JP2001052787A - Slider with connection arm - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a slider with connection arms used in a connector for connecting a flat cable such as an FPC to a printed circuit board, having sufficient strength even though it is small, and capable of reducing the cost when it is used for a multipolar connector. SOLUTION: In this slider 6, a pair of metallic connection arms 9A, 9B horizontally symmetrical and independent of each other are fixed to a slider body 8 made of a synthetic resin having an insertion projection part 5. Each of the connection arms 9A, 9B has an embedded part 15 embedded in the body 8 by insert-molding, and a projecting part 16 projecting from the body 8. The projecting part 16 slides in a slide slot of a housing. The projecting part 16 has a lock part 19 engaging with an engaging projection on the inside surface of the slide slot.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a flat cable connector for connecting a flexible flat cable such as FFC (flexible flat cable) or FPC (flexible printed kit) to a printed circuit board, and to a connection with a housing. And a slider having a connection arm.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There have been provided various types of sliders used for this type of connector, in which an insertion projection and a pair of connection arms are extended from a main body extending left and right and formed entirely of synthetic resin ( For example, Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication No. 6-82783, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-106028, and Japanese Patent Application
No. 36). The insertion protrusion is inserted together with the FPC board into the insertion / extraction space of the housing holding the contact group, and presses the FPC board into contact with the contact group. On the other hand, the pair of connection arms extend from both ends of the main body portion along both side surfaces of the housing with the insertion protrusion interposed therebetween, and connect the housing and the slider.

[0003]

By the way, in order to reduce the size and height of the connector (so-called low profile), the slider is required to have a small thickness and small size.

[0004] However, when the slider made of the above-mentioned resin integrally molded product is made thin and small, the strength of the connecting arm is particularly reduced, and the connecting arm is easily deformed or damaged.

The inventor of the present application assumes that the pair of connecting arms are formed of an integral metal part which is connected to each other, and which is fixed to a synthetic resin main body by, for example, insert molding or other methods.

[0006] However, in recent years, the number of contacts has been increased to two, even if the basic shape is the same.
There are various connectors having different specifications such as 0 to 50 poles.

On the other hand, when the pair of connecting arms are made of metal parts integral with each other as described above, various kinds of metal parts in which the distance between the connecting arms is changed in accordance with the specifications of connectors having different numbers of poles. Must be prepared, and as a whole, a new problem that the manufacturing cost is increased is expected.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to provide a slider which is small in size, has high strength, and can cope with multi-polarization at low cost.

[0009]

Means for Solving the Problems and Effects of the Invention As a means for solving the above problems, the invention according to claim 1 is inserted together with a flat cable into an insertion / extraction space of a housing holding a plurality of contacts. An insertion projection, and a main body made of a synthetic resin including a long main body extending therefrom, and a pair of metal independent connection arms for connection with the housing are provided. , And is fixed to both left and right positions sandwiching the insertion projection of the main body.

In the present invention, since the connecting arm is made of metal, the strength can be ensured even in a small size. Further, a pair of connection arms independent of each other can be used commonly for various types of connectors having various numbers of poles. Therefore, the manufacturing cost of various types of connectors can be reduced as a whole due to the mass production effect of the connection arms.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, each of the connection arms is engaged with a predetermined portion of the slide groove of the housing at a position where the insertion protrusion presses and contacts the flat cable to the plurality of contacts. Locks that lock the slider to the housing.The locks face each other, and as the connection arm is inserted into the slide groove, the connection arm elastically deforms to temporarily increase the width between the locks. Then, in a reduced state, each lock portion engages with a corresponding predetermined portion of the housing.

