JP3470435B2 - Electronic ballast - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is used by arranging a plurality of terminal fittings side by side in a terminal block main body made of synthetic resin, and attaching the mounting legs of these fittings to a printed circuit board by soldering. The present invention relates to an electronic ballast having a terminal device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A so-called electronic ballast formed by mounting transistors, resistors, capacitors and other electric parts on a printed circuit board is equipped with a terminal device at its input / output portion, and is connected through this device. There is one that electrically connects a printed circuit pattern of a printed circuit board connected to the electric component and an electric wire.

An example of a terminal device recently developed by the present applicant as this type is shown in FIGS. 12 to 15. In these figures, 1 is a terminal block main body made of thermoplastic synthetic resin, and the inside thereof is partitioned into a plurality of metal fitting storage chambers 4 through partition walls 2 and 3, and each storage chamber 4 is a terminal block main body. 1 is opened on the lower surface.

Terminal fittings 5 are individually stored in the metal fitting housing chambers 4, and as shown in FIG. 15, the ceiling of the terminal block body 1 is provided with electric wires that communicate with the respective housing compartments 4 individually. A plurality of insertion holes 6 and a plurality of release holes 7 are provided respectively. The electric wire 8 inserted into the electric wire insertion hole 6 is clamped by the lock connecting portion 5a of the terminal fitting 5, and the lock connecting portion 5a is pushed into the release hole 7 from the outside to release the lock of the electric wire 8. The release button 9 is inserted.

One partition wall 3 for partitioning between the metal fitting accommodating chambers 4 adjacent to each other is composed of a pair of wall portions 3a as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, and the meat stealing space 10 is provided between these wall portions 3a.
Is provided. By providing this void 10, the wall portion 1a of the ceiling wall of the terminal block body 1 facing the meat stealing void 10 is formed into a flat plate shape, and the shrinkage of this portion 1a is prevented.

Further, each terminal fitting 5 has a pin-shaped mounting leg portion 5b which is projected to the outside of the terminal base body 1 through the opening on the lower surface. In the terminal device having such a configuration, as shown in FIG. 15, the mounting leg portion 5b is inserted into the mounting hole 11a of the printed circuit board 11 and is soldered to a printed circuit pattern (not shown) of the printed circuit board 11. It is mounted on the printed circuit board 11. In addition, 12 in FIG. 15 indicates solder.

[0007]

A terminal device of this kind is provided.
When the electronic ballast is used, in addition to the resistance heat generated in the terminal fitting 5, the heat generated by the transistors and other heat-generating components among the electrical components mounted on the printed circuit board 11 affects the terminal device, and The temperature rises, and after use, the temperature falls to room temperature. Therefore, the terminal block body 1 of the terminal device repeatedly expands and contracts in accordance with such a temperature change.

Then, the mounting legs 5b of the terminal fittings 5 in which a plurality of terminal devices are accommodated side by side in the longitudinal direction of the terminal block body 1 are soldered to the printed circuit board 11 for use. Therefore, as the number of the terminal fittings 5 used increases, the degree of expansion and contraction increases, and the pitch of the mounting leg portions 5b easily shifts due to the influence. This deviation tends to be particularly large on both ends in the longitudinal direction of the terminal block body 1.

However, in the conventional terminal device, since there is no structure for absorbing the expansion / contraction of the terminal block body 1, the influence of the expansion / contraction is caused by the soldering between the mounting leg portion 5b and the printed circuit board 11. Easy to reach parts. As a result, solder 1
2 has a problem that cracks easily occur.

