JP4203348B2 - Electrical connector - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an electrical connector, and more particularly to a small electrical connector suitable for electrical connection between a battery and a portable electronic device that operates using the battery as a power source.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, a small electrical connector having a structure that can be mounted on a printed wiring board has been used for electrical connection between a battery and a portable electronic device that operates using the battery as a power source, such as a portable telephone.
[0003]
This type of small electrical connector (hereinafter referred to as a connector) includes an insulating housing (hereinafter referred to as a housing) and a plurality of contacts accommodated in the housing. These contacts are usually formed into a predetermined shape by bending an extremely thin strip-shaped piece punched from a conductive thin metal plate. For this reason, the mechanical strength of the contact is weak. When stress is applied from an unexpected direction during assembly to the housing or during use of the connector, abnormal deformation occurs and the elastic force of the contact is attenuated or lost. Will cause permanent deformation, making it impossible to reuse. Thus, many measures for solving such obstacles have been proposed and implemented, but many are also introduced in the patent literature. (For example, see Patent Documents 1 to 3).
[0004]
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-250966 (right column on page 3, FIGS. 2 and 6)
[Patent Document 2]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-270103 (right column on page 3, FIG. 4)
[Patent Document 3]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-22105 (right column on page 3, FIGS. 1 and 6)
[0005]
In the above Patent Documents 1 and 2, a transverse strip (described as a tab in Document 2) is provided at the tip of the contact, and this transverse strip cooperates with the stop portion of the housing so that the contact area is formed. Each connector is described with limited spring travel.
[0006]
In the connectors described in these patent documents, by providing a transverse strip at the tip of the contact, the transverse strip cooperates with the stop portion of the housing to limit the spring movement of the contact area, thereby causing abnormal deformation. Although it is possible to prevent the contact, on the other hand, when the connector is attached to the wiring board, if the stress from above the housing is applied to the contact, the contact may be deformed abnormally. However, the connectors described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 do not consider any measures against such stress.
[0007]
This point will be described using a commercially available connector (known) using contacts of the same type as the contacts used in the connector. FIG. 7 shows this connector. FIG. 7A is a front view of the connector, and FIGS. 7B and 7C are cross-sectional views taken along line A-A in FIG. The reason for adopting a commercially available connector is to facilitate comparison with the connector of the present invention described later.
[0008]
The connector 10 ₁ includes three contacts 30 ₁ contact portion 30 ₁ of the contact so as to protrude from a side wall of the housing 20 _1, it is accommodated in the housing 20 _1. In the connector 10 _1, in a state mounted on the wiring board, when the battery or the like is mounted, typically, from parallel to the substrate direction of the arrow X, the electrodes of a battery or the like (not shown) is has moved, the contact 30 ₁ in contact with, and is designed to be in contact with the contact 30 ₁ at moderate elastic force. When a force is applied to the contact so as to be pulled out in the direction opposite to the direction of the arrow X, the crossing strip (not shown) described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 described above is provided at the tip of the contact. since being, it does not end 34 ₁ is pulled outwardly of the housing 20 _1.
[0009]
However, when the stress from the upper direction of arrow Y in some impetus is applied to the contact 30 _1, such stress is when accommodating contacts 30 ₁ into the housing 20 _1, or frequently occurs during use of the connector 10 ₁ but the contact 30 ₁ may be deformed into an abnormal shape. That is, the arrow when Y stress from direction is applied from the upper direction of the contact portion 33 _1, the contact 30 ₁ of the front end portion collapses the contact 30 ₁ or butting the wall of the housing. As a result, the contact 30 ₁ will no longer be restored by the elastic force of the self is permanently deformed, causing poor contact or the like, after all, so that the reuse of the connector becomes impossible.
[0010]
A connector that is considered to be able to solve this problem is disclosed in Patent Document 3.
[0011]
Connector as described in Patent Document 3, contactors bets tip (which is described as the distal end) is bent into a hook shape, after the contact is inserted into the cavity of Haujin grayed, contactor DOO hook tip of the spring contact beam (distal end) is adapted to be engaged to move rearward of the shoulder portion of Haujin grayed.
[0012]
This connector is presumed to solve the above problem from its structure, but there is a problem in mounting the contact on the housing. That is, this contact is attached to the housing in the following process.
Step 1: First, the step of inserting the terminal portion of the contact to the middle of the slit bets provided at the bottom of the Haujin grayed,
Step 2: The contactor bets while inserted halfway the slit preparative press contact portion of the contact from the housing bottom in a direction parallel, push the contact portion to the open mouth of the housing process,
Step 3; above with the housing bottom surface parallel to the direction of the Step 2 pushing the contact portion, pushing fixed to the step 1 in slit bets inserted halfway the terminal portion further slit bets in step,
Step 4: After the completion of the above step 3, the step of releasing the pushing from the direction parallel to the bottom surface of the housing in the above step 2 and hooking the hook portion at the tip to the shoulder portion of the housing.
[0013]
According to the assembled connector in the above step, for the stress directed downward perpendicular to the housing bottom surface, the tip portion of the contact is caught in the shoulder, without being further pushed down, as a result, contactor DOO Will not be crushed. However, this connector requires the above-described plurality of steps when being attached to the housing, so that the working efficiency is extremely poor and the productivity of the connector is problematic.
[0014]
The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector in which a contact can be easily attached to an insulating housing and an abnormal deformation of the contact is prevented.
[0015]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The electrical connector of the present invention has a hook portion bent inward, and a contact portion is formed through a narrow neck portion between a locking end portion comprising a wide head portion and a terminal portion connected to the wiring board. A contact made of a conductive strip strip,
A head opening that is narrower than the width of the head of the locking end, a neck opening that is wider than the width of the neck, and a shoulder step in the opening width; The leg opening is wider and has a leg opening wider than the width of the contact part, and is formed of one elongated opening in which each opening from the head to the leg communicates, and the elongated opening is formed on one side wall surface. An insulating housing having an open cavity,
The contact is bent into the cavity of the insulating housing, the contact portion is bent toward the terminal portion, and the neck of the contact portion is connected to the neck of the insulating housing from the opening of the bottom wall of the insulating housing along the elongated opening. After passing through the opening, the contact portion is accommodated so as to protrude to one side wall surface of the insulating housing, and after the contact is accommodated in the cavity, the jaw portion on the neck portion of the contact portion is located at both ends of the opening. It is locked to the shoulder step portion.
The locking end portion is preferably formed with an ear tab protruding in the lateral width direction at the tip of the head.
[0016]
In this configuration, the contact is bent into the cavity of the insulating housing, the contact portion is bent toward the terminal portion, and the neck of the contact portion passes through the neck opening of the insulating housing along the elongated opening from the opening of the bottom wall of the insulating housing. The contact portion is accommodated so as to protrude to one side wall surface of the insulating housing, and after the contact is accommodated in the cavity, the jaw portion on the neck portion of the contact portion is locked to the shoulder step portions at both ends of the opening. To. Then, since the contact can be attached simply by inserting from the opening of the bottom wall of the insulating housing, the attachment becomes extremely simple. In addition, even when stress is applied from above the contact while the contact is mounted on the insulating housing, the jaw on the neck of the contact is locked to the shoulder step at both ends of the opening, causing the contact to collapse. There is no end. Moreover, even if the pulling force to the outside of the contact is applied, the ear tab does not get caught by the side wall of the head opening.
[0017]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 is a perspective view of an electrical connector according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the connector of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a detailed view showing a reinforcing metal fitting, and FIG. 4 is a contact assembly process. FIG. 5 shows the connector of FIG. 1 from a predetermined direction. FIG. 5A is a front view, FIG. 5B is a top view, and FIG. FIG. 6 (d) is a side view, FIG. 6 is a sectional view of FIG. 5, FIG. 6 (a) is AA, FIG. 6 (b) is BB, and FIG. It is sectional drawing of C.
[0018]
Referring to FIGS. 1, 2, and 4, connector 10 includes a housing 20 and a plurality of contacts 30 accommodated in the cavity of housing 20. A reinforcing metal fitting 40 can be attached to the bottom wall of the housing 20 as necessary. The reinforcing metal fitting 40 firmly fixes the contact 30 to the circuit board when the contact 30 is attached to the circuit board (not shown).
[0019]
The housing 20 has an elongated box shape and is formed of an insulating synthetic resin.
The box-shaped housing 20 is surrounded by a wide surface wall 20a and a back wall 20b, narrow side walls 20c and 20d, a wide bottom wall 20e and an upper wall 20f, and the surface wall 20a includes the surface wall. Three cavities 21 are formed toward the back wall 20b. Between each cavity 21, the partition wall 26 of a predetermined width _{d 5} is provided, the side walls 20c, the thickness of the 20d is made thinner than the partition wall. Note that the number of contacts and cavities is not limited to three, but is selected arbitrarily.
[0020]
Each of these cavities 21 is sized to accommodate the contact 30, the opening 23 into which the contact 30 can be folded and inserted into the bottom wall 20 e, and the contact portion of the contact 30 on the front wall 20 a of the housing. Openings 22 that protrude outward are formed. Each cavity 21 includes a slot 24a into which the U-shaped bent portion of the terminal portion 32 is inserted and fixed, and a chamber 24b into which the intermediate spring portion 31 is inserted. (See FIG. 4).
[0021]
The opening 22 of the surface wall 20a has a substantially inverted U shape, and the width is different from the bottom wall 20e toward the upper wall 20f in relation to the width of the contact 30 described later. That is, the inverted U-shaped opening 22, when the upper portion of the inverse shape to the head, and the head opening 22a having a width dimension d ₂ of the wide, narrow width dimension than the head opening 22a d ₃ neck openings 22b, a trunk opening 22c widening from the neck opening 22b, and a leg opening 22d having substantially the same width d ₄ as the head opening. Neck opening 22b is opening both end shoulders each step portion 22b to _1, 22b ₂ are formed, the narrow portion of these shoulders stepped portion to widen the spread waist opening 22 c, the contact 30 described later It functions as a stopper to which the locking end 34 is locked.
The relationship between these width lengths d _{2 to} d ₄ is set as follows.
d ₃ <d ₂ ≈d ₄
By setting the width of the inverted U-shaped opening 22 to the above relationship, the neck portion 33b of the contact portion 33 smoothly moves the neck portion opening 22b when a contact 30 described later is inserted from the opening 23 of the bottom wall 20e. Will be able to pass through.
[0022]
Further, the partition wall 26 is formed with a slit 25 into which the reinforcing metal fitting 40 is press-fitted in an intermediate portion in the width direction. The shape of the slit 25 is substantially L-shaped as shown in FIG.
[0023]
2B and 2B show contacts, FIG. 2B shows the reference numerals, and FIG. 2B 'is an external perspective view showing the width. The contact 30 includes an intermediate spring portion 31 whose central portion is bent in a substantially U shape, a terminal portion 32 extended from one end 31a of the U-shaped intermediate spring portion 31, and an extended portion from the other end 31b. The contact portion 33 and the engaging end portion 34 extending from the contact portion are formed by punching a conductive sheet metal material into a strip having a predetermined width and bending the strip into a predetermined shape. It is formed by doing.
[0024]
The intermediate spring portion 31 functions as a support arm for the contact portion 33, has a width d ′ ₄ slightly wider than the terminal portion 32 and the contact portion 33, and holds a spring force. The terminal portion 32 extends from one end 31a of the intermediate spring portion 31 and is bent in an inverted U shape, and the distal end portion is bent outward by approximately 90 degrees by a predetermined length. The bent piece 32a is soldered to a copper foil on a circuit board (not shown).
[0025]
The contact portion 33 extends from one end 31 b of the intermediate spring portion 31 and is bent in a substantially arcuate shape so as to face the terminal portion 32, and a contact 33 a is formed at the apex of the bent portion. The width d ′ ₃ of the neck 33 b is narrower than the width d ′ ₄ of the intermediate spring portion 31, narrowing toward the neck 33 b below the toe 34. The width d′ ₃ of the neck 33b is the same as or slightly narrower than the width of the portion where the contact 33a is formed.
[0026]
Further, the locking end portion 34 further extends from the contact portion 33 and is bent downward to form a hook shape, and includes a face portion 34a and a head portion 34b having a width d′ ₁ wider than the face portion 34a. Steps 35a and 35b (corresponding to jaws) and 36a and 36b (corresponding to ears) are formed on the face and head, respectively. In FIG. 2B, only the second locking portion 36b is shown, and 36a is omitted.
[0027]
The relationship between the width of the inverted U-shaped opening 22 of the housing and the contact 30 is set as follows.
d ₂ <d ′ ₁ , d ₂ > d ′ ₂ (d ′ ₁ > d ′ ₂ ), d ₃ > d ′ ₃ , d ′ ₁ ≈d ′ ₄
By setting the width length relationship between the inverted U-shaped opening 22 of the housing and the contact 30 to the above relationship, the narrow neck portion of the contact 30 is inserted when the contact 30 is inserted from the opening 23 of the bottom wall 20e. 33b can be smoothly inserted through the neck opening 22b.
[0028]
FIG. 3 shows a reinforcing metal fitting, FIG. 3A is a front view, FIG. 3B is a side view, and FIG. 3C is a top view. The reinforcing metal fitting 40 is substantially L-shaped, and includes a short piece 41 having a short side, a long piece 42 having a long side, and a bent piece 43 bent by about 90 ° from the horizontal piece. It is formed by punching and bending the metal plate. The length d ₆ of the bent piece 43 is set to a length shorter than half (1/2) of the width d ₅ of the housing partition wall 26 .
[0029]
By making the length d ₆ of the bent piece shorter than half of the partition wall d ₅ , the outer edge of the bent piece 42 is opened at the opening 22 even when the reinforcing bracket 40 is mounted on the housing 20 in advance. Since it does not protrude inward, the contact 30 can be smoothly inserted into the cavity 21. Further, an uneven portion is formed on the lower end 42a of the horizontal piece 42 as necessary. By providing this uneven portion, the connecting portion becomes longer and fixed more firmly when soldering.
[0030]
Next, with reference to FIG. 4, the process of inserting the contacts into the housing will be described. First, a jig 50 having one side end slightly longer than the other side end is inserted from below the contact 30. At that time, the long-side-end 51a of the jig to the contact portion 33 of the contact 30 is inserted into the arrow Y ₂ direction to be inserted short side edge 51b to the inverted U-shaped portion of the terminal portion 32. (FIG. 4A).
[0031]
When the long side end 51 a of the jig 50 is pushed into the contact portion 33, the contact portion 33 approaches the terminal portion 32 in a state where the contact 30 is folded. The contact 30 is inserted from the opening 23 in the bottom wall of the housing while maintaining this state.
[0032]
Then, since the width d ′ ₃ of the neck 33 b of the contact portion 33 is shorter than the width d ₃ of the neck opening 22 b of the opening 22, the neck 33 b of the contact 33 passes smoothly through the neck opening 22 b. Will be able to. The terminal portion 32 of the contact is inserted into the terminal portion receiving groove 24a in the cavity, and the intermediate portion 31, the contact portion 33, and the locking end portion 34 are inserted into the chamber 24b in the cavity.
[0033]
At that time, the contact 30 is folded so that the contact portion 33 approaches the terminal portion 32, and along with this folding, the face portion 34 a and the head portion 34 b of the locking end portion 34 are also bent in the direction of the terminal portion 32. Therefore, when the neck 33b of the contact portion 33 passes smoothly through the neck opening 22b, it does not become an obstacle, and the locking end 34 can be inserted into the cavity 21, and the locking end 34 can be inserted from the opening 22a. If you look into it, it will be located in the back of the cavity 21. (FIGS. 4B to 4D).
[0034]
Then, pull the jig downwardly _{Y 3.} Then, the contact portion 33 of the contact is released from the side end of the jig, and the contact portion 33 protrudes outward of the housing 20. In this state, both ends of the head portion 34b of the locking end portion 34 are in contact with both side walls of the opening of the housing 30, and the contact portion 33 does not protrude further outward. (FIG. 4 (e)).
