JP2002367696A - Card edge connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To secure reliability of contact between the circuit board and terminal fitting. SOLUTION: An elastic contact piece 33 of a terminal fitting 30 which is housed in a housing 10 contacts elastically the circuit board P inserted in the housing 10. The terminal fitting 30 has a fixing part 34 to be fixed to the housing 10, and the elastic contact piece 33 is integrated in this fixing part 34 as one body. Hence, the elastic contact piece 33 keeps always a constant position relationship with the circuit board P. Thereby, reliability of contact between the terminal fitting 30 and the circuit board P is secured.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a card edge connector.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a card edge connector,
There is one disclosed in JP-A-56-136480. This involves inserting the terminal fitting into the cavity in the housing, inserting the circuit board of the mating connector into the housing, and making the elastic contact pieces of the terminal fitting resiliently contact both the front and back surfaces or either side of the circuit board. It is like that.

[0003]

However, in the conventional card edge connector, a clearance is provided between the cavity and the terminal in consideration of the dimensional tolerance between the terminal and the cavity. May move in the direction of approaching / separating from the circuit board or in the direction of inclination with respect to the circuit board in the cavity. If the terminal fittings loosely move, the amount of elastic deformation of the elastic contact pieces of the terminal fittings becomes inappropriate, resulting in a decrease in contact reliability.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to secure contact reliability between a circuit board and terminal fittings.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a housing into which a circuit board of a mating connector is inserted, and an elastic contact piece capable of elastically contacting the circuit board. And a terminal fitting housed in the housing in a state where the terminal fitting is fixed to the housing. The elastic contact piece is configured as an integral part.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the terminal fitting includes a board-side connecting member in which the fixing portion and the elastic contact piece are formed, and an electric wire connection in which the electric wire is connected. And a wire-side connection member that can be connected to the board-side connection member. According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect, the fixing portion of the board-side connecting member is fixed by being pressed into the housing.

[0007] The invention of claim 4 is the invention of claim 2 or claim 3.
In the invention, the housing includes a first housing to which the board-side connection member is fixed, and a second housing in which the wire-side connection member is housed,
The board-side connection member and the wire-side connection member are connected by fitting the first housing and the second housing. The invention of claim 5 is the invention of claim 2
5. The invention according to claim 4, wherein the housing is provided with retaining means for retaining the wire-side connecting member inserted into the housing and connected to the board-side connecting member. Configuration.

[0008]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the elastic contact piece of the terminal fitting is integrally formed with the fixed portion fixed to the housing, the elastic contact piece is always attached to the circuit board. Maintain a fixed positional relationship. Therefore, contact reliability between the terminal fitting and the circuit board is ensured. [Invention of claim 2] Since the terminal fitting is composed of two parts, a board side connecting member positioned at a regular position with respect to the circuit board, and a wire side connecting member to which the wire is connected, the terminal fitting is arranged from the wire side. Even if a force for displacing the terminal fitting acts, the wire-side connecting member is merely displaced, and the board-side connecting member is not displaced. Therefore, there is no displacement of the elastic contact piece with respect to the circuit board.

Since the housing and the board-side connecting member are separately formed and assembled, the housing-forming member is integrated with the housing by insert-molding. It is possible to simplify the structure of the mold for use. [Invention of Claim 4] Since the electric wire side connecting member before being connected to the board side connecting member is not exposed, but is housed in the second housing, the electric wire side connecting member is foreign matter. It is prevented from being damaged or damaged by the interference of the light.

[0010] [5] A retaining means is provided to restrict the wire-side connecting member from coming out of the housing. Can be prevented.

[0011]

[First Embodiment] A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. The card edge connector A of the present embodiment includes a two-piece housing 10 and a two-piece terminal fitting 30.
And is fitted to the mating connector B.
The mating connector B is obtained by attaching a circuit board P to a housing H made of a synthetic resin, and an edge (card edge) of the circuit board P protrudes forward in a hood F of the housing H.

