JPH10172689A - Pinching type connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a pinching type connector having a simple structure in which a male side connector provided with a hard member and a female side connector provided with a hard member to which a flexible board is attached are easily attached to and detached from each other. SOLUTION: A female side connector 10 is constituted by installing a resilient spring 40 in an upper face of a holding member 20, installing a flexible board 50 on the holding member 20 and the resilient spring 40 while setting the electrode part of a circuit pattern upward, and further forming an insertion part 11 between a cover 60 and the holding member 20 by installing the cover 60 on the flexible board 50. The flexible board 50 is so installed as to keep both sides of a part which is to be lifted by the resilient part 43 of the resilient spring 40 in tense state by a prescribed tensile force by projected parts 25, 29.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a pinch type connector having a structure in which a male connector is inserted into an insertion portion of a female connector so as to press-connect electrodes provided on both connectors.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As shown in FIG. 8, various components are incorporated in a first case 180 and a second case 190 into semi-finished products. , 190 are integrated to complete this product, and at the same time, the insertion portion 18 of the female connector 181 provided in the first case 180 is formed.
2 has a structure in which the male connector 191 provided in the second case 190 is inserted to connect the two.

On the other hand, the first case 180 and the second case 1
90 is a key top 1 for various push button switches.
83, 193, and these key tops 1
83, 193, that is, inside the first case 180 and the second case 190, the flexible substrates 200, 210
Are arranged. These flexible substrates 20
Switch contacts 201 and 211 are provided at positions 0 and 210 facing the key tops 183 and 193, respectively.

[0004] One flexible substrate 200 is connected to a female connector 181 fixed to the first case 180, and the other flexible substrate 210 is connected to the second case 19.
0 is connected to the main board 195 to which the male connector 191 fixed in the inside is attached.

A control circuit and a drive circuit (not shown) are provided on the main board 195, and signals from the flexible boards 200 and 210 are also input to the main board 195.

The female connector 181 and the male connector 191 are used only for connecting the electric circuit of the flexible board 200 to the main board 195.

The flexible substrates 200 and 210
On the upper side, in addition to the switch contacts 201 and 211, a light emitting element, a variable resistor, and the like (not shown) are attached.

[0008]

However, the above-mentioned prior art has the following problems. The female connector 181 and the male connector 191 are
As described above, both the female connector 181 and the male connector 191 need to be formed of a hard member in order to have a structure that allows simultaneous connection when the two cases 180 and 190 are joined. The conventional female connector 181 and male connector 191 of this type are configured by attaching an electrode portion made of a metal terminal plate to a hard case.
The structure was complicated and the assembly was complicated.

By the way, the two flexible substrates 2
00 and 210 are switch contacts 2 as described above.
01, 211, etc., and a single circuit pattern is formed by the entire flexible substrates 200, 210 as a circuit. Therefore, both flexible substrates 20
0, 210 has a common circuit pattern such as an earth pattern circuit. And if both flexible substrates 200,2
If the flexible circuit boards 10 and 10 can be directly connected without passing through the main board 195, there is no need to provide a circuit for connecting the common circuit pattern of the two flexible boards 200 and 210 on the main board 195. It is not necessary to attach the side connector 191, and the space on the main board 195 can be effectively used, which is preferable. In addition, the installation position of the connectors 181 and 191 is not limited to the position on the main board 195, and the degree of freedom of the installation place is improved.

Particularly, it is more preferable that the circuit patterns provided on the flexible substrates 200 and 210 can be directly press-welded to each other.

However, conventionally, there has been no simple sandwiching type connector having a structure in which both the flexible boards 200 and 210 are attached to a hard member and the circuit patterns of the flexible boards 200 and 210 can be directly pressed and connected to each other. .

The applicant of the present application has proposed a sandwich type connector having a structure in which circuit patterns of a flexible board are directly connected to each other in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 6-21160. In this case, one flexible board is attached to a hard member. However, since the other flexible substrate is not attached to the hard member, it has been difficult to connect the connectors simultaneously when assembling the two cases integrally. That is, it is possible to assemble the two cases after once connecting the connector, but it has been difficult to simultaneously assemble the case and connect the connector.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to facilitate the attachment and detachment between a male connector having a hard member and a female connector having a hard member to which a flexible board is attached. Another object of the present invention is to provide a pinched connector having a simple structure.

[0014]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, according to the present invention, a male connector is inserted into an insertion portion of a female connector, so that an electrode portion provided on the male connector and a female connector are provided. In the pinch type connector having a structure in which an electrode portion provided on the attached flexible substrate is pressed and connected to the female connector, the female side connector has a resilient spring mounted on an upper surface of a holding member so that the resilient portion faces upward, and A flexible board with the electrode part of the circuit pattern facing upward is mounted on the member and the resilient spring, and furthermore, a cover is mounted on the upper part of the holding member to provide an insertion portion having a predetermined gap between the cover and the holding member. In attaching the flexible board to the holding member, both sides of the portion lifted by the resilient portion of the resilient spring are pulled with a predetermined tension. Was constructed by allowed to fixed to the holding member in state.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a female connector 10 used in the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the female connector 10 includes a holding member 20, a resilient spring 40, a flexible substrate 50, and a cover 60. Hereinafter, each component will be described.

FIG. 2A is a sectional view of the holding member 20 shown in FIG.
2A is a sectional view, and FIG. 2B is a bottom view. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the holding member 20 is formed by molding an insulating synthetic resin material into a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and accommodates a flexible substrate 50 and a male connector 70 described below on the upper surface thereof. A groove 22 having a depth L is provided, and a rectangular storage recess 21 for storing a resilient spring 40 described below is provided in the center of the groove 22, and along the storage recess 21. As described above, a slit-shaped through hole 23 is provided, and a projection 25 for fixing a flexible substrate 50 described below is provided on the upper surface of the holding member 20. Note that the depth L of the groove 22 is substantially the same as the thickness when the flexible board 50 and the male connector 70 described below are overlapped.

On both outer side surfaces of the holding member 20, four guide grooves 2 for guiding locking pieces 61 of a cover 60 described below are provided.
7 are provided.

On the lower surface of the holding member 20, two projections 29, 29 and two claws 31, 31 are provided.

Next, as shown in FIG.
Nine resilient portions 43 projecting in parallel from one side of a flat base 41 made of an elastic metal plate in a comb shape are bent upward in a substantially U-shape. A tongue piece 47 for positioning protrudes from the center of the other side of the base 41, and claws 45 protruding in the width direction are provided on both end sides of the base 41, respectively.

Next, a flexible substrate 50 is formed by arranging circuit patterns 51 in parallel on a flexible synthetic resin sheet.
It is formed by this screen printing, and an electrode portion 53 is provided at each end. Further, two holes 55 are provided on both sides of the tip portion, and the circuit pattern 51 is provided.
One hole 57 is also provided therein. Note that this flexible substrate 50 is provided with a first case 28 shown in FIG.
0 is a part of the flexible substrate 50 attached to the flexible substrate 50.

Next, the cover 60 is provided with two tongue-shaped locking pieces 61 on both sides of the metal plate and bent downward, and one side of the cover 60 is slightly bent upward. The guide side 63 is formed by being bent in a tapered shape.

To assemble the female connector 10, first, the base 41 of the spring 40 is press-fitted into the recess 21 of the holding member 20 and fixed. At this time, the claw 45 of the elastic spring 40 is engaged with the side surface of the storage recess 21, so that the fixing is ensured and the detachment can be prevented.

Next, the leading end of the flexible substrate 50 is inserted into the through hole 23 of the holding member 20 and pulled out to the back side of the holding member 20, and the protrusions 29 provided on the lower surface of the holding member 20 are provided.
29 (see FIG. 2), holes 55 and 5 of flexible substrate 50 are provided.
5, and in this state, the flexible substrate 50 on the upper surface side is inserted.
The hole 57 of the flexible substrate 50 is inserted into the protrusion 25 provided on the upper surface of the holding member 20 while pulling the wire with a predetermined tension. Then, each of the projections 25, 29, 29 is crushed by heat caulking.

A cover 6 is provided on the upper surface of the holding member 20.
0, the locking piece 61 of the cover 60 is inserted into the guide groove 27 of the holding member 20 and the tip of the locking piece 61 is
It is fixed by bending it to the lower surface of 0. Thus, the female connector 10 is completed.

FIGS. 3A and 3B show the female connector 10. FIG. 3A is a plan view, and FIG. 3B is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. 3A. As shown in the figure, an insertion portion 11 is provided between the holding member 20 and the cover 60.

In the flexible substrate 50, the back surface of the electrode portion 53 (see FIG. 1) is lifted by the resilient force of the resilient portion 43 of the resilient spring 40. Are fixed by the protrusions 25 and the protrusions 29, so that the lifted portion of the flexible substrate 50 does not come into contact with the cover 60.

In other words, the flexible substrate 50
The flexible substrate 50 is fixed to the holding member 20 so that both sides of a portion lifted by the resilient portion 43 are pulled with a predetermined tension.
Are configured not to abut against the cover 60.

In the present invention, both sides of the portion lifted by the resilient portion 43 of the flexible substrate 50 are pulled for the following reasons. The hard male connector 70 described below has a large thickness, and accordingly, the thickness of the insertion portion 11 of the female connector 10 increases accordingly. However, if only one of the flexible substrates 50 is fixed, the thick insertion portion The flexible substrate 50 bends so as to be largely convex upward in 11. When the male-side connector 70 is inserted into the insertion portion 11 in this state, when the flexible board 50 that has been largely bent upward is pushed down, the flexible board 50 becomes excessive and bends in a wavy manner. As a result, the electrical connection with the male connector 70 described below may be incomplete. Therefore, the flexible substrate 50 is fixed in a state where both sides of the flexible substrate 50 are pulled in advance so that the flexible substrate 50 is not excessively bent.

If the flexible board 50 is not pulled from both sides, the flexible board 50 contacts the cover 60 due to the resilience of the resilient portion 43.
Since the reference numeral 0 is made of a metal plate, each of the electrode portions 53 is short-circuited. If a voltage is applied to the flexible substrate 50 for inspection or the like, the flexible substrate 50
This is because various electronic components attached to another place are destroyed, and the electrical inspection of the flexible substrate 50 cannot be performed accurately.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the male connector 70. FIG. As shown in the figure, the male connector 70 includes an insertion plate 80 and a flexible substrate 90. Hereinafter, each component will be described.

The insertion plate 80 is made of an insulating synthetic resin material in a substantially rectangular shape and has an insertion portion 11 of the female connector 10 (FIG. 3).
A groove 81 having a depth for accommodating a flexible substrate 90 described below is provided on the lower surface thereof, and a tapered step portion is formed substantially at the center of the groove 81. 83 are provided, and two protrusions 84 for fixing the flexible substrate 90 described below are provided on both sides of the tip side portion of the groove 81 which is deepened by one step by the step portion 83.
84 are provided.

One end of the insertion plate 80 is
And a mounting plate 85 is integrally mounted vertically. The mounting plate 85 is fixed to a second case 290 shown in FIG. 7 described below. The mounting board 85 has a flexible board 90
Is formed.

Next, the flexible substrate 90 is formed by screen-printing nine circuit patterns 91 in parallel on the lower surface of a synthetic resin sheet having flexibility, and an electrode portion 93 is provided at each end thereof. I have. Holes 95 are provided on both sides of the tip. Note that this flexible substrate 90 has a second case 290 shown in FIG.
Is a part of the flexible substrate 90 attached to the first substrate.

The assembly of the male connector 70 is as follows.
The tip of the flexible board 90 is inserted into the slit 87 of the insertion plate 80 and guided into the groove 81, and the protrusion 8 of the insertion plate 80 is formed.
This is performed by inserting the protrusions 4 and 84 into the holes 95 and 95 of the flexible board 90 and then caulking and crushing the protrusions 84 and 84 to fix them.

FIG. 5 is a schematic sectional view of the assembled male connector 70. As shown in FIG.
0 is pulled out rearward from the slit 87 with its tip fixed by the projections 84, 84. Therefore, even if the flexible substrate 90 drawn rearward from the slit 87 is bent at a right angle as shown in FIG. Even if the flexible board 90 is bent to the shape of the above, the state where the flexible substrate 90 is still stretched on the lower surface of the insertion plate 80 does not change. In addition, the height of the projections 84, 84 after being crushed is the groove 8
The height is lower than the height of the flexible substrate 90 attached in the inside.

FIG. 6 is a side sectional view showing a state where the male connector 70 is inserted into the insertion portion 11 of the female connector 10. FIG. 7 shows the first and second connectors 10 and 70.
It is a figure which shows the attachment position to 2nd case 280,290.

As shown in FIG. 7, both connectors 10, 70
Can be provided at desired positions of the first and second cases 280 and 290, respectively. The position may be any position, and is not limited to the position of the main substrate 295 as in the related art. In other words, the two flexible substrates 50 and 90 are both routed over the main substrate 295.
There is no need to connect on the base 95, and the degree of freedom of the installation place increases.

Further, since it is not necessary to connect the circuit patterns of the two flexible substrates 50 and 90 by using the circuit pattern on the main substrate 295, the space of the main substrate 295 can be effectively used.

Then, after assembling the various parts into the two cases 280 and 290 to form a semi-finished product, and joining them together, the male connector 70 is inserted into the female connector 10 at the same time.

As a result, as shown in FIG. 6, the electrode portions 53 and 93 of both flexible substrates 50 and 90 (FIGS. 1 and 4).
Are directly contacted, the corresponding contact portion is repelled upward by the resilient portion 43 of the resilient spring 40, and is sandwiched between the resilient portion 43 and the insertion plate 80 to be connected by pressure.

The male connector 70 may be constructed by printing the electrode portion 93 directly on the lower surface of the hard insertion plate 80 without using the flexible substrate 90.

[0042]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, the male connector having a hard member and the female connector having a hard member having a flexible board attached thereto can be easily attached and detached. It has an excellent effect that the structure is simple.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a female connector 1 used in an embodiment of the present invention.
0 is an exploded perspective view.

FIG. 2A is a sectional view of the holding member 20 shown in FIG.
FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view, and FIG.

3A and 3B are views showing the female connector 10; FIG. 3A is a plan view, and FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. 3A.

4 is an exploded perspective view of the male connector 70. FIG.

FIG. 5 is a schematic sectional view of the assembled male connector 70;

6 is a side sectional view showing a state when the male connector 70 is inserted into the insertion portion 11 of the female connector 10. FIG.

FIG. 7 shows first and second cases 28 of both connectors 10, 70;
It is a figure which shows the attachment position to 0,290.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Female connector 11 Insertion part 20 Holding member 40 Resilient spring 43 Resilient part 50 Flexible substrate 51 Circuit pattern 53 Electrode part 60 Cover 70 Male side connector 80 Insertion board 90 Flexible substrate 91 Circuit pattern 93 Electrode part

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A structure in which a male connector is inserted into an insertion portion of a female connector, so that an electrode portion provided on the male connector and an electrode portion provided on a flexible board attached to the female connector are pressed and connected. In the pinched connector, the female connector mounts a resilient spring on the upper surface of the holding member so that the resilient portion thereof faces upward, and the electrode portion of the circuit pattern faces upward on the holding member and the resilient spring. The flexible board is attached to the holding member, and a cover is attached to the upper part of the holding member to provide an insertion portion having a predetermined gap between the cover and the holding member. It is constituted by fixing both sides of the portion lifted by the spring resilient portion to the holding member in a state of being pulled with a predetermined tension. Clamping connector, characterized in that there.