JP2000311743A - Connection equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] To provide a connection device that can be reduced in size, prevents dust from entering, and can reliably perform electrical connection of a plug. SOLUTION: A main body 22 fixed to an electronic device 12,
A plug housing 24 that is disposed on the main body 22 and into which the plug 16 is inserted, a lid member 18 provided on the housing 14 so that the opening of the housing 14 of the electronic device 12 can be opened and closed, and the lid member 18 is moved by moving the lid member 18. When the opening is opened, a part of the plug housing 24 is protruded to the outside of the housing 14 through the opening, and when the cover member 18 is moved to close the opening, the plug housing 24 is moved into the housing 14. And a moving mechanism 26 of the plug container 24 for storing.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a connecting device for electrically connecting a plug to an electronic device by inserting the plug.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 5 shows a conventional electric connecting device. The plug 100 is electrically connected by being inserted into the jack 105. The jack 105 is arranged in a housing 106 of the electronic device, and the jack 105 is electrically connected to a circuit board 108. Thereby, the plug 100 is connected to the circuit board 108.
Can be electrically connected via the jack 105.

[0003]

A jack 105 is fixed to a circuit board 108, and the jack 105 is located in a hole 109 of a housing 106. That is, the jack 105 is completely fixed inside the housing 106. The hole 110 of the jack 105 is
Therefore, when the user tries to insert the plug 100 into the hole 110 of the jack 105, there is an operational problem that it is difficult to insert the plug 100 into the hole 110 of the jack 105. The jack 105 has a cylindrical portion 112 and a main body 114. The main body 114 is fixed to the cylindrical portion 112, and it is difficult to reduce the overall length L of the jack 105, and it is difficult to reduce the size of the jack 105. is there.
Moreover, as described above, the cylindrical portion 11 of the jack 105
Since the second hole 110 is opened to the outside through the hole 109 of the housing 106, the jack 105
Dust and the like enter the inside, and the jack 105 and the plug 1
However, there is a problem that the electrical connection of No. 00 cannot be sufficiently secured over time due to dust or the like. Further, dust or the like
It also invades through the hole 109. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and to provide a connection device that can reduce the size, prevent intrusion of dust, and reliably perform electrical connection of a plug.

[0004]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a connecting device for electrically connecting the plug to an electronic device by inserting the plug, wherein a main body fixed to the electronic device; A plug housing that is disposed in the main body and into which the plug is inserted, a lid member provided in the housing so as to be able to open and close an opening of the housing of the electronic device, and moving the lid member to move the opening. When opened, a part of the plug container is protruded to the outside of the housing through the opening, and when the lid member is moved to close the opening, the plug container is moved and stored in the housing. And a moving mechanism for the plug container.

According to the first aspect, the main body is fixed to the electronic device, and the plug housing is arranged in the main body so that the plug is inserted. The lid member is provided on the housing so that the opening of the housing of the electronic device can be freely opened and closed. When the opening mechanism is opened by moving the lid member, the moving mechanism of the plug container causes a part of the plug container to protrude to the outside of the housing through the opening, and moves the lid member to close the opening. Move the plug container into the housing and place it.
With this, when the opening is opened by the lid member, a part of the plug housing protrudes to the outside of the housing through the opening, and the user inserts the plug into the protruding plug housing. By inserting the plug, electrical connection between the plug and the electronic device can be reliably performed.

Further, when the cover member is moved to close the opening and the plug accommodating body is moved and stored in the housing, that is, when the plug is not connected, the opening can close the cover member. No dust or the like enters the plug housing, and the plug can be electrically connected reliably. Moreover, dust and the like do not enter the housing of the electronic device. Furthermore, the plug housing is projected out of the housing when in use by the moving mechanism, and is moved into the housing when not in use. Can be achieved.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the connection device of the first aspect, the main body is fixed to a circuit board disposed inside the housing of the electronic device, and the main body is fixed to the circuit board. It has a contact for electrically connecting the plug. According to the second aspect, the contact moves together with the plug housing, but the movement can be absorbed in a compact space by using a spring force.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the connection device according to the first aspect, the moving mechanism moves the lid member to open the opening, and moves a part of the plug housing into the housing. And urging means for urging a part of the plug accommodating body to the outside of the housing with an urging force when projecting the plug housing outward. According to the third aspect, when the cover member is moved to close the opening and the plug housing is housed in the housing, the plug housing can be reliably pulled into the housing by the urging force of the urging means. .

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the connecting device according to the first aspect, the contact is always in electrical contact with the plug housing when the plug housing moves in the case of a tact for grounding. ing. According to the fourth aspect, irrespective of the movement of the plug container, stable contact can be obtained and the contact can be held compactly. Further, the self-cleaning action of the contact can be provided by the movement of the plug container.

[0010]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the embodiments described below are preferred specific examples of the present invention,
Although various technically preferable limits are given, the scope of the present invention is not limited to these modes unless otherwise specified in the following description.

FIG. 1 shows an example of an electronic apparatus on which an embodiment of the connection device of the present invention is mounted. The electronic device 12 has a housing 14 and is, for example, a portable music playback device. The connection device 10 is provided in association with the housing 14, and has a function of electrically connecting the plug 16 to an electrical element disposed inside the housing 14. Have.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the structure of the connection device 10 shown in FIG. 1, and shows a state in which the cover member 18 closes the opening 20 of the housing 14 and the hole 40 of the plug housing 24. FIG.
Shows a state in which the lid member 18 has been moved and the opening 20 and the hole 40 of the plug container 24 have been opened. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the connection device 10 includes a main body 22, a plug housing 24, a lid member 18, and a moving mechanism 26. The connection device 10 is a jack for electrically connecting the electric connection terminal 28 of the plug 16 shown in FIG.
The main body 22 is made of, for example, a preferably insulating material such as plastic, and is fixed on the circuit board 30 using a boss 32 or the like. Circuit board 30
Are arranged in the housing 14 and are fixed to the fixing portion 14H of the housing 14. The body 22 has portions 34,36. On this part 34, the plug housing 24
Are movably guided along the X1 direction or the X2 direction. Portion 36 has a hole 38 through which plug housing 24 passes.

The plug housing 24 is made of a material having an insulating property such as plastic, and is preferably formed in a cylindrical shape. The plug housing 24 has a hole 40 for inserting the electrical connection terminal 28 of the plug 16, and a contact 44 is provided inside the plug housing 24.
When the electric connection terminal 28 is inserted into the hole 40 as shown in FIG. 4, the contact 44 is a portion electrically connected to the contact portion 28A of the electric connection terminal 28 of the plug 16 by an elastic force. Therefore, the contact 44 is, for example, a leaf spring made of a conductive metal. The projecting portion 44 </ b> A of the contact 44 is the contact portion 28 of the electrical connection terminal 28.
By being urged to A as shown in FIG. 4, electrical connection can be reliably established. This contact 4
Reference numeral 4 denotes a terminal for transmitting a signal from the plug 16 to the circuit board 30 or from the circuit board 30 to the plug 16. One end 46A of a spring 46 is fixed to an end of the contact 44. The other end 46B of the spring 46
Are electrically connected to the circuit pattern of the circuit board 30 by being directly attached to the circuit pattern by soldering. As shown in FIG. 3, this spring 46
When a part of the plug housing 24 protrudes from the opening 20 of the housing 14 as shown in FIG. 2 from the state of being housed inside the housing, the plug housing 24 exerts a force to push out the plug housing 24 in the X1 direction. It is an urging means.

A portion 46A of the ground contact 46
Is always in contact with the electrical connection portion 50 of the plug housing 24. The other end 46B of the ground contact 46 is directly attached to the circuit pattern of the circuit board 30 using the solder 51. When the electric connection terminal 28 of the plug 16 is inserted into the hole 40 of the plug housing 24 as shown in FIG. 4, the electric connection portion 50 comes into contact with the contact portion 28B of the electric connection terminal 28 via the protruding portion 50A. The boss 32 is attached to the main body 22.
And a portion for receiving a load such as the plug housing 24.

Next, the lid member 18 will be described. The lid member 18 is disposed on the outer surface 14A side of the housing 14 so as to be openable and closable. That is, the lid member 18 in FIG. 2 can be opened in the R1 direction with respect to the protrusion 14B of the housing 14 via the pin 14C. When the lid member 18 is not opened as shown in FIG. 2, the lid member 18 closes the opening 20 of the housing 14 and the hole 40 of the plug housing 24. When the lid member 18 is open as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the opening 20 of the housing 14 and the hole 40 of the
Is open to the outside of the housing 14. This lid member 18
Can be made of various materials such as plastic or metal, and is formed in a plate shape in the illustrated example.

Next, the moving mechanism 26 will be described.
When the user opens the lid member 18 in the R1 direction and when the user closes the lid member 18 in the direction of R2 shown in FIG.
It has a function of moving in one direction or the X2 direction. The moving mechanism 26 has an arm 60 and a connecting part 62. One end of the curved arm 60 is fixed to the upper end 18A of the lid member 18. The other end of the arm 60 has a guide roller 64. The guide roller 64 is fitted in a guide hole 66 of the connecting portion 62. The guide hole 66 of the connecting portion 62 is arranged in a direction parallel to the housing 14, that is, in the Z direction. The lower end 62 </ b> A of the connecting portion 62 is fixed to the rear end of the plug housing 24. That is, the plug housing 24 and the connecting portion 62 are structurally integrated. The connecting portion 62 is made of, for example, an insulating material such as plastic or a conductive metal in a plate shape.

Next, an operation example of the above-described connection device 10 will be described. In FIG. 1, when the user wants to electrically connect the plug 16 to the electronic device 12, the user opens the cover member 18 in the direction R1 in FIG. With such an opening operation of the lid member 18,
The guide roller 64 of the arm 60 of the moving mechanism 26 is
2 is moved along the second guide hole 66 so that the connecting portion 62
The plug housing 24 moves in the X1 direction as shown in FIGS. By the movement of the plug housing 24, a part of the plug housing 24 is moved from the opening 20 of the housing 14 to the housing 14.
Project outside. In this case, the urging force of the spring 46 can assist the movement of the plug housing 24 in the X1 direction, and a part of the plug housing 24 is
It is reliably and lightly extruded from zero. In this manner, the plug housing 24 is moved in the X1 direction along the portion 34 of the main body 22. At this time, the ground contact 46 is always in electrical contact with the electrical connection portion 50 of the plug housing 24 even when the plug housing 24 moves.

Next, when the user holds the plug 16 of FIG. 3 with his / her finger and inserts it into the hole 40 of the plug housing 24 in the direction of X2, the electric connection terminal 28 of the plug 16 is Fully inserted into 40. In such an inserted state, the contact portion 28A of the electrical connection terminal 28 is securely electrically connected to the projecting portion 44A of the contact 44. The contact portion 28B of the electrical connection terminal 28 is reliably and electrically connected to the ground contact 46 through the protruding portion 50A and the electrical connection portion 50. In the case where the plug 16 is inserted into the plug accommodating body 24 for electrical connection as described above, the plug 16 can be reliably and electrically connected to the circuit board 30 via the connection device 10. When the plug 16 is connected to the plug housing 24, the user may be in a position to insert the plug 16 because a part of the plug housing 24 projects outside the housing 14 as shown in FIGS. Therefore, the plug 16 can be easily inserted.

Next, when the user pulls out the plug 16 from the hole 40 of the plug container 24 in the direction of X1, the plug 16
Moves away from the plug housing 24. Then, when the user closes the lid member 18 in the direction of R2 in FIG. 3, the moving mechanism 26 moves and stores the plug housing 24 in the direction of X2 with the closing operation of the lid member 18. That is, when the arm 60 rotates counterclockwise about the pin 14C, the plug housing 24 is housed in the main body 22 side. In this state, a part (tip) of the plug container 24 is
4, the lid member 18 is closed at both the hole 40 of the plug housing 24 and the opening 20 of the housing 14. Thereby, it is possible to prevent a phenomenon that dust or the like enters the plug housing body 24 or dust enters the housing 14 through the opening 20. Therefore, the electrical connection between the plug 16 and the plug container 24 is
Even when the time elapses, dust and the like do not adhere to the contacts 44 and 46, so that the electrical connection between the plug housing 24 and the plug 16 can be reliably ensured even after the elapse of time.
In addition, the plug housing 24 is substantially housed in the main body 22 during the storage in FIG. 3, and the plug housing 24 projects from the main body 22 to the outside of the housing 14 as shown in FIG. With such a structure, the dimension S of the connection device 10 can be reduced, and the size of the connection device 10 can be reduced.

In the above embodiment, the plug 1
6 is used to connect an accessory 70 connected to, for example, the electronic device 12 as shown in FIG. The accessory 70 is, for example, a remote controller, a microphone, or other components. The electrical connection terminals 28 of the plug 16 can be of various sizes. However, when the electronic device 12 is small, a so-called pin plug is used as the plug, and a connection device 10 called a pin jack can be used. Electronic equipment 12
The scope of application is not limited to a music reproducing device, but includes a music recording / reproducing device, or other audiovisual devices, such as a small television or a navigation device, a wireless device, and various fields or fields.

In the illustrated example, the lid member is rotated about the pin 14C to open the opening 20 of the housing 14 and the hole 40 of the plug housing 24. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the lid member may be slid to open the opening 20 of the housing 14 and the hole 40 of the plug housing 24, and the plug housing may be projected outside the housing by the sliding operation of the lid member. Absent.

[0022]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The size can be reduced, dust can be prevented from entering, and the electrical connection of the plug can be reliably performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of an electronic device including a connection device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view having a partial cross section showing a structural example of the connection device of FIG. 1, showing a state in which a lid member closes an opening of a housing and a hole of a plug housing.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a state in which a cover member is opened to open a hole of a plug housing and an opening of a housing.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a state in which a plug is electrically connected to a plug container.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a conventional connection device.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 connecting device, 12 electronic device, 14
Housing, 16: plug, 18: lid member, 22 ...
.The main body of the connection device, 24...
.Movement mechanism part, 30... Circuit board, 40... Hole of plug container

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Hirokazu Nakayoshi 6-7-35 Kita-Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo Inside Sony Corporation (72) Inventor Yasuhiro Kataoka 6-35-35 Kita-Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo Sony Stock Inside the company (72) Inventor Kenji Munakata 6-7-35 Kita-Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo Inside Sony Corporation (72) Inventor Hidenori Sakamoto 6-5-5 Togoshi, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo SSMK Corporation (72) Inventor Shuichi Yoshino 6-5-5 Togoshi, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo S-MK Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Motoichi Sasa 6-5-5 Togoshi, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo S-MK Co., Ltd. F-term (Reference) 5E087 EE04 EE07 FF17 LL04 LL17 MM02 MM08 RR04 RR13 RR49

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A connection device for electrically connecting the plug to an electronic device by inserting a plug, wherein: a main body fixed to the electronic device; and a plug disposed on the main body and into which the plug is inserted. A housing, a cover member provided in the housing so that an opening of the housing of the electronic device can be opened and closed, and a part of the plug housing when the cover member is moved to open the opening. A plug housing moving mechanism for moving the lid member to close the opening and moving the plug housing into the housing to protrude to the outside of the housing through the opening; and A connection device comprising: 2. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the main body is fixed to a circuit board disposed inside the housing of the electronic device, and has a contact for electrically connecting the plug to the circuit board. Connection equipment. 3. The plug accommodating body by an urging force when the moving mechanism unit moves the lid member to open the opening and cause a part of the plug accommodating body to protrude from the inside of the housing. 2. The connection device according to claim 1, further comprising a biasing means for pushing a part of the housing out of the housing. 4. The connection device according to claim 1, wherein the contact is always in electrical contact with the plug housing when the plug housing moves in the case of a grounding contact.