JP2012238434A - Connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a connector that becomes lowered when an actuator is placed in a closed position and an object of connection is not inserted, and keeps the actuator in the closed position readily pivotable to an open position whether or not the object of contact is in an inserted state.SOLUTION: The connector comprises: an insulator 20; contacts 30 capable of contact with an object of connection 60; an actuator 50 pivotable between an open position and a closed position; a pivotal support section 27, 57, and 59 for supporting the actuator so as to locate the closed position farther to the opposite side to the open position when the object of connection is removed from the insulator than when the object of connection is inserted; and an operation portion 56 formed at a free end portion of the actuator so as to be inclined away from the object of connection with respect to the direction of insertion/removal when the actuator is placed in the closed position.

Description

  The present invention relates to a connector for connecting a thin plate-like connection object such as an FPC or FFC.

  A connector that can connect a thin plate-like connection object (FPC, FFC, etc.) can contact the connection object inserted into the insulator and an insulator that can be inserted and removed, and is connected to the circuit board (soldering) And a closed position for pressing the connection object inserted into the insulator in parallel with the insertion / removal direction of the connection object toward the contact side, and a push against the connection object substantially orthogonal to the insertion / removal direction. An actuator capable of rotating with respect to the insulator between the open position where the pressure disappears.

JP2011-65935A

Generally, to mount this type of connector on the circuit board of an electronic device (soldering a contact to the circuit board) and connect the connection object to the connector, first, the actuator must be in the closed position. The connector is mounted on the circuit board, the actuator is rotated to the open position, the object to be connected is inserted into the insulator, and then the actuator is rotated back to the closed position. In the electronic device continuity / operation check in the manufacturing process of the electronic device, the actuator is rotated from the closed position to the open position, the object to be connected is pulled out from the insulator, and then the FPC for inspection is inserted into the insulator. It is performed in the state returned to the closed position.
Thus, even when the connection object is in an inserted state or an uninserted state with respect to the connector, the actuator positioned at the closed position may be rotated to the open position. Therefore, the actuator positioned at the closed position ( It is preferable that the gap between the free end portion) and the circuit board be as large as possible so that the operator can easily put his hand (finger) on the actuator (free end portion) located at the closed position.
For this purpose, it is only necessary to increase the size of the entire connector (increase the height) and increase the gap between the actuator (the free end portion thereof) and the circuit board.

  On the other hand, after the connector is mounted on the circuit board and before the connection object is connected to the connector, an electronic component (for example, a capacitor or an anisotropic conductive film (ACF / Anisotropic) other than the connector is connected to the circuit board. (Conductive Film) etc. may be implemented. Therefore, if the connector is designed to have a low profile when the actuator is in the closed position and the connection object is not inserted, the mounting tool such as the electronic component or iron being transferred to the circuit board will come into contact with the connector. This makes it difficult to mount the electronic component on the circuit board.

  However, a high-profile connector structure for facilitating the rotation of the actuator from the closed position to the open position and a low-profile connector structure for easily mounting electronic components (separate from the connector) on the circuit board are realized. Therefore, when the actuator is in the closed position and the object to be connected is not inserted, the connector can be made low in height and the operability of the actuator in the closed position to the open position can be reduced. There was no excellent connector.

  The object of the present invention is to make the connector low when the actuator is in the closed position and the connection object is not inserted, and in the closed position when the contact object is in either the inserted or not inserted state. An object of the present invention is to provide a connector excellent in rotational operability to an open position of a certain actuator.

  The connector of the present invention includes an insulator capable of inserting / removing a thin plate-like connection object, a contact capable of contacting the connection object inserted into the insulator, and an open position substantially orthogonal to the insertion / removal direction of the connection object. And an actuator that is rotatable relative to the insulator between the open position and a closed position that is substantially parallel to the circuit board and falls to the escape direction side of the connection object and presses the connection object toward the contact side And a rotation that supports the actuator so that the closed position when the connection object escapes from the insulator is positioned on the opposite side of the open position from the closed position when the connection object is inserted. The connection object formed in the insertion / removal direction when the actuator is located at the closed position, which is formed at the support portion and the free end portion of the actuator. Is characterized by comprising an operation unit in al away direction an inclined state, the.

