in the body portion 1 A and comprises a first retaining groove 601 and a second retaining groove 602 , which locate at opposite sides of the third receiving room 103 and extends downward for retaining the central contact 4 , which will be detailed hereinafter.

Referring to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 , the resilient contact 2 is configured in a U-shape and comprises a first contacting portion and a first connecting portion 23 . The first contacting portion comprises a plate part 21 and a resilient part 25 bending backward from a front edge of the plate part 21 . The plate part 21 has a spring tab 24 , which is cut and obliquely outwardly raised, and opposite edges 210 . The resilient part 25 has a pair of touching fingers 22 having respective protruding points 221 positioned thereat. The first connecting portion 23 extends from a rear edge of the plate part 21 . The resilient contact 2 is secured to the first receiving room 101 with opposite edges 210 inserted into corresponding notches 12 a , 12 b . The spring tab 24 is engaged with a stepped portion 501 formed in the upper surface 50 of the insulative housing 1 for preventing a rearward movement of the resilient contact 2 , as best shown in FIG. 4 . The first connecting portion 23 extends beyond the rear face 20 of the body portion 1 A of the insulative housing 1 and connects to a cable (not shown).

A fixed contact 3 comprises a second contacting portion and a second connecting portion 33 . The second contacting portion has a flat plate 31 with a protruding part 32 formed thereon. The second connecting portion 33 extends rearward from a rear lateral edge of the flat plate 31 . The flat plate 31 is provided in the middle of lateral edges thereof with a pair of engagement pawls 34 . The fixed contact 3 is secured to the second receiving room 102 with the lateral edges inserted into corresponding notches 13 a , 13 b and the engagement pawls 34 pressing against inner surfaces of the notches 13 a , 13 b . The second connecting portion 33 perpendicular to the flat plate 31 is partially received in the cutout 103 and extends beyond the rear face 20 of the body portion 1 A of the insulative housing 1 for connecting to the cable. When the resilient contact 2 and the fixed contact 3 are received in the insulative housing 1 , the protruding points 221 of the touching fingers 22 of the resilient contact 2 are pressed on the flat plate 31 of the fixed contact 3 and rear ends of the touching fingers 22 are leaned against the protruding part 32 of the fixed contact 3 . When the mating plug cooperates with the electrical connector 7 , the resilient contact 2 is separated from the fixed contact 3 by a terminal of the sleeve of the mating plug, thereby, realizing a switch function of the electrical connector 7 .

The central contact 4 comprises a plate portion 41 , a fork-type contacting portion 42 extending forwardly from a front edge of the plate portion 41 and a third connecting portion 43 extending rearward from a rear edge of the plate portion 41 . The plate portion 41 has a retention member 44 , which contains a first retention portion 44 a and a second retention portion 44 b , for engagement with the retaining cavity 6 . The central contact 4 is secured into the body portion 1 A with the fork-type contacting portion 42 received in the passageway 10 b and the plate portion 41 received in the third receiving room 103 . The first and second retention portions 44 a , 44 b extend obliquely to the corresponding retaining grooves 601 , 602 , as shown in FIGS. 2 and 5 , so that, the central contact 4 cannot be removed from the body portion 1 A of the insulative housing 1 . The third connecting portion 43 not whole overlapped by but parallel to the first connecting portion 23 of the resilient contact 2 extends beyond the rear face 20 of the insulative housing 1 and connects the cable.

While the foregoing description includes details which will enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, it should be recognized that the description is illustrative in nature and that many modifications and variations thereof will be apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit of these teachings. It is accordingly intended that the invention herein be defined solely by the claims appended hereto and that the claims be interpreted as broadly as permitted by the prior art.