JP2013069412A - Electric connector - Google Patents

Abstract

The lock strength of a locking lock portion 13a can be improved with a simple configuration.
A locking lock portion 13a or a lock arm that allows movement or displacement of a locking lock portion 13a or a lock arm member 13b in a direction in which engagement with a signal transmission medium F is performed, and in directions other than the allowable direction. A lock movement restricting member 13c that restricts the movement or displacement of the member 13b is provided to allow the movement or displacement of the locking lock portion 13a and the lock arm member 13b engaged with the signal transmission medium F only in a necessary direction. Further, it is configured to obtain a strong locking force by preventing movement or displacement in other unnecessary directions.
[Selection] Figure 11

Description

  The present invention relates to an electrical connector configured to hold a signal transmission medium with an engaging force of a lock portion by inserting a terminal portion of the signal transmission medium into an insulating housing.

  In general, various electrical connectors are widely used as means for electrically connecting various signal transmission media such as a flexible printed circuit (FPC) and a flexible flat cable (FFC) in various electrical devices. It is used. For example, in an electrical connector that is mounted and used on a printed wiring board as in Patent Document 1 below, a signal transmission medium made of FPC, FFC, or the like is inserted into the inside from an opening on the front end side of an insulating housing (insulator). Thereafter, the actuator (connection operation means) is rotated so as to be pushed down toward the connection operation position on the front side or the rear side of the connector by the operator's operation force. As a result, a part of the lock member falls into the engagement portion provided in the terminal portion of the signal transmission medium to be engaged, and the terminal portion of the signal transmission medium is held in a substantially immovable state by the lock member. Has been made.

  As described above, the electrical connector provided with the actuator is configured to operate engagement / disengagement of the lock member by rotating the actuator between the connection release position and the connection operation position. Since it is necessary to operate the actuator separately from the operation of inserting a medium (FPC, FFC, etc.), the work efficiency may be a problem. Therefore, conventionally, a part of the lock member is elastically displaced so that a part of the lock member rides on the signal transmission medium inserted into the inside of the insulating housing, and then a part of the lock member falls into the engaging portion of the signal transmission medium. Conventionally, an electrical connector provided with a so-called one-action auto-locking mechanism that is configured to be engaged with each other has been developed. If an electrical connector equipped with such a one-action auto-lock mechanism is used, the signal transmission medium can be held in a substantially stationary state simply by inserting the signal transmission medium into the electrical connector, thereby improving work efficiency. Figured.

  However, the one-action auto-locking mechanism employed in the conventional electrical connector has an advantage that locking is performed only by inserting a signal transmission medium (FPC, FFC, etc.) into the electrical connector as described above. There is a tendency that it is difficult to obtain a strong locking force from the strength of the locking portion, and in order to increase the locking strength, the structure is complicated and enlarged as in Patent Document 2.

JP 2004-165046 A JP-A-8-180940

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector that can improve the lock strength of the locking lock portion with a simple configuration.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, a locking lock portion that engages with a terminal portion of a signal transmission medium inserted into an insulating housing and holds the signal transmission medium in a substantially immovable state is elastically displaceable. An electrical connector configured to be movably held by a lock arm member made of a flexible member and configured to be engaged or disengaged from the signal transmission medium by movement of the locking lock portion. Lock movement that allows movement or displacement of the locking lock portion or lock arm member in the direction in which the engagement is performed and restricts movement or displacement of the locking lock portion or lock arm member in a direction other than the allowable direction. A configuration in which a regulating member is provided is employed.

  The lock movement restricting member at this time is disposed so as to restrict the movement or displacement of the locking lock portion or the lock arm member in a direction orthogonal to the allowable direction, for example.

  According to the present invention having such a configuration, the movement or displacement of the locking lock portion or the lock arm member is allowed only in the necessary direction by the lock movement regulating member, and the movement or displacement in the other useless direction. Therefore, the rigidity for holding the locking portion and the lock arm member is improved, and a strong locking force can be obtained.

  Further, the lock movement restricting member in the present invention is configured to be movable in a direction substantially parallel to the permissible direction, and the lock movement restricting member moves to move the lock lock part and the lock arm member in directions other than the permissible direction. It is desirable that the locking and locking portion be detached from the signal transmission medium by allowing movement and displacement of the signal transmission medium. The direction other than the allowable direction at this time is, for example, a direction substantially orthogonal to the allowable direction.

  According to the present invention having such a configuration, the locking lock portion can be easily released simply by moving the lock movement restricting member.

  Moreover, it is desirable that the insulating housing according to the present invention is integrally formed with a lock release operation portion for moving the lock movement restricting member.

  According to the present invention having such a configuration, the lock release operation unit is simplified in configuration and a reliable release operation is possible.

  Further, the locking lock portion in the present invention, a first inclined guide surface that a part of the signal transmission medium abuts when the signal transmission medium is inserted, and moves the locking lock portion in the allowable direction, It is desirable that a second inclined guide surface is provided for moving the locking lock portion in a direction perpendicular to the permissible direction by contacting another part of the signal transmission medium when the signal transmission medium is removed. .

  According to the present invention having such a configuration, insertion and removal of the signal transmission medium is smoothly performed using the inclined guide surface of the locking lock portion.

  As described above, the electrical connector according to the present invention allows the movement or displacement of the locking lock portion or the lock arm member in the direction in which the engagement with the signal transmission medium is performed, and locks in a direction other than the allowable direction. A lock movement restricting member for restricting the movement or displacement of the lock part and the lock arm member is provided, and the lock movement restricting member is required to move or displace the locking lock part or the lock arm member engaged with the signal transmission medium. Since it is configured to obtain a strong locking force by allowing only in the direction and preventing movement or displacement in other unnecessary directions, the lock strength of the locking lock portion can be increased with a simple configuration. The reliability of the electrical connector can be improved at low cost and greatly.

It is an external appearance perspective explanatory view showing the electric connector concerning one embodiment of the present invention from the back side (rear side). FIG. 2 is an explanatory plan view of the electrical connector shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is an explanatory rear view of the electrical connector shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is a cross sectional explanatory view taken along line IV-IV in FIG. 3. FIG. 5 is a cross sectional explanatory view taken along the line V-V in FIG. 3. FIG. 4 is a cross sectional explanatory view taken along line VI-VI in FIG. 3. FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged plan view of a region indicated by VIII in FIG. 2. FIG. 4 is a horizontal cross-sectional explanatory view taken along line VII-VII in FIG. 3. FIG. 2 is an external perspective explanatory view showing a state in which a signal transmission medium (FPC or FFC or the like) is inserted and fitted into the electrical connector shown in FIG. 1 from the back side (rear side). FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional explanatory view corresponding to FIG. 4 of an electrical connector in which a signal transmission medium (FPC or FFC or the like) is inserted and fitted. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional explanatory view corresponding to FIG. 5 of an electrical connector in which a signal transmission medium (FPC or FFC or the like) is inserted and fitted. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional explanatory view corresponding to FIG. 6 of an electrical connector in which a signal transmission medium (FPC or FFC or the like) is inserted and fitted. FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional explanatory view corresponding to FIG. 6 showing a state immediately after the unlocking operation is performed from the fitting state of the signal transmission medium (FPC or FFC or the like) shown in FIG. 12. FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional explanatory view corresponding to FIG. 6 illustrating a state in which a signal transmission medium (FPC, FFC, or the like) has started to be removed from the state illustrated in FIG. 13. FIG. 9 is a horizontal cross-sectional explanatory diagram corresponding to FIG. 8 of an electrical connector in which a signal transmission medium (FPC or FFC or the like) is inserted and fitted. FIG. 16 is a horizontal cross-sectional explanatory view corresponding to FIG. 8 illustrating a state in which a signal transmission medium (FPC, FFC, or the like) has started to be removed from the state illustrated in FIG. 15. FIG. 9 is an explanatory horizontal cross-sectional view corresponding to FIG. 8, illustrating a state in which extraction of a signal transmission medium (FPC, FFC, or the like) is completed.

  In the following, the present invention is applied to an electrical connector that is mounted on a wiring board and used for connecting a signal transmission medium such as a flexible printed circuit (FPC) or a flexible flat cable (FFC). The embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[General configuration of electrical connector]
First, an electrical connector 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention shown in FIGS. 1 to 17 is an electrical connector provided with a so-called non-ZIF type one-action auto-lock mechanism. Then, the terminal portion of the signal transmission medium (FPC or FFC or the like) F described above is passed through the medium insertion port 11a provided in the front end edge (left end edge in FIG. 4) of the insulating housing 11 and is inside the insulating housing 11 The signal transmission medium F is automatically locked when inserted to a predetermined position.

[Insulating housing]
At this time, the insulating housing 11 is formed of a hollow frame-like insulating member extending in an elongated shape. The longitudinal width direction of the insulating housing 11 is hereinafter referred to as a “connector longitudinal direction”. In addition, the direction in which the terminal portion of the signal transmission medium (FPC or FFC) F is inserted and removed is referred to as “connector front” and “connector rear”. The direction orthogonal to both the “connector longitudinal direction” and the “connector longitudinal direction” is referred to as “connector vertical direction”, and in the “connector longitudinal direction”, the direction from the center side of the connector to the outer side is referred to as “connector longitudinal direction”. The outward direction and the opposite direction will be referred to as “connector inward”.

  Inside the insulating housing 11, a plurality of conductive contacts 12 formed of a thin metal plate member having an appropriate shape are mounted. The conductive contacts 12 are arranged in a multipolar manner within the insulating housing 11 at appropriate intervals along the connector longitudinal direction. Each of these conductive contacts 12 is mounted by solder bonding to a conductive path (not shown) formed on a main printed wiring board (not shown) for either signal transmission or ground connection. Has been used in.

  As described above, the terminal portion of the signal transmission medium F including the flexible printed circuit (FPC), the flexible flat cable (FFC), or the like is provided on the front edge portion (left edge portion in FIG. 4) of the insulating housing 11. The medium insertion slot 11a to be inserted is provided so as to be elongated along the connector longitudinal direction. From this medium insertion port 11a, a medium insertion passage 11b of the signal transmission medium F extends toward the “connector rear”, and the outer side portions on both sides of the medium insertion passage 11b of the signal transmission medium F, that is, the insulating housing 11 A lock mechanism for the signal transmission medium F, which will be described later, is disposed in the “connector outside” region. Furthermore, in order to mount the conductive contact 12 on the “connector rear” end of the medium insertion path 11b of the signal transmission medium F extending from the medium insertion slot 11a, that is, on the opposite side of the medium insertion slot 11a. The component attachment port 11c is provided so as to be elongated along the connector longitudinal direction.

[About conductive contacts]
As described above, the conductive contact 12 is inserted and mounted from the component mounting opening 11c provided on the connector rear end side of the insulating housing 11 toward the “connector front” (left side in FIG. 4). Each conductive contact 12 mounted in the interior of the insulating housing 11 in such a manner corresponds to the wiring pattern of the signal transmission medium (FPC or FFC or the like) F inserted into the insulating housing 11 through the medium insertion port 11a. Is arranged. The wiring patterns formed on these signal transmission media F are obtained by arranging signal transmission conductive paths (signal line pads) or shield conductive paths (shield line pads) at appropriate pitch intervals.

  That is, each conductive contact 12 has a pair of elongated beams extending substantially in parallel along the connector front-rear direction, which is the direction of insertion / removal of the signal transmission medium (FPC, FFC, etc.) F (left-right direction in FIG. 4). Each has a movable contact beam 12a and a fixed contact beam 12b made of members. The movable contact beam 12a and the fixed contact beam 12b are arranged so as to face each other at an appropriate interval in the vertical direction in the figure in the inner space of the insulating housing 11 described above. Among them, the fixed contact beam 12b is fixed along the inner wall surface of the bottom plate of the insulating housing 11 so that the rear end portion is substantially immobile, and the front end portion of the fixed contact beam 12b is For the purpose of facilitating the insertion of the transmission medium F, etc., it has a shape along the upper side so as to be lifted from the inner wall surface of the bottom plate of the insulating housing 11, and can be elastically displaced by an appropriate amount in the vertical direction. Has been made.

  Further, the movable contact beam 12a extending substantially parallel to the upper position of the fixed contact beam 12b in the figure is integrally connected to the fixed contact beam 12b via a connecting support beam 12c disposed at the rear end portion. . The connection column beam 12c is formed from a narrow columnar member, and the movable contact beam 12a connected to the upper end portion of the connection column beam 12c in the figure is based on the elastic flexibility of the connection column beam 12c. The movable contact beam 12a is configured to be swingable about the connecting column beam 12c or the vicinity thereof as a center of rotation. . The swing of the movable contact beam 12a at that time is performed in the vertical direction within the plane of FIG.

  Further, a wiring pattern (for signal transmission or shielding) formed on the upper surface side of a signal transmission medium (FPC or FFC or the like) F is formed on the front end side portion (left end side portion in FIG. 4) of the movable contact beam 12a described above. The upper terminal contact convex portion 12a1 connected to any one of the conductive paths is provided so as to form a downward protruding shape in the figure.

  On the other hand, the fixed contact beam 12b is arranged so as to extend in the front-rear direction of the connector along the inner wall surface of the bottom plate of the insulating housing 11 as described above. 4 is connected to a wiring pattern (either a signal transmission or a shield conductive path) formed on the lower side of the signal transmission medium (FPC or FFC) F in the figure. The terminal contact convex portion 12b1 is provided so as to form an upwardly protruding shape in the figure. These lower terminal contact convex portions 12b1 are arranged so as to face a position directly below the upper terminal contact convex portion 12a1 on the movable contact beam 12a side described above.

  The upper terminal contact convex portion 12a1 and the lower terminal contact convex portion 12b1 provided on the conductive contacts 12 are configured to transmit the signal transmission medium F when the signal transmission medium F is inserted into the insulating housing 11 as described above. They are arranged on a wiring pattern provided on the medium F, and when the signal transmission medium F is inserted to a predetermined final position, it is brought into pressure contact with the elastic force of the fixed contact beam 12b. The signal transmission medium F is sandwiched between the upper terminal contact convex portion 12a1 and the lower terminal contact convex portion 12b1, and is maintained in an electrically connected state.

  Note that the upper terminal contact convex portion 12a1 of the movable contact beam 12a and the lower terminal contact convex portion 12b1 of the fixed contact beam 12b are positioned with respect to each other in the connector front-rear direction, on the connector front side (left side in FIG. 4). Alternatively, it is possible to shift the connector to the rear side of the connector (right side in FIG. 4), and the upper terminal contact convex portion 12a1 or the lower terminal contact convex portion is placed in an electrically connected state. Either one of the parts 12b1 may be used.

  In addition, a conductive path formed on a main printed wiring board (not shown) is provided at the rear end portion (right end portion in FIG. 4) of each fixed contact beam 12b described above, that is, at the lower end portion of the connection support beam 12c. A board connecting portion 12b2 to be soldered is provided.

[One-action auto-lock mechanism]
The electrical connector 10 according to the present embodiment is provided with the one-action auto-lock mechanism as described above. As a premise, the terminal portion of the signal transmission medium (FPC or FFC) F is shown in FIGS. As shown in FIG. 15, engagement positioning portions Fa and Fa formed of notch-shaped concave portions are formed at both side edge portions in the width direction of the signal transmission medium F. Then, lock members 13 and 13 constituting a pair of lock mechanisms are provided on the electric connector 10 side corresponding to the engagement positioning portions Fa and Fa provided on the signal transmission medium F. The insertion state of the signal transmission medium F is held by the locking action (locking action) of the members 13 and 13.

[About locking members]
The lock members 13 and 13 constituting the lock mechanism of the signal transmission medium (FPC or FFC or the like) F are both ends of the insulating housing 11 in the “connector outer side”, that is, in the “connector longitudinal direction” as described above. When the signal transmission medium F is inserted into the medium insertion path 11b provided so as to extend from the medium insertion port 11a of the insulating housing 11 to the rear side of the connector. 13, the lower surface of the signal transmission medium F comes into contact with the locking lock portion 13 a provided in 13, and thereby the locking lock portion 13 a is elastically displaced downward. Further, when the signal transmission medium F is inserted into the final position on the “connector rear side”, the locking lock portion 13a is pushed up toward the inside of the engagement positioning portion Fa of the signal transmission medium F. Is configured to be in an engaged state (locked state).

  Each lock member 13 at this time is integrally formed with the insulating housing 11 including the locking lock portion 13a described above. In particular, as shown in FIGS. It is disposed inside the lock mechanism accommodating space 11d provided in both end regions in the “connector outward side”, that is, the “connector longitudinal direction”. The locking lock portion 13a disposed on the lock member 13 is integrally provided at one end portion of a lock arm member 13b extending substantially horizontally inside the lock mechanism accommodating space 11d.

  The lock arm member 13b is a cantilevered elastically displaceable member that integrally extends from the inner wall of the insulating housing 11 forming the rear end side wall of the lock mechanism housing space 11d to the front side of the connector. The locking lock portion 13a formed of a flexible member and provided at the free end portion of the cantilevered flexible member is connected to the connector in the vertical direction of the connector along with the elastic displacement of the lock arm member 13b in the vertical direction of the connector It is configured to be reciprocally movable.

[About the locking section]
The locking lock portion 13a described above is formed to have a wedge shape when viewed from the side, and the front side portion of the locking lock portion 13a faces the rear side from the front end portion of the locking lock portion 13a. Thus, a first inclined guide surface 13a1 extending obliquely upward is formed. As shown in FIG. 11 in particular, the first inclined guide surface 13a1 has an insertion-side tip portion of the signal transmission medium F upward from the front side when the signal transmission medium (FPC or FFC or the like) F is inserted. The engaging lock portion 13a is configured to be moved so as to descend against the elasticity of the lock arm member 13b by a downward component force generated at the time of contact. Yes.

  Further, from the state where the signal transmission medium (FPC or FFC or the like) F rides on the first inclined guide surface 13a1 of the locking lock portion 13a, the signal transmission medium F is as shown in FIG. When inserted into the final position “on the rear side of the connector”, the locking portion 13a is pushed up toward the inside of the engagement positioning portion Fa of the signal transmission medium F by the elastic return force of the lock arm member 13b. To the engaged state (locked state).

[About locking movement restriction members]
As described above, the locking lock portion 13a is configured to be elastically displaced via the lock arm member 13b made of a cantilever member. However, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 8, the locking lock portion 13a. The lock movement restricting member 13c is arranged so as to be adjacent to the “connector outer side” of the lock arm member 13b. The lock movement restricting member 13c is formed of a long belt-like metal plate disposed along the side edge of the “connector outward side” of the lock arm member 13b and the locking lock portion 13a described above.

  The lock movement restricting member 13c is arranged on the “outer side of the connector” with respect to the locking portion 13a provided in the lock mechanism of the signal transmission medium (FPC or FFC or the like) F as described above. The movement and displacement in the vertical direction, which is the engaging direction of the engagement lock portion 13a and the lock arm member 13b, are allowed without being restricted by the lock movement restricting member 13c. On the other hand, the movement and displacement of the locking lock portion 13a and the lock arm member 13b other than the allowable direction (vertical direction) are restricted by the lock movement restricting member 13c.

  That is, in the present embodiment, since the lock movement restricting member 13c is provided adjacent to the “connector outward side” of the locking lock portion 13a and the lock arm member 13b, the above-described tolerance is set. The movement and displacement of the locking lock portion 13a and the lock arm member 13b with respect to a direction other than the vertical direction which is the direction, more specifically, a direction toward the “connector outward” orthogonal to the allowable direction (vertical direction). It is made to be regulated.

  The long plate-like member constituting the lock movement restricting member 13c is arranged so as to extend substantially horizontally inside the lock mechanism accommodating space 11d of the insulating housing 11, similarly to the lock arm member 13b described above. And is configured to be elastically displaceable in the vertical direction of the connector by extending in a cantilevered manner toward the “connector front side” from the rear end side wall portion forming the lock mechanism accommodating space 11d. Yes. Then, when the elastically displaceable lock movement restricting member 13c is pushed downward by the unlocking operation portion described later as shown in FIG. 13, the locking lock portion 13a and the lock arm member 13b are locked. The movement restricting member 13c is disengaged from the movement restricting member 13c to be in a free state. In particular, the engaging lock portion 13a and the lock arm member 13b can be moved and displaced toward the “connector outward side”.

  On the other hand, the locking lock portion 13a described above is formed to have a substantially trapezoidal shape in plan view, and extends obliquely toward the front side of the connector at the rear end portion of the locking lock portion 13a. A second inclined guide surface 13a2 is formed. The edge of the second inclined guide surface 13a2 extends from the rear end portion of the locking lock portion 13a toward the “connector front side” toward the “connector inward direction”, that is, toward the center side of the “connector longitudinal direction”. In the engaged state in which the locking lock portion 13a enters the positioning portion Fa of the signal transmission medium (FPC, FFC, etc.) F described above, the second locking lock portion 13a has a second shape. The inclined guide surface 13a2 is arranged so as to face the rear end edge portion of the positioning portion Fa.

  Then, even if the signal transmission medium (FPC or FFC or the like) F is to be removed from such a fitting state of the locking lock portion 13a as shown in FIG. A rear end edge portion of the positioning portion Fa provided on the transmission medium F comes into contact with the second inclined guide surface 13a2 of the locking lock portion 13a described above from the rear side. As a result, the locking lock portion 13a tends to move in the “outer direction of the connector” against the elasticity of the lock arm member 13b. Since the movement and displacement of the lock arm member 13b are restricted, the locking lock portion 13a is maintained in the fitted state.

  On the other hand, when the lock movement restricting member 13c is pushed downward as shown in FIG. 13 by the unlocking operation portion described later, the locking lock portion 13a in the free release state as described above and As shown in FIGS. 14 and 16, the lock arm member 13b moves and displaces toward the “outer connector direction”, and the locking lock portion 13a and the outer side of the lock arm member 13b on the connector side are moved. Due to the movement and displacement, the locking portion 13a is disengaged outward from the positioning portion Fa of the signal transmission medium (FPC or FFC) F, and the engaged state (locked state) is released. Then, as shown in FIG. 17, the signal transmission medium F is pulled out to the “connector front side” to be removed.

[Unlock operation section]
Further, as shown in FIGS. 2, 7, and 12, the unlocking operation portion 11 e cantilever the upper surface portion of the insulating housing 11 on the planar portions of both end portions in the connector longitudinal direction of the insulating housing 11 described above. It is formed so as to be cut out in a shape. This unlocking operation portion 11e is disposed above the above-described lock movement restricting member 13c, and is formed to be elastically displaced in the connector vertical direction. This unlocking operation part 11e is formed to extend to the rear side of the connector, and the free end part of the unlocking operation part 11e faces the free end part of the lock movement restricting member 13c described above from above. Are arranged to be.

  A release contact piece 13c1 made of a plate-like member is formed so as to rise upward at the free end portion of the lock movement restricting member 13c facing the free end portion of the unlock operation portion 11e. It arrange | positions so that the free end part of the lock release operation part 11e mentioned above may contact from the upper side with respect to the upper end part of the contact piece 13c1. Then, as shown in FIG. 13, when the unlocking operation portion 11e is pushed down manually or using a simple jig, the lock movement restricting member 13c is also pushed down. The restriction of movement and displacement of the portion 13a and the lock arm member 13b in the “connector outward direction” is released. Further, by pulling out the signal transmission medium (FPC or FFC or the like) F as shown in FIGS. 14 and 16, the rear end edge portion of the positioning portion Fa of the signal transmission medium F becomes the locking lock portion 13a. The engaging state of the locking lock portion 13a with respect to the positioning portion Fa of the signal transmission medium F is released by abutting on the second inclined guide surface 13a2.

  According to the present embodiment having such a configuration, the movement or displacement of the locking lock portion 13a or the lock arm member 13b is allowed only in the required vertical direction by the lock movement restricting member 13c, and other unnecessary directions. Therefore, the rigidity for holding the locking portion 13a and the lock arm member 13b is improved, and a strong locking force can be obtained.

  In particular, according to the present embodiment, the locking lock portion 13a can be easily released and a reliable releasing operation can be performed only by moving the lock movement restricting member 13c having a simple configuration. Furthermore, insertion and removal of the signal transmission medium F is smoothly performed using the inclined guide surface of the locking lock portion 13a.

  Although the invention made by the present inventor has been specifically described based on the embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. Needless to say.

  For example, in each of the embodiments described above, a flexible printed circuit (FPC) and a flexible flat cable (FFC) are employed as a signal transmission medium fixed to the electrical connector. The present invention can be similarly applied to a case where a medium for use is used.

  Furthermore, although the electrical connector according to the above-described embodiment uses a single-shaped conductive contact, the present invention can be similarly applied to a structure in which different-shaped conductive contacts are alternately arranged. Is possible.

  The present invention can be widely applied to a wide variety of electrical connectors used in various electrical devices.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Electrical connector 11 Insulation housing 11a Medium insertion port 11b Medium insertion path 11c Part attachment port 11d Lock mechanism accommodation space 11e Lock release operation part 12 Conductive contact 12a Movable contact beam 12a1 Upper terminal contact convex part 12b Fixed contact beam 12b1 Lower terminal contact convex part Part 12b2 Substrate connection part 12c Connecting support beam 13 Lock member 13a Locking lock part 13a1 First inclined guide surface 13a2 Second inclined guide surface 13b Lock arm member 13c Lock movement restricting member 13c1 Release contact piece F Signal transmission medium (FPC or FFC etc.)

Claims (6)

A lock arm member made of a flexible member that is elastically displaceable is a locking lock portion that engages with a terminal portion of the signal transmission medium inserted into the insulating housing and holds the signal transmission medium in a substantially immovable state. Formed in part,
In the electrical connector configured to be engaged or disengaged from the signal transmission medium by movement of the locking lock part,
Movement or displacement of the locking lock portion or lock arm member in a direction in which engagement with the signal transmission medium is performed is allowed, and movement or displacement of the locking lock portion or lock arm member in a direction other than the allowable direction. An electrical connector comprising a lock movement restricting member for restricting the movement.   The electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein the lock movement restricting member is disposed so as to restrict movement or displacement of the locking lock portion or the lock arm member in a direction orthogonal to the permissible direction. The lock movement restricting member is configured to be movable in a direction substantially parallel to the allowable direction,
The movement of the lock movement restricting member allows movement and displacement of the locking lock part and the lock arm member in directions other than the allowable direction, and the locking lock part is separated from the signal transmission medium. The electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein:   The electrical connector according to claim 3, wherein the direction other than the allowable direction is a direction substantially orthogonal to the allowable direction.   The electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein the insulating housing is integrally formed with a lock release operation portion that moves the lock movement restricting member. In the locking lock part,
A first inclined guide surface that a part of the signal transmission medium abuts upon insertion of the signal transmission medium and moves the locking lock portion in the allowable direction;
A second inclined guide surface that moves the locking lock portion in a direction perpendicular to the permissible direction by contacting another part of the signal transmission medium when the signal transmission medium is removed;
The electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein the electrical connector is provided.

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