JPH05182723A - Connector for flexible flat cable - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a connector for a flexible flat cable having reliable retaining power against easy extraction by outside power in spite of low insertion power, having electrical contact with high reliability, and having small size and low cost, by forming a slit or a slot at the edge of a flexible flat cable(FFC). CONSTITUTION:A plurality of pararell conductor are formed on the flexible insulated base 51 of an FFC 50 and lengthwise slit 53 are formed at predetermined place thereon. The slit 53 comprises a narrow slit part 53a extended from the a bottom end of the FFC 50, a wide slit part 53b and a transient taper part 54. When the FFC 50 is inserted in an elastic lock unit 40, the slit 53 is inserted along the left side of the lock part 43. By this process, a lock piece 44 is pressed by the narrow part 53a of the slit 53 of the FFC 50 and tramsformed in an approximately flat shape and opens by its elasticity when it reaches the wide part 53b. Then, the pint of the lock piece 44 engages with the taper part 54 so as to increase retaining power of the FFC 50.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electric connector, and more particularly to a connector for a flexible flat cable (hereinafter referred to as FFC).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Between a plurality of circuit parts formed on a circuit board,
The FFC is widely used for interconnection between a plurality of circuit boards and for interconnection between a circuit board and a component or a device arranged outside thereof. The FFC is a relatively flexible flat cable in which a plurality of flat conductors arranged in parallel are covered with an insulating layer. In such FFC, one end of each conductor is soldered to a conductor pad of a circuit board and the other end is connected to a connector, or
Alternatively, it is common to connect connectors at both ends.

As described above, various connectors have been proposed for the connector connected to at least one end of the FFC, that is, the FFC connector. Such a conventional FFC connector is
The FFC is inserted integrally with the insulating plug into the FFC insertion opening of the insulating housing in which the contact having the number of substantially fork-shaped or arm-shaped contact portions corresponding to the number of conductors is inserted and held, and the contact of the contact with the conductor end portion Some hold the parts by pressing them into contact. Such FFC connectors are disclosed, for example, in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 3-22869, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 3-3967, and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59-2.
It is disclosed in gazettes such as 3482. Also, the actual Kaihei 3-2698
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 8 discloses an FFC connector having a contact actuating member that expands the contact when inserting the FFC to lower the FFC insertion force. Furthermore, Tokuhei 2-
Japanese Patent No. 35428 discloses an FFC connector that reduces the insertion force by arranging the contact portions of the contacts in a staggered manner with respect to the insertion direction of the FFC.

As is clear from the above description, since the FFC has a flexible flat plate shape, it can be inserted into a plurality of contacts with a low insertion force, and sufficiently reliable electrical contact can be obtained. It is an ideal and essential requirement to have sufficient holding force that it is not easily removed by external force after insertion.

[0005]

However, the above-mentioned conventional FFC connector is not sufficient in any of these requirements, and cannot be said to be a small and inexpensive FFC connector.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an FFC connector which is simple, inexpensive and has a small structure, and which has the above-mentioned low insertion force, highly reliable electrical contact and sufficient holding force.

[0007]

An FFC connector according to the present invention is a connector for press-connecting a flexible flat cable having a plurality of insulating flat plate conductors arranged in parallel to a plurality of contacts, and an end portion of the FFC. At least one slit or slot is formed in the slit, an elastic locking member for locking the slit or slot is provided, and the FFC inserted by the slit or slot and the elastic locking piece is held. And

[0008]

Embodiment An FF according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
A preferred embodiment of the C connector will be described in detail.

FIG. 1 is a top (or plan) view of a preferred embodiment of an FFC connector 10 according to the present invention. In the FFC connector 10 of this specific embodiment, a horizontally long rectangular upper surface 21 is provided.
And an insulating housing 20 having. The upper surface 21 of the insulating housing 20 has a substantially rectangular FFC insertion opening 22 in the lateral direction and a contact receiving opening 23 orthogonal to the FFC insertion opening 22. A tapered surface 24 for facilitating the insertion of the FFC is formed on one side of the FFC insertion opening 22 to guide the FFC to be inserted to a predetermined position. A plurality of substantially rectangular recesses 25, which are parallel to the FFC insertion opening 22 and separated in the lateral direction, are formed on the upper surface 21.

As shown in the drawing, the contact receiving openings 23 are formed at regular intervals in the lateral direction, that is, corresponding to the conductor array of FFC. A contact 30, which will be described later with reference to FIG. 2, is inserted and held in each contact receiving opening 23. However, in the FFC connector 10 of the present invention, the FFC holding member 40 is inserted in place of the contact 30 into at least one selected one of the contact receiving openings 23, for example, the third opening 23R from the left. Retained.

2A and 2B are cross-sectional views of the FFC connector 10 of FIG. 1 taken along lines AA and BB, respectively. As is apparent from FIG. 2A, the insulating housing 20 has a substantially rectangular outer shape that is long in the vertical direction, and has a substantially J-shaped contact receiving opening 23 formed therein. The contact receiving openings 23 vertically extend through the insulating housing 20 along the FFC insertion opening 22 and the opening 23a.
The contact holding opening 23b is parallel to a and extends from the lower side to the upper middle portion. Each contact 30 is press-fitted and held in the contact receiving opening 23 from the lower side to the upper side of the insulating housing 20.

As is clear from FIG. 2A, the contact
Reference numeral 30 denotes a base portion 31, a holding portion 32 extending upward from the left side of the base portion 31 and press-fitted and fixed in the contact holding opening portion 23b, and the base portion 31.
The elastic arm portion 33 extends upward from the right side of the. The free end 34 of the elastic arm 33 is leftward, that is, the FFC insertion opening 22.
It has a taper surface which is inclined to the side and guides the FFC 50 to be inserted. A relatively sharp contact point 35 is formed at the lower end of the tapered surface. Further, it has a solder connecting portion 36 extending downward from the lower portion of the base 31 of the contact 30 and separated from the bottom surface 26 of the insulating housing 20. The connecting portions 36 are preferably formed as a pair on the left and right sides, and the contacts 30 adjacent to each other are formed.
It is preferable that either of the left and right sides is cut off so that the connecting portions 36 are arranged in a staggered manner to enable high-density mounting.

As is apparent from FIG. 2B, an elastic locking member which is basically made of an elastic plastic material is provided in the opening 23R which is basically the same in shape as the other contact receiving opening 23.
40 or key plug is press-fitted and fixed. This elastic locking member
40 is also a substantially J shape. It has a base portion 41, a fixing portion 42, and a locking portion 43 of the FFC 50. As will be apparent from the description given later with reference to FIG. 3, the FFC 50 inserted into the locking portion 43.
Has a locking piece 44 for engaging and holding.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are perspective views of the end portion of the FFC 50 and the elastic locking member 40 used in the FFC connector 10 of the present invention. The FFC 50 shown in FIG. 3A is substantially the same as the conventional FFC, and a plurality of parallel conductor layers 52 are formed on a flexible insulating substrate 51. Conventional FF of this FFC50
The difference from C is that it has a vertical slit 53 at a predetermined position. The slit 53 is a narrow slit portion 53a extending from the end of the FFC 50, and a wide slit 53 following the narrow slit portion 53a.
b and a transient taper 54. The narrow slit portion 53a has substantially the same thickness as the elastic locking member 40. The slit 53 of the FFC 50 may be formed by sacrificing one of the conductor layers 52, or a special FFC having a wide space between the conductor layers 52 at one place.
May be used.

FIG. 3B is a perspective view of the elastic locking member 40. Since the locking portion 43 is wide, the FFC to be inserted
Cross 50. That is, when FFC50 is inserted, slit
53 is inserted along the left side of the locking portion 43. Since the locking piece 44 is bent to form an elastic cantilever as shown,
When FFC50 is inserted, narrow part of slit 53 of FFC50
Although it is pressed by 53a and deformed into a substantially flat shape, the wide part 53
When it reaches b, it expands due to its elasticity. Therefore, when the removal force acts on the FFC 50 once inserted, the tip end of the locking piece 44 engages with the taper portion 54, increasing the holding force.
The engagement state of the elastic locking member 40 and the FFC 50 is shown in a model in FIG. The front end 44a of the locking piece 44 is in engagement with the transitional portion 54 of the slit 53 of the FFC 50. As understood from FIG. 4, the holding force is determined by the inclination of the transitional portion 54 and the elasticity of the locking piece 44. If sufficient external force is applied to FFC50, FFC
It will be appreciated that the 50 can be removed from the connector 10. Further, it is needless to say that the elastic locking members 40 may be inserted and held in the plurality of contact receiving openings 23, and the slits 53 may be formed in a plurality of positions of the FFC 50 corresponding thereto, if necessary.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are explanatory views showing the essential parts of another embodiment of the FFC connector of the present invention. In this FFC connector, a slot 53 'is formed instead of a slit at the end of the FFC 50'. On the other hand, an elastic locking member 40 'as shown in FIG. 5B is inserted and fixed in the contact receiving opening of the FFC connector corresponding to this slot 53'. This elastic locking member 40 'is similar to the locking member 40 of FIG. That is, they are the same in that they have a base portion 41 ', a fixed portion 42' and a locking portion 43 '. However, the elastic locking member
The width of the locking part 43 'of 40' is relatively narrow, and the FFC to be inserted
Does not substantially intersect 50 '. However, the locking projection 45 is formed on the inner surface of the slot 53 'of the FFC 50' to be inserted.
Engage with. Slot 53 'and locking projection 45 are FFC50'
The outer surface of the locking projection 45 has a relatively gentle taper 45a and a relatively steep taper 45b so that it can be smoothly inserted with a relatively low insertion force when it is inserted and has sufficient resistance when it is removed.
Are formed. Furthermore, if necessary, an opening 46 having a desired shape may be formed behind the protrusion 45 to give the locking protrusion 45 the required elasticity. Further, it is needless to say that the locking projection 45 may be a cantilever arm pointing downward.

The FFC connector according to the present invention has been described above in detail according to the preferred embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment, and various modifications and alterations can be made if necessary, and it will be easily understood by those having ordinary skill in the art. FFC of the present invention
In the connector for use in the FFC, a slit or a slot is formed at the end of the FFC, and an elastic locking member that engages with the slit or the slot is used in the insulating housing of the connector to substantially insert the FFC. FF without increasing
The greatest feature is to increase the holding force or the removing force of C. It is to be understood that modifications and changes in details are included in the technical scope of the present invention as long as they have such characteristics.
For example, each contact 30 can be displaced in the insertion direction of the FFC 50 (staggered arrangement) to reduce the insertion force of the FFC 50. Further, the elastic locking members 40, 40 'may be formed of a metal plate. Further, the contact 30 is surface-mounted (S
MT) type.

[0018]

According to the FFC connector of the present invention, the elastic locking member is inserted into the selected contact receiving opening and the slit or slot is formed at the end of the FFC without special processing of the insulating housing. Since it is only formed, the structure is extremely simple and can be formed at low cost. It is also possible to select the required holding force relatively freely. Further, according to the first embodiment, since the elastic locking member has an intersecting relationship with the FFC, the FFC having no slit formed at a predetermined position cannot be inserted and also has a keying function. That is, there is an additional effect that it is possible to effectively eliminate the risk of erroneous connection even if a plurality of FFC connectors are used close to each other in the same device.

Therefore, the present invention is an FF for electronic equipment such as small video and audio equipment which requires small high density packaging.
The practical effect is remarkable as a C connector.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an embodiment of an FFC connector according to the present invention.

2A and 2B are lines AA and BB in FIG.
FIG.

3A and 3B are perspective views of an end portion of the FFC used in the FFC connector of FIG. 1 and an elastic locking member that engages with the slit.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing an engaged state of the FFC of FIGS. 3A and 3B and the elastic locking member.

5A and 5B are diagrams of another embodiment of the present invention.
The perspective view corresponding to (A) and (B).

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Connector for FFC (Flexible flat cable) 20 Insulation housing 30 Contact 40, 40 'Elastic locking member 50, 50' FFC 52 Parallel conductor 53 Slit 53 'Slot

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A flexible flat cable connector for press-connecting a flexible flat cable having a plurality of insulating flat plate conductors arranged in parallel to a plurality of contacts, wherein the flexible flat cable has an end portion. A flexible flat shape characterized in that at least one slit or slot is formed, an elastic locking member for locking the slit or slot is provided, and the inserted flexible flat cable is held. Cable connector.