1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to a connector connecting structure of a connector and a flat circuit body such as a FPC (Flexible Printed Circuit) or a FFC (Flexible Flat Cable) where a plurality of conductors are arranged in a planar shape with a predetermined pitch for connecting connection terminals provided on the connector to the flat circuit body.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, flat circuit bodies such as the above FPC or FFC are increasingly used as internal wiring materials of various electronic devices such as a digital camera, a printer, a cellular telephone and a Personal Computer (PC).
The connecting structure of the connector and the flat circuit body illustrated in
The connecting structure of the connector and the flat circuit body includes a flat circuit body 110 in which a plurality of conductors are arranged in a planar shape with a predetermined pitch, a slider 120 which is attached near a distal end portion 111 of the flat circuit body 110, and a connector 130 to which the slider 120 is connected. When the slider 120 is connected to the connector 130 by being inserted into the connector 130 as shown with the arrow X1 in
In the flat circuit body 110, as illustrated in
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
When the circuit body positioning projections 121a are fitted with the positioning holes 113, the circuit body positioning projections 121a regulate the movement of the flat circuit body 110 in the widthwise direction (arrow Y2 direction in
The cover retaining portions 121b are projections that are provided at both ends of the slider body 121 in the widthwise direction, and fix the cover 122 by being engaged with engaging holes 122b on engaging pieces 122a provided at both ends of the cover 122 in the widthwise direction. After the distal end portion 111 is positioned to the slider body 121, by fixing the cover 122 to the slider body 121, the movement of the flat circuit body 110 in the thickness direction is regulated.
The widths of the slider body 121 and the cover 122 are set to larger than the width of the distal end portion 111 of the flat circuit body 1110 so that the side edges of the distal end portion 111 of the flat circuit body 110 will not be projected laterally.
In the housing coupling portion 121c, a retaining projection 1212 is projected from a retaining arm 1211 which is extended on the outer surface of the slider body 121. The slider 120 is fixed to the connector 130 by making the retaining projection 1212 to be engaged with a slider retaining hole 131 (refer to
The connector 130 includes a slider containing portion 132 into which the slider 120 is inserted, the slider retaining hole 131 which fixes the slider 120 to the connector 130 by being engaged with the retaining projection 1212 on the slider 120 which is inserted into the slider containing portion 132, and a terminal arrangement portion 133 which is equipped at a position facing the slider containing portion 132.
A plurality of connection terminals 133a are arranged in the terminal arrangement portion 133 with a predetermined arrangement pitch. The plurality of connection terminals 133a are terminals that are electrically connected to the connection terminal portions 112 on the flat circuit body 110 which is attached to the slider 120.
Since the positions of the side surfaces of the slider body 121 are regulated by the inside surfaces 134 which are faced to each other in the widthwise direction of the slider containing portion 132, the slider containing portion 132 also positions the slider 120 in the widthwise direction.
With the connecting structure of the connector and the flat circuit body in JP-A-2006-85989 described above, by inserting the slider 120, which is attached to the distal end portion 111 of the flat circuit body 110, into the slider containing portion 132 to connect the slider 120 to the connector 130, the conductors of the flat circuit body 110 are electrically connected to the connection terminals of the terminal arrangement portion 133 in the connector 130.
However, with the connecting structure of the connector and the flat circuit body in JP-A-2006-85989, the flat circuit body 110 is indirectly positioned relative to the connection terminals 133a in the connector 130 through the slider 120.
Therefore, the allowance (dimensional tolerance) of the slider 120 is accumulated to the allowance of the distal end portion 111 in the flat circuit body 110, and variation in the positioning precision of the flat circuit body 110 relative to the connection terminal 133a in the connector 130 tends to occur, and there is a problem that it is difficult to improve the reliability of the electrical connection of the conductors on the flat circuit body and the connection terminals in the connector.
Thus, the object of the present disclosure is to solve the above problem and to provide a connecting structure of a connector and a flat circuit body which can make the reliability of the electrical connection of conductors on the flat circuit body and connection terminals in the connector to be improved, when the flat circuit body is connected to the connector through a slider, by improving the variation of the positioning precision of the above flat circuit body relative to the connection terminals in the connector.
The previously described object of the present disclosure is accomplished by the following construction.
There is provided a connecting structure comprising:
According to the above construction, when the flat circuit body is connected to the connector through the slider, the flat circuit body is directly positioned to the connector since the side edge of the distal end of the flat circuit body which is projected beyond the narrow width end portion of the slider contact with the positioning face provided on the connector.
Therefore, the allowance of the slider and an assembling error between the flat circuit body and the slider will not have an influence on the positioning precision of the flat circuit body on the connector.
Therefore, the variation of the positioning precision of the flat circuit body relative to the connection terminals in the connector is suppressed, and the reliability of electrical connection of the conductors in the flat circuit body and the connection terminals in the connector can be improved.
For example, the flat circuit body is attached to the slider so as to be slightly movable relative to the slider in a widthwise direction of the flat circuit body.
According to the above construction, because the flat circuit body and the slider can be relatively moved in the widthwise direction, each of the flat circuit body and the slider can be positioned to the connector individually and directly, and by improving the positioning precision of the slider relative to the connector, the attachment of the slider to the connector can be improved.
According to the connecting structure of the connector and the flat circuit body of the present disclosure, when the flat circuit body is connected to the connector through the slider, the flat circuit body is directly positioned to the connector since the side edges of the distal end of the flat circuit body which are projected beyond the narrow width end portion of the slider contact with the positioning faces for circuit body which the connector is equipped with.
