JP2015037036A - Flat cable connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a flat cable connector capable of releasing the locking of a flat cable by a single operation.SOLUTION: A flat cable connector 1 is equipped with a locking member 4 for locking a flat cable 20 inserted in a housing 2 at a set position, and formed with an insertion portion 2d in which a tip end portion 21 of the flat cable 20 is inserted by a bottom wall 2a and an upper wall 2c supported by both end portions in a longitudinal direction along an aligning direction of a terminal 3. The locking member 4 has a bridge portion 41 laid between elastic fitting portions elastically fitted with both end portions of the housing 2, and a pair of locking protrusions 4d inserted in locking holes 23 suspended from both end portions of the bridge portion and formed at a tip end portion 21 of the flat cable 20. The bridge portion 41 abuts on a bulging portion 8 bulged out from an upper wall in a longitudinal direction of the housing 2. A cavity 9 is formed at a center part in a longitudinal direction between opposite surfaces of the bridge portion 41 and the bulging portion 8, and a pair of protrusions 8b is formed on both sides of any one of the opposite surfaces of the bridge portion and the bulging portion across the cavity.

Description

  The present invention relates to a cable formed by sandwiching a plurality of conductor patterns on a flexible insulating film, or a ribbon-shaped cable (hereinafter referred to as a flat cable) in which a plurality of flexible flat-plate conductors are arranged side by side. Is generally related to a connector for a flat cable used for connecting to an electronic component.

  For example, as described in Patent Document 1, a flat cable connector includes a flat rectangular parallelepiped connector housing and a plurality of terminal rows to which a plurality of conductors exposed at the tip of the flat cable are brought into contact and conduction. The insertion part which inserts | inserts and inserts the front-end | tip part of a flat cable in those terminal rows is formed. Locking mechanisms are provided at both ends of the insertion portion in the longitudinal direction to hold the distal end portion of the flat cable at a set position. The lock mechanism of the same document is provided with a lock arm portion that is elastically deformed by inserting a distal end portion of a flat cable, and is provided with a locking projection that protrudes in the displacement direction of the lock arm portion. And when the notch formed in the both side edges of the front-end | tip part of a flat cable reaches the position of the latching protrusion of a lock arm part, a latching protrusion will approach into a notch part, and a lock arm part will reset. Thereby, the flat cable is configured to be locked at the set position. Further, when the flat cable is detached from the connector, a lock release member is provided that elastically deforms the lock arm portion in the direction opposite to the lock direction.

JP 2011-119162 A

  However, the lock release member described in Patent Document 1 is provided with locks provided on both sides of the insertion portion in order to elastically deform the lock arm portion in a direction in which the locking projection of the lock arm portion is retracted from the cut portion of the flat cable. It is provided in each arm part. For this reason, when the flat cable is detached from the connector, the unlocking members on both sides of the insertion portion have to be operated, so that the operation is complicated.

  The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a flat cable connector capable of releasing the lock of the flat cable with one touch.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the flat cable connector of the present invention includes a housing in which a plurality of terminals to which a plurality of conductors exposed at the distal end of the flat cable are brought into contact and conduction are mounted, and an elastic to the housing. And a locking member that holds the distal end portion of the flat cable inserted into the housing in a set position, and the housing is supported at both ends in the longitudinal direction along the terminal arrangement direction of the terminals. And an insertion portion of the end portion of the flat cable is formed by the upper wall, and the lock member is inserted between the elastic fitting portion and an elastic fitting portion elastically fitted to both ends of the housing. And a bridging portion that is suspended from both ends of the bridging portion and inserted into locking holes or notches formed on both sides of the front end portion of the flat cable. The bridging portion of the locking member is provided in contact with an overhang formed by overhanging along the longitudinal direction of the upper wall of the housing, and at least in the longitudinal direction. A depression is formed between the opposed surfaces of the bridging portion and the overhanging portion in a substantially central region, and a pair of protrusions is formed on either the bridging portion or the overhanging portion of the opposite surface on both sides of the depression. It is characterized by.

  With this configuration, when the flat cable is inserted into the housing, the pair of locking projections of the lock member are lifted by the distal end portion of the flat cable. Further, when the flat cable is inserted and the locking holes or cuts formed on both sides of the tip end reach the position of the pair of locking projections, the pair of locking parts enter the locking holes or cuts, The insertion position of the flat cable is held (locked) at the set position. Thereby, the conductor part of the flat cable is electrically connected to the terminal row. From this state, when detaching the flat cable, pressing the central part or the substantially central region of the bridging part of the lock member toward the overhanging part facing each other causes a pair of bridge parts and the pair of overhanging parts formed on the opposite part to be formed. With the protrusion as a fulcrum, the substantially central region bends toward the overhang portion due to elastic deformation of the bridging portion. Both ends of the lock member are lifted in a direction away from the projecting portion by the reaction force of the bending. As a result, the pair of locking projections that are suspended from both ends of the locking member are lifted, the pair of locking projections are withdrawn from the locking holes or cuts of the flat cable, and the locking of the flat cable is released. The That is, the flat cable can be unlocked with one touch.

  In this case, when providing a pair of protrusions formed on the facing part of the bridging part and the overhanging part on the overhanging part facing the bridging part, the central part in the longitudinal direction of the facing surface of the overhanging part is a valley, By forming peaks on both sides in the longitudinal direction across the valley, irregularities can be formed on the surface where the overhanging portion faces the bridging portion. Alternatively, when a pair of protrusions is formed on the bridging portion, the central portion in the longitudinal direction of the bridging portion facing the overhanging portion is thinned to form a trough, and the trough is sandwiched between the longitudinal portions. Mountains can be formed by thickening both sides in the direction. In either case, the problem of the present invention can be solved.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the connector for flat cables which can cancel | release the lock | rock of a flat cable by one touch can be provided.

It is a figure which shows the exploded perspective view of one Embodiment of the connector for flat cables of this invention with the perspective view of a flat cable. It is a figure which shows the assembly perspective view of the connector for flat cables of FIG. 1, and the perspective view of a flat cable. It is a top view for demonstrating operation | movement of the connector for flat cables of FIG. 1 embodiment. It is a figure explaining the structure of the elastic fitting part of the lock member and housing of FIG. 1 embodiment. It is a figure explaining the state of the latching | locking part of the locking member of an initial stage by inserting a flat cable in the connector for flat cables of FIG. It is a figure explaining the operation position of the latching | locking part in the position which inserted the flat cable further from the state of FIG. It is a figure explaining the locked state of the latching | locking part when a flat cable is inserted to the setting position from the state of FIG. It is a figure which shows the initial state of the lock release operation | movement which removes a flat cable from the connector for flat cables of FIG. It is a figure which shows the operation position of the latching | locking part when the lock | rock of a flat cable is cancelled | released from the state of FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the flat cable has been pulled out from the flat cable connector in the unlocked state of FIG. 9. It is a figure which shows the disassembled perspective view of other embodiment of the connector for flat cables of this invention.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on embodiments.

(First embodiment)
As shown in FIG. 1, the flat cable connector 1 according to the present embodiment includes an insulating housing 2 formed of resin or the like, a terminal 3 in which a plurality of terminals mounted on the housing 2 are arranged, And an insulating lock member 4 formed of resin or the like. The housing 2 includes a bottom wall 2a formed with a longitudinal direction along the terminal arrangement direction of the terminals 3, a pair of support portions 2b provided at both ends in the longitudinal direction of the bottom wall 2a, and a pair of support portions 2b. It has an upper wall 2c formed between them. The upper wall 2c is formed with an overhanging portion 8 that protrudes along the longitudinal direction so as to face the upper surface of the bottom wall 2a. The overhanging portion 8 is formed such that both ends in the longitudinal direction are spaced from the pair of support portions 2b. The bottom wall 2a, the pair of support portions 2b, the upper wall 2c, and the overhanging portion 8 form an insertion portion 2d of the flat cable 20.

  A terminal 3 is attached to the insertion portion 2d from the back side in the figure of the housing 2. The terminal 3 includes a plurality of terminals 3a formed in a clip shape, and each terminal 3a is formed in a plurality of rows through an insulating material. An external connection end 3b is provided on the back side of each terminal 3a, and the external connection end 3a is electrically connected to a terminal portion such as a wiring board (not shown) to which the flat cable connector 1 of the present embodiment is attached by soldering or the like. Connected. Further, the clip-like lower terminal of each terminal 3a is exposed to the upper surface of the bottom wall 2a and attached to the insertion portion 2d, and the clip-like upper terminal of each terminal 3a is attached to the insertion portion 2d. The exposed conductor is in contact. The housing 2 formed in this way is fixed to a wiring board (not shown) via the fixture 5 by attaching the fixture 5 to the fitting portion 2f formed on the outer surface side of the support portion 2b at both ends. It is like that.

  The lock member 4 includes a bridging portion 41 made of a plate material having a length along the longitudinal direction of the housing 2 and a pair of elastic fitting portions 42 integrally formed by hanging down at both ends of the bridging portion 41 in the long axis direction. Has been. The pair of elastic fitting portions 42 are inserted into fitting recesses 2g formed to be recessed from the upper surfaces of the support portions 2b at both ends of the overhanging portion 8 of the housing 2, and cooperate with the fitting recesses 2g. In the figure, it is fitted to the housing 2 so as to be movable in the vertical direction. That is, the pair of elastic fitting portions 42 of the lock member 4 includes a pair of pressing leg portions 43 respectively suspended from both side surfaces in the width direction orthogonal to the long axis (longitudinal) direction of the bridging portion 41 and the long axis direction. It is formed with a locking leg 44 depending from the end face. The pair of pressing legs 43 are formed to have a semi-cylindrical protrusion 43b that protrudes outward in the width direction at the tip of an elastic member formed in a tapered shape at the tip. The locking leg 44 is formed to have a locking projection 44a protruding outward in the long axis direction at the tip of an elastic member that is positioned between the pair of pressing legs 43 and is hung with a gap. ing. The locking projection 44a is formed to have a tapered section in the hanging direction, and has a locking step on the upper surface of the base.

  On the other hand, the fitting recesses 2g formed at both ends of the housing 2 are formed in a shape into which the elastic fitting portion 42 can be inserted. As shown in FIG. 4B, the inner surface of the fitting recess 2g facing in the housing minor axis direction is formed as an inclined surface 2k that has a narrow upper end and widens toward the lower end. When the elastic fitting portion 42 of the lock member 4 is inserted into the fitting recess 2g, the semi-cylindrical protrusion 43a of the pressing leg 43 is inserted by sliding on the inclined surface 2k. Further, a stepped portion 2m is formed on the inner surface of the fitting recess 2g in the longitudinal direction of the housing to which the locking projection 44a of the locking leg 44 is locked.

  By forming in this way, when the pressing leg 43 of the lock member 4 is inserted from the upper end of the fitting recess 2g of the housing 2, the pair of pressing leg 43 is elastically deformed as shown in FIG. The semi-cylindrical protrusion 43a receives a reaction force from the inclined surface 2k and is pushed down in the direction of the arrow 46 shown in the figure. On the other hand, even if the locking member 4 is about to come out upward with respect to the housing 2 due to external force, the locking protrusion 44a of the locking leg 44 is locked to the step 2m as shown in FIG. Thus, the lock member 4 is prevented from falling off the housing 2. In this way, the bridging portion 41 of the lock member 4 is pressed downward with a constant force so as to contact the upper surface of the overhanging portion 8 of the housing 2.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 1, the flat cable 20 is formed, for example, by sandwiching a plurality of conductor patterns in a flexible insulating film, and a plurality of conductors are exposed at the tip of the tip portion 21. A pair of rectangular locking holes 23 are formed on both sides in the width direction. And the front-end | tip of the latching protrusion 4d is inserted in the latching hole 23 of the flat cable 20, and it latches mutually with the latching hole 23, and fixes the flat cable 20 to the housing 2. FIG. Note that the distal end portion 21 of the flat cable 20 is formed by stacking reinforcing members 22.

