JP2002319461A - Connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a connector whose cost is reduced while fully securing contact pressure to each electric conducting parts of contacts. SOLUTION: This is a connector 20 which is prepared in a main part A of an apparatus, and connects between the main parts A of the apparatus to Battery B electrically. It is constituted with a connector case 21 built in the main part A of the apparatus, and contacts 22 contained by this connector case 21. Contacts 22 are formed with torsion coil springs, and its coil parts 22c are inserted into shafts 25 attached in the connector case 21 so that both arm parts 22a of the contacts 22 may become to a state of projecting from the connector case 21 respectively, and supported by them. It is constituted so that one side of both arm parts 22a may connect with the electric conducting part of the main part A of the apparatus and another side may connect with the electric conduction part of Battery B.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a connector provided in a device such as a portable telephone which requires a battery and requires a battery, and more particularly to a connector for electrically connecting a battery and a device body.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, the cost of portable telephones has been reduced by promoting the miniaturization and weight reduction of various parts and the like, and as a result, they have become widespread as personal communication devices. In such a mobile phone, a rechargeable battery is usually used as a power source, and the battery is detachably attached to a device main body of the mobile phone. The electrical connection between the battery and the device main body is made by a connector incorporated in the device main body.

[0003] By the way, as a connector for making an electrical connection between a battery and an apparatus main body, a probe type and a leaf spring type are conventionally known. FIG. 2 is a view showing an example of a conventional probe-type connector. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a connector. The connector 1 includes a case 2 in which a plurality of contacts 3 are stored (for example, two contacts), and the case 2 is incorporated in a state in which the case 2 is embedded in a device main body, that is, a main body A of a mobile phone.

The contact 3 comprises a cylinder 4, a coil spring 5 housed in the cylinder 4, and probes 6 arranged on both sides of the coil spring 5, respectively. Each is urged to the outside of the cylinder 4 by the coil spring 5. The probe 6 has a large-diameter portion 6a formed on the rear end side disposed in the cylindrical body 4.
Has a lid 4 having a hole 4a at each of its openings.
b is formed. With such a configuration, the probe 6 is accommodated in the cylindrical body 4 by locking the large diameter portion 6a to the lid 4b, and the rod-shaped tip side 6b can advance and retreat from the hole 4a of the lid 4b. It has become protruding. The probe 6 on one side of the contact 3
Is a substrate (not shown) serving as a conductive portion of the main body A of the mobile phone
It is arranged in a state where it is connected to.

In the connector 1 having such a configuration, when the battery B is attached to a predetermined position of the main body A of the portable telephone as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG.
The probe 6 on the other side is pressed by the conductive portion of the battery B and connected thereto, and at the same time is pushed into the cylindrical body 4.
Therefore, the connector 1 is configured such that the probe 6 is connected to the conductive portion of the battery B at a predetermined contact pressure by the urging force of the coil spring 5.

FIG. 3 is a view showing an example of a conventional leaf spring type connector, and reference numeral 10 in FIG. 3 # denotes a connector. The connector 10 has a case 11 in which a plurality of contacts 12 are housed, and like the connector 1 shown in FIG. 2, the case 11 is incorporated in a state where the case 11 is embedded in a main body A of a device main body (mobile phone). is there.

The contact 12 is made of a leaf spring.
Both end portions 12 a are formed so as to protrude outside the case 11, and a central portion 12 b is fixed to the case 11. Note that one end 12a of the contact 12 is a substrate (not shown) serving as a conductive portion of the main body A of the mobile phone as in the case of the connector 1 shown in FIG.
Connected.

In the connector 10 having such a configuration, when the battery B is attached to a predetermined position of the main body A as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG.
Is pressed by the conductive portion of the battery B to be connected thereto and bend inward at the same time. Therefore, the other end 12a of the connector 10 is connected to the conductive portion of the battery B with a predetermined contact pressure by the elastic restoring force of the leaf spring itself.

[0009]

However, in the probe-type connector 1 shown in FIG. 2, the structure of the contact 3 is complicated and the number of parts is large.
There was dissatisfaction that cost increased.

On the other hand, a leaf spring type connector 1 shown in FIG.
In the case of No. 0, although the number of parts is small and the configuration is simple, the processing cost is relatively high because the contact 12 is formed by press working. Since the bending amount of both ends 12a, 12a is reduced, to compensate for this, expensive bronze or beryllium copper is used as the material, and further gold-plated one is used.
Therefore, the cost cannot be sufficiently reduced. That is, the contact of the connector needs to have a predetermined contact pressure with respect to each conductive portion. Therefore, in order to secure this contact pressure, a predetermined amount of bending is required, but as described above, the size of the connector is reduced. Since it is impossible to secure a predetermined amount of bending with a mechanical structure with the above, by adopting the above as a material,
That is, a predetermined amount of bending is ensured.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a connector which has a sufficient contact pressure with respect to each conductive portion of a contact and has a reduced cost. .

[0012]

According to the connector of the present invention,
It has a connector case incorporated in the device body and a contact accommodated in the connector case, and the contact is formed by a torsion coil spring, and both arms thereof are in a state of projecting from the connector case. Then, the coil portion is inserted into a shaft attached to the connector case and supported by the shaft, one of the two arm portions is connected to the conductive portion of the device main body, and the other is connected to the conductive portion of the battery. Is the solution to the above problem.

According to this connector, since the contacts are formed by the torsion coil springs, both arm portions thereof have a sufficient amount of bending, respectively. Therefore, the material of the torsion coil springs is expensive bronze or copper. Even if, for example, a piano wire is used without using beryllium copper, a sufficient contact pressure with respect to each conductive portion of the contact can be ensured. Further, since the contact is basically supported by the connector case by the shaft and the number of components is small, the cost is sufficiently lower than that of the conventional one.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in detail.
FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 1C are views showing an embodiment of the connector of the present invention. FIG. 1A is a side view, and FIG.
1B is a plan view, and FIG. 1C is a front view. In these figures, reference numeral 20 denotes a connector.
0 denotes the connector case 21 and the connector case 21
And a plurality (four in this example) of contacts 22 housed in the contact hole. Also, this connector 20
The connector case 21 is provided in the device main body to electrically connect the battery to the device main body. Similar to the connectors 1 and 10 shown in FIGS. It is incorporated in a state of being embedded in the main body A of the telephone.

As shown in FIG. 1B, the connector case 21 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape in which the contact accommodating portions 23 are formed in a number corresponding to the number of the contacts 22 (four in this example). Is made of a resin which is partitioned by a partition wall 24. The contact accommodating portion 23 has a large opening on the upper surface side of the connector case 21 and the connector 22
A groove 23a extending to one side surface 21a of the connector case 21 is formed on the upper surface side, and a long and thin hole 23b penetrating from the upper surface side to the lower surface side is formed on the upper surface side. . Here, the hole 23b
Are formed toward one side surface 21 a of the connector case 21. The groove 23a is formed to extend from one side of the contact accommodating portion 23, and the hole 23b is formed to extend from the other side of the contact accommodating portion 23. .

The contact 22 is formed by a torsion coil spring (torsion spring).
As shown in (a) and (c), the arms 22a, 22a
a are housed in the contact housing portion 23 so as to protrude from the connector case 21 respectively. Here, both arms 2 of these contacts 22
Each of 2a and 22a is a curved portion 22b which is curved in a U-shape. Under such a configuration, the contact 22 has a curved portion 22b projected from the lower surface of the contact case 21 by passing one of the arms 22a through the hole 23b, and the other arm 22a
Are provided so as to protrude from the upper surface of the contact case 21.

The contact 22 is formed by a torsion coil spring, so that its two arms 22 are formed.
a, 22a have a sufficient amount of bending,
Therefore, as the material thereof, for example, a relatively inexpensive piano wire or the like is used without using expensive bronze or beryllium copper, and a gold-plated material is used.

As shown in FIG. 1A, the four contacts 22 accommodated in the contact accommodating portions 23 are connected to a single shaft 25 provided through the connector case 21 in the longitudinal direction. When the coil portion 22c is inserted, the coil portion 22c is pivotally supported by the connector case 21. With such a configuration, the contact 22
Means that one of the arms 22a is on the inner side (the coil 22c side)
When the other arm 22a bends inward, it moves in the groove 23a.

To assemble the connector 20 having such a configuration, the contacts 22 are respectively accommodated in the contact accommodating portions 23 of the connector case 21, and the shaft 2 is inserted into a through hole (not shown) formed in the connector case 21.
5 is inserted into a hole (not shown) of the coil portion 22 c of each contact 22, whereby each contact 22 is supported by the shaft 25.

Then, as shown in FIG. 1A, the connector 20 having such a configuration is incorporated in a state where it is embedded in the main body of the device, that is, the main body A of the portable telephone. The curved portion 22b is attached in a state where the curved portion 22b is connected to a substrate C (shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. Then, the bending part 2
2a is bent inward upon contact with this, and almost the hole 23b of the connector case 21 is formed as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG.
And is buried in the substrate C, thereby contacting (connecting) the substrate C with a sufficient contact pressure by the urging force of the torsion coil spring.
It will be.

When the battery B is attached to the main body A in which the connector 20 is incorporated as described above, the other arm 22a of the contact 22 comes into contact with and is pressed by the conductive portion of the battery B, as shown in FIG. 1 (a), it is bent inward as shown by the two-dot chain line, and is buried in the groove 23a of the connector case 21, and thereby comes into contact with the conductive portion of the battery B with a sufficient contact pressure by the biasing force of the torsion coil spring. (Connected).

In the connector 20 having such a configuration, since the contact 22 is formed by a torsion coil spring, both of the arms 22a and 22a have a sufficient amount of bending, respectively. Even if a relatively inexpensive piano wire or the like is used as the material of the coil spring, it is possible to sufficiently secure the contact pressure of the contact 22 with respect to each conductive portion, thereby reducing the cost. Further, since the torsion coil spring does not require press working, the processing cost is lower than, for example, a conventional leaf spring.

Further, since the four contacts 22 are basically supported by the contact case 21 by one shaft 25 and the number of parts is small, the cost is sufficiently lower than that of the conventional one. It can be. Also, both arm portions 22a of the contact 22,
Since the curved portions 22b are formed in the curved portions 22a,
By connecting each of the conductive portions 2b to each conductive portion, the conductive portion is not damaged by the curved portion 22b, and the deformation of the curved portion 22b itself due to the connection is also prevented.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but can be arbitrarily changed in design such as the shape of the connector case 21, the number of accommodated contacts, and the shape of the arms of the contacts. . For example, in the above example, both arms 22a, 22a
This is a curved portion 22b in the shape of a letter, but the present invention is not limited to this, and as shown by a broken line in FIG. 1 (a), a ring-shaped curved portion wound in a single or double degree. It may be. If the curved part has such a ring shape,
In the case of a U-shape, the shape may be deformed when a foreign substance gets into the inside of the U-shape. However, such deformation can be suppressed by forming a ring shape, and a contact failure due to the deformation is prevented. be able to.

Further, as shown by a chain line in FIG.
The cover 30 may be provided so as to cover the contacts in the contact accommodating portion 23, and by providing the cover 30 in this manner, one of the arms 22 a protruding from the contact accommodating portion 23 is moved to the side edge of the lid 30. Thus, the arm portion 22a can be prevented from swinging or falling down to the contact accommodating portion 23 side.

[0026]

As described above, in the connector according to the present invention, since the contacts are formed by the torsion coil springs, the two arms have a sufficient amount of flexure, respectively. A relatively inexpensive piano wire or the like can be used as the material, so that cost can be reduced. In addition, the contact structure is basically a simple structure in which the contact is supported by the shaft, and the number of components is small. Therefore, the cost can be sufficiently lower than that of the related art.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 (a), 1 (b) and 1 (c) are views showing an embodiment of a connector according to the present invention, wherein (a) is a side view,
(B) is a plan view, and (c) is a front view.

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view showing an example of a conventional probe-type connector.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing an example of a conventional leaf spring type connector.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference numeral 20: connector, 21: connector case, 22: contact, 22a: arm, 22b: curved portion, 22c: coil portion, 25: shaft

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 5E023 AA04 AA16 AA18 BB21 DD26 EE27 EE40 FF07 GG01 HH05 HH08 HH17 HH28 5H040 AA00 AS13 DD06 DD12

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A connector provided in a device body for electrically connecting a battery and the device body, comprising: a connector case incorporated in the device body; and a contact housed in the connector case. The contact is formed by a torsion coil spring;
The coil portion is inserted through a shaft attached to the connector case and is supported by the shaft so that the arms are respectively protruded from the connector case, and one of the arms is provided on the device body. A connector configured to be connected to a conductive part and the other part to be connected to a conductive part of a battery. 2. The connector according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of contacts are housed in the connector case, and the contacts are supported by a single shaft. 3. The connector according to claim 1, wherein both arm portions of the contact are curved in a U-shape or a ring shape, and the curved portion is connected to each conductive portion. .