The rotation support portion is formed on the rotation restricting portion formed on the insulator, and the actuator is brought into contact with the rotation restricting portion when the actuator is rotated to the closed position in a state where the connection object has escaped from the insulator. And a supported portion.
By configuring in this way, the actuator can be reliably stopped at the predetermined closed position when the connection object is in the escape state from the insulator, so that the actuator can be prevented from falling more than necessary in the closing direction, Furthermore, a space for operating the actuator can be secured.

The rotation support portion abuts against the connection object when the actuator rotates to the closed position in a state where the connection object is inserted into the insulator, and separates the supported part from the rotation regulating surface. May be provided.
If comprised in this way, when an actuator is located in a closed position, when a contact part contacts a contact object, a support part and a rotation control part contact, and a contact state of a connection object and a contact Therefore, it is possible to maintain a stable contact state.

The abutting portion is a flat surface that comes into surface contact with one surface of the connection object when the actuator is positioned in the closed position in a state where the connection object has escaped from the insulator, and the supported portion The flat surface which inclines with respect to the said contact part may be sufficient.
If comprised in this way, since an actuator can be directly opposed with respect to a connection target object when a connection target object is inserted in an insulator, the contact reliability of a connection target object and a contact can be maintained. Further, when the connection object is withdrawn from the insulator, the actuator is inclined with respect to the connection object, so that it is possible to achieve both a reduction in the height of the connector and good operability of the actuator.

When the actuator is positioned at the closed position in a state where the connection object has escaped from the insulator, the entire actuator may be positioned between both end surfaces in the thickness direction of the insulator.
If comprised in this way, when an actuator is located in a closed position in the state where a connection subject has escaped from an insulator, an actuator does not protrude in the thickness direction of an insulator with respect to an insulator, and a connector becomes lower in height. Therefore, the mountability of other components is further improved.

In the present invention, the actuator is formed in the actuator in the closed position regardless of whether or not the connection object is inserted by forming the operation portion in the actuator to be inclined in the direction away from the contact object when the actuator is located in the closed position. When doing so, a large gap is formed between the operation unit and the circuit board or between the operation unit and the contact object. Therefore, the operator can easily put his / her hand (finger) on the operating portion of the actuator located at the closed position, and can always easily rotate the actuator located at the closed position to the open position.
In addition, due to the action of the rotation support part, the closed position of the actuator when the connection object escapes from the insulator is positioned on the opposite side of the open position from the closed position when the connection object is inserted. Yes. For this reason, when the connection object comes out of the insulator and the actuator is in the closed position, the connector becomes low in height even though the operating portion is formed on the actuator. Furthermore, it becomes possible to easily mount and assemble other parts around the connector.

