JP2013054886A - connector - Google Patents

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to provide a connector that prevents a connection object from falling off from the connector before a rotation operation of an actuator, and can prevent an increase in size of the connector without making it difficult to insert the connection object.
A connector includes a locked portion and an insertion port into which a plate-like or sheet-like object is inserted at a front end thereof. And an actuator that is held by the housing so as to be rotatable between an open position where the insertion of the object can be inserted and a closed position where the object and the contact of the connector are connected. In such a connector, when the actuator is in the open position, the locked portion and the locking portion of the object inserted into the insertion port are locked, so that the forward movement of the object is temporarily performed. When the actuator is in the closed position, the object is sandwiched between the actuator and the mounting portion.
[Selection] Figure 11

Description

  The present invention relates to a connector for connecting to a plate-like or sheet-like object such as FPC (Flexible Printed Circuit) or FFC (Flexible Flat Circuit).

  As a connector having a function for preventing a plate-like or sheet-like object from falling out of the connector, a protrusion provided on the actuator is simultaneously connected to the object and the connector by rotating the actuator. A connector (see Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2) that prevents the object from falling off by being inserted into a hole provided in the object, or a recess provided in the housing on both ends of the object. A connector (see Patent Document 3) that is received by a connector and a connector that holds an object so as to be sandwiched from both ends by elastic engagement pieces provided in a housing are disclosed (see Patent Document 4).

JP 2004-71314 A JP 2007-250524 A JP 2007-179760 A JP 2010-244987 A

  In the connectors of Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, it is not possible to prevent the object from falling off before the actuator is turned.

  In the connector disclosed in Patent Document 3, since it is necessary to insert the connector into the connector from an obliquely upper front side of the object, a wide opening must be taken for easy insertion, and the connector becomes large and the opening is narrowed. In such a case, it becomes difficult to insert the object.

  In the connector of Patent Document 4, it is difficult to reduce the size of the connector in the left-right direction.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a connector that prevents the object from falling off from the connector before the rotation of the actuator, and can prevent the connector from becoming large without making it difficult to insert the object. To do.

According to the present invention, as the first connector,
A connector having a contact part and a locked part and having a plate-like or sheet-like object inserted rearward from an insertion port at the front end,
Contacts,
A housing having a locking portion and a mounting portion and holding the contact;
Rotating between an open position where the object can be inserted into the insertion port and a closed position where the contact portion of the object inserted into the insertion port and the contact are connected An actuator held in the housing so as to be,
When the actuator is in the open position, the forward movement of the object is temporarily caused by the locked portion and the locking portion of the object inserted into the insertion port being locked. Is prevented by
When the actuator is in the closed position, a connector is obtained in which the object is sandwiched between the actuator and the mounting portion.

According to the present invention, the second connector is a first connector,
The connector formed on the mounting portion is obtained so that the locking portion protrudes upward perpendicular to the front-rear direction.

Moreover, according to the present invention, the third connector is a second connector,
The locking portion includes a top portion, an inclined portion that tilts from the top portion to the placement portion and guides the object to the top portion, and a latch that is formed behind the top portion and contacts the locked portion. A connector having a surface.

Moreover, according to the present invention, the fourth connector is a third connector,
The housing has a guide portion for guiding the object to the insertion port,
A connector is obtained in which the inclination angle of the inclined portion is substantially equal to the inclination angle of the guide portion.

According to the present invention, as the fifth connector, any one of the second to fourth connectors,
A connector further comprising a pressing portion that temporarily prevents the upward movement of the object by pressing the main surface of the object toward the mounting portion when the actuator is in the open position. Is obtained.

According to the present invention, the sixth connector is a fifth connector,
The pressing portion has elasticity, and includes a contact portion that contacts the main surface of the object,
In a state where the object is not inserted, a connector having a distance in the vertical direction between the contact portion and the mounting portion that is smaller than the thickness of the object is obtained.

According to the present invention, the seventh connector is a sixth connector,
A shell that at least partially covers the housing and defines the insertion port with the housing;
The pressing portion is formed integrally with the shell, and a connector extending into the insertion port from the front end of the shell toward the rear obliquely downward direction is obtained.

Moreover, according to the present invention, as the eighth connector, any one of the fifth to seventh connectors,
On the object, the portion pressed by the pressing portion and the portion sandwiched by the actuator and the placement portion are aligned in a straight line in the left-right direction perpendicular to both the front-rear direction and the up-down direction. Connector is obtained.

According to the present invention, the ninth connector is any one of the second to fifth connectors,
The locking portions are formed at both ends of the mounting portion in the left-right direction perpendicular to both the front-rear direction and the up-down direction,
A connector that is an edge of a recess that is recessed inward from both ends of the object in the left-right direction is obtained as the locked portion.

According to the present invention, the tenth connector is a ninth connector,
A connector in which the height of the locking portion from the mounting portion is smaller than the thickness of the object is obtained.

According to the present invention, as the eleventh connector, any one of the second to tenth connectors,
A connector is obtained in which the top portion is located behind a midpoint in the front-rear direction of the locking portion.

According to the present invention, as the twelfth connector, any one of the first to eleventh connectors,
The actuator can be a connector that further includes a rotation preventing portion that prevents unintentional rotation to the open position by engaging with the housing in the closed position.

  According to the present invention, since the object is temporarily held on the mounting part by locking the locking part and the locked part, the object is dropped even before the actuator is turned. Can be prevented. Further, since the locking portion and the locked portion can be locked by inserting the object into the insertion port, the object can be easily inserted without increasing the size of the connector.

It is a perspective view which shows the connector and target object by embodiment of this invention. In the figure, the actuator is in the open position. It is another perspective view which shows the connector of FIG. In the figure, the actuator is in the closed position and the object is omitted. It is a perspective view which shows the back side of the connector of FIG. It is a top view of the target object of FIG. It is a figure which shows the cross section and the target object which followed the V--V line | wire of the connector of FIG. It is a schematic diagram which shows the cross section of the locking part vicinity of FIG. In the figure, hatching representing a cross section is omitted. It is a perspective view which shows the shell used for the connector of FIG. It is sectional drawing along the VIII--VIII line of the shell of FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the actuator used for the connector of FIG. FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of the actuator of FIG. 9 taken along line XX. FIG. 5 is a perspective cross-sectional view showing a state where the locking portion of the connector of FIG. 1 and the locked portion of the object of FIG. 4 are locked. In the figure, the cross section of the connector corresponds to the cross section along the line V--V in FIG. 1, and the cross section of the object corresponds to the cross section along the line XI--XI in FIG. It is a schematic diagram of the cross section showing the comparison with the thickness of the target object by this Embodiment, and the distance between a mounting part and a holding | suppressing part. In the drawing, a part of the connector is omitted, and the position of the cross section is the same as in FIG. It is a schematic diagram of the cross section showing the comparison with the thickness of the target object by this Embodiment, and the height of a latching | locking part. In the figure, a part of the connector is omitted, and the position of the cross section is the same as in FIG.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, the connector 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention is connected to a plate-like or sheet-like object 20 such as an FPC / FFC. The object 20 is inserted toward the back (−X direction) from the insertion port 30 provided in the front (+ X direction) of the connector 10.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the object 20 has a ground pattern 212 on the upper surface 210 (main surface), and a signal pattern (contact portion: not shown) on the lower surface 220. The object 20 is inserted into the insertion port 30 of the connector 10 from the insertion end 230 that is the front end (that is, the −X direction) of the object 20. At both ends in the Y direction (left-right direction) of the object 20, concave portions 240 that are recessed in a substantially U-shape toward the inside are formed. Of the edges of the recess 240, the edge at the front end (that is, the edge on the insertion end 230 side that is orthogonal to the −X direction) is a locked portion 250 that locks with a locking portion 350 (see FIG. 5) described later.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 and 5, the connector 10 according to the present embodiment includes a contact 110, a housing 300 that holds the contact 110, a shell 400 that partially covers the housing 300, and an open position. And an actuator 500 held by the housing 300 so as to be rotatable between the closed position and the closed position.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the contact 110 has a substantially tuning fork shape, and is fixed to the housing 300 and the terminal portion 120 connected to the circuit pattern (not shown) of the board on which the connector 10 is mounted. The held portion 130, the upper jaw portion 140 and the lower jaw portion 150 are provided. A contact point 160 is provided at the tip of the lower jaw 150.

  As shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 3 and FIG. 5, the housing 300 is long in the Y direction, and the holding portion 310 that holds the held portion 130 of the contact 110 and the side portions 320 at both ends in the Y direction. And a bottom portion 340 and a front portion 360 located above the insertion port 30. The side part 320 is provided with a support part 330 for supporting the actuator 500 and a protrusion part 370 (details will be described later) that engage with the protrusion part 570 of the actuator 500. The bottom portion 340 is formed with a placement portion 342 on which the object 20 inserted from the insertion port 30 is placed, and a guide portion 344 for guiding the object 20 to the insertion port 30. The front side 346 of 310 defines the rearward movement limit of the inserted object 20. The mounting portion 342 is a flat surface parallel to the X direction (front-rear direction), and a locking portion 350 protruding upward (+ Z direction) is formed on the surface.

  As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the locking part 350 includes a top part 352 that is the highest part from the placement part 342, and an inclined part that is inclined forward from the top part 352 to the placement part 342. 354 and a locking surface 358 formed at the rearmost side of the locking portion 350. The locking surface 358 according to the present embodiment is a surface parallel to the Z direction (vertical direction). As understood from FIGS. 1 and 11, the locking portions 350 according to the present embodiment are formed at both ends of the placement portion 342 in the Y direction, and correspond to the locked portions 250 of the object 20. .

  As shown well in FIG. 6, the top portion 352 in the present embodiment is formed behind the midpoint M in the X direction of the locking portion 350. Thereby, the angle of the inclination part 354 can be made loose and smooth insertion can be performed.

  Further, the inclination angle of the inclined portion 354 is configured to be equal to the inclination angle of the guide portion 344. If the angle of the inclined portion 354 is smaller than the angle of the guide portion 344 (that is, if the height of the locking portion 350 is made lower), the connector 10 can be made thinner, but the locking with the locked portion 250 is easily released. Become. On the other hand, when the angle of the inclined portion 354 is made larger than the angle of the guide portion 344 (that is, when the height of the locking portion 350 is made higher), the reliability of locking with the locked portion 250 is increased. In addition to the increase in thickness, there is a possibility that a bump may occur at the boundary between the guide portion 344 and the inclined portion 354 when the object 20 is inserted. Therefore, in consideration of the thickness of the connector 10, the certainty of locking, and the smoothness of insertion, the inclination angle of the inclined portion 354 should be substantially equal to the inclination angle of the guide portion 344 as in the present embodiment. Is desirable.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, 5, 7, and 8, the shell 400 is formed long in the Y direction similarly to the housing 300, and covers the front portion 360 (see FIG. 5) of the housing 300. An upper part 410 defining the insertion port 30 together with the bottom part 340; a lower part 420 located below the bottom part 340 of the housing 300 and extending parallel to the upper part 410; and a side part 430 connecting the upper part 410 and the lower part 420 in the Z direction; A hold down 440 extending outward from the upper portion 410 in the Y direction.

  A plurality of pressing portions 412 formed integrally with the upper portion 410 are formed on the upper portion 410. The pressing portion 412 has elasticity, and extends into the insertion port 30 from the front end of the upper portion 410 toward the rear obliquely downward direction (that is, toward the placement portion 342). An abutting portion 414 that abuts and is electrically connected to the ground pattern 212 of the object 20 is formed at the tip of the pressing portion 412.

  The shell 400 according to the present embodiment includes a fixing portion 442 extending rearward from both ends of the upper portion 410 in the Y direction, and a press-fit portion 446 extending rearward from the holddown 440. As shown in FIG. The shell 400 is fixed to the housing 300 by the fixing portion 442 and the press-fitting portion 446 being inserted (press-fitted) into the side portion 320 of the housing 300. The lower part 420 has a plurality of terminals 422 connected to a ground pattern (not shown) on the board on which the connector 10 is mounted. The hold-down 440 is fixed to the board on which the connector 10 is mounted, whereby the connector 10 is firmly fixed to the board.

  As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the actuator 500 has a substantially plate shape that is long in the Y direction. The actuator 500 pushes up the operation portion 510 for performing the turning operation and the upper jaw portion 140 of the contact 110 described above. The raising portion 520, the rotating shaft 530 supported by the support portion 330 of the housing 300, the clamping portion 540 that sandwiches the object 20 together with the placement portion 342, and the accommodation in which the upper jaw portion 140 of the contact 110 is partially accommodated. And a protrusion 570 provided at both ends of the operation portion 510.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, when the actuator 500 is in the open position, the operation unit 510 extends in the Z direction. In this state, the object 20 can be inserted into the insertion port 30. When the object 20 is inserted into the insertion port 30 along the guide part 344, both ends of the insertion end 230 of the object 20 are guided to the top part 352 along the inclined part 354 (see FIG. 6) of the locking part 350. The When the locked portion 250 (see FIG. 6) of the object 20 is further advanced beyond the top portion 352, the lower surface 220 (see FIG. 4) of the object 20 comes into contact with the placement portion 342. In this state, as shown in FIG. 11, the locking portion 350 is positioned in the recess 240 (hereinafter, this state is referred to as “temporary holding state”). In the temporary holding state, even if a force toward the front (+ X direction) is applied to the object 20, the locked part 250 of the object 20 and the locking surface 358 of the locking part 350 are in contact with each other. The forward movement of the object 20 is temporarily prevented.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 12, the distance T <b> 2 between the abutting portion 414 of the pressing portion 412 and the placement portion 342 of the housing 300 is the object in a state where the object 20 is not inserted. It is comprised so that it may become smaller than 20 thickness T1. As a result, when the object 20 is inserted, the upper surface 210 of the object 20 is inserted while receiving a force from the pressing portion 412 (pressed toward the mounting portion 342). When the locking part 250 gets over the top part 352 and comes into contact with the mounting part 342, a click feeling is generated, and it can be known that the object 20 is in the temporary holding state. In addition, the object 20 receives a force from the pressing portion 412 even in the temporary holding state, so that upward movement (that is, movement to get over the locking portion 350) is temporarily prevented, and the connector 10 The temporary holding state can be maintained regardless of the direction (tilt).

  Thus, even when the actuator 500 is in the open position (that is, before the rotation operation of the actuator 500), if the forward movement of the object 20 is temporarily prevented, the actuator 500 is closed. There is no need to support the object 20 during the rotation operation to the position.

  In order to rotate the actuator 500 from the open position to the closed position, the operation unit 510 is tilted rearward of the connector 10. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 11, when the actuator 500 is rotated toward the closed position in the temporary holding state, the push-up portion 520 having a long cross section in the X direction at the open position is moved in the Z direction. Its orientation changes to have a long cross section. Accordingly, the push-up portion 520 pushes the upper jaw portion 140 of the contact 110 upward and pushes the push-down portion 412 downward (that is, toward the placement portion 342). As the upper jaw 140 is deformed, the lower jaw 150 is deformed, and the contact 160 is displaced upward to be electrically connected to the signal pattern of the object 20. On the other hand, the object 20 is reliably held between the deformed pressing portion 412 and the placement portion 342. Further, as shown in FIG. 11, the holding unit 540 of the actuator 500 holds the object 20 together with the mounting unit 342.

  Thus, since the upward movement of the object 20 is reliably locked by the pressing from above by the pressing part 412 and the clamping by the holding part 540 and the mounting part 342, the object 20 is locked. The portion 250 cannot get over the locking portion 350 forward, and the object 20 can be reliably prevented from falling off when the actuator 500 is in the closed position.

  In the present embodiment, even if an unintended force in the opening position direction is applied when the actuator 500 is in the closed position, the protrusion 570 provided in the actuator 500 and the protrusion 370 provided in the housing 300 Therefore, unintentional release of the connection between the connector 10 and the object 20 can be prevented. That is, the protrusion 370 of the actuator 500 functions as a rotation preventing unit that prevents unintentional rotation to the open position.

  As shown in FIG. 13, the height (that is, the height from the top portion 352 to the placement portion 342) T <b> 3 of the locking portion 350 is configured to be smaller than the thickness T <b> 1 of the object 20. This makes it possible to smoothly perform both insertion and intended removal. In addition, as a lower limit of the height T3 of the locking part 350, an appropriate lower limit (for example, a thickness T1 of the target object 20 having a thickness T1) is considered in consideration of the certainty of the locking of the target object 20 with the locked part 250. 1/3 to 1/2, etc.). Further, as understood by comparing FIG. 5 and FIG. 11, the portion pressed on the object 20 by the pressing portion 412 and the portion held by the actuator 500 and the mounting portion 342 are in the Y direction. In line. Thereby, when the actuator 500 is rotated and a force is applied to the object 20, it is possible to prevent the object 20 from being swung or sagging.

10 connector 20 object 30 insertion port 110 contact 120 terminal part 130 held part 140 upper jaw part 150 lower jaw part 160 contact part 210 upper surface 212 ground pattern 220 lower surface 230 insertion end 240 recessed part 250 locked part 300 housing 310 holding part 320 side Part 330 support part 340 bottom part 342 mounting part 344 guide part 350 locking part 352 top part 354, 356 inclined part 358 locking part 360 front part 370 projecting part 400 shell 410 upper part 412 pressing part 414 contact part 420 lower part 422 terminal 430 Side portion 440 Hold down 442 Fixing portion 446 Press fitting portion 500 Actuator 510 Operation portion 520 Pushing portion 530 Rotating shaft 540 Holding portion 550 Housing portion 570 Protruding portion (rotation preventing portion)

Claims (12)

A connector having a contact part and a locked part and having a plate-like or sheet-like object inserted rearward from an insertion port at the front end,
Contacts,
A housing having a locking portion and a mounting portion and holding the contact;
Rotating between an open position where the object can be inserted into the insertion port and a closed position where the contact portion of the object inserted into the insertion port and the contact are connected An actuator held in the housing so as to be,
When the actuator is in the open position, the forward movement of the object is temporarily caused by the locked portion and the locking portion of the object inserted into the insertion port being locked. Is prevented by
When the actuator is in the closed position, the object is clamped between the actuator and the mounting portion. The connector according to claim 1,
The said latching | locking part is a connector currently formed on the said mounting part so that it may protrude upwards orthogonal to the front-back direction. The connector according to claim 2,
The locking portion includes a top portion, an inclined portion that tilts from the top portion to the placement portion and guides the object to the top portion, and a latch that is formed behind the top portion and contacts the locked portion. And a connector having a surface. The connector according to claim 3, wherein
The housing has a guide portion for guiding the object to the insertion port,
A connector in which an inclination angle of the inclined portion is substantially equal to an inclination angle of the guide portion. The connector according to any one of claims 2 to 4,
A connector further comprising a pressing portion that temporarily prevents the upward movement of the object by pressing the main surface of the object toward the mounting portion when the actuator is in the open position. . The connector according to claim 5, wherein
The pressing portion has elasticity, and includes a contact portion that contacts the main surface of the object,
In the state where the object is not inserted, the distance in the vertical direction between the contact portion and the mounting portion is a connector smaller than the thickness of the object. The connector according to claim 6, wherein
A shell that at least partially covers the housing and defines the insertion port with the housing;
The connector is a connector that is formed integrally with the shell and extends into the insertion port from the front end of the shell toward the rear obliquely downward direction. The connector according to any one of claims 5 to 7,
On the object, the portion pressed by the pressing portion and the portion sandwiched by the actuator and the placement portion are aligned in a straight line in the left-right direction perpendicular to both the front-rear direction and the up-down direction. Connector. The connector according to any one of claims 2 to 5,
The locking portions are formed at both ends of the mounting portion in the left-right direction perpendicular to both the front-rear direction and the up-down direction,
The said latching | locking part is a connector which is an edge of the recessed part dented inward from the both ends in the said left-right direction of the said target object. The connector according to claim 9,
The height of the locking portion from the placement portion is a connector smaller than the thickness of the object. The connector according to any one of claims 2 to 10,
The top portion is a connector located behind a midpoint in the front-rear direction of the locking portion. The connector according to any one of claims 1 to 11,
The said actuator further has a rotation prevention part which prevents the rotation to the said open position which is not intended by latching with the said housing in the said closed position.

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