EP0262231B1

EP0262231B1 - Connector

Info

Publication number: EP0262231B1
Application number: EP87902703A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Toru Masuda; Norio Ichitsubo
Original assignee: Hosiden Electronics Co Ltd
Current assignee: Hosiden Electronics Co Ltd
Priority date: 1986-04-03
Filing date: 1987-04-03
Publication date: 1992-11-19
Anticipated expiration: 2007-04-03
Also published as: JPH0235187Y2; EP0262231A1; EP0262231A4; KR880700001U; WO1987006067A1; KR910001357Y1; JPS62161779U; DE3782711T2; DE3782711D1

Abstract

A connector for detachably connecting a printed wiring board. The connector is adapted to a printed circuit board that will be frequently inserted and removed, such as a printed circuit board of a cartridge for a television game machine. The connector detachably inserts the printed circuit board (100) in between a first contact point (17d) formed by a V-shaped curved portion of a first spring contactor (17a) and a second contact point (20e) formed by an inverted V-shaped portion of a second spring contactor (20a), aslantly in a non-contacting manner or lightly contacting manner. When the printed circuit board (100) thus inserted is placed horizontally, the first contact point (17d) is depressed onto the board (100) so that the first spring contactor (17a) is deformed as a whole to approach one wall (9) and the second contact point (20e) is depressed so that the second spring contactor (20a) is deformed as a whole to separate away from the other wall (11). Accompanying these movements, the first contact point (17d) and the second contact point (20e) are brought into pressure contact with the wiring patterns of the printed circuit board (100) to accomplish electric connection.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to an electrical connector suitable for making electrical connections to printed circuit boards to provide good electrical continuity, and in conjunction with the connector of the type, to an electrical connector suitable for electrically connecting two printed circuit boards to each other with good electrical continuity effect.

BACKGROUND ART

Hitherto, electrical connectors used for making electrical connections to printed circuit boards have had a difficulty from the standpoint of service durability, because frequent insertion into and removal from the connetor of the printed circuit board would result in separation of a circuit pattern from the circuit board and/or deterioration in the resiliency characteristics of connector strips in a relatively short period of time.
The document US-A-4 084 874 discloses a connector with check-mark shaped contactors, whereby the curved contact portion of the first one is positioned rearwardly relative to the curved contact portion of the other. The connector has a relatively high retention force upon an inserted board, but provides very little resistance during its initial insertion.
Conventionally, an electrical connector has a multiplicity of independent connector strips disposed in parallel relation in its body in which two printed circuit boards are inserted, in order to insure electrical continuity of the printed circuit boards. However, in the manufacture of such connector, a multiplicity of connector strips are individually incorporated into the body of the connector; this means poor efficiency of assembly operation and makes it difficult to manufacture such connector on a mass production basis. Moreover, individual connector strips incorporated into the body may easily short as a result of poor workmanship, if any, in the process of assembly work.
The present invention is intended to overcome these difficulties, and accordingly it is a primary object of the invention to provide a connector which is simple in construction and is greatly improved in respect of service durability.
It is another object of the invention to provide a connector which can be manufactured on a mass production basis and in such a way that a multiplicity of connector strips are incorporated into the body of the connector in one operation, and which is free from the possibility of shorting of individual connector strips so incorporated.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

The connector in accordance with the present invention comprises a first series of spring contactors of check-mark shape disposed in a space defined between opposite walls of a body and adjacent one of said walls, a front end portion of each of said first spring contactors being held in abutment with the outer surface of a locking strip portion provided adjacent an open portion of said space, a second series of spring contactors held in contact with the outer surface of the other wall and having a curved front end portion of U-shape which is fitted over the front end portion of said other wall, said U-shaped portion having at its front end a curved portion which is generally inverted check-mark shaped, said inverted check-mark shaped portion projecting into said space, the check-mark shaped curved portion of said first spring contactor being positioned rearwardly relative to the generally inverted-check mark shaped curved portion of said second spring contactor, whereby a printed circuit board can be obliquely inserted into and removed from a space between said curved portions, and whereby when the printed circuit board inserted into the space between the curved portions is horizontally positioned, said curved portions go into pressure contact with a circuit pattern of the printed circuit board.
According to the foregoing arrangement, the printed circuit board is inserted in non-contact or slight contact condition between a first contact formed by the curved portion of the first series of spring contactors and a second contact formed by the curved portion of the second series of spring contactors, and therefore neither of the first and second series of spring contactors is deformed upon insertion of the printed circuit board. When the printed circuit board inserted between the first and second spring contact is horizontally positioned, the first contact is pressed by the circuit pattern of the printed circuit board so that the entire first series of spring contactor is deflected toward one of the wall portions, and the second contact is pressed so that the entire second series of spring contactors is deflected in a direction away from the outer surface of the other wall portion. As a consequence, the first and second contacts go into pressure contact with the printed pattern so that good electrical connection is established.
Thus, the possibility of the first and second spring contactors rubbing forcibly against the printed pattern of the printed circuit board is eliminated which would otherwise develop when the printed circuit board is inserted into and removed from the connector. When the printed circuit board is horizontally positioned, the first contact (or the curved portion of the first spring contactor) is pressed by the circuit pattern of the board so that the entirety of the first spring contactors is deflected toward the one wall portion, and the second contact (or the curved portion of the second spring contactor) is pressed so that the entirety of the second spring contactors is deflected in a direction away from the outer surface of the other wall portion. The fact that the first and second spring contactors are subject to deflection in their entirety means that respective strokes of the first and second spring contactors as connector strips are considerably long, and further that spring pressures of the first and second spring contactors can be easily balanced. Therefore, the second spring contactors are not liable to scraping under the spring force of the first spring contactors,it being thus possible to insure much more reliable pressure contact between the spring contactors and the printed circuit board and longtime good electrical continuity. In addition, since the front end curved portion of U-shape of each second spring contact is fitted on the other wall portion so that the front end portion of the U-shaped portion which is generally inverted check-mark shaped is caused to project along the inner surface of the other wall portion, if said U-shaped front end portion is going to be scraped, it is steadily supported on the inner surface of said other wall portion so that it can be effectively prevented from getting scraped. Because of these facts, therefore, the spring contactors may be made of a relatively low-cost material. Furthermore, the first spring contactors can be mounted in position from the rear side of the body, and the second spring contactors from the front side of the body; therefore, each series of these contactors can be so preloaded as to move toward the other series of contactors. Through such arrangement it is possible to insure more reliable electrical continuity with the circuit pattern of the printed circuit board.
The arrangement of the invention eliminates the necessity of providing an opening/closing member and/or a manipulating member therefore in order to open and close the pairs of spring contactors. This brings about variout practical advantages, such as greater simplicity in construction, freedom from operational complexity, and considerable cost reduction.
In order to accomplish aforesaid other object of the invention, the connector in accordance with the invention further comprises a body including an upper body portion for removably receiving one side portion of a printed circuit board and a lower body portion for removably receiving one side portion of another printed circuit board, the rear ends of said upper and lower body portions being integrally connected to each other by side walls, a release opening extending between said side walls in the longitudinal direction of the body, a spring contactor insertion opening formed at the rear side of each of said upper and lower body portions, said body being generally of U-shape, a first connector strip group comprising a multiplicity of generally U-shaped first connector strips arranged in parallel, each of said first connector strips including a first upper spring contactor which resiliently contacts the upper surface of said one printed circuit board inserted into said upper body portion and a lower spring contactor which resiliently contacts the lower surface of said other printed circuit board inserted into said lower body portion, the rear ends of said first upper and lower contactors being integrally connected by a coupling strip portion, the coupling strip portions of said first connector strips being integrally connected by a tie bar, a second connector strip group comprising a multiplicity of generally U-shaped second connector strips smaller in size than said first connector strips and arranged in parallel, each of said second connector strips including a second upper spring contact which resiliently contacts the lower surface of said one printed circuit board inserted into said upper body portion and a lower spring contactor which resiliently contacts the upper surface of said other printed circuit board inserted into said lower body portion, the rear ends of said second upper and lower spring contactors being integrally connected by a coupling strip portion, the coupling strip portions of said second connector strips being integrally connected by a tie bar, whereby the upper and lower spring contactors of said second connector strip group can be inserted into the upper and lower body portions respectively from the front side or through the respective spring contactor insertion openings of the upper and lower body portions for placement therein, the coupling strip portions of the second connector strip group being arranged in the release opening of the body, while the upper and lower spring contactors of said first connector strip group can be inserted into the upper and lower body portions respectively through the respective spring contactor insertion openings of the upper and lower body portions for placement therein, the coupling strip portions of the first connector strip group being arranged in the release opening of the body and behind the coupling strip portions of said second connector strip group, and whereby respective tie bars of the first and second connector strip groups arranged in said release opening are cut off through the release opening so that all the first and second connnector strips are individually made independent.
