JPH0748384B2 - Surface mount electrical connector for printed circuit boards - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a surface mount electrical connector technology for printed circuit boards, and more particularly to an electrical connector for surface mounting on one side of a printed circuit board.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A general type of electrical connector has a large number of leads extending from a connector housing mounted on a printed circuit board by mounting the electrical connector on the same surface as the printed circuit board. Designed to connect to any conductor. Such surface mounting of the connector is facilitated by forming the terminal pads or terminals on the printed circuit board and the contact portions of the leads of the connector extending from the connector housing in contact with the terminal pads. The contacts are generally soldered to terminal pads on the printed circuit board to provide a conductive bond between each lead and its corresponding terminal pad or circuit trace (see, for example, JP-A-62-188181, JP-A-62-188181). 63-69161, JP-A-63-200475, JP-A-1-197978, JP-A1-225073).

A common type of surface mount electrical connector as described above is used in the electronics industry as an input / output (I / O) connector that can be used, for example, to interconnect computer devices to external peripheral devices. , Right angle D-sub electrical connector. Needless to say, such connectors have a wide range of applications. The front or mating surface of the D sub-connector is defined by the D-shaped projections to provide polarization when engaging the complementary electrical connector with the D-shaped receptacle.

[0004]

One of the problems of the D-sub connector having the above characteristics is related to the manufacture or fabrication and assembly of the connector terminal. Conventional D-sub connectors typically use stamped and shaped terminals from sheet metal material, requiring a relatively large amount of material to form the contact beam. Therefore, it was not possible to punch and shape the terminals in a pitched state, that is, while maintaining the distance between the adjacent terminals in one row. Therefore, each row of terminals had to be inserted into the connector housing by a plurality of assembly steps. It is desirable to arrange and punch the terminals in a row so that the terminals in each row can be collectively mounted in the connector housing at one time, but it is an object of the present invention to achieve this object. In addition, the terminal of the surface mount electrical connector bends the portion (tail portion) protruding outward from the rear surface of the housing so that the far end of the tail portion is
Although it is arranged to be flush with the board mounting surface, in the conventional surface mount electrical connector, the tail portion is unstable and easy to move, and at the time of surface mounting, the conductor of the printed circuit board and the far end of the tail portion are It was necessary to pay great attention to the alignment of the.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an electrical connector such as a D-sub connector having an improved and novel terminal configuration. Another object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector in which the tails of the terminals are held in a prescribed position, and the far ends of the tails of a large number of terminals are retained in a predetermined position. .

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An electrical connector in accordance with the present invention includes a generally rectangular insulative housing having a front mating surface, a rear surface, and a printed circuit board mounting surface that is substantially perpendicular to the front mating surface and the rear surface. The housing includes at least two rows of terminal receiving passages extending between the front mating surface and the rear surface.

The present invention is devised in a number of female terminals, each made of sheet metal material, for receiving a mating male terminal. Each female terminal is located in one of the terminal receiving passages in the connector housing. Each female terminal has a tail at one end and a contact at the other end, the contact being located in one of the passages. The far end of the tail is aligned with the mounting surface of the housing and is surface connected to the circuitry of the printed circuit board. The contacts are stamped from sheet metal material to form a pair of substantially planar opposing contact arms. Each arm has a contact surface that is substantially perpendicular to the surface of the sheet metal material.

As disclosed herein, the tail of the female terminal bends along the rear surface of the housing from the outlet end of the passage. A feature of the invention is the provision of a number of slots in the rear surface of the housing in which the tails of the female terminals are located to prevent the tails from moving laterally with the cover member on the rear surface of the housing. That is. The cover member includes a number of protrusions aligned with the slots for retaining the female terminal tails.

Another feature of the invention is the provision of a shield around a portion of the housing. The shield includes at least one ground tab adapted for surface mounting on a printed circuit board. In particular, the housing forms the front mating surface of the connector housing. Includes a rectangular forward protruding portion such as a D-shaped protrusion. The shield includes a shroud that substantially surrounds the protrusions of the housing and includes one surface mount ground tab at each end of the shield.

Further, the contact arm of each female terminal has its center line set at its intermediate position. The tails of the female terminals in one row are offset to one side from their respective centerlines, and the tails of the female terminals in the other row are offset to their opposite sides from their respective centerlines. In an embodiment of the present invention, a third row of terminal receiving passages is provided at an intermediate position between the two rows of the housing,
The contact portions, which are arranged straight on the center lines of the respective female terminals, are arranged in the passages of the third row.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. First, FIG. 1 shows, generally at 10, an electrical connector incorporating the concepts of the present invention. The connector comprises a generally rectangular insulative housing, generally indicated at 12, a shield near the front of the housing generally indicated at 14, a plurality of female terminals generally indicated at 16, 18 and 20, and a housing 12 generally indicated at 22. A cover disposed at the rear to cover and hold the terminals 16-18.

2 to 6 will be described with reference to FIG. The rectangular insulating housing 12 is molded as a single body from a dielectric material such as plastic. The housing has a front mating surface 24, a rear surface 26, and a printed circuit board mounting surface 28 that is substantially perpendicular to these surfaces. The housing also has three rows of terminal receiving passages 30, 32, 34 extending between the front mating surface 24 and the rear surface 26. As best shown in FIG. 3, passages 30 form the top row, passages 32 form the middle row, and passages 34 form the bottom row. The rows are aligned along the longitudinal or longitudinal axis of the housing. A pair of mounting posts 36 for insertion into appropriate mounting holes in the printed circuit board project from the mounting surface of the circuit board. Also, a pair of front to rear through holes 38 are provided in the housing to receive suitable fasteners therein to secure the electrical connector 10 to a complementary mating connector (not shown). Front mating surface 2 of the housing
4 is constituted by a front protrusion 40 of the housing, which has a D-shaped longitudinal cross-section, which allows the connector 10 to be polarized with respect to a mating connector having a D-shaped complementary receptacle. Finally, the rear surface 26 of the housing has a number of slots 42 into which the tails of terminals 16-18 are received for purposes described below.

The shield 14 is stamped and shaped from a suitable shield material such as metal. Shield is housing 1
2 includes an outer peripheral flange 44 that abuts a flange 46 that protrudes outward from 2. The shield has a D-shaped shroud 48 which surrounds the front projection 40 which is D-shaped in cross section of the housing, thereby providing a passageway 30-3 for the housing.
4 Substantially shields the terminals inside. As best seen in FIG. 1, the shield 14 has a pair of rearwardly projecting ground plates 50 with ground tabs 52. Also, as best seen in FIG. 2, the ground tab 5
2 is in a generally coplanar plane with the board mounting surface 28 of the connector housing and the ground tab 52 is adapted for connection to a suitable ground tab or circuit trace on a printed circuit board.

7 to 9 will be described with reference to FIG. The female terminals 16, 18, and 20 are all similarly constructed and, except as described in detail below, except for the length of their respective tails, are incorporated into respective passages 30, 32, 34 of the housing. To be Therefore, first referring to FIG. 7 together with FIG.
6 will be described. It will be appreciated that the female terminals 18 and 20 are similarly constructed.

More specifically, each female terminal 16 (FIG. 7) receives a mating male terminal or pin,
Stamping and shaping from sheet metal material. Each terminal 16 has a tail portion 16a at one end and a contact portion 16b at the other end. The contacts are arranged one by one into the uppermost passages 30 of the housing 12. The tail 16a bends along the rear surface 26 of the housing from the outlet end of the passage 30 and then further outwards, ending at the distal end 16c. This far end 16c is
It is aligned with the board mounting surface 28 of the housing for surface connection with the appropriate circuitry on the printed circuit board. Each female terminal 1
The contact portion 16b of 6 is formed by punching from a sheet metal material.
Form a pair of substantially planar contacting arms 16d. The contact arm has an opposing contact surface 16e, which is substantially perpendicular to the surface of the sheet metal material or contact arm 16d. All the female terminals have the same structure, and all the female terminals have respective passages 30- that are substantially parallel to the longitudinal direction of the rectangular connector housing 12, that is, the longitudinal axis.
34. The tail portion 16a of the upper female terminal 16 shown in FIG. 7 is in a state before the tail portion is shaped into the shape shown in FIG. The tail portion of the lower female terminal shown in FIG. 7 is in a state after partial shaping and before bending the terminal along the rear surface of the housing.

Although only two female terminals 16 are shown in FIG. 7, a large number of female terminals 16 are punched out from a continuous strip-shaped sheet material during manufacture. As shown in the figure, the terminal is first punched out in a state where the carrier portion 54 of the thin strip is connected by the carrier web 56. The housing 12 has five passages 30 in the uppermost row, and thus a continuous strip is cut into lengths containing five blanks to form five female terminals 16. It goes without saying that the number of individual passages contained in the row of passages of the connector housing 12 can be arbitrary and the punched strips are cut accordingly so as to obtain a predetermined number of female terminals.

The female terminals are punched out of the flat sheet metal material and partially shaped like the lower terminals 16 in FIG. 7, and all the terminals are collectively mounted or inserted into the passage 30 in one step. To do. After mounting in the passage of the connector housing 12, the carrier web 56 and carrier portion 54 are cut off from the tail 16a to keep the individual terminals mounted in the connector. Before or after mounting the female terminal 16 in the housing, the tail portion 16a is shaped into a shape as shown in FIG. 1, the tail portion is bent along the rear surface of the housing 12, and the far end 16c is mounted on the printed circuit board of the housing. It should be coplanar with surface 28.

The details of making the female terminal 16 and mounting it in the passage 30 of the housing have been described above.
Female terminals 20 to be mounted in the lowermost passages 34 of the housing
(FIG. 8), and for female terminals 18 (FIG. 9) mounted in the middle row of passages 32, similar detailed description will not be repeated. Similar to the case of FIG. 7, in FIGS. 8 and 9, the female terminal soldering tails 18a, 2
0a is a flat state as punched, and the tail portion of the female terminal shown at the bottom is partially shaped.

Each female terminal 18 (FIG. 9) has a contacting surface 18e that opposes a soldering tail 18a that terminates at the distal end 18c.
And a contact portion 18b having a pair of opposed contact arms 18d that define Similarly, each terminal 20 (FIG. 8) has a soldering tail 20a terminating at the distal end 20c and a contact 20b having a pair of opposing contact arms 20d defining opposing contact surfaces 20e.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show (female terminals 2 in the bottom row).
The soldering tail 20a is bent downwards along the rear face 26 of the connector housing 12 (relative to one of the 0's), which terminates at the far end 20c, where the far end makes a surface connection with the circuit of the printed circuit board. Housing mounting surface 28
It shows most clearly that it forms a plane that is almost in common with. 4 and 5 also show the tails 16a, 18a, and 20a of the respective female terminals located within the slots 42 (FIG. 6) of the connector housing 12.

7 to 9, the contact arm 16d of each female terminal 16 defines the center line 16f of each terminal, and the contact arm 18d of each female terminal 18 defines the center line 18f of each terminal. It is shown that the contact arm 20d of each female terminal 20 defines the centerline 20f of the respective terminal. In essence, these centerlines correspond to the centers of the mating male terminals or pins, and the spacing between the centerlines of the female terminals in any row defines the pitch of the mating terminal pairs.

Next, referring to FIG. 7, it can be seen that the tail portion 16a is offset to one side (in the upward direction in the figure) from the center line 16f of each female terminal 16 in the uppermost row. Figure 8
Indicates that the tails 20a are offset from the respective center lines 20f of the female terminals 20 in the bottom row to the opposite side. Figure 9
Is the center line 18 of the female terminals 18 in the middle row of tails 18a.
It indicates that it is on f. Tail portion 16a of the female terminal 16,
The tails 20a of the female terminals 20 deviate from the respective centerlines of the respective terminals in the opposite directions by about ½ pitch, but the contact portions of the respective terminals maintain the pitch, so The terminals can be collectively mounted in each row of passages in a single step. Also, the soldering tails, particularly the distal ends 16c, 18c, and 20c, are aligned in a single row and are substantially coplanar for engaging the circuit traces on the printed circuit board.

Finally, FIG. 5 will be described with reference to FIG. The cover 22 is a single-piece component molded from a dielectric material such as plastic and has a flat plate-shaped main body portion 5.
Have eight. A pair of latch arms 60 from the main body rearward
Is protruding. The latch arm is a groove 6 of the housing 12.
Insert in 2. The latch arm has a hook portion 64 that fits snugly behind the front of the housing flange 46 to hold the cover securely at the rear of the housing. As shown in FIG. 1, there are five female terminals in each of the three rows of passageways 30, 32, and 34, and therefore there are fifteen female tails 16a, 18a, and 20a, so that the cover 20 Flat plate body 5
Fifteen protrusions 66 extend outward from 8 in a row.
The protrusions 66 are spaced to engage the terminals as shown in FIG. 5 and hold them in the slots 42 (FIG. 6) of the lower slot row, so that all soldering tails on all female terminals are present. Retained in each slot. Also, the soldering tails 16a and 18 of the female terminals 16 and 18
Due to the length of a, another projection 68 extends outwardly from the upper edge of the cover 22 and is shown in the tails 16a and 18a in FIG.
To engage. It also retains the longer tail in slots 42 (FIG. 6) of the upper row of slots located at the rear of the connector housing. With such retention of the tail, the distal ends 16c, 18c, 20c are each retained in a predetermined fixed position. From FIG. 5, to accommodate the slanted shape of the tail after shaping of the female terminal, the cover 2
It can be seen that the lower edge 70 of 2 is inclined outward.

[0024]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, the terminals can be punched side by side in one row so that the terminals in each row can be collectively attached to the connector housing at one time from the sheet metal material. Moreover, since the far end of each female terminal is held at a fixed position, mounting on a printed circuit board can be simplified.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially exploded rear perspective view of an electric connector that realizes the concept of the present invention.

2 is a rear view of the electrical connector of FIG. 1 with a rear cover removed for clarity.

Figure 3 Figure 2 with terminals removed for clarity
3 is a rear view of the electric connector of FIG.

4 is a vertical sectional view taken along line 4-4 in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view similar to FIG. 4 with a rear cover attached.

FIG. 6 is a rear perspective view of an insulating housing of the electrical connector.

FIG. 7 is a top view of a pair of terminals configured to be placed in the top row of electrical connectors.

FIG. 8 is a top view of a pair of terminals configured for placement in the bottom row of electrical connectors.

FIG. 9 is a top view of a pair of terminals configured for placement in the middle row of electrical connectors.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 ... Electric connector 12 ... Insulation housing 14 ... Shield 16, 18, 20 ... Female terminal 16a, 18a, 20a ... Tail part of each terminal 16b, 18b, 20b ... Of each terminal Contact part 16c, 18c, 20c ... Far end 22 ... Cover 24 ... Front mating surface 26 ... Rear surface 28 ... Board mounting surface 30, 32, 34 ... Terminal receiving passage 42 ...・ Slots 66, 68 ... Protrusions

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── --- Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A 1-225073 (JP, A) JP-A 63-69161 (JP, A) JP-A 1-197978 (JP, A) JP-A 62- 188181 (JP, A) JP 63-200475 (JP, A)

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A front mating surface (24) and a rear surface (26).
And a substantially rectangular insulating housing (12) having the front mating surface and a printed circuit board mounting surface (28) substantially perpendicular to the rear surface, the housing further comprising the front mating surface (24) and the rear surface (24). 26) In an electrical connector (10) having a plurality of terminal receiving passages (30, 34) extending between at least two rows, a male terminal made of sheet metal material for receiving a mating male terminal (10). 16, 20) are the terminal receiving passages (30,
34) one by one, each female terminal has a tail portion (16a, 20a) at one end and a contact portion (16b, 20b) at one end, and the contact portion (16b, 20b) is Punching from a sheet metal material, contact surface (16e, 20
e) comprising a pair of substantially planar contact arms (16d, 20d), which are substantially planar, said contact arms (16d,
20d) is disposed in the terminal receiving passage (30, 34), and the tail portion (16a, 20a) is formed in the terminal receiving passage (3).
0, 34) from the outlet end of the housing (12) along the rear surface (26) of the housing (12) and retained in a number of slots (42) formed in the rear surface (26) of the housing (12), and The far end of the tail (16a, 20a) (16
c, 20c) are aligned with the board mounting surface (28) of the housing for surface mounting on the circuit of the printed circuit board, and the cover member (2) is provided on the rear surface (26) of the housing (12).
2) is attached, and projections (66, 68) provided on the cover member (22) in alignment with the slots (42) hold the tails (16a, 20a) in the slots (42). An electrical connector characterized by. 2. The electrical connector is a housing (12).
Having a shield (14) around a portion (40) of the shield, the shield including at least one ground tab (52) adapted for surface mounting to a suitable ground trace on a printed circuit board. The electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein 3. The front surface of the housing (2)
4) comprising a short front projection (40), said shield (14) having a shroud (48) which substantially covers the circumference of said projection of the housing, and at both ends of the shield. An electrical connector according to claim 2, characterized in that each has the grounding tab (52). 4. The contact arms (16d, 20d) of each female terminal (16, 20) have a center line (16f, 20d) in the middle thereof.
f) and define the tails (1) of the female terminals (16) in one row.
6a) is offset to one side from each centerline and the tails (20a) of the female terminals (20) of the other row are offset to the opposite side from each centerline (20f). The electrical connector described. 5. A third row of terminal receiving passages (32) is provided between said two rows of terminal receiving passages (32) of the housing,
The contact portions (18) of the plurality of female terminals (18) in which the tail portions (18a) are arranged on the respective center lines of the terminals (18).
5. Electrical connector according to claim 4, characterized in that each b) is arranged in the passage (32) of the third row.