Connector

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to Chinese Patent Application No. 202021097615.8, filed Jun. 15, 2020, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

The present disclosure relates to an electrical connector, and more specifically, to an electrical connector for attaching to a circuit board.

In related prior arts, a connector generally comprises an insulation housing and a plurality of conductive terminals mounted in the insulation housing. The plurality of conductive terminals are usually arranged in a row, and the distance between two adjacent conductive terminals is the same. The plurality of conductive terminals are press-fitted into terminal slots in the circuit board in an interference fit manner, so that the entire connector is fixed to the circuit board. However, in these arrangements, the insulation housing of the connector remains separate from the circuit board as it is not directly fixed thereto. This leads to insufficient retention force between the connector and the circuit board. A resulting lack of stability often causes the conductive terminals of the connector to be skewed in the process of welding to the circuit board, resulting in poor connections.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a connector comprises an insulation housing formed with a plurality of terminal slots, and a plurality of terminals inserted into the plurality of terminal slots. Each of the plurality of terminals has a pin protruding from a bottom of the insulation housing for insertion into a terminal hole in a circuit board. At least one latch is formed on the insulation housing for insertion and locking into a latch hole in the circuit board.

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying Figures, of which:

FIG. 1 shows a schematic three-dimensional diagram of a connector according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 shows a schematic three-dimensional diagram of the insulation housing of the connector shown in FIG. 1 ;

FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram of a terminal of the connector shown in FIG. 1 ;

FIG. 4 shows a schematic diagram of the connection between the connector shown in FIG. 1 and a wire;

FIG. 5 shows a side view of the connector shown in FIG. 1 ; and

FIG. 6 shows a schematic diagram of a circuit board connected to the connector shown in FIG. 1 .

Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described hereinafter in detail with reference to the attached drawings, wherein the like reference numerals refer to the like elements. The present disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiment set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that the present disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the concept of the disclosure to those skilled in the art.

In the following detailed description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosed embodiments. It will be apparent, however, that one or more embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are schematically shown in order to simplify the drawing.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a connector comprises an insulation housing formed with a plurality of terminal slots, and a plurality of terminals inserted into the plurality of terminal slots. Each of the plurality of terminals has a pin protruding from the bottom of the insulation housing for insertion into a terminal hole in a circuit board. At least one latch is formed on the insulation housing for being inserted and locked into a latch hole in the circuit board.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic three-dimensional diagram of a connector according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, and FIG. 6 shows a schematic diagram of a circuit board connected to the connector shown in FIG. 1 .

In the illustrated embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 6 , the connector comprises an insulation housing 10 and a plurality of terminals 21 , 22 . The insulation housing 10 is formed with a plurality of terminal slots 11 , 12 . The plurality of terminals 21 , 22 are inserted into the plurality of terminal slots 11 , 12 , respectively. Each of the terminals 21 , 22 has a pin 21 b , 22 b protruding from the bottom of the insulation housing 10 . The pin 21 b , 22 b of the terminals 21 , 22 is adapted to be inserted into a terminal hole 110 , 120 in a circuit board 100 .

In the illustrated embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 6 , at least one latch 14 (e.g., an elastic latch) is formed on the insulation housing 10 , the elastic latch 14 being adapted to be inserted and locked into a latch hole 130 in the circuit board 100 , so as to fix the connector on the circuit board 100 . This can increase the retention force between the connector and the circuit board, thereby ensuring that the terminals of the connector are reliably soldered to the circuit board.

In the illustrated embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 6 , each latch 14 includes a pair of elastic arms 14 a facing each other and spaced apart from each other, a distal end of the elastic arm 14 a is formed with a convex hook-shaped portion 14 b on its outside. The pair of elastic arms 14 a of the latch 14 are adapted to be inserted into the latch holes 130 in the circuit board 100 , with the hook-shaped portion 14 b on the pair of elastic arms 14 a adapted to be locked into an edge portion of the latch hole 130 from a back side of the circuit board 100 .

In the illustrated embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 6 , a cross-section of each of the elastic arms 14 a is semicircular, such that the pair of elastic arms 14 a can be combined into a cylinder.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic three-dimensional diagram of the insulation housing of the connector shown in FIG. 1 , and FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram of a terminal of the connector shown in FIG. 1 .

