KR101760797B1 - A signal distribution apparatus and connector assembly using this - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a signal distribution device and a connector assembly using the same. The present invention is characterized in that the present invention comprises an external disk 20 in which first terminal bundles A1 to A7 and second terminal bundles B1 to B7 extend on both sides, A connecting means 65 which is independently rotatably installed and is electrically connected to at least one of the first terminal bundles A1 to A7 or the second terminal bundles B1 to B7 of the external disk 20 is provided And an internal disk 50 for varying the electrical connection between the first terminal bundles A1 to A7 and the second terminal bundles B1 to B7 according to rotation. According to the present invention, it is possible to implement various electrical circuit connection structures using the signal distribution device 10 without detaching and replacing the housing at both ends of the connector assembly, thereby improving work convenience and compatibility of the connector assembly.

Description

[Technical Field] The present invention relates to a signal distribution apparatus and a connector assembly using the same,

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a signal distribution device and a connector assembly, and more particularly, to a connector assembly capable of changing an internal circuit connection structure without detaching a connector.

Connectors are used to connect power or electric signals and are widely used not only for electronic products such as monitors and computer cameras, but also for automobile parts. Among these connectors, connector assemblies each having a connector for connection to the outside and a cable for connecting the connectors are provided at both ends, and these two connector assemblies can be used to electrically connect two different apparatuses.

The connector assembly includes a plurality of terminals inside the connector assembly. The number and arrangement of the terminals vary the connection structure between the connectors. That is, the effective terminal (effective pin) may be different depending on the equipment, and the connector assembly has to be prepared separately according to the equipment.

In order to solve this problem, Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 10-2012-0053848 discloses a technique for varying a terminal (pin) connection structure using a switching module. However, according to the prior art, a DIP switch is required for the number of pins multiplied by the number of pins connected to each connector and the number of pins of the mating connector, which increases the number and size of parts of the switching module and makes operation cumbersome.

Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2012-0053848

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in order to solve the problems of the prior art as described above, and it is an object of the present invention to make it possible to change an electrical circuit connection by using a signal distribution apparatus without detaching and replacing a housing at both ends of a connector assembly.

Another object of the present invention is to enable a plurality of circuit connection structures through rotation of an internal disk.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an optical disk apparatus including an external disk having first and second terminal bundles extended on both sides thereof, And a connection means electrically connected to at least one of the first terminal bundle or the second terminal bundle of the external disk is provided so that the electrical connection between the first terminal bundle and the second terminal bundle can be varied Lt; / RTI >

Wherein the external disk is provided with a plurality of connection clips surrounding an outer circumferential surface thereof and the plurality of connection clips are electrically connected to the first terminal bundle or the second terminal bundle, And electrically connected with the means.

The inner disk is composed of a plurality of interconnection channels insulated from each other, and each of the interconnection channels is composed of a pair of unit disks which are independently rotated and electrically connected to each other.

Wherein the connection means includes a central portion connected to the rotation axis of the unit disk and a connection portion extending radially from the center portion and having an outermost side selectively connected to at least one of the first terminal bundle and the second terminal bundle of the external disk And the central portion is electrically connected to a center portion of another connecting means constituting the same connecting channel.

And an identification symbol for distinguishing the first terminal bundle and the second terminal bundle from each other is provided on a pair of unit disk outer surfaces constituting one connection channel.

An operation window is opened on the external disk, and the internal disk is rotatable through the operation window.

A dummy space in which the first terminal bundle and the second terminal bundle are omitted is formed in the external disk.

Wherein the connection clip includes a support portion facing the outer surface of the outer disc and an elastic contact portion connected to the support portion and protruding toward the inner disc, A groove is formed.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a connector comprising: a first connector coupled with a first terminal bundle; a second connector coupled with a second terminal bundle extending to the other side of the first terminal bundle; Wherein the first terminal bundle and the second terminal bundle are built in the signal distribution apparatus, and the first terminal bundle and the second terminal bundle are installed in the cable, 2 terminal bundle is extended to both sides of the external disk and a plurality of terminals are rotatably and independently rotatable in the external disk and are electrically connected to at least one of the first terminal bundle or the second terminal bundle of the external disk The first terminal bundle and the second terminal bundle are connected to each other by a connecting means, .

The signal distributing apparatus according to the present invention as described above and the connector assembly using the same have the following effects.

According to the present invention, it is possible to realize various electrical circuit connection structures using the signal distribution device without detaching and replacing the housing at both ends of the connector assembly, thereby improving work convenience and improving compatibility of the connector assembly.

Particularly, in the present invention, the signal distribution apparatus can produce various combinations of connection structures through the rotation of the internal disk, so that it is not necessary to have a dip switch corresponding to each terminal (pin) number, The total volume is also small, which enables miniaturization.

According to the present invention, an operator can easily change a desired connection structure through an identification symbol of an internal disk revealed through an operation window, thereby enhancing the intuitiveness of the operation.

1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a connector assembly according to the present invention;
2 is a perspective view showing a structure of an embodiment of a signal distribution device according to the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a structure of a part of an internal disk constituting the signal distribution device of FIG. 2. FIG.
4 (a) to 4 (c) are cross-sectional views showing the signal distributing device of FIG. 2 and the cross-sectional structure of the external disk and the internal disk constituting the same, respectively.
5 (a) to 5 (c) are cross-sectional views showing the signal distributing device of FIG. 2 and the cross-sectional structure of an external disk and an internal disk constituting the same, respectively.
FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a main configuration of an external disk constituting the signal distribution device of FIG. 2; FIG.
FIG. 7A and FIG. 7B are conceptual diagrams showing connection clips of an external disk constituting the signal distribution apparatus of FIG. 2 are connected to an internal disk;
8 (a) to 8 (e) are conceptual diagrams each showing an example in which an internal circuit connection is formed in different ways using a signal distribution device according to the present invention.

Hereinafter, some embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to exemplary drawings. It should be noted that, in adding reference numerals to the constituent elements of the drawings, the same constituent elements are denoted by the same reference symbols as possible even if they are shown in different drawings. In the following description of the embodiments of the present invention, a detailed description of known functions and configurations incorporated herein will be omitted when it may make the understanding why the present invention is not intended to be interpreted.

In describing the components of the embodiment of the present invention, terms such as first, second, A, B, (a), and (b) may be used. These terms are intended to distinguish the constituent elements from other constituent elements, and the terms do not limit the nature, order or order of the constituent elements. When a component is described as being "connected", "coupled", or "connected" to another component, the component may be directly connected or connected to the other component, Quot; may be "connected," "coupled," or "connected. &Quot;

One embodiment of a connector assembly according to the present invention is shown in Fig. As shown in the figure, the connector assembly is provided with the first connector 1 and the second connector 2 on both sides, and the cables C1 and C2 connect between them. The signal distribution device 10 is installed in the middle of the cables C1 and C2 to change the internal circuit structure connecting the first connector 1 and the second connector 2. [ The shapes of the first connector 1 and the second connector 2 shown in Fig. 1 are merely one example, and can be changed into various forms.

The first connector 1 and the second connector 2 are connected to the first terminal bundles A1 to A7 and the second terminal bundles B1 to B7, respectively. The first terminal bundles A1 to A7 and the second terminal bundles B1 to B7 represent a plurality of terminal bundles, respectively. In this embodiment, the first terminal bundles A1 to A7 and the second terminal bundles B1 to B7 are each composed of seven terminals, wherein the terminals represent a conductive material for performing electrical connection, Various examples are possible, such as core wires of cables C1 and C2 such as metal pins and copper wires.

In the present invention, the internal signal and power distribution structure can be changed by operating the signal distribution apparatus 10, so that the connector assembly can be applied to a wide variety of equipment, and even when used in the same equipment, The signal transmission path and the voltage distribution method can be changed.

Referring to FIG. 2, the signal distributor 10 includes an external disk 20 and an internal disk 50. As shown in FIG. At this time, the external disk 20 forms an outer appearance with a relatively large diameter portion. The external disk 20 is provided with a nonconductive cover portion 21 on its outer surface and is provided with a connection clip 30 of a conductive material to be described below and the first terminal bundles A1 to A7, And the second terminal bundle (B1 to B7). The first terminal bundles A1 to A7 and the second terminal bundles B1 to B7 protrude from both sides of the external disk 20 to constitute cables C1 and C2, 2 connector (2). Since the first terminal bundles A1 to A7 and the second terminal bundles B1 to B7 pass through the external disk 20, the external disk 20 is used without being rotated.

The external disk 20 is cylindrical in one direction, and the internal disk 50 is inserted into the internal space. The external disk 20 is provided with an operation window 23 penetrating therethrough. The operation window 23 is for allowing the operator to identify and manipulate the internal disk 50 and may be formed in the longitudinal direction of the external disk 20 as shown in FIG.

The external disk 20 is provided with a plurality of connecting clips 30 surrounding the outer circumferential surface thereof. The plurality of connection clips 30 are electrically connected to the first terminal bundles A1 to A7 or the second terminal bundles B1 to B7 and the connection clip 30 is connected to the rotation of the inner disk 50 Which is selectively in contact with and electrically connected to the connecting means 65 of the internal disk 50.

6, the connection clip 30 includes a support portion 31 facing the outer surface of the outer disc 20, an elastic contact portion connected to the support portion 31 and protruding toward the inner disc 50 35). The support portion 31 may be composed of two portions 32 and 33 configured to overlap with each other.

The connection clip 30 is a plate spring structure and the connection clip 30 is electrically connected to the connection means 65 of the internal disk 50 which will be described later but at the same time the first terminal bundles A1- Or the second terminal bundles B1 to B7. The connection of the first terminal bundles A1 to A7 or the second terminal bundles B1 to B7 is achieved by connecting the central portion 66 of the connection clip 30 to the first terminal bundles A1 to A7, (B1 to B7). Of course, the connection clip 30 may not be a leaf spring structure but may be a simple terminal structure having no elastic force, and may have various structures of conductive materials.

The internal disk 50 is coupled to the external disk 20. A plurality of the inner disks 50 are rotatably installed in the outer disk 20 so that the inner disks 50 can rotate between the first terminal bundles A1 to A7 and the second terminal bundles B1 to B7 To create a variety of connection structure combinations. The inner disk 50 is in the form of a disk having a substantially non-conductor shape, and is rotatably provided around the rotating shaft 70.

At this time, the inner disk 50 is composed of a plurality of connection channels CH1 to CH7 insulated from each other. The connection channels CH1 to CH7 are used to connect between the first terminal bundles A1 to A7 and the second terminal bundles B1 to B7 and each of the connection channels CH1 to CH7 has a first terminal bundle A1 to A7 and the second terminal bundles B1 to B7. In this embodiment, a total of seven connection channels CH1 to CH7 corresponding to the number of terminals constituting the first terminal bundles A1 to A7 and the second terminal bundles B1 to B7 are connected to the internal disk 50, . Hereinafter, these connection channels CH1 to CH7 will be referred to as first to seventh channels.

For example, the first channel CH1 connects the third terminal A3 of the first terminal bundles A1 to A7 to the fourth terminal B4 of the second terminal bundles B1 to B7 And the second channel CH2 may connect the fifth terminal A5 of the first terminal bundles A1 to A7 to the sixth terminal B6 of the second terminal bundles B1 to B7. The connection of the first channel CH1 and the connection of the second channel CH2 do not interfere with each other since the connection channels CH1 to CH7 are isolated from each other and operate independently.

Referring to the connection channels CH1 to CH7 constituting the internal terminal, as shown in FIG. 3, the adjacent connection channels CH1 to CH7 are independently rotated while being insulated from each other, and the connection channels CH1 to CH7 Are composed of a pair of unit disks 60A and 60B electrically connected to each other. For reference, the first channel CH1 on the left side of FIG. 3 is shown in a state where a pair of unit disks 60A and 60B are separated from each other for understanding the structure.

The unit disks 60A and 60B have a structure symmetrical to each other, and have connecting means 65 at portions facing each other. The connecting means 65 is for electrically connecting the pair of unit disks 60A and 60B to each other and for electrically connecting the unit disks 60A and 60B to the external disk 20. To this end, the connecting means 65 is preferably made of a material having high electrical conductivity.

The connecting means 65 is provided with a central portion 66 connected to the rotating shaft 70 of the unit disks 60A and 60B. The center portion 66 is electrically connected to the center portion 66 of the other connecting means 65 constituting the same connection channel CH1 to CH7. In this embodiment, in the present embodiment, It was made. Of course, it is not necessary to cover the rotating shaft 70, but it may be formed only in the center portion. However, since the unit disks 60A and 60B are connected to the unit disks 60A and 60B adjacent to each other, the center portion 66 is preferably formed around the rotating shaft 70. [

A connecting portion 68 is connected to the central portion 66. The connection part 68 extends radially from the central part 66 and the outermost part of the connection part 68 is connected to at least one of the first terminal bundles A1 to A7 and the second terminal bundles B1 to B7 of the external disk 20 As shown in FIG. 3, the connecting portion 68 of the connecting means 65 of the inner disk 50 has a recessed shape, which is a contact groove corresponding to the elastic contact portion 35 of the connecting clip 30 .

3, the connecting means 65 is provided only in a part of the unit disks 60A and 60B in the form of a bar and is provided over the entire width of the unit disks 60A and 60B But only in a part thereof. This is because the connecting means 65 is electrically connected to the connecting means 65 of the adjacent unit disks 60A and 60B constituting the same channel but the connecting means 65 of the unit disks 60A and 60B constituting the other channels To be insulated from each other. Reference numeral 51 denotes an internal disk 50 constituting a first channel CH1 and 52 an internal disk 50 constituting a second channel CH2.

The outer surface of the inner disk 50 is provided with an identification symbol. The identification symbols are engraved on the outer surfaces of a pair of unit disks 60A and 60B constituting one connection channel CH1 to CH7 to connect the first terminal bundles A1 to A7 and the second terminal bundles B1 to B7 To distinguish it. That is, the identification symbols of the unit disks 60A and 60B shown in the operation window 23 indicate the state of the currently set unit disks 60A and 60B. In the present embodiment, the identifier indicates each terminal constituting the terminal bundle.

4A is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II 'in FIG. 2. FIG. 4B shows only the external disk 20 separated from the disk. FIG. ). As shown in the figure, the inner disk 50 is located inside the outer disk 20 and the rotating shaft 70 for rotating the inner disk 50 is provided at the center. The first terminal bundles A1 to A7 and the second terminal bundles B1 to B7 are provided around the outer circumference of the external disk 20 and they may be formed to pass through the connection clip 30.

The inner disk 50 is formed in a circular shape, and a connecting means 65 is provided. The connecting means 65 constitutes a part of the inner disk 50 and the remaining part of the inner disk 50 is constituted of nonconductive. As shown in FIG. 4 (a), it can be seen that the connecting portion 68 provided at one end of the connecting means 65 is connected to the third terminal A3 of the first terminal bundles A1 to A7. At this time, a dummy space 51 in which the first terminal bundles A1 to A7 and the second terminal bundles B1 to B7 are omitted is formed in the external disk 20. [ The dummy space 51 is a kind of empty space. When the connecting portion 68 of the connecting means 65 is located at this portion, no electrical connection is made. The dummy space 51 may be a portion that can be used by connecting other terminals in the future. 5 (a) is a cross-sectional view taken along line II-II 'in FIG. 2, in which a work window 23 is shown.

7, the connecting clip 30 and the connecting portion 68 of the connecting means 65 are connected to each other. First, any of the connecting channels CH1 to CH7 constituting the internal disk 50, 7A shows a state before the connection portion 68 and the connection clip 30 are still in contact with each other in the course of the rotation of the connection portions 60A and 60B. In this case, the elastic contact portions 35 of the connection clip 30 are pushed by the outer circumferential surface of the unit disks 60A and 60B to retreat (in the direction of arrow 1), but the unit disks 60A and 60B rotate, The elastic contact portion 35 is restored to a circular shape and is advanced (in the direction of arrow 2) when the elastic contact portion 35 is inserted into the connecting portion 68 of the connecting means 65. This state is shown in Fig. 7 (b).

Hereinafter, a process of operating the signal distribution apparatus 10 according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

2, the internal disk 50, which is the first connection channel CH1 to CH7, is constituted by a pair of unit disks 60A and 60B. The operator operates the unit disk 60A , And 60B can be confirmed. Referring to FIG. 2, a pair of unit disks 60A and 60B constituting the first connection channels CH1 to CH7 are connected to a first terminal and a second terminal bundle of the first terminal bundles A1 to A7, respectively The first terminal A1 of the first connector 1 and the second terminal B2 of the second connector 2 are electrically connected to each other.

If the user wishes to change the connection between the internal terminal of the first connector 1 and the internal terminal of the second connector 2, the unit disks 60A and 60B of the first connection channels CH1 to CH7 may be rotated . For example, a state in which any one of the unit disks 60A and 60B of the first connection channels CH1 to CH7 is rotated to be connected to the second terminal B2 of the second terminal bundles B1 to B7 is referred to as a second terminal bundle The first terminal A1 of the first connector 1 and the seventh terminal B7 of the second connector 2 are electrically connected to the seventh terminal B7 of the first connector B 1 to B 7, As shown in FIG. In this way, the operator can easily change the internal circuit structure through the rotation of the internal disk 50.

At this time, the inner disk 50 may be rotated stepwise by a predetermined angle during the rotation of the inner disk 50. This is because the connection clip 30 of the external disk 20 is a leaf spring structure having an elastic force and the connection portion 68 of the connection means 65 of the internal disk 50 is connected to the connection clip 30 This is because contact grooves are formed. That is, the operator can rotate the internal disk 50 while feeling the operation feeling due to the elastic force of the connection clip 30. [

8 (a) to 8 (e) show an example in which internal circuit connections are formed in different ways using the signal distribution apparatus 10 according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 8 (a), the terminals of the first terminal bundles A1 to A7 and the terminals of the second terminal bundles B1 to B7 are matched up to their numbers and matched one to one, The numbers may be matched differently.

B4 to B7 of the terminals of the first terminal bundles A1 to A7 and the terminals of some of the terminals A2 and A4 to A7 and the second terminal bundles B1 to B7, B7) can be matched up to the number and the remaining terminals can be connected without matching the numbers.

8 (d) shows a configuration in which a plurality of terminals (for example A1 and A2) of the terminals of the first terminal bundles A1 to A7 are connected to the terminal B2 of one of the second terminal bundles B1 to B7 It is possible. This is because a pair of unit disks 60A and 60B of the first connection channels CH1 to CH7 are composed of A1 and B2 and a pair of unit disks 60A and 60B of the second connection channels CH1 to CH7 A2, and B2. Of course, it is also possible to set three or more of the first terminal bundles A1 to A7 to be connected to any one of the second terminal bundles B1 to B7.

8E shows that some of the terminals A1 to A4 of the first terminal bundles A1 to A7 and the terminals B1 to B4 of the terminals of the second terminal bundles B1 to B7 are matched one to one , And some of the terminals A5, A6 and B6, B7 may be bridged.

In this way, the operator can enable a very wide variety of internal connections through rotation of the internal disk 50.

While the present invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. That is, within the scope of the present invention, all of the components may be selectively coupled to one or more of them. Furthermore, the terms "comprises", "comprising", or "having" described above mean that a component can be implanted unless otherwise specifically stated, But should be construed as including other elements. All terms, including technical and scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs, unless otherwise defined. Commonly used terms, such as predefined terms, should be interpreted to be consistent with the contextual meanings of the related art, and are not to be construed as ideal or overly formal, unless expressly defined to the contrary.

The foregoing description is merely illustrative of the technical idea of the present invention, and various changes and modifications may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the essential characteristics of the present invention. Therefore, the embodiments disclosed in the present invention are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention but to limit the scope of the technical idea of the present invention. The scope of protection of the present invention should be construed according to the following claims, and all technical ideas within the scope of equivalents should be construed as falling within the scope of the present invention.

For example, the internal disks 50 may not be constituted by a pair of unit disks 60A and 60B, but may be electrically connected between the internal disks 50 adjacent to each other.

1: first connector 2: second connector
C1, C2: Cable 10: Signal distribution device
20: External disk 23: Operation window
30: connection clip 50: internal disk
60A, 60B: unit disk 65: connecting means
66: center 68: connection
A1 to A7: First terminal bundle B1 to B7: Second terminal bundle

Claims (9)

An external disk on both sides of which the first terminal bundle and the second terminal bundle extend,
A plurality of first and second terminal bundles or second terminal bundles of the external disk are rotatably installed in the external disk and are electrically connected to at least one of the first terminal bundle and the second terminal bundle of the external disk, And an internal disk that allows the electrical connection between the bundle and the second terminal bundle to be varied.
[2] The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the external disk is provided with a plurality of connection clips surrounding an outer circumferential surface thereof, the plurality of connection clips being electrically connected to the first terminal bundle or the second terminal bundle, And selectively electrically connected to the connection means in accordance with rotation of the signal distribution device.
3. The signal distribution apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the inner disk is composed of a plurality of interconnection channels insulated from each other, and each of the interconnection channels is composed of a pair of unit disks which are independently rotated and electrically connected.
4. The apparatus according to claim 3,
A center portion connected to the rotation axis of the unit disk,
And a connection portion that extends radially from the center portion and is at the outermost side and is selectively connected to at least one of the first terminal bundle and the second terminal bundle of the external disk,
And the central portion is electrically connected to a center portion of another connecting means constituting the same connecting channel.
5. The signal distribution apparatus of claim 4, wherein a pair of unit disks constituting one connection channel is provided with an identification symbol for distinguishing the first terminal bundle from the second terminal bundle.
2. The signal distribution apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an operation window is opened on the external disk, and the internal disk is rotatable through the operation window.
2. The signal distribution apparatus of claim 1, wherein a dummy space is formed on the external disk, the first terminal bundle and the second terminal bundle being omitted.
3. The connector assembly of claim 2,
A support portion facing the outer surface of the external disk,
And an elastic contact portion connected to the support portion and protruding toward the inner disk,
And a contact groove corresponding to the resilient contact portion is formed in a connection portion of the connection means of the internal disk.
A first connector coupled to the first terminal bundle,
A second connector coupled to a second terminal bundle extending to the other side of the first terminal bundle,
A cable connecting the first connector and the second connector,
And a signal distributor provided in the cable,
The signal distribution device
An external disk in which the first terminal bundle and the second terminal bundle are embedded and a part of the first terminal bundle and the second terminal bundle extend to both sides,
A plurality of first and second terminal bundles or second terminal bundles of the external disk are rotatably installed in the external disk and are electrically connected to at least one of the first terminal bundle and the second terminal bundle of the external disk, And an internal disk that allows the electrical connection between the bundle and the second terminal bundle to be varied.

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