Patent Grant
11522309
The contents of the following Japanese patent application are incorporated herein by reference,
Japanese Patent Application No. 2019-125329 filed on Jul. 4, 2019.
The present invention relates to a connector and a method for manufacturing the connector.
A connector having what is called a coaxial or pseudo coaxial structure, which has a flat plate shape but is capable of improving transmission characteristics, has been conventionally mounted, for example, on a circuit board such as a flexible printed board, and has been used as a connector for transmitting signals such as high-frequency signals, which require excellent signal transmission characteristics.
As an example of this type of connector, there has been known a connector having a structure to achieve a male-female fit between a male connector and a female connector, in which each of the male and female connectors integrally fixes a grounded conductor at an outer side of a central conductor via an electric insulator (e.g., Patent Literature 1).
Patent Literature 1 discloses a method for manufacturing a connector, including separately fabricating a central conductor and a grounded conductor by a method such as punching and bending a metallic plate, and integrating the central conductor and the grounded conductor with an insert-molded resin, i.e., an electric insulator.
Patent Literature 1: International Publication No. WO2017/212862
In the above-described conventional manufacturing method, however, the central conductor and the grounded conductor need to be fabricated separately, and insert molding of the resin to be the electric insulator needs to be performed with a relative position between the central conductor and the grounded conductor being set with high accuracy. This increases the number of steps, and thus makes the manufacturing method complicated. The manufacturing cost of the connector is increased accordingly.
Moreover, in the conventional structure in which mounting is performed by connecting the grounded conductor, which is disposed at the outer side of the central conductor via the electric insulator, to a land electrode (a grounded electrode) in a substrate; however, the grounded conductor is grounded at a position away from the central conductor. This may bring a disadvantage in terms of transmission characteristics.
The present invention has been made in view of the foregoing circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a connector having excellent transmission characteristics, and a method for manufacturing such a connector, by which a connector can be manufactured more easily than in the conventional techniques, and thus its manufacturing cost can be reduced.
An aspect of the present invention provides a method for manufacturing a connector including: a signal terminal; a grounded conductor having a shell portion arranged over a whole circumference of an area around the signal terminal so as to surround the signal terminal; and an electrically insulating housing that integrally fixes the signal terminal and the grounded conductor so as to be electrically insulated from each other, in which the signal terminal is electrically connected to a counterpart signal terminal by means of a fit between the connector and a counterpart connector. This manufacturing method includes: integrally forming, with an electrically conductive material, a conductor base member including a signal terminal portion to form the signal terminal, a grounded conductor portion to form the grounded conductor, a connecting portion for connecting between the signal terminal portion and the grounded conductor portion so as to integrate the signal terminal portion and the grounded conductor portion together, and the shell portion; integrally fixing the conductor base member to the housing; and cutting at least part of the connecting portion by a cutting means to configure the signal terminal portion as the signal terminal and configure the grounded conductor portion as the grounded conductor.
According to the manufacturing method of the aspect of the present invention, the connector having the signal terminal and the grounded conductor separated from each other can be obtained by integrally fixing the conductor base member to the housing, and then cutting at least part of the connecting portion of the conductor base member. Thus, the connector can be easily manufactured with less time and effort as compared to the conventional techniques. Moreover, since the signal terminal and the grounded conductor are integral with each other as a signal part at the start of manufacturing, the number of parts can be reduced as compared to the conventional techniques. Thus, the manufacturing method of the aspect of the present invention can reduce the manufacturing cost. Furthermore, since the signal terminal and the grounded conductor, which are obtained after the cutting of the connecting portion, are connected to each other via the connecting portion before the cutting, a relative position between the signal terminal and the grounded conductor can be set as designed and with high accuracy.
According to the manufacturing method of the aspect of the present invention, the signal terminal and the grounded conductor, which are obtained by cutting the connecting portion, can be disposed adjacent to each other. By mounting the connector with the signal terminal and the grounded conductor disposed adjacent to each other being connected to electrodes in a substrate, the connector having excellent transmission characteristics can be obtained.
