Patent Application
20240380143
A technique disclosed in this specification relates to a board connector.
When an electronic component is mounted on a board, coplanarity between the lower surface of the electronic component and the lower surface of a lead terminal extending in a horizontal direction from the electronic component may become problematic. Specifically, if the lower surface of the lead terminal is at a position higher than the lower surface of the electronic component when the component is mounted on the upper surface of the horizontally placed board, it becomes difficult to bring the lead terminal into contact with an electrode (so-called land) of the board to cause a mounting failure. The mounting failure can be suppressed by correcting the planarity of the lead terminal, but there is a problem that the number of steps increases in that case.
Thus, some of board connectors to be mounted on a board are conventionally known to include a flexible cable instead of lead terminals (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Specifically, a mating connector is connected to a connector described in Patent Document 1 from a direction orthogonal to a board surface of a board, and provided with a holding member having a trapezoidal chevron cross-sectional shape. The flexible cable is bent along the holding member and extends obliquely downward from the lower surface of the connector.
If the flexible cable extends obliquely downward from the lower surface of the connector, the flexible cable is deflected downward due to its own weight and the lower surface of the flexible cable becomes lower than the lower surface of the connector. Thus, the flexible cable more easily contacts the board. Thus, it becomes unnecessary to correct the coplanarity.
Patent Document 1: JP 2020-187834 A
The mating connector is connected to the connector described in Patent Document 1 from the direction orthogonal to the board surface of the board. A mating connector is connected to some of board connectors from a direction parallel to a board surface of a board. However, problems in the case of applying a flexible cable to the board connector, to which the mating connector is connected from the direction parallel to the board surface of the board, conventionally have not been sufficiently studied.
A technique for making a rear part in a connection direction of an electrically conductive path provided in a flexible cable easily contact a board in a board connector, to which a mating connector is connected from a direction parallel to a board surface of the board is disclosed in this specification.
The present disclosure is directed to a board connector with a connector housing, a mating connector being connected to the connector housing from a direction parallel to a board surface of the board, a flexible cable including an electrically conductive path extending in a connection direction, a front part in the connection direction of the electrically conductive path being inserted into the connector housing from behind in the connection direction, a rear part in the connection direction of the electrically conductive path being connected to the board, and a cable holder to be mounted on a rear side in the connection direction of the connector housing, the flexible cable being curved toward the board side by the cable holder if a side where the board is located with respect to the board connector with the board connector mounted on the board surface is defined as the board side.
According to the present disclosure, a rear part in a connection direction of an electrically conductive path provided in a flexible cable easily contacts a board in a board connector, to which a mating connector is connected from a direction parallel to a board surface of the board.
First, embodiments of the present disclosure are listed and described.
(1) The board connector according to the present disclosure is provided with a connector housing, a mating connector being connected to the connector housing from a direction parallel to a board surface of the board, a flexible cable including an electrically conductive path extending in a connection direction, a front part in the connection direction of the electrically conductive path being inserted into the connector housing from behind in the connection direction, a rear part in the connection direction of the electrically conductive path being connected to the board, and a cable holder to be mounted on a rear side in the connection direction of the connector housing, the flexible cable being curved toward the board side by the cable holder if a side where the board is located with respect to the board connector with the board connector mounted on the board surface is defined as the board side.
In the case of applying the flexible cable to the board connector, to which the mating connector is connected from the direction parallel to the board surface of the board, it becomes difficult to bring the rear part in the connection direction of the electrically conductive path into contact with the board since the flexible cable extends rearward in the connection direction in parallel to the board from the connector housing.
According to the board connector of the present disclosure, since the flexible cable is bent toward the board side by the cable holder, a rear part in the connection direction of the flexible cable easily contacts the board. Thus, according to the board connector of the present disclosure, the rear part in the connection direction of the electrically conductive path provided in the flexible cable easily contacts the board in the board connector, to which the mating connector is connected from the direction parallel to the board surface of the board.
(2) The cable holder may be constituted by one member, the cable holder may include a path forming portion for forming a cable insertion path, the flexible cable being inserted into the cable insertion path, and the cable insertion path may be entirely open on one side in a direction orthogonal to the connection direction and parallel to the board surface of the board.
According to the board connector of the present disclosure, since the aforementioned one side of the cable insertion path is entirely open, the flexible cable can be bent while the cable holder is constituted by one member by inserting the flexible cable into the cable insertion path from the open side. Thus, the number of components of the cable holder can be reduced as compared to the case where the cable holder is constituted by a plurality of components.
(3) A plurality of the flexible cables disposed apart from each other in a vertical direction may be provided if a direction orthogonal to the board surface of the board with the board connector mounted on the board is defined as the vertical direction, and the cable insertion path may be provided for each flexible cable.
According to the board connector of the present disclosure, the cable holder can be constituted by one member even if there are the plurality of flexible cables.
(4) The cable holder may include a plurality of path forming members disposed apart from each other in a vertical direction and a space between two adjacent ones of the path forming members may be formed as the cable insertion path configured such that the flexible cable is inserted thereinto if a direction orthogonal to the board surface of the board with the board connector mounted on the board is defined as the vertical direction.
According to the board connector of the present disclosure, the rear part in the connection direction of each cable holder easily contacts the board even if there are the plurality of flexible cables.
(5) The connector housing may include an extension portion extending rearward in the connection direction, and a space between the path forming member and the extension portion may also be formed as the cable insertion path.
According to the board connector of the present disclosure, since the space between the extension portion of the connector housing and the path forming member is also formed as the cable insertion path, the number of the path forming members can be reduced in the case of forming a plurality of the cable insertion paths.
(6) A reinforcement plate may be provided which reinforces a front part in the connection direction of the flexible cable.
The front part in the connection direction of the electrically conductive path resiliently contacts a metal terminal of the mating connector connected to the board connector.
According to the board connector of the present disclosure, since the front part in the connection direction of the flexible cable is reinforced by the reinforcement plate, the front part in the connection direction of the electrically conductive path can be satisfactorily resiliently brought into contact with the metal terminal of the mating connector.
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure are described. The present disclosure is not limited to these illustrations, but is represented by claims and intended to include all changes in the scope of claims and in the meaning and scope of equivalents.
A first embodiment is described with reference to
The front-rear direction is an example of a connection direction. A front side is an example of a front side in the connection direction, and a rear side is an example of a rear side in the connection direction. The vertical direction is an example of a direction orthogonal to a board surface of a board with a board connector mounted on the board. A lower side is an example of a side where the board is located with respect to the board connector with the board connector mounted on the board. A left side is an example of one side in a direction orthogonal to the connection direction and parallel to the board surface of the board.
In the following description, reference signs of figures may be omitted except some for identical constituent elements.
(1) Board Connector With reference to
As shown in
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As shown in
A rib 25 extending in the vertical direction is integrally formed along a front edge part of the left wall 22 on the outer surface of the left wall 22. A rib 25 extending in the vertical direction is integrally formed also at a position slightly behind the rear wall 24 on the outer surface of the left wall 22. An interval in the front-rear direction between the front and rear ribs 25 substantially coincides with a width in the front-rear direction of a vertical portion 15A (see
A mounting portion 26 for mounting the fixing member 15 is integrally formed between the two ribs 25. The mounting portion 26 is spaced apart from the left wall 22 by a thickness of the vertical portion 15A of the fixing member 15.
A plurality of terminal insertion holes 27 penetrating in the front-rear direction are formed separately in two upper and lower stages in the rear wall 24. A plurality of the terminal insertion holes 27 of each stage are arranged in a row in the lateral direction. Front parts 110 in the connection direction of electrically conductive paths 40 of the flexible cables 12 to be described later and front parts of the reinforcement plates 13 to be described later are inserted into these terminal insertion holes 27 from behind.
As shown in
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A first horizontal groove 31 extending forward from the rear end of the right wall 23 is formed in the inner surface of the right wall 23. The front end of the first horizontal groove 31 reaches the rear wall 24. A second horizontal groove 32 extending forward from the rear end of the right wall 23 is formed above the first horizontal groove 32 in the inner surface of the right wall 23. A length in the front-rear direction of the second horizontal groove 32 is shorter than that of the first horizontal groove 31. A wall surface 32A on a front side of the second horizontal groove 32 is formed into a slant surface. A first vertical groove 33 extending downward from the upper end of the right wall 23 is formed in front of the second horizontal groove 32 in the inner surface of the right wall 23. The lower end of the first vertical groove 33 is connected to the first horizontal groove 31.
As shown in
A protruding portion 36 protruding and L-shaped in a top view is integrally formed on a corner part between the inner surface of the left wall 22 and the rear surface of the rear wall 24. The L-shaped protruding portion 36 is provided between the upper terminal insertion holes 27 and the lower terminal insertion holes 27.
As shown in
The flexible cable 12 is described with reference to
As schematically shown in
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As shown in
The flexible cable 12 is formed with a vertically penetrating through hole 43. The through hole 43 is formed at a position right below a recess 13C of the reinforcement plate 13 to be described later.
The reinforcement plate 13 is described with reference to
The reinforcement plate 13 includes a plate-like base portion 13A extending in the lateral direction behind the rear ends of the front cuts 42 of the flexible cable 12 and parts 13B extending forward in correspondence with the respective electrically conductive paths 40 from the front end of the base portion 13A. A width in the lateral direction of the base portion 13A is larger than that of the flexible cable 12. The recess 13C recessed forward is formed at a position between two adjacent electrically conductive paths 40 in a rear end part of the base portion 13A.
The parts of the reinforcement plate 13 extending forward in correspondence with the respective electrically conductive paths 40 are inserted into the front parts 110 of the electrically conductive paths 40 and the terminal insertion holes 27 of the connector housing 11.
The cable holder 14 is described with reference to
The cable holder 14 is roughly a rectangular parallelepiped long in the lateral direction, and a rear upper corner part is chamfered to form a curved surface 14A (convex curved surface when viewed from the lateral direction).
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
An upper cable insertion path 70U, into which the upper flexible cable 12U is inserted, is formed between the upper and intermediate forming portions 52, 53. A lower cable insertion path 70L, into which the lower flexible cable 12L is inserted, is formed between the intermediate and lower forming portions 53, 54. As shown in
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A slant surface 53D inclined upward toward the front is formed on a front end part of the lower surface of the flat plate-like portion 53B. A step 53E is formed at the front end of the flat plate-like portion 53B. The step 53E restricts a rearward movement of the reinforcement plate 13 of the lower flexible cable 12L. A triangular protrusion 53F extending in the lateral direction is integrally formed on a rear end part of the upper surface of the flat plate-like portion 53B. The triangular protrusion 53F is formed over an entire width in the lateral direction. The triangular protrusion 53F is formed into a right-angled triangular shape having an oblique side inclined forward toward an upper side when viewed from the lateral direction.
As shown in
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An assembling process of the board connector 1 is described with reference to
(Step 1) The upper flexible cable 12U and the reinforcement plate 13 are inserted into the upper cable insertion path 70U of the cable holder 14 from the left.
(Step 2) The lower flexible cable 12L and the reinforcement plate 13 are inserted into the lower cable insertion path 70L of the cable holder 14 from the left. The order of Steps 1 and 2 may be reversed.
(Step 3) The cable holder 14 having the flexible cables 12 and the reinforcement plates 13 inserted therein is mounted into the connector housing 11 from behind.
As shown in
The lower flexible cable 12L is obliquely bent to the rear lower side along the slant surface 53D of the flat plate-like portion 53B of the intermediate forming portion 53 after extending rearward between the rectangular part 53A of the intermediate forming portion 53 and the lower forming portion 54. The obliquely bent lower flexible cable 12L extends rearward between the flat plate-like portion 53B of the intermediate forming portion 53 and the lower forming portion 54, is obliquely bent to the rear lower side and pulled out from the board connector 1 by passing between the inclined part 53C of the intermediate forming portion 53 and the slant surface 149 of the rear end part of the lower forming portion 54.
If the board connector 1 is lifted up by a mounting machine to mount the board connector 1 on the circuit board, the rear part 11 of the upper flexible cable 12U and the rear part 111 of the lower flexible cable 12L are deflected downward due to their own weights, whereby the lower surfaces of the rear parts 111 become lower than the lower surface of the board connector 1. Thus, the rear parts 111 easily contact the circuit board.
(4) Effects of Embodiment According to the board connector 1, since the flexible cables 12 are bent downward (board side) by the cable holder 14, the rear parts in the connection direction of the flexible cables 12 (more specifically, the rear parts 111 of the electrically conductive paths 40) easily contact the circuit board. Thus, a step of correcting coplanarity becomes unnecessary.
According to the board connector 1, since the left sides of the cable insertion paths 70 are entirely open in the cable holder 14, the flexible cables 12 can be bent while the cable holder 14 is constituted by one member by inserting the flexible cables 12 into the cable insertion paths 70 from the left. Thus, the number of components of the cable holder 14 can be reduced as compared to the case where the cable holder 14 is constituted by a plurality of components.
According to the board connector 1, since the cable holder 14 is provided with the cable insertion path 70 for each flexible cable 12, the cable holder 14 can be constituted by one member even if there are the plurality of flexible cables 12.
According to the board connector 1, since the front parts 112 in the connection direction of the flexible cables 12 are reinforced by the reinforcement plates 13, the front parts 110 in the connection direction of the electrically conductive paths 40 satisfactorily resiliently contact metal terminals of the mating connector.
A second embodiment is described using
(1) Board Connector With reference to
As shown in
A reinforcement plate 213 according to the second embodiment is similar to the reinforcement plate 13 according to the first embodiment, but differs therefrom in the number and positions of recesses 213C formed in the rear end of a base portion 213A. The base portion 213A is formed with three recesses 213C on a left side and three recesses 213C on a right side with respect to a center in the lateral direction. The three recesses 213C are formed at positions right above the three through holes 243 of the flexible cable 212.
As shown in
Two laterally spaced-apart projections 81 are formed in front of the curved surface 80B on the upper surface of the extension portion 80. Rear corner parts of the projections 81 are chamfered. The projection 81 is fit into the middle recess 213C, out of the aforementioned three recesses 213C of the reinforcement plate 213 of the lower flexible cable 212L, and the through hole 243 formed in the lower flexible cable 212L in correspondence with that recess 213C. A pair of recesses 82 open rearward are formed on both left and right sides of each projection 81.
As shown in
A protruding portion 85 protruding rearward is integrally formed on a lower end part of the upward extending part 228B.
As shown in
The shape of the inner surface of the right wall 223 is described with reference to
As shown in
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A box-shaped protruding portion 92 is similarly integrally formed also on a right side surface. A guide portion 257 protruding rightward and extending in the front-rear direction is integrally formed on a rightward facing surface of the protruding portion 92. The guide portion 257 is inserted into the upper horizontal groove 89, out of the two horizontal grooves 89 formed in the right wall 223 of the connector housing 211.
As shown in
The lower surface of the lower forming member 215L is roughly composed of a flat surface 144, a slant surface 145 inclined downward toward the rear side from the rear end of the flat surface 144, a flat surface 146 extending rearward from the rear end of the slant surface 145, a vertical surface 147 extending downward from the rear end of the flat surface 146 and a flat surface 148 extending forward from the lower end of the vertical surface 147.
As shown in
A guide portion 102 protruding leftward and extending in the front-rear direction is integrally formed on the outer surface of the left wall 100. The guide portion 102 is inserted into the lower horizontal groove 89, out of the two horizontal grooves 89 formed in the left wall 222 of the connector housing 211.
A cut 103 shaped to correspond to the box-shaped protruding portion 92 of the upper forming member 215U is formed in an upper rear corner part of the left wall 222. A cut 104 is also formed in an upper front corner part of the left wall 222. In the left wall 100, a part between the front and rear cuts 104, 103 serves as a protrusion 105 convex upward.
The columnar extending portion 106 extending forward is integrally formed from a substantially right-half and substantially upper-half region of the protrusion 105. The extending portion 106 is inserted into the groove 84 formed in the rear wall 224 of the connector housing 211. In the left wall 100, a substantially front-half region of the upper surface of the front cut 104 is recessed downward.
A pair of engaging projections 107 are formed on a front end part of the upper surface of the lower forming member 215L while being laterally spaced apart. These engaging projections 107 are fit into the third cut 42 from the left and the third cut 42 from the right of the upper flexible cable 212U.
Two projections 108 are formed to the right of the left engaging projection 107 while being laterally spaced apart. These two projections 108 are formed at positions separated rearward from the front end of the lower forming member 215L. A region in front of these two projections 108 is recessed in a range from a position slightly to the left of the left projection 108 to a position slightly to the right of the right projection 108. These two projections 108 are passed through the aforementioned other two recesses 213C, out of the three recesses 213C formed in the reinforcement plate 13 of the upper flexible cable 212U, and the through holes 243 formed in the upper flexible cable 212U in correspondence with those recesses 213C, and fit into the recesses 87 formed in the lower surface of the protruding portion 228 of the rear wall 224 of the connector housing 211. Two projections 108 are also formed to the left of the right engaging projection 107.
As shown in
An assembling process of the board connector 201 is described with reference to
(Step 1) The lower flexible cable 212L and the reinforcement plate 213 are disposed on the extension portion 80 of the connector housing 211.
(Step 2) The upper flexible cable 212U and the reinforcement plate 213 are disposed on the upper surface of the lower forming member 215L.
(Step 3) The lower forming member 215L having the upper flexible cable 212U and the reinforcement plate 213 disposed thereon is mounted into the connector housing 211 from behind.
(Step 4) The upper forming member 215U is disposed above the lower forming member 215L.
As shown in
The lower flexible cable 212L extends rearward along the flat surface 80A of the extension portion 80, is obliquely bent to the rear lower side (board side) by passing between the slant surface 145 of the lower forming member 215L and the curved surface 80B of the extension portion 80, and is pulled out from the board connector 201.
According to the board connector 201, a rear part in the connection direction of each cable holder 214 (more specifically, rear parts in the connection direction of the electrically conductive paths 40) easily contacts the circuit board even if there are the plurality of flexible cables 212.
According to the board connector 201, since the space between the extending portion 80 of the connector housing 211 and the lower forming member 215L is also formed as the cable insertion path 256 (lower cable insertion path 256L), the number of the path forming members 215 can be reduced in the case of forming a plurality of the cable insertion paths 256.
The technique disclosed by this specification is not limited to the above described and illustrated embodiments. For example, the following embodiments are also included in a technical scope disclosed by this specification.
(1) Although the board connector is provided with two flexible cables 12 (212) in the above embodiments, the number of the flexible cables 12 (212) is not limited to two and may be one, three or more.
(2) Although the board connector is provided with the reinforcement plates 13 in the above embodiments, the reinforcement plates may not be provided.
(3) Although the flexible cable 12 (212) includes the plurality of electrically conductive paths 40 in the above embodiments, only one electrically conductive path may be included.
(4) Although the connector housing 211 is provided with the extension portion 80 in the second embodiment, the connector housing 211 may not be provided with the extension portion 80.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-095639 | Jun 2021 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2022/020940 | 5/20/2022 | WO |