In the illustrated embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 - 3 and 6 , the connector is a power connector. The plurality of terminal slots 11 , 12 include two high-voltage terminal slots 11 and a plurality of low-voltage terminal slots 12 , and the plurality of terminals 21 , 22 include two high voltage terminals 21 inserted into the two high-voltage terminal slots 11 , respectively, and a plurality of low-voltage terminals 22 inserted into the plurality of low-voltage terminal slots 12 , respectively.

In the illustrated embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 - 3 and 6 , the high-voltage terminal slots 11 and the high-voltage terminals 21 constitute a first connector suitable for a first voltage, and the low-voltage sockets 12 and the low-voltage terminals 22 constitute a second connector suitable for a second voltage, the first voltage being higher than the second voltage.

In the illustrated embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 - 3 and 6 , the first voltage may be equal to 320V, and the second voltage may be equal to 50V. However, the present disclosure is not limited to this, and the first voltage and the second voltage may also be other voltage values.

In the illustrated embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 - 3 and 6 , the insulation housing 10 is formed with a groove 13 separating the two high-voltage terminal slots 11 in its bottom surface, and the elastic latch 14 is located in the groove 13 .

In the illustrated embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 - 3 and 6 , the two high-voltage terminal slots 11 and the groove 13 are arranged on one side of the insulation housing 10 , and the plurality of low-voltage terminal slots 12 are arranged on another side of the insulation housing 10 .

In the illustrated embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 - 3 and 6 , the distance between the two high-voltage terminal slots 11 is equal to twice the distance between two adjacent low-voltage terminal slots 12 . In the present disclosure, because the two high-voltage terminal slots 11 are separated by the groove 13 , the electrical interval or distance between the two high-voltage terminals 21 is increased, and electrical safety is improved.

In the illustrated embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 - 3 and 6 , the groove 13 is located in the middle of the two high-voltage terminal slots 11 such that the distance between any one of the high-voltage terminal slots 11 and the groove 13 is equal to the distance between the two adjacent low-voltage terminal slots 12 .

In the illustrated embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 - 3 and 6 , the high-voltage slots 11 are exactly the same as the low-voltage slots 12 , and the high-voltage terminals 21 are exactly the same as the low-voltage terminals 22 . This reduces manufacturing costs.

In the illustrated embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 - 3 and 6 , each of the terminal slots 11 , 12 is formed with an elastic snap or latch 10 a on its top wall. The elastic snap 10 a is adapted to be snapped into or engaged with a recess in the terminals 21 , 22 such that the terminals 21 , 22 are held in the terminal slots 11 , 12 .

FIG. 4 shows a schematic diagram of the connection between the connector shown in FIG. 1 and a wire.

In the illustrated embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 - 4 and 6 , each of the terminals 21 , 22 further has a crimping end 21 a , 22 a adapted to crimp on a wire 1 so as to be electrically connected to the wire 1 .

FIG. 5 shows a side view of the connector shown in FIG. 1 .

In the illustrated embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 - 6 , the terminals 21 , 22 are inserted into the terminal slots 11 , 12 along a width direction of the insulation housing 10 . The pins 21 b , 22 b of the plurality of terminals 21 , 22 are arranged in a row, and the latch 14 and the pins 21 b , 22 b are staggered by a predetermined distance in an insertion direction of the terminals 21 , 22 .

In the illustrated embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 - 6 , the pins 21 b , 22 b of each of the terminals 21 , 22 are fish-eye-shaped, and adapted to be press-fitted to the terminal holes 110 , 120 in the circuit board 100 in an interference fit manner.

It should be appreciated for those skilled in this art that the above embodiments are intended to be illustrated, and not restrictive. For example, many modifications may be made to the above embodiments by those skilled in this art, and various features described in different embodiments may be freely combined with each other without conflicting in configuration or principle.

Although several exemplary embodiments have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes or modifications may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the disclosure, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.

As used herein, an element recited in the singular and proceeded with the word “a” or “an” should be understood as not excluding plural of said elements or steps, unless such exclusion is explicitly stated. Furthermore, references to “one embodiment” of the present disclosure are not intended to be interpreted as excluding the existence of additional embodiments that also incorporate the recited features. Moreover, unless explicitly stated to the contrary, embodiments “comprising” or “having” an element or a plurality of elements having a particular property may include additional such elements not having that property.