The connector manufactured by the manufacturing method of the aspect of the present invention can effectively reduce signal leakage to the outside by the shielding effects of the shell portion of the grounded conductor.
In the method for manufacturing a connector according to the aspect of the present invention, the housing is provided with a through hole, capable of exposing the connecting portion and allowing the cutting means to reach the connecting portion, formed in advance through a region from one surface to the other surface of the housing.
According to this manufacturing method, in the cutting of the connecting portion in the conductor base member, only the connecting portion to be cut can be cut through the through hole without cutting the connecting portion together with the housing. Thus, the connecting portion can be cut easily.
In the method for manufacturing a connector according to the aspect of the present invention, the connecting portion is cut by action of pressure cutting made by the cutting means, and the connecting portion includes, at a surface on a side toward which the pressure is applied, a recess for reducing a thickness of the connecting portion to be smaller than a thickness of the signal terminal portion and the grounded conductor portion, and cutting is performed within an area corresponding to the recess.
According to this manufacturing method, when burr is generated along a cut edge of the cut connecting portion, the burr can be confined in the recess, thus preventing protrusion of the burr. As a result, when the connector is mounted by connecting a portion of the signal terminal and a portion of the grounded conductor, which are separated from each other by the cutting and opposed to each other, to electrodes in a substrate by means of soldering, for example, the connector can be properly mounted without the burr generated in the cutting interfering with the electrodes in the substrate.
Another aspect of the present invention provides a connector including: a signal terminal to be electrically connected to a counterpart signal terminal by a fit between the connector and a counterpart connector; a grounded conductor having a shell portion arranged over a whole circumference of an area around the signal terminal so as to surround the signal terminal; and an electrically insulating housing that integrally fixes the signal terminal and the grounded conductor so as to be electrically insulated from each other. The housing includes a through hole passing through the housing from one surface to the other surface. The signal terminal includes a signal terminal protrusion that protrudes into the through hole. The grounded conductor includes a grounded conductor protrusion that protrudes into the through hole so as to be adjacent to the signal terminal protrusion.
With such a configuration, the connector according to the aspect of the present invention can improve transmission characteristics by being mounted with the signal terminal protrusion and the grounded conductor protrusion, which are disposed adjacent to each other, being connected to electrodes in a substrate.
By mounting the connector according to the aspect of the present invention with the signal terminal protrusion and the grounded conductor protrusion being connected to electrodes in a substrate, the connected state can be visually checked through the through hole. Moreover, since the connector can be mounted on a substrate with the grounded conductor protrusion being grounded inside of the outer shape of the connector, the size (mounting size) of the connector including the mounted portion can be reduced.
The connector according to the aspect of the present invention can effectively reduce signal leakage to the outside by the shielding effects of the shell portion of the grounded conductor.
The aspects of the present invention can provide a connector having excellent transmission characteristics, and a method for manufacturing such a connector, by which a connector can be manufactured more easily than in the conventional techniques, and thus its manufacturing cost can be reduced.
An embodiment for carrying out the present invention will be described below.
Configurations of the plug 10 and the receptacle 50 will be described below, and then a method for manufacturing the plug 10 will be described.
Plug:
The plug 10 is configured in such a manner that central terminals 21 and 22, terminals 23, 24, 25, and 26, and a grounded conductor 27 are fixedly arranged in a generally planar fashion and at predetermined intervals in an electrically insulating housing 11 formed into a rectangular plate shape.
The central terminals 21 and 22 are terminals for transmitting high-frequency signals, and constitute signal terminals of the embodiment of the present invention. The terminals 23 to 26 are terminals for other uses. For example, the terminals 23 and 24 can be used for other signals excluding high-frequency signals, and the terminals 25 and 26 can be used for a power source. These uses, however, are given by way of example only, and the terminals 23 to 26 are not limited to such uses.
