CN111384610B

CN111384610B - Relay connector

Info

Publication number: CN111384610B
Application number: CN201910367039.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 冈村智仁; 加藤俊彦
Original assignee: SMK Corp
Current assignee: SMK Corp
Priority date: 2018-12-28
Filing date: 2019-05-05
Publication date: 2022-11-01
Anticipated expiration: 2039-05-05
Also published as: JP6923851B2; TW202027353A; CN111384610A; TWI774958B; JP2020107556A

Abstract

The invention provides a relay connector which can easily lead a plurality of connectors to a thin member such as FPC and FFC. In the housing (2) of the relay connector (A), a thin member side housing member (21) and a direct connection connector side housing member (22) for connecting the direct connection connector are joined to each other, and contacts (3, 4, 5) are provided with: thin-member-side contact pieces (31, 31 …) inserted from the joining surface side of the thin-member-side seat member and arranged at a spacing in the horizontal direction; connector-side contact pieces (32, 42, 52) inserted from the joint surface side of the direct-connection connector-side housing member and arranged at intervals in the row-column direction; and a connecting piece part (33, 43, 53), wherein the connecting piece part (33, 43, 53) is accommodated between the thin component side seat body component (21) and the direct connection connector side seat body component (22).

Description

Relay connector

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a relay connector used for connecting a thin member such as an FPC or an FFC to a connector having different interfaces such as a wire harness connector.

Background

Conventionally, in connection between a thin plate-like thin member such as an FPC or an FFC and connectors having different connection targets such as a harness connector, a relay connector has been used because the thin member cannot be directly fitted to each connector (for example, see patent document 1).

The relay connector includes: a seat body, one end of which is provided with a thin component insertion opening for inserting a thin-plate-shaped thin component; and a contact which is in contact with the thin member inserted into the thin member insertion opening, and a direct connection connector connected to a connector connection portion formed in the housing is connected to the thin member via the contact.

Each contact is inserted from one end of the housing, a thin-member-side contact portion formed at one end portion is disposed in the thin-member insertion opening and contacts the thin member, and a connector-side contact portion formed at the other end portion is disposed in the connector connection portion and connected to the direct connector.

However, in the conventional technique as described above, since each contact is inserted from one side of the housing, there is a problem as follows: the thin-member-side contact portions and the connector-side connection portions formed at both ends of the contact must be arranged at substantially equal intervals, the overall width of the relay connector is determined by the width of the thin-member, and the overall width of the relay connector is increased by the number of poles of the connector.

Thus, the conventional relay connector has the following problems: in order to fit a wide connector, the size of a plurality of connectors corresponding to a thin member such as an FPC or an FFC is increased, and wiring becomes complicated.

Documents of the prior art

Patent literature

Patent document 1: japanese patent laid-open publication No. 2011-008978

Disclosure of Invention

Problems to be solved by the invention

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional problems, and an object thereof is to provide a relay connector capable of easily routing a plurality of connectors to a thin member such as an FPC or an FFC.

Means for solving the problems

Solution 1 for solving the above-described conventional problem is characterized in that a relay connector includes: a base body having a thin component insertion opening for inserting the thin component; and a contact that is in contact with a thin member inserted into the thin member insertion opening, and a direct-connection connector connected to a connector connection portion formed in the housing is connected to the thin member via the contact, wherein in the housing, a thin-member-side housing member having the thin member insertion opening and a direct-connection-connector-side housing member to which the direct-connection connector is connected are joined to each other, the contact including: a thin-member-side contact piece portion inserted from the joining surface side of the thin-member-side seat member and arranged in the thin-member insertion opening at a distance from each other in the horizontal direction; connector-side contact pieces inserted from the joint surface side of the direct-connection-connector-side housing member and arranged at the connector connection portions with a space therebetween in the row-column direction; and a connecting piece portion connecting the thin-member-side contact piece portion and the connector-side contact piece portion, the connecting piece portion being accommodated between the thin-member-side seat member and the direct-connection-connector-side seat member.

In the structure of claim 2, in addition to the structure of claim 1, a breakage preventing projection that abuts against the connecting piece portion is provided on a joint end surface of the thin member side seat member and/or the direct connection connector side seat member.

The feature of claim 3 is that, in addition to the feature of claim 1 or 2, the direct-connection connector side housing member includes an attachment member that engages with a plate body that fixes the thin member side housing member.

The feature of claim 4 resides in that, in addition to the configuration of any one of claims 1 to 3, a plurality of types of connectors having different numbers of poles are appropriately combined in the direct-connection connector.

