JPH0748393B2 - Dual purpose card edge connector - Google Patents

Description

Description: FIELD OF THE INVENTION The invention disclosed herein relates to a card edge connector for electrically connecting a circuit on a printed circuit card to a circuit on a printed circuit board or bag board.

[Conventional technology and its problems]

For example, the known card edge connector disclosed in U.S. Pat.No. 4,636,021 has a constant centerline pitch of conductive traces or pads, e.g., 0 between adjacent pads.
It is configured to accept a 050 inch (1.27 mm) circuit card. Therefore, it cannot be applied to cards having different pitches. So if a user wants to use a new circuit card with pads with different pitches,
The user must remove the first card edge connector (which is a difficult and time consuming task) and install a second connector to which the new card can be applied.

Therefore, it is proposed to provide a card edge connector capable of receiving one or the other card having conductive pads of different pitches.

[Means for Solving the Problems]

It is an object of the present invention to provide a dual purpose card edge connector that can accept any of two different printed circuit cards having conductive pads of different centerline pitch. The connector includes a card receiving slot and a conductive contact element disposed in the slot and having contact portions alternately projecting into the slot at a high position and a low position. Further, a positioning member is provided in the slot, and the positioning member positions one circuit card so that only the contact portion at a higher position engages with the conductive pad, and the contact portion at both positions engages with the conductive pad. Try to position different circuit cards to fit.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 shows a card edge connector 10 constructed in accordance with the present invention. The connector 10 may be a printed wiring card 12 having closely spaced conductor pads 14, for example, a pad with a centerline pitch of 0.050 inches, or a larger pitch, for example a centerline pitch of 0.100 inches (2.54 mm). Any of the cards 16 having the pad 18 can be received.

As shown in more detail in FIG. 2, the connector 10 includes an elongated dielectric housing 20 that includes a card edge receiving slot 22 and a plurality of conductive contact elements 4, 26.
Have. The contact elements 24, 26 are arranged in cavities 28, 30, respectively, which cavities preferably abut on opposite sides of the slot 22 and are open therein. As shown,
The cavities 28 alternate with the cavities 30. Positioning member
34 (only one shown in FIG. 2) are spaced from the floor of slot 22 and extend upwardly from the floor. In addition, the slot 22 has a lateral keying wall 36 (first
Figures and 5) are provided to ensure that the cards 12 and 16 are inserted in a given orientation (orientation) and position (registration).

Referring to FIG. 3, the cavity 28 is pre-loaded.
A bar 38 is included that is adjacent to the top of the cavity 28
Extends across. Further, a passage 40 is located near the center of the housing 20, and extends from the passage 40 to the cavity 28 and the bottom surface 42 of the housing to open. The contact 24 has its free end 44 pressed against the bar 38 and the lead portion 46 is
Cavity 28 extending outwardly from the surface of 20 through passageway 40
Is positioned within. Further, the contact portion 48 of the elastic beam 50
Project into the slot 22 near the top of the housing.

Referring to FIG. 4, the cavity 30 opens only in the lower half of the slot 22 and the upper half is closed by the wall 54.
A passage 56 extends through the housing 20 adjacent the side wall 58 and opens into the cavity 30 and the bottom surface 22. Contact 26 is hollow
The upper portion 60 of the elastic beam 62 positioned within 30 and bent in the opposite direction is preloaded by the free end 64 of the wall 54, and the contact portion 66 adjacent the free end 68 of the beam 62 has a slot 22. It projects below the lower half part of the wall 54. The lead portion 70 extends outwardly from the surface 42 of the housing 20 through the passage 56.

As can be seen above and from FIGS. 2-4, the elements
24 contact portions 48 alternate with contact portions 66 of element 26 in slots
Protruding in the upper half or upper part of 22 and contacting part 66
Project in the lower half or lower portion of the slot 22. Both contact elements 24, 26 are stamped and formed from a suitable conductive material, such as beryllium copper or phosphor bronze.

FIG. 5 shows the card 12 located above the connector 10. The pad 14 includes a pad 14a adjacent to the card edge 72 and a pad 14b located inside the edge 72. Further, spaced notches 74 are provided in the rim 72, the spacing of which corresponds to the spacing of the positioning members 34 in the slots 22. A keying notch 76 is provided to cooperate with the keying wall 36. When the card 12 is inserted in the slot 22, the notch 74
Receives the positioning member 34, with the card edge 72 abutting the slot floor 32. Therefore, as shown in FIG.
Contact portion 48 of 24 engages pad 14b and contact portion 66
Engages the pad 14a adjacent the card edge, i.e. in the lower half of the slot 22.

FIG. 7 shows the card 16 located above the connector 10. The pad 18 is adjacent to the card edge 78. The rim 78 is provided with a keying notch 76 for cooperating with the keying wall 36 in the slot 22. When the card 16 is inserted into the slot 22, the rim 78 abuts the locating member 34 to position the card 16 in the upper half. Therefore, as shown in FIG.
Only the contact portion 48 of the contact element 24 engages the pad on the card 16.

In the illustrated embodiment, the locator member 34 is shown as a lateral wall extending upwardly from the slot floor 32, but the uniform locator member may take the form of another form, such as a pin across the slot at a suitable height. You can also Further, the shape of slot 22 can be configured to accept different cards of different thickness. That is, for example, it can be formed so that a thin card reaches the floor and a thick card stops above the floor.

As mentioned above, the card edge connector can accept, without modification, a printed circuit card having conductive pads at one centerline pitch or another circuit card having conductive pads at another centerline pitch. The connector includes a conductive contact element disposed along the card edge receiving slot and having contact portions alternately projecting into a high position and a low position within the slot. Further, the locating member in the slot cooperates with the card so that the card having a notch along the edge can slide past the locating member, thus the pad on the card engages the contact portion in both positions. . , On the other hand, a card without a notch prevents the positioning member from entering deep into the slot,
As a result, the conductive pads on the card engage only the upper contact portions.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 is a perspective view of two printed circuit cards having an electrical connector constructed according to an embodiment of the present invention and conductive pads of different center line pitches inserted into the connector for electrical engagement; FIG. Figure shows a cutaway view of the connector showing details regarding the contact elements housed in the connector, Figures 3 and 4 show end views of the connector showing details of the cavities and the contact elements arranged in the cavities, Figure 5 shows FIG. 6 is a side view of a connector having a notched portion and two circuit cards that can be inserted into the connector, and FIG. 6 is an end view of the connector having one of the two circuit cards inserted into the connector. , FIG. 7 is a side view of the connector shown in FIG. 5 having the other of the two circuit cards that can be inserted into the connector, and FIG. 8 is the other circuit card inserted into the connector. It is an end view of the connector. 10 …… Card edge connector 12 …… Second printed circuit card 14,18 …… Conductive pad 16 …… First printed circuit card 22 …… Card edge receiving slot 24,26 …… Conductive contact element 34 …… Positioning Means 48,66 ... Contact part

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An insulating housing having an elongated slot into which a circuit card edge is inserted and a plurality of contact receiving cavities formed along the slot, and a contact portion at a high position and a low position, respectively, the contact receiving portion being provided. Two types of contacts alternately arranged in the cavity, and insertion positioning means for limiting the insertion depth of the card inserted into the slot of the insulating housing by the pitch of the conductive pads formed at the end of the circuit card. A dual-purpose card edge connector, comprising: