FR2823378A1 - Input/output connector for printed circuit board includes insulating support block with contact areas formed by metalisation on insulator surface - Google Patents

Abstract

The input/output connector for a printed circuit board includes a basic insulating support element (1) with metalisation providing contact areas in a common plane with fixing elements (2,4). There is also an insulating cover element, fitting over the first support element. The input/output connector (10) comprises a first electrically insulating part (1) including at least one fixing element (2,4), and at least one contact strip (3). A second part acts as a housing, partly covering the first part. The planar connecting surface of the contact rib is located in the same plane as the lower surface (9) of the fixing element (2,4), such that this plane defines the plane for fixing the connector. The connector may also include a power contact. The connector is made by metalising the plastic material to form the contact strip on the first insulating part (1). This metalisation may extend from the first connection surface (5) for a printed circuit, to a second portion (11) directed towards the outer surface of the connector, facilitating a connection for a complementary connector.

Description

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Input / output connector for surface mounting on a printed circuit board and method for manufacturing a surface mountable connector The invention relates to an input / output connector, in particular for surface mounting on a printed circuit board, the connector comprising a first electrically insulating part, having at least one fixing element and at least one contact, and a second part, serving as a housing, partially covering the first part, according to the preamble of claim 1. Furthermore , the invention relates to a method of manufacturing connectors with the possibility of surface mounting, according to claim 11.

Such connectors are preferably used in portable communication devices, such as radiotelephones or the like. Usually, such devices are very small and handy, so that there is little room for input / output connectors (also called rio connectors) which, therefore, are mounted on the surface on a printed circuit board, using the SMD (Surface Mounted Device) technique. Such connectors constitute mechanical interfaces for the connection of various peripherals, such as for example data modems. Connectors with very small dimensions must be positioned precisely when mounting on the printed circuit board. In addition, they must withstand high mechanical stresses on the service life value of the radiotelephone and, if necessary, despite this, they must be able to establish a good electrical connection between the connector and the complementary connector.

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It has thus been found that the requirements indicated above can be well satisfied, if the mounting face of the connector substantially coincides with the plane of the printed circuit board. It is, moreover, essential that this connector installation surface is reproducible.

By document US-6. 000.953, an I / O connector is known using for the precise positioning of the connector two extractable L-shaped clamps, placed on the sides, in the ends of each of which a projection is cut by stamping. During mounting or positioning, only these two projections come into contact with the printed circuit board, so that the connector can be mounted at this location in a manner allowing pivoting. The lowest contact rod of the connector, during pivoting, arrives first on the surface of the card and constitutes with the projections a tripod which defines the laying face of the connector.

It is particularly disadvantageous here that, due to the flexibility of the connector contact rods, there is a longitudinal inclination relative to the card which is sometimes large, sometimes small. In addition, the reproducibility of this laying face requires having contact sheets of very precise shapes and lengths. Very narrow tolerance ranges must also be observed for the lengthwise positioning of the rods in the housing. This inevitably increases the production costs of such a connector. In addition, it should be mentioned that the heights of the projections obtained by stamping are subject to large fluctuations. In the state of the art, this imprecision is not noticed, because the heights of the projections are small relative to their spacing.

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Cependant, ces fluctuations se font remarquer si l'on a des connecteurs I/O étroits (par exemple des connecteurs ne portant que peu de raccordements), si bien qu'en plus de l'inclinaison longitudinale on peut remarquer qu'il y a un basculement latéral. Des pinces de maintien, qui seraient également mal ou faussement montées latéralement, renforcent également cet effet, ceci pouvant venir par exemple d'impuretés insinuées entre la pince et le boîtier.

However, these fluctuations are noticeable if you have narrow I / O connectors (for example connectors with only few connections), so that in addition to the longitudinal tilt we can notice that there are lateral tilting. Holding clips, which would also be incorrectly or falsely mounted laterally, also reinforce this effect, this being able for example to come from impurities insinuated between the clamp and the housing.

Because the connector, moreover, consists of several elementary parts, such as the two extractable holding clips, contact rods embedded in the housing, the housing itself and locking hooks, a large number is required manufacturing steps, which also increase production costs. In addition, these narrow contact rods are not designed for high electrical power.

The invention aims to provide an input / output connector for surface mounting on a printed circuit board, comprising a first part insulating from electricity, having at least one fixing element with a flat face and at least one contact track with a flat connection face, and a second part serving as a housing, partially covering the first part which has a very precisely reproducible laying face, which can be positioned simply on a printed circuit board, and which , among others, supports strong electric currents.

This problem is solved by the fact that the planar face for connecting the contact track is situated substantially in the same plane as the lower planar face of the fastening element, this plane defining

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 the connector installation plan, and in that the connector has at least one power module for the transmission of high electrical powers.

According to a preferred embodiment, the power module comprises a metal median contact, a metal elastic contact and a retention blade, the contacts being capable of being electrically connected to a printed circuit board, using strips of material. synthetic metallic.

The connector according to the invention comprises a first electrical insulating part, which has at least one fixing element and at least one electrical contact, and a second part serving as a housing, which partially covers the first part. The planar connection face, extending horizontally, of the rigid contact is situated substantially in the same plane as the planar underside of the fixing element, this plane defining the plane of laying of the connector. In addition, the connector has at least one power module for the transmission of high electrical powers.

The connector only consists of two parts and a power module. It is only the first part, by a non-detachable fixing element and with a non-detachable contact having the laying surface, which determines the laying plane of the connector. A special feature of the invention lies in the fact that the connector does not require any additional clamp or hook to be mounted to ensure positioning and fixing. Above all, it should be emphasized that, when the connector has several contacts, all the laying surfaces are located in a single plane.

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 Other advantageous embodiments of the invention are characterized in that the power module comprises a metal median contact, a metal elastic contact and a retention blade, the contacts being capable of being electrically connected to a card printed circuit, using metallized strips of synthetic material and the fact that the two strips of synthetic material, extending on the rear face of the connector and belonging to the first part, are transformed into separate connection faces, located in the same plane as the connection faces of the rigid contacts.

A power module produced in this way can be used to charge the device connected to it, a good electrical connection being ensured.

Another embodiment of the invention is characterized in that the median contact of elongated shape, responding to rotational symmetry, has in the front zone a smaller diameter than in the rear zone, which has at least one section of spherical shape, projecting outwards, to ensure the electrical and mechanical connection of the median contact to the first strip or track.

Such a median contact avoids, on the one hand, the scraping of a metallized surface and, on the other hand, thus despite everything ensures good mechanical mounting.

An advantageous assembly of the invention is obtained by the fact that the first part consists of a single injection molded part, and that the second part is partially overmolded above the first part.

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 It is therefore particularly advantageous for the first part, with its elements, to consist of a single part. Between the elements of the first part, there is no possibility of displacement or offset after molding. The only precaution consists in milling precisely the casting model of the first part, here the injection molds. With the help of CNC machines, this is no longer a problem. The second part fills the free spaces of the first part and therefore strengthens it, so that a mechanically robust assembly (connector) is formed.

Another object of the invention is to propose a method of manufacturing a connector that can be mounted on the surface, resulting in very low production costs.

moulage par injection de la première partie, activation chimique de la surface de la première partie, blocage par serrage de la première partie dans le moule d'injection de la deuxième partie. moulage par injection de la deuxième partie partiellement au-dessus de la première partie, - métallisation du connecteur, le métal ne restant adhérer que sur les surfaces laissées libres de la première partie ; et introduction des éléments métalliques du module de puissance dans leurs chambres correspondantes. This object is achieved by a method of manufacturing a surface mountable connector, having the following manufacturing steps:

injection molding of the first part, chemical activation of the surface of the first part, clamping by clamping of the first part in the injection mold of the second part. injection molding of the second part partially above the first part, - metallization of the connector, the metal remaining adhering only to the surfaces left free of the first part; and introduction of the metallic elements of the power module into their corresponding chambers.

