JPH0452239A - Alloy having high transmitting property and connector for connecting to audio-video equipment using the above - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the mechanical strength (electrical contact by elasticity) of an alloy without deteriorating its electrical characteristic and to improve its signal transmitting capacity by mixing oxygen free copper with specified amounts of Au, Ag, Pt and Pd having an atomic size close to that of copper. CONSTITUTION:This alloy having high transmitting properties is formed by mixing oxygen free copper having <=10ppm oxygen concn. with 0.2 to 3atomic% of one or more kinds among Au, Ag, Pt and Pd. Concerning to the amounts to be added, as for Ag, as the amt. to be added increases, the improvement of sound quality in acoustic sense such as the expansion of the area of audible sounds, the improvement or resolution and the improvement of dynamic range can be recognized. But, even if the amt. of the lower limit is added, the above degrees are made low, and in the case of the upper limit or above, the improvement of sound quality is bunted, and the effect corresponding to the cost can not be obtd. Furthermore, as for the other elements to be added, the similar relationship can be shown between the amounts to be added and the improvement of sound. By using this alloy to a connector for connecting audio-video equipment, its transmitting capacity can be improved.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an alloy with high transmission properties and a connector for connecting audio/video equipment using the same (including cable terminal plugs, jacks, terminals for connecting speaker cables, etc.)
In particular, the present invention relates to an oxygen-free copper alloy for connectors that has improved signal transmission characteristics without reducing the mechanical strength (gas contact) of the connection part, and a connector for connecting audio/video equipment using the same.

[Conventional technology]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Due to the dramatic advances in audio and video equipment in recent years, high-quality music, audio, and video are now available to viewers.

One of the factors behind these qualitative improvements is advances in wiring materials. Specifically, improvements in transmission performance are expected from the perspective of conductive materials, such as the transition from tough pitch copper to oxygen-free copper, and then to linear crystalline oxygen-free copper (LCOFC) and single-crystal oxygen-free copper (PC-OCC). It is being

Furthermore, in order to improve transmission performance, it is necessary to use multiple devices that are differentiated by function (for example, amplifiers, CD players,
It is most preferable to integrate all cassette decks (cassette decks, etc.) and eliminate the connectors used to connect them. In addition, the number of program sources is increasing, and program sources such as satellite broadcasting are becoming multimedia, and video tape recorders (VT) are becoming increasingly popular.
R) Due to the proliferation of recording formats and the increase in program source sources, connections between devices are becoming increasingly necessary and the number of connectors has been forced to increase. For this reason, connectors that conflict with higher sound quality and higher image quality exist as a necessary evil, and ultimately there is a need to improve the quality of the material of the connector itself.

Connectors for conventional audio and video equipment are usually made of brass or phosphor bronze by pressing or drawing (machining for high-end products). In other words, although pure copper-based materials such as the aforementioned oxygen-free copper are effective in improving audio and visual quality, the material itself is soft, so it cannot be used as a connector that maintains electrical contact due to the material's elasticity. cannot be used because the contact pressure is inadequate.

There are some products that use LC-OFC or PC-OCC as the contact material for the terminal plug of the connection cord.
Both materials are basically strongly processed oxygen-free copper materials, and there is a limit to the hardness required for springiness, so the connector socket is placed on the side (
Although there is no example of this being applied to the jack 7 or receptacle, it may be applied to the plug side.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, conventional connectors for connecting audio/video equipment are molded from brass or phosphor bronze, so no matter how high the quality is achieved by using other materials such as oxygen-free copper for the wiring parts, the transmission performance remains low. The disadvantage is that there are limits to improvement. Further, even if a strongly processed material of oxygen-free copper is used, there is still a limit to the improvement in transmission performance because it cannot be applied to the side of a connector that requires a high spring force.

Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide an alloy with high transmission properties that can improve signal transmission performance by improving the mechanical strength (electrical contact due to elasticity) without reducing the electrical performance of oxygen-free copper. An object of the present invention is to provide a connector for connecting audio/video equipment using the present invention.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention has an oxygen concentration of 10
The present invention provides an alloy with high transmission characteristics in which 0.2 to 3 at% of one or more of Au, AgPt, and Pd is added to oxygen-free copper of ppm or less.

In addition, in order to achieve the above object, an alloy with high transmission characteristics is formed by adding 0.2 to 3 at% of one or more of Au, Ag, Pt, and Pd to oxygen-free copper with an oxygen concentration of 10 ppm or less. It provides a plug for connecting audio/video equipment.

Although it is not clear why this material improves signal transmission performance, the atomic radius of the additive elements used in the present invention is similar to that of Zn (zinc), Sn (tin), and P, which are added to brass and phosphor bronze.
(phosphorus), etc., and the difference is within 15% from that of the base Cu (copper), so it gently matches the mutual disorder of the crystals, and the amount itself can be as small as 3 at% or less. It is speculated that this may reduce deterioration of transmission characteristics.

Regarding the amount of Ag added, as the amount of Ag added increases, it is confirmed that the audible sound quality improves, such as the expansion of the audible range, the improvement of the resolution, and the improvement of the dynamic range. However, the degree of decrease is small, and the range of decreasing addition can be said to be 0.2 at% or more. However, if more than about 3 at% is added, the improvement in sound quality slows down, so no cost-effective effect can be obtained. Therefore,
It can be said that an appropriate amount of addition is 0.2 to 3 at%. Regarding other additive elements (Au, Pt, Pd), a similar relationship is seen between the amount of addition and improvement in sound quality, and the appropriate range of addition is almost the same as that of Ag.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, the high transmission property alloy of the present invention and the connector for connecting audio/video equipment using the same will be explained in detail.

