JPH0729649A - Butt joint connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simplify a positioning structure for restraining the appearance of a problem regarding the abrasion of a contact, and maintaining the accurate contact of each contact section. CONSTITUTION:Female and male film contacts 20 and 40 are fitted to male and female housings 10 and 30 in such a way as keeping a contact section directed toward the mating housing. In addition, the contact sections of both film contacts 20 and 40 are kept in contact with each other, with the housings 10 and 30 coupled to each other, thereby forming a butt joint connector. The contact section of the male film contact 20 is formed out of a spherical bump 23 projected toward the mating contact section. Also, the contact section of the female contact 40 is formed within an insulation film layer 41a, and formed out of a receptor opening 43 for receiving the spherical bump 23, and a contact conductive layer 41b covering an area from the reverse side of the layer 41a to the opening 43.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a butt joint connector constructed by using a film contact formed by forming a plurality of conductive patterns having a contact portion at one end on an insulating film.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The construction of a connector using a film contact (flexible cable contact) formed by forming a plurality of conductive patterns on an insulating film is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-368790 filed by the present applicant. Is disclosed in. This connector includes a receptacle connector in which a film contact is arranged in a housing so that a conductive pattern has a U shape with an inward conductive pattern, and a plug connector in which a film contact is held in a convex shape with an outward direction. And the convex film contact of the plug connector to the U of the receptacle connector.
It is configured to be inserted into the character film contact so that the conductive patterns of both film contacts come into contact with each other.

[0003]

In the connector having such a structure, the conductive patterns of the film contacts are rubbed against each other when the plug connector is inserted into the receptacle and when the plug connector is removed. There was a problem that there is a risk of wear. In addition, the arrangement pitch of the plurality of conductive patterns is often small, and in order to accurately bring the corresponding patterns into contact with each other, high accuracy is required for engagement and positioning of both connectors, and an accurate positioning guide is required. However, there is also a problem that the configuration tends to be complicated.

The present invention has been made in view of these problems.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a butt joint connector having a configuration in which there is almost no problem of wear of the contact portion and the positioning structure for accurately bringing the contact portions into contact with each other is simple.

[0005]

In order to achieve such an object, according to the present invention, a male and female film contact is attached to a pair of housings that can be engaged with each other with their contact portions facing the mating housings. The butt joint connector is configured to bring the contact portions of the male and female film contacts into abutting contact with each other in a state where they are engaged with each other. The contact part of the male film contact is formed by a spherical bump projecting toward the mating contact part, and the contact part of the female film contact is formed on the insulating film layer to receive the spherical bump and the insulating film layer. And a contact conductive layer covering the receiving opening from the back surface of the.

In the butt joint connector having such a structure, when the housings are engaged with each other, the spherical bumps of the male film contact are received in the receiving openings of the female film contact and come into abutting contact with the contact conductive layer, so that the conductive pattern is formed. The two are electrically connected. In this case, the contact parts are
Since they are merely pressed against each other and abutted against each other, they do not rub against each other, and there is no fear of abrasion of the contact portion. Further, since the spherical bump is received in the receiving opening and comes into contact with the contact conductive layer, the spherical bump can be guided and positioned by the receiving opening, and the contact portions are accurately positioned. Contact.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. An example of a butt joint connector according to the present invention is shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, and this connector is composed of a male connector 1 and a female connector 3.
The male connector 1 includes a male housing 10 made of an insulating material, which has a pair of holding arms 11 and 12 that are extended between the left and right end portions 10a and 10b and extend in parallel, and is wound around these holding arms 11 and 12. The pair of male film contacts 20 attached as described above and the holding member 15 for pressing the male film contacts 20 against the holding arms 11 and 12.

The pair of left and right holding arms 11 and 12 extend in parallel at a predetermined interval, and their lower surfaces (female connector 3).
A groove 1 having a rectangular cross section and extending in the longitudinal direction
1a and 12a are formed, and a long rubber pressure-receiving member 18 is disposed in each of the grooves 11a and 12a. Locking grooves 11b, 1 are formed on the lower surfaces of the holding arms 11, 12.
2b is also formed, and the front end portion 20a of the male film contact 20 is inserted into and locked by the locking grooves 11b and 12b, respectively, and passes between the holding arms 11 and 12 to the holding arms 11 and 12. It is arranged so as to be wrapped around. The holding member 15 is attached so as to press both film contacts 20 from above in the state of being arranged in this way. At this time, the tip portion 16 of the holding member 15 enters between the holding arms 11 and 12 to press both film contacts 20 against the inner side surfaces of the left and right holding arms 11 and 12, and in this state, the holding member 15 is illustrated as the male housing 10. Not by the engagement means.

A fitting groove 16a is formed in the tip portion 16 of the holding member 15, and the fitting groove 16a is opened downward between the holding arms 11 and 12. Mounting bosses 13 projecting upward are formed on the left and right ends 10a, 10b of the male housing 10, and mounting brackets 17 made of L-shaped plates are mounted on the side surfaces of the left and right ends 10a, 10b. There is. These are used for mounting on a printed circuit board. For example, mounting boss 1
It is possible to insert the connector 3 into the mounting hole of the printed circuit board for positioning and to mount the mounting bracket 17 on the printed circuit board to mount the connector 3 at a predetermined position.

As shown in FIG. 4, the male film contact 20 is made by forming a plurality of conductive wiring patterns 21b on an insulating film 21a (lower surface in the figure) made of polyimide or the like, and is formed on the tip 20a side. One spherical contact bump 23 is formed for each wiring pattern, and the rear end 20
One solder bump 25 is formed for each wiring pattern on the b side. The spherical contact bumps 23 project only on the upper surface side of the insulating film 21a, but the solder bumps 25 project on both upper and lower surfaces. With the male film contacts 20 attached to the male housing 10 as described above, the spherical contact bumps 23 are located on the pressure receiving members 18 on the lower surfaces of the holding arms 11 and 12 and are aligned at a predetermined pitch and downward. And the solder bumps 25
It slightly projects from the upper surface of the male housing 10. The solder pump 25 is used for surface mounting on a printed circuit board.

On the other hand, the female connector 3 has a structure similar to that of the male connector 1, and includes a female housing 30 having a pair of holding arms 31 and 32 extending in parallel between the left and right ends 30a and 30b, and a female housing 30. It is composed of a pair of female film contacts 40 attached to the arms 31 and 32, and a holding member 35. Grooves 31 having a rectangular cross section are formed on the upper surfaces of the holding arms 31 and 32 (the surfaces facing the male connector 1).
a and 32a are formed, and a rubber pressure receiving member 38 is disposed in the grooves 31a and 32a.

The female film contact 40 has a tip end portion 40a having a locking groove 31b on the upper surface of the holding arms 31 and 32.
It is arranged so as to be wound around the holding arms 31 and 32 while being locked by the holding arm 32b, and is pressed and attached by the holding member 35 in this state. The tip 36 of the holding member 35 has the holding arms 31, 32.
Both film contacts 20 are pressed against the inner side surfaces of the left and right holding arms 11 and 12 through the space between them, and are connected to the female housing 30 by engaging means (not shown). The fitting protrusion 36a formed on the tip portion 36 of the holding member 35 projects upward from between the holding arms 31 and 32. Incidentally, mounting bosses 33 projecting downward are also formed on the left and right end portions 30a, 30b of the female housing 30, and mounting brackets 37 are mounted on the side surfaces.

The female film contact 40 has a structure similar to that of the male film contact 20, and is formed by forming a plurality of conductive wiring patterns 41b on an insulating film 41a such as polyimide as shown in FIG. There is.
A rectangular receiving opening 43 is formed in the insulating film 41a on the tip 40a side so as to correspond to each wiring pattern 41b, and the wiring pattern 41b is positioned on the lower surface side of the receiving opening 43 so as to cover the opening 43. is doing. A solder bump 45 is formed for each wiring pattern 41 on the rear end 40b side of the female film contact 40.
With the female film contact 40 attached to the female housing 30, the receiving opening 43 is inserted into each of the holding arms 31, 3.
The solder bumps 45 are located on the pressure receiving member 38 on the upper surface of the second member 2 and are aligned at a predetermined pitch, and the solder bumps 45 slightly project from the lower surface of the female housing 30. The solder pump 45 is also used for surface mounting on the printed circuit board.

The male film contact 20 is
For example, it is made of a base material called ASMAT manufactured by Nitto Denko Corporation. Manufacturing of this base material will be briefly described with reference to FIG. First, as shown in FIG.
Insulating film layer 9 made of polyimide or the like on the copper foil 95
0 is cast, and then the copper foil 95 is etched to form a plurality of wiring pattern layers 96, as shown in FIG. 6B. Then, as shown in FIG. 6C, a small hole 91 is formed in the insulating film layer 90 at a predetermined position (a position facing each wiring pattern 96). Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 6D, the metal 93 is placed in each small hole 91.
And fill it with bumps 9
4 is formed. Therefore, each bump 94 projects toward the side opposite to the wiring pattern layer 96 with respect to the insulating film layer 90, and the wiring pattern layer 9 is interposed via the filling metal 93.
6 is connected.

Male and female connectors 1 and 3 having the above-mentioned structure
2, the male and female housings 10 and 30 are combined as shown by an arrow A in FIG. 2 and are integrally connected as shown in FIG. At this time, the fitting protrusion 3 of the female housing 30
6a is fitted into the fitting groove 16a of the male housing 10,
Both housings 10 and 30 are positioned and coupled.
In this combined state, the spherical contact bump 23 is received in the receiving opening 43, and a wiring pattern (hereinafter referred to as a contact conductive layer) 41b forming the bottom surface of the receiving opening 43.
Abut. Here, since the pressure receiving members 18 and 38 are disposed below the spherical contact bumps 23 and the contact conductive layer 41b, the pressure receiving members 18 and 38 are elastically deformed, so that the contact contact portions are Apply a predetermined contact force.

The female spherical contact bumps 23 and the receiving openings 43 that come into contact with each other are formed in the shapes shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, respectively, as described above. Therefore, when the male and female connectors 1 and 3 are coupled, the spherical contact bump 23 is received in the receiving opening 43 as shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG.
As shown in (C), it abuts on the contact conductive layer 41b which is the bottom surface of the receiving opening 43. Therefore, the spherical contact bump 23 is surely brought into contact with the contact conductive layer 41b.

In this case, even if the position of the spherical contact bump 23 is slightly displaced from the receiving opening 43 and comes into contact with the spherical contact bump 23, the spherical contact bump 23 is guided by the receiving opening 43 and moves to the center to make contact. Therefore, when the male and female connectors 1 and 3 are connected, the spherical contact bump 23 and the receiving opening 43 are formed.
Even if there is a slight misalignment between the contact positions with and, self-position adjustment is performed, and they are automatically positioned and accurately contact. For this reason, for example, there is a margin in the allowable accuracy of the mounting and positioning error of the male and female film contacts 20 and 40 to the male and female housings 10 and 30, and the manufacture of these is facilitated.

[0018]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The butt joint connector is configured to bring the contact portions of the male and female film contacts into contact with each other while the housings are engaged with each other, and the contact portion of the male film contact is formed by a spherical bump protruding toward the mating contact portion. Since the contact portion of the female film contact is formed of the receiving opening formed in the insulating film layer to receive the spherical bump and the contact conductive layer covering the receiving opening from the back surface of the insulating film layer, the housing is engaged with each other. When combined, the spherical bumps are received in the receiving openings of the female film contact and come into abutting contact with the contact conductive layer to electrically connect the conductive patterns. In this case, the contact portions are simply pressed against each other and abutted against each other, so that the contact portions do not rub against each other, and there is no fear of abrasion of the contact portions. Further, since the spherical bump is received by the receiving opening and comes into contact with the contact conductive layer, the spherical bump can be guided and positioned by the receiving opening, and the contact portions can be accurately positioned. Can be contacted.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a butt joint connector according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a butt joint connector according to the present invention in a disassembled state into a male and female connector.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a butt joint connector according to the present invention in a state in which male and female connectors are connected.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a male film contact used in this butt joint connector.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a female film contact used in this butt joint connector.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a manufacturing process of the film contact.

FIG. 7 is a plan view and a front view showing a spherical contact bump and a receiving opening in the butt joint connector of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Male Connector 3 Female Connector 10 Male Housing 20 Male Film Contact 23 Spherical Contact Bump 30 Female Housing 40 Female Film Contact 43 Receiving Opening

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A pair of housings engageable with each other,
And a male and female film contact formed by forming a plurality of conductive patterns having a contact portion at one end on the surface of the insulating film, the housing, the female and male film contacts are attached with the contact portions facing the mating housing, respectively, The contact portions of the male and female film contacts are configured to come into contact with each other in a state where the housings are engaged with each other, and the contact portion of the male film contact is formed by a spherical bump protruding toward the mating contact portion. The contact portion of the female film contact is formed of a receiving opening formed in the insulating film layer to receive the spherical bump and a contact conductive layer covering the receiving opening from the back surface of the insulating film layer. Butt joint connector.