According to this arrangement, after the first connector strip group comprising a multiplicity of first connector strips integrally connected together by a tie bar and the second connector strip group comprising a multiplicity of second connector strips integrally connected together by a tie bar are mounted in the body, said tie bars are cut off by means of a receiving block and a punch via the release opening extending between the side walls so that the connector strip groups are separated into individual independent connector strips. This provides greater ease and speed of assembly work as compared with the case in which individual connector strips are set in place one by one, thus assuring much improved operating efficiency of assembly work. Furthermore, since individual connector strips are firmly mounted in the body, the connector strips are free from shorting possibilities. Therefore, the arrangement has a good practical advantage that it permits easy and efficient manufacture on a mass production basis of an electrical connector which insures realiable electrical continuity of two printed circuit boards.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view, partly cutaway, of a connector representing a preferred embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 2 is a cutaway view in perspective showing an internal construction of the connector;
FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the connector;
FIGS. 4a - 4d are explanatory views showing a tie-bar stamping procedure;
FIG. 5 is a partial perspective view showing a tie-bar stamping die;
FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing the die of FIG. 5 as it appears when in use;
FIG. 7 is a cutaway view in perspective showing a connector in a completed state;
FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view showing a cassette mounting/dismounting unit;
FIG. 9 is a right side view of same;
FIG. 10 is a front view showing a heart cam groove in a locking mechanism;
FIG. 11 (A) is a sectional view showing the locking mechanism as it appears when a tray is positioned in an oblique condition;
FIG. 11 (B) is a sectional view showing the locking mechanism as it appears when the tray is horizontally positioned;
FIG. 12 is an exploded perspective view showing a modified form of the cassette mounting/dismounting unit;
FIG. 13 is a partially cutaway view in right side elevation of said unit;
FIG. 14 is a partially cutaway front view showing a locking mechanism of the unit; and
FIG. 15 is a sectional view for explanation of the positional relationship between the pivotal center of a printed circuit board and the pivotal center of the tray.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view, partially cutaway, of a connector in accordance with the invention. FIG. 2 is a cutaway perspective view showing an interior construction of the connector, and FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the connector.
Reference numeral 1 designates the connector having a resin-made body 2 of U-shape which has an upper body portion 3 which removably receives one side portion of a printed circuit board (to be described hereinafter) and a lower body portion 4 which removably receives one side portion of another printed circuit board (to be described hereinafter), the rear ends of the upper and lower body portions being integrally connected to each other by side walls 5, 5, there being provided a release opening 6 extending between the side walls 5, 5 in the longitudinal direction of the body. First connector strips 7 of U-shape are mounted in the body 2 from the rear side of the latter (i.e., in direction of arrow A), and second connector strips 8 of U-shape are mounted in position from the front side of the body 2. As FIG. 3 shows, there are formed spring contactor insertion openings 3a, 4a respectively in the upper body portion 3 and the lower body portion 4 at their respective rear sides. On the underside of an upper wall portion 9 of the upper body portion 3 there are provided a large number of partition walls 10 spaced apart in the widthwise direction of the upper body portion 3. Similarly, on a lower wall portion 11 there are provided a large number of partition walls 12 spaced apart in the widthwise direction. A lower wall portion 13 of the lower body portion 4 and an upper wall portion 15 of thereof are also provided respectively with partition walls 14 and 16 in large numbers which are spaced apart in the widthwise direction. These partition walls 10, 12, 14, 16 are equally spaced and the upper ones and lower ones of them are in alignment.
