Electrical connector

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to the art of electrical connectors.

2. Description of the Related Art

Chinese Pat. Issue No. 2831497 issued to Wang Shi-Yong on Oct. 25, 2006 discloses a related electrical connector. The electrical connector includes a connector body having thereof a front end and a rear end. Parallel upper and lower rows of passageways are configured to extend from the front end towards the rear end of the connector body. Upper and lower terminals are held within the two parallel rows of passageways. The respective upper and lower terminals include upper and lower outer tailing portions adapted to be mounted onto a mating component. In order to not interfere with the lower terminals, the upper terminals include upper extension portions attached thereto such that the upper outer tailing portions are set to extend a distance away from the rear end of the connector body. A problem, however, with such an electrical connector is that the upper tailing portions may be apt to be deflected or damaged due to having the upper tailing portions free from the connector body. Therefore, there is a need to provide a new connector to resolve the above-mentioned problem.

A major object of an embodiment of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector having a supporting member for supporting at least a portion of the extension section so as to prevent the free extension section of the prior art from being deflected or damaged by an external force.

An electrical connector according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a connector body having a front end and a rear end, a plurality of passageways extending from the front end towards the rear end, and terminals held within the passageways. At least one of the terminals includes an extension section extending a distance away from the rear end of the connector body. A supporting member is disposed adjacent the rear end for supporting at least a portion of the extension section.

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 an assembled, perspective view of the electrical connector according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded, perspective view of the electrical connector of FIG. 1 ;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a first terminal of the electrical connector of FIG. 1 ; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a second terminal of the electrical connector of FIG. 1 .

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 4 , an electrical connector according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown to include an elongated connector body 10 having thereof a front end 11 and a rear end 12 , upper and lower rows of passageways 13 and 14 extending from the front end 11 towards the rear end 12 . First and second terminals 20 and 30 are held within the respective upper and lower rows of passageways 13 and 14 , respectively. In this embodiment, the connector body 10 further includes a supporting member 15 disposed adjacent the rear end 12 for supporting at least portions of the first terminals 20 (to be later described).

Each of the first terminals 20 includes a base section 22 , a pair of cantilevered arms 24 extending from opposite side edges of the base section 22 , an extension section 26 extending from a rear end of the base section 22 , and a tail section 28 extending perpendicularly from the extension section 26 for being mounted to a mating component (not shown). The extension section 26 of each first terminal 20 extends a distance away from the rear end 12 of the connector body 10 and along a lengthwise direction of the passageway 13 associated with the corresponding first terminal 20 . The distance of the extension section 26 away from the rear end 12 of the connector body 10 is determined by lateral space requirement of the tailing portion 28 of the first terminal 20 away from that of the second terminal 30 according to various embodiments of the present invention. In this embodiment, the second terminal 30 in shape is similar to that of the first terminal 20 except for having no extension portion extending between a base portion 32 and a tailing portion 38 of the second terminal 30 .

In this embodiment, the supporting member 15 integrally extends from the rear end 12 of the connector body 10 , and includes a plurality of parallel channels 16 in alignment with the upper row of passageways 13 for receiving at least portions of the respective extension sections 26 of the first terminals 20 . It is noted that an upper face of the supporting member 15 is coplanar with a seating plane 131 of the housing defined in the corresponding passageway 13 . In an alternative embodiment, the supporting member 15 may include a plurality of separate supporting segments in correspondence with the respective extension sections 26 for supporting at least portions of the respective extension sections 26 , with each supporting segment including a terminal channel for receiving at least a portion of each extension section. In another embodiment, the supporting segments may be formed unitarily by continuous connection therebetween on the rear end 12 of the connector body 10 . Thus, the arrangement of the supporting member 15 will prevent the free extension sections 26 of the prior art from being deflected or damaged by an external force exerted on the free extension sections 26 .

In this embodiment, merely the first terminals 20 are configured to have the extension sections 26 extending a distance away from the rear end 12 of the connector body 10 so as to enable the tailing sections 28 of the first terminals 20 laterally spaced from the tailing portions 38 of the second terminals 30 for the signal and mechanical interference consideration. In an alternative embodiment, the first terminals 20 may include the extension sections 26 extending a first distance away from the rear end 12 of the connector body 10 , while the second terminals 30 may also include extension portions (not shown) extending a second distance away from the rear end 12 , wherein the second distance is less than the first distance, which also meets the lateral space requirement between the tailing sections 28 of the first terminals 20 and the tailing portions 38 of the second terminals 30 . Thus, another supporting tabs may be provided adjacent the tailing portions of the second terminals 30 for supporting at least portions of the second terminal tailing portions 38 . With such an arrangement of the supporting member and/or tabs, the free extension sections 26 of the first terminals 20 and/or the free extension portions of the second terminals 30 can be prevented from being improperly damaged or deflected due to an external force exerted thereon.

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.