JP6934095B2 - Electrical connector for circuit board - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an electrical connector for a circuit board to which a mating connector is connected while being mounted on the circuit board.

As this type of electrical connector, the connector disclosed in Patent Document 1 is known. The connector mounted on the circuit board is often in a state of being slightly deviated from the normal position with respect to the circuit board, and when another connector or the like as a mating connector is fitted to the connector. Alternatively, even if the connector attached to the circuit board is in the normal position with respect to the circuit board, when the mating connector is fitted with the connector deviated from the normal position, it is already mounted on the circuit board. Since an unfavorable large load acts on the above-mentioned connector, an electric connector capable of floating is used so as to allow the above-mentioned deviation. In Patent Document 1, a connector mounted on a circuit board has a fixed housing attached to the circuit board and a movable (floating) housing that is movable with respect to the fixed housing, and terminals are bridged between the fixed housing and the movable housing. A floating connector is disclosed in which a movable housing to which a mating connector is fitted and connected is movable with respect to a fixed housing by being attached to the terminal and forming a curved elastic portion at the terminal.

Since the movable housing is movable in such a floating connector, when the mating connector is fitted and connected from above with a large force, the movable housing is excessively moved downward, and as a result, the lower surface of the movable housing is moved. It may collide with the circuit board and damage the circuit part of the circuit board.

Therefore, in Patent Document 1, a position-regulating member (holddown) having strength is fixed in order to prevent a collision with a circuit board as described above while ensuring the possibility of floating of the movable housing in the vertical direction. It is attached to the housing, and the plate-shaped position regulating portion provided on the position regulating member is positioned so as to face the lower surface of the movable housing. Therefore, at the time of fitting and connecting the mating connector to the movable housing, even if the movable housing moves downward, the downward position is regulated by the position regulating portion and collides with the circuit board before it comes into contact with the circuit board. There is nothing to do.

JP 2006-216298

In this type of connector, there is a desire to make the distance between the circuit board to which the connector of the present invention is attached and another circuit board to which the mating connector is attached as small as possible, and in the mating direction of the connector. It is necessary to reduce the dimension (height dimension) of. So-called low profile is required.

However, in Patent Document 1 described above, since the position-regulating portion of the position-regulating member attached to the fixed housing is located between the circuit board and the lower surface of the movable housing, the thickness of the position-regulating member is dimensioned as a whole of the connector. Then, the height dimension of the connector is increased by the sum of the clearance dimension between the regulating member and the fixed housing. If the height dimension of the movable housing is reduced by that amount, the strength of the movable housing, which should have been originally made to the minimum necessary height dimension, is lowered, which is not preferable.

As described above, according to Patent Document 1, the provision of the position regulating member in order to avoid the collision of the movable housing with the circuit board goes against the request for lowering the height of the connector.

In view of such circumstances, the present invention provides an electric connector for a circuit board that ensures floating of the movable housing, reliably avoids collision with the movable housing circuit board, and makes it possible to reduce the height of the connector. The challenge is to provide.

The electric connector for a circuit board according to the present invention holds a terminal having a connection portion for connecting to the circuit board on one end side and a contact portion for contacting a mating connector on the other end side, and the terminal. A fixed housing for mounting on a circuit board via the terminal, and a fixed housing formed as a separate member from the fixed housing so as to have a movable terminal contact portion with respect to the fixed housing. A regulatory fitting having a movable housing to be arranged and having a regulating portion for preventing the lower surface of the movable housing from coming into contact with the circuit board is attached to the fixed housing.

In such an electric connector for a circuit board, in the present invention, the terminal is a fixed side held portion held by a fixed housing, a movable side held portion held by a movable housing, and a fixed side held portion and a movable side. The movable housing has an elastic portion that is connected to the held portion and can be elastically deformed. It is characterized in that an immersion portion for accommodating at least a part of the regulation portion in the vertical direction is formed on the lower surface of the movable housing.

According to the present invention having such a configuration, the movable housing can be floated due to the presence of the elastic portion of the terminal. Further, in the present invention, since the regulating portion of the regulating metal fitting attached to the regulating metal fitting is located facing the lower surface of the movable housing, for example, even if the movable housing moves downward during floating, the movable housing can be moved downward. The movable housing does not come into contact with the circuit board because the restricting portion of the restricting metal fitting positions the movable housing before it comes into contact with the circuit board. Since at least a part of such a restricting portion fits in the recessed portion on the lower surface of the movable housing in the vertical direction, the height of the connector is ensured to be low. At that time, since it is not necessary to form the immersion portion on the entire lower surface of the movable housing, the strength of the movable housing is not impaired.

In the present invention, it is preferable that the regulating metal fitting has a mounting portion that is attached to the circuit board. When the restricting metal fitting has a mounting portion, the restricting metal fitting is solder-mounted on the circuit board, so that the strength for resisting the force received from the movable housing when supporting the restricting portion is improved.

In the present invention, the regulating metal fitting has a fixed portion to be press-fitted into a holding groove formed in the fixed housing so as to extend upward from the lower surface of the fixed housing, and the mating connector is pulled out from the fixed portion. It is preferable to have a notch in which the corresponding protrusion of the fixed housing is locked at the time of ejection.

Such a restricting metal fitting is fixedly attached to the fixed housing by press-fitting the fixed portion of the restricting metal fitting into the holding groove of the fixed housing, and is locked to the corresponding protrusion at the notch to pull out the mating connector. At the time of ejection, the restricting bracket firmly held by the fixed housing by locking the notch and the corresponding protrusion securely holds the fixed housing and prevents the fixed housing from moving in the extraction direction following the mating connector. Will be done.

In the present invention, the regulating metal fittings are provided at a plurality of positions where the fixed portion is separated from the regulating portion, and at the same position as or overlapping the above-mentioned regulating portion in the direction connecting the base portions of the plurality of fixed portions. It is preferable that a supported portion is provided so as to be press-fitted or inserted into a support groove formed extending from the lower surface of the fixed housing from above. If the supported portion is formed at a position corresponding to the restricting portion of the restricting metal fitting and is inserted into the support groove, even if the restricting portion receives a force from the movable housing when the movable housing is floating, even if the restricting portion receives a force from the movable housing. The restricting metal fitting has a high strength against torsional deformation due to bending in the range connecting the base portions of the fixed portion, particularly at the restricting portion.

In the present invention, as described above, while ensuring the floating that enables the movable housing to move downward toward the circuit board, the above movement is regulated by the regulating portion of the regulating metal fitting, and the regulating portion is connected to the connector height. Since it is decided that at least a part of the restricting portion is housed in the recessed portion formed on the lower surface of the movable housing in the longitudinal direction, it is possible to secure the low profile of the connector without lowering the strength of the movable housing.

It is an external perspective view which shows before the mating connection of the plug side connector (first connector) and the receptacle side connector (second connector) which is fitted and connected to the plug side connector (first connector) in one Embodiment of this invention (the first connector is partially broken). Has been). It is an external perspective view which shows the state after the fitting connection of the 1st connector and the 2nd connector of FIG. The first connector of FIG. 1 is shown as a single unit, and FIG. 1 is an external perspective view when the posture is inverted up and down. The second connector of FIG. 1 is shown as a single unit, and FIG. 1 is an external perspective view when the posture is inverted up and down. It is a cross-sectional perspective view before fitting connection corresponding to FIG. 1 which shows the inside of the 1st connector and 2nd connector of FIG. 1, and is the state before fitting connection. 6 is a cross-sectional perspective view of the first connector and the second connector of FIG. 6 after fitting connection corresponding to FIG. 2. It is a perspective view which shows the regulation metal fitting used for the 1st connector which is seen in FIGS. The state before and after the contact between the regulation part and the immersion part is shown. (A) is before the contact, (B) is when the regulation part is in contact without elastic deformation, and (C) is elastic deformation in the regulation part. Indicates when it occurs and is in contact. It is a perspective view in the posture corresponding to FIG. 3 which shows the modification of this embodiment.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the fitting of a connector assembly having a plug-side connector (hereinafter referred to as “first connector”) according to an embodiment of the present invention, a receptacle-side connector (hereinafter referred to as “second connector”) to be fitted and connected to the plug-side connector (hereinafter referred to as “first connector”). FIG. 2 is an external perspective view showing a state before the connection and connection, and FIG. 2 is an external perspective view showing a state after the mating connection. Here, the plug side indicates a male terminal, and the receptacle side indicates a side having a female terminal fitted thereto. FIG. 3 is an external perspective view showing the first connector of FIG. 1 with its posture turned upside down, and FIG. 4 is an external perspective view showing the second connector of FIG. 1 with its posture turned upside down. Further, FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional perspective view before the fitting connection corresponding to FIG. 1 showing the insides of both connectors of FIG. 1, and FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional perspective view after the fitting connection corresponding to FIG. Further, FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the regulating metal fitting used for the second connector, (A) is a view from one side, and (B) is a view from the other side.

The first connector 1 is a male first terminal (the terminals and housings that make up the first connector shall be labeled "first", and the second connector 2 shall be labeled "second"). It has a first housing 20 made of an electrically insulating material that holds the first terminal 10, and a regulating metal fitting 30 that is held by the first housing 20. The first housing 20 has a fixed housing 21 attached to a circuit board (not shown) via a first terminal 10 and a movable housing 26 movable with respect to the fixed housing 21. The first connector 1 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped outer shape in which the first housing 20 extends in the longitudinal direction and the lateral direction on a plane parallel to the circuit board, and forms two rows in the longitudinal direction of the first housing 20. The first terminals 10 are arranged. The first terminals 10 in the two rows face each other in a symmetrical direction in the lateral direction (connector width direction) perpendicular to the longitudinal direction.

In the fixed housing 21, a peripheral wall 24 is formed by a side wall 22 that is erected from a circuit board and extends in the longitudinal direction and an end wall 23 that extends in the lateral direction, and the inner side of the peripheral wall 24 penetrates vertically and extends from above. A central space 24A for accommodating the movable housing 26 is formed. The side wall 22 extends over the terminal arrangement range in the longitudinal direction, and a protruding wall 22A for holding the first terminal 10 is provided on the outer wall surface, and the inner wall surface of the side wall 22 is fixed to be opened inward and downward. A side recess 22B (see FIG. 5) is formed. The fixed side recess 22B forms a part of the accommodating space for accommodating the elastic portion of the first terminal 10 described later. The protruding wall 22A and the fixed side recess 22B will be described in detail later in relation to the first terminal 10.

Except for the protruding wall 22A, the lower surface of most of the side wall 22 of the fixed housing 21 is located above the lower surface of the bottom wall 29 of the movable housing 26. As can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 5, the lower surfaces of both end portions (portions located outside the terminal arrangement range) of the side wall 22 in the connector longitudinal direction form a regulation surface 22C. The regulated surface 22C is located above the regulated protrusion 26C described later of the movable housing 26, and by contacting the regulated protrusion 26C, the regulated surface 22C moves toward the upper side (connector extraction direction) of the movable housing 26, and thus moves toward the upper side (connector extraction direction). The upward elastic displacement of the first terminal 10 is regulated within a predetermined range.

The end wall 23 of the fixed housing 21 is provided with a regulating metal fitting 30 so as to be held within the thickness of the end wall 23. In the fixed housing 21, not only the first terminal 10 described above but also the restricting metal fitting is formed by firmly fixing and mounting the leg piece-shaped mounting portion 35 formed on the restricting metal fitting 30 to the circuit board by soldering. It is also attached to the circuit board (not shown) via 30.

On the end wall 23 of the fixed housing 21, holding grooves 23A for holding the fixed portion of the restricting metal fitting 30, which will be described later, are provided at two positions separated in the connector width direction within the thickness range of the end wall 23. A support having slit holes penetrating vertically is formed, and a slit hole penetrating vertically is formed between the two holding grooves 23A to support a supported portion to be described later of the restricting metal fitting 30. A groove 23B is formed, and a protrusion 23D that engages with a window-shaped notch formed in the regulating metal fitting 30 described later is provided on the inner surface of the holding groove 23A. Further, on the bottom surface side of the end wall 23, a lateral groove 23C that communicates the two holding grooves 23A and the support groove 23B located between the two holding grooves 23A is also formed.

As will be described later, the movable housing 26 is movable with respect to the fixed housing 21 due to elastic deformation of the elastic portion 14 of the first terminal 10. As seen in FIG. 5, the movable housing 26 has an intrusion portion 26A located so as to penetrate into the central space 24A of the fixed housing 21 and a protrusion 26B located so as to protrude upward from the central space 24A. Have. The movable housing 26 is formed with a receiving recess 27 that receives a mating connector, for example, a second connector as a mating connector, opening upward in a range extending from the protruding portion 26B to the penetrating portion 26A. In the receiving recess 27, a central protrusion 29A for holding the first terminal 10 rising from the bottom wall 29 of the movable housing 26 is provided. Further, on the outer surface of the penetration portion 26A of the movable housing 26, a movable side recess 26D is formed so as to face the fixed side recess 22B of the fixed housing 21 so as to open downward. The movable side recess 26D and the fixed side recess 22B form a storage space 20A for accommodating the elastic portion of the first terminal 10 described later. In the present embodiment, the central protrusion 29A of the movable housing 26 holds the first terminal 10, but the central protrusion 29A is not essential, and for example, the central protrusion 29A is not provided. Only the movable side pillar portion 11 described later of the first terminal 10 may stand up in the receiving recess 27.

Further, as is often seen in FIG. 5, the movable housing 26 is subject to a prismatic columnar shape protruding outward in the connector width direction from the lower ends of both ends (portions located outside the terminal arrangement range) in the longitudinal direction of the connector. It has a protrusion 26C (see also FIG. 1). The regulated protrusion 26C extends to the range of the side wall 22 of the fixed housing 21 in the connector width direction, and the tip end portion of the regulated protrusion 26C is a flat lower surface of the end portion of the side wall 22 (the above-mentioned regulation surface). It is located below 22C). When the elastic portion 14 of the first terminal 10 is in a free state, the flat upper surface of the regulated protrusion 26C is positioned with a gap between the side wall 22 and the regulated surface 22C, as seen in FIGS. 1 and 5. doing. Then, when the movable housing 26 moves upward due to the elastic deformation of the elastic portion 14, the regulated protrusion 26C abuts on the regulating surface 22C of the side wall 22, so that the movable housing 26 moves, and thus the first terminal 10 The upward elastic displacement is kept within a predetermined range. In other words, the regulated surface 22C of the fixed housing 21 and the regulated protrusion 26C of the movable housing 26 constitute a first regulating means that limits the upward elastic deformation range of the first terminal 10 by abutting against each other. There is.

Further, in the present embodiment, the entire surface of the regulated protrusion 26C and the regulated surface 22C are flat surfaces, and the flat surfaces come into contact with each other, but it is not essential that the entire surface is a flat surface. For example, a protruding portion may be provided on one of the upper surface of the regulated protrusion 26C and the regulated surface 22C so that the protruding portion abuts on the other.

Further, as is often seen in FIG. 3, the movable housing 26 has a plate on the bottom surface of the bottom wall 29 (represented as the upper surface in FIG. 3) at both end positions in the longitudinal direction of the connector, which will be described later. The immersion portion 29C that accommodates at least a part of the plate thickness of the flake-shaped regulation portion 34 is formed in a substantially trapezoidal planar shape. When the elastic portion 14 of the first terminal 10 is in a free state, the bottom surface of the immersion portion 29C accommodating the regulation portion 34 is located with a gap between the elastic portion 14 and the regulation portion 34 of the regulation metal fitting 30. Then, when the movable housing 26 moves downward due to the elastic deformation of the elastic portion 14, the movable housing 26 moves due to the immersion portion 29C coming into contact with the regulating portion 34, that is, the first terminal 10 moves downward. It is elastically displaced so that at least a part of the plate thickness of the regulating portion 34 is kept within a predetermined range. Further, as seen in FIG. 5, on the lower surface of the bottom wall 29 of the movable housing 26, a lower protrusion 29D that protrudes downward in the central region in the connector width direction and extends over the entire terminal arrangement range in the connector longitudinal direction is provided. It is formed.

