JPH028387Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Field of industrial application] The invention relates to a connector for a flat flexible cable, more specifically called a flexible flat cable (FFC) or flexible printed circuit (FPC). This product relates to connectors for connecting cables.

[Prior Art] As is well known, the above-described flat flexible cable is used in many ways, and various connectors for connecting the flat flexible cable and terminals are also in use.

One conventional connector technology for this purpose is the plug-in type.

That is, the connector housing 2 has a terminal mounting space 5 formed therein, and the flat conductor 7 formed on the flat flexible cable 4 is mounted in parallel at a pitch P' corresponding to the formation pitch P of the flat conductor 7 formed in the flat flexible cable 4 within the terminal mounting space 5. It has a plurality of terminals 6, and is integrally formed between left and right lock pieces A' and B' that can move up and down along the left and right outer walls A and B of the connector housing 2,
Plunge portion 13 that can enter and exit the terminal mounting space 5
The terminal holder 3 has a terminal holder 3 having a
The flat flexible cable 4 is inserted through the cable introduction window 14 opened on the wall surface 13a on one side of the entry part 13, and inserted into the terminal mounting space 5 along the wall surface 13a on the one side. Each flat conductor 7 is held in electrical contact with its corresponding terminal 8, 9 by inserting and locking the terminal holder 3 with its locking pieces A' and B' to the lower limit of movement. It was designed to do so.

In this case, each terminal 6 on which the contact claw is formed consists of one piece located at one side of the connector housing. Therefore, the above-mentioned prior art has a structure in which the terminal holder is attached to the connector housing at any time with the wall surface of one side of the protruding portion formed therein facing one side located at one side of the connector housing.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] As described above, the flat flexible cable has a structure in which it is brought into contact with either the upper or lower sides of the connector housing, so there are the following problems. In other words, the mode of using this in the so-called horizontal loading method can be roughly divided into 10th
There are four patterns as shown in FIG. 11, FIG. 12, and FIG. 13.

What is common to these conventional drawings is that 50 is a printed circuit board to which the conventional connector 51 is connected, 52 is a flat flexible cable, 53 is a conductor of the flat flexible cable, and 55 is a printed circuit board to which the other terminal 54 is connected. 56 is a circuit pattern, and 57 is a terminal.

In the example shown in FIG. 10, a flat flexible cable 52 is inserted into the lower side 51a of a connector housing 51, and a circuit pattern 56 is formed on the other printed circuit board 55 on the left side in the figure.

In the example shown in FIG. 11, the upper side 5 of the connector housing
A flat flexible cable 52 is inserted into 1b, and a circuit pattern 56 is formed on the other printed circuit board 55 on the left side in the figure.

In the example shown in FIG. 12, the upper side 5 of the connector housing
A flat flexible cable 52 is inserted into 1b, and a circuit pattern 56 is formed on the other printed circuit board 55 on the right side in the figure.

In the example shown in FIG. 13, a flat flexible cable 52 is inserted into the lower side of the connector housing, and a circuit pattern is formed on the other printed circuit board 55 on the right side in the figure.

However, as is clear from the above figures, the patterns shown in FIGS. 11 and 13 connect the other terminal 54 of the flat flexible cable 52 to the other printed circuit board 5.
It must be installed in such a way that it can be removed from 5. Furthermore, when mounted in this manner, the mounting space becomes large. For these reasons, these connection patterns are not used in practice.

On the other hand, the connection patterns shown in FIGS. 10 and 12 can be faced with conventional connectors. However, in this case, there are two types of connectors: one that allows the flat flexible cable 52 to be connected to the upper position, and one that allows the flat flexible cable 52 to be connected to the lower position.
Type is necessary.

The present invention has been developed in view of the above-mentioned points, and its purpose is to enable connection of the connection pans as shown in FIGS. 10 and 12 with one type, This allows the two types of connection patterns that are actually used to be possible with one,
Therefore, we have developed a connector for flat flexible cables that can reduce the number of types of connectors to be prepared, simplify component inventory management, and increase the degree of design freedom in circuit pattern formats. It is on offer.

[Means for solving the problems] The present invention has the following technical means to achieve the above object.

