CN111755865B

CN111755865B - Electric connector and manufacturing method thereof

Info

Publication number: CN111755865B
Application number: CN202010228666.8A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 村上阳彦; 广濑义仁
Original assignee: Hirose Electric Co Ltd
Current assignee: Hirose Electric Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-03-29
Filing date: 2020-03-27
Publication date: 2022-04-19
Anticipated expiration: 2040-03-27
Also published as: TWI771650B; JP2020167081A; CN111755865A; KR20200115291A; KR102524171B1; TW202044673A; JP7011621B2

Abstract

An electrical connector and a method for manufacturing the same, which can be manufactured simply and inexpensively with less man-hours even if reinforcing metal fittings having different shapes are provided. The metal member has a plurality of kinds of metal members (40, 50) different in shape from each other, one metal member (40) and the other metal member (50) of the plurality of kinds of metal members (40, 50) have connection portions (42, 52) connected to the mounting surface of the circuit substrate at the same side as each other with respect to the housing 10 in the front-rear direction, a bending angle of a bent portion (44, 45) of one kind of metal member (40) with respect to the mounting surface and a bending angle of a bent portion (54, 55) of the other metal member (50) with respect to the mounting surface are different from each other, and a portion of the one kind of metal member (40) other than the bent portion and a portion of the other metal member (50) other than the bent portion are constituted in the same shape as each other.

Description

Electric connector and manufacturing method thereof

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an electrical connector which is mounted on a mounting surface of a circuit board and into which a mating connector is inserted and removed, and a method of manufacturing the electrical connector.

Background

For example, patent document 1 discloses an electrical connector. The electrical connector described in patent document 1 is attached to a mounting surface of a circuit board (PCB), and a flexible cable (flat conductor) as a counterpart connector is inserted and removed in a front-rear direction parallel to the mounting surface. The electric connector comprises: a resin-made housing that allows insertion of a flexible cable; a plurality of contact terminals made of a metal plate, a plurality of front mounting nails (reinforcing metal fittings) made of a metal plate, and a side mounting nail (reinforcing metal fitting) made of a metal plate, which are held by the housing; an ear clip, the ear clip being moveable relative to the housing.

The contact terminal is a terminal that can be brought into contact with a flexible cable, and is held in a housing in a state where the contact terminal is aligned with a connector width direction that is parallel to a mounting surface and at right angles to a front-rear direction as an alignment direction. The front mounting nail and the side mounting nail are welded and connected to the corresponding part of the mounting surface and fixed, thereby constituting a reinforced metal fitting which improves the mounting strength of the electric connector towards the mounting surface. The front mounting nails are aligned in the width direction of the connector at a position forward of the contact terminals and held by the housing. The side mounting nails are held to the housing at both end positions of the housing in the connector width direction, i.e., at both sides of the arrangement range of the front mounting nails in the connector width direction. The ear clip is rotatable between an open position for allowing insertion of the flexible cable into the housing and a closed position for increasing a contact pressure with the contact terminal by pressing the inserted flat type conductor from above.

Documents of the prior art

Patent document

Patent document 1: japanese patent laid-open No. 2014-239035

Disclosure of Invention

Technical problem to be solved by the invention

In patent document 1, the front attachment nail and the side attachment nail are both made of a metal plate and are configured in different shapes from each other. In manufacturing the connector, the front mounting nail and the side mounting nail are manufactured by bending a metal plate member formed by blanking in a plate thickness direction, and then the front mounting nail and the side mounting nail are press-fitted from the front to a corresponding mounting groove portion of the housing and mounted.

In this case, all of the punching, bending, and press-fitting of the front attachment nail and the side attachment nail are performed in different steps. Therefore, the number of steps for manufacturing the connector increases, and as a result, the manufacturing cost increases.

In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector and a method of manufacturing the electrical connector, which can be manufactured easily and inexpensively with a small number of steps even if reinforcing metal fittings having different shapes are provided.

Technical scheme for solving technical problem

According to the present invention, the above-described problems are solved by the electrical connectors of the first and second inventions and the method of manufacturing the electrical connector of the third invention described below.

< first invention >

An electrical connector according to a first aspect of the present invention is an electrical connector which is mounted on a mounting surface of a circuit board and into which a mating connector is inserted and removed in a front-rear direction, the electrical connector including a plurality of metal members arranged with a width direction of the mating connector perpendicular to the front-rear direction as an arrangement direction, and a housing which holds the plurality of metal members by integral molding, the metal members being made of rolled metal plates, a rolled surface of each of the metal members being parallel to the arrangement direction, and a bent portion which is bent in a plate thickness direction of the metal member being provided at an intermediate position in the front-rear direction of the metal member.

In the above electrical connector, a first invention is characterized in that the metal member has a plurality of kinds of metal members different in shape from each other, one and the other of the plurality of kinds of metal members have connection portions connected to the mounting surface at the same side from the housing in the front-rear direction, a bending angle of the bent portion of the one metal member with respect to the mounting surface and a bending angle of the bent portion of the other metal member with respect to the mounting surface are different from each other, and a portion of the one metal member other than the bent portion and a portion of the other metal member other than the bent portion are constituted in the same shape as each other.

In the first invention, a bending angle of the bent portion with respect to the mounting surface of the one metal member and a bending angle of the bent portion with respect to the mounting surface of the other metal member in a plurality of kinds of metal members are different from each other, and a portion of the one metal member other than the bent portion and a portion of the other metal member other than the bent portion are constituted to be the same shape as each other. Therefore, by bending a part of the plurality of metal plate members of the same shape connected to the same carrier at the angle of the bent portion of the one metal member and bending the remaining part of the metal plate members at the angle of the bent portion of the other metal member, both the one metal member and the other metal member can be easily manufactured by the metal plate members of the same shape. As a result, the manufacturing work efficiency of the two kinds of metal members, more specifically, the electric connector is improved.

Here, the bent portion of the one metal member and the bent portion of the other metal member do not have to be located at the same position as each other in the front-rear direction, and even in the case of being located at different positions in the front-rear direction, the scope of the first invention is included as long as the one metal member and the other metal member are made of metal plate members of the same shape. The mating connector is electrically connected to the electrical connector of the present invention, and examples thereof include a flat conductor such as an FPC inserted into and connected to the electrical connector, and another electrical connector fitted into and connected to the electrical connector.

In the first invention, it is preferable that the flat conductor as the mating connector is inserted and removed in the front-rear direction, the electrical connector has a movable member that is moveable relative to the housing between a first position and a second position, the one metal member and the other metal member have the connecting portion at one end side, and a blocking portion that blocks movement of the movable member in a thickness direction of the connector that is perpendicular to both the front-rear direction and the arrangement direction of the metal members, the prevention portion of the one metal member and the prevention portion of the other metal member are located at positions different from each other in the thickness direction of the connector, the prevention portion of the one kind of metal member prevents the movement of the movable member from one side in the thickness direction of the connector, the prevention portion of the other metal member prevents the movement of the movable member from the other side in the thickness direction of the connector.

By adopting the above configuration, one metal member and the other metal member for preventing the movement of the movable member in the connector thickness direction from the opposite sides can be produced by the metal plate members of the same shape.

In the first aspect of the invention, it is preferable that one end portion of the one metal member in the front-rear direction is held by the housing and is configured in a cantilever beam shape, and both end portions of the other metal member in the front-rear direction are held by the housing and are configured in a double support beam shape. In the first invention, it is preferable that the number of the one metal member is larger than the number of the other metal member.

< second invention >

An electrical connector according to a second aspect of the present invention is an electrical connector which is mounted on a mounting surface of a circuit board and into which a mating connector body is inserted and removed in a front-rear direction, and includes a plurality of metal members arranged with a width direction of the mating connector body at right angles to the front-rear direction as an arrangement direction, and a housing which holds the plurality of metal members by integral molding.

In the electrical connector, the second invention is characterized in that the metal member has a plurality of kinds of metal members having different shapes from each other, one of the plurality of kinds of metal members and another metal member have connection portions connected to the mounting surface at the same side as each other with respect to the housing in the front-rear direction, and the other metal member is configured in a shape in which a part of the one metal member is cut out.

In the second invention, the another metal member of the plurality of metal members is formed in a shape in which a part of the one metal member is cut out. Therefore, the another metal member can be produced by cutting out a part of the metal plate member corresponding to the another metal member among the plurality of metal plate members of the same shape joined to the same carrier. As a result, the two kinds of metal members, i.e., the one kind of metal member and the other kind of metal member, can be produced by the metal plate members having the same shape, so that the efficiency of the manufacturing operation of the two kinds of metal members, i.e., the electric connector, can be improved.

In the second aspect of the invention, it is preferable that the one metal member is a terminal for connecting to a mating connecting body, the terminal has the connecting portion on one end side and a contact arm portion extending in a front-rear direction and contactable with the mating connecting body on the other end side, and the other metal member is a reinforcing metal fitting for fixing to a circuit board, the reinforcing metal fitting being formed in a shape in which the contact arm portion of the terminal is cut out.

With the above configuration, the terminal and the reinforcing metal fitting can be manufactured by the metal plate members having the same shape.

< third invention >

In the method of manufacturing an electrical connector according to the third aspect of the invention, the electrical connector is mounted on a mounting surface of a circuit board and a mating connector is inserted and removed in a front-rear direction, and the electrical connector includes a plurality of metal members arranged with a width direction of the mating connector at right angles to the front-rear direction as an arrangement direction, and a housing that holds the plurality of metal members by integral molding.

In the above-described method of manufacturing an electrical connector, a third aspect of the invention is characterized in that a strip-shaped rolled metal plate is punched to form a carrier-attached sliver piece having a carrier extending in the arrangement direction and a plurality of carrier-attached sliver pieces arranged in a row in the arrangement direction and extending in the front-rear direction from the carrier and having the same shape, one bent sliver piece having a bent portion bent at a predetermined angle at a middle position in the front-rear direction of the sliver piece is formed by bending a part of the plurality of sliver pieces in the plate thickness direction, and the other bent sliver piece having a bent portion bent at an angle different from the predetermined angle at a middle position in the front-rear direction of the other part of the plurality of sliver pieces is formed by bending the other part of the plurality of sliver pieces in the plate thickness direction, the one curved strip and the other curved strip are held together by being molded integrally with the housing, the carrier is cut off from all the curved strips, and the one curved strip is provided as one metal member and the other curved strip is provided as the other metal member.

In the third invention, one kind of bent strip piece is formed by bending a part of a plurality of strip pieces of the same shape provided to a strip piece with a carrier, and the other kind of bent strip piece is formed by bending the remaining strip piece, and after the strip pieces are integrally molded with a housing, the carrier is cut off from the bent strip pieces to form one kind of metal member and the other kind of metal member. Therefore, the two metal members, i.e., the one metal member and the other metal member, can be easily manufactured by the strip pieces having the same shape, so that the manufacturing work efficiency of the two metal members, i.e., the electrical connector, can be improved.

In the third invention, it is preferable that one end side portion of the one kind of the curved strip piece in the front-rear direction and both end side portions of the other kind of the curved strip piece in the front-rear direction are integrally molded with the housing, so that the one kind of the metal member is held in a cantilever beam shape by the housing and the other kind of the metal member is held in a double support beam shape. In the third invention, it is preferable that the number of the one metal member is larger than the number of the other metal member.

Effects of the invention

In the first invention, as described above, the bending angle of the bent portion of the one metal member of the plurality of metal members with respect to the mounting portion and the bending angle of the bent portion of the other metal member with respect to the mounting portion are different from each other, and the portion of the one metal member other than the bent portion and the portion of the other metal member other than the bent portion are formed in the same shape as each other, and further, in the second invention, the other material of the plurality of metal members is formed in a shape in which a part of the one metal member is cut out, and therefore, according to the first invention and the second invention, the two metal members can be produced by a metal plate member having the same shape. In the third invention, the two metal members can be produced by bending the strip pieces having the same shape and then separating the bent strip pieces from the carrier. Therefore, according to the first to third aspects of the present invention, the manufacturing work efficiency of the two kinds of metal members, more specifically, the electric connector can be improved.

Drawings

Fig. 1 (a) is a perspective view showing the electrical connector according to the embodiment of the present invention together with the flat-type conductor, and shows a state immediately before the flat-type conductor is inserted, and fig. 1 (B) is a perspective view showing a part of a rear end side portion of the electrical connector of (a) in an enlarged manner.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the electrical connector of fig. 1 (a) in a state in which the movable member is separated upward, (a) shows a state seen from the rear side, and (B) shows a state seen from the front side.

Fig. 3 (a) is a perspective view showing the terminal and the reinforcing metal fitting extracted from the electrical connector of fig. 1 (a), fig. 3 (B) is a side view of the first metal fitting, and fig. 3 (C) is a side view of the second metal fitting.

Fig. 4 (a) is a cross-sectional view of the electrical connector of fig. 1 (a) at a position of an upper arm portion of the first metal fitting in the vertical direction, and fig. 4 (B) is a partially enlarged view showing a vicinity of a protrusion of the first metal fitting of (a).

Fig. 5 is a plan view showing two strip pieces with carriers for forming terminals and reinforcing metal fittings in a state where the strip pieces are bent into bent strip pieces.

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of the electrical connector at the vi-vi position of fig. 4 (a), showing a state where the mold is removed and a state where the mold is disposed at the time of integral molding.

Fig. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view of the electric connector at the vii-vii position of fig. 4 (a), (a) shows a state after the mold is removed, and (B) shows a state where the mold is disposed at the time of integral molding.

Fig. 8 is a longitudinal sectional view of the electrical connector at positions viii-viii in fig. 4 (a), (a) shows a state where the mold is removed, and (B) shows a state where the mold is disposed at the time of integral molding.

Fig. 9 is a longitudinal sectional view of the electrical connector immediately before insertion of the flat conductive member, where (a) shows a cross section at the position of the first metal fitting, (B) shows a cross section at the position of the locking portion of the movable member, and (C) shows a cross section at the position of the restricted portion of the movable member.

Fig. 10 is a longitudinal sectional view of the electrical connector in a state where the insertion of the flat conductor is completed, (a) shows a cross section at a position of the first metal fitting, (B) shows a cross section at a position of the locking portion of the movable member, and (C) shows a cross section at a position of the restricted portion of the movable member.

Fig. 11 is a longitudinal sectional view of the electrical connector in a state where the connecting operation with the flat conductive member is completed, (a) shows a cross section at a position of the first metal fitting, (B) shows a cross section at a position of the locking portion of the movable member, and (C) shows a cross section at a position of the restricted portion of the movable member.

Description of the symbols

1, a connector;

10a housing;

10B rear frame portion (holding wall);

10B-1 projected strip parts;

10B-2 trough portion;

the bottom surface of the 10B-2A groove;

a 15C-2 restriction;

17A receiving part;

20 terminals;

a 20S signal terminal;

a 20G ground terminal;

21a contact arm portion;

21A contact portion;

22 a connecting part;

a 22S signal connection;

22G ground connection;

23a held portion;

23A, exposing the held part on the upper surface;

23D upper side bent portion;

23E lower side bent portion;

30 a movable member;

34 end plate portions (extending portions);

35A first shaft portion (blocked portion);

35B second shaft portion (blocked portion);

40 a first metal fitting (reinforcing metal fitting);

41B a first narrow arm portion (blocking portion);

42 a first fixing portion (connecting portion);

44 upper side bent part;

45 lower side bent portion;

50 a second metal fitting (reinforcing metal fitting);

51B second narrow arm portions (blocking portions);

52 second fixing portions (connecting portions);

54 upper side bent part;

55 lower side bent part;

60 a third metal fitting (reinforcing metal fitting);

62 a third fixing portion (connecting portion);

64 upper side bent part;

65 lower side bent portion;

101 a strip with a carrier;

102 a strip of carrier;

120 bending the sliver sheet;

140 bending the sliver;

150 bending the sliver;

160 bending the strip sheet;

f flat conductors (mating connectors);

b, a circuit substrate;

a C1 vector;

c2 vector.

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing an electrical connector 1 (hereinafter referred to as "connector 1") of the present embodiment together with a flat-type conductor F, and shows a state immediately before insertion of the flat-type conductor F. The connector 1 is a flat conductor electrical connector mounted on a mounting surface of a circuit board B, and is configured to allow a flat conductor F to be connected in an insertable manner with a front-rear direction (X-axis direction) parallel to the mounting surface as an insertion/removal direction. The connector 1 electrically connects the circuit board B and the flat conductor F by connecting the flat conductor F. In the present embodiment, the X1 direction is defined as the front and the X2 direction is defined as the rear with respect to the X axis direction (front-rear direction). In a plane (XY plane) parallel to the mounting surface of the circuit board, a Y-axis direction perpendicular to the front-back direction (X-axis direction) is defined as a connector width direction, and a Z-axis direction (vertical direction) perpendicular to the mounting surface of the circuit board is defined as a connector thickness direction.

The flat conductor F is formed in a strip shape extending in the front-rear direction (X-axis direction) with the connector width direction (Y-axis direction) set as the width direction, and a plurality of signal circuit portions and a plurality of ground circuit portions (not shown) extending in the front-rear direction are formed so as to be aligned in the connector width direction. Hereinafter, when it is not necessary to distinguish between the signal circuit section and the ground circuit section, the signal circuit section and the ground circuit section are collectively referred to as "circuit section". The circuit portion is embedded in the insulating layer of the flat conductor F and extends in the front-rear direction so as to reach the front end position of the flat conductor F. Only the front end side portion of the circuit portion has a connection circuit portion (not shown) exposed to the lower surface of the flat conductor F, and is contactable with a terminal 20 of the connector 1 described later. Further, notches F1 are formed on both side edges of the distal end side portion of the flat conductor F, and the rear end edge of the ear portion F2 located forward of the notch F1 functions as a locked portion F2A locked to a locking portion described later of the connector 1.

The connector 1 has: a case 10 made of an electrically insulating material (resin in the present embodiment); a movable member 30 made of an electrically insulating material (resin in the present embodiment), the movable member 30 being rotatable relative to the housing 10 between an open position as a first position described later and a closed position as a second position; the connector 1 is configured such that the terminal 20, which is a metal member, the first reinforcing metal fitting 40 (hereinafter referred to as "first metal fitting 40"), the second reinforcing metal fitting 50 (hereinafter referred to as "second metal fitting 50"), and the third reinforcing metal fitting 60 (hereinafter referred to as "third metal fitting 60") (see also fig. 2 a) are held by the housing 10 by integral molding, and the flat conductor F is inserted and connected from the rear in the arrow direction as shown in fig. 1 a. In addition, in the present embodiment, the movable member 30 has a function as a pressing member that presses the flat-type conductor F against the terminal 20 at the above-described closed position.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the connector 1 of fig. 1 (a) in a state in which the movable member 30 is separated upward, (a) shows a state seen from the rear side, and (B) shows a state seen from the front side. As shown in fig. 2a, the housing 10 has a rectangular frame shape with a connector width direction (Y-axis direction) as a longitudinal direction when viewed from above, and the housing 10 includes a front frame portion 10A and a rear frame portion 10B extending in the connector width direction in parallel with each other, and a pair of side frame portions 10C located symmetrically in the connector width direction and connecting end portions of the front frame portion 10A and the rear frame portion 10B to each other.

As shown in fig. 2B, the front frame 10A includes a front base 11 and a front wall 12, wherein the front base 11 is configured to face the circuit board B (see fig. 1) and be a lower portion, and the front wall 12 is formed to stand upward from the front base 11 and to extend over the terminal arrangement range in the connector width direction. The front base 11 and the front wall 12 of the front frame 10A constitute a holding wall for aligning and holding the first metal fittings 40 by integral molding (see fig. 6 a). The upper surface of the front wall 12 is configured to be in contact with the lower surface of the movable member 30 located at the closed position, and to face the lower surface (see fig. 11 a), and to restrict the movable member 30 from being excessively displaced downward.

The rear frame portion 10B extends in the connector width direction over the terminal arrangement range, forms a bottom wall with an opening at the rear of the receiving portion 17A, which will be described later, and is configured as a holding wall for arranging and holding the terminals 20 by integral molding (see fig. 9 a). As shown in fig. 1 (B), the rear frame portion 10B includes a protruding portion 10B-1 and a groove portion 10B-2, wherein the protruding portion 10B-1 extends in the front-rear direction at a position between the adjacent terminals 20 in the connector width direction and at the upper surface of the rear frame portion 10B, and the groove portion 10B-2 is hidden from the protruding portion 10B-1 and penetrates in the front-rear direction at a position between the adjacent protruding portions 10B-1, in other words, at the position of the terminal 20 in the connector width direction. The groove bottom surface 10B-2A, which is the bottom surface of the groove-like portion 10B-2, exposes the upper surface of the held portion 23A, which is the upper surface of the terminal 20, and the groove bottom surface 10B-2A is flush with the upper surface of the held portion 23A. That is, the upper surface of the ridge portion 10B-1 is located above the upper surface of the terminal 20 where the held portion 23A is exposed.

As shown in fig. 3 (B), the side frame portion 10C is configured as a side wall 15 that connects the front base portion 11 and the end portion of the rear frame portion 10B in the connector width direction. As shown in fig. 1 and 2 (a) and (B), the side wall 15 is formed with a space that penetrates in the vertical direction and is open to the inside in the connector width direction, at a position near the rear end of the side wall 15, and an accommodation hole portion 15A that accommodates an end plate portion 34 and a second shaft portion 35B, which will be described later, of the movable member 30.

As shown in fig. 1 (a), the side wall 15 includes a front side wall 15B located forward of the housing hole 15A, a rear side wall 15C located rearward, and an end side wall 15D located outward in the connector width direction. That is, the housing hole 15A is formed by surrounding the front side wall 15B, the rear side wall 15C, and the end side wall 15D from three sides. In the present embodiment, as shown in fig. 8 (a), the front surface of the rear side wall 15C forming the inner wall surface of the housing hole portion 15A is configured to be recessed vertically from a position close to the upper end to the lower end at a position corresponding to the end plate portion 34 of the movable member 30 described later in the connector width direction, and a rear concave portion 15C-1 is formed. The rear recess 15C-1 is open forward and downward, and the upper end thereof is closed by a restriction 15C-2. As shown in fig. 11 (C), when the movable member 30 is in the closed position, the restriction portion 15C-2 is positioned directly above a restricted portion 34A, described later, of the movable member 30, faces the restricted portion 34A from above, and is in a state capable of being engaged with the restricted portion 34A. As a result, when the movable member 30 is rotated to the closed position, the restricting portion 15C-2 restricts further rotation and upward movement of the movable member 30.

As shown in fig. 6 (a), the housing 10 is formed with a space 17 having a receiving portion 17A, a receiving recess 17B, and a bottom hole portion 17C. That is, as can be seen from fig. 6 (a), the space 17 includes: a receiving portion 17A for receiving the flat type conductor F inserted toward the front; a housing recess 17B located above the receiving portion 17A and housing the movable member 30 located at the closed position; a bottom hole portion 17C, the bottom hole portion 17C is positioned below the receiving portion 17A.

The receiving portion 17A is located above the rear frame portion 10B in the vertical direction (Z-axis direction) and below a cover plate portion 32 (see fig. 11 a) of the movable member 30 located at the closed position, and is formed to extend from the rear end of the connector 1 to the rear surface of the front wall 12 of the housing 10 in the front-rear direction (X-axis direction), and to extend between the two side walls 15 in the connector width direction (Y-axis direction). The receiving portion 17A is opened rearward, and the receiving portion 17A is also opened upward, so that the front end side portion of the flat conductor F can be received from behind. Further, since the receiving portion 17A is opened not only rearward but also upward, the flat conductor F can be received in an inclined posture at the rear portion of the receiving portion 17A.

The housing recess 17B is located above the receiving portion 17A and communicates with the receiving portion 17A, and is formed between the two side walls 15 in the connector width direction. As shown in fig. 6 (a), the receiving recess 17B is formed as a space that penetrates in the vertical direction and is open rearward, so that most of the rotation base 35 of the movable member 30 is received in the rear half thereof. In the present embodiment, the housing recess 17B is located above the receiving portion 17A, but the term "located above" also includes a state in which the housing portion 17B is formed so as to partially overlap the receiving portion 17A in the vertical direction.

The bottom hole portion 17C is formed as a space surrounded by a rectangular frame-shaped portion (a portion constituted by the front frame portion 10A, the rear frame portion 10B, and the side frame portion 10C) of the housing 10 and penetrating in the vertical direction.

As shown in fig. 1, the terminals 20 are arranged and held in the rear frame portion 10B of the housing 10 over the range of the receiving portion 17A of the housing 10 in the connector width direction. The terminals 20 are provided at the same positions as the groove portions 10B-2 of the rear frame portion 10B in the connector width direction, in other words, at positions between the adjacent ridge portions 10B-1.

In the present embodiment, all the terminals 20 provided to the connector 1 have the same shape, and a part of the terminals 20 is used as the signal terminal 20S for transmitting a signal, and the other part of the terminals 20 is used as the ground terminal 20G. Hereinafter, when it is not necessary to distinguish the signal terminal 20S from the ground terminal 20G, an "S" is given to the end of the symbol of each part of the signal terminal 20S (for example, a "signal connection part 22S" described later), and an "G" is given to the end of the symbol of each part of the ground terminal 20G (for example, a "ground connection part 22G" described later). In addition, in the case where it is not necessary to distinguish the signal terminal 20S from the ground terminal 20G, "S" and "G" are not marked at the end of the symbol.

In the present embodiment, the terminals 20 are arranged such that the ground terminals 20G are located on both sides of two adjacent signal terminals 20S. That is, the terminals 20 located at both ends in the arrangement direction of the terminals 20 (connector width direction) are configured as ground terminals 20G, and are repeatedly arranged in the order of the ground terminals 20G, the signal terminals 20S, and the signal terminals 20S. In the present embodiment, a high-speed differential signal is transmitted through the two adjacent signal terminals 20S.

The terminal 20 is formed by bending a strip-shaped metal plate member having a dimension in the connector width direction (Y-axis direction) as the terminal width direction in the plate thickness direction, and the overall shape of the terminal 20 is configured to be substantially crank-shaped when viewed in the connector width direction. As shown in fig. 3 (a), the terminal 20 includes: a contact arm portion 21 that extends in the front-rear direction (X-axis direction) and is elastically displaceable in the up-down direction (Z-axis direction); a connecting portion 22, the connecting portion 22 being located below the contact arm portion 21 and extending rearward; and a held portion 23, wherein the held portion 23 connects the rear end of the contact arm portion 21 and the front end of the connecting portion 22, and the held portion 23 is held by the rear frame portion 10B. In the present embodiment, the connection portion 22S of the signal terminal 20S is referred to as "signal connection portion 22S" and the connection portion 22G of the ground terminal 20G is referred to as "ground connection portion 22G" as needed.

As shown in fig. 3 (a), the contact arm portion 21 of the terminal 20 is formed in a cantilever shape whose width is narrowed toward the front, and has a contact portion 21A formed to be bent so as to protrude upward at a position near the front end. When the flat conductor F is inserted into the connector 1, the contact portion 21A can come into contact with a connection circuit portion (not shown) of the flat conductor F by the contact arm portion 21 being elastically displaced downward (see fig. 11A). As shown in fig. 1, the connecting portion 22 extends rearward from the rear frame portion 10B of the housing 10, and is connected by soldering to a corresponding circuit portion (pad) of a circuit board (not shown) on the lower surface thereof.

As shown in fig. 9 (a), the held portion 23 includes: a held portion 23A exposed on the upper surface, the held portion 23A extending in the front-rear direction along the upper surface of the rear frame portion 10B (the groove bottom surface of the groove portion 10B-2); a lower surface exposed held portion 23B extending in the front-rear direction along the lower surface of the rear frame portion 10B; an intermediate held portion 23C extending in the vertical direction and connecting a rear end of the upper surface exposure held portion 23A and a front end of the lower surface exposure held portion 23B; an upper bent portion 23D formed by bending at a boundary position where the rear end of the held portion 23A and the upper end of the intermediate held portion 23C are exposed on the upper surface; and a lower bent portion 23E formed by bending the lower bent portion 23E at a boundary position where the front end of the held portion 23B and the lower end of the intermediate held portion 23C are exposed on the lower surface, and the held portion 23 is formed in a crank shape when viewed in the connector width direction.

The held portion 23 is held by the rear frame portion 10B of the housing 10 by integral molding. As shown in fig. 1 (B), the upper surface of the upper surface exposed held portion 23A is exposed from the groove bottom surface 10B-2A of the groove portion 10B-2 at the front half portion of the groove portion 10B-2, and forms the same plane together with the groove bottom surface. The lower surface of the lower surface exposed held portion 23B is exposed from the lower surface of the rear frame portion 10B at the rear half portion of the rear frame portion 10B, and is flush with the lower surface. The intermediate held portion 23C is embedded in the rear frame portion 10B as a whole, and is held by the rear frame portion 10B over the entire peripheral surface of the intermediate held portion 23C.

In the present embodiment, as described above, the width of the contact arm portion 21 of the terminal 20 is narrowed toward the front, and as a result, the terminal width (dimension in the connector width direction) of the upper surface exposure held portion 23A is larger than the terminal width of the contact portion 21A located at the front of the upper surface exposure held portion 23A. As described above, since the width of the upper surface exposed held portion 23A is wider than the width of the contact portion 21A, the holding force of the housing 10 on the terminal 20 can be increased. Further, since the width of the contact portion 21A is narrow, elastic displacement at the contact portion 21A becomes easy.

As shown in fig. 2 (a) and (B) in which the movable member 30 is shown in the same posture as the posture at the open position, the movable member 30 has a main body portion 31 and a turning base portion 35, wherein the main body portion 31 is configured in a substantially plate shape expanding in the connector width direction (Y-axis direction) and the up-down direction (Z-axis direction), and the turning base portion 35 extends in the connector width direction and includes a turning axis at a lower side (Z2 side) and a forward side (X1 side) than the above-described main body portion 31. In the present embodiment, the movable member 30 rotates about the rotation axis between the open position and the closed position, but alternatively, for example, the movable member may slidably move in a plane perpendicular to the axis direction in accordance with the rotation about the rotation axis.

As shown in fig. 2 (a) and (B), the main body 31 has: a cover plate portion 32 that extends over the terminal arrangement range in the connector width direction, and covers the terminals 20 from above at a closed position (see fig. 11 a); an end wall portion 33, the end wall portion 33 being located outside the cover plate portion 32 in the connector width direction and extending in the up-down direction; and an end plate portion 34 that is an extension portion that extends outward in the connector width direction from a lower portion of the end wall portion 33 in the open position and is housed in the housing hole portion 15A of the housing 10 (see also fig. 1 a).

As shown in fig. 2 (a) and (B), the end wall portion 33 is located forward (downward in the closed position) of the cover plate portion 32 in the state where the movable member 30 is located at the open position, and extends in the vertical direction. As shown in fig. 2 (B), an engagement portion 33A protruding forward is formed at the lower end of the end wall portion 33. The upper surface of the locking portion 33A is configured as a locking surface 33A-1 (see also fig. 9B) inclined upward as it goes toward the front, and when the movable member 30 is located at the closed position, that is, in a state where the locking surface 33A-1 is inclined forward as it goes toward the lower side, the locking surface 33A-1 can be locked to the locked portion F2A of the flat conductor F from the rear (see fig. 11B).

As shown in fig. 2 (a) and (B), the end plate portion 34 is formed into an approximately fan-like shape that is curved convexly upward and forward as viewed in the connector width direction (see also fig. 8 (a) and (B)). As shown in fig. 1, the end plate portion 34 is accommodated in the accommodating hole portion 15A of the housing 10, and when the movable member 30 rotates between the open position and the closed position, the convex curved surface of the end plate portion 34 can be guided in the rotational direction by sliding contact with the front inner wall surface of the accommodating hole portion 15A, i.e., the rear surface of the front side wall 15B.

Further, the end plate portion 34 is formed in a shape in which a rear surface of a lower portion thereof when located at the open position is cut off, thereby forming a restricted portion 34A. The rear surface (flat surface perpendicular to the front-rear direction) of the restricted portion 34A when the movable member 30 is located at the open position is configured as a restricted surface 34A-1 which can be locked with the restricting surface 15C-2A of the restricting portion 15C-2 of the housing 10 at the closed position. Specifically, as shown in fig. 11 (C), when the movable member 30 is brought to the closed position, the restricted portion 34A enters the rear concave portion 15C-1 of the side wall 15 of the housing 10 so as to be located below the restricting portion 15C-2 of the housing 10. The restricted surface 34A-1 (upper surface at the closed position) of the restricted portion 34A and the restricting surface 15C-2A of the restricting portion 15C-2 face each other with a gap in the vertical direction, and are configured to be capable of being engaged with each other. As a result, even if the movable member 30 receives an external force for further rotating the movable member 30 rotated to the closed position or an external force for lifting up the movable member 30, the restricted surface 34A-1 is locked to the restricting surface 15C-2A from below, and therefore, the rotation and movement of the movable member 30 are restricted.

As shown in fig. 2 (B), the rotation base 35 includes a first shaft portion 35A, a second shaft portion 35B, and a plurality of coupling portions 35C, wherein the first shaft portion 35A extends over a range including the terminal arrangement range, the second shaft portion 35B is a square-column-shaped rotation shaft portion extending from both end surfaces of the end plate portion 34 outward in the terminal arrangement direction, and the plurality of coupling portions 35C couple the first shaft portion 35A and the body portion 31.

As shown in fig. 6 (a) and (B), a cross section of the first shaft portion 35A that is at right angles to the connector width direction when the movable member 30 is located at the open position is configured in a quadrangular shape extending in the front-rear direction. The first shaft portion 35A extends over a range including the terminal array range as described above, and couples the inner surfaces (the inner surfaces in the connector width direction) of the end wall portions 33 to each other (see fig. 2B). In any angular position of the movable member 30 in the rotational direction thereof, the portion of the first shaft portion 35A located at a position corresponding to the first metal fitting 40 in the connector width direction is located directly below the first narrow arm portion 41B serving as the blocking portion of the first metal fitting 40, and functions as a blocked portion in which upward movement is blocked by the first narrow arm portion 41B (see also fig. 9 to 11). That is, in the present embodiment, since the blocking portion and the blocked portion are arranged and present in the terminal array range, the movable member 30 can be blocked from moving upward over a wide range in the connector width direction without increasing the size of the connector 1 in the connector width direction.

As shown in fig. 2 (a) and (B), when the movable member 30 is located at the open position, the second shaft portion 35B is configured in a quadrangular shape extending in the vertical direction when viewed in the connector width direction. The second shaft portion 35B is accommodated in the accommodating hole portion 15A (see fig. 1) of the housing 10 together with the end plate portion 34. The second shaft portion 35B is located directly above the second narrow arm portion 51B as a blocking portion of the second metal fitting 50 regardless of the angular position of the movable member 30 in the rotational direction thereof, and functions as a blocked portion in which downward movement is blocked by the second narrow arm portion 51B (see fig. 7 (a) and (B)).

The coupling portion 35C is located at a position corresponding to between two first metal fittings 40 adjacent to each other, and as shown in fig. 2 (B), the coupling portion 35C has a narrow coupling portion 35C-1 constituting a rear half and coupled to the lower end of the main body portion 31 in a state where the movable member 30 is located at the open position, and a wide coupling portion 35C-2 constituting a front half and coupled to the upper surface of the first shaft portion 35A. As shown in fig. 4 (a) and (B), the wide coupling portion 35C-2 is formed to have a larger dimension in the connector width direction than the narrow coupling portion 35C-1, and the boundary position between the narrow coupling portion 35C-1 and the wide coupling portion 35C-2 is formed in a step-like shape.

As shown in fig. 2B, between the two coupling portions 35C adjacent to each other, an entry allowing portion 36 that allows a first narrow arm portion 41B of the first metal fitting 40, which will be described later, to enter from the front is formed so as to penetrate in the front-rear direction (see also fig. 4B). As shown in fig. 4 (B), the entry allowing unit 36 includes: a rear end housing portion 36A which is located between the narrow coupling portions 35C-1 and houses a rear end portion of the first narrow arm portion 41B in a state where the movable member 30 is located at the open position; and an insertion allowing portion 36B located between the wide coupling portions 35C-2, the insertion allowing portion 36B having a width narrower than that of the rear end housing portion 36A and allowing the first narrow arm portion 41B to be inserted therethrough (see also fig. 6A). As shown in fig. 6 (a), in a state where the movable member 30 is located at the open position, the front half of the rear end housing portion 36A is formed in a hole shape penetrating in the vertical direction, the rear half thereof is formed in a groove shape opening downward, and the insertion allowing portion 36B is formed in a groove shape opening upward.

As shown in fig. 3 (a) and (B), the first metal fitting 40 is manufactured by bending a strip-shaped metal plate having a dimension in the connector width direction (Y-axis direction) as the terminal width direction in the plate thickness direction, so that the first metal fitting 40 is formed in a substantially crank shape as a whole (see fig. 6 (a)). In the present embodiment, the number of the first metal fittings 40 is larger than the number of the second metal fittings 50 positioned in the same row as the first metal fittings. As shown in fig. 3 (B), the first metal fitting 40 includes: an upper arm portion 41, the upper arm portion 41 extending in the front-rear direction (X-axis direction); a first fixing portion 42, the first fixing portion 42 being a connecting portion extending forward at a position below the upper arm portion 41; a first connecting portion 43, the first connecting portion 43 connecting the front end of the upper arm portion 41 and the rear end of the first fixing portion 42; an upper bent portion 44 formed by bending the upper bent portion 44 at a boundary position between the front end of the upper arm portion 41 and the upper end of the first connecting portion 43; and a lower bent portion 45, the lower bent portion 45 being bent at a boundary position between a rear end of the first fixing portion 42 and a lower end of the first coupling portion 43. The first metal fitting 40 has the largest terminal width dimension (dimension in the Y-axis direction) at the first wide arm portion 41A of the upper arm portion 41 and the first connecting portion 43.

As shown in fig. 4 (a), the upper arm 41 includes: a first wide arm portion 41A embedded and held by the front frame portion 110A of the housing 10 by integral molding (see also fig. 6 a); and a first narrow arm portion 41B, the first narrow arm portion 41B being a stopper portion extending rearward from the first wide arm portion 41A. The rear end of the first narrow arm portion 41B is not held by the housing 10, and therefore, the upper arm portion 41 is configured in a cantilever shape.

The rear end portion of the first wide arm portion 41A extends rearward from the rear surface of the front frame portion 110A, and the rear end portion of the first wide arm portion 41A and the first narrow arm portion 41B are accommodated in the accommodating recess 17B of the housing 10 (see also fig. 6 a). As shown in fig. 4a, the terminal width dimension (dimension in the connector width direction) of the first narrow arm portion 41B is a dimension of a total of three terminals 20 including one ground terminal 20G in the connector width direction and one signal terminal 20S arranged on each of both sides of the ground terminal 20G.

In this way, by setting the terminal width dimension of the first metal fitting 40 in correspondence with the three terminals 20 including the one ground terminal 20G and the two signal terminals 20S, and repeatedly arranging the combination of the one first metal fitting 40 and the three terminals 20 in the connector width direction in a state where the three terminals 20 are positioned within the range of the one first metal fitting 40 in the connector width direction, the arrangement state of the terminals 20 and the first metal fittings 40 for transmitting a high-speed differential signal can be easily formed.

As shown in fig. 4 (a), (B), the first narrow arm portion 41B is narrower in width in the connector width direction than the first wide arm portion 41A, and a protrusion 41B-1 protruding to both sides in the connector width direction is formed at a rear end portion (free end portion) of the first narrow arm portion 41B. As shown in fig. 6 (a) and (B), the first narrow arm portion 41B has a portion extending forward and rearward from the first shaft portion 35A of the movable member 30 in the forward and rearward direction, and a rolled surface of the portion is exposed.

Regardless of the angular position of the movable member 30 in the rotational direction thereof, the first narrow arm portion 41B is positioned above the first shaft portion 35A of the movable member 30, and prevents the first shaft portion 35A, and more specifically the movable member 30, from moving upward while contacting the first shaft portion 35A, thereby preventing the movable member 30 from being disengaged upward from the housing 10 (see fig. 6a and 11 a). In the present embodiment, the lower surface of the first narrow arm portion 41B is in surface contact with the upper surface of the first shaft portion 35A regardless of whether the movable member 30 is located at the open position (see fig. 6 a) or the closed position (see fig. 11 a).

In the present embodiment, the first narrow arm portion 41B is located at a position in contact with the first shaft portion 35A, but may alternatively be located at a position having a slight gap in the vertical direction from the first shaft portion 35A. In this case, the first narrow arm portion 41B prevents the first shaft portion 35A from moving upward by a predetermined amount or more corresponding to the size of the gap.

The first narrow arm portion 41B enters the entry permitting portion 36 of the movable member 30 from the front. Specifically, the first narrow arm portion 41B is inserted into the insertion allowing portion 36B of the insertion allowing portion 36, and the rear end portion of the first narrow arm portion 41B reaches the outside of the insertion allowing portion 36B and is positioned in the rear end housing portion 36A. As shown in fig. 4 (B), the projection 41B-1 formed at the rear end of the first narrow arm portion 41B is located in the rear end accommodation portion 36A at a position opposed to and engageable with the rear surface of the wide coupling portion 35C-2 formed at the rotation base portion 35 of the movable member 30, and as a result, the movable member 30 is prevented from coming off rearward from the housing 10.

As shown in fig. 4 (B), the first narrow arm portion 41B is provided at the same position as the ground terminal 20G in the connector width direction, and is located between the signal terminals 20S positioned on both sides of the ground terminal 20G. Further, in the first narrow arm portion 41B described above, as shown in fig. 4 (B), the rear end portion of the first narrow arm portion 41B is located at a position overlapping with the ground terminal 20G in the front-rear direction. Therefore, as shown in fig. 6 (a), the rear end portion of the first narrow arm portion 41B is located at a position opposed to the contact portion 21A of the terminal 20G in the up-down direction when viewed in the connector width direction.

As shown in fig. 6a, the rear end side portion of the first fixing portion 42 and the first connecting portion 43 of the first metal fitting 40 are embedded and held by the front frame portion 10A of the housing 10 by integral molding (see fig. 8 a as well). In the present embodiment, as shown in fig. 3B, the upper bent portion 44 and the lower bent portion 45 of the first metal fitting 40 have the same bending angle (angle of bending with respect to the mounting surface of the circuit board) and are almost perpendicular (the bending angle is shown as "θ 1" in fig. 3B).

The first metal fitting 40 is fixed by being connected by soldering to a first fixing pad (not shown) which is a corresponding portion of the circuit board B on the lower surface thereof, with the front end side portion of the first fixing portion 42 extending forward from the front frame portion 110A of the housing 10 (see also fig. 2B and 6 a).

In the present embodiment, the first fixing portion 42 is provided at the same position as the ground terminal 20, more specifically, the ground connection portion 22G of the ground terminal 20G in the connector width direction, and is located between the signal terminals 20S on both sides of the ground terminal 20G, more specifically, between the signal connection portions 22S of the signal terminals 20S. In other words, the signal connection portions 22S of the signal terminals 20S are located between the first fixing portions 42 of the first metal fittings 40 adjacent to each other in the connector width direction.

In the present embodiment, since the signal connection portion 22S is positioned between the first fixing portions 42 as described above, even if a signal conductive pattern (not shown) is formed on the mounting surface of the circuit board B so as to extend straight forward from a signal pad (not shown) for solder connection of the signal connection portion, the signal conductive pattern can be formed so as to extend further forward through the first fixing pads (not shown) adjacent to each other without interfering with the first fixing pads (not shown) for solder connection of the first fixing portions 42.

In the present embodiment, the ground connection portion 22G of the ground terminal 20G is located at the same position as the first fixing portion 42 in the connector width direction. Therefore, if the ground conductive pattern (not shown) connected to the ground pad (not shown) is formed on the mounting surface of the circuit board B so as to extend straight forward from the ground pad (not shown) for solder connection to the ground connection portion 22G, the ground conductive pattern (not shown) is connected so as to interfere with the first fixing pad, but the ground characteristic is not affected at all even if the ground conductive pattern is connected to the fixing pad. In the present embodiment, the ground connection portion 22G is located at the same position as the first fixing portion 42 in the connector width direction, but may not be located at the same position as long as the ground connection portion 22G is located at a position having an overlapping range with the first fixing portion 42 in the connector width direction.

Therefore, the connector 1 of the present embodiment having the first metal fitting 40 at the front side of the terminal 20 can be attached to a position near the rear end edge of the circuit board B to smoothly perform the insertion and extraction operation of the flat conductor with respect to the connector 1.

The second metal fitting 50 is provided at the same position as the housing hole portion 15A of the housing 10 and the second shaft portion 35B of the movable member 30 in the connector width direction. As shown in fig. 3 (a), the second metal fitting 50 is produced by bending a metal plate member having the same shape as the metal plate member used for producing the first metal fitting 40 in the plate thickness direction. As described later, the second metal fitting 50 is different from the first metal fitting 40 only in that the angle of bending is smaller than a right angle and the second connecting portion 53 described later is inclined more gently than the first connecting portion 43 of the first metal fitting 40, and other configurations are the same as those of the first metal fitting 40. In the second metal fitting 50, a part corresponding to the first metal fitting 40 is denoted by a reference numeral obtained by adding "10" to the reference numeral of the first metal fitting 40, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

The second metal fitting 50 has: a lower arm portion 51, the lower arm portion 51 extending in the front-rear direction (X-axis direction); a second fixing portion 52, the second fixing portion 52 being a connecting portion located below the lower arm portion 51 and extending forward; and a second connecting portion 53, the second connecting portion 53 connecting the front end of the lower arm 51 and the rear end of the second fixing portion 162. As shown in fig. 3C, the upper bent portion 54 and the lower bent portion 55 of the second metal fitting 50 are each bent at an equal angle to or smaller than a right angle with respect to the mounting surface of the circuit board (the bent angle is shown as "θ 2" in fig. 3C). That is, the bending angle θ 2 of the second metal fitting 50 is smaller than the bending angle θ 1 of the first metal fitting 40.

The second metal fitting 50 is formed in a substantially crank-like shape as a whole, but since the angle of bending the sheet metal member (the bending angle θ 2) is smaller than a right angle, the second connecting portion 53 is inclined downward as it goes forward as shown in fig. 3C and fig. 7a and B. Therefore, in the posture in which the second metal fitting 50 is held in the housing 10, that is, in the posture in which the dimension in the connector width direction (Y-axis direction) is set as the terminal width direction, the lower arm portion 51 of the second metal fitting 50 is located below the upper arm portion 41 of the first metal fitting 40.

As shown in fig. 3 (a), the lower arm 51 has a second wide arm 51A and a second narrow arm 51B having the same shapes as the first wide arm 41A and the first narrow arm 41B of the first metal fitting 40. As shown in fig. 7 (a), the lower arm portion 51 extends in the front-rear direction at an intermediate position in the vertical direction of the housing 10 over a range including the housing hole portion 15A of the housing 10, and a front end side portion of the second wide arm portion 51A and a rear end side portion of the second narrow arm portion 51B are held by the side wall 15 of the housing 10 by integral molding. The lower arm portion 51 has a portion extending forward and rearward of the second shaft portion 35B of the movable member 30, and the rolled surface of the portion is exposed. In the present embodiment, since the projection 51B-1 (see fig. 3 a) is formed at the rear end of the second narrow arm portion 51B, the lower arm portion 51 is firmly held by embedding the projection 51B-1 in the side wall 15 by integral molding.

As shown in fig. 7 (a), the lower arm portion 51 is exposed at an intermediate portion located in the housing hole portion 15A in the front-rear direction. The exposed portion is configured as a stopper for stopping the downward movement of the second shaft portion 35B of the movable member 30. The lower arm portion 51 is located below the second shaft portion 35B of the movable member 30 regardless of the angular position of the movable member 30, and restricts downward movement of the second shaft portion 35B, and more specifically, the movable member 30, and prevents downward disengagement of the movable member 30 from the housing 10. In the present embodiment, the upper surface of the lower arm portion 51 is in surface contact with the lower surface of the second shaft portion 35B when the movable member 30 is in the open position (see fig. 7 a) or in the closed position.

In the present embodiment, the lower arm portion 51 is located at a position in contact with the second shaft portion 35B, but may alternatively be located at a position having a slight gap in the vertical direction from the second shaft portion 35B. In this case, the lower arm portion 51 prevents the second shaft portion 35B from moving downward by a predetermined amount or more corresponding to the size of the gap.

In the present embodiment, the lower arm portion 51 of the second metal fitting 50 is held by the housing 10 at the front end side portion of the second wide arm portion 51A and the rear end side portion of the second narrow arm portion 51B as described above, and the lower arm portion 51 is held by the housing 10 at positions close to both ends of the lower arm portion 51 in the longitudinal direction. That is, since the lower arm 51 is held in the shape of a double support beam, when the movement of the second shaft 35B of the movable member 30 is stopped by the lower arm 51, the abutting force of the second shaft 35B can be resisted with sufficient strength.

As shown in fig. 7 (a), the rear end side portion of the second fixing portion 52 and the second coupling portion 53 of the second metal fitting 50 are embedded and held by the front side wall 15B of the housing 10 by integral molding. The second fixing portion 52 extends forward from the front side wall 15B at a distal end portion thereof (see fig. 2B), and is fixed by being soldered to a second fixing pad (not shown) corresponding to the circuit board B on a lower surface thereof.

The third metal fitting 60 is provided at a position rearward of the second metal fitting 50 at a position corresponding to the side wall 15 of the housing 10 in the connector width direction, and three of the third metal fittings 60 are held at each side wall 15 in a state of being arranged in the connector width direction. As shown in fig. 3a, the third metal fitting 60 is manufactured by bending a strip-shaped metal plate member having a dimension in the connector width direction (Y-axis direction) as the terminal width direction in the plate thickness direction. The third metal fitting 60 is formed in a shape obtained by cutting out most of the contact arm portion 21 of the terminal 20 (a portion of the contact arm portion 21 other than the rear end portion). That is, the third metal fitting 60 has: a tip portion 61, the width of the tip portion 61 being formed wider than the other portions; a third fixing portion 62, the third fixing portion 62 being a connecting portion located below the front end portion 61 and extending rearward; a third connecting portion 63, the third connecting portion 63 connecting the rear end of the front end portion 61 and the front end of the third fixing portion 62; an upper bent portion 64 formed by bending the upper bent portion 64 at a boundary position between the rear end of the front end portion 61 and the upper end of the third coupling portion 63; and a lower bent portion 65, the lower bent portion 65 being bent at a boundary position between the distal end of the third fixing portion 62 and the lower end of the third coupling portion 63. As shown in fig. 9 (C), the front end portion 61 and the third connecting portion 63 are embedded and held by the rear side wall 15C of the housing 10 by integral molding. The third fixing portion 62 extends rearward from the rear side wall 15C of the housing 10, and is fixed to a third fixing pad (not shown) corresponding to the circuit board B by soldering on the lower surface thereof.

The connector 1 having the above-described structure is manufactured in the following manner.

First, a strip-shaped rolled metal plate is punched to prepare a strip 101 with a carrier for forming the terminal 20 and the third metal fitting 60 and a strip 102 with a carrier for forming the first metal fitting 40 and the second metal fitting 50. The carrier-attached sliver 101 includes a carrier C1 (see fig. 5) extending in the connector width direction and a plurality of slivers having the same shape and arranged in a row in the connector width direction and extending forward from the carrier C1. All the strips of the carrier-attached strips 101 are configured to be bent and formed into a flat shape before the terminals 20. The carrier-attached sliver 102 includes a carrier C2 (see fig. 5) extending in the connector width direction and a plurality of slivers having the same shape and arranged in a row in the connector width direction and extending rearward from the carrier C1. All the strip pieces of the strip pieces 102 with the carrier are configured to be bent and formed into a flat shape before the first metal fitting 40 and the second metal fitting 50.

Next, all the carrier-attached slender pieces 101 are bent in the plate thickness direction to form bent slender pieces 120 forming the shape of the terminal 20, and the bent slender pieces 160 forming the shape of the third metal fitting 60 are formed by cutting off the tip end side portions of the remaining bent slender pieces 120 without any processing of some of the bent slender pieces 120 (see fig. 5).

As described above, in the present embodiment, the bent slender pieces 120 are formed by the slender pieces of the same shape provided to the slender piece 101 with the carrier, and the bent slender pieces 160 are formed by further cutting off a part of the other bent slender pieces 120, so that the terminal 20 can be easily produced by bending the slender pieces 120, and the third metal fitting 60 can be easily produced by bending the slender pieces 160. As a result, the efficiency of the manufacturing operation of the terminal 20 and the third metal fitting 60, and more specifically, the connector 1 is improved.

Further, a part of the plurality of the carrier-attached slender pieces 102 is bent in the plate thickness direction to form a bent slender piece 140 having a shape of the first metal fitting 40, and the remaining part of the plurality of the slender pieces is bent in the plate thickness direction to form a bent slender piece 150 having a shape of the second metal fitting 50 (see fig. 5). At this time, the bent strip piece 140 is formed by bending the strip piece at the part at a bending angle θ 1 (see fig. 3B), and the bent strip piece 150 is formed by bending the strip piece at the remaining part at a bending angle θ 2 (see fig. 3C).

By forming the bent strip piece 140 and the bent strip piece 150 having different shapes on the strip piece 102 with the same shape provided on the carrier, the first metal fitting 40 can be easily manufactured by bending the strip piece 140, and the second metal fitting 50 can be easily manufactured by bending the strip piece 150. As a result, the efficiency of the manufacturing operation of the first metal fitting 40 and the second metal fitting 50, and more specifically, the connector 1 is improved. The curved sliver 140 and the curved sliver 150 may be formed together in the same process, or may be formed separately in different processes.

Next, carrier-attached

sliver

101 and 102 are placed in a mold (upper mold M1, lower mold M2, and rear mold M3 described later) and held by the mold such that the free ends of

curved sliver

120 and 160 of carrier-attached sliver 101 face forward (X1 direction) and the free ends of

curved sliver

140 and 150 of carrier-attached sliver 102 face rearward (X2 direction) (see fig. 5). At this time, as shown in fig. 5, the front end portion of the bent strip 120G constituting the ground terminal 20G is positioned directly below the rear end portion of the bent strip 140 constituting the first metal fitting 40 in the vertical direction (Z-axis direction), and the bent strip 120G is disposed within a range corresponding to the portion 141B of the bent strip 140 constituting the first metal fitting 40 corresponding to the first narrow arm portion 41B in the connector width direction. Further, the bent strip pieces 120S constituting the signal terminals 20S are located outside the range of the above-described portion 141B in the connector width direction and within the range of the portion 141A corresponding to the first wide arm portion 41A.

The carrier-attached

sliver

101, 102 is sandwiched by the upper die M1 disposed from above, the lower die M2 disposed from below, and the rear die M3 disposed from behind, the connecting portion 22 of the terminal 20, the upper arm portion 41 of the first metal fitting 40, the lower arm portion 51 of the second metal fitting 50, and the third fixing portion 62 of the third metal fitting 60.

At this time, as shown in fig. 6 (B), the lower die M2 abuts against the rear end side region of the lower surface of the first wide arm portion 41A and the front end side region of the lower surface of the first narrow arm portion 41B of the first metal fitting 40. Further, the rear mold M3 abuts on the lower surface of the rear end portion of the first narrow arm portion 41B. As a result, as shown in fig. 6 (B), the space for forming the first shaft portion 35A is formed by being enclosed by the first narrow arm portion 41B, the lower die M2, and the rear die M3. Further, the upper die M1 abuts on the rear end side region of the upper surface of the first wide arm portion 41A and the entire region of the upper surface of the first narrow arm portion 41B of the first metal fitting 40. In this way, the flat rolled surfaces, i.e., the upper and lower surfaces, of the first wide arm portion 41B and the first narrow arm portion 41B are used as abutment surfaces that abut against the die.

The rear mold M3 has a projecting portion having the same width as the groove width of the groove portion 10B-2 (see fig. 1B) of the housing 10 at a position corresponding to the rear frame portion 10B of the housing 10, and the lower surface of the projecting portion comes into contact with the upper surface of the exposed held portion 23A of the upper surface of the terminal 20. Thereby, the inflow of the molten resin into the contact arm portion 21 side of the terminal 20 at the time of the integral molding is prevented, and a space for allowing the elastic displacement of the contact arm portion 21 is secured.

As shown in fig. 7 (B), the upper die M1 abuts against the rear end side region of the upper surface of the second wide arm portion 51A and the rear end region of the upper surface of the second narrow arm portion 51B of the second metal fitting 50, and the space for forming the second shaft portion 35B is formed by being enclosed by the second wide arm portion 51A, the second narrow arm portion 51B, and the upper die M1. As shown in fig. 7 (B), the lower mold M2 abuts on an intermediate region in the front-rear direction of the lower surface of the lower arm portion 51 of the second metal fitting 50. In this way, the flat rolled surfaces, i.e., the upper surface and the lower surface, of the lower arm portion 51 are used as abutment surfaces that abut against the die.

Further, as shown in fig. 8 (B), at the position of the end plate portion 34 of the movable member 30 in the connector width direction, a space for forming the end plate portion 34 is formed by being enclosed by the upper die M1 and the lower die M2.

Next, the housing 10 and the movable member 30 are simultaneously molded by injecting the melted electrically insulating material (resin) into a mold and then solidifying the melted electrically insulating material, and the terminal 20, the first metal fitting 40, the second metal fitting 50, and the third metal fitting 60 are held by the housing 10 by integral molding. As a result of the above-described integral molding, as shown in fig. 6 (B), at the position of the first metal fitting 40 in the connector width direction, the first shaft portion 35A of the movable member 30 is formed in a state of being in contact with the lower surface of the first narrow arm portion 41B at the upper surface thereof in the space surrounded by the lower surface (rolled surface) of the first narrow arm portion 41B of the upper arm portion 41, the lower die M2, and the rear die M3. Further, as shown in fig. 6 (B), the movable member 30 is molded in a state of being located at the open position.

Further, as shown in fig. 7B, at the position of the second metal fitting 50 in the connector width direction, the second shaft portion 35B of the movable member 30 is formed in a state in which it is in contact with the upper surface of the lower arm portion 51 at the lower surface thereof in the receiving hole portion 15A (see fig. 7 a) of the housing 10 and in a space surrounded by the upper surface (rolled surface) of the lower arm portion 51 of the second metal fitting 50 and the upper die M1. Further, as shown in fig. 8 (B), at the position of the end plate portion 34 of the movable member 30 in the connector width direction, the end plate portion 34 is formed in the space surrounded by the upper die M1 and the lower die M2.

Next, the upper mold M1 is moved straight upward (Z1 direction), the lower mold M2 is moved straight downward (Z2 direction), and the rear mold M3 is moved straight rearward (X2 direction), whereby the upper mold M1, the lower mold M2, and the rear mold M3 are removed. After the dies M1, M2, M3 are removed, the carrier C1 is cut off from the carrier-carried sliver 101 at a position shown by a one-dot chain line P1 in fig. 5, and the carrier C2 is cut off from the carrier-carried sliver 102 at a position shown by a one-dot chain line P2 in fig. 5. As a result, the

bent strip pieces

120 and 160 of the strip piece 101 with carrier are formed as the terminal 20 and the third metal fitting 60, and the

bent strip pieces

140 and 150 of the strip piece 102 with carrier are formed as the first metal fitting 40 and the second metal fitting 50.

Next, an operation of rotating the movable member 30 from the open position to the closed position side is performed, the first shaft portion 35A of the movable member 30 is separated from the lower surface of the upper arm portion 41 of the first metal fitting 40, and the second shaft portion 35B of the movable member 30 is separated from the upper surface of the lower arm portion 51 of the second metal fitting 50, so that the movable member 30 is movable, and the connector 1 is completed in a usable state. At this time, since the lower surface of the upper arm portion 41B and the upper surface of the lower arm portion 51 are rolled surfaces and smooth, the first shaft portion 35A and the second shaft portion 35B are easily separated. The above-described turning operation of the movable member 30 may be performed at any stage after the removal of the molds M1, M2, and M3, for example, the turning operation may be performed by the manufacturer before the connector 1 is shipped from the factory, or the turning operation may be performed by the user after the connector is shipped from the factory and at the time of starting the use of the connector.

As such, the connector 1 of the present embodiment can be manufactured only by: after the terminal 20 and the

fittings

40, 50, 60 are molded integrally at the same time with the housing 10 and the movable member 30, the movable member 30 is moved between the open position and the closed position. Therefore, it is not necessary to perform any processing on the constituent members of the connector after the integral molding as in the conventional art, and the connector can be easily manufactured with a small number of steps. Further, the manufacturing cost of the connector can be suppressed by reducing the number of steps.

Next, a connection operation between the connector 1 and the flat conductor F will be described with reference to fig. 9 to 11. Fig. 9 is a sectional view showing the connector 1 on a surface perpendicular to the connector width direction immediately before insertion of the flat conductor F, fig. 10 is a sectional view showing the connector 1 on a surface perpendicular to the connector width direction in a state where insertion of the flat conductor F is completed, fig. 11 is a sectional view showing the connector 1 on a surface perpendicular to the connector width direction in a state where a connecting operation of the flat conductor F is completed, and in each of the drawings, (a) shows a section at a position of the first terminal 40, (B) shows a section at a position of the locking portion 33A of the movable member 30, and (C) shows the restricted portion 34A of the movable member 30. As shown in fig. 11 (a), the upper surface of the flat conductor F is pressed against the lower portion of the first shaft portion 35A, and as a result, the contact pressure between the circuit portion of the flat conductor F and the contact portion 21A of the terminal 20 is increased in a state where the contact arm portion 21 of the terminal 20 is elastically deformed.

First, the connection portions 22 of the terminals 20 (the signal connection portions 22S of the signal terminals 20S and the ground connection portions 22G of the ground terminals 20G) of the connector 1 are solder-connected to corresponding circuit portions (signal pads and ground pads) of a circuit substrate (not shown), and the first fixing portions 42 of the first metal fittings 40, the second fixing portions 52 of the second metal fittings 50, and the third fixing portions 62 of the third metal fittings 60 are solder-connected to corresponding portions (first fixing pads, second fixing pads, and third fixing pads) of the circuit substrate. The housing 10 is fixed to the circuit substrate by the solder connection of the fixing

portions

42, 52, 62.

Next, as shown in fig. 9 (a) to (C), the flat conductor F is positioned behind the connector 1 in the state where the movable member 30 is brought to the open position so as to extend in the front-rear direction along the mounting surface of the circuit board (not shown) (see also fig. 1). Then, the flat conductor F is inserted forward into the receiving portion 17A of the connector 1.

In the process of inserting the flat conductor F into the receiving portion 17A, as shown in fig. 10 (a), the leading end of the flat conductor F first abuts against the contact portion 21A of the contact arm portion 21 of the terminal 20, thereby pressing down the contact portion 21A by a component force in a downward direction of the abutting force thereof. At this time, the contact arm portion 21 is elastically displaced downward as shown in fig. 10 (a).

The flat conductor F is inserted until the front end of the flat conductor F abuts against the rear surface of the front frame 10A of the housing 10 (see fig. 10 (a) and (B)). As shown in fig. 10 (a), in the state where the insertion of the flat conductor F is completed, the contact arm portion 21 of the terminal 20 remains in the state after the elastic displacement, and as a result, the contact portion 21A of the contact arm portion 21 is maintained in a state of being in contact with the connection circuit portion exposed on the lower surface of the flat conductor F with a contact pressure.

In the present embodiment, as shown in fig. 9 a and 10a, the groove portion 10B-2 hidden from the protruding portion between the protruding portions 10B-1 of the rear frame portion 10B of the housing 10 is formed at the position where the rear portion of the receiving portion 17A is open, and the upper surface of the terminal 20 is exposed to the held portion 23A at the position where the upper surface is flush with the groove bottom surface of the groove portion 10B-2 (see also fig. 1B). Therefore, even if the flat conductor F undesirably moves and tilts in the connector width direction during the insertion and removal of the flat conductor F, the lower surface of the flat conductor F abuts against the upper surfaces of the protrusions 10B-1, so that no friction is generated between the circuit portion on the lower surface of the flat conductor F and the terminals 20. As a result, the terminal 20 and the circuit portion of the flat conductor F are protected.

Next, the movable member 30 is rotated, the movable member 30 is brought to the closed position as shown in fig. 11 (a) to (C), and the locking portion 33A of the movable member 30 is inserted into the notch portion F1 of the flat conductor F as shown in fig. 11 (B). As a result, the engaged portion F2A of the flat conductor F is positioned in front of the engaging surface 33A-1 of the engaging portion 33A and at a position where it can be engaged with the engaging surface 33A-1, and therefore, the flat conductor F is prevented from being pulled out rearward. In this way, the movable member 30 is brought to the closed position, whereby the connection operation between the connector 1 and the flat-type conductor F is completed.

As shown in fig. 11C, in a state where the movable member 30 is positioned at the closed position, the restricted portion 34A of the movable member 30 enters the rear concave portion 15C-1 of the housing 10 and is positioned below the restricting portion 15C-2 of the housing 10, and the restricted surface 34A-1 (upper surface in the closed position) of the restricted portion 34A and the restricting surface 15C-2A of the restricting portion 15C-2 face each other with a gap (play) in the vertical direction, and are configured to be capable of being engaged. Therefore, for example, when the flat type conductor F is inadvertently lifted upward in a state of being connected to the connector 1, even if the movable member 30 receives an external force for further rotating the movable member 30 rotated to the closed position or an external force for lifting the movable member 30 upward, the restricted surface 34A-1 is caught by the restricting surface 15C-2A from below, and therefore, the rotation and movement of the movable member 30 are restricted. As a result, the movable member 30 is prevented from being detached from the housing 10.

In the present embodiment, the first narrow arm portion 41B of the first metal fitting 40 is positioned directly above the first shaft portion 35A of the movable member 30 to prevent the first shaft portion 35A, and more specifically, the movable member 30 from moving upward, and therefore, the first narrow arm portion 41B prevents the movable member 30 from coming off the housing 10.

In the present embodiment, as is clear from a comparison between fig. 11 (a) and fig. 11 (C), the regulating portion 15C-2 of the housing 10 is located rearward of the first narrow arm portion 41B of the first metal fitting 40 and the first shaft portion 35A of the movable member 30. Therefore, when the flat type conductor F is inadvertently lifted upward in a state of being connected to the connector 1, the flat type conductor F receives a lifting force rearward of the regulating portion 15C-2 of the housing 10 and the regulated portion 34A of the movable member 30, and the first shaft portion 35A of the movable member 30 receives an upward force generated by the lifting force.

In the present embodiment, the first narrow arm portion 41B as the blocking portion of the first metal fitting 40 abuts (is locked to) the first shaft portion 35A as the blocked portion of the movable member 30 from above, and therefore, the first narrow arm portion 41B prevents the movable member 30 from moving upward against the upward force, but when the upward force acting on the flat conductor F is excessively large, the first narrow arm portion 41B may be elastically displaced upward to lift the movable member 30. At this time, the restricted portion 34A of the movable member 30 abuts (is locked to) the restricting surface 15C-2A of the restricting portion 15C-2 of the housing 10 from below by the restricted surface 34A thereof, and the movement of the movable member 30 toward the upper side is restricted by the restricting portion 15C-2.

When the movement of the restricted portion 34A is restricted by the restricting portion 15C-2, the restricted position serves as a fulcrum, and the flat conductive member F is largely deflected upward. Then, the movable member 30 receives a rotational force in the flexing direction of the flat-type conductor F by the first shaft portion 35A of the movable member 30 at a position forward of the fulcrum, and the force acts in a direction to hold the movable member 30 at the closed position, so that the movable member 30 is easily maintained at the closed position. As a result, when the above-described lifting force acts on the flat conductive member F, the movable member 30 located at the closed position is prevented from rotating toward the open position, and further, the flat conductive member F is prevented from being pulled out from the connector 1.

In the state shown in fig. 11 (a) to (C), that is, when it is intended to pull out the flat type conductor F in the state of being connected to the connector 1 from the connector 1, the movable member 30 at the closed position is rotated to bring the movable member 30 to the open position shown in fig. 10 (a) to (C). As shown in fig. 10 (B), when the movable member 30 is at the open position, the locking portion 33A of the movable member 30 is located at a position away upward from the notch portion F1 of the flat conductor F. That is, the engagement state of the engagement portion 33A with respect to the engaged portion F2A of the flat conductor F is released, and the flat conductor F is allowed to be pulled out rearward. Then, in the above state, when the flat conductor F is pulled rearward, the flat conductor F can be easily pulled out from the connector 1.

Claims

1. An electrical connector is mounted to a mounting surface of a circuit board for inserting and removing a mating connector in a front-rear direction,

the electrical connector includes a plurality of metal members arranged with a width direction of the mating connecting bodies at right angles to a front-rear direction as an arrangement direction and a housing holding the plurality of metal members by integral molding,

the metal member is made by rolling a metal plate, the rolling surface of the metal member is parallel to the arrangement direction, a bending part bending to the plate thickness direction of the metal member is provided at the middle position of the metal member in the front-back direction,

it is characterized in that the preparation method is characterized in that,

the metal member has a plurality of kinds of metal members different in shape from each other,

one metal member and the other metal member of the plurality of kinds of metal members have connection portions connected to the mounting surface at the same side as each other with respect to the housing in the front-rear direction,

the one metal member is a reinforcing metal fitting which is aligned in the alignment direction and held on the housing, and the other metal member is a reinforcing metal fitting which is held on the housing on both sides of the alignment range of the one metal member in the alignment direction,

a bending angle of the bent portion of the one metal member with respect to the mounting surface and a bending angle of the bent portion of the other metal member with respect to the mounting surface are different from each other, and a portion of the one metal member other than the bent portion and a portion of the other metal member other than the bent portion are configured to be the same shape as each other.

2. The electrical connector of claim 1,

the flat conductor as the counterpart connector is inserted and pulled in the front-rear direction,

the electrical connector has a movable member that is moveable relative to the housing between a first position and a second position,

the one metal member and the other metal member have the connecting portion on one end side and a blocking portion on the other end side, the blocking portion blocking movement of the movable member in a connector thickness direction at right angles to both the front-rear direction and the arrangement direction of the metal members,

the prevention portion of the one metal member and the prevention portion of the other metal member are located at positions different from each other in the thickness direction of the connector,

the prevention portion of the one kind of metal member prevents the movement of the movable member from one side in the thickness direction of the connector,

the prevention portion of the other metal member prevents the movement of the movable member from the other side in the thickness direction of the connector.

3. The electrical connector of claim 1 or 2,

one end portion of the one metal member in the front-rear direction is held by the housing and is configured in a cantilever beam shape, and the other metal member in the front-rear direction is held by the housing and is configured in a double support beam shape.

4. The electrical connector of claim 3,

the number of the one metal member is set larger than that of the other metal member.

5. A method of manufacturing an electrical connector mounted to a mounting surface of a circuit board for inserting and removing a mating connector in a front-rear direction,

it is characterized in that the preparation method is characterized in that,

punching a strip-shaped rolled metal plate to form a carrier-attached sliver having a shape including a carrier extending in the arrangement direction and a plurality of slivers arranged in a line in the arrangement direction and extending in a front-rear direction from the carrier and having the same shape,

bending a part of the plurality of strips in a plate thickness direction to form a bent strip having a bent portion bent at a predetermined angle at a position intermediate in a front-rear direction of the strip,

bending the remaining sliver piece of the plurality of sliver pieces in the plate thickness direction to form another bent sliver piece having a bent portion bent at an angle different from the predetermined angle at a position intermediate in the front-rear direction of the remaining sliver piece,

holding the one curved strip and the other curved strip together to the housing by molding them integrally with the housing,

and cutting all the bent strips to remove the carrier, wherein one bent strip is provided as one metal member, and the other bent strip is provided as the other metal member.

6. The method of manufacturing an electrical connector of claim 5,

one end side portion in the front-rear direction of the one kind of the curved strip piece and both end side portions in the front-rear direction of the other kind of the curved strip piece are molded integrally with the housing, whereby the one kind of the metal member is held in a cantilever beam shape by the housing and the other kind of the metal member is held in a double support beam shape.

7. The method of manufacturing an electrical connector of claim 6,

the number of the one metal member is set to be larger than that of the other metal member.