CN108879146B

CN108879146B - Floating connector

Info

Publication number: CN108879146B
Application number: CN201810384343.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 石田国宽
Original assignee: Kel Corp
Current assignee: Kel Corp
Priority date: 2017-04-27
Filing date: 2018-04-26
Publication date: 2022-01-04
Anticipated expiration: 2038-04-26
Also published as: JP6785184B2; CN108879146A; JP2018186056A; DE102018109036A1

Abstract

The invention provides a floating connector. A floating connector has a floating-side housing (70), a fixed-side housing (60) that supports the floating-side housing (70) in a relatively movable manner, a receptacle contact (80) that is supported across the floating-side housing (70) and the fixed-side housing (60), and a shield shell (91) that is attached across the floating-side housing (70) and the fixed-side housing (60), wherein the shield shell (91) has a movable portion (92) that is fixed to the floating-side housing (70), a fixed portion (93) that is fixed to the fixed-side housing (60), and an elastic portion (94) that connects the movable portion (92) and the fixed portion (93), and the elastic portion (94) is configured to be elastically deformable in a predetermined direction with a relative movement of the floating-side housing (70) in a predetermined direction with respect to the fixed-side housing (60).

Description

Floating connector

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a floating connector for electrical connection.

Background

As such a floating connector, a material having a fixed-side housing fixed on a circuit board, a floating-side housing having a fitting portion that can be fitted into a mating connector, and a contact held across both the fixed-side housing and the floating-side housing, in which the floating-side housing is configured to be movable relative to the fixed-side housing by utilizing elastic deformation of the contact so as to absorb a deviation between the circuit boards or a deviation from a fitting position of the mating connector has been known so far (for example, see patent document 1).

Related prior art

Patent document 1: japanese laid-open patent publication 2014-

Disclosure of Invention

In recent years, measures to obtain shielding efficiency against electromagnetic waves generated by such connectors or electromagnetic waves from the outside have been demanded in floating connectors having such a configuration.

The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and provides a floating connector which can exert a shielding effect against electromagnetic waves.

In order to achieve the above object, a floating connector according to the present invention is a floating connector (for example, a receptacle connector 50 in the embodiment) characterized by having a floating-side housing in which a fitting portion (for example, a fitting recess 74 in the embodiment) fitted into a counterpart connector (for example, a plug connector 10 in the embodiment) is formed, a fixed-side housing supporting the floating-side housing in a relatively movable manner, a contact (for example, a receptacle contact 80 in the embodiment) supported across the floating-side housing and the fixed-side housing and coming into contact with a counterpart contact (for example, a plug contact 30 in the embodiment) of the counterpart connector when the floating connector is fitted into the counterpart connector, and a shield shell (for example, a shield shell 91 in the embodiment) attached across the floating-side housing and the fixed-side housing, wherein the floating connector is configured in such a manner that the contacts are connected to the floating connector in a state of being supported across the floating-side housing and the fixed-side housing, elastically deforms in a predetermined direction perpendicular to the fitting direction so that the floating-side housing is movable in the predetermined direction relative to the fixed-side housing, wherein the shield case has a floating-side shell portion (e.g., the movable portion 92 in the embodiment) fixed to the floating-side case to cover at least a portion of an outer surface of the floating-side case, a fixed-side shell portion (e.g., the fixed portion 93 in the embodiment) fixed to the fixed-side case to cover at least a portion of an outer surface of the fixed-side case, and an elastic shell portion (e.g., the elastic portion 94 in the embodiment) connecting the floating-side shell portion and the fixed-side shell portion, and the elastic shell portion is configured to be elastically deformable in a predetermined direction with a relative movement of the floating-side case with respect to the fixed-side case in the predetermined direction.

In the floating connector having the above-described configuration, the elastic shell portion is preferably configured to have a first elastic portion that elastically deforms in a first direction (for example, arrow α direction in the embodiment) as the predetermined direction and a second elastic portion that elastically deforms in a second direction (for example, arrow β direction in the embodiment) perpendicular to the first direction as the predetermined direction.

In the floating connector having the above-described configuration, the contacts are preferably configured so as to be brought into contact with the counterpart contacts after bringing the shield shell into contact with the counterpart shield shell (for example, the shield shell 41 in the embodiment) of the counterpart connector when the floating connector is fitted into the counterpart connector.

