JPH08250209A - Pc card connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a PC card connector in which the pin housing of a header part is separated from a frame as a separate part to perform the automatic mounting of the header part, and even when the other parts are mounted in the lower part of a later-fitted frame, there is not possibility that it is damaged and therefore high density mounting can be performed without hindrance. CONSTITUTION: This PC card connector is provided with a header part in which a number of pin contacts are fixed to a pin housing 2 in a predetermined arrangement, a frame 4 fitted to the pin housing 2 in the shape that the bridging part 21 of the rear end part is connected to a pair of a recessed groove forming parts 20 for guiding a PC card from both sides in the width direction at the time of insertion and an inject mechanism part provided in the frame 4. Flexibility in the direction of warping with respect to the pair of recessed groove forming parts 20 is given to the bridging part 21 of the frame 4.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a PC card connector installed in a device used by inserting a PC card.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art PC used for notebook type personal computers
A card (memory card) is a card that can be inserted into and removed from a dedicated PC card connector, but recently, the shape of this PC card and the size and arrangement of pin contacts of the PC card connector have been standardized (standardized). As a result, the versatility of the same product has dramatically increased and demand is expected to surge.

By the way, a PC card connector is usually
A header part in which a large number of pin contacts are press-fitted and fixed to a pin housing in a predetermined arrangement, a frame for guiding a PC card at the time of insertion and removal, and a PC attached to this frame.
It is generally configured with an eject mechanism (eject lever, push rod, etc.) for ejecting a card, and conventionally, a member in which the pin housing and the frame are integrated at the molding stage has been widely used. However, in that case, there has been a problem that a finished product of a connector for a PC card, which is relatively large and heavy and difficult to be sucked (automatically mounted) by a mounter, has to be mounted on a printed circuit board by a complicated manual work.

On the other hand, for example, JP-A-6-31848
As described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 1-1989, a PC card connector in which a pin housing and a frame are separately molded is also proposed. With such a configuration, it is possible to mount the frame on the pin housing after automatically mounting only the header portion by the mounter.

[0005]

However, in the conventional PC card connector in which the pin housing and the frame are separate parts, the frame is pushed in directly from the front of the header portion to integrate the two, and therefore the print is performed. When a frame is to be attached to the header portion after mounting on the board, the frame must be moved in parallel while being close to the mounting surface of the printed board. Therefore, if another component is mounted below the moving range of the frame, there is a risk of damaging the component, and if it is attempted to avoid such a risk, high-density mounting cannot be performed. .

The present invention has been made in view of the above technical background, and an object of the present invention is to provide a PC card connector that can be automatically mounted without damaging existing parts or reducing the mounting density. .

[0007]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The above-mentioned object of the present invention is to provide a header portion having a large number of pin contacts fixed to a pin housing in a predetermined arrangement, and a card at the front end attached to the pin housing. A frame for arranging the insertion port in front of the pin contact, and for guiding the PC card from both sides in the width direction at the time of insertion / removal by a pair of recessed groove forming portions that are connected to the bridging portion at the rear end portion and extend in the front-rear direction. , An eject lever rotatably supported by the bridging portion of the frame, and a rear end supported by the outer side of the groove forming portion of the frame to engage the eject lever and move forward and backward. This is achieved by providing the bridge portion of the frame with flexibility capable of warping with respect to the pair of concave groove forming portions.

[0008]

In the PC card connector having the above-described structure, the PC card is guided from the both sides in the width direction of the bridge portion on the rear end side (header portion side) of the frame which is a separate component from the pin housing of the header portion. Since it can be elastically warped with respect to the pair of concave groove forming parts, when the frame is attached to the header part which is automatically mounted on the printed circuit board, the frame is pushed from diagonally above the mounting surface of the printed circuit board. The mounting work can be completed, and therefore, even if other components are mounted below the frame, there is no fear of damaging them, and high-density mounting is not hindered.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a surface mount type P according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is an overall side view of the C card connector, FIG. 3 is an overall front view of the connector, and FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a header portion of the connector. , A header portion 3 in which a large number of pin contacts 1 are press-fitted and fixed to a pin housing 2 in a predetermined arrangement, and two substantially U-shaped frames 4 for guiding a PC card (not shown) at the time of insertion and removal, It is mainly configured by an eject lever 5 and a push rod 6 as an eject mechanism attached to the frame 4.

The shape of the pin contact 1 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1, a contact portion 11 having a substantially columnar shape is provided at one end portion, and a strip-shaped terminal portion 12 is provided at the other end portion, and a plate-shaped portion at the rear of the contact portion 11 is connected to a base portion of the terminal portion 12. Standing up at a right angle to form a standing piece 13 having the same thickness as the terminal portion 12, and the surface of the standing piece 13 is locked to the inner wall surface of the pin insertion hole 2a of the pin housing 2 on a surface substantially perpendicular to the standing direction. And a jig receiving portion 13b for abutting a jig (not shown) at the time of press-fitting into the pin housing 2 on the rear end surface of the standing piece 13. ing. Specifically, the contact portion 11 is press-worked into a cylindrical shape having a tapered tip portion and the other portion having a diameter of 0.44 mm. The plate thickness of the terminal portion 12 and the standing piece 13 is 0.3 mm, and the terminal portion 12 is formed into a predetermined shape.

Such a pin contact 1 is manufactured by the following procedure as shown in the manufacturing process diagram of FIG. Note that FIG. 6 shows changes in the planar shape at the time of manufacturing and
The change in cross-sectional shape along the line A is shown side by side in the lower and upper parts, and the process proceeds from left to right in the drawing.

In manufacturing the pin contact 1,
First, the plate thickness 0.3 held by a carrier tape (not shown)
A millimeter-shaped hoop-shaped metal flat plate material 14 is prepared, and the metal flat plate material 14 is first subjected to punching and pressing of a strip-shaped portion 15 which will be the contact portion 11 later. In addition, this press working is for forming the tip portion and the fracture surface of the strip-shaped portion 15 into an inclined surface.
Next, a punching process is further performed to narrow the narrow piece 17 (the strip-shaped portion 1) that linearly extends from the substantially L-shaped connecting portion 16.
5) is formed, the connecting portion 16 is bent at a right angle to erect the narrow piece 17 sideways. However, a locking portion 13a is formed on the fracture surface of a portion of the narrow piece 17 that is behind the strip-shaped portion 15 before standing. After that, the tip of the narrow strip 17 that has been erected is separated from the base material, and the strip-shaped portion 15 is pressed from above and below along the erection direction so that the tip has a tapered shape and the other portion has a diameter of 0.44 mm. The set substantially cylindrical contact portion 11 is formed. Then, by pressing the base material in the lower part of the drawing supporting the connecting portion 16 to form a long strip-shaped portion 18 which will be the terminal portion 12 later, a predetermined number of hoop-shaped metal flat plate materials 14 are formed. And then the band-shaped portion 18 is formed to form the terminal portion 12
And The pitch between the adjacent terminal portions 12 is 1.2.
Set it to 7 mm.

When a predetermined number of pin contacts 1 held on the carrier tape are obtained in this way, each pin contact 1 is inserted from the contact portion 11 side into the pin insertion hole 2a of the pin housing 2 to separate the carrier tape, The protrusion amount of the terminal portion 12 is adjusted while engaging the locking portion 13a with the inner wall surface of the pin insertion hole 2a, and finally, the cutting is performed so that the tips of the terminal portions 12 are aligned with each other. The work of attaching each pin contact 1 is completed.

As described above, in this embodiment, the strip-shaped portion 15 of the narrow piece 17 which is erected laterally is pressed along the erection direction, so that a thin plate material having a thickness of 0.3 mm can have a diameter of 0. Since the substantially cylindrical contact portion 11 of 44 mm can be formed, the pin contact 1 can be manufactured by using the relatively inexpensive metal flat plate material 14 instead of the expensive profile material having a different plate thickness depending on the location. Moreover, before standing the narrow piece 17 sideways,
A portion of the fracture surface of the narrow piece 17 formed during the punching process, which will be the contact portion 11 later (a strip portion 15).
Since the area is reduced by pressing, it is easy to finish the surface of the contact portion 11 into a smooth curved surface that is hardly affected by the roughness of the fracture surface by press processing after standing up, and with high reliability. Suitable for manufacturing the pin contact 1.