According to the present invention, the slider can be locked to the housing by using a strong metal connecting arm, and a strong lock can be achieved. Further, when the connection arms are inserted into the slide grooves, before the lock by the lock portions of the pair of connection arms is achieved, the two connection arms are once greatly elastically deformed so as to increase the interval between the lock portions. However, this large amount of elastic deformation is reasonably ensured by the pair of independent connecting arms and the main body being elastically deformed together.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, the leading end of the connection arm has a flat cable introduction space defined by an insertion protrusion in the insertion / removal space that becomes wider toward the introduction side. Thus, the connecting arm is provided with an inclined surface for inclining the connecting arm. According to the present invention, the insertion convex portion of the slider is inclined to widen the entrance of the introduction space, thereby facilitating the introduction of the flat cable.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIGS. 1 and 2 are plan views of a connector including a slider according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 shows a state where the slider is pulled out most, and FIG. FIG. FIGS. 3A and 3B are a plan view and a front view of the slider, respectively.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the connector 1 comprises:
The housing 4 includes a housing 4 that holds a plurality of connectors 3 arranged side by side in the insertion / extraction space 2 that opens to the front X, and a slider 6 that includes an insertion protrusion 5 that is inserted / extracted into the insertion / extraction space 2 of the housing 4. The insertion protrusion 5 is provided in the insertion space 2 by the FPC 7.
7 (see FIG. 7 and FIG. 9 (b)), and at the innermost position in the insertion direction, the FPC 7 is connected to the plurality of contacts 3 by the lower surface 5b shown in FIGS. 3 (b), 5 and 7.
To make contact with it.

The slider 6 has a main body 8 made of synthetic resin and a pair of symmetrical metal connection arms 9A and 9B. The connection arms 9A and 9B are independent of each other, and a part of each of the connection arms 9A and 9B is embedded in the main body 8 by insert molding. The main body 8 includes a long main body 10 extending left and right, and the insertion protrusion 5 extending from the main body 10, and an upper surface 5 a of the insertion protrusion 5.
The fixed piece 11 of the fork-shaped part of each contact 3
An introduction groove 12 is formed corresponding to (see FIG. 7) (see FIGS. 1, 3 (a) and (b)).

Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG.
Is provided with a pair of left and right symmetric slide grooves 13A and 13B which are open frontward and upward at left and right positions across the insertion / extraction space 2. Each connection arm 9A, 9B of the slider 6
1 and 2, it is slidable back and forth (that is, along the insertion / removal direction) while being accommodated in the corresponding slide grooves 13A, 13B, and is slid by the corresponding metal reinforcing tabs 14A, 14B. Groove 13A, 1
Withdrawal from 3B is prevented. Reinforcement tabs 14A, 14
B has a symmetrical shape, and each of the connection arms 9A, 9
After B is accommodated in the slide grooves 13A, 13B, it is press-fitted into a predetermined portion of the housing 4 from above the housing 4 so as to cross the slide grooves 13A, 13B.

Further, as shown in FIG.
A and 9B have lock portions 19, and each lock portion 19
Is engaged with the engagement protrusion 25 provided in the corresponding slide groove 13A, 13B as shown in FIG.
The slider 6 can be locked to the housing 4.

Referring to FIG. 4 and FIGS. 7 and 9B, which are sectional views of the connector, the contact 3 is elastically housed in a housing groove 43 formed on the upper surface of the lower plate 42 of the housing 4. A piece portion 44, disposed above the elastic piece portion 44,
The above-mentioned fixed piece 11 having a fork shape with the elastic piece 44
And The fixing piece 11 and the rear end of the elastic piece 44 are connected to each other by a main body 45. The main body 45 has a locking projection 46 that cuts into the lower plate 42, and the main body 45 is a housing. 4 and is fixed by being pressed into the fixing hole 47 from behind. A substantially L-shaped lead 48 extends from the upper rear end of the main body 45. The lead 48 is soldered to the surface of the board on which the connector 1 is mounted. Reference numeral 49 denotes a chevron projection for pressing the inserted FPC 7 to secure a contact pressure. In FIGS. 7 and 9B, hatching of the cross section of the contact 3 is omitted.