According to the floating connector of the present invention, if the floating-side housing is moved in a predetermined direction (the first direction and the second direction) with respect to the fixed-side housing so as to absorb a deviation in a fitting position or the like between the two connectors, the elastic shell portion of the shield shell is elastically deformed with the movement, and the floating-side housing portion is moved in the predetermined direction (the first direction and the second direction) with respect to the fixed-side housing portion. Therefore, even if the relative positional relationship of the floating-side case and the fixed-side case is changed, the shield case can reliably cover the fixed-side case and the floating-side case across the fixed-side case and the floating-side case. Therefore, excellent shielding efficiency against noise such as electromagnetic waves can be exerted.

In the floating connector having the above-described configuration, a configuration is formed in which the contacts are brought into contact with the counterpart contacts after the shield shell is initially brought into contact with the counterpart shield shell of the counterpart connector when fitted into the counterpart connector (more specifically, a configuration of time-difference contact). Therefore, it is possible to prevent the entry of noise such as electromagnetic waves during the connection of the connector.

Drawings

Fig. 1 shows a sectional view of a connector device equipped with a receptacle connector (floating connector) according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 shows a perspective view of a plug connector of the connector arrangement.

Fig. 3 shows a bottom view of the plug connector.

Fig. 4 shows a cross-sectional view along the arrows IV-IV in fig. 3.

Fig. 5 shows an exploded perspective view of the plug connector.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view showing plug contacts of the plug connector.

Fig. 7 (a) shows a perspective view of the plug housing of the plug connector viewed from above, and fig. 7 (B) shows a perspective view of the plug housing of the plug connector viewed from below.

Fig. 8 is a perspective view showing the receptacle connector.

Fig. 9 is a plan view showing the receptacle connector.

Fig. 10 shows a cross-sectional view along the arrow X-X in fig. 9.

Fig. 11 shows an exploded perspective view of the receptacle connector.

Fig. 12 is a perspective view showing the receptacle contacts of the receptacle connector.

Fig. 13 (a) shows a perspective view of the receptacle housing of the receptacle connector viewed from above, and fig. 13 (B) shows a perspective view of the receptacle housing of the receptacle connector viewed from below.

Fig. 14 is a sectional view showing a state in which the plug connector is aligned above the receptacle connector.

Fig. 15 is a sectional view showing a state where the plug housing is initially brought into contact with the receptacle housing.

Fig. 16 is a sectional view showing a state where the plug contact is initially brought into contact with the receptacle contact.

Fig. 17 is a sectional view showing a state where the plug housing is brought into sliding contact with the receptacle housing and at the same time the plug contacts are brought into sliding contact with the receptacle contacts.

Fig. 18 is a sectional view showing a state where the plug connector is fitted into the receptacle connector.

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Fig. 1 shows a connector device 1 equipped with a floating connector (receptacle connector 50) according to one embodiment of the present invention, and an overview of the entire configuration of the connector device 1 will be described with reference to the drawing.

The connector device 1 is constituted by a plug connector 10 provided on a first circuit board (not shown) and a receptacle connector 50 provided on a second circuit board (not shown), wherein the first circuit board and the second circuit board can be electrically connected by fitting both the

connectors

10 and 50 in a direction perpendicular to the surfaces of the respective circuit boards. More specifically, the connector device 1 according to the present embodiment is configured as a connector that stacks circuit boards of a connection type to a circuit board. In the following description, for convenience, the front-rear direction, the left-right direction, and the up-down direction are defined based on the states shown in fig. 1, 2, and 8. The present embodiment will be described, wherein, as the directions of arrows shown in fig. 1, 2, and 8, the fitting direction of each of the

connectors

10 and 50 refers to the up-down direction, the longitudinal direction (width direction) of each of the

connectors

10 and 50 refers to the front-rear direction, and the directions each perpendicular to the up-down direction and the front-rear direction refer to the left-right direction.

First, the configuration of the plug connector (mating connector) 10 will be described with additional reference to fig. 2 to 7. The plug connector 10 is configured to have a plug housing 20 fixed on a first circuit board, a plurality of plug contacts 30 held in an aligned state of two rows in a left-right direction (longitudinal direction) of the plug housing 20, and a plug housing 40 covering the periphery of the plug housing 20.

The plug housing 20 is molded using an electrically insulating material such as synthetic resin, and the plug housing 20 is configured to have a housing main body 21 formed in a laterally long rectangular parallelepiped shape and a pair of attaching portions 29 provided at front and rear end portions of the housing main body 21.

The case main body 21 has a base portion 22 formed in a U-shaped cross section and extending in the front-rear direction, side walls 23 provided at the left and right end portions of the base portion 22, and end walls 24 provided at the front and rear end portions of the base portion 22, and the case main body 21 is formed in a substantially rectangular box shape having an open lower surface as a whole. In this housing main body 21, a receiving space 25 (a space in which the protruding portion 75 of the receptacle connector 50 is accommodated) having a rectangular cross section that opens downward is provided in a recessed manner. The upper half of the housing main body 21 is disposed as a fitting projection 26 that is formed to be fittable to the outer shape of the receptacle connector 50 in a state surrounded by the plug housing 40. In addition, in the side wall 23 of the housing main body 21, an engagement groove 23a engageable with a guide 46 formed in the lower edge end of the plug housing 40 is provided in a recessed manner.

The base portion 22 of the housing main body 21 has a plurality of partition portions 22a formed in two rows in the left-right direction and at a predetermined arrangement pitch in the front-rear direction, and a coupling portion 22b formed to extend in the front-rear direction so as to couple the left and right partition portions 22 a. In addition, in the base portion 22, the contact accommodating spaces 27 for holding the plug contacts 30 in a predetermined arrangement posture are provided in two rows on the left and right and in parallel at a predetermined arrangement pitch. Each contact receiving space 27 is defined between the front and rear partition portions 22a and communicates at its lower side with the receiving space 25. In the contact accommodating space 27, a contact holding groove 27a for press-fitting and holding the plug contact 30 is provided.

In the attaching portion 29, a cylindrical positioning protrusion 29a for positioning the plug connector 10 on the first circuit board is formed. In addition, in the attachment portion 29, a housing holding groove 29b for press-fitting and holding the upper arm portion 43 of the plug housing 40 is formed.

The plug contact 30 is formed into a predetermined shape shown in fig. 6 and the like by applying press working (press working and bending working) to a thin flat plate of a conductive material such as metal. In the plug contact 30, a surface treatment (plating treatment) required for coating a thin film of gold (Au) or the like thereon is applied to the surface thereof.

The plug contact 30 is configured to have a press-fit portion 31 that is press-fitted and held in the contact holding groove 27a of the plug housing 20, a contact portion 32 that is connected to a lower end of the press-fit portion 31 and is elastically displaced in substantially the plate thickness direction, and a lead portion 33 that is bent into an L shape from an upper end of the press-fit portion 31 and extends outward. In the press-fit fitting portion 31, press-fit fitting protrusions 31a that protrude outward on both ends in the board width direction and bite into the inner surfaces of the contact holding grooves 27a are formed, the press-fit fitting protrusions 31a being configured to be press-fit and held in the contact holding grooves 27a in the holding state. The contact portion 32 is bent and formed in a substantially U-shape so as to be convex on the receiving space 65 side, and the circular arc contact curved portion 32a which protrudes most on the receiving space 65 side is configured to be in contact with the mating socket contact 80. The lead portion 33 is soldered to a wiring pattern formed on the first circuit board and is configured to be electrically connected thereto.

The plug housing 40 is constituted by a pair of shield shells 41 arranged bilaterally symmetrically so as to cover an outer peripheral portion of the housing main body 21 (the periphery of the contact portion 32 of the plug contact 30) by combining the left and right shield shells 41 in a cylindrical form. Each shield shell 41 is formed into a predetermined shape as shown in fig. 7 and the like by applying press working (press working and bending working) to a thin flat plate of a metal material such as a copper alloy. Each shield shell 41 is shaped along the outer surface of the housing main body 21.

The shield case 41 is configured to have a housing 42 covering the left and right side walls 23 of the housing main body 21, an upper side arm portion 43 bent substantially perpendicularly from front and rear end portions of the housing 42 so as to cover an upper side portion of the end wall 24 of the housing main body 21, a lower side arm portion 44 bent substantially perpendicularly from front and rear end portions of the housing 42 so as to cover a lower side portion of the end wall 24 of the housing main body 21, and a ground terminal portion 45 protruding and formed at an upper end of the upper side arm portion 43. In the lower edge end of the housing 42, a plurality of guide portions 46 are formed which are further inclined on the left and right inner sides when the housing 42 is directed toward the tip (lower end). The upper side arm portion 43 is configured to be press-fitted and held in a housing holding groove 29b formed in the attaching portion 29 of the plug housing 20. Here, in the upper side arm portion 43, press-fit projections 43a projecting outward at both ends in the plate width direction thereof are formed, and the press-fit projections 43a are configured to be press-fitted and held in the housing holding groove 29b of the plug housing 20 in a held state. The ground terminal portion 45 is soldered to a wiring pattern formed on the first circuit board and is configured to be connected thereto. Further, as shown in fig. 2 and the like, although the lower arm portion 44 of the shield shell 41 located on the left side is exposed to the outside between the pair of shield shells 41, the lower arm portion 44 of the shield shell 41 located on the right side is contained within the housing main body 21. However, this configuration results from the difference in manufacturing the plug housing 20 by using the existing mold, which generally does not mean that there is a functional difference in particular.

