WO2000070716A1

WO2000070716A1 - Multi way connector

Info

Publication number: WO2000070716A1
Application number: PCT/JP2000/003094
Authority: WO
Inventors: Masahiko Yamabe; Toshihiro Ichihashi
Original assignee: Advantest Corporation
Priority date: 1999-05-13
Filing date: 2000-05-15
Publication date: 2000-11-23

Abstract

A multi way connector comprises sets of contacts (14a, 14b, 14c) repeatedly arranged at right angles to the paper surface and held in a base portion (36), and sets of contacts (15a, 15b, 15c) repeatedly arranged at right angles to the paper surface and held in a base portion (37), the heights of the contacting portions (16a, 16c) of each set of contacts (14a, 14c) and the contacting portions (17a, 17c) of each set of contacts (15a, 15c) relative to the base portion being greater than those of the contacting portions (16b, 17b) of the contacts (14b, 15b) relative to the base portion, the free ends of the contacts being respectively inserted into small holes (55, 56) formed in the upper surface plate (53) of a cover (46) and being caught on the opening (54) side such that a biasing force toward the opening (54) is imparted to each contact.

Description

Description Multi-pole connector

Technical field

The present invention is applied to a performance board, a mother board, an interface board, and the like of an IC test apparatus, and particularly relates to a socket-type LIF (Low Intertion Force) multi-pole connector with reduced insertion / extraction force.

Background art

Figure 1 schematically shows a conventional socket-type multi-pole connector. The front surface of the housing 11 is formed with an insertion hole 12 into which the mating connector is inserted, and a plurality of spring material contacts 14 and 15 protruding from the bottom surface of the insertion hole 12 are arranged in two rows facing each other. The housing 11 is integrally molded with the base 13 of the housing 11. The contacts 14, 15 gradually approach each other as they move away from the base 13 to the front side of the housing 11, and then are folded back near the free end. The closest parts are the arc-shaped contact parts 16 and 17.

Each of the contacts 14, 15 protrudes outside from the bottom surface of the housing 11 to form second contact portions 18, 19, and the intermediate portions in the protruding direction are curved so as to approach each other, and the contact portions are formed. 2 1, 22

The plug-type multi-pole connector inserted into and removed from this socket-type multi-pole connector is configured as shown in Fig. 2. A support 26 is integrally formed in the middle of one surface of the base 25 so as to protrude along the longitudinal direction, and contacts 27 and 28 are molded and held on the base 25 along both side surfaces of the support 26. The arrangement intervals of the contacts 27 and 28 are the same as the arrangement intervals of the contacts 14 and 15 of the socket-type multi-pole connector. In this example, each of the three contacts 14a, 14b, 14c and 15a, 15b, 15c, or the contacts 27a, 27b, 27c and 28a, 28b, 28 c indicates that the middle contacts 14b, 15b, 27b, 28b are used for signal lines, and the connectors 14a, 14c, 15a, 15c, 27a, 27c, 28a, 28c are each used for the ground wire. In the figure, contact 15a, 15b, 15c, 28a, 28b, 28c are not shown.

When this plug-type multi-pole connector is inserted into the insertion hole 12 of the socket-type multi-pole connector, the spacing between the contacts 14 and 15 is expanded by the support portion 26, and the contact portion 16 of the contact 14 Are elastically pressed against the contact 27, and the contact portions 17 of the contact 15 are elastically pressed against the contact 28 and are electrically connected to each other. Also, as shown in FIG. 1B, when one side edge of the printed wiring board 3 1 is pushed between the second contacts 18 and 19, the contact portions 2 1 and 2 2 respectively become multi-ends of the wiring board 31. Are electrically connected to the corresponding terminals of the terminals 32 and 33.

When inserting the plug-type connector into the socket-type connector, press and widen the distance d between the contact parts 16 and 17 of the contacts 14 and 15 to make the contact parts 16 and 17 and the contacts 27 and 28 With the contact pressure. As the number of contacts increases, for example, IC test equipment may have as many as 300000 pins.If the required insertion force per pin is 300 g, a total force of about 1 t is required. Becomes In order to reduce the total insertion force, the insertion force per pin can be reduced by increasing the distance d between the contact parts 16 and 17 or by reducing the spring constant of the contacts 14 and 15. And However, if the contact distance d is increased or the spring constant is reduced, sufficient contact pressure cannot be obtained, and the reliability of electrical contact decreases.