The housing 10 of the card edge connector A
Comprises a first housing 11 made of synthetic resin and a second housing 21 also made of synthetic resin. The first housing 11 includes a fitting portion 12 fitted into the hood portion F of the mating connector B, and a cylindrical fitting portion 13 protruding rearward (rightward in FIGS. 1 to 5) from the fitting portion 12. Are integrally formed. In the fitting portion 12, a plurality of first cavities 14 opening at the front end surface are formed so as to be divided into upper and lower stages, and to be parallel in the left-right direction at each stage. Similarly,
In the fitting portion 12, an insertion space is formed in the front end face thereof in the form of a horizontally elongated slit, and communicates with the first cavities 14 at both heights between the first cavities 14 at the upper and lower tiers. 15 are formed. The first cavity 14 of the fitting portion 12 and the cylindrical fitting portion 13 are separated by a partition 16.
4, a plurality of press-fit holes 17 penetrating from the rear end surface (back end surface) to the front end surface (back end surface) of the cylindrical fitting portion 13.
The first cavity 14 and the press-fit hole 17 are vertically symmetric with respect to the insertion space 15, respectively.

The second housing 21 has a plurality of second cavities 22 corresponding to the first cavities 14 formed therein. Each of the second cavities 22 is opened at both front and rear end surfaces of the second housing 21. ing. In each of the second cavities 22, a lance 23 (preventing means, which is a component of the present invention) is formed so as to extend forward in a cantilever manner. The second cavity 22 and the lance 23 are
Each is vertically symmetrical.

The terminal fitting 30 is connected to a board-side connecting member 31 accommodated in each first cavity 14 of the first housing 11.
And the electric wire side connecting member 36 inserted into each second cavity 22 of the second housing 21. The upper board-side connecting member 31 is formed by bending a band-shaped metal plate material, and is formed in a body 32 extending linearly in the front-rear direction. An elastic contact piece 33 extending and having its extended end abutting against the lower surface of the main body 32.
It is comprised including. A portion of the main body 32 extending from the center in the front-rear direction to the rear end is in a two-layer state in which the rear end of the main body 32 is tightly folded back from the rear end to the lower surface side. A substantially central portion of the portion 32 is a fixing portion 34 fixed to the first housing 11. Also, the main body 3
The rear end portion of the two-ply overlapping portion 2 is a tab-shaped connecting portion 35 for connecting to the electric wire side connecting member 36, and protrudes into the cylindrical fitting portion 13. The lower board-side connection member 31 is the same component as the upper board-side connection member 31, and is housed in the first cavity 14 in an upside-down state.

The electric wire side connection member 36 is elongated in the front-rear direction as a whole, and a substantially front half portion is a rectangular tube portion 37 and a substantially rear half portion is an electric wire connection portion 38. An elastic connecting piece 39 is formed in the square tube portion 37.
A locking hole 40 is formed in the lower surface wall of the rectangular tube portion 37 to be locked by the lance 23. Further, in the electric wire connection portion 38,
The ends of the electric wires 41 are connected by crimping. The lower wire-side connection member 36 is the same component as the upper wire-side connection member 36, and is housed in the second cavity 22 in an upside-down state.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described. The card edge connector A of this embodiment is assembled according to the following procedure. First, as shown in FIG. 4, the board-side connecting member 31 is inserted into each of the first cavities 14 on the upper side of the first housing 11 from the front, and the main body 32 is inserted into the press-fit hole 17 as shown in FIG. And press-fit the fixing portion 34 into the press-fitting hole 17 and make the tab-like connecting portion 35 protrude into the cylindrical fitting portion 13. In this state, the fitting of the fixing portion 34 and the press-fitting hole 17 restricts the floating of the board-side connecting member 31 with respect to the first housing 11 in the up-down and left-right directions, and the friction between the fixing portion 34 and the press-fitting hole 17. The movement of the board-side connection member 31 in the front-rear direction (pull-out direction) with respect to the first housing 11 is regulated by the
The board-side connection member 31 is fixed to the first housing 11. In addition, since a region of the linear main body 32 that is in front of the fixing part 34 is in contact with the upper wall of the first cavity 14, the main body 32 (including the elastic contact piece 33 and the tab-shaped connecting part 35). The front end portion of the
3 is prevented from being displaced in the direction in which it escapes from the circuit board P). The lower end of the elastic contact piece 33 extends into the insertion space 15. In the first cavity 14 on the lower side, a board-side connecting member 31 that is turned upside down with the board-side connecting member 31 on the upper side is similarly assembled.