The housing 11 is obtained by forming a thermoplastic resin such as a liquid crystal polymer into a flat plate shape. The central terminals 21 and 22, the terminals 23 to 26, and the grounded conductor 27 are each formed into a predetermined shape, for example, by punching, and bending in a plate thickness direction, a plate-shaped electrically conductive material (e.g., a plate material made of a copper alloy such as phosphor bronze or a metal such as stainless steel).
The plug 10 according to the present embodiment is configured in such a manner that the central terminals 21 and 22, the terminals 23 to 26, and the grounded conductor 27 are electrically insulated from one another and integrally fixed in the insert-molded housing 11. A method to dispose and fix the central terminals 21 and 22, the terminals 23 to 26, and the grounded conductor 27 in and to the housing 11 so as to be electrically insulated from one another is not limited to the method by means of the insert molding of the housing 11. For example, the disposition and fixation of those components may be performed via bonding to a molded housing 11, press fitting into a molded housing 11, or a fit into a molded housing 11.
The housing 11 includes: a protrusion 11a disposed at the center, as well as protrusions 11b and 11c disposed on both sides of the protrusion 11a, which are formed in a central portion so as to be arranged in a line; a depression 11d disposed around these protrusions 11a to 11c; and a peripheral wall 11e surrounding the depression 11d.
The central terminal 21 is arranged between the protrusion 11a and the protrusion 11b, and the central terminal 22 is arranged between the protrusion 11a and the protrusion 11c.
The central terminals 21 and 22 each have the same L shape. The central terminals 21 and 22 have: lead portions 21a and 22a at one ends thereof, which protrude from a front surface 11f (the surface on the same side as the depression 11d) of the housing 11; and mounting portions 21b and 22b exposed on a bottom surface 11g of the housing 11 so as to be in the same plane as the bottom surface 11g. The front surface 11f and the bottom surface 11g of the housing 11 constitute one surface and the other surface of the embodiment of the present invention, respectively.
In the housing 11, rectangular through holes 12 and 13 passing through the housing 11 from the front surface 11f to the bottom surface 11g are provided to be adjacent to the central terminals 21 and 22, respectively, at positions corresponding to the central terminals 21 and 22 and disposed in a direction (upside in
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
The shell portion 27a is arranged over the whole circumference of an area around the central terminals 21 and 22 so as to surround the central terminals 21 and 22. A height of the shell portion 27a is preferably set so that the central terminals 21 and 22 at least fall within a range of such a height, i.e., the height of the shell portion 27a is greater than or equal to the height of the central terminals 21 and 22. The shell portion 27a is more preferably formed so as to be greater than the central terminals 21 and 22 in a vertical direction (the thickness direction of the plug 10).
The plug 10 according to the present embodiment includes: the grounded conductor 27 having the shell portion 27a arranged over the whole circumference of the area around the central terminals 21 and 22 so as to surround the central terminals 21 and 22; and the electrically insulating housing 11 in which the central terminals 21 and 22, the terminals 23 to 26, and the grounded conductor 27 are integrally fixed in a manner electrically insulated from one another. The housing 11 includes the through holes 12 and 13 passing therethrough from the front surface 11f to the bottom surface 11g. The central terminals 21 and 22 include the central terminal protrusions 21c and 22c protruded into the through holes 12 and 13, respectively. The grounded conductor 27 includes the grounded conductor protrusions 28a and 29a protruded into the through holes 12 and 13 so as to be adjacent to the central terminal protrusions 21c and 22c, respectively. In the plug 10 according to the present embodiment, the central terminals 21 and 22, and the shell portion 27a of the grounded conductor 27 together constitute a connector of a pseudo coaxial structure.
Receptacle:
The configuration of the receptacle 50 will be described next.
As shown in
The housing 51 is obtained by forming a thermoplastic resin such as a liquid crystal polymer into a flat plate shape. The central terminals 61 and 62, the terminals 63 to 66, the grounded terminals 67 to 70, and the shell-shaped conductor 71 are each formed into a predetermined shape, for example, by punching, and bending in a plate thickness direction as needed, a plate-shaped electrically conductive material (e.g., a plate material made of a copper alloy such as phosphor bronze or a metal such as stainless steel).
The central terminals 61 and 62 correspond to, and fit to, the central terminals 21 and 22 of the above-described plug 10, respectively. The central terminals 61 and 62 constitute counterpart signal terminals of the embodiment of the present invention. The terminals 63 to 66 are configured so as to correspond to, and fit to, the terminals 23 to 26 of the plug 10, respectively.
As shown in
The central terminal 61 is arranged between the grounded terminal 67 and the grounded terminal 68, and the central terminal 62 is arranged between the grounded terminal 69 and the grounded terminal 70.
The central terminals 61 and 62 are formed into the same shape. Thus, only the central terminal 62 shown in
The central terminal 62 has an opening 62d, formed in a funnel shape as viewed from the side thereof, for facilitating the insertion of the lead portion 22a into the fit hole 62c.
As mentioned above, the central terminal 61 has the same shape as the central terminal 62. Although not shown in the figures, the central terminal 61 also includes: a pair of opposed sandwiching surfaces for sandwiching and coming into contact with the lead portion 21a of the central terminal 21 of the plug 10 to hold a fit state therebetween; a fit hole into which a leading end of the lead portion 21a is fitted; and an opening, formed in a funnel shape as viewed from the side thereof, for facilitating the insertion of the lead portion 21a into the fit hole.
As shown in
The central terminals 61 and 62 are integrally fixed to the housing 51 by means of insert molding, for example.
As shown in
The shell-shaped conductor 71 is formed in a generally rectangular shape so as to be continuous over the whole circumference of an outer peripheral portion of the housing 51. The shell-shaped conductor 71 has a shape to surround the outer periphery of the housing 51 except for four corners of the housing 51. The shell-shaped conductor 71 is arranged over the whole circumference of an area around the central terminals 61 and 62 so as to surround the central terminals 61 and 62. A height of the shell-shaped conductor 71 is preferably set so that the central terminals 61 and 62 at least fall within a range of such a height, i.e., the height of the shell-shaped conductor 71 is greater than or equal to the height of the central terminals 61 and 62. The shell-shaped conductor 71 is more preferably formed so as to be greater than the central terminals 61 and 62 in a vertical direction (the thickness direction of the receptacle 50).
The shell-shaped conductor 71 includes: connection ends 71a and 71b to be connected to the substrate on which the receptacle 50 is to be mounted; a connection end 71c to be connected to the substrate on which the receptacle 50 is to be mounted together with the grounded terminals 67 and 68; and a connection end 71d to be connected to the substrate on which the receptacle 50 is to be mounted together with the grounded terminals 69 and 70. The shell-shaped conductor 71 is integrally placed over the housing 51 by means of insert molding, for example.
In the receptacle 50 according to the present embodiment, the central terminals 61 and 62, and the shell-shaped conductor 71 together constitute a connector of a pseudo coaxial structure.
Fit Between Plug and Receptacle:
The plug 10 and the receptacle 50 described above are fitted to each other as shown in
The fit portions 23a to 26a of the terminals 23 to 26 in the plug 10 are fitted into the fit holes 63c to 66c of the terminals 63 to 66 in the receptacle 50, respectively, so that the fit portions 23a to 26a are in contact with the sandwiching surfaces 63a and 63b, 64a and 64b, 65a and 65b, and 66a and 66b, respectively, to achieve electrical conduction therebetween.
Method for Manufacturing Plug:
A method for manufacturing the above-described plug 10 will be described next.
In the method for manufacturing the plug 10 according to the present embodiment, a conductor base member 100 shown in
The conductor base member 100 includes: central terminal portions 121 and 122 to form the central terminals 21 and 22 in the plug 10; a grounded conductor portion 127 to form the grounded conductor 27; and connecting portions 191 and 192 for connecting between the central terminal portions 121 and 122 and the grounded conductor portion 127. That is, in the conductor base member 100, three parts, i.e., two central terminals 21 and 22 and a single grounded conductor 27, are integrally formed as a single part via the connecting portions 191 and 192. In
The grounded conductor portion 127 of the conductor base member 100 includes protruding piece portions 128 and 129 to form the protruding pieces 28 and 29 of the grounded conductor 27 in the plug 10. In the conductor base member 100, the protruding piece portion 128 and the central terminal portion 121 are connected to each other via the connecting portion 191, and the protruding piece portion 129 and the central terminal portion 122 are connected to each other via the connecting portion 192. The conductor base member 100 is also provided with the shell portion 27a, and the connection portions 27b, 27c, 27d, 27e, and 27f in the grounded conductor 27.
According to the manufacturing method of the present embodiment, the fabricated conductor base member 100 and the above-described terminals 23 to 26 included in the plug 10 are integrally fixed to the housing 11 as shown in
Fixing the conductor base member 100 and the terminals 23 to 26 to the housing 11 can be easily performed by integrating the conductor base member 100 and the terminals 23 to 26 with the housing 11 by means of insert molding of the housing 11. Alternatively, the conductor base member 100 and the terminals 23 to 26 may be fixed to a molded housing 11 by a means such as bonding, press fitting, or a fit, if possible.
The housing 11 is provided, in advance, with the above-described through holes 12 and 13, which pass through the housing 11 from the front surface 11f to the bottom surface 11g, and these through holes 12 and 13 are configured so that the cutting means 200 can reach the connecting portions 191 and 192 through the through holes 12 and 13.
The cutting means 200 is configured to be able to cut the connecting portions 191 and 192 by the cutting part 201 by action of pressure cutting in a direction from the front surface 11f of the housing 11 to the bottom surface 11g.
As shown in
The cutting of the connecting portions 191 and 192 by the cutting means 200 is performed at places that are at least part of the connecting portions 191 and 192 and located within areas corresponding to the recesses 191a and 192a (areas between both ends of the recesses 191a and 192a).
As a result of the above-described process, the plug 10 according to the present embodiment shown in
In the plug 10, the central terminal protrusions 21c and 22c and the grounded conductor protrusions 28a and 29a can be connected to electrodes in a substrate on which the plug 10 is mounted by means of soldering.
Advantageous effects will next be described.
According to the above-described method for manufacturing the plug 10 according to the present embodiment, the plug 10 having the central terminals 21 and 22 and the grounded conductor 27 separated from each other can be obtained by integrally fixing the conductor base member 100 and the terminals 23 to 26 to the housing 11 and then cutting the connecting portions 191 and 192 of the conductor base member 100. Thus, the plug 10 can be easily manufactured with less time and effort as compared to the conventional techniques. Moreover, since the central terminals 21 and 22 can be omitted as conductor parts at the start of manufacturing the plug 10, the number of conductor parts can be reduced as compared to the conventional techniques. Thus, the manufacturing cost can be reduced.
Moreover, since the central terminals 21 and 22 and the grounded conductor 27, which are obtained after the cutting of the connecting portions 191 and 192, are connected to each other via the connecting portions 191 and 192 before the cutting, relative positions between the central terminals 21 and 22 and the grounded conductor 27 can be set as designed and with high accuracy.
Moreover, in the cutting of the connecting portions 191 and 192 in the conductor base member 100, since only the connecting portions 191 and 192 can be cut through the through holes 12 and 13 without cutting the connecting portions 191 and 192 together with the housing 11, the connecting portions 191 and 192 can be cut easily.
When the connecting portions 191 and 192 are cut by the cutting means 200, burr can be generated along any of the cut edges thereof, i.e., edges of the central terminal protrusions 21c and 22c and the grounded conductor protrusions 28a and 29a. Even in such a case, the burr can be confined in the recesses 191a and 192a, thus preventing the protrusion of the burr. As a result, when the plug 10 is mounted by connecting the central terminal protrusions 21c and 22c and the grounded conductor protrusions 28a and 29a to electrodes in a substrate by means of soldering, for example, the plug 10 can be properly mounted without the burr generated in the cutting interfering with the electrodes in the substrate.
