JP2011040354A - Spring connector - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a spring connector capable of improving electrical connection performance, and capable of achieving further thinning. <P>SOLUTION: In the spring connector using a pin type terminal 11 equipped with a coil-shaped spring, a housing part 12 composed of conductive metal to house the spring, and a contact pin 4 which is supported in free sliding by the housing part, of which the tip part is biased by the spring and protruded from one end side of the housing part, and which is composed of the conductive metal is used. On the housing part, an electric bypath means 20 is attached which is composed of the conductive metal having a contact piece 27 extended out so as to be elastically contacted against the tip part of the contact pin. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention is a spring that is mounted on a small electronic device such as a digital camera, a video camera, and a cellular phone, and is mainly used for connection to a counterpart electrical component having a connection electrode such as a battery pack (battery pack). It relates to connectors.

  Conventionally, as this type of spring connector, a pressing-type configuration shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 of JP-A-2004-55243 is known. An example of this conventional structure will be briefly described with reference to FIG. 9 (cross-sectional view). The pin-type terminal 51 used for the spring connector 50 includes a cylindrical portion 52 made of a conductive material, a coiled spring 53 accommodated in the cylindrical portion 52, and is slidably held in the cylindrical portion 52 and attached by the spring 53. A contact pin 54 that is biased so that its tip protrudes from one end of the cylindrical portion 52; and a terminal piece 56 that is connected to the other end of the cylindrical portion 52 by caulking or the like. The lower end portion 57 is electrically connected to the circuit of the printed wiring board 60 by connecting to the contact terminal portion 61 printed on the printed wiring board 60 with solder or the like. Then, an electrode part of a mating electrical component (not shown) such as a battery pack is pressed against the contact pin 54 that protrudes from one surface of the housing 58 that is formed of an insulating resin. Are electrically connected to each other.

  Further, according to this conventional example, the contact pin 54 has a retaining portion 55 having a diameter substantially the same as the diameter of the inner hole of the cylindrical portion 52, and the side that contacts the spring 53 in the retaining portion 55 (right side in FIG. 9). The end face on the direction side) has an inclined shape. When the end face is pressed by the spring 53, the contact pin 54 is urged in the protruding direction and the radial direction, and the outer peripheral surface of the retaining part 55 is the cylindrical part 52. It is possible to obtain a conduction state by contacting the inner peripheral surface. The pin-type terminal 51 is inclined and disposed in the housing 58 so that the contact pin 54 slides in a direction having an angle with respect to the printed wiring board 60 (an oblique direction). The component force of the pressing force is applied as a force for urging the contact pin 54 in the radial direction, thereby further improving the above-described conduction state.

Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2004-55243 (FIGS. 10 and 11)

  In small electronic devices that are becoming thinner, even with this type of spring connector, while maintaining and improving its electrical connection performance, it is even thinner (for example, the mounting height on a printed wiring board is the same as that of small chip components). 1.5 mm or less) is desirable.

  In the conventional technology as described above, the outer peripheral surface of the retaining portion 55 is in contact with the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion 52 to form a conduction circuit, and electrical connection by this contact is stable. Therefore, the contact pin 54 and the cylindrical portion 52 are subjected to corrosion resistance plating such as gold plating. However, the inner hole of the cylindrical portion 52 is a blind hole, and (especially, when the inner hole diameter is reduced for downsizing) the plating solution and the cleaning solution are not sufficiently flown into and out of the inner hole, There is a problem that plating failure is likely to occur, and conduction failure due to this is likely to occur.

  In the conventional technique as described above, the pin-type terminal 51 is disposed in the housing 58 so as to be inclined with respect to the printed wiring board 60 to be mounted. The height dimension (from surface to top) becomes large.

  Furthermore, in the housing 58 in which the pin-type terminal 51 is arranged, the thickness of the peripheral portion of the cylindrical portion 52 is at least a minimum due to the strength of holding the pin-type terminal 51 and the molding processability of the molding material (insulating resin). (In the case of a thermoplastic resin, it is common to ensure that the thickness of the upper side and the lower side of the cylindrical portion 52 in FIG. 9 is 0.2 to 0.3 mm or more, respectively. Yes), the mounting height including the housing 58 is prevented from being reduced (low profile).

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve the problems of the prior art as described above, and to provide a spring connector that can improve the electrical connection performance and can be further reduced in thickness. It is in.

  In order to achieve the above object, the spring connector according to claim 1 is a coil-shaped spring, a receiving portion made of a conductive metal for receiving the spring, and a slidably supported by the receiving portion. In a spring connector using a pin-type terminal provided with a contact pin made of a conductive metal that is urged by the spring and protrudes from the one end side of the housing portion, the housing portion includes the contact pin. An electrical bypass means made of a conductive metal having a contact piece extending so as to be in elastic contact with the distal end portion is mounted.

