JP4838642B2 - connector - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a connector that is used in electronic / electrical equipment and connects between a substrate and between a substrate and a flexible printed circuit board (hereinafter referred to as “FPC”). It is about the structure to raise.

In order to connect between a board and a board used for electrical / electronic devices, etc., or between a board and an FPC, two connectors (so-called board-to-board connectors) mounted on each board are fitted to each other. In this way, the boards are connected.
However, in recent years, there has been a strong demand for lowering the height between substrates.

In order to connect between a board | substrate and a board | substrate and FPC, a connector is used in many cases.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-32062 proposed by the present applicant, in which the substrates are connected using two connectors and the FPC is used as a contact, is disclosed in Patent Document 1.
As Patent Documents 2 to 4, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-175659 (Patent Document 2), Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-241304 (Patent Document 3), and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-302705 in which a portion that comes into contact with a counterpart is spiral. (Patent Document 4).
According to the summary of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-32062, it is possible to provide an electrical connector 10 having a structure in which a connector installed on each board can be fitted regardless of a positional shift (about 0.5 mm) generated between the boards. For the purpose, a means for holding and fixing the contact 14 to the insulator 12 is provided, and the contact 14 has flexibility, and the contact 14 used for the connector includes an insulating layer A18 and an insulating layer B20. There is disclosed a structure in which two contact members 16 having a conductor 19 sandwiched therebetween are bonded together. According to the summary of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-175859, it is possible to cope with a small semiconductor device, a package, an ultra-small bare chip, and a wafer-shaped one. Spiral contactors, semiconductor inspection devices (test sockets, test boards, probe cards) and electronic components (mounting sockets, mounting) that can be formed and accommodate high-density spherical connection terminals, and can realize low-cost and high-reliability inspections Connector for electrical connection with a semiconductor device or electronic component having a spherical connection terminal, wherein the contactor comes into contact with the spherical connection terminal in a plan view and has a spiral shape. The spiral contact 2 having a spherical shape is contacted with the spherical connection terminal on the insulating substrate. Deformably provided corresponding to the shape of the connection terminals, the semiconductor device or structure of a spiral contactor 1, characterized in that a structure for electrically connecting the electronic component is disclosed. According to the summary of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-241304, it is possible to reduce the total number of ground terminals and reduce the size, and to provide an electronic connector having good transmission characteristics up to a high frequency band. Since a spiral contact 7 is provided as a system terminal and a ground terminal 8 is provided around the spiral contact 7 so that one signal system terminal can be electromagnetically shielded by one ground system terminal 8, transmission characteristics up to a high frequency band can be obtained. In addition to providing an excellent electronic connector, the number of ground terminals can be reduced as compared with the prior art, and thus a connector having a structure that can reduce the size of the connector is disclosed. According to the summary of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-302705, the board 3 has a first surface for the purpose of providing a connector that can be reduced in size by reducing the mounting area of the connector and that has good high frequency characteristics. A plurality of spiral contacts 20 are formed on a certain upper surface 3a, and a plurality of connection terminals 40 are formed on a lower surface 3b, which is the second surface. The spiral contacts 20 and the connection terminals 40 are electrically connected to each other. Since a plurality of the spiral contacts 20 are arranged in a planar matrix on the upper surface 3a that is the first surface, a large number of the spiral contacts 20 can be provided on the substrate of the present invention. In particular, a connector having a structure in which the connector 1 can be miniaturized and the high frequency characteristics can be improved by the spiral contact 20 is disclosed.

In recent years, it is possible to cope with the reduction in height between substrates, which has been increasingly demanded, in Patent Documents 2 to 4 cited above.
However, in the structures as in Patent Documents 2 to 4, since the contact portion with the counterpart is formed in a spiral shape (spiral shape), the size of the contact portion becomes large, and thus the pitch cannot be reduced. .
Further, since the contact portion is spiral (spiral), the contact pressure is weak, a stable connection cannot be obtained, and it is not suitable for a plurality of connections.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional problems, and can reduce the height between the substrates and can reduce the pitch, so that a stable connection can be obtained even when a plurality of connections are made. It is intended to provide a connector that can.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a plurality of contact conductor parts 20 having two contact parts 16 and a conductor 18 that is continuously connected between the contact parts 16 and to connect the contact conductor part 20 to a contact of an object to be connected to the contact part 16. FPC 12 arranged so that can be connected, elastic member 14 held on the opposite side where contact portion 16 of FPC 12 is provided, and FPC 12 or the connection object is connected to the connection object side or FPC 12 side. At least one pressing member 15 to be pressed , and a U-slit 22 having a substantially U-shape is provided around the contact portion 16 and the shape of the contact portion 16 is optimized depending on the shape of the counterpart. The elastic member 14 is shaped to make the contact pressure of the FPC 12 or the connection object to the connection object or the FPC 12 side uniform. Not change can be achieved by Rukoto.
The above-mentioned “so that the contact point of the connection object and the contact part 16 can be connected” means that the contact part 16 is provided at a position corresponding to the position of the contact point provided on the connection object. is there. Further, at least one or more means that two pressing members 15 may be provided in the two contact portions 16 of the contact conductor portion 20 by changing the pressing direction on one side and the other side.

