JP4676354B2 - Board connector - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a board connector mounted on a wiring board.

For example, a board connector used in an electrical junction box of an automobile is fixed to the wiring board with screws or the like, and a connector housing in which an insertion portion of a wire harness connector is formed on the rear side of the wiring board, and the connector housing And a terminal whose upper end protrudes into the insertion portion and whose lower end protrudes outside the connector housing and is electrically connected to a circuit on the wiring board.
As a specific shape of the terminal, as shown in Patent Documents 1 and 2, a U-shaped folded shape in which the front end of the upper end is bent downward at the front of the connector housing and further bent backward. Is well known.

JP-A-2005-116230 Japanese Patent No. 2872023

  In the case of the terminal shape, since the lower end portion is located on the front side of the connector housing, the connector housing largely protrudes to the outside of the wiring board when mounted on the wiring board, thereby hindering the overall compactness. For this reason, it can be considered that the connector housing is positioned toward the center side of the wiring board by extending the lower end portion to the rear of the connector housing. However, when the lower end portion becomes longer, the alignment of the connection portion with the wiring board tends to vary, and for example, the position of the cream solder applied to a predetermined position on the wiring board is shifted or such cream solder is formed. Insufficient pressing force on the wiring board may result in poor soldering. Therefore, the connection stability of the terminals is deteriorated, and the connection reliability is also lowered.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a board connector that can be connected to a wiring board with high reliability without causing the connector housing to largely protrude from the wiring board.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the invention according to claim 1 is characterized in that a terminal is folded back from the front end of the upper end portion to the rear, a middle portion extending rearward from the end of the first folded portion, As a substantially S-shape consisting of a second folded portion that folds forward from the end of the intermediate portion and a lower end that projects forward from the end of the second folded portion, the lower end portion is connected to the connector housing at the lower rear side of the connector housing. It is characterized by being positioned between the wiring boards .
According to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the object of the first aspect, in order to enable a more reliable and stable connection, the lower end portion of the terminal protrudes forward and downward, and the lower end portion of the connector housing It is provided with elasticity to press the wiring board in the assembled state to the wiring board.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the lower end portion of the terminal is positioned between the connector housing and the wiring board at the lower rear side of the connector housing , the protruding amount of the connector housing from the wiring board to the outside can be reduced. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the overall size. Further, since it is not necessary to form the lower end portion long, there is no risk of connection failure due to warpage or the like, and soldering is appropriately performed. Therefore, the stability of the terminal is improved and the connection reliability can be maintained. In particular, since the second folded portion and the lower end portion are located on the lower side of the connector housing, the position of the connector housing is increased and a relatively wide space can be secured below. For this reason, hot air easily flows during reflow, and soldering reliability is further improved. In addition, depending on the space, electronic components can be arranged on the lower side of the connector housing. .
According to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the first aspect, the adhesion with the wiring board at the time of assembly is enhanced, and a more reliable and stable connection is possible.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of an electrical junction box for automobiles in which the board connector of the present invention is used. The electrical connection box 1 controls the power supply to each electronic control unit by connecting / disconnecting between the power source of the on-vehicle battery and the engine electronic control unit, the airbag electronic control unit, and the like serving as an electric load. In a well-known device, a bus bar 3 having a fuse terminal to which a fuse is connected to a planar rectangular wiring board 2 on which a predetermined circuit is formed by mounting electronic components such as a microcomputer and a semiconductor relay, and an electronic control unit Board connectors 4, 4... Are connected to which the connectors of the wire harness connecting the two are connected. These components are entirely covered by an upper and lower cover (not shown) except for a wire harness, a fuse connecting portion, and the like.

  A pair of board connectors 4 are provided on the upper and lower surfaces of the wiring board 2 so as to be opposed to each other along two parallel sides of the wiring board 2. As shown in FIG. And a connector housing 5 made of synthetic resin in which the insertion hole 6 is opened rearward (the board connector 4 will be described with the center side of the wiring board 2 in the mounted state as the front and the edge side as the rear), and the connector housing. 5 comprises a plurality of terminals 8, 8... Which are integrally attached to the front side of 5 by insert molding. The connector housing 5 can be fixed to the wiring board 2 by screwing the leg portions 7, 7.

  Each terminal 8 has an upper end 9 projecting backward in the insertion hole 6, bent downward from the front end of the upper end 9, descended in the connector housing 5, and folded rearward near the lower surface of the connector housing 5. The first folded portion 10 that bends, the intermediate portion 11 that extends backward from the end of the first folded portion 10, the second folded portion 12 that is folded forward from the end of the intermediate portion 11, and the diagonally forward from the end of the second folded portion The first folded portion 10, the intermediate portion 11, and the first half portion of the second folded portion 12 are integrated with the connector housing 5. In addition, the terminal 8 uses two types in which the height of the upper end portion 9 is different because the vertical width of the first folded portion 10 is different. In addition, a predetermined gap is formed in the protruding portion of the lower end portion 13 on the lower surface of the connector housing 5 in a state of being assembled to the wiring board 2 by the protrusion of the leg portion 7.

In the board connector 4 configured as described above, solder is supplied in advance to a portion where the lower end portion 13 of each terminal 8 is connected on the wiring board 2, and then the connector housing 5 is screwed to the wiring board 2 at a predetermined position. Then, the lower end portion 13 bends due to its elasticity and adheres onto the conductive pattern in such a manner as to press the wiring board 2. When the solder is melted by heating in a reflow furnace, the electrical connection of the board connector 4 to the wiring board 2 is completed as shown in FIG.
FIG. 3B shows an assembled state of the board connector 20 in which the conventional U-shaped terminal 21 is mounted on the same connector housing 5, and both are connected when the lower ends are connected at the same position of the wiring board 2. In comparison, in this embodiment, it can be seen that the lower end portion 13 of the terminal 8 is located on the lower rear side of the connector housing 5 so that the connector housing 5 is disposed further forward (the protrusion amount by the dimension S in FIG. Smaller).

  Thus, according to the board connector 4 of the above embodiment, the terminal 8 is folded back from the front end of the upper end portion 9 to the rear, and the intermediate portion 11 extending rearward from the terminal end of the first folded portion 10. The lower end portion 13 is formed in a substantially S shape including a second folded portion 12 that is folded forward from the end of the intermediate portion 11 and a lower end portion 13 that projects forward from the end of the second folded portion 12. By being positioned on the lower rear side, the protruding amount of the connector housing 5 from the wiring board 2 to the outside can be suppressed, and the overall compactness can be achieved. Moreover, since it is not necessary to form the lower end part 13 long, there is no possibility of connection failure due to variations in alignment or the like, and soldering is appropriately performed. Therefore, the connection stability of the terminal 8 is good, and the connection reliability can be maintained.

In particular, since the second folded portion 12 and the lower end portion 13 are positioned below the connector housing 5, the position of the connector housing 5 is increased, and a relatively wide space can be secured below. For this reason, hot air easily flows during reflow, and the reliability of soldering is further increased. In addition, depending on the space, electronic components can be arranged on the lower side of the connector housing 5. Get higher.
In particular, here, the lower end portion 13 of the terminal 8 protrudes forward and downward, and the lower end portion 13 is given elasticity to press the wiring board 2 in the assembled state of the connector housing 5 to the wiring board 2. Adhesion with the wiring board 2 increases, and a more reliable and stable connection is possible.

In addition, in the terminal of the said form, the lower end part is formed diagonally toward the front lower side, and the lower end part bends in the assembly state to a wiring board, and the elasticity which presses a wiring board is expressed. However, it is also possible to eliminate the inclination and form the lower end portion in parallel with the wiring board from the beginning. Further, the shape of the first and second folded portions is not limited to the above-described form. For example, the first folded portion may be folded in a semicircle or an ellipse, or the second folded portion may be folded in a square shape. The dimensions can be changed as appropriate. Of course, the length of the intermediate portion can be selected as appropriate.
Further, in the above embodiment, the first folded portion and the intermediate portion of the terminal and the front half portion of the second folded portion are integrated with the connector housing, but the upper end portion is projected forward through the connector housing and the rest is removed. The first folded portion and the intermediate portion may be formed along the outer surface of the connector housing by being exposed to the outside of the connector housing.

On the other hand, as a method for fixing the board connector to the wiring board, for example, the following methods (1) to (3) can be employed in addition to the screwing and reflow in the above-described form.
(1) Connect the connector housing and the terminal together with solder. When reflowing, it is necessary to temporarily fix the connector housing with another jig.
(2) After fixing the connector housing to the wiring board by welding, the terminals are connected by soldering by reflow.
(3) A press-fit terminal for fixing to the connector housing is insert-molded or press-fitted and fixed to the wiring board. Fix the terminals by reflow.

Therefore, the shape of the connector housing is not limited to the above-mentioned form, and the shape can be changed by eliminating the leg portion depending on the selection of the fixing method. A device such as forming a groove to improve the flow of hot air during reflow is also conceivable.

It is a perspective view which shows an example of the electrical junction box in which a board | substrate connector is assembled | attached. It is explanatory drawing of a board | substrate connector. It is explanatory drawing which shows the assembly | attachment state of a board | substrate connector, (A) shows the board | substrate connector of this Embodiment, (B) shows the conventional board | substrate connector, respectively.

Explanation of symbols

1 .... Electrical junction box 2 .... Wiring board 4 .... Board connector 5 .... Connector housing 8 ... Terminal 9 ... Upper end 10 ... First folded part 11 .... Intermediate part 12. Second folding part, 13. Lower end part.

Claims (2)

A connector housing fixed on the wiring board and formed with a connector insertion part on the rear side which is the edge side of the wiring board, and attached integrally to the front of the connector housing, and the upper end part projects into the insertion part, A board connector having a lower end projecting outward from the connector housing and electrically connected to a circuit on the wiring board;
A first folded portion that folds the terminal backward from the front end of the upper end portion; an intermediate portion that extends backward from the end of the first folded portion; a second folded portion that folds forward from the end of the intermediate portion; The lower end portion is positioned between the connector housing and the wiring board on the lower rear side of the connector housing as a substantially S-shape including the lower end portion protruding forward from the terminal end of the second folded portion. Characteristic board connector. The board connector according to claim 1, wherein a lower end portion of the terminal is protruded forward and downward, and elasticity is provided to the lower end portion to press the wiring board in a state where the connector housing is assembled to the wiring board.

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