In the pin contact 1 thus manufactured, the plate-like portion of the narrowed piece 17 after standing up, which is behind the contact portion 11, becomes the standing up piece 13.
An engaging portion 13 for engaging with the inner wall surface of the pin insertion hole 2a of the pin housing 2 on a surface of the surface 3 of the pin 3 which is perpendicular to the standing direction.
Since the a is formed, the locking portion 13a is oriented in a direction substantially at right angles to the arrangement direction of the pin contacts 1, and the pin housings 2 are pressed into each other to press the pin housings 2 together.
Therefore, the deformation caused by the above is not accumulated, and thus the arrangement pitch of the fixed pin contacts 1 is less likely to be misaligned.
Moreover, in this pin contact 1, the rear end surface of the upright piece 13 serves as a jig receiving portion 13b for abutting the jig at the time of press fitting into the pin housing 2, but this jig receiving portion 13b is a pin receiving portion. Since it can be expanded in the direction perpendicular to the arrangement direction of the contacts 1, that is, in the direction with less dimensional restrictions, even if the pin contacts 1 are arranged at a narrow pitch of 1.27 mm, the jig receiving portion 13b. It has an advantage that a sufficient area can be secured and the press-fitting work can be easily performed.

Next, of the constituent elements of the header portion 3, parts other than the pin contact 1 will be described in detail.

That is, the header portion 3 is roughly constituted by a pin housing 2 into which a predetermined number of pin contacts 1 are press-fitted and fixed, and two pin holders 7 and 8 attached in front of and behind the pin housing 2, respectively. Further, 2 are two main body portions 9 of the same shape in which the pin contacts 1 are press-fitted and fixed and stacked and fixed in two steps, and fixed below the main body portions 9 and directly mounted on the mounting surface of the printed circuit board. It is distinguished from the base unit 10 which is One of the pin holders 7 arranged behind the pin housing 2
Positions the terminal portion 12 of the pin contact 1 protruding downward from the rear of the upper body portion 9, and the other pin holder 8 arranged in front of the pin housing 2.
Positions the terminal portion 12 of the pin contact 1 which is fed from the rear of the lower body portion 9 to the front and protrudes downward.

Here, specifically showing the shape of each of these members, one main body 9 of the pin housing 2 is a molded product as shown in the plan view of FIG. 7 and the front view of FIG. The part 10 is a molded product as shown in the plan view of FIG. 9 and a partial sectional side view of FIG. 10, and one pin holder 7 is a molded product as shown in the plan view of FIG. 11 and the front view of FIG. The pin holder 8 is a molded product as shown in the plan view of FIG. 13 and the rear view of FIG. As shown in these figures, the pin holder 7
Has a plurality of parallel guide grooves 7a formed on the front surface and the bottom surface, into which the terminal portions 12 of the multiple pin contacts 1 protruding from the upper body portion 9 can be inserted and positioned, and the pin holder 8 has Has a plurality of parallel guide grooves 8a formed on the back surface and the bottom surface, into which the terminal portions 12 of the plurality of pin contacts 1 protruding from the lower body portion 9 can be inserted and positioned. Are attached to the base 10 by fitting the projections 10a and 10b of the base 10 into the fitting holes 7a and 8a, respectively. Before attaching the pin holders 7 and 8 to the base portion 10, the tip portion 12a (soldering portion) of the terminal portion 12 of the pin contact 1 is previously attached to the printed circuit board 19 as shown in FIG. If the terminals 12 are formed in the guide grooves 7a and 8a by tilting upward and forming.
By attaching the pin holders 7, 8 for positioning to the base portion 10, the tip end portion 12a of each terminal portion 12 is elastically contacted with the bottom surface of the pin holder 7 or 8 and the flatness is maintained. Therefore, if the pin housing 2 is mounted on the printed board 19 and the bottom surfaces of the pin holders 7 and 8 face the mounting surface at a close distance,
The tip portion 12a of each terminal portion 12 can be arranged at a predetermined position on the printed board 19 without tilting.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the pin holders 7, in which the terminal portions 12 of the multiple pin contacts 1 are positioned by the guide grooves 7a, 8a, and the tip portions 12a of the terminal portions 12 are elastically contacted with the bottom surface, Since 8 is attached to the pin housing 2, not only the parallelism of each terminal portion 12 can be maintained, but also the flatness of the tip portion 12a to be soldered on the printed circuit board 19 can be maintained, so that the pin housing 8 can be maintained. By mounting 2 on the printed circuit board 19 and making the bottom surfaces of the pin holders 7 and 8 face the mounting surface at a close distance, it is possible to surely avoid the positional displacement and inclination of the tip end portion 12a of each terminal portion 12, and Each terminal portion 1 is provided at a predetermined position on the printed circuit board 19.
2 can be soldered easily and surely.

Subsequently, the frame 4 of the surface mounting type PC card connector according to this embodiment, and the frame 4
The eject mechanism portion (eject lever 5 and push rod 6) attached to will be described in detail.