FIGS. 1(a) and 1(b) show an embodiment of the present invention, and (
A) shows a plug 3 for a connecting cable of audio/video equipment, and (c) shows a jack 4 that is attached to a panel of the equipment and connected to internal wiring. The plug 3 and jack 4 are of the most popular type called RCA type, and signals are received by a two-wire transmission method called an unbalanced type.

The plug 3 has a conductor I made of an alloy containing 3 at% Ag (silver) added to oxygen-free copper CM with an elementary concentration of 10 ppm or less, and has a center bin 1b that transmits a hot side signal and a cylindrical shape that transmits a cold side signal. The sleeve 1a has two contact materials, and an insulator 2a is provided between the center pin 1b and the sleeve 1a.

On the other hand, similarly to the connector 3, the conductor 1 of the jack 4 is also coated with 3at of Ag (silver) in an oxygen-free environment (oxygen concentration 1 oppm or less).
It has two contact materials: an insertion hole 1c (hot side) into which the center bottle 1b is inserted, and a fitting tube 1d (cold side) into which the sleeve 1a is inserted. An insulator 2b is provided between the fitting tubes 1d.

As shown in FIG. 2, the plug 3 and jack 4 are such that the center pin 1b of the plug 3 is inserted into the insertion hole IC of the jack 4, and the insertion tube 1d of the junk 4 is inserted into the sleeve 1a of the plug 3. They are designed to fit together.

The contact pressure between the two is determined by the elastic modulus of the material and the plug 3 and jack 4.
The signal from the cable is transmitted to the device by the electrical connection between the plug 3 and the jack 4, depending on the degree of fit which depends on the dimensional accuracy of the plug 3 and the jack 4.

Next, in order to investigate the signal transmission performance of the plug 3 and jack 4 of the present invention, a plug using a rolled material (thickness 0.5 mm) of an alloy (brass) in which 33a t% Zn (zinc) is added to Cu. and a jack were manufactured, and both were applied to audio equipment for comparative listening.

That is, the plugs are spot welded to both ends of the coaxial shielded cable for connection, and the jack is a CD (co
lipact disk) was used as the audio output terminal of the player and the input terminal of the amplifier, and the sound quality was determined from the speaker connected to the amplifier.

As a result, the use of the Cu-Ag alloy of the present invention clearly provided better audible results than those made of brass in terms of sound transparency, depth, realism, etc. Further, when the plug 3 and jack 4 of the present invention were tested for insertion and removal, it was found that the electrical contact did not deteriorate even if the number of insertions and removals of the plug 3 increased.

FIG. 3 shows a second embodiment of the present invention, and shows a connection terminal for an amplifier and a speaker, and among them, a type called a land-type terminal, which is a bolt screw screwed into the housing 8 of the amplifier or speaker. By twisting and tightening the cable strand 5 on the nut 7, the cable strand 5 is pressed by the nut screw 6. The nut screw 6 and the bolt screw 7 are formed from an alloy of oxygen-free copper with 3 at % silver added, and can provide excellent signal transmission performance.

In addition to the RCA type plug, it is also used as a DIN plug or as a connector for audio signal transmission in some high-end machines and commercial equipment, and is used as a connector for transmitting hot signals.

It may also be applied to a plug called a Cannon type that supports a three-wire balanced transmission system with independent cold and grounding.

Furthermore, equipment other than audio/video equipment, e.g.
It may also be applied to connectors, terminals, etc. of A equipment.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the high transmission characteristic alloy of the present invention and the plug for connecting audio/video equipment using the same, Au and Ag having atomic diameters close to that of copper are added to oxygen-free copper with an oxygen concentration of 10 ppm or less.

Since 0.2 to 3 at% of one or more of Pt and Pd is added, mechanical strength (electrical contact due to elasticity) can be improved without deteriorating electrical properties, and signal transmission performance can be improved. .

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIGS. 1(a) and (b) are explanatory diagrams showing one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a fitted state of a connector and a jack, and FIG. 3 is a second embodiment of the present invention. An explanatory diagram showing. Explanation of symbols 1～・−・・−−−～−−Conductor 1a−・−
---1--Sleeve 1 b--------------Center bin 1 c ----1 Insertion hole d 2a 3-・7-- Fitting tube 2 b ----1 Insulator plug cable bare wire/-bolt screw/-jack nut screw housing Patent applicant Hitachi t&! Agent Co., Ltd. Patent Attorney Hei 1) Tadashi Rikai
Hiroshi Sakai 1 - Conductor 1a - Sleeve tb - Center pin 1cm insertion hole 1 (1 - Insertion tube 2a - Insulator 2b - Insulator 3 - Plug 4 - Jack 5 - - - One Cable wire 6 --- Nut screw 7 --- Port screw 8 --- 11 --- Housing (Q) (b) Figure 2 Figure 3

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) Au, Ag on oxygen-free copper with an oxygen concentration of 10 ppm or less
, Pt, and Pd in an amount of 0.2 to 3 atomic percent (hereinafter referred to as at%). (2) Au, Ag on oxygen-free copper with an oxygen concentration of 10 ppm or less
, Pt, Pd, 0.2 to 3 at%
A connector for connecting audio/video equipment, characterized in that it is molded from an alloy with high transmission properties and is made of an alloy with additives.