The process for manufacturing a connector with the possibility of surface mounting has the following steps:

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 First, the first part is injection molded, then the surface of the first part is chemically activated, then the first part is blocked by clamping in the injection mold of the second part. Now the second part is partially molded by the first part. Then, the connector is metallized, the metal remaining adhering only to the surface left free of the first part.

Finally, the metal elements of the power module are introduced into their corresponding chambers.

Thus, for the injection molding of the second part, the same thermoplastic material is used as for the injection molding of the first part. A special feature of the invention lies in the activation of the surface of the first part. This especially makes it possible to house and adhere the metal to the synthetic material, such as a thermoplastic material. The first part is inserted into the injection mold of the second part and is locked by clamping, so that the first part, during the second pass, is not moved. After that, the second constituted part plays the role of a robust case, insulating from electricity, because the voids and the intermediate spaces of the first part are filled. During metallization, the second part acts as a mask. On the second part itself, no trace of metal remains in adhesion, owing to the fact that the synthetic material in general does not bind chemically well to the metal. On the other hand, on the activated, free surface of the first part, preferably a metal deposition is carried out. Simultaneously, the second part leads to the mutual separation of the different metallized zones of the first part, so that these are not connected together electrically. So there is

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 creation of dedicated conductive zones which can be used as contacts. These metal areas then have a stiff and rigid underlying support, precisely the first part, which hardly or hardly deforms under the effect of pressure. It is therefore particularly advantageous that for such connectors manufactured according to the invention, provided for signals, no contact plug is used. Contact plugs or contact springs are used only for the power module. Here we succeed in combining the advantages of the two technologies without increasing costs.

Preferred embodiments of the invention, as far as the connector is concerned, are characterized in that the elastic contact has two tabs, the first tab establishing contact with the second strip and the second tab entering the housing chamber. of the complementary connector, the first part has, on each side of the connector, a fixing element in each of which is provided a centering opening, the contact consists of an electrically conductive contact strip, applied to the surface not covered with the contact rib belonging to the first part, the area, opposite the connector front, with the contact strip constituting the electrical connection face for the printed circuit board and the area, facing the connector front, of the contact strip constituting the electrical connection face for the complementary connector. the second part comprises at least one locking module for ensuring the mechanical fixing of the complementary connector. the connector comprises a first fixing element, a power module connected thereto, a

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 first locking module, a first contact module with nine contact ribs, a second locking module, a second contact module with two contact ribs, then a second fixing element.

As regards the method, according to other embodiments: the clamping by clamping of the first part is carried out by pressing on the upper face of the fixing element and on the upper edge of at least the one of the upper connecting ribs, so that the underside of the fastening elements and all the connection surfaces are located in a plane, in the injection mold of the second part, the front face and the underside of the ribs are metallized, causing a continuous contact track or strip to be formed there.

A preferred embodiment of the connector according to the invention will be described in detail below, with reference to the schematic drawing. In the drawing: Fig. 1 shows a front view of a connector according to the invention; Fig. 2a shows a perspective bottom view of the connector of FIG. 1; Fig. 2b shows a rear perspective view from above of the connector of FIG. l, mounted on a printed circuit board; Fig. 3 shows a section along the line B-B of FIG. 1; Fig. 4 shows a section along the line A-A of FIG. 1;

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 Fig. 5 shows a small area of the first part without the second part molded over it; Fig. 6 shows a section along the line F-F of FIG. 1; and Fig. 7 shows a section along the line G-G of FIG. 1.

We can see in Fig. 1 the modular structure of the connector according to the invention. Looking at the front of the connector, from left to right, the connector has a power module 14 (see also Fig. 6 and 7 for this purpose) with a middle contact 81, an elastic contact 82, and a retention blade 83. The first locking module 51 is connected to it. It is then a housing 70 molded in the second part 50, for locking hooks of the complementary connector which is not shown. Next, a first contact module 15 is provided, provided with nine contact ribs 7. An additional second locking module 52, which is identical in shape to the first module 51, then comes. Finally, a second contact module 16 (see Fig. 5), provided with two contact ribs 7, establishes the connection. The different ribs 7 of the respective contact modules are separated by shoulders 55 of the second part. They extend parallel to the ribs 7 and are formed by filling the intermediate spaces 28 located between the ribs. The modules 14 to 16 are encased by the frame 71 formed in one piece on the connector front.

Externally, on the short sides of the body 56 extend the fastening elements 2 and 4 of the first part 1, the fastening elements each having in the center a centering opening 6.8.

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 These centering openings can be used to position the connector on the printed circuit board. Figures 2a and 2b show the input / output connector according to the invention, in top view or in bottom view, in perspective. The connector is preferably molded in two passes, knowing that in the first pass the first part is produced, as illustrated in FIG. 5, and that during the second pass, it is the second part, partially covering the first part, which is produced. Finally, the metallic elements of the power module 14 are inserted into their corresponding chambers. For the sake of better understanding, the elements of the first part have been designated by reference characters 1 to 49, the elements of the second part by reference characters 50 to 79, and elements of the power module by the reference characters numbered from 80.

qui sont séparées par les épaulements 55, sont bien visibles. Les deux faces de raccordement Sir 5"gauches du module de puissance 14 sont prolongées par les pistes en matière synthétique 84, 85 métallisées, de manière que les contacts 81, 82 qui se trouvent dans le module de puissance 14 soient reliés électriquement à ces faces de raccordement 5', 5". Dans la face arrière 14b du module de puissance 14 sont ménagées une chambre de logement 92 pour le ressort de contact 82, une chambre de logement 91 pour le contact médian 81 et une chambre de logement 93 pour la lame de rétention 83. Fig. 2a shows the connector seen from the rear when viewed from below. Here, the ribs 7 extending in parallel,

which are separated by the shoulders 55, are clearly visible. The two left Sir 5 "connection faces of the power module 14 are extended by the plastic tracks 84, 85 metallized, so that the contacts 81, 82 which are in the power module 14 are electrically connected to these faces connection 5 ', 5 ". In the rear face 14b of the power module 14 are formed a housing chamber 92 for the contact spring 82, a housing chamber 91 for the middle contact 81 and a housing chamber 93 for the retention blade 83.

In the top view of Fig. 2b (here the connector is shown inverted specularly with respect to Fig. 2a), one can practically see only the second part 50 to

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 rectangular shape, the printed circuit board 79 and on the left the power module 14. The rectangular shaped body 56 with the power module 14 is extended on its two short sides by two ears 57,58. In their center, each ear 57.58 has an opening 64.65. Under the ears 57.58 we can clearly see the two fastening elements 2.4 of the first part.

On the rear edge 59 of the upper face of the body 56 are visible three windows 61, 62, 63 of rectangular shape. The openings 64, 65, as well as the windows 61 to 63, are produced by holding punches which come from above, which press on the first part in order to fix them in the injection mold of the second part. As a result, during the second pass, this is where the holding punches are located. In these places, therefore, no thermoplastic material can arrive. The tails 23, 23 ', 23' 'of the ribs 7 emerge in the lower part of the rear face 67 of the body 56. The connection faces 5, 51, 5 "are in alignment with respect to their corresponding connection contacts 100 of the card 79. This makes it possible to obtain safe and rapid brazing of the faces 5, 5 ', 5' 'with the contacts 100, in a fusion brazing oven.

Fig. 3 shows a section along line B-B of the connector of FIG. 1. The interface B-B extends parallel to the direction of insertion and cuts a contact rib 7 in the longitudinal direction. The hatched area, from top left to bottom right, designates the second part 50. On the connector front 10, we can see, in the upper part and in the lower part, the frame 71. The housing chamber 32 of the contact of the additional connector is located in the intermediate position. The hatched area from bottom left to top right designates the contact rib 7 which is a

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 element of the first part. The lower and front surfaces (on the left in FIG.) Of the ribs 7 are not covered by the second part, so that metallic contact tracks 3 can be deposited thereon. The metal deposit is deposited over the entire length of the rib 7 so as to constitute a contact track (3). It is deposited on the front contact surface 11, extending substantially vertically in the figure and on the rear contact surface 5 extending horizontally in the figure and designed to make the electrical contacts respectively with the associated peripherals and with the card. with printed circuit. It should be noted that the metal deposit does not cause any additional thickness modifying the dimensions of the rib 7. We see on the right of FIG. 3 that, from the rear face 67 of the body 56, the tail 23 emerges from the rib 7. The upper and lower connecting ribs 12, 13 have been indicated in dotted lines. At the far right in the background, there is the power module 14 with its two tracks of synthetic material 84,85 metallized. On the lateral face 14a of the module 14, the first track 84 of the median contact 81 extends first horizontally, then vertically, then horizontally on the rear face 14b of the module 14, before the track 84 disappears in the chamber 91 The second track 85 of the elastic contact 87 extends horizontally then vertically on the lateral faces 14a, before the second track 85, passing through a window 87 arranged in the module 14, arrives in the chamber 92 of the elastic contact 82.

Fig. 4 shows a section along the line A-A of the connector of FIG. 1. For the sake of clarity, the power module located in the background has not been shown.

The cutting line A-A extends parallel to the direction of insertion, passes through a window 81 and cuts

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 then the two connecting ribs 12 and 13. The hatching has the same meaning as in FIG. 3. The window 61 is visible in the upper right-hand part in FIG. 4. The upper connecting rib 14 located below is fixed during the second pass, respectively during the injection molding of the second part 50, by a holding punch, pressing from top to bottom, into the mold d 'injection. The punch then arrives on the upper edge 22 of the upper connecting rib 13.

Fig. 5 shows the first part directly after the first injection molding and from this only the second contact module 16. This module has two ribs 7 extending in parallel. They are connected together mechanically by the two connecting ribs 12,13. The intermediate space 28 located between them is filled with the shoulder material, during the second pass. On the one hand, the ribs stiffen the first complete part and, on the other hand, they keep the ribs 7 parallel to each other.

In addition, in front of the rib 7 is indicated (in dotted lines) the first fastening element 2 provided with the centering opening 6. This element is formed in one piece on the lower rib 12. During the second pass, two retaining punches press on the fastening elements 2 and 4, and also three retaining punches press on the upper face 22 of the upper connecting rib 13. The lower faces 9 of the fastening elements then arrive on the flat plane of the mold d injection of the second part, as well as the connection faces 5. The lower faces and the connection faces are located in a single plane. In any case, there can be a maximum spacing of 50 Um between the plane of the lower face and the plane of the connection face 5.

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 Fig. 6 shows a section along the line F-F of the connector of FIG. 1. This section passes exactly through the center of the power module 14. On this section from top to bottom, we see the retention blade 83, the middle contact 81 and the second tab 82b of the elastic contact 82. The housing chamber 93 of the retention plate 83 is visible in the upper third. This has a pin 83a facing downwards which can block the complementary connector, not shown. In the middle third, the middle contact 81 extends horizontally and, in the rear zone 81b, it is provided with three sections 81c of spherical shape, oriented towards the outside. The left section of these gets stuck in the second part 50. To the right and next to it is a block 88 which comes from the first pass.

The lower edge is metallized and constitutes the end of the second track 85 which is electrically connected to the 5 "connection face. The inner cylindrical area of the block 88 is also metallized and constitutes the end of the first track 84 which is connected to the connection face 5 '.

Thus, the two straight sections 81c are wedged inside the block 88, causing them to establish contact with the first strip or track 84. The sections 81c with a spherical shape prevent scraping of the metal surface of the block 88 does not occur when the median contact 81 is inserted into the chamber 91.

Fig. 7 shows a section along the line G-G of the connector of FIG. 1. The block 88 and the first tab 82a coming from the elastic contact 82 are then shown in section. In the upper third, we see the retention blade through a window. Below, the middle contact is drawn in dotted lines. The L-shaped block 88, which we have here, comes out of the face

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 rear 14b. The first track 84 is then visible there, in the form of a dark vertical line. The underside of the block 88 is metallized and constitutes, as already mentioned, the end of the second track 85 with which the first tongue 82a comes into mechanical contact. The elastic contact 82 is thus electrically connected to the connection face 5 ".