Each first connector strip 7 comprises upper and lower first spring contactors 17a, 17b and a coupling strip portion 17c integrally formed therewith for connecting them at their respective rear ends, and a multiplicity of such coupling strip portions 17c are connected in parallel by a tie bar 18, a first connector strip group 19 being thus formed. The upper and lower first spring contactors 17a, 17b of such first connector strip group 19 are inserted through the spring contactor insertion openings 3a, 4a in the direction of arrow B, as FIGS. 2 and 3 show, so that they are disposed between adjacent partition walls 10, 10 and 14, 14 respectively. Each second connector strip 8 is smaller in size than each first connector strip 7 and comprises upper and lower second spring contactors 20a, 20b and a coupling strip portion 20c integrally formed therewith for connecting them at their respective rear ends, and a multiplicity of such coupling strip portions 20c are connected in parallel by a tie bar 21, a second connector strip group 22 being thus formed. The upper and lower spring contactors 20a, 20b of such second connector strip group 22 are inserted from the front side of the body 2 (from the direction of arrow B in FIG. 1, whereby as FIGS. 2, 3 show, the second spring contactors 20a, 20b of second connector strips 8 are disposed between adjacent partition walls 12, 12 and between adjacent partition walls 16, 16. When the first and second connector strip group 19, 22 are incorporated into the body 2 in this way, their respective coupling strip portions are disposed in the release opening 6 so that the coupling strip portion 17c of the first connector strip group 19 is positioned behind the coupling strip portion 20c of the second connector strip group 22.
Between the upper and lower wall portions 9, 11 of the upper body portion 3 there is formed a space S, as FIG. 3 shows. The upper first spring contactors 17a of the first connector strips 7 are arranged in the space S and adjacent the upper wall portion 9. Each of the first spring contactors 17a is curved in check-mark shape, the apex of the curved portion constituting a first contact 17d. The front end portion 17e of the first spring contactor 17a is held in abutment with the upper surface of a locking piece 23 provided between adjacent partition walls 10. The underside of the locking piece 23 is upwardly sloped to form a guide face 23a so as to permit proper insertion and removal of a printed circuit board 100 from and in an oblique direction.
The second spring contactors 20a of the second connector strips 8 are arranged in contact relation with the lower surface of the lower wall portion 11. Each of the second spring contactors 20a has a curved front end portion 20d of U-shape fitted over the front end portion 11a of the lower wall portion 11, said U-shaped portion 20d having a curved portion of check-mark shape at its front end which projects into the space S. The apex of this curved portion constitutes a second contact 20e.
Aforesaid first contact 17d is disposed behind the second contact 20e so that printed circuit board 100 is obliquely inserted into and removed from a space between the first contact 17d and the second contact 20e. The first spring contactor 17a and the second spring contactor 20a constitute a female contact 24.
In the lower body portion 4 are disposed first spring contactors 17b each of which is formed by bending the lower end portion of first connector strip 7 in fold-back pattern and second spring contactors 20b each of which is formed by bending the lower end portion of second connector strip 8 in fold-back pattern. A contact 17f of each first spring contactor 17b and a contact 20f of each second spring contactor 20b are disposed in opposed relation to each other at a distance smaller than the width of a main printed circuit board 25. The main printed circuit board 25 is normally interposed between the contacts 17f and 20f. The main printed circuit board 25 is not of the type which is subject to frequent insertion and removal; therefore, a female contact 26 can be constituted of such form of first and second spring contactors 17b, 20b without involving any trouble such as contact scratching.
According to the above described arrangement of the connector 1, the two female contacts 24, 26 can be formed simultaneously.
The first and second connector strip groups 19, 22 are separated into individual first connector strips 7 and second connector strips 8 by cutting the tie bars 18, 21 off. FIGS. 4a - 4d illustrate sequential steps for cutting the tie bars 18, 21 off. In the illustrated example, a receiving block 28 is first placed against the back side of the coupling strip portions 20c ... of the second connector strips 8 as FIG. 4a shows, and then a punch 29 having
-shaped blades is operated toward the release opening 6, whereby the tie bars 21 ... are stamped in manner as FIG. 4b shows. Nextly, as FIG. 4c shows, the receiving block 28 is placed against the back side of the coupling strip portions 17c ... of the first connector strips 7 as FIG. 4c shows, and then the punch 29 is operated toward the release opening 6 by allowing it to pass through the gaps between the coupling strip portions 20c ... of the second connector strips 8 from which the tie bars 21 have been punched out, whereby the tie bars 18 ... are stamped. In FIGS. 4a - 4d, the first connector strips 7 are mounted in the body 2 after the tie bars 21 ... of the second connector strips 8 have been punched out, and the tie bars 18 of the first connector strips 7 are punched out. Needless to say, this procedure for tie bars 21, 18 may be reversed. That is, the position of the punch 29 relative to the receiving block 28 is reversed so that the tie bars 21 of the second connector strips 8 are punched out after the tie bars 18 of the first connector strips 7 have been punched out.
It is also possible to punch out the tie bars 21, 18 simultaneously by vertically shifting the relative positions of the tie bars 21, 18. For this purpose, a die shown by way of example in FIG. 5 may be conveniently used. A receiving block 27 for this die has, at different levels, a first receiving portion 27a for placement against the coupling strip portions 17c of the first connector strips 7 and a second receiving portion 27b for placement against the coupling strip portions 20c of the second connector strips 8, said second receiving portion 27b being retractably insertable into the gap between the coupling strip portions 17c, 17c of adjacent first connector strips 7, 7. The punch 29 has, at different levels, a first blade portion 29a corresponding to said first receiving portion 27a and a second blade portion 29b corresponding to said second receiving portion 27b. Shown by 30 is a guide hole provided in the receiving block 27. Numeral 31 designates a guide portion of the punch 29.
If the tie bars 21, 18 are to be punched out simultaneously, after the first and second connector strip groups 19, 22 are inserted into the body 2 as shown in FIG. 6, the second receiving portion 27b of the receiving block 27 is placed against the coupling strip portions 20c of the second connector strips 8 through the gap between the coupling strip portions 17c of adjacent first connector strips 7 and the first receiving portion 27a of the receiving block 27 is placed against the coupling strip portions 17c of the first connector strips 7; then, the punch 29 is operated toward the release opening 6, whereby the tie bar 21 is punched out by the second blade portion 29b simultaneously when the tie bar 18 is punched out by the first blade portion 29a.
A connector 1 which has been completed as such by its tie bars 18, 21 being punched out in manner as described above is shown in FIG. 7.
Nextly, a cassette mounting/dismounting unit for a TV game machine with which the connector 1 is used will be explained.
In FIGS. 8 and 9, numeral 32 designates a holder frame, and 33 designates a loading tray for a cassette 100 as rotatably mounted in the holder frame 32. Support shafts 34, 34 projecting from both sides of the tray 33 at a location adjacent its one end at which the tray is inserted into the holder frame 32 are fitted into mounting holes 35, 35 of the frame 32 as shown by a dashed line arrow in FIG. 8. The tray 33 is rotatable about the support shafts 34. Push-up members 38 of the tray 33 are upwardly urged by coil springs 37 fitted in a pair of cylindrical portions 36 of the holder frame 32 so that the tray 33 is driven to a position at which positioning projections 39 formed on the outer sides of the tray are brought in abutment with positioning/locking grooves 40 formed on the inner sides of the holder frame 32, whereby the tray 33 is held in a predetermined obliquely angled position as FIG. 9 shows.
The tray 33 and holder frame 32 are provided at a front end portion with a locking mechanism 41 for disengageably locking the tray 33 to the holder frame 32 in generally horizontal condition. In the example shown, as can be seen from FIGS. 8, 10, and 11 (A), (B), a locking mechanism 41 in the form of a heart cam is shown which comprises a cam plate 43 having a heart-shaped cam groove 43a fitted in a holding frame member 42 extending downward from the front end of the tray 33, a holder 45 fitted in a holding frame member 44 formed at the front end of the holder frame 32, and auxiliary springs 46 and a cam follower pin 47 (see FIGS. 11 (A), (B)) provided in the holder 45. The cam plate 43, as FIG. 10 shows, has stepped portions 43b at suitable locations in the cam groove 43a. The cam follower pin 47, pressed against the cam groove 43a by the auxiliary springs 46, is rotatable in one direction as shown by a dashed line arrow. When the tray 33 is in non-pressed condition (in such condition as shown in FIGS. 9 and 11 (A)), the tray 33 is pushed up by the coil spring 37 so that the cam follower pin 47 is at a low position indicated by a solid line in FIG. 10, and as the tray 33 is pushed down, the pin 47 moves along the dashed line arrow until it is locked at an upper position indicated by a broken line (see FIG. 11 (B)), whereby the tray 33 and the cassette 110 are held in a generally horizontal condition. When the tray 33 is again pressed down, the cam follower pin 47 moves out of the locking position for return to its low position along the path shown by the dashed line arrow.
As may be reasonably understood from FIG. 9, the center of pivoting of the tray 33 about the support shafts 34 of the holder frame 32 is in agreement with the center of pivoting P of printed circuit board 100 when the circuit board 100 in the cassette 110 shown in FIG. 15 is horizontally positioned as from its oblique position.
In this conjunction, the pivotal center P of the printed circuit board 100 is positioned on a center line between a rear end corner portion X of the locking member 23 and a rear end corner portion Y of the partition walls 12 in the lower wall portion 11. For this purpose, it is so arranged that when the printed circuit board 100 is horiozntally positioned as from the oblique position, positional regulation is effected by said corner portion X and the upper surface of the partition walls 12 so that the circuit board 100 is prevented from pivoting more than required, whereby the contacts 17d, 20e of the first and second spring contactors 17a, 20a are prevented from scratching.
Nextly, the function of the cassette mounting/dismounting unit constructed as above described will be explained. For the purpose of mounting the cassette 110, the cassette 110 is inserted while being caused to slide in the direction of arrow D in FIG. 9, when one side portion of the board 100 which projects in a hollow frame 112 of the cassette 110 is obliquely inserted between the contacts 17d, 20e of the female contact 24 shown in FIG. 3. In this case, insertion can be easily made by holding two recessed portions 111 (see FIG. 8) between fingers. As FIG. 8 shows, the inner surface of the hollow frame 112 of the cassette 110 is guided by the sloped upper surface of the upper body portion 3 of the connector 1 with which it goes into slide contact. Furthermore, one side portion of the printed circuit board 100 is guided by a guiding surface 23a of the locking member 23 as it is inserted.
When the cassette 110 has been inserted, the rear end of the cassette 110 is pushed downward; then the tray 33 is allowed to pivot about the support shafts 34 as shown by arrow E in FIG. 9 and the cam follower pin 47 of the locking mechanism 41 is caused to slide from the position shown by a solid line in FIG. 10 following the cam groove 43a until it is locked at the position shown by a broken line (see FIG. 11 (B)), the tray 33 and the cassette 110 being thus held in a generally horizontal condition. If the cassette 110 is erroneously inserted or if any cassette other than one of the regular type 110 is inserted, a protrusion 65 (see FIG. 8) contacts the cassette 110 to prevent it from pivoting.
To remove the cassette 11 after a game is ended, the rear end of the cassette is pressed forward to release the lock; the tray 33 then returns to the oblique position shown in FIG. 9 under the biasing force of the coil spring 37 and the cassette 110 can easily be withdrawn.
Nextly, the function of the connector 1 will be explained.
When the one side portion of the printed circuit board 100 is obliquely inserted through the space between the locking portion 23 and the partition walls 12 as shown by a solid line in FIGS. 3 and 15, the first contact 17d and the second contact 20e are in non-contact relation or slight contact relation, if any, with a circuit pattern (not shown) of one side portion of the printed circuit board 100. Therefore, none of the first and second spring contactors 17a, 20a are deflected and no scratch or peel is caused to the circuit pattern of said one side portion of the printed circuit board 100 or the like. When the printed circuit board 100 so inserted between the first contact 17d and the second contact 20e is pushed down as shown by arrow C to the horizontal position shown by dashed line, the first contact 17d is pressed by the one side portion of the printed circuit board 100, so that the whole of the first spring contactors 17a is deflected toward the upper wall portion 9 while the second contact 20e is pressed so that the whole of the second spring contactors 20a is deflected in a direction away from the lower surface of the lower wall portion 11. As a consequence, the first contact 17d and the second contact 20a go into pressure contact with the circuit pattern of the one side portion of the printed circuit board 100 for electrical connection.
When the tray 33 returns to such oblique position as shown in FIG. 9, the printed circuit board 100 also returns to such oblique position as shown by solid line in FIG. 3, and accordingly the circuit board 100 can be withdrawn in non-contact or slight contact condition relative to the first and second contacts 17d, 20e.
