JP2014052506A - Optical connector, communication substrate and communication device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an optical connector, a communication substrate and a communication device that allow a connection state of a soldering connection part between a terminal and a conductive path of an external substrate to be checked from an external, even while the soldering connection part is covered by a shield shell.SOLUTION: The optical connector comprises: a housing that is arranged on a mounting face of the external substrate; a face-mounted type terminal that has a soldering connection part to be soldered and connected to the conductive path formed on the mounting face of the external substrate which is led out from the housing; and the shield shell that is arranged on the mounting face of the external substrate and covers at least a part of the housing and the terminal. The shield shell is provided with an opening part capable of viewing the soldering connection part of the terminal from an outside of the shield shell.

Description

  The present invention relates to an optical connector, a communication board including the optical connector, and a communication device including the communication board.

  In recent years, optical fiber cables capable of high-speed communication of a large amount of information have been applied to communication of various electrical components (car navigation system, etc.) of automobiles. Various optical connectors have been proposed for use in connecting this optical fiber cable and a photoelectric conversion element that converts an optical signal into an electrical signal or converts an electrical signal into an optical signal.

  As this type of optical connector, for example, there is one shown in the cited document 1. This optical connector is of a board mounting type that is mounted on an external board, and is configured to electrically connect pin-like terminals derived from the connector housing to a conductive path formed on the mounting surface of the external board. belongs to.

JP 2012-53246 A

  By the way, as a board mount type optical connector, there is a through hole mount type in which a pin-like terminal led out from a connector housing is inserted into a through hole formed in an external board and soldered. However, with this configuration, it is necessary to invert the circuit board when inspecting the connection state, which takes time and effort.

  On the other hand, there is also a surface mount type optical connector in which pin-shaped terminals are bent along the surface of the external substrate and soldered on the same surface of the external substrate as the connector housing is mounted. However, in such a configuration, in order to make it possible to confirm the connection state between the terminal and the conductive path, there is a situation in which the soldered portion between the terminal and the conductive path cannot be covered with the shield shell. This is because the soldered connection state cannot be inspected if it is covered with a shield shell including the soldered portion. For this reason, this surface-mount type optical connector has a problem that even if a shield shell is provided, external noise and unnecessary radiation cannot be blocked around the terminals.

  The present invention has been completed on the basis of the above circumstances, and an optical connector capable of confirming the connection state of a soldered portion between a terminal and a conductive path of an external board with a shield shell. It is intended to provide. Moreover, it aims at providing the communication board | substrate provided with such an optical connector, and the communication apparatus provided with the communication board | substrate.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a housing disposed on a mounting surface of an external substrate, and a solder connection portion that is led out from the housing and soldered to a conductive path formed on the mounting surface of the external substrate. And a shield shell disposed on the mounting surface of the external substrate and covering at least a part of the housing and the terminal, the optical connector including the terminal on the shield shell. This solder connecting portion is characterized in that an opening is provided through which the shield shell can be seen from the outside.

  According to the present invention, since the state of soldering connection between the terminal and the external substrate can be visually recognized from the outside of the shield shell through the opening, it is possible to cover not only the housing but also the terminal with the shield shell. The effect of being able to block external noise and unnecessary radiation can be obtained. Moreover, since the heat in the shield shell is dissipated through the opening, heat dissipation is excellent.

  Further, a plurality of terminals may be provided side by side in the width direction of the housing, and the openings may be a large number of small holes arranged in a regular grid pattern over the area corresponding to the arrangement area of the terminal group in the shield shell.

  Alternatively, a plurality of terminals may be provided side by side in the width direction of the housing, and the opening may be a plurality of slits extending in the up-down direction that are arranged in parallel in a region corresponding to the arrangement region of the terminal group in the shield shell.

  In addition, a surface of the housing that faces the external substrate is formed from a contact surface that contacts the external substrate and a separation surface that is positioned away from the external substrate, and a terminal is formed between the separation surface and the external substrate. You may make it solder-connect to the conductive path of an external substrate in a terminal accommodating space. In this way, it is possible to solder and connect the solder connection portion of the terminal to the conductive path formed on the mounting surface of the external substrate without increasing the space for arranging the housing on the mounting surface of the external substrate. Become.

  Furthermore, the tip of the terminal is provided so as to be located behind the back of the housing, the shield shell covers the tip of the terminal, and hot air in the terminal accommodating space flows upward between the back of the housing and the opening. You may make it arrange | position the surplus heat dissipation channel | path for discharging | emitting from a part. If it does in this way, since the heat confined in the terminal accommodation space spreads also to the passage for heat dissipation, and it becomes possible to radiate more efficiently through an opening, the heat dissipation of an optical connector improves further.

The perspective view seen from the back side of the optical connector of Embodiment 1 of the present invention AA sectional view of FIG. A plan view of the shield shell Similarly front view of shield shell Similarly back view of shield shell Similarly side view of shield shell Similarly, a plan view of the optical connector Similarly bottom view of optical connector Similarly front view of optical connector Similarly rear view of optical connector Similarly side view of optical connector The perspective view seen from the back side of the optical connector of Embodiment 2 of the present invention BB sectional view of FIG. The perspective view seen from the back side of the optical connector of other embodiments of the present invention

<Embodiment 1>
Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The optical connector 10 according to the present embodiment is mounted on a vehicle, for example, and is used in a state of being mounted on an external circuit board 40 on which a conductive path (not shown) is formed by a printed wiring technique. In the following description, the upper side in FIG. 2 is described as the upper side, and the lower side is described as the lower side. Further, the description will be made assuming that the right side in FIG. 2 is the front and the left side is the rear.

  The optical connector 10 mainly includes a housing 11 made of a synthetic resin, an optical assembly 20 accommodated in the housing 11, and a metal shield shell 30 fitted on the housing 11.

  The housing 11 generally has a box shape with an open front. As shown in FIG. 2, the housing 11 includes a housing main body 12 having an opening that opens upward, and a lid 13 that is assembled to the housing main body 12 and closes the opening. . The housing 11 has a hood portion 14 that opens forward and into which the mating connector is fitted from the front.

  Further, the bottom of the housing main body 12 has a stepped shape with the rear side raised, the front side is a contact surface 15 that comes into contact with the external circuit board 40, and the rear side is separated upward from the external circuit board 40. The spacing surface 16 is positioned.

  The optical assembly 20 accommodated in the housing 11 mainly includes an optical element module 21, a flexible board 22, an internal circuit board 23, and the like.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the internal circuit board 23 is disposed above the separation surface 16 of the housing body 12, and the surface of the insulating substrate is provided on both the upper surface and the lower surface of the flexible substrate 22. The circuit boards 23A and 23B on which conductive paths are formed by the printed wiring technique are laminated.

  The internal circuit board 23 is electrically connected to a conductive path formed in the internal circuit board 23 in a state where one end of the plurality of rod-shaped metal terminals 24 is penetrated side by side in the width direction of the housing 11. It is connected to the. The other end of the terminal 24 is led out below the spacing surface 16 from a terminal insertion hole (not shown) formed in the spacing surface 16 of the housing body 12, and the external circuit board 40 faces rearward. The solder connection portion 24A is bent in an L shape so as to be along the mounting surface, and can be electrically connected to a conductive path (not shown) formed on the external circuit board 40 by soldering. In the present embodiment, the tip end portion (solder connection portion 24A) of the terminal 24 led out from the housing main body portion 12 is behind the separation surface 16 (left side in FIG. 2), that is, from the back surface 11A of the housing 11. It is set as the structure which protrudes in the back side. In the present embodiment, a space formed between the separation surface 16 and the external circuit board 40 is referred to as a terminal accommodating space 17. The solder connection portion 24A is formed by pressing the straight terminal 24 into the terminal insertion hole of the housing main body 12 and then bending it, or insert-molding the terminal 24 bent in advance into an L shape into the housing main body 12. By doing so, the state of the present embodiment can be obtained.

  From the front edge of the internal circuit board 23, the flexible board 22 extends forward and is bent downward. Through the optical element module 21 and the photoelectric conversion circuit board 25 arranged in front of the flexible board 22. Connected. The optical element module 21 is a module having a function of converting an electrical signal into an optical signal and a function of converting an optical signal into an electrical signal, and a conventionally known optical element module is used.

  A shield shell 30 formed by pressing a metal plate material is externally fitted to the housing 11 so as to cover an area excluding the hood portion 14. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, the shield shell 30 includes a top surface 31 that covers the top surface of the housing 11, a pair of side surfaces 32 and 32 that cover both side surfaces of the housing 11, and a flat plate that collectively covers the back surface of the housing 11. A rear surface 33, a pair of connection flanges 34, 34 that are bent in an L shape outward from the lower end edges of the pair of side surfaces 32, 32, and are disposed on the lower surface side of the housing 11, 32 includes a pair of narrow front flanges 35 and 35 (see FIG. 4) bent from the front edge of 32 along the front surface of the housing 11. A hood portion 14 of the housing body 12 protrudes between the pair of front flanges 35, 35. The shield shell 30 electromagnetically shields the surface excluding a part of the front surface and the lower surface of the housing 11. Further, a claw portion 36 (see FIG. 8) is formed to protrude from the lower end edges of the pair of front flanges 35, 35, and this claw portion 36 is bent to the lower surface side (contact surface 15 side) of the housing 11. As a result, the shield shell 30 is assembled to the housing 11.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the back surface 33 of the shield shell 30 is set to be spaced from the back surface 11 </ b> A of the housing 11. Between the back surface 33 of the shield shell 30 and the back surface 11 </ b> A of the housing 11. The formed space is a heat dissipation passage 18 for flowing hot air in the terminal accommodating space 17 upward.

  Further, in the present embodiment, a large number of small holes 37 as openings that penetrate the plate surface are formed on the back surface 33 of the shield shell 30 so as to form a regular lattice pattern on almost the entire surface except the vicinity of the upper end and the vicinity of the lower end. Thus, the vicinity of the solder connection portion 24 </ b> A of the terminal 24 can be visually recognized from the outside of the shield shell 30 through the small hole 37.

  The hole diameter and the formation interval of the small holes 37 can be designed by balancing the visibility from the outside of the solder connection portion 24A and the shielding performance. That is, in order to increase the visibility from the outside, it is preferable to increase the hole diameter of the small hole 37, which means that the amount of leakage of electromagnetic waves through the small hole 37 increases. On the other hand, as the frequency of the electromagnetic wave to be shielded increases, the shielding effect can be enhanced even with a small hole diameter. Therefore, the hole diameter of the small hole 37 is set according to the electromagnetic wave band to be shielded, and the visibility is accordingly increased. If the formation density (formation pitch) of the small holes 37 is determined from the viewpoint, it is possible to ensure visibility from the outside while obtaining a predetermined shielding effect.

  The optical connector 10 described above is mounted on the external circuit board 40 to form a communication board 41 and is accommodated in a case C of the communication device 42.

  The optical connector 10 of the present embodiment has the above configuration, and the operation will be described next.

  According to the optical connector 10 of the present embodiment, the solder connection portion 24A, which is the connection portion of the terminal 24 to the external circuit board 40, can be visually recognized from the outside of the shield shell 30 through the numerous small holes 37. Not only the terminal 24 but also the shield shell 30 can be covered, so that external noise and unnecessary radiation can be blocked.

  In addition, by providing such a large number of small holes 37, the hot air in the terminal accommodating space 17 and the heat dissipation passage 18 is efficiently discharged to the outside through the large number of small holes 37, so that the optical connector has excellent heat dissipation. 10 can be obtained.

  Further, the bottom surface of the housing 11 that faces the external circuit board 40 is formed in a two-stage shape including a contact surface 15 that contacts the external circuit board 40 and a separation surface 16 that is positioned away from the external circuit board 40. In the terminal accommodating space 17 between the separation surface 16 and the external circuit board 40, the housing 11 is led out from the housing 11 and soldered and connected along the mounting surface of the external circuit board 40. Thus, the optical connector 10 and the external circuit board 40 can be soldered and connected without increasing the space for arranging them on the mounting surface.

<Embodiment 2>
Next, Embodiment 2 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The optical connector 50 of this embodiment differs from the optical connector 10 of the above embodiment in the shape of the connector and the position of the opening of the shield shell. Hereinafter, the description of the same components as those of the first embodiment is omitted, and the same reference numerals are given.

  As shown in FIG. 13, the housing 51 of the optical connector 50 of the present embodiment has a longer front-rear dimension as the separation surface 56 extends further rearward than the housing 11 of the first embodiment.

  The shield shell 60 that covers the housing 51 has an outer shape that is substantially the same as that of the shield shell 30 of the first embodiment, but differs in the formation position of the opening. That is, in the present embodiment, the shield shell 60 is set so that the back surface 63 of the shield shell 60 overlaps the back surface 51A of the housing 51. Therefore, the heat dissipation passage 18 of the first embodiment is not provided, and the separation surface 16 and the outside The terminals 24 and the external circuit board 40 are connected by soldering in a terminal accommodating space 57 provided between the circuit board 40 and the circuit board 40. In the present embodiment, the large number of small holes 67 provided in the shield shell 60 is a portion surrounding the terminal accommodating space 57, that is, a region below the back surface 63 of the shield shell 60 as shown in FIG. These are formed in a region on the rear side and the lower side of the pair of side surfaces 62 and 62.

  According to the optical connector 50 of the present embodiment, in addition to the same effects as those of the first embodiment, the length of the housing 51 is set to be longer so that the space inside the housing 51 becomes larger and more terminals are provided. And electronic devices can be accommodated. In addition, while the length of the housing 51 is increased to eliminate the heat radiation passage on the back surface 51A side of the housing 51, a large number of small holes are provided so as to surround the terminal accommodating space 57 provided below the separation surface 56 from three directions. Since it is the structure which provides 67, it is excellent also in heat dissipation.

<Other embodiments>
The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described with reference to the above description and drawings. For example, the following embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

  (1) In the above embodiment, the configuration in which the opening provided in the shield shell has a large number of small holes is shown, but the form of the opening is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, it can be a single elongated window that allows the inside of the shield shell to be visually recognized, or a plurality of slits 43 that extend in the vertical direction and are arranged in parallel, as shown in FIG.

  (2) In the above embodiment, the bottom surface of the housing has a stepped shape and the terminal is led out from the separation surface. However, it is not always necessary to provide the separation surface. For example, the terminal is led out from the back surface of the housing. Also good.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10, 50 ... Optical connector 11, 51 ... Housing 12 ... Housing main-body part 13 ... Cover part 14 ... Hood part 15 ... Contact surface 16, 56 ... Separation surface 17, 57 ... Terminal accommodation space 18 ... Radiation passage 20 ... Optical assembly DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 21 ... Optical element module 22 ... Flexible board 23 ... Internal circuit board 24 ... Terminal 24A ... Solder connection part 30, 60 ... Shield shell 34 ... Connection flange 37, 67 ... Small hole (opening part)
40 ... External circuit board (external board)
41 ... Communication board 42 ... Communication device 43 ... Slit (opening)
C ... Case

Claims (7)

A housing disposed on the mounting surface of the external substrate;
A surface-mounting type terminal having a solder connection portion which is led out from the housing and soldered to a conductive path formed on the mounting surface of the external substrate;
An optical connector including a shield shell disposed on the mounting surface of the external substrate and covering at least a part of the housing and the terminal,
An optical connector in which the shield shell is provided with an opening through which the solder connection portion of the terminal can be seen from the outside of the shield shell. A plurality of the terminals are provided side by side in the width direction of the housing, and the openings are formed from a large number of small holes arranged in a regular lattice pattern in an area corresponding to the arrangement area of the terminal group in the shield shell. The optical connector according to claim 1, wherein A plurality of the terminals are provided side by side in the width direction of the housing, and the openings are arranged in the shield shell so as to be arranged in parallel over an area corresponding to the arrangement area of the terminal group. The optical connector according to claim 1, comprising a slit. The surface of the housing that faces the external substrate has a contact surface that contacts the external substrate, and a separation surface that is positioned away from the external substrate, and the terminal is formed between the separation surface and the external substrate. The optical connector according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the optical connector is solder-connected to the conductive path of the external substrate in a terminal accommodating space formed therebetween. The tip of the terminal is provided so as to be located rearward of the back surface of the housing, the shield shell covers the tip of the terminal, and hot air in the terminal accommodating space is formed between the back surface of the housing. The optical connector according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a heat dissipation passage for flowing upward and discharging from the opening. A communication board on which the optical connector according to any one of claims 1 to 5 is mounted on the external board. A communication device comprising the communication board according to claim 6 in a case.

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