It is the disassembled perspective view which looked at the connector of one Embodiment of this invention from front diagonally upward. It is the disassembled perspective view seen from the back diagonally downward of the connector. It is the perspective view seen from the front diagonal upper direction of a connector and FPC when an actuator is located in an open position. It is the perspective view seen from the front diagonal upper direction when FPC is inserted in a connector when an actuator is located in an open position. It is a front view when it exists in the same state as FIG. It is sectional drawing which follows the VI-VI arrow line of FIG. It is sectional drawing which follows the VII-VII arrow line of FIG. It is sectional drawing which follows the VIII-VIII arrow line of FIG. It is sectional drawing similar to FIG. 6 when an actuator is rotated to a closed position in the state which inserted FPC in the connector. FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 7 when in the same state as FIG. 9. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 6 when the actuator is rotated to the closed position with the FPC not inserted into the connector. It is sectional drawing similar to FIG. 7 when it exists in the same state as FIG.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, front and rear, left and right, and up and down directions are based on the directions of arrows in the figure.
The connector 10 of the present embodiment includes an insulator 20, a signal contact 30, a fixing bracket 40, and an actuator 50 as large components.
The insulator 20 is formed by injection molding an insulating and heat resistant synthetic resin material. An FPC insertion groove 21 having a pair of left and right engaging claw recesses 21a is provided in the front portion of the upper surface of the insulator 20 and has a width approximately the same as the FPC 60 (contact object) and in the vicinity of the front end. The front surface of the FPC insertion groove 21 and the upper surface of the front part are open, and the rear part of the FPC insertion groove 21 extends to the inside of the insulator 20 (see FIGS. 6 and 9). A pair of side walls 22 are formed on the left and right side portions of the front portion of the insulator 20, and closed position holding recesses 23 are formed on the inner side surfaces of the left and right side walls 22. Further, a pair of left and right side recesses 24 are formed inside the left and right side walls 22. On the upper surface (bottom surface) of the left and right lateral recesses 24, a metal fitting fixing groove 25 having a front end opened at the front end surface of the insulator 20 and a part of the lower surface opened is recessed. (See FIGS. 2 and 8). A pair of left and right front walls 26 project from the front end portion of the insulator 20, and the upper surfaces of the left and right front walls 26 are rotation regulation portions 27 (rotation support portions) formed of a horizontal flat surface. Further, a bottom groove 28 communicating with the lower end opening of the metal fitting fixing groove 25 is formed in the left and right ends of the lower surface of the insulator 20. A total of 15 contact insertion grooves 29 extending in the front-rear direction are formed in the insulator 20. The rear part of each contact insertion groove 29 penetrates the rear part of the insulator 20 in the front-rear direction, and the front part of each contact insertion groove 29 is recessed on the bottom surface of the FPC insertion groove 21.

A total of 15 signal contacts 30 were formed and processed into a shape shown in the drawing by using a progressive metal mold (stamping) of a copper alloy (for example, phosphor bronze, beryllium copper, titanium copper) or a Corson copper alloy having spring elasticity. The surface is formed by nickel plating on the surface, and then gold plating is applied. As shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 6, and the like, the signal contact 30 is substantially U-shaped in a side view, and has a contact arm 31 having a contact protrusion 32 at the tip, and a position near the tip of the lower surface located immediately above the contact arm 31. A presser arm 33 having a support recess 34 and a tail piece 35 projecting from the rear end.
Each signal contact 30 is press-fitted into each contact insertion groove 29 of the insulator 20 from behind. When each signal contact 30 is press-fitted into the contact insertion groove 29 as shown in FIG. 6 and the like, the contact arm 31 and the presser arm 33 are positioned in the FPC insertion groove 21, and the retaining protrusion 36 protruding from the upper surface of the presser arm 33 is formed. The signal contact 30 is fixed to the contact insertion groove 29 by biting into the upper surface of the corresponding contact insertion groove 29. The tail piece 35 protrudes rearward of the insulator 20, and the lower surface thereof is located below the lower surface of the insulator 20.

The pair of left and right fixing brackets 40 is a press-formed product of a metal plate, and includes a tail piece 41 extending toward the side, a press-fit portion 42 extending rearward and having a retaining protrusion 43 on the upper surface, and protruding on the upper surface. The upper end surface of the support protrusion 44 is a support surface 45 made of a flat horizontal surface.
The fixture 40 is fixed to the insulator 20 by press-fitting the press-fit portion 42 into the left and right fixture fixing grooves 25 from the front. When the press-fit portion 42 is press-fitted into the metal fitting fixing groove 25, the retaining protrusion 43 protruding from the upper surface of the press-fit portion 42 bites into the upper surface of the rear end portion of the metal fitting fixing groove 25, so that the fixed metal fitting 40 is fixed to the insulator 20. Is done. The tail piece 41 is located in the bottom groove 28, and the lower surface of the tail piece 41 is located at the same height as the lower surface of the tail piece 35. Further, the support protrusion 44 passes through the metal fitting fixing groove 25 and protrudes into the side recess 24 (positioned above the bottom surface of the side recess 24, see FIGS. 3 and 8).

