WATERPROOF CONNECTOR AND MANUFACTURING METHOD THEREOF

Abstract

The present disclosure discloses a waterproof connector including an integral insulating body, a number of conductive terminals, and an insulating block. The insulating body includes a rear end portion, a front end portion, and a middle portion. The rear end portion defines a number of terminal grooves. The front end portion defines a mating space. The middle portion includes a receiving channel communicating with the terminal grooves. The terminals are disposed in the terminal grooves and extend towards the mating space. The insulating block is injection-molded in the receiving channel and seamlessly fixes the conductive terminals in the terminal grooves. The waterproof connector of the present disclosure can prevent water and dust from entering therein. A method of manufacturing the waterproof connector is also provided.

Claims

1. A waterproof connector comprising: an integral insulating body defining a plurality of terminal grooves at a rear end portion thereof and a mating space at a front end portion thereof, the insulating body further defining a receiving channel recessed from an outer surface of a middle portion connecting between the front end portion and the rear end portion, the receiving channel communicating with the terminal grooves; a plurality of conductive terminals disposed in the terminal grooves and extending towards the mating space; and an insulating block injection-molded in the receiving channel and seamlessly fixing the conductive terminals in the terminal grooves.

2. The waterproof connector according to claim 1, wherein the insulating block is molded by plastic injection or rubber injection.

3. The waterproof connector according to claim 1, wherein the conductive terminals comprise a plurality of retaining portions partly retained in the terminal grooves and partly exposed to the receiving channel, a plurality of contacting portions extending forwardly into the mating space, and a plurality of tail portions extending backwardly outside the insulating body; and wherein the insulating block is integrally combined to the retaining portions.

4. The waterproof connector according to claim 3, wherein the contacting portions comprise a plurality of first contacting portions located above the mating space and a plurality of second contacting portions located below the mating space; and wherein the first contacting portions and the second contacting portions have opposite faces with respect to the mating space along an upper-and-lower direction.

5. The waterproof connector according to claim 3, wherein the tail portions are either soldering portions which are adapted to be soldered with a printed circuit board or plug-in portions which are adapted to be inserted into corresponding holes of a printed circuit board.

6. The waterproof connector according to claim 1, further comprising at least two locking beams retained in the insulating body to clamp with a mating connector in a left-and-right direction.

7. The waterproof connector according to claim 6, wherein each locking beam comprises an elastic portion and a heading portion formed at a distal end of the elastic portion, the elastic portions are positioned at the corresponding lateral sides of the insulating body, and the heading portions face opposite to each other along the left-and-right direction when the heading positions are located in the mating space.

8. The waterproof connector according to claim 7, further comprising a metal shell assembled outside the insulating body; and wherein the elastic portions are sandwiched between the insulating body and the metal shell.

9. A waterproof connector comprising: an injection-molded insulating body defining a plurality of terminal grooves and a receiving channel outwardly exposed and inwardly communicating with the terminal grooves; a plurality of conductive terminals partly disposed in the terminal grooves and partly exposed to the receiving channel; an insulating block molded in the receiving channel by plastic injection or rubber injection and accordingly the conductive terminals are held in the terminal grooves by the insulating block; and a metal shell assembled outside the insulating body.

10. The waterproof connector according to claim 9, wherein the conductive terminals comprise a plurality of retaining portions partly retained in the terminal grooves and partly exposed to the receiving channel, a plurality of contacting portions extending forwardly into the mating space, and a plurality of tail portions extending backwardly outside the insulating body; and wherein the insulating block is integrally combined to the retaining portions.

11. The waterproof connector according to claim 10, further comprising at least two locking beams which are retained in the insulating body to clamp with a mating connector in a left-and-right direction; and wherein the contacting portions are engaged with the mating connector along an upper-and-lower direction which is perpendicular to the left-and-right direction.

12. A method of manufacturing a waterproof connector comprising following steps: step 1: injection-molding an insulating body during which an upper mold, a lower mold and a plurality of pin members are used for defining a receiving channel and a plurality of terminal grooves; step 2: inserting a plurality of conductive terminals into the terminal grooves of the insulating body from a back-to-front direction; and step 3: injecting plastic or rubber into the receiving channel to form an insulating block.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein at least two locking beams are inserted into the insulating body from the back-to-front direction together with the conductive terminals in the step 2.

14. The method according to claim 12, further comprising a step 4 after the step 3: assembling a metal shell outside the insulating body.

15. The method according to claim 14, further comprising a step 5 after the step 4: connecting the conductive terminals to a printed circuit board and thereafter injection-molding a baffle between the insulating body and the printed circuit board.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0012] FIG. 1 is a perspective, assembled view of a waterproof connector in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0013] FIG. 2 is a perspective, assembled view of the waterproof connector of the present disclosure from another angle;

[0014] FIG. 3 is a perspective, exploded view of the waterproof connector of the present disclosure;

[0015] FIG. 4 is a perspective, exploded view of the waterproof connector of the present disclosure from another angle;

[0016] FIG. 5 is a front view of the waterproof connector of the present disclosure; and

[0017] FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the waterproof connector of the present disclosure along the insulating block.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0018] Referring to FIGS. 1 to 6, a waterproof connector in accordance with an illustrated embodiment of the present disclosure includes an insulating body 1 and a plurality of conductive terminals 2. The insulating body 1 is integrally injection-molded and includes a front end portion 11, a rear end portion 12 extending backwardly from the front end portion 11, and a middle portion (not labeled) connecting between the front end portion 11 and the rear end portion 12. The front end portion 11 defines a mating space 10. The rear end portion 12 defines a plurality of terminal grooves 14. The terminal grooves 14 are connected to and communicated with the mating space 10. The insulating body 1 is recessed from an outer surface of the middle portion to form an outwardly exposed receiving channel 13 for inwardly communicating with the terminal grooves 14. The conductive terminals 2 are inserted and assembled into the terminal grooves 14 along a back-to-front direction. Each conductive terminal 2 includes a contacting portion 21, a retaining portion 22, and a tail portion 23. The contacting portion 21 extends from the retaining portion 22 forwardly into the mating space 10. The tail portion 23 extends from the retaining portion 22 backwardly to be exposed outside the insulating body 1. The retaining portion 22 is partly disposed in the terminal groove 14 and partly exposed to the receiving channel 13. An insulating block 3 is injection-molded in the receiving channel 13 for integrally combining with the retaining portions 22 and so the retaining portions 22 are seamlessly and firmly held in the terminal grooves 14.

[0019] In a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, the insulating block 3 is molded by plastic injection or rubber injection.

[0020] Referring to FIGS. 3 to 5, each contacting portion 21 includes a first contacting portion 211 and a second contacting portion 212. The first contacting portions 211 are located above the mating space 10 and face downwardly towards the mating space 10. The second contacting portions 212 are located below the mating space 10 and face upwardly towards the mating space 10. The first contacting portions 211 and the second contacting portions 212 are respectively engaged with upper and lower opposite sides of a mating connector along an upper-and-lower direction when the mating connector is inserted into the mating space 10.

[0021] Referring to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the tail portions 23 are connected to a printed circuit board 6. In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the tail portions 23 are soldering portions so as to be soldered with the printed circuit board 6; in another embodiment of the present disclosure, the tail portions 23 are plug-in portions so as to be inserted into corresponding holes of the printed circuit board 6. Because the conductive terminals 2 are inserted into the insulating body 1 from the back-to-front direction when assembling, the present disclosure can be used for both the above-mentioned two types of conductive terminals 2 without adding additional processing steps.

[0022] Referring to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the waterproof connector further includes at least two locking beams 4 retained in the insulating body 1. Each locking beam 4 includes an elastic portion 41 and a heading portion 42 formed at a distal end of the elastic portion 41. The elastic portions 41 are located at the corresponding lateral sides of the insulating body 1. The heading portions 42 are located in the mating space 10 and face oppositely to each other along a left-and-right direction perpendicular to the upper-and-lower direction. The locking beams 4 are used for clamping with the mating connector in the left-and-right direction.

[0023] Referring to FIGS. 1 to 4, the waterproof connector further includes a metal shell 5 assembled outside the insulating body 1. The elastic portions 41 of the locking beams 4 are sandwiched between the insulating body 1 and the metal shell 5. The metal shell 5 has a shielding function to prevent external signal interference.

[0024] The present disclosure also relates to a method of manufacturing a waterproof connector, which includes the following steps:

[0025] step 1: injection-molding the insulating body 1. During the injection molding process, an upper mold (not shown), a lower mold (not shown) and a plurality of pin members (not shown) are used when forming the insulating body 1. The upper mold and the lower mold are withdrawn from the insulating body 1 along an upper-and-lower direction for defining the receiving channel 13 and the pin members are withdrawn from the insulating body 1 along a front-and-back direction for defining the terminal grooves 14. After withdrawing the upper mold, the lower mold, and the pin members, the terminal grooves 14 are communicated with the receiving channel 13;

[0026] step 2: inserting a plurality of conductive terminals 2 into the terminal grooves 14 of the insulating body 1 from a back-to-front direction;

[0027] step 3: injecting plastic or rubber into the receiving channel 13 to form the insulating block 3.

[0028] In the step 2 of the present disclosure, the locking beams 4 are inserted into the insulating body 1 from the back-to-front direction as same as the conductive terminals 2.

[0029] In a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, it also includes a step 4 after the step 3: assembling the metal shell 5 outside the insulating body 1.

[0030] In a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, it also includes a step 5 after the step 4: connecting the conductive terminals 2 and the printed circuit board 6 to the insulating body 1 and thereafter injection-molding to form a baffle 7 between the insulating body 1 and the printed circuit board 6.

[0031] The present disclosure has an integrally injection-molded insulating body 1 with no so-called assembly gap between the upper insulating body and the lower insulating body as described in the prior art. The conductive terminals 2 are inserted and assembled into the integral insulating body 1, and thereafter, the insulating block 3 is injection-molded into the receiving channel 13 of the insulating body 1, and so that the gap between the conductive terminals 2 and the insulating body 1 is sealed, i.e., the waterproof connector of the present disclosure can prevent water and dust from entering therein.

[0032] The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the present disclosure and not to limit the technical solutions described in the present disclosure. The understanding of this specification should be based on those skilled in the art. Descriptions of directions, such as “front”, “back”, “left”, “right”, “upper” and “lower”, although they have been described in detail in the above-mentioned embodiments of the present disclosure, those skilled in the art should understand that modifications or equivalent substitutions can still be made to the application, and all technical solutions and improvements that do not depart from the spirit and scope of the application should be covered by the claims of the application.