JPH0757808A - Contact terminal and electrical connector - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] An object of the present invention is to provide a contact terminal for stable and reliable electrical connection and an electrical connector that can be miniaturized by using the contact terminal. [Structure] A tubular body 2 made of a conductive material and having openings formed at both ends in the axial direction, and a part of each of the openings from both ends of the tubular body 2 is inserted into the internal space of the tubular body 2 to form an axis line. Two movable contacts 3 and 4 made of a conductive material and movably guided in the direction, and a spring member 5 in the inner space of the cylindrical body 2 for elastically pressing the two movable contacts 3 and 4 in the separating direction. And the tubular body 2 has a blocking portion 2A for limiting the amount of separation movement of the two movable contacts 3 and 4,
The end surface of the outer peripheral surface of No. 4 in the axial direction is formed with inclination angles θ ₃ and θ _{4 with} respect to the surface perpendicular to the axial line.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a contact terminal and an electric connector using the contact terminal.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A contact terminal called a spring contact is used for a small electric device such as a mobile phone.

Circuit boards such as printed boards are often used in this kind of electric equipment, and lead wires have been used for a long time to connect the circuit boards. However, connection by a lead wire requires a lot of man-hours for assembly, and there is a problem that the lead wire cannot be easily disassembled during repair.
Therefore, spring contacts of various structures have been proposed that improve this point and eliminate the need for lead wires.

An example of such a spring contact is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 63-25467. As shown in FIG. 6 of the accompanying drawings, this spring contact is formed integrally with one end of a conductive rod-shaped member 51 by providing a small diameter fixed terminal 52 coaxially with a step 53, and from the other end of this rod-shaped member 51. A hole 54 having a first inner diameter is bored in the axial direction to a predetermined depth, a recess 55 having a diameter smaller than the first inner diameter is formed at the bottom of the hole 54, and a protrusion is formed at the opening of the hole 54. 57
The movable terminal 56 is slidably fitted in the axial direction so that the movable terminal 56 projects from the opening and does not come out to the outside, and a concave portion 58 is formed at the other end of the movable terminal 56 to form the rod-shaped member 51. A coil spring 59 is contracted between the movable terminal 56 and the recesses 55 and 58.

In use, such a spring contact is soldered after the fixed terminal 52 is inserted into the hole of the circuit board P, and the contact terminal M on the other circuit side, which is the counterpart, is pressed against the projecting portion 57. Thus, the terminals M of the other circuits are the protrusions 57, the coil springs 59 and the fixed terminals 52.
Is connected to a predetermined circuit portion of the circuit board P via.

[0006]

However, in the spring contact (contact terminal) having such a structure, the coil spring is used as a conductive member, and contact with the fixed terminal and the movable terminal of the coil spring is prevented. It is likely to become unstable, causing problems such as poor contact.

Further, since the fixed terminal penetrates the circuit board, it is not suitable when the back surface of the circuit board cannot be used.

The present invention solves the problems of the conventional contact terminals, secures the contact stability, does not require the positional accuracy, and does not use the back surface of the circuit board, which is a very simple and useful contact. An object is to provide a terminal and an electric connector using the terminal.

[0009]

According to the present invention, the above object is to provide a contact terminal, which is made of a conductive material and has openings formed at both ends in the axial direction. Two movable contacts made of a conductive material, each part of which is inserted from the opening into the internal space of the tubular body and movably guided in the axial direction, and the two movable contacts in the internal space of the tubular body. And a spring member that elastically presses the movable contact in the separating direction, the tubular body has a blocking portion that limits the amount of separation movement of the two movable contacts, and the end surface of the movable contact on the outer side in the axial direction is perpendicular to the axis. This is achieved by being formed with an inclination angle with respect to a flat surface.

Further, the electrical connector is achieved by holding the contact terminal having such a structure in the holding hole of the insulating housing so that the end surfaces of the two movable terminals of the contact terminal project. To be done.

[0011]

In the contact terminal and the electric connector having the contact terminal having such a structure, the two movable contacts on both end sides of the contact terminal are elastically pressed outward in the axial direction by the spring members to protrude from the cylindrical body. ing.

In use, the tubular body is held by a mounting member, such as an insulating housing.

One or two circuit boards are axially held so as to press the movable contact of the connection terminal at a position where the circuit portion abuts the corresponding connection terminal. Since the end surface of the movable contact pressed by the circuit portion of the circuit board has an inclination angle, the pressing force acts at a position deviated from the axis of the movable contact to give a moment to the movable contact. as a result,
The movable contact takes an inclined posture while being submerged in the cylindrical body against the spring force, so that the inner end of the movable contact surely contacts the inner surface of the cylindrical body. Become. Therefore, the corresponding circuit part of one or two circuit boards,
Connection is made via one movable contact, the tubular body, and the other movable contact.

If the strength of the spring member is appropriately determined, the movable contact is substantially immersed in the cylindrical body in a state where the movable contact is in contact with the circuit board at a predetermined pressure, and the length of the contact terminal in a used state. Can be approximately the same as the length of the tubular body.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a contact terminal of one embodiment taken along a plane including the axis. In the figure, a contact terminal 1 is a tubular body 2 made of a conductive material, two movable contacts 3 and 4 partially inserted from openings at both ends of the tubular body 2, and between both movable contacts 3 and 4. And a spring member 5 which is arranged in the.

The cylindrical body 2 has openings at both ends in the longitudinal direction, and the openings are subjected to a drawing process to form a reduced diameter step portion as a blocking portion 2A on the inner surface. Further, on the outer surface of the intermediate portion of the tubular body 2, there is provided a locking portion 2B which forms an annular protrusion having a rounded cross section.

Although the movable contacts 3 and 4 differ in length from each other in size, they basically have the same shape, and have columnar contact portions 3A and 4A protruding from the cylindrical body 2 and the cylindrical body 2. It has cylindrical portions 3C and 4C in which concave portions 3B and 4B are formed in a portion which is recessed inside. The contact portion 3A,
Inclining step portions 3D and 4D are formed at transition portions from 4A to the tubular portions 3C and 4C, and the diameter increases toward the tubular portions 3C and 4C. Further, the contact portion 3 of the movable contacts 3 and 4
The end faces of A and 4A form inclination angles θ ₃ and θ ₄ , respectively, with respect to the plane perpendicular to the axis. The tilt angles θ ₃ and θ ₄ may have the same value or different values.

Recesses 3B, 4 of the two movable contacts 3, 4
Both ends of the compression spring member 5 are accommodated in B, and urge the movable contacts 3 and 4 in the direction of separating from each other. Thus, the two movable contacts 3 and 4 move against the spring member 5 and are guided so as to be retractable into the tubular body 2, and
When projecting by receiving the biasing force from the spring member 5, the amount of projection is restricted by the blocking portion 2A.

In the electric connector having such contact terminals 1, a plurality of them are held by the insulating housing 10 as shown in FIG. The insulating housing 10 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and holding holes 11 for the contact terminals 1 are formed so as to vertically penetrate at a plurality of positions having an equal pitch in a lateral direction and a direction perpendicular to the paper surface in FIG. . Each holding hole 11 has a guide surface 11A at the upper and lower parts and a recess 11B at the middle part. The inner diameter of the guide surface 11A is set to a size such that a gap is formed between the guide surface 11A and the cylindrical body 2 of the contact terminal 1 and the engaging portion 2B is elastically deformed and can pass through during press fitting. Further, the concave portion 11B is different from the engaging portion 2B in
The contact terminals are spaced in the radial direction and the longitudinal direction, and allow the contact terminals 1 to move in the longitudinal direction until the upper and lower edges contact the locking portions 2B.

Further, at the lower portions on both sides of the insulating housing 10, there are projecting portions 14 each having a ridge 13 formed by a groove 12 extending in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the drawing, and the groove 12 and the ridge 13 are formed. The mounting bracket 15 is fitted. The mounting member 15 has a fixing portion 15A that extends laterally on the same surface as the bottom surface of the housing 10, and is fixed to the circuit board (not shown) by soldering or the like. The fixing to the circuit board by the mounting bracket 15 does not form the essence of the present invention, and other methods such as screwing or press-fitting of the leg portions formed to project on the housing may be used.

The electrical connector having such contact terminals is used in the following manner. For example, when arranging and connecting the electric connector on one circuit board P1 as shown in FIG.
In the intermediate recess 11B of the housing 10, the contact terminal 1
Since it is allowed to move with the contact terminal engaging portion 2B in the longitudinal direction, the circuit board P1 can be stably arranged without being applied with the biasing force of the spring member 5, and the mounting bracket 15 can be easily mounted.
The fixing portion 15A can be fixed to a predetermined position on the circuit board P1 by soldering or the like. By fixing at this predetermined position, the movable contact 4 below each contact terminal is positioned on the spot-shaped circuit connecting portion (not shown) formed on the circuit board P1. In this state, there is no elastic contact by the spring member 5 between the movable contact 4 and the circuit connecting portion of the circuit board P1, and the other circuit board P2 is connected to the electric connector as shown in FIG. By mounting so as to make elastic contact with the movable contact 3 above, the movable contact 3 above each contact terminal is retracted against the urging force of the spring member 5, and at the same time, the circuit connecting portion corresponding to the circuit board P1. The movable contact 4 located above is urged in the direction of the circuit board P1 by the spring member 5, and the circuit board P1 is passed through the contact terminal tubular body 2.
And the circuit board P2 are elastically connected. Not only the connection with the circuit board but also the elastic connection between the electrodes of the battery or the like or between the electrodes and the circuit board may be used.

Due to the elastic contact with the circuit boards P1 and P2, the movable contacts 3 and 4 are forced from above and below as shown in FIG.
1 = F2). At that time, since the end faces of the movable contacts 3 and 4 are inclined, the force F1 from the circuit board is applied to the contact terminal 1.
It acts on a position radially displaced from the axis line of, and the force from the spring member 5 acts on the axis line as a resultant force. Therefore, the movable contacts 3 and 4 receive the moment M due to the couple of the forces F1 and F2, and are inclined with respect to the tubular body 2, and the stepped portions 3D and 4
D and the lower end portions of the tubular portions 3C and 4C reliably contact the inner surface of the tubular body 2 with a contact pressure. Thus, the circuit board P1,
The corresponding circuit connection portion of P2 is electrically connected via the movable contact 3, the tubular body 2, and the movable contact 4.

Further, the contact terminal 1 has a housing 10
Since it is movably held in the longitudinal direction, even if the dimension in the same direction of the circuit board varies in each part, the contact terminal 1 moves and absorbs it, and all contact terminals come into contact with each other. Contact the circuit board.

[0025]

As described above, according to the present invention, the contact terminals have the movable contacts at both ends of the cylindrical body which can be moved and tilted by the contact pressure with the circuit board, and the two movable contacts are tilted to form the cylinder. Since the electrical connection is made by contact pressure with the flat body, the contact is stable and reliable, and when this is adopted for the electrical connector, the circuit board circuit connection is surely made even if the positional accuracy between the circuit boards is low. The parts are connected with a predetermined elastic force, and soldering of the contact terminals is unnecessary. Further, the length of the contact terminal is approximately the length of the cylindrical body when used, and no protruding portion is required in the direction perpendicular to the lengthwise direction, so that the electrical connector can be downsized. In addition to this, since the circuit board can be connected to the electric connector only on one surface, the device on which the circuit board is mounted can be downsized and simplified.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view taken along a plane including an axis of a contact terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a cross-sectional view of an electrical connector that employs the contact terminal of FIG.

3 is a cross-sectional view of a main part when the electric connector of FIG. 2 is used and is connected to one circuit board.

4 is a cross-sectional view of a main part when the electric connector of FIG. 2 is used and is connected to two circuit boards.

5 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a state when the contact terminal of FIG. 1 is used.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional contact terminal.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Contact terminal 2 Cylindrical body 2A Blocking part 2B Projection part (locking part) 3,4 Movable contact 5 Spring member 10 Housing 11 Holding hole 11A Guide part 11B Recessed part

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A cylindrical body made of a conductive material and having openings formed at both ends in the axial direction, and a part of each of the openings at both ends of the cylindrical body inserted into the internal space of the cylindrical body to form an axial direction. And a spring member for elastically pressing the two movable contacts in the inner space of the tubular body in a separating direction. A contact terminal having a blocking portion for limiting the amount of separation movement of the two movable contacts, wherein the end surface of the movable contact on the outer side in the axial direction is formed with an inclination angle with respect to a surface perpendicular to the axis. 2. An electric connector, wherein the contact terminal according to claim 1 is held in a holding hole of an insulating housing so that end surfaces of two movable terminals of the contact terminal project. 3. The holding hole of the insulating housing has a guide portion which forms a gap between the tubular body of the contact terminal and the tubular body so as to move the tubular body of the contact terminal in the axial direction, and the holding hole is provided at the intermediate portion in the axial direction. The cylindrical body has a recess having an inner diameter larger than that of the guide, and a protrusion that is press-fitted from the guide and accommodated in the recess is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the intermediate portion of the cylindrical body. The electrical connector according to claim 2, wherein the electrical connector is formed with a space between it and the protrusion so as to allow the axial movement of the electrical connector.