With such connector 1, there is no possibility of the first and second spring contactors 17a, 20a scratching the circuit pattern of said one side portion of the printed circuit board 100 when said one side portion is inserted into and removed from the female contact 24; the problem of peel can thus be effectively prevented, though the arrangement is very simple as above described. When the printed circuit board 100 is horizontally positioned, the first contact 17d is pressed by the one side portion of the board 100 so that the whole of the first spring contactors 17a is deflected toward the upper wall portion 9 and simultaneously the second contact 20e is pressed so that the whole of the second spring contactors 20a is deflected in a direction away from the lower surface of the lower wall portion 11. This insures longer stroke of the first and second spring contactors 17a, 20a as spring connector strips and permits easy balancing of spring pressures of the spring contactors 17a, 20a. Furthermore, such longer stroke of the spring connector strips results in considerable improvement in service life and pressure contact reliability. In addition, upon the pivoting of printed circuit board 100 to its horizontal position, positional control is positively effected at the predetermiend point by the rear end corner portion X of the locking portion 23 and the upper surface of the partition walls 12, so that scratching possibilities of the first and second spring contactors 17a, 20a can be eliminated, improved service durability being thus effectively achieved of the spring contactors.
The first spring contactors 17a can be inserted into the body 2 from the rear side thereof and the second spring contactors 20a from the front side; therefore, each of these two sets of contactors can be preloaded for movement toward each other. By such arrangement it is possible to provide more reliable pressure contact and electrical continuity with the circuit pattern of said one side portion of the printed circuit board 100.
FIG. 12 shows a modified form of cassette mounting/dismounting unit to which the connector is mounted. This unit comprises a holder frame 51 and a cartridge mounting tray 52. The holder frame 51 has support shafts 53 which are fitted in mounting holes 54, 54 provided at one end of a tray 52, so that the tray 52 can be up and down pivotably mounted to the holder frame 51. The holder frame 51 also has cylindrical portions 55 in which coil springs 56 are retained. The coil springs 56 are pressed against tongues 57 of the tray 52 so that the tray 52 is constantly urged upward by the coil springs 52. The tray 52 is provided with protrusions 58 which abut locking portions 59 of the holder frame 51 to restrict upward movement of the tray 52. On the front end of the tray 52 there is provided a locking pawl 60 which fits in an opening 61 formed in the holder frame 51 at the front end thereof. As FIG. 14 shows, a locking piece 63 which is constantly biased by springs 62 is disposed in the opening 61, whereby if the locking pawl 60 is forced into the opening 61, the locking piece 63 pushed down by the locking pawl 60 is first allowed to clear the locking pawl 60 under the biasing force of the springs 62 and then it returns to its original position to engage the locking pawl 60 into a lock position. To release the lock, a button 64 is depressed to disengage the locking piece 63 from the locking pawl 60.
As may be appreciated from FIG. 13, the center of pivoting of the tray 52 about the support shafts 53 of the holder frame 51 is in agreement with the center of pivoting P of printed circuit board 100 when the circuit board 100 shown in FIG. 15 is horizontally positioned as from its oblique position.
In this conjunction, the pivotal center P of the printed circuit board 100 is positioned on a center line between the rear end corner portion X of the locking piece 23 and the rear end corner portion Y of the partition walls 12 in the lower wall portion 11. For this purpose, it is so arranged that when the printed circuit board 100 is horizontally positioned as from the oblique position, positional regulation is effected by said corner position X and the upper surface of the partition walls 12 so as to prevent the contacts 17d, 20e from being scratched, as in the earlier mentioned case.
In the above described embodiment, one printed circuit board 100 is obliquely inserted into and removed from the upper body portion 3 and another printed circuit board 25 is horizontally inserted into and removed from the lower body portion 4. Needless to say, however, it may be so arranged that the upper and lower printed circuit boards are both inserted horizontally for pressure contact with the respective spring contactors of the first and second connector strips disposed in the upper and lower body portions for electrical connection. It is also possible to arrange so that the upper and lower printed circuit boards are obliquely inserted respectively into the upper and lower body portions and then brought to a horizontal position, whereby they are brought into pressure contact with the spring contactors of the first and second connector strips arranged in the upper and lower body portions.
Further, in the above described embodiment, the first connector strips are inserted into the body from the rear side thereof and the second connector strips from the front side. Of course, the rear side construction of the body and the arrangement of spring contactors of the first and second connector strips may be modified so as to permit insertion of both the first and the second connector strips from the rear side of the body.
