Electrical connector with anti-shorting structure and method making the same

A method of making an electrical connector comprising steps of:

• providing a pair of terminal modules each with a plurality of terminals integrally formed within an insulator via an insert-molding process;
• providing a metallic shielding plate sandwiched between said pair of terminal modules in a vertical direction;
• providing a pair of metallic shells commonly sandwiching the pair of terminal modules therebetween in the vertical direction;
• providing a first set of positioning holes each extending through all the pair of metallic shells, the terminal modules and the shielding plate in the vertical direction;
• forming an insulative front housing upon the pair of terminal modules via a first stage over-molding process by assistance of a plurality of first core pins received within the first set positioning holes, respectively, wherein a second set of positioning holes are formed in the front housing;
• and
• forming an insulative rear housing upon the front housing via a second stage over-molding process by assistance of a plurality of second core pins received within the corresponding second set of positioning holes;
• wherein
• if the second set of positioning holes are respectively aligned with the first set of positioning holes in the vertical direction, both the first set of positioning holes and the corresponding second set of positioning holes are filled with glue;
• if the second set of positioning holes are respectively transversely offset from the first set of positioning holes, the first set of positioning holes are filled with material of the rear housing and the second set of positioning holes are either filled or empty.

An electrical connector comprising:

• a pair of terminal modules sandwiching a metallic shielding plate therebetween in a vertical direction, each of said terminal modules including a plurality of terminals integrally formed within an insulator via an insert-molding process;
• a pair of metallic shells commonly sandwiching the pair of terminal modules therebetween in the vertical direction;
• an insulative front housing applied upon the pair of metallic shells via an over-molding process with assistance of a first set of positioning holes;
• an insulative rear housing applied upon the front housing via another over-molding process with assistance of a second set of positioning holes;
• wherein
• the front housing forms a mating tongue on which contacting sections of the terminals are exposed to an exterior in the vertical direction, and the first set of positioning holes are aligned with the mating tongue in the front-to-back direction while the second set of positioning holes are either aligned with the mating tongue in the front-to-back direction or transversely offset therefrom;
• wherein
• the metallic shell includes a rear edge which is located behind a rear face of the insulator and a rear face of the front housing while in front of a rear face of the rear housing, so as to be covered by the rear housing without rearward exposure to an exterior along a front-to-back direction perpendicular to the vertical direction.