JP2014146434A - Insertion device and method of connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To connect a plurality of connectors, respectively, with cables reliably.SOLUTION: An insertion device of connector has a connector guide 54 for housing a connector 20 on a mother board 10, and a socket support 33 for holding a socket 42 engaged with a connector 20. A guide shaft 52 extends from the connector guide 54 and is inserted into the guide hole 48 of the socket support 33. When the orientation of the connector guide 54 is adjusted in accordance with the connector 20, movement of the connector guide 54 is transmitted to the socket support 33 via the guide shaft 52, and the central axis of the socket support 33 is moved so as to be aligned with the central axis of the connector guide 54.

Description

  The present invention relates to a connector insertion apparatus and method.

  A notebook personal computer or the like has a motherboard on which a connector and the like for connecting to a CPU and external devices are mounted on a substrate. In a computer manufacturing factory, there is a mother board test process in which an external device is connected to a plurality of connectors on the mother board to check the operation of the mother board. Here, external devices connected to the plurality of connectors include a mouse and an external LCD (Liquid Crystal Display). In the mother board testing process, the time required for testing is shortened by using equipment for simultaneously connecting cables extending from external devices to a plurality of connectors.

  Here, the plurality of connectors are mounted by soldering after being placed on the substrate. However, when the connector is mounted on the board, the position of the connector with respect to the board varies. If an attempt is made to insert a cable with the connector being displaced, the socket at the tip of the cable interferes with the connector, and the cable cannot be correctly connected to the connector. Thus, conventionally, a taper portion is provided in a cable socket extending from an external device, and the cable is inserted while adjusting the position of the cable with respect to the connector, thereby preventing interference between the connector and the socket.

  In the connector connecting method using the tapered portion, first, the cable socket is brought into contact with the tip of the connector. When the cable is pushed in from this state, the tapered portion formed at the tip of the socket is moved following the shape of the tip of the connector. As a result, the central axis of the cable is gradually aligned with the central axis of the connector. When the cable is further pushed in, since the central axis of the connector and the cable are aligned, the cable socket is coupled to the connector.

  However, as notebook computers become smaller and thinner, connectors become smaller and thinner. As a result, there is no dimensional allowance for forming a tapered portion on the cable in the connector, and the cable cannot be positioned using the tapered portion. Therefore, for example, in an automatic machine for inserting a probe pin into an electronic component, a support mechanism that supports the probe pin so as to be movable in the left-right direction orthogonal to the insertion direction is provided.

JP 2009-63296 A

However, since a plurality of connectors are arranged close to each other on the computer motherboard, it is difficult to provide a horizontal movement mechanism for each cable.
Further, when the position of the cable with respect to the connector is inclined with respect to the insertion direction of the cable, the cable and the connector cannot be correctly connected.
This invention is made in view of such a situation, and it aims at enabling it to connect a cable to each of several connectors reliably.

  According to one aspect of the embodiment, a connector support base that is slidably attached to a base that supports a substrate and accommodates a connector, a socket support portion that holds a socket that can be inserted into the connector, and the socket support portion. A drive mechanism that is brought close to the connector support; a first slide support portion that tiltably supports the socket support portion with respect to the drive mechanism; and the connector support portion and the socket support portion that are connected to each other; And a second slide support portion for transmitting the movement of the support portion to the socket support portion.

  Further, according to another aspect of the embodiment, it occurred in a process of inserting a connector mounted on a board into a connector support base slidably attached to a base that supports the board, and a process of inserting the connector. The movement of the connector support base is transmitted to a socket support base connected via a guide shaft extending from the connector support portion, and the center axis of the connector support base and the central axis of the socket support base are matched. And a step of inserting the connector into a socket fixed to the socket support base by bringing the socket support base relatively close to the connector support base. Is done.

