JP3185090B2 - Low insertion force connector using flexible connection elements - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a low insertion force connector using a flexible connecting element for mutually connecting circuits of a board to be connected and a board to be mated.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a prior art, Japanese Patent Publication No.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4 (1999) -114 discloses a low operating force type connector that does not require a large operating force when a pin connector having a pin contact and a socket connector having a socket contact are fitted.

[0003] As shown in FIG. 9, this low operating force type connector has a pin connector 100 and a socket connector 200. The pin connector 100 is provided with a pin contact 130. The socket connector 200 is provided with a socket contact 140.

A pin contact 130 is held by an insulator 111 and a socket contact 140
Are held by the partner insulator 122. The socket connector 200 is formed with a bent spring portion 44 that projects in one direction perpendicular to the direction in which the pin contact 130 and the socket connector 200 are inserted and removed. When the connectors 100 and 200 are mated, the pin contact 1
The contact portion 142 of the socket contact 140 tilts due to the mutual pressing of the step 132 of the contact 30 and the tip of the contact portion 131 of the socket contact 140, and the pin contact
Contact portions 131 and 142 between the socket contacts 140
This is to bring them into contact with each other.

[0005]

However, the pin contact 130 shown in the prior art is held by the insulator 111 and the socket contact 14
Since 0 is held in the counterpart insulator 122, it has a complicated structure in which a completely independent unit must be prepared and incorporated, which is troublesome.

In such a low operating force connector, the pin contact 130 and the socket contact 14
When a plurality of “0” are prepared and arranged at a high density, the interval between the pin contacts 130 and the socket contacts 140 becomes narrower.
0 and the socket contact 140 are short-circuited.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a low-insertion-force connector using a flexible connection element which can generate a sufficient contact force with stable contact with a low insertion force.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a low-insertion-force connector using a flexible connection element that does not cause a short circuit even when the interval between adjacent contacts is reduced.

[0009]

According to the present invention, an insulating first substrate provided on a substrate to be connected and an insulating first substrate provided opposite to the first substrate at a predetermined interval are provided. a second substrate, the first comprising 1 and a plurality of connecting elements placed between the second substrate, the second of said substrate first group
The circuit of the mating connection target substrate provided on the second substrate by moving on the plate and the connection target substrate
In a low insertion force connector for interconnecting circuits via the connection element, the connection element includes a plurality of insulating flexible plates and a plurality of the plurality of insulating flexible plates arranged on at least one surface of the flexible plates in parallel with each other. Having conductive contacts of
The first substrate has the contact in a thickness direction of the first substrate.
A plurality of first insertion hole for inserting a one-to-one one of the distal end portion of the connection element, the second substrate, the other end portion of the connecting element in the thickness direction of the second substrate It has a plurality of second insertion holes that are inserted one-to-one, the second insertion holes have a hole size that allows the connection element to move in a predetermined direction, and the first and second insertion holes The substrate is parallel to the thickness direction.
Each having a shaft portion provided on a plate-thick surface, on the second substrate
The other end of the connecting element protruding in the thickness direction.
The other end is connected to the mating connector provided on the mating target board.
Contact with the contact by low insertion force
In the state where the other end portion is opposed to the
A substrate is pressed onto the first substrate and set on the first substrate.
The connecting element is deformed by circular motion around the shaft
The other end of the other contact to the contact
The first and second
A pivoting mechanism for regulating the pivotal movement of the substrate in a predetermined direction by the shaft portion;
A low-insertion-force connector using flexible connecting elements, characterized in that they are connected to one another by a arm, is obtained.

[0010]

1 and 2 show a first embodiment of a low insertion force connector using a flexible connection element according to the present invention.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the low insertion force connector according to the first embodiment is installed so as to be opposed to an insulating first substrate 10 at a predetermined interval. And a plurality of flexible connection elements 20 located between the first and second substrates 10 and 30.

In the low insertion force connector using the connection element 20, the second substrate 30 is moved on the first substrate 10 to be provided on the lower surface of the first substrate 10 as shown in FIG. The circuit between the connection target substrate 50 and the mating connection target substrate 60 provided on the second substrate 30 is mutually connected via the connection element 20.

As shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, the connection element 20 has a flexible plate 21 such as an insulating film, and a plurality of strip-shaped conductive contacts 22 disposed on both surfaces of the flexible plate 21 by bonding or the like. are doing. The contacts 22 are arranged on the flexible plate 21 in parallel with a predetermined interval from each other.

The first substrate 10 has a plurality of first insertion holes 11 through which one end portions 20a of the plurality of connection elements 20 are inserted one-to-one in the thickness direction of the first substrate 10. I have. The second substrate 30 has a plurality of second insertion holes 31 through which the other end portions 20b of the plurality of connection elements 20 are inserted one-to-one in the thickness direction of the second substrate 30. The second insertion hole 31 has a large hole size that allows a predetermined movement of the connection element 20. The distal end portion 20b of the connection element 20 protruding in the thickness direction on the second substrate 30 is opposed to a conductive partner contact 61 such as a socket contact provided on the partner connection target substrate 60 by a low insertion force. By moving the second substrate 30 onto the first substrate 10, the connection element 20 is
1 contacts the contact 22 of the connection element 20.

[0015] As shown in FIG.
In 1, a pair of mating contact spring portions 61 a and 61 b are opposed to each other and extend. A pair of mating contact spring portions 61a, 61
In b, contact portions 61c and 61d that are in one-to-one contact with the contact 22 therebetween are formed.

The flexible intermediate portion 20c of the connection element 20 located between the first and second substrates 10, 30 is:
It is inclined obliquely to the thickness direction. Further, the first substrate 10 has a first inclined surface 10a formed at a portion adjacent to the substrate surface facing when the intermediate portion 20c of the connection element 20 is deformed. A second inclined surface 30a is formed on the second substrate 30 at a portion adjacent to the substrate surface facing when the connection element 20 is deformed.

The second substrate 30 has a four-sided
Two positioning pins 38 are provided vertically. Also,
A guide hole (not shown) for fitting each of the positioning pins 38 is formed in the mating connection target substrate 60.

As shown in FIG. 7, the connection element 20 has a plurality of signal contacts 22 disposed on one surface thereof, and a ground contact for grounding on the entire surface of the other surface opposite to the one surface. 23 may be arranged. In this case, by providing the ground contact 23, it can be used as the connection element 20 for high-speed transmission having a microstrip structure.

The contact 2 shown in FIGS.
2 is a thin metal plate arranged in parallel and bonded to a flexible plate 21, and the connection element 20 is made by cutting to a required length dimension. If the connection element 20 thus cut is formed into an arbitrary shape, the processing can be performed quickly.

Further, the first and second substrates 10, 30
Are a pair of plate-thick surfaces 10c, 30c which are peripheral portions thereof.
Are provided with a pair of shaft portions 12, 32, respectively. The first and second substrates 10, 30 are provided on the shaft portions 12, 32.
The rotating arms 70 are connected to each other so as to restrict the rotation of the rotating arm 70 in a predetermined direction. Rotating arm 7 shown in FIG.
Reference numeral 0 is connected to the shaft portions 12 and 32 provided on the bottom surfaces of the cutout portions 15 and 35 formed on the plate-thick surfaces of the first and second substrates 10 and 30, respectively. Part 1
5 and 35 are in contact with the inner walls 15a and 35a in diagonal directions.

Next, the operation of the low insertion force connector shown in the first embodiment will be described below.

First, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a connection element 20 is provided between the first and second substrates 10 and 30. At this time, one end portion 20a of the connection element 20 is inserted into and fixed to the first insertion hole 20a. One end portion 20a of the connection element 20 is connected to the conductive portion of the connection target substrate 50 by solder or the like as shown in FIG. The other end 20 b of the connection element 20 penetrates through the second insertion hole 31 and projects vertically onto the second substrate 30. In this state, as shown in FIG. 2, the intermediate portion 20c of the connection element 20 is inclined in an oblique plane. The other end portion 20b of the connection element 20 projects vertically above the second substrate 30, and is freely movable within the range of the second insertion hole 31.

Next, the four positioning pins 38 are inserted into the above-mentioned guide holes (not shown) of the mating target board 60 on the upper surface near the square of the second board 30, so that the mating connection is formed on the second board 30. The target substrate 60 is mounted. At this time,
The other end 20b of the connection element 20 is inserted between the contact portions 61c and 61d of the mating contact 61 with no insertion force.

In this state, when the mating connection target substrate 60 is pushed onto the connection target substrate 50, the rotating arm 70 is moved to the first base.
1 is rotated clockwise in FIG. 1 around the shaft 12 provided on the plate 10 side, and as shown in FIG. The second substrate 30 is moved obliquely downward while pressing 35a. At this time, the other end 20b of the connection element 20 is
Deforms while pressing 1c and 61d.

The operation in this state will be described with reference to FIGS. The contact 22 has the other end portion 20b
Is pressed in the axial direction, that is, in the thickness direction, with a force of Wo.
The intermediate portion 20c is deformed. Therefore, the other tip 2
0b tends to tilt as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG.
2 between the contact portions 61c and 61d of the mating contact 61
A force P in a direction perpendicular to the thickness direction of the place is generated,
Assuming that the distance between the generation points of the force P is S, the moment of P × S acts to stop the inclination. At this time, the intermediate part 2
0c in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction and a length L (intermediate part 2
0c), and the smaller the distance S between generation points, the greater the ratio of the contact force P to the force W required for insertion.

In the first embodiment, the other end portion 20b of the connection element 20 moves close to an arc, so that the rotating arm 70 is connected so that the second substrate 30 also moves in an arc. Have been.

FIGS. 8A, 8B and 8C schematically show modified examples of the low insertion force connector of the first embodiment. .

The low insertion force connector shown in FIG.
The first insertion hole 21 has a large hole size so as to allow a predetermined movement of the connection element 20. One end 20a of the connection element 20 penetrates the first insertion hole 11 and is connected to a socket contact (not shown) provided on the first substrate 10. As the socket contact, the same one as the socket contact 61 provided on the mating connection target substrate 60 shown in FIG. 3 can be used.

The low insertion force connector shown in FIG.
The first insertion hole 11 has a hole size that allows a predetermined movement of the connection element 20. First and second substrates 10, 3
The intermediate portion 20c of the connection element 20 located between 0 is inclined in a substantially rectangular shape with respect to the thickness direction. The one end portion 20a of the connection element 20 penetrates the first insertion hole 11 and is connected to a socket contact (not shown) provided on the first substrate 10. As the socket contact, the same one as the socket contact described with reference to FIG. 8B can be used.

The low insertion force connector shown in FIG.
In the configuration of the first embodiment, the intermediate portion 20 of the connection element 20 located between the first and second substrates 10 and 30
c is different in that it has the same shape as the connecting element 20 shown in FIG. That is, the intermediate portion 20c is inclined in a substantially rectangular shape with respect to the plate thickness direction.

[0031]

As described in the above embodiments, according to the low insertion force connector using the flexible connection element of the present invention, since the contacts are provided on the flexible plate, a plurality of contacts are provided. Since a plate-like object can be handled as one processing unit, assembly can be simplified.

Further, since the contacts are fixed to the flexible plate, a structure capable of preventing a short circuit with an adjacent contact is obtained, and the contacts can be arranged at a high density.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a low insertion force connector using a flexible connection element of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a state before connection in which a part of a low insertion force connector using the flexible connection element shown in FIG. 1 is stepped.

3 is a cross-sectional view showing a state after connection in which a part of the low insertion force connector using the flexible connection element shown in FIG. 1 is stepped.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a connection element of the low insertion force connector using the flexible connection element shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a side view of the connection element shown in FIG. 4;

6 is a front view of the connection element shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a front view showing another embodiment of the connection element shown in FIG. 5;

FIGS. 8A, 8B, and 8C are cross-sectional views schematically showing modified examples of the low insertion force connector according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view showing a conventional low insertion force connector.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 1st board | substrate 11 1st through-hole 20 Connection element 20a One front-end | tip part 20b The other front-end | tip part 20c Intermediate part 21 Flexible board 22 Contact 30 2nd board | substrate 31 2nd through-hole 50 Connection target board 60 Counterpart connection Target substrate 61a, 61b Mating contact spring portion 70 Rotating arm 100 Pin connector 111 Insulator 130 Pin contact 131, 142 Contact portion 140 Socket contact 200 Socket connector

Claims (7)

(57) [Claims] An insulating first substrate provided on a connection target substrate; an insulating second substrate provided opposite to the first substrate at a predetermined interval; Second
A plurality of connection elements installed between the substrates,
Moving the first substrate on the first substrate, thereby connecting the circuit and the circuit of the mating target substrate provided on the second substrate.
And a low insertion force connector for interconnecting the circuits of the connection target substrate via the connection element, wherein the connection element is arranged in parallel with a plurality of insulating flexible plates and at least one surface of the flexible plate. The first substrate has a plurality of conductive contacts, and the first substrate has a plurality of first contacts that penetrate one end of one of the connection elements one-to-one in a thickness direction of the first substrate. An insertion hole, wherein the second substrate is provided with the connection element in a thickness direction of the second substrate.
Has a plurality of second through holes for one-to-one insertion of the other distal end of the connection element, and the second through holes allow the connection element to move in a predetermined direction.
The first and second holes have a hole size that can be moved .
The substrate has a shaft portion provided on a plate thickness surface parallel to the plate thickness direction.
Each of the connection elements, each of which has a projection on the second substrate in the thickness direction.
The other end of the element is provided on the mating connection target substrate.
Accepted by low insertion force to the contact that is being
A state in which the other end is opposed to the partner contact
Pressing the second substrate onto the first substrate in the state
The circular motion is performed around the shaft provided on the first substrate.
While the connecting element is deformed, the other
So that the tip of the
The shafts of the first and second substrates rotate in a predetermined direction.
A low insertion force connector using a flexible connection element, wherein the connector is connected to each other by a rotating arm that restricts the insertion force. 2. The low insertion force connector using a flexible connection element according to claim 1, wherein the first insertion hole has a hole size that allows a predetermined movement of the connection element. A low insertion force connector that uses a flexible connection element. 3. The low insertion force connector according to claim 1, wherein the first and second connectors are flexible.
A middle part of the connection element located between the substrates is inclined obliquely with respect to the thickness direction of the connection element, wherein a low insertion force connector using a flexible connection element is provided. 4. The low insertion force connector using a flexible connection element according to claim 1, wherein the first and second connectors are provided.
A middle part of the connection element located between the substrates, wherein the middle part of the connection element is bent in a substantially rectangular shape with respect to the thickness direction and is inclined. 5. The low insertion force connector using a flexible connection element according to claim 1, wherein the first substrate has a first inclined surface formed on a surface of the substrate adjacent to the connection element when the connection element is deformed. And the second substrate has:
A low-insertion-force connector using a flexible connection element, wherein the connection element has a second inclined surface on an adjacent substrate surface when deformed. 6. The low insertion force connector using a flexible connection element according to claim 1, wherein the connection element comprises:
A low insertion force connector using a flexible connection element, having a plurality of said signal contacts on one side thereof and a ground contact for grounding on the other side opposite to said one side. . 7. The low insertion force connector using a flexible connection element according to claim 1 , wherein the connector is formed on the thick surface.
Each having a cut-out portion formed on the bottom surface of the cut-out portion.
The pivot arm is connected to the provided shaft portion,
At least one end of the rotating arm has the notch.
A low insertion force connector using a flexible connecting element, which is in contact with an inner wall of the connector.