It is conceivable that the inclination of the tapered surface 34 at the end of the support portion 26 of the plug-type connector is reduced to reduce the insertion force. However, in this case, the length of the taper surface 34 in the connector-to-detachment direction becomes long, and the connector becomes large. Similarly, it is conceivable to increase the length of the contacts 14, 15, but in this case, too, the connector becomes large. The above problem is the same for the second contacts 18 and 19 connected to the printed wiring board 31.

Disclosure of the invention

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the contact portion of the contact is shifted in the connector insertion / removal direction. Preferably, the contacts whose contact portions are shifted are substantially uniformly distributed on the contact array.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the free end of each contact is formed in the housing. The stopper prevents entry into the insertion opening of the mating connector. As a result, a biasing force is applied to the contact portion of the contact in the direction of the insertion opening. A third aspect of the present invention is a combination of the first aspect and the second aspect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1A is a sectional view taken along the line 1A-1A in FIG. 1B showing a conventional socket-type multi-pole connector, and FIG. 1B is a sectional view taken along the line 1B-1B in FIG. 1A.

FIG. 2A is a front view showing a conventional plug-type multi-pole connector, and FIG. 2B is a side view of FIG. 2A.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view schematically showing a base portion and a contact in the embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 414 of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the support frame 38 in the embodiment of FIG.

6A is a front view showing the base portion 36 and the contacts 14 and 18 in the embodiment of FIG. 8, FIG. 6B is a sectional view taken along the line 6B—6B of FIG. 6A, and FIG. Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken along line 6C-6C of A.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the cover 46 in the embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a plan view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a part of the inside of the cover 46 as viewed from one side of the insertion opening 54 from the base.

FIG. 10 is a front view showing an example of a mating plug type multipolar connector of the embodiment of FIG. FIG. 11 is a sectional view taken along line 11--11 of FIG.

FIG. 12 is a sectional view schematically showing a state in which a plug-type multi-pole connector is partially inserted into the embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the relationship between the insertion distance and the insertion force of the plug-type connector for this embodiment and that of the prior art.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

As shown in Fig. 3, the two prismatic base portions 36, 37 are offset to one side opposite to each other, and a plurality of spring material contacts 14, 15 are inserted into the insert mold. They are arranged and held in the longitudinal direction on the base portions 36 and 37 of the synthetic resin material. These base portions 36 and 37 are inserted and supported in the support frame 38 as shown in FIG. As shown in Fig. 5, the supporting frame 38 is an elongated rectangular frame, and a longitudinal beam 39 extending in the longitudinal direction at the center of the bottom surface thereof, and horizontal beams 41, 42 are provided at regular intervals on both sides thereof in the frame 38. It is formed integrally with the frame 38 as a molded product of a synthetic resin material. The cross beams 41, 42 are offset from one another by half the spacing pitch. The contacts 14 and 15 protrude from the bottoms of the base portions 36 and 37, respectively, and are referred to as second contacts 18 and 19, respectively, and these second contacts 18 and 19 are referred to as “background”. As shown in the section “Techniques”, three contacts are formed into pairs, and each of the three contacts 18 and 19 is formed by vertical beams 39 and horizontal beams 41 and 42. It protrudes below the frame 38 through the rectangular openings 43 and 44.