That is, to explain using the reference numerals used in the attached drawings corresponding to the embodiments, there is a connector housing 2 in which a terminal mounting space 5 is formed, and a flat flexible cable 4 formed in the terminal mounting space 5. Left and right locking pieces A', which have a plurality of terminals 6 mounted in parallel at a pitch P' corresponding to the formation pitch P of the conductor 7, and can move up and down along the left and right outer walls A and B of the connector housing 2; A terminal holder 3 is integrally formed between B′ and has a protruding portion 13 that can enter and exit the terminal mounting space 5,
The flat flexible cable 4 is inserted through the cable introduction window 14 opened on the wall surface 13a on one side of the plunger 13 constituting the terminal holder 3, and the flat flexible cable 4 is inserted into the wall surface 13a on the one side.
3a into the terminal mounting space 5, and at that time, the terminal holder 3 is inserted into the terminal mounting space 5 along the lock pieces A',
By inserting B' to the lower limit of movement and locking, each flat conductor 7... is connected to its corresponding terminal 6.
In a connector for a flat flexible cable that maintains electrical contact with..., each of the above terminals 6
. . . has a pair of terminal pieces 8 and 9 whose tips are formed in a symmetrical bifurcated shape, and each of these terminal pieces 8 and 9
Contact claws 8a and 9a are formed symmetrically to each other on the inside of the free end of the terminal holder 3.
One side wall surface 13a of the protruding portion 13 formed therein
Connector housing 2 such that it faces one of the terminal pieces 8 of the pair of terminal pieces 8 and 9.
Not only can it be attached to the connector housing 2, but also it can be attached to the connector housing 2 with the wall surface 13a on one side facing the terminal piece 9 on the other side, and the wall surface 13a on the one side of the plunger 13 can be attached to either terminal piece 8. Or even if it is mounted on the 9 side, the wall surface 13a of the plunger 13 and the contact claw 8 of the terminal piece 8 or 9 facing it at that time.
This is a connector for a flat flexible cable in which the flat flexible cable 4 can be elastically held between the connectors 9a and 9a.

[Operation] Since the present invention consists of the above-mentioned technical means, by changing the manner in which the terminal holder 3 is attached to the connector housing 2, one end 4a of the flat flexible cable 4 can be inserted into the upper position of the connector 1. , on the contrary, it can be inserted in the lower position.

That is, if the terminal holder 3 is attached to the connector housing 2 with the wall surface 13a of one side of the protruding part 13 formed in the terminal holder 3 facing upward, the one wall surface 13a of the protrusion part 13 will be placed inside the connector housing 2. It can be made to face the terminal piece 8 located above the formed terminal mounting space 5. Conversely, if the terminal holder 3 is attached to the connector housing 2 with the wall surface 13a of the one side facing downward, the wall surface 13a of the one side can be attached to the terminal piece located below the terminal mounting space 5. It can be made to face 9.

In this way, the wall surface 13a on one side of the plunger 13 is
Regardless of whether the terminal piece 8 or 9 is attached facing the upper or lower terminal piece, the contact claw 8 of the terminal piece 8 or 9 that is facing the wall surface 13a of one side at that time
The flat flexible cable 4 can be elastically held between the cables 9a and 9a.

Therefore, if the flat conductor 7 is formed on the top surface of the flat flexible cable 4 due to the arrangement of the boards to be connected, connect the terminal holder 3 to the connector with one wall surface 13a facing upward. It is possible to attach the flat flexible cable 4 to the housing 2 and insert one end 4b of the flat flexible cable 4 above the connector 1. On the other hand, when the flat conductor 7 is formed on the lower surface of the flat flexible cable 4, one end 4a of the flat flexible cable 4 is placed below the connector 1 with the wall surface 13a on one side facing downward. Can be plugged in.

In this way, one terminal 4 of the flat flexible cable 4
a into the connector 1 above or below, the flat conductor 7 formed on the flat flexible cable 4 should be brought into good contact with the terminal piece 8 or the terminal piece 9, and Connection can be made while being held elastically between the side wall surface 13a and the terminal piece 8 or 9.

[Embodiment] Next, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings FIGS. 1 to 9.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 indicates a connector, which is composed of a connector housing 2 and a terminal holder 3, and is used to connect a flat flexible cable 4 as shown in FIG.

The connector housing 2 has a terminal mounting space 5 formed therein, and a plurality of terminals 6 are mounted in the terminal mounting space 5. These terminals 6... are the terminals 4 of the flat flexible cable 4.
The flat conductors 7 . The tip of this terminal 6 is bifurcated to form a pair of symmetrical terminal pieces 8 and 9. Contact claws 8a and 9a that contact the flat conductor 7 formed on the flat flexible cable 4 are formed symmetrically inside the free ends of each of the terminal pieces 8 and 9. On the left and right outer walls A and B of the connector housing 2, in which such terminals 6... are installed, there are lock step portions 1 at two upper and lower locations.
0 and 11 are formed, respectively.

Above, there are lock pieces on both left and right ends of the terminal holder 3.
A′, B′ are formed, and these rotary pieces A′,
B′ is the left and right outer wall A of the connector housing 2,
It is designed to be able to move up and down along line B. Engaging portions 12 are formed at the tips of the locking pieces A', B', and when the engaging portions 12 engage with the lock stepped portions 10, 11, the terminal holder 3 is It can be locked to the connector housing 2 in each of the upward movement position shown in FIG. 2 and the downward movement position shown in FIG.

This terminal holder 3 is formed with a plunger 13 that can enter and exit the terminal mounting space 5, and a wall surface 13a on one side of the plunger 13 and the terminal pieces 8, 9 are formed in the terminal holder 3.
The flat flexible cable 4 can be held between either one of the two. A continuous cable introduction window 14 is formed on the terminal holder 3 on this one side wall surface 13a, and this cable introduction window 1
4, the terminal of the flat flexible cable 4 can be inserted into the terminal mounting space 5.
In this way, the terminal of the flat flexible cable 4 is inserted into the mounting space 5 of the connector housing 2, and the flat flexible cable is connected to the wall surface 13a on one side and either one of the terminal pieces 8 and 9 as described above. In order to be able to hold the terminal piece 4 and to make electrical contact between the flat conductor 7 and the terminal 6, the terminal holder 3 has a wall surface 13a on one side connected to one terminal piece 8.
It is also possible to attach it to the connector housing 2 so that it faces the terminal piece 9, and conversely, it is also possible to attach it so that the wall surface 13a on one side faces the terminal piece 9 on the other side. Also, in this way, one side wall surface 13a is connected to one terminal piece 8 or the other terminal piece 9.
Regardless of which side the wall 13 is facing, one side wall 13
a and the contact claws 8a, 9a of each terminal piece 8, 9 so that the flat flexible cable 4 can be held elastically in the same way.

In addition, 6a in the figure indicates the base of the terminal 6, which is projected outward from the wall surface of the connector housing 2, and when the connector 1 is mounted on the printed wiring board 15, the base of the terminal 6 is formed on the printed wiring board 15. It is installed by inserting it into the insertion hole 16. In this embodiment, the mounting pitch of the terminal 6 is
Since P' is small, an example is shown in which the base portions 6a are made to protrude upward and downward alternately onto the wall surface of the connector housing 2. For this reason, the holes 16 into which the base portions 6a are inserted are alternately formed vertically, as shown in FIG.

In addition, the base portions 6a located on both the left and right sides are
The roughly central part is curved outward and is called the kink part.

Next, a usage example will be explained based on the above embodiment.

Since the connector of this embodiment is constructed as described above, it can accommodate various connection patterns. That is, for example, when the connector 1 is arranged on the surface of one printed wiring board 15a and the circuit pattern 17 is formed on the right side of the other printed wiring board 15b as shown in FIG. The conductor 7 is located on the top surface of the flat flexible cable 4. In this case, the terminal holder 3 is attached to the connector housing 2 so that the wall surface 13a on one side faces upward. By attaching the terminal holder 3 in this manner, one end 4a of the flat flexible cable 4 can be connected above the connector 1.

That is, first, as shown in FIG.
The one terminal 4a is inserted into the terminal mounting space 5 through the cable introduction window 14 formed in series with the terminal 4a. After one terminal 4a is inserted in this manner, the terminal holder 3 is then moved as shown by arrow 18 in FIG. 5 and locked at the movement limit position.
When the terminal holder 3 is moved in this way, one side wall surface 1 of the plunger 13 formed on the terminal holder 3
3a and a contact claw 8a formed at the tip of one terminal piece 8 to connect one end 4 of the flat flexible cable 4.
Since the flat flexible cable 4 is held elastically,
can be connected to connector 1. In this connection pattern, the other terminal 4b is attached to the right side of the other printed circuit board, so the flat conductor 7 formed on the flat flexible cable 4 is located on the top side as described above. ing. Therefore, this flat conductor 7 and the contact claw 8a formed on one terminal piece 8 located above the terminal mounting space 5 can be brought into good electrical contact.

Further, if a circuit pattern is formed on the left side of the other printed wiring board 15b as shown in FIG. 9, the flat conductor 7 will be located below the flat flexible cable 4. In such a case, the manner in which the terminal holder 3 is attached to the connector housing 2 is opposite to that in the above case, that is, the manner in which the terminal holder 3 is attached to the connector housing 2 is changed to
What is necessary is to attach it with a facing downward. In this way, the wall surface 13a on one side can be opposed to the terminal piece 9 located below the terminal mounting space 5. Therefore, one end 4a of the flat flexible cable 4 can be inserted below the connector 1, that is, between the wall surface 13a on one side and the terminal piece 9, and the flat flexible cable 4 can be elastically inserted between this end 4a. The flat conductor 7 located on the lower surface of the flat flexible cable 4 and the terminal piece 9 can be brought into good electrical contact with each other.

In the usage example of the above embodiment, a circuit pattern is formed on one side of the printed wiring board. However, it is also possible to connect a flat flexible cable to a printed wiring board that has circuit patterns formed on both sides. Of course, it can also be used when

[Effects of the invention] As described in detail above, the present invention provides a pair of symmetrical terminals by bifurcating the tips of a plurality of terminals 6 installed at a predetermined pitch P' in the terminal installation space 5 of the connector housing 2. The pieces 8 and 9 are formed, and the wall surface 13a on one side of the protrusion part 13 provided in the terminal holder 3 is configured so that it can face either of the above-mentioned one or the other terminal pieces 8 and 9. because there is,
One type of connection is possible, such as a connection pattern in which the flat conductor 7 is located on the top surface of the flat flexible cable 4 connected to the connector 1, and a connection pattern in which the flat conductor 7 is located on the bottom surface of the flat flexible cable 4. This allows the above 2 actually used
Various types of connection patterns can be made with one single connection pattern, and therefore the number of types of connectors to be prepared can be reduced, making it easier to manage inventory of parts, etc., and to improve design when forming circuit patterns. It has various advantages, such as providing a connector for flat flexible cables that can increase the degree of flexibility in terms of flexibility.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The attached drawings, FIGS. 1 to 9, show embodiments of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a plan view, FIG. 2 is a front view when the terminal holder is in the upper position, and FIG. 3 is a view when the terminal holder is in the upper position. Front view when in the lower position, Figure 4 is the same as in Figure 1.
5 is a sectional view showing the terminal holder inserted in the opposite direction in FIG. 4; FIG. 6 is a plan view of the terminal of the flat flexible cable; FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line; FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 are diagrams showing connection patterns, and FIGS. 10 to 13 are diagrams showing conventional techniques, each showing a connection pattern. In the figure, 1... Connector, 2... Connector housing, 3... Terminal holder, 4... Flat flexible cable, 5... Terminal installation space, 6... Terminal, 7...
Flat conductor, 8...terminal piece, 8a...contact claw, 9...
...Terminal piece, 9a...Contact claw, 13...Plunging part, 1
3a...Wall surface on one side, 14...Cable introduction window,
are shown respectively.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A connector housing 2 in which a terminal mounting space 5 is formed, and a plurality of connectors mounted in parallel in this terminal mounting space 5 at a pitch P' corresponding to the formation pitch P of the flat conductor 7 formed on the flat flexible cable 4. terminal 6 of
and a protrusion that is integrally formed between the left and right lock pieces A' and B' that can move up and down along the left and right outer walls A and B of the connector housing 2, and that can go in and out of the terminal mounting space 5. The flat flexible cable 4 is inserted through the cable introduction window 14 opened on the wall surface 13a on one side of the plunger 13 constituting the terminal holder 3, and Insert the terminal holder 3 into the terminal mounting space 5 along the wall surface 13a, and lock the terminal holder 3 by inserting its locking pieces A' and B' to the lower limit of movement. In a connector for a flat flexible cable in which a conductor 7 is held in electrical contact with each corresponding terminal 6, each terminal 6 has a symmetrical shape with a bifurcated tip. A pair of terminal pieces 8, 9 are formed, and contact claws 8a, 9a are formed symmetrically inside the free ends of each of these terminal pieces 8, 9.
On the other hand, the terminal holder 3 can be attached to the connector housing 2 so that the wall surface 13a on one side of the protruding portion 13 formed therein faces one of the terminal pieces 8 of the pair of terminal pieces 8 and 9. In addition, it can be attached to the connector housing 2 with the wall surface 13a on one side facing the terminal piece 9 on the other side, and the wall surface 13a on the one side of the protruding portion 13
However, no matter which side of the terminal piece 8 or 9 the flat flexible cable 4 is attached to, the flat flexible cable 4 is connected between the wall surface 13a of the plunger 13 and the contact claws 8a, 9a of the terminal piece 8 or 9 facing it at that time. A connector for a flat flexible cable, which is characterized by being able to elastically clamp the cable.