JPH06342610A - Contact electrode connecting device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] Make the stress change due to the displacement of the protrusions almost linear,
Prevent contact failure of contact electrodes. [Structure] An elongated hole 7 is provided in a support plate 5 integrally formed with a protrusion 3. When the counter electrode 51 formed on the head-side substrate 50 and the contact electrode 31 are pressed, the protrusion 3 is swung in a direction substantially perpendicular to the support plate 5, and a stress of a substantially linear shape is applied to each contact electrode 31. The counter electrode 51 and the contact electrode 31 are electrically connected to each other.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a contact electrode connecting device in which a large number of contact electrodes provided on the surface of a substrate are brought into pressure contact with counter electrodes arranged so as to face the contact electrodes.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A contact electrode connecting device of this type is, for example,
It is used for connecting a head of an inkjet printer and a flexible circuit as described in JP-A-3-101944.

In this ink jet printer, a large number of nozzles are arranged in the head, and a heating resistor is provided behind each nozzle. When ink is supplied to the vicinity of each heating resistor and a predetermined heating resistor is energized, the energized ink near the heating resistor is heated to a boiling state and ejected from a nozzle corresponding to print information.

Since the head always moves, the heating resistors are energized through a flexible circuit in which a conductor pattern is formed on a flexible resin substrate. Also,
Since it is necessary to replace the head every time all the ink contained in the head is consumed, the head is detachably fixed to the carriage. Then, the heating resistors are energized by bringing the counter electrode provided on the head surface into contact with the contact electrode provided on the flexible circuit surface.

Further, in such a contact electrode connecting device for a printer, as described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 234942/1987, the resin substrate of the flexible circuit is raised above the substrate surface at the contact electrode disposing portion. , The contact electrode is easily contacted with the counter electrode. On the other hand, in the carriage,
A support plate is provided to face the head with the flexible circuit sandwiched therebetween, and a rubber-made projection that abuts the flexible circuit from behind each contact electrode is formed on the surface of the support plate. By doing so, each contact electrode and the counter electrode are held in a pressure-contact state.

[0006]

However, in the contact electrode connecting device of this type, if the height of the contact electrode rising from the substrate surface varies, the contact failure may occur as follows. . That is, if the height variation of the contact electrodes is within a certain range, the protrusion behind each contact electrode is compressed according to the variation to absorb the variation, and the contact electrodes are connected to the counter electrode. Can be contacted with. However, the stress applied to the support plate due to the compressive deformation of the protrusions dramatically increases non-linearly with respect to the amount of deformation. Therefore, when the height variation of the contact electrode exceeds a predetermined amount, the stress required for the deformation of the protrusion becomes extremely large, and the variation cannot be absorbed by the deformation of the protrusion. Then, the low contact electrode causes poor contact.

Further, even when the resin substrate of the flexible circuit is plastically deformed due to processing of the protruding portion or aging and the flatness of the substrate surface is lost, the average height of the contact electrodes with respect to the substrate surface is high. It changed and was having similar problems. Therefore, the present invention has been made for the purpose of providing a contact electrode connecting device capable of making the change in stress associated with the displacement of the protrusion substantially linear and preventing the contact failure of the contact electrode satisfactorily.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is directed to a large number of contact electrodes provided on the surface of a substrate, which are pressed against counter electrodes arranged so as to face each contact electrode. A contact electrode connecting device according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of protrusions that individually come into contact with the substrate from behind the contact electrodes and a large number of protrusions formed of an elastic material are provided substantially parallel to the substrate. Connected to the respective projections via the respective connection parts, and the respective projections can swing in the substantially vertical direction of the substrate in accordance with the deformation of the substantially parallel parts of the respective connection parts. It is characterized in that it is provided with a support portion for supporting.