Moreover, the plug 10 obtained according to the above-described manufacturing method can effectively reduce signal leakage to the outside by the shielding effects of the shell portion 27a of the grounded conductor 27. Similarly, the receptacle 50 according to the present embodiment can effectively reduce signal leakage to the outside by the shielding effects of the shell-shaped conductor 71.
In
In the plug 10 and the receptacle 50 shown in
In the plug 10 obtained according to the above-described manufacturing method, the central terminal protrusion 21c and the grounded conductor protrusion 28a, which protrude into the through hole 12, are disposed adjacent to each other, and the central terminal protrusion 22c and the grounded conductor protrusion 29a, which protrude into the through hole 13, are disposed adjacent to each other. Transmission characteristics can be improved by grounding the grounded conductor protrusions 28a and 29a, which are disposed adjacent to the central terminals 21 and 22 as just described, to the substrate.
Since the plug 10 obtained according to the above-described manufacturing method is mounted by connecting the central terminal protrusions 21c and 22c and the grounded conductor protrusions 28a and 29a to electrodes in a substrate, the connection state can be visually checked through the through holes 12 and 13.
The plug 10 can be mounted on a substrate with the grounded conductor protrusions 28a and 29a being grounded inside of the outer shape of the plug 10. Grounding the grounded conductor protrusions 28a and 29a in this manner can achieve a reduction in the size (mounting size) of the plug 10 including the mounted portion. In such a case, the connection portions 27b to 27f of the grounded conductor 27, which protrude outwardly from the housing 11, can be omitted.
Although the two central terminals 21 and 22 for transmitting high-frequency signals are included in the plug 10 of the above-described embodiment, the number of the central terminals is not limited thereto. The present invention can be applied also to a multipole connector including three or more central terminals. Also, the present invention is not limited to a connector of a coaxial or pseudo coaxial structure. The present invention can be applied to connectors in various forms.
The embodiment of the present invention can provide a connector having excellent transmission characteristics, and a method for manufacturing such a connector, by which a connector can be manufactured more easily than in the conventional techniques, and thus its manufacturing cost can be reduced. For example, the embodiment of the present invention is useful in a connector of a coaxial or pseudo coaxial structure, which is suitable for transmitting signals such as high-frequency signals.
10 plug (connector)
11, 51 housing
12, 13 through hole
21, 22 central terminal (signal terminal)
21
c, 22c central terminal protrusion (signal terminal protrusion)
27 grounded conductor
27
a shell portion
28
a, 29a grounded conductor protrusion
50 receptacle (counterpart connector)
61, 62 central terminal (counterpart signal terminal)
100 conductor base member
121, 122 central terminal portion (signal terminal portion)
127 grounded conductor portion
191, 192 connecting portion
191
a, 192a recess
200 cutting means
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| JP2019-125329 | Jul 2019 | JP | national |
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10361510 | Tanaka | Jul 2019 | B2 |
| 11169340 | Little | Nov 2021 | B2 |
| 11289838 | Ashibu | Mar 2022 | B2 |
| 20170033510 | Ozeki | Feb 2017 | A1 |
| 20180013240 | Takeuchi | Jan 2018 | A1 |
| 20190052005 | Hasegawa | Feb 2019 | A1 |
| 20200403366 | Cai | Dec 2020 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 109155492 | Jan 2019 | CN |
| 109390720 | Feb 2019 | CN |
| 2017212862 | Dec 2017 | WO |
| Entry |
|---|
| Notice of First Office Action for Patent Application No. 202010165747.8, issued by The National Intellectual Property Administration of the People's Republic of China dated Feb. 28, 2022. |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20210005993 A1 | Jan 2021 | US |