  The locking protrusion 4d of the lock member 4 is positioned inside the elastic fitting portion 42 of the bridging portion 41 and spaced from the elastic fitting portion 42, as shown in the cross-sectional view of FIG. It is provided to project in a tapered manner toward a void 2h formed on the upper surface of the bottom wall 2a. That is, as shown in FIG. 5 (b), the locking projection 4 d is formed in a tapered shape by a plate member parallel to the insertion direction of the flat cable 20, and the tip part enters the locking hole 23 of the flat cable 20. It is designed to be locked. That is, as shown in FIG. 5 (b), the locking projection 4d has a locking surface that contacts the edge 23a (see FIG. 1) on the near side in the insertion direction of the locking hole 23 from the tip toward the base. It is formed to be inclined toward the front side of the insertion portion 6. Further, as shown in FIG. 5B, the engaging surface that contacts the inner edge 23b (see FIG. 1) in the insertion direction of the engaging hole 23 is formed vertically from the tip toward the base. Yes.

  Next, the overhang part 8 which is a characteristic part of the present embodiment will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the overhanging portion 8 of the present embodiment has a trough 8a formed at the center in the longitudinal direction on the upper surface on which the bridging portion 41 of the lock member 4 is placed, and is elongated with the trough 8a interposed therebetween. Mountains 8b are formed on both sides in the direction. As a result, the overhanging portion 8 is formed so that a gap is formed in the opposite portion between the bridging portion 41 and the overhanging portion 8 in the center in the longitudinal direction of the lock member 4.

  In FIG. 2, the assembly perspective view of the connector 1 for flat cables of this embodiment and the perspective view of a flat cable are shown. As shown in the drawing, a trough 8a is formed at the longitudinal center of the upper surface of the overhanging portion 8, and peaks 8b are formed on both sides of the trough 8a, so that it is mounted on the upper surface of the overhanging portion 8 of the housing 2. A depression is formed on the lower surface side of the central portion of the lock member 4 that is placed and assembled. The operation | movement which connects the flat cable 20 to the connector 1 for flat cables formed in this way is demonstrated with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 5 shows a plan view of a state before the flat cable 20 is inserted into the flat cable connector 1. FIG. 5 is a view for explaining the state of the lock member 4 in the initial stage when the flat cable 20 is inserted into the flat cable connector 1. Similarly, FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the locking portion in a state where the flat cable 20 is further inserted from the initial stage of insertion, and FIG. 7 is a locked state of the locking portion when the flat cable 20 is inserted to the set position. FIG. Moreover, those figures (a) are the figures which looked at the insertion part 2d of the connector 1 for flat cables from the front, and those figures (b) are figures which show the cross section in line XX of FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 5 (b), in the initial stage where the tip 21 of the flat cable 20 is slid in the direction of the arrow 41 on the bottom wall 2a at the entrance of the plug 2d and inserted into the back of the plug 2d. The tip of the locking projection 4d is positioned below the upper surface of the bottom wall 2a and enters the space 2h. Further, when the distal end portion 21 is slid in the direction of the arrow 41 and inserted into the insertion portion 2d, the distal end portion 21 of the flat cable 20 comes into contact with the inclined surface of the locking projection 4d, and the locking projection 4d is shown in FIG. It is lifted as indicated by arrow 42 in (b) and rides on the upper surface of the tip 21. At this time, the lock member 4 is lifted from the overhanging portion 8 as shown in FIG. Further, when the flat cable 20 is pushed in and the locking hole 23 of the distal end portion 21 reaches the locking projection 4d, the locking member 4 is pressed downward by the elastic force. Enter 23. At this position, the distal end portion 21 of the flat cable 20 abuts against the inner wall of the insertion portion 2d, and the flat cable 20 is locked at the set position of the flat cable connector 1. As a result, the exposed plurality of conductors of the flat cable 20 are brought into contact with the corresponding terminals 3a.

  Next, when the flat cable 20 is detached from the flat cable connector 1 from the state in which the plurality of conductors of the flat cable 20 are in contact with the corresponding terminals 3a, the locking protrusions 4d, the locking holes 23, Need to unlock. This unlocking operation will be described with reference to FIGS. In order to release the state where the flat cable 20 is locked to the flat cable connector 1 as shown in FIG. 7B, as shown in FIG. Down to the valley 8a side (shown by arrow 51). Thereby, as shown in the figure, the lock member 4 bends toward the valley 8a with the peak 8b of the overhanging portion 8 as a fulcrum, and both ends of the lock member 4 are lifted in the direction of the arrow 52 shown in the figure. As a result, as shown in FIG. 5B, the tip of the locking projection 4d is retracted from the locking hole 23, and the lock is released.

  In the state of FIG. 9B, the unlocked state is maintained even if the pressing force of the illustrated arrow 51 is released, so that the flat cable 20 is continuously pulled out as shown in FIG. It can be detached from the flat cable connector 1. 8A to 10A are views of the insertion portion 2d of the flat cable connector 1 as viewed from the front, and FIGS. 8B to 10B are lines X in FIG. It is a figure which shows the cross section in -X.

  As described above, the flat cable connector 1 of the present embodiment includes the housing 2 to which the plurality of terminals 3 to which the plurality of conductors exposed at the distal end portion of the flat cable 20 are brought into contact and conduction are mounted, and the housing 2. And a lock member 4 that holds the distal end portion 21 of the flat cable 20 inserted into the housing 2 in a set position. The housing 2 has a longitudinal direction along the arrangement direction of the terminals 3, and the terminals 3 are mounted by the support portions 2b at both ends in the longitudinal direction and the bottom wall 2a and the upper wall 2c supported by the support portions 2b. A space and an insertion portion 2d into which the distal end portion 21 of the flat cable 20 is inserted are formed. The lock member 4 includes a pair of elastic fitting portions 42 fitted to the support portions 2 b at both ends of the housing 2, a bridging portion 41 interposed between the pair of elastic fitting portions 42, and a bridging portion 41. It has a pair of locking projections 4d that are suspended from both ends and are inserted into locking holes 23 formed on both sides of the front end portion 21 of the flat cable 20, respectively. The bridging portion 41 of the lock member 4 is provided by being placed on the overhanging portion 8 that is formed by overhanging along the longitudinal direction of the upper wall 2 c of the housing 2. The bridging portion 41 of the lock member 4 is elastically pressed in the direction of the overhanging portion 8 by the elastic fitting portions 42 at both ends. Furthermore, a trough 8a is formed at the center in the longitudinal direction of the upper surface of the overhanging portion 8, and peaks 8b are formed on both sides of the trough 8a. Thereby, a depression is formed on the lower surface side of the central portion of the lock member 4 mounted and assembled on the upper surface of the overhanging portion 8 of the housing 2.

  Therefore, according to the present embodiment, by inserting the flat cable 20 into the housing 2, the pair of locking protrusions 4 d of the locking member 4 enter the locking holes 23 formed on both sides of the distal end portion 21 of the flat cable 20. Then, the insertion position of the flat cable 20 is held (locked) at the set position. Thereby, the conductor part of the flat cable 20 is electrically connected to the terminal 3. When the flat cable 20 is detached from the flat cable connector 1 from this state, the central portion of the bridging portion 41 of the lock member 4 is pressed toward the opposite protruding portion 8 side. As a result, the center portion is bent toward the overhanging portion 8 due to the elastic deformation of the bridging portion 41, with the ridges 8b as a pair of protrusions formed at the opposing portions of the bridging portion 41 and the overhanging portion 8, and the elastic leg portions. 43 is lifted in a direction in which both ends of the lock member 4 are separated from the overhanging portion 8 and the bottom wall 2a. As a result, the pair of locking protrusions 4d at both ends of the lock member 4 are lifted and retracted from the locking hole 23 of the flat cable 20, and the lock of the flat cable 20 is released. That is, the lock of the flat cable 20 can be released with one touch.

