JP2000068011A - Zero insertion force type electrical connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electrical connector which can yield wiping effect with an easy connecting operation and which has a comparatively simple structure. SOLUTION: A connector 20 has contacts 50a, 50b which have male contact parts 51a, 51b, and a connector 30 has contacts 60a, 60b which have flexible arms 68a, 68b and contact parts 64a, 64b at their tips. The contacts 60a, 60b are made slidable in the array direction of the contacts 60, i.e., in the length direction of a housing 31 by a driving means. When the contacts 60 are displaced relatively by the driving means, the contact parts 64a, 64b electrically connected with the contact part 51a, 51b while being wiped thereby.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a zero insertion force type electrical connector in which contacts of a pair of connectors can be engaged with each other using driving means after the housings of the pair of connectors have been fitted.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An example of a zero insertion force type connector is disclosed in
No. 9-110990. The disclosed connector is for receiving a circuit board, and has a number of contacts in the housing for contacting the circuit board and an actuator for driving the contacts. After the circuit board is received between the opposing contacts opened by the actuator, the contacts are closed by driving the actuator, and the contacts and the contact pads on the circuit board can be electrically contacted. ing.

A problem with the zero insertion force type electrical connector as described above is that no wiping action occurs at the time of contact.
That is, there is a possibility that poor contact may occur. An example of a zero insertion force type electrical connector which solves this problem is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-3429.
No. 74 is disclosed. The disclosed zero insertion force type electrical connector has a pair of connectors, a first cam mechanism for driving the contacts in a connector having one of the female contacts, and a mating connector to be mated only slightly in size. A second cam mechanism for moving is provided. According to this electric connector, the mating connector is received between the opposed contacts opened by the first cam mechanism, and the contacts are brought into the closed state by the first cam mechanism to engage the contacts. The cam mechanism described above displaces the mating connector in the pushing direction, thereby causing wiping between the contacts. According to this configuration, highly reliable electrical contact of the contact is guaranteed.

[0004]

Problems with the electric connector disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-342974 are that the number of parts is large and that it is necessary to operate the second cam mechanism in addition to the first cam mechanism. That is. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a zero insertion force type electrical connector that can provide a wiping action with a relatively simple configuration in which a connection operation is simple.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention comprises an elongated housing and first and second connectors having a plurality of contacts arranged longitudinally within the housing, and after combining the housings. Wherein the plurality of contacts of the first and second connectors are slid relative to each other in the length direction of the housing so that the plurality of contacts are connected to each other while rubbing each other. And a zero insertion force type electrical connector.

Preferably, the first connector has a male contact including a sloped or curved guide surface on a side edge,
The second connector has a female contact that includes a flexible arm that extends in a height direction and a contact portion that is inclined and extends laterally near an end of the flexible arm.

[0007] Preferably, the second connector has a support for supporting the plurality of contacts, and further comprises the first connector.
Driving means for driving the support to move the contacts of the second connector relative to the contacts of the connector.

[0008] Preferably, the plurality of contacts of the second connector are connected to a wire or a circuit conductor at an end opposite to the fitting end.

[0009] Preferably, the housing of the first connector has a stepped protruding portion at the center, and the contact portion of the male contact is displaced in the height direction at each step of the protruding portion. A plurality of rows are configured, and the flexible arms of the plurality of contacts of the second connector are also configured to have different lengths corresponding to the contact portions of the male contacts.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a pair of connectors constituting a zero insertion force type electrical connector according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention.

The zero insertion force type electrical connector 10 of the present invention
Includes a pair of matable connectors 20,30. Both have elongated housings 21 and 31, on each of which a plurality of contacts 50 and 60 are arranged. One side connector 3
A drive means 35 for driving the contact 60 to be displaced is provided at 0 as described later, and its operation will be described later. FIG. 1 shows only the operation unit 36 that constitutes a part of the driving unit 35. The connector 20 is connected to a circuit board (not shown), and a connection portion 54 of the contact 50 is arranged on the mounting surface 22. On the other hand, connector 3
0 contact 60 is connected to wire 4 inside housing 31.
Connected to 0.

FIG. 2 is a partially broken enlarged perspective view showing the schematic structure of one connector constituting the zero insertion force electrical connector of the present invention shown in FIG.

Referring to FIG. 1, one connector 20 is a male connector and includes a number of male contacts 50.
FIG. 2 is partially cut away in order to particularly explain the structure in detail. The housing 21 has a protruding portion 2 at the center.
2 (see FIG. 1), but both sides are stepped,
Step portions 23a and 23b are provided at intermediate positions. Contact 5
0 includes two types of contacts 50a and 50b having male contact portions 51a and 51b at respective positions of the step portions 23a and 23b. Contacts 50a, 50
b is integrally molded with and supported by the housing 21. The ridge wall 24 of the housing 21 is formed on one side edge 52 side of each of the contact portions 51a and 51b, while the other side edge 53 is open and an inclined or curved guide surface 55 is formed. In each row of the contact portions 51a and 51b on the step portions 23a and 23b, between the side edge 53 of the contact portions 51a and 51b and the ridge wall 24 located in contact with the adjacent contact portions 51a and 51b. A space 56 is formed. Protruding part 2
A grounding plate 28 extending in the height direction is disposed at the center of the inside of 2. The ground plate 28 may be integrally fixed in the housing 21 by molding, or may be fixed by being press-fitted from the bottom side of the housing 21.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the housings of a pair of connectors constituting the zero insertion force type electrical connector of FIG. 1 are fitted to each other, and is a cross-sectional view taken along line 3-3 in FIG. It is. FIG. 4 is a schematic view seen in a plane direction for explaining the engagement operation of the contacts in the zero insertion force type electrical connector of FIG.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show the engagement of the contacts 50 and 60 in the connectors 20 and 30, respectively. Prior to the description, the configuration of the female connector 30 will be described in detail.

The connector 30 is connected to the driving means 35 as described above.
A contact sub-assembly 70 including contacts 60 (shown as 60a and 60b in FIGS. 3 and 4) is housed inside the housing 31 of the connector having the connector (see FIG. 1). You. The contact 60 is molded and fixed to a resin support 75. Although not shown in detail, the support 75 is configured to integrally support the plurality of contacts 60. The contact 60 is the support 7
5 has lead connection portions 66a and 66b extending outward and contact portions 67a and 67b extending inward. As shown, support 75 includes an extension 76 for supporting lead connections 66a, 66b.

The contact 60 has contact portions 67a and 67b.
Contact 60 including a relatively short flexible arm 68a
a and a contact 60b including a relatively long flexible arm 68b. The flexible arms 68a, 68b have linear portions 62a, 62b extending linearly in the height direction, and a neck 63 extending inward from the linear portions 62a, 62b at an angle.
a, 63b, and contact portions 64a, 64b provided at the tips of the neck portions 63a, 63b and extending in an inclined direction. Also, the linear portions 62a, 6a of the flexible arms 68a, 68b
A film 79 providing a microstrip line structure for impedance matching is applied to 2b. In the preferred embodiment, the contact 60 is connected to the coaxial cable 100, the center conductor 120 is connected to the lead connection part 66a, and the ground conductor 110 is connected to the lead connection part 66a. Therefore, contact 60
a is used as a signal contact;
It is understood that b is used as a ground contact.

Although not shown in detail, the support body 75 is supported and fixed to a metal frame body 80, and the frame body 80 is slidable within the housing 31 in its length direction (a direction perpendicular to the plane of FIG. 3). It is placed to be. The frame body 80 constitutes a part of the driving means 35, and is configured to interlock with the operation unit 36 shown in FIG.
By rotating the operation unit 36, the frame body 8 is moved.
0 can be slid in the length direction of the housing 31, so that the support body 75 and the contacts 60 supported by the frame body 80 can be moved in the housing 31 in the length direction. The frame body 80 has sufficient rigidity, so that the distance between the rows of the contacts 60 and the pitch between the adjacent contacts 60 are accurately maintained even when the frames are slid. In order to change the rotational movement of the operation unit 36 to the sliding movement of the frame body 80, various conventionally known mechanisms can be applied.

When the contacts 50 and 60 are engaged and connected to each other, first, the housings 21 and 31 are fitted to each other in the same manner as in a normal zero insertion force type electrical connector. (The contacts 50 are also shown as 50a and 50b in FIGS. 3 and 4.) At this time, the contacts 50 and 60 are arranged as shown in FIG.
It should be noted that a, 64b is located at the location of space 56 (see FIG. 2). Then, the operation unit 3 of the driving unit 35
6 is operated to move the contact 60 relative to the contact 50. Thereby, the contacts 60a, 6
The contact portions 64a and 64b of the contact 50 ride elastically from the guide surfaces 55 of the contact portions 51a and 51b of the contact 50 to the contact surface 57 by the guiding action thereof (the moving direction of the contact 60 in FIG. 4). In particular, FIG. 4 virtually shows one of the contact portions 64b in the contact state.) A sufficient elastic force for stable contact is provided by the flexible arms 68a and 68b of the contact 60. Provided, further comprising contact portions 51a, 51b and contact portions 64a,
Since a sufficient wiping effect can be obtained in the process of contacting with 64b, highly reliable electrical connection is possible. When the fitting is released, the engagement of the contacts 50 and 60 can be released by operating the operation portion 36 in reverse. As a result, the contact portions 64a and 64b of the contact 60 move relative to the contact portions 51a and 51b of the contact 50 and return to the space 56.

The main effect of the zero insertion force type electrical connector of the present invention is that a sufficient wiping action can be realized with a simple structure. In particular, the zero insertion force type electrical connector 10 according to the first preferred embodiment is used. If so, additional effects can be obtained. First, contacts can be arranged at a narrow pitch. In particular, since the positions of the contact portions of the contacts are shifted in the height direction, the contacts can be arranged at a high density in a relatively narrow region in the two-dimensional direction. The second is optimization of the grounding structure. As can be seen in particular with reference to FIG. 3, between the paths of the contacts 50, 60 facing the first preferred embodiment, a connector 20 is provided.
A ground plate 28 is provided in the inside, and a frame body 80 that can be grounded is located in the connector 30 if necessary, and an impedance matching film 79 is attached to the contact 60 between them. Therefore, it is possible to minimize signal interference on the opposing electric path.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 3 showing a zero insertion force type electrical connector according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, a second preferred embodiment of the zero insertion force type electrical connector 210 includes a male contact 2
Connector 220 with 50 and female contacts 2
It has a connector 230 having sixty. The female contact 260 has one length of flexible arm 268,
The contacts 250 that are mating partners also form a row of contact portions 251 that do not shift in the height direction. Other configurations are the same as those of the first preferred embodiment, and reference numerals indicating some main members are added with 200. Although the zero insertion force type connector 210 according to the second embodiment cannot arrange contacts densely as compared with the first preferred embodiment, a sufficient wiping effect can be obtained similarly to the first preferred embodiment. And a highly reliable electrical connection is realized.

As described above, the zero insertion force type electrical connector according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described. However, this is merely an example, and does not limit the present invention. Changes are possible. As an example, the contacts 60, 26 of the connectors 30, 230
0 may be connected to means such as a flexible circuit board or a flat cable instead of the separated coaxial cable 100. The operation unit of the driving means may not be operated by rotation but may be operated by sliding.

[0025]

According to the zero insertion force type electrical connector of the present invention, the first and second connectors each having an elongated housing and a plurality of contacts arranged in the housing in the length direction are provided. Since the plurality of contacts of the first and second connectors are slid relative to each other in the longitudinal direction of the housing after the combination, the plurality of contacts are interconnected while rubbing each other. In addition, a sufficient wiping effect is obtained when the contacts come into contact with each other with a relatively simple structure, and a highly reliable interconnection is realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a pair of connectors constituting a zero insertion force type electrical connector according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged perspective view showing a schematic structure of one connector constituting the zero insertion force electrical connector of the present invention of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view taken along line 3-3 in FIG. 4, showing a state where the housings of a pair of connectors constituting the zero insertion force type electrical connector of FIG. FIG.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view in a plane direction for explaining an engagement operation of a contact in the zero insertion force type electrical connector of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 3, showing a zero insertion force type electrical connector according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention;

[Explanation of symbols]

 10, 210 Zero insertion force type electric connector 20, 220 Connector 21, 221 Housing 30, 230 Connector 31, 231 Housing 50, 250 Contact 60, 260 Contact

Claims (1)

[Claims] A first connector having an elongated housing and a plurality of contacts arranged longitudinally within the housing, the first and second connectors being combined after the housings are combined. A plurality of contacts of the connector are slid relative to each other in the length direction of the housing, so that the plurality of contacts are interconnected while rubbing each other. .