JP6481729B2 - Electrical connector - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an electrical connector.

  In various electric devices such as personal computers and smartphones, it is widely performed to connect a coaxial cable for signal transmission to a wiring board or the like via an electric connector. As a coaxial cable connected to such an electrical connector, a plurality of coaxial cables arranged at predetermined intervals are often used, and the central conductor (signal line) of each of these coaxial cables is used. Is directly soldered to each of a plurality of contact members arranged in the electrical connector, while the outer conductor (shield wire) of each coaxial cable is soldered via a ground bar made of an elongated member. Being connected. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, an elongated ground bar 200 is soldered to the outer conductor (shield wire) of each coaxial cable 100, and the ground bar 200 is a shell member of an electrical connector or the like. By being placed in contact with the ground, the ground connection is made.

  That is, the ground bar 200 described above is used in a pair so as to sandwich the outer conductors (shield wires) of the plurality of coaxial cables 100 in the radial direction, and ground connection surfaces provided on each of the pair of ground bars 200. Soldering is performed in a common connection state in which 200a is brought into contact with the outer conductor (shield wire) of each coaxial cable 100. Thus, the ground bar 200 is arranged so as to span the plurality of coaxial cables 100 in the arrangement direction, whereby the plurality of coaxial cables 100 described above are integrated in a state of being aligned in the arrangement direction. The central conductor (signal line) and the external conductor (shield line) of each coaxial cable 100 integrated via the ground bar 200 are individually or collectively connected to the contact member and the ground member of the electrical connector. Solder connection is made.

  Here, as described in the following patent documents, each of the plurality of coaxial cables is aligned with the contact member of the electrical connector on the ground connection surface of the ground bar, that is, the contact surface with respect to the coaxial cable. Conventionally, those having a positioning portion have been proposed. These positioning portions protrude so as to form a wave shape at regular intervals along the arrangement direction of the coaxial cables. Then, by arranging the coaxial cable in the concave portion formed between the positioning portions adjacent in the arrangement direction, each coaxial cable is arranged in the arrangement direction with respect to each contact member provided in the electrical connector. Maintained in aligned alignment.

  However, in the ground bar provided with such a conventional positioning portion, the positioning portion protrudes from the ground connection surface and is thickened, so that the rigidity is increased while the concave portion where the coaxial cable is disposed. Is in a relatively thin state, and the strength against bending stress tends to decrease. For this reason, bending deformation is likely to occur in the concave portion where the coaxial cable described above is disposed. For example, the ground bar may be deformed or warped in the entire ground bar, and the ground characteristics of the electrical connector may be deteriorated.

JP 2007-123104 A Japanese Patent No. 5114297

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector that can maintain the ground bar in a flat shape and can improve the electrical connectivity of the ground bar to the coaxial cable.

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 includes a ground bar having a ground connection surface that contacts a plurality of coaxial cables arranged at predetermined intervals in a radial direction. In the electrical connector extending in the arrangement direction of the coaxial cable in a state where the ground bar has a width dimension W1 in the width direction that is the extending direction of the coaxial cable, A plurality of protrusions are provided at positions corresponding to the distance between the coaxial cables, and each protrusion has a width dimension W2 in the extending direction of the coaxial cable set smaller than a width dimension W1 of the ground bar. is (W2 <W1), the ground connecting surface of the ground bar is flat adjacent to the protrusion in the width direction is the extending direction of the coaxial cable Together are provided, the protrusions, which has been arranged in the substantially central region of the width W1 in the ground bar, wherein the protrusion is disposed on the outermost end in the arrangement direction of the coaxial cable With respect to the protruding portion that comes into contact with the coaxial cable from the outside in the arrangement direction and the protruding portion that comes into contact with the coaxial cable arranged at the outermost end, it is arranged at a position further outward in the arrangement direction. A configuration having at least a part of the protruding portion is employed.

According to the first aspect of the invention having such a configuration, the flat surface adjacent to the protruding portion increases the rigidity against bending deformation of the ground bar, and the ground bar is maintained flat, thereby the coaxial cable. The electrical connectivity to is improved.
Moreover, according to the invention concerning Claim 1 provided with such a structure, while the deformation | transformation of a ground bar is homogenized in the width direction, while the electrical connectivity of a coaxial cable is improved further, it is coaxial Even if the solder material tries to flow further outward than the coaxial cable arranged at the outermost end in the cable arrangement direction, the solder material is held in a state of being dammed up by the protruding portion arranged outside the coaxial cable. As a result, the waste of the solder material is reduced and an electrical short circuit or the like is avoided.

  At this time, as in the invention according to claim 2, it is desirable that the protruding portion has a substantially rectangular shape when viewed in a direction orthogonal to the extending direction and the arrangement direction of the coaxial cable. .

  According to the invention concerning Claim 2 provided with such a structure, the shape at the time of processing and shaping | molding a projection part is stabilized.

Furthermore, as in the invention according to claim 3 , the protrusion has a substantially chevron shape when viewed in the extending direction of the coaxial cable, and the chevron shape has a flat inclined surface. It is desirable that

According to the invention according to claim 3 having such a configuration, since the flat inclined surface of the protrusion portion stably contacts the coaxial cable having different outer dimensions, various types of coaxial cables can be used. Positioning is possible.

As described above, according to the present invention, the width dimension W2 in the extending direction of the coaxial cable at each protrusion provided on the ground connection surface of the ground bar is set smaller than the width dimension W1 of the ground bar (W2 <W1). the ground connecting surface of the bar, a flat surface adjacent to the projections provided in the extending direction of the coaxial cable, Rutotomoni increased rigidity against bending deformation of the ground bar by its flat surface, a substantially central region of the width in the ground bar A projection that contacts the coaxial cable arranged at the outermost end in the arrangement direction of the coaxial cable from the outside in the arrangement direction, and a projection that is further outward from the projection The coaxial cable is made of at least a part of the coaxial cable while homogenizing the deformation of the ground bar in the width direction to improve the electrical connectivity of the coaxial cable. Even if the solder material tries to flow further outward than the coaxial cable arranged at the outermost end in the arrangement direction, the solder material is held in a dammed state by the protruding portion arranged outside, and the solder material is wasted. Since it is reduced and an electrical short circuit is avoided , the ground bar can be kept flat and the electrical connectivity of the ground bar to the coaxial cable can be improved.

It is a plane explanatory view showing the electric connector concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is a cross-sectional explanatory drawing along the II-II line | wire in FIG. FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing the internal structure of the electrical connector shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 4 is an enlarged plan view illustrating a state in which a ground bar used in the electrical connector illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 3 is disposed on a coaxial cable. It is front explanatory drawing which expanded and represented the state by which the ground bar used for the electrical connector shown by FIGS. 1-3 was arrange | positioned at the coaxial cable. 4 and 5 show a process of setting a coaxial cable to the ground bar shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, wherein (a) shows a state in which a pair of ground bar materials are arranged, and (b) shows a ground bar material. (C) shows a state where a coaxial cable is placed on one (lower) ground bar material, (d) shows a state where the other (upper) ground bar is arranged, (e) FIG. 3 is an explanatory plan view illustrating a state where a ground bar is cut into a predetermined size after soldering by heating. It is front explanatory drawing which expanded and represented the state which soldered the ground bar which has a general structure to the coaxial cable.

  Hereinafter, an electrical connector according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention applied to an electrical connector for connecting a plurality of coaxial cables to a printed wiring board will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[Overview of overall electrical connector structure]
First, an electrical connector according to an embodiment of the present invention shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 includes a plug connector 1 in which terminal portions of a plurality of arranged coaxial cables (signal transmission media) SC are connected. In addition, one end edge portion (electrode portion) of the plug connector 1 is provided in the receptacle connector in a state where the plug connector 1 is disposed so as to face the receptacle connector as a mating counterpart (not shown) in a substantially horizontal direction. The electrical connectors are fitted to each other by being inserted through the insertion opening.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the plug connector 1 according to the present invention is fitted and removed from the mating connector (receptacle connector) in “horizontal plane”, and the direction in which the plug connector 1 is inserted is “ The direction of “front” and the opposite direction is “rear”. The front end portion of the plug connector 1 on the insertion side is referred to as a “front end portion”, and the other end portion facing the opposite side is referred to as a “rear end portion”.

  Moreover, although the plug connector 1 concerning this embodiment is provided with the insulation housing 11 which consists of insulating members, such as resin formed in the horizontally long shape, the longitudinal direction (left-right direction of FIG. 1) of the insulation housing 11 is the following. Is referred to as “connector longitudinal direction”. Further, the vertical direction in FIG. 2 is referred to as “vertical direction” in the plug connector 1.

  In the insulating housing 11 described above, a plurality of conductive contact members (conductive terminals) 12 having the same shape are arranged at predetermined intervals along the “connector longitudinal direction” (left-right direction in FIG. 1). ing. In correspondence with the plurality of conductive contact members 12, end portions of the plurality of coaxial cables SC arranged along the “connector longitudinal direction” are connected to the rear end portion of the plug connector 1. Each of the coaxial cables SC is arranged in the “connector longitudinal direction” in correspondence with the conductive contact member 12 described above, and the terminal portion of the coaxial cable SC is soldered to the conductive contact member 12. ing.

  In the end portion of each coaxial cable SC, the cable center conductor (signal line) SCa and the cable outer conductor (shield line) SCb are exposed to form a coaxial shape by peeling the covering material. The signal center is configured by connecting the cable center conductor SCa arranged so as to extend along the center axis of the coaxial cable SC to the signal transmission conductive contact member 12 described above. It has become. A connection structure between the cable center conductor SCa of the coaxial cable SC and the conductive contact member 12 will be described in detail later.

  The cable outer conductor SCb arranged so as to concentrically surround the outer periphery of the cable center conductor SCa described above is connected in common by a ground bar GB made of a conductive ground member extending in the “connector longitudinal direction”. Yes. The ground bar GB is formed from an elongated member extending along the arrangement direction (connector longitudinal direction) of the coaxial cable SC described above, and the ground bar GB is a cable outer conductor (shield) of the coaxial cable SC. Line) It is collectively connected to SCb by soldering. The ground bar GB to which the coaxial cable SC is soldered is electrically connected to a ground circuit formed on the printed wiring board through a conductive shell of a receptacle connector (not shown). The structure of the ground bar GB will be described in detail later as the main part of the present invention.

[Insulating housing and conductive contact member]
Here, the insulating housing 11 provided in the plug connector 1 includes a main body support portion 11a disposed in a central region in the front-rear direction of the plug connector 1 and the main body support portion 11a as shown in FIG. Are integrally provided with a fitting protrusion 11b extending from the front to the front, and the conductive contact member 12 described above is embedded in the upper surface from the main body support 11a to the fitting protrusion 11b by insert molding or the like. Or it is hold | maintained by press injection. The conductive contact member 12 at that time extends substantially horizontally in a state of being exposed upward from the upper surface of the insulating housing 11.

  A terminal portion of the cable center conductor (signal line) SCa of the coaxial cable SC is solder-connected to the rear end portion of the conductive contact member 12 provided in the plug connector 1 in a state of being in contact with the upper side. Yes. Solder connection between the cable center conductor SCa and the conductive contact member 12 can be performed collectively at a plurality of locations in the arrangement direction (connector longitudinal direction), and a plurality of coaxial cables are connected by such collective solder connection. SC is connected efficiently.

  On the other hand, as described above, the terminal electrode portion 12a constituting the front portion of the conductive contact member 12 is exposed on the upper surface of the fitting protrusion 11b provided at the front end portion of the insulating housing 11. Is arranged. And the terminal electrode part 12a which comprises the front extension part in this electrically-conductive contact member 12 is provided in the said receptacle connector, when the plug connector 1 is fitted by the receptacle connector (mating connector) as mentioned above. The signal transmission circuit is formed by contacting the conductive contact member (contact member on the receptacle connector side). A part of the plurality of conductive contact members 12 can be configured for ground connection.

[Conductive shell]
On the other hand, the outer surface of the insulating housing 11 provided in the plug connector 1 is covered with a conductive shell 13 formed by bending a conductive thin plate-like metal member into an appropriate shape. The conductive shell 13 is mounted as a shield member that shields electrical noise by covering the signal transmission circuit and the ground circuit formed inside the plug connector 1 from the outside. It is also a member which comprises a part of.

  The conductive shell 13 is composed of a fitting body of a pair of upper and lower shell plates that sandwich the above-described insulating housing 11 from above and below. When the upper shell plate 13a and the lower shell plate 13b are attached to the plug connector 1, as a previous process, the ground bar (ground member) GB is soldered to the terminal portion of the coaxial cable SC. The This will be described in detail later.

  And the lower shell board 13b which comprises the lower half side part of the conductive shell 13 mentioned above is covered from the lower side with respect to the insulating housing 11, and the surface of the insulating housing 11 covered with the lower shell board 13b is mentioned above. The ground bar GB is set so that the end portion of the coaxial cable SC in a soldered state is placed, and then the upper shell plate 13a constituting the upper half portion of the conductive shell 13 is insulated. The housing 11 is mounted so as to be covered from above.

  In the upper shell plate 13a and the lower shell plate 13b constituting the conductive shell 13, a plurality of ground connection tongues 13c are cut out along the arrangement direction (connector longitudinal direction) of the coaxial cable SC. It is formed by. Each of the ground connection tongues 13c is cut and raised so as to form a cantilever leaf spring protruding toward the space on the inner side of the connector, and elastically with respect to the surface of the ground bar GB described above. Touched.

  When the plug connector 1 is fitted to the receptacle connector which is the mating connector (not shown), the lower shell plate 13b of the conductive shell 13 is the lower shell plate of the conductive shell attached to the receptacle connector. A ground circuit (grounding circuit) is configured by abutting from the upper side against the inner surface.

  On the other hand, as described above, the terminal portions of the plurality of coaxial cables SC arranged at a predetermined interval are connected to the plug connector 1 via the ground bar GB, but the ground bar GB in this embodiment is In particular, as shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, it is composed of an elongated plate-like member having a constant width dimension W1 in the extending direction of the coaxial cable SC (the vertical direction in FIG. 4). In the state provided with W1, it extends in the arrangement direction (connector longitudinal direction) of the coaxial cables SC. A pair of ground bars GB made of such elongated plate-like members are arranged so as to sandwich the coaxial cable SC in the radial direction (vertical direction).

  Each of the pair of ground bars GB and GB includes a ground connection surface GB1 that contacts the coaxial cable SC described above as inner surfaces facing each other, and each of the ground connection surfaces GB1 is connected to the coaxial cable SC. Each of the ground bars GB and GB is arranged so as to span the plurality of coaxial cables SC in the arrangement direction by being soldered in a common connection state in contact with the cable outer conductor (shield wire) SCb. It has been made into a configuration.

  Here, on the ground connection surface GB1 of each ground bar GB described above, a protrusion GB2 for spatially dividing a portion between the plurality of coaxial cables SC arranged in the “connector longitudinal direction” is provided on the ground connection surface. A plurality of GB1s are provided by press working or the like. Each of these protrusions GB2 is arranged at a position corresponding to the space between adjacent coaxial cables SC in the arrangement direction (connector longitudinal direction) of the coaxial cables SC, and the extending direction of the coaxial cable SC (see FIG. When viewed in the vertical direction (4), the front shape is a substantially chevron shape.

  Each of the chevron shapes constituting the protrusion GB2 is configured to have a pair of flat inclined surfaces substantially symmetrically, and each of the two flat inclined surfaces is a coaxial cable. SC and SC are arranged in contact with the outer peripheral surface in a tangential manner.

  Here, each protrusion GB2 described above has a substantially planar shape when viewed in a direction (vertical direction in FIG. 4) perpendicular to both the extending direction and the arrangement direction (connector longitudinal direction) of the coaxial cable SC. It has a rectangular shape (substantially square shape). The width dimension of each protrusion GB2 having a substantially rectangular shape in plane, that is, the width dimension W2 in the extending direction of the coaxial cable SC (the vertical direction in FIG. 4) is the total width dimension W1 of the above-described ground bar GB. (W2 <W1). And the protrusion part GB2 which makes the small width dimension is arrange | positioned in the substantially center area | region in the full width dimension of the ground bar GB. As a result, flat surfaces GB3 and GB3 are formed on the ground connection surface GB1 of the ground bar GB described above at both edge portions in the width direction (vertical direction in FIG. 4), which is the extending direction of the coaxial cable SC. .

  That is, as described above, each of the flat surfaces GB3 provided on the ground connection surface GB1 at both end portions in the width direction of the ground bar GB is a protrusion in the extending direction of the coaxial cable SC (the vertical direction in the drawing of FIG. 4). The flat surface GB3 is arranged adjacent to the GB2 and extends in an elongated shape along the arrangement direction (connector longitudinal direction) of the coaxial cables SC.

  On the other hand, as described above, the protrusion GB2 is disposed in the space between adjacent coaxial cables SC along the arrangement direction (connector longitudinal direction) of the coaxial cables SC. At least an integral protrusion GB2 ′ is provided at an outer position of the coaxial cable SC ′ disposed at the outer end. The flat inclined surface of the protrusion GB2 ′ provided at the outer position is brought into contact with the outer peripheral surface of the outermost coaxial cable SC ′.

  In the plug connector 1 having such a configuration, the plurality of coaxial cables SC are positioned in the arrangement direction (connector longitudinal direction) by the partitioning action of the protrusion GB2 provided on the ground bar GB. . Then, the flat surface GB3 provided on the ground connection surface GB1 of the ground bar GB in a state adjacent to the protrusion GB2 in the width direction increases the rigidity against bending deformation of the ground bar GB. By maintaining the entire GB in a flat shape, the electrical connectivity of the ground bar GB to the coaxial cable SC is improved.

  In particular, since the protrusion GB2 provided on the ground bar GB in the present embodiment has a substantially rectangular planar shape, the shape when the protrusion GB2 is processed and molded by a press or the like is stabilized. Can do.

  In addition, since the protrusion GB2 according to this embodiment is disposed in a substantially central region of the entire width W1 of the ground bar GB, the deformation of the ground bar GB is homogenized in the width direction, and the coaxial cable The electrical connectivity of the SC is further improved.

  Furthermore, since the flat inclined surface of the protrusion GB2 according to the present embodiment stably contacts the coaxial cable SC having different outer dimensions, positioning of various types of coaxial cables is possible. It becomes.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the protrusion GB2 ′ that contacts the outermost coaxial cable SC ′ from the outer side at the outer position of the coaxial cable SC ′ arranged at the outermost end in the arrangement direction. However, even if the solder material tries to flow further outward than the coaxial cable SC ′ disposed at the outermost end in the arrangement direction, the protruding portion GB2 disposed outward is provided. As a result, the solder material is held in a dammed state, so that the waste of the solder material is reduced and an electrical short circuit or the like is avoided.

  Next, a process for soldering the coaxial cable SC to the ground bar GB having the above-described configuration will be described.

  First, as shown in FIG. 6 (a), a pair of long-shaped ground bar materials GBM partially including the ground bar GB on which the protrusions GB2 are formed are prepared, and the ground bar materials GBM, The GBMs are arranged in a state of being arranged in a plane. Next, as shown in FIG. 6B, a paste solder material PS is applied to each of the pair of ground bar materials GBM and GBM described above. This paste-like solder material PS is applied to a portion corresponding to the ground bar GB and a portion slightly outward.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 6C, one (left side in the figure) of the ground bar material GBM, that is, the ground bar material GBM including the ground bar GB positioned below in the plug connector 1 described above. A plurality of coaxial cables SC are placed. Naturally, each of the plurality of coaxial cables SC at this time is disposed at a position corresponding to the ground bar GB. However, as described above, the coaxial cables SC are positioned in the arrangement direction by the partitioning action of the protrusion GB2. Will be placed.

  Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 6 (d), the ground bar material GBM on the other side (the right side of FIG. 6 (c)), that is, the ground bar including the ground bar GB positioned above the plug connector 1 described above. The material GBM is placed so as to be superimposed from above on the coaxial cable SC on the above-described one (left side in FIG. 6C) of the ground bar material GBM. At this stage, the coaxial cable SC is temporarily connected to the ground bar material GBM. However, by heating the ground bar material GBM by pulse heat or the like, the coaxial cable SC and the ground bar material GBM are heated. A connection is made by flowing a solder material between GB and filling the solder material.

  After that, as shown in FIG. 6 (e), the ground bar GB is cut in accordance with the length of the plug connector 1 described above, and the sub cable comprising the coaxial cable SC and the ground bar GB formed by the cutting is cut. The assembly set is connected to the plug connector 1 as described above.

  Although the invention made by the present inventor has been specifically described based on the embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. Needless to say.

  For example, the above-described embodiment relates to a coaxial cable connector, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and an insulated cable connector or an electrical connector of a type in which a plurality of coaxial cables and insulated cables are mixed. The present invention can be similarly applied to the above.

  As described above, the present embodiment can be widely applied to a wide variety of electrical connectors used in various electrical devices.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Plug connector 11 Insulation housing 11a Main body support part 11b Fitting protrusion 12 Conductive contact member 12a Terminal electrode part 13 Conductive shell 13a Upper shell plate 13b Lower shell plate 13c Ground connection tongue piece GB Ground bar (ground member)
GB1 Ground connection surface GB2, GB2 'Protrusion GB3 Flat surface GBM Ground bar material SC Coaxial cable (signal transmission medium)
SCa Cable center conductor (signal line)
SCb Cable outer conductor (shielded wire)
SC 'outermost coaxial cable PS paste solder material

Claims (3)

It has a ground bar with a ground connection surface that contacts a plurality of coaxial cables arranged at predetermined intervals in the radial direction,
In the electrical connector extending in the arrangement direction of the coaxial cable with the ground bar having a width dimension W1 in the width direction that is the extending direction of the coaxial cable,
On the ground connection surface of the ground bar, a plurality of protrusions are provided at positions corresponding to the intervals between the coaxial cables,
Each protrusion has a width dimension W2 in the extending direction of the coaxial cable set to be smaller than a width dimension W1 of the ground bar (W2 <W1),
The ground connection surface of the ground bar is provided with a flat surface adjacent to the protrusion in the width direction that is the extending direction of the coaxial cable .
The protrusion is disposed in a substantially central region of the width dimension W1 of the ground bar,
The protrusion is in contact with the coaxial cable disposed at the outermost end in the arrangement direction of the coaxial cable, and the protrusion that contacts from the outside in the arrangement direction with the coaxial cable disposed at the outermost end. An electrical connector comprising: at least a part of a protrusion disposed at a position further outward in the arrangement direction with respect to the protrusion .   The electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein the protrusion has a substantially rectangular shape when viewed in a direction orthogonal to an extending direction and an arrangement direction of the coaxial cable. The protrusion has a substantially chevron shape when viewed in the extending direction of the coaxial cable,
The electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein the mountain shape has a flat inclined surface.

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