Next, FIG. 3A, FIG. 4 which is an exploded perspective view, FIG. 5 which is a sectional view taken along the line VV of FIG. 3A, and line VI-VI of FIG. 6 which is a cross-sectional view taken along
, Each connecting arm 9A, 9B of the slider 6
A buried portion 15 buried in the main body 10 of the main body 8, and a protrusion 16 protruding from the main body 10 and extending in parallel with the insertion protrusion 5.
And made of sheet metal. The protruding portion 16 extends in the sliding direction, and the embedded portion 15 is bent at a right angle to the first portion coplanar with the protruding portion 16 and extends in a direction perpendicular to the sliding direction. A second part. Then, at the time of sheet metal forming, one part of the flat plate having a substantially L-shaped unfolded shape (the part to be the second part) is connected to the other part (the protrusion 16 and the first part of the buried part 15). Is formed by bending at right angles to the portion (a portion). As described above, since the embedded portion 15 includes the portion (the above-described second portion) that extends in a bent shape and extends in the direction perpendicular to the sliding direction, the connection arm 9 is provided.
A and 9B can be reliably prevented from falling out of the main body 10 of the main body 8.

The protrusion 16 is provided on the side surface 5 b of the insertion protrusion 5.
(In other words, parallel to the side surface 4a of the housing 4), and a hook portion 18 is formed at the tip end portion 17 of the protrusion portion 16 so as to project upward in a hook shape. Also,
The lower surface of the distal end portion 17 of the protruding portion 16 is formed as an inclined surface 40 that becomes higher toward the distal end.

The protruding portions 1 of the connecting arms 9A, 9B
In the vicinity of the front end 17 of the sixth lock member 19, the above-mentioned lock portion 19 formed of a concave portion is formed inward so as to face each other. The lock portion 19 locks the slider 6 to the housing 4 by engaging with the engagement protrusion 25 of the slide grooves 13A and 13B of the housing 4 at a position where the insertion protrusion 5 presses and contacts the plurality of contacts 3 with the FPC 7. It is for. Reference numeral 20 denotes a bead portion formed of a hollow convex rib for improving the strength of the protruding portion 16.

In the process of displacing the slider 6 from the most extended state as shown in FIG. 1 to the most inserted state as shown in FIG. 2, each of the distal ends 17 of the projecting portions 16 of the connecting arms 9A and 9B is displaced. Then, the engaging portion 25 gets over the corresponding engaging protrusion 25 while expanding elastically so as to widen the interval between them, and the lock portion 19 engages with the engaging protrusion 25 as shown in FIG.

More specifically, FIG.
Referring to (c), the engagement protrusion 25 is formed in a mountain shape in plan view, and has first and second inclined surfaces 52 and 53 with the top 51 interposed therebetween. The first inclined surface 51 is provided on the inner side of the slide groove 13B so as to project from the protrusion 16 of the connection arm 9B.
10A is pushed into the state shown in FIG. 10B from the state shown in FIG. 10A, the cam comes into contact with the distal end portion 17 of the protruding portion 16 and pushes the distal end portion 17 of the connection arm 9B outward. Works. Then, as shown in FIG. 10 (b), the tip 17 of the projection 16 is moved to the top 51 of the engagement projection 25.
When the connection arm 9B moves over, the protrusion 16 of the connection arm 9B undergoes the greatest elastic deformation.
The space between the lock portions 19, 19 of A, 9B is maximized.

When the connection arm 9B is further pushed in, the amount of elastic deformation of the connection arm 9B is reduced so that the distance between the lock portions 19, 19 is reduced, and the deepest portion of the lock portion 19 formed by the recess is engaged. It engages with the top 51 of the projection 25 to achieve locking.

On the other hand, the second inclined surface 53 is connected to the connecting arm 9B.
When it is displaced in the pulling-out direction, it functions as a cam surface that pushes and expands the distal end portion 17 of the projecting portion 16 of the connection arm 9B.

Each buried portion 15 includes a first portion 21 made of a vertical plate continuing from the projecting portion 16,
And a second portion 22 formed of a horizontal plate that is bent at a right angle from a part of the upper edge and extends toward the other embedded portion 15 side. The second portion 22 has a protrusion 23, and the protrusion 23 is formed in the concave portion 2 formed in the main body 10.
4 to the outside. The projection 23 is connected to each connection arm 9
This is for holding the connecting arms 9A and 9B so as not to be displaced in the molding die during the insert molding of the A and 9B. That is, the connection arm 9 is formed at both the portion that becomes the projection 16 and the portion that becomes the projection 23 during insert molding.
Since A and 9B can be held, displacement during molding can be reliably prevented, and connection arms 9A and 9B with high positional accuracy can be achieved.

