JP2010277916A - Vertically fitting connector - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vertically fitting connector in which small sizing and low height can be attained and which does not have a contact failure due to stress concentration and permanent deformation even if attachment and detachment are repeated. <P>SOLUTION: The vertically fitting connector 1 is equipped with a receptacle 2 having an external terminal 4 and a projecting terminal 5 connected to it and a plug 3 having a contact 8 which is electrically connected to the projecting terminal 5 by a restoration force by deforming elastically when the projecting terminal 5 is inserted vertically. The contact 8 has a tongue-shape elastic part 8a which is installed so as to be opposed at each top end part 8b and is formed so that the width and thickness in orthogonal direction to the extension direction may become smaller toward the top end part 8b. The elastic part 8a has a metal material 8f contained having an elasticity higher than copper or alloy containing copper, and when the projecting terminal 5 is inserted, the elastic part 8a is pressure-contacted to the projecting terminal 5 by the restoration force of the metal material 8f deformed having the high elasticity. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a connector, and more particularly to a vertical fitting type connector provided with a contact that is elastically deformed when a protruding terminal is inserted vertically and is electrically connected to the protruding terminal by a restoring force.

  For example, in mobile terminals such as mobile phones, notebook computers, digital cameras, game machines, etc., circuits on multiple boards inside them are connected by film cables or waveguide films for optical transmission to transmit and receive electrical signals and optical signals. It has come to be. As shown in FIG. 22, the optical transmission waveguide film 100 and the like are connected to optical transmission modules 101 and 101 disposed on each substrate (not shown) so as to connect circuits (not shown) on each substrate. ing.

  For example, in the case of the optical transmission module shown in FIG. 22, the connector or the optical transmission module for connecting the circuit on the substrate to the film cable or the waveguide film for optical transmission is an upper case as shown in FIG. The optical signal transmission / reception unit, the amplification unit, and the communication control unit that are casing with 211 and the lower case 212 are fitted into the fitting unit 120 of the connector main body 110 and attached.

  Then, at the time of attachment, as shown in FIG. 23 (B), the socket contact portion 121 provided in the connector main body 110 contacts the connection terminal 213 provided on the side surface of the lower case 212 from the side. Thus, the optical transmission waveguide film 100 is electrically connected to the external terminal 122 through the optical signal transmission / reception unit, the connection terminal 213, and the socket contact unit 121, and is connected to a circuit (not shown) on the substrate. It is like that. FIG. 23A shows an example in which the optical signal transmission / reception unit, the amplification unit, and the communication control unit of the optical transmission module 101 are divided and casing.

JP 2007-286553 A JP 2007-157363 A

  Incidentally, the optical transmission module 101 shown in FIG. 22 and the like can be manufactured in a small size, for example, a length in the longitudinal direction of about 10 mm and a height from the substrate surface of about 2 to 3 mm. However, there is a strong demand for miniaturization and thinning in the field of mobile terminals, and further miniaturization and low profile are demanded for optical transmission modules and the like. However, the optical transmission of the type shown in FIG. It is not always easy to reduce the size and height of the module.

  As described above, in order to further reduce the size and height of the connector and the optical transmission module, it is necessary to configure the configuration of the connector portion of the connector and the optical transmission module based on a new idea.

  In addition, even in this newly configured connector, terminals and contacts are electrically connected by physical contact, but when the contact is deformed by physical contact, stress is concentrated on the contact structure. May occur and the contact may be broken or broken. Also, if the deformation of the contact is memorized, permanent deformation may occur. If the connector part is repeatedly attached and detached, the contact and the terminal will not be in physical contact with each other, and the electrical connection may be cut off. In some cases, so-called poor contact may occur, in which the conduction characteristics of the electric signal in become unstable.

  In a connector or the like having a new structure, it is desirable that such problems as stress concentration at the contact portion and contact failure due to permanent deformation do not occur.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a connector that can be reduced in size and reduced in height, and stress concentration and permanent deformation even when it is repeatedly attached and detached. It is an object of the present invention to provide a vertical fitting connector that does not cause poor contact.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the vertical fitting type connector according to claim 1 is:
A receptacle having a protruding terminal electrically connected to the external terminal;
A plug having a contact that is elastically deformed when the protruding terminal is inserted vertically and is electrically connected to the protruding terminal by a restoring force;
With
The contact is provided with a tongue-like elastic portion provided so that the tip portions are opposed to each other and the width or thickness in the direction orthogonal to the extending direction decreases toward the tip portion. And the elastic part includes a metal material having higher elasticity than copper or an alloy containing copper, and the elastic member is deformed when the protruding terminal is inserted by the restoring force of the metal material having high elasticity. The elastic portion is pressed against the protruding terminal.

  The invention according to claim 2 is the vertical fitting connector according to claim 1, wherein the metal material is a metal material having a higher yield stress than copper or an alloy containing copper.

  The invention according to claim 3 is the vertical fitting connector according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the metal material is pure Ni, Ni-based alloy, Fe-Ni-based alloy, Ni-Mn-based alloy, It is characterized by including a Ni-Co alloy, stainless steel, or a combination thereof.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the vertical fitting connector according to any one of the first to third aspects, the base portion of the tongue-like elastic portion of the contact is formed by a support. It is sandwiched, and the tip end side is formed so as to protrude from the support.

  The invention according to claim 5 is the vertical fitting type connector according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the tongue-shaped elastic portion of the contact is a metal material having high elasticity. And a metal layer that is pressed against and electrically connected to the protruding terminals.

  The invention according to claim 6 is the vertical fitting type connector according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the tongue-shaped elastic portion of the contact is a metal material having high elasticity. A highly elastic metal layer made of is pressed against and electrically connected to the protruding terminals.

  The invention according to claim 7 is the vertical fitting connector according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the tongue-like elastic portion of the contact further includes an insulating layer.

  According to the present invention, since the elastic portion of the contact includes a highly elastic metal layer formed of a metal material having higher elasticity than copper or an alloy containing copper, the protruding terminal provided on the receptacle is connected to the plug. When inserted perpendicularly to the contact, the elastic portion of the contact is elastically deformed, and the elastic portion is pressed against the protruding terminal by a restoring force, and the contact and the protruding terminal are automatically and reliably electrically connected. Connected. Therefore, each contact point and each protruding terminal of the plug can be compactly formed on the order of 100 to 500 μm, preferably 200 to 300 μm, so that it is possible to obtain and maintain a sufficient and reliable electrical connection. It is possible to reduce the size of the entire fitting connector.

  Further, the protruding terminal may be protruded from the receptacle to such an extent that electrical connection with the contact of the plug is ensured. In this case, it is sufficient to protrude in the order of 100 to 500 μm, preferably 200 to 300 μm. Therefore, since the electrical connection is secured and maintained, the receptacle and the plug can be made sufficiently thin. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the thickness of the entire vertical fitting connector to about 0.8 mm.

  Further, since the elastic part of the contact of the plug is formed so that at least the width or thickness in the direction perpendicular to the extending direction becomes smaller toward the tip part, the elastic part of the contact is pressed against the protruding terminal. In doing so, the bending stress applied to the elastic part is dispersed throughout the elastic part. Therefore, it is possible to accurately prevent the bending stress from being concentrated near the base of the elastic portion and causing cracks and breaks at the base. In addition, since the elastic part of the contact includes a highly elastic metal layer formed of a metal material having higher elasticity than copper or an alloy containing copper, the elastic part is permanently deformed even if a strong bending stress is applied to the elastic part. Even if permanent deformation occurs, it is possible to cause deformation that is much smaller than when using a metal material such as phosphor bronze as in the prior art.

