KR102543900B1 - Connector assembly - Google Patents

Abstract

A ground terminal 40 having a first terminal 41 and a second terminal 42 and a shielding portion (plate portion 44) positioned between the first terminal 41 and the second terminal 42, , the connector 100 having a conductive shell 50 constituting a frame shape, and the first terminal 41 and the second terminal 42 respectively connected to the mating first terminal 71 and the mating second terminal 72 ) and the mating ground terminal 70 having the mating shield (counter plate portion 73) located between the mating first terminal 71 and the mating second terminal 72, and the mating mating terminal forming a frame shape. In the connector assembly in which the mating connector 200 having the shell 80 is fitted, the ground terminal 40 and the shell 50 are integrally formed by bending a metal plate. The ground terminal 40 and the counterpart ground terminal 70 are connected to each other by elastic contact between the shield and the counterpart shield.

Description

Connector assembly {CONNECTOR ASSEMBLY}

The present invention relates to a connector assembly in which a connector and a mating connector are fitted to face each other.

1A, 1B, and 2 are connectors described in Patent Document 1 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2019-121439) as a conventional example of a connector and a mating connector that are fitted to each other to form a connector assembly (referred to as a receptacle in Patent Document 1) ) 10 and the mating connector (referred to as a plug in Patent Document 1) 20, respectively.

The connector 10 has a structure in which signal terminals 12, 13, 14 and ground terminals 15, 16 are attached to a connector housing 11, and a shell-shaped conductor 17 is attached. The shell-shaped conductor 17 forms a substantially rectangular annular shape continuous in the circumferential direction on the outer circumferential side of the connector housing 11, and surrounds the outer periphery of the upper surface and the upper side of the connector housing 11.

The signal terminals 12 to 14 are disposed with the ground terminals 15 and 16 interposed therebetween, and the signal terminals 12 to 14 are separated from each other by the ground terminals 15 and 16. The ground terminals 15 and 16 are formed by blanking a plate material and have a shape as shown in FIG. 1B.

The connector housing 11 has a fitting part insertion hole 11a at the center, and signal terminals 12 to 14 and ground terminals 15 and 16 are exposed in the fitting part insertion hole 11a. In Figs. 1A and 1B, 12a to 16a denote connection ends of the signal terminals 12 to 14 and the ground terminals 15 and 16 to the mounting board, respectively.

The mating connector 20 has a configuration in which signal terminals 22, 23, 24 are attached to the connector housing 21, and a shell-shaped conductor 25 is attached. The signal terminals 22 to 24 are held on protrusions 26a to 26c arranged in alignment with the central portion of the insert molded resin portion 26 of the connector housing 21 . The shell-shaped conductor 25 has a shape along the circumferential wall portion 27 of the connector housing 21 .

As described above, the conventional connector 10 and the mating connector 20 each have shell-shaped conductors 17 and 25 as outer shields, and the connector 10 shields the signal terminals 12 to 14. It is provided with ground terminals 15 and 16 constituting an internal shield, and this constitutes a configuration in which EMC countermeasures and crosstalk countermeasures between signal terminals are implemented.

By the way, in the connector 10, the shell-shaped conductor 17 constituting the outer shield and the ground terminals 15 and 16 constituting the inner shield are separate bodies (other parts), and the ground terminals 15 and 16 are also separate bodies. For this reason, the number of parts was large and the number of assembly man-hours was increased.

In view of this problem, an object of the present invention is to provide a connector assembly in which the number of parts can be reduced compared to the prior art in a configuration in which both a connector constituting the connector assembly and a mating connector have an outer shield and an inner shield. there is.

In a connector assembly in which one connector and the other connector are coupled to each other, one connector has a one-piece metal part. A portion of the metal part is all or part of the shell, and all or part of the remaining part of the metal part is all or part of the ground terminal. The shell serves as an outer shield. The ground terminal has a shield that serves as an internal shield.

According to the present invention, in a connector assembly in which a connector and a mating connector are fitted, in the connector, a ground terminal having a shield forming an internal shield for electromagnetically shielding between a shell forming an external shield and a dissimilar terminal is a metal plate Since it is integrally formed by the bending process, the number of parts and the number of assembly man-hours can be reduced by that much, and therefore, it can be configured at low cost.

