CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application claims a priority of a Chinese Patent Application No. 201911014409.8 filed on Oct. 22, 2019, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a waterproof connector and a manufacturing method thereof, in particular to a connector with good waterproof performance and a manufacturing method thereof.

BACKGROUND

Connectors, as devices those connect two active devices and transmit current or signals, are widely used in electronic products. Due to rapid development of an electronics industry, the electronic product components are required lighter, thinner, and shorter, and also the connectors are required higher and higher performance. In order to improve stability of the internal components of connectors, a waterproof connector has been developed in the electrical connector industry to prevent both water and dust from entering into the electrical connector. A traditional Type-C connector includes a terminal module, a main insulating body, and a shielding shell. The terminal module includes an upper row of conductive terminals, an upper insulating body integrally formed with the upper row of conductive terminals by injection molding, a lower row of conductive terminals, a lower insulating body integrally formed with the lower row of conductive terminals by injection molding, and an intermediate grounding piece between the upper insulating body and the lower insulating body. After the upper insulating body, the lower insulating body and the intermediate grounding piece are assembled to be the terminal module, the main insulating body is injection-molded over the terminal module. The traditional Type-C connector has a segmented waterproof structure in which there is a first injection-molding process between two rows of terminals and two corresponding insulating bodies before assembling the two insulating bodies and then a second injection-molding process is needed after assembling the two insulating bodies. There is an assembly gap between the two insulating bodies and accordingly, waterproof performance is poor.

SUMMARY

An object of the present disclosure is to provide a connector having a good waterproof performance and a manufacturing method thereof.

In order to achieve the above object, the present disclosure discloses a waterproof connector including an integral insulating body, a plurality of conductive terminals, and an insulating block. The insulating body includes a rear end portion, a front end portion, and a middle portion connecting between the front end portion and the rear end portion. The rear end portion defines a plurality of terminal grooves. The front end portion defines a mating space. The middle portion defines a receiving channel recessed from an outer surface thereof. The receiving channel communicates 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.

In order to achieve the above object, the present disclosure further discloses a waterproof connector including an injection-molded insulating body, a plurality of conductive terminals, an insulating block, and a metal shell. The insulating body defines a plurality of terminal grooves and a receiving channel outwardly exposed and inwardly communicating with the terminal grooves. The conductive terminals are partly disposed in the terminal grooves and partly exposed to the receiving channel. The insulating block is 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. The metal shell is assembled outside the insulating body.

In order to achieve the above purpose, the present disclosure also discloses a method of manufacturing a waterproof connector including 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.

Compared with the prior art, the present disclosure seals the gap between the conductive terminal and the insulating body and therefore, realizes effective waterproof performance.