  Therefore, even when the plug is repeatedly attached to and detached from the receptacle in the vertical fitting type connector portion, the pressing of the elastic portion of the contact to the protruding terminal by the restoring force of the highly elastic metal layer is maintained, and the elastic portion and the protruding shape of the contact are maintained. Physical contact with the terminal is maintained. For this reason, it is possible to accurately prevent a contact failure from occurring.

It is a disassembled perspective view of the vertical fitting type connector which concerns on 1st Embodiment which shows structures, such as a receptacle and a plug. It is sectional drawing of the receptacle in alignment with the XX line of FIG. (A) It is a perspective view which shows the protruding terminal integrally formed with the external terminal, (B) It is a top view which shows the protruding terminal which provided the part which protruded partially in the width direction. FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a state in which the plug in FIG. 1 is turned upside down. It is the enlarged plan view which shows the structure of the contact part of a plug. It is the expanded top view which shows the modification of the contact part of a plug, (A) is a case where an elastic part is formed in a triangle shape, (B) is a case where it forms so that the width | variety of an elastic part may become small curvilinearly Represents. It is the expanded top view which shows the elastic part formed in the width | variety of the contact part of a plug uniformly. It is a figure which shows distribution of the stress added to the elastic part of a contact, (A) represents the case where an elastic part is formed like FIG. 7, (B) represents the case where an elastic part is formed like FIG. . (A) is sectional drawing of a contact, (B) is an enlarged view of sectional drawing of (A). It is a graph showing each stress-strain curve of the metal used for a highly elastic metal layer, and the conventional phosphor bronze. (A) shows a case where the base part of the elastic part is formed so as to be positioned in front of the support body, and (B) shows a case where the base part of the elastic part is formed so as to be sandwiched from above and below by the support body. FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the vertical fitting type connector of the state which attached the plug to the receptacle and covered the shield cover. It is sectional drawing explaining the effect | action of the vertical fitting type connector which concerns on this embodiment, (A) is the state in which the protruding terminal 5 contacted the contact from the lower side, (B) is the protruding terminal inserted in the contact. (C) shows a state where the insertion of the protruding terminal into the contact is completed. (A) It is sectional drawing explaining the condition in the conventional elastic part comprised only by the metal layer in the elastic part of a contact, (B) The state which the clearance gap produced between the protruding terminal and the metal layer of a contact It is sectional drawing showing. It is a graph explaining the deformation | transformation amount which remains in the highly elastic metal layer of this embodiment when a strong bending stress is added, and the deformation | transformation amount which remains in the conventional phosphor bronze. It is a disassembled perspective view of the vertical fitting type connector (optical transmission module) which concerns on 2nd Embodiment which shows structures, such as a receptacle and a plug. It is a perspective view which shows the circuit structure of the circuit board of the plug which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is a side view explaining the structure of a hinge part. It is a disassembled perspective view of the vertical fitting type connector (optical-electrical transmission module) which concerns on 3rd Embodiment which shows structures, such as a receptacle and a plug. It is a perspective view which shows the circuit structure of the circuit board of the plug which concerns on 3rd Embodiment. It is a perspective view which shows the structural example of the piece material for fitting cancellation | release. It is a figure showing the conventional optical transmission module and the waveguide film for optical transmission. (A) is an exploded perspective view of the optical transmission module of FIG. 22, and (B) is a cross-sectional view illustrating a connection state between the connector main body and the lower case in (A).

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of a vertical fitting type connector according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. However, the scope of the invention is not limited to the illustrated examples. Hereinafter, the vertical fitting connector is simply referred to as a connector.

[First Embodiment]
1st Embodiment demonstrates the case where the plug which comprises a connector is formed in the one end side of a film cable.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the connector 1 according to the present embodiment includes a receptacle 2 provided on a substrate (not shown) and a plug 3 connected to the receptacle 2.

  In the present specification, as shown in FIG. 1, the base 2a of the receptacle 2 extends in the horizontal direction, and the protruding end 5a of the protruding terminal 5 is arranged so as to protrude upward. Although it demonstrates using language, such as a horizontal direction, this demonstrates only the relative positional relationship of each member to the last. That is, for example, when the receptacle 2 is mounted so as to face downward and the protruding end 5a of the protruding terminal 5 is disposed so as to protrude downward, the following description is reversed, and for example, the receptacle 2 is mounted horizontally. When the protruding end 5a of the protruding terminal 5 is arranged so as to protrude in the horizontal direction, the following description in the vertical direction means the horizontal direction.

  The receptacle 2 is provided with a protruding terminal 5 that is electrically connected to the external terminal 4. In the present embodiment, the protruding terminal 5 is formed integrally with the external terminal 4, and as shown in the cross-sectional view of FIG. 2, one end side of the external terminal 4 extending in a substantially horizontal direction is bent upward. The protruding terminal 5 is formed in a substantially L shape. Further, as shown in FIG. 3A, the protruding terminals 5 are formed so as to have a uniform lateral width by insert molding including the portion of the external terminals 4. If formed in this way, the protruding terminals 5 can be manufactured at low cost.

  For example, as shown in the plan view of FIG. 3B, when the protruding terminal 5 has a portion B projecting in the width direction, particularly when a high-frequency electric signal is transmitted through the protruding terminal 5 or its surface. For example, as shown by a dotted arrow in the figure, an electrical signal transmitted from the protruding terminal 5 toward the external terminal 4 may be reflected by the protruding portion B, and the transmission efficiency of the electrical signal may decrease. .

  However, by forming the protruding terminals 5 so as to have a uniform lateral width as in the present embodiment, it is possible to prevent such a reduction in the transmission efficiency of electrical signals. Further, since the protruding terminal 5 is not provided with an extra structure like the protruding portion B, it is possible to form the protruding terminal 5 so as to be slim, so that the arrangement interval of the plurality of protruding terminals 5 is reduced. It is possible to reduce the pitch.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of protruding terminals 5 are fixed to the receptacle 2 such that their protruding ends 5a protrude upward from the base 2a of the receptacle 2, The projecting positions of the projecting ends 5 a are arranged in a staggered manner at the base 2 a of the receptacle 2.

  In this embodiment, the plug 3 is fixed to one end side of the film cable 6 and the film cable 6 and electrically connected to the film cable 6 as shown in FIG. 4 showing a state in which the plug 3 in FIG. And a connected circuit board 7. The circuit board 7 of the plug 3 is composed of, for example, a flexible printed circuit (hereinafter abbreviated as FPC). The FPC is usually formed by attaching a copper foil to an insulating layer made of polyimide or the like, and there are various forms in the laminated structure.

  Further, the circuit board 7 of the plug 3 is provided with a contact 8 at each position corresponding to each protruding end 5a of the plurality of protruding terminals 5 provided on the receptacle 2. In the present embodiment, as described above, the protruding ends 5a of the plurality of protruding terminals 5 are arranged in a staggered manner on the base 2a of the receptacle 2, so that the contacts 8 are also arranged in a staggered manner on the circuit board 7. Yes. Each contact 8 is connected to each wiring (not shown) in the film cable 6. The configuration of the contact 8 will be described in detail later.

