Waterproof electrical connector assembly and method of manufacturing same

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a waterproof electrical connector assembly, and more particularly to a sealing structure which is effectuated after contacts thereof are soldered to a printed circuit board thereof and associated method.

2. Description of Related Art

China Patent No. 203932465, issued on Nov. 5, 2014, discloses a waterproof electrical connector including an insulative body, a metal shell, a plurality of terminals, a metal plate, a front waterproof rubber ring, and a rear waterproof rubber. After the rear waterproof rubber is applied and solidified, the waterproof electrical connector is ready to be mounted to a printed circuit board (PCB), e.g., by soldering the terminals to conductive pads of the PCB. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2012/0315779, published on Dec. 3, 2012, discloses a waterproof connector including a front seal and a rear seal such as an adhesive or bonding material. Similarly, such waterproof connector is ready to be mounted to an external substrate or PCB. During mounting the waterproof connector to a PCB, heat generated e.g., by reflowing, might have an adverse impact on the rear seal or rubber.

A waterproof connector assembly having an effective sealing structure is desired.

A waterproof electrical connector assembly comprises: an insulative housing; a plurality of contacts retained to the housing; a metallic shield secured to the housing; an insulative cover enclosing the shield to define a rear chamber; a substrate connected to the contacts and having an edge portion, the edge portion extending forwardly into the rear chamber; and a sealing member filling the rear chamber. A method for manufacturing such a waterproof electrical connector assembly comprises the steps of: mounting a metallic shield to a combined insulative housing and electrical contacts; connecting a substrate to the electrical contacts; enclosing an insulative cover over the shield and an edge portion of the substrate to define a chamber; and sealing the chamber. By connecting the substrate to the contacts prior to applying or forming the sealing member, integrity of the sealing member is secured.

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

FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view of the electrical connector assembly;

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the electrical connector assembly;

FIG. 4 is another exploded view of the electrical connector assembly;

FIG. 5 is an exploded view of a housing and contacts of the electrical connector assembly;

FIG. 6 is another exploded view of the housing and the contacts;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the electrical connector assembly schematically showing a cover thereof at a state prior to mounting to a shield thereof to form a sealing structure; and

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the electrical connector assembly along line A-A in FIG. 2 .

Referring to FIGS. 1 through 8 , an electrical connector assembly 100 includes an insulative housing 2 , a plurality of contacts 3 retained to the housing 2 as a terminal module, a metallic shield 5 secured to the housing 2 to form a mating cavity for receiving a plug, and a printed circuit board or substrate 1 to which the contacts 3 are mounted. The electrical connector assembly 100 further includes an insulative cover 6 enclosing the shield 5 , and a sealing member 7 , e.g., a bonding material, glue, epoxy, etc., at a rear of the shield 5 . The cover 6 is so mounted to enclose the housing 2 and the shield 5 as to define a chamber 61 for forming the sealing member 7 after the contacts 3 are mounted to the substrate 1 , e.g., by surface-mount soldering, through-hole inserting, etc. The substrate 1 has a front edge portion extending into the chamber 61 .

Referring specifically to FIGS. 3-8 , the electrical connector assembly 100 further includes a metal plate 4 . The housing 2 includes an upper piece 23 and a lower piece 24 separated by the plate 4 and a base 25 . The upper piece 23 is insert-molded with associated contacts 31 as an upper terminal module, and the lower piece 24 is insert-molded with associated contacts 32 as a lower terminal module. After combining the upper and lower pieces 23 and 24 with the plate 4 therebetween, the base 25 is formed by a second molding process so as to form the complete housing 2 with the contacts 3 therein.

The housing 2 has an upper surface 21 at the upper piece 23 and a lower surface 22 at the lower piece 24 . The upper piece 23 has a tongue 231 , the lower piece 24 has a tongue 241 , and the base 25 has a tongue 251 .

Referring again to FIGS. 3-8 , each of the upper row of contacts 31 has a contacting portion 311 exposed to the upper surface 21 , a soldering portion 313 , and an intermediate portion 312 . Each of the lower row of contacts 32 has corresponding contacting portion 321 , soldering portion 323 , and intermediate portion 322 .

The soldering portions 313 and 323 of the upper and lower rows of contacts 31 and 32 extend behind respective rear ends of the upper and lower pieces 23 and 24 .

Referring specifically to FIGS. 1-4 and 7-8 , the insulative cover 6 is a sleeve-like member and has a lengthwise dimension greater than either the housing 2 or the shield 5 . The insulative cover 6 is mounted to the shield 5 after the upper and lower rows of contacts 31 and 32 are soldered to the substrate 1 . The chamber 61 is defined at a rear of the cover 6 and extends forwardly to a rear of the base 25 . The substrate 1 has an edge portion extending into the chamber 61 . The cover 6 has a pair of inner grooves 62 for accommodating a part of the substrate edge portion. A waterproof ring or seal 8 is provided around a front of the cover 6 .

Referring specifically to FIGS. 2 and 7-8 , the sealing member 7 is formed by applying epoxy or like material in the chamber 61 and solidifying the same. Therefore, the member 7 seals gaps among rear ends of the upper and lower pieces 23 and 24 , the soldering portions 313 and 323 of the upper and lower rows of contacts 31 and 32 , rear end of the shield 5 , the edge portion of the substrate 5 , and the cover 6 .

The steps of manufacturing the electrical connector assembly 100 are as follows: mounting the metallic shield 5 to a combined insulative housing 2 and electrical contacts 31 and 32 ; connecting the substrate 1 to the electrical contacts 31 and 32 ; enclosing the insulative cover 6 over the shield 5 and an edge portion of the substrate 1 to define the chamber 61 ; and sealing the chamber 61 .

The substrate 1 may suitably be a mother board or a daughter board to be electrically connected to another mother board.

In the present invention, because the insulative cover 6 is mounted to the metallic shield 5 after the substrate 1 extends into the chamber 61 and is soldered to the contacts 3 , the sealing member 7 may be advantageously formed in the chamber 61 . Notably, in this embodiment the chamber 61 is formed by cooperation of the cover 6 , the housing 2 and the shield 5 . Anyhow, if the shield 5 extends further rearwardly to cover the rear portion of the upper piece 23 in the vertical direction, the chamber 61 may be formed by the shield 5 and the housing 2 only instead.