JPH11233177A - Connecting structure - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a connecting structure enhancing the reliability of connection when two circuit boards arranged so as to cross each other are connected, and making electronic equipment thin. SOLUTION: A first and second circuit boards 1, 2 having a plurality of sheet-shaped terminal surfaces 10, 20, arranged almost in parallel are arranged on two planes 1F, 2F crossing each other and then connected. A connector 3 which has elastic force for holding contact pressure with the terminal surfaces 10, 20 and in which many belt-shaped or line-shaped conductors 35 are formed almost in parallel in one direction in an insulated state each other, from a first side surface 31 to a second side surface 32 of an insulated substrate 30 is arranged in a corner C formed by arranging two circuit boards 1, 2 so as to cross each other, and the first and second side surfaces 31, 32 are brought into contact with the terminal surfaces 10, 20 of the first and second circuit boards 1, 2 respectively.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a connection structure for connecting wiring boards incorporated in a detection switch or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A detection switch such as a photoelectric switch or a proximity switch includes a so-called detection head 10 as shown in FIG.
A configuration in which a zero and an amplifier unit 200 are separated is known.
The amplifier unit 200 includes a circuit that processes signals from the detection head 100 and the like, and an operation input unit 20 that performs various settings.
And a circuit for inputting / outputting information to / from the display unit 202 for displaying 1 and detection sensitivity and the like. Therefore, the amplifier 2
7A, a large first printed circuit board (first wiring board) 1 and a small second printed circuit board (second wiring board) 2 are accommodated in a state substantially orthogonal to each other as shown in FIG. I have.

[0003]

As a structure for connecting the terminals of the first printed circuit board 1 and the terminals of the second printed circuit board 2, a structure for soldering is known. However, in such a connection structure, the solder is easily peeled, and therefore, the reliability of the connection is low.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 7B, male and female connectors 101, 10 are mounted on both printed circuit boards 1, 2.
There is known a connection structure in which a pair of connectors 2 are fixed and the pair of connectors 101 and 102 are fitted. However, in recent years, while there has been a strong demand for a thinner amplifier unit 200 (FIG. 6),
In the connection structure using the pair of connectors 101 and 102, since the connectors 101 and 102 become thick to some extent,
The thickness of the amplifier unit 200 cannot be reduced.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a connection structure for connecting two wiring boards arranged so as to intersect with each other, in which the connection reliability is high and the thickness of an electronic device can be reduced. It is to provide.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a method of forming a first and a second wiring board having a plurality of planar terminal surfaces arranged substantially in parallel with each other by crossing each other. A connection structure for connecting in a state of being arranged on two planes, and having a plurality of strips or wires extending from a first side to a second side of a base material having elasticity and insulating properties for maintaining a contact pressure with a terminal surface. A connector in which two conductors are formed substantially in parallel with each other in a state of being insulated from each other in one direction is disposed at a corner formed by intersecting two wiring boards, and the first and second connectors are provided. The two side surfaces are brought into contact with the terminal surfaces of the first and second wiring boards, respectively.

According to the present invention, by pressing two side surfaces of the connector against the two substrates, the terminal surfaces of the wiring substrate can be connected to each other by the strip-shaped or linear conductor of the connector.

In the present invention, “a large number of strip-shaped or linear conductors” means that the number of conductors is much larger than the number of terminal surfaces, and a pair of terminal surfaces between two wiring boards are connected to each other. Are connected to each other by a large number of conductors, and adjacent terminal surfaces of one wiring board are insulated from each other. Further, in the present invention, the “side surface of the substrate” refers to a side surface around an axis in a direction in which many conductors are insulated from each other, and the first and second side surfaces are:
It means two sides on different planes.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, in the connection structure of the present embodiment, first and second terminal surfaces 10 and 20 of a first printed circuit board 1 and a second printed circuit board 2 are connected to each other via a connector 3. The connector 3 is housed and supported in a box-shaped housing case (housing housing: connector support) 4 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.
Will be described with reference to FIG.

A plurality of first and second terminal surfaces 10 and 20 each having a rectangular print pattern are formed on the front surfaces 1F and 2F of the printed boards 1 and 2, respectively. The terminal surfaces 10 and 20 are connected to the printed circuit boards 1 and 2, respectively.
Are arranged substantially parallel to each other and in a row on the surfaces 1F and 2F. The first terminal surface 10 and the second terminal surface 20 are each arranged at a pitch P equal to each other. The surfaces 1F and 2F of the printed circuit boards 1 and 2 are disposed on two planes substantially orthogonal to each other, and the first terminal surface 10 is formed around a straight line L formed by intersecting the two planes.
When the is rotated by about 90 °, the two substrates 1 and 2 are disposed at a position where the first terminal surface 10 overlaps the second terminal surface 20.

The connector 3 is composed of a rod-shaped substrate 30 and a number of substantially U-shaped conductors 35 provided on the substrate 30. The base material 30 includes the conductor 35 and both terminal surfaces 1.
It has elasticity to maintain the contact pressure with 0, 20 and has insulating properties. The plurality of conductors 35 are provided over the first side surface 31, the second side surface 32, and the third side surface 33 of the base 30, and are substantially insulated from each other in the longitudinal direction S of the rod-shaped base 30. They are provided in parallel. Here, the insulation between the adjacent conductors 35 does not need to be perfect, and an insulation resistance that does not cause a short circuit between the first terminal surfaces 10, 10 or the second terminal surfaces 20, 20 is required. You only need to have it. As the base material 30, for example, in addition to rubber such as silicone rubber or foamed resin, those obtained by forming a resin film on the surface of the rubber or foamed resin can be used. The conductor 35 can be formed of, for example, a brass wire having a surface plated with gold or a copper foil. Although the connector 3 itself is known, the connector 3 can form the base material 30 to have a diameter of approximately 2 mm to 3 mm, and thus can reduce the thickness of the connection portion.

As described above, by arranging the connector 3 at the corner C formed by arranging the two substrates 1 and 2 to cross each other, the conductor 35 of the first side surface 31 is attached to the first terminal surface 10. And the conductor 35 of the second side surface 32 is brought into contact with the second terminal surface 20. Thereby, the first terminal face 10 and the second
The terminal surfaces 20 are connected via conductors 35, and the adjacent first terminal surfaces 10, 10 and the second terminal surfaces 20, 2,
0 is prevented from being short-circuited.

Next, an example of a specific structure for bringing the connector 3 into contact with the first terminal surface 10 and the second terminal surface 20 will be described.

In FIG. 3, the housing case 4 is made of synthetic resin, and a first support wall 41 for supporting the lower surface 34 of the connector 3 from below, and a second support wall for supporting the third side surface 33 of the connector 3 from the side. 42 and a third support wall 43 disposed at a position facing the second support wall 42. The first support wall 41 is disposed on a plane substantially orthogonal to the second support wall 42 and the third support wall 43, and has a notch hole 41a cut in a slit shape as shown by a broken line in FIG. have. An opening 44 is formed in the housing case 4 of FIG. 3 at an upper portion facing the first support wall 41. In addition, an engagement groove 46 that engages with the first printed circuit board 1 and fixes the case 4 to the first printed circuit board 1 is provided at an end of the storage case 4 in FIG. 2. In addition, an engagement portion 47 that engages with the second printed circuit board 2 and fixes the second printed circuit board 2 to the accommodation case 4 is provided at an upper portion of the accommodation case 4 in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 3, the conductor 35 on the first side surface 31 of the connector 3 has a notch hole 41a formed in the first printed circuit board 1.
The first terminal board 10 of the first printed circuit board 1 is in contact with the first printed circuit board 1 by being inserted into the housing case 4 from above. On the other hand, since the conductor 35 on the second side surface 32 of the connector 3 is fixed to the housing case 4 so that the second printed board 2 closes the opening 44, the conductor 35 of the second printed board 2 is It is in contact with the second terminal surface 20. As described above, in this connection structure, the housing case 4 and the connector 3
Because it connects between the two substrates, unlike soldering,
High connection reliability.

On the upper surface of the first support wall 41, a ridge (protrusion) 41b formed long in the longitudinal direction S (FIG. 4) is provided.
It protrudes from the support wall 41 and is formed integrally. The bottom surface 34 of the connector 3 on which the conductor 35 is not provided is pressed against the ridge 41b, whereby pressure is applied to the base material 30 of the connector 3. An escape portion 48 is formed in the vicinity of the ridge 41b to allow a part of the base material 30 of the deformed connector 3 to escape. Thus, the connector 3 is sandwiched between the first printed circuit board 1 and the second support wall 42 on the left and right, and the first
The first and second support walls 4 are sandwiched vertically between the support wall 41 and the second printed circuit board 2.
1 and 42 and both substrates 1 and 2 are supported in a state where a compressive force is applied.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the ridges 41b
As a result, a compressive force is applied to the connector 3 and the relief 48 of the deformed base material 30 is provided, so that the conductor 35 of the connector 3 can be pressed strongly against both terminal surfaces 10 and 20. Therefore, the reliability of the connection is further improved.

In the above embodiment, the connector 3
The bottom surface 34 on which the conductor 35 is not provided is provided with a ridge 41b.
However, in the present invention, as shown by the arrow in FIG. 5A, the third side surface 33 provided with the conductor 35 may be pressed.

Also, instead of the housing case 4, FIG.
As described above, a member having an L-shaped cross section may be used as the connector support 4A for pressing the connector 3 against the two substrates 1 and 2. Further, in the present invention, it is not always necessary to provide the ridge 41b and the relief 48 of FIG.

The shape of the connector 3 may be circular as shown in FIG. 5 (c) or substantially square as shown in FIG. 5 (d).
The conductor 35 may be provided on at least two adjacent side surfaces 31 and 32 of the connector 3.

The present invention can also be applied to a case where wiring boards of electronic equipment other than a detection switch that switches by detecting an object are connected to each other. Further, the two wiring boards need not be arranged at positions substantially orthogonal to each other, but may be arranged at positions intersecting each other.

[0022]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Using a connector in which a strip-shaped or linear conductor is provided on the side surface of a substrate having elasticity and insulation,
Since two wiring boards are connected, that is, the two wiring boards are connected by the small-diameter connector, the connection structure can be reduced in size, and the electronic device can be made thinner or smaller. Since there is no peeling, the reliability of the connection is improved. If the connector is housed in a box-shaped housing, the reliability of the connection is further improved and the assemblability is improved. In addition, if a compression force is applied to the connector by providing a projection on the support wall of the connector, a high compression force can be obtained, so that the connection reliability can be further improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a connection structure of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an assembled state of a housing case and a wiring board.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the same.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing the principle of the connection structure.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a modified example of the connector.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing an example of a detection switch.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a conventional connection structure.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1: first printed circuit board 10: first terminal surface 2: second printed circuit board 20: second terminal surface 3: connector 31: first side surface 32: second side surface 35: conductor 4: accommodation case 41: first support wall 41b: ridge 42: second support wall 48: relief

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A connection structure for connecting first and second wiring boards each having a plurality of planar terminal surfaces arranged substantially in parallel with each other in a state where the first and second wiring boards are arranged on two planes crossing each other. A large number of strip-shaped or linear conductors are substantially parallel to each other in one direction from the first side surface to the second side surface of the base material having elasticity and insulating properties for maintaining a contact pressure with the terminal surface. Is arranged at a corner formed by intersecting the two wiring boards,
A connection structure for bringing the first and second side surfaces into contact with the terminal surfaces of the first and second wiring boards, respectively. 2. The connector according to claim 1, further comprising a connector support for fixing the connector to the corner and applying a contact pressure at which the connector comes into contact with a terminal surface of the first and second wiring boards. A connection structure in which a support and the first and second wiring boards are fixed. 3. The connector support according to claim 2, wherein the connector support has a pair of support walls provided at positions facing the first and second wiring boards, and the pair of support walls and the first and second wiring boards. A connection structure for sandwiching the connector with a second wiring board; 4. A first and a second surface having a plurality of rectangular and planar terminal surfaces arranged substantially in parallel and in a row.
A connection structure for connecting wiring boards in a state of being arranged on two planes substantially orthogonal to each other, wherein the first side surface of a base material having elasticity and insulating properties for maintaining a contact pressure with the terminal surface. A connector in which a large number of strip-shaped or linear conductors are formed substantially in parallel with each other in one direction and are insulated from one another in a box-shaped housing case, A first and a second support wall which support the connector and are disposed on a plane substantially orthogonal to each other; an opening provided at a position facing the first support wall; And a notch hole in which a portion is cut in a slit shape. The first wiring board is inserted into the housing through the notch hole, so that a terminal surface of the first wiring board is a first terminal of the connector. The second wiring board contacts the conductor on the side surface, The conductor on the second side surface of the connector comes into contact with the terminal surface of the second wiring board by being disposed at a position that closes the opening, and the first and second support walls and the second and first conductors contact each other. A connection structure for supporting the connector with a wiring board while applying a compressive force to the connector. 5. The connector according to claim 4, wherein a projection is formed on the first support wall, and the connector is pressed against the projection to apply a compressive force to a base material of the connector. A connection structure in which an escape portion where a part of the base material of the connector deformed by the compression force escapes is formed near the protrusion. 6. The connection structure according to claim 1, wherein said first and second wiring boards are accommodated in a detection switch.