[0009]

According to the present invention thus constructed, the projecting portion swings in the vertical direction by the deformation of the connecting portion provided substantially parallel to the substrate from the projecting portion. Therefore, if there is variation in the height of the contact electrodes, the protrusions behind each contact electrode oscillate in a direction substantially perpendicular to the substrate in response to the variation, and shear strain occurs in the approximately parallel portion of the connecting portion. To do. Since the stress generated according to the shear strain of the elastic member increases in a substantially linear manner with respect to the strain amount, the stress applied to the bearing part due to the swing of the protrusion part is approximately linear with the displacement amount of the protrusion part. Increase to. Therefore, even if there are large variations in the height of the contact electrodes,
The protrusion can easily swing to absorb the variation.

Further, the protrusion, the connecting portion, and the support portion are
When the support member is formed integrally of an elastic material having a predetermined rigidity and supports the substrate, the present invention further operates as follows. That is, since the protrusion, the connecting portion, and the support portion are integrally formed, each protrusion is disposed behind each contact electrode only by positioning the support portion and the substrate. Also,
Since each part is formed of an elastic material having a predetermined rigidity and constitutes a supporting member for supporting the substrate, it is not necessary to provide another supporting member. Then, only by supporting the present invention behind the substrate, the substrate is supported and each contact electrode is held in a state of being pressed against each counter electrode.

[0011]

1 is a cross-sectional view showing a use state of a contact electrode connecting device 1 of an embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the contact electrode connecting device 1. As shown in FIG. 1, the contact electrode connecting device 1 of this embodiment is arranged between a head of an inkjet printer (not shown) and a carriage 11 that slides along a guide rod 11a. The contact electrode 31 provided on the surface of 30 holds the state of being pressed against the counter electrode 51 on the surface of the head-side substrate 50 exposed on the head surface.

The resin substrate 33 of the flexible circuit 30 is
A hemispherical protrusion 35 that is formed of a flexible resin and that protrudes toward the head-side substrate 50 is formed at the position where each contact electrode 31 is disposed. Further, each contact electrode 31 is formed in a substantially hemispherical shape along the convex surface 35 a of the protruding portion 35.

The contact electrode connecting device 1 comprises a support plate 5 made of synthetic resin, on the surface of which a plurality of substantially conical projections 3 that abut the concave surfaces 35b of the respective projections 35 are integrally formed. The synthetic resin forming the contact electrode connecting device 1 is an elastic material having a predetermined rigidity described later. Further, the support plate 5 is formed with an elongated hole 7 as shown in FIG. That is, the elongated hole 7 is formed around the bottom surface periphery 3a of each protrusion 3.
Semicircular portion 7a formed in a semicircular shape along the
And a pair of parallel portions 7b extending from both ends in the tangential direction of the bottom surface periphery 3a.

Further, the periphery of the support plate 5 is fixed to the upper end surface 11b of the carriage 11 as shown in FIG. Thereby, the contact electrode connecting device 1 and the flexible circuit 3
The head is supported on the carriage 11 via 0 and the head-side substrate 50. That is, the synthetic resin forming the contact electrode connecting device 1 has a rigidity capable of supporting the head and the like.

Contact electrode connecting device 1 configured as described above
Then, when a force perpendicular to the support plate 5 is applied to the protrusion 3, shear strain occurs in the portion sandwiched by the pair of parallel portions 7b of the support plate 5 (hereinafter referred to as the connecting portion 5a), and the protrusion 3 Is the support plate 5
Swing vertically. Here, the stress applied to the protruding portion 3 is P, the elastic coefficient of the connecting portion 5a is E, and the width of the connecting portion 5a (that is, the distance between the pair of parallel portions 7b),
If the length and thickness are b, l, and h, respectively, the protrusion 3
The displacement amount δ of can be roughly expressed by the following equation.

Δ = 4Pl ³ / Ebh ³ As is clear from this equation, there is a substantially linear correspondence between the displacement amount δ and the stress P. Further, the deformation of the protrusion 3 due to the stress P can be almost ignored. For this reason,
When the contact electrode 31 and the counter electrode 51 as illustrated in FIG. 1 are connected by using the contact electrode connecting device 1 of the present embodiment, the following actions and effects are obtained.

That is, when the height of the protrusion 35 is changed or the resin substrate 33 is plastically deformed to cause variations in the height of the contact electrodes 31, the respective contact electrodes 31 are corresponding to the variations. The rear protrusion 3 swings in a substantially vertical direction of the support plate 5. At this time, the stress P applied to the support plate 5 via the connecting portion 5a increases substantially linearly with respect to the displacement amount δ of the protrusion 3. Therefore, even when there is a large variation in the height of the contact electrode 31, the protrusion 3 can easily swing to absorb the variation.

Further, in this embodiment, the projection 3 and the support plate 5 are integrally formed. Therefore, the protrusions 3 are arranged behind the contact electrodes 31 only by setting the positional relationship between the support plate 5 and the flexible circuit 30. That is,
It is not necessary to individually position each protrusion 3 behind each contact electrode 31.

Further, in the contact electrode connecting device 1 of this embodiment, since each part is made of an elastic material having a predetermined rigidity, it is not necessary to provide another supporting member on the upper end surface 11b of the carriage 11. That is, since the head and the like can be supported only by fixing the periphery of the support plate 5 to the upper end surface 11b, the configuration around the carriage 11 can be simplified.

In the above embodiment, the support plate 5, the connecting portion 5a, and the protrusion 3 are integrally formed, but they may be formed separately. For example, the support plate 5 and the protrusion 3 may be formed of a rigid body, and only the connecting portion 5a may be formed of an elastic member, and then assembled. Further, the support plate 5, the protrusion 3 and the carriage 11 may be integrally formed. In this case, the configuration around the carriage 11 can be extremely simplified. Further, it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to various devices other than the inkjet printer.

[0021]

As described above in detail, in the present invention, the shearing strain is generated in the connecting portion due to the protrusion swinging in the substantially vertical direction of the substrate. Further, the stress applied to the support portion in accordance with the shear strain increases substantially linearly with respect to the displacement of the protrusion. Therefore, even if there is a large variation in the height of the contact electrodes, the variation is absorbed by the swinging of the protrusion,
It is possible to favorably prevent contact failure of the contact electrode.

Further, the projection, the connecting portion, and the support portion are
When the elastic member having a predetermined rigidity is integrally formed as a supporting member for supporting the substrate, the following effects are further obtained. That is, since the protrusion, the connecting portion, and the support portion are integrally formed, each protrusion is disposed behind each contact electrode only by positioning the support portion and the substrate. Therefore, it is not necessary to individually position and fix each protrusion. Further, since each part is formed of an elastic material having a predetermined rigidity and constitutes a supporting member for supporting the substrate, it is not necessary to provide another supporting member. Then, by only supporting the present invention behind the substrate, the substrate can be supported and the state where each contact electrode is pressed against each counter electrode can be maintained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a usage state of a contact electrode connecting device of an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a contact electrode connecting device of an embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Contact electrode connecting device 3 ... Projection
5 ... Support plate 5a ... Connection part 30 ... Flexible circuit
31 ... Contact electrode 33 ... Resin substrate 50 ... Head side substrate
51 ... Counter electrode

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A contact electrode connecting device in which a large number of contact electrodes provided on the surface of a substrate are brought into pressure contact with counter electrodes arranged so as to face the contact electrodes. A large number of protrusions that individually come into contact with the substrate, a large number of connecting portions formed of an elastic material and provided substantially parallel to the substrate from the respective protruding portions, and the respective protruding portions via the respective connecting portions. A contact portion which is connected to the above-mentioned projection portion so as to be swingable in a substantially vertical direction of the substrate in accordance with the deformation of the substantially parallel portion of the connecting portion. Connection device. 2. The projecting portion, the connecting portion, and the support portion are integrally formed of an elastic material having a predetermined rigidity,
The contact electrode connecting device according to claim 1, further comprising a supporting member that supports the substrate.