JPH08171966A - Electric connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To suppress the number of electrode parts to the almost same number of one steps and enable electrode parts arranged vertically to be easily mounted even if housings for inserting child boards are arranged in their upper and lower 2 steps. CONSTITUTION: An electric connector is provided with first movable terminals 21a and 21b and second movable terminals 22a and 22b brought into contact with electrode terminals formed on both surfaces of a child board. For these movable terminals, the first movable terminals at the upper and lower steps flatly arranged at the same position and the second movable terminals at the upper and lower steps flatly arranged at the same position are integrally formed, respectively.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electrical connector for electrically connecting a parent board and a child board, and more particularly to an electrical connector for connecting a memory module such as DIMM to an internal expansion memory board.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in a computer system such as a personal computer, an expansion board (child board) such as a memory board or an interface board of a peripheral device is connected.
A socket called an electrical connector is mounted on the motherboard (parent board). By inserting various expansion boards into this electric connector, the mother board and the expansion boards can be electrically connected.

Here, the structure of a general electric connector is
An electric connector for connecting a memory module (hereinafter referred to as a module) called a DIMM (Dual Inline Memory Module) will be described as an example. 9 is a conceptual perspective view of the electrical connector for DIMM, and FIG. 10 is a conceptual cross-sectional view corresponding to the AA cross section of FIG. 9, showing a state in which the module is mounted.

In the electrical connector 10 of FIG. 9, 1 is a housing made of an insulating material, and a concave groove 2 for receiving a module is formed in the longitudinal direction. In the groove portion 2 of the housing 1, first movable terminals 3a and second movable terminals 3b are alternately arranged at predetermined intervals. These first movable terminal 3a and second
The movable terminal 3b is supported by arcuate electrode pieces 6a and 6b each having an elastic force, as shown in FIG. In the state where the module 4 is mounted, the first movable terminal 3a contacts the electrode terminal 5a formed on one surface of the inserted module 4, and the second movable terminal 3b contacts the other surface of the module 4. It is in contact with the formed electrode terminal 5b.

A module 4 is attached to the above-mentioned electrical connector 10.
When installing the module, as shown in FIG.
Is inserted diagonally into the groove 2 of the housing 1,
The module 4 is rotated in the arrow direction. Then, the first movable terminal 3a and the second movable terminal 3b bend outward from the center of the groove portion 2, and the module 4 is held by the elastic pressing force. At the same time, the movable terminals 3a and 3b of the housing 1 elastically contact the electrode terminals 5a and 5b of the module 4 to be electrically connected.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 9, arms 7a and 7b for holding both side edges of the module are integrally formed with the housing 1 at both longitudinal ends of the housing 1. Further, latches 8a and 8b having elastic force are arranged at the tips of the arms 7a and 7b so as to face each other. When the module 4 is inserted into the groove portion 2 of the housing 1 and rotated as shown in FIG.
The a and 8b start to bend outward as the module 4 passes, and when the module 4 is completely installed in the housing 1, the elastic force returns to the initial position to fix the side of the module 4. That is, the inserted module 4 includes the movable terminals 3a and 3b in the groove 2 and the latch 8a,
It is held in the housing 1 by 8b.

When the module 4 is taken out from the housing 1, the levers 9a and 9b formed at one end of the latches 8a and 8b are pushed outward. Then, the lateral fixation of the module 4 is released, and the module 4 is pushed out to the position before the rotation by the elastic pressing force of the movable terminals 3a and 3b, and becomes removable from the housing 1.

[0008]

By the way, since the desktop personal computer has a large body space, the number of housings is large, and the expansion board is also held vertically to the motherboard (not shown). On the other hand, in the case of a thin notebook computer that does not have enough space for the main body, the expansion board cannot be held upright inside the main body, so it is held parallel to the motherboard. In this case, only one expansion board can be connected. However, in order to expand the function of the system, there is a demand for connecting two expansion boards even in a notebook type personal computer. In order to effectively use the space of the main body when connecting two expansion boards, a method of arranging the housings in upper and lower two stages has been considered.

By the way, since the first movable terminal and the second movable terminal are individually arranged as described above, when the housings are arranged in the upper and lower two stages, each housing of each stage is arranged. It is necessary to provide each movable terminal. However, in the case of a DIMM, for example, the number of electrode terminals of the expansion board is about 70 in total, and when the housing is provided in two stages, about 140 movable terminals must be arranged. For this reason, if the housing is duplicated by the conventional terminal structure, the number of electrode parts constituting the movable terminal is doubled, and it takes time and time to mount the movable terminals arranged above and below. It was

According to the present invention, in the structure in which the housings are arranged in the upper and lower two stages, the number of electrode parts can be suppressed to substantially the same number as one stage, and the upper and lower electrode parts can be easily mounted. The purpose is to provide.

[0011]

In order to solve the above problems, an electrical connector according to the present invention holds a child board detachably from a parent board and electrically connects the child board and the parent board. In the electrical connector to be connected, the housings into which the sub-boards are inserted are arranged in upper and lower two stages, and the first and second movable terminals that come into contact with the electrode terminals formed on both surfaces of the sub-boards are provided in A plurality of upper and lower first movable terminals, which are alternately arranged in each housing and are arranged at the same plane in the same position, and a second movable upper and lower rows, which are also arranged at the same plane in the same position. The terminals are formed integrally with each other.

[0012]

According to the above-described electric connector, when the connector body is viewed in plan, the upper and lower first movable terminals arranged at the same position and the upper and lower first movable terminals arranged at the same position. Since the two movable terminals are each formed as an integral electrode, the number of electrode components can be suppressed to substantially the same number as in the case of one stage even when the housing is arranged in two stages. Moreover, since the first and second movable terminals of the upper and lower stages can be attached at once, the electrode parts can be easily mounted.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The electrical connector according to the present invention is
An example when applied to an MM connector will be described. In this embodiment, in order to clarify the features of the invention, the shape, structure, size, arrangement, positional relationship, etc. of each part are omitted or simplified as necessary.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual perspective view of the DIMM connector, showing a structure in which the housings are arranged in two upper and lower stages.

In FIG. 3, the connector 11 is a DI not shown.
A connector for connecting two MMs (hereinafter referred to as modules), and housings 12a, 12 arranged in upper and lower two stages
b. A concave groove 13a for receiving the module is formed in the longitudinal direction of the housing 12a, and arms 14a, 14b for holding both side edges of the module are arranged at both ends of the groove 13a.
Similarly, a concave groove 13b for receiving the module is formed in the longitudinal direction of the housing 12b, and arms 15a, 15b for holding both side edges of the module are arranged at both ends thereof. .

Latches 16a for locking the side edges of the inserted module are provided at the tips of the arms 14a, 14b.
16b, and also at the tips of the arms 15a, 15b, latches 17a, 17b for locking side edges of the similarly inserted module are arranged so as to face each other. These latches are made of elastic spring material and are normally urged inward.

The upper housing 12a is constructed so as to be rotatable about a shaft 18 (arms 14b side is not shown) on which arms 14a and 14b are horizontally arranged. This is a mechanism for preventing the module from interfering with the latch portions 16a and 16b of the upper housing 12a when the module is inserted into the lower housing 12b. According to this, the arm 14
By rotating a and 14b upward about the shaft 18, the arms 14a and 14b are moved to the housing 12 of the lower stage.
The module can be retracted to a position where it does not interfere with the path when the module is inserted into b. Since the operation of each latch when the module is inserted is the same as that of the conventional example of FIG. 11,
The description is omitted here.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4 shown by the arrow A in FIG.
The first movable terminal 21a and the second movable terminal 22a are alternately arranged at predetermined intervals in the groove 13a of the housing 12a, and the first movable terminal 21b and the second movable terminal 21b are arranged in the groove 13b of the housing 12b. 2 movable terminals 22b
Are alternately arranged at predetermined intervals.

Here, the structures of the first movable terminals 21a and 21b and the second movable terminals 22a and 22b will be described.

FIG. 1 is a conceptual cross-sectional view corresponding to the BB cross section of FIG. 4, showing the electrode structure of the first movable terminals 21a and 21b. In FIG. 1, the upper housing 12
a first movable terminal 21a disposed in the groove 13a of a
And the first movable terminal 21b arranged in the groove 13b of the lower housing 12b are terminals that are present at the same position in plan view, and these two movable terminals are the first
The connector electrode 24 is integrally formed internally.

