JP2016115595A - Electric connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the reliability of electrical connection with simple configuration, by making the contact part of a contact member follow up the positional deviation of a signal transfer medium.SOLUTION: A sub-beam 14d extending while being branched from one of a pair of main beams 14a, 14b facing each other is extended so as to be branched from the coupling part of one main beam 14a and a link beam 14c, while enabling the beam length of the sub-beam 14d to be expanded in a small space in an insulation housing 11, thus increasing the amount of elastic displacement of the contact part of the sub-beam while reducing the overall size of an electric connector. The contact part of the sub-beam can be followed up, even if the position of a signal transfer medium is deviated slightly by an external force added thereto.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 9

Description

  The present invention relates to an electrical connector configured to elastically contact a contact portion of a contact member with a signal transmission medium inserted into an insulating housing.

  In general, various electrical connectors are widely used as means for electrically connecting various signal transmission media such as a flexible printed circuit (FPC) and a flexible flat cable (FFC) in various electrical devices. It is used. For example, in an electrical connector that is mounted on a wiring board and used as in Patent Document 1 below, the signal transmission medium made of the above-described FPC, FFC, or the like passes through an opening of an insulating housing (insulator). Plugged in. The signal transmission medium inserted into the insulating housing is inserted into the space between the pair of contact members formed in a beam shape. At that time, the contact portion provided on at least one of the contact members Electrical connection is made by elastically pressing against the surface of the transmission medium.

  On the other hand, with the recent miniaturization and thinning of electrical equipment, miniaturization and low profile of electrical connectors are being rapidly promoted, and the beam length constituting the contact member tends to be shortened. . However, generally, when the beam length of the contact member is shortened, the amount of elastic displacement of the contact member is reduced in proportion thereto. As a result, for example, the signal transmission medium is slightly affected by an external force applied to the signal transmission medium. Misalignment may occur. If the contact portion of the contact member does not follow the positional deviation of the signal transmission medium, the reliability of the electrical connectivity in the electrical connector may be reduced due to an instantaneous interruption of the electrical signal. There is.

JP 2011-023236 A

  Accordingly, the present invention provides an electrical connector that can improve the reliability of electrical connectivity by causing the contact portion of the contact member to follow the positional deviation of the signal transmission medium with a simple configuration. With the goal.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a contact member formed in a beam shape is disposed inside the insulating housing, and the contact members extend opposite to each other. A pair of main beams, a link beam integrally connecting the pair of main beams, and a sub beam extending so as to branch from one of the pair of main beams, and is provided inside the insulating housing. In the electrical connector configured such that the contact portion provided in the sub beam is elastically contacted with the signal transmission medium inserted and inserted between the pair of main beams, the sub beam includes: A structure is adopted that extends so as to branch from a connection portion between the one main beam and the link beam.

  According to the first aspect of the invention, the beam length of the sub beam can be increased in a small space inside the insulating housing, and the elastic displacement of the contact portion of the sub beam can be reduced while reducing the size of the entire electrical connector. For example, even when the signal transmission medium is slightly misaligned due to an external force applied to the signal transmission medium, the contact portion of the sub-beam with respect to the position misalignment of the signal transmission medium. As a result, the possibility of momentary interruption of electrical signals in the electrical connector is reduced, and the reliability of electrical connectivity is improved.

  At this time, in the present invention, as in claim 2, a contact portion is provided on the other of the pair of main beams, and the contact portion of the other main beam, the contact portion of the sub beam, However, it is possible to adopt a configuration in which the signal transmission medium is disposed so as to face each other.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an actuator that is rotated so as to elastically displace the other main beam, and the other main beam is elastically displaced by the rotation operation of the actuator. Thus, the contact portion of the other main beam and the contact portion of the sub beam can be configured to contact each other so as to sandwich the signal transmission medium from the opposite side.

  Furthermore, as in claim 4, the contact members may be arranged in a multipolar shape.

  As described above, the electrical connector according to the present invention includes a sub beam extending from one of a pair of main beams arranged opposite to each other and connected by a link beam. It is possible to extend the beam length of the sub-beam in a small space inside the insulating housing by extending it so as to branch from the connecting part of the housing, and to elastically displace the contact portion of the sub-beam while miniaturizing the entire electrical connector Since it is configured to increase the amount, for example, even when the signal transmission medium is slightly displaced by an external force applied to the signal transmission medium, it is possible to follow the contact portion of the sub beam. This reduces the risk of momentary interruption of electrical signals in the electrical connector, improves the reliability of electrical connectivity, The quality and reliability of the connector can be inexpensively and substantially improved.

1 illustrates an electrical connector according to an embodiment of the present invention, and shows an overall configuration in a state where a signal transmission medium is not inserted in a state where an actuator is set at an initial position (open position) from an upper side in front of the connector. FIG. FIG. 2 is an external perspective view illustrating the electrical connector in the initial position (open position) shown in FIG. 1 when viewed from the upper rear side. It is front explanatory drawing of the electrical connector in the initial position (open position) shown by FIG.1 and FIG.2. FIG. 4 is a cross sectional explanatory view taken along line IV-IV in FIG. 3. FIG. 5 is a cross sectional explanatory view taken along the line V-V in FIG. 3. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional explanatory view corresponding to FIG. 4 in a state where the actuator is rotated to an operating position (closed position). FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional explanatory view corresponding to FIG. 5 in a state where the actuator is rotated to the operating position (closed position). FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional explanatory view corresponding to FIG. 4 in a state where the actuator is rotated to the operating position (closed position) with the signal transmission medium inserted. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional explanatory view corresponding to FIG. 5 in a state where the actuator is rotated to the operating position (closed position) with the signal transmission medium inserted. It is the external appearance perspective enlarged view which showed the structure of the contact member concerning one Embodiment of this invention used for the electrical connector represented to FIGS. FIG. 10 is an external perspective explanatory view showing a terminal portion of a signal transmission medium inserted into the electrical connector shown in FIGS. 1 to 9.

  In the following, the present invention is applied to an electrical connector that is mounted on a wiring board and used for connecting a signal transmission medium such as a flexible printed circuit (FPC) or a flexible flat cable (FFC). The embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[Overall configuration]
That is, the electrical connector 10 according to one embodiment of the present invention shown in FIGS. 1 to 9 has a so-called back flip type structure, and has a rear end edge portion (the right end in FIG. 5) of the insulating housing 11. An actuator 12 as a connection operation means is attached to the edge portion. The actuator 12 is directed toward the connector rear side (right side in FIG. 5) opposite to the connector front end side (left side in FIG. 5) into which the terminal portion of the signal transmission medium (FPC, FFC, etc.) F is inserted. It is made the structure rotated so that it may be pushed down.

  At this time, the insulating housing 11 is formed of a hollow frame-like insulating member extending in an elongated shape, and the longitudinal direction of the insulating housing 11 is hereinafter referred to as a “connector longitudinal direction”. . Further, a medium insertion direction in which a terminal portion of a signal transmission medium (FPC or FFC or the like) F is inserted and a direction along the medium removal direction opposite to the medium insertion direction are referred to as “connector longitudinal direction”. A direction perpendicular to both the “front-rear direction of the connector” is referred to as “connector up-down direction”.

  Inside the insulating housing 11 described above, a plurality of conductive contact members 13 and 14 having two different shapes formed by a thin metal member having an appropriate shape are mounted. The conductive contact members 13 and 14 are formed so as to extend in a beam shape, and form a so-called multipolar shape inside the insulating housing 11 at an appropriate interval along the longitudinal direction of the connector. Is arranged.

  The conductive contact members 13 on one side and the conductive contact members 14 on the other side having these different shapes are alternately arranged in the connector longitudinal direction, which is the direction of multipolar arrangement, and the conductive contact members 13, 14. Each is used for either signal transmission or ground connection in a state where it is mounted by solder bonding to a conductive path (not shown) formed on a main printed wiring board (not shown).

  On the other hand, the front end edge portion (left end edge portion in FIG. 5) of the insulating housing 11 has a signal transmission medium F composed of a flexible printed circuit (FPC), a flexible flat cable (FFC) or the like as described above. The medium insertion slot 11a into which the terminal portion is inserted is provided so as to form an elongated opening in the connector longitudinal direction, and the rear end edge portion in the connector front-rear direction on the opposite side (right end edge portion in FIG. 5) The component attachment port 11b for mounting the conductive contact member 13 on one side, the actuator (connection operation means) 12 or the like described above is also provided so as to extend in the longitudinal direction of the connector.

[About conductive contact members]
At this time, the conductive contact member 13 on the one side described above is inserted from the component attachment port 11b provided on the connector rear end side of the insulating housing 11 toward the front side (left side in FIG. 4). The conductive contact member 14 on the other side is inserted from the medium insertion port 11a provided on the connector front end side of the insulating housing 11 toward the rear side (right side in FIG. 5). It is installed.

  That is, these conductive contact members 13 and 14 are mounted alternately in different directions, and are arranged in a so-called staggered arrangement in the connector longitudinal direction. The conductive contact members 13 and 14 are arranged at positions corresponding to the wiring pattern Fa (see FIG. 11) of the signal transmission medium (FPC or FFC or the like) F inserted into the insulating housing 11 through the medium insertion opening 11a. . The wiring patterns Fa formed on these signal transmission media F are obtained by arranging signal transmission conductive paths (signal line pads) or shield conductive paths (shield line pads) at appropriate pitch intervals.

  As described above, the conductive contact members 13 and 14 are formed to have different shapes. First, the structure of the conductive contact member 13 will be described. That is, the conductive contact member 13 is a lower contact beam composed of a pair of elongated strip plate members extending substantially in parallel along the connector front-rear direction, which is the insertion / removal direction of the signal transmission medium F (left-right direction in FIG. 4). 13a and an upper contact beam 13b. The lower contact beam 13a and the upper contact beam 13b are members constituting “one main beam” and “the other main beam” in the present invention. They are arranged so as to face each other at an appropriate interval.

  The lower contact beam (one main beam) 13a is fixed so as to be substantially immobile along the inner wall surface of the bottom plate of the insulating housing 11, and extends to the upper position of the lower contact beam 13a in the figure. The existing upper contact beam (the other main beam) 13b is integrally connected to the lower contact beam 13a via a connection support beam 13c constituting the “link beam” in the present invention.

  The above-mentioned connecting strut beam (link beam) 13c is also formed of an elongated strip plate-like member, but in the middle position (substantially central position) in the extending direction of the lower contact beam 13a and the upper contact beam 13b, the contact vertical direction It is arranged to extend to. The upper contact beam 13b connected to the upper end portion of the connection support beam 13c is elastically displaced relative to the lower contact beam 13a based on the elastic flexibility of the connection support beam 13c and the like. The upper contact beam 13b is configured to bend so that the connecting column beam 13c and the vicinity thereof are bent. In addition, the elastic flexibility of the contact beam 13b is performed in the vertical direction within the plane of FIG.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 11, a signal transmission medium (FPC or FFC or the like) F is shown on the front end side portion (left end side portion in FIG. 4) of the above-described upper contact beam (the other main beam) 13b. An upper terminal contact protrusion 13b1 connected to one of the wiring patterns (signal transmission or shield conductive path) Fa formed on the upper surface side is provided so as to form a downward protruding shape in the figure.

  On the other hand, the lower contact beam (one main beam) 13a is arranged so as to extend in the longitudinal direction of the connector along the inner wall surface of the bottom plate of the insulating housing 11, as described above. In the front side portion (the left side portion in FIG. 4), any of the wiring patterns (signal transmission or shielding conductive paths) Fa formed on the lower surface side of the signal transmission medium (FPC or FFC or the like) F is shown. A lower terminal contact convex portion 13a1 connected to the heel is provided so as to form an upward protruding shape in the figure. These lower terminal contact convex portions 13a1 are arranged so as to face the positions immediately below the upper terminal contact convex portions 13b1 on the upper contact beam 13b side described above, and the lower terminal contact convex portions 13a1 and the upper terminal contact convex portions 13a1 are located on the upper side. The signal transmission medium F is sandwiched between the terminal contact convex portion 13b1.

  Note that the lower terminal contact convex portion 13a1 of the lower contact beam (one main beam) 13a and the upper terminal contact convex portion 13b1 of the upper contact beam (the other main beam) 13b are located on the front side of the connector. It is also possible to dispose them so as to be shifted (to the left side in FIG. 4) or to the rear side of the connector (right side in FIG. 4). Further, the lower contact beam 13a is basically fixed so as to be stationary, but the tip portion can be elastically displaced for the purpose of facilitating insertion of a signal transmission medium (FPC, FFC, etc.) F. The front end portion of the lower contact beam 13a can be formed so as to slightly lift from the inner wall surface of the bottom plate of the insulating housing 11.

  Further, a substrate connecting portion 13a2 solder-connected to a conductive path formed on a main printed wiring board (not shown) is provided at the rear end side portion (right end side portion in FIG. 4) of each lower contact beam 13a described above. Each is provided.

  Furthermore, a cam rotation recess 13a3 formed in a concave curved shape is formed in the rear end side portion (right end side portion in FIG. 4) of the lower contact beam (one main beam) 13a described above. The open / close cam member 15 provided integrally with the actuator (connection operation means) 12 slides in the rotation direction along the curved upper end edge constituting the cam rotation recess 13a3. It is arranged to be slidable. On the other hand, on the rear end side portion (the right end side portion in FIG. 4) of the upper contact beam (the other main beam) 13b, a cam restricting portion formed of a flat surface extending in a substantially linear manner is provided on the upper contact beam 13b. It forms so that the lower end edge of may be formed.

  The cam restricting portion formed on the rear end side portion of the upper contact beam (the other main beam) 13b forms an end edge portion that is always in contact with the opening / closing cam member 15 of the actuator (connection operation means) 12. It is formed on the rotation axis of the actuator (connection operation means) 12 between the cam restricting portion of the upper contact beam 13b and the cam rotation recess 13a3 of the lower contact beam 13a. The opened / closed cam member 15 is held so as to be rotatable.

  Further, a cam locking projection 13b2 that protrudes toward the lower contact beam 13a on the lower side is formed at the tip portion located on the rear side of the cam restricting portion provided on the upper contact beam (the other main beam) 13b. ing. The cam locking projection 13b2 is disposed at a position slightly rearward from the opening / closing cam member 15 of the actuator 12 when the actuator 12 is in the “initial position (open position)” (see FIGS. 4 and 5). The cam locking projection 13b2 is disposed so as to face the opening / closing cam member 15 in the insertion direction of the signal transmission medium (FPC or FFC) F.

  When the actuator 12 is rotated to the “acting position (closed position)” (see FIGS. 6 and 7), the above-described opening / closing cam member 15 is raised so as to form a vertically long shape. The cam action surface located on the upper side (the upper side in FIGS. 7 and 8) of the open / close cam member 15 raised in the vertically long shape is disposed so as to face and oppose the cam locking projection 13b2. Therefore, in such an arrangement relationship of “acting position (closed position)”, an external force is applied to the actuator 12 to the rear side (right side in FIGS. 7 and 8), and the opening / closing cam member 15 is moved rearward. When the position is shifted, the cam action surface of the actuator 12 comes into contact with the cam locking projection 13b2, thereby preventing the actuator 12 from dropping backward.

  Next, the structure of the other conductive contact member 14 will be described. The conductive contact member 14 basically has the same configuration as that of the one conductive contact member 13 described above, and a signal transmission medium (FPC or FFC or the like) Fixed contact beam (one main beam) 14a composed of a pair of elongated beam members extending substantially in parallel along the connector front-rear direction which is the insertion / removal direction of F (left-right direction in FIG. 5), and above Each has a contact beam (the other main beam) 14b.

  The lower contact beam (one main beam) 14a and the upper contact beam (the other main beam) 14b are also arranged in the inner space of the insulating housing 11 so as to oppose each other at an appropriate interval in the vertical direction in the figure. The lower contact beam 14a is fixed so as to be substantially immobile along the inner wall surface of the bottom plate of the insulating housing 11, and the upper contact beam 14a extends substantially parallel to the upper position of the lower contact beam 14a. The contact beam 14b is integrally connected to the lower contact beam 14a via a connection support beam (link beam) 14c.

  In this way, the structure relating to the lower contact beam (one main beam) 14a, the upper contact beam (the other main beam) 14b, and the connecting column beam (link beam) 14c, which constitutes the other conductive contact member 14, Since the configuration is basically the same as that of the one conductive contact member 13 described above, the detailed description of the corresponding members will be omitted by replacing the reference numeral “13” with the reference numeral “14”.

  On the other hand, the other conductive contact member 14 has a structure different from that of the one conductive contact member 13 described above, in particular, as shown in FIGS. There is a point that a sub contact beam (sub beam) 14d is provided.

  A sub-contact beam (sub-beam) 14d provided on the conductive contact member 14 is formed so as to form a part of the lower contact beam (one main beam) 14a, and is a connecting strut beam (link beam). From the portion where the lower end portion of 14c is connected to the lower contact beam 14a, the above-mentioned sub contact beam 14d branches to form a part of the lower contact beam 14a, and the front side of the connector (in FIGS. 5 and 7). It is provided so as to extend toward the left side.

  That is, the lower end portion of the connecting strut beam (link beam) 14c is integrally connected to a substantially central portion in the longitudinal direction of the lower contact beam (one main beam) 14a. A region where the lower contact beam 14a extends toward the left side in FIG. 5 has a split beam structure having a bifurcated shape that is split into two vertically. The lower beam portion of the upper and lower beams formed by being divided into two to form the bifurcated shape is formed in the main body portion of the lower contact beam 14a, and the upper beam portions of the upper and lower beams are formed on the upper side. The beam portion is a sub contact beam (sub beam) 14d. A slit extending in the longitudinal direction of the connector is formed between the upper and lower beam portions so as to form an elongated shape.

  As described above, the sub contact beam (sub beam) 14d provided as a part of the lower contact beam (one main beam) 14a is connected to the front side of the connector (see FIG. 5 and the elongated strip plate-like member extending in a cantilevered manner toward the left side in FIG. 7, and the tip end portion in the extending direction of the sub-contact beam 14d (the left end in FIGS. 5 and 7) On the side portion, a lower terminal contact convex portion 14d1 is formed as a contact portion that contacts a signal transmission medium (FPC, FFC, or the like) F inserted into the insulating housing 11.

  The lower terminal contact convex portion (contact portion) 14d1 of the sub contact beam (sub beam) 14d is formed so as to protrude upward, and the upper contact beam (the other main beam) 14b described above is formed. It arrange | positions so that the signal transmission medium (FPC or FFC etc.) F may be pinched | interposed with respect to the provided upper terminal contact convex part 14b1. Then, after the signal transmission medium F is inserted between the two contact portions 14d1 and 14b1, the actuator 12 described above is rotated to the “operating position (closed position)”, thereby the signal transmission medium F. Is configured to be clamped.

[About cam members]
That is, the open / close cam member 15 of the actuator (connection operation means) 12 described above is formed to have a substantially elliptical longitudinal section, and cam action surfaces are formed at positions corresponding to both ends of the long axis of the elliptical shape. ing. Each of the cam action surfaces has a curved side surface shape substantially along the cam rotation recesses 13a3 and 14a3 of the lower contact beams (one main beam) 13a and 14a described above. Is accommodated in such a manner that it can be rotated by sliding or sliding in the rotational direction inside the cam rotation recesses 13a3, 14a3 of the lower contact beams 13a, 14a.

  The other of the cam working surfaces of the open / close cam member 15 described above is a cam restricting portion that extends substantially linearly to the rear edge portions of the upper contact beams (the other main beams) 13b and 14b. On the other hand, it arrange | positions so that it can contact from the downward side. The other (upper side) cam action surface of the open / close cam member 15 is such that the actuator (connection operation means) 12 moves from the “initial position (open position)” (see FIGS. 4 and 5) to the “action position (close position)”. ”(See FIG. 6 and FIG. 7), it is arranged so as to slidably contact the cam restricting portions of the upper contact beams 13 b and 14 b when being rotated. The opening / closing cam member 15 is rotatably supported by such a contact arrangement relationship of the opening / closing cam member 15 with respect to the cam rotation recesses 13b3, 14b3 and the cam restricting portion. It is made the structure rotated around the virtual rotation center.

  On the other hand, when the actuator 12 is in the “initial position (open position)” at a position corresponding to a portion between the pair of cam action surfaces in the opening / closing cam member 15 described above (see FIGS. 4 and 5), A step surface 15 a is formed on the upper side portion of the outer peripheral edge portion of the opening / closing cam member 15. The step surface 15a is from the front side of the connector in the insertion direction of the signal transmission medium (FPC or FFC) F with respect to the cam locking projections 13b2 and 14b2 of the upper contact beams (the other main beams) 13b and 14b. When the actuator 12 is in the “initial position (open position)”, the external force applied to the rear side of the connector (the right side in FIGS. 4 and 5) is applied to the actuator 12. When the opening / closing cam member 15 is displaced, the actuator 12 including the opening / closing cam member 15 is pressed against the cam locking projections 13b2, 14b2 of the upper contact beams 13b, 14b from the front side. The situation where it falls off to the rear side of is prevented.

  Further, the step surface 15a provided on the opening / closing cam member 15 has the above-described lower contact beam (one main beam) when the actuator 12 is in the “operating position (closed position)” (see FIGS. 6 and 7). When the actuator 12 is excessively rotated beyond the “acting position (closed position)” with respect to the upper edges of the upper edges of 13a and 14a, the opening / closing cam member 15 step surfaces 15a abut against the upper edges of the lower contact beams 13a and 14a together with the opening / closing operation portion 12a described above, and the actuator 12 is prevented from over-rotation by the stopper function of both members.

[About the actuator]
In this way, the entire actuator (connection operation means) 12 rotatably arranged at the rear end portion of the insulating housing 11 (the right end portion in FIGS. 4 and 5) extends in an elongated shape along the connector longitudinal direction. The insulating housing 11 is arranged over the same length as the entire width. As described above, the actuator 12 is mounted so as to be rotated around the virtual rotation center of the opening / closing cam member 15, and a portion corresponding to the outer side in the rotation radius direction at that time (FIG. 4 and the upper end portion of FIG. 5 are made to the opening / closing operation part 12a. Then, by applying an appropriate turning operation force by the operator to the opening / closing operation unit 12a, the entire actuator 12 is in an “upright position (in an upright state) as shown in FIGS. 6) and FIG. 7 and FIG. 7 are configured to be reciprocally rotated between an “acting position (closed position)” in a state of being tilted almost horizontally toward the rear side of the connector. .

  At this time, a slit portion 12b for avoiding interference with a rotating arm portion provided so as to form a flat plate on the actuator 12 at the rear end portion (the right end portion in FIGS. 4 to 7) of the insulating housing 11. When the actuator 12 is positioned at the “initial position (open position)” (see FIGS. 4 and 5) as described above, the rotating arm portion of the actuator 12 is located on the back side of the slit portion 12b (see FIG. (Inward side) It is in a positional relationship to enter the region.

  Then, the operator opens and closes the opening / closing operation part 12a of the actuator (connection operation means) 12 from the “initial position (open position)” (see FIGS. 4 and 5) to the “operation position (closed position)” (see FIGS. 6 and 6). When the pivoting operation is performed so as to push it down (see FIG. 7), the rotation radius of the opening / closing cam member 15 described above is such that the lower contact beam (one main beam) 13a, 14a and the upper contact beam (the other main beam). Beam) 13b and 14b, and is configured to change in an increasing direction, and is provided on the rear end side of the upper contact beams 13b and 14b in accordance with a change in which the diameter of the opening / closing cam member 15 increases. The cam restricting portion is displaced so as to be lifted upward in the figure, and accordingly, the upper terminal contact convex portion 1 provided on the opposite side (connector front end side) to the cam restricting portion. b1,14b1 is gradually pushed downward.

  In this way, when the actuator (connection operation means) 12 has fully rotated to the “acting position (closed position)” that is the final rotating position (see FIGS. 6 and 7), the lower contact beam (one of the main contacts) is The upper terminal contact convex portions 13b1 and 14b1 of the upper contact beams (the other main beams) 13b and 14b are brought close to the lower terminal contact convex portions 13a1 and 14a1 of the beams 13a and 14a. The upper terminal contact convex portion 14b1 of the upper contact beam 14b is disposed in a state of being approached from the upper side with respect to the lower terminal contact convex portion 14d1 of the sub contact beam (sub beam) 14d. It has become.

  As shown particularly in FIGS. 8 and 9, signal transmission is performed between the lower contact beams (one main beam) 13a, 14a and the upper contact beams (the other main beam) 13b, 14b. When the medium (FPC or FFC or the like) F is inserted, the upper terminal contact convex portions 13b1 and 14b1 of the upper contact beams 13b and 14b and the lower terminal contact convex portions 13a1 and 14d1 of the lower contact beams 13a and 14a. Is pressed against the signal transmission medium F from above and below, and the lower terminal contact convex portion 14d1 of the sub-contact beam (sub-beam) 14d is pressed against the signal transmission medium F from below, whereby the signal The transmission medium F is sandwiched.

  At this time, as particularly shown in FIG. 11, the signal transmission medium (FPC or FFC or the like) F is provided with wiring patterns (conductive paths for signal transmission and shielding) Fa. The lower contact beam (one main beam) 13a, 14a and the lower terminal contact convex portions 13a1, 14d1 of the lower contact beam (one main beam) 13d and the sub contact beam (sub beam) 14d are pressed from below and the upper contact beam. The upper terminal contact protrusions 13b1 and 14b1 of 13b and 14b are pressed from above and are electrically connected by them.

  Further, as described above, the actuator 12 is rotated so as to push backward from the “initial position (open position)” (see FIGS. 4 and 5), and the “action position (closed position)” (FIGS. 6 and 5). 7), the lower surface side portion of the opening / closing operation portion 12a of the actuator 12 is in a close relationship so as to face the main wiring board (not shown). A protective protrusion 12c that protrudes toward the main wiring board is provided on a lower surface side portion of the opening / closing operation portion 12a of the actuator 12. A plurality of the protective protrusions 12c are arranged at a predetermined interval in the direction of the multipolar arrangement of the conductive contact members 13 and 14 (connector longitudinal direction) described above, and each is formed as a substantially rectangular columnar block body. Each protection protrusion 12c is configured to rotate integrally with the rotation operation of the actuator 12.

  In addition, inclined surface portions 12d and 12d that gently descend from the main operation portion at the center portion are provided at both ends of the opening / closing operation portion 12a provided in the actuator 12 in the connector longitudinal direction. The inclined surface portions 12d and 12d are formed so as to descend outward in the connector longitudinal direction, which is the direction in which the actuator 12 extends, and extend at an appropriate angle with respect to the connector longitudinal direction. It is formed as follows. Further, a flat surface portion extending in the connector longitudinal direction, which is the direction in which the actuator 12 extends, is provided between the inclined surface portions 12d and 12d so as to be elongated.

  In this way, the inclined surface portions 12d and 12d arranged on both ends in the connector longitudinal direction are formed so as to be smoothly continuous from both ends of the flat surface portion provided on the center side in the connector longitudinal direction. The corner portion is not formed at the boundary portion between the portions. Therefore, when the actuator 12 is rotated from the “initial position (open position)” to the “operating position (closed position)”, the actuator 12 is set to the “initial position (open position)” (see FIG. 5). In this state, the front wall surface on the front side which is the front end surface (left side end surface in FIG. 5) is pressed backward by the operator's fingertips, but as described above, on both end portions of the opening / closing operation portion 12a of the actuator 12 If the inclined surface portion 12d is provided, it becomes difficult for the operator to apply a pressing force to the portion where the inclined surface portion 12d on both ends in the longitudinal direction is provided, and the pressing force is applied to the longitudinal center portion of the actuator 12. Tend to be.

  On the other hand, the pressing force applied to the inclined surface portions 12d on both sides in the longitudinal direction of the actuator 12 is applied in a direction substantially perpendicular to the inclined surfaces constituting the inclined surface portion 12d. It acts from the both end sides toward the center side. Therefore, the operator's entire pressing force acts almost uniformly on the entire length of the actuator 12, and a situation occurs in which the actuator 12 is pressed in a twisted state as in the prior art. When the entire actuator 12 is rotated while maintaining a substantially flat surface, the signal transmission medium (FPC, FFC, or the like) F by the rotation of the actuator 12 is favorably performed.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the sub contact beam (sub beam) 14d provided as a part of the lower contact beam (one main beam) 14a is formed between the lower contact beam 14a and the connecting post beam (link beam) 14c. Since it extends in a cantilevered manner from the connecting portion, the beam length of the sub-contact beam 14d can be expanded in a small space inside the insulating housing 11, and the entire electrical connector can be reduced in size. It is possible to increase the amount of elastic displacement of the lower terminal contact projection 14d1 provided in the sub contact beam 14d.

  Therefore, for example, even when the signal transmission medium F is slightly displaced due to an external force applied due to a twist with respect to the signal transmission medium (FPC or FFC, etc.) F, the signal transmission medium F is misaligned. On the other hand, the lower terminal contact projection 14d1 of the sub contact beam (sub beam) 14d can be made to follow, and as a result, the possibility of instantaneous interruption of the electric signal is reduced and the reliability of the electrical connectivity is improved. To do.

  Although the invention made by the present inventor has been specifically described based on the embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. Needless to say.

  In each of the above-described embodiments, a flexible printed circuit (FPC) and a flexible flat cable (FFC) are used as a signal transmission medium fixed to the electrical connector. The present invention can be similarly applied to a case where a medium for use is used.

  Furthermore, although the actuator according to the above-described embodiment is disposed at the rear end portion of the insulating housing, the electrical connector in which the actuator is disposed at the front end side portion, or between the front end side portion and the rear end side portion. The present invention can be similarly applied to an electrical connector in which an actuator is disposed in a portion.

  Furthermore, although the electrical contact according to the above-described embodiment uses conductive contact members having different shapes, the present invention can be similarly applied to those using the same shape of conductive contact members. Is possible.

  The present invention can be widely applied to a wide variety of electrical connectors used in various electrical devices.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Electrical connector 11 Insulation housing 11a Medium insertion port 11b Component attachment port 12 Actuator (connection operation means)
12a Opening / closing operation part 12b Slit 12c Protective protrusion 12d Inclined surface part 13, 14 Conductive contact member 13a Lower contact beam (one main beam)
13a1 Lower terminal contact convex portion 13a2 Substrate connecting portion 13a3 Cam rotating concave portion 13b Upper contact beam (the other main beam)
13b1 Upper terminal contact convex portion 13b2 Cam locking projection 13c Connection strut beam (link beam)
14a Lower contact beam (one main beam)
14a2 Board connection part 14a3 Cam rotation recess 14b Upper contact beam (the other main beam)
14b1 Upper terminal contact convex portion 14b2 Cam locking projection 14c Connection strut beam (link beam)
14d Sub contact beam (sub beam)
14d1 Lower terminal contact convex portion 15 Opening / closing cam member 15a Step surface F Signal transmission medium (FPC, FFC, etc.)
Fa wiring pattern

Claims (4)

A contact member formed so as to form a beam is disposed inside the insulating housing,
The contact member includes a pair of main beams extending opposite to each other, a link beam integrally connecting the pair of main beams, and a sub beam extending so as to branch from one of the pair of main beams. And having
An electrical connector configured such that a contact portion provided on the sub beam elastically contacts a signal transmission medium inserted into the insulating housing and inserted between the pair of main beams. In
An electrical connector characterized in that the sub beam extends so as to branch from a connecting portion between the one main beam and the link beam. A contact portion is provided on the other of the pair of main beams,
2. The electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein the contact portion of the other main beam and the contact portion of the sub beam are arranged to face each other with the signal transmission medium interposed therebetween. An actuator that is pivotally operated to elastically displace the other main beam,
The other main beam is elastically displaced by the turning operation of the actuator, so that the contact portion of the other main beam and the contact portion of the sub beam come into contact with each other so as to sandwich the signal transmission medium from the opposite side. The electrical connector according to claim 2, wherein: The electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein the contact members are arranged in a multipolar shape along a longitudinal direction of the insulating housing.

Images