Contact terminal for electrical connector

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to the art of electrical connectors, and more particularly to a contact terminal for an electrical connector.

2. Description of the Related Art

A conventional contact terminal for an electrical connector typically include a base section for being secured in a connector body, a mounting section extending from the base section and adapted to be mounted onto a printed circuit board, and a mating section extending from the base section for mating with a mating contact from a plug connector. The mating section defines a receiving cavity, which is formed by a peripheral wall with an axial gap thereon. The peripheral wall includes opposed side walls, which are adapted for resiliently engaging the mating contact of the plug connector. This arrangement may result in an unreliable contact between the contact terminal and the mating contact of the plug connector, which may cause mechanical and electrical connection failure of the mated connectors. Therefore, there is a need to provide a contact terminal to resolve the above-mentioned problem.

A major object of an embodiment of the present invention is to provide a contact terminal for having reliable mechanical and electrical connection with a mating component.

A contact terminal for an electrical connector according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a base section for being secured in a connector body, a mounting section extending from the base section and adapted to be mounted onto a printed circuit board, and a mating section extending from the base section. The mating section defines a receiving cavity adapted for receiving a mating component. The mating section includes opposed side walls having thereon protrusions extending into the receiving cavity. The protrusions define thereof mating surfaces adapted to engage the mating component. Thus, this configuration of employing a surface engagement has the advantage of attaining reliable mechanical and electrical connection between the mated connector and component, in that such a surface engagement may enlarge the engagement area between the mated connector and component.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following drawings and detailed description of preferred embodiments, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a contact terminal for an electrical connector according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 2 is an enlarged, perspective view of part III of the contact terminal of FIG. 1 .

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 , a contact terminal of an electrical connector is shown according to an embodiment of the present invention. The contact terminal includes a middle base section 22 for being secured in a passageway of a connector body (not shown), a mating section 21 extending forwardly from the middle base section 22 and adapted to mate with a mating component (not shown), and a mounting section 23 extending rearwardly from the middle base section and adapted to be mounted onto a printed circuit board (not shown). In this embodiment, the passageway for receiving the contact terminal is of a rectangular shape.

The mounting section 23 is of a plate, which extends along a length axis of the passageway. The middle base section 22 includes a pair of first segments 222 extending transversely and outwardly from a front end of the mounting section 23 , a pair of second segments 221 attached to the first segments 222 and extending longitudinally and upwardly from the base section 22 , and a pair of third segments 220 attached to the second segments 221 and extending rearwardly and outwardly from the base section 22 . The third segments 220 are also attached to a rear end of the mating section 21 , and configured for preventing the contact terminal from being removed from the passageway of the connector body when the contact terminal is received within the passageway. The second segments 221 are configured for holding the contact terminal in position within the passageway. The first segments 222 are configured for preventing rotary movement of the contact terminal with respect to the length axis of the passageway when the contact terminal is received within the passageway.

The mating section 21 defines a receiving cavity extending axially of the passageway of the connector body. The receiving cavity is defined by a peripheral wall with an axial gap 211 thereon. Thus, such a receiving cavity is adapted to resiliently receive the mating component due to the existence of the axial gap 211 . In this embodiment, the mating component (not shown) includes a mating portion, to be received within the receiving cavity of the mating section 21 , being generally of a rectangular shape. The peripheral wall, employed to form the receiving cavity, is then configured to surround the rectangular mating portion of the component. The peripheral wall defines opposed side walls with thereof a pair of downwardly cantilevered spring arms 212 each having thereon a protrusion 210 extending into the receiving cavity. The protrusions 210 have thereof mating surfaces adapted to engage the mating component. In this embodiment, the mating surface is of a rectangular shape, which extends axially of the receiving cavity. Thus, the terminals of the mated connector and component employ surface engagement therebetween, which has the advantage of attaining reliable mechanical and electrical connection between the mated connector and component in that such a surface engagement may enlarge the engagement area between the mated connector and component. It is noted that the spring arm 212 extends coplanar/compliant with the top wall and the side walls and only the corresponding protrusion 210 extends into the receiving cavity to engage the mating component. In this embodiment, the protrusions 210 are formed by punching the respective side walls. In an alternative embodiment, the protrusions may be formed by attaching to the respective side walls.

While the present invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments, the description of the invention is illustrative and is not to be construed as limiting the invention. Various of modifications to the present invention can be made to preferred embodiments by those skilled in the art without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.