Therefore, the allowance of the slider and an assembling error between the flat circuit body and the slider will not have an influence on the positioning precision of the flat circuit body on the connector.
Therefore, the variation of the positioning precision of the flat circuit body relative to the connection terminals in the connector is suppressed, and the reliability of electrical connection of the conductors in the flat circuit body and the connection terminals in the connector can be improved.
A preferred embodiment of a connecting structure of a connector and a flat circuit body according to the present disclosure is described in detail with reference to the figures.
As illustrated in
In the flat circuit body 10, as illustrated in
As illustrated in
In the present embodiment, as illustrated in
As illustrated in
The housing coupling portion 23 on the top surface of the slider 20 is a structure in which a retaining hole 23b is formed in a retaining arm 23a which is extended from the top surface of the slider 20 as illustrated in
The slider 20 has a narrow width end portion 25 at a distal end side which is put upon the distal end portion 11 of the flat circuit body ends 10. The width Ws (refer to
As illustrated in
A plurality of connection terminals 33a are arranged in the terminal arrangement portion 33 with a predetermined arrangement pitch. The plurality of connection terminals 33a are electrically connected to the connection terminal portions 12 (refer to
The positioning faces for circuit body 34 are inside surfaces which are faced to each other in the widthwise direction in the slider containing portion 32, and position the flat circuit body 10 by being contacted with the side edges 11b of the distal end of the flat circuit body 10 which are projected from the narrow width end portion 25 of the slider 20 when the slider 20 is inserted into the slider containing portion 32.
As illustrated in
In the present embodiment, the slider 20 is positioned relative to the connector 30 in the widthwise direction of the slider 20 with the engagement of the retaining hole 23b of the housing coupling portion 23 provided on the slider 20 and the slider retaining projection 31.
With the connecting structure of the connector and the flat circuit body of the embodiment described above, as illustrated in
As illustrated in
According to the connecting structure of the connector and the flat circuit body of the embodiment described above, when the flat circuit body 10 is connected to the connector 30 through the slider 20, the flat circuit body 10 is directly positioned to the connector 30 since the side edges 11b of the distal end of the flat circuit body 10 which are projected beyond the narrow width end portion 25 of the slider 20 contact with the positioning faces for circuit body 34 provided on the connector 30.
Therefore, the allowance of the slider 20 and an assembling error between the flat circuit body 10 and the slider 20 will not have an influence on the positioning precision of the flat circuit body 10 on the connector 30.
Therefore, the variation of the positioning precision of the flat circuit body 10 relative to the connection terminals 33a in the connector 30 is suppressed, and the reliability of electrical connection of the conductors in the flat circuit body 10 and the connection terminals 33a in the connector 30 can be improved.
With the connecting structure of the connector and the flat circuit body of the present embodiment, because the flat circuit body 10 and the slider 20 can be relatively moved in the widthwise direction, each of the flat circuit body 10 and the slider 20 can be positioned to the connector 30 individually and directly, and by improving the positioning precision of the slider 20 relative to the connector 30, the attachment of the slider 20 to the connector 30 can be improved.
The connecting structure of the connector and the flat circuit body of the present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and suitable modifications, improvements and the like can be made.
For example, in the previously described embodiment, when the flat circuit body is attached to the slider, the flat circuit body and the slider can be moved relatively in the widthwise direction, but it is also possible that when the flat circuit body is attached to the slider, the relative movement of the flat circuit body and the slider in the widthwise direction may be completely regulated even if there is a margin in the engaging portion of the slider and the connector for allowing a predetermined relative movement in the widthwise direction of the slider.
In the above embodiment, the two side edges 11b of the distal end portion 11 of the flat circuit body 10 are projected at both ends of the narrow width end portion 25 of the slider 20, but it is also possible to position the flat circuit body 10 to the connector 30 by making only one side edge 11b of the distal end portion 11 to be projected at one end of the narrow width end portion 25 and making the side edge 11b at one end abut against one positioning face for circuit body 34 of the connector 30. In this case, at the other end, the other end of the narrow width end portion 25 may abut against the inside surface of the slider containing portion 32.
By the present disclosure, the variation of the positioning precision of the flat circuit body relative to the connection terminals in the connector is suppressed, and the reliability of electrical connection of the conductors in the flat circuit body and the connection terminals in the connector can be improved.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
2011-242486 | Nov 2011 | JP | national |
This application is a continuation of PCT application No. PCT/JP2012/079046, which was filed on Nov. 2, 2012 based on Japanese Patent Application (No. 2011-242486) filed on Nov. 4, 2011, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
6482027 | Ishii et al. | Nov 2002 | B2 |
7762826 | Hemmi | Jul 2010 | B2 |
20020045381 | Ishii et al. | Apr 2002 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
H07-019978 | Apr 1995 | JP |
2006-085989 | Mar 2006 | JP |
Entry |
---|
Jan. 28, 2015—(KR) Office Action—App No. 10-2014-7011738. |
International Search Report issued in International Application No. PCT/JP2012/079046 dated Jan. 22, 2013. |
Written Opinion issued in International Application No. PCT/JP2012/079046 dated Jan. 22, 2013. |
Aug. 25, 2015—(CN) Notification of the First Office Action—App 201280054143.X. |
Aug. 17, 2015—(KR) Notice to Submit Response—App 10-2014-7011738. |
Dated Apr. 19, 2016—Notification of the Second Office Action—App 201280054143.X. |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20140242847 A1 | Aug 2014 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
Parent | PCT/JP2012/079046 | Nov 2012 | US |
Child | 14267968 | US |