JP7250253B2 - FLOATING CONNECTOR AND ELECTRICAL CONNECTION STRUCTURE USING THE SAME - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a floating connector for electrically connecting members, parts, etc., and a connection structure using the same.

2. Description of the Related Art Connectors are widely used for electrical connection between electrical and electronic equipment or power sources.
In this type of connector, one plug and the other socket are generally butt-fitted, and the allowable range of mutual misalignment in the vertical and horizontal directions is narrow. Not suitable for direct electrical connection between members and parts.
In particular, when a plurality of members or parts are slidably connected to each other, direct electrical connection cannot be made with conventional connectors.

Patent Document 1 discloses an electrical connector in which a contact member is supported by a spring member.
However, the electrical connector disclosed in the publication has a receptacle connector with a complicated structure, and although it is suitable for electrically connecting small items such as electronic parts, large size items with low mutual alignment accuracy can be used. not suitable for

JP 2006-19296 A

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a floating connector which has a simple structure and is effective in reducing stress due to misalignment of connectors when electrically connecting members or parts, and an electrical connection structure thereof. .

A floating connector according to the present invention comprises a plug connector having a plug contact and a socket connector having a socket contact, the socket connector having a holding member holding the socket contact, the holding member having a mating contact. It is characterized by having a floating structure that floats in a direction orthogonal to the direction.
Here, the term "fitting direction" refers to the direction in which the plug connector and the socket connector face each other, and the term "perpendicular to the mating direction" refers to the vertical or horizontal direction substantially perpendicular to the mating direction.

In the present invention, the socket connector may have an elastic support member that moves the holding member along a direction perpendicular to the fitting direction.
As a result, the holding member elastically moves in the vertical or horizontal direction, that is, floats.

In the present invention, the holding member is composed of a socket housing and a socket holder, the socket housing is at least partially housed inside the socket holder, and the socket holder is arranged at least in a direction orthogonal to the fitting direction. Preferably, the socket housing has first displacement tolerance means for allowing relative displacement along the socket housing.
Further, when the plug connector and the socket connector are mated with each other, the socket housing at least partially receives the plug housing holding the plug contacts and is relatively displaced at least along the mating direction. It may have a second positional deviation permitting means for permitting.

With this configuration, the socket connector absorbs positional deviation in the vertical or horizontal direction with the holding member, and absorbs positional deviation in the fitting direction with the housing.

An electrical connection structure according to the present invention is an electrical connection structure between a first member and a second member using the floating connector, wherein one of the first member and the second member has the plug connector. and the socket connector is provided on the other side, and after the first member and the second member are butted against each other at a predetermined position and electrically connected, one member can be moved in a direction orthogonal to the butting direction. characterized by being

In the present invention, it is preferable that the plug connector and the socket connector or the first member and the second member are provided with retaining means for preventing separation from each other.
In this way, the members and parts after being electrically connected are prevented from being separated from each other while being able to move in a direction approximately perpendicular to the butting direction.

A floating connector according to the present invention includes a plug connector and a socket connector, and a holding member of the socket connector has a floating structure that floats in a direction orthogonal to a fitting direction.
This allows relative movement of the holding member even after the plug contact is fitted to the socket contact held by the holding member.
In addition, since the socket holder and the socket housing, which are holding members, have the first means and the second means for allowing misalignment, it is possible to absorb misalignment in the fitting direction or in a direction perpendicular to the fitting direction. becomes.
Although the floating connector according to the present invention has a simple structure, it can largely allow relative positional movement of the plug connector and the socket connector when connecting members or parts to which the plug connector and the socket connector are fixed. , excellent on-site workability.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 shows an external view of a floating connector according to the present invention, where (a) shows a state before a plug connector and a socket connector are fitted, and (b) shows a fitted state. (a) and (b) show oblique views of a socket connector. 1 shows an exploded view of a socket connector; FIG. FIG. 1(b) shows a cross section taken along the line UU, where (a) is a perspective view and (b) is an enlarged view. FIG. 1(b) shows an enlarged view of the RR line end face. An embodiment in which a floating connector is fixed to a member is shown. (a) to (c) show examples of coupling and electrical connection methods between members. (a) to (c) are cross-sectional views for explaining the mating state of the plug connector and the socket connector.

