JP2005322573A - Connector - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a noise countermeasure connector in which an overvoltage such as a surge voltage and electrostatic noise impressed onto a connector can be removed without using a dedicated electronic component such as a filter element and which is of low cost, in a connector that is mounted on a vehicle mounted electronic unit connected to a vehicle mounted harness and an electronic circuit board having a signal line of switching by extrernal force. <P>SOLUTION: A discharge member 40 connectable to the GND (ground) potential in a housing 20 is arranged between connectors 30 with a prescribed spacing. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle-mounted electronic unit connected to a vehicle-mounted harness and a connector mounted on an electronic circuit board having a signal line for switching by external force, and in particular, measures for removing overvoltage such as surge voltage and electrostatic noise. About.

  Generally, in this type of connector, measures are taken to eliminate overvoltage such as surge voltage and electrostatic noise to be input to the electronic circuit side.

For example, in Patent Document 1, a metal plate is disposed in the vicinity of a connection terminal, and the metal plate and the connection terminal are electrically connected by a filter element such as a capacitor, and an overvoltage is applied to the connection terminal. In some cases, the connection terminal is connected to the ground side via the filter element to avoid the input of the overvoltage.
JP-A-4-144080 (page 3, FIG. 1)

  However, the above-described conventional connector requires a dedicated filter element, which leads to a cost increase.

  In addition, a space for arranging the filter element is required, and therefore, there is a disadvantage that the connector is easily increased in size.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a point, and its main object is to be mounted on an in-vehicle electronic unit connected to an in-vehicle harness, an electronic circuit board having a switching signal line by an external force, or the like. Therefore, it is possible to provide an inexpensive anti-noise connector by removing overvoltage such as surge voltage and electrostatic noise without using dedicated electronic components.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, in the connector in which the connection terminal and the discharge member are attached to the housing, the housing itself is made of a conductive material.

  Specifically, a connector including a housing and connection terminals provided in the housing is assumed.

  The housing is provided so as to be connectable to a ground potential, and is provided with a discharge member disposed with a gap between the connection terminals.

  In the above configuration, when there are a plurality of connection terminals, the gaps between the plurality of connection terminals and the discharge member may be equal to each other. Further, at least a portion between the connection terminal and the discharge member in the housing is a conductive portion having conductivity, and this conductive portion is caused to cause creeping discharge between the connection terminal and the discharge member along the surface of the conductive portion. In this case, the housing itself may contain a conductive material.

  According to the present invention, in a connector including a housing and a connection terminal provided in the housing, when an overvoltage such as a surge voltage or electrostatic noise is applied to the connection terminal, the connection terminal and the connection terminal The discharge member disposed with a predetermined gap therebetween can be discharged, so that it is possible to avoid the input of the overvoltage without interposing a filter element between them. Therefore, it is possible to provide an inexpensive noise countermeasure connector as much as an unnecessary filter element is unnecessary.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  1 and 2 show the overall configuration of a connector according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, this connector 10 includes an in-vehicle harness (not shown), an in-vehicle electronic unit A, and the like. Connected to the electronic circuit B of the in-vehicle electronic unit A via the in-vehicle harness, and is mounted on the in-vehicle electronic unit A in order to avoid an overvoltage such as a surge voltage or electrostatic noise from being input to the electronic circuit B. used.

  The connector 10 includes a housing 20 that is screwed to the electronic circuit board C of the in-vehicle electronic unit A. The housing 20 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and the side to which the in-vehicle harness is connected (the left side in FIG. 3) is formed as a recess so as to receive the connection portion of the in-vehicle harness. The surface on the opposite side (right front side in the figure) is formed in a substantially flat surface. In addition, mounting pieces 21 for screwing are provided on both side portions of the housing 20 in the length direction, and each mounting piece 21 is provided with a screw hole 22 penetrating the mounting piece 21. ing.

  A plurality of connection terminals 30, 30,... Are attached to the housing 20 so as to be substantially parallel to the electronic circuit board C. Each connection terminal 30 is connected to the electronic circuit B side from the recess. It protrudes toward In the example shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, three rows of connection terminals 30, 30,... Arranged in parallel with the electronic circuit board C are provided in two upper and lower stages, and six connection terminals 30 are provided. Yes. Each connection terminal 30 is connected to a corresponding connection portion (not shown) in the electronic circuit B.

  And in this embodiment, while the discharge plate 40 as a discharge member arrange | positioned on the surface at the side of the electronic circuit B of the housing 20 at predetermined gaps between each connection terminal 30 is attached, 20 includes a conductive material, and when a predetermined voltage is applied to each connection terminal 30, creeping discharge on the surface of the housing 20 is caused between the connection terminal 30 and the discharge plate 40. On the other hand, when an overvoltage exceeding a predetermined voltage is applied, creeping discharge on the surface of the housing 20 is allowed between the connection terminal 30 and the discharge plate 40.

  Specifically, the discharge plate 40 has a strip shape, and is disposed between the upper and lower rows of the connection terminals 30, 30,... It is embedded in the surface on the B side so as to be substantially flush with the surface. Each part facing each connection terminal 30 is formed in a straight line shape without unevenness, and in this embodiment, the gap between each connection terminal 30 and the discharge plate 40 is equal to each other (for example, 0. About 5 mm). Further, a connecting portion 41 is provided on one end side (left end side in FIG. 2) in the length direction so as to extend to the mounting piece 21 on one side (left side in the same figure) of the housing 20 and overlap the mounting piece 21. The connecting portion 41 is connected to the GND of the electronic circuit B via the screw hole 22 of the mounting piece 21 although not shown. Examples of the material of the discharge plate 40 include copper, an aluminum alloy, nickel, and the like.

  On the other hand, the main material of the housing 20 is PBT (polybutylene terephthalate), and carbon or conductive resin as a conductive material is mixed therein.

  The operation of the connector 10 configured as described above will be described.

  When a predetermined voltage is applied to each connection terminal 30 of the connector 10 in the in-vehicle electronic unit A, no discharge occurs between the connection terminal 30 and the discharge plate 40. B will be input. On the other hand, when an overvoltage is applied to any of the connection terminals 30, creeping discharge occurs between the connection terminal 30 and the discharge plate 40 along the surface of the housing 20. The situation of being input to is avoided. Then, the overvoltage transmitted to the discharge plate 40 by the creeping discharge as described above flows to the GND of the electronic circuit B via the connection portion 41 of the discharge plate 40 and the ground wire.

Here, the surface resistivity at the surface portion of the housing 20 between each connection terminal 30 and the discharge plate 40 and the discharge start voltage between the connection terminal 30 and the discharge plate 40 (with respect to the connection terminal 30 when the discharge is started). The characteristic between the applied voltage and the applied voltage is shown in FIG. In addition, the gap dimension (gap width) between each connection terminal 30 and the discharge plate 40 is 0.5 mm. As can be seen from this figure, the discharge voltage is changed by changing the surface resistivity of the housing 20 in the range of 1 × 10 ⁹ to 1 × 10 ¹³ depending on the type of conductive material contained in the material of the housing 20 and its content. It can be changed in the range of 1100 to 2300V, and it can be seen that the overvoltage to be removed can be arbitrarily set.

  Therefore, according to this embodiment, the connector provided with the housing 20 attached to the vehicle-mounted electronic unit A and the plurality of connection terminals 30, 30,... For connecting the vehicle-mounted harness to the vehicle-mounted electronic unit A. 10, the discharge plate 40 connected to the GND of the electronic circuit B of the in-vehicle electronic unit A is attached to the housing 20 with gaps between the connection terminals 30, and the gaps are made equal to each other. When an overvoltage is applied to the connection terminal 30, a discharge is generated between the connection terminal 30 and the discharge plate 40. On the other hand, when a predetermined voltage is applied, the above discharge is not generated. Eliminates overcurrent such as surge voltage and electrostatic noise with a discharge voltage with little variation. It can be, therefore, correspondingly, it is possible to contribute to cost reduction and miniaturization of the connector 10.

  In addition, since a component such as the filter element is not necessary, there is an advantage that a defect caused by such a component defect does not occur.

  At that time, since conductivity is imparted to the portion of the housing 20 between each connection terminal 30 and the discharge plate 40 and discharge is performed along the surface of the portion, each connection terminal 30 and the discharge plate 40 The discharge voltage can be changed by changing the electrical conductivity in the above-mentioned part of the housing 20 even if the gap size between the two is the same. Therefore, even if the housing 20 is not enlarged, a high discharge voltage is required. It can be easily adapted to the intended use.

  Furthermore, in this embodiment, since the conductivity is imparted to the entire housing 20, the molding operation of the housing 20 can be facilitated as compared with the case where the conductivity is imparted only to a necessary portion. it can.

  In the embodiment described above, the shape of the discharge plate 40 is such that the edge of the portion facing each connection terminal 30 is formed in a straight line. However, as shown in Modification 1 in FIG. By forming the triangular convex portion 40a so as to protrude toward the connection terminal 30, the electric field concentrates to facilitate discharge, or as shown in the modified example 2 of FIG. By forming the convex part 40a to be performed, a stable discharge may be performed in substantially the same manner as in the above embodiment. Further, as shown in the third modification of FIG. 7, the projecting piece that protrudes greatly so as to surround each connection terminal 30 and is provided with an opening hole that forms an annular gap with the corresponding connection terminal 30. By preventing the concentration of the discharge by forming 40b, the contamination of each connection terminal 30 and the discharge plate 40 and the change with time may be reduced.

  In the above embodiment, the discharge plate 40 is connected to the GND through the ground wire in the screw hole 22 of the housing 20. For example, the screw inserted into the screw hole 22 is made of a conductive material. If it is, the connector 10 is grounded via the screw, or the connector 10 has a GND terminal connected to the GND of the electronic circuit B in addition to the connection terminals 30, 30,. In this case, as shown in Modification 4 of FIG. 8, the GND terminal 31 and the discharge plate 40 may be appropriately designed as necessary, such as connecting them using a connection piece 42 or the like. it can.

  In the above embodiment, the gaps between the connection terminals 30 and the discharge plate 40 are made equal to each other. However, depending on the use conditions of the connector, the gaps may not be equal to each other. Good.

  Moreover, in said embodiment, although the discharge plate 40 is made into the substantially rectangular shape, the shape is arbitrary and especially as a discharge member, it is not limited to plate shape.

  Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, conductivity is imparted to the entire housing 20, but conductivity may be imparted only to a necessary portion, and further, creeping discharge is not used. When a necessary discharge voltage is obtained only by a gap (air gap) between each connection terminal 30 and the discharge member, the housing 20 may not be provided with conductivity.

1 is a perspective view showing an overall configuration of a connector according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is sectional drawing which looked at the whole structure of the connector from the electronic circuit side. It is a perspective view which shows an example of the state mounted in the electronic circuit board of the vehicle-mounted electronic unit. It is a characteristic view which shows the relationship between the resistivity of the housing part between a connection terminal and a discharge plate, and the discharge start voltage between this connection terminal and a discharge plate. FIG. 9 is a view corresponding to FIG. 2 and showing a shape of a discharge plate in Modification 1; FIG. 9 is a view corresponding to FIG. 2 and showing a shape of a discharge plate in Modification 2. FIG. 10 is a view corresponding to FIG. 2 and showing a shape of a discharge plate in Modification 3. FIG. 9 is a view corresponding to FIG. 2 and showing a connection structure of a discharge plate to GND in Modification 4.

Explanation of symbols

20 Housing 30 Connection terminal 40 Discharge plate (discharge member)

Claims (4)

A connector comprising a housing and a connection terminal provided in the housing,
A connector comprising: a discharge member which is provided in the housing so as to be connectable to a ground potential, and is disposed with a predetermined gap between the housing and the connection terminal. The connector according to claim 1,
There are multiple connection terminals.
Each of the gaps between the plurality of connection terminals and the discharge member is made equal to each other. The connector according to claim 1 or 2,
At least a portion between the connection terminal and the discharge member in the housing is a conductive portion having conductivity,
The connector, wherein the conductive portion is formed so that creeping discharge occurs between the connection terminal and the discharge member along a surface of the conductive portion. The connector according to claim 3, wherein
The housing includes a conductive material.

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