As shown in FIG. 6, the contacts 14 and 18 held on one base portion 36 have three sets of contact portions 16 a, 16 b, 16 c, 21 c, 21 b, and 21 b, respectively. The center 16b, 21b in 21c is different from the base 16a, 16c, 21a, 21c in the distance from the base 36. That is, the distance L1 of the contact portions 16a and 16c from the base portion 36 is larger than the distance L2 of the contact portion 16b from the base portion 36, and the contact portions 21a and 21c The distance L 3 from the base 36 to the contact portion 21 b is smaller than the distance L 4 from the base 36 to the contact portion 21b. The contacts 14 and 18 are integrally formed, the contacts 14a and 18a, the contacts 14b and 18b, and the contacts 14c and 18c are integral and in this example identical to each other Dimensions and shapes. Therefore, LI-L2 = L4-L3. Further, between each of the three sets of contacts, that is, between the adjacent set of contacts 14c and the other set of contacts 14a, d1 is the contact 14b and 14a, 14c in the same set. Between each d has been more than a dog. Contact 15a, 15b, 15c and contact 19a, 19b, 19c are also contact 14a, 14b, 14c and contact 18 The relationship is the same as a, 18b, 18c. Contact 14a, 14c faces contact 15c, 15a, respectively, and contacts 18a, 18a, as shown by the broken lines between the opposing contacts in FIG. contact with c 19c and 19a, respectively, with contact 14b facing between contacts 15a and 15c, and contact 15b facing between contacts 14a and 14c. Opposite, contact 18b is opposite between contacts 19a and 19c, and contact 19b is opposite between contacts 18a and 18c. The shapes of the contacts 14, 15, 18 and 19 are almost the same as those shown in the prior art, and as shown in FIG. 4, each contact portion 16 (16a, 16b, 1 6 c), 21 (21 a, 21 b, 21 c) protrude toward the base 37, and the contact 17 (17 a, 17 b, 17 c), 22 (22 a, 22 b and 22 c) respectively protrude toward the base portion 36. With the base portions 36 and 37 thus housed in the frame 38, the rectangular parallelepiped cover 46 made of a synthetic resin molded product shown in FIG. 7 is connected to the connector 14 as shown in FIG. Engaging pieces 47, 48, which are covered from the sides of the frame 38 and extend to the lower sides on both sides of the cover 46, are formed in shallow engaging recesses 49, 51 (see FIG. 5) formed on both outer surfaces of the frame 38. And are engaged with each other. The cover 46 and the frame 38 are fixed to each other by, for example, screws. Each of the holes 101 and 102 in FIGS. 5 and 7 is a screw hole.

As shown in FIG. 7, the front (top) plate 53 of the cover 46 is formed with insertion openings 54 into which the insertion portions of the mating plug type connectors are inserted. Small holes for engagement 55, 56 are arranged in the face plate 53 along the longitudinal direction of the upper plate 53. Each of the engagement small holes 55 and 56 is also a set of three engagement small holes 55a, 55b, 55c and engagement small holes 56a, 56b, 56c, respectively. As shown in Figs. 4 and 8, the three sets of engagement holes 55a, 55b, and 55c have free ends 57 &, 57b, and 57c of the contacts 14a, 14b, and 14 (, respectively. Are inserted and pressed against the inner peripheral surface of each of the small holes on the side of the insertion opening 54, so that the contacts 14a, 14b, and 14c are biased in the direction of the insertion opening 54, respectively. In this case, since the contact 14b has a low height from the base portion 36, as shown in FIG. Is formed with a rectangular cylindrical portion 58 communicating with the inner surface thereof, and the free end portion 57b of the contact 14b is engaged with the rectangular cylindrical portion 58. That is, the small hole for engagement of The inner peripheral wall acts as a stopper to prevent the free end of each contact from entering the insertion opening 54.

As shown in FIG. 8, similarly, the free ends of the contacts 15a, 15b, and 15c are inserted into the engagement small holes 56a, 56b, and 56c, and the insertion opening 54 side. The inner peripheral surface is elastically pressed against the inner peripheral surface, and a biasing force in the direction of the insertion opening 54 is applied. The contact portions 16 and 17 of the contacts 14 and 15 slightly protrude into the insertion opening 54 when viewed from the insertion opening 54 side, and when the mating connector is inserted, the contact portion of the mating connector is disconnected. The contact is made with a sufficient contact pressure. Engagement small hole 55,

To engage the contacts 14 and 15 with 56, the cover 46 is attached to the base part 36 with the space between the contacts 14 and 15 widened by a jig whose cross section is almost the same as the shape of the opening 54. , 37 from the contacts 14, 15 side, and the jig should be pulled out after each contact is inserted into the corresponding small hole.

As shown in FIG. 4, metal plate reinforcing plates 61 and 62 are attached to both side surfaces of the cover 46 to increase the strength.

A plug-type multi-pole connector to be connected to this socket-type multi-pole connector is configured as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, for example. The base 25 and the supporting portion 26 extending in the longitudinal direction and protruding at the center of one surface thereof are integrally formed by a synthetic resin molded product, and the contact receiving grooves 63 and 64 are formed on both side surfaces of the supporting portion 26. Are formed, and these grooves 63,

The slit 64 penetrates the base 25, that is, a slit-like small hole communicating with the grooves 63 and 64 is formed through the base 25. The contacts 27 and 28 are accommodated in the contact accommodating grooves 63 and 64, respectively, and are fixed by being engaged with the base 25. The contact portions 65 and 66 projecting below the base 25 of the contacts 27 and 28 are pressed against the terminals formed on the printed wiring board when the base 25 is arranged and fixed on the printed wiring board, and the electrical contact is generated. Connected to.

When the support portion 26 of this plug type connector is inserted into the opening 54 of the socket type connector, the contacts 27a, 27c, 28a, 28c of the plug type connector become the contacts 14a, 1c, 15a and 15c, respectively, and the distance between these contacts 14a and 14c and 15c and 15a is expanded. 16c and 17a, 17c were in contact with the contact parts of contact 27a, 27c, 28a, 28c (the part perpendicular to the base 25), that is, they were spread as far as possible After the state (Fig. 12) is reached, the contacts 27b and 28b make contact with the contacts 14b and 15b, and the gap between these contacts 14b and 15b is expanded, and the plug- When the support portion 26 is fully inserted into the opening 54 of the socket-type connector, the contact portions 16b and 17b of the contacts 14b and 15b contact the contact portions of the contacts 27b and 28b, respectively. .

In other words, the height L 1 of the contact portions 16 a, 16 c, 17 a, 17 c with respect to the base portion and the base portions 36, 37 of the contact portions 16 b, 17 b are adjusted so as to perform such an operation. Height L 2 is selected. Looking at only this, in this embodiment, first spread 2/3 of all contacts, then spread the remaining 1/3, so that it spreads rather than spread all contacts simultaneously. The insertion force is distributed twice, with only 2/3 at first and 1/3 afterwards.

Further, in this embodiment, each contact 14, 15 has its free end engaged with the engaging small hole 55, 56 of the housing (cover 46), and a biasing force is applied to the opening 54 side. Although the displacement of the contact portions 16 and 17 due to the insertion of the connector is small, the contact pressure between the contact portions 16 and 17 and the contacts 27 and 28 can be sufficiently high. Therefore, the angle Θ (see FIG. 4) of the slopes of the contact portions 16 and 17 on the opening 54 side with respect to the surface perpendicular to the base portions 36 and 37 can be made smaller than that of the conventional one, and the insertion force becomes smaller accordingly. For connector input, for example, as shown by the solid line in Fig. 13, a peak 71 occurs when the contact portions 16a, 16c, 17a, and 17c are expanded, and the insertion force becomes extremely small in the state shown in Fig. 12. When the contact portions 16b and 17b are expanded, a peak 72 smaller than the peak 71 occurs, and thereafter, a small insertion force is obtained. On the other hand, in the conventional one shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, as shown by the broken line, an extremely large peak 73 insertion force is first required to spread the contact portion of all the connections.

As shown in Fig. 12, the contact portions 21b and 22b of the multi-terminals 32 and 33 of the printed wiring board 31 with respect to the contacts 18 and 19 are also spread out. After the contact parts 21a, 21c, 22a, and 22c are expanded after they are maximally expanded, the insertion force is smaller than when these are simultaneously expanded.

In the above description, the height of the contact part with respect to the base parts 36 and 37 was set as a set of three contacts, and in each set, the height at the center was lower and that at both sides was higher, but the height at the center was higher. However, both sides may be lowered. Also, the height of the contact portion with respect to the base portions 36, 37 may be different for every other contact 14, 15, 15, 18, 19. Further, the height of the contact portion with respect to the base portions 36 and 37 is not limited to two, but may be any of three or more heights. In addition, in the arrangement direction of the contacts 14, 15, 15, 18 and 19, the height of the contact portion with respect to the base portion is alternately or sequentially changed in three stages for each of a plurality of continuous lines 2 to 10 lines. The shifting may be repeated. In extreme cases, each contact arrangement may be divided into four sets in the arrangement direction, and the height of the contact portions may be changed alternately in the contact arrangement direction. As described above, in each case, the contact portions of each height are distributed almost uniformly in the contact arrangement direction so that the insertion force at the time of connector insertion is substantially uniform in the contact arrangement direction. Is preferred. In addition, it is preferable to select the heights of these contact portions so that the contact portions at one height position are sufficiently expanded and then the contact portions at the next height position are expanded. In short, even if the height of the contact part is not almost evenly distributed in the contact arrangement direction, the insertion force can be achieved by making the contact part of the contact contact stepwise without simultaneously contacting the mating connector when inserting the mating connector. It is only necessary to be able to reduce.