A structural example of the floating connector according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
The floating connector consists of a plug connector 10 and a socket connector 20, as shown in FIG.
FIG. 1(a) shows the state before the plug connector 10 and the socket connector 20 are mated, and FIG. 1(b) shows the state after the mating.

A plug connector 10 comprises a plug contact 11 and a resin plug housing 12 accommodating the plug contact 11 .
The plug contact 11 is pin-shaped and made of a metal such as a copper alloy plated as necessary.
The plug housing 12 has a protruding portion 12a having a substantially rectangular cross section, and the plug contact 11 is arranged inside the protruding portion 12a.
The protrusion 12a is partially received in a recess 26b of a socket housing 26, which will be described later, as shown in FIG.
For convenience, the portion received in the concave portion 26b is referred to as the convex portion 12b.
The shape of the plug housing 12 is not particularly limited as long as it is at least partially received in the socket housing 26, and the plug connector 10 can be a straight type plug or the like, in addition to a right-angled plug as shown in FIG. Designed to fit your shape.

As a structural example of the socket connector 20, a perspective view is shown in FIG. 2, and an exploded view thereof is shown in FIG.
FIG. 4 shows a cross-sectional view of the floating connector shown in FIG. 1(b) taken along the line UU, and FIG. 5 shows an end view of the floating connector taken along the line RR.
The socket connector 20 comprises a socket portion 24, a case 25, a holding member 28, an elastic support member 29 and a cover 30, as shown in the exploded view of FIG.
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4B, the socket portion 24 has a socket contact 21 on the front end side and a connection terminal 21e on the rear end side, to which the core wire 22a of the cable 22 is connected.
The cable 22 may be covered with a protective member 23 that protects the cable 22 .
The holding member 28 consists of a socket housing 26 made of resin and a socket holder 27 made of metal, and the socket housing 26 is housed inside the socket holder 27 .
As shown in FIG. 4A, the socket connector 20 has a holding member 28 (socket housing 26 and socket holder 27 collectively referred to simply as a holding member 28) that holds the socket contacts 21 so as to float in the vertical direction. An elastic support member 29 such as a spring or rubber is arranged above the socket holder 27, and the outside thereof is protected by a rectangular case 25 and a cover 30 made of metal.
The elastic support member 29 expands and contracts within the case 25 as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, thereby holding the holding member 28 so as to float vertically.
For example, when the socket connector 20 mated with the plug connector 10 as shown in FIG. 7B is moved downward by itself as shown in FIG. 12) applies a force in the direction of pushing up the socket connector 20 (socket housing 26).
When the elastic support member 29 receives this force and contracts, the socket contact 21 fitted with the plug contact 11 as shown in FIG. 8(b) moves together with the holding member 28 as shown in FIG. 8(c). Moves upward elastically.
The space F is formed inside the case 25 by moving the holding member 28 upward.
Here, the elastic support member 29 only needs to be able to hold the state in which the holding member 28 is moved, and may have a weak biasing force.
The case 25 and the cover 30 are for housing and protecting the holding member 28 and the elastic support member 29 .
The case 25 has an opening 25a that allows the socket housing 26 connected to the socket portion 24 to move up and down, and the cover 30 has an opening 30a that allows the holding member 28 to move up and down.
Here, when housing the socket housing 26 in the socket holder 27, at least one vertical space A as shown in FIG. By providing the one-position displacement allowing means, the socket housing 26 is allowed to be relatively displaced within the socket holder 27 along the vertical or horizontal direction.

As shown in FIG. 4, the socket contact 21 is made of, for example, tin-plated copper alloy. , the upper and lower walls 21c, 21c are folded inward to form a contact groove portion 21a, which elastically holds the plug contact 11. As shown in FIG.
The contact groove portion 21a may be provided on the left and right side walls 21d, 21d.
The elastic portion 21b has a chevron-shaped tip so as to be easily abutted on the plug contact 11. The elastic portion 21b is wide in the left-right direction.
Here, as shown in FIG. 4B, the socket housing 26 has a housing groove portion 26a aligned with the contact groove portion 21a of the socket contact 21 held inside.
Further, the socket housing 26 has concave portions 26b above and below the socket contacts 21 held inside thereof, and receives the convex portions 12b of the plug housing 12 during fitting.
A space C formed by the concave portion 26b and the convex portion 12b and a space D formed on the side of the housing groove portion 26a during fitting are provided as second positional deviation tolerance means, thereby allowing the socket housing to move along the fitting direction. 26 and the plug housing 12 are allowed to be displaced relative to each other.
It is preferable that the contact grooves 21a of the plug contact 11 and the socket contact 21 are both wide in the fitting direction so that the spaces C and D are provided for fitting.

FIG. 6 shows an embodiment in which the floating connector according to the present invention is fixed to the first member 1 and the second member 2. As shown in FIG.
The surfaces facing the first member 1 and the second member 2 are defined as facing surfaces 1a and 2a, respectively. The plug connector 10 is fixed so that the projecting portion 12a is located outside the facing surface 1a.
In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, a cutout is made on the upper side of the first member 1 so that the projecting portion 12a is positioned outside the facing surface 1a, and the plug connector 10 is attached along the cutout. After being inserted from above, the plug connector 10 is fixed by covering with the cap 1b.
The socket connector 20 is fixed to the facing surface 2a by providing a socket fixing hole 25c in the case projecting portion 25b of the case 25 and fixing it to the mounting hole 201 of the second member 2 with a fixing member 202. As shown in FIG.
7 shows an example of a method of coupling and electrical connection between the first member 1 and the second member 2, and FIG. 8 shows a cross section for explaining the fitting state of the plug connector 10 and the socket connector 20 in FIG. Figure shows.
As shown in FIG. 7B, the first member 1 and the second member 2 to which the floating connector according to the present invention is fixed are connected and electrically connected by fitting the plug connector 10 and the socket connector 20 together. be.
Further, as shown in FIG. 7(c), the holding member 28 of the socket connector 20 floats, so that the second member 2 to which the socket connector 20 is fixed after the electrical connection is moved downward perpendicular to the butting direction. can.
Here, it is preferable to have a retaining means in order to prevent the electrically connected first member 1 and second member 2 from separating from each other.
In this embodiment, the retaining portion 200 such as a hook provided in the second member 2 is engaged with the retaining hole portion 102 provided in the first member 1. may have
For example, the plug housing 12 of the plug connector 10 may be provided with a retaining hole portion, and the cover 30 of the socket connector 20 may be provided with a retaining portion.
As shown in FIG. 7B, by fitting the plug connector 10 and the socket connector 20 together, the retaining portion 200 provided in the second member 2 is inserted into the retaining hole portion 102 provided in the first member 1. Next, as shown in FIG. 7(c), the members are moved vertically so that the retaining portion 200 is engaged with the retaining hole portion 102, thereby disconnecting the electrical connection between the plug connector 10 and the socket connector 20. can be prevented from being separated from each other.

In this embodiment, an example in which the first member and the second member are electrically connected while being connected is shown. It can be applied to the connection between parts.

1 first member 2 second member 10 plug connector 11 plug contact 12 plug housing 20 socket connector 21 socket contact 24 socket portion 25 case 26 socket housing 27 socket holder 28 holding member 29 elastic support member

Claims (5)

A plug connector having plug contacts and a socket connector having socket contacts,
The socket connector has a holding member and a case that hold the socket contacts,
The holding member has a floating structure that floats in the vertical direction orthogonal to the fitting direction within the case ,
The holding member comprises a socket housing and a socket holder,
the socket housing is at least partially housed inside the socket holder;
A floating connector , wherein the socket holder has a floating structure in which the socket holder is vertically supported by an elastic support member within the case . 2. The floating connector according to claim 1, wherein a space is provided between the socket housing and the socket holder to allow relative positional displacement in the left-right direction. When the plug connector and the socket connector are fitted together,
The socket housing at least partially receives the plug housing holding the plug contacts, and has second positional deviation tolerance means for allowing relative positional deviation at least along the mating direction. 3. The floating connector of claim 2 . An electrical connection structure between a first member and a second member using the floating connector according to any one of claims 1 to 3 ,
one of the first member and the second member has the plug connector and the other has the socket connector;
1. An electrical connection structure, characterized in that after the first member and the second member are butted against each other at a predetermined position and electrically connected, one of the members can be moved in a direction orthogonal to the butting direction. 5. The method according to claim 4, further comprising retaining means for preventing mutual separation between the plug connector and the socket connector or between the first member and the second member. electrical connection structure.

Images