The connector according to claim 2 is the connector according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the contact conductor portions 20 are arranged in parallel.
In the connector 10 according to claim 3 , the contact portions 16 of the contact conductor portions 20 are alternately arranged in a staggered manner in the longitudinal pitch direction, and the two contact portions 16 of all the contact conductor portions 20 have the same length. The connector 10 according to claim 2, wherein:
Furthermore, the connector 10 according to claim 4 is configured so that the contact portions 16 of the contact conductor portions 20 are alternately arranged in a staggered manner in the longitudinal pitch direction, and the length between the two contact portions 16 of the adjacent contact conductor portions 20 is set. The connector 10 according to claim 2 , wherein the connector is changed.

The connector 10 according to claim 5 is characterized in that the contact portions 16 of the plurality of contact conductor portions 20 are arranged on the same straight line in the width direction, and the contact portions 16 for one and the other are arranged in a lattice shape. The connector 10 according to Item 2 .
The connector 10 of claim 6, wherein either one of claims 1 to 5, wherein, characterized in that arranging a plurality of the contact conductor portion on four sides of said one sheet in a substantially cross shape FPC 12 1 It is a connector of description.

As is clear from the above description, according to the connector 10 of the present invention, the following excellent remarkable effects can be obtained.
(1) A plurality of contact conductor portions 20 having two contact portions 16 and conductors 18 that are continuously connected between the contact portions 16 are provided, and the contact conductor portion 20 is connected to a contact point of an object to be connected and the contact portion 16. The FPC 12 arranged so as to be connected, the elastic member 14 held on the opposite side where the contact portion 16 of the FPC 12 is provided, and the FPC 12 or the connection object is pressed to the connection object side or the FPC 12 side. Since at least one pressing member 15 is provided, the height between the substrates 60 to be connected can be reduced and the pitch can be reduced, and a stable connection can be obtained even when repeated connection is made. be able to.
(2) In the connector 10 according to claim 2, since the substantially U-shaped U-slit 22 is provided around the contact portion 16 of the contact conductor portion 20, the height of the contact portion 16 varies. However, a stable connection can be obtained.
(3) Since the connector 10 according to claim 3 changes the shape of the elastic member 14 in order to make the contact pressure of the FPC 12 or the connection object to the connection object or the FPC 12 side uniform. A stable contact pressure can be obtained.
(4) Since the connector 10 according to claim 4 has a plurality of the contact conductor portions 20 arranged in parallel, the height between the substrates 60 to be connected can be reduced and the pitch can be reduced. A stable connection can be obtained even with a return connection.
(5) In the connector 10 according to the fifth aspect, the contact portions 16 of the contact conductor portions 20 are alternately arranged in a staggered manner in the longitudinal pitch direction, and the two contact portions 16 of all the contact conductor portions 20 have the same length. Therefore, the pitch can be further narrowed and the density can be increased more than in the fourth aspect, and since the contact portions 16 have the same length, the resistance values are the same, and the skew (difference in arrival time of multiple signals in the path) is reduced. ) Can be made the same, and a stable connection can be obtained.
(6) In the connector 10 according to the sixth aspect, the contact portions 16 of the contact conductor portions 20 are alternately arranged in a staggered manner in the longitudinal pitch direction, and the length between two contact portions 16 of the adjacent contact conductor portions 20 is determined. Therefore, the pitch can be further narrower than that of the fourth aspect, the density can be increased, and a stable connection can be obtained.
(7) In the connector 10 according to the seventh aspect, the contact portions 16 of the plurality of contact conductor portions 20 are arranged on the same straight line in the width direction, and the contact portions 16 for one and the other are arranged in a lattice shape. Further, the pitch can be further reduced than in the sixth aspect, the density can be increased, and a stable connection can be obtained.
(8) In the connector 10 according to the eighth aspect, since the plurality of contact conductor portions 20 are arranged at predetermined positions of the FPC 12 in a part or a plurality of portions, the connector 10 is stable with a specific portion. Connection can be obtained.

An embodiment of the connector of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1A is a perspective view of the connector as viewed from the contact direction, and FIG. 1B is a perspective view of the connector as viewed from the direction opposite to the contact. 2A is a partially enlarged view of the contact portion, and FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view taken along the center of the contact portion. FIG. 3A is a plan view of the FPC viewed from the direction of the contact portion in a state where the contact conductor portions are arranged in one row, and FIG. 4A is a staggered contact portion of the contact conductor portion. It is the top view of FPC seen from the contact part direction of the state arrange | positioned in multiple rows with the same length of a part. FIG. 5A is a plan view of the FPC in a state where the contact portions of the contact conductor portions are alternately staggered in the longitudinal pitch direction and arranged in a plurality of rows, and FIG. 6A is a diagram showing two contact conductor portions. It is a top view of FPC of the state which has arrange | positioned the contact part of this in the width direction, and has arrange | positioned the contact part for every one and the other in a grid | lattice form. FIG. 7A is a plan view of the FPC in a state in which the contact portions of the three contact conductor portions are arranged on the same straight line in the width direction and the contact portions for each one and the other are arranged in a lattice shape. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of a state in which the connector of the present invention connects two connection objects. FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the connector as seen from the surface direction as another example in which a plurality of contact conductors are provided on four sides of a substantially cross-shaped FPC. FIG. 3B is a side view of the connector in a state where the contact conductor portion is arranged as shown in FIG.
The connector 10 of the present invention mainly includes an FPC 12, an elastic body 14, and a pressing member 15.

  First, the FPC 12 will be described. The FPC 12 has a plurality of contact portions 16 that come into contact with at least a connection object. The shape of the contact portion 16 is appropriately designed by optimizing the shape of the connection object. The optimization here means that if the mating shape is flat, a hemispherical convex shape is used as in this embodiment, or if the mating shape is a hemispherical convex shape, the shape of the contact portion 16 is flat or mountainous. It means to make a convex shape. A U-shaped U-slit 22 is provided around the contact portion 16 as shown in the figure. By providing the U-slit 22, the contact portion 16 is elastically displaced when the contact portion 16 comes into contact with the connection object, and the height variation of the contact portion 16 can be absorbed. In order to absorb in this way, the elastic member 14 is arrange | positioned on the opposite side to the side in which the said contact part 16 was provided. The size of the elastic member 14 is substantially the same as that of the FPC 12 where the contact portion 16 is disposed, and the thickness is appropriately designed in consideration of the displacement of the contact portion 16 and the low profile of the connector 10. To do. Further, the elastic member 14 has a shape changed in order to make the contact pressure of the FPC 12 or the connection object to the connection object or the FPC 12 side uniform. In this embodiment, the central portion is curved.

The connector 10 of the present invention is provided between two connection objects (for example, between two substrates 60, between a substrate 60 and an FPC, between a substrate 60 and an FPC cable, between an electronic device and the substrate 60, etc.). Since the two contact portions 16 provided on the FPC 12 are connected to each other by a conductor 18 and are connected to each other, one contact conductor portion (two contact portions 16 and the contact portion 16 are connected in series). A plurality of contact conductors 20 are arranged, and the contact conductors 20 are arranged so that the contact points of the connection object and the contact parts 16 can be connected.
The phrase “so that the contact point of the connection object and the contact part 16 can be connected” here means that the contact part 16 is provided at a position corresponding to the position of the contact point provided on the connection object. is there. Further, at least one or more means that two pressing members 15 may be provided in the two contact portions 16 of the contact conductor portion 20 by changing the pressing direction on one side and the other side.

One example of a connector is shown in FIG. That is, the elastic member 14 is arranged on the side opposite to the connection object on the FPC 12 in which a plurality of the contact conductor portions 20 are arranged in parallel. The arranged contact portion 16 is connected to the contact point of the connection object.
Hereinafter, the arrangement of the contact conductor portions 20 will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 3A shows a state in which the contact conductor portions 20 are arranged in a plurality of rows in the pitch direction. That is, the contact conductor portions 20 having the two contact portions 16 and the conductors 18 that are continuously connected to the contact portions 16 are arranged in a plurality of rows at a constant pitch in the pitch direction. The interval between the adjacent contact conductors 20 is determined by the processing technique of the U-slit 22 and the size (height) of the contact portion 16, but can be about 300 μm at the minimum.

4A, the contact portions 16 of the contact conductor portion 20 are staggered, and the contact conductor portions 20 have the same length (that is, between A and A of the contact portion 16 as shown in FIG. 4). And B between the contact portions 16 are the same). Two pairs of the contact conductor portions 20 are taken as a pair, and the pair of contact conductor portions 20 are arranged in a plurality of rows at a constant pitch in the pitch direction. The interval between the pair of adjacent contact conductors 20 is determined by the processing technique of the U-slit 22 and the size (height) of the contact portion 16, but can be about 300 μm at the minimum. By making the contact portions 16 of the contact conductor portions 20 have the same length, the resistance values are the same, and the skew (difference in arrival time of a plurality of signals) is the same.

  FIG. 5A shows a state where the contact portions 16 of the contact conductor portion 20 are alternately staggered in a longitudinal pitch direction and arranged in a plurality of rows. Two pairs of the contact conductor portions 20 are taken as a pair, and the pair of contact conductor portions 20 are arranged in a plurality of rows at a constant pitch in the pitch direction.

  FIG. 6A shows a state in which the contact portions 16 of the two contact conductor portions 20 are arranged on the same straight line in the width direction, and the contact portions for one and the other are arranged in a lattice shape. That is, the contact portions 16 of the two contact conductor portions 20 are arranged on the same straight line in the width direction, and the conductors 18 connecting the contact portions 16 are arranged in two rows. The contact portions 16 are a pair of two contact conductor portions 20 arranged on the same straight line in the width direction, and a pair of the contact conductor portions 20 are arranged in a plurality of rows at a constant pitch in the pitch direction. And the said contact part 16 for every other is arrange | positioned at the grid | lattice form.

  FIG. 7A shows a state in which the contact portions 16 of the three contact conductor portions 20 are arranged on the same straight line in the width direction and the contact portions 16 for one and the other are arranged in a lattice shape. That is, the contact portions 16 of the three contact conductor portions 20 are arranged on the same straight line in the width direction, and the conductors 18 connecting the contact portions 16 are arranged in two rows (on the front side and the back side). Yes. The contact portions 16 are a pair of three contact conductor portions 20 arranged on the same straight line in the width direction, and a pair of the contact conductor portions 20 are arranged in a plurality of rows at a constant pitch in the pitch direction. And the said contact part 16 for every other is arrange | positioned at the grid | lattice form. As shown in FIG. 7, the conductor 18 connecting the outermost contact portions 16 is on the back side through a through hole. In this way, the pitch is narrowed through the through holes.

  In FIGS. 6 and 7, two and three contact conductor portions 20 are arranged on the same straight line in the width direction. Needless to say, the same can be applied to four or more contact conductor portions 20. However, the pitch of the contact conductor portions 20 adjacent to each other is appropriately designed depending on how the conductors 18 that continuously connect the two contact portions 16 are arranged.

Next, the pressing member 15 will be described. The pressing member 15 is for pressing the connector 10 of the present invention against the connection object side, and any member (method) may be used as long as it is pressed. The pressing member 15 is appropriately designed in consideration of the low profile of the connector 10 and the ease of pressing. is doing. For example, in this embodiment, a substantially U-shaped one as shown in FIG. 1 is pressed against the elastic member 16 (pressed in the direction of the connection object) and is pressed onto the substrate 60 by being hooked or screwed. That is, the pressing member 15 presses one contact portion 16 of the contact conductor portion 20 to the land 62 of the substrate 60 and the other contact portion 16 to the contact point of the FPC cable 70.
Moreover, as a pressing direction, the connector 10 of the present invention may be pressed to the connection object side, the connection object may be pressed to the connector 10 side of the present invention, or every two connection objects. A case where the pressing direction is changed (one connection object presses the connector 10 toward the connection object, and the other connection object presses the connection object toward the connector 10) is also conceivable.
Further, the pressing member 15 may be integrated, or may be divided for each of the contact portions 16 at both ends of the contact conductor portion 20.

  FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of a state in which the connector of the present invention connects two connection objects. Thus, the connector 10 of the present invention makes a connection between two connection objects simply by pressing the two connection objects. For example, in FIG. 8, one is the substrate 60 and the other is the FPC cable 70. That is, the pressing member 15 presses one contact portion 16 of the contact conductor portion 20 to the land 62 of the substrate 60 and the other contact portion 16 to the contact point of the FPC cable 70. In some cases, it is conceivable to solder one or both of them.

Another embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the connector as viewed from the surface direction in a state where a plurality of contact conductor portions are provided on four sides of one FPC having a substantially cross shape. A required number of the contact conductor portions 20 are arranged at predetermined positions of a part or a plurality of portions of one FPC 12 according to customer's required specifications or the like (contact points of the connection object and contact portions 16 of the contact conductor portion 20). Between the two types of connection objects. The part or a plurality of parts referred to here may be only a part of the FPC 12 or may be two or more, depending on the position of the contact point of the connection object. This means that the position to be arranged is arbitrarily designed. In this embodiment, a plurality of contact conductor portions are provided on the four sides of one FPC having a substantially cross shape, that is, two connection objects are connected at four locations.
Further, in some cases, a plurality of types of two connection objects can be connected by using a plurality of connectors 10 using the FPC 12 so as to correspond to the contact conductor portion 20.

  As an application example of the present invention, it relates to a connector that is used in various electronic / electrical devices and connects between a substrate and between a substrate and an FPC. Concerning structure.

(A) It is a perspective view of the connector of the state seen from the contact direction. (B) It is a perspective view of the connector of the state seen from the opposite direction to contact. (A) It is the elements on larger scale of a contact part. (B) It is sectional drawing made into the cross section in the contact part center. (A) It is a top view of FPC seen from the contact part direction of the state by which the contact conductor part was arrange | positioned in 1 row. (B) It is a side view of the connector of the state which has arrange | positioned the contact conductor part like (A). (A) It is a top view of FPC seen from the contact part direction in the state where the contact part of the contact conductor part is a staggered pattern, and the length of the contact conductor part is the same length and is arranged in two rows. (B) It is a side view of the connector of the state which has arrange | positioned the contact conductor part like (A). (A) It is a top view of FPC in the state where the contact portions of the contact conductor portions are alternately staggered in the longitudinal pitch direction and arranged in a plurality of rows. (B) It is a side view of the connector of the state which has arrange | positioned the contact conductor part like (A). (A) It is a top view of FPC of the state which has arrange | positioned the contact part of two contact conductor parts to the width direction same straight line, and has arrange | positioned the contact part for every one and the other in a grid | lattice form. (B) It is a side view of the connector of the state which has arrange | positioned the contact conductor part like (A). (A) It is a top view of FPC of the state which has arrange | positioned the contact part of three contact conductor parts on the same straight line in the width direction, and has arrange | positioned the contact part for every one and the other in a grid | lattice form. (B) It is a side view of the connector of the state which has arrange | positioned the contact conductor part like (A). It is sectional drawing of the state which the connector of this invention connected between two connection objects. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a connector as viewed from the surface direction in a state where a plurality of contact conductor portions are provided on four sides of one FPC having a substantially cross shape as another embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

10 Connector 12 FPC (Flexible Printed Circuit Board)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 14 Elastic member 15 Pressing member 16 Contact part 18 Conductor 20 Contact conductor part 22 U slit 24 Hole 60 Board | substrate 62 Pad 70 FPC cable

Claims (6)

A flexible printed circuit board provided with a plurality of contact conductor portions each having two contact portions and a conductor that is continuously connected between the contact portions, and the contact conductor portions are arranged so that the contact points of the connection object and the contact portions can be connected. And an elastic member held on the opposite side where the contact portion of the flexible printed circuit board is provided, and at least one pressing the flexible printed circuit board or the connection object toward the connection object side or the flexible printed circuit board side Comprising more than one pressing member ,
A U-slit having a substantially U-shape is provided around the contact portion, and optimization is performed according to the shape of the counterpart to which the shape of the contact portion is connected,
Connector the elastic member, wherein Rukoto change shape in order to equalize the contact pressure to the connection object or the flexible printed circuit board side of the flexible printed circuit board or the connection object. The connector according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the contact conductor portions are arranged in parallel. The connector according to claim 2 , wherein the contact portions of the contact conductor portions are alternately arranged in a staggered manner in the longitudinal pitch direction, and the two contact portions of all the contact conductor portions have the same length. 3. The connector according to claim 2, wherein the contact portions of the contact conductor portions are alternately arranged in a staggered manner in the longitudinal pitch direction, and the length between two contact portions of the adjacent contact conductor portions is changed. 3. The connector according to claim 2 , wherein the contact portions of the plurality of contact conductor portions are arranged on the same straight line in the width direction, and the contact portions for one and the other are arranged in a lattice shape. Connector of any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein, characterized in that arranging a plurality of the contact conductor portion on one of the four sides of the flexible printed circuit board having a substantially cross shape.

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