An object of the present invention is to use the mounting legs of a plurality of terminal fittings arranged side by side in the terminal block body by soldering to the printed circuit board, and to cause cracks in the solder. To obtain an electronic ballast that can reduce

[0011]

In order to achieve the above object, an electronic ballast according to the invention of claim 1 includes a heat generating component.
A printed circuit board on which electrical components are mounted and this board
Ballast case with built-in and the end of this ballast case
Soldered to the end of the printed circuit board exposed on the
An electronic ballast comprising:
Make sure that the slave device is not opposite to the wire insertion hole and the side where the insertion hole is provided.
Has an opening on the opposite side that can be closed by the printed circuit board.
A plurality of housing parts, the adjacent housing parts
Are integrally connected and provided close to the wire insertion hole side.
Connecting part and the adjacent
From the surface on the opening side to the opening surface and the connection between the opening and the
Notches over a depth of at least half the height between the joint
If there is a slit-shaped separation groove
External through the terminal block body made of synthetic resin and the wire insertion hole
A lock connecting part for sandwiching an electric wire inserted from
The print is projected from the opening to the outside of the terminal block body.
Mounting legs that are inserted through the circuit board and soldered to this board
And a terminal built in each of the housing parts.
And a metal fitting .

In addition, in order to prevent the terminal block body from being warped and to improve the moldability of this body,
An electronic ballast according to the invention of claim 2 is characterized in that the connecting portion has a flat plate-shaped bridge portion extending across both sides in the thickness direction of the terminal block body, and the separation groove is provided in at least one of both end portions of the bridge portion. it is obtained by forming a face at the tongue of the front wall or between the rear wall to each other to continuously flush of said adjacent housings unit provided.

[0013]

A terminal device provided in the electronic ballast of claim 1
The terminal block body, which forms the outer shell of the above , accommodates at least one terminal fitting inside each of the plurality of housing portions included therein. Mounting legs of the terminal fitting is inserted to-soldered to the printed circuit board is electrically and mechanically connected to the printed circuit pattern of the substrate, also, locking the connecting portion of the terminal fitting is the wire insertion hole Since the electric wire inserted from the outside through the lock is locked, the electric wire and the circuit pattern can be electrically connected through the terminal fitting.

The slit-shaped separation groove provided between the housing portions is narrowed or widened from the narrowed state when the terminal block body expands / contracts due to temperature change, so that one housing portion of the housing portion is expanded. Make sure that expansion and contraction are not affected by other housing parts. In order to absorb the expansion and contraction of the terminal block body, the separation groove separating the adjacent housing parts from each other except the connecting part is formed by the height dimension between the opening side surface of the terminal block body and the connecting part. This can be achieved by providing over half of the above. Further, the above absorbing action reduces the influence of the expansion and contraction on the soldered portion between the mounting leg portion and the printed circuit board.

Further, according to the invention of claim 2, in which the connecting portion for integrally connecting the adjacent housing portions is formed of the flat plate-shaped bridge portion and the convex edge portion, the slit portion is formed because the bridge portion has the flat plate shape. It is advantageous to secure a deep separation groove. Then, by adding a convex edge portion to such a flat plate-like bridge portion, the cross-sectional area can be increased without increasing the overall thickness of the connecting portion, and as a result, a molding material for molding the terminal block body. The fluidity of (synthetic resin) can be improved. Along with this, since the cross-sectional area can be increased without increasing the thickness of the connecting portion as described above, it is possible to prevent the terminal block body from warping such that the opening side of the terminal block body in the separation groove opens around the connecting portion. The strength required for the connection can be guaranteed at the joint.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. Reference numeral 21 in FIGS. 1 to 3 indicates a so-called electronic ballast. The ballast 21 includes a ballast case 24 formed by connecting a base 22 and a cover 23 made of aluminum alloy. A large number of vent holes 2 for heat dissipation are provided at required locations of the base 22 and the cover 23.
2a and 23a are provided, respectively. Ballast case 24
The printed circuit board 25 is built in.

The substrate 25 is seated on and supported by a plurality of spacer pieces 22b cut and raised from the base 22, and between the spacer pieces 22b and a plurality of stopper pieces 23b cut and raised from the cover 23. Sandwiched between
Positioning is supported. On the component mounting surface 25a of the printed circuit board 25, not shown transistors, resistors, capacitors and other electrical components required for the electronic ballast 21 are mounted.

Reference numeral 26 in FIGS. 1 and 3 denotes the base 2
It is an insulating sheet that is bent along the inner surface of 2 to electrically insulate the inner surface from the printed circuit board 25.
Reference numerals 23c are end plates that are respectively bent from both longitudinal ends of the cover 23 toward the printed circuit board 25. Also,
Reference numeral 22c in FIG. 1 denotes attachment holes (only one is shown) provided at both ends of the base 22 in the longitudinal direction.

The electronic ballast 21 is superposed on the lower surface of the chassis of the fluorescent lamp illuminator (not shown) with the base 22 arranged on the upper side and the cover 23 arranged on the lower side, and the mounting hole 22c is formed in the chassis. It is used by mounting it through a screw passing through.

The input / output part of the electronic ballast 21 is exposed by bending the end plate 23c, and the circuit pattern of the printed circuit board 25 connected to the electric parts and the electric wire are electrically connected to this part. The terminal device 31 is attached.

The terminal device 31 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. The terminal device 31 includes a terminal block body 32 made of an integrally molded product of thermoplastic synthetic resin such as PPE.
And a plurality of terminal fittings 33 arranged side by side along the longitudinal direction of the main body 32.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the terminal block body 32 includes a plurality of, for example, three housing portions 34, and a connecting portion 35 that integrally connects adjacent housing portions 34.
It is formed of a slit-shaped separation groove 36 provided between the adjacent housing portions 34 leaving the connecting portion 35.

As shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, the inside of each housing portion 34 is partitioned by a partition wall 37 into, for example, two fitting housing chambers 34a. At one end (upper end in the figure) of each housing portion 34 in the height direction, the metal fitting storage chamber 3
The same number of wire insertion holes 38 as the number of wire insertion holes 4a and a release hole 39 arranged in parallel therewith are provided, and both of these holes 38, 39 communicate with the metal fitting storage chamber 34a at the corresponding positions. A surface (a lower surface in the figure) opposite to the one end in the height direction of each housing portion 34 is opened.

In the wire insertion hole 38, the wire 4 shown in FIG.
0 is inserted, and a release button 41 made of synthetic resin is placed in the release hole 39.
Are stored respectively. The release button 41 is provided so that it can be pushed into the metal fitting storage chamber 34a by receiving the blade edge of the driver or the like.

The slit-shaped separation groove 36 is provided in the terminal block body 3
2 in the opening side, in other words, in FIG. 4 and FIG. 8 and the like, from the lower surface of the terminal block body 32 along the height direction to the connecting portion 35.
It is provided so that it can be cut without leaving. The separating groove 36 is formed on the adjacent housing part 34 except the connecting part 35.
Therefore, it is provided so as to be open not only on the lower surface on the opening side but also on both sides in the thickness direction of the terminal block body 32. Therefore, the adjacent housing portions 34 are connected to each other only via the connecting portion 35. Separation groove 36
Is formed to have a depth B that extends from the lower surface of the terminal block main body 32 to the upper surface of the connecting portion 35 by more than half of the height dimension A. This depth B is large in order to prevent cracking of solder described later. Is preferred.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 8, the connecting portion 35 includes a thin flat plate-shaped bridge portion 35a extending over both surfaces in the thickness direction of the terminal block body 32, and separation grooves 36 at both ends of the bridge portion 35a. Projecting edge portions 35b respectively provided to face the
It is formed by. The one convex edge portion 35b is provided so that the front surface wall of the adjacent housing portion 34 is continuous and flush, and the other convex edge portion 35b is such that the rear surface wall of the adjacent housing portion 34 is flush and continuous. It is provided.

The terminal fittings 33 are individually housed in the fitting housing chambers 34a of the respective housing portions 34. Therefore, each housing portion 34 has two terminal fittings 33 built therein.

As shown in FIGS. 5 to 7, each terminal fitting 3
3, the electric wire receiving plate portion 43 is bent at a substantially right angle from one side edge of the base portion 42, and the mounting plate portion 44 is bent at a substantially right angle from the other side edge of the base portion 42.
4 from the tip of 4 toward the electric wire receiving plate portion 43
Is bent and the mounting leg portion 46 is cut and raised from the base portion 42. The lock connecting portion 45 is provided in an oblique shape, and the tip edge thereof is in contact with or close to the electric wire receiving plate portion 43. The mounting leg portion 46 is provided with the electric wire receiving plate portion 43.
Also, it is provided upright in a direction opposite to the bending direction of the mounting plate portion 44, and forms a tapered pin structure.

The terminal fitting 33 has a lock connecting portion 45.
To the top, the metal fitting storage chamber 34a of each housing portion 34
Is attached by press-fitting through the opening of the chamber 34a. Each of the terminal fittings 33 is prevented from coming off by locking a locking piece 44a obliquely cut and raised from the mounting plate portion 44 into a square locking hole 47 formed in the housing portion 34.

In this attached state, the lock connecting portion 45
The tip side portion of the is opposed to the wire insertion hole 38, and the tip side of the release button 41 passed through the release hole 39 is in contact with the root side portion. Therefore, by pushing the release button 41, the lock connecting portion 45 is pushed and moved, and the connecting portion 4
The lock of the electric wire 40 by 5 can be released. Further, in the mounted state, the mounting leg portion 46 of each terminal fitting 33 is
Is projected to the outside of the terminal block body 32 through the opening of the metal fitting storage chamber 34a.

In the terminal device 31 having the above structure, the mounting leg portions 46 are inserted into the printed circuit board 25 from the component mounting surface 25a side, and a printed circuit pattern (not shown) of the printed circuit board 25 is formed. It is soldered to the provided pattern surface 25b. In FIG. 7, reference numeral 48 denotes solder, and the mounting leg 46 and the land of the printed circuit pattern are mechanically and electrically connected via the solder 48.

The terminal device 31 of the electronic ballast 21 having the above structure
To connect the electric wire 40 to the
Just insert. Then, the electric wire 40 becomes the core wire 4
0a, as shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG.
5 is inserted between the lock connecting portion 45 and the electric wire receiving plate portion 43 while pushing and opening the connecting portion 45 against the elastic force of 5, the elastic force of the lock connecting portion 45 causes The edge cuts into the core wire 40a. Thereby, the electric wire 40 is locked to the terminal fitting 33. On the other hand, the terminal fitting 33 is electrically / mechanically connected to the printed circuit pattern of the board 25 by inserting the mounting leg portion 46 into the printed circuit board 25 and soldering. Therefore, the electric wire 4
With the locking of 0, the electric wire 40 and the printed circuit pattern can be electrically connected via the terminal fitting 33.

By the way, when the electronic ballast 21 is used, its temperature rises due to heat radiation of the heat-generating components among the electrical components mounted on the printed circuit board 25, and after use the temperature drops to room temperature. Therefore, the terminal block body 32 made of the thermoplastic synthetic resin of the terminal device 31 expands and contracts, and under the influence of this, the solder 48 in which the mounting leg portion 46 of the terminal fitting 33 is soldered to the printed circuit board 25.
Moreover, it is possible to reduce the occurrence of cracks.

That is, the plurality of housing parts 34 provided in the terminal block main body 32 are separated by the slit-shaped separating groove 36 provided between the housing parts 34, leaving the connecting parts 35 therebetween. It is arranged only on the electric wire insertion hole 38 side and is smaller than the separation groove 36.

With this configuration, when each housing portion 34 of the terminal block body 32 expands / contracts due to the temperature change, the width of the separation groove 36 is narrowed or expanded from the narrowed state, so that one housing portion is formed. Expansion and contraction of 34 less affects other housing parts 34,
Therefore, expansion and contraction along the longitudinal direction of the terminal block body 32 can be absorbed.

The absorption of expansion and contraction can be realized by providing the separation groove 36 over more than half of the height dimension A between the opening side surface of the terminal block body 32 and the connecting portion 35.
The absorbing action can be increased as the depth B of the separation groove 25 is increased. However, when the depth B is less than half the height A, the connecting portion 35 is flexibly deformed. Since it becomes difficult to do so, a practically sufficient absorption function cannot be expected.

Due to the above-described absorbing action, the pitch of the mounting legs 46 of the terminal fittings 33, which are arranged side by side in the terminal block body 32, is displaced, in other words, the terminal block body 32.
It is possible to prevent a variation in the distance to each mounting leg portion 46 with respect to the central position in the longitudinal direction. Therefore, it is possible to reduce stress applied to the soldered portion between the mounting leg portion 46 and the printed circuit board 25 by the mounting leg portion 46 due to the expansion and contraction.

In this way, the influence of the expansion and contraction is less likely to reach the soldered portion, so that cracks can be less likely to occur in the solder 48 which is obtained by soldering the mounting leg portion 46 to the printed circuit board 25. Therefore, the reliability of the electrical / mechanical connection between the terminal device 31 and the printed circuit board 25 can be ensured and the terminal device 31 can be prevented from falling off from the printed circuit board 25.

Further, since the connecting portion 35 of the terminal block body 32 is formed by the thin flat plate-shaped bridge portion 35a and the pair of convex edge portions 35b, the thin bridge portion 35a
This is advantageous in increasing the depth B of the slit-shaped separation groove 36. Despite the configuration in which the plurality of housing portions 32 are integrally connected by the connection portion 35 that is as small as possible, the connection portion 35 is formed by adding the convex edge portion 35b to the end portion of the bridge portion 35a. since it is, the cross-sectional area of the connecting portion 35 can be a large and, the tongue 35b is contiguous to the front wall or between the rear wall to each other of the housing portion 34 which is adjacent the flush, complicated curved shape Never becomes.

As a result, the flowability of the molding material (synthetic resin) when molding the terminal block body 32 can be improved, and the moldability of the terminal block body 32 can be improved. Moreover, since the cross-sectional area can be increased without increasing the thickness of the entire connecting portion 35 as described above, the strength of the connecting portion 35 can be guaranteed. Thereby, due to the internal stress after molding,
It is possible to prevent the terminal block body 32 from warping such that the opening side of the terminal block body 32 in the separation groove 36 opens around the connecting portion 35.

10 and 11 show the essential parts of the second embodiment of the present invention. The second embodiment is different from the first embodiment only in the structure of the connecting portion, and the other structures are the same as those in the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 9 including parts not shown in FIGS. 10 and 11. Since it has the same configuration as the terminal device of the embodiment, the configuration not shown is substituted by FIGS. 1 to 9, and the same components shown are given the same reference numerals as those in the first embodiment, Although the description of the configuration and the description of the function and effect based on the configuration are omitted, these same portions also form a part of the configuration of the apparatus of this embodiment. The connecting portion 35 of the second embodiment is formed by providing the convex edge portion 35b only on one end portion of the bridge portion 35a. The configuration other than the above points is the same as that of the first embodiment. Therefore, also in the second embodiment, the same effect as that of the first embodiment can be obtained and the intended object of the present invention can be achieved.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. For example, at least one terminal fitting 33 may be built in each housing portion 34 of the terminal block body 32. Further, the bridge portion 35a of the connecting portion 35 in the invention according to claim 1 has a structure other than a flat plate shape, for example, a width direction (longitudinal direction of the terminal block body) on at least one of the upper surface and the lower surface of the flat plate-shaped main portion. It is also possible to provide at least one reinforcing rib that extends to and integrally connects adjacent housing portions.

[0043]

As described above in detail , the electric power of the invention of claim 1 is obtained.
The child ballast expands due to the temperature change of each housing part integrally connected through the connecting part of the terminal device included in the child ballast.
The contraction can be absorbed by the slit-shaped separation groove provided between the housing parts to prevent the pitch deviation of the mounting legs of the terminal fittings that are built side by side in the terminal block body. For the soldering part with the circuit board,
The influence of the expansion and contraction is small, and it is possible to reduce the occurrence of cracks in the solder in which the mounting legs are soldered to the printed circuit board.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the cross-sectional area of the connecting portion can be increased while ensuring the slit-shaped separation groove deep, the flowability of the molding material at the time of molding the terminal block body is good and the terminal is good. It is possible to improve the formability of the base body, guarantee the strength required for the connecting portion, and prevent the terminal base body from warping by opening the separation groove.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing one end of an electronic ballast according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing one end of the electronic ballast shown in FIG. 1 as viewed in the direction of arrow Z in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing one end of the electronic ballast shown in FIG. 1 as viewed in the direction of arrow Y in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the entire terminal device included in the electronic ballast shown in FIG . 1 .

5 is a rear view showing a partial cross-section of the overall configuration of the terminal device included in the electronic ballast shown in FIG.

6 is a bottom view showing the configuration of the entire terminal device included in the electronic ballast shown in FIG . 1. FIG.

7 is a cross-sectional view showing the configuration of a terminal device included in the electronic ballast shown in FIG . 1 along with a printed circuit board along line XX in FIG.

8 is a cross-sectional view showing the configuration of the terminal device included in the electronic ballast shown in FIG . 1 , taken along line WW in FIG.

9 is a perspective view showing a partial configuration of a terminal device included in the electronic ballast shown in FIG . 1. FIG.

FIG. 10 includes an electronic ballast according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
The perspective view which shows the structure of a part of terminal device which is.

11 is a diagram showing the configuration of the terminal device shown in FIG . 10 as seen from the direction of arrow V in FIG.

FIG. 12 is a rear view showing the configuration of the terminal device included in the electronic ballast according to the conventional example.

FIG. 13 is a bottom view showing a configuration of a terminal device included in the electronic ballast according to the conventional example.

FIG. 14 is a side view showing a configuration of a terminal device included in the electronic ballast according to the conventional example.

FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view showing a usage state of a terminal device included in the electronic ballast according to the conventional example.

[Explanation of reference numerals] 21 ... Electronic ballast, 24 ... Ballast case, 25 ... Printed circuit board, 31 ... Terminal device, 32 ... Terminal block body, 33
... terminal fittings, 34 ... housing part, 35 ... connecting part, 35
a ... bridge portion of connecting portion, 35b ... convex edge portion of connecting portion, 3
6 ... Separation groove, A ... Separation groove height dimension, B ... Separation groove depth dimension, 40 ... Electric wire, 45 ... Terminal fitting locking connection portion, 46
… Mounting legs for terminal fittings, 48… Solder.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01R 9/09 H01R 4/48

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A package on which electrical components including heat-generating components are mounted.
Lint circuit board and ballast case containing this board
And the print exposed on the end of this ballast case
A terminal device soldered to the end of the circuit board
An electronic ballast, wherein the terminal device is provided on the surface opposite to the wire insertion hole and the side where the insertion hole is provided.
A plurality of openings having an opening closed in the printed circuit board
The housing part and the adjacent housing part are connected together.
A connecting portion that is continuous and is provided close to the electric wire insertion hole side,
And the adjoining housing part leaving this connecting part
Between the opening-side surface and the opening surface and the connecting portion
To be cut over a depth of more than half the height dimension of
Made of synthetic resin with slit-shaped separation groove provided in
Clamps the terminal block body and the electric wire inserted from the outside through the electric wire insertion hole
The lock connecting part and the opening of the terminal block body
This board is projected to the outside and inserted through the printed circuit board.
The housing has mounting legs to be soldered to the board,
Each terminal has a built-in terminal metal fitting.
Electronic ballast characterized by. 2. The connecting portion is provided adjacent to and adjacent to the separation groove on at least one of both ends of the flat plate-like bridge portion and the bridge portion extending in the thickness direction of the terminal block body. electronic ballast claim 1, wherein the front together also <br/> housing portion, characterized in that formed from the tongue for continuous rear faces thereof flush with.