JP2020035657A - connector - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a connector that can prevent erroneous connection between a flexible cable and an insulator.SOLUTION: A connector (100) includes a flexible cable (30) having a terminal (31) exposed at one end, and an insulator (20) in which a cable insertion groove (22) into which a terminal (31) is inserted is formed, and a notch (32) is formed at one end by cutting out a part of the terminal (31), and inside the cable insertion groove (22), a positioning rib (23) is provided at a position corresponding to the notch (32).SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a connector, and more particularly, to a connector for directly inserting a terminal portion formed at one end of a flexible cable into an insulator.

  2. Description of the Related Art In the technical field of vehicular lamps, those using a light emitting diode (LED: Light Emitting Diode) for a light emitting unit have become widespread. Also, a variable light distribution headlamp (ADB: Adaptive Driving Beam) in which a plurality of LEDs are arranged one-dimensionally or two-dimensionally and which switches on / off of each LED according to the position of an oncoming vehicle or a preceding vehicle is put into practical use. Have been. In addition, a sign lamp or the like that performs a complicated display using an organic EL (Electro Luminescence) element as a light emitting unit has been proposed (for example, see Patent Document 1).

  In a vehicle headlight using such an ADB technology or a marker light using an organic EL element, it is necessary to control the lighting and extinguishing of a large number of light emitting units such as ten to several tens individually. Therefore, the wiring for lighting control tends to increase according to the number of light emitting units. Conventionally, it is difficult to electrically connect a large number of wires at a high density in a wire harness that has been conventionally used in the technical field of vehicle lighting, and it is difficult to reduce the size and weight by increasing the number of wires. Met.

  Therefore, also in the technical field of vehicular lamps, high-density printed wiring is formed on a substrate, and a flexible high-density flexible cable such as FPC (Flexible Printed Circuit) or FFC (Flexible Flat Cable) is used. It has been proposed to electrically connect the substrates. Further, there has been proposed a cable which can be attached and detached only by inserting and removing a flexible cable having a terminal portion exposed at one end.

  7A and 7B are schematic diagrams showing a state of electrical connection using a conventional flat cable. FIG. 7A shows a normal connection, and FIGS. 7B to 7D show erroneous connections. Is shown. As shown in FIG. 7A, in a normal connection, the insulators 2a and 2b mounted on the board 1 and the insulators 4a and 4b mounted on the board 3 are connected by flexible cables 5a and 5b. . At this time, the flexible cable 5a connects between the insulator 2a and the insulator 4a, and the flexible cable 5b connects between the insulator 2b and the insulator 4b.

JP 2017-027661 A

  In the prior art, it was possible to forcefully insert the flexible cables 5a, 5b into the insulators 2a, 2b, 4a, 4b even if the right and left sides and the front and back were wrong. The example shown in FIG. 7B shows a case where one end of the flexible cable 5a is connected to the insulator 2a, but the other end is erroneously connected to the insulator 4b. The example shown in FIG. 7C shows a case where the front and back surfaces of the flexible cable 5a are erroneously connected between the insulator 2a and the insulator 4a. In the example shown in FIG. 7D, the direction of the flexible cable 5a is reversed, one end to be connected to the insulator 2a is connected to the insulator 4a, and the other end to be connected to the insulator 4a is connected to the insulator 2a. Is shown.

  In the technical field of vehicular lamps, wiring may be connected between boards after assembling the lamp to the vehicle body, or wiring may be attached or detached during vehicle maintenance or component replacement, and the visibility of the insulator into which the flexible cable is inserted And it is difficult to ensure sufficient workability. Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 7B to 7D, the flexible cable and the insulator cannot be connected in a correct combination, and if the cable is forcibly inserted, a defect such as breakage or incorrect connection of the flexible cable occurs. There was a fear.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional problems, and has as its object to provide a connector that can prevent erroneous connection between a flexible cable and an insulator.

  In order to solve the above problems, a connector according to the present invention includes a flexible cable having a terminal portion exposed at one end, and an insulator having a cable insertion groove for inserting the terminal portion, wherein the one end of the terminal portion has A cutout is formed by cutting out a part of the cutout, and a positioning rib is formed inside the cable insertion groove at a position corresponding to the cutout.

  Thus, the terminal portion of the flexible cable can be inserted into the cable insertion groove only when the positioning rib and the notch are in the correct combination of positions, and erroneous connection between the flexible cable and the insulator can be prevented.

  In one aspect of the present invention, the notch is formed at a position that is asymmetrical in the width direction of the flexible cable.

  In one aspect of the present invention, the notch is formed linearly along the insertion direction of the flexible cable.

  Further, in one aspect of the present invention, in the terminal portion, electrode terminals are arranged at a predetermined pitch in a width direction of the flexible cable, and the cutout portion is formed with a width corresponding to a plurality of the electrode terminals. .

  In one aspect of the present invention, the positioning rib is exposed from an opening of the cable insertion groove.

  In one aspect of the present invention, a plurality of combinations of the flexible cable and the insulator are provided, and the positions of the notch and the positioning rib are different for each combination.

  A vehicle lamp of the present invention includes the connector according to any one of the above.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a connector capable of preventing erroneous connection between a flexible cable and an insulator.

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view illustrating an outline of a connector 100 according to a first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing a structure of an insulator 20. FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged view schematically showing one end of a flexible cable 30. It is the schematic diagram which expanded the cable insertion groove 22 of the insulator 20 partially. It is a figure which shows the example which used the connector 100 for the vehicle lamp 40 in 2nd Embodiment, FIG.5 (a) is a schematic cross section, FIG.5 (b) is a schematic perspective view which shows only the board | substrate 10 periphery. is there. It is a typical perspective view showing the outline of connector 110 in a 3rd embodiment. FIG. 7A is a schematic diagram showing a state of electrical connection using a conventional flat cable, where FIG. 7A shows a normal connection and FIGS. 7B to 7D show an incorrect connection. .

(1st Embodiment)
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The same or equivalent components, members, and processes shown in the drawings are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the repeated description will be omitted as appropriate. FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view illustrating an outline of a connector 100 according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing the structure of the insulator 20. FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged view schematically illustrating one end of the flexible cable 30.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the connector 100 includes an insulator 20 mounted on a substrate 10 and a flexible cable 30. The insulator 20 includes a housing 21, a cable insertion groove 22, a positioning rib 23, a lock member 24, and a side 25. Further, the flexible cable 30 includes a terminal portion 31, a cutout portion 32, a locked portion 33, and an engaging portion 34.

  The substrate 10 is a plate-like member for mounting electronic components and the like, and has a wiring pattern for electrically connecting the mounted electronic components. The material constituting the substrate 10 is not particularly limited, and a known material such as a printed wiring board using glass epoxy resin, a substrate made of an insulating material such as ceramic, a composite substrate in which a metal and an insulator are laminated, or the like may be used. it can.

  The insulator 20 is a member connected to a wiring pattern formed on the substrate 10, and covers a terminal portion electrically connected to the wiring pattern with a resin. The material constituting the insulator 20 is not limited, and may be any resin that can secure electrical insulation, and has heat resistance enough to withstand a reflow process of mounting an electronic component on the substrate 10. Is preferred.

  The housing portion 21 is a main body portion of the insulator 20, and has a cable insertion groove 22 formed on the front surface, side portions 25 formed on both ends, and a lock member 24 rotatably mounted on the upper front surface. The housing 21 is formed of a resin material using a known technique such as injection molding, and has an electrode terminal 22a described later embedded therein.

  The cable insertion groove 22 is a groove formed between the side portions 25 over the width direction on the front surface of the housing portion 21, and has a positioning rib 23 formed therein. Further, a lock member 24 is disposed above the cable insertion groove 22, and the surface of the electrode terminal 22a is exposed from the bottom surface.

  The positioning rib 23 is a resin-made wall portion formed in the cable insertion groove 22 along the depth direction of the cable insertion groove 22, and a front end thereof is exposed from an opening of the cable insertion groove 22. The positioning ribs 23 are formed at positions, widths, and depths corresponding to cutouts 32 of the flexible cable 30 described later. In the present embodiment, the positioning ribs 23 are formed linearly along the direction in which the flexible cable 30 is inserted.

  The lock member 24 is a member that is rotatably disposed above the cable insertion groove 22, and forms an upper surface of the cable insertion groove 22. The lock member 24 opens and closes around a shaft (not shown) in conjunction with the insertion or withdrawal operation of the flexible cable 30 into or from the cable insertion groove 22 to lock or release the flexible cable 30. Since a known technique can be used for the mechanism and operation of the lock member 24, illustration and description are omitted.

  The side portion 25 is a resin portion provided on both sides of the housing 21, the cable insertion groove 22, and the lock member 24, and is formed integrally with the housing 21. Although illustration and description are omitted here, the side portion 25 is provided with a fixing structure to the substrate 10, a rotation mechanism of the lock member 24, and the like.

  The flexible cable 30 is a flexible cable in which a plurality of wirings are arranged in parallel, such as an FFC in which metal wiring is embedded in an insulating layer, an FPC in which a wiring layer is patterned on a flexible film, or the like. Can be used.

  The terminal portion 31 is a region where the conductor is exposed at one end of the flexible cable 30. A cutout portion 32 is formed in the terminal portion 31 along the longitudinal direction of the flexible cable 30, and a locked portion 33 and an engaging portion 34 are formed on side portions. 1 and 3, only one end of the flexible cable 30 is shown, but a terminal 31 is also shown at the other end, and one end and the multi-end terminal are connected by a wiring layer. I have.

  The cutout portion 32 is a portion cut out from the end of the terminal portion 31 along the longitudinal direction of the flexible cable 30. The notch portion 32 is formed at a position corresponding to the positioning rib 23 of the insulator 20 into which the terminal portion 31 is inserted, and has a slightly larger depth and width than the positioning rib 23. The notch 32 is formed at a position asymmetrical in the width direction of the flexible cable 30. The position where the notch 32 is formed is different for each combination of the terminal 31 and the cable insertion groove 22.

  The locked portion 33 is a region formed on the side portion of the terminal portion 31 so as to protrude laterally on the edge side from the engaging portion 34. The engagement portion 34 is a portion cut out in the width direction on the side portion of the terminal portion 31. The locked portion 33 and the engaging portion 34 are portions where a locking piece (not shown) formed on the lock member 24 is fitted. The lock member 24 is inserted by inserting the flexible cable 30 into the cable insertion groove 22. The flexible cable 30 is locked in the cable insertion groove 22 by rotating and the locking piece is fitted into the engaging portion 34.

  As shown in FIG. 1, when the combination of the insulator 20 and the flexible cable 30 is correct, the positioning rib 23 and the notch 32 are located at corresponding positions. Therefore, when the terminal portion 31 is inserted into the cable insertion groove 22, the positioning rib 23 is accommodated in the notch portion 32, and the terminal portion 31 can be inserted to the depth of the cable insertion groove 22.

  On the other hand, when the combination of the insulator 20 and the flexible cable 30 is incorrect, the positions of the positioning ribs 23 and the notches 32 of the different combinations are different. Therefore, the positioning rib 23 interferes with the terminal portion 31, and the terminal portion 31 cannot be inserted to the depth of the cable insertion groove 22. Thereby, in the connector 100, erroneous connection between the flexible cable 30 and the insulator 20 can be prevented.

  Further, since the positioning rib 23 is exposed from the opening of the cable insertion groove 22, in a situation where the operator can visually recognize the front surface of the cable insertion groove 22, the formation position of the positioning rib 23 and the formation position of the notch 32 are changed. It can be confirmed visually. Thereby, before inserting the flexible cable 30, it can be confirmed that the combination with the insulator 20 is wrong, and it is possible to prevent the terminal part 31 from being damaged by forcibly pushing the wrong terminal part 31 into the cable insertion groove 22.

  FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram in which the cable insertion groove 22 of the insulator 20 is partially enlarged. As shown in FIG. 4, inside the cable insertion groove 22, the electrode terminals 22a are arranged at equal intervals. These electrode terminals 22a are formed at positions corresponding to the electrode terminals exposed at the terminal portion 31 of the flexible cable 30. As shown in the figure, the width of the electrode terminal 22a is W1, and the electrode terminals 22a are provided with an interval of W2. The width of the positioning rib 23 is set to W3. Also, a space of W2 is provided between the positioning rib 23 and the electrode terminal 22a.

  In the example shown in FIG. 4, the width W3 of the positioning rib 23 is a width corresponding to three electrode terminals 22a and two intervals W2. Therefore, the width of the notch 32 in the flexible cable 30 is also substantially the same as W3, and is formed to have a width corresponding to the width in which the plurality of electrode terminals are arranged in the terminal portion 31. Here, an example of the width corresponding to the three electrode terminals 22a and the two intervals W2 is shown, but it is sufficient that the width corresponds to the width at which the plurality of electrode terminals 22a arranged at a predetermined pitch are to be formed.

  As shown in FIG. 4, when the positioning ribs 23 are formed with a width in which the plurality of electrode terminals 22 a are to be arranged, the electrode terminals 22 a may be filled inside the positioning ribs 23. Thereby, the insulator 20 can be formed only by arranging the plurality of electrode terminals 22a at a predetermined pitch and then forming the positioning ribs 23 by injection molding or the like using a mold. Further, since the positioning ribs 23 can be formed at different positions only by changing the mold used for the injection molding, it is not necessary to change the arrangement of the electrode terminals 22a according to the type of the insulator 20, thereby simplifying the manufacturing process. be able to.

(2nd Embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. A description of the same contents as in the first embodiment will be omitted. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example in which the connector 100 is used for the vehicular lamp 40 according to the second embodiment. FIG. 5A is a schematic cross-sectional view, and FIG. It is a schematic perspective view. The connector 100 of the present embodiment also connects the insulators 20 mounted on the plurality of boards 10 with the flexible cable 30 in the vehicle lamp 40 disposed in the lamp room. Examples of the plurality of substrates 10 include a device substrate on which LEDs and the like are mounted, and a control substrate on which a drive circuit for driving LEDs is mounted. The control-side substrate 10 may be housed in a shielding member 50 which is a box of a conductive member, and the control-side substrate 10 may be electromagnetically shielded.

  In the example illustrated in FIGS. 5A and 5B, the directions of the plurality of substrates 10 are different, and the control-side substrate 10 is accommodated in the shielding member 50. In such a vehicle lamp 40, the directions of the insulators 20 mounted on the substrate 10 are also different, and it is difficult to sufficiently visually recognize all the cable insertion grooves 22 in detail. It is also difficult to secure a sufficient working space for inserting the flexible cable 30 into the insulator 20.

  However, by using the connector 100 of the present embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the positioning rib 23 is visually recognized only by looking at the opening of the cable insertion groove 22, and the combination of the notch 32 and the positioning rib 23 is changed. You can check the correctness and make the connection. Therefore, erroneous connection between the flexible cable 30 and the insulator 20 can be satisfactorily prevented even at the time of assembling the vehicle lamp 40 or the like.

(Third embodiment)
Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. A description of the same contents as in the first embodiment will be omitted. FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective view illustrating an outline of the connector 110 according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 6, in the connector 110, a plurality of insulators 20a and 20b are mounted on the substrate 10, and the flexible cable 30a is inserted into the insulator 20a, and the flexible cable 30b is inserted into the insulator 20b.

  Positioning rib 23a formed on insulator 20a and cutout portion 32a formed on flexible cable 30a correspond in position, width and depth. Similarly, the positioning rib 23b formed on the insulator 20b and the notch 32b formed on the flexible cable 30b correspond in position, width and depth. The position in the width direction of the positioning rib 23a and the notch 32a is different from the position in the width direction of the positioning rib 23b and the notch 32b.

  As shown in FIG. 6, in the present embodiment, a plurality of combinations of the flexible cables 30a, 30b and the insulators 20a, 20b are provided, and the positions of the notches 32a, 32b and the positioning ribs 23a, 23b are different for each combination. I have. As a result, for example, if the flexible cable 30b is erroneously inserted into the insulator 20a, the positioning rib 23a interferes with the flexible cable 30b, so that erroneous connection can be prevented. Further, since the difference between the position of the positioning rib 23a and the position of the cutout portion 32b can be easily visually recognized at the stage before insertion, it is possible to prevent the flexible cable 30b from being forcibly pushed into the insulator 20a and damaged. .

  The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various modifications are possible within the scope shown in the claims, and embodiments obtained by appropriately combining technical means disclosed in different embodiments. Is also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

100, 110 Connector 10 Board 20, 20a, 20b Insulator 30, 30a, 30b Flexible cable 40 Vehicle light 50 Shielding member 21 Housing 22 Cable insertion groove 22a Electrode terminals 23, 23a 23b ... Positioning rib 24 ... Lock member 25 ... Side 31 ... Terminal part 32, 32a, 32b ... Notch 33 ... Locked part 34 ... Engagement part

Claims (7)

A flexible cable with the terminal exposed at one end,
An insulator having a cable insertion groove for inserting the terminal portion is provided,
A cutout is formed at the one end by cutting out a part of the terminal,
A connector, wherein a positioning rib is formed inside the cable insertion groove at a position corresponding to the notch. The connector according to claim 1, wherein
The connector, wherein the notch is formed at a position asymmetrical in the width direction of the flexible cable. The connector according to claim 1 or 2,
The notch is formed in a straight line along the insertion direction of the flexible cable. The connector according to claim 3, wherein
In the terminal portion, electrode terminals are arranged at a predetermined pitch in a width direction of the flexible cable,
The notch is formed with a width corresponding to a plurality of the electrode terminals. The connector according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein
The said positioning rib is exposed from the opening part of the said cable insertion groove, The connector characterized by the above-mentioned. The connector according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein
Comprising a plurality of combinations of the flexible cable and the insulator,
The position of the notch and the positioning rib is different for each combination.   A vehicular lamp comprising the connector according to any one of claims 1 to 6.