The rotary actuator 50, which is a plate-like member extending in the left-right direction, is obtained by injection-molding a heat-resistant synthetic resin material using a metal mold. Side arms 51 are provided on the left and right sides, respectively, and closed position holding projections 52 project from the side surfaces of the side arms 51. The closed position holding projection 52 has a substantially hemispherical shape, and its diameter (vertical dimension when the actuator 50 is positioned at a closed position described later) is smaller than the vertical dimension of the closed position holding recess 23. Near the lower end of the actuator 50, a total of 15 arm insertion through holes 53 that penetrate the actuator 50 in the plate thickness direction are formed side by side in the left-right direction. A rotation center shaft 54 that closes the lower end of the arm insertion through hole 53 is formed. A total of 16 cam portions 55 are provided at the lower end portion of the portion located between the adjacent arm insertion through holes 53. Further, the central portion in the width direction of the free end portion of the actuator 50 (the end portion opposite to the rotation center shaft 54) is inclined with respect to the peripheral portion (when the actuator 50 is positioned at a closed position described later, it is inclined upward). In addition, an operation unit 56 is provided so as to protrude backward when it is in an open position described later. Further, a contact portion 57 (rotation support portion) made of a flat plane extending in the left-right direction between the left and right side arms 51 is formed on the base end side portion (the portion on the rotation center axis 54 side) of the front surface of the actuator 50. It is. Further, on the free end side of the front surface of the actuator 50, an inclined surface 58 is formed which is a flat surface inclined with respect to the contact portion 57 and is slightly shorter than the dimension between the left and right front walls 26. Furthermore, on both sides of the inclined surface 58, supported portions 59 (rotating support portions) that are flat surfaces that are formed at positions one step lower than the inclined surface 58 and are inclined with respect to the contact portion 57 and parallel to the inclined surface 58. Is formed.
The actuator 50 is inserted into the FPC insertion groove 21 from the front (end on the rotation center shaft 54 side) from the front in a state of being substantially orthogonal to the insulator 20 as shown in FIGS. The holding arm 33 of the signal contact 30 corresponding to each arm insertion through hole 53 is inserted to engage the support recess 34 with the rotation center shaft 54 (see FIGS. 6, 9, and 11), and the left and right side portions. The base end portion of the arm 51 is supported on the insulator 20 and the fixing bracket 40 by placing them on the support surfaces 45 of the left and right fixing brackets 40 (see FIG. 8). When the base end portion of the side arm 51 is supported by the support surface 45 in this way, the engagement relationship between the support recess 34 of each signal contact 30 and the corresponding rotation center shaft 54 is maintained, so that the actuator 50 includes the insulator 20 ( An open position (unlock position; position shown in FIGS. 3 to 8) inclined slightly rearward from a position orthogonal to the FPC 60 insertion / removal direction) and a closed position (which is substantially horizontal when tilted forward from the open position). Between the lock position (the position shown in FIGS. 9 to 12) and the rotation center axis 54. When rotated to the closed position, the left and right closed position holding projections 52 engage with the left and right closed position holding recesses 23, so that the actuator 50 is held in the closed position unless it is intentionally rotated to the open position.