1A is a perspective view showing a connector constituting a conventional connector assembly;
Figure 1b is a cross-sectional view of the connector shown in Figure 1a.
Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing a mating connector constituting a conventional connector assembly;
Fig. 3A is a perspective view from above showing one connector constituting Embodiment 1 of a connector assembly according to the present invention;
Fig. 3B is a perspective view of the connector shown in Fig. 3A as seen from below;
Fig. 4A is a front view of the connector shown in Fig. 3A;
Figure 4b is a cross-sectional view along line CC in Figure 4a.
Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing a ground terminal integrated with the shell in Fig. 3A;
Fig. 6 is a perspective view showing the insulator in Fig. 3A and terminals held in the insulator;
Fig. 7A is a perspective view from above showing a mating connector constituting Embodiment 1 of a connector assembly according to the present invention;
Fig. 7B is a perspective view of the mating connector shown in Fig. 7A as seen from below;
Fig. 8A is a front view of the mating connector shown in Fig. 7A;
Fig. 8B is a cross-sectional view taken along line CC in Fig. 8A.
Fig. 9 is a perspective view of the counterpart shell in Fig. 7A;
Fig. 10 is a perspective view showing the mating insulator in Fig. 7A and the mating terminal held by the mating insulator;
Fig. 11a is a plan view showing Embodiment 1 of a connector assembly according to the present invention;
11B is a front view showing Embodiment 1 of a connector assembly according to the present invention;
11C is a EE line sectional view in FIG. 11B.
Fig. 11D is a cross-sectional view taken along line FF in Fig. 11B.
Fig. 12A is a perspective view from above showing one connector constituting Embodiment 2 of a connector assembly according to the present invention;
Fig. 12B is a perspective view of the connector shown in Fig. 12A as seen from below;
Fig. 13 is a perspective view showing a ground terminal integrated with the shell in Fig. 12A;
Fig. 14A is a perspective view of a mating connector constituting Embodiment 2 of a connector assembly according to the present invention as viewed from above.
Fig. 14B is a perspective view of the mating connector shown in Fig. 14A as seen from below;
Fig. 15A is a front view of the mating connector shown in Fig. 14A;
Fig. 15B is a cross-sectional view taken along line CC in Fig. 15A.
Fig. 16a is a plan view showing Embodiment 2 of a connector assembly according to the present invention;
Fig. 16B is a cross-sectional view taken along line CC in Fig. 16A.

(Mode for implementing the invention)

Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated by an Example with reference to drawings.

(Example 1)

3a, 3b, 4a, and 4b show one connector 100 constituting Embodiment 1 of a connector assembly according to the present invention, and the connector 100 includes a first terminal 41 and a second terminal 42 ), a ground terminal 40, a shell 50, and an insulator 60. The ground terminal 40 is integrally formed with the shell 50 constituting the outer periphery of the connector 100 in this example. 5 shows details of the integrally formed ground terminal 40 and the shell 50, and FIG. 6 shows the insulator 60 and the first terminal 41 and the second terminal held in the insulator 60 (42) is shown.

The insulator 60 is made of resin and has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape as a whole. First terminals 41 are attached to both ends of the insulator 60 in the longitudinal direction, respectively, and second terminals 42 are attached to the central part of the insulator 60, two in each of two rows, for a total of four.

The first terminal 41 has a pair of contact pieces 41a facing each other, and the second terminal 42 also has a pair of contact pieces 42a facing each other. The connection portions 41b and 42b of the first terminal 41 and the second terminal 42 with the substrate are located on the bottom surface side of the insulator 60 . The two first terminals 41 are for high-frequency signals (for high-speed transmission) in this example, and the four second terminals 42 are for low-frequency signals (for low-speed transmission).

The conductive shell 50 is formed by bending a metal plate, and a rectangular frame structure is constituted by two bodies having U-shaped outer walls. At each upper end of the outer wall portion 51 positioned on the opposite two sides constituting the long side of the rectangle and the outer wall portion 52 respectively positioned on the opposite two sides constituting the short side of the rectangle, a curved portion curved to slightly protrude toward the inside of the frame ( 51a, 52a) are formed, respectively.