  As described above, since the circuit board 7 of the plug 3 is made of FPC, as shown in FIG. 1, when the circuit board 7 is attached to the receptacle 2, the circuit board 7 is easily deformed such as torsion. The circuit board 7 may partially float with respect to the receptacle 2. In the floating portion, the protruding end 5a of the protruding terminal 5 may not be accurately inserted into the contact 8, and a good electrical connection may not be obtained.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, in order to further prevent the occurrence of floating with respect to the receptacle 2 due to the deformation of the circuit board 7, an opening is provided in the circuit board 7 at a position corresponding to the contact 8 as shown in FIG. The torsion preventing member 9 is attached. The twist preventing member 9 is formed of a rigid member such as a metal plate.

  Hereinafter, the configuration of the contact 8 will be described. As shown in FIG. 5, the contact 8 is configured to have two tongue-like elastic portions 8 a that face each tip 8 b. And each elastic part 8a is formed so that the width | variety of the direction orthogonal to the extension direction may become so small that it goes to the front-end | tip part 8b. In addition, in each figure after FIG. 5, the figure which looked at the plug 3 from the upper side similarly to FIG. 1 is shown.

  Note that the elastic portion 8a may not be trapezoidal as shown in FIG. 5 as long as the width decreases toward the tip 8b, for example, a triangle as shown in FIG. It can also be formed in a shape, and as shown in FIG. 6B, it is also possible to form the elastic portion 8a so that the width of the elastic portion 8a is curvilinearly reduced. 5 and 6A and 6B show the case where the elastic portion 8a is bilaterally symmetric, but the elastic portion 8a is not symmetric if it is formed so as to become smaller toward the distal end portion 8b. Good.

  The reason why the width of the elastic portion 8a of the contact 8 is formed so as to decrease toward the tip portion 8b is as follows.

  The actual length in the extending direction of the elastic portion 8a according to the present embodiment is as short as several hundred μm. Therefore, for example, when the elastic portion 8a is formed in a substantially rectangular shape as shown in FIG. 7 (that is, when the width of the elastic portion 8a is formed constant), the protruding portion 5 is connected to the elastic portion 8a of the contact 8 as described later. When the protrusion 5a (see FIG. 1) is inserted vertically, a strong bending stress is applied to the elastic portion 8a, as shown in FIG. 8A with shading. In addition, the bending stress may concentrate near the base of the elastic portion 8a, and the elastic portion 8a may be cracked or broken by the bending stress.

  However, if the elastic portion 8a is formed so as to become smaller toward the distal end portion 8b as in the elastic portion 8a of the present embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the elastic portion 8a can be easily bent, and the shading shown in FIG. As shown, the bending stress at the time of inserting the protruding end portion 5a of the protruding terminal 5 can be dispersed throughout the elastic portion 8a. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the bending stress from being concentrated near the base of the elastic portion 8a, and it is possible to accurately prevent the elastic portion 8a from being cracked or broken by the bending stress.

  Alternatively, instead of reducing the width of the elastic portion 8a toward the tip portion 8b, or by reducing the width and reducing the thickness of the elastic portion 8a toward the tip portion 8b, As described above, the elastic portion 8a is easily bent, and the bending stress is dispersed throughout the elastic portion 8a, so that it is possible to accurately prevent the elastic portion 8a from being cracked or broken by the bending stress.

  Therefore, the elastic portion 8a is shown in FIG. 7 as well as the elastic portion 8a formed so that the width becomes smaller toward the tip portion 8b shown in FIG. 5 and FIGS. 6 (A) and 6 (B). Thus, even when formed in a substantially rectangular shape or the like, the above effect can be obtained by configuring the thickness so as to decrease toward the tip end portion 8b. In this case as well, it is sufficient that the thickness of the elastic portion 8a is reduced toward the tip 8b, and the shape does not necessarily have to be vertically symmetrical.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in the sectional view of FIG. 9A, the contact 8 has an elastic portion 8a of the contact 8 having a layer structure sandwiched between upper and lower supports 8c, 8c made of resist or the like, The part 8b side is formed so as to protrude from the support 8c.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9B, the layer structure forming the elastic portion 8a of the contact 8 is at least a metal layer for electrical connection provided on the side facing the protruding terminal 5. 8d, an insulating layer 8e provided thereabove, and a metal layer (hereinafter referred to as a highly elastic metal layer) 8f formed of a highly elastic metal material provided thereabove. Has been.

  In this embodiment, the metal layer 8d of the elastic portion 8 of the contact 8 is formed by laminating a nickel (Ni) layer 8d2 or a gold (Au) layer 8d3 on the lower surface side of the copper foil 8d1 constituting the FPC by electrolytic plating. The metal layer 8d is connected to each wiring in the film cable 6 respectively.

  When nickel or gold is laminated on the copper foil 8d1, the protruding portion 5a of the projecting terminal 5 is inserted into the elastic portion 8a and the elastic portion 8a is deformed, as will be described later. However, there is an advantage that such a problem can be prevented by laminating by electrolytic plating.

  Further, an insulating layer made of FPC polyimide or the like constituting the circuit board 7 is used for the insulating layer 8e. In this embodiment, the case where nickel or gold is laminated on the lower surface side of the copper foil constituting the FPC has been described. However, the entire metal layer 8d of the elastic portion 8a is newly added by a method such as plating on the insulating layer 8e. It is also possible to form.

  For the highly elastic metal layer 8f, a metal material having elasticity higher than that of copper (so-called pure copper) or an alloy containing copper such as phosphor bronze, titanium copper, or beryllium copper is generally used for the contact of the connector. In the present embodiment, pure metal such as pure Ni, Ni-based alloy, Fe-Ni-based alloy, Ni-Mn-based alloy, Ni-Co-based alloy, and stainless steel are used as the metal material constituting the highly elastic metal layer 8f. A metal material having a higher yield stress than an alloy containing copper is used.

  It is also possible to form the highly elastic metal layer 8f by combining pure Ni, Ni-based alloy, Fe-Ni-based alloy, Ni-Mn-based alloy, Ni-Co-based alloy, stainless steel, or the like. As shown in the stress-strain curve (SS curve) shown in FIG. 10, the high elastic metal layer 8f using such a metal material has a yield stress that is twice or more higher than that of ordinary phosphor bronze, Moreover, the yield stress is higher than that of beryllium copper or the like with improved elasticity. In FIG. 10, σ represents stress [MPa] and ε represents elongation [%].

  Note that the elastic portion 8a of the contact 8 does not need to be configured to include the metal layer 8d, the insulating layer 8e, and the highly elastic metal layer 8f as shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B. The metal layer 8d and the highly elastic metal layer 8f may be directly bonded to each other without providing the insulating layer 8e, and the copper foil 8d1 portion of the metal layer 8d has the same high elasticity as that of the highly elastic metal layer 8f. It is also possible to constitute the metal material.

  As described above, the number of the metal layers 8d, the insulating layers 8e, and the high elastic metal layers 8f is appropriately increased and decreased to form the elastic portion 8a of the contact 8, but at least one high elastic metal layer 8f is always provided. It is done.

  In addition, when the two tongue-like elastic portions 8a are formed on the contact 8 as described above, as shown in FIG. 11A, the member formed by laminating the highly elastic metal member 8f or the like is used. In this way, two tongue-shaped elastic portions 8a are formed by irradiating a laser beam having a diameter of several tens of μm and making a substantially H-shaped hole. Note that a substantially H-shaped hole may be formed by etching or pressing.

  At this time, as shown in FIG. 11A, the root portions 8g of the two tongue-like elastic portions 8a of the contact 8 are not sandwiched from above and below by the support 8c and are positioned in front of the support 8c. Once formed, bending stress concentrates on the root portion 8g of the elastic portion 8a when the protruding end portion 5a (see FIG. 1) of the protruding terminal 5 is inserted into the contact 8, as will be described later. In some cases, the base portion 8g may crack or break the metal layer 8d or the like.

  According to the study by the present inventors, as shown in FIG. 11 (B), a substantially H-shaped hole for forming the elastic portion 8a of the contact 8 is enlarged in the extending direction of the elastic portion 8a. Then, the base portion 8g of the elastic portion 8a is sandwiched from above and below by a support body 8c made of resist or the like, and the tip portion 8b side is formed so as to protrude from the support body 8c, that is, the elastic portion 8a is thus called a fishing rod. It has been found that concentration of bending stress on the root portion 8g of the elastic portion 8a can be avoided by forming the shape into a shape. And by forming in this way, it becomes possible to prevent reliably generation | occurrence | production of the crack and fracture | rupture in the metal layer 8d etc. of the base part 8g of the elastic part 8a.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 9A, in this embodiment, the two elastic portions 8a of the contact 8 are formed in such a manner that the tip end portion 8b side is previously curved in the insertion direction of the protruding terminals 5, that is, upward. ing. At that time, the distance between the tip portions 8b of the two elastic portions 8a is formed to be narrower than the width of the protruding end portion 5a of the protruding terminal 5.

  In this way, the protrusion 8 inserted into the contact 8 when the plug 3 is attached to the receptacle 2 by bending the tip 8b side of each elastic portion 8a of the contact 8 in the insertion direction of the protruding terminal 5 in advance. The bending stress due to the protruding end portion 5a of the terminal 5 is dispersed throughout the elastic portion 8a formed to be curved. Therefore, it is possible to avoid bending stress from concentrating on the base portion 8g of the elastic portion 8a, and it is possible to reliably prevent the occurrence of cracks and breaks in the base portion 8g of the elastic portion 8a as described above. It becomes.

  Further, when the plug 3 is attached to the receptacle 2, the protruding end 5 a of the protruding terminal 5 is fitted into the curved portion of the elastic portion 8 a of the contact 8, so that the protruding terminal 5 can be easily positioned with respect to the contact 8. Is also possible.

  As shown in FIG. 1, in this embodiment, there is provided an erroneous insertion prevention mechanism for preventing erroneous insertion such as reverse mounting of the plug 3 when the circuit board 7 of the plug 3 is attached to the receptacle 2. Yes.

  Specifically, at the left and right edges of the circuit board 7 of the plug 3 and the twist preventing member 9 attached thereto in the extending direction of the film cable 6, the receptacle 2 formed in a substantially rectangular shape in plan view. The plug 3 is positioned with respect to the receptacle 2 by engaging with engaging projections 11 and 11 provided inwardly on the short side wall portions 10 and 10, respectively, and the plug 3 extends from the receptacle 2 to the film cable 6. Engagement recesses 12 and 12 are provided to prevent them from coming off in the direction.

  However, with this alone, for example, even when the front and back of the plug 3 are attached in reverse, the engaging convex portions 11 and 11 on the receptacle 2 side and the engaging concave portions 12 and 12 on the plug 3 side are engaged. May not be aware of incorrect insertion.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, on the plug 3 side, the circuit board 7 and the twist preventing member 9 attached thereto are separated from the engaging recess 12 on either the left or right edge in the extending direction of the film cable 6. A concave portion 13 is provided, and on the receptacle 2 side, when the plug 3 is correctly attached to the receptacle 2, a convex portion 14 is formed inwardly on the short side wall portion 10 of the receptacle 2 on the side where the concave portion 13 on the plug 3 side is located. An erroneous insertion prevention mechanism is formed.

  Thus, when the convex part 14 and the concave part 13 are provided on either the left or right side of the extending direction of the film cable 6 on the receptacle 2 side and the plug 3 side, for example, when the front and back of the plug 3 are attached reversely Since the end 15 (see FIG. 1) on the side where the recess 13 of the plug 3 is not provided collides with the projection 14 of the receptacle 2 and the insertion of the plug 3 is obstructed, the installer notices that the plug 3 is erroneously inserted. Can be correctly inserted into the receptacle 2.

  The receptacle 2 is provided with a shield case 16 made of a metal material at least outside the short side wall portions 10 and 10. The shield case 16 is for shielding the interference wave reaching from the outside to the protruding terminal 5 provided on the receptacle 2 or the contact 8 of the plug 3 connected thereto, and the interference wave is shielded through the shield case 16. Normal electrical signal transmission is maintained. In order to achieve this object, the shield case 16 can also be configured to cover the side and bottom surfaces of the long side where the external terminals 4 of the receptacle 2 are provided.

  Further, a shield cover 17 made of a metal material is attached to the receptacle 2 for the same purpose.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the shield cover 17 has side walls 18 formed by hanging at least the left and right edges in the extending direction of the film cable 6 downward. A stop hole 19 is provided. Further, each shield case 16 on the receptacle 2 side is provided with a locking projection 20 formed so as to protrude outward.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 12, when the shield cover 17 is put on the receptacle 2 to which the plug 3 is attached, the locking projection 20 of the shield case 16 on the receptacle 2 side enters the locking hole 19 of the shield cover 17. By being locked, the shield cover 17 is locked to the shield case 16, and a locking mechanism is formed by the locking hole 19 and the locking projection 20.

  In this way, the shield cover 17 is locked to the shield case 16 and securely locked to the receptacle 2, so that the protruding terminals 5 provided on the receptacle 2, the contacts 8 of the plug 3 (see FIG. 1 etc.), etc. Interference waves arriving from the outside are shielded so that the transmission of electric signals through them is maintained normally, and the protruding terminals 5 are inserted into the respective contacts 8 of the plug 3, the circuit board 7 of the plug 3 and the twist. In combination with the engagement between the engagement convex portion 11 of the prevention member 9 and the engagement concave portion 12 of the receptacle 2, the plug 3 is reliably prevented from coming out of the receptacle 2 in the extending direction of the film cable 6.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 1, when the shield cover 17 is attached to the receptacle 2, the projecting terminal 5 provided on the receptacle 2 is elastically pressed from above when the shield cover 17 is attached to the receptacle 2. Are securely inserted into the respective contacts 8 of the plug 3, and elastic holding portions 21, 21 are provided to make the electrical connection between the protruding terminals 5 and the contacts 8 more reliable.

  In the present embodiment, the elastic holding portions 21 and 21 are punched in a U shape at the symmetrical positions in the extending direction of the film cable 6 on the upper surface 22 of the shield cover 17 to form two pieces. These are formed by being slightly bent downward. The elastic holding portions 21 and 21 are in contact with the beam-like portions 23 of the torsion preventing member 9 provided between the rows of the contact points 8 formed in two rows on the circuit board 7 in a staggered manner. The contacts 8 in the front and rear rows in the extending direction of the film cable 6 on the circuit board 7 are pressed via the twist preventing member 9.

  As described above, it is preferable that the elastic holding portion 21 is configured to press each contact 8 of the plug 3 at a position symmetrical with respect to the extending direction of the film cable 6 or a position symmetrical with respect to the front and rear. With this configuration, each contact 8 of the plug 3 is evenly pressed by the elastic holding portion 21 so that each protruding terminal 5 is securely inserted into all the contacts 8 and is securely electrically connected. The

  Further, even when vibration or impact is applied when the connector 1 is built in a mobile terminal or the like, if the plug 3 is pressed to the receptacle 2 side by the elastic holding portion 21, the plug 3 is connected to the receptacle 2 or shield. Shaking inside the cover 17 and the like is prevented. In addition, the elastic holding | maintenance part 21 should just function as mentioned above, and the number of the elastic holding | maintenance parts 21 formed is not limited to two.