Claims (14)

 Claims 1. An input / output connector for surface mounting on a printed circuit board, comprising: a first part (1) insulating from electricity, having at least one fixing element (2,4) with a flat face (9) and at least one contact track (3) with a flat connection face (5), and a second part (50) serving as a housing, partially covering the first part (1), characterized in that the flat face of connection (5) of the contact track (3) is situated substantially in the same plane as the lower flat face (9) of the fixing element (2,4), this plane defining the plane of laying of the connector, and in that the connector has at least one power module (14) for the transmission of high electrical powers.  2. Connector according to claim 1, characterized in that the power module (14) comprises a median contact (81) metallic, an elastic contact (82) metallic and a retaining blade (83), the contacts (81,82 ) being capable of being electrically connected to a printed circuit board (79), using metallized strips of synthetic material (84, 85).  3. Connector according to at least any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the two strips of synthetic material (84,85), extending on the rear face (67) of the connector and belonging to the first part (1 ), transform into separate connection faces (5 ', 5 "), located in the same plane as the connection faces (5) of the rigid contacts (7). <Desc / Clms Page number 18>  4. Connector according to at least any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the median contact (81) of elongated shape, responding to rotational symmetry, has in the front area (81a) a smaller diameter than in the rear zone (81b), which has at least one section (81c) of spherical shape, projecting outwards, to ensure the electrical and mechanical connection of the median contact to the first strip or track (84).  5. Connector according to at least any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the elastic contact (82) has two tongues (82a, 82b), the first tongue (82a) establishing contact with the second strip (85) and the second tab (82b) entering the housing chamber (78) of the complementary connector.  6. Connector according to at least any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the first part (1) consists of a single injection molded part, and in that the second part (50) is partially overmolded above the first part (1).  7. Connector according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the first part (1) has, on each side of the connector, a fixing element (2,4) in each of which is provided a centering opening (6.8).  8. Connector according to at least any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the contact consists of a contact strip (3) electrically conductive, applied to the non-surface <Desc / Clms Page number 19>  covered with the contact rib (7) belonging to the first part (1), the area, opposite the connector front (10), with the contact strip (3) constituting the electrical connection face (5) for the printed circuit board and the area facing the connector front of the contact strip (3) constituting the electrical connection face (11) for the complementary connector.

 9. Connector according to at least any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the second part (50) comprises at least one locking module (51,52) for ensuring the mechanical fixing of the complementary connector.  10. Connector according to at least any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises a first fixing element (2), a power module (14) connected thereto, a first locking module (51), a first contact module (15) with nine contact ribs (7), a second locking module (52), a second contact module (16) with two contact ribs (7), then a second fixing element ( 4).  11. Method for manufacturing a surface mountable connector, having the following manufacturing steps: injection molding of the first part (1), chemical activation of the surface of the first part (1), clamping by clamping the first part (1) in the injection mold of the second part (50), <Desc / Clms Page number 20>  injection molding of the second part (50) partially above the first part (1), metallization of the connector, the metal remaining adhering only to the surfaces left free of the first part; and introduction of the metallic elements (81 to 83) of the power module (14) into their corresponding chambers (91 to 93).  12. Method according to claim 11, characterized in that the connector manufactured is an input / output connector according to at least any one of claims 1 to 10.  13. Method according to at least any one of claims 11 or 12, characterized in that the clamping blocking of the first part (1) is effected by pressing on the upper face (17,19) of the element fixing (2,4) and on the upper edge (22) of at least one of the upper connecting ribs (13), so that the lower face (9) of the fixing elements (2,4) and all the connection surfaces (5, 5 ', 5 ") are located in a plane, in the injection mold of the second part (50).  14 Method according to at least any one of claims 11 to 13, characterized in that the front face (20) and the underside of the ribs (7) are metallized, making it possible that is formed at this location a track or strip of contact (8) continues.