As seen in FIG. 5, the first terminal 10 forming the male terminal is shaped while maintaining the flat surface of the metal plate. The first terminals 10 are arranged in pairs facing each other in the same direction so that terminals having the same shape are symmetrical in the connector width direction, and a plurality of pairs are arranged in the connector longitudinal direction. The two first terminals 10 shown in pairs have the same shape although they are arranged symmetrically. Therefore, one of the first terminals 10 (the first terminal located on the right side in FIG. 5) is described below. Terminal 10) will be described.

As seen in FIG. 5, the first terminal 10 has a movable side pillar portion 11 which is vertically erected at a position close to the second terminal 40 which is a counterpart in the connector width direction and is held by the movable housing 26. A fixed side pillar portion 12 that is located on the opposite side of the movable side pillar portion 11 in the connector width direction and vertically extends, a connecting portion 13 that extends laterally from the lower end of the fixed side pillar portion 12, and a movable side pillar portion. An elastic portion 14 located between the 11 and the fixed side pillar portion 12 is integrally provided.

The movable side pillar portion 11 has a contact portion 11A in which the upper half portion is in contact with the female second terminal 40 of the second connector 2, and the lower half portion is fixedly held in the movable housing 26. It forms part 11B. The tip (upper end) of the contact portion 11A is chamfered so as to facilitate fitting into the second terminal 40, and the movable side held portion 11B engages with the side edge of the contact portion 11B for locking to the movable housing 26. A stop protrusion 11B-1 is provided.

The movable side held portion 11B is press-fitted from below into the holding groove 29B formed in the bottom wall 29 of the movable housing 26 and is held by the holding groove 29B. At that time, the locking projection 11B-1 bites into the corresponding inner surface of the holding groove 29B, and the locking is strengthened.

The portion of the fixed-side pillar portion 12 above the base portion 12A on the lower end side thereof is formed as a fixed-side held portion 12B. The fixed side held portion 12B is provided with a locking projection 12B-1 for locking to the fixed housing 21. The fixed-side held portion 12B is press-fitted from below into a holding groove 22A-1 formed so as to penetrate vertically within the thickness of the protruding wall 22A protruding from the outer wall surface of the side wall 22 of the fixed housing 21, and the holding groove 22A. It is held at -1. At that time, the locking projection 12B-1 bites into the corresponding inner surface of the holding groove 22A-1 to strengthen the locking.

A connecting portion 13 extending laterally along the lower surface of the fixed housing 21 and projecting outward from the fixed housing 21 is provided from the lower end of the base portion 12A of the fixed side pillar portion 12.

The first terminal 10 has an elastic portion 14 at a portion located between the movable side held portion 11B and the fixed side held portion 12B. The elastic portion 14 is connected to the movable side held portion 11B to the left via a movable side transition portion 15 extending laterally from the lower end of the movable side held portion 11B, and is fixed to the right. It is connected to the fixed side held portion 12B via a fixed side transition portion 16 extending laterally from the lower base portion 12A of the side held portion 12B.

The elastic portion 14 rises from the movable side transition portion 15 and the fixed side transition portion 16 and is bent in a substantially M shape to form one continuous band-shaped portion. The elastic portion 14 having a substantially M shape has a band shape having a width narrower than that of the movable side held portion 11B and the fixed side held portion 12B, and has two curved portions 14A and 14C at the upper part and a lower part at the lower part. It has one curved portion 14B, an inner straight portion 14D connecting the bent portion 14A and the bent portion 14B, an inner straight portion 14E connecting the bent portion 14C and the bent portion 14B, and further, the bent portion 14A. It has outer straight portions 14F and 14G extending outward from each of the bent portion 14C, and one U-shaped corrugated portion is positioned between two inverted U-shaped corrugated portions, and is substantially M-shaped as a whole. The three corrugated parts form a continuous waveform so as to form a shape, enabling elastic deformation. Thus, each of the three corrugated portions has a bent portion and a straight portion. In the three corrugated portions, each of the straight portions 14D, 14E, 14F, and 14G forms a widened portion that is inclined so as to widen the opening width of the waveform as the distance from the bent portions 14A and 14C or 14B increases. ..

Of the above three corrugated portions, the corrugated portion located on the left side extends downward from the outer straight portion 14F and is inclined inward (on the right side in FIG. 5) downward at a position below the bent portion 14B in the vertical direction. The corrugated portion located on the right side has an inclined portion 14H, which extends downward from the outer straight portion 14G and faces downward inward at a position lower than the lower bent portion 14B (FIG. 5). It has an inclined portion 14I that inclines to the left side). Thus, the inclined portion 14H and the inclined portion 14I are inclined inward toward the lower side, so that the distance between the inclined portion 14H and the inclined portion 14I is narrowed in a range lower than the lower bent portion 14B.

The regulating metal fitting 30 is made by bending a metal plate member in the plate thickness direction, as is often seen in FIGS. 3 and 7 (A) and 7 (B), especially FIGS. 7 (A) and 7 (B). , The arm-shaped fixed portion 31 to be press-fitted into the holding groove 23A formed in the end wall 23 of the fixed housing 21, the supported portion 32 to be press-fitted or inserted into the support groove 23B, and the lateral groove 23C. It has a side portion 33, a regulation portion 34 that is bent from the side portion 33 and fits in the immersion portion 29C of the movable housing 26, and a mounting portion 35 that is attached to a circuit board (not shown) by soldering.

The fixed portion 31, the supported portion 32, and the horizontal portion 33 are located on one surface that stands upright in FIGS. 7 (A) and 7 (B), and the fixed portions 31 are formed from both ends of the horizontal portion 33. The supported portion 32 extends upward from the central position between the two fixed portions 31.

The fixed portion 31 extends to a position higher than the supported portion 32, and a window-shaped notch 31A is formed above the fixed portion 31. The cutout portion 31A is preferably window-shaped in terms of strength, but if an upper edge portion is provided, one side edge may be cut off. Further, the fixed portion 31 is provided with locking projections 31B and 31C on its side edge. The upper end of the fixed portion 31 is tapered in the plate thickness direction and the width direction so that it can be easily press-fitted into the holding groove 23A. The lower portions of the two fixed portions 31 are connected to each other by a horizontal portion 33, and the supported portion 32 extends upward from the lateral central position of the horizontal portions 33. Like the fixed portion 31, both the supported portion 32 and the supported portion 32 have an upper end portion tapered in the plate thickness direction and the width direction so that the supported portion 32 can be easily inserted into the support groove 23B.

At the center position in the lateral direction of the horizontal portion 33, a regulating portion 34 having a base portion having a width wider than the width of the supported portion 32 is bent and extends in a direction perpendicular to the horizontal portion 33. The regulating portion 34 has a substantially triangular shape that tapers from the base of the bent position toward the front.

Further, from the lower end positions of the fixed portions 31 located at both ends of the horizontal portion 33 in the lateral direction, mounting portions 35 that are bent and extend in the direction opposite to the regulation portion 34 are provided.

Such a restricting metal fitting 30 is supported by the fixed portion 31 being press-fitted or inserted into the holding groove 23A of the fixed housing 21 from the bottom surface side of the fixed housing 21, that is, from the lower side in FIG. 1 and from the upper side in FIG. The portion 32 is inserted into the support groove 23B, and the lateral portion 33 is attached to the fixed housing 21 by inserting the lateral groove 23C. The locking projections 31B and 31C of the fixed portion 31 bite into the inner wall of the holding groove 32A to determine the mounting position of the restricting metal fitting 30 and prevent the restricting metal fitting 30 from coming off. In this mounting completed state, the restricting portion 34 faces the bottom surface of the immersion portion 29C while forming a gap.

Further, the mounting portion 35 is located facing the lower surface of the end wall 23 of the fixed housing 21, and can be mounted by soldering to a circuit board.

Further, in the present embodiment, the regulation portion 34 makes a flat surface on the entire surface of the immersion portion 29C of the movable housing 26 and abuts on the immersion portion 29C, but it is not essential that the entire region is a flat surface. For example, a locally protruding portion is provided on the upper surface side of the immersion portion 29C, and a stepped locally protruding portion is further formed in the immersion portion 29C at a position corresponding to the locally protruding portion, and the locally protruding portion is described above. The regulation portion 34 and the immersion portion 29C may be brought into contact with each other so as to fit in the local stepped immersion portion.

In the present embodiment, as described above, the elastic deformation range of the first terminal 10 in the vertical direction is limited to the upper limit of the first regulating means (regulating surface 22C of the fixed housing 21 and regulated collision of the movable housing 26). The lower limit is set by the second regulating means (regulating portion 34 of the regulating metal fitting 30 and immersing portion 29C of the movable housing 21). In the present embodiment, the vertical dimension of this elastic deformation range is such that the spring force of the elastic portion 14 within the elastic deformation range is the contact portion 11A of the first terminal 10 in the connector mated state and the second connector 2 described later. It is set to be smaller than the holding force based on the friction between the second terminal 40 and the contact portion 44A in the connector insertion / removal direction. In other words, within the elastic deformation range, the spring force (hereinafter, referred to as "maximum spring force") in the maximum elastic deformation amount of the elastic portion 14 is smaller than the holding force.

Next, as seen in FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, the second connector 2 has a female second terminal 40 and a second terminal 40 made of an electrical insulating material that holds the second terminal 40. It has two housings 50 and a mounting bracket 60 held by the second housing 50, and the second housing 50 is attached to a circuit board (not shown) via the second terminal 40. .. The second housing 50 has a substantially rectangular outer shape in which the longitudinal direction and the lateral direction of the first housing 20 of the first connector 1 are the longitudinal direction and the lateral direction of the second housing 50, respectively. The second terminals 40 are arranged in two rows in the longitudinal direction of the housing 50. The second rows of the second terminals 40 face each other in the lateral direction (connector width direction) perpendicular to the longitudinal direction. In addition, in FIG. 1, FIG. 2, FIG. 5, and FIG. 6, the second connector 2 is shown in a posture facing the mating direction with respect to the first connector 1 located below, but shows the second connector 2 alone. In FIG. 4, the posture is inverted in the vertical direction.

The second housing 50 of the second connector 2 which is the other party of the first connector 1 has a mounting block portion 51 mounted on a circuit board (not shown) and a fitting of the mounting block portion 51 to the first connector 1. It has a fitting block portion 52 projecting in the direction, and both have a substantially rectangular outer shape in which the longitudinal direction and the lateral direction of the first connector 1 are also the longitudinal direction and the lateral direction, respectively. The second housing 50 has an upper immersive portion 53A on the upper side and a lower immersive portion 53B narrower and deeper than the upper immersive portion 53A on the lower side at the center of the mounting block 51 when viewed from above in FIGS. 1 and 5. A central wall portion 54 is formed in a portion between the upper immersive portion 53A and the lower immersive portion 53B, and extends along the inner walls of the upper immersive portion 53A and the lower immersive portion 53B. A terminal groove 55 penetrating the portion 54 is formed. A second terminal 40, which will be described in detail later, is press-fitted and held in the terminal groove 55.

The outer surface (see FIG. 4) of the side wall 56 extending in the longitudinal direction of the mounting block portion 51 is formed with a concave wall portion 56A recessed in the lateral direction at the central portion in the longitudinal direction, which will be described in detail later. The connection portion 42 of the second terminal 40 is located, which facilitates the solder connection of the connection portion 42 to the circuit board and confirmation of the connection.

An L-shaped mounting bracket 60 is provided on the outer surface of the end wall 57 of the second housing 50, and is firmly fixed to the circuit board by soldering with a mounting piece 61 extending outward in the longitudinal direction of the connector. It will be installed. The mounting bracket 60 is not indispensable when mounting the second housing 50 on the circuit board, and when the mounting strength of the second terminal 40 can be sufficiently secured by soldering to the circuit board, the mounting bracket 60 Is unnecessary.

The second terminal 40 forming the female terminal has a shape in which a metal strip-shaped member is bent in the plate thickness direction as seen in FIG. 5, which shows a state before the connector is fitted and connected in correspondence with the first terminal 10 described above. It is attached. Similar to the first terminal 10, the second terminals 40 are arranged in pairs facing each other in the same direction so that terminals having the same shape are symmetrical in the connector width direction, and a plurality of terminals 40 are arranged in the connector longitudinal direction. The pairs are arranged. In FIG. 5, only one pair of the plurality of pairs of second terminals 40 is shown in a state of being extracted from the second housing 50. The two second terminals 40 shown in pairs have the same shape although they are arranged symmetrically. Therefore, one of the second terminals 40 (the second terminal located on the right side in FIG. 5) is described below. Terminal 40) will be described.

In FIG. 5, the second terminal 40 includes a flat band-shaped held portion 41 forming a plate surface perpendicular to the plate surface of the first terminal 10 at a position of an intermediate portion of the second terminal 40. The cross section has a U-shape at an intermediate position between the connecting portion 42 bent at a right angle to the plate surface of the held portion 41 on the upper end side of the held portion 41 and below the held portion 41. It has an intermediate base portion 43 and a contact portion 44 composed of a pair of contact pieces 44A extending in a finger shape further below the intermediate base portion 43.

The held portion 41 has a flat band shape, and locking projections 41A that bite into the corresponding surfaces of the terminal grooves 55 of the second housing 50 are provided on both side edges.

The intermediate base portion 43 is connected to the held portion 41 via a constricted connecting portion 45, and has a plate surface-like bottom surface portion in which the plate surface of the held portion 41 is extended downward and the bottom surface portion of the bottom surface portion. It is perpendicular to the plate surface of the bottom surface portion from both side edges, and has two side surface portions, a front side and a back side, with respect to the paper surface in FIG. It is in the shape of a letter.

The contact portion 44 is formed by facing a pair of contact pieces 44A extending downward from the lower ends of the side surface portions on both sides of the intermediate base portion 43 in a finger shape in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface in FIG. The pair of contact pieces 44A gradually narrow their intervals downward and incline toward each other, minimize the above interval near the lower end, and spread toward the lower end again, and the throat 44A- at the portion where this interval is the smallest. 1 is formed. The distance between the two contact pieces 44A in the throat portion 44A-1 is smaller than the plate thickness of the contact portion 11A of the first terminal 10 described above, and the contact portion 11A is sandwiched and elastically contacted by the throat portion 44A-1. It has become like.

The second terminal 40 having such a shape is press-fitted into the terminal groove 55 of the second housing 50 from above in FIGS. 1, 2, 5, and 6 (the second connector 2 is press-fitted into the terminal groove 55 of FIG. 1, FIG. 2, FIG. 5, FIG. In FIG. 4, which is shown upside down with respect to FIG. 6, it is press-fitted from below). In FIG. 5, the terminal groove 55 has a U-shaped cross section, that is, the maximum outer peripheral shape of the second terminal 40, that is, the central wall portion 54 has a U-shaped cross section because the second terminal 40 is press-fitted from above. A square tubular hole 54A having an inner peripheral shape corresponding to the outer peripheral shape of the intermediate base portion 43 is formed so as to penetrate the central wall portion 54 vertically to allow the intermediate base portion 43 to pass through. On the other hand, on the inner wall surface of the square tubular hole 54A and the upper immersive portion 53A, after the intermediate base portion 43 having a U-shaped cross section passes through the square tubular hole 54A of the central wall portion 54, the upper immersive portion 53A The groove portion 55A for accommodating the flat band-shaped held portion 41 located on the inner wall surface is formed as a groove having a depth corresponding to the plate thickness of the held portion 41, and the locking projection 41A of the held portion 41 is the covered portion 41. When the holding portion 41 is press-fitted into the groove portion 55A, the holding portion 41 bites into the inner surface of the groove portion 55A and is held by the second housing 50 to prevent the holding portion 41 from coming off. Further, when the second terminal 40 is press-fitted and assembled at a predetermined position on the inner wall surface of the lower immersion portion 53B below the central wall portion 54 (upper in FIG. 4), the intermediate base portion 43 and the contact portion 44 are formed. A groove portion 55B for accommodating the above is formed. In the groove portion 55B, the groove bottom surface of the groove portion 55B contacts the bottom surface portion 43A of the intermediate base portion 43 or forms a gap with respect to the intermediate base portion 43, and the groove side surface forms a gap with respect to the side surface portion 43B. In addition, a space is formed with respect to the contact portion 44 to allow elastic deformation of the pair of contact pieces 44A.

The procedure for using the electric connector for the circuit board of the present embodiment having such a configuration will be described below mainly based on FIGS. 1, 5, and 6.

The first connector 1 and the second connector 2 are attached to the corresponding circuit boards (not shown) by solder connection. That is, the first connector 1 is soldered by the connecting portion 13 of the first terminal 10 and the restricting metal fitting 30 held in the fixed housing 21, and the second connector 2 is the connecting portion 42 of the second terminal 40 and the mounting bracket 60. By being soldered with, it is attached to each circuit board. Although the circuit board is not shown in FIGS. 1, 5, and 6, the first connector 1
Will be attached to the circuit board on its lower surface and the second connector 2 will be attached to the circuit board on its upper surface.

First, as seen in FIGS. 1 and 5, the second connector 2 attached to the circuit board on the upper surface is positioned above the first connector 1 in a posture in which the fitting block portion 52 faces downward. Brought to you. After that, the second connector 2 is lowered in the same posture, and the fitting block portion 52 enters the receiving recess 27 of the movable housing 26 of the first connector 1 and is fitted into the movable housing 26 (FIG. 2). , See FIG. 6).

When the second connector 2 is fitted to the first connector 1, the second terminal 40 of the second connector 2 has a contact portion 44 composed of a pair of finger-shaped contact pieces 44A, and the first terminal 10 of the first connector 1 has a contact portion 44. The contact portion 11A is sandwiched and elastically contacts the contact portion 11A with a predetermined holding force.

Since the contact portion 44 of the second terminal 40 has a throat portion 44A-1 near the lower end of the paired contact pieces 44A, the flat band-shaped contact portion of the first terminal 10 to the throat portion 44A-1. When the 11A smoothly enters, the contact portion 11A of the first terminal 10 is elastically pressed and electrically connected to the first terminal 10.

Thus, the first connector 1 and the second connector 2 are connected, and the circuit board on the first connector 1 side and the circuit board on the second connector 2 side are in a conductive state via the first terminal 10 and the second terminal 40. Become.

The state in which the contact portion 44 of the second terminal 40 presses the contact portion 11A of the first terminal 10 (hereinafter, referred to as “pressing state”) occurs from the stage of the connector fitting process (intermediate), and the connector is fitted. The pinching state is maintained even after the joining process is completed. In the present embodiment, as described above, within the elastic deformation range of the elastic portion 14 of the first terminal 10 in the vertical direction, the holding force generated in the pinching state is larger than the maximum spring force of the elastic portion 14. It has become. Therefore, in the connector fitting process, the movable side pillar portion 11 of the first terminal 10 is pressed by the contact portion 44 of the second terminal 40 with the holding force of the contact portion 11A of the movable side pillar portion 11. The contact position (pinching position) with the contact portion 44 is maintained, that is, the contact portion 11A and the contact portion 44 do not slide, and the contact portion 44 moves downward together with the second terminal 40. The movement of the movable side pillar portion 11 is allowed by the downward elastic deformation of the elastic portion 14. Further, the movable housing 26 that press-fits and holds the movable side pillar portion 11 also moves downward together with the movable side pillar portion 11.

The downward movement of the movable housing 26 described above in the connector fitting process is performed until the immersion portion 29C of the movable housing 26 abuts on the regulating portion 34 of the regulating metal fitting 30. When the immersion portion 29C of the movable housing 26 comes into contact with the regulation portion 34, the movement of the movable housing 26 further downward is restricted by the regulation portion 34, and the movable housing 26 does not collide with the circuit board. .. In the state of contact, at least a part of the plate thickness of the regulating portion 34 is contained in the immersive portion 29C. When the restricting portion 34 fits in the immersion portion 29C, the side edge of the restricting portion 34 faces the stepped edge portion of the immersion portion 29C on its plate thickness surface, so that even in the lateral direction parallel to the bottom surface of the immersion portion 29C. The floating amount is regulated by the stepped edge portion of the immersion portion 29C abutting on the side end edge of the regulation portion 34.

The restricting metal fitting 30 is positioned with respect to the fixed housing 21 because the fixed portion 31 is press-fitted into the holding groove 23A of the fixed housing 21 and the locking projections 31B and 31C bite into the inner surface of the holding groove 23A. At the same time, even if a force is applied when the second connector 2 is inserted and removed, the second connector 2 does not come out of the holding groove 23A. Further, since the notch 31A formed in the fixed portion 31 is locked to the protrusion 23D formed on the inner surface of the holding groove 23A of the fixed housing 21, the fixed housing 21 is pulled out when the second connector is pulled out. It surely resists the force in the direction and prevents movement and damage due to the force.

Further, the regulating metal fitting 30 is provided with a supported portion 32 at a position corresponding to the regulating portion 34, and the supported portion 32 is supported by the support groove 23B of the fixed housing 21, so that the regulating portion 34 is a movable housing 26. Even if a force is received from the movable housing 26 to cause a twist in the lateral portion 33 when restricting downward movement, the supported portion 32 supported by the support groove 23B receives the twisting force. The lateral portion 33 does not undergo twisting deformation.

At the time when the immersion portion 29C of the movable housing 26 comes into contact with the restricting portion 34 of the restricting metal fitting 30, the elastic portion 14 does not elastically deform further downward under the contact, so that the elastic portion 14 of the elastic portion 14 is not deformed further downward. The amount of elastic deformation downward is the maximum in the elastic deformation range. Therefore, when the second connector 2 is further pushed in from above after the immersion portion 29C and the regulation portion 34 come into contact with each other, the movable side pillar portion 11 of the first terminal 10 and the contact portion 11A do not move, and the second terminal does not move. Since only the contact portion 44 of 40 moves downward, the contact portion 11A and the contact portion 44 slide. The connector fitting process is completed when the circuit boards come into contact with spacers (not shown) arranged to secure a predetermined dimension between the upper and lower circuit boards, and as a result, the connectors 1 and The two are in a connector mating state. In this connector fitting state, a state in which the immersion portion 29C of the movable housing 26 and the regulation portion 34 of the regulation fitting 30 are in contact with each other and a state in which the elastic portion 14 is deformed downward with a maximum deformation amount are maintained. Further, a gap is formed in the vertical direction between the regulated protrusion 26C of the movable housing 26 and the regulated surface 22C of the fixed housing 21 (see FIG. 2). Further, in the connector fitting state, the lower end of the fitting block portion 52 of the second connector 2 does not abut on the bottom surface of the receiving recess 27 of the first connector 1, and a gap is formed between the two.

When the immersion portion 29C of the movable housing 26 abuts on the regulation portion 34 of the regulation metal fitting 30, the immersion portion 29C lightly abuts on the regulation portion 34 and stops at the contact position depending on the contact condition (the former). And, there is a case (the latter) in which the restricting portion 34 is temporarily elastically deformed by strongly abutting. In the former case, the immersion portion 29C is restricted from moving downward at the position where it abuts on the regulation portion 34, and stops at the position of the regulation portion 34 and stays as it is. On the other hand, in the latter case, from the state where the immersion portion 29C as shown in FIG. 8A is separated from the regulation portion 34, the immersion portion 29C strongly abuts on the regulation portion 34 as shown in FIG. As shown in C), the restricting portion 34 is elastically flexed downward until it comes into contact with the circuit board P, and the immersion portion 29C itself is moved downward by the amount of the bending. It returns to the state and stops, and its position is maintained. The restricting portion 34 may be positioned so as to come into contact with the lower surface of the movable housing before the connector is fitted.

Next, a modified example of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In the above-described embodiment, as seen in FIG. 3, the regulating portion 34 of the regulating metal fitting 30 has a substantially triangular shape, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a quadrangle can be formed as shown in FIG. Therefore, along with this, the immersion portion 29C of the movable housing 26 also has a quadrangular bottom surface. In this form, since the regulating portion has a quadrangular shape, the contactable area with the immersion portion 29C is widened, and the strength thereof is improved. Further, when the floating amount in the lateral direction is regulated, the lengths of the side edge portion of the regulating portion 34 and the stepped edge portion of the immersive portion 29C can both be large, so that a large restricting force in the lateral direction can be secured.

Since the elastic portion 14 of the first terminal 10 of the first connector 1 can be elastically deformed not only in the vertical direction but also in the longitudinal direction of the connector and the width direction of the connector, the second connector is formed during the connector fitting process and the connector fitting state. Even if 2 is slightly deviated from the normal position or the normal posture in the longitudinal direction of the connector, the width direction of the connector, and the vertical direction, the elastic portion 14 can absorb the deviation.

10 Terminal 26 Movable housing 11A Contact part 29C Immersion part 11B Movable side held part 30 Regulatory metal fittings 12B Fixed side held part 31 Fixed part 13 Connection part 31A Notch part 20 Housing 32 Supported part 21 Fixed housing 34 Restricted part 23A Holding Groove 35 Mounting part 23B Support groove

Claims (2)

It has a terminal having a connection portion for connecting to a circuit board on one end side and a contact portion for contacting a mating body on the other end side, and a housing for holding the terminal.
The housing has a fixed housing for mounting on a circuit board via the terminal, and a movable housing formed as a separate member from the fixed housing and movable with respect to the fixed housing to arrange a terminal contact portion. death,
In an electric connector for a circuit board in which a regulating metal fitting having a regulating portion for preventing the lower surface of the movable housing from contacting the circuit board and a mounting portion attached to the circuit board is attached to the fixed housing.
The terminal is elastically deformable by connecting the fixed side held portion held by the fixed housing, the movable side held portion held by the movable housing, and the fixed side held portion and the movable side held portion. Has an elastic part
The regulation metal fitting is made of a metal plate, has a plate-shaped portion extending at a right angle to the surface of the circuit board, and has a plate-like portion.
The restricting portion is bent at the lower edge of the plate-shaped portion and extends toward the movable housing side, and is positioned so as to face or abut on a part of the lower surface of the movable housing, and is located more than the mounting portion. For circuit boards, which are located above, form a gap with the circuit board, and can be elastically flexed downward by being pressed by the movable housing that has moved downward. Electrical connector. The electrical connector for a circuit board according to claim 1, wherein the regulation unit is capable of elastic bending downward until it comes into contact with the circuit board.

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