  Next, the operation of the connector 1 according to this embodiment will be described.

  When the plug 3 is attached to the receptacle 2, as shown in FIG. 13A, first, the metal layer 8d of each contact 8 of the circuit board 7 of the plug 3 is provided on the receptacle 2 so as to face upward from the base 2a of the receptacle 2. The protruding end 5a of the protruding protruding terminal 5 contacts from below. In FIGS. 13A to 13C, illustration of the insulating layer 8e, the Ni layer 8d2, the Au layer 8d3, etc. at the contact 8 is omitted.

  When the plug 3 is further pushed downward, the protruding end 5a of the protruding terminal 5 is inserted vertically into the gap portion of each elastic portion 8a of the contact 8 as shown in FIG. The metal layer 8d, the highly elastic metal layer 8f, and the like of the portion 8a bend in the insertion direction of the protruding terminal 5, that is, upward. Then, the protruding terminal 5 enters between the two elastic portions 8a while bending each elastic portion 8a.

  At this time, since the high elastic metal layer 8f of the elastic portion 8a of the contact 8 is made of a metal material having high elasticity as described above, the high elastic metal layer 8f is elastically bent. That is, if the protruding terminal 5 is extracted, the highly elastic metal layer 8f tends to return to the state in which the tip end portion 8b is curved upward as shown in FIG. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 13B, the deflected highly elastic metal layer 8f exerts a force to press against the side surface of the protruding terminal 5 from the side by its restoring force.

  Therefore, the metal layer 8d of the elastic portion 8a is pressed against the side surface of the protruding terminal 5, and the protruding terminal 5 is pushed into the contact 8 of the plug 3 and moves upward relative to the elastic portion 8a. Meanwhile, the side surface of the protruding terminal 5 is rubbed by the metal layer 8d of the elastic portion 8a.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 13C, when the protruding terminal 5 is further pushed into the contact 8 of the plug 3, the side surface of the protruding terminal 5 is rubbed by the metal layer 8d of the elastic portion 8a of the contact 8. Deposits and the like are scraped off and removed from the side surface of the terminal 5. Therefore, there is no inclusion between at least the protruding terminal 5 and the metal layer 8d of the elastic portion 8a of the contact 8, and the protruding terminal 5 and the contact 8 are in reliable contact via the metal layer 8d. It becomes. Hereinafter, the effect of removing deposits and the like on the surface of the protruding terminal 5 by the metal layer 8d rubbing the protruding terminal 5 by the restoring force of the highly elastic metal layer 8f of the elastic portion 8a is referred to as a cleaning effect.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 13C, since the restoring force of the highly elastic metal layer 8f is maintained even after the protruding terminal 5 is completely inserted into the contact 8 of the plug 3, the metal layer 8d has a protruding shape. The state pressed against the side surface of the terminal 5 is maintained, and the contact state between the protruding terminal 5 and the contact 8 via the metal layer 8d is maintained.

  As described above, in the present invention, by simply inserting the protruding end 5a of the protruding terminal 5 provided in the receptacle 2 into the contact 8, the restoring force due to the elastic deformation of the elastic portion 8a of the contact 8 works, Thus, the protruding terminal 5 and the contact 8 are electrically and reliably connected to each other, and the metal layer 8d of the contact 8 has a protruding shape by the restoring force of the high elastic metal layer 8f. The electrical connection state is reliably maintained by being pressed against the terminal 5.

  In the conventional elastic portion 8a having only the metal portion 8d formed of phosphor bronze or the like and not provided with the high elastic metal layer 8f as in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. In the state where the protruding terminal 5 is inserted, for example, when the entire connector vibrates and the protruding terminal 5 relatively moves in the left-right direction in the contact 8 of the plug 3, a metal layer 8d formed of phosphor bronze or the like. Since the restoring force is small, it is difficult to maintain contact, and a conduction failure may occur.

  Therefore, when the plug 3 is repeatedly attached to and detached from the receptacle 2 and the projecting terminal 5 is reinserted into the contact 8, the projecting terminal 5 and the metal layer 8d of the contact 8 are contacted as shown in FIG. A gap is generated between them, and the electrical connection between the contact 8 of the plug 3 and the protruding terminal 5 is lost. As described above, in the conventional elastic portion 8a, when the plug 3 is repeatedly attached and detached, the electrical connection between the contact 8 of the plug 3 and the protruding terminal 5 is lost due to the large permanent deformation of the elastic portion 8a of the contact 8. Can occur.

  On the other hand, in the contact 8 of this embodiment, the highly elastic metal layer 8f is provided in the elastic part 8a. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 13C, with the protruding terminal 5 inserted into the elastic portion 8a, for example, the entire connector vibrates and the protruding terminal 5 moves in the horizontal direction in the contact 8 of the plug 3. Even if it moves relatively, the highly elastic metal layer 8f is made of a metal material having high elasticity and high yield stress. Therefore, the elastic portion 8a is not deformed, and the contact 8 and the protruding terminal of the plug 3 are not deformed. It becomes possible to maintain the electrical connection with 5 accurately.

  Further, even when a bending stress strong enough to exceed the yield stress of the highly elastic metal layer 8f is applied to the elastic part 8a of the contact 8, as shown in FIG. 15, for example, a conventional metal part 8d formed of phosphor bronze is provided. The deformation amount ε1 remaining in the elastic portion 8a including the highly elastic metal layer 8f as in the present embodiment is significantly smaller than the deformation amount ε2 remaining when the elastic portion 8a is deformed by the same amount.

  Therefore, even if the restoring force of the highly elastic metal layer 8f is somewhat weakened, when the plug 3 is repeatedly attached to and detached from the receptacle 2 and the projecting terminal 5 is reinserted into the contact 8, it is shown in FIG. As described above, since the state in which the metal layer 8d of the contact 8 is pressed against the side surface of the protruding terminal 5 is maintained by the restoring force of the highly elastic metal layer 8f, the protruding terminal 5 and the contact 8 through the metal layer 8d The contact state is maintained well.

  As described above, according to the connector (vertical fitting type connector) 1 according to the present embodiment, the elastic portion 8a of the contact 8 is made of a metal material having higher elasticity than copper or an alloy containing copper. Since the elastic metal layer 8f is included, when the protruding terminal 5 provided on the receptacle 2 is inserted into the contact 8 of the plug 3, the elastic layer 8a is elastically deformed, and the metal layer of the elastic portion 8a is restored by the restoring force generated. 8d is brought into pressure contact with the protruding terminal 5, and the contact 8 and the protruding terminal 5 are automatically and reliably electrically connected.

  As described above, in the connector 1 according to this embodiment, since the electrical connection can be reliably obtained simply by inserting the protruding terminal 5 into the contact 8 of the plug 3, each contact 8 or each protrusion of the plug 3 can be obtained. The terminal 5 can be compactly formed on the order of 100 to 500 μm, preferably 200 to 300 μm, so that it is possible to obtain and maintain an electrical connection sufficiently and reliably, and the overall size of the connector 1 can be reduced. It becomes possible.

  The protruding terminal 5 may be protruded from the receptacle 2 to such an extent that electrical connection with the contact 8 of the plug 3 is ensured. In this case, the protruding terminal 5 protrudes in the order of 100 to 500 μm, preferably 200 to 300 μm. By doing so, a sufficient electrical connection is secured and maintained. Therefore, the thickness of the receptacle 2 and the plug 3 in the vertical direction can be made sufficiently thin, and the overall thickness of the connector 1 including the shield cover 17 can be reduced to about 0.8 mm. It becomes.