[0035]
According to this assembling method, the contact 30 can be mounted on the housing simply by supporting the contact 30 with the jig 50 and inserting the contact 30 into the cavity from the lower opening of the housing 20, so that a plurality of steps are not required as in the prior art. Improved production efficiency can be achieved.
[0036]
The reinforcing metal fitting 40 is attached to the housing 20 in the following procedure. 1, 2 and 6B, the bent piece 43 of the horizontal piece 42 protrudes from the front wall surface 20a of the housing 20, and a part of the horizontal piece 42 is vertically inserted into the horizontal groove 25b. The pieces 41 are pressed into the vertical grooves 25a of the housing 20 and fixed. Then, the bent piece 43 of the reinforcing metal fitting 40 is solder-connected to a wiring board (not shown). On the other hand, the bent portion 32a of the terminal portion 32 of the contact 30 is also soldered to the wiring board to fix the connector 10 to the wiring board.
[0037]
FIG. 5 shows a connector in which contacts are mounted on a housing. FIG. 5A is a front view, FIG. 5B is a top view, FIG. 5C is a bottom view, and FIG. 5D is a side view. . 6 shows a cross section of FIG. 5 (a), where FIG. 6 (a) is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA, FIG. 6 (b) is a cross sectional view taken along line BB, and FIG.
[0038]
When the contact 30 is attached in each cavity 21 of the housing 20, the contact portion 33 of each contact 30 protrudes from the surface wall 20 a of the housing 20. Similarly, the reinforcing metal fitting 40 protrudes from the surface wall 20 a of the housing 20. In this state, the head 34b of the locking end portion 34, since the width dimension d _'1 is wider than the width dimension _{d 2} of the opening 22a, ears 36a of the head 34b, 36b is the opening width of the opening 22a You won't get stuck.
[0039]
Further, when strongly pressed from the X direction, the locking end portion 34 collides with the wall of the chamber 24a and is not pushed further.
Further, even when stress is applied from the upper Y direction, the jaw portions 35a and 35b are caught on the shoulder step portions 22b ₁ and 22b ₂ of the neck opening 21b and are not pushed down and crushed.
[0040]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, the contact can be easily attached to the insulating housing. Also, abnormal deformation of the contact can be prevented against stress from above the contact mounting position.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an electrical connector according to an embodiment of the present invention,
FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the connector of FIG.
FIG. 3 is a detailed view showing a reinforcing bracket,
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the assembly process of a contact with a cross-sectional view;
5 shows the connector of FIG. 1 from a predetermined direction. FIG. 5A is a front view, FIG. 5B is a top view, FIG. 5C is a bottom view, and FIG. Is a side view,
6 shows a cross section of FIG. 5, in which FIG. 5A is AA, FIG. 5B is BB, and FIG.
FIGS. 7A and 7B show a connector of the prior art, in which FIG. 7A is a front view of the connector, FIGS.

Claims (2)

Conductive thin strip with a hook part bent inward and a contact part formed through a narrow neck between a locking end consisting of a wide head and a terminal connected to the wiring board A piece of contact,
A head opening that is narrower than the width of the head of the locking end, a neck opening that is wider than the width of the neck, and a shoulder step in the opening width; The leg opening is wider and has a leg opening wider than the width of the contact part, and is formed of one elongated opening in which each opening from the head to the leg communicates, and the elongated opening is formed on one side wall surface. An insulating housing having an open cavity,
The contact is bent into the cavity of the insulating housing, the contact portion is bent toward the terminal portion, and the neck of the contact portion is connected to the neck of the insulating housing from the opening of the bottom wall of the insulating housing along the elongated opening. After passing through the opening, the contact portion is accommodated so as to protrude to one side wall surface of the insulating housing, and after the contact is accommodated in the cavity, the jaw portion on the neck portion of the contact portion is located at both ends of the opening. An electrical connector that is locked to a shoulder step. The electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein the locking end portion is formed with an ear tab protruding in a lateral width direction at a tip of the head portion.

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