JP2632282B2 - ZIF connector - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a ZIF (zero insertion force) connector in which a contact and a mating contact are mutually engaged by a zero insertion force, and the contact is brought into contact with the mating contact by the inclination of the contact.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional ZIF connector is configured such that an operation force when interconnecting or disconnecting a connector and a mating connector is reduced to zero. As a ZIF connector,
Various types have been proposed. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 57-105988 discloses a method utilizing leverage magnification .
Japanese Patent Application Laid- Open Publication No. Hei. 1-242309 and Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 1-4309 are known.

In the ZIF connectors disclosed in these publications, the connector and the mating connector are fitted to each other, and the contact and the mating connector are engaged with each other with zero insertion force. It slides relatively in the opposite direction.

[0004]

However, a connector and a mating connector that slide relatively in opposite directions cannot slide in a relatively opposite direction with the connector and the mating connector fixed. There is.

[0005] Therefore, the conventional type of ZIF connector has a disadvantage in that when it is provided in a limited space, it cannot slide relatively in the opposite direction and cannot be adopted.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a ZIF connector configured so that a contact and a mating connector can make contact with each other even when the connector and the mating connector cannot move relative to each other. It is in.

[0007]

According to the present invention, a conductive plate is provided.
A connector having a contact formed by stamping a contact, a connector having a base insulator holding the contact, and a conductive partner formed with a slit for receiving a tip portion of the contact with zero insertion force. ZIF including a mating connector having a contact and a mating insulator holding the mating contact
In the connector, the contact includes a holding portion held by the base insulator, a connection portion extending in one direction from the holding portion, and a spring portion extending in the one direction with an interval from the connection portion. A connection portion connected to the connection portion such that the spring portion is elastically deformable, and the spring portion has a contact portion formed at a tip portion in the one side direction;
A free end formed on the opposite side to the tip in the one direction; and further pressing the free end to tilt the contact portion.
Only has a drive shaft movable in said base insulator so as to contact with the mating contact, the drive shaft pushes engage said free end portion so as to elastically deform the spring portion to the thickness direction A ZIF connector having an engaging portion is obtained.

[0008]

According to the ZIF connector of the present invention having the above structure,
The contact portion between the contact portion and the driving point has a lever shape, and a large contact force can be obtained with a small force.

In addition, by simply moving the drive shaft accommodated in the insulator at the time of connection, the contact is pressed against the mating contact, and it is not necessary to move the connector and the mating connector relatively in the opposite direction.

[0010]

Next, an embodiment of the ZIF connector of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the ZIF connector includes a connector 1 and a connector 1
And a mating connector 8 that fits into the connector. Connector 1
Has a base insulator 3 in which a plurality of conductive contacts 10 are aligned and held, and a pair of outer insulators 4 erected and fixed on a pair of side surfaces of the base insulator 3 in parallel with each other. .

The mating connector 8 has a mating insulator 29 which is inserted into the contact 10 with zero insertion force, and in which a plurality of conductive mating contacts 30 contacting the contact 10 one by one are aligned and held. I have.

The contact 10 includes a holding portion 12 held by the base insulator 3, a connecting portion 11 extending from the holding portion 12 in one direction, and the other side of the holding portion 12 in a direction opposite to the one direction. A terminal portion 13 extending therefrom;
The connecting portion 11 has a spring portion 15 connected to a distal end portion in one side direction via a connecting portion 14.

The connecting portion 11 and the spring portion 15 are connected to each other by a connecting portion 14 at an interval in parallel with each other. At the upper end portion of the spring portion 15 located above the connecting portion 14, a contact portion 19 having a tapered tip contacting the mating contact 30 is formed. The lower end portion of the spring portion 15
It is a free end 17a that allows the spring portion 15 to be deformable, and a pressing portion 17 is formed on the free end 17a. The pressing portion 17 protrudes to the opposite side from the connecting portion 11.

On the other hand, the other contact 30 has a slit 3 opened toward the contact portion 19 with the contact 10.
1 is formed. This slit 31 is the contact 1
The thickness is set to be slightly larger than the thickness of 0. Also,
The opening 33 at the tip of the slit 31 is
The contact portion 19 has a wide-opening tapered shape so that the contact 10 can be easily inserted.
The contact 10 and the mating contact 30 are obtained by punching a thin conductive plate.

The contacts 1 are incorporated in the connector 1 such that the contacts 10 are symmetrically arranged in two rows and the terminal portions 13 project outward from the lower surface of the base insulator 3. An outer insulator 4 is provided upright on the base insulator 3 so as to surround each contact 10.

A drive shaft 5 having a substantially inverted T-shaped cross section is provided on the base insulator 3 and is movable in the longitudinal direction of the connector 1 (perpendicular direction in FIG. 2).
The drive shaft 5 is made of an electrically insulating material. Drive shaft 5 facing outer insulator 4
A plurality of grooves (engaging portions) 51 are formed on both side surfaces of the wall portion 5a at the same intervals as the pitch of the contacts 10 in the vertical direction. The pressing portions 1 of the contact 10 are provided in these grooves 51.
7 are engaged one to one. As shown in FIG. 3, an alignment plate 6 having alignment holes 61 for aligning the contacts 10 is provided on the upper end side of the drive shaft 5. The alignment plate 6 has a convex portion 6a engaged with a concave groove 5b formed on the upper end surface of the wall portion 5a of the drive shaft 5.

Further, the contact portion 19 of the contact 10 is
It extends into the receiving space 1a of the connector 1 located above the alignment hole 61. The partner contacts 30 are fixedly held in two rows by the partner insulator 29. The mating insulator 29 is fitted into the receiving space 1a of the connector 1.

FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of the contact 10. The difference from the contact 1 shown in FIG. 1 is that the connecting portion 14 between the connecting portion 11 and the spring portion 15 It is in the configuration formed at the upper end.

Next, the interfitting of the connector 1 and the mating connector 8 which are operating in the above embodiment will be described. First,
The mating connector 8 is inserted into the receiving space 1a of the connector 1. At this time, the contact portion 19 of the contact 10 is inserted into the slit 31 of the mating contact 30 with zero insertion force. Thereafter, the drive shaft 5 is moved in one direction perpendicular to the plane of FIG. Then, the pressing portion 17 of the spring portion 15 engaged with the groove 51 of the drive shaft 5 is pressed in the plate thickness direction,
The contact portion 19 of the contact 10 is tilted, and opposing locations on both sides in the plate thickness direction are pressed against the inner surface of the slit 31 of the mating contact 30 to be connected.

The pressing action of the contact 10 and the mating contact 30 in this state will be described with reference to FIG.
When a pressing force W is applied to the pressing portion 17 (point C) by the movement of the drive shaft 5 in a state where the contact portion 19 of the contact 10 is inserted into the slit 31 of the mating contact 30, the spring portion 15 bends, The tip (point A) of the portion 19 and the portion (point B) in contact with the edge on the opening 33 side of the slit 31 on the opposite surface side come into pressure contact with the inner surface of the slit 31. The points A and B receive the contact forces P and F, respectively.

By the way, if the connecting portion 11 is made of a very soft material and has no deformation resistance, the lever principle is established between the points A and B and the point C. If the distance from point A to point B is S, and the distance from point A to point C is L, W × L = P × S, and W = (S / L) × P. Note that F = P−W, and F = ((L−S) / L) × P
Becomes Therefore, if the distance L is made larger than the distance S, the driving force W becomes smaller than the contact force P. When a driving force W is applied to the spring portion 15, the spring portion 15
Since the connection portion 11 and the connection portion 11 are integrally connected to each other, the connection portion 11 is also deformed to some extent, and the driving force W is used to deform the connection portion 11.

Therefore, by making the connection portion 11 as soft as possible, leverage efficiency can be obtained.

In FIGS. 1 to 5, the points A, B, and C and the points A, B, and O of the holding unit 12 are configured to be parallel to each other, but as shown in FIG. Of the points, points B and C, the spring portions 15 at points B and C are tilted in advance, and upon receiving the driving force, points B and C become points A, B and O.
You may make it substantially parallel to a point.

The contacts shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 show other embodiments of the contacts. The contact 10 shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 differs from the contact 10 shown in FIG. 1 in that the free end 17a of the contact 10 is used as a pressing portion. In the case of these contacts 10, instead of the grooves 51 on the side surfaces of the drive shaft 5, the free ends 17 a
May be provided.

The points A, B, C, and O shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 are the same as those of the contact 10 shown in FIG. Performs a pressing action.

[0026]

As described above, according to the ZIF connector of the present invention, the free end of the contact is pressed by the drive shaft to contact the contact and the mating contact. The lever boosting effect can be obtained without relatively moving the connector and the mating connector fitted and connected to each other.

Further, even when the connector and the mating connector are fixed, the contact can be made by moving the drive shaft, so that it can be applied to various installation locations.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a contact and a mating contact used in a ZIF connector of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing one embodiment of the ZIF connector of the present invention, showing a state before fitting of the connector and a mating connector.

FIG. 3 is a partial plan view of the connector of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of another contact and a mating contact used in the ZIF connector of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing the operation principle of the ZIF connector of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a partial sectional view showing still another embodiment of a contact used in the ZIF connector of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing still another embodiment of the contact used in the ZIF connector of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing still another embodiment of the contact used in the ZIF connector of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 1 connector 3 base insulator 4 outer insulator 5 drive shaft 6 alignment plate 8 mating connector 10 contact 11 connecting portion 12 holding portion 15 spring portion 17 pressing portion 17a free end portion 19 contact portion 30 mating contact 31 slit 51 groove (engaging portion) 29 Opponent insulator

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A stamping process for a conductive plate.
A connector having a formed contact and a base insulator holding the contact, a conductive mating contact having a slit for receiving a tip portion of the contact with zero insertion force, and a mating member holding the mating contact In a ZIF connector including a mating connector having an insulator, the contact includes a holding portion held by the base insulator, a connecting portion extending in one direction from the holding portion, and a gap with respect to the connecting portion. A spring portion extending in the one side direction, and a connection portion connecting the spring portion to the connection portion so as to be elastically deformable, wherein the spring portion is a contact portion formed at a tip portion in the one side direction. When the the one side direction of the distal end portion and a free end portion formed on the opposite side, a further said contact portion presses the free end portion Only it has a drive shaft movable in said base insulator so as to contact with the mating contact, the drive shaft is elastically varying the spring portion to the thickness direction
A ZIF connector having an engaging portion for engaging and pressing the free end so as to form the ZIF connector.