JPH03750B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a plug receptacle electrical connector and method of manufacturing the same. In particular, a multi-contact type in which multiple electrical contacts of a receptacle are selectively shared and short-circuited when they are not mated and connected to a plug, and these short circuits are released when mated and connected. This invention relates to a type electrical connector and a method for manufacturing the same.

In electrical/electronic equipment, when the plugs of plug receptacle electrical connectors that fit together are pulled out from the receptacle for equipment maintenance services, etc., if you want to selectively shunt any conductor of the electrical contacts, that is, make them common to each other. There is. For example, if signal transmission lines with large capacitance are charged to high voltages, these transmission lines should, for example, be grounded when the plug is removed so that they are charged before remating with the plug. It is necessary to prevent the destruction of electronic devices used in the electronic circuit of the load connected to the plug side by discharging the high voltage. Also, when transmitting an input signal to the circuit on the receptacle side via the amplifier on the plug side, there is a risk that the input voltage of the circuit on the receptacle side will become unstable when the plug is pulled out. It is necessary to prevent input voltage from becoming unstable.

US Defense Publication No. T961003 includes a molded insulating cover and a receiving molded insulating substrate residing within a cavity defined by the cover, wherein a plug electrical connection is inserted into the cavity through a first opening in the front wall of the cover. elongated contact portions of the electrical contacts projecting from the first surface of the substrate extend transversely within the cavity so as to engage respective contacts of the plug electrical connector when inserted therein; can be inserted into the cavity through a second opening on the opposite side of the first opening of the cover, guided by both rails on the substrate that can engage with a guide surface added to the inner side wall of the cover, and insert the substrate into the cavity. A plug receptacle electrical connector is described having a latching device on the base plate for holding the plug in a fully inserted position.

This known receptacle connector is in the form of a wire spring connected to the conductor by a crimp ferrule, the ferrule being fully received in the board and extending in the way that the board is inserted into the cover. and the conductor protrudes from the rear edge of the board.
The contact portion of the contact protrudes from the tip of the substrate.

A plug receptacle electrical connector according to the present invention includes an insulating housing having a space extending from a front wall toward a rear wall for receiving a plug electrical connector, and an inner wall of the insulating housing having a space along a front edge of the cavity. a plurality of resilient electrical contacts having one end fixed and a free end slanting toward the rear wall of the insulating housing at an acute angle from the plane of the inner wall; a support member having a plurality of voids and slidably retaining the free ends of the plurality of electrical contacts; selectively shunting the free end of the electrical contact when the plug electrical contact is not received within the cavity; and shunting the electrical contact when the plug electrical contact is received within the cavity; and at least one shunt member for pressing the free end of the electrical contact against the surface of the inner wall and interrupting the shunt.

One of the advantages of the connector according to the invention is that it is possible to insert the contact lead part into the hole of the circuit board on which the board is mounted directly, so that Despite the protruding contact lead portions, the board can be inserted into the cover and latched therein. Also, the contacts can be easily manufactured in strip form so that they can be selectively gold plated before assembly to the substrate.

Further, the method for manufacturing a receptacle connector according to the present invention is characterized by including the following steps.

That is, an insulating cover having a cavity extending from the front wall toward the rear wall is formed, a plurality of substantially linear elastic electric contacts are attached along the edge of the insulating substrate, and the rear wall of the insulating cover is , the insulating substrate is inserted along the guide member of the insulating cover from the end having the electrical contact through an opening having a height such that the electrical contact is bent backward, thereby causing the electrical contact to bend backward. are bent backward toward the top surface of the insulating substrate, and when the insulating substrate is fully inserted, the free ends of the electrical contacts are bent back toward the top surface of the insulating substrate, and when the insulating substrate is fully inserted, the free ends of the electrical contacts are connected to resiliently returning to engagement with the common member.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings.

Please refer to FIG. The receptacle electrical connector is an insulating housing consisting of two parts, one of which is a molded insulating cover 1 having a cavity 2 opening inwardly from the front wall 4, and a first opening 5 in the wall 4. is provided to receive a plug electrical connector 100 therefrom. The wall 4 spans a pair of side walls 6 and 8 that are spaced apart from each other and is integrated with these side walls. The side walls 6, 8 are further integrated with a polygonal top wall 10, which has a keyway 2 leading into and parallel to the cavity 2.
It has A. The keyway 2A is narrower than the cavity 2, as seen in FIG. The top wall 10 has a depending latch projection 1 as best shown in FIG.
2 is attached.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, the cover 1 includes:
Lower end surface 16 sandwiching side walls 6 and 8 (Figs. 4 and 5)
It has a rear wall 14 with a mark (see figure). On the rear wall 14,
Projecting vertically into the cavity 2 from the rear wall 14, an electrical contact support member or shelf 18 with depending spaced partitions 20 is integrally formed.
Each partition 20 is integrally formed with wall 14 and terminates flush with lower end surface 16, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. A gap 21 is provided between the partitions 20 in the forward direction toward the cavity 2 and downwardly, as seen in FIGS. 2 and 5.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, a pair of substantially U-shaped metal common members 22 forming an electrical shunt device are integrally formed and
It includes an elongated web 24 with a plurality of (two in this example) claws 26 protruding in the same direction. Each claw has an enlarged portion 28 between its ends.

As shown in FIG. 4, the rear wall 14 protrudes in a direction opposite to the upper portion of the partition 20, and the common member 2
An external boss 30 integrally projects from the rear of the wall 14 and includes a groove 32 for receiving the second web 24. Groove 32 communicates with a plurality of through holes 34 in wall 14 . Each through hole further opens into one of the cavities 21 and partially receives one of the pawls 26 adjacent the web 24.

When assembling the common member 22 to the cover 1, the enlarged portion 28 of each claw 26 is pushed through the through hole 34 from the rear of the cover 1 until it is located in the gap 21 between the corresponding pair of partitions 20. be done. The material of the cover 1 passes through the hole 34 to the enlarged part 2.
8, and has sufficient elasticity to pass through the claw 2.
It has sufficient elasticity to prevent the pawl 26 from coming out of the hole 34 after the pawl 6 is inserted into the hole. As shown in FIG. 4, each common member 22 is inserted into the cover with its web 24 fully received in the groove 32 and its pawl 26 projecting into the selected cavity 21. It is mounted inside 1. The part 22 can be pulled out of the cover 1 by means of a tool (not shown), for example a peg.

As best shown in FIG.
8 has internal grooves 82 and 84 formed at the rear thereof and facing each other. The internal grooves 82, 84 are connected to the forward external keyways 86, 86 in the walls 6, 8, respectively.
It is aligned with and communicates with 88 and also communicates with cavity 2 . At the keyway ends opposite to the keyway ends communicating with the grooves 82 and 84, the keyways 86 and 88 open into the outer surface of the thick portion 4A of the front wall 4 of the cover 1.

The other part of the housing is a molded insulating substrate 36 with a central recess 38, best seen in FIG. Substrate 36 includes a front wall 40 spanning spaced apart side walls 42, 44 with laterally projecting integral tracks 46, 48, the first
When the surface 73 is combined with the insulating cover 1 to form an insulating housing as shown in FIG. 1, it becomes the bottom wall of the insulating housing. Each track has a laterally projecting wedge-shaped latch 50 (only one shown). Latch 50 provides a rearwardly facing latch shoulder 52. Each track 46, 48 projects slightly forward beyond the front wall 40. Substrate 36 further has at least one (in this example two) depending elongated legs 54 integrally formed therein. The foot 54 has a projecting latch shoulder 56 adjacent its free end 58.

The front wall 40 carries a plurality of resilient spring beam electrical contacts 60 arranged in two offset rows. Each resilient contact 60, as best seen in FIGS. 2 and 4, is stamped and formed from a single piece of metal and includes a first lead end portion 64 and a second lead end portion 68. It has an intermediate mounting portion 62 adjacent to. Portion 64 has prongs 66 and provides two laterally outwardly bent arms adapted to be press-fit into holes 96 (FIG. 3) in printed circuit board 94. Portion 68 is of smaller cross-section than portion 62 to constitute a contact spring and has a knee portion 70. As a result, part 6
8 extends obliquely to portion 62. The front wall 40 of the base plate 36 has two staggered rows of passageways 72 therein, each sized to receive the intermediate portion 62 of one contact. Prior to assembly of contact 60 to substrate 36, each portion 68 is straight, and the knees are later formed as described below.

When assembling contact 60 to substrate 36, portion 6
The free ends of 8 each extend from the lower end of the substrate 36 to the passage 7.
It is penetrated by one of the two. Penetration is through the prongs 6 of the contact 60
6 is performed until adjacent the second surface 74 of the substrate 36 . In this manner, portion 62 is positioned within passageway 72. A pawl 76 on portion 62 digs into the material of substrate 36 and retains contact 60 within passageway 72. When portion 62 of contact 60 is received in passageway 72, portion 68 of contact 60 is connected to substrate 3.
The knee part 7 is bent so as to protrude diagonally from the first surface 73 of the upper part of the knee part 6 to the part 62.
form 0. As seen in Figure 4, passage 7
The upper edge of 2 acts as a bending anvil so that the contact becomes arcuate at the position shown at 78 in FIG.
This bending corresponds to the contact 6 provided substantially upright at the end.
0 to the second opening 17 of the cover 1
the first surface 73 of the substrate 36 and the rear wall 1.
This is caused by the contact 60 passing through a relatively narrow opening formed between the contact 60 and the lower end surface 16 of the contact 4.

That is, by inserting the substrate 36 into the second opening 17 on the underside of the end surface 16 of the cover 1, the substrate 36 is assembled into the cover 1, so that the tracks 46, 48 project beyond the wall 40. Part is wall 4
Lying on either side of A, the tracks 46, 48 slide along grooves 82, 84, respectively, which act as guide members, and then slide therein along corresponding keyways 86, 88, which act as guide members. to go into. At this time, the wall 40 is in contact with the wall portion 4A when the substrate 36 is in the fully inserted position, and the forward shoulder 90 of the wall 40 engages with the downward shoulder 92 added to the wall portion 4A. When inserting the board 36, the latches of the rails 46 and 48 fit into the keyway 8.
6, 88 and freely protrudes outward within the groove 8.
2, 84 until the shoulder 52 of the latch 50 is opposed to the shoulder 52A of the rear end of the keyways 86, 88 and prevents the board 36 from slipping out of the cover 1. ,
The latches 50 of the tracks 46, 48 are pushed through the grooves 82, 84.

During insertion of the substrate 36, the elongated contact portion 68 of the contact 60 forms the top of the second aperture 17 at a height such that the contact 60 bends backwards in a cantilever manner on the lower end surface 16 of the rear wall 14. When it enters the cavity 2, it rises due to its own elasticity and is received in one of the gaps 21 (see FIG. 5) between the partitions 20, so that the portions 68 are separated from each other by a partition 20 and electrically insulated. The portion 68 is selectively elastically deflected by the portion 28 of the pawl 26 projecting into the selected gap 21, and the free end of the contact
meshes with 8. As a result, each member 22 electrically connects a pair of contacts 60, ie, "common"
let Portion 68 extends diagonally within the cavity. As shown in FIG. 5, the contacts 60 in the first and fourth gaps 21 (from the left) and the contacts 60 in the fifth and eighth gaps 21 (from the left) are electrically connected by a method. contact 60
Of course, it is also possible to select other combinations to be electrically connected.

FIG. 3 shows a fully assembled electrical receptacle connector just prior to mounting on printed circuit board 94. FIG. The circuit board holes 96 are arranged in two staggered rows to receive the lead end portions 64 of the contacts 60 therein. The receptacle connector is on the circuit board 94
When assembled, prongs 66 of portion 64 are wedge-shaped received in corresponding holes 96 and make electrical contact with metal plating (not shown) in the holes. The metal plating further contacts printed conductors (not shown) on circuit board 94. Another hole 98 in circuit board 94 receives foot 54 of insulating board 36 whose shoulder 56 engages a latch on the underside of circuit board 94 to mechanically secure the receptacle connector to circuit board 94.

FIG. 6 shows two core pin holes 200 that extend into the second surface 74 of the substrate 36 and allow the shoulder 56 to be mounted at a position below the second surface 74. The shoulder 56 is provided on a bendable ear piece 75 that projects laterally and outwardly from the main body of the foot 54 (see FIG. 7). When each foot 54 is inserted into the hole 98, the ear piece 75 is elastically bent inward toward its body. The shoulders 56 of the ears 75 are arranged at different heights in the axial direction of the main body. If the thickness of circuit board 94 is not greater than that shown in FIG.
After completely penetrating the ear piece 75, the ear piece 75 elastically returns outward from its body. However, as the circuit board becomes thicker, only the shorter lugs 75 will spring back, leaving the longer lugs 75 compressed within the holes 98.

As shown in FIG. 1, an electrical plug connector 100 connected to the ends of a plurality of conductors 102 has a resilient latch arm 104 on one side thereof. The connector 100 is inserted through the opening 5 into the cavity 2 of the assembled receptacle connector. As a result, the latch arm 104 is received in the keyway 2A of the cover 1 and is elastically pressed by the latch protrusion 12, but then returns elastically, so that the arm 104
The shoulder 105 engages with the rear portion of the protrusion 12, thereby fitting the plug connector and the receptacle connector. The contact element, which is a contact plate (not shown) on the opposite side of the plug connector 100, is connected to the conductor 102.
The edges of these elements each engage one of the contacts 60 to establish an electrical connection between the contacts 60 and the printed conductors of the circuit board 94.

Such plug connectors are described, for example, in U.S. Pat.
Details are given in No. 3860316.

The contact plates of the plug connector and the contacts 60 of the receptacle connector are gold plated to ensure good electrical contact between them when mated. Each contact 60 is topped with a gold strip 106 (FIG. 9) which mates with the contact plate. The strip 106 is similar to the U.S. Pat.
This could be done by the plating techniques disclosed in any of No. 3644181, No. 4001093, No. 4033833, and Reissue Patent No. 28267. FIG. 8 shows a cathode suitable for electroplating gold onto a plurality of flat contacts 60 stamped from sheet metal material and connected by carrier lips 112. 1 shows a tank including an electrolytic cell 110. Contacts 60 may initially be plated with a nickel or copper alloy to provide the substrate with compatibility for electroplating. A plastic jig 114, which has no affinity for electroplating, places contacts 60 and carrier strips 112 in shallow grooves 116 in the top surface of jig 114.
support. Another plastic jig 118 above jig 114 is secured to jig 114 by fasteners such as plastic screws (not shown).

Jig 118 has a window 119 that exposes only a limited surface area of contact 60 to be gold plated. The assembly including jigs 114, 118, strip 112, and contacts 60 is connected to strip 11.
2 is immersed in the tank 110 so that it becomes a catenary line from the side of the tank 108.