Two ground terminals 40 integrated with the shell 50 are formed in the frame of the shell 50, and both ends of the ground terminals 40 are connected to and supported by the outer wall portion 51 facing each other. The ground terminals 40 are provided at two locations in the longitudinal direction of the shell 50 .

The ground terminal 40 has a plate portion 44 in the center of which a pair of U-shaped portions 43 forming a U-shape opening upward are adjacent to each other and positioned on the same plane, and the pair of C-shaped portions 43 ), protrusions 43b are formed protruding outward from each other on the front end side of the U-shaped leg portions 43a adjacent to each other.

The ground terminal 40 is bent and raised from the above-described plate portion 44, the connection portion 45 forming a shape bent and extended from the lower end of the outer wall portion 51 facing the inside of the frame, and each connection portion 45. Extensions 47 extending from the upright held portion 46 and the tips of the leg portions 43c extending from the upper end of each held portion 46 and located outside of each other of the pair of C-shaped portions 43 ) is composed of In addition, a pair of protrusions 46a are formed protruding in the width direction on each held portion 46, respectively.

At the lower end of each outer wall portion 51, two small cutout portions 53 are formed in a portion sandwiched between the two connecting portions 45. These cutout portions 53 are provided in correspondence with the positions of the connecting portions 42b of the second terminal 42 held by the insulator 60 and exposed on the bottom side of the insulator 60 .

As described above, the shell 50 integrally formed with the ground terminal 40 is attached to the insulator 60 holding the first terminal 41 and the second terminal 42 . Attachment is performed by putting the shell 50 on top of the insulator 60 and pushing it in. At this time, each pair of held portions 46 having protrusions 46a of the two ground terminals 40 are press-fitted into four concave portions 61 of the insulator 60 to be fixed and supported. In addition, the plate portion 44 constituted by each pair of C-shaped portions 43 of the two ground terminals 40 is inserted into the slit 62 of the insulator 60, respectively, and the first terminal 41 and the second terminal 42, respectively, to constitute a shielding portion, thereby completing the connector 100 shown in FIGS. 3A, 3B, 4A, and 4B.

Next, the mating connector 200 constituting the connector assembly by fitting with the connector 100 described above will be described.

7a, 7b, 8a, and 8b show the mating connector 200, which includes a mating first terminal 71, a mating second terminal 72, a mating ground terminal 70, and a mating shell. 80 and the mating insulator 90. 9 shows details of the mating shell 80, and FIG. 10 shows a state in which the mating shell 80 is removed from the mating connector 200.

The mating insulator 90 is made of resin and has a bottom plate portion 91 and side walls 92 respectively provided at four corner portions of the bottom plate portion 91 . Mating first terminals 71 are attached to both ends of the bottom plate part 91 in the longitudinal direction, respectively, and mating second terminals 72 are attached to the central part of the bottom plate part 91, two each in two rows, four in total. there is. In addition, mating ground terminals 70 are attached between each of the two mating first terminals 71 and the four mating second terminals 72, respectively.

The mating first terminal 71 has a columnar shape, and has a connection portion 71a with a substrate at its lower end. The mating second terminal 72 has a plate shape, and has a connection portion 72a with the substrate at the lower end. The two mating first terminals 71 are for high frequency signals, and the four mating second terminals 72 are for low frequency signals.

As shown in FIG. 8B, the mating side ground terminal 70 has a mating side plate portion 73 at the center in the extension direction, and the mating side plate portion 73 constitutes a concave portion 74 opening upward between each other. It has a shape having a pair of protrusions 75. A pair of protrusions 75 protrude above the bottom plate portion 91 of the mating insulator 90 . In the mating plate part 73, the connecting part 76 connecting the lower ends of the pair of protruding parts 75 is located on the bottom side of the mating insulator 90 and is exposed. The mating side ground terminal 70 is composed of the mating side plate part 73 having the above structure and the extension part 77 extending from both ends of the connection part 76 of the mating side plate part 73, respectively. The mating plate parts 73 of the two mating ground terminals 70 are located between the mating first terminal 71 and the mating second terminal 72, respectively, to constitute mating shielding parts.

The conductive counterpart shell 80 forming a quadrangular frame shape is formed by bending a metal plate, and as shown in FIG. It has outer wall parts 82 respectively located on two opposite sides constituting a short side of a rectangle, and a pair of connecting parts 83 connecting upper ends of the outer wall parts 81 and 82. The pair of connecting portions 83 have flat surfaces that slightly block both ends of the rectangular frame in the longitudinal direction, respectively.

On each other's outer surfaces of the pair of outer wall portions 81, elongated convex portions 81a are formed extending in the side direction, and on each other's outer surfaces of the pair of outer wall portions 82, respectively, elongated convex portions 82a is formed extending in the side direction. In addition, at both ends of the pair of outer wall portions 81 in the side direction, extension portions 81b bent and extended toward the outer wall portion 82 are formed.

Two notches 84 are formed at the lower end of each outer wall portion 81, and notches 85 are formed on both sides of these two notches 84 in the side direction, respectively. The cutout 84 is provided in correspondence with the position of the connection portion 72a of the second terminal 72 on the other side which is held on the other side insulator 90 and is exposed on the bottom side of the other side insulator 90, and the cutout portion ( 85) is provided corresponding to the position of the extension portion 77 of the mating insulator 90 and exposed on the bottom surface of the mating insulator 90. At both ends of each outer wall portion 82 in the side direction, protrusions 82b are formed to protrude outward from each other.

The mating shell 80 having the above configuration is attached to the mating insulator 90 holding the mating first terminal 71, the mating second terminal 72, and the mating ground terminal 70. The mating shell 80 is attached by covering and pushing the mating shell 80 from above the mating insulator 90, and both outer wall portions 82 having protrusions 82b are attached to the two side walls of the mating insulator 90. 92 are pressed into the concave portions 93 formed on the outside of the side wall 92, respectively, and the mating connector 200 shown in Figs. 7A, 7B, 8A, and 8B is completed.

The above-described connector 100 and the mating connector 200 constitute a board-to-board connector mounted on opposite surfaces of boards facing each other to be fitted and connected to each other, and in the connector 100, the first terminal ( 41) and the connection portions 41b and 42b of the second terminal 42, the portion exposed to the bottom surface of the insulator 60 of the plate portion 44 of the ground terminal 40 (a pair of U-shaped portions ( 43) and the shell 50 are soldered and connected to corresponding pads or patterns of the board.

Meanwhile, in the mating connector 200, each connection part 71a, 72a of the mating first terminal 71 and the mating second terminal 72, the connecting part 76 of the mating plate part 73 of the mating ground terminal 70, and The extended portion 77 and the mating shell 80 are soldered and connected to corresponding pads or patterns on the board.

11A, 11B, 11C, and 11D show a connector assembly according to the present invention in which the connector 100 and the mating connector 200 are fitted, and the board is omitted.

By fitting the mating connector 200 to the connector 100, the first terminal 41 and the mating first terminal 71 and the second terminal 42 and the mating second terminal 72 are respectively fitted, connected In addition, the convex portions 81a and 82a provided on the mating shell 80 ride over the curved portions 51a and 52a of the shell 50 and get caught so that the mating shell 80 is sandwiched inside the shell 50. are tailored

On the other hand, the plate portion 44 of the ground terminal 40 and the mating plate portion 73 of the mating ground terminal 70 have plate surfaces parallel to each other and parallel to the fitting direction of the connector 100 and the mating connector 200. As shown in FIG. 11D, the pair of protrusions 75 of the mating plate portion 73 are inserted into the c-shape of the pair of c-shaped portions 43 of the plate portion 44, respectively, and the pair The U-shaped leg portions 43a adjacent to each other of the U-shaped portion 43 of the U-shaped portion 43 are respectively inserted into the concave portions 74 of the mating side plate portion 73 and positioned. When the adjacent U-shaped leg portions 43a are inserted into the concave portion 74, they are elastically deformed in a direction approaching each other, and the protrusions 43b provided on the front end side of the leg portion 43a are the leg portions 43a The pair of protrusions 75 elastically contact each other's inner surfaces by the elastic restoring force of . Thus, the plate portion 44 constituting the shielding portion between the first terminal 41 and the second terminal 42 and the mating shielding portion between the mating first terminal 71 and the mating second terminal 72 are formed. The mating plate portions 73 are conductive to each other.

Thus, in this example, the plate portion 44 and the mating plate part 73 are coupled to form the first terminal 41 for the high-frequency signal and the first terminal 71 for the mating side, the second terminal 42 for the low-frequency signal, and the mating terminal 41 for the low-frequency signal. A shield is formed between the two terminals 72. In Fig. 11D, a portion (a) surrounded by a dotted line indicates a portion where this shield is configured, and electromagnetic interference between terminals (between the high-frequency signal terminal and the low-frequency signal terminal and between both high-frequency signal terminals) by this shield. this is shielded

The plate portion 44 and the mating plate portion 73 have the same thickness (plate thickness) in this example, and the thickness ranges of the plate portion 44 and the mating plate portion 73 coincide, that is, one sheet. are combined to form The gap between the plate part 44 and the mating plate part 73 and the gap between the adjacent U-shaped leg parts 43a of the plate part 44 inserted into the concave part 74 of the mating plate part 73 are these plate parts (44) and the mating plate portion 73 are smaller than each other, whereby good shielding performance is ensured in this example.

In addition, the thickness of the plate portion 44 and the thickness of the mating plate portion 73 do not necessarily have to be the same, and when the thicknesses are different, the thickness of the plate portion 44 and the mating plate portion 73 lie within the range where the thickness of one of them is located on the other side. The range in which the thickness is located is combined so that it is located. In this way, when the thickness of the plate part 44 and the thickness of the mating plate part 73 are different, the gap between the plate part 44 and the mating plate part 73 and between the U-shaped leg part 43a located in the concave part 74 The gap between the plate portion 44 and the mating side plate portion 73 is smaller than the thickness of the smaller side.

(Example 2)

In the first embodiment described above, the shielding portion of the ground terminal 40 positioned between the first terminal 41 and the second terminal 42 of the connector 100 includes a pair of U-shaped portions 43, The mating side shielding part of the mating ground terminal 70 is composed of the plate portion 44 and is located between the mating first terminal 71 and the mating second terminal 72 of the mating connector 200. Although the mating side plate part 73 is shaped to have a pair of projections 75 constituting the concave part 74, these shielding parts may adopt other structures.

In Embodiment 2, the ground terminal and the shielding portion provided by the mating ground terminal in the connector and the mating connector have different configurations. FIGS. 12A and 12B show the connector 100' in the second embodiment, and It shows the ground terminal 40' integral with the shell 50 in the connector 100'. 14A, 14B, 15A, and 15B show the mating connector 200', and FIGS. 16A and 16B show a state where the connector 100' and the mating connector 200' are fitted. In these Figures 12a, 12b, 13, 14a, 14b, 15a, 15b, 16a, 16b, Figures 3a, 3b, 4a, 4b, 5, 6, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9, 10, 11a, 11b , 11c, and 11d, the same reference numerals are given to the parts corresponding to the configurations of the first embodiment shown in 11d, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

In this example, the mating shielding portion of the mating ground terminal 70' is composed of a flat plate portion 78 having a substantially rectangular shape, as shown in FIG. 15B, and the mating ground terminal 70' is 78) and extension portions 77 each extending from both ends of the lower side of the flat plate portion 78. The flat plate part 78 protrudes above the bottom plate part 91 of the mating insulator 90 and is located between the mating first terminal 71 and the mating second terminal 72, and extends from the lower side of the flat plate part 78. The portion 77 is located on the bottom side of the mating insulator 90 and is exposed.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 13, the shielding portion of the ground terminal 40' is composed of a pair of adjacent U-shaped portions 48. The pair of U-shaped legs 48 adjacent to each other form a contact portion 49 that elastically displaces in the contact direction perpendicular to the plate surface 48a of the U-shaped portion 48, and the contact portion 49 has a curved shape in the shape of <. Like the ground terminal 40 in the first embodiment, the ground terminal 40' has a connecting portion 45, a held portion 46, and an extension portion 47, and a pair of U-shaped portions 48 are connected to each other. The leg portions 48b located outside are formed to extend from the extension portion 47, respectively.

Each pair of U-shaped portions 48 of the two ground terminals 40' are inserted into the slit 62 of the insulator 60 to form a gap between the first terminal 41 and the second terminal 42. are located in each

In the connector assembly in which the connector 100' and the mating connector 200' are fitted and connected, in this example, as shown in Fig. 16B, a flat plate portion ( 78), the contact portion 49 capable of elastic displacement in the contact direction perpendicular to the fitting direction makes elastic contact with the plate surface 78a in the contact direction perpendicular to the plate surface 78a. As a result, the pair of U-shaped portions 48 constituting the shielding portion of the ground terminal 40' and the flat plate portion 78 constituting the shielding portion of the counterpart ground terminal 70' are connected to each other and coupled to each other. , Between the first terminal 41 and the mating first terminal 71 and the second terminal 42 and the mating second terminal 72, a shield for shielding electromagnetic interference between the terminals is configured in the same manner as in the first embodiment. .

10 connector 11 connector housing
11a fitting part insertion hole 12 to 14 signal terminal
12a to 14a connection end 15, 16 ground terminal
15a, 16a connection end 17 shell-shaped conductor
20 mating connector 21 connector housing
22 to 24 signal terminals 25 shell-shaped conductor
26 insert molding resin part 26a to 26c protrusion
27 circumferential wall 40, 40' ground terminal
41 first terminal 41a contact piece
41b connection part 42 second terminal
42a contact piece 42b connection part
43 U-shaped part 43a leg part
43b projection 43c leg
44 plate part 45 connection part
46 held part 46a protrusion
47 extension part 48 U-shaped part
48a plate surface 48b leg part
49 contact 50 shell
51, 52 outer wall portion 51a, 52a curved portion
53 cutout 60 insulator
61 recess 62 slit
70, 70' Opposite side ground terminal 71 Opposite side 1st terminal
71a connection part 72 second terminal on the other side
72a connection part 73 mating plate part
74 recess 75 protrusion
76 connector 77 extension
78 plate part 78a plate surface
80 Mating shell 81, 82 outer wall
81a, 82a convex portion 81b extension portion
82b protrusion 83 connection
84, 85 Cutout 90 Mating Insulator
91 bottom plate part 92 side wall
93 recess 100, 100' connector
200, 200' mating connector

Claims (3)

A connector having a first terminal and a second terminal, a ground terminal having a conductive shield positioned between the first terminal and the second terminal, and a conductive shell constituting a frame shape; A mating first terminal and a mating second terminal respectively connected to the second terminal, and a mating ground terminal having a conductive mating shield positioned between the mating first terminal and the mating second terminal, and a conductive frame shape. A connector assembly in which a mating connector having a mating shell of is fitted,
The ground terminal and the shell are integrally formed by bending a metal plate,
The connector assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the ground terminal and the mating ground terminal are connected to each other by elastic contact between the shielding part and the mating shielding part. According to claim 1,
The shielding portion is composed of a plate portion having a plate surface parallel to a fitting direction between the connector and the mating connector,
The mating shield portion is composed of a mating plate part having a mating plate surface parallel to the fitting direction,
The plate portion is configured to include a pair of adjacent U-shaped portions,
The mating side plate portion is shaped to have a pair of protrusions constituting a concave portion between each other,
the plate surface and the counter-side plate surface are parallel to each other, and the thickness of one of the plate portion and the counter-side plate portion is located within a range where the thickness of the other side is located;
The pair of protrusions are inserted into the c-shape of the pair of c-shaped portions, respectively,
The U-shaped legs of the pair of U-shaped portions adjacent to each other are inserted into the concave portions, respectively,
The connector assembly, characterized in that the protrusions protruding outward from each other at the front ends of the neighboring U-shaped legs are in elastic contact with the pair of protrusions, respectively. According to claim 1,
The shielding portion has a contact portion elastically displaced in a contact direction perpendicular to a fitting direction between the connector and the mating connector,
The mating side shield has a mating side plate surface parallel to the fitting direction,
The connector assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the contact portion elastically contacts the mating plate surface with the contact direction being perpendicular to the mating plate surface.

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