The first connector electrode 24 has a fixing pin 24a for fixing the electrode body in the housing.
24b are formed on the upper and lower sides. When mounting the connector electrodes 24 in the housings 12a and 12b, the connector electrodes 24 are inserted from the rear of the housings 12a and 12b, and the fixing pins 24a and 24b are respectively inserted into the upper and lower pin holes 2.
The connector electrode 24 can be fixed in the housings 12 a and 12 b by fitting the connector electrode 24 into the housing 6.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual cross-sectional view corresponding to the CC cross section of FIG. 4, showing the electrode structure of the second movable terminals 22a and 22b. In FIG. 2, the upper housing 12
a second movable terminal 22a arranged in the groove 13a of a.
And the second movable terminal 22b arranged in the groove portion 13b of the lower housing 12b are terminals that are present at the same position in plan view, and these two movable terminals are the second terminals.
The connector electrode 25 is integrally formed internally.

Also, with respect to the second connector electrode 25, fixing pins 25a and 25b for fixing the electrode body in the housing are formed vertically. When mounting the connector electrode 25 in the housings 12a and 12b,
By inserting the connector 25 electrodes from the rear of the housings 12a and 12b and fitting the fixing pins 25a and 25b into the upper and lower pin holes 26, respectively, the connector electrode 25
Can be fixed in the housings 12a, 12b.

By the way, the movable terminals arranged in the housings include control electrodes for exchanging control signals with the modules mounted in the respective housings. With the movable terminal that functions as this control electrode,
Upper and lower movable terminals arranged at the same position in plan view are formed separately for each housing of each stage.

Now, the structure of the movable terminals formed separately in the upper and lower stages will be described. It should be noted that two sets of movable terminals, which are separately formed, are arranged near the center of each housing.

FIG. 5 is a conceptual cross-sectional view corresponding to the D-D cross section of FIG. 4. The third movable terminal 31a is provided in the upper housing 12a and the third movable terminal 31a is provided in the lower housing 12b. The electrode structure of the third movable terminal 32a is shown. The third movable terminal 31a is formed as the third connector electrode 41, and the groove portion 1 of the upper housing 12a is formed.
It is arranged in 3a. In addition, the third movable terminal 32a
Is formed as the fourth connector electrode 42 and is disposed in the groove portion 13b of the lower housing 12b.
The third connector electrode 41 and the fourth connector electrode 4
2, connection terminals 41a and 42a for connecting to a mother board (not shown) are formed respectively.

FIG. 6 is a conceptual cross-sectional view corresponding to the EE cross section of FIG. 4. The fourth movable terminal 33b is provided in the upper housing 12a, and the fourth movable terminal 33b is provided in the lower housing 12b. The electrode structure of the fourth movable terminal 34b is shown. The fourth movable terminal 33b is formed as the fifth connector electrode 51, and the groove portion 1 of the upper housing 12a is formed.
It is arranged in 3a. In addition, the fourth movable terminal 34b
Is formed as the sixth connector electrode 52, and is disposed in the groove portion 13b of the lower housing 12b.
The fifth connector electrode 51 and the sixth connector electrode 5
2, connection terminals 51a and 52a for connecting to a mother board (not shown) are formed respectively.

Fixing pins 41b, 42b, 51b, 52b for fixing the electrode body in the housing are integrally formed in each of the above-mentioned connector electrodes of FIGS. 5 and 6, respectively. It is fixed in the housing in the same manner as the connector electrode shown by.

Next, a procedure for mounting the module in the upper and lower housings of the connector 11 will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8 corresponding to FIGS.

First, the upper housing 12 shown in FIG.
The arms 14a and 14b of "a" are pushed upward around the shaft 18 to secure a path for inserting the module into the lower housing 12b. Then, as shown in FIG.
The module 44 of the first sheet is obliquely inserted into the groove 13b of the lower housing 12b, and the module 44 is rotated in the arrow direction to be housed in the housing 12b. At this time, both side edges of the module 44 and the latches 17a and 17 shown in FIG.
With b engaged, the module 44 is mounted in the housing 12b. At the same time, the first movable terminal 21b and the second movable terminal 22b of the housing 12b are elastically contacted and electrically connected to the electrode terminals (not shown) of the module 44.

Next, the upper housing 12 shown in FIG.
The arms 14a and 14b of "a" are returned to their original positions around the shaft 18 so that the module can be inserted into the upper housing 12a. Then, as shown in FIG. 8, the second module 45 is installed in the groove portion 13a of the upper housing 12a.
Then, the module 45 is rotated in the direction of the arrow to be housed in the housing 12a. At this time, both side edges of the module 45 are engaged with the latches 16a and 16b shown in FIG. 3, and the module 45 is mounted in the housing 12a. at the same time,
The first movable terminal 21a and the second movable terminal 22a of the housing 12a elastically contact and electrically connect to an electrode terminal (not shown) of the module 45.

In this way, the upper and lower first movable terminals arranged at the same planar position and the upper and lower second movable terminals similarly arranged at the same planar position are Even when they are integrally formed, as in the case where the upper and lower movable terminals are separately arranged, electrical connection between the electrode terminals formed on both sides of each module and the movable terminals can be obtained. it can. Therefore, when a terminal in which upper and lower movable terminals at the same position in plan view are integrally formed is used as in the connector of this embodiment, compared with a case where the upper and lower movable terminals are separately formed. As a result, the number of electrode parts can be halved. Moreover, since the first and second movable terminals at the upper and lower stages can be attached by a single operation, the mounting of the electrode component becomes simple.

In the above-described embodiments, the shapes of the first movable terminal and the second movable terminal are not limited to the shapes shown. That is, the upper and lower terminals arranged at the same position in plan view may be formed in other shapes as long as they are integrally formed.

Further, in the connector of this embodiment, the first movable terminal and the second movable terminal which are integrally formed in the upper and lower stages, and the third movable terminal and the fourth movable terminal which are separately formed in the upper and lower stages. Although the example in which the movable terminals are arranged in the same housing has been described, the connector may be composed of only the first movable terminal and the second movable terminal integrally formed in the upper and lower stages.

[0035]

As described above, in the electrical connector according to the present invention, the upper and lower first movable terminals, which are arranged at the same position in plan view, are also arranged at the same position in plan view. Since the upper and lower second movable terminals are integrally formed with each other, the number of electrode components can be suppressed to substantially the same number as in the case where the housing is arranged in the upper and lower two stages. Moreover, since the first and second movable terminals of the upper and lower stages can be attached at once, the electrode parts can be easily mounted.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 is a conceptual cross-sectional view corresponding to the BB cross section of FIG. 3;

FIG. 2 is a conceptual cross-sectional view corresponding to the CC cross section of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual perspective view of a DIMM connector according to an embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a conceptual front view showing a view A in FIG.

5 is a conceptual cross-sectional view corresponding to the DD cross section of FIG. 3;

6 is a conceptual cross-sectional view corresponding to the EE cross section of FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a conceptual cross-sectional view showing a connector when a module is mounted.

FIG. 8 is a conceptual cross-sectional view showing a connector when a module is mounted.

FIG. 9 is a conceptual perspective view of a conventional DIMM electrical connector.

10 is a conceptual cross-sectional view corresponding to the AA cross section of FIG.

FIG. 11 is a conceptual cross-sectional view showing a connector when a module is mounted.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 ... Connector 12a, 12b ... Housing 13a, 13b ... Groove part 14a, 14b, 15a, 15b ... Arm 16a, 16b, 17a, 17b ... Latch 18 ... Shaft 21a, 21b ... 1st movable terminal 22a, 22b ... 2nd Movable terminal 24 ... First connector electrode 25 ... Second connector electrode

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An electric connector for detachably holding a child board to a parent board and electrically connecting the child board and the parent board, wherein housings for inserting the child boards are arranged in two upper and lower stages. In addition, a plurality of first and second movable terminals, which come into contact with the electrode terminals formed on both surfaces of the sub-board, are alternately arranged for each of the housings of the respective stages, and are arranged at the same position in plan view. An electrical connector characterized in that the first movable terminals of the upper and lower tiers and the second movable terminals of the upper and lower tiers, which are also arranged at the same position in plan view, are integrally formed. 2. The electric connector according to claim 1, further comprising a first movable terminal and a second movable terminal which are separately formed for each housing of each stage.