JPS5851392B2 - connector - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] The present invention relates to a connector for a printed circuit board.

The present invention includes a case having a central groove into which a printed circuit board is inserted from the end side thereof, and a case having various shapes located perpendicularly to the length direction of the central groove and at various positions on the movable end and the bottom of the case. a plurality of elastically deformable contact members having fixed ends inserted therein; and a plurality of elastically deformable contact members positioned on the same side as the corresponding contact members with respect to the central plane of the central groove of the case, the contact members being in an open position or in a closed position; and a control member rotatably attached to the case that moves the case to move the control member.
When the printed circuit board is inserted into the connector and the contact member is in the closed position, the contact member moves the contact portion that contacts the conductive path provided on the printed circuit board inserted into the central groove with an appropriate elastic force. It has a structure in which it is located between the shaft and the fixed end.

When inserting or removing a printed circuit board from a contact device (generally consisting of multiple connectors), the contact member must be
In other words, in order to eliminate the force required to insert or remove the printed circuit board, it is necessary to print a protective coating on both the contact members of the connector and the conductive paths on the printed circuit board. Efforts have long been made to solve the problem of the need to move the contact area of the contact member so that it does not rub and break during insertion or removal of a substrate.

Of course, once the printed circuit board is inserted, the contact area of the contact member elastically abuts the conductive path on the printed circuit board, and the connector is in the closed position.

Japanese Patent Application No. 51-031 dated March 22, 1976
In No. 162, the applicant has already detailed a mechanism in which the control member does not rotate but moves linearly to actuate the resilient contact members of the connector to bring the connector into the "open" and "close" positions.

According to this control mechanism, all the contact members are in the open position when the printed circuit board is inserted or removed, and once the printed circuit board is placed in a predetermined position, the contact members can be moved to the closed position due to a predetermined elasticity. Confirmed by user.

French additional patent application No. 72723/1174063
In No. 1, Applicants describe a mechanism for rotating a control member in such a way as to eliminate sliding friction forces.

Rotary movement of this control member in this mechanism is achieved by insertion and removal of the printed circuit board.

It is an object of the present invention to not only perform the functions described in the above-mentioned patent application, but also to effectively self-clean
The object of the present invention is to provide a novel connector which allows automatic sliding contact between the conductive path and the contact area of the contact member.

This mutual sliding contact is sufficient to remove dust that would otherwise interfere with the conduction of low voltage signals between the contact area and the conductive path, but without abrading the aforementioned protective coating.

Another object of the present invention is to reduce the distance between the contact region and the fixed end of the contact member, thereby shortening the transmission period of electrical signals.

A further object of the invention is to provide a connector in which the contact members can be removed and reinserted.

The present invention is a printed circuit board connector having the following configuration.

That is, a case having a central groove into which a printed circuit board is inserted from one end side, and a plurality of fixed ends positioned perpendicularly to the length direction of the central groove and having a movable end and a fixed end inserted into the bottom of the case. an elastically deformable contact member, located on the same side as the corresponding contact member with respect to the midplane of the central groove of the case, and pivotable to the case to move the contact member into an open position and into a closed position; The contact member has a contact portion between the movable end and the fixed end that elastically contacts a conductive path provided on a printed circuit board inserted into the central groove. death,
The control member is attached to the movable end of the contact member and rotates approximately half a rotation, and the contact member has a first portion and a second portion between the movable end and the fixed end, the first portion being a second portion located between the movable end and the contact region and having less flexibility than a second portion, the second portion being located between the contact region and the fixed end from a lying position to a closed position; The contact member and the printed circuit board are configured to self-clean by moving the contact member.

“Starting from the open position, when the control member rotates in a direction in which the curvature of the contact member becomes dog-shaped, the radius of curvature of the contact area becomes larger than in the past when the contact area of the contact member abuts the conductive path of the printed circuit board. Continue.

Then, due to the difference in the flexibility of the first and second parts of the contact member, deformation occurs mainly in the second part, causing the contact area to slide along the conductive path.

Several embodiments can be considered without departing from the spirit of the invention in order to provide different flexibility between the first and second parts.

That is, the first part is configured to have a vertical cross section with a smaller area than the second part, or the first part has a gentle curve as a whole, and the second part is Alternatively, the first portion may have a longitudinal cross section that is mechanically stronger than the second portion.

It is also possible to combine the features of the configurations of these three examples with each other.

