CN116487922A

CN116487922A - Electric connector

Info

Publication number: CN116487922A
Application number: CN202310060222.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 吉田健太; 猪狩优贵
Original assignee: Kel Corp
Current assignee: Kel Corp
Priority date: 2022-01-21
Filing date: 2023-01-19
Publication date: 2023-07-25
Also published as: DE102023100934A1; JP2023106717A

Abstract

The invention provides an electric connector. An electrical connector is provided with: an electrically insulating connector housing comprising a mating recess for receiving a mating protrusion; and at least one pair of contact members held by the connector housing. A first contact member of the pair of contact members comprises: a first lead portion located at a front lower portion; a first contact portion extending along one of the left and right inner surfaces; and a first intermediate portion configured to connect the first lead portion and the first contact portion together. The second contact member of the pair of contact members includes: a second lead portion provided to extend at a rear lower portion of the connector housing and exposed to a lower surface side; a second contact portion extending along the other of the left and right inner surfaces; and a second intermediate portion configured to connect the second lead portion and the second contact portion together. The first contact portion and the second contact portion are located opposite to each other within the mating recess.

Description

Electric connector

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an electrical connector for electrical connection, and more particularly, to an electrical connector suitable for transmitting a large-capacity electrical signal or power supply, and having a small and compact configuration.

Background

The electrical connector is used for transmitting electrical signals or power. Since many connectors for electrical signal transmission transmit low power signals, there is a tendency to arrange a large number of small pitch contacts to achieve miniaturization. On the other hand, a connector for transmitting a large-capacity electrical signal such as power supply power requires the use of a larger contact corresponding to the size of the signal or power to be transmitted. For example, japanese patent No. 6428781 (B) discloses a connector for printed circuit board connection, which includes a large number of signal contacts arranged at a small pitch and a pair of wider power supply contacts, and is capable of connection to transmit signals and power supply.

In the connector, the power supply contact for transmitting the power supply power is required to transmit the high power supply power, and thus, is required to have a larger size than the signal contact for transmitting the ordinary electric signal. In addition, at least one pair of power transmission lines is required for power supply, and a pair of power supply contacts is provided as a unit. For example, in the electrical connector disclosed in japanese patent No. 6428781 (B), a pair of power supply contacts 22ai are provided side by side on the respective front and rear walls of the connector housing.

Disclosure of Invention

Problems to be solved by the invention

Both the signal contacts and the power contacts need to avoid shorting between adjacent contacts. In particular, a short circuit between power supply contacts is likely to cause a serious problem in that a large current flows in the entire power supply line, and thus care must be taken in designing so as not to cause a short circuit between adjacent contacts due to foreign matter being caught at the time of mating of the male and female connectors. In order to prevent short-circuiting between adjacent contacts due to sandwiching foreign matter or the like, a conceivable solution is to provide an electrically insulating wall between adjacent contacts. However, in this case, it is necessary to increase the size of the contacts in the arrangement direction (pitch direction), which causes a problem that the connector is easily increased in size.

The present invention has been made in view of these circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector, such as a power supply connector, capable of being used for high-capacity power line connection, capable of preventing occurrence of short circuit between adjacent contacts, and capable of being made small and compact.

Solution to the problem

In order to achieve the above object, an electrical connector according to the present invention is an electrical connector to be mated with a mating connector, comprising: an electrically insulating connector housing comprising an upwardly opening mating recess for receiving a mating projection of the mating connector; and at least one pair of contact members held by the connector housing. Further, a first contact member constituting one of the pair of contact members includes: a first lead portion provided to extend back and forth at a front lower portion in a front-back direction of the connector housing and exposed to a lower surface side of the connector housing; a first contact portion extending along one of left and right inner surfaces in the mating recess; and a first intermediate portion configured to connect the first lead portion and the first contact portion together. The second contact member constituting the other of the pair of contact members includes: a second lead portion provided to extend back and forth at a back lower portion in a front-back direction of the connector housing and exposed to the lower surface side; a second contact portion extending along the other of the left and right inner surfaces in the mating recess; and a second intermediate portion configured to connect the second lead portion and the second contact portion together. And, the first contact portion and the second contact portion are located opposite to each other within the mating recess.

