JP2001094275A - Intermediate electric connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain an intermediate electric connector having a conductive member with has a large quantity of displacement and good electric characteristics. SOLUTION: In an intermediate electric connector, a plate-like holding member 1 made of electric insulator is formed with a holding hole 2 which passes through the holding member 1 in the thickness direction and a conductive member 3 disposed at the holding hole 2 is held by the holding member 1. The intermediate electric connector short-circuits respective corresponding circuits parts disposed on both sides of the holding member 1 through the conductive member 3. The conductive member 3 is formed of conductive elastomer and comprises a part 4 held by the holding member 1 and elastic projections 5A, 5B which are projecting above the held part 4 at least in one direction in the thickness direction, forming faces 7A, 7B receiving pressure at the time of contact from the circuit sections of the opposite body to be connected when brought into contact with the circuit sections. A displacement space 6 is formed to allow the elastic displacement of the elastic projections 5A, 5B in the direction in which contact pressure is applied.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an intermediate electrical connector.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An intermediate electrical connector is used to connect corresponding circuit portions of a connecting body such as two circuit boards. This intermediate electrical connector is usually attached to a plate-like holding member made of an insulating material such that the conductive member penetrates and protrudes in the thickness direction of the holding member. As the conductive member, for example, a material obtained by mixing a conductive powder into an elastic polymer material, that is, a so-called conductive elastomer is used. As an example, as shown in FIG. 5A of the accompanying drawings, a conductive member 52 having a vertically symmetrical conical peripheral surface 52A is attached to a holding member 51 made of an insulating material by integral molding. The upper and lower flat end surfaces of the conductive member 52 form contact portions 53 and 54 that elastically contact the circuit portion of the mating connector.

[0003] The conductive members 52 as described above are provided at a plurality of positions of the holding member 51 corresponding to a plurality of circuit portions of the connector.

In use, mating connectors 55 and 56 such as a circuit board are attached to predetermined positions on both sides of a holding member 51 as shown in FIG. The mating connectors 55 and 56 have circuit portions 55A and 56B, respectively. The contact portions 53 and 54 of the conductive member 52 are resiliently pressed by the circuit portions 55A and 56B, and the conductive member 52 is elastically deformed. Thus,
Circuit parts 55A, 56B of the two mating connectors 55, 56
Are electrically short-circuited via the conductive member 52.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In one holding member,
A large number of conductive members are provided, which simultaneously come into contact with corresponding circuit portions of the mating connector. There is a variation in the dimension in the height direction during molding between these many conductive members. Further, since the mating connector and the holding member have a distortion in the plate thickness direction, the distortion is added to cause a variation in the position of the contact portion among the above-mentioned many conductive members. Furthermore, when the intermediate electrical connector receives an external force, the mating connector instantaneously flashes in the above direction. As a result, contact irregularities occur in the conductive member. Therefore, it is required that the conductive member can sufficiently absorb the above-mentioned variation dimension and can secure an elastic displacement amount that can follow the position movement due to instantaneous movement.

[0006] However, the electrical resistance of the conductive elastomer decreases as it is compressed in the initial compression stage, but the electrical resistance increases as it is further compressed. Therefore, in order to ensure contact, it is preferable that the amount of displacement of the conductive member during use is larger, but even if the conductive member is simply strongly compressed to increase the amount of displacement, the amount of displacement of the conductive member exceeds the initial compression. And the electrical resistance increases, and even if the contact is good,
There is a tendency for the electrical characteristics to deteriorate. This tendency is remarkable in FIG. Furthermore, if this strong compression is applied to a large number of conductive members, a large force acts on the mating connecting member as a resultant force, which is not preferable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an intermediate electrical connector which secures a large amount of displacement without applying a large contact pressure to a conductive member of a conductive elastomer, improves contact and does not increase electrical resistance.

[0008]

An intermediate electrical connector according to the present invention is a conductive member disposed at a position of a holding hole formed through a plate-like holding member made of an electrical insulator in a thickness direction. Are held by the holding member. In the two mating connectors disposed on both sides of the holding member, their corresponding circuit portions are short-circuited via the conductive member.

In the intermediate electrical connector, in the present invention, the conductive member is made of a conductive elastomer material, and the held portion held by the holding member and the held portion in at least one direction of the plate thickness of the holding member. And a resilient projection that protrudes to form a pressure-receiving surface that receives a contact pressure from the circuit portion when the mating connection body contacts the circuit portion. The intermediate electrical connector is characterized in that a displacement space is formed to allow elastic displacement of the elastic projection in the direction of the contact pressure.

According to the intermediate electrical connector of the present invention having such a configuration, when the conductive member receives a contact pressure from the corresponding circuit portion of the mating connection body, the elastic projection deforms elastically in the direction of the contact pressure while elastically deforming. , And perform a displacement toward the displacement space. That is, the pressure-receiving surface is displaced by the sum of the compression deformation of the elastic projection and the movement displacement. This means that a large amount of displacement can be secured with a small amount of compression.

In the present invention, the displacement space may be formed outside the elastic projection between a back surface located on the opposite side of the elastic projection from the pressure-receiving surface and a mating connector, or may be a conductive member. It may be formed as a cavity inside.
Here, it is sufficient that the cavity has a space portion such as a void inside, and the size and number thereof are not limited. Further, a material such as foamed rubber may be used.

In the present invention, regarding the holding of the conductive member, even if the portion to be held of the conductive member is held at the periphery of the holding hole formed in the holding member, the portion above the periphery of the holding hole formed in the holding member can be used. May be held by a bridging portion provided so as to connect a plurality of positions. In the latter case, the conductive member is formed in an asymmetric shape so that the conductive member receives a contact pressure to cause an inclination, and the displacement can be increased.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

In FIG. 1, a holding member 1 is made of an insulating material in a plate shape. The holding member 1 is formed with holding holes 2 penetrating in a plate thickness direction at a number of positions, and the conductive member 3 is held at a peripheral edge 2A of each holding hole 2 so that the holding member 1 It is attached by integral molding or the like.

The material of the holding member 1 is preferably a film of polyimide, polyester, polyamide or the like.

Next, the conductive member 3 is generally made of an elastic polymer material mixed with conductive powder or strips.

As the elastic polymer, silicone rubber,
Polybutadiene rubber, natural rubber, polyisoprene, styrene-butadiene copolymer rubber, acrylonitrile-butadiene copolymer rubber, ethylene-propylene copolymer rubber, urethane rubber, polyester rubber, chloroprene rubber, epichlorohydrin rubber, soft liquid epoxy rubber Are preferred.

The conductive powder or strip mixed into these elastic polymer materials may be made of gold, silver,
Nickel, copper, tin, aluminum, palladium, one or more of carbon, as powder, granular,
One or more of tree, flake, and irregular shapes. In particular, it is desirable that the material is silver and the shape is mostly flake-like. Further, it is preferable that the surface of the silver powder is treated with an organic silicon compound.

The conductive member 3 made of such a material has a held portion 4 and an elastic projection 5. The held part 4 is
In order to cover the peripheral edge 2A of the holding hole 2 of the holding member 1, it contacts the inner peripheral surface of the holding hole 2 and also contacts the upper and lower surfaces of the holding member 1 so as to protrude radially outward from the inner diameter of the holding hole 2. And is firmly held at the peripheral edge 2A of the holding hole 2. Usually, such a holding form is obtained by integrally molding the conductive member 3 with the holding member 1.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the elastic projection 5 has an upper projection 5A projecting upward and a lower projection 5 projecting downward.
B. The upper protruding portion 5A has a conical outer peripheral surface, and a cylindrical displacement space 6 that opens upward in the center portion. As a result, an annular pressure-receiving surface 7A is formed on the upper surface of the upper protrusion 5A.

Although the lower projection 5B has a conical outer peripheral surface, the outer diameter is smaller than that of the upper projection 5A.
The outer diameter is substantially equal to the inner diameter of the displacement space 6, and the existence range occupies a portion substantially corresponding to the displacement space 6 in the radial direction. The lower protrusion 5B is provided on the lower surface,
A circular pressure-receiving surface 7B having substantially the same diameter as the inner diameter of the displacement space 6
To form

The intermediate electrical connector of this embodiment is used and functions as follows.

In FIG. 1, two mating connectors such as a circuit board are arranged at predetermined positions on both upper and lower sides of the holding member 1. The position is fixed by appropriate means.

Each of these mating connectors has a circuit portion provided on the opposing surface, and when fixedly arranged at the above-mentioned predetermined position, these corresponding circuit portions are connected to the pressure-receiving surface 7 of the conductive member 3.
Press A, 7B.

The upper protruding portion 5A receives a contact pressure on the pressure-receiving surface 7A and is elastically compressed in the direction of arrow A. On the other hand, the lower protrusion 5B
Is compressed in the direction of arrow B by receiving the contact pressure on the pressure-receiving surface 7B, and the whole of the lower protruding portion 5B is moved and displaced in the direction of arrow F toward the displacement space 6. That is, the upper pressurized surface 7
A is displaced by the amount of compression of the upper protrusion 5A, but the lower pressurized surface 7B adds to the amount of compression of the lower protrusion 5B and the lower protrusion 5B.
Is displaced by the amount of movement. Therefore, even if the compression amount is small, the displacement amount is large. At this time, the contact pressure in the present embodiment is smaller than the contact pressure in the compression amount for obtaining the same displacement amount by the conventional conductive member.

As described above, since the amount of displacement in the elastic protrusion 5 is large, the positional relationship between the pressure-receiving surfaces 7A and 7B of the conductive member 3 and the surface of the circuit portion of the mating connector varies among many conductive members. Even if there is, it is fully absorbed. Therefore,
Good contact is assured for all the conductive members 3 even under a suitable light contact pressure. Further, since the compressive deformation of the conductive member 3 is kept in a light range, the electric resistance remains low, and the electric characteristics are improved.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, but can be variously modified. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, both the upper projection 5A and the lower projection that form the elastic projection 5 have the same columnar shape, and their central axes 8A and 8B are shifted from each other. Pressure-receiving surfaces 7A and 7B of portion 5B
The displacement spaces 6A and 6B may be formed on the back side opposite to the connection body with the mating connector. In the embodiment of FIG. 2, the upper protrusion 5A and the lower protrusion 5B
In addition to obtaining the displacement due to the movement, both of them have a tilt at the time of displacement due to the asymmetric shape, and the displacement amount is further increased.

The conductive member 3 shown in FIG. 2 can be further modified as shown in FIG. In FIG. 2, the conductive member 3 has a held portion 4 provided on the periphery thereof and a holding hole 2.
3, the conductive member 3 is held at the center thereof.

In FIG. 3, the inner diameter of the holding hole 2 is larger than the outer diameter of the conductive member 3. The holding hole 2 is provided with a bridging portion 1A extending in the diametrical direction (in FIG. 3, the direction perpendicular to the plane of FIG. 3), and connects the opposing positions of the inner peripheral edge. The conductive member 3 is located with a gap from the inner peripheral edge of the holding hole 2, and is held by the bridging portion 1A penetrating at the center. In the conductive member 3 shown in FIG. 3, the same displacement as that shown in FIG. 2 is caused to occur, but at this time, since the periphery of the conductive member 3 is not restrained, the inclination at the time of displacement can be easily obtained. And the amount of displacement increases.

Further, in the present invention, the formation of the displacement space can be modified. In FIG. 4, the displacement space 6
(6A and 6B) are formed as cavities inside the conductive member 3. The size of the cavity as the displacement space is not limited, and the cavity is large enough to be equivalent to the radial range of the elastic protrusion 5 (the upper protrusion 5A and the lower protrusion 5B) as shown in FIG. Even if it is, it is good also as forming many small things. In any case, it is sufficient that the elastic protrusions are present in a range effective for the displacement. Therefore, even if the entire elastic projection is made of foam rubber or the like, the effect can be obtained.

[0031]

As described above, according to the present invention, a conductive member made of a conductive elastomer material is provided on the held portion held by the holding member, and the held portion is provided in at least one direction of the plate thickness of the holding member. An elastic projection that forms a pressure-receiving surface that receives a contact pressure from the circuit portion when the contact surface comes into contact with the circuit portion of the mating connector. Since the displacement space that allows the elastic displacement of the portion is formed, the pressure-bearing surface of the elastic protrusion can largely move when in contact with the mating connection body, and the displacement can be sufficiently secured. In addition, even if there is a variation in the relative position between the pressure-receiving surface of a large number of conductive members and the circuit portion of the mating connector,
Even if the other party's connection body blinks, this can be sufficiently absorbed and connection stability is ensured. Moreover, at that time, the amount of compressive deformation itself can be kept within an appropriate range, the state where the contact resistance of the conductive member is low is maintained, and good electrical connection is ensured.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a conductive member according to an embodiment of the present invention, taken along a plane including an axis.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a modification of the conductive member of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a modification of the conductive member of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a conductive member according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along a plane including an axis of a conventional conductive member.
FIG. 5A shows the state before deformation, and FIG. 5B shows the state after deformation.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 holding member 2 holding hole 2A peripheral edge 3 conductive member 4 held portion 5 (5A, 5B) elastic projection 6 (6A, 6B) displacement space 7A pressed surface 7B pressed surface

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A conductive member disposed at a position of a holding hole formed through a plate-shaped holding member made of an electrical insulator in a thickness direction thereof and held by the holding member. In the intermediate electrical connector for short-circuiting each corresponding circuit portion of the mating connector disposed on the side via the conductive member, the conductive member is made of a conductive elastomer material, and a held portion held by the holding member, An elastic projection that projects beyond at least one direction of the plate thickness of the holding member and forms a pressure-receiving surface that receives a contact pressure from the circuit portion when the contact surface comes into contact with the circuit portion of the mating connector. And a displacement space that allows elastic displacement of the elastic projection in the direction of the contact pressure. 2. The intermediate electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein the displacement space is formed between a back surface of the elastic projection opposite to the pressure-receiving surface and a mating connector. 3. The intermediate electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein the displacement space is formed as a cavity inside the conductive member. 4. The intermediate electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein the held portion of the conductive member is held at a periphery of a holding hole formed in the holding member. 5. The holding portion of the conductive member is held by a bridging portion provided to connect a plurality of positions on a peripheral edge of a holding hole formed in the holding member. Middle electrical connector.