JP2000182689A - Junction connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a junction connector for internal wiring of an electronic apparatus constructed in smaller size with a higher density and a higher speed signal transmission capable of executing the cable-FPC connection easily even in a high density wiring and of maintaining the electric characteristics of the cable. SOLUTION: A junction connector is to connect a cable 1 including internal conductor 2 electrically with an FPC 11 fitted with a terminal part 14 where an exposed portion 12 of a conductor is located, wherein a housing 21 is furnished with a through hole 22 to admit insertion of the internal conductor and exposed portion in selective combination, and the internal conductor and exposed portion are engaged within the through hole, and a pressure contacting force is applied to the engagement part.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a distribution cable such as a coaxial cable and a shielded multi-core cable, for example.
The present invention relates to a relay connector for electrically connecting a flexible wiring member such as an FPC (flexible printed circuit board) or an FFC (flexible flat cable) to a relay.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in wiring in electronic equipment,
For the purpose of improving electrical characteristics such as matching of characteristic impedance between conductors and reduction of crosstalk, coaxial cables and twin wires, etc., in which an external conductor for grounding is arranged in parallel with the internal conductor for signals, are used as internal conductors. Shielded multi-core cables (hereinafter referred to as cables) are frequently used. In addition, in the mounting wiring in the electronic device, a flexible wiring member represented by FPC (hereinafter, referred to as FPC) is frequently used as a thin (low-profile) and easy mounting wiring. . Then, in the route of the wiring system, the above-described method of converting the connection from the cable to the FPC, that is, the method of relay-connecting the terminal of the cable to the terminal of the FPC is performed while maintaining the electrical characteristics of the cable and the electronic device. Practical application is being promoted to meet the needs for miniaturization.

Conventionally, as a means for connecting a cable terminal of this type to an FPC terminal, as shown in FIG. 9, a method of soldering a cable terminal from which a jacket is removed to a wiring pattern of the FPC is generally known. Have been. In FIG. 9, the terminal part of the cable (1)
The protective coating (5) and the outer conductor (4) and the dielectric (3) are removed stepwise so that the inner conductor (2) and the outer conductor (4) are partially exposed. In addition, one end (54) of the FPC (51) to be connected to the cable (1) has a conductor exposed portion corresponding to each exposed conductor of the inner conductor (2) and the outer conductor (4). (52) and a second conductor exposed portion (53) are provided, and a conductor pattern (56) for achieving connection with another connection object is provided on the other terminal portion (55). It is arranged.

The other terminal (55) in this conventional example is used as another connection object in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-142.
No. 130 discloses an example that can be fitted with the FPC connector. The inner conductor (2) is soldered at the soldering portion (57), and the outer conductor (4) is soldered at the second soldering portion (58). The cable (1) and the FPC (51) are soldered. And can be electrically connected.

[0005]

A connection means suitable for cable wiring in an electronic device, which is being miniaturized with high density, can perform a reliable electric connection, but is required. It is desirable that high-density wiring can be easily performed. However, there were few connection means for solving these problems comprehensively. For example, in the connection method by the soldering process shown in FIG. 9 described above, it is said that the electrical characteristics of the cable are deteriorated and that narrow-pitch wiring is not easy.

[0006] This is because the soldering operation involving heating gives rise to thermal deformation of the dielectric (3) of the cable (1), and the electrical characteristics such as characteristic impedance may not be maintained due to the influence. In addition, corrosion may occur at the connection portion due to the residual flux used at the time of soldering. Further, when the conductor exposed portions (52) are arranged at a narrow pitch for the purpose of high-density wiring, an electrical short circuit is likely to occur between adjacent soldered portions due to a solder bridge. Attention is required, and inspection and repair work may be required.

[0007]

Therefore, the object of the present invention is to
The present invention solves the problems of the prior art as described above. In wiring in an electronic device in which high-density miniaturization and high-speed transmission are progressing, connection wiring between a cable and an FPC is easily performed even in high-density wiring. It is an object of the present invention to provide a relay connector capable of maintaining the electrical characteristics of a cable.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, there is provided a relay for electrically connecting a cable including at least one inner conductor to an FPC having a terminal having an exposed conductor. A connector, comprising: a housing provided with a through-hole for selectively inserting an inner conductor and a conductor exposed portion in a corresponding manner, wherein the inner conductor and the corresponding conductor exposed portion are engaged in the through-hole. At the same time,
This is achieved by arranging such that a pressing force acts on the engaging portion.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a relay connector according to the first aspect, further comprising an operating element having a pressurizing portion that can be inserted into a through hole. In the engaged state, this is achieved by arranging the pressing portion between the inner wall portion of the through hole and the terminal portion so that the pressing force acts.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the relay connector according to the second aspect, wherein the cable has an outer conductor arranged substantially in parallel with the inner conductor via a dielectric. There is provided a connecting member that can be inserted into the through hole, and in the engaged state, the connecting member can be in contact with the terminal piece, and can be in contact with the external conductor while being connected to the contact piece. And a second contact piece.

[0011]

According to the relay connector of the present invention, the conductor of the cable to be connected and the conductor of the FPC are engaged (preferably so as to overlap) in the through hole of the housing, and the interconnection is electrically performed. . The peripheral wall of the housing, which is formed so as to cover the periphery of the through-hole by forming the through-hole, directly or (through an intervening object) with the engaging portion between the conductor of the cable and the conductor of the FPC engaged in the through-hole. hand)
It is possible to support indirectly.

Further, if an operator having a pressurizing portion is interposed (preferably in a press-fitted state) between the inner wall portion and the terminal portion of the FPC in the through hole, the engaging portion is formed. It is possible to cause a pressing force (contact force) to act on. Further, when connecting a cable having an outer conductor, the contact piece (preferably formed in a substantially U-shape) and the second
If the connecting member having the contact piece is interposed in the through hole so as to be in contact with the conductor of the FPC and the outer conductor of the cable, the outer conductor can also be connected to the FPC.

That is, the peripheral wall portion including the inner wall portion of the through-hole exerts a press-contact force on an engaging portion between the cable conductor and the FPC conductor directly or through the intervention of an operator or a connecting member, or an intervening member. And contacting those conductors (so as to pinch the above-mentioned engaging portions and inclusions)
It is possible to support the cable and the FPC easily with these configurations without using the conventional soldering.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 and 2 are perspective views showing a first embodiment of a relay connector according to the present invention. A plurality of cables (1) arranged in FIG. 1 are composed of a pair of inner conductors (2) insulated and coated with a dielectric (3).
And is connected to the FPC (11) inside the through holes (22) arranged in the housing (21) (corresponding to the number of wires of the cable). In FIG. 2 showing the disassembled state of this embodiment, a relay connector (20) includes a housing (21), a connecting member (31), and an operation element (4).
1) and 1).

The terminal portion of the cable (1) is provided with a dielectric (3), an outer conductor (4) and a protective coating so that the inner conductor (2) and the outer conductor (4) are exposed as a pre-connection process. (5) is removed step by step. Further, one end portion (14) of the FPC (11) to which the cable (1) is connected is selectively connected to the internal conductor (2) (in this embodiment, each of the internal conductors inserted into the through-holes). )
A conductor exposed portion (12) is disposed corresponding to the second conductor exposed portion (FIG. 4 and FIG. 6).
13), and a through hole (22)
A groove (17) for receiving a partition (27 shown in FIG. 6) which is a part of the peripheral wall (24) is formed.

The other terminal portion (15) has a conductor pattern (1) for making connection with another object to be connected.
6) are provided, and the respective conductor patterns (1) are provided.
6) is connected to each conductor exposed portion (12, 13) (via via hole 18 with the second conductor exposed portion).
The other terminal portion (15) in this embodiment is exemplified as a form that can be fitted to the FPC connector disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-142130 as another connection object.

