JPH09213447A - Contact - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a low-friction and stable contact by a small contact force. SOLUTION: A contact part 1a made out of a conductive plate by blanking includes a contact piece 7 in which the edge part of a broken surface side 3 facing an opposite contact part is formed to be a plate thickness dimension thinner than the plate thickness dimension of the contact part 1a. This contact piece 7 is bent in the plate thickness direction of the contact part 1a and includes contact surfaces 7b and 7c corresponding to one plate surface 1e of the plate surfaces 1e and 1f of the contact part 1a formed by blanking in parallel with each other.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a contact which comes into contact with a mating contact portion of a mating contact, and more particularly to a contact which is made by press working and is suitable for a compact and high-density connector.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional contact is incorporated in a connector 30 as shown in FIGS. The connector 30 has a plurality of conductive contacts 1 and an insulator 32 in which the contacts 1 are incorporated at equal intervals (equal pitches).

A fitting portion 32 for fitting a mating connector (not shown) on one side of the insulator 32.
a is formed. Further, in the insulator 32, each of the contacts 1 is inserted into the insulator 32 on the side opposite to the fitting portion 32a, and is inserted in the insulator 32.
Are formed.

When the contact 1 is inserted into the insulator 32 and assembled, the contact portion 1a located on the side of the fitting portion 32a and the contact portion 1a, which continues to one side of the contact portion 1a, inside the insulator 32. It has a holding portion 1b held on the inner wall, and a terminal portion 1c that continues from the holding portion 1b and projects to the outside of the insulator 32. The contact portion 1a is a portion that comes into contact with a mating contact portion of a conductive mating contact 40 (shown by a chain double-dashed line in FIG. 6) provided on the mating connector. The terminal portion 1c is a portion that is connected to a circuit (conductive portion) of a board (not shown) such as a printed circuit board on which the connector 30 is mounted by soldering or the like.

These contacts 1 are inserted into the inside of the insulator 32 from the insertion portion 32b with the contact portion 1a facing forward. In most cases, such an insertion process is performed by an automatic machine. Then, inside the insulator 32, the contacts 1 are arranged at predetermined intervals in the pitch direction.

By the way, as the contact 1, a plurality of contact-shaped bodies shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 can be obtained at the same time by punching out one thin conductive plate in the plate thickness direction by a pressing machine. In such a contact 1, a cut surface 3 is formed in the plate thickness direction. As shown in FIG. 7, the contact surface 1a of the contact portion 1a of the contact surface 3a, that is, the contact portion 1d protruding so that the contact portion of the contact portion is in contact is formed as shown in FIG. This is the part where the mating contact part of 40 contacts. The cut surface 3a of the contact portion 1a is brought into sliding contact with the mating contact portion of the mating contact 40 to maintain mutual contact at a predetermined position (contact portion 1d).

The double-dashed line portion shown in FIG. 7 shows the cross-sectional portion 5 of the contact portion 1d. As shown in FIG. 7, it can be seen that the cross-section portion 5 has a rectangular shape that is substantially right-angled by punching with a pressing machine.

Further, in designing a connector with a narrow pitch (high density and small size), when the contact 1 is manufactured by press working, the contact shape body obtained by punching is the main shape. This is to prevent the punching with a die smaller than the thickness of the die of the press from becoming weak in consideration of the punching strength and the strength of the contact 1.

[0009]

However, since the fracture surface 3a of the contact portion 1a of the contact 1 is cut by the press machine and the cut surface 3a is rough, when the contact surface 40a contacts the mating contact 40. The frictional resistance increases and the insertion force increases when the mating contact 40 is inserted into the contact portion 1a of the contact 1. That is, contact 1 and partner contact 4
If the contact with 0 is one set, it is not necessary to consider frictional resistance and insertion force so much. However, when the contact 1 is adopted as a high-density connector, a large number of contacts 1 are formed in a connector having a predetermined shape. Since it is necessary to reduce the thickness of the high-density plate for assembling, it is necessary to sufficiently consider the frictional resistance and insertion force. On the other hand, in the high-density connector, it is necessary to increase the contact force in order to obtain a sufficient contact, but if the wear is severe, it becomes difficult to prolong the service life.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a contact which can obtain stable contact with low friction with a low contact force.

[0011]

According to the present invention, there is provided a contact including a contact portion formed by punching a conductive plate, the contact portion being formed by punching the conductive plate. It has a fracture surface and front and back plate surfaces of the conductive plate that are parallel to each other, and relatively moves the mating contact part and the mating part of the mating contact to form the mating contact part and the contact part. In the contacts to be brought into contact with each other, the contact portion has a contact piece in which an edge portion on the fracture surface side facing the mating contact portion is formed to have a plate thickness dimension smaller than a plate thickness dimension of the contact portion, The contact piece is bent in the plate thickness direction of the contact portion, and has a contact surface that is common to one of the mutually parallel plate surfaces of the punched contact portion. Get contact.

Further, according to the present invention, the contact surface has a sliding contact surface portion with which the contact piece and the mating contact portion are in sliding contact with each other, and a contact surface portion formed continuously with the sliding contact surface portion. A contact is obtained which is characterized in that

Further, according to the present invention, in the method of manufacturing a contact in which the mating contact portion of the mating contact and the contact portion are brought into contact with each other by their relative movement, the conductive plate is punched. A step of forming a contact shape body including a contact portion, the edge portion of the fracture surface of the contact portion in the plate thickness direction so that the mating contact portion comes into contact, the plate surfaces of the front and back surfaces parallel to each other of the contact portion from one surface A step of crushing by pressing on the other surface to form a contact piece having a thickness smaller than the thickness of the contact portion, and after the step, the contact piece is bent in the thickness direction to form the contact plate. A contact manufacturing method is provided, which includes a step of forming a contact surface with which the mating contact portion contacts.

[0014]

1 and 2 show an embodiment of a contact according to the present invention. In this embodiment, the structure of the connector 30 or the insulator 32 shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 for incorporating the contact is basically the same, and the description thereof will be omitted.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the contact 1
Is the contact portion 1a and the contact 1 shown in FIGS.
Similarly to the above, the holding portion 1b continuing to the contact portion 1a
And the terminal portion 1c continuously extending from the holding portion 1b.
It has.

Similar to the contact 1 shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the contact 1 is obtained by punching a conductive plate with a press machine to simultaneously obtain a plurality of contact-shaped bodies. The method of manufacturing the contact 1 will be described later.

The contact 1 and the contact portion 1a thereof are parallel to each other, which is a fracture surface 3 formed by punching a conductive plate in the plate thickness direction, and the same material portion as the punched conductive plate portion. It has the front and back plate surfaces 1e and 1f. Further, the contact portion 1a has a curved shape protruding in the direction in which the mating contact portion comes into contact. The mating contact portion of the mating contact (see FIG. 6) 40 and the contact portion 1a mutually contact the mating contact portion and the contact portion 1a.

The contact portion 1a has a contact piece 7 in which an edge portion on the side of the fracture surface 3 facing the mating contact portion is formed to have a plate thickness smaller than that of the contact portion 1a. The contact piece 7 is bent in the plate thickness direction of the contact portion 1a. Also, the contact piece 7
Are parallel plate surfaces 1e of the punched contact portion 1a,
The contact surface (7b, 7b, which is common to one plate surface 1e of 1f
7c). The contact surface (7b, 7c) includes a sliding contact surface portion 7b where the contact piece 7 and the mating contact portion are in sliding contact with each other,
The contact surface portion 7c is formed continuously with the sliding contact surface portion 7b. The mating contact portion reaches the contact surface portion 7c from the sliding contact surface portion 7b, and the predetermined movement is completed at the contact surface portion 7c.

Next, a method of manufacturing this contact will be described below with reference to FIGS. The two-dot chain line portion 10 shown in FIG. 3 shows a cross section of the contact portion that constitutes the contact portion shown in FIG.

First, a conductive plate is punched to form a contact shape body having a predetermined shape including the contact portion 1a. Next, the edge of the contact part 1a on the side of the fracture surface 3 is in the plate thickness direction so that the mating contact part contacts, that is, the plate surfaces 1e and 1f of the contact part 1a that are parallel to each other are arranged from one surface 1f to the other surface. A contact piece 7 having a thickness smaller than that of the contact portion 1a is formed by crushing the contact piece 1e using a pressing machine. It is also possible to form the contact piece 7 by crushing the contact 1 at the same time as punching out the contact 1 using a well-known press die. When the contact piece 7 is crushed, a step surface 1g having the same direction as the fracture surface 3 is formed in the plate thickness direction of the contact portion 1a. After that, when the contact piece 7 is bent in the plate thickness direction, that is, so as to face the step surface 1g, the contact surface (7b, 7c) with which the mating contact portion contacts the contact piece 7 is formed.

When the contact piece 7 is bent so as to cover the step surface 1g, the contact surface (7b, 7c) is formed on the outer surface of the contact piece 7.
Since the contact surface (7b, 7c) is the same smooth surface as the material surface of the conductive plate, it is not necessary to newly process the contact surface (7b, 7c) to be smooth. Further, even if the contact piece 7 is slightly curved in a protruding shape on the step surface 1g, the contact piece 7 has a small friction at the time of contact and can be contacted with a low contact force.

Further, in FIGS. 3 and 4, the contact piece 7 is larger than the plate thickness of the contact portion 1a.
After bending the contact piece 7 in the plate thickness direction, the other surface 1 of the contact portion 1a
When projecting outwardly from f, the portion may be bent so as to be further rounded, or the contact piece 7 may be cut because it is a thin plate.

[0023]

As described above, according to the contact of the present invention, since the contact portion is formed of the conductive plate, the front and back surfaces, which are the material surfaces of the conductive plate, are smooth surfaces. Therefore, stable contact with low friction can be obtained with a low contact force. Therefore, the contact insertion force is low, and a contact suitable for extending the life can be obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a contact of the present invention,
In particular, it is a perspective view showing a contact portion which is a main portion of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a contact portion of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an intermediate step of a contact portion according to the method of manufacturing the contact shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a contact portion of FIG.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view showing a conventional connector and contact.

6 is a sectional view showing a state where the contact shown in FIG. 5 is incorporated in an insulator.

7 is a perspective view showing a contact portion of the contact shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 contact 1a contact part 1b holding part 1c terminal part 1d contact part 1e, 1f plate surface 1g step surface 3 fracture surface 7b sliding contact surface part (contact surface) 7c contact surface part (contact surface) 30 connector 40 mating contact

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A contact including a contact portion formed by punching a conductive plate, the contact portion being parallel to a fracture surface formed by punching the conductive plate and the conductive plate being parallel to each other. In the contact having the front and back plate surfaces, the other contact portion and the contact portion are brought into mutual contact by the relative movement of the other contact portion and the contact portion of the other contact, the contact portion, There is a contact piece in which the edge portion on the fracture surface side facing the mating contact portion is formed to have a plate thickness dimension smaller than the plate thickness dimension of the contact portion, and the contact piece is in the plate thickness direction of the contact portion. A contact, which is bent and has a contact surface common to one of the parallel plate surfaces of the punched contact portion. 2. The contact according to claim 1, wherein the contact surface is a sliding contact surface portion where the contact plate and the mating contact portion are in sliding contact with each other, and a contact surface portion which is continuously formed on the sliding contact surface portion. A contact characterized by having. 3. A method of manufacturing a contact in which a mating contact portion of a mating contact and the contact portion are brought into contact with each other by their relative movement, a contact shape including a contact portion by punching a conductive plate. In the step of forming a body, the edges of the fracture surface of the contact portion with which the mating contact portion comes into contact are crushed in the plate thickness direction by pressing the plate surfaces of the contact portion, which are parallel to each other, from one surface to the other A step of forming a contact piece having a plate thickness dimension smaller than the plate thickness dimension of the contact part, and after the step, the contact piece is bent in the plate thickness direction to bring the mating contact part into contact with the contact plate A method of manufacturing a contact, comprising the step of forming a contact surface.