CN110635328B

CN110635328B - Adaptor connector and connector assembly comprising same

Info

Publication number: CN110635328B
Application number: CN201811571195.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 范家齐; 郭亚宁; 崔艳磊; 张志中; 孙涛
Original assignee: China Aviation Optical Electrical Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: China Aviation Optical Electrical Technology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2018-06-21
Filing date: 2018-12-21
Publication date: 2021-04-06
Anticipated expiration: 2038-12-21
Also published as: CN110635328A

Abstract

The invention provides a switching connector and a connector assembly comprising the switching connector, wherein the connector assembly comprises two sockets and a switching connector, each socket comprises a socket shell and socket contact pieces arranged in the socket shell, each switching connector comprises a switching shell, the switching contact pieces are movably arranged in at least one direction of xyz three directions in the switching shell, each switching shell is provided with a butt joint port which is in butt joint with each socket oppositely, each switching contact piece is provided with two plug-in ends which are positioned at the two butt joint ports respectively, the socket contact pieces of the two sockets are plugged with the two plug-in ends respectively, the switching shell and the socket shell are also provided with locking connection structures respectively, and the locking connection structures enable the switching shell and the socket shell to be movably connected in the same direction as the moving direction of the switching contact pieces. The connector assembly can meet the rigid plug-in conduction of two PCB boards with assembly tolerance, and is convenient for realizing plug-in automation.

Description

Adaptor connector and connector assembly comprising same

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of electrical connection, and more particularly, to a switching connector and a connector assembly including the same.

Background

In an electrical apparatus, two printed boards are often electrically connected, and a conventional connection mode is often to connect through a wire with two ends connected with an OT terminal, as shown in fig. 1, two ends of a wire 10 are tightly connected to corresponding wiring ends of a printed board 9 through screws by the OT terminal 11. This kind of connected mode only can realize connecting through the wire, sees on the surface that the connection cost is lower, but needs manual operation when fastening OT terminal, can not realize automatic assembly, and the cost of labor is often great. Further, the crimping of the end portion of the lead to the OT terminal requires a crimping step, which increases the total cost of the manufacturing process, and the crimping of the lead to the OT terminal increases the contact resistance, which is not preferable in terms of the conductive effect.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention aims to provide a connector component suitable for conductive connection between two printed boards, which is used for solving the problems that automatic assembly cannot be realized through wire connection between the two printed boards at present and contact resistance is large; in addition, the invention also provides a switching connector of the connector assembly.

The connector assembly comprises two sockets and a switching connector which is in adaptive connection with the two sockets, wherein each socket comprises a socket shell and socket contact elements which are arranged in the socket shell, the switching connector comprises a switching shell, the switching contact elements are movably arranged in at least one direction of the xyz three directions in the switching shell, the switching shell is provided with butt joint ports which are oppositely abutted with the sockets, each switching contact element is provided with two plug ends which are respectively positioned at the two butt joint ports, the socket contact elements of the two sockets are respectively plugged with the two plug ends, the switching shell and the socket shell are also respectively provided with a locking structure, and the locking structure enables the switching shell and the socket shell to be movably connected in the same direction as the moving direction of the switching contact elements.

The connector assembly can conveniently realize the electric connection between the two printed boards, and particularly, when in use, the two sockets can be firstly inserted or welded on the printed boards, and then the adaptor connector is correspondingly inserted on the two sockets. In addition, the switching contact piece is connected with the socket contact piece in a plugging mode, and compared with a traditional mode of crimping between a lead and an OT terminal, the switching contact piece reduces contact resistance.

Of course, in different use environments, the switching contact is movably mounted in the switching housing in two directions, or the switching contact is movably mounted in the switching housing in three directions, and the more directions the switching contact can move, the more convenient the automatic plugging of the switching connector is.

When the adapter connector is used for connecting two coplanar printed boards, the two butt-joint ports of the adapter housing face the same direction, and of course, when connecting two printed boards arranged in parallel at intervals, the two butt-joint ports of the adapter housing can also face opposite directions.

On the basis of the above various solutions, more specifically, the adapter housing is a rectangular housing, and the two docking ports are located at positions close to two end portions of the same side of the rectangular housing and connected with the two adapter sockets in a bridge-spanning manner.

On the basis of the optimization method, a plurality of different optimization schemes can be further extended.

For example, the side of the adapter housing facing away from the docking ports is an opening structure through which the adapter contact can be installed in the adapter housing, the adapter housing further includes a cover installed at the opening position to enclose the adapter contact therein, and the adapter housing is provided with an anti-disengaging structure between the two docking ports for blocking the adapter contact in the housing. Such a design facilitates the installation of the adapter contact into the adapter housing.

For another example, the adapting contact is a U-shaped sheet with an opening facing the same direction as the docking port, two side walls of the U-shaped sheet extend toward the docking port at a position corresponding to the docking port to form the inserting end, and an inserting space for inserting the adaptive socket contact is formed between the two side walls. The switching contact piece in the form can meet high through-current requirements, and is convenient for realizing the plugging between the switching connector and the socket.

The adapter lock connecting structure may be located between the two opposite connection ports, and when the two sockets are plugged into the adapter connector, the socket lock connecting structures on the two sockets are located at an adjacent side position. The arrangement is characterized in that the structure of the whole adapter connector assembly is relatively compact, and the adapter connector assembly is convenient to adapt to the condition of limited space.

Also, the locking structure is a hook groove matching structure, and the movement between the adapter housing and the socket housing is realized by reserving a movement gap between the lock hook and the hook groove. For example, the latch hook of the hook-and-slot matching structure is disposed on the socket housing, the latch hook is in a convex tip shape extending perpendicular to the plugging direction, the adapter housing is provided with an elastic arm plate overhanging towards the plugging direction, and the elastic arm plate is provided with the hook slot. The lock connecting structure is simple in structure, the interlocking connection between the adapter connector and the socket is convenient to achieve, and the activity requirement between the adapter shell and the socket shell can be met.

In addition, the number of the switching contacts in the switching shell can be more than two, the switching contacts are arranged in parallel in the direction perpendicular to the connecting line of the two connecting ports, and a partition board for insulating and separating the two adjacent switching contacts is arranged in the switching shell.

Similarly, the adapter connector of the invention comprises an adapter housing, wherein an adapter contact is movably mounted in at least one direction of xyz three directions in the adapter housing, the adapter housing is provided with two butt-joint ports for being abutted against the adapter socket relatively, the adapter contact is provided with two plug-in ends respectively positioned at the two butt-joint ports, the adapter housing is also provided with an adapter locking structure for being locked with the adapter socket, and the adapter locking structure is matched with the socket locking structure on the adapter socket so that the adapter housing and the socket housing can be movably connected in the same direction as the moving direction of the adapter contact.

The adapter connector can be directly inserted and conducted with the sockets on the two printed boards, and the adapter contact piece in the adapter connector can move in at least one direction in the shell, so that the rigid insertion and conduction of the two PCB boards with assembly tolerance can be met, and the automation can be conveniently realized. In addition, the switching contact piece is connected with the socket contact piece in a plugging mode, and compared with a traditional mode of crimping between a lead and an OT terminal, the switching contact piece reduces contact resistance.

Alternatively, the transfer lock link is located at a position between the two mating ports. Certainly, when the two sockets are butted with the adapter connector, the socket locking connection structures on the two sockets are located at the adjacent side positions, so that the whole adapter connector assembly is compact in structure and convenient to adapt to the condition of limited space.

Or the switching locking structure is a hook-groove matching structure, and the movement between the switching shell and the socket shell is realized by reserving a gap between the locking hook and the hook groove. The lock connecting structure is simple in structure, the interlocking connection between the adapter connector and the socket is convenient to achieve, and the activity requirement between the adapter shell and the socket shell can be met.

In addition, the number of the switching contact pieces in the switching shell can be more than two, the switching contact pieces are arranged in parallel in the direction perpendicular to the connecting line of the two connecting ports, and a partition board for separating the two adjacent switching contact pieces is arranged in the switching shell.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural view of a conductive connection between two printed boards in the prior art;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the connector assembly of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the adapter connector (cover not shown);

FIG. 4 is a front view of the connector assembly of the present invention as assembled together;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken at D-D of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken at E-E of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the connector assembly of the present invention assembled together;

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken at F-F of FIG. 7;

fig. 9 is a schematic view of the connector assembly of the present invention when connecting two printed boards;

FIG. 10 is a schematic view of another alternative locking arrangement when interlockingly connected;

fig. 11 is a bottom view of the locking notch of fig. 10.

Detailed Description

The following further describes embodiments of the present invention with reference to the drawings.

Fig. 2 to 9 show a first embodiment of the connector assembly of the present invention, which includes two sockets 3 and a adaptor connector 2 adapted to connect with the two sockets 3. The socket 3 includes a socket housing 30 and a socket contact 31 fixedly installed in the socket 30, one end of the socket contact 31 is a printed board connection end 311 for plugging or welding with a printed board, and the other end is a socket plugging end 310 for connecting with the adaptor connector 2. Socket housing 30 also has a latch 32 extending toward the side of printed board connection end 311, latch 32 being adapted to engage with a positioning receptacle on printed board 9. The socket plug 310 is of a plug-in structure.

The adaptor connector 2 comprises a rectangular adaptor housing 20, two adaptor contacts 24 are mounted in the adaptor housing 20, the same side surface of the rectangular housing is provided with butt-joint ports corresponding to the socket plug-in ends at positions close to the two ends, and the two adaptor contacts 24 are provided with adaptor plug-in ends respectively matched and plugged with the two socket plug-in ends at the positions of the butt-joint ports. In this way, the adaptor connector can be connected with two adapting sockets in a bridge spanning manner.

Specifically, the side of the adaptor housing 20 facing away from the docking port is an opening structure through which the adaptor contact 24 can be mounted in the adaptor housing 20, and the adaptor housing 20 further includes a cover 21 mounted at the opening position to enclose the adaptor contact 24 therein, wherein the cover 21 is detachably mounted at the opening. In this embodiment, two side walls of the adapting housing 20 are respectively provided with a fastening groove 200, two edges of the sealing cover 21 are provided with an inverted buckle 210, the sealing cover 21 is forcibly installed at the opening and is fastened at the opening position through the buckle connection of the inverted buckle 210 and the fastening groove 200, the structure is simple, and the connection is convenient. Of course, screws may be used to effect attachment of the cover in other embodiments.

The two transfer contacts 24 are arranged side by side in a direction perpendicular to a line connecting the two connection ports, and a partition 26 for insulating and separating the two adjacent transfer contacts 24 is provided in the transfer housing 20. The adapting contact 24 is a U-shaped sheet with an opening facing the same direction as the mating port, and at a position corresponding to the mating port, two side walls 240 of the U-shaped sheet extend toward the mating port to form an adapting plug end, and a plug space for inserting the adaptive socket plug end 310 is formed between the two side walls 240. Between the two pairs of connection ports, two side walls of the U-shaped sheet body are turned inwards to form a turning part 241. A middle partition 201 is integrally connected between the two connection ports and between the sidewall of the adaptor housing 20 and the partition 26, and the middle partition 201 supports the folded portion 241 and can be engaged with the cover 21 to confine the adaptor contact 24 in the adaptor housing 20.

The socket contact 31 of each socket is formed by a pair of sheet-type contacts, the ends of the two sheet-type contacts connected with the printed board are separated by a certain distance, so that the two sheet-type contacts are conveniently connected with the printed board, and the ends of the two sheet-type contacts connected with the adaptor connector are combined together and inserted into the insertion space of the adaptor plug end. The two side walls 240 forming the adapting plug end are respectively tilted outwards towards the opposite side of the end of the socket to form a flaring structure for the adapting plug end, so that the socket plug end can be conveniently inserted. The outer side of the butt port of the adapter housing 20 is provided with a butt flare 25, which can guide the socket insertion end to a certain extent. As can be seen from fig. 5, the inner edge of the docking port can also shield the end portions of the two side walls 240 forming the adapting plug end, so as to prevent the socket plug end from abutting against the adapting plug end when being plugged.

In this embodiment, a sufficient mounting gap is reserved between the adaptor housing 20 and the adaptor contact 24 to enable the adaptor contact 24 to float in the adaptor housing 20 in the xyz-directions shown in fig. 2. Of course, even when such a mounting gap exists, the relay contact can be deflected at a small angle about the x-axis, the y-axis, or the z-axis.

Meanwhile, when the adaptor connector is plugged with the socket, the butt joint port and the socket shell are in face-to-face opposite butt joint relation, mutual limit perpendicular to the plugging direction does not exist, or at least no limit exists in the moving range needing shell movement.

Of course, in other embodiments, the adapting contact may not be completely movable in the xyz three directions, and in different use situations, the adapting contact may be movably mounted in the adapting housing only in one or two of the three directions, and accordingly, the adapting housing may be movable in a direction corresponding to the moving direction of the adapting contact with respect to the socket housing.

Specifically, in this embodiment, the connection locking structure and the socket locking structure are hook-and-slot matching structures, that is, one of the socket housing and the connection housing is provided with a lock hook, and the other is provided with a hook slot, so that the socket and the connection connector are locked and connected through the matching of the lock hook and the hook slot. In order to meet the movement of the adapter connector relative to the socket shell, a movement gap is reserved between the lock hook and the hook groove. As shown in fig. 6 to 7, the latch hook 33 of the hook-and-slot matching structure is disposed on the socket housing, and the latch hook is in a shape of a convex tip extending along a direction perpendicular to the plugging direction, the adaptor housing 20 is provided with an elastic arm plate 22 overhanging towards the plugging direction, the elastic arm plate is provided with two hook slots 220 of the hook-and-slot matching structure, the elastic arm plates 22 are two and located on two sides of the adaptor housing respectively, and the hook slots 220 on the elastic arm plate 22 are two and corresponding to the two sockets respectively and located on the same side of the latch hook 33. In the x-axis direction, the size of the hook slot 220 is larger than that of the lock hook 33 to form a movable gap C, so that the adaptor housing can move in the x-axis direction relative to the receptacle housing, a movable gap B is formed between the inclined planes on both sides of the convex pointed lock hook 33 in the plugging direction and the groove walls on both sides of the hook slot 220 in the z-axis direction, so that the adaptor housing can move in the z-axis direction relative to the receptacle housing, and the root of the lock hook 33 is located on the inner side of the elastic arm plate 22 to form a movable gap a with the elastic arm plate 22, so that the adaptor housing can move in the y-axis direction relative to the receptacle housing.

Of course, the connector assembly of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments. In other embodiments, the two docking ports of the transition housing may be oriented oppositely or oriented perpendicular to each other. When the directions are opposite, the butt joint ports can be arranged at two opposite end faces of the adapter shell or at positions close to two ends of two opposite side faces of the rectangular adapter shell; when the orientations are perpendicular to each other, the adapter housing can be bent in the space. In both cases, when the two sockets and the adaptor connector are automatically plugged, one socket needs to be plugged into the adaptor connector first, and then the other socket needs to be plugged into the adaptor connector.

In other embodiments, the adapter housing may include a rectangular cylindrical housing with openings at two sides, the opening at one side is sealed by a sealing cover, and the opening at the other side is also detachably equipped with a baffle plate, which is supported between two insertion ends of the adapter contact. Alternatively, the adapter housing may be a two-piece structure that is fastened to each other in a direction perpendicular to the insertion direction, and the cover in the first embodiment may be connected to the two-piece structure, and the two pieces are integrally connected to the two-piece housings.

Or in other embodiments, the adapting plug terminal may be inserted into the socket plug terminal, that is, the socket plug terminal has a plug space, and then the adapting contact and the socket contact are adapted to change. The number of the switching contacts in the switching connector is also set according to the number of the conductive loops to be conducted as required, and may be one, or three or four, and is not limited herein. The lock connecting structure can also be arranged at the positions of two opposite sides of the two butt-joint ports.