As already stated, according to the foregoing arrangement, after a first connector group comprising a multiplicity of first connector strips integrally connected together by a tie bar and a second connector strip group comprising a multiplicity of second connector strips integrally connected together by a tie bar are mounted in the body, the tie bars are cut off by means of a receiving block and a punch by access through the release opening extending between the side walls so that the connector strip groups are separated into individual independent connector strips. This provides greater ease and speed of assembly work as compared with the case in which individual connector strips are set in place one by one, thus assuring much improved operating efficiency of assembly work. Moreover, since individual connector strips are firmly mounted in the body, the connector strips are free from shorting possibilities. Therefore, the arrangement has a good practical advantage that it permtis easy and efficient manufacture on a mass production basis of an electrical connector which insures reliable electrical continuity of two printed circuit boards.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

As is apparent from the foregoing description, the connector in accordance with the invention can be advantageously used with printed circuit boards subject to frequent insertion and removal, such as those for game cartridges for a TV game machine, for example. It is also suitable for use as a connector for electrically connecting such printed circuit board subject to frequent insertion and removal and another printed circuit board, with good continuity effect, and is very advantageous from the view points of both quality and mass production.

Claims

A connector comprising a first series (7) of spring contactors (17a) of check-mark shape (17d) disposed in a space defined between opposite walls (9,11) of a body (3) and adjacent one of said walls (9), a front end portion (17e) of each of said first spring contactors being held in abutment with the outer surface of a locking strip portion (23) provided adjacent an open portion of said space (5), a second series (8) of spring contactors (20a) held in contact with the outer surface of the other wall (11) and having a curved front end portion (20d) of U-shape which is fitted over the front end portion (11a) of said other wall (11), said U-shaped portion (20d) having at its front end a curved portion (20e) which is generally inverted check-mark shaped, said inverted check-mark shaped portion (20e) projecting into said space (5), the check-mark shaped curved portion (17d) of said first spring contactor (17a) being positioned rearwardly relative to the generally inverted check-mark shaped curved portion (20e) of said second spring contactor (20a), whereby a printed circuit board (100) can be obliquely inserted into and removed from a space between said curved portions, and whereby when the printed circuit board (100) inserted into the space between the curved portions (17d,20e) is horizontally positioned, said curved portions go into pressure contact with a circuit pattern of the printed circuit board (100).
A connector as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:
a body (2) including an upper body portion (3) for removably receiving one side portion of the printed circuit board (100) and a lower body portion (4) for removably receiving one side portion of another printed circuit board (25), the rear ends of said upper and lower body portions being integrally fixed by side walls (5,5) a release opening (6) extending between said side walls (5,5) in the longitudinal direction of the body, a spring contactor insertion opening formed at the rear side of each of said upper and lower body portions, said body (2) being generally of U-shape,
a first connector strip group (19) comprising a multiplicity of generally U-shaped first connector strips (7) arranged in parallel, each of said first connector strips including a first upper spring contactor (17a) which resiliently contacts the upper surface of said one printed board (100) inserted into said upper body portion (3) and a lower spring contactor (17b) which resiliently contacts the lower surface of said other printed circuit board (25) inserted into said lower body portion (4), the rear ends of said first upper and lower contactors being integrally connected by a coupling strip (17c), the coupling strip portions of said first connector strips being integrally connected by a tie bar (18),
a second connector strip group (22) comprising a multiplicity of generally U-shaped second connector strips (8) smaller in size than said first connector strips (7) and arranged in parallel, each of said second connector strips including a second upper spring contactor (20a) which resiliently contacts the lower surface of said one printed circuit board (100) inserted into said upper body portion (3) and a lower spring contactor (20b) which resiliently contacts the upper surface of said other printed circuit board (25) inserted into said lower body portion (4), the rear ends of said second upper and lower spring contactors being integrally connected by a coupling strip portion (20c), the coupling strip portions of said second connector strips being integrally connected by a tie bar (21),
whereby the upper and lower spring contactors of said second connector strip group (22) can be inserted into the upper and lower body portions (3,4) respectively from the front side or through the respective spring contactor insertion openings of the upper and lower body portions for placement therein, the coupling strip portions (20c) of the second connector strip group (22) being arranged in the release opening (6) of the body (2), while the upper and lower spring contactors of said first connector strip group (19) can be inserted into the upper and lower body portions respectively through the respective spring contactor insertion openings (3a,4a) of the upper and lower body portions for placement therein, the coupling strip portions (17c) of the first connector strip group being arranged in the release opening (6) of the body (2) and behind the coupling strip portions (20c) of said second connector strip group (22), and
whereby respective tie bars (18,21) of the first and second connector strip groups arranged in said release opening are cut off through the release opening so that all the first and second connector strips are individually made independent.