Subsequently, the mounting procedure of the connector 10 having the above configuration on the circuit board CB, the connection procedure of the FPC 60, and the continuity test procedure will be described.
First, a procedure for mounting the connector 10 on the upper surface (circuit forming surface) of the circuit board CB (see the phantom line in FIGS. 6 to 12) substantially parallel to the insertion / removal direction (front-rear direction) of the FPC 60 with respect to the insulator 20 will be described.
First, the actuator 50 of the connector 10 is positioned at the closed position without inserting the FPC 60 into the insulator 20. As shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, at this time, the supported portion 59 of the actuator 50 is in a horizontal state and is supported by the left and right rotation restricting portions 27 of the insulator 20, so that the actuator 50 has its own weight or inadvertent pressing work. Therefore, it does not rotate downward (counterclockwise in FIGS. 11 and 12). At this time, the left and right closed position holding projections 52 are engaged with the lower half of the closed position holding recess 23. Further, the inclined surface 58 is in a horizontal state and is positioned between the left and right front walls 26. The closed position of the actuator 50 at this time is referred to as a “closed position when not inserted” in the following description. When the actuator 50 is located at the closed position when not inserted, the entire actuator 50 including the tip of the operation unit 56 is located between the upper surface and the lower surface of the insulator 20 (does not protrude above the insulator 20). A low profile can be maintained.
The upper surface of the rear portion of the insulator 20 of the connector 10 in this state is sucked by suction means (not shown) located above the connector 10, and the tail piece 35 of each signal contact 30 is moved onto the circuit board CB by moving the suction means. The tail pieces 35 of the left and right fixing brackets 40 are placed on the solder paste applied to the ground pattern (not shown) on the circuit board CB.
Subsequently, an electronic component (for example, a capacitor) different from the connector 10 is placed on the upper surface of the circuit board CB using a separate suction means and the like, and a solder paste in which terminals of the electronic component are applied to a circuit pattern on the circuit board CB. Put it on. Further, when an anisotropic conductive film (ACF) is thermocompression bonded in the vicinity of the connector 10 of the circuit board CB, the AFC is transferred to the circuit board by a crimping iron moved in a space on the circuit board CB and lowered at a predetermined position. Crimp to CB. As described above, the connector 10 in the closed position when the actuator 50 is not inserted is extremely low in height, so that these electronic components and mounting tools can be smoothly applied to the upper surface of the circuit board CB without contacting the connector 10. It is possible to carry.
Then, each solder paste is heated and melted in a reflow furnace, the tail pieces 41 and the terminals of the electronic components are soldered to the circuit pattern, and the tail pieces 41 are soldered to the ground pattern. The mounting of the component on the circuit board CB is completed.

Next, the connection procedure of the FPC 60 to the connector 10 will be described.
An FPC (Flexible Printed Circuit) 60 that is an object to be connected is a thin plate-like long object that can be elastically deformed. Is smaller than the vertical distance between the cam portion 55 and the contact protrusion 32 (when in a free state). The FPC 60 has a laminated structure in which a plurality of thin film materials are bonded to each other, and a total of 15 circuit patterns (not shown) extending linearly along the extending direction of the FPC 60 are arranged in the left-right direction on the lower surface of the FPC 60. The lower surface of the portion excluding both ends of the circuit pattern is covered with an insulating cover layer. Further, a pair of left and right locking claws 61 are provided in the vicinity of the end portion.
To connect the FPC 60, first, an operator puts a hand (finger) or a jig into the gap between the tip of the operation unit 56 and the circuit board CB, and holds the operation unit 56 in the closed position when not inserted. The actuator 50 located is rotated to the open position. When the operation unit 56 is located at the closed position when not inserted, the operation unit 56 is inclined in a direction away from the circuit board CB with respect to the horizontal line, and therefore, a gap (height) H1 between the operation unit 56 and the circuit board CB ( 11 and 12) are relatively large. Therefore, although the entire connector 10 is in a very low profile, the operator can easily grasp the operating portion 56 by hand by using the relatively large gap H1, and can smoothly rotate the actuator 50 to the open position.
After the actuator 50 is rotated to the open position, the end of the FPC 60 is inserted into the FPC insertion groove 21 from the front, and the left and right locking claws 61 are positioned in the locking claw recess 21a (see FIG. 4). . When the actuator 50 is rotated forward to the closed position in this state, the cam portions 55 and the contact portions 57 of the actuator 50 come into surface contact with the upper surface of the FPC 60 and press the FPC 60 downward (see FIG. 9). The above circuit pattern reliably contacts the contact protrusion 32 while elastically deforming the contact arm 31 of each signal contact 30 downward (see FIG. 9).
At this time, since the contact portion 57 of the actuator 50 is supported by the upper surface of the FPC 60, the supported portion 59 is slightly separated from the left and right rotation restricting portions 27 (see FIG. 10), and the left and right closed position holding protrusions 52 engages with the upper half of the closed position holding recess 23. Therefore, the free end portion (operation portion 56) of the actuator 50 is positioned above the position when it is not in the closed position (see FIGS. 9 and 10). Further, since the supported portion 59 and the operation portion 56 are inclined with respect to the FPC 60 in a direction away from the FPC 60, the tip of the operation portion 56 is greatly separated from the FPC 60. In the following description, the closed position of the actuator 50 at this time is referred to as an “inserted closed position”.

