Patent Application
20150311625
Embodiments of the present invention relate to an apparatus providing one or more socket contacts for contacting an inserted flexible, planar connector; a method.
It may be desirable to easily electrically interconnect two components but less easily disconnect the two components.
If one of the components is a flexible planar connector, such as for example a flexible circuit board, then it may be push-fitted into a surface-mounted socket comprising socket contacts.
According to various, but not necessarily all, embodiments of the invention there is provided an apparatus comprising: a housing comprising: an upper surface and a socket cavity, the socket cavity extending underneath the upper surface, from an opening at the upper surface, to provide one or more socket contacts; and at least one retainer, within the socket cavity, configured to be automatically actuated to retain a flexible planar connector comprising connector contacts, for contacting the socket contacts underneath the upper surface, inserted along the socket cavity.
According to various, but not necessarily all, embodiments of the invention there is provided a method comprising: providing a socket cavity at least partially underneath a surface, wherein the socket cavity has an opening at the surface; providing electrical connection to one or more socket contacts in the socket cavity; and automatically controlling a curved path of a flexible planar connector from the opening, through the socket cavity, by providing resilient structures that guide and retain the flexible planar connector.
For a better understanding of various examples of embodiments of the present invention reference will now be made by way of example only to the accompanying drawings in which:
The Figures illustrate an apparatus 2 comprising: a housing 4 comprising an upper surface 6 and a socket cavity 8, the socket cavity 8 extending underneath the upper surface 6, from an opening 10 at the upper surface 6, to provide one or more socket contacts 12; and at least one retainer 14, within the socket cavity 8, configured to be automatically actuated to retain a flexible planar connector 16 comprising connector contacts 18, for contacting the socket contacts 12 underneath the upper surface 6, inserted along the socket cavity 8.
The apparatus 2 is configured to enable physical and electrical contact between socket contacts 12 housed within a sunken socket cavity 8 and connector contacts 18 of the flexible planar connector 16.
In some but not necessarily all examples, the flexible planar connector 16 is a flexible circuit board.
The apparatus 2 comprises a housing 4. The housing 4 defines an internal socket cavity 8 that receives the flexible planar connector 8.
The socket cavity 8 is ‘sunken’. At least a part of the socket cavity 8, the connector cavity 81, extends underneath an upper surface 6 of the housing 4. The connector cavity 81 comprises one or more socket contacts 12. In this example the connector cavity 81 extends parallel to the upper surface 6.
The upper surface 6 comprises an opening 10 to the socket cavity 8. An intermediate cavity 82 is configured to route the flexible planar connector 16 from the opening 10 to the connector cavity 81.
The socket cavity 8 and opening 10 are configured to facilitate insertion of the flexible planar connector 16 into the intermediate cavity 82 through the opening 10 at an acute angle to the upper surface 6, for example, at an angle of less than 60 degrees.
In the illustrated example, the opening 10 comprises a curved edge 83 configured to facilitate insertion of the flexible planar connector 16 into the cavity through the opening 10.
Also in the illustrated example, a roof portion 83 of the connector cavity 81 curves through the intermediate cavity 82 to form a first side 84 of the opening 10. A second side 85 of the opening 10 opposing the first side of the opening 10 curves in an opposite sense to the curve of the roof portion 83.
A cross-sectional area of the socket cavity 8 decreases from the opening 10 to the connector cavity. For example, the cross-sectional area of the opening 10 in a plane parallel to the upper surface (normal to a first direction) is greater than a cross-sectional area of the connector cavity in a plane normal to a second direction orthogonal to the first direction and running through the connector cavity 81.
The connector cavity 81 is configured to enable a friction fit of the flexible planar connector 16, against the socket contacts 12, in the connector cavity 8. The socket contacts 12 may be associated with the roof 83 of the connector cavity 81 and/or with a floor 86 of the connector cavity.
The apparatus 2 comprise at least one retainer 14, within the socket cavity 8.
The retainer 14 is configured to be automatically actuated to retain the flexible planar connector 16 when it is inserted along the socket cavity 8.
The retainer 14 opposes removal of the inserted flexible planar connector 16 from the socket cavity 8 and therefore facilitates maintenance of physical and electrical contact between socket contacts 12 housed within the socket cavity 8 and connector contacts 18 of the flexible planar connector 16.
Referring to
Referring to
The retainer 14 may retain the flexible planar connector 16 using one or more friction fits. Examples of friction fits are illustrated in
Referring to
A retainer 14, within the socket cavity 8, is provided by one or more resiliently biased supports 20. The resiliently biased support 20 is biased to press an inserted flexible planar connector 16 against an abutment portion 87 of the overhang portion 7.
The overhang portion 7 is configured such that a reactive force R provided to the inserted flexible planar connector 16 by the abutment portion 87 is off-set, in a direction-of-insertion D of the flexible planar connector 16, from a supporting force S provided to the inserted flexible planar connector 16 by the resiliently biased support 20. This creates a torque which pinches the flexible planar connector 16 and which may also bend the flexible planar connector 16. The resiliently biased support 20 consequently defines a curved path for the flexible planar connector 16 through the socket cavity 8 to the socket contacts 12.
Referring to
The upwardly extending guiding ramp 32 is aligned with the downwardly extending guiding ramp 30 along the direction-of-insertion D of the flexible planar connector 16, but is off-set, in the direction D, from the downwardly extending ramp 30. The upwardly extending guiding ramp 32 follows after the aligned downwardly extending guiding ramp 30 in insertion direction D.
The retainer 14 retains the flexible planar connector 16 using a plurality of friction fits between the guiding ramps 30, 32 and the flexible planar connector 16.
One or more of the guiding ramps may be part of one or more socket contacts 12.
A reactive force provided to the inserted flexible planar connector 16 by the downwardly extending guiding ramp 30 is off-set, in the direction D, from a supporting force provided to the inserted flexible planar connector 16 by the upwardly extending guiding ramp 32. This creates a torque which pinches the flexible planar connector 16 and which may also bend the flexible planar connector 16. The guiding ramps 30, 32 therefore define a curved path for the flexible planar connector 16.
The housing 4 illustrated in cross-section in
The housing 4 receives a contact arrangement 40, illustrated in
Each contact 12 separates into a lower contact 42 and an opposing upper contact 44. When placed within the housing 4, each upper contacts 44 extends along a length of the connector cavity 81 in contact with the roof 83 and each lower contact 42 extends along the length of the connector cavity 81 in contact with the floor 86. The separate contacts 12 are arranged in parallel and are stacked, with separation between them, across the width of the connector cavity 81.
Each of the separate contacts 12 is formed from a unitary piece of metal.
In use, the upper contact 44 and the opposing lower contact 42 of a contact 12 pinch an inserted flexible planar connector 16 and one or both contact the connector contacts 18 of the flexible planar connector 16.
The upper contact 44 comprises the upper guiding ramp 30 which contacts a connector contact 18. The lower contact 44 comprises the lower guiding ramp 32 which contacts a connector contact 18. The co-operation of the guiding ramps 30, 32 has been previously described with reference to
It will therefore be appreciated that each socket contact 12 comprises a pair of off-set upwardly extending and downwardly extending guiding ramps 30, 32.
The upper guiding ramp 32 forms part of a cantilevered upper contact 44. The cantilever provides a resilient bias that resists upward movement of the upper contact 44.
The lower guiding ramp 30 forms part of a cantilevered lower contact 42. The cantilever provides a resilient bias that resists downward movement of the lower contact 42.
The cantilevers resiliently bias the socket contacts 12 against the inserted flexible planar connector 16. The socket contacts 12 are resiliently deflected when the flexible planar connector 16 is inserted past the pinch point formed by the guiding ramps 30, 32. The flexible planar connector will also flex at this pinch point.
The resilient support 20 biases the surface 22 against the inserted flexible planar connector 16. The resilient support 20 is resiliently deflected when the flexible planar connector 16 is inserted past the pinch point formed by the support 20 and the abutment portion 87 of the overhang portion 7. The flexible planar connector 16 will also flex at this pinch point.
The overhang portion 7 of the housing 4 is deflected upwards. As a consequence, the cantilevered upper contact 44 can then upwardly flex to release the flexible planar connector 16. As another consequence, the abutment surface 85 of the overhang portion 7 is also removed away from the support 20 releasing the flexible planar connector 16.
The overhang portion 7 of the housing 4 may be deflected upwards by bending the flexible planar connector back so that it overlies the connecting cavity 81. In this position, applying a force P by pulling the flexible planar connector results in an upward force U being applied to the overhang portion. This results in upward deflection of the overhang portion 7. The overhang portion 7 of the housing resiliently flexes.
The substrate 100 has an upper surface 102 and a cut-out aperture 104. The apparatus 2 is positioned within the cut-out portion 104 so that the upper surface 6 of the apparatus 2 is substantially level or slightly raised (e.g. 0.2 mm) with respect to the upper surface of the substrate 100.
The first side 84 and the second side 85 of the opening 10 may be slightly raised (e.g. 0.4 mm) above the upper surface 102 of the substrate 100.
The contacts 12 are accessible at the surface 102 of the substrate 100 at one end of the apparatus 2. They may provide supports at that end for positioning the apparatus 2 in the aperture 104.
The biased supports 20 may extend out of the apparatus 2 via apertures at the other end. The biased supports 20 may provide supports at that other end for positioning the apparatus 2 in the aperture 104.
The apparatus 2 therefore provides a socket cavity 8 at least partially underneath a surface 6. The socket cavity 8 has an opening 10 at the surface 6. It also provides electrical connection(s) to one or more socket contacts 12 in the socket cavity 8. The apparatus 2 is configured to automatically control a curved path of a flexible planar connector 16 from the opening 10, through the socket cavity 8, by providing resilient structures 20, 30 that guide and retain the flexible planar connector 16.
The apparatus 2 may have a number of advantages including none, one or more of the following:
it may be easier to insert a flexible planar connector 16
it may be easy to insert a flexible planar connector 16 in a single action
it may be difficult to remove the flexible planar connector 16 accidentally
The apparatus 2 may provide a low insertion force (LIF) flexible printed circuit (FPC) connector socket. The connector socket may be sunken into a substrate 1001 (e.g. a printed wiring board (PWB)) of a device 200.
Although embodiments of the present invention have been described in the preceding paragraphs with reference to various examples, it should be appreciated that modifications to the examples given can be made without departing from the scope of the invention as claimed.
Features described in the preceding description may be used in combinations other than the combinations explicitly described.
Although functions have been described with reference to certain features, those functions may be performable by other features whether described or not.
Although features have been described with reference to certain embodiments, those features may also be present in other embodiments whether described or not.
Whilst endeavoring in the foregoing specification to draw attention to those features of the invention believed to be of particular importance it should be understood that the Applicant claims protection in respect of any patentable feature or combination of features hereinbefore referred to and/or shown in the drawings whether or not particular emphasis has been placed thereon.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/CN2012/086382 | 12/11/2012 | WO | 00 |