  When the position of the connector support base moves during insertion of the connector, the socket support portion moves in conjunction with this, so that the central axes of the connector and the socket can always be made substantially coincident. For this reason, it is possible to prevent interference due to the positional deviation between the connector and the socket. For this reason, it becomes possible to connect a cable to each of a plurality of connectors simultaneously.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a connector insertion device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a plan view of the connector insertion device according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a side view of the connector insertion device according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a cross-sectional structure of the connector guide of the connector insertion device according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a side view of another connector insertion device according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6A is a diagram illustrating an example of a process of inserting a connector into the connector guide of the connector insertion device according to the embodiment of the present invention. (Part 1) FIG. 6B is a diagram illustrating an example of a process of inserting a connector into the connector guide of the connector insertion device according to the embodiment of the present invention. (Part 2) FIG. 6C is a diagram illustrating an example of a process of inserting a connector into the connector guide of the connector insertion device according to the embodiment of the present invention. (Part 3) FIG. 7 is a plan view for explaining an example of a step of inserting a socket into the connector in the connector insertion device according to the embodiment of the present invention. (Part 1) FIG. 8 is a plan view for explaining an example of a process of inserting a socket into the connector in the connector insertion device according to the embodiment of the present invention. (Part 2) FIG. 9 is a side view for explaining an example of a step of inserting a socket into the connector in the connector insertion device according to the embodiment of the present invention. (Part 1) FIG. 10 is a plan view for explaining an example of a step of inserting a socket into the connector in the connector insertion device according to the embodiment of the present invention. (Part 3) FIG. 11 is a side view for explaining an example of a step of inserting a socket into the connector in the connector insertion device according to the embodiment of the present invention. (Part 2) FIG. 12 is a side view showing an example of a state in which a socket is inserted into the connector in the connector insertion device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

The objects and advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by means of the elements and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.
The foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not intended to limit the invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, a schematic configuration of a motherboard testing apparatus including a connector insertion apparatus is shown.
The test apparatus 1 has a support base 11 that supports a mother board 10 from below in a housing 2. The support base 11 is attached to the housing 2 so as to be movable up and down by a drive mechanism 12. A test determination unit 13 for testing the mother board 10 is disposed above the support base 11. An insertion device 15 is attached to the side portion of the support base 11. The insertion device 15 is used to electrically connect the external devices 16 and 17 to the plurality of connectors 20 and 20A of the motherboard 10, and in FIG. 1, a plurality of insertion devices 15 are provided so as to sandwich the motherboard 10 from side to side. Yes. For the external devices 16 and 17, for example, an input device such as a mouse or an output device such as a liquid crystal monitor is used. Further, a control device 18 for controlling the test and a monitor 19 for confirming the test result are attached to the outside of the housing 2.

  The test determination unit 13 includes a main body unit 21 and a test unit 22. The main unit 21 includes a circuit that performs signal processing, software executed by the circuit, a power supply device, and the like. The test unit 22 includes a plurality of probe pins 23 that are electrically connected to electrodes (not shown) on the motherboard 10, and signals and power for testing are input to and output from the motherboard 10 through the probe pins 23. It is like that.

  A plurality of pins 24 that support the mother board 10 are erected on the upper surface of the support base 11. A heat sink 26 is attached to the support base 11 via a coil spring 27 in order to cool the CPU 25 mounted on the motherboard 10. The coil spring 27 biases the heat sink 26 in a direction in which the heat sink 26 is in thermal contact with the CPU 25.

  The insertion device 15 has a first insertion portion 28 and a second insertion portion 29. Initially, the structure of a 1st insertion part is demonstrated with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 shows a plan view of the first insertion part, and FIG. 3 shows a side view. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 2 and 4 show the case where two first insertion portions 28 are arranged. However, the number of the first insertion portions 28 may be one, or may be three or more.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the first insertion portion 28 has a drive mechanism 31 attached to the support base 11. The drive mechanism 31 has a rod 31A that can advance and retreat. The movement direction of the rod 31 </ b> A substantially coincides with the insertion direction of the cable 40, that is, the direction orthogonal to the side surface of the support base 11. A socket support portion 33 is fixed to the tip of the rod 31A. The socket support portion 33 has a plate 34 fixed to the rod 31 </ b> A, and a first slide support portion 35 is attached to the plate 34.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the first slide support portion 35 includes a column 36 fixed to the plate 34 and an annular ring unit 37 disposed with a gap on the outside of the column 36. The support column 36 is arranged in parallel with the insertion direction of the socket 42 and has an outer diameter slightly smaller than the inner hole of the ring portion 37. Therefore, a slight gap 38 is formed between the support column 36 and the ring portion 37. Further, a flange portion 36A having a diameter larger than the inner hole of the ring portion 37 is formed at the tip portion protruding from the ring portion 37, and the ring portion 37 is prevented from falling off by the flange portion 36A. Such a first slide support portion 35 has a function of supporting the socket 42 joined to the connector 20 so as to be inclined in a direction inclined in the insertion direction.

  From the ring part 37 of the first slide support part 35, the socket support part 41 of the socket 42 extends integrally. The socket support portion 41 is a mounting surface 43 on which an upper surface can mount a socket 42 provided at the tip of the cable 40. Furthermore, a plate 45 for positioning and sandwiching the socket 42 with the mounting surface 43 is attached to the upper portion of the socket support portion 41 with pins 46. A guide hole 48 is formed between the ring portion 37 and the mounting surface 43. The guide hole 48 penetrates the socket support portion 41 so as to extend in parallel with the insertion direction of the socket 42. A guide shaft 52 extending from the connector support base 51 of the first insertion portion 28 attached to the support base 11 is inserted into the guide hole 48. A second slide support portion 49 is formed by the guide hole 48 and the guide shaft 52.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the connector support base 51 is provided with a pin 53 fixed to the upper surface of the support base 11 and a connector guide 54 movably attached to the pin 53. The shaft 52 extends from the connector guide 54 toward the guide hole 48.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the connector guide 54 has a recess 61 that can accommodate the connector 20 mounted on the motherboard 10. A tapered portion 61 </ b> A is formed at each of the upper end portions of the side wall portions of the recess 61. The pair of tapered portions 61A are inclined so that the connector 20 can be received, that is, the upper end widens the opening width and the lower end narrows the opening width. Further, the bottom of the connector guide 54 has a hole 62 into which the pin 53 can be inserted. Two pins 53 are fixed to the support base 11 at a predetermined interval with respect to one connector guide 54. Further, the upper portion of the pin 53 is enlarged in diameter to form a flange portion 53A. One hole 62 is formed for each pin 53. The inner diameter of the hole 62 is formed to be slightly larger than the outer diameter of the pin 53, and the upper portion is enlarged in accordance with the flange portion 53A. Since the outer diameter of the flange portion 53 </ b> A of the pin 53 is larger than the inner diameter of the small-diameter portion on the lower side of the hole 62, the connector guide 54 is prevented from falling off from the support base 11. In addition, since the gap 63 is formed between the pin 53 and the hole 62, the connector guide 54 can be freely moved obliquely forward, backward, left, and right in a direction parallel to the upper surface of the support base 11.

  Two guide shafts 52 extending from the connector guide 54 extend in parallel between the two holes 62. The outer diameter of each guide shaft 52 is slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the guide hole 48 of the connector support base 51, and a gap 68 is formed between them.

  Here, the second slide support portion 49 includes a guide shaft 52 and a socket support portion 41 having a guide hole 48, and the central axis of the connector guide 54 and the socket support portion 41 is the guide shaft 52. Are connected so as to substantially coincide with each other. Further, the gap 68 between the guide shaft 52 and the guide hole 48 has a gap that can transmit the movement of the guide shaft 54 to the socket support portion 41 via the slide shaft 52.

  The arrangement of the guide shaft 52 is not limited to FIG. For example, a pair of guide shafts 52 may be arranged so as to sandwich the two holes 62. When the connector 20 is small, the guide shaft 52 may be single.

Next, the configuration of the second insertion portion 29 will be described with reference to the side view of FIG.
The second insertion portion 29 has a drive mechanism 31 attached to the support base 11. The rod 31A of the drive mechanism 31 is movable in a direction in which the cable 40A can be inserted into the connector 20A. A socket support portion 33A is fixed to the tip of the rod 31A. The socket support portion 33A includes a plate 34 fixed to the rod 31A, and a first slide support portion 35 is attached to the plate 34. From the ring part 37 of the first slide support part 35, a socket support part 41A of the cable 40A extends integrally. The socket support portion 41A is fixed so that the mounting surface 43 and the plate 45 sandwich the socket 42A of the cable 40A.

  Here, the taper part 50 is formed in the front-end | tip part of socket 42A. The socket 42A can be inserted while being positioned on the connector 20A by the tapered portion 50. For this reason, the second insertion portion 29 is not provided with the second insertion portion 49 like the first insertion portion 28.

Next, a mother board test method will be described with a focus on a connector 20 connection method.
First, as shown in FIG. 1, the motherboard 10 is positioned and placed on the support base 11 by inserting pins 24 extending from the support base 11 into holes (not shown) formed in the motherboard 10. When the operator operates the control device 18 to start the test, the support base 11 is raised and the heat sink 26 is brought into thermal contact with the CPU 25 of the motherboard 10. At this time, the connector 20 mounted on the motherboard 10 is accommodated in the connector guide 54. Subsequently, the probe pin 23 disposed above the motherboard 10 is lowered, and the probe pin 23 is brought into electrical contact with a predetermined pad on the motherboard 10.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 6A, the position of the connector 20 and the position of the connector guide 54 may be shifted in the left-right direction. In such a case, when the mother board 10 is lowered toward the support base 11, the lower corner of the connector 20 comes into contact with the tapered portion 61 </ b> A of the connector guide 54 as shown in FIG. 6B. For this reason, when the mother board 10 is further lowered toward the support base 11, the tapered portion 61 </ b> A is pushed at the corner of the connector 20. Since the connector guide 54 is movably attached to the pin 53 fixed to the support base 11, the connector guide 54 moves in the direction indicated by the arrow AR1 within the gap 63 between the pin 53 and the hole 62. . Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6C, the connector guide 54 moves by being pushed by the corner of the connector 20, and the connector 20 is accommodated in the connector guide 54. Thus, by moving the connector guide 54, the connector 20 is accommodated in the connector guide 54, and the central axis of the connector 20 and the central axis of the connector guide 54 are made to correspond.

  At this time, the socket support portion 41 connected to the connector guide 54 via the second insertion portion 49 is also in the same direction as the movement direction of the connector guide 54 and substantially coincides with the movement amount of the connector guide 54. Moved by the amount. Thus, the center axis of the connector 20 and the center axis of the socket 42 are adjusted so that they can be inserted.

  Further, as shown in the plan view of FIG. 7, the connector 20 may be inclined at an angle θ with respect to the connector guide 54, for example, with respect to the insertion direction of the cable 40. Also in this case, when the taper part 61A of the connector guide 54 is pushed by the connector 20, it moves diagonally. As a result, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the central axis of the connector 20 and the central axis of the connector guide 54 are aligned with each other, and the connector 20 is accommodated in the connector guide 54.

  Here, a pair of guide shafts 52 are fixed to the connector guide 54 in parallel with the central axis of the connector guide 54. The distal end portion of the guide shaft 52 is inserted into the guide hole 48 of the socket support portion 41 of the cable 40. For this reason, when the connector guide 54 is moved in accordance with the central axis of the connector 20, the socket support portion 41, which is gently connected via the second slide support portion 49, is moved in conjunction therewith. It is done. That is, when the connector guide 54 is moved so as to coincide with the inclination angle θ of the connector 20, the second slide support portion 49 functions to move the socket support portion 41 on the socket 42 side in the same direction by the angle θ. To do.

  Further, the socket support portion 41 is loosely connected to the drive mechanism 31 by the first slide support portion 35. The first slide support portion 35 prevents the dropout from the drive mechanism 31 while allowing the socket support portion 41 to move even when the socket support portion 41 is moved by the second slide support portion 49. It is configured. Specifically, the ring portion 37 can be moved by the gap 38 while preventing the ring 37 from falling off by the flange portion 36A.

  Therefore, when the connector guide 54 is moved by the connector 20, the first and second slide support portions 49 cooperate to cause the socket support portion 41 to substantially coincide with the direction of the guide shaft 52 as indicated by the arrow AR2. To be moved. Then, the central axis of the socket support portion 41 and the central axis of the connector guide 54 are substantially matched via the guide shaft 52. As a result, the central axis of the connector 20 accommodated in the connector guide 54 and the central axis of the socket 42 of the cable 40 fixed to the socket support portion 41 are substantially matched.

  In this state, the drive mechanism 31 is driven by a command from the control device 18 so that the rod 31A protrudes toward the support base 11, and the socket support portion 41 moves toward the connector 20. As a result, the socket 42 is fitted into the connector 20 as shown in FIGS. This is because the central axes of both are substantially matched in advance via the guide shaft 52. The socket 42 can be smoothly fitted to the connector 20. It should be noted that the positions of the connector 20 and the socket 42 are adjusted so that they can be inserted in the same manner even when the positions of the connector 20 and the connector guide 54 are oblique and displaced in the left-right direction.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of connectors 20, 20 </ b> A are mounted on the motherboard 10. Further, some of the connectors 20 and 20A are arranged in different directions. The test apparatus 1 pushes the plurality of sockets 42 and 42A toward the mother board 10 simultaneously. As described above, the connector 20A is inserted while correcting misalignment by using the tapered portion 50 of the socket 42A. As a result, as shown in FIG. 11, the plurality of sockets 42 and 42A are simultaneously fitted to the plurality of connectors 20 and 20A one by one. As a result, the external devices 16 and 17 are electrically connected to the motherboard 10 via the sockets 42 and 42A and the cables 40 and 40A.

  Thereafter, a test signal pattern is input from the test unit 22 to the motherboard 10 via the probe pins 23. Further, an output signal from the motherboard 10 is taken into the test unit 22 via the probe pin 23. Then, the test unit 22 analyzes the output signal and displays the analysis result on the monitor 19. The success or failure of the operation of the motherboard 10 may be performed by the test unit 22 or may be determined by an operator with reference to the monitor 19. When the test of the motherboard 10 is completed, the insertion device 15 pulls back the rod 31A of the drive mechanism 31 and pulls the sockets 42 and 42A away from the connectors 20 and 20A according to a command from the control device 18. As a result, all the external devices 16 and 17 are removed from the motherboard 10. Subsequently, the control device 18 raises the test unit 22 and removes the probe pin 23 from the motherboard 10.

  As described above, when the connector 20 or the socket 42 cannot be provided with a tapered portion as described above, the first insertion portion 28 can be used to form the tapered portion 60. By using the second insertion portion 29, it is possible to simultaneously insert the sockets 42 and 42A into the plurality of connectors 20 and 20A simply by moving the sockets 42 and 42A forward.

  The first insertion portion 29 is configured such that the connector support base 51 and the socket support portion 41 can be interlocked by providing the first slide support portion 35 and the second slide support portion 49. For this reason, when the position of the connector support base 51 moves when the connector 20 is inserted, the socket support portion 41 can be moved accordingly. It becomes possible to match. For this reason, the interference resulting from the position shift of the connector 20 and the socket 42 is prevented. Further, since the insertion device 15 does not have a lateral drive mechanism, the socket 42 can be reliably inserted into each connector 20 even when the plurality of connectors 20 are arranged close to each other.

Since the second slide support portion 49 is formed by a guide shaft 52 fixed to the connector support base 51 and a hole 48 formed in the socket support portion 41 and into which the guide shaft 52 can be inserted, a simple configuration is provided. Thus, the position of the socket 42 can be corrected according to the connector 20.
Further, the connector support base 51 is movably attached to the support base 11 and has a tapered portion 61A that is inclined so as to close as the connector 20 is inserted, so that the connector support base 51 is moved according to the position of the connector 20. be able to. For this reason, it is possible to perform the insertion operation while allowing a positional shift when the connector 20 is mounted.

  Here, the number and arrangement of the connectors 20 and 20A are not limited to the embodiment.

  All examples and conditional expressions given here are intended to help the reader understand the inventions and concepts that have contributed to the promotion of technology, and such examples and It is to be construed without being limited to the conditions, and the organization of such examples in the specification is not related to showing the superiority or inferiority of the invention. While embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail, various changes, substitutions and variations can be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

1 Test equipment 10 Motherboard (board)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Base 20, 20A Connector 31 Drive mechanism 35 1st slide support part 36 Support | pillar 37 Guide part 38 Clearance 41 Socket support stand 42,42A Socket 48 Guide hole 49 2nd slide support part 51 Connector support stand 52 Guide shaft 53 Pin 54 Connector guide 61 Recess 61A Taper

Claims (5)

A connector support base that is slidably attached to a base that supports the board and accommodates the connector;
A socket support for holding a socket insertable into the connector;
A drive mechanism for bringing the socket support portion close to the connector support;
A first slide support portion that tiltably supports the socket support portion with respect to the drive mechanism;
A second slide support portion for connecting the connector support base and the socket support portion, and transmitting the movement of the connector support base to the socket support portion;
A connector insertion device comprising:   The said 2nd slide support part has a guide shaft fixed to the said connector support stand, and the hole which is formed in the said socket support part and the said guide shaft can be inserted, It is characterized by the above-mentioned. Connector insertion device. The connector support base is movably attached to a pin standing vertically with respect to the base, and a clearance is provided between the pins, and a recess for accommodating the connector is formed, and the guide shaft is fixed. Connector guide,
3. The connector insertion device according to claim 1, wherein the concave portion is formed with a tapered portion that serves as a guide when the connector is inserted into the connector guide. 4.   The first slide support portion includes an annular guide portion provided in the socket support portion, and a support column that is fixed to the drive mechanism and is inserted into the guide unit with a gap. The connector insertion device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the connector insertion device is disposed in parallel with a moving direction of the socket support portion. Inserting a connector mounted on a board into a connector support base slidably attached to a base supporting the board;
The movement of the connector support base generated in the process of inserting the connector is transmitted to a socket support base connected via a guide shaft extending from the connector support base, and the central axis of the connector support base and the socket support base Matching the central axes of
Inserting the connector into a socket fixed to the socket support base by bringing the socket support base relatively close to the connector support base;
A method of inserting a connector, comprising:

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