Electrical connector having a metallic inner shell with rear engaging finger situated within an insulative outer cover

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an electrical connector including an insulative outer cover and a metallic inner shell insert molded with the insulative outer cover, and a terminal module including an insulative housing and an upper and lower rows of contacts arranged in the housing, wherein the inner shell has a front stop and a rear finger respectively engaging a front and rear portions of the housing.

2. Description of Related Arts

China Patent No. 206727341 discloses an electrical connector, comprising: an insulative outer cover and a metallic inner shell insert molded with the insulative outer cover; and a terminal module including an insulative housing and an upper and lower rows of contacts arranged in the housing, the insulative housing having a base received by the inner shell and a frontal tongue exposing the upper and lower rows of contacts respectively to two opposite surfaces thereof, wherein the inner shell has a plurality of stops engaging a front portion of the base and a plurality of fingers engaging a rear portion of the base which is far away from the outer cover.

An electrical connector comprises: an insulative outer cover and a metallic inner shell insert molded with the insulative outer cover, the inner shell having a top wall, a bottom wall, and a pair of side walls; and a terminal module including an insulative housing and an upper and lower rows of contacts arranged in the housing, the insulative housing having a base received by the inner shell and a frontal tongue exposing the upper and lower rows of contacts respectively to two opposite surfaces thereof; wherein the inner shell has a front stop and a rear finger at the top wall respectively engaging a front and rear portions of the base, and the rear finger is situated in a rear chamber of the outer cover.

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

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

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of FIG. 2 ;

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of FIG. 3 , omitting a terminal module of the electrical connector;

FIG. 5 is a front perspective view of the terminal module and an inner shell of the electrical connector;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5 but from a rear perspective;

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

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 2 but adding a sealing member;

FIG. 9 is a front perspective view of an electrical connector in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a rear exploded view of the electrical connector in FIG. 9 ;

FIG. 11 is an exploded view of FIG. 10 , omitting a terminal module of the electrical connector in FIG. 9 ;

FIG. 12 is a view similar to FIG. 10 but showing an inner shell of the electrical connector in FIG. 9 positioned on the terminal module of the electrical connector in FIG. 9 ;

FIG. 13 is a rear exploded view of an electrical connector in accordance with a third embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 14 is a front exploded view showing only an outer cover and an inner shell of electrical connector in FIG. 13 ;

FIG. 15 is a view similar to FIG. 14 but from a rear perspective;

FIG. 16 is a front perspective view of a terminal module and an inner shell of the electrical connector in FIG. 13 ;

FIG. 17 is a view similar to FIG. 16 but from a rear perspective; and

FIG. 18 is an assembled view of the electrical connector in FIG. 13 omitting a sealing element thereof.

Referring to FIGS. 1-8 , an electrical connector 100 of a first embodiment comprises an insulative housing 1 and a plurality of contacts 2 arranged in the housing 1 forming a terminal module, and an insulative tubular outer cover 32 and a metallic tubular inner shell 31 , integrated and generally designated as 3 , enclosing the terminal module. The electrical connector 100 may further include a rear sealing element 4 .

The insulative housing 1 includes a rear base 11 and a front tongue 12 . The front tongue 12 includes a thickened step section 121 around a rear end as shown in FIG. 7 . Each contact 2 includes a securing portion 21 , a front contacting portion 22 , and a rear soldering portion 23 . The insulative outer cover 32 has a pair of ears 33 . After the inner shell 31 is insert molded with the outer cover 32 , the terminal module is mounted along a back-to-front direction into, and therefore received by, the inner shell 31 .

The outer cover 32 has a rear chamber 3201 immediately behind a rear end 110 of the base 11 for accommodating the sealing element 4 . The inner shell 31 has plural fingers 310 , namely, a pair of first fingers 3101 and a pair of second fingers 3102 , for restricting a rearward movement of the base 11 . When the sealing element 4 is present, the fingers 310 are embedded thereby. Each finger 3101 or 3102 is spaced from the outer cover 32 by a clearance/recess 3211 or 3212 in order for tools to operate the fingers during manufacturing. Specifically, the inner shell 31 has a top wall 311 with two pieces 3113 to be operated by a tool to form the pair of first fingers 3101 and a pair of side walls 312 each with a piece 3114 to be operated by another tool to form the pair of second fingers 3102 .