The lock connecting structure can also be a spherical bulge arranged on one of the adapter connector and the socket, and an elastic locking notch arranged on the other, the elastic locking notch is hourglass-shaped on the cross section passing through the axis, one end of the elastic locking notch is open, the other end of the elastic locking notch is fixedly connected with the corresponding shell and forms a hemispherical locking cavity, the elastic locking notch is surrounded by a plurality of locking claws arranged circumferentially, the locking claws can deform radially in the radial direction, the elastic locking notch and the spherical bulge are opposite in the plugging direction, when the adapter connector is plugged with the socket, the spherical bulge is extruded through the throat part of the elastic locking notch and clamped into the hemispherical locking cavity, and the volume of the hemispherical locking cavity is larger than that of the spherical bulge, so that the spherical bulge can move towards the xyz three directions in the hemispherical locking cavity.

Or, the lock connection structure may also include, as shown in fig. 10 to 11, a lock protrusion disposed on the adaptor connector and a lock notch disposed on the socket, the lock protrusion includes a convex pillar 29 and a convex ball 290 disposed at an outer end of the convex pillar 29, the lock notch includes a plurality of elastic pieces 39 uniformly disposed in the circumferential direction, each elastic piece 39 can elastically deform in the radial direction, each elastic piece 39 jointly encloses a central insertion hole in a reduced shape, a sectional area of the convex pillar 29 is smaller than a minimum sectional area of the central insertion hole in the reduced shape, the minimum sectional area of the central insertion hole is smaller than a maximum sectional area of the convex ball 290, the lock protrusion and the lock notch are opposite in the plugging direction, when the adaptor connector and the socket are plugged, the convex ball 290 of the lock protrusion 29 is inserted into the central insertion hole, and each elastic piece deforms radially outward until the convex ball 290 passes through the central insertion hole in the reduced shape. At this time, the convex column 29 can move radially and axially in the reduced-mouth-shaped central jack, so that the adapter housing can move in xyz three directions relative to the socket housing, and cannot be separated from the socket housing in the plugging direction.

The present invention further provides an embodiment of a switch connector, which has a specific structure identical to that of the switch connector in the various embodiments of the connector assembly, and is not described herein again.

Claims

1. A switching connector is characterized by comprising a switching shell, wherein a switching contact piece is movably mounted in at least one direction of xyz three directions in the switching shell, the switching shell is provided with two butt joint ports for being abutted against an adaptive socket relatively, the switching contact piece is provided with two plug-in ends respectively positioned at the two butt joint ports, the switching shell is also provided with a switching locking structure for being connected with the adaptive socket in an interlocking manner, and the switching locking structure is matched with a socket locking structure on the adaptive socket so that the switching shell and the socket shell can be movably connected in the same direction as the moving direction of the switching contact piece; the adapter shell is a rectangular shell, and the two butt joint ports are positioned on the same side surface of the rectangular shell and close to the two end parts and are connected with the two adaptive sockets in a bridge-spanning manner; the switching contact element is a U-shaped sheet body with an opening and a butt joint port in the same direction, two side walls of the U-shaped sheet body extend towards the butt joint port at the position corresponding to the butt joint port to form the inserting end, and an inserting space for inserting the adaptive socket contact element is formed between the two side walls; the switching contact pieces are arranged in parallel in the direction perpendicular to the connecting line of the two connection ports, and a partition board for insulating and separating the two adjacent switching contact pieces is arranged in the switching shell; between the two opposite connecting ports, two side walls of the U-shaped sheet body are turned inwards to form a turning part, a middle partition wall is integrally connected between the two opposite connecting ports and between the side wall of the switching shell and the partition plate, and the middle partition wall supports the turning part; the tail part of the turnover part is bent upwards; a gap is formed between the side wall between the two opposite connection ports of the U-shaped sheet body and the side wall of the adjacent adapter shell.

2. A switching connector according to claim 1, wherein the switching contacts are movably mounted in the switching housing in two directions.

3. A switching connector according to claim 1, wherein the switching contacts are movably mounted in the switching housing in three directions.

4. A patch connector according to claim 1, wherein the two mating ports of the patch housing are oriented in the same direction.

5. A patch connector according to claim 1, wherein the side of the adapter housing facing away from the mating ports is configured as an opening through which the patch contacts can be mounted in the adapter housing, the adapter housing further comprising a cover mounted in the opening to enclose the patch contacts therein, the adapter housing being configured with a retaining structure between the mating ports for retaining the patch contacts in the housing.

6. A transfer connector according to claim 1, wherein the transfer lock link is located at a position between two mating ports.

7. An adaptor connector according to claim 1, wherein the adaptor lock attachment structure is a hook and slot engagement structure and movement between the adaptor housing and the receptacle housing is achieved by providing clearance between the latch hook and the hook and slot.

8. A connector assembly is characterized by comprising two sockets and a switching connector which is in adaptive connection with the two sockets, wherein each socket comprises a socket shell and socket contact elements which are arranged in the socket shell, the switching connector comprises a switching shell, the switching contact elements are movably arranged in at least one direction of the three directions of xyz in the switching shell, the switching shell is provided with butt joint ports which are oppositely abutted with the sockets, each switching contact element is provided with two plug ends which are respectively positioned at the two butt joint ports, the socket contact elements of the two sockets are respectively plugged with the two plug ends, the switching shell and the socket shell are also respectively provided with a locking connection structure, and the locking connection structures enable the switching shell and the socket shell to be movably connected in the same direction as the moving direction of the switching contact elements; the adapter shell is a rectangular shell, and the two butt joint ports are positioned on the same side surface of the rectangular shell and close to the two end parts and are connected with the two adaptive sockets in a bridge-spanning manner; the switching contact element is a U-shaped sheet body with an opening and a butt joint port in the same direction, two side walls of the U-shaped sheet body extend towards the butt joint port at the position corresponding to the butt joint port to form the inserting end, and an inserting space for inserting the socket contact element is formed between the two side walls; the switching contact pieces are arranged in parallel in a direction perpendicular to a connecting line of the two connection ports, and a partition board for insulating and separating the two adjacent switching contact pieces is arranged in the switching shell; between the two opposite connecting ports, two side walls of the U-shaped sheet body are turned inwards to form a turning part, a middle partition wall is integrally connected between the two opposite connecting ports and between the side wall of the switching shell and the partition plate, and the middle partition wall supports the turning part; the tail part of the turnover part is bent upwards; a gap is formed between the side wall between the two opposite connection ports of the U-shaped sheet body and the side wall of the adjacent adapter shell.

9. The connector assembly of claim 8, wherein the transfer contact is movably mounted in the transfer housing in two directions.

10. The connector assembly of claim 8, wherein the transfer contact is movably mounted in the transfer housing in three directions.

11. The connector assembly of claim 8, wherein the two mating ports of the transition housing are oriented in the same direction.

12. The connector assembly of claim 8, wherein a side of the adapter housing facing away from the mating ports has an opening through which the adapter contacts can be mounted in the adapter housing, the adapter housing further including a cover mounted in the opening to enclose the adapter contacts therein, the adapter housing having a retaining structure between the mating ports for retaining the adapter contacts in the housing.

13. The connector assembly of claim 8, wherein the transfer lock connection structure is located between two of the mating ports, and the receptacle lock connection structures on two of the receptacles are located adjacent to one another on one side of the receptacle when the receptacles are mated with the transfer connector.

14. The connector assembly of claim 8, wherein the latching structure is a hook and groove mating structure and movement between the adapter housing and the receptacle housing is achieved by providing a clearance gap between the latch hook and the hook groove.

15. The connector assembly of claim 14, wherein the latch hooks of the hook and groove mating structure are disposed on the receptacle housing and the latch hooks are in the form of prongs extending perpendicular to the mating direction, and the adapter housing is provided with resilient arms cantilevered toward the mating direction and the resilient arms are provided with the hook and groove.