In the above-described electrical connector, preferably, the first contact member and the second contact member are made of a long sheet made of an electrically conductive material, the first lead portion and the second lead portion are formed to be provided with sheet faces extending parallel to the lower surface, the first intermediate portion and the second intermediate portion include respective first curved face portions connecting the first lead portion and the second lead portion and having perpendicular and laterally extending sheet faces, and respective second curved face portions laterally curved from the first curved face portions and extending perpendicularly and forwardly and backwardly, and the first contact portion and the second contact portion are formed to be connected with the respective second curved face portions and extending perpendicularly and backwardly.

In addition, in the above-described electrical connector, it is preferable that the first contact portion is provided on a front side of the one of the left and right inner surfaces within the mating recess, and the second contact portion is provided on a rear side of the other of the left and right inner surfaces within the mating recess, and the first contact portion and the second contact portion are diagonally opposite to each other in the mating recess.

Further, in the above-described electrical connector, preferably, the pair of contacts includes a plurality of pairs of contact members, and the mating recess includes a plurality of mating recesses provided in the connector housing, and the first contact portion and the second contact portion of the plurality of pairs of contact members are provided in respective recesses of the plurality of mating recesses.

In addition, in the above-described electrical connector, preferably, the plurality of mating recesses are provided so as to be laterally juxtaposed in the connector housing, the first lead portions of the plurality of pairs of contact members are provided so as to be laterally juxtaposed at the front lower portion of the connector housing, and the second lead portions of the plurality of pairs of contacts are provided so as to be laterally juxtaposed at the rear lower portion of the connector housing.

In addition, in the above-described electrical connector, preferably, the connector housing includes a fixed housing fixedly held and a movable housing that is above the fixed housing and is movable relative to the fixed housing, and the mating recess is provided to open upward in the movable housing; the first lead part is connected to extend back and forth at the front lower part of the fixed seat body and is exposed at the lower surface side of the fixed seat body, and the second lead part is connected to extend back and forth at the rear lower part of the fixed seat body and is exposed at the lower surface side of the fixed seat body; a first contact portion is connected to the movable housing to extend along the one of the left and right inner surfaces in the mating recess, and a second contact portion is connected to the movable housing to extend along the other of the left and right inner surfaces in the mating recess; and the first middle part and the second middle part are respectively provided with a first elastic part and a second elastic part which can elastically deform, and the elastic deformation of the first elastic part and the second elastic part can enable the movable base body to move relative to the fixed base body.

Further, in the above-described electrical connector, it is preferable that the contacts are each set to be capable of transmitting the power supply power via the pair of contacts, and are used for connecting the power supply line.

The beneficial effects of the invention are that

According to the electrical connector according to the present invention, the first lead portion extends back and forth at the front lower portion of the connector housing and is exposed to the lower surface side, and the second lead portion extends back and forth at the front lower portion of the connector housing and is exposed to the lower surface side, and is connected with the first lead portion and the second lead portion via the first intermediate portion and the second intermediate portion so that the first contact portion and the second contact portion respectively extending back and forth of the connector housing are opposed to each other in the mating recess. This eliminates the risk of short-circuiting between the first contact portion and the second contact portion due to foreign matter that may be caught when the electrical connector is mated with the mating connector. This also enables the use of larger contact members, so that the electrical connector according to the invention can be used as an electrical connector for connecting power supply lines. Further, since the lead portions of the pair of contact members (the first contact member and the second contact member) are provided to extend front and rear on the lower surface of the connector housing and the contact portions are arranged opposite to each other in the mating recess, the electrical connector can be easily made small and compact.

In the above-described electrical connector, it is preferable that the first contact member and the second contact member are made of a long sheet made of an electrically conductive material, the first lead portion and the second lead portion are formed to be provided with sheet surfaces extending parallel to the lower surface, the first intermediate portion and the second intermediate portion include respective first curved surface portions connecting the first lead portion and the second lead portion and having perpendicular and laterally extending sheet surfaces, and respective second curved surface portions laterally curved from the first curved surface portions and extending perpendicularly and forwardly and backwardly, and the first contact portion and the second contact portion are formed to be connected with the respective second curved surface portions and extend perpendicularly and backwardly. This configuration enables the first contact portion and the second contact portion to be opposed to each other on the right and left inner surfaces in the mating recess with respect to the first lead portion and the second lead portion extending in parallel with the lower surface via the first curved surface portion and the second curved surface portion, and can facilitate manufacturing of the contact from a long sheet.

Further, in the above-described electrical connector, it is preferable that the first contact portion is provided so as to be located on a front side of one of the left and right inner surfaces in the mating recess, and the second contact portion is provided so as to be located on a rear side of the other of the left and right inner surfaces in the mating recess, and the first contact portion and the second contact portion are diagonally opposed to each other in the mating recess. This makes the first contact portion and the second contact portion not facing each other but diagonally opposite each other to increase the separation distance between the two contact portions, thereby more reliably preventing the occurrence of a short circuit at the time of pairing.

Further, in the above-described electrical connector, it is preferable that the pair of contact members include a plurality of pairs of contact members, and the mating recess includes a plurality of mating recesses provided in the connector housing, and the first contact portion and the second contact portion of the plurality of pairs of contacts are provided in respective ones of the plurality of mating recesses. This configuration allows the contact members to be compactly arranged on the transverse wires if a large number of pairs of contacts are required, thereby making the electrical connector small and compact.

In addition, in the above-described electrical connector, preferably, the connector housing includes a fixed housing fixedly held and a movable housing that is above the fixed housing and is movable relative to the fixed housing, and the mating recess is provided to open upward in the movable housing; the first lead part is connected to extend back and forth at the front lower part of the fixed seat body and is exposed out of the lower surface side of the fixed seat body, and the second lead part is connected to extend back and forth at the rear lower part of the fixed seat body and is exposed out of the lower surface side of the fixed seat body; the first contact portion is connected to the movable housing to extend along the one of the left and right inner surfaces in the mating recess, and the second contact portion is connected to the movable housing to extend along the other of the left and right inner surfaces in the mating recess; the first middle part and the second middle part are respectively provided with a first elastic part and a second elastic part which can elastically deform, and the elastic deformation of the first elastic part and the second elastic part can enable the movable base body to move relative to the fixed base body. This configuration helps achieve a floating configuration.

In the above-described electrical connector, it is preferable that the contact members are each configured to be capable of transmitting the power supply power via the pair of contact members, and are used for connecting the power supply line. Thus, a power supply connector can be realized.

Further areas of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It should be understood, however, that the detailed description and the specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.

Drawings

The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given herein below and the accompanying drawings, which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limiting of the present invention.

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a receptacle connector (electrical connector) according to an embodiment of the present invention mated with a mating plug connector, viewed from obliquely above.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the receptacle connector mated with the mating plug connector, viewed obliquely from below.

Fig. 3 (a) is a perspective view of the receptacle connector from obliquely above, and fig. 3 (B) is a perspective view of the receptacle connector from obliquely below.

Fig. 4 (a) is a top view of the receptacle connector, fig. 4 (B) is a front view of the receptacle connector, and fig. 4 (C) is a side view of the receptacle connector.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged top view of the receptacle connector.

Fig. 6 (a) is a side sectional view of the receptacle connector, and fig. 6 (B) is a side view of a pair of front and rear contacts constituting the receptacle connector.

Fig. 7 (a) is a perspective view of all the contact members used in the receptacle connector, fig. 7 (B) is a perspective view of one front contact member shown alone, and fig. 7 (C) is a perspective view of one rear contact member shown alone.