Subsequently, the configuration of the receptacle connector 50 will be described with additional reference to fig. 8 to 13. The receptacle connector 50 is configured to have a fixed-side housing 60 fixed to the second circuit board, a floating-side housing 70 attached to the fixed-side housing 60 so as to be movable relative thereto, a plurality of receptacle contacts 80 held in a state of two-row alignment across both the

housings

60 and 70 in the left-right direction (longitudinal direction) of the

respective housings

60 and 70, and a receptacle housing 90 attached across both the

housings

60 and 70 so as to cover the peripheries of both the

housings

60 and 70.

The fixing-side case 60 is formed using an electrically insulating material such as a synthetic resin, and the fixing-side case 60 is formed to have a base wall 61 having a substantially rectangular plate shape vertically facing the second circuit board, left and right walls 62 provided at left and right end portions of the base wall 61, and front and rear walls 63 provided at front and rear end portions of the base wall 61. In the base wall 61, a cylindrical positioning protrusion 61a for positioning the fixed-side housing 60 on the second circuit board is provided in a protruding manner. In the left and right walls 62, a plurality of contact holding grooves 62a penetrating in the up-down direction are provided in parallel at a predetermined arrangement pitch in the front-back direction. In the front and rear walls 63, case holding grooves 63a for press-fitting and holding the fixing portions 93 side of the receptacle case 90 are provided upward in a recessed manner.

The floating-side housing 70 is formed using an electrically insulating material such as a synthetic resin, and this floating-side housing 70 has a main body wall 71 that vertically faces the base wall 61 of the fixed-side housing 60, protective walls 72 that are provided at the left and right ends of the main body wall 71 and bent in an inverted U-shape, and upright walls 73 that are provided at the front and rear ends of the main body wall 71, with a fitting recess 74 (a space that receives the fitting projection 26 of the plug connector 10) that is surrounded by the wall surface and is open upward being defined at the center of the walls. A convex protrusion 75 protruding upward from the main body wall 71 is formed inside the fitting recess 74. In the left and right side surfaces of this projecting portion 75, a plurality of contact holding grooves 75a formed in a sectional concave shape and extending through in the up-down direction are provided in parallel at predetermined arrangement pitches in the front-back direction. In addition, in the main body wall 71, a plurality of contact holding holes 71a penetrating in the up-down direction are provided in parallel at a predetermined arrangement pitch in the front-back direction, as a positional relationship in which the contact holding holes 71a and the contact holding grooves 75a are aligned in the up-down direction and communicate with each other. In addition, in the protection wall 72 having an inverted U-shape, a flexible portion accommodating space 76 that is enclosed between the outer side wall portion 72a and the inner side wall portion 72b and that accommodates an elastically deformed portion (a flexible portion 83 described later) of the socket contact 80 is formed. Further, in the floating-side case 70, a stepped portion 77 for fixing a side surface of the movable portion 92 of the receptacle housing 90 is formed on the long side where the cases 70 face each other across the inner surface of the fitting recess 74 from the upper surface thereof.

The socket contact 80 is formed into a predetermined shape as shown in fig. 12 and the like by applying press working (press working and bending working) to a thin flat plate of a conductive material such as metal. The socket contact 80 is configured to have a holding portion 81 press-fitted into the contact holding groove 62a of the fixed-side case 60, a lead portion 82 bent substantially perpendicularly from a lower end of the holding portion 81 and extending outward, a flexible portion 83 connected to an upper end of the holding portion 81 and bent in an inverted U-shape and received in the flexible accommodation space 77, an intermediate portion 84 connected to a lower end of the flexible portion 83 and extending along a rear surface of the main body wall 71 in the left-right direction, and a contact portion 85 connected to an inner end of the intermediate portion 84 and extending substantially perpendicularly upward and press-fitted into the contact holding hole 71a and the contact holding groove 75 a. In the holding portion 81, press-fit projections 81a that project outward at both end portions in the board width direction and bite into the inner surfaces of the contact holding grooves 62a are formed, and the press-fit projections 81a are configured to be press-fit and held in the contact holding grooves 62a in a held state. In the same manner, in the contact portion 85, press-fit projections 85a that project outward at both end portions in the board width direction and bite into the inner surfaces of the contact point holding holes 71a are formed, and the press-fit projections 85a are press-fit and held in the contact point holding holes 71a in the held state. Further, in the socket contact 80, a surface treatment (plating treatment) required for coating a thin film of gold (Au) or the like thereon is applied to the surface thereof.

In the receptacle contact 80, although the holding portion 81 on one end side is press-fitted into the contact holding groove 62a and fixed to the fixed-side housing 60, the contact portion 85 on the other end side is press-fitted into the contact holding hole 71a and the contact holding groove 75a and fixed to the floating-side housing 70. Accordingly, the floating-side housing 70 is coupled to the fixed-side housing 60 through a plurality of socket contacts 80 to be movable in front and rear and in left and right with respect thereto. Further, the lead portion 82 is soldered to a wiring pattern formed on the second circuit board and is configured to be electrically connected thereto.

The receptacle housing 90 is constituted by a pair of shield housings 91 arranged bilaterally symmetrically, and the left and right shield housings 91 are joined in a ring form so as to cover the outer peripheral portions of both the housings 60 and 70 (the peripheries of the contact portions 85 of the receptacle contacts 80). Each shield shell 91 is formed into a predetermined shape shown in fig. 13 and the like by applying press working (press working and bending working) to a thin flat plate of a metal material such as a copper alloy. Each shield case 91 is formed in a shape along an outer surface of each of the fixed-side case 60 and the floating-side case 70.

The shield case 91 is configured to have: a movable portion 92 fixed to the protective wall 72 of the floating-side case 70, a pair of front and rear fixing portions 93 fixed to the front and rear walls 63 of the fixed-side case 60, and an elastic portion 94 connecting the movable portion 92 and the fixing portions 93 so as to be relatively movable substantially in the horizontal direction.

In the movable part 92, the upper half portion is bent and formed in an inverted U shape, and the lower half portion is formed to extend substantially vertically, and the movable part 92 mainly covers the outer surface of the protective wall 72 of the floating-side housing 70. In the upper half portion of the movable portion 92, a plurality of engaging claw portions 92a projecting downward are formed. The engaging claw portion 92a is engaged with the stepped portion 77 of the floating-side case 70. Therefore, the movable portion 92 is fixed to the floating-side case 70 so as to cover the protection wall 72. In the upper half of the movable portion 92, a plurality of contact piece portions 92b are formed to protrude into the fitting recess 74 of the floating-side case 70. The contact piece portion 92b is elastically deformed in substantially the plate thickness direction (left-right direction) and is brought into elastic contact with the mating plug housing 40.

The fixing portion 93 has an inner leg portion 93a extending downward and an outer leg portion 93b branching from the inner leg portion 93a and extending downward, and the fixing portion 93 is formed in a substantially bifurcated shape that is open downward as a whole. The inner leg portion 93a and the outer leg portion 93b are arranged on the front-rear wall 63 side of the fixed-side case 60 so as to cover mainly the outer surfaces of the front-rear wall 63. In the inner leg portion 93a and the outer leg portion 93b, press-fit projections 93d that project outward at both ends in the plate width direction thereof and bite into the inner surfaces of the case retaining grooves 63a are formed, and the press-fit projections 93d are configured to be pressed and retained in the case retaining grooves 63a formed in the front and rear walls 63 in a retained state. Further, a ground terminal portion 93c is formed at the lower end of the outer leg portion 93 b. The ground terminal portion 93c is soldered to a ground pattern formed on the second circuit board, and is configured to be connected thereto.

The elastic portion 94 has a first elastic portion 94a connected to an upper end of the fixing portion 93 and extending in the left-right direction, and a second elastic portion 94b bent substantially perpendicularly from left and right outer ends of the first elastic portion 94a and extending in the front-rear direction. The first elastic portion 94a is provided on the upright wall 73 side of the floating-side housing 70 so as to mainly cover the upright wall 73. The first elastic portion 94a is formed to be elastically deformable substantially in the plate thickness direction (front-rear direction: arrow α direction in fig. 9) with a joint portion with the fixing portion 93 as a fulcrum. The second elastic portion 94b is formed to be elastically deformable in substantially the plate thickness direction (left-right direction: arrow β direction in fig. 9) with a joint portion with the first elastic portion 94a as a fulcrum. Therefore, the movable portion 92 can move in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction with respect to the fixed portion 93 in accordance with the elastic deformation of the first elastic portion 94a and the second elastic portion 94b in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction.

In the receptacle housing 90 having such a configuration, if the floating-side housing 70 is moved in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction with respect to the fixed-side housing 60, the elastic portion 92 is elastically deformed with the movement, and the movable portion 92 is movable in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction with respect to the fixed portion 93. Therefore, even if the relative positional relationship between the floating-side case 70 and the fixed-side case 60 changes, the posture of the receptacle housing 90 deforms in accordance with this, so the receptacle housing 90 can reliably cover the peripheries of the fixed-side case 60 and the floating-side case 70 across the two cases. Further, also when the floating-side housing 70 is moved relative to the fixed-side housing 60, the connection position between the plug housing 40 and the receptacle housing 90 (the contact position between the housing 42 and the contact piece portion 92 b) is not changed, thereby forming a stable ground connection for a long period of time.

Next, in order to facilitate understanding of the present embodiment, the function of the connector device 1 will be described with reference to fig. 14 to 18 additionally. The process of connecting the plug connector 10 with the receptacle connector 50 will be described below.

First, as shown in fig. 14, in order to connect both the

connectors

10 and 50, the plug connector 10 and the receptacle connector 50 are vertically aligned. More specifically, the fitting convex portion 26 of the plug connector 10 and the fitting concave portion 74 of the receptacle connector 50 are vertically aligned.

Subsequently, as shown in fig. 15, when the fitting convex portion 26 of the plug connector 10 is fitted into the fitting concave portion 74 of the receptacle connector 50, the protruding portion 75 of the receptacle connector 50 is inserted into the receiving space 25 of the plug connector 10. At the same time, the guide portion 46 of the plug housing 40 is brought into contact with the contact piece portion 92b of the receptacle housing 90, and the plug housing 40 and the receptacle housing 90 are grounded and connected to the ground. At this time, the contact piece portion 92b of the socket housing 90 is protruded into the fitting recess 74, and the guide portion 46 shaped in a tapered shape for guiding the contact piece portion 92b is formed at the tip end surface of the fitting projection 26, so that the plug housing 40 can be brought into initial contact with the socket housing 90 smoothly by the guiding action of the guide portion 46. Further, in the state where the plug housing 40 is brought into initial contact with the receptacle housing 90, the plug contacts 30 and the receptacle contacts 80 are in the separated state. More specifically, the

housings

40 and 90 are first connected to each other to ground, and then the signal line between the

contacts

30 and 80 is connected, so that the entry of electromagnetic waves can be prevented during the connection of the connector.

Next, as shown in fig. 16, when the fitting convex portion 26 of the plug connector 10 is further fitted into the fitting concave portion 74 of the receptacle connector 50, the contact portion 32 of the plug contact 30 is brought into initial contact with the contact portion 85 of the receptacle contact 80. At this time, the contact piece portion 92b of the receptacle housing 90 is pressed left and right outwardly by the housing 42 of the plug housing 40, is elastically deformed, and is brought into elastic contact with the housing 42 by its reaction force.

Subsequently, as shown in fig. 17, when the fitting convex portion 26 of the plug connector 10 is further fitted into the fitting concave portion 74 of the receptacle connector 50, the contact piece portion 92b of the receptacle housing 90 elastically slides on the housing 42 of the plug housing 40 in a pressed state, while the contact portion 32 of the plug contact 30 elastically slides on the contact portion 85 of the receptacle contact 80 in a pressed state.

Then, as shown in fig. 18, when the fitting convex portion 26 of the plug connector 10 is completely fitted into the fitting concave portion 74 of the receptacle connector 50, the position between both the

connectors

10 and 50 is determined, and the contact state between the plug contacts 30 and the receptacle contacts 80 is maintained, and the contact state between the plug housing 40 and the receptacle housing 90 is maintained at the same time. At this point, the plug contacts 30 and the receptacle contacts 80 are brought into elastic contact with each other with an appropriate contact force. Thus, both the

connectors

10 and 50 are electrically connected, and signal transmission can be performed between the two circuit boards. In addition, the plug housing 40 and the receptacle housing 90 enclose the signal transmission circuit formed inside both the

connectors

10 and 50 while both the

housings

40 and 90 are brought into elastic contact with each other and are connected to the ground. Therefore, it is possible to reliably shield electromagnetic waves generated from the inside of the

connectors

10 and 50 or electromagnetic waves from the outside. Further, the

shells

40 and 90 are substantially completely overlapped within the periphery of the signal transmission circuit formed inside both of the connectors 10 and 50 (a metal shell having a substantially double structure is formed). Therefore, the effect of shielding electromagnetic waves by both the

cases

40 and 90 is further improved.

As described above, according to the connector device 1 of the present embodiment, if the floating-side housing 70 is moved in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction with respect to the fixed-side housing 60 so as to absorb the deviation in the fitting position and the like between the

connectors

10 and 50, the elastic portion 94 of the receptacle housing 90 is elastically deformed in accordance with the movement, and the movable portion 92 is moved in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction with respect to the fixed portion 93. Therefore, even if the relative positional relationship of the floating-side housing 70 with respect to the fixed-side housing 60 changes, the receptacle housing 90 can reliably cover the fixed-side housing 60 and the floating-side housing 70 across the

housings

60 and 70. Therefore, excellent shielding efficiency against noise such as electromagnetic waves can be exerted.

In addition, according to the connector device 1 of the present embodiment, a configuration is formed in which the plug contacts 30 are brought into contact with the receptacle contacts 80 after the plug housing 40 is brought into contact with the receptacle housing 90 first (more specifically, a configuration of time-difference contact). Therefore, it is possible to prevent the entry of noise such as electromagnetic waves during the connection of the connector.

Further, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and may be appropriately modified within a range not departing from the spirit of the present invention.

In the above-described embodiments, the present invention has been described by exemplifying the connector device of the stack connection type in which two circuit boards (the first circuit board and the second circuit board) are arranged in parallel to each other and electrically connected, but the present invention is not limited to this configuration, and may be applied to a connector device of a vertical connection type in which two circuit boards are arranged vertically to each other and electrically connected, a connector device of a horizontal connection type in which two circuit boards are arranged in the same plane and electrically connected, and the like.

In the above-described embodiments, although the present invention has been described by exemplifying a circuit board mounting type connector as a counterpart connector, the present invention is not limited to this configuration, but may be applied to various connectors such as a cable mounting type connector.

Claims

1. A floating connector, comprising:

a floating-side housing in which a fitting portion that is fitted into a mating connector is formed;

a fixed-side housing that supports the floating-side housing in a relatively movable manner;

contacts supported across the floating-side housing and the fixed-side housing and coming into contact with mating contacts of the mating connector when the floating connector is fitted into the mating connector; and

a shield case attached across the floating-side case and the fixed-side case,

wherein the floating connector is configured in such a manner that the contact is elastically deformed in a predetermined direction perpendicular to the fitting direction in a state of being supported across the floating-side housing and the fixed-side housing, so that the floating-side housing is movable in the predetermined direction with respect to the fixed-side housing,

wherein the shield shell has a floating-side shell portion fixed to the floating-side case to cover at least a part of an outer surface of the floating-side case, a fixed-side shell portion fixed to the fixed-side case to cover at least a part of an outer surface of the fixed-side case, the floating-side shell portion and the fixed-side shell portion being constituted by integrally connecting elastic shell portions, and

the elastic shell portion is formed to extend in the predetermined direction in a plane perpendicular to a fitting direction, and is elastically deformable in the predetermined direction, and the elastic shell portion is configured to be elastically deformable in the predetermined direction along with a relative movement of the floating-side housing with respect to the fixed-side housing in the predetermined direction, the predetermined direction being a width direction of the floating connector and a length direction perpendicular to the width direction.

2. The floating connector of claim 1,

the elastic shell portion is configured by including a first elastic portion that elastically deforms in a first direction as the predetermined direction and a second elastic portion that elastically deforms in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction as the predetermined direction.

3. The floating connector according to claim 1 or 2,

the contact is configured so as to be brought into contact with the counterpart contact after bringing the shield shell into contact with a counterpart shield shell of the counterpart connector when the floating connector is fitted into the counterpart connector.