Referring to FIG. 4, the slide groove 13B extends in parallel with the side surface 4a of the housing 4, and is open forward and upward as described above, and the corresponding connection arm 9B is inserted from the front. It is housed. Of the pair of opposed side walls 26 and 27 of the slide groove 13B,
On the side wall 26 farther from the side surface 4a, a first press-fitting groove 28 for press-fitting the reinforcing tab communicating with the slide groove 13B is formed up and down at a position near the front, and the above-described engaging member is formed at a position near the rear. A collision portion 25 is formed. The first press-fit groove 28 is open upward. The engaging projection 25 has a mountain-shaped cross section and extends vertically.

On the other hand, a relief groove 29 is formed at a position corresponding to the first press-fit groove 28 on the upper portion of the side wall 27 on the side closer to the side surface 4a. A second press-fitting groove 3 for press-fitting a reinforcing tab, comprising a through-groove extending vertically along the outer surface of the side wall 27.
0 is formed. Most of the press-fit groove 30 is open to the side surface 4 a of the housing 4, and the rear portion 3
Only 1 delimits both wall surfaces of the groove.

The reinforcing tab 14B is formed of a sheet metal and has a scoop shape when viewed from the front. That is, the reinforcing tab 14B is provided in the first and second press-fitting grooves 28, 30.
And second press-fitted portions 3 respectively press-fitted and fixed to
2, 33, and the first and second press-fitted portions 32, 33
And a connecting portion 34 for connecting the upper ends of the two. The press-fitted portion 33 includes an extending portion 35 extending rearward. A press-fit projection 36 is formed on the rear end face of the first press-fitted part 32, and a press-fit projection 37 is formed on the rear end face of the extending part 35 of the second press-fit part 33. Further, a leg 38 is formed which is bent at a right angle from the lower end of the second press-fitted portion 33 and extends horizontally. The leg portion 38 is to be soldered on the conductive portion of the printed circuit board, and has a comb-like shape to improve soldering.

As shown in FIG. 8, the rear edge of the connecting portion 34 is engaged with the hook portion 18 of the connecting arm 9B to prevent the connecting arm 9B from slipping forward from the slide groove 13B. The stop engagement portion 39 is configured. Note that, as shown in FIG.
6 is a lower plate portion 50 whose lower edge is the groove bottom of the slide groove 13B.
It is guided along and slides.

When the connecting arm 9B is housed in the slide groove 13B from the front, the first and second press-fitted portions 32, 33 of the reinforcing tab 14B are connected to the first and second press-fitted portions of the housing 4. The press-fit grooves 28 and 30 are press-fitted from above and mounted on the housing 4 to prevent the connection arm 9B from coming off.

According to the present embodiment, since the pair of connecting arms 9A and 9B are made of metal, the strength can be ensured even in a small size. Further, the pair of connection arms 9A, 9
Since B is independent of each other, it can be used commonly for various types of connectors having various numbers of poles. Therefore,
Due to the mass production effect of the connection arms 9A and 9B, the manufacturing cost of various types of connectors can be reduced as a whole.

Further, since the connecting arms 9A and 9B are insert-molded in the main body 8 made of synthetic resin, the connecting arms 9A and 9B can be firmly connected to the main body 8.

Further, since the connecting arms 9A and 9B can be made thinner and smaller, the connecting arms 9A and 9B can be slidably inserted into slide grooves 13A and 13B provided in parallel with the side surface 4a of the housing 4 as in this embodiment. A layout of a so-called inner lock structure that can be accommodated can be achieved without increasing the size of the connector 1.
In this case, the connection arms 9A and 9B can be guided on both sides, and stable guidance can be performed by the connection arms 9A and 9B, and the connection arms 9A and 9B do not come off. Can be prevented from becoming oblique. Also, connection arms 9A, 9B
It is hard to break without unnecessary external force being applied from outside.

Also, a strong metal connecting arm 9 is provided.
Since the slider 6 is locked to the housing 4 using A and 9B, a strong lock can be achieved. In particular, the connecting arms 9A, 9B are connected to the slide grooves 13A, 13B.
And before the locking of the pair of connecting arms 9A, 9B by the lock portions 19, 19 is achieved, the two connecting arms 9A, 9B are once enlarged so as to increase the interval between the lock portions 19, 19. It is elastically deformed.
Even such a large amount of elastic deformation can be secured without difficulty by the pair of independent connecting arms 9A and 9B and the long main body 10 elastically deforming in cooperation with each other.

Also, as shown in FIG. 9A, the inclined surface 40 provided on the lower surface of the distal end portion 17 of the protruding portion 16 of the connecting arm 9B (9A) extends along the lower plate portion 50 of the slide groove 13B. Since the connection arm 9B (9A) can be inclined, as shown in FIG. 9B, the entrance of the introduction space 41 of the FPC 7 partitioned below the insertion protrusion 5 in the insertion / extraction space 2 is relatively wide. can do. As a result, FP
C7 can be easily introduced.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, in the above embodiment, the FPC
Although the lower surface of the FPC 7 is a so-called lower contact type in which a contact pressure is secured with a lower contact, the invention is not limited to this, and the upper surface of the FPC 7 may be a so-called upper contact type in which a contact pressure is secured with an upper contact.

In the above-described embodiment, the press-fitting groove is open above the housing, and the reinforcing tab is press-fitted and fixed from above the housing. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The reinforcing tab may be opened, and the reinforcing tab may be press-fitted and fixed from below the housing. In this case, the slide groove is also opened below the housing.

Furthermore, the present invention can be applied to a so-called vertical connector in which the layout is made with respect to the substrate so that the insertion / extraction space 2 of the housing 4 is opened upward, and the slider 6 is inserted / extracted from above. is there. In addition, various changes can be made within the scope of the present invention.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a connector according to an embodiment of the present invention with a slider pulled out.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the connector with a slider inserted therein.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are a plan view and a rear view of a slider.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a slider, a housing, and a reinforcing tab.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VV of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line VI-VI in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the connector with a slider inserted together with the FPC.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the connector showing a state in which the connection arm is prevented from coming off by the reinforcing tab.

9A is a cross-sectional view of the connector showing a state where the connection arm is inclined in the slide groove, and FIG. 9B is a cross-sectional view of FIG.
FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the connector showing a state in which the insertion protrusion is inclined in the insertion / extraction space corresponding to the state of FIG.

FIGS. 10A to 10C are schematic plan views showing steps of pushing a connection arm into the inner side of a slide groove to achieve locking. The illustration of the reinforcing tab is omitted.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Connector 2 Insertion / extraction space 3 Contact 4 Housing 4a Side surface 5 Insertion convex part 6 Slider 7 FPC (flat cable) 8 Main body 9A, 9B Connection arm 10 Main part 13A, 13B Slide groove 17 Tip part 18 Hook part 19 Lock part 25 Engagement Projection (predetermined part) 40 Inclined surface 41 Introduction space

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F-term (reference) HH22

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A connection between a housing and a housing made of a synthetic resin including an insertion projection inserted together with a flat cable into an insertion / extraction space of a housing holding a plurality of contacts, and a long main body extending therefrom. A pair of metal connecting arms independent of each other, the pair of connecting arms being fixed at both left and right positions sandwiching the insertion protrusion of the main body. Each of the connecting arms includes a lock portion for engaging the predetermined portion of the slide groove of the housing at a position where the insertion protrusion presses and contacts the plurality of contacts with the flat cable to lock the slider to the housing. , Each lock part faces each other, and as the connection arm is inserted into the slide groove,
2. The connecting arm according to claim 1, wherein the connecting arms are elastically deformed to temporarily increase the width between the locking portions, and then each locking portion engages with a corresponding predetermined portion of the housing in a reduced state. Slider. 3. A tip end of the connection arm has an inclined surface for inclining the connection arm such that an introduction space of the flat cable defined by the insertion protrusion in the insertion / extraction space becomes wider toward the introduction side. The slider with a connection arm according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: