JP2003303649A - Jack - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To construct a jack hardly generating defective contact between a plug and a contact, even when repeated wrenching force is applied. <P>SOLUTION: A pair of contacts C1 are arranged at the position interposing a plug insertion hole formed to a body 1, and contact parts 3A formed to respective contacts C1 are formed so as to pinch the plug by the elastic force of itself when the plug P is inserted into the plug insertion hole. A restriction mechanism H, having contact parts 4A, 5A restraining the separating distance between the contact parts 3A when the plug P is inserted, is formed to the contacts. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a jack provided with a plurality of contacts along a plug insertion hole formed in a body.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Taking a jack provided in an audio device as an example, a plug insertion hole is formed in a resin body, and a good conductor such as copper alloy is formed inside the body along the plug insertion hole. Are arranged, and in the jack having this structure, when the plug is inserted into the plug insertion hole, the contacts are brought into contact with the plurality of conductive surfaces formed on the plug.
Further, the contact is made of a material which is elastically deformed well, and when contacting the plug, it is usual to maintain the contact state with the conductive surface of the plug by the elastic force of the contact itself.

[0003]

Here, a portable MD is used.
Taking a small audio device such as a player or a portable CD player as an example, a portion for outputting a sound signal to the headphone and an input / output portion for dubbing have a diameter of 2.5 mm.
It has a jack that allows the use of small diameter plugs. In a portable audio device, a player often holds a player in one hand and operates the plug with the other hand, so that the relative attitude between the plug and the jack is often inserted and removed, For example, it is often the case that the plug is forcibly inserted in a direction inclined to the axis of the plug insertion hole, or the plug is forcibly pulled out in such a direction. In some cases, poor contact occurred.

This poor contact can be attributed to the fact that the strength of the body cannot be increased so much because the jack is small and the strength of the contact cannot be increased so much. Specifically, when the twisting force repeatedly acts on the jack, the opening edge of the plug insertion hole of the jack expands due to wear or deformation, and an excessive force biased against the contact is applied when the plug is inserted or removed. As a result of deforming the contact, contact failure may occur, and even if the opening of the plug insertion hole of the jack does not expand, a biased force acts on the contact,
It is conceivable that the contact may be plastically deformed, resulting in poor contact. If a contact failure occurs between the contact and the plug, the required performance cannot be obtained and there is room for improvement.

An object of the present invention is to reasonably construct a jack in which contact failure of a contact with a plug is unlikely to occur even when a twisting force is repeatedly applied.

[0006]

The features, functions and effects of the jack according to claim 1 of the present invention are as follows. [Characteristics] In a jack provided with a plurality of contacts along a plug insertion hole formed in a body, a pair of the plurality of contacts are arranged so as to face each other at a position sandwiching the plug insertion hole, When the plug is inserted into the contact, the contact portions formed on the respective contacts are contacted in such a manner as to be sandwiched by the elastic force of the contact itself, and the contact portions of the respective contacts are separated from each other when the plug is inserted. The point is that it has a limiting mechanism that limits the amount.

[Operation / Effect] According to the above characteristics, when the plug is inserted into the plug insertion hole in a direction inclined with respect to the axis of the plug insertion hole, or when the plug is inserted, the twisting force is exerted from the plug. As described above, a strong force acts on one of the contact parts of the pair of contacts, causing a large displacement of the contact part in the direction away from the space where the plug is inserted. However, the limiting mechanism limits this displacement. In other words, even if a biased force is applied to the contacts, it eliminates the inconvenience of enlarging the gap between the contact parts of each contact and makes it possible to contact the contact part of any contact with the plug. It can be maintained. As a result, it is possible to eliminate the inconvenience of plastically deforming the contacts even when a biased force is repeatedly applied from the plug, and maintain the state where each contact portion is in contact with the corresponding conductive surface of the plug.

Features of the jack according to claim 2 of the present invention,
The actions and effects are as follows. [Characteristics] In the jack according to claim 1, the limiting mechanism is configured to include an abutment portion that is connected to the contact portions of the pair of contacts, and the limiting mechanism is provided with a plug inserted into the plug insertion hole. The contact portions are separated from each other by the contact, and when the amount of separation reaches a preset value, the respective contact portions are in contact with each other to limit the amount of separation between the contact portions. In point.

[Operation / Effect] According to the above characteristics, when the contact portion is formed integrally with the contact and a force for enlarging the contact portion of the opposing contact acts, the contact portions are contacted with each other. By abutting, expansion of the space between the contact portions is limited. As a result, by simply forming the contact portion at the time of manufacturing the contact, without increasing the number of parts without special processing such as attaching other members,
It has become possible to reliably limit the expansion of the spacing between the contact portions. In particular, this configuration does not require independent parts as a limiting mechanism, so there is no increase in cost,
It does not lead to the inconvenience of making the jack larger.

Features of the jack according to claim 3 of the present invention,
The actions and effects are as follows. [Characteristics] In the jack according to claim 1 or 2, the pair of contacts are arranged on the side of the opening of the plug insertion hole and inserted through an opening formed in the bottom surface of the body, It is held at the point.

[Operation / Effect] According to the above characteristics, the distance between the pair of contacts arranged in the vicinity of the opening is limited by the limiting mechanism, so that the opening of the plug insertion hole (on the body) can be used for a long period of time. Even when used in a situation in which the formed opening) expands and biased force from the plug is likely to act, the contact part of the pair of contacts will surely contact the plug to stabilize the posture of the plug.
Since the pair of contacts are inserted through the openings formed on the bottom surface of the body, the assembly is easy. As a result, a jack that is easy to assemble is constructed while maintaining a reliable contact state with the inserted plug and stabilizing the posture of the inserted plug.

Features of the jack according to claim 4 of the present invention,
The actions and effects are as follows. [Characteristics] In the jack according to any one of claims 1 to 3, a light receiving element for receiving an optical signal is provided at an inner end position of the plug insertion hole so that it can be used for both electric signal and optical signal. It is in the point that is configured.

[Operation / Effect] According to the above characteristics, when the plug for the optical signal is inserted into the body, the optical signal from the plug can be received by the light receiving element. As a result, a jack that can be used for both electrical signals and optical signals was constructed.

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3.
A body 1 having a plug insertion hole A, and this body 1
A plurality of contacts C arranged inside the plug along the plug insertion hole A, and one light receiving element B arranged inside the body 1 at a position set at the inner end of the plug insertion hole A. An electric signal / light signal combined type jack is configured.

This jack can use the electrical signal plug Pe and the optical signal plug Pp shown in FIG. Each of the plugs P (generic name of the plug Pe for electric signals and the plug Pp for optical signals) has a diameter D of 2 mm and a total length L of 6.7 mm. The plugs for electric signals Pe are copper. A base end portion 11 made of a good conductor such as an alloy, an intermediate portion 12, and a tip end portion 13 having a small diameter portion 13a are provided, and an insulating ring 14 is arranged between them, and these are supported by a handle 15. The base end portion 11, the intermediate portion 12, and the tip end portion 13 are made to function as independent conductive portions. The optical signal plug Pp is formed of an insulating material 17 from the base end to the vicinity of the tip and is formed of a good conductor such as a copper alloy only on the tip 13 having a small diameter portion 13a to be supported by the handle 15. The optical fiber 18 is inserted in the.

The body 1 is formed of an insulating non-translucent resin in a block shape having an upper surface 1T, a plurality of side surfaces 1S and a bottom surface 1B. In this body 1,
The plug insertion hole A is formed in one flat side surface 1S, and each contact C is formed in the bottom surface 1B.
A plurality of contact insertion openings Fc for inserting the light receiving elements B and one light receiving element insertion opening Fb for inserting the light receiving element B are formed,
Further, a support opening Gc into which a part of the contact C is fitted and a positioning opening Gb into which a part of the light receiving element B is fitted are formed in the upper surface 1T of the body 1.

The contact C (generally referred to as contacts C1, C2, and C3 described below) is a pair of first contacts arranged from the opening side of the plug insertion hole A toward the inner end side of the plug insertion hole A. C1 (an example of a base end contact), a single second contact C2, and a pair of third contacts C3 (an example of a tip contact). For example, the plug Pe for electric signals is inserted into this jack. In this case, the pair of first contacts C1 come into contact with the base end portion 11 of the plug Pe to reach the conductive state, and the plug P
The second contact C2 comes into contact with the intermediate portion 12 of e to reach the conductive state, and the small diameter portion 13a of the tip portion 13 of the plug Pe is reached.
The positions of the contacts C1, C2, C3 are set so that the pair of third contacts C3 come into contact with each other and the pair of third contacts C3 reach the conductive state.

As shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 3, FIG. 4, and FIG. 5, each contact C is formed by press-molding an electrically conductive thin strip-shaped metal plate 3 made of a copper alloy or the like, so that the contact portion 3A with respect to the plug P is formed. The curved portion 3B that applies an elastic biasing force to the contact portion 3A and the terminal 3C are integrally formed. First contact C1 and second contact C2
Shape the contact portion 3A into an arc shape along the outer periphery of the base end portion 11 of the plug P, and the contact portion 3A has a small protrusion 3
T is formed, the curved portion 3B is formed in a state of being connected to the contact portion 3A, and the terminal 3 is formed in a state of being connected to the curved portion 3B.
C is formed, and a press contact portion 3D is formed at an intermediate position between the terminal 3C and the curved portion 3B. Further, by making the width W of the press contact portion 3D of the first and second contacts C1 and C2 substantially equal to the corresponding width W in the contact insertion opening Fc,
When assembling, attach the first and second contacts C1 and C2 to the body 1
By being inserted into the contact insertion opening Fc, pressure is applied from the contact insertion opening Fc in the width direction of the pressure contact portion 3D to frictionally hold the first and second contacts C1 and C2. Moreover, in this inserted state, the curved portion 3B fits into the support opening Gc of the upper surface 1T of the body to determine the position of the contact portion 3A, and the terminal 3C is parallel to the bottom surface 1B of the body 1. The positional relationship is set so that the bottom surface (the surface facing the substrate) of the terminal 3C exists on a virtual plane that matches the bottom surface of the body 1.

As shown in FIG. 6, a limiting mechanism H is provided at an end position of the pair of first contacts C1 on the contact portion 3A side. The limiting mechanism H has a function of maintaining the distance between the contact portions of the pair of first contacts at a preset value or less, and the limiting mechanism H includes one of the pair of contacts C1. The contact portion 4A formed by bending the end portion of the plate portion 4 extending from the portion 3A to the opposite side and the plate portion 5 extending from the other contact portion 3A of the pair of contacts C1 are bent and cut out. The contact portions 5A thus formed are provided, and when a force acts in a direction of separating the pair of contact portions 3A, for example, when a twisting force acts on the plug P, the respective contact portions 5A are contacted. Part 4
A and 5A function so as not to reach the contact state and separate the distance between the facing contact portions 3A by a preset value N or more.

As shown in FIG. 3, the pair of third contacts 3C are slightly different from each other in size, but basically, the whole is substantially "U" -shaped when viewed from the bottom side. The contact portion 3A is formed at one end thereof so as to project toward the plug insertion hole A side, the curved portion 3B is formed in a state of being connected to the contact portion 3A, and the pressure contact portion 3D is formed at the other end portion. And a terminal 3C. By inserting the pair of third contacts 3C from the corresponding contact insertion openings Fc, the pressure contact portion 3D is fitted into the groove-shaped portion 1D formed in the body 1, and the pressure contact force mainly acts in the surface direction. In this inserted state, one of the pressure contact portions 3D fits into the support opening Gc of the body upper surface 1T to hold the position of the contact portion.
The positional relationship is set so that the terminal 3C is in a posture parallel to the bottom surface 1B of the body 1 and the bottom surface 1B (the surface facing the substrate) of this terminal exists on a virtual plane that coincides with the bottom surface 1B of the body 1.

In the light receiving element B, a chip forming a light receiving portion 21 of an optical semiconductor such as a phototransistor or a photodiode for converting an optical signal into an electric signal is sealed in a package 22 made of a translucent resin. A plurality of terminals 23 that are electrically connected to the chip are formed on the outer surface of the package 22. The light receiving element B is inserted through the light receiving element insertion opening Fb and held by frictional force with the body 1 or by adhesion using an adhesive. In this holding state, a part of the light receiving element B is fitted into the positioning opening Gb of the upper surface 1T of the body to be in the positioning state. The terminal 23 of the light receiving element B is bent on the outer surface of the package 22 to the side opposite to the opening of the plug insertion hole A, and the terminal is in a posture parallel to the bottom surface 1B of the body 1, and the bottom surface of the terminal 23 (facing the substrate). The positional relationship is set so that the surface (to be formed) exists on an imaginary plane that coincides with the bottom surface 1B of the body 1.

Further, in order to locate the bottom surface of the terminal 3C of the contact C and the bottom surface 1B of the body 1 on the same plane, a notch 1C is formed from the contact insertion opening Fc toward the side surface 1S of the body 1. Then, the terminal 2 of the light receiving element B
A notch 1C is formed from the light receiving element insertion opening Fb toward the side surface 1S of the body 1 so that the bottom surface of the body 3 and the bottom surface 1B of the body 1 are located on the same plane.

With this structure, when the present jack is assembled, for example, the body 1 is attached to the table of the assembling apparatus.
Is set with its bottom surface 1B facing upward, the corresponding contacts C are inserted through the plurality of contact insertion openings Fc formed in this bottom surface 1B, and the light receiving element insertion openings Fb formed in this bottom surface 1B are inserted. It suffices to execute the step of inserting B, and the highly accurate assembly work can be realized by only once positioning the body 1.

When this jack is mounted on the board 30, the terminals 3C and 23 of the respective jacks 3C and 23 are brought into contact with the corresponding printed wiring part 31 with the bottom surface 1B of the body 1 in contact with the mounting surface of the board 30. When the terminals 3C and 23 are electrically connected to the printed wiring part 31 of the board 30 by connecting the terminals 3C and 23 in a conductive state by soldering, At the same time, the printed circuit board 30 is fixed by this soldering.

Therefore, the plug P for electrical signal is inserted into the plug insertion hole A of the jack of the present invention mounted on the substrate 30.
When e is inserted to an appropriate position (position where the handle 15 contacts the body 1), the pair of first contacts C1
Simultaneously contact the base end 11 while sandwiching the base end 11 of the plug Pe by the elastic biasing force, and the second contact C
2 comes into contact with the intermediate portion 12 of the plug Pe by the elastic biasing force, and the pair of third contacts C3 simultaneously reaches the small diameter portion 13a of the tip portion 13 of the plug Pe due to the elastic biasing force. , The third contacts C1, C2,
A signal can be accessed between C3 and the plug Pe, and the base end 11 of the plug Pe is sandwiched between the pair of first contacts C1.
Since the base end position of e is stabilized and the pair of third contacts C3 reach the conductive state, it is possible to electrically determine that the plug Pe has been inserted to an appropriate position.

When the optical signal plug Pp is inserted into the jack of the present invention up to an appropriate position, the pair of first contacts C1 is used to connect the plug Pp to the plug Pp as in the case of the electric signal plug Pe. While the base end portion of the insulating portion 17 is sandwiched to stabilize the base end position of the plug Pp, the pair of first contacts C1 has the insulating portion 17 in the non-conducting state so that the plug is for an optical signal. At the same time, it is possible to determine that the plug Pp has been inserted to an appropriate position by the pair of third contacts C3 coming into contact with the distal end portion 13 and reaching a conductive state.
The light receiving element B can receive the optical signal from.

As described above, according to the present invention, when the plug P is inserted into the jack, the plug is inserted in a posture inclined with respect to the axis of the plug insertion hole A, or the plug P is inserted into the jack. When a twisting force acts, such as when an external force acts in the state where the first contact C is inserted, the first contact C1 is displaced in the direction in which the contact portions 3A of the pair of first contacts C are separated from each other. Since the limiting mechanism H is not separated from the preset value N or more, the first contact C1 is not significantly deformed, and there is no inconvenience that the first contact C1 falls into a plastically deformed state and leads to poor contact with the plug P. By sandwiching the contact C1 between them, a reliable conductive state is realized, and the posture of the plug P is stabilized even if the opening of the body 1 is enlarged.

Further, in the present invention, since all the contacts C and the light receiving elements B can be inserted and assembled from the side of the bottom surface 1B of the body 1, the contacts C and the light receiving elements B can be, for example, from a plurality of surfaces of the body 1. The number of assembling steps can be reduced as compared with the assembling in the step of inserting the jack, and the assembling time can be shortened even if this jack is downsized.
Further, since the bottom surface 1 of the body 1, the bottom surfaces of the terminals 3C of each of the plurality of contacts C, and the bottom surface of the terminals 23 of the light receiving element B are arranged on the same virtual plane, even when mounted on the board 30, the board At the same time, the body 1 can be compactly mounted without being lifted up with respect to 30, and even when a twisting force is applied when the plug P is inserted into or removed from the body 1, this force is applied to the body 1. The printed circuit board 30 in contact with the bottom surface 1B receives the printed circuit board 30 to realize a strong supporting state. Particularly, since the terminals 3D of the pair of first contacts C1 arranged on the opening side of the plug insertion hole A in the body 1 are soldered and fixed to the substrate 30, they are supported as compared with those in which a single terminal is arranged at this portion. It is intended to increase strength.

[Other Embodiments] In addition to the above-described embodiments, the present invention may be such that the number of contacts may be larger or smaller than the number shown in the embodiments, and an electric signal may be generated. The plug for use may access either an analog signal or a digital signal.

The restricting mechanism H of the present invention may be constructed as shown in FIG. 7 (in this other embodiment, those having the same functions as those of the above-mentioned embodiment have the same numbers as those of the embodiment,
With a sign). That is, one first contact C
The plate portion 4 extending from the first contact portion 3A and the plate portion 5 extending from the other first contact C1 are overlapped with each other to form a long hole (for example, 5H) in at least one side,
A rivet-shaped pin 6 penetrating the elongated hole and the other hole is provided, and when the contact portions 3A of the respective first contacts C1 are displaced in the direction in which they separate from each other, the pin 6 moves inside the elongated hole 5H. Allow the displacement as much as possible and function to limit the further displacement.

Further, in the restricting mechanism H of the present invention, the outer ends of the contact portions 3A of the pair of first contacts C1 are flexibly deformed like nylon fibers, but they are separated by tying them with a material that does not easily stretch. By limiting the displacement in the direction, or by adding to the limiting mechanism H, the pair of first
It is also possible to implement by providing a spring that applies a biasing force to the contact C1 in the approaching direction.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a jack

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a jack and a plug mounted on a board.

FIG. 3 is a view showing a cross section of a jack and two kinds of plugs.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the jack with a plug inserted.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the jack when the plug is not inserted and when the plug is inserted.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a first contact.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a first contact according to another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 body 1B bottom A plug insertion hole B light receiving element C contact H limit mechanism P plug Fc / Fb opening

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Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A jack having a plurality of contacts along a plug insertion hole formed in a body, wherein a pair of the plurality of contacts are arranged to face each other at a position sandwiching the plug insertion hole. When the plug is inserted into the plug insertion hole, the contact portions formed on the respective contacts are configured to be in contact with each other by the elastic force of the contact itself, and the contact of each contact is made when the plug is inserted. A jack equipped with a limiting mechanism that limits the amount of separation between parts. 2. The limiting mechanism is configured to include a contact portion that is connected to the contact portions of the pair of contacts, and the limiting mechanism causes the contact portions to contact each other by contact with a plug inserted into the plug insertion hole. The contact portions are abutted against each other so as to limit the distance between the contact portions when the distances are set to a predetermined value.
The listed jack. 3. The pair of contacts is arranged on the side of the opening of the plug insertion hole and is retained by the body by being inserted from an opening formed in the bottom surface of the body. Or the jack described in 2. 4. A light receiving element for receiving an optical signal is provided at an inner end position of the plug insertion hole so that it can be used for both an electric signal and an optical signal.
Jack described in the section.