JP3883437B2 - Circuit board electrical connector - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an electrical connector that is mounted on a circuit board so that an opening of a receiving recess formed in the front surface for receiving a mating connector is positioned at an edge of the circuit board.
[0002]
[Prior art]
As this type of electrical connector, one disclosed in JP-A-7-254453 is known. This known electrical connector 50 shown in FIG. 2 of the accompanying drawings is disposed on a circuit board P. A housing 51 of the connector 50 has a flange portion 52 extending to both sides at the bottom, and is attached to the circuit board P by the flange portion 52. The front surface of the housing 51 is located at the edge of the circuit board P, and a receiving recess 53 that is opened at the front surface is formed. The receiving recess 53 is for receiving the fitting protrusion 61 of the mating connector 60, and has a horizontally long quadrilateral shape when viewed from the front. An array groove 55 for arranging a plurality of contacts 54 on the upper and lower surfaces is located in the center of the receiving recess 53, and coaxial connectors 56 are provided at both ends thereof. Further, the connector 50 is provided with a key portion 57 so as to protrude from a part of the receiving recess 53, and is fitted with a key groove 62 formed in the mating connector 60 to prevent the connector from being connected. is doing.
[0003]
Thus, when the connector 50 and the mating connector 60 are fitted, the contact 54 and the coaxial connector 56 are connected to the corresponding contact and coaxial connector of the mating connector 60.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In recent years, there has been a strong demand for miniaturization of electronic devices as well as connectors, and in particular, thinning. In the case shown in FIG. 2, it is desirable to reduce the height on the circuit board as much as possible. Accordingly, the receiving recess 53 is also narrow in the height direction.
[0005]
In such a situation, providing the key portion 57 for preventing erroneous connection of the connector restricts the arrangement of the contacts and the like. For example, in the case of FIG. 2, there is a portion on the lower surface of the arrangement plate 55 where the contacts cannot be arranged at a position facing the key portion 57. In this case, it is difficult to say that the space of the receiving recess 53 is sufficiently utilized.
[0006]
That is, in such a conventional connector, in order to partially sacrifice or eliminate the function in the receiving recess, the connector must be made higher by that amount.
[0007]
An object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector for a circuit board that solves the problems associated with the conventional connector, can cope with downsizing of the apparatus, and does not deteriorate the function of the receiving recess. And
[0008]
The electrical connector for a circuit board according to the present invention has an opening in the receiving recess formed in the front surface between the housing and the metal shell attached to the outer surface of the rear portion in order to receive the mating connector from the front. It is mounted on the circuit board so as to be located at the front edge of the board.
[0009]
In such an electrical connector, in the present invention, the mounting bottom surface of the connector that contacts the circuit board is formed on the metal shell within the width of the receiving recess, and protrudes stepwise from the mounting bottom surface within the width to cut out the circuit board. And a front end surface of the protrusion coincides with the front surface of the connector and is located at or near the front edge of the circuit board, and the receiving recess is an upper surface of the circuit board. also formed located above keyway for receiving the key of the mating connector which opens at the front face communicating with said receiving recess is formed open to the upper surface of the protrusion in the protruding portion from the The metal shell has a receiving surface supported on the rear side of the housing and has a region forming a gap with the housing on the front side, and substantially encloses the housing and forms a receiving recess that opens forward in the gap region. And, of the metal shell surrounding the housing is again bent over the ridge bordering protrusions bottom and side surface extending along the side surface of the projecting portion is bent from the mounting bottom downwards, the projecting portion of the It contacts the bottom surface and engages with the protrusion .
[0010]
According to the present invention, since the protruding portion in which the key groove is formed is contained in the thickness of the circuit board when the connector is used, the height does not increase when the connector is used. Providing the keyway does not affect the receiving recess and does not reduce the strength of the housing.
[0011]
Further, since the metal shell as described above is attached to the housing on the rear side and the receiving recess is formed on the front side, the peripheral wall portion by the housing for forming the receiving recess is not required on the front side, and the rear side However, since the metal is stronger than the housing material, the thickness of the housing can be reduced beyond the thickness of the metal shell, and the connector can be made thinner, but in addition to this, a keyway is formed. Reinforcing is applied to the protruding portion, and this can be dealt with even if the twisting force in the keyway is somewhat large.
[0012]
The position, number, and shape of the key groove in the protruding portion can be changed variously, and it is possible to prevent erroneous connection between a plurality of connectors having the same fitting condition in the receiving recess. Furthermore, if the protruding portion is formed as a separate member from the housing main body side and is incorporated in, for example, a metal shell, the protruding portion at various key groove positions is appropriately incorporated to correspond to the mating connector. It will also be possible.
[0013]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described based on FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings. In FIG. 1, the connector 1 of the present invention is connected to each other with a mating connector 30 inserted in the direction of arrow A.
[0014]
The connector 1 has a housing 2 made of an insulating material, a contact 3 implanted in the housing 2, and a metal shell 4 fitted in the housing 2. The housing 2 protrudes downward from the rear wall 2A, an arrangement wall 2B for arranging contacts extending in the height direction from an intermediate portion of the rear wall 2A, and a lower portion of the rear wall 2A. And a protrusion 2 </ b> C extending forward (in the direction toward the mating connector 30) . A plurality of dovetail-shaped array grooves 2D extending in the front-rear direction are formed on the lower surface of the array wall 2B, and the contact portion of the thin flat-plate contact 3 bent in a crank shape is formed from the rear of the housing 2 above. It is inserted into the array groove 2D. The protrusion 2C is provided at the center in the width direction of the connector 1, and a key groove 5 that opens forward is formed on the inner surface thereof. The front end surface of the projecting portion 2C is substantially in the same position as the front end surface of the array wall 2B in the front-rear direction. The key groove 5 is formed with an introduction portion 5A in a tapered shape at the front end surface of the protruding portion 2C.
[0015]
The housing 2 is fitted with a metal shell 4 formed by bending a metal plate. The metal shell 4 is supported by the upper surface of the rear wall portion 2A of the housing 2, the side surface of the arrangement wall 2B, the side surface of the projecting portion 2C, and the ridge portion that forms the boundary line between the side surface and the bottom surface, It is attached to the housing 2. The space formed between the metal shell 4 and the housing 2 formed by the metal shell 4 on the front side of the housing 2 has a receiving recess 6 for receiving the fitting portion 31 of the mating connector 30. Forming.
[0016]
The metal shell 4 forms a mounting bottom surface 4A at the bottom at substantially the same position as the inner surface (upper surface) of the protruding portion 2C, and is bent downward from the mounting bottom surface 4A to form an L-shaped portion 4B. The 2C ridge is engaged over the entire length in the front-rear direction. Further, an auxiliary key portion 4C for preventing erroneous fitting is formed at the corner of the opening of the inner surface of the bottom of the metal shell 4 so as to protrude inward.
[0017]
In the connector 1, the circuit board P is formed in such a manner that the protrusion 2 C (and the L-shaped part 4 B of the metal shell 4) protruding downward from the mounting bottom surface 4 A is accommodated in a notch P 1 formed in the circuit board P. It is attached to P. In this state, the connection portion of the contact 3 protruding rearward from the rear wall portion 2A of the housing 2 and bent downward in an L shape comes into contact with a predetermined circuit portion of the circuit board P and is soldered. The
[0018]
On the other hand, the mating connector 30 is formed with a fitting portion 31 protruding from the front portion of the housing, and a female contact 33 is disposed in an internal space 32 of the fitting portion 31. The internal space 32 forms a space for receiving the arrangement wall portion when the fitting portion 31 is received in the receiving recess 6 of the connector 1. A key portion 34 extending in the front-rear direction is provided on the bottom surface of the fitting portion 31. An auxiliary keyway 35 is formed at the bottom side end.
[0019]
The key groove 5 of the connector 1 and the key part 34 of the mating connector 30 that engages with the key groove 5 can be provided in any number in any position in the width direction of the connector. If the position or number of the connectors is changed depending on the connector, it is possible to prevent erroneous connection between the connectors. In addition, the auxiliary key portion 4C of the connector 1 and the auxiliary key groove 35 of the mating connector 30 may cause errors in the fitting direction when mating the correct connectors with the mating connector not provided with the key portion. To prevent.
[0020]
Thus, the mating connector 30 is fitted to the connector 1 in the A direction. At this time, the connectors between the key portion 34 and the key groove 5 are misfitted, and the auxiliary key groove 35 and the auxiliary key portion 4C. Thus, even in the case of regular connectors, errors in the fitting direction are prevented.
[0021]
In the present invention, if the protrusion with the key groove formed is formed separately from the housing, the protrusion having the key groove with a different number of positions can be appropriately selected or changed. In addition, it is economically advantageous because only one type of housing mold is required.
[0022]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, the key groove is formed in the protruding portion of the bottom portion of the housing, and the protruding portion is accommodated in the notch portion of the circuit board. The height does not increase, the mounting bottom is within the width of the receiving recess, and there is no need for a mounting flange protruding from the connector, so the connector does not increase in the width direction, and the keyway As a result, the space for the original function of the connector is not obstructed. Despite miniaturization in the height direction, the metal shell reinforces the protruding portion. Furthermore, if the protrusion is formed separately from the housing and assembled, it can easily cope with the change of the keyway, and only one type of molding die for the housing can be used, and the cost can be reduced.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a partially broken perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a conventional connector.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Connector 2 Housing 2C Protrusion part 4 Metal shell 5 Keyway 6 Receiving recessed part 30 Mating connector P Circuit board P1 Notch

Claims (1)

In order to receive the mating connector from the front, the opening of the receiving recess formed in the front surface between the housing and the metal shell attached to the outer surface of the rear portion is positioned at the front edge of the circuit board. In the electrical connector mounted on the circuit board, the mounting bottom surface of the connector contacting the circuit board is formed on the metal shell within the width of the receiving recess, and protrudes stepwise from the mounting bottom surface within the width. A protrusion is provided in the housing, the front end surface of the protrusion being coincident with the front surface of the connector and positioned at or near the front edge of the circuit board, and the receiving recess is formed on the circuit board. the upper surface is formed positioned above the upper surface keyways of the protruding portion for receiving a mating connector key to the projecting portion opens at the front face communicating with the receiving recess Mouth and is formed by, the metal shell is opened in the forward region of substantially enclosing to the distance the housing has a region forming a housing and spacing at the front side is facing surface supported at the rear side of the housing The metal shell surrounding the housing is bent downward from the mounting bottom surface, extends along the side surface of the protruding portion, and is bent again over the ridge that forms the boundary between the side surface and the protruding portion bottom surface. An electrical connector for a circuit board, wherein the electrical connector is in contact with a bottom surface of the projecting portion and is engaged with the projecting portion .

Images