JP3432378B2 - Connector fixing structure - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a fixing structure for a connector which is mounted for transmitting and receiving signals to and supplying power to a printed wiring board. In particular, the printed wiring board is integrated with a board provided with a bus bar or a connector to cover the printed wiring board. The present invention relates to a connector fixing structure suitable for application to a junction block having a structure in which is fitted.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Usually, a large number of electronic devices are mounted in automobiles for various controls. Therefore, connectors for connecting electronic devices to wire harnesses and various connectors for connecting wire harnesses are frequently used. ing. And, a junction block in which electronic devices and connectors are concentrated and integrated is used.

An example of a conventional junction block 41 (hereinafter simply referred to as JB) will be described below with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, J
B41 has a configuration in which a printed wiring board 42 (hereinafter simply referred to as a PCB) is fixed on a board 44 via a spacer 43. The PCB 42 has a connector 45, a resistor,
Various parts P such as capacitors and shields, such as coils, are attached.

On the other hand, various parts P are mounted on the board 44, and in addition, bus bars 47, 48 and the like are mounted. Although a part of the bus bar 47 is not shown in FIG. 6, the end of the bus bar 47 serves as an external connection terminal of the fuse cavity 49 when assembled as the JB 41. Further, the end portion of the bus bar 48 has a connector 51 when assembled as JB41.
Is configured to be an external connection terminal.

At the stage of assembly as a JB 41 as shown in FIG. 5, the entire upper parts of the PCB 42 and the substrate 44 are covered with a synthetic resin cover 52, and the lower side is also covered with a lower cover 53. At the top of this JB41,
The mating surface of the connector 45 is exposed from the opening provided in the cover 52 in substantially the same plane, and the fuse cavity 49 and the connector 51 project from the surface of the cover 52.

Next, the internal structure of the JB 41 will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8. Circuit pattern 4 as shown in FIG.
One end of a bus bar 54 inserted through the substrate 44 is connected to a part of 6 and the other end is electrically connected to the bus bar 47 and the like via a conductive member 55. Further, as shown in FIG. 8, a circuit pattern 46 is formed on the lower surface of the PCB 42,
The terminals of various parts P and the terminals 45a of the connector 45 are soldered.

As shown in FIG. 8, the connector 45 and the PCB 4
2 and the cover 52 are related to each terminal 4 of the connector 45.
5a is inserted into the PCB 42 and its end is soldered to the circuit pattern 46. The substantially central portion of the connector 45 is fastened and fixed to the PCB 42 with a screw 56. A wide gap G is formed between the opening edge of the cover 52 and the outer surface of the connector 45 so that they do not come into contact with each other in a steady state. And this connector 45
When a mating connector (not shown) is connected to the mating connector, the mating connector is inserted by inserting the front end of the mating connector into the mating surface of the connector 45 and then pushing the mating connector downward. When the connector 45 is pulled out, the mating connector is pulled up and pulled out.

[0008]

However, since the terminals of the connector 45 and the mating connector are connected in a pressure contact state in order to prevent contact failure and the like, there is an appropriate frictional resistance, and they are simply attached to the lower or upper part. It cannot be easily connected or removed by just pushing it, and it may be dislodged by prying especially when extracting.

That is, when the mating connector is pulled out from the connector 45 as shown in FIG.
Since a wide gap G is formed between the connector 45 and the connector 2, the connector 45 is twisted so as to be shaken in the arrow B direction. As a result, a load is applied to the soldering position between the terminal 45a of the connector 45 and the circuit pattern 46, and a crack may occur in the soldered portion. In this case, the contact between the terminal 45a and the circuit pattern 46 becomes poor, and normal circuit operation cannot be performed.

Further, when the mating connector is connected to the connector 45 as shown in FIG. 9, by pushing the mating connector, the PCB 42 is flexed and deformed from the horizontal state shown by the imaginary line to the downward direction as shown by the solid line. . Furthermore,
As shown in FIG. 10, when the mating connector is pulled out, the connector bends and deforms upward from the position indicated by the imaginary line. As a result, a load is applied to the soldered portion at the time of insertion and at the time of extraction, and the same problem as described above occurs. An object of the present invention is to provide a connector fixing structure configured to surely prevent a crack or the like of a soldering portion when a mating connector is attached to or detached from a connector provided on a printed wiring board.

[0011]

Means for Solving the Problems The above-mentioned problems relating to the present invention include a connector mounted on a printed wiring board on which a predetermined electric circuit is formed, a connector for mounting the printed wiring board, and a fitting surface of the connector. In a fixing structure of a connector including a cover having an exposed opening,
A pressing protrusion is provided on the side wall of the connector, and the side wall of the opening edge of the cover, the side wall of the connector, and the pressing member are provided.
Insert the locking part of the mating connector into the gap between the top of the protrusion
Except for the wide insertion gap part, by making it a minute gap,
This can be solved by suppressing the horizontal and vertical loads that occur when the mating connector is attached and detached. Well
In addition, the printed wiring board is supported by the spacer through the spacer.
In the fixing structure of the connector attached to the material,
The spacer near the mounting position of the connector to the printed circuit board.
Can be solved by arranging corresponding supports
it can.

According to the connector fixing structure having the above structure,
A pressing protrusion for preventing the printed wiring board from bending and deforming when the connector is attached or detached is provided on the side wall of the connector, and preferably a pair is provided at least at opposite positions of the connector side wall. Further, preferably, a wall portion is provided so as to extend downward at a position corresponding to at least the pressing protrusion on the opening edge of the cover, and a wall portion that is close to the upper end of the pressing protrusion is provided. Therefore, even when the printed wiring board is pulled upward when the mating connector is pulled out from the connector, the pressing projections are brought into contact with the wall portion formed at the opening edge of the cover to reliably prevent upward bending deformation. Therefore,
It is possible to reliably prevent damage to the soldered portion and maintain a stable connection, so that reliability can be improved.

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of a connector fixing structure to which the present invention is applied will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of an essential part showing an embodiment of the connector fixing structure of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the essential part showing the configuration of the connector fixing structure in FIG. 1, and FIG.
FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing the lower structure of the printed wiring board in FIG. 4, and FIG. 4 is an operation explanatory view in FIG. Note that FIGS. 5 to 10 referred to in the description of the conventional example are appropriately referred to in the description of the embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1, the connector fixing structure 1 of the present embodiment is provided with a plate-shaped PCB 2 on which a circuit pattern 6 is formed and a plurality of terminals 5 soldered to the PCB 2. 3 and the cover 11 that covers the PCB 2
It consists of and. The terminal 5 protruding from the lower portion of the connector 3 is inserted through the PCB 2 and is connected to the circuit pattern 6 formed on the solder surface of the PCB 2 by soldering.
Further, the connector 3 is fastened and fixed to the PCB 2 with the screw 7, and the PCB 2 and the connector 3 are firmly integrated together with soldering.

At the opening edge of the cover 11 that exposes the fitting surface of the connector 3, a wall portion 12 is vertically provided integrally along the side surface of the connector 3 so as to surround the side surface. . That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the wall portion 12 is formed along the entire periphery of the connector 3. A wide insertion gap G1 for inserting the locking portion of the mating connector 35 is formed in a part between the side surface of the connector 3 and the wall portion 12, but a minute gap g is provided in addition to the insertion gap G1. It only exists. Further, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a plurality of pairs of rib-shaped pressing protrusions 13 are provided on the side wall of the connector 3 at positions deviating from the planar shape of the opening of the cover 11. The position of the pressing protrusion 13 is arranged such that the lower end of the wall portion 12 of the cover 11 is in close proximity with a minute gap.

Next, the operation of attaching and detaching the mating connector to and from the connector 3 will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the mating surface of the connector 3 is connected by inserting the mating connector from above. At this time, since there is a frictional resistance between the terminals, the entire periphery of the connector 3 is covered with the wall portion 12 even if an attempt is made to apply the external force that causes the terminals to shake in a lateral direction, that is, so-called "twisting".
Since it is surrounded by, the connector 3 is prevented from swinging in the lateral direction. Therefore, the mating connector is substantially urged only in the vertical direction, and no load is applied laterally to the soldered portion of the terminal 5 and the circuit pattern 6, and damage such as cracking of the soldered portion is reliably prevented. can do.

When the mating connector fitted to the connector 3 is to be pulled out, since the entire periphery of the connector 3 is surrounded by the wall portion 12, the connector 3 is placed sideways in order to separate the pressure-contacted terminals. The "prying" operation of rocking in the direction is blocked. As a result, even when the mating connector is pulled out, no load is applied to the soldered portion between the terminal 5 and the circuit pattern 6, and damage to the soldered portion can be reliably prevented.

Next, a more specific example of the above-described connector fixing structure of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. As shown in FIG. 3, a support member 22 is provided below the PCB 2 via a spacer 21. On the upper side surface of the support member 22, a cylindrical support portion 23 is provided so as to surround the screw 7 so as to correspond to the position where the connector 3 is tightened by the screw 7. The upper end of this support portion 23 is P
It is close to the solder surface of CB2. The support member 22 is a plate-shaped member and is provided on the entire upper portion inside the lower cover 53. The supporting portion 23 is arranged so as to surround the screw 7 arranged at the substantially central portion of the connector 3.

Next, the operation of inserting the mating connector into the connector 3 will be described. As shown in FIG. 3, when the connector 3 is pushed by the downward force, the PCB 2 is also pushed downward. However, since the support portion 23 is provided close to the PCB 2, the solder surface of the PCB 2 contacts the support portion 23 and does not bend downward from that position. As a result, no load is applied to the soldering position between the terminal 5 of the connector 3 and the circuit pattern 6, damage such as cracking of the soldered portion can be prevented, and reliability can be improved.

Further, when the mating connector 35 is pulled out from the connector 3 as shown in FIG.
However, in this case, since the pressing projection 13 provided on the side wall of the connector 3 and the wall portion 12 vertically extending from the opening edge of the cover 11 are brought into contact with each other, the force F does not act on the PCB 2. Therefore, it does not work on the soldering part. Therefore, it is possible to reliably prevent the soldering portion from cracking, and to obtain a highly reliable connector fixing structure.

Needless to say, the fixing structure of the connector according to the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various embodiments are possible. For example, in this embodiment, two pairs of rim-shaped pressing protrusions 13 are provided as shown in FIG. 2, but at least one pair can correspond to the target position. Further, although the pressing protrusion 13 has a rim shape, an annular pressing protrusion that surrounds the side wall of the connector 3 may be used.

[0022]

As described above, in the connector fixing structure according to the present invention, the holding projections are provided at at least opposite positions of the connector side wall, and at the positions corresponding to at least the holding projections at the opening edge of the cover. A wall portion that is vertically hung downward and that is close to the upper end of the pressing protrusion. Therefore, even when the printed wiring board is pulled up when the mating connector is pulled out from the connector, the pressing protrusions come into contact with the opening of the cover and the upward bending deformation is reliably prevented. Therefore, damage to the soldered portion can be reliably prevented, and stable connection can be maintained, so that reliability can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an enlarged sectional view of essential parts showing an embodiment of a connector fixing structure of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of an essential part showing a configuration of a connector fixing structure in FIG.

3 is a cross-sectional view showing a lower structure of the printed wiring board in FIG.

FIG. 4 is an operation explanatory diagram of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a conventional junction block.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a fixing structure of the connector in FIG.

7 is a cross-sectional view of the main parts in FIG.

8 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a main part in FIG.

FIG. 9 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing flexural deformation of a printed wiring board in a downward direction.

FIG. 10 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing upward bending deformation of a printed wiring board.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Connector fixing structure 2 Printed wiring board (PCB) 3 connectors 5 terminals 6 circuit patterns 7 screws 11 cover 12 walls 13 Pressing protrusion 22 Support member 23 Support g Small gap

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) Bibliographic references 2-76493 (JP, U) actual development Sho-50-107986 (JP, U) actual development 5-55486 (JP, U) actual development 2- 136985 (JP, U) Actual development 5-67072 (JP, U) Actual development 3-24284 (JP, U) Actual development Sho 53-144094 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01R 23/68 302 H01R 23/02

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A connector mounted on a printed wiring board on which a predetermined electric circuit is formed, and a cover having an opening for covering the printed wiring board and exposing a mating surface of the connector. In the connector fixing structure, a pressing protrusion is provided on the side wall of the connector, and the side wall of the opening edge of the cover, the side wall of the connector, and the pressing member
Insert the locking part of the mating connector into the gap between the top of the protrusion
Except for the wide insertion gap part, by making it a minute gap,
A connector fixing structure that suppresses horizontal and vertical loads that occur when a mating connector is attached and detached. 2. The printed wiring board is provided with a spacer.
The fixing structure of the connector that can be attached to the support member
In the vicinity of the mounting position of the connector on the printed circuit board.
By arranging the support part corresponding to the spacer,
Horizontal direction generated on the printed circuit board when the hand connector is attached or detached
Claim to suppress the load in the vertical and vertical directions
Item 1. A fixing structure for a connector according to Item 1.