  The electrical bypass means thus mounted on the housing part is elastically contacted with the tip part of the contact pin (preferably so that the tip part of the contact piece abuts at a position close to one end side of the container part). The configuration with contact pieces (extended shape that facilitates good plating treatment) adds a good conduction path in the electrical conduction path that connects from the contact pin (for example, to the printed wiring board to be mounted). And the reliability of electrical connection can be improved. In addition, the configuration in which the conduction path is increased in this manner is advantageous for thinning (since the conductive state can be improved without arranging the pin-type terminal inclined with respect to the substrate as in the conventional example). .

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, the electrical bypass means is punched and bent from a thin plate material and partially covers the outer peripheral surface of the accommodating portion (the protruding direction of the contact pin and the substrate surface are parallel to each other). When mounted on a board in a flat manner as described above, preferably, the plate-like base portion (having a flat surface portion serving as a suction surface during mounting work) and the plate-like shape so as to be fitted to the outer peripheral surface of the housing portion At least a pair of side surfaces extending from the base (preferably formed with projecting portions projecting inward so as to hold the outer peripheral surface of the accommodating portion at the extended end), and The contact piece extends from one or both of the plate-like base and the side surface.

  In this way (preferably with a cylindrical structure suitable for protecting the spring from external force, which is advantageous in terms of strength as a form for accommodating the coiled spring, even if it is small) The form in which the side portions are fitted is to facilitate the above-described mounting (for example, because it can be performed by a simple press-fitting operation regardless of the joining method involving the complexity such as welding or use of an adhesive). . Furthermore, since it is possible to increase the number of contact pieces extending using the side surface portion (addition of a conduction path), the reliability of electrical connection can be improved. And the structure which covers an accommodating part (for the purpose of providing an adsorption surface etc.) with the electrical bypass means processed from a thin plate material is advantageous for thickness reduction (for example, compared with the structure covered with an insulating resin). .

  Furthermore, according to Claim 3, the outer peripheral surface of the said accommodating part is made into the stepped shape which has a large diameter part and a small diameter part, and the said large diameter part from any one or both of the said plate-shaped base and the said side part. And a locking portion that is engaged with a stepped surface between the small diameter portions, and by the engagement, the electric bypass means is configured to restrict movement of the housing portion in the direction along the longitudinal axis. ing. With this configuration, the positional relationship between the pin-type terminal and the electrical bypass means is easily determined, and the pin-type terminal is inadvertently displaced from the (mounted) electrical bypass means during handling such as mounting work. It prevents it from coming off or coming off. Further, when an external force in the longitudinal axis direction (for example, a pressing force of the mating electrical component) is applied to the pin-type terminal, the electrical bypass means receives this (in a state where it is mounted on the printed wiring board, The printed wiring board for soldering and fixing the mechanical bypass means can be further received), so that the biasing force of the spring is maintained and the reliability of the electrical connection can be maintained.

  As described above, since the spring connector of the present invention can easily increase the electrical conduction path, the connection performance can be improved and further reduction in thickness can be realized.

  The front view which showed the 1st Example of the spring connector of this invention   Side view of the spring connector shown in FIG.   AA sectional view of the spring connector shown in FIG.   The perspective view of the electrical bypass means which comprises the spring connector shown in FIG.   Side view showing an example of using the spring connector shown in FIG.   The side view which showed the 2nd Example of the spring connector of this invention   The top view of the pin type terminal which comprises the spring connector shown in FIG.   The perspective view of the electrical bypass means which comprises the spring connector shown in FIG.   Sectional view showing a conventional spring connector

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 8 of the accompanying drawings. 1 to 5 show a first embodiment of a spring connector according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is a front view, FIG. 2 is a side view, FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view along AA, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a side view of an example of use. FIG.

  The pin-type terminal 11 of the spring connector 10 has substantially the same form as the conventional pin-type terminal shown in FIG. 9, and is made of a conductive material such as a copper alloy (applicable for thinning with a mounting height of 1.5 mm or less. The cylindrical housing portion 12 having an outer diameter of about 1.3 mm, a coiled spring 3 housed in the housing portion 12, and slidably supported by the housing portion 12. A contact pin 4 that is urged and protrudes from one end of the tube 12 is provided. Further, by pressing the inclined end surface 7 of the retaining portion 6 with the spring 3, the contact pin 4 is urged in the protruding direction and the radial direction, and the outer peripheral surface of the retaining portion 6 is pressed against the inner peripheral surface of the tube 12. A conduction state can be obtained.

  The electrical bypass means 20 fitted and mounted so as to cover the upper surface (upper surface in FIG. 1) of the accommodating portion 12 is punched and bent from a thin plate-like conductive metal plate (having a thickness of about 0.1 mm). When being automatically mounted on the printed wiring board 60 in a flat arrangement (so that the protruding direction of the contact pins 4 and the upper surface of the printed wiring board 60 are parallel to each other) as shown in FIG. A plate-like base portion 21 having a flat portion 22 to be a surface is provided. The pair of side surface portions 23a and 23b extending downward (downward in FIG. 1) from the plate-like base portion 21 so as to be fitted to the outer peripheral surface 13 of the accommodating portion 12 have extended end portions 24a and 24b. , Projecting portions 25a and 25b that project inward (for example, by drawing or cutting) in the inner direction (toward the housing portion 12 in the mounted state) are formed.

  And the accommodating part 12 is hold | maintained at the electrical bypass means 20 so that it may be held by the protruding parts 25a and 25b, being pinched | interposed into the side parts 23a and 23b which consist of metal plates (by the elastic force). In this state, it can be seen that the accommodating portion 12 and the electrical bypass means 20 can be electrically connected. In addition, this fitting state is facilitated by setting the interval between the protruding portions 25a and 25b in advance to be narrower than the outer diameter of the accommodating portion 12, and inserting the accommodating portion 12 portion of the pin-type terminal 11 between the opposed portions. Can be realized.

  Further, the contact piece 27 extending from the plate-like base portion 21 toward the distal end portion 5 of the contact pin 4 is connected to the distal end portion 5 (in the process of attaching the electrical bypass means 20 to the housing portion 12). The tongue-shaped cantilever spring structure is set so that the distal end portion 28 is pushed up by the distal end portion 5 of the contact pin and is in elastic contact. Then, the contact piece 27 (smoothly on the outer peripheral surface of the tip portion 5) is positioned at a position close to one end side of the housing portion 12 so that troubles such as deformation of the contact piece 27 due to excessive inclination of the contact pin 4 are unlikely to occur. The tip 28 is bent into an arc shape so that it can slide in contact with the tip 5 of the contact pin 4. As described above, in the configuration including the extended contact piece 27 that is in elastic contact with the exposed tip portion 5 (which is unlikely to cause plating failure) (the plating pin is less likely to cause plating failure) Apart from the conduction path formed in contact with the inner peripheral surface, it is possible to obtain a stable conduction path in which the contact pin 4 directly contacts the electrical bypass means 20. The tip 28 of the contact piece 27 may have a concave cross-sectional structure along the outer peripheral surface of the contact pin 4 or a bifurcated structure.

  Further, the lower end portions 26a and 26b of the side surface portions 23a and 23b are formed at substantially the same height as the lowermost portion of the flat-type pin-type terminal 11 (which is the outer peripheral lower surface of the accommodating portion 12 in FIG. 1). In the case of the flat mounting shown in FIG. 5, the lower end portions 26 a and 26 b are in contact with the contact terminal portion 61 of the printed wiring board 60. The contact terminal portion 61 (usually coated with cream solder) and the lower end portions 26a and 26b are soldered (by heating in a reflow furnace or the like), so that the electrical bypass means 20 is printed wiring. While being electrically connected to the substrate 60, it is supported by the lower ends 26a and 26b and fixed in a stable state. A claw-like projection that protrudes further downward from the lower ends 26a and 26b is provided, and a positioning hole is provided in the printed wiring board 60 so as to be engageable with the projection. The placement (positioning) accuracy of the spring connector 10 on the substrate 60 may be increased.

  Further, FIG. 5 shows that the battery pack 70, which is a mating electrical component, is attached to the spring connector 10 mounted on the printed wiring board 60 in a flat layout that is low-profile (thin) mounting (arrow B in FIG. 5). The equipment completion state is shown in which the contact pin 4 is pushed into the housing portion 12. Compared with FIG. 2, it can be seen that the tip portion 28 of the contact piece 27 slides in an elastic contact state on the outer peripheral surface of the tip portion 5 of the contact pin 4 in the pressing process. In the pressing process and the equipment completion state, the electrode part 71 of the battery pack 70 and the tip part 5 of the contact pin 4 can be electrically connected, and further, the contact pin 4 and the printed wiring board 60 can be electrically connected. In the meantime (as shown in FIG. 3), a conduction path formed by the outer peripheral surface of the retaining portion 6 of the contact pin 4 abutting against the inner peripheral surface of the housing portion 12, and the contact piece 27 of the electrical bypass means 20. It can be seen that a conduction path formed by contacting the contact pin 4 is secured. Further, the structure in which the upper portion (upward direction in FIG. 5) of the housing portion 12 is covered only by the thin plate-like base portion 21 is thinner than the structure using the housing formed of the insulating resin as in the conventional example. It turns out that it is a thing suitable for conversion.

  In this embodiment, the lower end portions 26a and 26b of the electrical bypass means 20 are connected to the printed wiring board 60 on the premise of flat mounting, but the rear end of the electrical bypass means 20 is described. A configuration in which the portion 29 side is connected to the printed wiring board 60 (that is, vertical mounting) may be employed, and this configuration also has the effect of increasing the above-described conduction path. Moreover, although the accommodating part 12 was made into the cylindrical external shape, an external shape may be square shape.

  6 to 8 show a second embodiment of the spring connector of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a side view, FIG. 7 is a plan view of a pin-type terminal as a component, and FIG. FIG.

  Compared with the first embodiment described above, the pin-type terminal 31 of the spring connector 30 has partly changed the outer peripheral shape of the accommodating portion, and the electrical bypass means 40 has a part of the shape of the side surface portion and the contact piece. The number of equipment is changed. The outer peripheral surface 33 of the housing portion 32 has a stepped shape with a large diameter portion 34 and a small diameter portion 35 having different outer diameters, and a stepped surface 36 is formed between the large diameter portion 34 and the small diameter portion 35. Has been. Further, of the two pairs of side surface portions 43a, 43b, 43c, and 43d, the one side surface portions 43c and 43d protrude in an inward direction (toward the axis of the housing portion 32 in the fitted state). Stop portions 46a and 46b are provided.

  Then, it can be seen that in the mounted state of the pin-type terminal 31 and the electrical bypass means 40, the locking portions 46 a and 46 b are configured to be able to engage with the stepped surface 36 while fitting into the small diameter portion 35. Furthermore, it can be seen that this engagement relationship restricts the movement of the pin-type terminal 31 relative to the electrical bypass means 40 (in the direction along the longitudinal axis of the accommodating portion 32). Then, as shown in FIG. 5, when the battery pack 70 is pressed, the pressing force is received by the electrical bypass means 40 and the printed wiring board 60 to be mounted to prevent the pin-type terminal 31 from moving backward. The connection between the battery pack 70 and the spring connector 10 is stabilized. In addition, although the latching | locking part 46a, 46b was made into the form protruded from the side part 43c, 43d, you may make it protrude from the plate-shaped base 41. FIG.

  Further, contact pieces 47a and 47b extend from the side surface portions 43a and 43b in the direction of the distal end portion 5 of the contact pin 4, and the electrical bypass means 40 is attached to the accommodating portion 32 with respect to the distal end portion 5, respectively. In this process, the tip portions of the contact pieces 47a and 47b are pushed and widened by the tip portion 5 of the contact pin, so that a tongue-like cantilever spring structure is set so as to make elastic contact.

  As described above, the configuration including a plurality of contact pieces 47a and 47b that elastically contact the contact pin 4 increases the conduction path between the contact pin 4 and the electrical bypass means 40, thereby improving the electrical connection performance. I am letting. Although the contact pieces 47a and 47b are extended from the side surfaces 43c and 43d, the contact pieces 47a and 47b may be further extended from the plate-like base 41 to have a three-piece configuration.

  In this embodiment, when the spring connector is mounted on the printed wiring board, the spring connector is mounted individually. However, a plurality of spring connectors are mounted in a lump (for example, a plastic holder or a metal fitting). Or the like, such that the alignment member is detached and returned to a thin structure after soldering.

3 Spring 4 Contact pin 5 Contact pin tip 11, 31 Pin type terminal 12, 32 Housing part 13, 33 Outer peripheral surface 20, 40 Electrical bypass means 21, 41 Plate-like base 23, 43 Side part 27, 47 Contact piece 36 Stepped surface 46 Locking portion

Claims (3)

A coil-shaped spring, a housing portion made of a conductive metal that houses the spring, and a sliding portion that is slidably supported by the housing portion and is biased by the spring and protrudes from the one end side of the housing portion In a spring connector using a pin-type terminal provided with a contact pin made of a conductive metal,
An electrical bypass means made of a conductive metal having a contact piece extending so as to be in elastic contact with the tip end portion of the contact pin is attached to the housing portion.   The electrical bypass means is stamped and bent from a thin plate material, and extends from the plate-like base so as to be fitted with the plate-like base part that partially covers the outer peripheral surface of the containing part. 2. The spring connector according to claim 1, further comprising at least a pair of side surface portions to be extended, wherein the contact piece extends from one or both of the plate-like base portion and the side surface portion.   The outer peripheral surface of the accommodating part is a stepped shape having a large diameter part and a small diameter part, and a stepped surface between the large diameter part and the small diameter part is provided from one or both of the plate-like base part and the side face part. 3. A spring connector according to claim 2, further comprising a locking portion that is engaged with the spring, wherein the electrical bypass means restricts the movement of the housing portion in the direction along the longitudinal axis. .

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