The feature of claim 5 is that, in addition to the configuration of any one of claims 1 to 4, the connector connection portion includes: a fitting portion for fitting the direct connector; and a pair of upper and lower guide ribs projecting from the inside of the fitting portion and guiding the direct connector, the upper and lower guide ribs having different widths from each other.

Effects of the invention

The relay connector according to the present invention, having the configuration described in claim 1, can reduce the width of the connector on the side connected to the direct-connection connector such as a harness connector, and can easily perform so-called routing for the arrangement of the direct-connection connector with respect to a thin member such as an FPC or an FFC.

Further, in the present invention, by providing the structure described in claim 2, it is possible to prevent the contact from being damaged when the contact is inserted into the housing member.

Further, in the present invention, by providing the structure described in claim 3, the plate body can bear the reaction force when the direct connector is attached and detached, and the direct connector can be attached and detached satisfactorily.

Further, in the present invention, by providing the structure described in claim 4, it is possible to appropriately select a combination of a plurality of connectors having different numbers of poles.

In addition, in the present invention, by providing the structure described in claim 5, it is possible to prevent the misconnection of the direct connector.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a use mode of a relay connector according to the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the relay connector of the present invention as viewed from the back side.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the relay connector of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is an exploded perspective view illustrating the housing of fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a view showing a thin member-side housing member of a relay connector according to the present invention, wherein fig. 5 (a) is a front view thereof, fig. 5 (b) is a rear view thereof, and fig. 5 (c) is a vertical cross-sectional view thereof.

Fig. 6 is a view showing a direct connector side housing member of the relay connector of the present invention, fig. 6 (a) is a front view thereof, fig. 6 (b) is a rear view thereof, fig. 6 (c) is a plan view thereof, and fig. 6 (d) is a vertical sectional view thereof.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view showing a contact of the relay connector of the present invention.

Fig. 8 is a plan view, fig. 8 (b) is a plan view, and fig. 8 (c) is a side view of a contact of the relay connector of the present invention.

Fig. 9 is a front view showing an example of the direct connection connector in fig. 1, fig. 9 (b) is a side view thereof, and fig. 9 (c) is a rear view thereof.

Fig. 10 is an exploded perspective view showing a modification of the direct-connection connector in fig. 1.

Description of the reference numerals

A: a relay connector; 1: a thin member; 2: a base body; 21: a thin member side seat body member; 211: a thin member insertion opening; 212: a main body portion; 213: a convex portion; 214: a flange portion; 215: a fitting portion; 216: a contact insertion groove; 217: a breakage-preventing projection; 218: a fastening hole for seat body connection; 219: a connector connection engaging hole; 22: a direct connection connector side seat body member; 221: an insertion section; 222: a connector connecting portion; 223: a contact insertion hole; 224: an engaging member; 225a, 225b: a guide rib; 226: a mounting member; 3: a contact member; 31: a thin member-side contact piece portion; 311: pressing the sheet part; 312: an elastic contact portion; 312a: a contact portion; 313: a snap tab; 32: a connector-side contact piece portion; 33: a connecting piece part; 34: a snap tab; 4: a contact member; 42: a connector-side contact piece portion; 43: a connecting piece part; 5: a contact member; 52: a connector-side contact piece portion; 53: a connecting piece part; 6: a direct connection connector; 61: a base for a direct connection connector; 62: a connection terminal; 63: a wire (harness); 64: an elastic engaging piece; 7: a panel portion; 71: an opening part; 81: a direct connection connector; 82: a direct connection connector; 83: and (4) directly connecting the connector.

Detailed Description

Next, an embodiment of the relay connector according to the present invention will be described based on the embodiments shown in fig. 1 to 10.

The relay connector a includes: a base body 2 having a thin member insertion opening 211 into which the thin member 1 is inserted; and a plurality of

contacts

3, 4, 5 which are in contact with the thin member 1 inserted into the thin member insertion port 211, and a direct connection connector 6 connected to a connector connection portion 222 formed on the housing 2 is connected to the thin member 1 via the

contacts

3, 4, 5.

As shown in fig. 1 to 3, the relay connector a is fixed to the panel portion 7 by being inserted from the front side into the opening 71 of the panel portion 7 constituting the housing of the electronic device, is connected to the thin member 1 from the front side via the panel portion 7, and is connected to the direct connector 6 from the rear side.

The thin member 1 is a flexible printed circuit board (hereinafter, referred to as FPC) or a flexible flat cable (hereinafter, referred to as FFC), and has a plurality of

terminal portions

11, 11 … arranged in parallel at an interval in the width direction at its end portion.

As shown in fig. 4, the housing 2 is integrated by joining a thin-member-side housing member 21 having a thin-member insertion opening 211 and a direct-connection-connector-side housing member 22 to which the direct connection connector 6 is connected to each other in a state in which the

contacts

3, 4, 5 are enclosed.

The thin member-side seat member 21 is integrally formed of an insulating resin material, and includes a rectangular parallelepiped main body portion 212, a convex portion 213 protruding from one end surface of the main body portion 212, and a flange portion 214 protruding toward the outer periphery of the main body portion 212.

The body portion 212 is formed with a recessed fitting portion 215 that opens to one end (rear end), the direct connection connector side seat member 22 is fitted to the fitting portion 215, and the thin member side seat member 21 and the direct connection connector side seat member 22 are integrated.

Further, in the body portion 212, a plurality of

contact insertion grooves

216, 216 … communicating with the thin-shaped member insertion port 211 are arranged at intervals in the width direction, and the

contact insertion grooves

216, 216 are opened to the engagement end surface 215a engaged with the direct connection connector side housing member 22 on the rear side of the fitting portion 215.

Further, projecting strip-shaped

anti-breaking projections

217 and 217 are integrally projected from the upper and lower edges of the

contact insertion grooves

216 and 216 … on the joining end surface 215a on the back side of the fitting portion 215.

The thin member insertion port 211 is formed in a slit hole shape that opens to the front surface of the convex portion 213 and has the same depth as the

contact insertion grooves

216, 216 …, and communicates with the

contact insertion grooves

216, 216 … arranged in parallel on the bottom surface side thereof.

The direct connection connector side housing member 22 is integrally formed of an insulating resin, and includes an insertion portion 221 that is inserted into the insertion portion 215 of the thin member side housing member 21, and a connector connecting portion 222 that is disposed on the rear end side of the insertion portion 221.

The fitting portion 221 is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape into which the fitting portion 215 can be fitted, and a plurality of

contact insertion holes

223, 223 … penetrating in the joining direction are arranged in a matrix arrangement, i.e., in a plurality of rows arranged in the longitudinal and transverse directions with a space therebetween (in this embodiment, a matrix arrangement of three vertical rows and five horizontal rows is adopted).

Further, engaging

members

224, 224 are integrally supported at the upper and lower end edges of the fitting portion 221, and by fitting the fitting portion 221 into the fitting portion 215 of the thin member-side seat member 21, the

engaging members

224, 224 are engaged with the seat engaging hole 218 formed in the fitting portion 215, and the thin member-side seat member 21 and the direct connector-side seat member 22 are fixed.

The connector connecting portion 222 is formed in a concave hole shape surrounded by a peripheral wall and communicating with the

contact insertion holes

223, 223 …, and includes a pair of upper and

lower guide ribs

225a, 225b protruding inward and guiding the direct connector 6, and is guided by the

guide ribs

225a, 225b and fitted to the direct connector 6.

The upper and

lower guide ribs

225a, 225b are formed in a projecting strip shape continuous in the insertion direction of the direct connector 6, and have different widths from each other.

Further, cantilever spring-

like mounting members

226, 226 extending obliquely outward toward the thin member-side seat member 21 side are supported on both side surfaces of the connector connecting portion 222.

When the intermediate connector a is inserted into the opening 71 of the panel unit, the

mounting members

226 and 226 pass through the opening 71 while being bent, and then elastically return to the original state, and the distal end portions thereof engage with the rear-side opening edge portion of the opening 71 to sandwich the panel unit 7 together with the flange portion 214.

Each of the

contacts

3, 4, and 5 is formed by punching and bending a conductive metal material, and includes: thin-member-side contact pieces 31 inserted from the joining surface side of the thin-member-side seat member 21 and horizontally arranged in the thin-member insertion openings 211 at intervals; connector side

contact piece portions

32, 42, 52 inserted from the joining surface side of the direct connector side housing member 22 and arranged at the connector connecting portion 222 with a space therebetween in the row and column direction; and connecting

pieces

33, 43, 53 connecting the thin-member-side contact piece 31 and the connector-

side contact pieces

32, 42, 52.

The

contacts

3, 4, 5 are constituted as a set of a plurality of types (three types in the present embodiment) of

contacts

3, 4, 5 having different shapes of the connecting

piece portions

33, 43, 53, and in each unit, the connector side

contact piece portions

32, 42, 52 are arranged in a column with respect to the thin member

side contact pieces

31, 31 arranged in parallel in the horizontal direction.

Then, the thin-member-side housing member 21 and the direct-connection-connector-side housing member 22 are joined so as to sandwich a plurality of units including the plurality of types (three types in the present embodiment) of

contacts

3, 4, 5 having different shapes of the connecting

piece portions

33, 43, 53, whereby the respective thin-member-side contact piece portions 31 are arranged in parallel in the thin-member insertion opening 211 and the respective connector-side

contact piece portions

32, 42, 52 are arranged in a matrix in the connector connecting portion 222, and are assembled to the housing 2.

The thin-member-side contact piece portion 31 has a long, plate-like press-in piece portion 311 and an elastic contact portion 312 that is folded back from the tip end side of the press-in piece portion 311 and supported, and by inserting the elastic contact portion 312 into the

contact insertion grooves

216, 216 … of the thin-member-side seat member 21 from the engagement end surface side, the elastic contact portion 312 protrudes toward the thin-member insertion hole 211 and comes into contact with the

contact terminals

11, 11 of the thin member 1.

The press-in piece portion 311 includes

engagement tabs

313, 313 protruding to both side edges, and the thin-member-side contact piece portion 31 is fixed by inserting the

engagement tabs

313, 313 from the engagement end surface side of the thin-member-side seat member 21 into the

contact insertion grooves

216, 216 …, and engaging the

engagement tabs

313, 313 with both side edges of the

contact insertion grooves

216, 216 ….

The elastic contact portion 312 is formed in a cantilever spring shape whose base end is supported by the tip end of the press-in piece portion, and an arc-shaped contact point portion 312a is integrally formed at the tip end thereof.

The connector-side

contact piece portions

32, 42, 52 are formed in an elongated pin shape, are press-fitted into the

contact insertion holes

223, 223 … of the direct-connection connector-side housing member 22, and have distal ends projecting toward the connector connecting portion 222. The reference numeral 34 denotes engaging tabs, and the

engaging tabs

34 and 34 are engaged with the inner surfaces of the contact insertion holes 223 and 223 … and fixed to the direct connection connector side housing member 22.

The connecting piece portion 33 of the contact 3 is bent from the rear end of the thin-member-side contact portion 31 and extends obliquely upward toward the contact 4 at a predetermined angle, the connecting piece portion 53 of the contact 5 is bent from the rear end of the thin-member-side contact portion 31 and extends obliquely downward toward the contact 4 at a predetermined angle, the connecting piece portion 43 of the contact 4 is arranged to linearly connect the thin-member-side contact portion 31 and the connector-side contact piece portion 42, and the connecting

piece portions

33, 43, 53 are accommodated between the joint end surface of the thin-member-side housing member 21 and the joint end surface of the directly-connected connector-side housing member 22.

Thus, in the

contacts

3, 4, 5 having the different shapes of the connecting

piece portions

33, 43, 53, the thin-member-side contact pieces 31 are arranged in parallel with each other in the horizontal direction, and the connector-side

contact piece portions

32, 42, 52 are arranged in a vertical row with a space therebetween.

When the thin member-side seat member 21 and the direct connection connector-side seat member 22 are joined, the front surfaces of the connecting

pieces

33 and 53 abut on the

anti-fracture protrusions

217 and 217, and the connector-

side contact pieces

32 and 52 are press-fitted into the contact insertion holes 223 and 223 … while being supported by the

anti-fracture protrusions

217 and 217.

The direct connector 6 includes a resin direct connector housing 61 and

connection terminals

62 and 62 supported by the housing 2, and is fitted into the connector connection portion 222, so that the connector-

side contact pieces

32, 42, and 52 protruding into the connector connection portion 222 are fitted into and connected to the

connection terminals

62 and 62 ….

In the present embodiment, the respective direct-connected

connectors

6, 6 … are connected in parallel using a plurality of direct-connected

connectors

6, 6 … that hold the three-

stage connection terminals

62, 62 … in the longitudinal direction.

The direct connection connector housing 61 is formed in a vertically thin rectangular parallelepiped shape, and terminal insertion holes 611 and … penetrating in the joining direction are arranged side by side in the vertical direction, and the

connection terminals

62 and 62 … to which the lead wire 63 is crimped are press-fitted into the terminal insertion holes 611 and … from the rear end side.

The direct connector housing 61 supports the

elastic engagement pieces

64 and 64 on the upper and lower surfaces thereof, respectively, and the

elastic engagement pieces

64 and 64 engage with the connector connection engagement holes 219 that are open on the upper and lower surfaces of the housing 2 by being fitted to the connector connection portions 222.

The

vertical guide grooves

612a and 612b are provided in the vertical edge portion of one side surface of the direct connection connector holder body 61, and extend in the engagement direction in which the

vertical guide ribs

225a and 225b formed in the connector connection portion 222 are inserted into each other.

The

guide grooves

612a and 612b are formed to have different widths in accordance with the widths of the

guide ribs

225a and 225b, respectively, and when the

guide grooves

612a and 612b are erroneously inserted, the

guide grooves

612a and 612b cannot be inserted because they cannot be matched with the widths of the

guide ribs

225a and 225 b.

The embodiment of the direct connector 6 is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various types of direct connectors having different numbers of poles may be used, for example, the direct connector 81 in which the

connection terminals

62 and 62 … … of all the poles (15 poles) are held in one direct connector housing as shown in fig. 10 (a), the direct connector in which two six-pole

direct connectors

82 and 82 are combined with the three-pole direct connector 6 as shown in fig. 10 (b), or the direct connector in which the six-pole direct connector 82 is combined with the nine-pole direct connector 83 as shown in fig. 10 (c).

In the relay connector a configured as described above, the housing 2 is configured by the thin member-side housing member 21 and the connector-side housing member 22, so that the thin member-side contact pieces 31 of the

contacts

3, 4, 5 can be arranged in parallel with each other in the horizontal direction, and the connector-

side contact pieces

32, 42, 52 can be accommodated in the housing 2 in a row-column arrangement.

This allows the direct-connection connector 6 to be freely arranged without depending on the width of the thin member 1, and allows easy routing.

In the above-described embodiment, the example in which the direct connector 6 is a harness connector has been described, but the embodiment of the direct connector 6 is not limited to the harness connector, and may be a connector using another interface.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where three types of

contacts

3, 4, 5 having different shapes of the connecting

piece portions

33, 43, 53 are combined and three rows of connector-side

contact piece portions

32, 42, 52 are arranged in the vertical direction has been described, but the number of poles in the vertical direction can be increased by changing the extension angles of the connecting

piece portions

33, 43, 53.

Claims

1. A relay connector is provided with: a base body having a thin member insertion opening into which the thin member is inserted; and a contact member which is in contact with the thin member inserted into the thin member insertion port, and to which a direct connection connector connected to a connector connection portion formed in the housing is connected via the contact member,

in the housing, a thin-member-side housing member having the thin-member insertion opening and a direct-connector-side housing member to which the direct connector is connected are joined to each other,

the relay connector includes a plurality of units including a plurality of types of contacts, and the contacts include: a thin-member-side contact piece portion inserted from the joining surface side of the thin-member-side seat member and arranged in parallel at a distance from each other in the horizontal direction at the thin-member insertion opening; connector-side contact pieces inserted from the joint surface side of the direct-connection-connector-side housing member and arranged in the connector connection portion so as to be spaced apart from each other and arranged in a line in the longitudinal direction in a direction orthogonal to the horizontal direction; and connecting piece portions of different shapes extending linearly in parallel and obliquely upward with respect to the joint end surface of the direct connector side housing member and in parallel and obliquely downward with respect to the joint end surface of the direct connector side housing member from the respective thin member side contact piece portions, respectively, connecting the thin member side contact piece portions and the connector side contact piece portions,

the thin-type member side contact pieces are arranged in parallel, and the connector side contact pieces are arranged in a matrix,

the connecting piece portion is accommodated between the thin member-side seat member and the direct-connection connector-side seat member.

2. The relay connector according to claim 1,

the thin member side seat member and/or the direct connector side seat member are provided with a breakage preventing projection which abuts against the connecting piece portion, at a joint end surface thereof.

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

the direct-connection connector side seat body component is provided with a mounting component clamped with a plate body for fixing the seat body.

4. The relay connector according to claim 1 or 2,

among the direct-connection connectors, a plurality of types of connectors having different numbers of poles are appropriately combined.

5. The relay connector according to claim 1 or 2,

the connector connecting portion includes: a fitting portion for fitting the direct connector; and a pair of upper and lower guide ribs projecting from the inside of the fitting portion and guiding the direct connector, the upper and lower guide ribs having different widths from each other.