  Furthermore, in the connector 1 according to this embodiment, the elastic portion 8a of the contact 8 of the plug 3 is formed so that at least the width or thickness in the direction orthogonal to the extending direction decreases toward the distal end portion 8b. Therefore, when the elastic portion 8a of the contact 8 is pressed against the protruding terminal 5, the bending stress applied to the elastic portion 8a is dispersed throughout the elastic portion 8a. Therefore, it is possible to accurately prevent bending stress from being concentrated and applied near the base of the elastic portion 8a and causing cracks and breaks at the base.

  In addition, since the elastic portion 8a of the contact 8 includes a highly elastic metal layer 8f formed of a metal material having higher elasticity than copper or an alloy containing copper, the elastic portion 8a is elastic even when a strong bending stress is applied to the elastic portion 8a. Even if permanent deformation does not occur in the portion 8a, or even if permanent deformation occurs, the deformation is much smaller than when a metal material such as conventional phosphor bronze is used as shown in FIG. It becomes possible to.

  Therefore, according to the connector 1 according to the present embodiment, even when the plug 3 is repeatedly attached to and detached from the receptacle 2 at the connector portion, the protruding terminal 5 of the elastic portion 8a of the contact 8 due to the restoring force of the highly elastic metal layer 8f. Is maintained, and physical contact between the elastic portion 8a of the contact 8 and the protruding terminal 5 is maintained. For this reason, it is possible to accurately prevent a contact failure from occurring.

  In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6A, 6B, etc., the tip portions 8b of the two tongue-shaped elastic portions 8a constituting one contact 8 are substantially the same. Although the case where they are formed in parallel has been described, it is also possible to form the tip 8b so as to have irregularities, for example, by projecting a plurality of locations of the tip 8b of the elastic 8a toward the other elastic 8a. It is.

[Second Embodiment]
In the second embodiment, the plug constituting the connector (vertical fitting type connector) is formed on one end side of the waveguide film for optical transmission, and is a plug that mutually converts electrical signals and optical signals and transmits / receives them. A case will be described. Thus, in this embodiment, an optical transmission module is formed by a connector. Therefore, hereinafter, the connector 30 can be read as the optical transmission module 30.

  As shown in FIG. 16, the connector 30 according to the present embodiment includes a receptacle 31 provided on a substrate (not shown) and a plug 32 connected to the receptacle 31.

  The receptacle 31 is provided with a protruding terminal 34 that is electrically connected to the external terminal 33. In the present embodiment, the protruding terminal 34 is also formed in a substantially L shape integrally with the external terminal 33 in the same manner as the protruding terminal 5 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3A of the first embodiment. The width is uniform by insert molding. For this reason, it is possible to prevent the transmission efficiency of the electrical signal transmitted through the inside of the protruding terminal 34 or the surface thereof from being lowered, and the protruding terminal 34 can be slimmed to reduce the pitch. .

  Further, the protruding terminal 34 is fixed to the receptacle 31 so that the protruding end 34 a protrudes upward from the base 31 a of the receptacle 31. In the present embodiment, the protruding positions of the protruding end portions 34 a of the plurality of protruding terminals 34 are arranged so as to be near the inner peripheral edge of the base portion 31 a of the receptacle 31.

  In this embodiment, the plug 32 includes a light transmission waveguide film 35, a circuit board 36, and the like. Further, the circuit board 36 is provided with a protective cover 37 made of a metal material that functions as a shield cover for shielding interference waves that reach from the outside so as to cover each electronic component of the circuit board 36 to be described later. .

  In the present embodiment, the protective cover 37 is connected to the ground wiring of the circuit board 36 and also serves as the ground of the circuit board 36, and an erroneous insertion prevention mechanism for preventing the erroneous insertion of the plug 32 into the receptacle 31. It is functioning as well. Further, the protective cover 37 is pressed from above by elastic holding portions 53, 53 provided on the shield cover 45 as will be described later, thereby pressing the circuit board 36 toward the receptacle 31 and causing the circuit board 36 to float. The projection terminal 34 provided on the receptacle 31 is also securely inserted into each contact point 38 of the circuit board 36.

  FIG. 17 is a perspective view showing a circuit configuration of a circuit board of the plug. FIG. 17 shows the plug 32 with the protective cover 37 removed.

  The circuit board 36 of the plug 32 is made of, for example, FPC. The circuit board 36 of the plug 32 is provided with a contact 38 at each position corresponding to each protruding end 34 a of the plurality of protruding terminals 34 provided on the receptacle 31. Also in the present embodiment, the configuration and modification of the contact 38, their functions, and the like are exactly the same as the configuration, modification, function, and the like of the contact 8 in the first embodiment described above, and a description thereof will be omitted.

  Similarly to the first embodiment described above, in this embodiment as well, a twist preventing member for preventing the deformation of the circuit board 36 such as torsion may be attached to the contact 38 portion of the plug 32. Although it is possible, in the present embodiment, the circuit board 36 itself is formed to have a large thickness to prevent the circuit board 36 from being deformed such as torsion, and to prevent the circuit board 36 from floating with respect to the receptacle 31. It is configured as follows.

  For this reason, the thickness of the elastic portion 38 a of the contact 38 is considerably thinner than the thickness of other portions of the circuit board 36. However, in order to obtain an appropriate restoring force, the elastic portion 38a of the contact 38 is provided with a high elastic metal layer (not shown) (see the high elastic metal layer 8f in the first embodiment). As described in the embodiment.

  Also in this embodiment, each elastic portion 38a of the contact point 38 is formed such that its width and thickness become smaller toward the tip portion. Further, it is preferable that the elastic portion 38a is formed in advance by being curved in the insertion direction of each protruding end portion 34a of the protruding terminal 34, and further, as in the case of the first embodiment shown in FIG. It is preferable that the base portion of the elastic portion 38a is sandwiched by the support, and the tip end side of the elastic portion 38a protrudes from the support.

  In the present embodiment, the circuit board 36 of the plug 32 converts an optical signal transmitted through the optical transmission waveguide film 35 into an electric signal in addition to the respective contacts 38, and connects the protruding terminals 34 and the contacts 38. An electronic component 39 having a function of converting an electrical signal transmitted through the optical signal into an optical signal, a wiring 40 that electrically connects each electronic component 39 and the contact point 38, and the optical signal and the electrical signal. The optical signal transmitted through the optical transmission waveguide film 35 is converted into an electrical signal, and the electrical signal output from the electronic component 39 is converted into an optical signal to be converted into the optical transmission waveguide film 35. An optical signal transmission / reception unit 41 for output is provided.

  Further, the circuit board 36 is provided with an extending portion 36a that extends to the optical transmission waveguide film 35 side. In addition, a spacer 42 is provided between the optical transmission waveguide film 35 having one end attached to the upper end of the optical signal transmission / reception unit 41 and the extending portion 36 a of the circuit board 36. An optical transmission waveguide film 35 is fixed to the extending portion 36 a of the circuit board 36.

  Thus, in this embodiment, the extension part 36a is provided in the circuit board 36, and the optical transmission waveguide film 35 is fixed to the extension part 36a via the spacer 42, whereby the optical transmission waveguide film 35 is provided. When the external force is applied to the optical transmission waveguide film 35, the optical transmission waveguide film 35 can be sealed relative to the circuit board 36 at least in the vicinity of the circuit board 36. It is possible to accurately prevent the end portion of 35 from being detached from the optical signal transmission / reception unit 41 and being unable to transmit / receive optical signals.

