JP2003045541A - Connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a connector for securing a large displacement quantity of a terminal member, even when the casing internal space of the connector is small. SOLUTION: This connector 1 has a casing 4 for exposably housing mutually electrically connected first terminal member 2 and second terminal member 3, so as to be electrically connectable to an external terminal, the first terminal member 2 has an outside end part 2a exposed to the outside, and an inside end part 2b contacting with the second terminal member 3. The first terminal member 2 is rockably and displaceably connected to the periphery of a prescribed rotary shaft 5 installed in the casing 4. The second terminal member 3 has a fixed end part 3a fixed to the casing 4, and a movable end part 3b contacting with the inside end part 2b of the first terminal member 2, and capable of energizing the first terminal member 2 in the rocking direction for being exposed from the casing 4.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a connector having a terminal which is crimped to another terminal and electrically connected thereto.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a device such as a mobile phone or a notebook personal computer, when a battery is attached to the device body, the device-side connector provided on the device body and the battery-side connector provided on the battery side are crimped. As a result, the electrical connection between the terminals provided in both is secured. Here, if the device vibrates or if a shock is applied to the device, a contact failure occurs due to the displacement between the device-side connector and the battery-side connector, and the electrical connection between the two Since it may happen that the terminals are not properly secured, it was necessary to take measures to secure the connection between the terminals.

Therefore, in the conventional connector as shown in FIG. 7, when the first connector 50 and the second connector 60 are electrically connected, the terminal 52 of the first connector 50 is used.
And the terminal 53 are connected by an elastically deformable S-shaped terminal 51 as shown in the figure to ensure electrical continuity between them.
As a result, as shown in FIG. 7B, when a pressing force is applied to the terminal 52 of the first connector 50 by the terminal 61 of the second connector 60, the S-shaped terminal 51 is elastically deformed and the terminal 52. The terminal 52 is displaced and the contact (electrical connection) between them is secured while urging the restoring force. Further, by increasing the length of the S-shaped terminal 51 in the lateral direction (horizontal direction parallel to the paper surface), the movable range of the terminal 52 can be increased, and when the terminals contacting each other are displaced. However, the S-shaped terminal 51 is designed to be elastically deformed freely to ensure electrical connection between the connectors.

[0004]

However, in the conventional connector in which the terminal member is movable, a space for obtaining the movable range of the terminal member is required inside the housing of the connector, and as a result, a larger movable range is obtained. A larger space was needed inside the connector to obtain. In other words, there was a problem that the connector had to be large. On the other hand, when the size of the connector is reduced, the movable range of the terminal member is limited, and it is not possible to secure a sufficient displacement amount of the terminal member against vibration of the device or impact applied to the device. However, there has been a problem that the electrical connection between the connectors is disturbed.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a connector in which a large displacement amount of a terminal member is secured even when the space inside the housing of the connector is small. It is in the point of providing.

[0006]

The first characteristic constitution of the connector according to the present invention for solving the above-mentioned problems is electrically connected to each other as described in claim 1 of the scope of claims. A connector having a housing in which the first terminal member and the second terminal member are exposed and housed so as to be electrically connectable to an external terminal, and the first terminal member has an outer end portion exposed to the outside. And an inner end portion that comes into contact with the second terminal member, and the first terminal member is pivotally supported so as to be swingable about a predetermined rotation axis attached to the housing. A fixed end portion fixed to the housing;
It has a movable end that is in contact with the inner end of the terminal member and can be biased in a swinging direction to expose the first terminal member from the housing.

A second characteristic configuration of the connector according to the present invention for solving the above-mentioned problems is, in addition to the first characteristic configuration, the second characteristic configuration as described in claim 2 of the scope of claims.
The point is that the terminal member is composed of an elastically deformable leaf spring.

A third characteristic constitution of the connector according to the present invention for solving the above-mentioned problems is, in addition to the first or second characteristic constitution, as described in claim 3 of the scope of claims. A contact length of the contact portion in a direction parallel to the rotation direction around the rotation axis at a contact portion of the first terminal member that is in contact with a predetermined external terminal and ensures mutual electrical connection. , Is longer than the contact length of the contact portion in the direction perpendicular to the rotation direction.

The operation and effect will be described below. According to the first characteristic configuration of the connector of the present invention, since the second terminal member is biased in the direction in which the first terminal member is exposed from the housing, the first terminal member has a predetermined external shape. When the first terminal member comes into contact with the terminal, the first terminal member is oscillated (rotated) about the rotation axis while being urged by the restoring force to return to the original position. In the conventional connector, since the entire terminal member was moved, a space larger than the movable range of the entire terminal member was required inside the housing for accommodating the terminal member. That is, there is a part that does not move, that is, there is a part that does not move (corresponding to the rotation axis) and a part that moves. Since it is good, the housing can be made small. Further, even if the positions of the terminal members that come into contact with each other are displaced due to the vibration applied to the connector, the electrical connection between the terminal members is ensured by the swinging of the first terminal member, and the electrical connection between the connectors is ensured. It is possible to eliminate the possibility that such a poor connection will occur. From the above, it is possible to provide stable electrical connection between the terminal members of the respective connectors.

According to the second characteristic configuration of the connector of the present invention, since the second terminal member is formed by the elastically deformable leaf spring, the second terminal member has high flexibility and strong repulsive force. Since both are provided, the restoring force after the displacement can be provided to the first terminal member having the large displacement amount in the small space, and the large displacement amount can be secured in the small space.

According to the third characteristic configuration of the connector of the present invention, in the shape of the contact portion of the first terminal member with the external terminal, the cross-sectional area in the direction parallel to the rotation direction is perpendicular to the rotation direction. Formed with a larger contact area, that is, a state with a long contact length when the first terminal member contacts the external terminal while swinging and displacing, and electrical connection is secured The shape can be such that they contact with each other. As a result, a long contact length means that various contact states can be achieved when the terminal member is largely displaced, so it is possible to avoid misalignment between terminals that occurs when the connector vibrates. Even with respect to this, it is possible to provide a connector that can ensure good electrical connection.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a connector 1 according to the present invention, and also shows a mating connector 10 of the connector 1. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the connector 1 has a housing 4 in which a first terminal member 2 and a second terminal member 3 are exposed and housed so as to be electrically connectable to an external terminal. Composed. The first terminal member 2 and the second terminal member 3 are in a state of being electrically connected directly or indirectly inside the housing 4. The electrical connection between the connector 1 and the counterpart connector 10 is
The first terminal member 2 of the
This is achieved by contacting the terminal member 12.

The first terminal member 2 is required to be a material (for example, copper) that conducts electricity well, but the material is not particularly limited. The member (shown by hatching) for holding the first terminal member 2 and mounting it on the rotating shaft 5 can be manufactured by molding a resin material. Further, the second terminal member 3 is made of copper, phosphor bronze, or the like having a large elastic force, since it is required that the second terminal member 3 is an elastically deformable material in addition to a material that allows good electricity flow. be able to. The housing 4 can be manufactured by molding a resin material.

FIG. 2 is a view for explaining a mounting example of the connector 1 and the counterpart connector 10. Here, the connector 1 is provided in the mobile phone main body 20, and the counterpart connector 10 is provided in the battery 21. When the battery 21 is attached to the mobile phone body 20, each first terminal member 2 is electrically connected to the corresponding counterpart first terminal member 12, and the battery 2
The power of 1 is supplied to the mobile phone body 20. In this way, when the battery 21 is attached to the mobile phone body 20, the terminal members are pressed against each other, but at that time,
The first terminal member 2 is displaced, and the electrical connection with the counterpart first terminal member 12 is ensured. As described above, the connector 1 according to the present invention can be used in combination with the counterpart connector 10 or in combination with another connector for a mobile phone,
It can be mounted on various devices such as a notebook computer and a portable information communication terminal, and can be used, for example, to ensure an electrical connection between a battery and a device body. Or not only for the electrical connection between the battery and the device itself,
It can also be used for other parts where secure electrical connection is desired. The mechanism by which the first terminal member 2 is displaced will be described below.

FIG. 3 (a) shows each part constituting the connector 1, and FIG. 3 (b) shows a state in which the parts are assembled to form the connector 1. As shown in FIG. 3A, the connector 1 is configured to include the first terminal member 2, the second terminal member 3, the rotating shaft 5, and each component of the housing 4. As shown in FIG. 3B, the first terminal member 2 is attached to the housing 4 by the rotating shaft 5 and assembled so as to be rotatable around the rotating shaft 5. Furthermore, the first terminal member 2
Is urged by a second terminal member 3 configured by bending a leaf spring having a predetermined shape to the outside of the housing 4, and the housing 4 is
Since the terminal member 2 also plays the role of a stopper that prevents the terminal member 2 from jumping outward, the movement of the first terminal member 2 inside the housing 4 is limited to only the rotational movement around the rotation axis 5.

FIG. 4A is a vertical sectional view of the connector 1, and FIG. 4B is a horizontal sectional view of the connector 1. The first terminal member 2 includes an outer end portion 2a exposed to the outside of the housing 4, and an inner end portion 2b that is in contact with the second terminal member 3 inside the housing 4 and is electrically connected. Becomes
By being connected to the rotary shaft 5 fixed to the housing 4, it is configured to be swingable (rotatable) about the rotary shaft. Second
The terminal member 3 is in contact with and electrically connected to the fixed end portion 3 a fixed to the housing 4 and the inner end portion 2 b of the first terminal member 2, and the first terminal member 2 is exposed from the housing 4. And a movable end 3b for urging the inner end 2b in the swinging direction. Further, the movable end portion 3b of the second terminal member 3 is configured to be in constant contact with the inner end portion 2b of the first terminal member 2 to be electrically connected, and here, FIG. As shown in FIG. 4B, a shape is adopted in which both sides of the inner end portion 2b are sandwiched by the movable end portions 3b.

Here, when the outer end 2a of the first terminal member 2 is swingably displaced toward the arrow A ₂ side, the movable end 3b of the second terminal member 3 is also displaced toward the arrow A ₃ side. Here, since the second terminal member 3 is formed of an elastically deformable leaf spring, the movable end portion 3b of the second terminal member 3 is moved by the restoring force corresponding to the amount of the second terminal member 3 pushed and deformed at least in the direction of the arrow A _3. It is biased in a direction representing the first terminal member 2 of the inner end portion 2b by an arrow B _3. As a result, the first terminal member 2 tends to be displaced in the arrow B ₂ direction.

FIG. 5 illustrates the manner in which the first terminal member 2 comes into contact with the mating first terminal 12 and is electrically connected thereto. As shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, as the mating first terminal member 12 is pressed against the first terminal member 2, the outer end portion 2 a of the first terminal member 2 is pressed.
Is displaced in the direction of arrow A ₂ shown in FIG. Even in the displacement process, the first terminal member 2 and the counterpart first terminal member 12 are in stable contact with each other, and the electrical connection between them is ensured.

In FIG. 5, the cross section in the direction parallel to the rotation direction of the first terminal member 2 is visible, but in this case, the portion between the first terminal member 2 and the counterpart first terminal member is shown. The contact part is in the state of a line contact with a long contact length, and even if various contact states are formed by changing the positional relationship between the two, stable contact (electrical connection) between them is made. It can be seen from the cross-sectional shape of the first terminal member 2 that it is ensured. Specifically, at the contact portion of the first terminal member that contacts the counterpart first terminal member 12, the contact length viewed from the direction parallel to the rotation direction is greater than the contact length viewed from the direction perpendicular to the rotation direction. It is formed long. Therefore, even if the distance between the first terminal member 2 and the counterpart first terminal member 12 changes due to vibration or the like, a part of the long contact portion is momentarily separated, but all contact portions are separated. Never leave. As a result, stable contact (electrical connection) can be secured.

FIG. 5B illustrates the final contact state between the connector 1 and the mating connector 10. As can be seen from the figure, the first terminal member 2 is oscillated (rotated) about the rotation axis 5, but is substantially displaced as follows.
Only the outer end 2a exposed from the housing 4 and in contact with (electrically connected to) an external terminal, and other parts are hardly displaced. In the case of the conventional terminal member, since the entire terminal member is displaced, a space larger than the movable range is required inside the housing. However, in the first terminal member 2 as shown in FIG. By arranging such that only a part of the above is displaced, it is possible to eliminate the need to provide a large space inside the housing 4.

Next, the second terminal member 3 will be described in detail. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the second terminal member 3 is
One end (fixed end) of the leaf spring is fixed to the housing 4 of the connector 1, and the elastic force generated in the leaf spring is urged against the inner end 2b of the first terminal member 2 with the fixed end as a fulcrum. Is configured. Further, in order to adjust the biasing direction of the elastic force to the inner end portion 2b so as to rotate the first terminal member 2 around the rotation axis 5, it is bent into a predetermined shape.

<Another Embodiment> FIG. 6A and FIG.
Another connector 40 is shown in FIG. In the above-described embodiment, the case where the rotary shaft 5 is fixed to the housing 4 has been described. However, the rotary shaft 5 is not completely fixed to the housing 4, but the first terminal member 2 rotates around the rotary shaft 5. Although the swinging displacement is ensured, the rotating shaft 5 itself may be attached to the housing 4 in a state in which it can be slightly displaced with respect to the housing 4. For that purpose, a rail on which the rotary shaft 5 is mounted is provided in the housing 4, and the rotary shaft 5 can be configured to be displaceable along the rail.

With this structure, when a linear force along the central axis indicated by the broken line is applied to the first terminal member 2, the rotary shaft 5 is displaced rearward. First
The displacement of the terminal member 2 is realized. Furthermore, the first terminal member 2
When the force applied to the first terminal member 2 is biased from a direction deviated from the central axis direction, it is possible to design the first terminal member 2 to be oscillated about the rotation axis 5 or the like. Become.
As a result, it is possible to provide the first terminal member 2 having a wide swingable range and a wide swingable direction. Further, since the first terminal member 2 can be configured to be displaced only in a part of the first terminal member 2 instead of being displaced in its entirety, the above-mentioned swinging is possible even when the space inside the housing 4 is small. A connector whose range and swingable direction are not restricted can be provided. Further, since the elastic force of the second terminal member 3 is applied to the rotating shaft 5 mounted on the rail, the restoring force can be applied to the displacement of the first terminal member 2 in the linear direction. ..

In the above-described embodiment, the rotating shaft 5 is provided above the first terminal member 2 (a position deviated from the center), and the rotating direction of the first terminal member 2 is the direction of arrow A ₂ (in the figure). However, the connector 30 provided with the rotary shaft 5 at the position on the central axis of the first terminal member 2 shown by the broken line
May be provided. When the rotating shaft 5 is provided at the position on the central axis of the first terminal member 2, the first terminal member 2 is moved upward or downward depending on the direction of the force when the counterpart first terminal member 12 is pressed. It can be designed to face either of the two directions. Then, the second terminal member 3 is used to urge a restoring force such that the first terminal member 2 facing upward or downward returns to the original position. In that case, the second terminal This can be dealt with by providing a plurality of members 3.

Although the embodiment of the connector has been described above with reference to the drawings, the configuration is not limited to that shown in the drawings, and it is not shown in the drawings by arbitrarily combining the respective members as shown in the drawings. It is also possible to configure various connectors.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the connector 1 is provided with the three first terminal members 2 and the second terminal members 3 has been described, but how many terminals are provided in the connector 1 is a mere design matter. Yes Various modifications are possible.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a connector according to the present invention and its counterpart connector.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a mounting example of a connector and its counterpart connector.

FIG. 3A is a diagram showing each component forming the connector, and FIG. 3B is a diagram illustrating a state in which each component is assembled.

4A is a vertical sectional view of the connector, and FIG. 4B is a horizontal sectional view.

5 (a) and 5 (b) are views for explaining a contact process between a connector and its counterpart connector.

6A and 6B are vertical cross-sectional views of another connector.

7A and 7B are vertical cross-sectional views for explaining the operation of the conventional connector.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 connector 2 First terminal member 3 Second terminal member 4 housing 5 rotation axes 10 Counterpart connector 12 Counterpart first terminal member 13 Counterpart second terminal member 40 connector 50 First connector 51 S-shaped terminal 52 terminals 53 terminals 60 Second connector 61 terminal

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A connector having a housing in which a first terminal member and a second terminal member electrically connected to each other are exposed and housed so as to be electrically connectable to an external terminal, wherein The terminal member has an outer end portion exposed to the outside and an inner end portion in contact with the second terminal member, and the first terminal member swings around a predetermined rotation axis attached to the housing. Displaceably pivotally supported, the second terminal member comes into contact with a fixed end portion fixed to the housing and the inner end portion of the first terminal member, and the first terminal member is removed from the housing. A connector having a movable end portion that can be biased in the swinging direction to be exposed. 2. The connector according to claim 1, wherein the second terminal member is composed of an elastically deformable leaf spring. 3. A contact portion of the first terminal member, which is in contact with a predetermined external terminal to ensure electrical connection with each other, of the contact portion in a direction parallel to the rotation direction around the rotation axis. The connector according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a contact length is longer than a contact length of the contact portion in a direction perpendicular to the rotation direction.