Strip 112 and contact 60 are connected as cathodes to an electrical circuit (not shown). The electrical circuit has an anode, e.g. carbon black (not shown). The anode can be immersed in the bath and placed within the window 119 in close proximity to the limited contact 60 area exposed by the window 119. When the electrical circuit is energized, gold ions in the bath plate the contact 60 near the anode.
Near the anode, the current density in the bath between the anode and cathode is maximum. The strip 112 is continuously pulled out of the groove 116 at a controlled speed;
Because the contacts pass under the window 119 containing the cathode, each contact 60 has a gold strip 106 over the limited area exposed by the window 119 above it.
be criticized. Due to the stray current density, gold plating occurs on the side edges and underside of the contact 60 in the form of non-uniform overplating 106A (FIG. 9).
However, because these stray current densities are weak and because the terminals pass continuously between the jigs 114 and 118, the thickness of the overplating is small and the gold it contains is negligible. Excess plating 1
The surface where 06A occurs does not mate with the contact plate of the cog connector.

As is clear from the above description, the plug receptacle electrical connector according to the present invention has a relatively simple structure, and the contacts of the receptacle connector and the conductor connected thereto can be arranged in any manner with respect to the metal common member. It can be easily and selectively shunted by changing to .

Further, according to the method of manufacturing a plug receptacle electrical connector of the present invention, the multi-contact type electrical connector as described above is produced on an insulating substrate on which a plurality of elastic contacts are planted in a direction perpendicular to the plug insertion direction. into the opening in the rear wall of the insulating cover, and slide it toward the front end of the plug insertion opening so that the contact passes through the relatively narrow opening formed between the top surface of the board and the bottom surface of the rear wall. This allows a properly sloped contact to be formed. That is, each electrical contact tilts backward at the same time as the board is inserted into the insulating cover, and after passing through the rear wall, returns with its elasticity to make electrical contact with the common member, so manufacturing is extremely simple. The finished electrical connector has the remarkable effect of being highly reliable.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view of a plug receptacle electrical connector mounted on a printed circuit board, showing the relationship between the connector and a mating plug electrical connector in an exploded manner. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the receptacle connector with a portion of its housing removed. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the receptacle connector with a portion of the housing removed, showing the receptacle connector immediately before being mounted on a printed circuit board. Fourth
The figure is an enlarged view of the cross section taken along the line - in FIG. 1. FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line - in FIG. 4. FIG. 6 is a partial bottom plan view of the receptacle connector. FIG. 7 is a partially enlarged perspective view of the legs of the receptacle connector. FIG. 8 is a schematic perspective view of an apparatus for selectively gold-plating contacts of a receptacle connector. FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a plated contact before being assembled into a receptacle connector. 1, 36...Insulating housing, 2...Cavity, 1
8... Electric contact support member, 21... Gap, 2
2, 24, 26, 28... shunt member, 60...
...Electric contact, 100...Plug electrical contact.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. An insulating housing having a cavity extending from a front wall toward a rear wall for receiving a plug electrical connector, and one end fixed to an inner wall of the insulating housing along a front edge of the cavity. a plurality of elastic electrical contacts having free ends inclined toward the rear wall of the insulating housing at an acute angle from the plane of the inner wall; and a plurality of spaces spaced apart from each other and disposed near the rear wall of the insulating housing. a support member slidably retaining the free ends of the plurality of electrical contacts; selectively shunting the free end of the electrical contact when the child is not received within the cavity; and when the plug electrical contact is received within the cavity, the electrical plug connector a plug receptacle electrical connection comprising at least one shunt member for pressing the free end of the contact against the surface of the inner wall and interrupting the shunt. 2. forming an insulating cover having a cavity extending from the front wall toward the rear wall; attaching a plurality of substantially linear elastic electrical contacts along an edge of a substantially rectangular insulating substrate; Insert the insulating substrate from the end having the electrical contacts along the guide member of the insulating cover through an opening in the rear wall having a height such that the electrical contacts are bent rearward, and thereby bending the electrical contact backwards toward the top surface of the insulating substrate, and positioning the free end of the electrical contact proximate the free end of the contact when the insulating substrate is fully inserted; A method of making a plug receptacle electrical connection comprising the step of resiliently returning to engagement with at least one common member.