The inner shell 31 is short in length so as not to extend over the tongue 12 . The inner shell 31 generally surrounds the base 11 and therefore the tongue 12 is positioned substantially forwardly of a front end face 313 of the inner shell 31 . The outer cover 32 has a rear part 322 corresponding to the inner shell 31 and a front part 323 substantially positioned forwardly of the front end face 313 of the inner shell 31 . The front end face 313 of the inner shell 31 may be positioned slightly forwardly of a front end face 111 of the base 11 for protecting the base 11 from being damaged by a mating connector. The inner shell 31 has one or more stops 314 and the base 11 has one or more corresponding grooves 112 . The stops 314 not only prevent the forwardly movement of the base 11 but also prevent the excessive rearward insertion of the mating connector along the front-to-back direction for protecting the base 11 . In this embodiment, the front part 323 forms a mating cavity 3231 , in which the tongue 12 extends, for receiving the mating connector.

The insulative housing 1 further has a rear extension 13 below the fingers 310 and a mounting space 131 is formed above the rear extension 13 behind a top wall 324 of the outer cover 32 for accommodating an external element. The extension 13 is separate from the base 11 with the contacts 2 exposed therebetween and sealed by the sealing element 4 .

Referring to FIGS. 9-12 , an electrical connector 100 ′ of a second embodiment is different from the connector 100 in that a pair of first springs 3101 ′ thereof are slanted. Unless noted, the other components and/or parts are essentially same as in the first embodiment so that same reference numerals plus an apostrophe are used while detailed descriptions thereof are omitted for simplicity and clarity. Specifically, the inner shell 31 ′ has a top wall 311 ′ with two pieces 3113 ′ to be operated by a tool to form the pair of first fingers 3101 ′. The rear end 110 ′ of the base 11 ′ has a slanted groove 1101 ′ corresponding to the slanted spring 3101 ′. The slanted design increases an area of engagement as well as assists in preventing a lateral movement of the base 11 ′ with respect to the inner shell 31 ′.

FIGS. 13-18 show an electrical connector of a third embodiment which includes a base 11 ″ having a higher portion 111 ″ and two adjacent lower portions 112 ″ and an outer cover 32 ″ having corresponding portions 43 and 44 . Each finger 3101 ″ is spaced from the outer cover 32 ″ by a clearance 3211 ″. By thickening the portions 44 of the outer cover 32 ″, the size of the clearance 3211 ″ is made larger which facilitates tooling operation therein. The lower portion 112 ″ further has a recess 1121 ″ for accommodating an end of the finger 3101 ″. Similar design of thickening may be applied to the clearance 3212 ″ as well. Notably, in all three embodiments, the metallic inner shell 31 is shortened not to significantly communicate with the mating cavity 3231 for avoiding the undesired antenna effect. As shown in FIG. 7 the inner cover 31 except the pieces 3113 , 3114 and the stop 314 , is essentially embedded within the outer cover 32 along the front-to-back direction and outwardly with the corresponding outer face intimately confronting the outer cover 32 while the corresponding inner face intimately confronts the base 11 of the insulative housing 1 . The rear sealing element 4 further covers the two pieces 3113 so the inner shell 31 is essentially hidden from the exterior. Generally speaking, the metallic inner shell 31 is secured to the insulative outer cover 32 via an insert-molding process, and the housing 1 of the terminal module is assembled into and retained, via bending/deforming the fingers 3101 , within the metallic inner shell 31 not only circumferentially but also along the front-to-back direction, thus easing the assembling way and assuring the reliable securement among these three main elements. In the embodiments, the mating cavity 3231 is located in front of the base 11 , and the front edge of the inner shell 11 essentially slightly project beyond the base 11 while not beyond a front edge of the thickened step section 121 . In the embodiment, the first finger 3101 abuts forwardly against the base 11 via the corresponding side edge while the second finger 3102 abuts forwardly against the base 11 in a planar manner. In the embodiments, the stop 314 is formed on the inner shell 31 . Alternately, the stop may be formed on the outer cover instead.