JPH033967Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to electrical connectors mounted on printed circuit boards, and more particularly to electrical connectors for flexible flat cables.

In recent years, in order to reduce the size and weight of electronic devices, the use of flexible flat cables that can be wired at high density in internal wiring of devices has been increasing. Along with this,
Electrical connectors mounted on printed circuit boards in devices are also required to be more compact because they are arranged in large numbers and densely on the printed circuit boards. Known electrical connectors for flexible flat cables mounted on printed circuit boards are disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Publication No. 55-5227 and Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 55-44309. The former flat cable connector is configured to have a flat cable holding member integrally formed with an insulating housing having a terminal accommodating chamber in which a plurality of terminals open onto the printed circuit board surface. However, since this terminal is made by bending an elastic metal plate into a roughly triangular shape, it is wide and cannot be applied to recent high-density flat cables, and the long contact area makes it unsuitable for high-frequency signal paths. Furthermore, since the terminal accommodating chamber is open to the printed circuit board side, there is a risk that flux or the like may adhere to the contact portion of the terminal during soldering, resulting in poor contact.

On the other hand, in the latter electrical connector for flat cables, a plurality of flat elastic contacts are arranged in an insulating housing that is open at the top. A conductor of a flat cable from which insulation coating has been removed (half-stripped) is placed on top of the conductor, and is pressed by a pressing block having pressing protrusions to connect with a contact. However, such electrical connectors for flat cables not only require the separate parts of the insulating housing and the pressing block, but also require accessory parts such as a pair of screws for fixing the two. This increases the cost of storing and managing parts, and also requires additional time for manufacturing or assembly work. Furthermore, because of the screw fixation, the longitudinal dimensions of the insulating housing and the pressing block become longer, resulting in a disadvantage that the effective packaging density is reduced.

Therefore, the present invention overcomes the drawbacks of the conventional electrical connectors for flat cables, and provides a flexible electrical connector for flat cables with high packaging density, high reliability, minimum number of parts, and easy assembly. The purpose is to

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

FIG. 1 shows an electrical connector 10 according to the present invention, which will be described later as a female member 12, in which U-shaped contacts 30 stamped from sheet metal are fixed in a row to an insulating housing 11 integrally formed of plastic material. The plug member 13 is integrally connected to the female member 12 via a hinge. Female member 1
2 has an opening 14 for receiving a flexible flat cable. The opening 14 is located in the bottom plate 18 (Fig. 2)
and a pair of side walls 1 extending parallel to the longitudinal direction on the bottom plate.
5a, 15b, and a pair of end walls 16a, 16b that interconnect the ends of each side wall. A plurality of contact receiving grooves 17 are formed facing each other at regular intervals on the opposing inner wall surfaces of the pair of side walls 15a and 15b, and two rows of contact receiving grooves 17 are formed in the longitudinal direction on the bottom plate 18 between the pair of opposing grooves 17. Contact pin receiving round holes 19 are formed alternately in a staggered manner. side wall 15
At least two pointed protrusions 20 are provided on the upper side of a, and locking protrusions 21 are provided on the opposing inner wall surfaces of the end walls 16a and 16b, respectively. A flexible strip 22 constituting the aforementioned hinge extends from the end wall 16b, and the plug member 13 is connected to this strip 22. The plug member 13 includes a top plate 23, and the top plate 23 is provided with a series of protrusions 24 on its longitudinally inner surface (top surface in FIG. 1). The protrusion 24 includes a vertical wall 24a and an arcuate end surface 24b, and locking shoulders 25 are provided on both end surfaces.
is formed. A recess 26 corresponding to the pointed protrusion 20 is formed on one side of the top plate 23. The contactor 30 is a spring metal piece formed by die-cutting, and has a pair of elastic arms 32 that rise slightly inward from the end of the base 31 and a contact that extends vertically downward from one side of the base 31. A pin 33 is provided. The elastic arm 32 has a contact portion 32a formed on the opposing surface of its free end. The contactor 30 is fixed to the housing member 12 by having its elastic arms 32 fitted along the respective contactor receiving grooves 17 from the opening surface of the housing member 12, and by press-fitting the contact pins 33 into the round holes 19. be done. In this state, each contact 32a of the contactor 30 is connected to the opening 1
Projects within 4.

A flexible flat cable 40 having a plurality of parallel conductors 41 that is applied to the electrical connector 10 has the insulation coating on the lower surface of the portion to be attached to the connector 10 removed in advance to expose the conductor 41 for the required length. A positioning hole 42 corresponding to the pointed protrusion 20 is formed in the insulating material between the exposed conductors.

The flat cable 40 is provided on the electrical connector 10 as shown in FIG. That is,
The hole 42 is inserted into the pointed protrusion 20 with the exposed conductor 41 facing the opening 14. The positions of the pointed protrusion 20 and the hole 42 are preset, so that the third
In the state shown, each conductor 41 has a corresponding contact 3
Face to face with 0.

In this state, the plug member 13 is rotated about the center of the flexible strip 22 as a fulcrum and is coupled to the female housing 12 as shown in FIG. As a result, the protrusion 24 of the plug member 13 pushes the flat cable 40 into the opening 14, and each conductor 41 comes into contact with the contact portion 32a of each contact 30, as shown in FIG.
Also, at this time, the locking shoulders 25 at both ends of the protrusion engage with the locking protrusions 21 of the female housing member 12 (FIG. 6), thereby locking the plug member 13 to the female housing 12. Incidentally, the flat cable 40 may be placed across the opening 14 as shown in FIG.

As understood from the above description, the electrical connector of the present invention overcomes all the drawbacks of conventional electrical connectors and provides the following various remarkable effects.

First, by using a flat contact made by simply punching a metal plate and using a locking device formed on the inner wall of the insulating housing and both ends of the protruding part of the plug member, it was possible to achieve high mounting that corresponds to high-density flat cables. Density electrical connectors are obtained.

Secondly, since the plug member is integrally molded with the insulating housing, the number of parts is minimized, which not only greatly reduces manufacturing and management costs, but also makes assembly work highly efficient in conjunction with the use of the above-mentioned locking device. I can do it. Furthermore, since the hinge portion is formed near the top of the insulating housing and is relatively thin and long, the plug member can be pressed substantially parallel to the insulating housing, maintaining proper alignment between the flat cable conductor and the contact. It can be assembled as is.

In addition, since the contact part of the contact with the flexible flat cable is located near the top surface of the insulating housing, the contact part will not be contaminated by flux etc. even if this electrical connector is soldered and fixed to a printed circuit board, and furthermore, the contact part will not be contaminated by flux etc. Since the opening in the upper surface of the insulating housing is then covered with a plug member, highly reliable electrical contact can be maintained.

Therefore, the electrical connector of the present invention is extremely suitable for connecting small, high-density flat cables for mass-produced home appliances.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the electrical connector of the present invention, Figure 2 is a perspective view of the electrical connector of the present invention;
3 is a perspective view of the electrical connector with a flexible flat cable attached, FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the electrical connector with the plug member connected, and FIG. The figure is a cross-sectional view taken along the - line in Figure 4, Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the - line in Figure 4, and Figure 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along the - line in Figure 4.
The figure is similar to FIG. 3 with a different arrangement of cables. 11... Insulating housing, 14... Opening, 30
...Contact, 32...Elastic arm, 13...Plug member, 24...Protrusion, 21, 25...Locking device,
22...Hinge, 40...Flat cable.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] A large number of contacts having substantially U-shaped and flat plate-like elastic arms are arranged in parallel in the longitudinal direction in a substantially box-shaped insulating housing having an opening on the top surface, and the elastic arms of the contacts are arranged in parallel. In an electrical connector in which an electrical connection is made by pushing the protrusion of the plug member into the arm together with a flexible flat cable to be connected through an opening on the top surface of the insulating housing, the plug member is inserted into the upper part of the outside in the longitudinal direction of the insulating housing. It is formed integrally with the insulating housing through a relatively thin and long flexible hinge part, and is attached to both longitudinal ends of the protruding part of the plug member and to the corresponding longitudinal inner wall surface of the insulating housing. The locking device is formed by integral molding, and when the flexible flat cable and the contact are electrically connected, the plug member is bent at the hinge portion and inserted into the opening of the insulating housing, and the locking device is inserted into the opening of the insulating housing. Electrical connectors characterized in that they are fixed to each other with a locking device.