KR100999053B1 - Electric connector - Google Patents

Abstract

The electrical connector 1 includes an insulating housing 3 holding a plurality of contacts 2, a cover 5 rotatably supported through the support shaft 4, and the cover 5 in a closed position. Locking means 32 and 33 are provided for locking. Pressing portion 38 for pressing the contact member 7 inserted into the cover 5 at a predetermined insertion position in the housing 3 along a predetermined insertion direction Y into the contact portion 28 of the contact 2. Install it. The interlocking means 40 for opening the cover 5 of the semi-closed posture of the unlocked position by the locking means 32 and 33 in conjunction with the insertion operation of the connecting member 7 inserted into the housing 3 is provided. It is provided further.

Description

Electrical connector {ELECTRIC CONNECTOR}

Fig. 1 is a schematic perspective view of the electrical connector of one embodiment of the present invention as seen from an inclined rear side, and shows a state where a cover is opened.

2 is a schematic perspective view of the electrical connector with the cover closed, as viewed from the inclined rear side;

3 is a schematic perspective view of the electrical connector with the cover closed, as viewed from the inclined front;

4 is a plan view of the electrical connector with the cover closed;

5 is a front view of the electrical connector with the cover closed;

6 is a side view of the electrical connector with the cover closed;

7 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line VII-VII of FIG. 5.

8A is a plan view of the cover, FIG. 8B is a sectional view taken along the line 8B-8B in FIG. 8A, and FIG. 8C is a sectional view taken along the line 8C-8C in FIG. 8A.

9 is a cross-sectional view of the electrical connector with the cover fully open.

10A, 10B, and 10C are schematic cross-sectional views sequentially showing processes in the case of attaching the connecting member to an electrical connector whose cover is in a semi-closed posture.

11A, 11B, and 11C are schematic cross-sectional views sequentially illustrating a process of automatically closing a cover which has been standing open as shown in FIG. 10C.

(Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawing)

One … Electrical connector 2. Contact

3…. Housing 4... Support shaft

5…. Cover 6. frame

7. Connecting member 8. parenthesis

9... Opening 10. Floor wall

12,13... Sidewall 14. Fixing hole

15... Reinforcing plate 16. Subject

17. Inserting portion 18.. Fixture

19. Support 20. Fixing hole

21. Fixing part 22. Elastic piece

23. Fixed piece 24. Lead part

25…. Partition plate 27. Accommodation home

28. Contact 29. 1st edge

30. Second end edge 31. projection part

32…. Locking portion 33.. Fitting

35. Through hole 36. Shaft

37. Fixed piece accommodating groove 38. Pressurization

39. End face 40. Driving part                 

41…. Chamfer 42. Elastic piece

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electrical connector used for connecting a flat and thin connection member such as, for example, a flexible printed circuit (FPC).

Conventionally, there is a synthetic resin housing having an opening, a contact arranged to face the opening of the housing, a synthetic resin cover for opening and closing the opening of the housing by rotation, and locking means for locking the cover in a closed position. .

In this type of connector, a connecting member is inserted from the front of the housing with a Zero Insert Force (ZIF) from the front of the housing with the cover installed in the first half of the housing, and then the cover is closed to secure the connecting member. There is an electrical connector.

On the other hand, the elastic piece portion is formed by an external operation of an operation lever provided on the rear portion of the housing so as to oppose the contact portions of the fixing piece portions and the elastic piece portions that face each other at a distance equal to or less than the thickness of the connecting member inserted into the housing from the insertion opening of the housing. An electrical connector is provided that lifts the contact portion of the lever in accordance with the principle of "pile," to increase the distance between the contact portions, and to insert the connection member by a non-insertion input (see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-154556).

The former electrical connector of the cover opening / closing method is absorbed by air suction by the holding | maintenance part of a robot hand, may be conveyed on a circuit board, and may be automatically mounted. In this case, it is necessary to lock the cover in a closed position because air suction is used for conveyance.

As a typical example, the work of connecting the FPC to the electrical connector completed by the automatic mounting to the substrate is performed manually. The front end of the cover is lifted with the hook to release the lock, the cover is opened, the FPC held by the fingertip is inserted, and then the cover is closed and locked in a closed position.

By the way, once the opened cover is rotated in the closing direction before the FPC is inserted, it may be in a semi-closed state (not locked). In that case, the operation of opening the cover is necessary again. Work has become complicated.

On the other hand, there is the following problem in the method of widening the distance between the fixed piece portion and the elastic piece portion of the contact by the external operation of the operating lever of Japanese Patent Document 1. That is, since the contact beam is provided with an extension beam for "pile", the structure of the contact is complicated, and it is necessary to separately install an external operating lever, and the overall structure is complicated and enlarged.

This invention is made | formed in view of the said subject, and an object of this invention is to provide the electrical connector which is small and has good workability at the time of connecting a connection member.

The present invention to achieve the above object is an insulating housing for holding a plurality of contacts; A cover rotatably supported by the support shaft through the housing; A pressing unit which is provided on the cover and presses the connecting member which is inserted at a predetermined insertion position in the housing along a predetermined insertion direction to the contact portion of the contact; And a locking means for locking the cover in a closed position, the electrical connector comprising: for opening the cover of the semi-closed posture in which the lock is released by the locking means in conjunction with an insertion operation of a connection member inserted into the housing; And an interlocking means, wherein the contact includes a main body portion pushed into a corresponding fixing hole of the housing, a fixed piece portion and an elastic piece portion extending from the main body portion and opposing each other above and below. The contact portion for contacting the connecting member is provided, the pressing portion is provided on the lower surface of the cover of the closed posture, it is characterized in that arranged in parallel to the transverse side alternately with the fixing piece of the contact in the closed posture of the cover.

In the present invention, even if the cover is in a semi-closed position, when the connecting member is inserted, the cover can stand up and open automatically, so that the connecting member can be smoothly inserted to a predetermined insertion position, and then the cover is closed and locked. Good to achieve. Therefore, in the opening operation of the cover, the whole number does not have to be strictly opened, and the work can be greatly simplified. In addition, since the opening operation of the cover is interlocked with the insertion operation of the insertion member of the connection member, the structure can be significantly simplified as compared with the case where the operation lever is installed externally. In addition, in this case, compared with the case where the press part is arrange | positioned below the fixed piece part of a contact, the height of an electrical connector can be made significantly low.

Preferably, the connecting member is inserted from the front of the housing, and the cover is arranged at least in the rear of the housing. In this case, it can utilize suitably for the so-called back lock type electrical connector.

Preferably, the interlocking means includes a driving unit installed at the proximal end of the cover, and the driving unit is pressed by the insertion side end of the connecting member while the cover is in a semi-closed posture to close the semi-closed posture. Open it. In this case, only the shape change of the base end part of a cover is good, and a structure is very simple.                     

Preferably, the drive unit is installed on the end surface of the cover of the semi-closed posture. In this case, the cover can be opened stably, and the burden on the connecting member can be reduced.

The present invention preferably has a square-ring-shaped frame that defines an insertion opening for inserting the connecting member in the front portion of the housing, the inner surface of which includes an inclined surface for guiding the insertion of the connecting member. In this case, in the so-called back lock type electrical connector, the connecting member can be smoothly inserted into the insertion opening, and the connection member in the insertion opening receiving the reaction force can be firmly held by the frame by pressing the driving portion of the cover, As a result, the cover of the semi-closed posture can be surely opened.

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Preferably, the cover comprises a shaft portion for connecting the pressing portions adjacent to each other from below the fixing piece portion of the contact between the pressing portions, and the elastic piece portion of the contact corresponding to the shaft portion in the closed position of the cover. Between the contact portions of the gap between the thickness of the connecting member is formed. In this case, if the cover is subjected to inadvertent force, it can be accommodated as a fixed piece of contact and the connection strength to the housing of the cover can be increased.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a schematic perspective view of the electrical connector of an embodiment of the present invention as viewed from the rear, and FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of the electrical connector of the cover fully closed, as viewed from the inclined rear side. 3 is a schematic perspective view of the electrical connector viewed from an inclined front side. 4 is a plan view of the electrical connector, and FIG. 5 is a front view of the electrical connector.

The electrical connector 1 with reference to FIG. 1 is rotatable through an insulating housing 3 which holds a plurality of contacts 2 side by side and a support shaft 4 having a round cross-section in the housing 3. And an insulating cover 5 which is supported. 1 and below, the arrow X indicates the front of the housing 3.

3, 4, and 5, the front part of the housing 3 is formed with a frame 6 of a rectangular ring shape, the frame 6 is a connection member 7 (see Fig. 10A) such as FPC The insertion opening 8 for insertion is partitioned. 5 and 7, the inner surface of the frame 6 is formed on the inclined surface 6b so that the width of the insertion opening 8 becomes narrow toward the insertion direction of the connecting member 7, and the It is intended to guide the insertion. As shown in FIG. 1, the housing 3 is provided with an opening 9 at a rear side of the frame 6, and the opening 9 is rotated of the cover 5 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. It is opened along with.                     

The housing 3 has a bottom wall 10 (see FIGS. 1 and 7) connected to the lower frame 6a shown in FIG. 3 of the frame 6, and as shown in FIG. 1, the bottom wall 10. ) And a partition plate 25 to be described later, a plurality of contacts 2 inserted from the rear of the housing 3 are horizontally held side by side. In addition, the housing 3 has a pair of side walls 12 and 13 on both sides with the bottom wall 10 interposed therebetween, and the pair of side walls 12 and 13 have a side portion of the opening 9. Compartment. A part of the metal reinforcement plate 15 is pressed in and fixed to the fixing hole 14 (refer FIG. 3) provided so that it may open to each side wall 12 and 13 forward.

Referring to FIG. 6, the reinforcing plate 15 includes a main body 16 protruding forward of the housing 3 and an insertion unit 17 extending from the main body 16 and pressed into the fixing hole 14. It is provided. The lower part of the main body 16 shows the fixed part 18 fixed to the surface of a board | substrate by soldering, and the support shaft 4 of the cover 5 shows the side walls 12 and 13 (FIG. 6 only the side wall 13). A support portion 19 is provided for supporting rotatably in cooperation with the front end portion of the head.

Referring to FIG. 7, the contact 2 includes a fixing part 21 having a locking protrusion (not shown) attached to the fixing hole 20 of the housing 3 and fixed thereto, and the front of the fixing part 21. An elastic piece portion 22 extending from the rear end portion, a fixing piece portion 23 extending from the rear end of the fixing portion 21 to a hook shape and extending forward, and a lead portion extending rearward from a lower portion of the rear end portion of the fixing portion 21 ( 24).

The fixing piece portion 23 is accommodated by a partition plate 25 that partitions an upper portion of the fixing hole 20 of the housing 3. The opening 9 of the housing 3 is formed to allow the connecting member 7 to be inserted between the fixing piece 23 and the elastic piece 22 of the contact 2 via the insertion opening 8.

Most of the elastic piece portion 22 is accommodated in the receiving groove 27 formed in the upper surface of the bottom wall 10 of the housing 3, so that the rear end portion can be elastically bent at the base. At the front end of the elastic piece portion 22, a contact portion 28 made of an upwardly projecting protrusion is formed and protrudes from the receiving groove 27.

Referring to Fig. 8A, the cover 5 has a substantially rectangular plate shape and has first and second end edges 29 and 30 facing each other. The pair of rounded support shafts 4 protrude from the left and right sides of the first end edge 29 of the cover 5 that face each other.

Moreover, a pair of protrusion part 31 protrudes from the left and right sides of the 2nd edge 30 of the cover 5 which mutually oppose. With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, each projection 31 is engageable, for example fits into a locking portion 32 formed, for example, of a groove, formed at the rear end of the corresponding side walls 12, 13 of the housing 3. Engaging portions 33 formed of projections are formed, respectively. As shown in FIG. 2, by engaging the engaging portion 33 with the locking portion 32, the cover 5 is locked in a closed position in which the surface 5a thereof is horizontal. Locking means for locking the cover 5 in a closed position is constituted by these engaging portions 33 and the locking portions 32.

7 and 8A, the first end edge 29 of the cover 5 is formed with a through hole 35 through which the front ends 34 of the respective fixing piece portions 23 are inserted. The shaft part 36 is formed in the 1st edge 29 side of each perforation hole 35, respectively. Each shaft portion 36 is provided with a flat surface 36a on a part of its circumferential surface to form a cross-section D shape.

1, 7 and 8B, the back surface 5b of the cover 5 has a fixing piece portion receiving groove for accommodating the fixing piece portion 22 of the corresponding contact 2 in the closed state of the cover 5 ( 37) is formed. 1, 8B, and 8C, the back surface 5b of the cover 5 is provided with projection preventing projections 42 on both sides on the side of the first edge 29, respectively. The anti-separation protrusion 42 of the cover 5 is engaged with a concave groove (not shown) formed at both edges of the connecting member 7 to prevent the detachment of the connecting member 7.

1, 7 and 8C, the rear surface 5b of the cover 5 has a portion from the first end edge 29 to a predetermined distance on both sides with the fixing piece receiving groove 37 therebetween. The press part 38 is formed in the. The pressing portions 38 are arranged side by side alternately with the fixing piece portion 23 of the contact 2 in the closing position of the cover 5.

The shaft portion 36 connects the pressing portions 38 and 38 adjacent to each other from the lower side of the fixing piece portion 23 of the contact 2. Each shaft portion 36 is located on the contact portion 28 of the elastic piece 22 of the corresponding contact 2 but in the closed position of the cover 5 the elastic piece portion of the contact 2 corresponding to each shaft portion 36. The clearance gap more than the thickness of the connection member 7 is provided between the contact parts 28 of (22).

Pressing portions 38 positioned on both sides with each contact 2 interposed push the connecting member 7 toward the elastic piece 22 side of the contact 2 in the closed position of the cover 5, and the contact pressure ( Contact pressure).

The end face 39 of the first end edge 29 of the cover 5 is composed of a plane perpendicular to the surface 5a, and this end face 39 is part of the flat surface of the shaft portion 36. 36a). The end face 39 is provided with a drive part 40 which approaches the contact portion 28 side from the shaft portion 36 in the cover 5 of the closed position or the semi-closed position. The drive unit 40 functions as interlocking means for interlocking the operation of opening the cover 5 of the semi-closed posture with the insertion operation of the connecting member 7.

A chamfer 41 is formed between the surface 5a of the cover 5 and the end face 39. As shown in Fig. 9, in the state where the cover 5 is completely opened, that is, in a posture slightly inclined to the opposite side beyond the standing posture, the chamfer 41 is inclined to open toward the insertion opening 8 side, and the connection member (7) can be guided and inserted smoothly between the chamfer 41 and the contact portion 28 of the elastic piece 22.

Next, the operation of the drive unit 40 will be described. With reference to Fig. 10A, the cover 5 is in a semi-closed position, which is not locked. At this time, as shown in FIG. 10B, when the connecting member 7 is inserted along the insertion direction Y through the insertion opening 8, the insertion side end 7a of the connecting member 7 is proximal to the cover 5. Moment acts in the direction which opens the cover 5 by pushing the drive part 40 of the side end surface 39 of a side, and as shown in FIG. 10C, the cover 5 can be opened in a standing state.

As shown in FIG. 10C, when the cover 5 stands up, the end face 39 of the cover 5 including the drive part 40 is parallel to the insertion direction of the connection member 7 (that is, the front-rear direction of the housing 3). The connection member 7 can be smoothly inserted by an insertion-free input between the end face 39 and the contact portion 28 of the elastic piece portion 22 of the contact 2.                     

As shown in FIG. 11A, after inserting the connection member 7 to the normal insertion position which the insertion side end 7a of the connection member 7 contacts the end surface of the partition plate 25, as shown in FIG. 11B. The cover 5 is rotated in the closing direction, and as shown in Fig. 11C, the cover 5 is completely closed and locked in the closed position. Thereby, the pressurizing part 38 presses the connection member 7 to the contact part 28 of the elastic piece part 22 of a contact, and a reliable contact pressure is obtained.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, even if the cover 5 is temporarily closed, as shown in FIG. 10A, when the connecting member 7 is inserted, the cover 5 can stand up and open automatically. The connecting member 7 can be inserted smoothly to a predetermined insertion position, after which the cover 5 can be closed to achieve locking.

Therefore, in the manufacturing line, the second end 30 of the cover 5 is pulled up to release the lock to mount the connecting member 7 with respect to the electrical connector 1 on which the automatic mounting to the substrate is completed. At the same time, when the cover 5 of the plurality of electrical connectors 1 is opened, the total number of the covers 5 does not have to be strictly opened, and the work can be greatly simplified. In addition, since the opening operation of the cover 5 is interlocked with the insertion operation of the connecting member 7, the structure is significantly improved compared with the conventional case in which an extension mounting beam is provided on the contact and an operation lever is provided on the outside. It can be simplified.

In particular, the interlocking means for interlocking the operation of opening the cover 5 of the semi-closed posture with the insertion operation of the connecting member 7 may be simply provided with the drive unit 40 on the cover 5, and the structure is very simple. .

In addition, since the driving unit 40 is provided on the end surface 39 of the cover 5, the cover 5 can be stably opened, and the burden on the connection member 7 can be reduced.

In addition, the connecting member 7 is provided with a frame 6 having a rectangular ring shape for partitioning the insertion opening 8 in the front part of the housing 3 and a cover 5 in the rear part of the housing 3. An electrical connector of the so-called back lock type, which closes the cover 5 at the rear part of the housing 3 on the opposite side to the front part of the housing 3 on the mounting side of the housing 3 to achieve locking to the connecting member 7. It can apply suitably to 1).

In particular, since the inner surface of the frame 6 includes an inclined surface 6b for guiding the insertion of the connecting member 7, there is an advantage that the connecting member 7 can be smoothly inserted into the insertion opening 8. Also, as shown in Fig. 10B, by pressing the drive portion 40 of the cover 5, the connecting member 7, which is subjected to reaction force, can be held firmly by the frame 6, and as a result, the anti-close posture is assured. Can open the cover (5).

In addition, since the pressing portion 38 is arranged side by side alternately with the fixing piece portion 23 of the contact 2 in the closing position of the cover 5, compared with the case where the pressing portion is disposed below the fixing piece portion of the contact. The height of the electrical contact 1 can be made significantly low.

Moreover, since the shaft part 36 which connects between the press parts 8 which adjoin each other in the lower side of the fixing piece part 23 of the contact 2 is provided, when the cover 5 receives careless force, This can be received by the fixing piece 23 of the contact 2, and the connection strength to the housing 3 of the cover 5 can be made high.

In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, For example, you may make the frame of a groove shape by closing the upper frame of the frame 6 of a square ring shape.

In addition, the present invention can be applied to a case where a connection member such as a flexible flat cable (FFC) or a printed circuit board (PCB) is connected instead of the FPC.

In addition, in the said embodiment, although the engaging part 33 and the locking part 32 as a structure which locks the cover 5 in the closed position were provided in the cover 5 and the housing 3, respectively, it replaces or adds to this. The engaging portion 33 and the locking portion 32 can be installed in the cover 5 and the contact 2, respectively. In addition, the engaging part 33 and the locking part 32 can also be provided in the cover 5 and the metal reinforcement board 15, respectively. In addition, about the engagement part 33 and the locking part 32, it is good to make either one into a groove and turn the other.

Moreover, this invention can be applied to the vertical type electrical connector which inserts a connection member from above rather than from a lateral direction.

As mentioned above, although this invention was demonstrated in detail by the specific form, those skilled in the art which understood the above content can easily consider the change, modification, and equivalent. Therefore, the present invention should be within the scope of the claims and their equivalents.

In the present invention, it is possible to provide an electrical connector which is compact and has good workability when connecting a connecting member.

Claims (8)

An insulating housing holding a plurality of contacts; A cover rotatably supported by the support shaft through the housing; A pressing unit which is provided on the cover and presses the connecting member which is inserted at a predetermined insertion position in the housing along a predetermined insertion direction to the contact portion of the contact; And An electrical connector comprising locking means for locking the cover in a closed position: And an interlocking means for opening the cover of the semi-closed posture in which the locking means is released by interlocking with the inserting operation of the connecting member inserted into the housing. The contact includes a main body portion pushed into a corresponding fixing hole of the housing, a fixed piece portion and an elastic piece portion extending from the main body portion to face each other up and down, the contact portion for contacting the connecting member with the elastic piece portion. Is installed, The pressurizing portion is installed on the lower surface of the cover of the closed posture, the electrical connector, characterized in that arranged side by side alternately with the fixing piece of the contact in the closed posture of the cover. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein the connecting member is inserted from the front of the housing, and the cover is disposed at least in the rear portion of the housing. 3. The cover of claim 2, wherein the interlocking means includes a driving portion provided at the proximal end of the cover, wherein the driving portion is pressed by the insertion side end of the connecting member while the cover is in a semi-closed posture. An electrical connector, characterized in that for opening. 4. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 3, wherein the driving unit is installed at an end surface of the cover of the semi-closed posture. The frame according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein a square-ring-shaped frame is provided for partitioning an insertion hole for inserting the connecting member into the front portion of the housing, and an inner surface of the frame guides the insertion of the connecting member. An electrical connector comprising a slope. delete The cover according to claim 1, wherein the cover includes a shaft portion for connecting the pressing portions adjacent to each other from below the fixing piece portion of the contact between the pressing portions. And a gap in which the thickness of the connecting member is formed between the shaft portion and the contact portion of the elastic piece portion of the corresponding contact in the closing position of the cover. The electrical connector as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the locking means includes a locking portion installed in the housing and a locking portion installed in the cover and engaging with the locking portion.

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