JP6069085B2 - connector - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a connector connected to a flexible printed circuit (FPC), and more particularly to a connector suitable for use in medical equipment.

  This type of conventional connector is provided between an FPC that captures a biological signal obtained from, for example, a biological electrode, and a medical device that processes and displays the biological signal. When such a configuration is adopted, since the connector has a connection portion with the FPC, noise is superimposed on the biological signal when the connection portion moves due to body movement or the like.

  Therefore, the connector is particularly required to be able to suppress the generation of noise due to body movement or the like at the connection portion with the FPC. Further, the connection between the connector and the FPC is often performed by a medical worker at a medical site. Therefore, there is a demand for an excellent workability at the time of connection and capable of easily and reliably connecting the connector and the FPC. Various connectors have been developed in which the connection portion is characterized based on such requirements and requests.

For example, Patent Document 1 discloses that an engagement portion 24 having a right triangular shape provided on the lock member 18 in a state in which the FPC 80 is engaged with the connector 10 is a U-shaped notch engaging portion provided on the FPC 80. What is engaged with 82 and prevents the FPC 80 from coming off is disclosed.
However, it is difficult to eliminate the gap between the locking portion 82 and the FPC 80, and it cannot be said that vibration resistance is sufficient.

Japanese Patent No. 4708001

  As described above, in any conventional connector, the reliability of the connection portion between the connector and the FPC cannot be said to be sufficient, and further noise suppression is required. There is also a need for further improvement in workability at the time of connection. The present invention has been made in view of the current state of connectors that connect to such an FPC, and an object thereof is to provide a connector that can be reliably connected to an FPC and can enhance the noise suppression effect. .

A connector according to the present invention includes a base case and a pressure contact plate, and a connector on which a flexible board having an insertion region in which a terminal is formed is inserted between the base case and the pressure contact plate. A terminal, a projecting piece projecting toward a position other than the conductive portion of the insertion region in a direction intersecting the surface of the insertion region, and a pointed tip, and the insertion region in a state where the insertion region is inserted The protruding piece is brought into a pressure contact state, the protruding piece is bitten into a position other than the conductive portion of the insertion region to cause plastic deformation, and the plastic substrate is inserted into the insertion region of the flexible substrate in a state where the plastic deformation has occurred. A pressing means for fixing the case and the pressure contact plate without play is provided.

Connector according to the present invention, have a boss to be inserted into notches formed in the insertion region, the cut will have a shape against pulling force of the flexible substrate in a state in which the boss is inserted It is characterized by that.

In the connector according to the present invention, the pressing means includes the pressing plate that presses the insertion region, and the pressing plate has a recess formed at a position corresponding to a surface facing the protruding piece. And

  The connector according to the present invention is a connector into which a flexible board having an insertion region in which terminals are formed is inserted, and a connector-side terminal that contacts the terminal, and a protruding piece that protrudes in a direction intersecting the surface of the insertion region And a pressing means that presses the insertion region and the protruding piece into a pressed state in a state where the insertion region is inserted, and causes the protruding piece to bite into the insertion region, so that the protruding piece bites into the insertion region. Thus, the flexible substrate is firmly fixed, can be securely connected to the flexible substrate, and the noise suppression effect can be enhanced. Further, the pressing means has a pressure contact plate that is in pressure contact with the insertion region, and the pressure contact plate is formed with a recess at a position corresponding to the surface facing the projection piece. It will definitely bite in.

The top view of the adapter comprised including the connector which concerns on embodiment of this invention. 1 is a perspective view of a system in which a connector according to an embodiment of the present invention is used. The assembly perspective view of the connector concerning the embodiment of the present invention. It is AA sectional drawing of FIG. 1, and is a figure which shows the locked state and unlocking state by a lever. It is AA sectional drawing of FIG. 1, and is a figure which shows the state which has not opened the opening part in the lock release state by a lever. It is AA sectional drawing of FIG. 1, and is a figure which shows the state which the opening part opened to the maximum in the lock release state by a lever. The principal part enlarged view of FIG. The side view which expanded the principal part of the lever which comprises the connector which concerns on embodiment of this invention. Sectional drawing which shows the state by which the insertion area | region of the flexible substrate was pressed by the connector which concerns on embodiment of this invention. The principal part enlarged view of FIG. The perspective view which shows the state by which the insertion area | region of the flexible substrate was inserted in the connector which concerns on embodiment of this invention. The perspective view which shows the deformation | transformation in an insertion area after the insertion area of a flexible substrate is pressed by the connector which concerns on embodiment of this invention. Sectional drawing which shows the deformation | transformation site | part in an insertion area after the insertion area of a flexible substrate is pressed by the connector which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

  A connector according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In each figure, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted. The connector according to the embodiment of the present invention can be realized as an FPC connector 1A of the integrated electrode adapter 1 as shown in FIG. The integrated electrode adapter 1 is provided with a connector 1B for connecting an electronic device on the other end side with respect to the connector 1A.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the connector 1B for connecting an electronic device is connected to a connector provided facing a connection opening (not shown) of a Holter electrocardiograph 2 which is a medical device, for example. Further, the connector 1A can be used as a connector into which the flexible substrate 3 having the insertion region 4 in which the terminals 3a are formed is inserted. The flexible substrate 3 is configured as a disposable electrocardiographic electrode, and a plurality of electrodes are disposed on the other end (not shown), and each electrode is connected to one of the terminals 3a.

  In the following description, the description will be made with reference to FIG. 3, and additional reference will be made to other drawings. As shown in FIG. 3, the connector 1A includes a base case 10, a packing 20, a shaft 28, a shaft 29, a pressure contact plate 30, and a lever 40 as main components. The base case 10 has a substantially quadrangular pyramid shape, and has a rounded shape with chamfered sides and corners. A portion corresponding to the top of the quadrangular frustum is a base portion located on the central side of the integrated electrode adapter 1, and a portion corresponding to the lower bottom surface of the quadrangular frustum is the tip side of the connector 1A.

  The base case 10 is formed with a bottomed concave portion as it is pulled out from the tip side toward the base. The flexible substrate 3 having the insertion region 4 in which the terminals 3a shown in FIG. 2 are formed is inserted into the flat portion close to the bottom surface 11 of the recess. On the bottom surface 11 of the base case 10, connector-side terminals 12 that come into contact with the terminals 3a are projected and embedded. The number of the terminals 3a and the connector side terminals 12 is the same. The connector side terminal 12 is formed as a pin terminal, and a coil spring for pressing the connector side terminal 12 upward is embedded below the bottom surface 11 of the base case 10 in which the connector side terminal 12 is embedded. For this reason, in a state where the terminal 3a of the flexible substrate 3 and the connector side terminal 12 are in contact with each other, the flexible substrate 3 is pressed by the pressure contact plate 30 and the electrical connection state between the terminal 3a and the connector side terminal 12 is reliably realized. it can.

  A packing 20 made of a flexible insulating resin is interposed on the upper surface side of the connector side terminal 12. In the packing 20, holes are formed corresponding to the connector-side terminals 12, and walls 21 surrounding the periphery of each hole are formed. Each connector-side terminal 12 protruding from each hole due to the packing 20 is surrounded by a wall 21 and is covered with a pressure-contact plate 30 from above. For this reason, intrusion of moisture such as sweat can be prevented during use, and insulation between the connector-side terminals 12 can be maintained, and appropriate measurement can be performed.

  A boss 14 protrudes from one end portion in the width direction of the bottom surface portion 13 near the tip of the base case 10. On the other hand, in the insertion region 4 of the flexible substrate 3, a notch 5 is formed corresponding to the boss 14. The boss 14 and the notch 5 are configured such that when the flexible substrate 3 is inserted, the boss 14 is inserted into the notch 5 to counter the pulling direction force of the flexible substrate 3. Thereby, the flexible substrate 3 can be positioned and fixed. Note that the boss 14 and the cutout 5 may have any shape that resists the force in the pulling direction of the flexible substrate 3 when the flexible substrate 3 is fixed. For example, the cutout 5 includes a hole.

  In the bottom surface portion 13, protruding pieces 15 are provided so as to protrude from both end portions in the width direction on the back side of the boss 14. The position of the protruding piece 15 is set so as to face a position that is not a conductive portion of the flexible substrate 3 when the flexible substrate 3 is inserted. The projecting piece 15 is preferably made of, for example, metal and has a sharp tip.

  The pressure contact plate 30 has a flat plate shape and includes a front plate portion 31 that rises toward the tip side. As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the bottom surface side of the pressure contact plate 30 is flat, and a recess 32 is formed at a position corresponding to the boss 14. A concave portion 38 is formed in the pressure contact plate 30 at a position corresponding to the surface facing the protruding piece 15. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 9, a hook-shaped hook-shaped piece 34 protruding upward is provided at substantially the center of the surface portion of the press contact plate 30.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3, shaft gripping portions 33 having shaft holes into which the shafts 28 are loosely fitted are provided at both ends of the side facing the front plate portion 31 of the press contact plate 30. On the other hand, a pair of bearing holes 16 and 16 are formed in the entrance wall portion of the vacant space formed in the back side in the concave portion of the base case 10. The shaft 28 is inserted into the shaft gripping portion 33 in the pressure contact plate 30, and the shaft 28 is fitted into the bearing hole 16 and is prevented from coming off by the E-ring 28a. Thereby, the press contact plate 30 is attached to the base case 10 so as to be rotatable about the shaft 28 as a fulcrum.

  The lever 40 is provided with an edge portion that draws an inverted U shape from the base portion 41 toward the distal end portion 42 that is the operation portion, and the vicinity of the center from the base portion 41 toward the distal end portion 42 is low. 41 and the tip end portion 42 are inclined upward and have a generally curved shape.

  The base portion 41 of the lever 40 is provided with a through hole 43 through which the shaft 29 passes. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, a rib 44 connected to the flange-like piece 34 of the press contact plate 30 extends in a direction parallel to the through hole 43 at the center of the bottom of the base 41 of the lever 40. Yes. The rib 44 comes into contact with or is not in contact with the bent collar portion of the collar-shaped piece 34 according to the opening / closing of the lever 40 described later.

  Further, a concentric cam 45 centering on the through hole 43 (shaft 29) is sandwiched between the ribs 44 at the bottom portion of the base portion 41 of the lever 40 as an action portion for generating a pressing action on the pressure contact plate 30. It is formed to extend in a direction parallel to the through hole 43. Further, when the lever 40 is rotated from the position shown in FIG. 6 to the position shown in FIG. 4, the flat portion 47 located in front of the concentric cam 45 in the lever 40 is a concentric cam 45 as shown in FIG. 8. Prior to the pressing, an action part that starts pressing against the pressure contact plate 30 is provided. The distance between the cam surface of the concentric cam 45 and the through hole 43 (shaft 29) is constant.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, a pair of bearing holes 17 and 17 are formed in the upper part of the wall portion on the front end side in the concave portion of the base case 10. The shaft 29 is inserted into the through hole 43 of the lever 40, and the shaft 29 is fitted into the bearing hole 17 and is prevented from coming off by the E ring 29a. Thereby, the lever 40 is attached to the base case 10 so as to be rotatable about the shaft 29 as a fulcrum.

  Further, a hook-like locking hook piece 46 protruding downward is provided on the bottom surface of the lever 40 (see FIGS. 4 and 5). When the lever 40 in a state of being attached to the base case 10 is rotated and pressed so as to become a lid of the concave portion of the base case 10, the locking hook 46 is pivoted at the tip of the locking hook 46. 28 is engaged. Thereby, the lever 40 can be made into a locked state. Further, when the lever 40 is pivoted by raising it so as to raise the distal end portion 42 as an operation portion, the engagement state between the locking collar 46 and the shaft 28 can be released and the lock state can be released. The locking collar 46 and the shaft 28 constitute locking means.

  The connector configured as described above can be used as follows. This will be described with reference to FIGS. As described above, when the lever 40 is pivoted up (rotation in the second direction) by raising it upward so as to raise the distal end portion 42 as the operation portion, the ribs 44 are removed as shown in FIGS. The rib 44 enters the buttocks portion of the hook-shaped piece 34 from the non-contact state with the hook-shaped piece 34, and rotates around the shaft 29. As a result, the pressure plate 30 is rotated about the shaft 28 and the front plate portion 31 of the pressure plate 30 is raised. When the lever 40 is lifted from the locked state and continues to rotate, a part of the base 41 of the lever 40 comes into contact with the inner side of the front plate portion 31 of the press contact plate 30 to stop the rotation (see FIGS. 6 to 8). ).

  At the position where the rotation is restrained, the opening of the opening 51 is maximized. The opening 51 is a portion constituted by the pressure contact plate 30 and the tip of the base case 10. As described above, the rib 44 and the hook-shaped piece 34 function as opening adjusting means for opening the opening 51 when the lever 40 is rotated in the second direction. The insertion area 4 of the flexible substrate 3 is inserted from the opening 51. In each of FIGS. 6 and 7, the flexible substrate 3 can be inserted between the flexible substrates 3 and 3 shown two above and below.

  The flexible substrate 3 is positioned by inserting the boss 14 into the notch 5 formed in the insertion region 4. In this state, when the lever 40 is rotated in the locking direction (rotating in the first direction), as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the concentric cam 45 presses the pressure contact plate 30 from above to below, The opening of the opening 51 is narrowed.

  That is, when the lever 40 is rotated in the locking direction (first direction), the flat portion 47 located in front of the concentric cam 45 in the lever 40 starts to press the pressure contact plate 30, thereby opening the opening 51. The opening of is narrowed. At this time, the rib 44 and the hook-shaped piece 34 as the opening adjusting means do not act anywhere. By further rotation of the lever 40, the corner portion 48, which is the boundary between the flat portion 47 and the concentric cam 45 shown in FIG. As the lever 40 continues to rotate from here, the concentric cam 45 starts to press against the pressure contact plate 30. When the concentric cam 45 is pressed against the pressure contact plate 30, the distance from the shaft 29 to all parts of the concentric cam 45 is constant.

  As described above, after the pressing force against the pressing plate 30 reaches the maximum, in other words, the pressing force is not changed by the concentric circular cam 45 of the lever 40 after the pressing plate 30 is pressed for a predetermined stroke. Therefore, the press contact plate 30 is not pressed by the lever 40 so as to be overstroke. For this reason, in a state where the pressure contact plate 30 is positioned at a required position, the insertion region 4 of the flexible substrate 3 can be pressed and held by the pressure contact plate 30 and the base case 10 with the required pressure. Thereby, the contact with the terminal 3a of the flexible substrate 3 and the connector side terminal 12 can be kept stable. In addition, overload is not applied to all the parts where the force of the action part, such as the pressure contact plate 30, the lever 40, and the base case 10, is exerted, and the risk of component damage can be reduced. Therefore, it can be used for stable and accurate measurement.

  Further, when the lever 40 is rotated and pressed so that the lever 40 becomes a lid of the concave portion of the base case 10, the hook part at the tip of the locking hook 46 is engaged with the shaft 28, and the lever 40 is brought into the locked state. can do. At this time as well, the pressure contact plate 30 is pressed by the concentric circular cam 45, and the pressing force does not change (FIG. 4). As described above, the rib 44, the hook-shaped piece 34, and the concentric circular cam 45 communicate between the press contact plate 30 and the lever 40, and at the end portion on the opening 51 side according to the rotation operation by the lever 40. A certain front plate part 31 is moved up and down.

  Since the opening adjusting means is provided in this way, the opening 51 can be greatly opened so that the insertion region 4 of the flexible substrate 3 can be inserted from the opening 51, and the flexible substrate 3 can be easily inserted. Efficiency can be improved. Further, after inserting the flexible substrate 3, the insertion region 4 of the flexible substrate 3 is easily pressed at a required pressure by the pressure contact plate 30 and the base case 10 by rotating the lever 40 in the locking direction. The contact between the terminal 3a of the flexible substrate 3 and the connector side terminal 12 can be kept stable.

  Next, a description will be given with reference to FIGS. Further, in the above, when the insertion region 4 of the flexible substrate 3 is inserted from the opening 51 and the lever 40 is rotated in the locked state, the insertion region 4 of the flexible substrate 3 is moved to the base case by the press contact plate 30. 10 side pressed. At this time, since the protruding piece 15 protrudes from the bottom surface portion 13 of the base case 10, the protruding piece 15 is located at a position other than the conductive portion of the insertion region 4 of the flexible substrate 3 at the position where the protruding piece 15 is pressed. The insertion region 4 of the flexible substrate 3 is deformed into a convex shape (plastic deformation) at a portion that enters the inside of the concave portion 38 of the press contact plate 30.

  As described above, in the insertion region 4, the protruding piece 15 bites into the plastic region and the lever 40 is locked. For this reason, the insertion area 4 of the flexible substrate 3 is firmly fixed between the base case 10 and the press contact plate 30 without any play, and the contact between the terminal 3a of the flexible substrate 3 and the connector side terminal 12 is kept stable. be able to. At this time, the boss 14 protruding from the bottom surface portion 13 of the base case 10 is inserted into the notch 5 formed in the insertion region 4 of the flexible substrate 3, and this structure ensures the pull-out strength of the flexible substrate 3. The Therefore, even if the flexible substrate 3 is vibrated or pulled due to body movement or the like, the contact state between the terminal 3a of the flexible substrate 3 and the connector side terminal 12 is hardly affected, and the noise suppression effect is enhanced. Can do.

  After using the terminal 3a of the flexible substrate 3 and the connector-side terminal 12 in a stable state as described above, a deformation trace 6 deformed into a convex shape remains in the insertion region 4 of the flexible substrate 3. For this reason, whether the flexible substrate 3 is used or not can be determined by the presence or absence of the deformation trace 6. Therefore, the following effects are also achieved. The sanitary management of the flexible substrate 3 can be performed by determining the presence or absence of the deformation trace 6. Further, when the position of the deformation trace 6 is at a position shifted from the predetermined position of the insertion region 4 in the flexible substrate 3, it can be determined that the measurement at this time may be inappropriate, It is possible to determine the suitability of measurement based on the position of the deformation trace 6.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1A Connector 1B Connector 2 Holter electrocardiograph 3 Flexible board 3a Terminal 4 Insertion area 5 Notch 6 Deformation trace 10 Base case 11 Bottom surface 12 Connector side terminal 14 Boss 15 Protruding piece 20 Packing 30 Pressure contact plate 40 Lever 44 Rib 45 Concentric cam 46 Lock Fork 51 opening

Claims (3)

In a connector having a base case and a pressure contact plate, and a flexible substrate having an insertion region in which terminals are formed, is inserted between the base case and the pressure contact plate .
Connector-side terminals in contact with the terminals;
A protruding piece that protrudes in a direction intersecting the surface of the insertion area and toward a position other than the conductive portion of the insertion area, and has a pointed tip .
In the state where the insertion region is inserted, the insertion region and the protruding piece are brought into a pressure contact state, and the protruding piece bites into a position other than the conductive portion of the insertion region to cause plastic deformation, thereby causing plastic deformation. And a pressing means for fixing the insertion region of the flexible substrate in a state where there is no backlash between the base case and the press contact plate . Claim to have a boss to be inserted into notches formed in the insertion area, said cut-out, characterized in that the have a shape against pulling force of the flexible substrate in a state in which the boss is inserted The connector according to 1. The pressing means includes the pressure plate that presses the insertion region,
3. The connector according to claim 1, wherein a concave portion is formed in the pressure contact plate at a position corresponding to a surface facing the protruding piece. 4.

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