Fig. 8 (a) is a perspective view of the plug connector from obliquely above, and fig. 8 (B) is a perspective view of the plug connector from obliquely below.

Fig. 9 (a) is a top view of the plug connector, fig. 9 (B) is a front view of the plug connector, fig. 9 (C) is a bottom view of the plug connector, fig. 9 (D) is a right side view of the plug connector, and fig. 9 (E) is a left side view of the plug connector.

Fig. 10 is an enlarged top view of the plug connector.

Fig. 11 (a) is a perspective view of all plug contacts used in the plug connector, and fig. 11 (B) is a perspective view showing one plug contact member alone.

Fig. 12 is a perspective view of the receptacle connector to be mated with the mating plug connector.

Fig. 13 is a cross-sectional view of a receptacle connector to be mated with a mating plug connector.

Fig. 14 is a cross-sectional view of a receptacle connector mated with a mating header connector.

Description of the reference numerals

1. Socket connector

7. Plug connector

10. Fixing seat body

11. Left side wall or right side wall

15. Holding space

30. Movable seat body

31. Front wall part

31a front inner space

32. Rear wall portion

32a rear interior space

35a, 35b, 35c first to third mating spaces

38. Limiting projection

50. Front contact member

60. Rear contact member

51. 61 lead part

53. 63 elastic part

54. 64 bending portion

56. 66 contact portion

70. Plug seat body

73. 74, 75 first to third mating projections

80 plug contact member

Detailed Description

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. First, the overall configuration of the receptacle connector 1 as an electrical connector according to the present invention and the plug connector 7 as a mating connector will be briefly described with reference to fig. 1 and 2. Fig. 1 and 2 show a socket connector 1 and a plug connector 7 mated with each other. Note that in the following description, for convenience of explanation, the front-rear direction, the lateral direction, and the vertical direction are defined as forward (F), backward (B), rightward (R), leftward (L), upward (U), and downward (D), as indicated by arrows in fig. 1 and 2 and other figures. These directions are also used to define the construction in the claims. However, the electrical connector to which the present invention is directed is unoriented in terms of its manner of use, etc., and these directions are defined for illustrative purposes only.

The receptacle connector 1 and the plug connector 7 according to the present embodiment are used for connection of power supply lines (electric power supply lines). The pair of wires constitutes one power supply line, and the connector is provided with three pairs of contact members so that the three pairs of power supply lines can be connected. It should be noted that the connector according to the present invention can be used not only for power supply line connection but also for signal line connection, but is applicable to power supply line connection or connection of a large transmission capacity signal line due to its construction.

As also shown in fig. 3, the receptacle connector 1 has a fixed housing 10, a movable housing 30, three pairs of contact members 50, 60 (three pairs of front contact members 50 and rear contact members 60 together), which are disposed between the two housings, and a pair of left and right fixed brackets 20 connected to the fixed housing 10. As also shown in fig. 8, the plug connector 7 has a plug connector housing 70, three pairs of plug contacts 80 connected thereto, and a pair of left and right fixing brackets 90.

The detailed construction of the receptacle connector 1 will be described below with reference to fig. 3 to 7. The holder body 10 is made of an electrically insulating resin, and has left and right side walls 11, 11 standing on the left and right sides and extending forward and backward, and a flat plate-like bottom wall 12 connecting lower portions of the left and right side walls 11, 11 together and extending laterally on the lower surface side of the receptacle connector 1. As shown in fig. 3 (B), positioning bosses 13, 13 are formed on the lower surface of the bottom wall 12. Attachment grooves 11a are formed on front and rear outer surfaces and upper surfaces of the left and right side walls 11, and a fixing bracket 20 having an inverted U shape in side view is attached to the fixing base body 10 by press-fitting front and rear legs 21, 21 into these attachment grooves 11 a. Rectangular holding recesses 11b each opening upward are formed in the middle portions in the front-rear direction of the left and right side walls 11 such that when the fixing bracket 20 is attached to the left and right side walls 11, the middle portions 22 of the fixing bracket 20 cover the holding recesses 11b from above to form rectangular holding spaces 15. The mounting portions 23 at the respective lower ends of the front and rear legs 21 are exposed on the lower surface, so that the connector can be fixed to the printed circuit board by soldering the mounting portions 23 to the mounting pattern on the printed circuit board.

The movable housing 30 is also made of an electrically insulating resin, and has, as shown in fig. 6 (a): a front wall portion 31 having a front inner space 31a located at a front side and opening downward and extending laterally; a rear wall portion 32 having a rear inner space 32a located at the rear side and opening downward, and extending laterally; and left and right side walls 33, 33 that connect the front wall portion 31 and the rear wall portion 32 together at left and right end portions. The movable housing 30 further has: two partition walls 36, 36 that laterally divide a vertically extending rectangular space 35 surrounded by the front wall portion 31, the rear wall portion 32, and the left and right side walls 33, 33 into three mating spaces of first to third mating spaces 35a, 35b, 35 c; and a holding portion 37 provided to extend laterally at the bottom of the rectangular space 35. The three mating spaces of the first to third mating spaces 35a, 35b, 35c have substantially the same shape except that the first mating space 35a is provided with an erroneous insertion preventing space 35 d. Further, respective rectangular columnar movement restricting projections 38, 38 protruding laterally outward are provided on the laterally outer surfaces of the left and right side walls 33, 33.

With the movable housing 30 positioned above the fixed housing 10, three pairs of six total contacts 50, 60 shown in fig. 7 (a) are connected between the two housings 10, 30. The front contact 50 on the front side and the rear contact 60 on the rear side are paired, and a total of three pairs of front and rear contacts 50, 60 are connected. One of the pairs of front and rear contacts 50, 60 is shown in fig. 6 (B), 7 (B) and 7 (C). These front and rear contact members 50, 60 have the same shape and are arranged symmetrically front and rear with respect to each other. These front and rear contact members 50, 60 include: respective lead portions 51, 61 surface-mounted on a printed circuit board (not shown); respective fixed-side press-fitting portions 52, 62 bent from inner end portions of the lead portions 51, 61 and extending upward; respective elastic portions 53, 63 connected to the fixed-side crimping portions 52, 62 and extending upward, bending into an inverted U-shape, and then extending downward; bending portions 54, 64 connected to lower end portions of the elastic portions 53, 63 and bent at right angles; respective movable side crimping portions 55, 65 connected to the bent portions 54, 64 and extending upward; and respective contact portions 56, 66 connected to the movable-side press-fitting portions 55, 56 and extending upward on the same plane. As shown, the elastic portions 53, 63 have a shape divided into two halves by the slits 53a, 63a extending longitudinally, so that they are easily elastically deformed. The curved portions 54, 64 include respective first curved surface portions 54a, 64a having sheet surfaces connected to lower ends of the elastic portions 53, 63 and extending vertically and laterally, and respective second curved surface portions 54b, 64b having sheet surfaces bent laterally from the first curved surface portions 54a, 64a and extending vertically and longitudinally, and the second curved surface portions 54b, 64b being connected to the movable-side press-fitting portions 55, 65.