On the other hand, in the second housing 21, an electric wire side connection member 36 is inserted into each of the upper cavities 22 from the rear side. In the process of insertion, the lower surface of the rectangular tube portion 37 interferes with the lance 23 and causes the lance 23 to elastically bend downward. Then, when the electric wire side connecting member 36 reaches a regular insertion position where its front end face abuts against the rear end face (the partition 16) of the second cavity 22, the lance 23 elastically returns and is locked in the locking hole 40, and And the electric wire side connecting member 36 is the second
The retaining state is maintained in the cavity 22. In this state, the opening at the front end of the square tube portion 37 corresponds to the opening 22A at the front end of the second cavity 22. The electric wire 41 is led out of the second housing 21 through an opening at the rear end of the second cavity 22. In the second cavity 22 on the lower side, the wire side connection member 36 turned upside down with the wire side connection member 36 on the upper side is assembled in the same manner.

Thereafter, the second housing 21 to which the electric wire side connecting member 36 has been assembled is fitted into the cylindrical fitting portion 13 of the first housing 11 to which the substrate side connecting member 31 has been assembled. Is done. When the two housings 11 and 21 are fitted,
The tab-like connecting portion 35 enters into the rectangular tube portion 37 and makes elastic contact with the elastic connecting piece 39, so that the board-side connecting member 31 and the wire-side connecting member 36 are connected in a conductive state. . Although not shown, the first housing 11 and the second housing 21 are locked in a detachment-restricted state by well-known locking means. As described above, assembling of the card edge connector A of the present embodiment is completed, and the terminal fitting 30 in which the board-side connection member 31 and the wire-side connection member 36 are connected is configured. .

Thereafter, the card edge connector A is assembled to the mating connector B. At the time of assembly, the fitting portion 12 at the front end of the first housing 11 is fitted into the hood portion F of the mating connector B. Then, the edge of the circuit board P enters into the insertion space 15 of the first housing 11 and cuts between the upper and lower elastic contact pieces 33. Accordingly, in a state where the elastic contact piece 33 is elastically bent, the upper and lower surfaces (both front and rear surfaces) thereof are elastically contacted with the circuit board P and connected to a circuit (not shown) of the circuit board P.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the fixing portion 34 of the terminal fitting 30 is non-movably fixed to the housing, and the elastic contact piece 33 is integrally formed with the fixing portion 34. The elastic contact piece 33 is positioned at a fixed position with respect to the housing 10, and the elastic contact piece 33 always keeps a fixed positional relationship with the circuit board P. Therefore, contact reliability between the terminal fitting 30 and the circuit board P is ensured.

The terminal fitting 30 of this embodiment includes a board-side connecting member 31 positioned at a regular position with respect to the circuit board P, and a wire-side connecting member 36 to which the wire 41 is connected.
Therefore, even if a force for vertically displacing the terminal fitting 30 from the electric wire 41 acts on the terminal fitting 30 side, the electric wire-side connecting member 36 has the elastic connecting piece 39. Is only displaced in the second cavity 22 while elastically bending, and the board-side connecting member 31 is not displaced in the first cavity 14. Therefore, even when an external force is applied from the electric wire 41 side, the position of the elastic contact piece 33 does not shift with respect to the circuit board P.

Further, since the first housing 11 and the board side connection member 31 are separately molded and assembled in a molded state, the board side connection member 31 is integrated with the housing by insert molding. Compared to the case, it is possible to simplify the structure of the mold for molding the housing. In addition, a lance 23 is provided in the second cavity 22 so that the second housing 2 of the electric wire side connection member 36 is provided.
Since the disconnection from the connection member 1 is restricted, it is prevented that the connection members 31 and 36 are poorly connected due to the detachment of the electric wire side connection member 36.

Further, the wire side connection member 36 before being connected to the board side connection member 31 is not exposed, but is housed in the second housing 21. Is prevented from being damaged or damaged by the interference of foreign matter. Second Embodiment Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The card edge connector C of the second embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that the housing 50 has a one-piece structure. The configuration of the mating connector B and the terminal fitting 30 is described in the first embodiment.
Therefore, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description of the structure, operation, and effect is omitted.

The housing 50 of the card edge connector C
Is formed as a fitting portion 51 to be fitted into the hood portion F of the mating connector B. In this fitting portion 51, a plurality of first cavities 52 opened at the front end surface are provided in two vertical stages. And are formed so as to be parallel in the left-right direction at each stage. Similarly, in the fitting portion 51, the front end face is opened in a horizontally elongated slit shape, and the height of the first cavity 5 of both the upper and lower tiers is set between the upper cavities 52 of the upper and lower tiers.
An insertion space 53 having a form communicating with 2 is formed.

The fitting portion 51 inside the housing 50
A plurality of second cavities 54 corresponding to the first cavities 52 are formed in a region behind the first cavity 52 so as to open to the rear end surface of the housing 50. Each second cavity 5
4, a lance 55 extending forward in a cantilever manner
(Prevention means which is a component of the present invention) is formed. The first cavity 52 and the second cavity 54 are separated by a partition 56, and the partition 56 has a second end from a rear end face (a rear end face) of each first cavity 52.
A plurality of press-fit holes 57 penetrating the front end face (rear end face) of the cavity 54 are formed. The first cavity 52,
The press-fit hole 57, the second cavity 54, and the lance 55 are respectively vertically symmetrical.

Next, the operation of the second embodiment will be described. The card edge connector C is assembled according to the following procedure. First, the board-side connection member 31 is inserted into each of the first cavities 52 on the upper side of the housing 50 from the front, the main body 32 is inserted into the press-fit hole 57, and the fixing portion 34 is press-fitted into the press-fit hole 57, The tab-shaped connecting portion 35 is projected into the second cavity 54. In this state, the fixing portion 3
4 and the press-fitting hole 57 restrict the movement of the board-side connecting member 31 in the up-down and left-right directions with respect to the housing 50, and the friction between the fixing portion 34 and the press-fitting hole 57 causes the board-side connecting member to the housing 50. The movement of the base 31 in the front-rear direction (pull-out direction) is restricted, and the board-side connecting member 31 is fixed to the housing 50.
In addition, since the area of the linear main body 32 that is in front of the fixed part 34 is in contact with the upper surface wall of the first cavity 52, the main body 32 (the elastic contact piece 33 and the tab-shaped connecting part 35
) Is prevented from displacing upward (in a direction in which the elastic contact piece 33 escapes from the circuit board P). The lower end of the elastic contact piece 33 extends into the insertion space 53. In addition, in the first cavity 52 on the lower side, the board side connecting member 31 which is turned upside down with the above board side connecting member 31 on the upper side is assembled in the same manner.

Next, the wire-side connecting member 36 is inserted into each of the second cavities 54 on the upper side from the rear. In the process of insertion, the lower surface of the rectangular tube portion 37 interferes with the lance 55 and causes the lance 55 to elastically bend downward. When the electric wire side connecting member 36 reaches a regular insertion position where its front end surface abuts against the rear end surface (partition wall 56) of the second cavity 54, the lance 55 is elastically restored and is locked in the locking hole 40. ,
The wire-side connecting member 36 is held in the second cavity 54 in a retaining state. When the wire-side connecting member 36 is inserted into the second cavity 54, the tab-like connecting portion 35 enters into the rectangular tube portion 37 and makes elastic contact with the elastic connecting piece 39, so that the board-side connecting member 31 and the wire The side connection member 36 is connected in a conductive state. The electric wire 41 is led out of the housing 50 from the opening at the rear end of the second cavity 54. In the lower second cavity 54,
The wire-side connection member 36 turned upside down is assembled in the same manner as the wire-side connection member 36 on the upper side. Thus, the assembly of the card edge connector C of the present embodiment is completed. Thereafter, the card edge connector C is assembled to the mating connector B.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the fixing portion 34 of the terminal fitting 30 is fixed to the housing 50 so as not to move freely, and the elastic contact piece 33 is fixed to the fixing portion 34.
Are integrated, the elastic contact piece 33 is positioned at a fixed position with respect to the housing 50, and the elastic contact piece 33 always keeps a fixed positional relationship with the circuit board P. Therefore, the terminal fitting 30 and the circuit board P
And the contact reliability between them.

