JPH065338A - Junction connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To joint and connect FPCs or FFCs in various arrangement relationships easily and reliably to each other by using a single kind of connector. CONSTITUTION:Two groups of a plurality of metallic terminals are connected to each other by means of insulating films 3, and a wide terminal 1 is constituted, and resinous housings 4 and 5 are installed respectively in the lengthwise directional both end parts of this terminal 1, and FPC or FFC 6 inserting- connecting contact parts 7 and 8 are formed in these housing 4 and 5, and the terminal 1 is set bendable in the lengthwise directional central part.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a relay used when electrically connecting and connecting a flexible substrate (hereinafter referred to as FPC) and a flexible flat cable (hereinafter referred to as FFC) to each other. It is about connectors.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is no dedicated FPC or FFC connecting connector for changing the direction and connecting FPCs or FFCs arranged in two-dimensional or three-dimensional different planes. In particular, there has been no connector made of one component that can change the direction of 90 ° on a plane and connect FPCs and FFCs.

Under such circumstances, FPCs and FFs arranged in two-dimensional or three-dimensional different planes.
Conventionally, when connecting Cs, two connectors 10 and 11 are used as schematically shown in FIG. 4, and these two connectors 10 and 11 are manufactured at a desired bending angle such as 90 °. A means for connecting the both ends of the FPC 12 by, for example, soldering to change the direction by 90 ° and connect the FPCs and the FFCs 13, 13 to each other has been adopted.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

However, in the case of the conventional relaying / connecting means as described above, it is necessary to use the FPC 12 having a bending angle corresponding to each arrangement relationship of the FPCs and FFCs to be connected, and various arrangement relationships. Many types of FPCs 12 must be prepared and prepared in order to enable connection of the FPCs and FFCs described in 1. Therefore, in addition to the increase in the number of parts, the mounting work is complicated, and the cost required for the relay connection is very high, and therefore the application range is naturally limited.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and aims at reducing the number of parts and simplifying the mounting, thereby facilitating the connection of FPCs and FFCs having various arrangement relations at low cost. An object is to provide a relay connector that can be realized.

[0006]

To achieve the above object, a relay connector according to the present invention has a plurality of flexible metal terminal groups arranged in parallel with each other.
A wide terminal is formed by connecting these metal terminal groups to each other in a frame shape via an insulating film, and a resin housing is attached to both ends of this terminal in the longitudinal direction, and an FPC or FFC is installed in each of these housings. A contact portion that can be plugged and connected is formed, and the center portion of the terminal in the longitudinal direction is set to be bendable at an arbitrary angle.

[0007]

According to the present invention, a frame-shaped wide terminal composed of a plurality of metal terminal groups is bent at an arbitrary angle at the center in the longitudinal direction according to the relative arrangement relationship of the FPCs or FFCs to be connected. And, the bending angle is set, and the FPC or FFC is attached to each of the contact parts in the resin housing attached to both ends in the longitudinal direction.
By inserting and connecting the ends of the FPCs or FFCs, it is possible to relay and connect the FPCs or FFCs having various arrangement relationships in a direction change state.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 is a plan view showing the structure of a relay connector according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a partial sectional side view. In FIG. 1, 1 is a wide terminal, and this wide terminal 1 is flexible. A plurality of groups of metal terminals 2 having properties are arranged in parallel to each other, and the groups of metal terminals 2 are connected to each other in a frame shape via an insulating film 3 such as a polyester film.

Numerals 4 and 5 are resin housings which are integrally attached to both ends of the wide terminal 1 in the longitudinal direction by insert molding, and the outer surfaces of the housings are fitting projections for fitting to a fixing member (not shown). 4a and 5a are integrally formed in a protruding manner, and both end portions 2 in the longitudinal direction of the above-mentioned respective metal terminal 2 groups to be inserted into the housings 4 and 5 are formed.
By bending a and 2a in a mountain shape, contact portions 7 and 8 into which FPC or FFC 6 can be inserted and connected are formed in the housings 4 and 5, respectively, and the terminal 1 has its center in the longitudinal direction. It is set so that it can be bent at any angle.

According to the relay connector having the above structure, the FP
When the C or FFC 6 is linearly arranged in the same plane, the wide terminals 1 are linearly positioned and formed in the housings 4 and 5 at both ends in the longitudinal direction as shown in FIG. By inserting one ends of the FPC or FFC 6 into the contact portions 7 and 8, respectively, the two FPCs or FFC 6 are linearly connected and electrically connected. Also,
When the FPCs or FFCs 6 are arranged at 90 ° with respect to each other in the same plane, the wide terminal 1 is bent 180 ° at the central portion in the longitudinal direction as shown in FIG. And the housing 4,
By inserting one end of the FPC or the FFC 6 into the contact portions 7 and 8 formed in the both 5,
Alternatively, the FFC 6 may be bent at 90 ° and electrically relayed and connected.

Further, when the FPCs or FFCs 6 are arranged in the planes orthogonal to each other, as shown in FIG. 3 (C), the wide terminal 1 is bent 90 ° at the central portion in the longitudinal direction, and the wide terminal 1 is bent at both ends. By arranging the housings 4 and 5 in planes orthogonal to each other and inserting one end of the FPC or FFC 6 into the contact portions 7 and 8 formed in the housings 4 and 5, respectively, both FPCs or FFCs are inserted.
6 is electrically relayed and connected. Furthermore, when the FPCs or FFCs 6 are arranged vertically in the same plane, as shown in FIG. 3D, the wide terminal 1 is folded back in two at the central portion in the longitudinal direction, and overlapped vertically. By inserting one ends of the FPCs or FFCs 6 into the contact parts 7 and 8 formed in the housings 4 and 5 located, the two FPCs or FFCs 6 are electrically relayed and connected.

As described above, depending on the relative arrangement posture of the FPC or FFC 6 to be connected, the wide terminal 1 is bent at an arbitrary angle at the central portion in the longitudinal direction thereof to form a kind of relay connector. It is possible to relay and connect both FPCs or FFCs 6 in a desired direction change state. The manufacturer's side adopts a system in which the wide terminal 1 is bent at an arbitrary angle, and then the bent portion is fixed and fixed with, for example, an insulating tape, and then shipped. It is possible to reduce the number of relay / connection work processes on the user side.

Further, when manufacturing the relay connector as described above, a plurality of wide terminals 1 and housings 4 and 5 are integrally produced by connecting a plurality of them in a row in the lateral direction, and each of them is manufactured as a unit. The manufacturing cost can be reduced by manufacturing by a method of bending into an arbitrary angle and fixing at the same time when dividing into two.

[0014]

As described above, according to the present invention, according to the relative arrangement relationship of the FPCs or FFCs to be connected,
A frame-shaped wide terminal composed of a plurality of metal terminal groups is set to an arbitrary bending angle at the center in the longitudinal direction, and the FPC is attached to each of the contact parts in the resin housing attached to both ends in the longitudinal direction. Alternatively, by inserting and connecting the ends of the FFC, the FPCs or FFCs having various positional relationships in the two-dimensional and three-dimensional planes are relayed and connected in a desired direction change state by using only one type of connector. It is possible to significantly expand the applicable range. Therefore, there is an effect that the relay / connection of the FPC or FFC can be facilitated and the cost can be reduced by reducing the number of members and simplifying the mounting work.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

2 is a partial cross-sectional side view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a usage example.

FIG. 4 is a schematic explanatory diagram showing a conventional relay / connection state.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Wide terminal 2 Metal terminal group 3 Insulating film 4,5 Resin housing 6 FPC or FFC 7,8 Contact part

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of flexible metal terminal groups are arranged in parallel with each other, and these metal terminal groups are connected to each other in a frame shape via an insulating film to form a wide terminal, A resin housing is attached to both ends of this terminal in the longitudinal direction, and contact parts into which flexible substrates or flexible flat cables can be inserted and connected are formed in these housings. A relay connector characterized by being set so that it can be bent.