Advantageously, the control member is formed of a round rod made of an insulating material, and has a pore drilled in the radial direction of the rod, into which the movable end is inserted.

The movable end of the contact member is removably inserted into the radial slot provided in the control member, and the fixed end is inserted into a groove provided through the bottom of the case so that the contact member can be removed. The fixed end and the movable end toward the open position are arranged on a plane perpendicular to the bottom of the case.

Therefore, to remove the contact member, after placing the contact member in the open position, pull it in a direction perpendicular to the bottom of the case, the fixed end will come out of the groove in the bottom, and the movable end will pass through the slot in the control member. It comes off and comes off.

To reinsert the contact member or insert a new replacement contact member, the procedure described above can be reversed.

Hereinafter, some embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The connector shown in FIG. 1 has a case 1. The connector shown in FIG.

This case 1 includes a bottom portion 1a and two flange portions 1b, and is made of an insulating material.

The case 1 has a substantially U-shaped cross section and a central groove 2 (see FIGS. 2 to 5).

Insert the printed circuit board 3 into this central groove 2 from its end 1
It will be done.

The connector also has, on each side of the central plane P of said central groove 2, elastically deformable contact members 4 located perpendicular to the length of said central groove 2.

This contact member 4 has a movable end 4a and a fixed end 4b.

The fixed end 4b is fixed at a fixed position formed on the bottom 1a of the case 1.

The connector is also connected with respect to the central plane P of said central groove 2 (i.e. with respect to the printed circuit board 3 inserted into the connector)
It has two symmetrically located control members.

By means of said control member 5, the contact members 4 located on the same side with respect to said central plane P are brought into the open position in the upper part of FIG. 1 and in the case shown in FIG. In the case shown, it is in the "closed" position.

Insert the printed circuit board 3 into the connector, and use this method to connect the conductive path provided at the end of the printed circuit board located beside the central groove 2 between the movable end 4a and the fixed end 4b of the contact member 4. The contact area 4c (FIGS. 2-4) contacts the contact member 4, and the contact member 4 is in the "closed" position.

A rotating control member 5 is attached to the movable end 4a of the contact member 4, and when the control member 50 rotates, the movable end 4
The elastically deformable portion between a and the fixed end 4b is elastically deformed, and the movable end 4a rotates by a semicircle.

The first portion 7 of the contact member 4 (the movable end 4a and the contact area 4
The second portion 8 (the portion between the contact area 4c and the fixed end 4b) is more flexible than the portion between the contact area 4c and the fixed end 4b (FIG. 2).

In the embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, the contact member 4 is formed by a strip-shaped metal piece that is curved so that its curved surface is parallel to the axis of the control member 5. In the embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS.

The first portion 7 is spirally curved, and the second portion 8 has a substantially S-shaped curved portion 9.

The control member 5 consists of a solid round bar of insulating material and has a radial slot 10 (see FIG. 5) into which the movable end 4a of the contact member 4 is inserted.

This pore 10 is bored in a cylindrical portion 5a having a larger diameter than the cylindrical portion 5b fitted inside the flange portion 1b of the case 1.

In order to fit the control member 5 into the flange portion 1b despite the presence of the large-diameter cylindrical portion 5a, the flange portion 1b is divided by a dividing surface 11 along the axis of the control member 5.

The control member 5 is an operating lever (
(not shown).

The flange portion 1b has a groove 12 that is parallel to the flange portion and opens toward the central plane P.

The width of this groove 12 is slightly larger than the width of the contact member 4.

The groove 12 is constituted by the side walls of two teeth 13, 13 having a rectangular cross section.

Opposed teeth 13 of the two flange parts 'lb, 1b.
13, there is a gap sufficient to insert the end of the printed circuit board 3.

The movable end 4a of the contact member 4 is removably inserted into the radial hole 10 of the control member 5.

Similarly, the fixed end 4b has a groove 1 passing through the bottom 1a of the case 1.
4 (see Fig. 5).

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, the fixed end 4b of the contact member 4 is narrower from the shoulder 15, and the groove 14 is wider than the fixed end 4b and wider than the rest of the contact member 4. The width is narrower.

The fixed end 4b has a twisted portion 4d at its tail (that is, the portion that penetrates the bottom 1a of the case 1), and therefore the movement of the fixed end 4b is restricted.

In the "open" position shown in the upper part of FIG. 1, FIGS. 2 and 5, the movable end 4a and the fixed end 4b are perpendicular to the bottom 1a of the case 1.

The contact member 4 is moved in the opposite direction to the bottom portion 1a, that is, (1st-L5
If you pull it out (leftward in the figure), case 1 will be empty.

A method of assembling and operating the connector configured as described above will now be described.

First, the control member 5 is positioned at a predetermined position on the dividing surface 11 of the flange portion 1b, and the dividing surface 11 is joined.

Then, with the control member 5 in the "open" position, the contact member 4 is moved in the direction opposite to the arrow shown in FIG. Insert into the hole 10 and insert the fixed end 4b into the groove 14 of the bottom part 1a.

After inserting the fixed end 4b into the groove 14 until the shoulder part 15 abuts the edge of the bottom part 1a, the protruding part of the fixed end 4b is inserted into the first
Twist as shown in the figure to form a twisted portion 4d.

At this time, the contact member 4 is in the state shown in FIG.

Once all contact members are attached in this manner, the connector is ready for operation.

At this time, since the contact member 4 is located apart from the printed circuit board 3, the printed circuit board 3 can be inserted into the central groove 2 without the contact member 4 hitting the conductive path 6, as is clear from FIG.

First, the upper control member 5 (in the figure) is rotated in the direction of the arrow in FIGS. 2 to 4 (that is, in the direction in which the curved portion of the contact member 4 has a dog-shaped curvature).

In this way, the point Q (strictly speaking, the bus line passing through this point Q and perpendicular to the cross section shown in FIGS. 2 to 4) first
The length of the contact area 4c in the linear direction increases when the housing contacts the conductive path 6 (this state in which the contact member 4 contacts the conductive path 6 without applying any force is shown in FIG. 3).

When the control member 5 is further rotated in the same direction, due to the difference in flexibility between the first part 7 and the second part 8, when the first part 7 moves, the S-shaped curved part 9 deforms more sharply. The contact area 4c slides along the conductive path 6.

As a result, as is clear from a comparison of FIGS. 3 and 4, the point Q slides on the conductive path 6, and the surface of the conductive path 6 self-cleans
Furthermore, since the contact region 4c of the contact member 4 pressed against the conductive path 6 becomes flat and comes into contact with the conductive path 6, the current conduction situation is improved.

Another feature that improves the current conduction situation is the contact area 4
c and the tail of the contact member 4 is short.

In this way, all the contact members 4 contact the conductive path 6 with appropriate elastic force after removing dust that impedes conduction, and moreover, the contact area 4c of the contact member 4 contacts the conductive path 6 with a flat surface, so that the contact situation is desirable. becomes.

To open the connector (that is, to separate the contact member 4 from the conductive path 6 of the printed circuit board 3), the control member 5 may be rotated in the opposite direction to that described above.

In order to replace the contact member 4, it is sufficient to untwist the twisted portion 4d (FIG. 1) of the tail portion and pull it out in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 5.

The embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 5 has an S-shaped bend 9 between the fixed end 4b and the contact area 4c, the second part 8 being connected to the first part 7.
It is characterized by greater flexibility.

The embodiment shown in FIGS. 6 to 9 differs from the previous embodiment only in that, instead of the S-shaped curved section, it has a curved section 16 that is approximately symmetrical to the perpendicular to the central plane P. There is.

In this example, when the connector clicks “closed” (7th to
9), both sides of the curved portion 16 press against each other, and the tip of the curved portion 16 increases in height. As a result, the point Q slides on the conductive path 6 as in the previous embodiment, and the contact area 4c Become flat.

Another difference between this embodiment and the previous embodiment is that the groove 14 into which the fixed end 4b of the contact member 4 is inserted is closer to the central plane P.

This is to allow the curved portion 16 to easily pass under the control member 5 when the contact member 4 is removed.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 10 to 13, a contact member 4 shown in an enlarged perspective view in FIG. 15 is used, and a first portion 7 and a second portion
The difference in flexibility of the sections 8 is due to the difference in width between the first section 7 and the second section 8.

For example, if you use a metal piece with a cross section of 0.80
, 40tran square section or 0.30X0.40mm
The second portion 8 is formed by deforming into a rectangular cross section.

The punched portion is indicated by the numeral 17 in FIGS. 10-15.

This embodiment has the advantage, compared to the previously described embodiments, that the portion between the contact area 4c and the tail can be shorter.

The operation of the connector in this embodiment is the same as in the previous embodiment, and the deformation of the contact member 4 is shown in FIG. 11 (in the "open" position) and in FIG. This can be clearly seen by comparing FIG. 13 ("closed" position).

A further alternative configuration for contact member 40 is partially shown in FIG.

With this shape, the second portion 8 is more flexible than the first portion 7.

In this case, the contact member 4 is formed of an elastic wire having a circular cross section of 0.50 m in diameter, for example.

The second portion 8 forms a central plane 18 of the connector.

This plane 18 has a cross section of, for example, 0.25 x 0.75 m.

The manner in which the contact member 4 is elastically deformed is similar to that in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 10 to 13.

In the contact member 4 partially illustrated in FIG. 1
This results from the fact that the cross section of portion 7 is stronger.

This contact member 4 is formed by using a flat plate and twisting the flat plate 90 degrees as shown by the numeral 18 in FIG.

In order to show that other modifications are possible within the spirit of the present invention, the first modification of the embodiment shown in FIGS.
It is shown in Figure 7.

This modification is characterized in that a fixing member 19 is attached, for example, by welding to the control member 5 and the first portion of the contact member 4 adjacent to the control member 5 in order to prevent the first portion from flexing at all. There is.

In addition, in this modification, if the first portion 7 has a circular cross section, the first portion 7
In order to make the part 7 less flexible than the second part 8, it is preferable to wrap a spiral metal wire or an elastic covering member around the first part 7.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a printed circuit board connector according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
The lower part of the figure shows the other contact member in the "closed" position. Figures 2.3.4 are cross-sectional views showing the contact members of the connector shown in Figure 1 in the "open", "intermediate", and "open" positions, respectively; FIG. 5 shows the process of removing the contact member shown in FIGS. 2-4. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a contact member and a rotating control member according to a second embodiment of the present invention. Figure 7.8.9 shows the contact member shown in Figure 6 above.
．． FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing three positions, respectively. FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a contact member and a rotating control member according to a third embodiment of the present invention. Figures 11, 12 and 13 are sectional views showing the contact member shown in Figure 10 in three positions similar to Figures 2 and 3 and 4 above. Figures 14, 15 and 16 are enlarged perspective views of three possible shapes of the contact member used in the embodiment shown in Figures 10-13. FIG. 17 is a sectional view showing a modification of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-5. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1...Case, 1a...Bottom part, 1b...Flange part, 2...Central groove, 3...Printed circuit board, 4...
Contact member, 5... Control member, 6... Conductive path, 7...
・First part, 8... Second part, 10... Pore, 14
···groove.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A case having a central groove into which a printed circuit board is inserted from one end thereof, a movable end and a fixed end positioned perpendicular to the length direction of the central groove and inserted into the bottom of the case. a plurality of elastically deformable contact members having a plurality of elastically deformable contact members located on the same side as the corresponding contact members with respect to the central plane of the central groove of the case, the contact members being configured to be placed in an open position or a closed position; and a control member rotatably attached to the movable case, and the contact member has a contact portion that resiliently contacts a conductive path provided on a printed circuit board inserted into the central groove fixed to the movable end. The control member is attached to the movable end of the contact member and rotates approximately half a rotation, and the contact member has a first portion and a second portion between the movable end and the fixed end. the first portion is located between the movable end and the contact area and is less flexible than the second portion;
The second portion is located between the contact area and the fixed end, and the contact member and the printed circuit board are self-cleaned by movement of the contact member from the open position to the closed position. A connector for printed circuit boards with special features. 2. The connector according to item 1 of the patent, wherein the first portion has a vertical cross section having a larger area than the second portion. 3. Claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the first portion has a gentle curvature as a whole, and the second portion has a strong curvature as a partial bend. Connectors listed in section. 4. The connector according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the first portion has a longitudinal section having greater mechanical strength than the second portion. 5. Among the claims 1 to 4, the control member is made of a solid round bar made of insulating material, and has a radial hole into which the movable end of the contact member is inserted. Connectors listed in either section. 6. The movable end of the contact member is removably inserted into the radial hole provided in the control member, and the fixed end is removably inserted into the groove provided through the bottom of the case. 6. A connector according to claim 5, wherein the fixed end held in the groove and the movable end which can be clicked into the open position are arranged in a plane perpendicular to the bottom of the case.