JPH0228236B2 - - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention disclosed herein is a connector (14) wherein the contact elements (24, 26, 28) include tail sections (32) on one end for being soldered to pads (62) on the circuit board (60). More particularly, the connector (14) carries three rows of contact elements (24, 26, 28) with the tail sections (32) extending out from the housing (22) at different lengths and in a pattern predetermined by the pad spacing and arrangement on the board.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to electrical connectors, and more particularly to surface mount connectors having contacts that connect to conductive pads on a circuit board.

It is known from U.S. Pat. No. 3,413,594 to provide a connector with a slot into which a circuit board can be inserted and to solder the free end rows of spring contacts extending from the connector to traces on the board. There is.

Furthermore, it is known from US Pat. No. 3,966,290 that plastic studs are provided on the housing, inserted into holes in the circuit board, and then the head of the stud is enlarged using a heat staking method or the like to permanently attach the housing to the board. It is being

The present invention provides a connector having several rows of contacts with tails extending from a connector housing, the free feet of the contact tails being soldered to a circuit board to which the housing is attached by soldering studs. It is something.

A connector according to the present invention has a housing having two or more rows of passages and contacts extending therethrough at various lengths from the housing such that the contacts are soldered to conductive traces on a circuit board. In addition to having a tail portion extending outwardly, at least one stud protruding from one side of the housing is adapted to be inserted into a hole in a circuit board and soldered thereto.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in more detail with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings.

The interboard connector assembly, designated by the reference numeral 10 in FIG. 1, includes a through socket connector 12 and a right angle male connector 14. The receptacle connector 12 includes a housing 16 of insulating material and a plurality of contacts (not shown) having a box-shaped socket at one end, such as those available from AMP, Inc. of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Those contacts are in passage 1
8 and the other end has a straight wire-wound post (not shown) extending from the back of the housing. The connector 12 is attached to a motherboard (back side) 20 with the posts protruding through the holes to the back of the board, and for the male connector 14 is attached to the circuit board 6.
It is inserted and removed in a direction parallel to the surface of 0.

The male connector 14 is connected to the housing 22 and the contact 2
Including 4, 26, 28. Each contact includes a pin in the illustrated embodiment, i.e., a joint 30 and a tail 32.
The housing 22 includes a base portion having three rows of passages 36, as shown in FIG. These rows of passages are parallel to each other and span both ends of the housing. The two protruding members 38 and 40 are attached to the shroud 4 in front of the connector.
2 substantially surrounding the joints of contacts 24, 26, 28. Furthermore, the protruding member 40 has a step having a height approximately equal to the thickness of the circuit board 60 (the first
(See Figure and Figure 3).

The joint portions 30 and intermediate portions 34 of the contacts 24, 26, 28 are each identical in structural design and dimensions. The illustrated joint 30 is a pin designed to fit and be inserted into the box-shaped socket described above, and the intermediate portion 34
has a barb 44 that digs into the passageway wall.

The tails 32 are structurally the same for each contact, each tail including a connecting strip 46, an obliquely descending resilient arm 48, and a foot 50 at the free end of the arm.
The legs 50 have an uneven shape. The difference in tail size between the three contacts is the difference in length of strip 46 and arm 48. Contact 24 has the shortest strips and arms, contact 28 has the longest strips and arms, and contact 26 has its strips and arms intermediate in length to the other two contacts.

The contactor 24 is shown in FIG. This is an unformed contact stamped from a flat strip of material such as a copper alloy, but it is given the same reference numeral for ease of contrast with the molded contact shown in Figures 1 and 3. . Reference numeral 52 (FIG. 3) indicates the bend between strip 46 and arm 48. After the contact is molded, the contact portions (pin 30 and foot 50) are plated; the pin is gold plated on a nickel base, and the foot is tin-lead.

Housing 22 is provided with a pair of lowering studs 54. These studs are located one near each end (on short length connectors) and are made of the same material as the housing 22, such as those sold under the trademark "RYTON" by Phillips Petroleum Company, Burtsville, Oklahoma. Sulfurized polyphenylene plastic or the like may also be used. However, it is highly desirable, particularly for the surface mount version disclosed herein, to ultrasonically secure the housing 22 to the housing 22 using tin-lead brass studs. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the metal stud installed within the housing. The stud has a circumferential groove 56 into which the plastic flows by ultrasonic bonding. The stud also has longitudinal ribs 58 on its surface to prevent twisting of the stud.

Daughter board 60 is provided with a plurality of conductive pads or traces 62 that form part of the circuitry on the board, and is provided with holes 64.
These holes can be plated but cannot be connected to any circuit.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the connector 14 and the circuit board 60, showing a state in which the protruding member 40 is attached to the side edge of the circuit board 60, and the intermediate portion is located within the passage 36. The figure shows three contacts.
The intermediate portion and passageway are dimensioned so that the barbs 44 dig into the passageway walls to securely retain the contacts within the housing.

The pin 30 extends forward into the shroud 42 from the passage, and the tail 32 extends rearwardly from the passage. The placement of the contacts within the housing is determined by the length of the tail, with the contacts 24 being inserted in the row of passages closest to the circuit board 60 and the feet 50 aligned with the pads 62 in the row closest to the back of the housing. . contact 26
is inserted into the passageway of the middle row so that its feet 50 are aligned with the pads of the middle row. Similarly, the contacts 28 are inserted into the upper row of passages so that the feet 50 are (relatively) aligned with the outermost row of pads 62.

These contacts are inserted into the housing in such an orientation that the convex surfaces 66 of the feet 50 abut their respective pads.

Connector 14 is mounted on circuit board 60 with stud 54 passing through hole 64 and foot 50 abutting the pad. Here, reflow soldering is performed on the circuit board 60 to solder the legs to the pads and the studs to the holes. The stipples in Figure 3 represent hardened solder.
One of the advantages of soldering the stud is that it can absorb and break the stress that would otherwise be placed on the tail. These stresses can be large enough to break the soldered connections between the feet and pads.

Although an embodiment is shown in which the contact mating portion is a pin 30, the mating portion may also be a socket, flat male tab, or similar mating or interconnection arrangement.

In addition to the stress-breaking ability of the soldered studs, the tail strips and arms can also absorb stresses that would otherwise affect the foot-to-pad solder connections. That is, these strips and arms act as spring beams with some degree of motion that are tethered at both ends.

The present invention is capable of many changes and modifications without departing from its spirit or essential characteristics. This example is therefore intended in all respects for illustrative purposes and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention.

According to the present invention, since the housing has passages arranged in a plurality of rows, a large number of contacts can be mounted with high density, and the step of the protruding member touches the side end of the circuit board. mounted next to each other,
Further, since the housing is fixed with a plurality of studs and has sufficient strength, when the connector is inserted or removed, there is no need to transmit excessive force to the elastic arm, which has weak attachment strength and should avoid applying external force. Further, according to the present invention, since the protruding member substantially surrounds the joint portion of the contact, the joint portion is protected and the correct alignment of the joint portion can be maintained.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an inter-circuit board connector device, showing a contact configured according to an embodiment of the present invention exploded from a male connector, and FIG. 2 shows a stamped contact before being molded; Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of the male connector in Figure 1 showing the insertion arrangement of the contacts and the state in which the connector is fixed to the circuit board. FIG. 14...Surface mounting connector (male connector),
22... Connector housing, 24, 26, 28
... Contact, 32 ... Tail of contact, 36 ... Passage, 46, 48, 50 ... Tail connecting strip and diagonally descending arm and foot, 54 ... Stud, 60 ... Circuit board (daughter board) ), 62... Conductive trace, 64... Plated hole.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A base having a plurality of rows of passages arranged parallel to the surface of the circuit board to be mounted and at different height positions, and a base having a height approximately equal to the thickness of the circuit board from the base. a housing having a protruding member protruding forward of the base with a step; a fixing part fixed in the passage of the housing; a joint part protruding forward; a tail part extending rearward;
and a surface comprising a plurality of contacts having resilient arms contacting conductive pads on the circuit board surface, and a plurality of studs formed at different longitudinal positions of the housing and inserted into openings in the circuit board. In the mounting connector, the housing is mounted with the step in contact with a side end of the circuit board, the mating connector is inserted and removed in a direction parallel to the surface of the circuit board, and the tail part of the contact is A surface mount connector, the protruding member of the housing being of a different length depending on the height above the circuit board, the protruding member of the housing substantially surrounding the contact joint.