JPH0533479U - Movable connector - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] To provide a movable connector having a panel mounting member having a sufficient protrusion and a sufficient elasticity and strength from an insulating housing. [Composition] Opened near both ends of the base 13 of the insulating housing 12.
Forming fifteen. A pair of panel mounting members 20 having a pair of elastic legs 23 and 24 projecting from the upper and lower surfaces of the base 13 in the opening 15 are integrally molded with the insulating housing 12. The panel mounting member 20 is inserted into the mounting holes 31 and 32 of the panel 30 to movably hold the movable connector 10 with respect to the panel 30.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to an electric connector, and more particularly to a movable connector which is movably attached to a panel or the like so as to be smoothly fitted to each other when mating with a mating connector.

[0002]

[Prior Art]

 In general, an electric connector has a pair of connectors, a plug (male type) connector and a receptacle (female type) connector, and the two contacts are electrically connected to each other when they are fitted together.

These plugs and receptacle connectors may be attached to a pair of circuit boards arranged in parallel, or may be attached to panels of modular electronic devices which are so-called drawer connectors and which are mutually connected and disconnected. is there. For electrical connectors that are mounted on these circuit boards or panels (hereinafter referred to as panel-mounted connectors), at least one of the connectors may move with respect to the other due to dimensional errors between the panels and mounting errors. It is necessary to be. In other words, if both connectors are fixedly attached to the panel, when the two panels are brought close to each other and the two connectors are fitted together, the two connectors will surely collide with the mating connector without being aligned, and the contact There is a risk of non-contact or damage to the contacts or the insulating housing. In order to solve the alignment problem of such panel-mounted connectors, a so-called movable connector has been proposed in which the connector can be moved within a certain range with respect to the panel, and is widely used in electronic devices such as electronic copying machines or electronic application devices. ing.

A conventional example of such a movable connector is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 64-27982. As a conventional example, the publication discloses a movable connector in which an umbrella-shaped elastic locking piece is integrally molded with a column protruding from a flange of a connector housing. In addition, as a new movable connector, a plurality of retaining spring members, such as an annular shape, are integrally formed from the same plastic material on the end flange of the connector housing. The connector with the elastic flange is attached to the panel by putting it in the holding groove at the end of the panel. As a result, the connector is movably held with respect to the panel within a fixed range determined by the elastic deformation range of the spring member of the housing.

[0005]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 The movable connector described above has the following problems. That is, in the conventional movable connector using the umbrella-shaped elastic locking piece, it is necessary to project it from the flange of the connector housing sufficiently long to obtain sufficient elasticity and movable range. As a result, when such a connector is handled, it may be entangled with locking pieces of other connectors, resulting in poor workability and damage or permanent deformation of the locking pieces. In addition, in the case of a movable connector that has an annular holding spring member on the flange, it is necessary to form a special groove at the end of the mounting panel and to make the opposite ends of the panel contactable and separable. There are large structural restrictions. The possibility that the spring member may be damaged or permanently deformed during handling is the same as in the case of the conventional example.

The present invention is intended to solve the problems of the conventional movable connector as described above, and has an excellent handling workability in which the amount of protrusion (dimension) from the connector housing is minimized and a sufficient movable range is obtained. Provide a movable connector.

[0007]

[Means for solving the problem]

 According to the movable connector of the present invention, there is a pair of openings near both ends of the base, and the panel mounting member is formed in the openings. The panel mounting member has a connecting piece (support) extending upward from the opening of the base. It has a pair of elastic legs projecting downward from the upper end of the connecting piece through the opening of the base, that is, outside the panel mounting surface of the connector. The free end of each elastic leg extends outwardly in a "letter" shape, and the panel is clamped between its tip and the bottom surface of the base of the housing. Mounting holes of a predetermined size are formed on the panel to allow the connector to move within a certain range.

Further, a protection protrusion extending downward is formed at the center of the pair of elastic legs, and when the pair of elastic legs are inserted into the openings and pressed toward each other, the elastic deformation limit thereof is limited. Prevents excessive deformation.

[0009]

【Example】

 Hereinafter, embodiments of the movable connector of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 shows a preferred embodiment of the movable connector of the present invention, and FIGS. 1 (A), (B) and (C) show a plan view, a front view and a side view, respectively. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a panel mounting member of the movable connector of FIG.

FIGS. 1A to 1C are receptacle connectors including a plurality of receptacle contacts. The connector 10 has a connector housing 12 which, in this particular embodiment, includes two rows of eighteen receptacle contacts 11, which rise upward from the center of a plate-like base 13. A plurality of guide ribs 14 are provided in the vertical direction on the outer circumference of the raised portion. A pair of panel mounting members 20 projecting from the upper surface and the bottom surface of the base 13 are provided near both ends of the base 13 of the connector housing 12. As is apparent from FIG. 1 (A), each panel mounting member 20 is formed in a substantially rectangular opening 15 formed in the base 13, and is connected to the base 13 by connecting pieces 21 that cross both ends of the central portion and the opening 15. Has been done.

With reference to FIGS. 1C and 2, the panel mounting member 20 for holding or mounting the receptacle type movable connector 10 in the mounting hole of the panel will be described in detail. As described above, each panel mounting member 20 is connected to the base portion 13 by a pair of connecting pieces 21 projecting upward from the peripheral edges (both left and right sides in the drawing) of the opening 15 of the base portion 13. This panel mounting member 20 has a substantially rectangular shape extending from both ends of a plate-like portion 22 extending from the top of a column (or plate) -like connecting piece 21 along the longitudinal direction of the opening 15 through the opening 15 and below the base 13. "Has a pair of V-shaped elastic legs 23 and 24. As a result, it should be noted that the panel mounting member 20 has a substantially inverted W shape when viewed from the side of FIG. 1C, and in this particular embodiment, it projects above and below the base 13 with substantially equal dimensions. By projecting the elastic legs 23 and 24 of the panel mounting member 20 above and below the base portion 13 in this way, the projection size of the elastic legs 23 and 24 from the panel mounting surface (bottom surface) of the base portion 13 can be sufficiently short and sufficient. It is possible to obtain great elasticity. Further, since the panel mounting member 20 is protected by the base portion 13, there is a minimum risk that the panel mounting member 20 may collide with other objects and be damaged during handling.

Furthermore, the elastic legs 23, 24 of the panel mounting member 20 are formed with tapers 23 a, 24 a on the outer surfaces of the ends. When the movable connector 10 is inserted into the mounting hole of the panel, the tapers 23a and 24a come into contact with the mounting hole to smoothly bend the elastic legs 23 and 24 toward each other (inward). At this time, it is conceivable that excessive deformation occurs and one or both of the elastic legs 23, 24 is damaged or permanently deformed. Therefore, a protective protrusion 25 may be formed on the lower surface of the base 13 between the elastic legs 23 and 24 so as to cross the opening 15. The protective projections 25 limit the amount of inward deformation of the elastic legs 23, 24, so that the risk of excessive deformation of only one elastic leg is eliminated.

FIG. 3 shows a plan view of an example of a panel 30 for mounting the movable connector 10 of FIG. The panel 30 has a pair of mounting holes 31 and 32 into which the panel mounting member 20 of the movable connector 10 is inserted, and a large hole 33 having a substantially rectangular shape in the middle thereof. The rectangular hole 33 functions as a passage for drawing out the wire connected to the receptacle contact 11 of the movable connector 10. Each of the mounting holes 31 and 32 of the panel 30 has a substantially rectangular shape with a predetermined size, and the movable connector 10 held in the mounting holes 31 and 32 is movable as described later.

FIG. 4 is a model cross-sectional view for explaining the operation of the base portion 13, the panel mounting member 20, and the panel 30 of the movable connector 10. As is clear from the figure, the panel mounting member 20 has the elastic legs 23, 24 with the outermost end distances of the taper 23a, 24a at the tips larger than the mounting holes 31 (or 32) of the panel 30 in the normal state. The width of the central part of 23, 24 is selected to be smaller than the mounting hole 31. Therefore, the movable connector 10 is held by the panel 30, and is movable or movable within the gap between the elastic legs 23, 24 and the mounting holes 31 and the elastic deformation range of the elastic legs 23, 24. Moreover, when excessive force is applied, it is protected by the protection protrusion 25, and the elastic legs 23 and 24 effectively prevent damage.

Next, the connector system of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 5, which is a cross-sectional view showing a mating state of a mating (plug-type) connector 40 which is engaged with the movable connector 10 of FIG. Briefly explained. For convenience of explanation, the receptacle contact 11 of the movable connector 10 is omitted, but it may be a well-known receptacle contact formed by punching and bending a metal plate or machining a metal rod.

In this particular example, the plug connector 40 has a recess 41 for receiving the receptacle-type movable connector 10 and has two rows of pin-shaped contacts 42 projectingly retained in the recess 41. Each contact 42 has a contact portion 43 with a thin tip, a holding portion 44 with a barb that is press-fitted and held in an opening 47 of an insulating housing 46 of the plug connector 40, and a conductive member formed on the surface of the circuit board 50 (top surface in the figure). It has an SMT connection portion 45 which is soldered to a pad (not shown). A taper 48 is formed inside the recess 41 of the insulating housing 46 in front of the recess 41 (downward in the figure) to facilitate the fitting with the receptacle connector 10. Further, although not clearly shown in the figure, a guide groove corresponding to the guide rib 14 formed on the outer wall of the insulating housing 11 of the connector 10 is constantly formed on the inner wall of the recess 41 of the housing 46. The fitting work of 40 is facilitated.

Although the movable connector of the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the preferred embodiment, the present invention should not be limited to such an embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. Those of ordinary skill in the art will understand that there is. That is, the greatest feature of the movable connector of the present invention is that the panel mounting member is formed in the opening of the base of the insulating housing, the plate thickness of the base is positively utilized, and the elastic leg is inserted through the opening. The point is that they are projected on both upper and lower sides of the base. Therefore, the panel mounting surface does not necessarily have to be the lower surface of the base as in the illustrated embodiment, but may be the upper surface. In that case, the panel mounting member shall have a vertically inverted structure. Further, it is needless to say that the specific structure of the elastic holding leg can be arbitrarily modified according to the specific embodiment. Further, the moveable structure may be applied to only one or both of the mating pair of connectors.

[0018]

As can be understood from the above description, according to the movable connector of the present invention, the panel mounting member is integrally formed in the opening of the base of the insulating housing so as to project on both upper and lower surfaces of the base. Therefore, the panel mounting member is securely protected by the base, and is not damaged or permanently deformed during assembly, transportation, or other handling. Moreover, a large amount of elasticity can be obtained with the minimum protruding size from the panel mounting surface, which contributes to downsizing of the movable connector. Furthermore, due to the imbalance of the pair of elastic legs, damage or permanent deformation due to excessive force applied to the elastic legs during panel insertion can be effectively avoided by forming the protective protrusion.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view, a front view and a side view of a preferred embodiment of a receptacle type movable connector according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a panel mounting member formed in an insulating housing of the movable connector of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a mounting hole of a panel for mounting the movable connector of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the operation of the panel mounting member of FIG.

5 is a view showing a fitted state of the movable connector of FIG. 1 and a mating connector used for fitting.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Movable connector 12 Insulation housing 13 Base 15 Opening 20 Panel mounting member 21 Connecting piece 23, 24 Elastic leg 30 Panel 31, 32 Mounting hole

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. An insulating housing in which at least one contact receiving cavity is formed substantially in the center of a substantially plate-like base, and a substantially rectangular opening 1 formed in the insulating housing near both ends of the base. A pair of panel mounting members, the panel mounting members being connected to the base by connecting pieces and having elastic legs extending over both upper and lower surfaces of the base, and being inserted into a panel mounting hole to move the insulating housing. A movable connector characterized by being held at.