JP4374573B2 - Electrical connector - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an electrical connector, and more particularly to a non-insertion / removal force connector for flexible substrates such as FPC and FFC.

  Various types of electrical connectors are used for electrical connection of the flexible substrate to the circuit board, and one of them, a non-insertion / removal force type (ZIF type) connector, is very widely used.

  As a conventional electrical connector of this type, for example, as shown in FIG. 9, the contact C is accommodated and rotated by a housing H having an opening K and a rotary shaft S formed integrally with the contact C. There is one provided with a pivotable member A that is supported (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  In such an electrical connector, the flexible board F is opened from the direction of the arrow W in the non-pressurized state in which the rotating member A is located at the position indicated by the two-dot chain line in the figure and the opening K is largely opened. Then, the rotating member A is rotated to the pressurization position indicated by the solid line, and the flexible substrate F is pressed against the contact portion B of the contact C by the pressing portion P of the rotating member A. The electrical connection with the contact C is achieved.

In this example, the rotating shaft portion S and the contact portion B are bifurcated from one contact C, and the flexible substrate F, the pressing portion P of the rotating member A, and the flexible substrate F are sandwiched between both of them. It has a structure.
Utility Model Registration No. 2580074

  However, without knowing where the transformation to higher performance and lighter, thinner and smaller electronic devices will stop, we are finally shifting to multifunction, high density, small size, light weight, thin shape, and short shape. There is an urgent need to simultaneously increase the number of electrical connectors used in the devices and make them smaller, thinner and shorter.

  However, it has been difficult to reduce the thickness of the conventional electrical connector as described above to meet the market demand. This is because in this type of electrical connector, in the thickness direction, the bottom D of the housing H, the contact B of the contact C, the flexible board F, the pressing part P of the rotating member A, the contact C This is because as many as six members of the rotary shaft portion S and the ceiling portion T of the housing H are laminated, the total thickness of the respective members becomes the connector height. In addition, the thickness of the flexible substrate F is determined by the standard, and there is no degree of design freedom in reducing the thickness of the electrical connector.

  In particular, in the electrical connector as shown in FIG. 9, when the rotating member A is rotated to the pressurizing position, the pressing portion P is pushed between the flexible substrate F and the rotating shaft portion S. At this time, a large force acts on the rotary shaft S serving as a fulcrum of the insulator and the contact portion B located below the rotary shaft portion S. Therefore, it is necessary to use a contact C having a considerable thickness in order to provide strength to withstand this. there were. In particular, in the case where the rotating shaft portion S and the contact portion B are branched from one contact C, phosphor bronze having a relatively low rigidity must be employed for the purpose of ensuring the function of the contact portion B. There was a limit to the reduction in thickness of this part.

  Similarly, since the stress due to the rotation of the rotation member A is also transmitted to the housing H made of a low-strength insulating material such as a synthetic resin, the bottom portion D and the ceiling that cover the upper and lower portions of the rotation shaft portion S and the contact portion B, respectively. The part T had to have a considerable thickness.

  Therefore, the conventional electrical connector for a flexible substrate having a thickness of 0.3 mm has a thickness of about 2.0 mm including the necessary clearance as ZIF, and is difficult to meet market demand.

  The present invention has been made in view of this point, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an electrical connector capable of being thinned in order to meet the demand for lighter, thinner and smaller electronic devices.

In order to achieve the above object, an electrical connector according to the present invention accommodates a plurality of contacts, has a housing having an opening, and a metal cover covering a part of the housing, and a connector main body, A rotating member that is rotatably supported by the connector main body to press the flexible substrate inserted into the opening and press-contact the flexible substrate, and the ceiling portion of the metal cover includes the rotating member. When the moving member is rotated so as to press the flexible substrate inserted into the opening against the contact, it serves as a fulcrum for the rotation of the rotating member and receives the reaction force from the contact. A receiving portion is provided at a position facing the contact portion of the contact that contacts the conductive portion of the flexible substrate, and the housing and the ceiling portion of the metal cover are arranged on the metal cover by rotation of the rotation member. Reaction force from the contact is received by the contact When received, in order to suppress the reduction in the pressing force with respect to the flexible substrate due to the floating from the ceiling portion said housing of said metal cover in the reaction force, is what is in close contact integrated is welded. Thereby, the electrical connector can be thinned.

  The housing may be made of a thermoplastic insulating material.

  Further, the metal cover may have a welding hole, the housing may have a welding projection at a position corresponding to the welding hole, and a part of the welding projection may be melted to close the welding hole. .

  Moreover, the said welding hole is good also as having the taper part which the side facing the said housing becomes narrow in the thickness direction of the said metal cover.

  Moreover, the said welding hole is good also as having the step part which the side facing the said housing becomes narrow in the thickness direction of the said metal cover.

  Moreover, the said welding hole is good also as being formed in the hole shape which has a linear side parallel to the said receiving part in the said rotation member side.

  The welding hole may be formed in a ceiling portion of the metal cover, and the welding protrusion may be formed in a middle plate portion of the housing.

  Further, the metal cover has window portions in the vicinity of both ends in the longitudinal direction, the housing has a locking projection portion fitted to the window portion, and melts a part of the locking projection portion, The window may be closed.

  In this way, the housing and the metal cover are firmly integrated with each other, and the electrical connector can be further reduced in thickness.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the electrical connector 1 includes a thermoplastic synthetic resin or the like that has a plurality of contacts 11 made of a conductive metal such as phosphor bronze and has an opening 12 for receiving a flexible substrate 2. A connector comprising: a housing 10 made of an insulating material; and a metal cover 20 made of a material such as a steel plate and disposed on the opposite side of the opening 12 of the housing 10, that is, above the housing 10 so as to cover a part of the rear. A main body 50 and a rotating member 30 made of an insulating material such as a synthetic resin, which is positioned in front of the metal cover 20 and is rotatably supported with respect to the connector main body 50 are provided. The contact 11 is implanted in a plurality of contact grooves 14 formed at intervals of the bank portion 17 of the housing 10.

  The rotating member 30 presses the flexible substrate 2 against the contact 11, and the flexible substrate 2 is moved in the direction of the arrow W through the opening 12 that is largely opened in the non-pressurized state shown in FIG. Then, the flexible board 2 is pressed against the contact 11 by rotating the rotating member 30 to the pressurized state shown in FIG.

  Further, the welded portion 40 and the locking welded portion 41 are formed on the upper surface and both ends of the connector main body 50, respectively, and fix the metal cover 20 in close contact with the housing 10 as will be described later.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the metal cover 20 has a ceiling 27 that covers the housing 10 except for a portion where the rotating member 30 in front of the housing 10 is located, and a recess 26 that is moderately recessed from the ceiling 27 and extends in the longitudinal direction. The housing 10 is arranged so as to hold the vicinity of the end in the longitudinal direction, and extends from the pair of left and right holding parts 21 and the ceiling part 27 that integrate the metal cover 20 and the housing 10 to the outside in the longitudinal direction and has an appropriate curvature. A pair of left and right fixing portions 22 that are bent downward at a substantially right angle and fixed to a circuit board (not shown), an engagement receiving portion 24 formed as a through-hole penetrating the cover 20 near the front end of the metal cover 20, It is located in front of the engagement receiving portion 24 and engages with the rotating member 30. When the flexible substrate 2 is pressed against the contactor 11 (see FIG. 1) along with the rotation, the anti-contact from the contactor 11 occurs. Take power Description section 25, and a locking portion 23 for fixing the locked portion 32 in cooperation with it a connector body 50 of the rotating member 30.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of welding holes 28 are formed in the longitudinal direction in the ceiling portion 27 of the metal cover 20, and a pair of left and right windows 29 are formed in the vicinity of both ends of the metal cover 20. . The welding hole 28 and the window 29 are through holes corresponding to the welding part 40 (see FIG. 2) and the locking welding part 41 (see FIG. 2), respectively, and are formed by punching the metal cover 20, as will be described later. The metal cover 20 functions to tightly fix the metal cover 20 to the housing 10.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the rotation member 30 includes an engagement protrusion 33 that engages with the engagement receiving portion 24 during the rotation, a locked portion 32 corresponding to the lock portion 23, and the housing 10. A pivot portion 31 that fits into bearing portions 13 (see FIG. 1) formed at both ends in the longitudinal direction, a relief portion 35 with a reduced thickness to avoid interference with the receiving portion 25, etc. The opening 12 is opened and closed by rotating around the pivot 31 with respect to 50, and the flexible substrate 2 can be pressed against the contact 11 (see FIG. 6) by the pressing portion 34 (see FIG. 6). It has become.

  As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the contact 11 has a base portion 11e press-fitted into the contact groove 14 and a tail portion 11d fixed to a circuit board (not shown) by soldering. The lower arm portion 11b of the contact 11 extends slightly upward from the base portion 11e in the direction of the opening portion 12, and a contact portion 11a for contacting a conductive portion disposed on the back side of the flexible substrate 2 at the tip thereof. Is formed. On the other hand, the upper arm portion 11c is shorter than the lower arm portion 11b and only extends slightly from the base portion 11e.

  The ceiling portion 27 of the metal cover 20 covers not only the rear plate portion of the housing 10 and the middle plate portion 16 located above the upper arm portion 11c, but also the front portion so that the receiving portion 25 is located above the contact portion 11a. And covers substantially the rear half of the housing 10.

  Further, a welding projection 18 is integrally formed on the middle plate portion 16 of the housing 10, passes through the welding hole 28 of the metal cover 20 formed at a position corresponding to this, and protrudes toward the ceiling portion 27. A part of the tip of the protrusion 18 is heated, melted, crushed, and re-solidified, and a welding portion 40 is formed so as to close the welding hole 28, thereby fixing the metal cover 20 to the housing 10.

  Here, in order to deform the welding projection 18 into the welding portion 40, for example, before welding, an electric soldering iron is attached to the tip of the welding projection 18 protruding upward from the welding hole 28 as shown by a one-dot chain line in FIG. Such a material is pressed and melted by the heat, and is crushed by pressure and pushed to the outer edge of the welding hole 28, cooled and re-solidified in the welding hole 28.

  Since the housing 10 is made of a thermoplastic material, various welding techniques such as ultrasonic welding can be used to form the welded portion 40. Here, as the thermoplastic material, for example, a liquid crystal polymer or the like is used, but is not limited thereto, and is melted by heating or ultrasonic treatment (softened and deformable), deformed by pressurization, and after deformation May be any insulating material that can be re-cured by cooling or the like.

  Further, the welding hole 28 is provided with a tapered portion 28a that spreads outward as shown in the figure, and the side facing the housing 10 is narrowed. When the welding projection 18 is melted and crushed, The welded portion 40 is formed by filling the tapered portion 28a.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 7, the welding hole 28 may have a step portion 28 b whose side facing the housing 10 becomes narrow in the thickness direction of the metal cover 20. The step portion 28b is formed in a step shape in the welding hole 28 by, for example, pressing or etching.

  Further, the welding hole 28 is not limited to the circular shape as shown in FIG. 3, and may have a shape having a straight side 28 c parallel to the receiving portion 25 as shown in the top view of FIG. 7. By doing so, substantially the same effect as when the welding portion 40 is brought close to the receiving portion 25 can be obtained, and the moment generated by the reaction force when the flexible substrate 2 is pressed can be reduced.

  As shown in FIG. 3, a window portion 29 similar to the welding hole 28 is formed above the fixing portion 22 of the metal cover 20, and extends to the left and right side ends of the housing 10 as shown in FIG. A similar locking projection 19 is fitted into the welded projection 18 and the metal cover 20 and the housing 10 are closely integrated. A part of the locking projection 19 is heated and melted. Then, the metal cover 20 and the housing 10 are integrated more firmly by crushing, solidifying, and forming the locking weld portion 41 so as to close at least a part of the window portion 29 in the same manner as the weld portion 40. Can be

  Next, the operation of the electrical connector 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. First, in the non-pressurized state of the rotating member 30 shown in FIG. 5, the contact portion 11a is in a free state, and the rotating member 30 faces the engagement protrusion 33 having the smallest thickness to the contact portion 11a. Therefore, a clearance larger than the thickness of the flexible substrate 2 is secured here, and the flexible substrate 2 inserted through the opening 12 from the direction of the arrow W can pass therethrough with zero insertion resistance.

  Therefore, when the inserted flexible substrate 2 is advanced to the back of the opening 12, the tip easily comes into contact with the back wall, and further progress is stopped, and the insertion is completed. In FIG. 5, the recess 26 provided in the metal cover 20 protrudes into the path of the flexible substrate 2, so that an extremely slight insertion resistance is brought about upon entering the flexible substrate 2, so that the operator can feel accurate insertion. The flexible substrate 2 is prevented from coming off.

  When the rotation member 30 is rotated to the pressurization state shown in FIG. 6 following insertion of the flexible substrate 2, the rotation member 30 displaces the flexible substrate 2 downward by the pressing portion 34 and presses it against the contact portion 11a. . In synchronization with this, the engaging protrusion 33 of the rotating member 30 enters the engaging receiving portion 24 of the metal cover 20 to complete the engagement between them, and the releasing of the rotating member 30 from the connector main body 50. To prevent. Further, the locked portion 32 (see FIG. 2) of the rotating member 30 is engaged with the lock portion 23 (see FIG. 2) of the metal cover 20.

  Here, the receiving portion 25 of the metal cover 20 plays a role of receiving the reaction force from the contact 11 when the rotating member 30 is rotated, so that the conventional rotating shaft portion S as shown in FIG. 9 is omitted. As shown in FIG. 6, the number of members in the thickness direction of the electrical connector 1 can be reduced to a total of five of the housing bottom portion 15, the contact portion 11 a, the flexible substrate 2, the pressing portion 34, and the receiving portion 25. The electrical connector 1 can be thinned.

  The receiving portion 25 of the metal cover 20 functions so that the pressing portion 34 presses the flexible substrate 2 against the contact portion 11a and receives the reaction force when the rotating member 30 is rotated. Because it is made of a steel plate that is extremely stiffer than the conventional steel plate, it can sufficiently withstand the stress generated there, and has the same function as the conventional phosphor bronze rotating shaft shown in FIG. The thickness can be reduced as compared with the portion S, and the thickness can be further reduced.

  Further, since the engagement receiving portion 24 is a through-hole, the engagement between the engagement projection portion 33 and the engagement receiving portion 24 can be completed within a thickness range of one metal cover 20. Can be made thinner.

  Furthermore, by providing the metal cover 20 with the recesses 26 that function as reinforcing ribs, the rigidity of the metal cover 20 can be increased, and the thickness of the metal cover 20 itself can be reduced.

  In addition, the metal cover 20 has a holding portion 21 (see FIGS. 1 to 3) and is arranged so as to hold the housing 10, and the metal cover 20 and the housing 10 are closely integrated by the welding portion 40. Therefore, the strength conventionally imposed on the housing 10 can be shared by both the metal cover 20 and the housing 10, and further reduction in thickness can be achieved.

  Further, when the rotating member 30 is rotated to the pressurizing position, a stress is applied to displace the receiving portion 25 of the metal cover 20 upward to diverge the pressing force of the flexible substrate 2 by the rotating member 30. The metal cover 20 firmly and integrally integrated with the housing 10 by the welded portion 40 can sufficiently withstand this and generate an appropriate pressing force.

  In addition, the housing 10 tends to warp slightly in the longitudinal direction due to its manufacturing method, but the metal cover 20 having a precise flatness is firmly and closely integrated with the housing 10 by the welded portion 40 or the like. This warp can be corrected.

  Thus, one of the features of the present invention is that the metal cover 20 and the housing 10 are welded, so that the contactor 11, the housing 10, and the metal cover 20 form a robust combined structure. A sufficient pressing force can be applied to the flexible substrate 2 interposed between the two.

  That is, since the contact 11 is press-fitted into the housing 10, both of them have a substantially integrated structure, whereas the housing 10 and the metal cover 20 are integrally combined only by fitting at both ends. Therefore, it is difficult to say that a strong integrated structure is formed. For this reason, when the flexible substrate 2 is strongly pressed against the contactor 11, the metal cover 20 is lifted from the housing 10 by the reaction force. Although there is a possibility that the pressing force cannot be applied, in the present invention, the housing 10 and the metal cover 20 are formed into a strong integrated structure by welding so that the pressing force against the flexible substrate 2 is not released.

  According to such an electrical connector 1 of the present invention, it is possible to reduce the thickness to 1.5 mm or less.

  In addition, the receiving part 25 is not restricted to what is formed in the front end of the metal cover 20, For example, you may form like the frame projected ahead along the shape of the engagement receiving part 24. FIG. Moreover, the engagement receiving part 24 is not restricted to a through-hole, You may form as a hollow of moderate depth.

  In the present embodiment, the metal cover 20 has the engagement through hole 24 and the receiving portion 25, and the rotation member 30 includes the engagement protrusion 33. However, the present invention is not limited to this example. As in the connector shown in No. -106238, the rotation member 30 may be provided with a through hole so that the distal end portion of the receiving portion 25 can enter and exit the through hole when the rotation member 30 is rotated. .

It is an external appearance perspective view of the electrical connector which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention, and the non-pressurized state of a rotation member is shown. It is an external appearance perspective view which shows the pressurization state of the rotation member of the electrical connector of FIG. It is an external appearance perspective view of the metal cover which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is an appearance perspective view of a rotation member concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is AA sectional view taken on the line of FIG. 1, Comprising: The non-pressurization state of a rotation member is shown. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line B-B in FIG. 2, showing a pressurized state of the rotating member. It is sectional drawing which shows the other example of FIG. It is the CC sectional view taken on the line of FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the example of the conventional electrical connector.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Electrical connector, 2 Flexible board, 10 Housing, 11 Contact, 12 Opening part, 18 Welding protrusion, 19 Locking protrusion, 20 Metal cover, 24 Engagement receiving part, 25 Receiving part, 27 Ceiling part, 28 Welding hole , 29 window part, 30 rotating member, 40 welded part, 41 locking welded part, 50 connector body.

Claims (8)

A connector main body having a housing that houses a plurality of contacts and that has an opening, and a metal cover that covers a portion of the housing;
A rotating member that is rotatably supported by the connector main body in order to press the flexible substrate inserted into the opening and press-contact the flexible substrate;
The ceiling portion of the metal cover serves as a fulcrum for the pivot of the pivot member when the pivot member is pivoted to press the flexible substrate inserted into the opening against the contact. A receiving portion for receiving a reaction force from the contact, at a position facing the contact portion of the contact contacting the conductive portion of the flexible substrate ,
When the receiving portion of the metal cover receives a reaction force from the contact due to the rotation of the rotation member , the ceiling portion of the metal cover is moved by the reaction force between the housing and the ceiling portion of the metal cover. In order to suppress a decrease in pressing force against the flexible substrate due to floating from the housing, it is welded and closely integrated,
An electrical connector characterized by that. The electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein the housing is made of a thermoplastic insulating material . The metal cover has a welding hole, the housing has a welding projection at a position corresponding to the welding hole, and a part of the welding projection is melted to close the welding hole. The electrical connector according to claim 2 . The electrical connector according to claim 3, wherein the welding hole has a tapered portion that is narrower on a side facing the housing in a thickness direction of the metal cover . The electrical connector according to claim 3 , wherein the welding hole is formed to have a stepped portion in which the side facing the housing becomes narrow in a thickness direction of the metal cover. The electrical connector according to any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein the welding hole is formed in a hole shape having a straight side parallel to the receiving portion on the rotating member side. . The welding hole is formed in the ceiling portion of the metal cover, wherein the welding projection is according to any one of claims 3 to 6, characterized in that, formed in the intermediate plate portion of the housing Electrical connector. The metal cover has window portions in the vicinity of both ends in the longitudinal direction, the housing has a locking projection portion that fits into the window portion, and a part of the locking projection portion is melted so that the window The electrical connector according to any one of claims 2 to 7, wherein a portion is closed .

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