JPH0766840B2 - Electric connector and manufacturing method thereof - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electrical connector, and more particularly to an electrical connector for high frequency circuits and for the purpose of high speed and high density, and a manufacturing method thereof.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, such an electric connector is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 51-2118.
There is a connector as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7. In this conventional electrical connector, a plurality of pairs of composite contacts, which are in close contact with each other via an insulator, are arranged in an insulating housing with the signal spring contacts inside and the ground spring contacts outside. With such a configuration, it is said that ground noise can be reduced, and it can be applied to a high frequency circuit and can be adapted to high speed and high density to some extent.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION However, the conventional electrical connector as described above,
It has the following problems.

(1) The insulator between the signal spring contactor and the ground contact spring contactor having a composite structure is adhered or applied to the facing surface of the signal spring contactor and the ground contactor for each composite contactor. Since it is given by gradually, the work for that is very troublesome, and it is opposite to the facing surface of each signal spring contactor and ground spring contactor which becomes an electrical contact surface in the bonding or coating operation. The insulating material may adhere to the side surface, which may lead to lack of reliability in electrical contact. Moreover, the manufacturing cost is inevitably high.

(2) Since the signal spring contactor and the ground spring contactor are integrated by closely contacting each other via an insulator, the processing accuracy of each contactor must be increased, which is also very troublesome. Further, the work of closely adhering and integrating must be performed for each composite contactor, which is a factor that further increases the cost.

An object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector and a method for manufacturing the same which can solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art.

Means for Solving the Problems According to one feature of the present invention, in an electrical connector including a contact having a composite structure in which a signal contact and a ground contact are opposed to each other via an insulator, in an insulating housing. ,
The signal contacts of the contacts having the composite structure are composed of a plurality of signal contacts arranged at intervals, and each of the signal contacts is provided with a contact portion of each corresponding signal contact of the mating electrical connector. The contactor has a contacting part, an intermediate part that is bent into an approximately L shape following the contacting part, and a connecting part that follows the intermediate part. , At least one contact portion that comes into contact with a contact portion of a corresponding ground contact of the mating electrical connector, and a plurality of signal contacts that are bent into a substantially L-shape and that are spaced apart from each other following the contact portion. A connecting plate part having a width dimension sufficient to face all of the intermediate parts, and a connecting part following the connecting plate part, and the connecting plate part of the ground contactor has a signal contactor In front of substantially the entire surface on the side facing the middle part, Thin-film insulating layer constituting at least a part of the insulator is given.

According to another feature of the present invention, in a method of manufacturing an electrical connector having an insulating housing, a contact having a composite structure in which a signal contact and a ground contact are opposed to each other with an insulator interposed therebetween. The signal contact of the contacts of
A plurality of signal contacts arranged at intervals, each of the signal contacts being in contact with a contact part of each corresponding signal contact of the mating electrical connector, and substantially L after the contact part. It has an intermediate part bent into a letter and a connecting part continuing to the intermediate part, and the ground contact of the contacts of the composite structure is the contact part of the corresponding ground contact of the mating electric connector. A width dimension sufficient to face at least one contact portion that contacts and all the intermediate portions of the plurality of signal contacts that are bent into a substantially L-shape and that are spaced apart from each other following the contact portion. A connecting plate part having the connecting plate part and a connecting part following the connecting plate part, and a step of forming the plurality of signal contacts, and a long spring property for forming the ground contact. At least the connection on one surface of the conductive sheet A predetermined surface portion corresponding to the portion, a thin coating of a desired insulating material, by coating by heating, a step of forming a thin film insulating layer in advance, from the long sheet on which the thin film insulating layer is formed, The step of forming the ground contactor by punching and bending, and the plurality of signal contacts and the ground contactor with respect to the connecting plate portion of the ground contactor, the thin film shape formed therein. And a step of assembling the plurality of signal contacts in such a manner that all of the intermediate portions of the signal contacts face each other across the insulating layer.