  As shown in FIG. 16, also in this embodiment, a shield case 43 made of a metal material for shielding disturbance waves reaching from the outside covers the outer wall surface of the side wall 44 of the receptacle 31 in the receptacle 31. Is provided. The receptacle 31 is attached with a shield cover 45 made of a metal material for shielding disturbance waves that reach from the outside.

  The shield cover 45 has at least left and right edges in the extending direction of the optical transmission waveguide film 35 suspended downward to form side walls 46. The side walls 46 are respectively provided with locking holes 47. Is provided. Each shield case 43 on the receptacle 31 side is provided with a locking projection 48 formed so as to protrude outward, and when the shield cover 45 is put on the receptacle 31 to which the plug 32 is attached. A locking mechanism for locking the shield cover 45 to the shield case 43 is formed by engaging the locking projection 48 of the shield case 43 on the receptacle 31 side with the locking hole 47 of the shield cover 45.

  Further, in the present embodiment, as shown in the side view of FIG. 18, the shield cover 45 has its side wall portions 46 end portions on the shield case 43 side bent inwardly in a claw-like manner, and the locking portions 49. In the shield case 43, holes 51 are formed in the side wall portions 50 on the side corresponding to the side wall portions 46 of the shield cover 45, respectively.

  The hinge portions 52 are configured by engaging the claw-shaped engaging portions 49 of the shield cover 45 with the holes 51 of the side wall portions 50 of the shield case 43. The shield cover 45 can be opened and closed with respect to the shield case 43 via the hinge portion 52.

  In this way, by engaging the claw-like engaging portion 49 of the shield cover 45 with the hole 51 of the shield case 43 to form the hinge portion 52, for example, as shown in FIG. The number of parts can be reduced as compared with the case where a separate pin 300 is provided to connect the 110 shield case 301 and the shield cover 302 in an openable and closable manner.

  At the same time, even if the shield case 43 and the shield cover 45 are reduced in size and reduced in height, the shield case 43 and the shield cover 45 are easily and surely secured to the shield case 43 by the hinge portion 52 by adsorbing the shield case 43 and the shield cover 45 with a mounter. The shield cover 45 can be attached so as to be freely opened and closed, and the connector 30 (light transmission module 30) can be reduced in size and height.

  In the first embodiment, the shield cover 17 can be attached to the shield case 16 so as to be freely opened and closed via a hinge portion.

  As shown in FIG. 16, also in this embodiment, when the shield cover 45 is closed with respect to the shield case 43 and the plug 32 is attached to the receptacle 31, the protective cover 37 of the plug 32 is moved upward. Then, each protruding terminal 34 provided on the receptacle 31 is securely inserted into each contact 38 of the circuit board 36 of the plug 32, and the electrical connection between the protruding terminal 34 and the contact 38 is established. Elastic holding portions 53 and 53 are provided to make it more reliable.

  The elastic holding portions 53 and 53 are formed of two pieces formed by punching the upper surface 54 of the shield cover 45 in a U shape, and are formed by slightly bending downward. Further, in the present embodiment, the elastic holding portions 53, 53 are arranged in the left-right direction in the extending direction of the optical transmission waveguide film 35 on the upper surface 37a of the protective cover 37 of the plug 32 when the shield cover 45 is closed. The symmetrical position of the upper surface 37a of the protective cover 37 is pressed around the center point O in the front-rear direction.

  As described above, the elastic holding portions 53 and 53 are configured to press the symmetrical positions with respect to the center point O of the upper surface 37a of the protective cover 37, so that each contact point 38 of the plug 32 is connected to the elastic holding portion 53, The projection terminals 34 are reliably inserted into all the contacts 38 by being pressed evenly by 53, and are reliably electrically connected.

  Further, when the shield cover 45 is closed and locked to the shield case 43, and the plug 32 is pressed from above by the elastic holding portions 53 and 53, and each protruding terminal 34 is inserted into each contact 38, the plug 3 The front end surface 36b of the circuit board 36 in the extending direction of the optical transmission waveguide film 35 and the side wall 55 of the receptacle 31 in the extending direction of the optical transmission waveguide film 35 are engaged with each other. . Together, these prevent the plug 32 from coming out of the receptacle 31 in the extending direction of the optical transmission waveguide film 35 with certainty.

  Furthermore, in this embodiment, as described above, the protective cover 37 of the plug 32 also serves as the ground of the circuit board 36. When the elastic holding portions 53 and 53 come into contact with the protective cover 37, the shield case 43 is also electrically connected to the protective cover 37 of the plug 32 via the shield cover 45 and the hinge portion 52. Therefore, the shield cover 45 and the shield case 43 also serve as the ground of the circuit board 36 of the plug 32, and the grounding efficiency of the circuit board 36 of the plug 32 is remarkably improved.

  In the present embodiment, in addition, in order to ensure electrical connection between the shield cover 45 and the shield case 43, a part of the inner surface side of each side wall portion 46 of the shield cover 45 is directed inward. Projecting portions 56 for grounding are provided so as to protrude. When the shield cover 45 is closed with respect to the shield case 43, each ground projection 56 abuts against each side wall 50 of the shield case 43 to increase the electrical connection efficiency between the shield cover 45 and the shield case 43. As a result, the grounding efficiency of the circuit board 36 of the plug 32 is further improved.

  Regarding the operation and effect of the above-described configuration of the contact point 38 of the plug 32 in the connector 30 (optical transmission module 30) according to the present embodiment (or the same modification as the modification in the first embodiment), the case of the first embodiment. Is exactly the same.

  Therefore, also in the connector 30 (optical transmission module 30) according to the present embodiment, when the protruding terminal 34 provided in the receptacle 31 is inserted into the contact 38 of the plug 32, the elastic portion of the contact 38 including the highly elastic metal layer. A metal layer (not shown) of the elastic portion 38a is pressed against the protruding terminal 34 by a restoring force generated by elastic deformation of the 38a, and the contact 38 and the protruding terminal 34 are automatically and reliably electrically connected. Is done.

  And since the electrical connection can be reliably obtained by simply inserting the protruding terminal 34 into the contact point 38 of the plug 32 in this way, each contact point 38 and each protruding terminal 34 of the plug 32 is 100 to 500 μm, Desirably, it is compactly formed on the order of 200 to 300 μm, and it is possible to obtain and maintain an electrical connection sufficiently and reliably, and it is possible to reduce the size of the entire connector 30 (optical transmission module 30). Become.

  The protruding terminal 34 may be protruded from the receptacle 31 to such an extent that electrical connection with the contact 38 of the plug 32 is ensured. In this case, the protruding terminal 34 protrudes in the order of 100 to 500 μm, preferably 200 to 300 μm. By doing so, a sufficient electrical connection is secured and maintained. Therefore, the thickness of the receptacle 31 and the plug 32 in the vertical direction can be sufficiently reduced.

  In this way, in the connector 30 (optical transmission module 30) according to the present embodiment, the entire connector 30 (optical transmission module 30) depends on the number of protruding terminals 34 (external terminals 33) provided in the receptacle 31. The length of the optical transmission waveguide film 35 in the extending direction in the left-right direction and the front-rear direction can be formed on the order of several mm, and the size can be reduced. Moreover, even if the shield cover 45 is included, the thickness can be reduced to about 0.8 mm.

[Third Embodiment]
In the third embodiment, a plug constituting a connector (vertical fitting type connector) is formed on one end side of a waveguide film for optical transmission, and is a plug that mutually converts electrical signals and optical signals and transmits / receives them. Further, a case where an FPC for electric signal transmission is provided will be described. Thus, in this embodiment, it is possible to transmit not only an optical signal but also an electrical signal by the connector, and an optical-electrical transmission module is formed. Therefore, hereinafter, the connector 60 can be read as the optical-electrical transmission module 60.

  The connector 60 (optical-electric transmission module 60) according to the present embodiment has substantially the same configuration as the connector 30 (optical transmission module 30) according to the second embodiment, and the operational effects thereof are also the same. Hereinafter, only the parts different from the connector 30 (light transmission module 30) according to the second embodiment will be described. Further, the members constituting the connector 60 (optical-electrical transmission module 60) according to the present embodiment and having the same functions as those in the connector 30 (optical transmission module 30) according to the second embodiment will be described in detail. The same reference numerals as those in the second embodiment are used for explanation.

  As shown in FIG. 19, the connector 60 according to the present embodiment includes a receptacle 31 provided on a substrate (not shown) and a plug 32 connected to the receptacle 31. In the present embodiment, the extending portion 36 a of the circuit board 36 that supports the optical transmission waveguide film 35 connected to the plug 32 via the spacer 42 is further extended in parallel with the optical transmission waveguide film 35. The second embodiment is different from the second embodiment in that a flexible printed circuit board (FPC) 61 for electric signal transmission is formed.

  As shown in FIG. 20, the internal configuration of the plug 32 is the same as that of the second embodiment (see FIG. 17), and the circuit board 36 of the plug 32 has contacts 38, electronic components 39, and electronic components. A wiring 40 for electrically connecting the component 39 and the contact 38 and an optical signal transmission / reception unit 41 are provided. Also in this embodiment, each elastic portion 38a of the contact point 38 is formed such that its width and thickness become smaller toward the tip portion. Further, it is preferable that the elastic portion 38a is formed in advance by being curved in the insertion direction of each protruding end portion 34a of the protruding terminal 34, and further, as in the case of the first embodiment shown in FIG. It is preferable that the base portion of the elastic portion 38a is sandwiched by the support, and the tip end side of the elastic portion 38a protrudes from the support.

  Further, the FPC 61 for electric signal transmission is provided with a plurality of wirings (not shown), and is directly connected to the wirings (not shown) of the circuit board 36 of the plug 32 or connected via the electronic components 39. An electric signal transmitted / received through the FPC 61 for electric signal transmission is transmitted to the contact 38 directly or via the electronic component 39 to be transmitted / received to / from the protruding terminal 34.

  Further, as described above, the FPC that constitutes the circuit board 36 of the plug 32 is formed thick in order to prevent deformation such as torsion of the circuit board 36 itself. Since it is required to be deformed flexibly in the same manner as the transmission waveguide film 35, it is formed thinner than the circuit board 36.

  As described above, according to the connector 30 (light transmission module 30) according to the second embodiment and the connector 60 (light-electric transmission module 60) according to the third embodiment, the configuration of the contact 38 portion is as follows. Since the configuration is the same as that of the contact 8 in the first embodiment, the effective effect of the connector 1 according to the first embodiment is also exhibited in the second embodiment and the third embodiment in exactly the same manner. Thus, it is possible to reduce the size and height of the optical transmission module 30 and the optical-electrical transmission module 60. Moreover, it is possible to accurately prevent contact failure due to stress concentration or permanent deformation even when the attachment and detachment are repeated.

  Further, in the connector 60 (optical-electric transmission module 60) according to the third embodiment, the entire connector is reduced in size and height as in the connector 30 (optical transmission module 30) according to the second embodiment described above. In addition to optical signals, it is possible to transmit and receive not only optical signals but also electrical signals, and it is also possible to diversify the types of signals transmitted and received by connectors (modules) and to achieve hybridization It becomes.

  The plugs 32 of the connectors 30 and 60 in the second and third embodiments are used after the shield cover 45 is closed and securely connected to the receptacle 31, and then the shield cover 45 is opened and the plug 31 is opened. When taking out, it may fit in the receptacle 31, and it may become impossible to take out easily. In particular, in the present invention, since the plug 32 can be manufactured in a very small size as described above, it is difficult to take out the plug 32 when the plug 32 is fitted into the receptacle 31.

  Therefore, for example, as shown in FIG. 21, it is preferable to provide a piece 70 having only one end fixed to the upper surface 37 a on the upper surface 37 a of the protective cover 37 of the plug 32. Although the piece 70 can be formed of a metal piece, there is a possibility that the elastic holding portions 53 and 53 of the shield cover 45 may obstruct the pressing of the plug 32 from the upper side of the protective cover 37. The material 70 is preferably formed of a material having tape-like flexibility, for example. Further, it is more preferable that the piece 70 is arranged so as not to collide with the elastic holding portions 53, 53.

  By providing the piece material 70 in this way, it is possible to easily remove the plug 32 from the receptacle 31 by pulling the piece material 70 to release the fitting between the plug 32 and the receptacle 31.

  Further, instead of the film cable 6 in the connector 1 according to the first embodiment and the FPC 61 for electric signal transmission in the connector 60 (optical-electric transmission module 60) according to the third embodiment, for example, a thin coaxial cable It is also possible to use a bundle or a plane arrangement.

1, 30, 60 connectors (vertical mating type connectors)
2, 31 Receptacle 3, 32 Plug 4, 33 External terminal 5, 34 Protruding terminal 8, 38 Contact 8a, 38a Elastic portion 8b Tip 8c Support 8d Metal layer 8e Insulating layer 8f High elastic metal layer (copper or copper Metal material with higher elasticity than the alloy containing)
8g Root part 30 Optical transmission module (Vertical fitting type connector)
60 Optical-electric transmission module (vertical mating connector)

Claims (7)

A receptacle having a protruding terminal electrically connected to the external terminal;
A plug having a contact that is elastically deformed when the protruding terminal is inserted vertically and is electrically connected to the protruding terminal by a restoring force;
With
The contact is provided with a tongue-like elastic portion provided so that the tip portions are opposed to each other and the width or thickness in the direction orthogonal to the extending direction decreases toward the tip portion. And the elastic part includes a metal material having higher elasticity than copper or an alloy containing copper, and the elastic member is deformed when the protruding terminal is inserted by the restoring force of the metal material having high elasticity. A vertical fitting type connector, wherein an elastic portion is pressed against the protruding terminal.   2. The vertical fitting connector according to claim 1, wherein the metal material is a metal material having a higher yield stress than copper or an alloy containing copper.   2. The metal material according to claim 1, wherein the metal material includes pure Ni, Ni alloy, Fe—Ni alloy, Ni—Mn alloy, Ni—Co alloy, stainless steel, or a combination thereof. The vertical fitting type connector according to 2.   4. The tongue-shaped elastic portion of the contact point is formed so that a base portion thereof is sandwiched by a support and the tip end side protrudes from the support. The vertical fitting type connector according to any one of the above.   The tongue-shaped elastic portion of the contact includes a highly elastic metal layer made of a metal material having high elasticity, and a metal layer that is in pressure contact with and electrically connected to the protruding terminal. The vertical fitting type connector according to any one of claims 1 to 4.   The said elastic part of the said tongue-like shape of the said contact has the highly elastic metal layer which consists of the said highly elastic metal material press-contacted to the said protrusion-shaped terminal, and is electrically connected. Item 5. The vertical fitting connector according to any one of items 4 to 5.   The vertical fitting connector according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the tongue-like elastic portion of the contact further includes an insulating layer.