First, these front and rear contacts 50, 60 are connected to the movable base 30 by press-fitting the movable-side press-fitting portions 55, 65 from the lower surface of the movable base 30 into the holding grooves 37a provided in the holding portions 37. In this state, as shown in fig. 6 (a), the elastic portion 53 of the front contact 50 is located in the front inner space 31a of the front wall portion 31, and the elastic portion 63 of the rear contact member 60 is located in the rear inner space 32a of the rear wall portion 32. Further, as shown in fig. 5, the contact portions 56, 66 of the three pairs of front and rear contact members 50, 60 protrude into the first to third mating spaces 35a, 35b, 35c. As a result, three pairs of front and rear contact members 50, 60 are connected into the movable housing 30 in the arrangement shown in fig. 7 (a). Here, as shown in fig. 5, in each of the first to third mating spaces 35a, 35b, 35c, the contact portion 56 of the front contact member 50 is on the front side along the left inner wall surface thereof, and the contact portion 66 of the rear contact member 60 is on the rear side along the right inner wall surface thereof. In this way, in each of the first to third mating spaces 35a, 35b, 35c, the front and rear contact portions 56, 66 are offset from each other, diagonally opposite to each other, and spaced apart from each other.

Next, the movable housing 30 with the front and rear contact members 50, 60 mounted thereto is connected to the fixed housing 10 from above. Here, the fixing side press-fitting portions 52, 62 are press-fitted into front and rear holding grooves (not shown) in the bottom wall 12 of the fixing base body 10. That is, the movable side press-fitting portions 55, 65 of the front and rear contact members 50, 60 are press-fitted into the holding portion 37 and connected to the movable base body 30, and the fixed side press-fitting portions 52, 62 are press-fitted into the bottom wall 12 and connected to the fixed base body 10. As a result, the movable housing 30 is connected to the stationary housing 10 via the front and rear contacts 50, 60. Here, the movement restricting projections 38, 38 protruding laterally outward from the left and right side walls 33, 33 of the movable housing 30 enter the holding recess 11b of the fixed housing 10. In this state, the fixing bracket 20 is attached to the left and right side walls 11 such that the intermediate portion 22 covers the holding recess 11b from above to hold the movement restricting projection 38 in the holding space 15.

In the receptacle connector 1 thus constructed, the movable housing 30 is connected to the fixed housing 10 via the front and rear contacts 50, 60, and the elastic deformation of the elastic portions 53, 63 allows the movable housing 30 to move forward and backward, laterally, and vertically with respect to the fixed housing 10. That is, the movable housing 30 is in a floating state with respect to the fixed housing 10. The vertical and forward-backward floating movements of the movable housing 30 are limited to the amount by which the movement limiting projection 38 can move in the holding space 15, so that the elastic parts 53, 63 are prevented from being deformed beyond their allowable elastic deformation amount by excessive floating movements of the movable housing 30. The lateral floating movement of the movable housing 30 is restricted by interposing the left and right side walls 33, 33 of the movable housing 30 between the left and right side walls 11, 11 of the fixed housing 10.

The receptacle connector 1 thus constructed is surface-mounted on a printed circuit board (not shown) in the following manner. First, the positioning bosses 13, 13 are inserted into positioning holes in the printed circuit board to position the receptacle connector 1 for mounting. Then, the mounting portion 23 of the fixing bracket 20 is soldered to the mounting pattern on the printed circuit board, and the lead portions 51, 61 of the front and rear contact members 50, 60 are soldered to the wiring pattern on the printed circuit board, thereby surface-mounting the receptacle connector 1 on the printed circuit board.

Next, the plug connector 7 will be described with reference to fig. 8 to 11. The plug connector 7 includes a plug housing 70 made of an electrically insulating material, three pairs of plug contacts 80 connected in the plug housing 70 in the arrangement shown in fig. 11 (a), and a pair of left and right fixing brackets 90, 90 connected in the plug housing 70. The connector body 70 has a rectangular base 71, a pair of positioning bosses 72, 72 provided on the lower surface of the base 71, and three mating projections of first to third mating projections 73, 74, 75 projecting upward from the base 71 and arranged laterally side by side. The three mating projections 73, 74, 75 correspond to the three mating spaces 35a, 35b, 35c formed in the movable housing 30 of the receptacle connector 1, and the mating projections 73, 74, 75 are fitted into the first to third mating spaces 35a, 35b, 35c when the receptacle connector 1 is mated with the plug connector 7. Here, in order not to misinsert the direction, a misinsertion preventing protrusion 73a is formed on the first mating protrusion 73. The misplug preventing protrusion 73a is mated with the misplug preventing space 35d so that the first mating protrusion 73 is properly mated with the first mating space 35 a.

Three pairs of plug contact members 80 arranged in the plug housing 70 in an arrangement as shown in fig. 11 (a) are each configured as shown in fig. 11 (B). Each plug contact 80 is formed of a single metal sheet as shown, and has a lead portion 81 exposed to the lower surface side of the plug housing 70, a leg portion 82 connected to the lead portion 81, a press-fit portion 83 connected to the leg portion 82, an elastic portion 84 connected to the press-fit portion 83 and extending, and a contact portion 85 formed at the tip end of the elastic portion 84. Each plug contact 80 is inserted into an insertion hole formed in the plug housing 70 from the lower surface side, and is fixedly held by press-fitting the press-fitting portion 83 into the holding hole. In this fixed holding state, the respective lead portions 81 are exposed and arranged on the lower surface of the connector block 70, and the contact portions 85 are exposed on the left and right side surfaces of the first to third mating projections 73, 74, 75.

Here, each of the lead portions 81 extends back and forth, three of which are on the front side of the lower surface of the connector body 70 and the other three are on the rear side, as shown in fig. 8 and 9. As shown in the enlarged view of fig. 10, the contact portions 85 are offset from each other on the respective side surfaces of the first to third mating projections 73, 74, 75. This results in each contact 85 abutting against and electrically connecting with the contact 56, 66 when the receptacle connector 1 is mated with the header connector 7. The fixing bracket 90 is fixed to the connector block 70, and a mounting portion 91 of the fixing bracket 90 located at the lower surface is exposed at the lower surface.

The plug connector 7 thus constructed is surface-mounted on a printed circuit board (not shown) in the following manner. First, the positioning bosses 72, 72 are inserted into positioning holes in the printed circuit board to position the plug connector 7 for installation. Then, the mounting portion 91 of the fixing bracket 90 is soldered to the mounting pattern on the printed circuit board, and the lead portion 81 of the plug contact 80 is soldered to the wiring pattern on the printed circuit board, thereby surface-mounting the plug connector 7 on the printed circuit board.

The mating of the receptacle connector 1 and the plug connector 7 having the above-described configuration will be described with reference to fig. 12 to 14. As shown in fig. 12 and 13, the first to third mating projections 73, 74, 75 of the plug connector 7 are made to face the first to third mating spaces 35a, 35b, 35c of the receptacle connector 1. Then, as shown in fig. 14, the first to third mating projections 73, 74, 75 are inserted into the first to third mating spaces 35a, 35b, 35c, respectively, whereby the two connectors 1, 7 can be mated. This causes the respective contact portions 56, 66 of the receptacle connector 1 to abut against the corresponding contact portions 85 of the header connector 7 to be electrically connected.

Here, since the front and rear contact parts 56, 66 are offset from each other, diagonally opposite to each other, and spaced apart from each other in the respective first to third mating spaces 35a, 35b, 35c, there is no risk of a short circuit between the front and rear contact parts 56, 66 due to possible sandwiching of dust or foreign substances when the first to third mating projections 73, 74, 75 are fitted into the first to third mating spaces 35a, 35b, 35c, respectively. Here, in the receptacle connector 1, the movable base 30 is floatingly supported on the fixed base 10 by the elastic portions 53, 63 of the front and rear contacts 50, 60, so that misalignment between the connectors 1, 7 can be reduced when the connectors 1, 7 are mated.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but various modifications are possible within the scope of the present invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, if three pairs of wires are to be connected by the receptacle connector 1 and the plug connector 7, the receptacle connector 1 has three pairs of front and rear contact members 50, 60, and the plug connector 7 also has three pairs of plug contact members 80 corresponding thereto. However, only one pair of the front and rear contact members 50, 60 and only one pair of the plug contacts 80 may be provided, or two or four or more pairs may be provided. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the receptacle connector 1 has a floating structure using the contact member having the elastic portions 53, 63. However, the receptacle connector 1 may be a connector having no floating function in which a contact member having no elastic portion is provided in a single housing. Specifically, the fixed housing 10 and the movable housing 30 may be integrally formed as a single housing in which a contact member not including an elastic portion is provided.

The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims.

Claims

1. An electrical connector to be mated with a mating connector includes:

an electrically insulating connector housing comprising an upwardly opening mating recess for receiving a mating projection of the mating connector; and at least one pair of contact members held by the connector housing, characterized in that,

the first contact member constituting one of the pair of contact members includes: a first lead portion provided to extend back and forth at a front lower portion in a front-back direction of the connector housing and exposed to a lower surface side of the connector housing; a first contact portion extending along one of left and right inner surfaces in the mating recess; and a first intermediate portion configured to connect the first lead portion and the first contact portion together,

the second contact member constituting the other of the pair of contact members includes: a second lead portion provided to extend back and forth at a back lower portion in a front-back direction of the connector housing and exposed to the lower surface side; a second contact portion extending along the other of the left and right inner surfaces in the mating recess; and a second intermediate portion configured to connect the second lead portion and the second contact portion together, and,

the first contact portion and the second contact portion are located opposite to each other within the mating recess.

2. The electrical connector mated with a mating connector of claim 1,

the first contact member and the second contact member are made of long sheets of electrically conductive material,

the first lead portion and the second lead portion are formed to be provided with a sheet surface extending parallel to the lower surface,

the first and second intermediate portions include respective first and second curved surfaces connecting the first and second lead portions and having vertically and laterally extending sheet surfaces, the second curved surface portion being laterally curved from the first curved surface portion and extending vertically and longitudinally, and the first and second contact portions being formed to be connected to the respective second curved surface portion and extending vertically and longitudinally.

3. The electrical connector mated with a mating connector of claim 1,

the first contact portion is provided on the front side of the one surface among the left and right inner surfaces in the mating recess, and the second contact portion is provided on the rear side of the other surface among the left and right inner surfaces in the mating recess, and

the first contact portion and the second contact portion are diagonally opposite to each other in front-rear in the mating recess.

4. The electrical connector mated with a mating connector of claim 1,

the pair of contact members includes a plurality of contact members, and the mating recess includes a plurality of mating recesses provided in the connector housing, and

the first contact portion and the second contact portion of the pair of contact members are disposed in respective ones of the plurality of mating recesses.

5. The electrical connector mated with a mating connector as recited in claim 4,

the plurality of mating recesses are disposed laterally side by side in the connector housing,

the first lead portions of the pairs of contact members are disposed laterally side by side at the front lower portion of the connector housing, and,

the second lead portions of the pairs of contact members are disposed laterally side by side at the rear lower portion of the connector housing.

6. The electrical connector mated with a mating connector of claim 1,

the connector housing includes a fixed housing fixedly held and a movable housing located above the fixed housing and movable relative to the fixed housing, the mating recess is provided to open upward in the movable housing,

the first lead part is connected to extend back and forth at the front lower part of the fixed seat body and is exposed at the lower surface side of the fixed seat body, and the second lead part is connected to extend back and forth at the rear lower part of the fixed seat body and is exposed at the lower surface side of the fixed seat body,

the first contact portion is connected to the movable housing to extend along the one of the left and right inner surfaces in the mating recess, and the second contact portion is connected to the movable housing to extend along the other of the left and right inner surfaces in the mating recess, and

the first middle part and the second middle part are respectively provided with a first elastic part and a second elastic part which can elastically deform, and the elastic deformation of the first elastic part and the second elastic part can enable the movable base body to move relative to the fixed base body.

7. The electrical connector mated with a mating connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein the contact members are each configured to be capable of transmitting power supply electricity via the pair of contact members and for connecting power supply lines.