JP2024083824A - Shielded Connectors - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a shield connector that can sufficiently suppress noise generated at a circumference of a terminal of an electric wire from entering a housing and also prevent an influence of noise of an external intense electric field to provide stable communication.SOLUTION: A shield connector 1 comprises: a shield shell 24 which has one sides electrically connected to a shield terminal 12 of an opposite-side connector 10 and the other side installed on a wiring board 40 housed in an enclosure 2; a housing 21 which houses the shield shell 24; and a grounding piece 30 which is electrically connected to the shield shell 24 and grounded to a wall surface 6b of the enclosure 2, wherein the shield shell 24 is so formed as to have larger cross sectional area at a connection part 25a for the grounding piece 30 than more on the side of the wiring board 40 than the connection part 25a.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 7B

Description

The present invention relates to a shielded connector for high-speed signal transmission equipped with a shield shell that blocks electromagnetic noise (hereinafter referred to as "noise").

One such type of shielded connector is described in Patent Document 1. The connector described in Patent Document 1 is attached to a board and includes a plurality of connection terminals fixed to a base, a base, a first protrusion, a second protrusion, and a cylindrical housing (case) formed from a conductive metal plate. The connection terminals and base are housed and protected inside the housing, and the first and second protrusions connected to the tip of the housing suppress noise radiation from the tip of the housing.

JP 2017-188353 A

However, in the conventional connector, the distance of the conductive path through which noise flows from the connection terminal to the tips of the first and second protrusions is longer than the distance of the conductive path through which noise flows from the connection terminal to the board, making it difficult to sufficiently suppress noise. In addition, if an electronic control unit (ECU) equipped with a conventional connector is installed in a car, communication problems will occur due to the strong electric field noise when the car passes near a weather radar or military radar.

The present invention was made in consideration of the problems inherent in the conventional technology. The object of the present invention is to provide a shielded connector that can sufficiently prevent noise generated around the terminals of the electric wire from entering the housing, and can prevent the effects of external strong electric field noise, enabling stable communication.

The shielded connector according to this aspect of the invention comprises a shield shell that is electrically connected to the shield terminal of a mating connector on one side and is installed on a wiring board housed in a housing on the other side, a housing that houses the shield shell, and an earth piece that is electrically connected to the shield shell and is earthed to the wall surface of the housing, and the cross-sectional area of the shield shell at the connection part with the earth piece is formed to be larger than the cross-sectional area on the wiring board side.

The present invention provides a shielded connector that can adequately prevent noise generated around the terminals of the electric wire from entering the housing, and can provide stable communication by preventing the effects of strong external electric field noise.

1 is a perspective view showing an example of a shield connector according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a perspective view of a female connector of the shield connector. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a male connector of the shielded connector. FIG. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the female connector. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the male connector. 4 is a perspective view of the shield connector mounted on a wiring board. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the shield connector housed in a housing. FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a main part of the shield connector when it is housed in a housing. FIG.

The following describes in detail the shielded connector according to an embodiment of the present invention using the drawings.

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing an example of a shielded connector according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 is a perspective view of a female connector of the shielded connector. Figure 3 is a perspective view of a male connector of the shielded connector. Figure 4 is an exploded perspective view of the female connector. Figure 5 is an exploded perspective view of the male connector. Figure 6 is a perspective view of the shielded connector mounted on a wiring board. Figure 7A is a cross-sectional view showing the shielded connector housed in a housing. Figure 7B is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the main parts of the shielded connector housed in a housing.

As shown in FIG. 1, the shielded connector 1 is a high-speed transmission connector for high-speed signal transmission with an electromagnetic shield structure, and includes a female connector (mating connector) 10 and a male connector (connector) 20 that is mated with the female connector 10. As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 4, the terminal 17a side of a shielded electric wire 17, which is an STP (Shielded Twisted Pair) electric wire, is connected to the female connector 10. Also, as shown in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7A, the male connector 20 is installed on the upper surface 40a of a wiring board 40 housed in a housing 2. The communication system device A is composed of the shielded connector 1, the wiring board 40, the housing 2, and a communication device (not shown) housed in the housing 2.

As shown in Figures 2 and 4, the female connector 10 includes an outer housing (mating housing) 11, an outer terminal (shielded terminal) 12, an inner housing 13, a female inner terminal 14, a matching part 15, and inner and outer sleeves 16A and 16B.

As shown in Figures 4 and 7B, the outer housing 11 is made of synthetic resin and has a rectangular cylindrical shape, and has a terminal accommodating portion 11a that accommodates the outer terminal 12, which is a shield terminal. In addition, a lock arm 11c is provided on the upper surface 11b of the outer housing 11 to maintain the mated state when mated with the male connector 20. This lock arm 11c is provided with a protruding locking portion 11d.

As shown in FIG. 4, the outer terminal 12, which is a shield terminal, is formed into a cylindrical shape by sheet metal processing using a sheet metal material. The outer terminal 12 has a cylindrical housing accommodating portion 12a as a shield connection portion that accommodates the inner housing 13 and the matching part 15. The outer terminal 12 further has a pair of braid crimping pieces 12b, 12b that crimp and connect the braid 19 exposed when a portion of the sheath 17B of the shielded electric wire 17 is cut away, and a pair of sheath crimping pieces 12c, 12c that crimp and connect the sheath 17B of the shielded electric wire 17.

As shown in Fig. 4, the braid crimping piece 12b of the shield terminal 12 crimps the metallic inner sleeve 16A crimped to the outer periphery of the braid 19 exposed from the sheath 17B. Furthermore, as shown in Figs. 4 and 7B, the braid crimping piece 12b of the outer terminal 12 also crimps and connects the braid 19A folded back at the fold-back portion 19a covering the outer periphery of the inner sleeve 16A. In other words, the braid crimping piece 12b is crimped to the outer periphery of the inner sleeve 16A via the braid 19A folded back at the fold-back portion 19a. The braid 19A folded back at the fold-back portion 19a is sandwiched between the braid crimping piece 12b and the inner sleeve 16A, and is held by the metallic hexagonal cylindrical outer sleeve 16B, so that the outer terminal 12 and the braid 19 are electrically connected. In addition, in the outer terminal 12 shown in Figure 4, the pair of braid crimping pieces 12b, 12b and the pair of sheath crimping pieces 12c, 12c are shown in a crimped shape. Also, when the outer terminal 12 is accommodated in the terminal accommodating portion 11a of the outer housing 11, the lock arm 11c is engaged with the protrusion 12d of the outer terminal 12, and the accommodated state is maintained.

As shown in FIG. 4, the inner housing 13 is made of synthetic resin and has an elliptical cylindrical shape, with a pair of terminal accommodating chambers 13a, 13a on both sides into which the female inner terminal 14 connected to the end 17a of the shielded electric wire 17 is inserted. The female inner terminal 14 accommodated in each terminal accommodating chamber 13a is held by a locking means (not shown). In addition, the upper surface 13b and the lower surface 13c of the inner housing 13 each have an engagement groove (engagement recess) 13d formed in the center of the rear side into which a pair of upper and lower engagement protrusions 15b, 15b of a resin matching part 15, which will be described later, is press-fitted.

The female inner terminal 14 has a contact portion 14a at the front to which the male inner terminal 29 of the male connector 20 is connected, and a pair of core wire crimping pieces 14b, 14b at the rear to which the core wire 18a exposed from the insulating coating 18b of the inner wire 18 of the shielded wire 17 is connected. In the female inner terminal 14 shown in Figure 4, the pair of core wire crimping pieces 14b, 14b are shown in a crimped shape.

As shown in FIG. 4, the matching part 15 is a dielectric for impedance adjustment, and is interposed between the inner housing 13 and the inner sleeve 16A to suppress impedance mismatching and improve the transmission performance of the female connector 10 of the shielded connector 1. The impedance adjustment matching part 15 is formed in a resin tube shape having a pair of insertion holes 15a, 15a through which the untwisted parts of the two internal electric wires 18, 18 crimped and connected to the inner terminal 14 are inserted. Furthermore, the matching part 15 has engagement protrusions (engagement parts) 15b protruding from the front of the upper and lower centers to be pressed into the upper and lower engagement grooves 13d, 13d of the inner housing 13. These engagement grooves 13d and engagement protrusions 15b constitute an engagement means for integrating the inner housing 13 and the matching part 15. Note that a metal member, which is a conductor, may be used instead of the matching part 15, which is a dielectric.

As shown in Fig. 4, the inner sleeve 16A is made of metal and has a C-shaped plate shape before being crimped, and is attached to the outer circumference of the braid 19 exposed by removing a part of the sheath 17B of the shielded electric wire 17. Then, as shown in Figs. 4 and 7B, when the braid crimping piece 12b of the outer terminal 12 is crimped to the folded braid 19A of the shielded electric wire 17, the braid 19A is disposed at a position adjacent to the front end edge of the sheath crimping piece 12c from the front side in the braid crimping piece 12b. In other words, the braid 19 is folded back by the folded back part 19a at the front end part 16a of the inner sleeve 16A, which is crimped into a cylindrical shape, and the braid 19A folded back by the folded back part 19a covers the outer circumference of the cylindrical inner sleeve 16A. Furthermore, the braid crimping piece 12b and the sheath crimping piece 12c of the outer terminal 12 are covered and held by the hexagonal cylindrical outer sleeve 16B. Noise is generated at the point where the braid 19 of the shielded wire 17 is tightened by the braid crimping piece 12b of the outer terminal 12, and enters through the opening 7 provided in the cover 6 of the housing 2 that houses the wiring board 40.

As shown in Figures 4 and 7B, the shielded electric wire 17 includes two twisted internal electric wires 18, 18, a metal braid 19 that covers the two internal electric wires 18, 18 via a shield foil 17A, and a sheath 17B that is a resin outer coating that covers the braid 19. As shown in Figures 1 and 4, each internal electric wire 18 has a metal core wire 18a and a resin insulating coating 18b that covers the core wire 18a. The two internal electric wires 18, 18 exposed on the terminal 17a side of the shielded electric wire 17 are untwisted by the matching part 15, and a pair of core crimping pieces 14b, 14b of the female inner terminal 14 are crimped and connected to the core wires 18a exposed from the insulating coatings 18b by crimping.

As shown in Figures 3 and 5, the male connector 20 comprises a synthetic resin outer housing (housing) 21, a metal shield shell 24, an inner housing 28, a male inner terminal 29, and a pair of metal earth pieces 30, 30.

As shown in Figures 3 and 5, the outer housing 21 is made of synthetic resin and formed into a rectangular tube shape, with the female outer housing 11 housed and fitted in the upper part and the main body 25 of the shield shell 24 housed in the lower part. A latched portion 21a is formed on the upper edge of the inner surface of this rectangular tube-shaped outer housing 21. Then, as shown in Figure 7A, when the female connector 10 and the male connector 20 are mated, the latching portion 11d of the lock arm 11c of the female connector 10 and the latched portion 21a of the outer housing 21 of the male connector 20 are locked together, maintaining the mated state.

As shown in FIG. 5, the outer housing 21 has a pair of opposing side portions 21b, 21b, each of which has a long groove-shaped slit 22 extending in the vertical direction, through which a stabilizer portion (protrusion) 27 of the shield shell 24 described later is inserted. One end of the slit 22 (the side of the base portion 26 of the shield shell 24) is open. Furthermore, the outer housing 21 has a frame portion 23 adjacent to each slit 22, into which a rectangular plate-shaped insertion portion 31 of the earth piece 30 described later is inserted. The frame portion 23 protrudes in a bridge shape (concave shape) from both ends of the side portion 21b of the outer housing 21, and the insertion portion 31 of the earth piece 30 is inserted between the side portion 21b and the frame portion 23.

As shown in Figures 7A and 7B, the shield shell 24 is a conductive electromagnetic shielding body, electrically connected on the upper side (one side) to the outer terminal 12, which is the shield terminal of the female connector 10, and installed on the lower side (other side) to the wiring board 40 housed in the housing 2. That is, the shield shell 24 has an elliptical cylindrical (tubular) main body 25 as a mating terminal housing section that houses the outer terminal 12 of the female connector 10, and a rectangular parallelepiped base 26 installed on the wiring board 40 side.

As shown in Figures 3 and 5, the elliptical cylindrical main body 25 has a stabilizer portion 27 that extends in the vertical direction and has an increased cross-sectional area due to the sideward protrusion at the connection portion 25a with the earth piece 30. Furthermore, the elliptical cylindrical main body 25 has a constricted portion 25b whose cross-sectional area is reduced on the base portion 26 side from the connection portion 25a with the earth piece 30. In other words, the elliptical cylindrical main body 25 is formed such that the cross-sectional area of the stabilizer portion 27 at the connection portion 25a with the earth piece 30 is larger than the cross-sectional area of the connection portion 25a on the base portion 26 side.

As shown in FIG. 7B, the rectangular parallelepiped base portion 26 of the shield shell 24 has a housing accommodating portion 26a that accommodates the inner housing 28 and is formed to communicate with the elliptical cylindrical main body portion 25. Furthermore, cylindrical grounding legs 26b protrude from the center of the bottom surface of the base portion 26 to the four rear corners. When the male connector 20 is mounted on the wiring board 40, the grounding legs 26b of the base portion 26 are inserted into the ground circuit holes 41, which serve as grounding through holes in the wiring board 40, and connected by soldering.

As shown in FIG. 5, the inner housing 28 is made of synthetic resin and has a front elliptical cylindrical shape, with a pair of terminal accommodating chambers 28a, 28a on either side into which female inner terminals 29 are inserted.

As shown in FIG. 5, the male inner terminal 29 is formed from a conductive rod-shaped member, with its tip 29a connected to the contact portion 14a of the female inner terminal 14 and its base end 29b connected to the wiring board 40. That is, as shown in FIG. 7B, when the male connector 20 is mounted on the wiring board 40, the base end 29b of the male inner terminal 29 of the male connector 20 is inserted into the communication circuit hole 42, which serves as a through hole for communication in the wiring board 40, and connected by soldering.

As shown in FIG. 5, the earth piece 30 is made of a conductive plate material, electrically connected to the shield shell 24, and is an elastic spring piece that is grounded to the lower surface (wall surface) 6b of the cover 6 of the housing 2. The earth piece 30 has a rectangular plate-shaped insertion portion 31 that is inserted into the frame portion 23 of the outer housing 21, and a rectangular plate-shaped inclined portion 32 that is bent outward from the upper edge of the insertion portion 31 in a V-shape and has a convex contact portion 33 that is pressed against and contacts the lower surface 6b of the cover 6 of the housing 2. The insertion portion 31 of the earth piece 30 is inserted into the frame portion 23 of the outer housing 21, so that it comes into contact with and is electrically connected to the stabilizer portion 27 that has passed through the slit 22, and the convex contact portion 33 of the inclined portion 32 is electrically connected to the lower surface 6b of the cover 6.

Furthermore, as shown in Fig. 7B, the distance of the conductive path through which noise flows from the contact T between the outer terminal 12 of the female connector 10 and the stabilizer portion 27 of the male connector 20 to the contact portion 33 of each inclined portion 32 of the pair of earth pieces 30, 30 that contact the underside 6b of the cover body 6 is defined as L1. Then, the distance of the conductive path through which noise flows from the contact T between the outer terminal 12 of the female connector 10 and the stabilizer portion 27 to the contact portion between the leg portion 26b of the shield shell 24 and the wiring board 40 is defined as L2, and L1 is set to be shorter than L2 (L1 < L2).

As shown in Figures 7A and 7B, the wiring board 40 on which the male connector 20 is mounted is a printed wiring board with a multi-layer structure that differentially transmits high-speed signals. That is, the wiring board 40 is formed by stacking multiple layers of copper ground circuit boards between upper and lower resin resist layers and resin insulating boards (both not shown).

As shown in FIG. 7B, the wiring board 40 has four ground circuit holes 41 formed as through holes for grounding. A wiring pattern (not shown) for an electromagnetic shield circuit is formed on the lower end side of the four ground circuit holes 41 so as to extend to the other end side of the wiring board 40. The legs 26b of the shield shell 24 of the male connector 20 are inserted into the ground circuit holes 41 as through holes for grounding and connected by soldering.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 7B, the wiring board 40 has two communication circuit holes 42 formed as through holes for communication. At the lower end sides of the two communication circuit holes 42, a wiring pattern for the communication circuit (not shown) is formed so as to extend to the other end side of the wiring board 40. This wiring pattern is used as differential wiring, and is formed by tracing copper foil. The base end portion 29b of the male inner terminal 29 of the male connector 20 is inserted into the communication circuit holes 42 as through holes for communication and connected by soldering.

As shown in Figures 7A and 7B, the housing 2 is a metal case having a box-shaped main body 3 consisting of a rectangular bottom wall 4 and four side walls 5 rising from the bottom wall 4, and a rectangular metal lid 6 covering the opening 3a of the main body 3. In addition to the wiring board 40 and the male connector 20 mounted on the wiring board 40, electronic devices for high-speed signal transmission (not shown) are housed inside the housing 2. A rectangular opening 7 is formed in the lid 6 to receive the male connector 20. The female connector 10 side is exposed from inside the opening 7 and the shielded connector 1 is attached so that it stands vertically. Furthermore, the communication circuit of the signals of the mated male and female connectors 10, 20 adopts a differential transmission method. The communication circuit is connected as follows: the twisted internal electric wire 18, the female inner terminal 14, the male inner terminal 29, and the wiring pattern of the wiring board 40. Furthermore, the shield circuit is connected to the braid 19, the outer terminal 12, the shield shell 24, the earth piece 30, and the ground circuit board (not shown) of the wiring board 40. Furthermore, the wiring board 40 is attached to the bottom wall 4 of the housing 2 via a hexagonal column-shaped support 8 and a screw 9. The small-diameter lower end 8a of the support 8 is pressed into a mounting hole 4a provided in the bottom wall 4, thereby fixing the support 8 to the bottom wall 4.

According to the above embodiment of the shielded connector 1, when the shielded connector 1 is mounted on the wiring board 40 in the housing 2, as shown in FIG. 7A, the convex contact portion 33 of the pair of grounding pieces 30, 30 contacts the lower surface 6b of the cover body 6. At this time, the contact portion 33 is reliably grounded to the lower surface 6b of the cover body 6 by the elastic force of the inclined portion 32 of the grounding piece 30, so that a stable and good ground connection can be achieved over time. In addition, the elliptical cylindrical main body portion 25 of the shield shell 24 of the male connector 20 is inserted and fitted between the terminal accommodating portion 11a of the outer housing 11 of the female connector 10 and the housing accommodating portion 12a of the outer terminal 12. This fitting causes the outer surface of the housing accommodating portion 12a of the outer terminal 12 to contact the stabilizer portion 27 of the elliptical cylindrical main body portion 25 at the contact point T shown in FIG. 7B. If the distance of the conductive path through which noise flows from the contact T to the contact portion 33 of the ground piece 30 is L1, and the distance of the conductive path through which noise flows from the contact T to the contact portion between the leg portion 26b of the shield shell 24 and the wiring board 40 is L2, L1 is shorter than L2. By making the distance L1 shorter than the distance L2, the resistance value of the conductive path over the distance L1 can be made smaller than the resistance value of the conductive path over the distance L2. This makes it possible to sufficiently suppress the intrusion of noise generated from the crimped portion of the braid 19 of the shielded electric wire 17 into the housing 2, and improves the shielding performance of the shielded connector 1. Therefore, noise generated by wired communication can be effectively suppressed, enabling high-performance high-speed communication.

In addition, the shielded connector 1 has a cross-sectional area of the stabilizer portion 27 at the connection portion 25a with the earth piece 30 of the elliptical cylindrical main body portion 25 of the shield shell 24 larger than the cross-sectional area of the connection portion 25a on the base portion 26 side. That is, the elliptical cylindrical main body portion 25 has a constricted portion 25b with a reduced cross-sectional area on the base portion 26 side than the connection portion 25a with the earth piece 30, so that the resistance value of the conductive path over the distance L1 can be made smaller than the resistance value of the conductive path over the distance L2. This makes it possible to sufficiently suppress the intrusion of noise generated from the crimped portion of the braid 19 of the shielded electric wire 17 into the housing 2, thereby improving the shielding performance of the shielded connector 1. Furthermore, it is possible to prevent the influence of noise from external strong electric fields such as weather radar and military radar, and to prevent communication problems such as no image being displayed or a meter not working properly, thereby enabling stable, high-performance, high-speed communication.

Although the present embodiment has been described above, the present embodiment is not limited to these, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the gist of the present embodiment.

That is, in the above embodiment, a pair of earth pieces is used, but a pair of earth pieces may be provided on opposing sides of a cylindrical metal member.

In addition, in the above embodiment, the shield shell is attached to the male connector side, but the shield shell may also be attached to the female connector side.

In addition, in the above embodiment, the main body and base of the shield shell are integrally formed, but the main body and base may be formed separately to form the shield shell. Also, the cross-sectional area of the connection part may be made larger than the cross-sectional area of the wiring board side by providing only one of the stabilizer part and the constriction part in the shield shell.

1 Shielded connector 2 Housing 6 Lid 6b Bottom surface (wall surface)
10 Female connector (mating connector)
12 Outer terminal (shield terminal)
20 Male connector (connector)
21 Outer housing (housing)
22 Slit 23 Frame portion 24 Shield shell 25 Elliptical cylindrical (cylindrical) main body portion 25a Connection portion with earth piece 25b Narrowed portion 26 Base portion 27 (Stabilizer portion) Protruding portion 30 Earth piece 40 Wiring board

Claims (4)

a shield shell that is electrically connected to a shield terminal of a mating connector at one side and is mounted on a wiring board accommodated in a housing at the other side;
a housing that accommodates the shield shell;
an earth piece electrically connected to the shield shell and earthed to a wall surface of the housing;
Equipped with
The shield shell is a shielded connector in which a cross-sectional area at a connection portion with the ground piece is larger than a cross-sectional area of the connection portion on the wiring board side. The shield shell has a protruding portion that protrudes laterally at a connection portion with the ground piece, and has an increased cross-sectional area,
the housing has a slit through which the protrusion is inserted,
The shielded connector according to claim 1 , wherein the ground piece is electrically connected to the protrusion inserted into the slit. the shield shell has a cylindrical main body portion in which the shield terminal is housed and a base portion provided on the wiring board side,
2. The shielded connector according to claim 1, wherein the cylindrical main body has a narrowed portion whose cross-sectional area is reduced on the base side relative to the connection portion with the ground piece. the housing has a frame portion adjacent to the slit into which the ground piece is inserted,
The shielded connector according to claim 2 , wherein the ground piece is inserted into the frame portion to come into contact with and be electrically connected to the protruding portion that passes through the slit.

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