Next, a continuity inspection procedure for the connector 10 will be described.
When conducting the continuity test, first, the actuator 50 located at the closed position at the time of insertion is rotated to the open position, and the FPC 60 is pulled out from the connector 10 (FPC insertion groove 21). Since the gap (height) H2 (see FIGS. 9 and 10) between the operation unit 56 and the FPC 60 is large when the actuator 50 is positioned at the closed position when inserted, the operator uses the gap H2 to operate the operation unit. 56 can be easily grasped by hand, and the actuator 50 can be smoothly rotated.
Next, an inspection device (not shown) is electrically connected to the circuit board CB, and one end of an inspection FPC (the structure is the same as that of the FPC 60) connected to the inspection device is inserted into the FPC insertion groove 21 of the insulator 20 to actuate the actuator. If the 50 is rotated to the closed position at the time of insertion, it can be checked by the inspection device whether the connector 10 is operating correctly.

As mentioned above, although this invention was demonstrated based on the said embodiment, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, It can implement, giving various deformation | transformation.
For example, the connector 10 may be a so-called right angle type in which the FPC insertion groove 21 is orthogonal to the circuit board CB. Further, the closed position holding recess 23 may be formed in the actuator 50, and the closed position holding projection 52 may be formed in the insulator 20. Further, the closed position holding recess 23 and the closed position holding projection 52 may be omitted. Furthermore, the rotation restricting portion 27 may be formed on the fixing bracket 40 and the actuator 50 may be supported using the rotation restricting portion 27.
The thin plate-like connection object may be a cable other than the FPC, for example, a flexible flat cable (FFC).

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Connector 20 Insulator 21 FPC insertion groove 21a Locking claw recessed part 22 Side wall 23 Closed position holding recessed part 24 Side recessed part 25 Metal fitting fixing groove 26 Front wall 27 Rotation restricting part (rotation support part)
28 bottom groove 29 contact insertion groove 30 signal contact 31 contact arm 32 contact projection 33 presser arm 34 support recess 35 tail piece 36 retaining projection 40 fixing bracket 41 tail piece 42 press-fit portion 43 retaining projection 44 support projection 45 support surface 50 Actuator 51 Side arm 52 Closed position holding protrusion 53 Arm insertion through hole 54 Rotation center shaft 55 Cam portion 56 Operation portion 57 Contact portion (rotation support portion)
58 inclined surface 59 supported part (rotating support part)
60 FPC (object to be connected)
61 Locking claw CB Circuit board

Claims (5)

An insulator capable of inserting and removing a thin plate-like connection object;
A contact that can contact the connection object inserted into the insulator;
An open position that is substantially perpendicular to the insertion / removal direction of the connection object, and a closed position that falls from the open position toward the connection object's escape direction and is substantially parallel to the circuit board and presses the connection object toward the contact side. And an actuator that is rotatable relative to the insulator,
A rotation support unit that supports the actuator so that the closed position when the connection object escapes from the insulator is positioned on the opposite side of the open position from the closed position when the connection object is inserted. When,
An operating portion formed at a free end portion of the actuator, wherein the operating portion is inclined in a direction away from the connection object with respect to the insertion / removal direction when the actuator is located at the closed position;
A connector comprising: The connector according to claim 1, wherein
The rotation support part is
A rotation restricting portion formed on the insulator;
A supported portion formed on the actuator that contacts the rotation restricting portion when the actuator is rotated to the closed position in a state where the connection object has escaped from the insulator; and
Connector with. The connector according to claim 2, wherein
The rotation support part is
A connector comprising a contact portion that contacts the connection target when the actuator rotates to the closed position in a state where the connection target is inserted into the insulator and separates the supported portion from the rotation restricting surface. The connector according to claim 3, wherein
The contact portion is a flat surface formed on the actuator that is in surface contact with one surface of the connection object when the actuator is positioned at the closed position in a state where the connection object has escaped from the insulator. ,
The connector which is a flat surface formed in the actuator in which the supported portion is inclined with respect to the contact portion. The connector according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
A connector in which the entire actuator is positioned between both end surfaces in the thickness direction of the insulator when the actuator is positioned at the closed position in a state where the connection object has escaped from the insulator.

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