EXAMPLES Next, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings with reference to the examples of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an exploded component arrangement showing a partially broken electrical connector according to an embodiment of the present invention. Also, the second
The figure is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the electrical connector of FIG. 1 is assembled and fitted with a mating electrical connector.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the electrical connector of this embodiment mainly includes an insulating housing 10, a first signal contact 20, a second signal contact 30, and a first ground. The contactor 40, the second ground contactor 50, and the contactor disposition plate 60 are provided.

The insulating housing 10 is integrally formed of an insulating material such as a plastic material, and the insulating housing of the mating electric connector 80 (see FIG. 2) has a rectangular shape in front of it (left side in FIG. 1). A fitting concave portion 11 for receiving the fitting portion of 81 is provided, and a contact portion arranging projection portion for arranging and holding the contact portions of the respective contact elements is provided at substantially the center of the concave portion 11.
Twelve are provided. On the upper wall of this protrusion 12, the first
Contact portion arrangement groove 13 for arranging the contact portion 21 of the signal contactor 20 of
However, the lower wall is provided with a contact portion arrangement groove 14 for arranging the contact portion 31 of the second signal contactor 30, and the first and second ground contactors 40 are provided in the center of the protrusion 12. , 50 contacts 4
A contact portion arrangement hole 15 for receiving 1, 51 is provided.
A receiving hole 15 'for receiving the ground male contact 84 (see FIG. 2) of the mating electric connector 80 is provided in front of the mounting hole 15 with a taper in the front. A locking hole 16 for receiving the arrow-shaped locking portion 22 of the first signal contact 20 is provided above the bottom of the fitting recess 11, and the arrow 16 of the second signal contact 30 is provided below the locking hole 16. A locking hole 17 for receiving the locking portion 32 is provided. Reference numeral 18 indicates a side wall plate for holding the contactor disposition plate 60.

The first signal contactor 20 is formed by punching out a conductive sheet material having a spring property by press working, and the first signal contactor 82 of the mating electrical connector 80 is provided in front of it.
A contact portion 21 that comes into contact with (see FIG. 2) and a barbed locking portion 22 are provided behind the contact portion 21. Behind the locking portion 22,
An intermediate portion 23 that is bent in an L shape and extends downward, and a connection portion 24 that is bent rearward and downward is provided in the intermediate portion 23. This connection 24
Is a mounting hole 61 of a contact mounting plate 60 and a circuit board which will be described later.
It is designed to be inserted into the through hole 71 of 70 (see FIG. 2).

The second signal contact 30, like the first signal contact 20,
It is stamped and formed from a conductive sheet material having a spring property, and in front of it, a contact portion 31 that comes into contact with the second signal contactor 83 (see FIG. 2) of the mating electrical connector 80. And a barbed locking portion 32 is provided behind it. An intermediate portion 33 that is bent in an L shape and extends downward is provided behind the locking portion 32, and a connecting portion 34 that is bent forward and downward is provided in the intermediate portion 33. . The contact portion 34 is a contact disposition plate described later.
It is designed to be inserted into the mounting hole 61 of 60 and the through hole 71 of the circuit board 70 (see FIG. 2).

The first ground contactor 40 is formed by press punching from a conductive sheet material having a spring property, and the ground contactor 84 of the mating electrical connector 80 is provided in front of it.
A contact portion 41 that comes into contact with (see FIG. 2) and a barbed locking portion 42 are provided behind the contact portion 41. Behind the locking portion 42,
A connecting plate 43 is provided which connects and integrates the first ground contacts in parallel and which is bent into an L shape and extends downward. A thin film insulating layer 43 'is coated on the upper surface side of the connecting plate 43, that is, on the first signal contact side.
The thin film insulating layer 43 'may be, for example, a thin film coated with an epoxy resin having a strong adhesive force. Below the connecting plate 43, the mounting hole 61 of the mounting plate 60 and the circuit board 70 are provided.
A connecting portion 44 to be inserted into the through hole 71 is provided.

The second ground contactor 50 is, like the first ground contactor 40, formed by press punching from a conductive sheet material having a spring property, and has a mating electrical connector 80 in front of it. The contact portion 51 that comes into contact with the ground contactor 84 (see FIG. 2) and the arrow-shaped locking portion 52 are provided behind the contact portion 51. Behind the locking portion 52, there is provided a connecting plate 53 which connects and integrates the respective second ground contacts in parallel and which is bent into an L shape and extends downward. The lower surface side of the connecting plate 53, that is, the second signal contact side, is coated with a thin film insulating layer 53 '. This thin insulating layer 5
3'may be, for example, a thin film coated with an epoxy resin having a strong adhesive force. Below the connecting plate 53,
Arrangement hole 61 of arrangement plate 60 and through hole 71 of circuit board 70
A connecting portion 54 to be inserted into is provided.

The contact disposition plate 60 is formed of an insulating material such as a plastic material, disposition holes 61 for receiving and disposing connection parts of each contact are disposed in a grid pattern, and the disposition plate is provided. Press-fitting holes 62 for receiving and fixing locking projections (not shown) provided on the bottoms of both side wall plates 18 of the housing 10 are provided at both ends of the housing 60.

Next, a method of manufacturing an electric connector including such a component will be described below in the order of steps.

(1) First, as shown in FIG. 3 (A), the first ground contactor 40 is manufactured by connecting the connecting portion 43 of the long metal sheet member 4.
The necessary insulation is thinly applied by printing, etc. to the part corresponding to, and coated by heating, and the thin film insulating layer strip 4A
To form. The metal sheet material 4 thus formed is subjected to press working to punch out the first ground contactor 40 as shown in FIG. 3 (B), and further subjected to necessary bending and plating. The plating process may be performed on the first sheet material. The second ground contactor 50 may be manufactured in the same process as the manufacturing process of the first ground contactor 40.

(2) The first signal contact 20 and the second signal contact 30 are manufactured by ordinary press working and plating, respectively.

(3) Next, as shown in FIG. 1, the first signal contact 20,
The first ground contactor 40, the second ground contactor 50, and the second signal contactor 30 are respectively connected to the connecting reel parts 25 and 4 respectively.
While being connected to 5, 55, and 35, the contacts are sequentially or stacked and inserted and fixed at a predetermined position of the insulating housing 10.

(4) Finally, connect each of the connection reel parts 25, 45, 55 and 35 to
The notch portions 25 ', 45', 55 'and 35' are cut and the contactor disposing plate 60 is incorporated from below to complete the electrical connector. The electrical connector assembled in this way is used as a circuit board.
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the connector is installed on 70 and fitted with the mating electric connector 80.

In the above-described embodiment, each contact is L-shaped, but the present invention is not limited to this.
The connection part of each contact may be a straight type. Further, although the example in which the ground contactor is the inner side and the signal contactor is the outer side has been described, the present invention is not limited to this, and conversely, the inner side is the signal contactor and the outer side is the ground contactor. Good.

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION Since the present invention has the above-described configuration, the following effects can be achieved.

(1) The signal contactor and the ground contactor having a composite structure are
Since it is configured to face one of the ground contacts through a thin film-shaped insulating layer that is integrally provided, unlike the conventional case where an insulator is adhered or applied to each contact, Work can be mechanized and automated, mass production is possible, reliability is improved, and cost can be reduced.

(2) Since the thin-film insulating layer may be formed on the metal sheet for the ground contactor by a printing technique or the like before pressing, there is no fear that the insulator adheres to the contact portion of the signal contactor. Reliability is increased.

(3) Since each contactor can be assembled into the insulating housing sequentially or in a stacked manner while being connected by the connecting reel portion, the assembling work can be mechanized and automated, and mass production becomes possible. Further cost reduction can be achieved.

(4) The thin-film insulating layer applied to the ground contact can be formed into a thin film having a uniform thickness of several μm by thinly applying a desired insulating material on a metal sheet and coating by heating. Therefore, the signal contactor and the ground contactor, which face each other, can be highly densified, the impedance matching can be made uniform, and a miniaturized and high-performance electrical connector can be provided.

(5) Since the intermediate part, which is a main part of each signal contact, faces the connecting plate part of the ground contact, it is possible to further reduce the occurrence of crosstalk and further improve the performance. It is possible to provide an improved electrical connector.

(6) The thin film-like insulating layer applied in advance to the surface portion of the metal sheet corresponding to the connecting plate portion of the ground contact is made uniform by applying a desired insulator thinly and coating it by heating to obtain a uniform thickness of several μm. Since it can be a thin film with a thickness, peeling, cracks, defects, wrinkles, etc. do not occur in the thin film insulating layer even by punching and bending in the subsequent ground contact forming process. Further, it is possible to provide a highly reliable and high-performance electrical connector.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a disassembled component arrangement in which an electric connector according to an embodiment of the present invention is partially cut away, and FIG. 2 is an electric connector shown in FIG. 1 assembled and installed on a circuit board. Sectional view showing a state in which a mating electric connector is fitted,
The figure is a figure for demonstrating the manufacturing process of the ground contactor of the electric connector of FIG. 10 ... Insulating housing, 20 ... First signal contact, 30 ... Second
Signal contactor, 40 ... First ground contactor, 41 ... Contact part, 43 ... Connecting plate, 43 '... Thin film insulating layer, 50 ... Second ground contactor, 51 ... Contact part, 53 ... Connecting plate , 53 '... Thin film insulating layer, 80 ... Mating electrical connector, 82, 83 ... Signal contact, 84
… Grand contact.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued Front Page (72) Inventor Yoshikatsu Okada 5-33-1 Shiba, Minato-ku, Tokyo Inside NEC Corporation (72) Inventor Shoji Umesato 5-33-1 Shiba, Minato-ku, Tokyo NEC Corporation (56) References JP-A-61-239574 (JP, A)

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An electrical connector provided with an insulating housing having a composite contact formed by facing a signal contact and a ground contact via an insulator, wherein the signal contact among the contacts of the composite structure is provided. The child comprises a plurality of signal contacts arranged at intervals, each signal contact being in contact with a contact portion of each corresponding signal contact of the mating electrical connector, and following the contact portion. Has a middle portion bent into a substantially L-shape and a connecting portion continuing to the middle portion, and the ground contact of the contacts of the composite structure is the ground contact of the corresponding ground contact of the mating electrical connector. Sufficient to face at least one contact portion in contact with the contact portion and all of the intermediate portions of the plurality of signal contacts that are bent into a substantially L-shape and that are spaced apart from each other following the contact portion. Connecting plate with width dimension A connecting portion that follows the connecting plate portion, and the insulating material is provided over substantially the entire surface of the connecting plate portion of the ground contact facing the intermediate portion of the signal contact. An electrical connector having a thin-film insulating layer forming at least a part of the electrical connector. 2. A method of manufacturing an electrical connector, comprising a composite contact formed by opposing a signal contact and a ground contact via an insulator in an insulating housing. Signal contactors of the plurality of signal contacts arranged at intervals, each of the signal contactors contacting a contacting part of each corresponding signal contactor of the mating electrical connector, and the contacting part. And a connecting portion continuing to the intermediate portion. The ground contact of the contacts of the composite structure is a corresponding ground of the mating electrical connector. It is possible to face at least one contact part that comes into contact with the contact part of the contactor, and all of the intermediate parts of the plurality of signal contacts that are bent into a substantially L-shape and that are spaced apart from each other following the contact part. Has a sufficient width dimension A step of forming the plurality of signal contacts, which has a connecting plate part and a connecting part following the connecting plate part, and a long spring-like conductive material for forming the ground contact. A step of forming a thin film insulating layer in advance by thinly applying a desired insulating material to at least a predetermined surface portion corresponding to the connecting plate portion on one surface of the sheet, and coating the insulating material in advance by heating; From the long sheet on which the insulating layer is formed, the step of forming the ground contactor by punching and bending, the plurality of signal contacts and the ground contactor, in the connecting plate portion of the ground contactor. On the other hand, the step of incorporating the thin film insulating layer formed therein into the insulating housing such that all of the intermediate portions of the plurality of signal contacts face each other. Method of manufacturing a connector.