Waterproof electrical connector

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to an electrical connector, and more particularly to an electrical connector preventing water or vapor from entering into interior of the connector.

2. Description of Related Arts

An electrical connector is widely applied to various electronic devices as an I/O (Input/Output) port to connect with external signal or power-transmitting cables. On many occasions, a waterproof appliance is necessary and therefore an associated electrical connector also needs to be waterproof. Taiwan Patent No. M379889 discloses an electrical connector comprising an inner shell, an insulative housing, a plurality of contacts retained in the insulative housing, and an outer shell. The contacts are insert-molded in the insulative housing. The insulative housing has a receiving room to receive the inner shell so that the insulative housing covers any holes in the inner shell. Liquid or vapor may still enter into the electrical connector. Japan Patent No. 4875130 discloses an electrical connector comprising a metal shield defining a receiving space, a plurality of contacts received in the receiving space of the metal shield, and an insulative body molded over the metal shield and retaining the contacts. The metal shield together with the contacts is insert molded in one-shot via the insulative body. The insulative body has an insulative cover adhering to an outside surface of the metal shield and a tongue portion extending forwardly into the receiving space for supporting the contacts. The insulative body also has a number of locking holes to receiving a number of resisting portion of a mating connector and the locking holes are covered by a waterproof belt. However, it is not convenient and economic for manufacture.

An electrical connector preventing water or vapor into interior is desired.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector having a metal plate capable of avoiding a leakage.

To achieve the above object, an electrical connector comprises: an insulative housing having a frame portion formed with a top wall, a pair of side walls extending downwardly from two sides of the top wall, a rear wall extending downwardly from a rear end of the top wall and a bottom wall, and a tongue portion extending forwardly from the rear wall of the frame portion; a plurality of terminals retained in the tongue portion and inserted outwardly through the rear wall of the insulative housing; and a metal shell having a top board, a pair of side boards extending downwardly from the top board, a bottom board connected with the two side boards, and a window defined in a rear end thereof, wherein the insulative housing is insert-molded with the metal shell and the terminals so that the top wall is pasted to the top board, the side walls are pasted to the respective side boards and the bottom wall is pasted to the bottom board, wherein the rear wall seals up the window.

Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective, assembled view of an electrical connector;

FIG. 2 is a perspective, assembled view of the electrical connector, taken from a different view with respect to FIG. 1 ;

FIG. 3 is a perspective, exploded view of the electrical connector; and

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the electrical connector with respect to FIG. 1 .

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

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 4 , an electrical connector 100 of the present invention, affixed to a printed circuit board (not shown), comprises an insulative housing 1 , a plurality of terminals 2 retained in insulative housing 1 and a metal shell 4 insert-molded with the insulative housing 1 . The electrical connector 100 defines a front-to-back direction and a transverse direction perpendicular to the front-to-back direction in a horizontal plane referring to FIG. 1 .

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3 , the insulative housing 1 comprises a frame portion 11 and a tongue portion 12 located in the frame portion 11 . The frame portion 11 is formed with a top wall 111 , a pair of side walls 112 extending downwardly from the two sides of the top wall 111 , a rear wall 113 extending downwardly from a rear end of the top wall 111 , and a bottom wall 114 . The insulative housing 1 has a number of receiving portions 115 in the top wall 111 , side walls 112 and the bottom wall 114 . The tongue portion 12 extends forwardly from the rear wall 113 and is formed with a number of recesses 121 extending along a front-to-back direction in an upper surface of the tongue portion 12 and through the rear wall 113 of the insulative housing 1 . During the insert-molding process of the insulative housing 1 and the metal shell 3 , a number of the molds are resisted against the metal shell 3 through the receiving portions 115 .

Referring to FIG. 3 , the terminals 2 are received in the recesses 121 , and each terminal 2 includes a contacting portion 21 , a soldering portion 23 and a curved portion 22 bent and extending downwardly from the contacting portion 21 and connected with the soldering portion 23 .

The metal shell 3 is formed with a top board 31 , a pair of side boards 32 bent and extending downwardly from the top board 31 , a bottom board 34 aerial to the side boards 32 and a pair of supporting arms 33 (or a rear board with a window) extending downwardly from the top board 31 to the bottom board 34 . The metal shell 3 has a window 30 in a rear end and a pair of fins 340 extending laterally from two sides of bottom board 34 and extending through the side walls 112 of the frame portion 11 . Referring to FIG. 2 , the top board 31 has a number of protruding portions 310 extending to the frame portion 11 . The protruding portions 310 pass through the holes 116 in the insulative housing 1 and resist against a mating connector.

The metal shell 3 is insert-molded with the insulative housing 1 . The top wall 111 packages the top board 31 , the side walls 112 package the respective side boards 32 and the bottom wall 114 packages the bottom board 34 . The metal shell 3 is shrouded by the insulative housing 1 . The insulative housing 1 connects the side boards 32 with the bottom board 114 . In a favorable embodiment as shown in FIG. 3 , the metal shell 3 is embedded in the insulative housing 1 for improved sealing purpose. The top board 31 is sandwiched between outer layer and inner layer of the top wall 111 . Each side board 32 is sandwiched between outer layer and inner layer of the side wall 112 . The bottom board 34 is sandwiched between outer layer and inner layer of the bottom wall 114 . The rear wall 113 seals up the window 30 so as to avoid any gap between the insulative housing 1 and the metal shell 3 . As a result, the liquid or vapor in the air is kept from the electrical connector 100 to avoid a short with an easier and more convenient fabrication.

While a preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention has been shown and described, equivalent modifications and changes known to persons skilled in the art according to the spirit of the present invention are considered within the scope of the present invention as described in the appended claims.