The connecting member (31) is formed of an elastic metal material (preferably, such as a copper alloy), and is arranged in a substantially comb-like shape in accordance with the arrangement of the through holes (22), and is substantially in a comb shape. A plurality of contact pieces (32) formed so as to have a U-shaped cross section are arranged, and a second contact extending from the base (37) to a substantially U-shaped cross section also at the connecting portion (34) side. Piece (3
3) is arranged. The operator (41) has a substantially flat plate-like shape capable of pressing the contact piece (32) when located between the inner wall (23 in FIG. 3) and the terminal (14) in the through hole (22). Are provided.

FIG. 3 shows a first embodiment of the relay connector according to the present invention.
5 shows a cross section (along the extension direction of the inner conductor) in a stage where the FPC (11) is not connected (before being inserted into the housing). The terminal portion of the cable (1) has an inner conductor (2) from which the dielectric (3) has been removed, a tip end portion of which passes through the through hole (22), and an outer conductor (4) from which the protective coating (5) has been removed. ) Penetrates into a predetermined position in the through hole (22) (until the leading end of the outer conductor approaches a substantially intermediate position of the through hole), and thereafter, the contact piece (32)
Is inserted (from left to right in FIG. 3) to the position where the second contact piece (33) engages with the external conductor (4).

The inner dimension of one of the through-holes (22) (dimension L1 in FIG. 5) is set so that the outer conductor (4) is received in advance and the second contact piece (33) is (with elastic displacement). ) Pre-determined settings for press fit,
Therefore, the second contact piece (33) inserted into the through hole (22) is sandwiched (from the vertical direction in FIG. 3) together with the external conductor (4) by the peripheral wall (24) of the housing (21). The outer conductor (4) is substantially positioned in the through hole (22). Therefore, due to the elastic repulsion caused by the elastic displacement of the press-fitted second contact piece (33), a press-contact force (contact force) is applied to the engagement portion between the outer conductor (4) and the second contact piece (33). The outer conductor (4) and the connection member (31) are in an electrically connectable state.

FIG. 4 shows that the FPC (11) is a cable (1).
3 and shows a post-process of FIG. Further, one terminal portion (14) of the FPC (11) inserted into the space portion (25) (shown in FIG. 3) is in a stage where the operation element (41) is not inserted (at this stage, the contact piece is not inserted). Since the displacement fulcrum is on the second contact piece side, the sliding frictional force with the contact piece (32) is small and the space portion (2)
5) It can be inserted easily (until the tip of the terminal portion approaches the approximate middle position of the through hole).

The other inner dimension (L2 dimension in FIG. 6) of the through hole (22) is determined in advance by the internal conductor (2), the contact piece (32), and one end (14) of the FPC (11). And the pressurizing portion (42) of the operation element (41) is press-fitted (with the elastic displacement of the contact piece), so that the operation element (41) has a clearance ( In the state of FIG. 4 which is press-fitted (fitted) into 26) in FIG. 3, the contact piece (32) is formed by the peripheral wall (24) of the housing (21) to one of the inner conductor (2) and the FPC (11). The terminal (14) and the pressing part (42) of the operation element (41) are sandwiched (from the vertical direction in FIG. 4), and the internal conductor (2) is inserted through the through-hole (2).
It is in a state where it is almost positioned in 2).
Therefore, due to the elastic repulsion of the contact piece (32) elastically displaced by the pressurizing portion (42), the engaging portion between the contact piece (32) and the second conductor exposed portion (13) and the internal conductor (2) are formed. ) And the exposed portion of the conductor (12) are subjected to pressure contact force (contact force), and the outer conductor (4) and the second exposed portion of the conductor (13) Electrically connectable) and the inner conductor (2)
And the conductor exposed portion (12) are also electrically connectable.

FIGS. 7 and 8 show a second embodiment of the FPC to be connected in the relay connector of the present invention and the connection state thereof. This FPC (1
1 ′) is the FPC (1 ′) in the first embodiment shown in FIG.
1) has exposed conductor portions (12, 13) on both front and back surfaces, whereas the exposed conductor portions (12, 13) are provided only on one front surface.
13 '). In this example,
The FPC (11 ') is bent in advance so that the second conductor exposed portion (13') is turned downward (downward in FIG. 8) on both sides of one terminal portion (14 ').
When it is installed in the through hole (22), it can be engaged with the contact piece (32). In this mode, even if a single-sided FPC, which is relatively inexpensive, is used, the external conductor (4)
And the second conductor exposed portion (13 ') can be electrically connected.

As described above, according to the relay connector of the present invention, not only can the wiring between the inner conductor of the cable and the conductor pattern of the FPC (which is a connection portion with another object to be connected) be realized easily, It is also easy to wire the outer conductor of the cable having the conductor to an arbitrary conductor pattern of the FPC. Usually, the outer conductor of a cable having such an outer conductor often functions as a grounding conductor, and the relay connector of the present invention easily forms this grounding (ground) conductive path inside the connector. And stable electrical characteristics can be obtained. In addition, since the soldering work of the prior art is not required, even when a thin wire cable is wired at a narrow pitch, the connection can be easily performed, and the thin cable can be adapted to high-density mounting.

In the above-described embodiment, the cable (1) is a shield (outer conductor) in which the pair wire is an inner conductor.
Although a cable with a cable has been described as an example, according to the present invention,
It can be easily inferred from the above description that the same effect can be obtained even when a coaxial cable having a single core as the inner conductor is connected. . In addition, another type of inclusion is added to the through hole (22) from the embodiment, and the cable (1) or the FP is inserted.
The positioning strength of C (11, 11 ′) may be increased. Further, the detailed configuration described in the above embodiment may be modified without departing from the scope of the present invention.

[0025]

As described above, the relay connector of the present invention can easily connect a cable and an FPC even in high-density wiring without using soldering, and stable electrical characteristics can be obtained. It is also a thing.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a first embodiment of a relay connector according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a state before FPC connection in the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing an FPC connection state in the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a partial sectional view showing a section taken along line A-A ′ in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a B-B ′ cross section in FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a second embodiment of the FPC relating to the relay connector of the present invention.

8 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a state where the FPC shown in FIG. 7 is connected.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a conventional example.

[Description of References] (1) Cable (2) Inner conductor (3) Dielectric (4) Outer conductor (11, 11 ') FPC (12) Conductor exposed part (14, 14') Terminal part (21) Housing ( 22) Through hole (23) Inner wall part (31) Connection member (32) Contact piece (33) Second contact piece (41) Operator (42) Pressing part

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A cable (1) including at least one inner conductor (2) and an FPC (11, 11 ') having a terminal portion (14, 14') provided with a conductor exposed portion (12). A relay connector for electrical connection, comprising a housing (21) provided with a through hole (22) for selectively inserting an inner conductor (2) and a conductor exposed portion (12) in a corresponding manner. In the through-hole (22), the inner conductor (2) and the corresponding conductor exposed portion (12) are engaged with each other, and a pressure contact force is applied to the engaged portion. A special relay connector. 2. A pressurizing section (4) which can be inserted into a through hole (22).
An operating element (41) having an inner wall (2) of the through hole (22) in the engaged state.
Pressing part (42) between 3) and terminal part (14, 14 ')
The relay connector according to claim 1, wherein the relay connector is configured so that the pressing force acts by positioning the relay connector. 3. A cable (1) comprising an outer conductor (4) disposed substantially parallel to an inner conductor (2) via a dielectric (3), and inserted into a through hole (22). The connecting member (31) includes a contact piece (32) capable of contacting the terminal portion (14, 14 ') in the engaged state, and a contact piece (32). 3. The relay connector according to claim 2, further comprising a second contact piece (33) that is connected and can come into contact with the external conductor. 4.