This connector uses a substantially U-shaped frame 4 (see FIG. 16) in which two layers are fixed one above the other, and the upper frame 4 has a substantially T-shape projecting on the left and right sides of its rear end. Of the pin housing 2 is fitted to the side wall of the upper body 9 of the pin housing 2, and the lower frame 4
Has a similar locking piece 4a fitted to the side wall of the lower body portion 9 of the pin housing 2. Then, in each frame 4, a pair of concave groove forming portions 20 that extend in the front-rear direction to guide the PC card at the time of insertion / extraction from both sides in the width direction and define a card insertion opening 4b at the front end thereof, and both concave groove formations Part 2
And a bridge portion 21 connecting the rear end portions of 0,
When the locking piece 4a is fitted to the side wall of the main body portion 9, the pin contact 1 press-fitted and fixed to the main body portion 9 faces the inside of the card insertion slot 4b. However,
In each frame 4, the bridge portion 21 and the recessed groove forming portion 20 are formed at a portion where the bridge portion 21 and the recessed groove forming portion 20 are continuous with each other, so that the bridge portion 21 is warped with respect to the pair of recessed groove forming portions 20 ( FIG.
(Direction of arrow B) is provided. Further, two circular bosses 21a and 21b which are inserted into two shaft holes 5a and 5b which are bored in the middle portion of the eject lever 5 are provided at the middle portion of the bridging portion 21 of each frame 4. Among them, the eject lever 5 is rotatably supported by the frame 4 with the circular boss 21a as a rotation axis. Further, a rod support frame 4c is provided on the outside of one groove forming portion 20 of each frame 4, and the rod support frame 4c is provided.
The push rod 6 is supported by c so as to be able to advance and retract in the front-rear direction. Then, one end of the eject lever 5 engages with the forked part 6a at the rear end of the push rod 6,
The card contact piece 5c at the other end of the eject lever 5 is adapted to slightly advance and retreat in the front-rear direction at the corner in the header portion 3 as the lever 5 rotates. The eject lever 5 is a metal plate, and the push rod 6 is a molded product.

That is, in this connector, when the PC card is inserted into the frame 4 from either the upper or lower card insertion slot 4b and advances into the rear header portion 3, the card contact piece 5c of the eject lever 5 causes the PC card to move. The socket contact in the PC card is connected to the pin contact 1 and the insertion is completed immediately after the push rod 6 is moved backward and the push rod 6 is moved to the front. When the corresponding push rod 6 is pushed in to remove the PC card, the eject lever 5 rotates counterclockwise in FIG. 1 and the card contact piece 5c tries to advance forward. Is pushed into the corresponding contact piece 5c and separated from the pin contact 1,
It can be easily pulled out from the card insertion slot 4b with fingers.

As described above, in this embodiment, the main body portion 9 in which the pin contacts 1 in a predetermined array are fixed to the upper and lower stages, respectively.
A frame 4 having a card insertion opening 4b at its front end and having its rear end attached to the main body 9; an eject lever 5 and a push rod 6 supported by this frame 4; It is a connector that supports two PC cards that can be inserted into either of the lower rows. Here, the upper and lower frames 4 are connected to each other at two positions in the front and rear, which is a total of four positions. Of these, the left and right connecting parts are respectively provided with the ground metal fittings 22 which are also the metal fittings serving as the ground terminals. in use. This grounding metal 22 is attached to the frame 4 before being attached to the side view of FIG.
Although it has a shape as shown in the plan view of FIG. 19, as shown in FIG. 19, the rectangular boss 4d protruding from the groove forming portion 20 of the frame 4 is press-fitted while bending the tongue portion 22a. By engaging the bottom plate portion 22b with the positioning boss 4e protruding from the bottom portion of the frame 4 for performing positioning with respect to the printed circuit board 19, the earth metal fitting 22 is easily snapped to the upper and lower frames 4 from the outside. can do. In the grounding metal piece 22 thus mounted, the pair of curved elastic pieces 22c extending toward the tip end side are arranged in the upper and lower frames 4, respectively, at positions where they make elastic contact with the surface of the PC card at the time of insertion, and the bottom plate portion. 22b is arranged at a position where it comes into pressure contact with the ground circuit (not shown) of the printed circuit board 19 at the mounting stage.

In this way, the frame 4 corresponding to one sheet is moved up and down 2
By constructing a connector that can be used for two PC cards by stacking layers, and using some of the metal fittings that connect these two frames 4 at a plurality of places as a grounding metal fitting 22 that also functions as a ground terminal, it is possible to handle two cards. Since it is not necessary to newly form a dedicated frame and it is not necessary to individually install a ground terminal for each frame 4, the manufacturing cost can be significantly reduced. Also,
Since the use of the grounding metal fitting 22 reduces the number of members exclusively for connection, the increase in the number of parts and the assembling man-
Since the grounding metal member 22 can be easily snapped to each frame 4 from the outside, the assembling property is also good.

Since the pin housing 2 and the frame 4 are separate parts in this connector, the frame 4 can be attached to the pin housing 2 after the header portion 3 is automatically mounted on the printed circuit board 19. As described above, in this embodiment, since the bridging portion 21 of each frame 4 is provided with the flexibility in the warp direction with respect to the pair of concave groove forming portions 20, the header portion 3 after mounting is provided with the frame 4. When mounting the frame 4, as shown in FIG. 20, the frame 4 is bent while bending the bridge portion 21 from diagonally above the mounting surface of the printed circuit board 19.
Even if the is pushed toward the header portion 3, the locking piece 4a at the rear end portion of the frame 4 can be easily fitted to the side wall of the pin housing 2. Therefore, even if other components are previously mounted under the frame 4, there is an advantage that the frame 4 and the existing header portion 3 can be integrated without fear of damaging the other components, and high-density mounting is not hindered. Further, the header portion 3 after mounting the frame 4 in this way
Since it is configured to be attached later, there is an advantage that a resin such as PBT which does not require high heat resistance and is relatively inexpensive can be used as the material of the frame 4.

In the above embodiment, the PC card connector having the upper and lower two-stage structure and corresponding to two sheets is described.
It goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to the case of a single PC card connector.

[0027]

As described above, the PC according to the present invention
In the card connector, the bridge portion on the rear end side (header side) of the frame, which is a separate component from the pin housing of the header section, is
Since the C card can be elastically warped with respect to the pair of concave groove forming portions of the frame which guides from the both sides in the width direction, the header portion can be automatically mounted, and the C card is pushed obliquely from above the mounting surface of the printed circuit board. Since the frame can be integrated with the header part after mounting, there is an excellent effect that there is no fear of damaging the existing parts below the frame and no hindrance to high-density mounting.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall plan view of a surface mount type PC card connector according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an overall side view of the connector.

FIG. 3 is an overall front view of the connector.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a header portion of the connector.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an essential part of a pin contact used in the connector.

FIG. 6 is a manufacturing process drawing of the pin contact.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of a main body forming a pin housing of the connector.

FIG. 8 is a front view of the main body shown in FIG.

FIG. 9 is a plan view of a base portion forming a pin housing of the connector.

10 is a partial cross-sectional side view of the base portion shown in FIG.

FIG. 11 is a plan view of a pin holder attached to a rear portion of a pin housing of the connector.

12 is a front view of the pin holder shown in FIG.

FIG. 13 is a plan view of a pin holder attached to a front portion of a pin housing of the connector.

14 is a rear view of the pin holder shown in FIG.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory view showing the shape of the terminal portion of the pin contact after forming in the manufacturing process of the connector.

FIG. 16 is a perspective view of a frame of the connector.

FIG. 17 is a side view of the grounding fitting used for the connector before mounting.

FIG. 18 is a plan view of the ground metal fitting before attachment.

FIG. 19 is a perspective view of relevant parts showing a state in which the ground metal fitting is attached to a frame.

FIG. 20 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which a frame is retrofitted to the mounted header portion of the connector.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 pin contact 2 pin housing 3 header part 4 frame 4a locking piece 4b card insertion slot 5 eject lever 6 push rod 19 printed circuit board 20 concave groove forming part 21 bridging part

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A header portion having a large number of pin contacts fixed to a pin housing in a predetermined arrangement, and a card insertion opening at a front end attached to the pin housing is arranged in front of the pin contacts, A frame that guides the PC card from both sides in the width direction at the time of insertion / removal by a pair of recessed groove forming portions that are connected to the bridge portion at the rear end and extend in the front-rear direction, and freely rotatable to the bridge portion of this frame An eject lever supported on the frame, and a push rod supported on the outside of the recessed groove forming portion of the frame and having a rear end engaged with the eject lever and capable of advancing and retracting in the front-rear direction, and P is characterized in that the bridging portion is provided with flexibility in a warp direction with respect to the pair of concave groove forming portions.
C card connector.