The housing 50 and the board-side connecting member 3
1 are separately molded and assembled in a molded state, so that the structure of the mold for molding the housing is smaller than the case where the board-side connection member 31 is integrated with the housing 50 by insert molding. Can be simplified. Further, since the lance 55 is provided in the second cavity 54 to prevent the wire-side connection member 36 from coming off the housing 50, the connection members 31, 36 are removed due to the wire-side connection member 36 coming off. Poor connection is prevented.

[Other Embodiments] The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above with reference to the drawings. For example, the following embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention. In addition, various changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. (1) In the above embodiment, the fixing portion of the board-side connecting member is fixed to the housing by press fitting. However, according to the present invention, the fixing portion of the board-side connecting member may be integrated with the housing by insert molding.

(2) In the above embodiment, the terminal fitting is constituted by two parts, the board side connection member and the wire side connection member.
According to the present invention, the terminal fitting may be a single component in which the elastic contact piece, the fixed portion, and the wire connection portion are integrated. In this case, the terminal fitting may be set in a mold in a state where the electric wires are already connected, and the fixing portion may be integrated with the housing by insert molding. (3) In the above embodiment, the board-side connecting member and the electric-wire-side connecting member may be provided with locking means for locking the two connecting members by locking each other.

(4) In the above embodiment, the case where the terminal fitting contacts the front and back surfaces of the circuit board has been described. However, the present invention is directed to the case where the terminal fitting contacts only one of the front and back surfaces of the circuit board. The present invention can be applied to a case in which the contact is made.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a state in which a card edge connector and a mating connector are fitted in a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a state where a card edge connector is detached from a mating connector.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a state where a first housing and a second housing are separated.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a state where a first housing and a board-side connection member are separated.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a state where a second housing and a wire-side connection member are separated.

FIG. 6 is a front view of the first housing.

FIG. 7 is a front view of a second housing.

FIG. 8 is a front view of a mating connector.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the card edge connector and the mating connector are fitted in the second embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view showing a state where a housing and a board-side connection member are separated.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where a wire-side connecting member is separated from a housing and a card edge connector is removed from a mating housing.

[Explanation of symbols]

 A: card edge connector B: mating connector P: circuit board 10: housing 11: first housing 21: second housing 23: lance (retaining means) 30: terminal fitting 31: board side connection member 33: elastic contact piece 34: fixing part 36: electric wire side connection member 41: electric wire C: card edge connector 50: housing 55: lance (retaining means)

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A housing into which a circuit board of a mating connector is inserted, and an elastic contact piece capable of elastic contact with the circuit board are provided, and housed in the housing while being connected to an electric wire. The terminal fitting has a fixing portion fixed to the housing, and the elastic contact piece is integrated with the fixing portion. And a card edge connector. 2. The terminal fitting according to claim 1, further comprising: a board-side connection member on which the fixed portion and the elastic contact piece are formed; and a wire connection portion to which the electric wire is connected, wherein 2. The card edge connector according to claim 1, wherein the card edge connector is composed of two parts, a wire-side connection member capable of being connected. 3. The card edge connector according to claim 2, wherein a fixing portion of the board-side connection member is fixed by being press-fitted into a housing. 4. The housing comprises a first housing to which the board-side connection member is fixed, and a second housing in which the electric wire-side connection member is accommodated, wherein the first housing and the second housing are provided. 4. The card edge connector according to claim 2, wherein the board side connection member and the electric wire side connection member are connected by fitting a housing. 5. 5. The housing is provided with retaining means for retaining the electric wire side connecting member inserted into the housing and connected to the board side connecting member. The card edge connector according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein