JPH0433114B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a microwave circuit connector, and particularly to a connector used for connecting various microwave circuit modules or components.

[Conventional technology] Conventionally, microwave circuits are based on MIC (Microwave
Integrated circuit
It was often realized as a type of HIC (Hybrid Integrated Circuit). Especially recently,
MMIC (Monolithic Microwave Integrated)
The number of circuits integrated on a single semiconductor substrate, called a circuit, has also increased. When configuring these unit circuits as larger microwave circuits, a shield case is used to facilitate production, to prevent environmental influences on reliability, and to prevent electromagnetic shielding and excitation of unnecessary waves. Encapsulation is generally done. In actual applications, a plurality of these cased components are combined to form a larger circuit. In this case, connections between components are required, and the structure that has often been used is an RF coaxial line structure, in which the conductor of the RF terminal is led out to the opposite side of the plate by penetrating a thick plate.
The line structure was to connect these RF terminals with a micro-strip line.

That is, as shown in FIG. 5, a coaxial line 15 is connected between the connected units 11 housed in the case 13.
The lead wires of the RF terminals 12 were led out onto the conductor of the micro-strip line through an insertion hole drilled in the micro-strip board 14, and connected by soldering.

Conventional connection structures have the following drawbacks: first, they require access from both the top and bottom during assembly, which is time-consuming; and second, they require soldering, which takes time and makes assembly work difficult. There is a disadvantage that the line discontinuity changes depending on the amount of solder and the characteristics change due to the mismatch. Thirdly, the electrical discontinuity at the transition point from the coaxial line connected to the RF terminal section to the micro strip line section is It is difficult to make the micro-strip line small, and impedance mismatch becomes noticeable especially at high wave numbers.Fourth, the cavity of the micro-strip line becomes large, which may excite unnecessary modes or cause other problems. The drawback was that it often caused unnecessary coupling with other circuits.

In order to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, the present applicant proposed a new microwave circuit connection structure in an earlier application (Japanese Patent Application No. 60-228375).

This structure is shown in FIGS. 6 and 7.

In both figures, this connector is constructed by accommodating the following members in a groove 6 bored in a case 6A that serves as the outer conductor of the line.

Reference numeral 1 denotes a center conductor in the form of a leaf spring, which is held in the groove 6 by support members 2 and 2A arranged above and below. One of the support members 2A disposed at the bottom of the groove 6 is provided with pins 16, 16, which are inserted into holes drilled in the center conductor 1 and connected to the other support member 2A. Positioning is supported. The other support member 2 has a plate-like member shaped to close the open end side of the groove 6, and has spacers 5, 5 formed on both ends thereof, and two spacers 5, 5 on the inner side of the spacers 5, 5. Guide holes 4, 4 are bored.

The RF terminal 12 of the connected unit 11 is inserted into the guide hole 4, and a fixed contact is provided at the insertion end of the RF terminal.
Here, since the center conductor 1 comes into elastic contact with the fixed contact 3, the connected units can be connected without any soldering.

Further, the connection structure of this microwave circuit has stable characteristics with little discontinuity in the line and little variation in the connection state.

The reason why line discontinuities can be reduced is because the structure is simple and the discontinuities are small. That is, the line exiting the pin of the RF terminal 12 of the connected unit 11 is converted into a so-called trough line at the fixed terminal 3. The trough line has a structure in which a circular central conductor is placed within parallel ground plates, and the electromagnetic field distribution is concentrated on both ground plates.

[Problems to be Solved] The microwave circuit connection structure proposed by the present applicant described above has many excellent features such as high performance, stability, easy assembly, and low cost. However, new demands have emerged. This demand is for manufacturing a communication device housing including a line structure by a casting method in order to further significantly reduce the cost of the communication device. The connection structure proposed above requires high-precision manufacturing in order to obtain good performance up to high frequencies (10-odd GHz or higher), that is, to obtain a low VSWR terminal. When trying to make this connection structure by a casting method, the problem is the dimensional accuracy of the casting. It is difficult to stably obtain the dimensional accuracy of the groove 6A forming the outer conductor using casting.
Of course, you could use a machine tool to cut the parts for finishing, but this would increase the cost of the parts.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a microwave circuit connector that contributes to the realization of a cheaper microwave circuit connection concept while maintaining ease of assembly.

[Means for Solving Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a flexible center conductor in the shape of a leaf spring, a support member made of an insulating material that supports the center conductor, and an RF terminal of a connected unit. A fixed contact is arranged in the base and makes elastic contact with the center conductor, and an outer conductor has a shape that can be dropped into a hole formed in the base. and a shield case containing the microwave circuit connector.

[Example] Next, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of one embodiment of the present invention.
Note that, among the members shown in the figure, members having the same functions as those shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 are designated by the same reference numerals, and detailed explanation thereof will be omitted.

In this embodiment, the above-mentioned center conductor 1, supporting members 2, 2A, and fixed contacts 3, 3 are housed in a shield case 50 forming an outer conductor, and the opening side of this shield case 50 is connected to a cover plate 51. A microwave circuit is constructed by covering it with
As shown in FIG. 4, this microwave circuit can be easily used by forming a hole 54 in the base 53 for attaching the microwave component and dropping the connector 100 into the hole 54. It is.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a part of the connector 100, in which the shield case 50 and the cover plate 51 are joined by projection welding. In addition,
51B in the figure indicates a welding location. Also, 5
1C is a spring-like connector for maintaining good contact, and 51A is a hole through which the RF terminal 12 passes.

Here, an example of a method of connecting the shield case 50 and the cover plate 51 is shown in FIG. In the figure, A, B
are the required electrodes for projection welding.

According to such a connector 100, the structure of the center conductor 1, the supporting members 2, 2A, and the fixed contact 3 allows the effects of the above-mentioned earlier proposal by the present applicant to be achieved as is. Since it is made up of a shield case, even if the base 53 (which does not necessarily have to be made of metal) is made by casting, the hole 54 is simply for dropping the connector 100 into it. The accuracy of the hole does not need to be particularly high. Therefore, machining or the like is not required after casting, which can greatly contribute to cost reduction.

In addition, even before installation on the base 53,
It is possible to test the connectors 100 individually, thereby not only guaranteeing performance but also improving reliability. In addition, since the entire circuit is shielded, there is no electrical coupling with the outside, and there is no possibility of fine dust or oil getting in and causing poor contact.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the gist of the present invention.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, the center conductor, the support member, and the fixed contact are housed in the shield case, and this shield case is used as the outer conductor, so that the base on which the connector is attached is There is no need to use the hole as an outer conductor, and therefore, a high degree of machining accuracy of the base is not required, and the connection structure can be made inexpensive. In addition, it is possible to inspect the connector as a single unit even before it is attached to the base, improving reliability. It also enables electrical shielding by housing it in a shielding case, and prevents contamination due to dust etc. It can also prevent defects.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a connector according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a part of the connector, and FIG.
The figure is a schematic explanatory diagram showing an example of the welding method for the shield case cover, Figure 4 is a schematic perspective view showing the attachment of the connector to the base, Figure 5 is a sectional view showing the conventional connection structure, Figure 6, FIG. 7 is a sectional view and an assembled perspective view, respectively, showing the connection structure proposed earlier by the present applicant. 1: Center conductor, 2, 2A: Support member, 3: Fixed contact, 11: Connected unit, 12: RF terminal,
50: Shield case.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A flexible center conductor in the shape of a leaf spring, a support member made of an insulating material that supports the center conductor, and a support member that is arranged at an RF terminal of a connected unit and that is elastically connected to the center conductor. A shield case comprising: a fixed contact that comes into contact; an outer conductor having a shape that can be dropped into a hole formed in the base; and a shield case in which the center conductor, the supporting member, and the fixed contact are housed inside the outer conductor. A microwave circuit connector characterized by: