Electrical connector having a terminal module supported by an insulative housing and a shielding shell

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an electrical connector including a terminal module, an insulative housing, and a shielding shell, wherein the terminal module has a front portion supported by the insulative housing and a rear portion supported by the shielding shell to obtain a firm structure.

2. Description of Related Art

China Patent No. 103457093 discloses an electrical connector comprising an insulative housing, a terminal module received by the insulative housing and having an internal printed circuit board (PCB), and a shielding shell enclosing the insulative housing and the PCB, wherein the insulative housing has a pair of restraining slots receiving a front of the insulator. U.S. Pat. No. 6,984,151 discloses an electrical connector including a pair of light emitting diodes (LEDs) mounted to an insulative housing. The LED has two leads align respectively with side slots of the insulative housing.

An electrical connector comprises: an insulative housing; a terminal module received by the insulative housing, the terminal module including an insulator, a plurality of terminals, and an internal, horizontal printed circuit board (PCB) carrying plural magnetic components; and a shielding shell enclosing the insulative housing and the PCB, wherein the insulative housing has a pair of restraining slots receiving a front of the insulator, and the shielding shell has a pair of abutting arms received between the insulator and the PCB.

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

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

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the electrical connector in FIG. 2 ;

FIG. 4 is a further exploded view of the electrical connector in FIG. 3 ;

FIG. 5 is an exploded view of the electrical connector in FIG. 1 ;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of a terminal module of the electrical connector; and

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the electrical connector taken along line A-A in FIG. 1 .

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 7 , an electrical connector 100 comprises an insulative housing 1 , a terminal module 2 received by the insulative housing 1 , and a shielding shell 4 enclosing the insulative housing 1 . The electrical connector 100 may further comprise a pair of light emitting diodes (LEDs) 3 mounted to the insulative housing 1 .

Referring to FIGS. 1-6 , the terminal module 2 includes an insulator 22 , a plurality of terminals 21 secured to the insulator 22 , and an internal, horizontal printed circuit board (PCB) 23 carrying plural magnetic components 233 and mounted to the insulator 22 . The terminal 21 has a contacting portion 211 , a securing portion 212 secured to the insulator 22 , and a connecting portion 213 . The insulator 22 has a pair of front posts 227 .

The insulator 22 of the terminal module 2 has a front restraining portion 221 and a rear restraining portion 222 . The PCB 23 has a pair of notches 231 corresponding to the front restraining portion 221 . The restraining portion 221 has a protrusion 2210 . The rear restraining portion 222 includes a slot formed by recessing from an upper surface of the insulator. The PCB 23 is mounted to the insulator 22 by way of features 224 and 232 . The PCB 23 further has slots 234 for the securing portions 212 of the terminals 21 to extend through and conductive pads 235 ( FIG. 7 ) and carries magnetic components 233 .

The insulative housing 1 has a base 15 defining a receiving cavity 10 and a rear mount 16 . The base 15 includes a top wall 151 , a bottom wall 152 , two side walls 153 and 154 , a notch 1511 in the top wall bordered by inner wall 1512 , side grooves 13 on the side walls for accommodating the LEDs 3 , and terminal-receiving grooves 12 . The mount 16 includes an upper wall 161 and two side walls 163 together surrounding a receiving space 160 and a pair of restraining slots 14 each bordered in part by a lower stop 141 and an upper notch 142 . The notch 142 receives the protrusion 2210 . The side groove 13 has a horizontal part 131 and two vertical parts 132 . The mount 16 further has a pair of holes 167 receiving the pair of posts 227 of the insulator 22 .

The shielding shell 4 includes a top plate 41 , two side plates 42 , a front plate 43 , and a rear plate 44 . The front plate 43 has an opening 431 and a pair of holes 432 corresponding to the two LEDs 3 . The top plate 41 has a notch 411 in communication with the opening 431 . The notch 411 is bordered by a reinforced portion 412 of the top plate 41 . The reinforced portion 412 covers the inner wall 1512 . The shielding shell 4 has a pair of abutting arms 421 , bent inward from the side plates 42 , each received at the rear restraining portion 222 , i.e., between the PCB 23 and the insulator 22 , and contacting a corresponding conductive pad 235 for grounding purpose. The shielding shell 4 further has a pair of legs 423 .

The LED 3 has a body 31 and two leads each with a horizontal portion 33 and a vertical portion 32 . The body 31 and the lead horizontal portion 33 are received in the side groove horizontal part 131 and the lead vertical portions 32 are received in the side groove vertical parts 132 .

In this invention, with the insulative housing restraining slots 14 receiving a front of the insulator 22 of the terminal module 2 and the shielding shell abutting arms 421 interference fitted to and therefore supporting the terminal module 2 , a firm structure is obtained. Notably, the abut arm 421 may further include a vertical segment to increase resiliency during assembling. On the other hand, the two LEDs 3 are instated into the side grooves 13 in an opposite manner along a transverse direction may maintain the relative longer dimension of the housing for reinforcing consideration.