(Embodiment 2)
In FIG. 11, the disassembled perspective view of other embodiment of the connector 30 for flat cables of this invention is shown. The present embodiment is different from the embodiment of FIG. 1 in that a pair of protrusions corresponding to the peaks 8 b of the overhang portion 8 are formed on the bridging portion 45 of the lock member 44. Since the other points are the same as those in the embodiment of FIG. As shown in FIG. 11, the overhanging portion 18 of the housing 2 has a flat facing surface on which the bridging portion 45 is placed. On the other hand, a flat portion 45a corresponding to the valley 8a is formed with a small thickness at the center of the surface of the bridging portion 45 facing the overhanging portion 18, and on both sides in the longitudinal direction across the flat portion 45a. A pair of peaks 45b is formed. According to the present embodiment, by pressing the flat part 45a of the bridging part 45 toward the overhanging part 18 side, the bridging part 45 bends with the pair of peaks 45b as fulcrums, thereby elastically fitting both ends of the bridging part 45 The part 42 is raised with respect to the bottom wall 2a of the housing. As a result, similarly to the embodiment of FIG. 1, the flat cable can be unlocked with one touch.

  As mentioned above, although this invention was demonstrated based on one Embodiment, this invention is not limited to these, It is possible to implement in the form deform | transformed or changed in the range of the main point of this invention. It will be obvious to those skilled in the art, and it is obvious that such modifications or alterations belong to the scope of the claims of the present application.

  For example, in the first embodiment, a trough 8a is formed in the longitudinal center of the facing surface of the overhanging portion 8 facing the bridging portion 41, and peaks 8b are formed on both sides of the trough 8a, and the facing surface of the bridging portion 41 is flat. Formed. In the second embodiment, the facing surface of the overhanging portion 18 that faces the bridging portion 45 is formed flat, the flat portion 45a is formed at the center in the longitudinal direction of the bridging portion 45, and the longitudinal direction of the flat portion 45a. Mountains 45b were formed on both sides of the plate. However, the main point is that a gap is formed in the opposite portion between the bridging portion at the center of the lock member and the overhanging portion on which the bridging portion is placed, and the gap is formed in either one of the bridging portion and the overhanging portion. A pair of protrusions may be formed on both sides of the substrate.

  Moreover, although the example in which the locking protrusion of the locking member is locked in the locking hole at the tip of the flat cable has been described, the present invention is not limited thereto, and a rectangular cut may be formed on the side edge of the tip of the flat cable. Similar effects can be achieved.

  Furthermore, the structure of the elastic fitting part 42 which elastically fits the lock member 4 to the support part 2b of the housing 2 is not limited to the first embodiment. For example, a structure in which both ends of the lock member 4 are lifted from the bottom wall 2a of the housing 2 by using a coil spring instead of the combination of the elastic leg 43a and the columnar protrusion 43b and the inclined surface 2k can be employed.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Connector for fret cable 2 Housing 2a Bottom wall 2b Support part 2c Upper wall 2d Insertion part 3 Terminal 4 Locking member 41 Bridging part 42 Elastic fitting part 5 Fixing tool 8 Overhang part 8a Valley 8b Mountain 20 Flat cable 21 Tip part 23 Locking hole

Claims (1)

A housing in which a plurality of terminals through which a plurality of conductors exposed at the tip of the flat cable are brought into contact with each other is mounted, and a tip of the flat cable that is elastically fitted into the housing and inserted into the housing are set. A locking member for holding in position,
The housing is formed with an insertion portion of a tip portion of the flat cable by a bottom wall and an upper wall supported at both ends in a longitudinal direction along the terminal arrangement direction of the terminals,
The lock member includes an elastic fitting portion that is elastically fitted to both end portions of the housing, a bridging portion that is interposed between the elastic fitting portions, and a flat portion that is suspended from both end portions of the bridging portion. A pair of locking projections inserted into locking holes or cuts formed on both sides of the tip of the cable,
The bridging portion of the lock member is provided in contact with an overhanging portion formed to project along the longitudinal direction of the upper wall of the housing, and at least the bridging portion and the tensioning in a substantially central region in the longitudinal direction. A flat cable connector, wherein a recess is formed between surfaces facing the protruding portion, and a pair of protrusions are formed on either the bridging portion or the overhanging portion of the facing surface on both sides of the recess.

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