JPH10228965A - Connector structure for electrically connecting two printed circuit boards, faced to each other at small space, to another circuit element - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To secure the sufficient number of terminals, which can be connected to another circuit element with the minimum interlayer distance, by pinching a spacer, which is formed of an insulating plate having an appropriate thickness, between front edges of two printed wiring boards for integration, and forming the front end surfaces thereof into nearly the same surface, and forming an inner surface front edge of the printed wiring board with a contact electrode, which is connected to a circuit pattern, at need. SOLUTION: Plural U-shaped fine notch parts 4 are formed between a comb gear 5 of a front end surface of a spacer 2. The spacer 2 is pinched by two wiring boards 1a, 1b so that the notch parts 4 work as contact holes. Contact electrodes 6 are formed in an upper and a lower printed wiring boards 1a, 1b each other in response to the notch parts 4 of the spacer 2. The contact electrodes 6 are connected to a circuit pattern of a surface or a back surface of the printed wiring boards 1a, 1b. The contact electrode 6 inside the contact hole and other circuit element are connected to each other by an appropriate method so as to connect the circuit patterns of the printed wiring boards 1a, 1b.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a connector structure for connecting a printed wiring board to an external circuit element, and more particularly, to a connector structure in which two printed wiring boards face each other at a small interval. The present invention relates to a connector structure for electrically connecting to other circuit elements.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A printed circuit board (hereinafter, referred to as a PCB) on which a plurality of elements are mounted is electrically connected to a complicated circuit pattern formed on the surface thereof and a power supply, another PCB, or other circuit elements such as inspection equipment. Need to be connected to And
Various connectors are used to connect the PCB and other circuit elements. Normally, when a system such as one electronic device is configured using a plurality of PCBs, it is often installed in a stacked manner due to its shape. In this case, it is necessary to connect to other circuit elements on the end face of the PCB. In this case, an edge connector is used. In the edge connector, a comb-shaped contact electrode is patterned on a front edge portion of a PCB as a contact portion with another circuit. The entire front edge is used as a male part of the connector. The receptacle, which is a female part that receives the male part, is connected at its front end to a contact electrode of the PCB. In the receptacle, a leaf spring-shaped contact corresponding to the arrangement of the contact electrodes is accommodated in the insulator housing. A partition is integrally formed with the housing so that adjacent contacts do not short-circuit. The contact pinches the contact electrode from above and below with sufficient pressure from the leaf spring. The receptacle is connected to another circuit element via a lead pin or cable connected to each contact.

[0003]

The circuit patterns of PCBs have been increasing year by year in response to the demand for miniaturization of various electronic devices such as information devices. In addition, elements mounted on PCBs have been correspondingly reduced in size and thickness. On the other hand, the edge connector also copes with this by miniaturizing the space between the contacts. However, the edge connector needs to hold the contact electrode of the PCB with the strong pressure of the leaf spring. Therefore, the housing for holding the leaf spring needs to have a corresponding rigidity. Therefore, the housing must have a sufficient thickness in the pressure direction of the leaf spring, that is, in the vertical direction with respect to the PCB. When a plurality of PCBs are stacked and installed, the thickness of the edge connector increases, which increases the volume of the device accommodating the PCB and hinders miniaturization of the device.
In addition, it is not possible to make full use of the merits of reducing the thickness of the element. Further, in many cases, a circuit pattern is formed not only on the front surface or the back surface of a single substrate, but also on a PCB using multilayer wiring technology.
Accordingly, the number of terminals for connecting the PCB to other circuit elements becomes enormous. However, contact electrodes patterned for edge connectors can be arranged in only one row at the front edge of the PCB. Even if both sides of the PCB are used, only two rows of terminals can be formed. Since there is a partition wall between the contacts of the edge connector, a certain space is required between the contact electrodes. No matter how high density the PCB is, it does not make sense to have a limited number of terminals that can be connected to other circuit elements. Therefore, the present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and can connect to other circuit elements with a minimum interlayer distance even when PCBs are stacked and installed, and furthermore, the high density is achieved. It is an object of the present invention to achieve a connector structure that can secure a sufficient number of terminals for a PCB.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention adopts the following connector structure.
The three members are integrated by narrowing a spacer made of an insulating plate having an appropriate thickness between the front edge portions of the two facing PCBs. And its front end face is almost flush. The front edge of the spacer is comb-shaped,
A plurality of substantially U-shaped notches are defined. Therefore, the notch forms a contact hole that is opened alongside the front end face, and this portion serves as a contact portion of the connector. Further, a contact electrode connected to the circuit pattern is appropriately formed on a front edge portion of the inner surface of the PCB, and its arrangement coincides with the position of the notch.