In the above description, the height of the contact portions is not changed, that is, all the contact portions are set at the same height from the base portion, and the insertion force is reduced by applying a biasing force toward the opening side to each contact. You may do so. Conversely, those having a different height from the base of the contact portion may be arranged without giving a biasing force to the contact. In the above description, the housing is constituted by the two base portions, the frame body and the cover. However, if necessary, a part or all of them may be constituted integrally. The contact portions of the contacts 18 and 19 may be of a surface mount type like the plug type connector shown in FIG. As described above, according to the present invention, the connector insertion force is dispersed and reduced. In addition, sufficient contact pressure can be obtained, reliable electrical connection can be made, and the length in the insertion / removal direction can be reduced.

When the same contact is used as described above, the height with respect to the base may be changed when the contact is mounted on the housing (the base in the embodiment), and the number of parts may be reduced. In particular, if the contact parts are shifted in the insertion / removal direction for both the contact inside the housing and the contact outside the housing, both the internal and external contacts must be attached to the housing at the same time. A product with a displaced contact portion is obtained.

Claims

The scope of the claims

1. A housing made of an insulating material having an insertion opening formed on the front side for inserting and removing a mating connector;

A multi-pole connector comprising: a plurality of contacts of a spring material arranged and mounted in the housing; and a contact portion of the contact is shifted in a direction away from a mating connector.

2. The multi-pole connector according to claim 1, wherein the displacement of the contact portion is substantially uniformly distributed in the contact arrangement direction.

3. The contact according to claim 2, wherein the contact portion of each contact is located at one of at least two different positions in the insertion / removal direction from the mounting position of the housing of the contact. The described multi-pole connection evening.

4. The distance between adjacent ones of the at least two different positions may be such that the mating connector is inserted, and the mating connector receives almost the maximum displacement of the contact at one position and then moves to the other position. 4. The multi-pole connector according to claim 3, wherein the contact portion is selected so as to contact the mating connector.

5. A housing made of an insulating material having an insertion opening formed on a front surface into which a mating connector is inserted and removed;

A plurality of contacts of spring material arranged and mounted in the housing, and a stopper for preventing a free end of the contact from entering the opening for insertion is provided in the housing. Multi-polar connector characterized by the following.

6. A plurality of engagement small holes are formed along the insertion opening in the front plate of the housing where the insertion opening is formed, and the free ends of the contacts are inserted into these engagement small holes. 5. The method according to claim 5, wherein the free end is engaged with the inner surface of the insertion opening of the small engaging hole, and the inner wall of the small engaging hole acts as the stopper. Multi-pole connector as described in the item.

7. The multi-pole connector according to claim 5, wherein the contact portions of the contact are shifted in a mating connector insertion / removal direction.

8. The multi-pole connector according to claim 7, wherein the displacement of the contact portion is substantially uniformly distributed in the contact arrangement direction.

9. The contact portion of each contact is located at one of at least two different positions in the insertion / removal direction from the mounting position of the housing of the contact, and the distance between adjacent ones of these different at least two positions. Is selected in such a way that the mating connector is inserted, the mating connector receives almost the maximum displacement of the contact at one position, and then the mating connector contacts the mating connector at the other position. 9. The multi-pole connector according to claim 8, wherein

10. Each of the contacts protrudes from the bottom surface of the housing to form a second contact portion that contacts the terminal of the printed wiring board.

10. The multi-pole connector according to claim 1, wherein the contact portions of the second contact portions are shifted in the printed wiring board insertion direction.

11. The multipolar connector according to claim 10, wherein the contact portion shifts of said second contacts are substantially uniformly distributed in the arrangement direction.

12. Each of the above-mentioned contacts has the same shape and size, and is attached to the housing so as to be shifted in the insertion / removal direction of the mating connector. The multipolar connector according to any one of the above.

1 3The above-mentioned contacts are three consecutive ones in the arrangement direction, and the contact part of the center contact and the contact parts of the contacts on both sides are shifted from each other in the above-mentioned removal direction. The multipolar connector according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that: