JPS6372081A - High density zero-insertion-force card edge connector - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION U.S. Pat. No. 3,660,803 discloses a CardEdge connector having twice the number of contact elements typically included in other CardEdge connectors of the time. There is. This increased density is achieved by placing the lower part of every other contact element in the lower part of the contact element next to it in front, and by leading the upper part laterally forward and placing it adjacent to the upper part of the adjacent contact element.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,899,234 discloses a CardEdge connector in which a U-shaped drive member is vertically movably inserted into the bottom of a CardEdge receiving slot. When the drive member is cammed upwardly, its parallel side walls normally resiliently engage and displace the contact element extending into the card edge receiving slot. When a card is inserted into the slot from above and the drive member is returned to its original position, the contact elements can resiliently return into the slot and electrically engage the conductive tracks on the card surface.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,982,807 discloses a card edge connector that includes a lower mounting member containing contact elements and a vertically sliding housing disposed above the lower mounting member. As the rotating shaft drives the housing downward, the internal camming surface forces the contact elements into electrical engagement with a card inserted into the card edge receiving slot.

The present invention provides a connector that accepts cards with a high density of contact elements, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,660,803, yet does not require insertion force. In particular, the connector includes a plurality of contact elements disposed within the lower housing, the contact surfaces being located within compartments located on opposite sides of a card edge receiving slot in the upper housing that is movably mounted relative to the lower housing. is standing up. When cam means disposed between the lower and upper housings moves the upper housing upwardly, the internal cam surface drives the contact elements inward toward the slot to engage the conductive traces on the inserted card surface. .

The upper housing also has upwardly tapered inner and outer walls into which the electrical shield is fitted.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to practical examples shown in the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, the constituent members of the connector of the present invention include:
Lower housing (10), contact elements (12), (14)
, cam slides (16) and an upper housing (18). These components, in conjunction with the lever (110) shown in FIG. 5, are constructed and assembled to provide a card edge connector with a high density of contact elements. The high-density contact elements are cammed into electrical engagement with conductive traces on the card surface after a circuit card is inserted into the card-receiving slot of the connector. The housing and cam means may be made of a suitable insulating material, such as those manufactured by General Electric Company under the trade name
manufactured from glass-filled plastic commercially available (LOX).

The contact element can be stamped into a continuous strip and overplated with gold over nickel. The strip material is preferably phosphor bronze.

The lower housing (10) has a plurality of chambers (22) spaced along the length of the housing on either side of an upright center 1 (24). As shown in FIGS. 2 and 6, the outward extent of these chambers is defined by an inner wall (26) of lower height than the central wall. The lower housing has an inner passageway (30-i) extending downward from the bottom surface (32) of the small chamber and opening into the lower surface of the housing.
and an outer passageway (30-o). Passage H6-
t) is adjacent to the central wall (24) and the passageway (30-o) is adjacent to the inner wall (26). Both walls (24), (26) are vertically grooved as indicated by (34). These grooves form an upward extension of the passageway (30).

Both sides of the lower housing! (36) are each inner wall (26
) defining a longitudinal slot 1-(38) between the walls. Several cam followers (40) are arranged in these slots in their longitudinal direction.

T-shaped vertical end walls (4) are provided at both ends of the lower housing (10).
2) is provided. At the upper end of the end wall (42) is a symbol (44).
), and both corners are sloped (46
) L, there.

A lever support member (48) extending forward is attached to the front end of the lower housing (10), and a slot (50) is provided at the upper end of the member (48) to accommodate a U-shaped horizontal slot (50).
2) intersects with

A bottle (54) can be suspended from both end walls (42), as shown by broken lines in FIG. These bins orient and stabilize the connectors on the circuit board.

Contact elements (12), (14) are connected to the lower housing (10)
The upper housing (18) is placed in the small chamber (22) of the
) (Figures 6 and 7), and the holding part rises inside the passage (Figures 6 and 7).
30), the lower portion of which projects downwardly from the lower housing and is inserted into a plated through hole in the circuit board.

Each chamber (22) has two contact elements, namely contact elements (
12) and contact elements (14) are accommodated one by one. 1st
In the figure, some contact elements are omitted for clarity. The contact element (12) is located in the passageway (30-i) and will therefore be referred to as the inner element, and the contact element (14) is located in the passageway (30-0) and will therefore be referred to as the outer element.

The construction of these contact elements is shown in FIGS. 3a, i3b and 4a, 4b. Figures 3a and 3b show the contact element (12), ie the inner element, and Figures 4a and 4b show the contact element (14), the outer element; the preferred method of manufacturing these elements is to use a carrier strip ( 56
) with a continuous strip shown as 1. The element is reeled as a strip (U
(10) and can be inserted all at once into the lower housing (10). Reference numeral (58) indicates the notch for breaking off the carrier strip from the element after insertion.

In both the inner and outer elements, the symbol (60) is the upper part, (6
2) represents the holding part, and (64) represents the lower part. The free end of the upper part has a contact surface (66), which may be plated with a precious metal, which engages the conductive tracks of a card inserted into the connector (FIG. 7). The uneven part under the contact surface is a convex cam surface (
68).

The holding part (62) has a plate part (70) and a recess (72
).

The lower portion (64) includes leads (74) that are inserted into plated through holes in the circuit board. This lead is described, for example, in U.S. Patent No. 4. It may also be of the compliant bin type as disclosed in '186.982.

Both the retaining portion (62) and the lower portion (64) are thicker than the upper portion (60) to provide support for the lower housing and circuit board.

The relatively thin upper part (60) is necessary for springiness.

Contact element (12) differs from element (14) in approximately two ways. In the case of the element (12), only the uneven portion defining the temperature cam surface (68) is offset horizontally with respect to the vertical axis; left(
(Fig. 3a), and in the element (14), the right side (Fig. 4a)
(Figure). These differences are necessary in order to load two elements into one chamber without interfering with each other. There are other differences, such as length differences, but these are not important from the viewpoint of densely arranging a large number of contact elements in the connector.

The cam slide (1G) (Fig. 1) is attached to the lower housing (1G) (Fig. 1).
It is an elongated member configured to be slidably inserted into the slot (38) of 0). The lower edge of the slide (16) is provided with a series of cam ramps (76) which cooperate with a cam follower (40) in the slot (38) to vertically displace the slide as the slide moves horizontally. let This is a well-known technique.

The inside surface of each slide (16) has a longitudinal groove (78) near the top edge.
) is provided.

The front end of each slide (16) is provided with a hole (80) for receiving the pin on the lever shown in FIG.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 6, the upper housing (18
) is attached to the lower housing (10) and the cam slide (1
It is a long member that rises and falls under the action of 6).

The outer surfaces of the side walls (82) of the upper housing (18) have parallel lower portions (84) and tapered upper portions (86). An L-shaped member (88) hangs down from the lower edge of both side walls, and its horizontal portion is connected to the groove (7) of the cam slide (16).
8).

The interior of the upper housing (18) is a series of vertical lateral walls (92).
It is divided into small chambers (90) by the lateral wall (92), and a card edge receiving slot (94) is provided in the center of the side wall (92) by cutting it from above. These walls allow contact elements to engage the card and f! It acts as a reinforcing member to prevent the side wall of the upper housing from being distorted during the J11152 process. When the components are assembled, the lateral wall (92) is aligned with the lateral wall (28) in the lower housing (10) and the chamber (90) is aligned with the chamber (22).

A vertical lateral wall (9G) projects a short distance from both side walls into the chamber (90) and forms a partition between the upper parts (60) of adjacent contact elements.

The special configuration of the inner surfaces of the side walls (82), ie the outer walls defining the compartment (90), can be seen in the cross-sectional view of FIG. Each outer wall of each chamber, generally designated (98), has two vertical sections, one on each side of a short transverse wall (96). Each chamber will therefore have two such vertical sections, one on each side of the slot (94). Each vertical section has an inclined cam surface (ioo), each cam surface (ioo) being higher or lower than the adjacent cam surface, i.e. the cam surface on the same side wall of the same chamber. The cam surface located on the higher side has a code (100-
h) and use the symbol (100-1>) for the lower cam surface.

The opposing cam surfaces are different and have a high cam surface (100
-h) through the slot (94) and the low cam surface (100-
1) can be seen directly.

The openings in the sloped side wall portions are passageways created by the core bin when molding the upper housing. FIG. 1 shows one of the same ζ≧both ends 102) of the upper housing (18). The vertical wall (104) has a card edge receiving slot (
94) is formed with an extension slot. bracket(
106) defines a vertical channel (108) that slidably receives the upper end of the end wall (42) of the lower housing (10).

The lever (110) shown in FIG. 5 consists of two spaced apart parallel members (112) connected by a pin (114);
Book pins (116) project laterally from opposite sides of both members (112).

Assembled connectors of the present invention (Figs. 5, 6, and 7)
In Fig.), the contact heel (12) is attached to its holding part (62).
into the inner passage (30-i) and remove the lower housing (1).
0). The holding part of the contact element (14) (
62) is inserted into the outer passageway (30-o). The cam surface (68) faces outward from both the pixel elements, and the contact surface (6G) faces inward.

The cam slide (16) has a bottle (11) that fits into the hole (80).
6) to the lever (110), and the L-shaped member (
88) and the groove (78) to the upper housing (18). This subassembly is the lower housing (10
), the cam slide enters the slot (38), and the top of the T-shaped end wall (42) becomes an opening. l, that is, slip into the channel (108). The bottle (114) slides into the transverse slot (52) of the lever support member (48).

The upper parts (60) of the contact elements (12), (14) are inserted into the chamber (90) as shown in FIG. 68)
faces the outside wall. In the condition of FIG. 6, the contact surface is within the confines of the chamber and the cam surface (68) is above the cam surface (100). The side view of FIG. 5 shows the slide (16) resting on the bottom of the slot (38). FIG. 5 also shows a circuit board (1
20) The entire connector placed thereon is indicated by (118).

As previously mentioned and as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the contact surfaces (66) on adjacent contact elements (12), (14) on each side of the slot (94) alternate. The contact surfaces of the opposing contact elements (12), (14) located on the upper and lower blades and on either side of the slot (94) are not in the same position. Such a configuration of the contact elements (12), (14) allows the connector of the invention to be used with a card (122) having rows of conductive tracks of alternating heights as described above.

The connector in the state shown in Figures 5 and 6 is connected to the card (12
2) can be freely inserted into the slot (94). lever(
110) upward, the cam slide (16)
is pulled forward, rides on the cam follower (40) and rises, and therefore the upper housing (18) also rises. Komuro (90
) engages the cam surface (68) and moves the contact surface (66) inward to connect the conductive lines (1241, (12
6). The contact surface of the contact element (12) engages the lower conductive line (126), and the contact surface of the element (14) engages the higher conductive line (124).

To pull the card (122) out of the connector, use the lever (i).
io) down to the original position shown in Figure 5.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the components of the connector of the present invention;
Figure 2 is a top view of the lower housing, Figure 3a, Figure 3.
Figures b, 4a and 4b are views of the contact elements of the connector of Figure 1, Figure 5 is a side view showing the cam mechanism and its structure, and Figures 6 and 7 are views of the connector in the axial direction. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing its effect. 10・・・・・・・・・Lower housing 12, 14
...Contact element 16...Cam slide 18...
......Top housing 22...
...Lower housing compartment compartments 24, 26, 28...
・Central wall, inner wall, and side wall 30 of the lower housing...
...Element insertion passage 36...
...Outer wall (side wall) of lower housing 38, 40...
・Cam slide receiver slot and its cam followers 66, 68...Contact surface of contact element and image cam surface 76...Cam slope 82 of cam slide. ...... Upper housing side wall 94.
......Card (edge) receiving slot 100......Top cam surface 110 of upper housing...Lever 118・
...... Edge connector (whole) 120
.........Circuit board 122...
...Cards 124, 126... Conductive line code; Sword code 5 Procedures (method) 1 Indication of the case Patent application No. 159549 of 1988 2 Name of the invention Zero Density Insertion Force Card Edge Connector 3 Relationship with the Amendment Person Case Patent Applicant Name Amplifier Incorporated 4 Agent 6 Type Purification in the Specifications Subject to Amendment.

Claims (8)

[Claims] (1) a zero-insertion force card edge connector adapted to contact the conductive tracks of a card inserted into a card-receiving slot; an elongated upper housing located above the lower housing, the card receiving slot extending along the longitudinal axis, and facing the slot and on the inner surface of each longitudinal side wall. an upper housing having a plurality of inclined cam surfaces, with adjacent inclined cam surfaces along each sidewall occupying alternately upper and lower positions, and opposite inclined cam surfaces on opposite sides of the slot having different vertical positions; a cam member located at a level between the upper housing and the lower housing for vertically moving the upper housing; a contact surface facing the slot for contacting a conductive track on a card inserted into the slot; a contact element having a convex curved cam surface positioned to contact the inclined cam surface during vertical movement of the contact surface into and out of contact with a conductive track on one card in the slot; the upper portions of the contact elements on opposite sides of the slot are longitudinally spaced apart from each other, the contact elements are arranged in opposing pairs, the contact surfaces of each pair of contact elements facing each other on opposite sides of the slot; the contact surfaces of adjacent contact elements along each side of the slot occupy alternately upper and lower positions, and the opposing contact surfaces on the contact elements on either side of the slot have different vertical positions; Zero insertion force card edge connector. (2) In the card edge connector according to claim 1, the convex curved cam surface of the contact element having an upward position contact surface is close to an upwardly inclined cam surface and has a downward position contact surface. A card edge connector, wherein the convex curved cam surface of the contact element is in close proximity to a lower inclined cam surface. (3) The card edge connector according to claim 2, wherein the upper housing is divided into a plurality of chambers by a series of vertical horizontal walls extending between longitudinal side walls of the upper housing, and A card edge connector, the side wall having a slot forming a portion of the card receiving slot. (4) The card edge connector according to claim 3, wherein the upper sloping cam surface is above a bottom surface of the card receiving slot, and at least a portion of the lower sloping cam surface Card edge connector located below the bottom of the receiving slot. 5. A card edge connector according to claim 3, wherein each chamber accommodates said upper portions of two contact elements on each side of said card receiving slot. (6) A card edge connector according to claim 5, wherein the two contact elements on each side of one of the chambers are separated from each other by another vertical lateral wall. . (7) A card edge connector according to claim 3, wherein the contact element receiving passageway along each side of the longitudinal axis of the lower housing comprises a series of tandem inner and outer passageways. , card edge connector. (8) The card edge connector according to claim 3, wherein the contact element has two different shapes, the contact surface of the contact element of one shape is in an upper position, and the contact element of the other shape is in an upper position. A card edge connector, wherein said contact surface of a contact element in the form of is in a downward position.