[0005] In the connector structure according to the second aspect of the invention, the spacer narrowed between the front edge portions of the two facing PCBs is formed by laminating insulating plates of an appropriate thickness. Also in this case, the front edge of each insulating plate is formed in a comb shape by a plurality of notches defined in a substantially U-shape. Furthermore, the notch portions of the insulating plate constituting the spacer are stacked so as to be alternated, so that contact holes opened at the front end face are arranged in a mosaic pattern. A wiring pattern for connection is formed on the surface of the insulating plate, and a terminal portion of the wiring pattern for connection is located on a portion serving as an upper wall or a lower wall of the contact hole, thereby forming a contact electrode. And
The circuit pattern is connected to any one of the connection wiring patterns by an appropriate connection means.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the first or the second
In the invention, at least one of the PCBs is formed with a plurality of substantially U-shaped notches so that the front edge of the PCB has a comb-like shape. The contact electrode formed on the surface of the insulating plate that is in contact with the PCB having the notch corresponds to the portion where the notch exists.

According to a fourth aspect, in the second aspect,
The spacer is composed of two PCs whose front end faces face each other.
B is inserted so as to protrude from the front end face.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, there is provided another insulating plate in which the rear ends of the uppermost and lowermost insulating plates of the spacer which are stacked with their front end surfaces aligned are intermediately stacked. More forward. And the two PCs
The front end faces of B are respectively abutted on the rear end faces of the uppermost and lowermost insulating plates.

In a sixth aspect based on any one of the first to fifth aspects, a pin-shaped conductor having relatively high rigidity is inserted into the contact hole, and a tip end of the pin-shaped conductor is contacted with the contact. It protrudes from the hole with sufficient length.

Further, in a seventh aspect, the first to fifth aspects described above.
In any one of the inventions, a pin-shaped or linear conductor is inserted so as to be flush with or slightly project from the front end face of the contact hole. Then, an elastic material having anisotropic conductivity in the insertion direction of the conductor is pressed against the tip of the conductive material and is connected to the other circuit element via the elastic material.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

=== First Embodiment === FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the connector structure according to the present invention. It is the perspective view which looked at the connector structure from the front diagonally upper direction.
A spacer 2 made of an insulating plate is inserted between the front edge portions of the two PCBs 1a and 1b to be integrated. The front edge portion of the integrated structure becomes a connector portion. The front end face of the connector section is substantially flush. Contact holes 3, which are connection portions of the connector section, are arranged in a row on the front end face. The circuit pattern formed on the PCB is connected to other circuit elements via a conductor such as a metal wire inserted into the contact hole. FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a part of the spacer 2 before being inserted into the PCB. The front end face is comb-shaped, and a plurality of U-shaped fine notches 4 are defined between the comb teeth 5. This spacer 2 is connected to two PCBs 1
The notch 4 serves as a contact hole by being held between a and 1b.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged exploded view of the connector portion. Contact electrodes 6 are formed alternately on the upper and lower PCBs 1a and 1b, corresponding to the cutouts 4 of the spacer 2. The contact electrode 6 is connected to a circuit pattern on the front or back surface of the PCB. Therefore, the circuit pattern of the PCB 1a or 1b is connected by connecting the contact electrode in the contact hole and another circuit element by an appropriate method. In this figure, the contact electrodes 6 in one PCB are arranged alternately corresponding to the notches 4, but the contact electrodes are allocated to appropriate notches in accordance with the circuit patterns connected to other circuit elements. Is also good. When the same signal is supplied to the upper and lower PCB circuit patterns, contact electrodes may be formed on the upper and lower walls of the same contact hole. The arrangement of these contact electrodes is appropriately formed according to other circuit elements to be connected.

=== Second Embodiment === FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a connector structure according to a second embodiment. The spacer 2 is inserted between the front edge portions of the two facing PCBs 1a and 1b so as to be substantially flush with the PCBs 1a and 2a and integrated. The spacer 2 is an insulating plate 2a,
2b are laminated. The front end portion of these integrated structures serves as a connector portion. Contact holes 3 are formed in a mosaic arrangement at the front end face of the connector portion.

FIGS. 5A and 5B show insulating plates 2a and 2a, respectively.
It is a top view of 2b. Each of the front edges is formed with a U-shaped cutout 4 and has a comb-like shape. Insulating plates 2a, 2
The cutouts 4b are defined so as to be staggered when stacked. Thereby, the insulating plates 2a, 2b
When the spacer 2 is formed by alternately stacking the
Form a mosaic contact hole. Further, appropriate connection patterns 7a, 7b are provided on the surfaces of the insulating plates 2a, 2b.
b is formed. The ends of the connection patterns 7a and 7b are connected to the contact electrode portions 6a and 6b, respectively. FIG. 6 is a schematic view of the connector portion viewed from the front end face side to show the correspondence between the circuit pattern formed on the front surface or the back surface of the PCB and the contact electrodes. PC
B1a and 1b are circuit patterns 8a on both front and back sides, respectively.
This is a double-sided PCB on which 8b, 9a and 9b are formed. In addition, the spacer 2 is formed by alternately laminating two insulating plates 2a and 2b, each having contact electrodes 6a and 6b formed on one surface thereof, for a total of four laminated layers. The circuit patterns 8a and 8b of the PCB 1a are connected to the contact electrodes 6a and 6b of the laminated upper insulating plate via the through-hole electrodes 10, respectively. Similarly, the circuit pattern 9 of the PCB 1b
a and 9b are connected to the contact electrodes 6a and 6b of the lower insulating plate.

The number of the insulating plates to be laminated depends on the number and arrangement of the connection portions of the circuit pattern connected to the contact electrodes.
Further, the number is appropriately increased / decreased in accordance with the multilayer PCB. Of course, the arrangement of the contact electrodes, the surface on which they are formed, and the like can be changed as appropriate. Further, an arbitrary point of the circuit pattern of the PCB can be connected to the contact electrode as a connection portion. In this case, the connection pattern of the insulating plate may be formed according to the position of the connection portion on the circuit pattern.

=== Third Embodiment === FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a third embodiment. In this embodiment, the front edges of the PCBs 1a and 1b are also comb-shaped by defining a plurality of U-shaped notches 4b similarly to the insulating plate. The cutout portion 4b corresponds to a comb-like portion of an insulating plate laminated immediately below or above, and a contact electrode 6 is formed in this portion as necessary.
The notch may be defined on only one of the PCBs.
The spacer 2 can be applied to a single insulating plate or a laminated type.

=== Fourth Embodiment === FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a fourth embodiment. In this example,
In the above-described second embodiment, the uppermost and lowermost insulating plates 2c and 2d of the spacer 2 having the same front end face are shorter in depth than other insulating plates, and the rear ends thereof are located before the intermediate insulating plate. ing. The two PCBs 1a and 1b sandwich the intermediate layer of the spacer 2 so that the front end faces the rear end faces of the uppermost and lowermost insulating plates 2c and 2d.

=== Fifth Embodiment === FIG. 9 is a perspective view schematically showing a fifth embodiment.
The front end of the spacer 2 formed by laminating a plurality of insulating plates is PC
B projects forward from the front end.

=== Sixth Embodiment === FIG. 10 shows a sixth embodiment. A pin-shaped conductor 11 is inserted into the contact hole 3 of the spacer 2, and its tip projects from the front end face of the spacer 2. The pin 11 is firmly attached to the contact hole 3 and is connected to a contact electrode in the hole. This functions as a male of the connector, and the spacers can be connected to each other by inserting a pin into the opened contact hole. It is also possible to connect the stacked PCBs on a plane.

=== Seventh Embodiment === FIG. 11 shows a seventh embodiment. A conductor 12 such as a metal wire is inserted into the contact hole 3 of the spacer 2. The tip of the conductor 12 is the same as or slightly projects from the front end face of the spacer 2. Then, the elastic body 13 having conductivity only in the insertion direction of the conductor is pressed against the conductor 12 so as to be pressed against the conductor 12. In this embodiment, the anisotropic conductive rubber 13 is used. The anisotropic conductive rubber 13 is made to show conductivity in only one direction by embedding a conductor such as a fine metal wire in an elastic body such as silicon rubber at a high density so that adjacent fine wires do not contact each other. is there. Via this anisotropic conductive rubber 13, it can be connected to another circuit element 14 having a similar connector structure. When other circuit elements such as an external PCB 1c are connected in parallel with the front end face of the spacer 2 as shown in FIG. 12, a connection pattern 15 corresponding to the arrangement of the contact holes 3 is formed on the surface of the PCB 1c. Enables connection.

=== Supplementary Explanation === The above-described first to seventh embodiments show the connector structure when two PCBs are stacked. It is possible to stack more PCBs using the connector structure consisting of these two PCBs and spacers as a constituent unit. Of course, such an embodiment is also included in the scope of the technical idea of the present invention.

[0022]

According to the present invention, when the PCBs are stacked and arranged, the distance between the PCBs can be reduced. Therefore, the height can be suppressed even when PCBs are stacked in multiple layers. Therefore, downsizing of the device in which the PCB is accommodated can be achieved. In addition, the simple structure in which the comb-shaped insulating plate spacer is inserted between the PCBs not only provides high reliability but also achieves significant cost reduction.

Further, according to the second invention, it is possible to cope with an increase in the density of a circuit pattern of a PCB.
The number of terminals connected from one PCB to other circuit elements can be greatly increased. Moreover, unlike the conventional edge connector, it is not necessary to draw out the contact electrodes from the circuit pattern of the PCB and form them at the front edge. In other words, it is only necessary to connect from an arbitrary position of the circuit pattern to the connection pattern on the insulating plate through the through hole.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the number of contact electrodes can be further increased by defining notches in the PCB.

According to the fourth aspect, the interlayer distance between PCBs can be further reduced without reducing the number of contact holes.

According to the fifth aspect, it is possible to cope with a case where a PCB is connected to another circuit element such as an edge connector.

Further, according to the sixth invention, the stacked P
CBs can be easily connected to each other.

According to the seventh aspect, since the PCB is connected to the other circuit elements via the elastic body having anisotropic conductivity, there is no mechanical contact, and it is possible to avoid poor contact due to wear and the like. It becomes possible. And other circuit elements are PC
It is possible to easily connect to circuit elements arranged in parallel with the B end face without requiring special joining parts.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing a first embodiment of a connector structure according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged view of the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view schematically showing the configuration of the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view schematically showing a second embodiment of the connector structure according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a plan view schematically showing components in the second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing a wiring state in the second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view schematically showing a third embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view schematically showing a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view schematically showing a fifth embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view schematically showing a sixth embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view schematically showing a seventh embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing a modification of the seventh embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1a-1c printed wiring board 2 spacer 2a-2d insulating plate 3 contact hole 6 contact electrode 13 anisotropic conductive rubber

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A connector structure for electrically connecting a circuit pattern of a printed wiring board to another circuit element, and has the following requirements (1) to (3). (1) A spacer formed of an insulating plate having an appropriate thickness is narrowed between the front edge portions of two facing printed wiring boards.
Are integrated, and the front end face is almost flush. (2) The front edge of the spacer is formed in a comb shape by a plurality of notches defined in a substantially U-shape, and the notches form a contact hole opened alongside the front end face. . (3) At the front edge of the inner surface of the printed wiring board, a contact electrode connected to the circuit pattern is appropriately formed, and its arrangement coincides with the position of the cutout. 2. A connector structure for electrically connecting a circuit pattern of a printed wiring board to another circuit element, and has the following requirements (4) to (8). (4) A spacer formed by laminating an insulating plate having an appropriate thickness is narrowed between the front edge portions of the two printed wiring boards facing each other so that the three members are integrated, and the front end surface is It is almost flush. (5) The front edge of the insulating plate is comb-shaped by a plurality of notches defined in a substantially U-shape. (6) The notch portions of the insulating plate constituting the spacer are stacked so as to be alternated, so that the contact holes opened on the front end face are arranged in a mosaic pattern. (7) A wiring pattern for connection is formed on the surface of the insulating plate, and a terminal portion of the wiring pattern for connection is located at a portion to be an upper wall or a lower wall of the contact hole and serves as a contact electrode. (8) The circuit pattern is connected to any of the connection wiring patterns by a suitable connection means. 3. The notch according to claim 1, wherein the at least one printed wiring board has a plurality of substantially U-shaped notches formed so that a front edge thereof is comb-shaped. A connector structure, wherein a portion corresponding to the portion corresponds to the contact electrode formed on the surface of the insulating plate in contact with the printed wiring board. 4. The connector structure according to claim 2, wherein the spacer is inserted so that its front end faces protrude from the front end faces of the two printed wiring boards facing each other. 5. The spacer according to claim 2, wherein the rear ends of the uppermost and lowermost insulating plates of the spacers, which are stacked with their front end surfaces aligned, are forward of other insulating plates stacked in the middle. A connector structure, wherein front ends of two printed wiring boards are respectively butted against rear ends of the uppermost and lowermost insulating plates. 6. The pin-shaped conductor according to claim 1, wherein a pin-shaped conductor having relatively high rigidity is inserted into said contact hole, and a tip side of said pin-shaped conductor has a sufficient length from said contact hole. A connector structure characterized by protruding with a connector. 7. A contact according to claim 1, wherein a pin-shaped or linear conductor is inserted so as to be flush with or slightly protrudes from a front end face of said contact hole. A connector structure, characterized in that an elastic material having anisotropic conductivity in the insertion direction is pressed against the tip of the conductor, and is connected to the other circuit element via the elastic material.