The present invention relates to a connector, particularly to a connector to be connected to a sheet-like connection target in which a flexible conductor is exposed on at least one surface.
These days, what is called smart cloth, which can acquire biological information of a user such as a heart rate or a body temperature simply by being worn, has attracted attention. The smart cloth includes an electrode placed at a measurement point, and, by electrically connecting a wearable device as a measurement instrument to the electrode, biological information can be transmitted to the wearable device.
The connection between the electrode and the wearable device can be made by, for example, using a connector to be connected to a flexible conductor drawn out from the electrode.
As a connector of this type, for example, a connector like that shown in
By pushing the base member 3 toward the housing 2 in this state, as shown in
Further, as shown in
By fitting a wearable device to the connector disclosed in JP 2018-129244 A, the wearable device can be connected to an electrode made of a flexible conductor.
However, there is a problem that, when a flexible conductor 1B is exposed on the back surface of the flexible substrate 1, the flexible conductor 1B cannot be electrically connected to the contact 4 in the connector of JP 2018-129244 A.
The present invention has been made to solve such an existing problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a connector capable of electrically connecting a contact to a flexible conductor of a connection target regardless of whether the flexible conductor is exposed on the front surface or the back surface of the connection target.
The connector according to the present invention includes:
Hereinbelow, embodiments of the present invention are described on the basis of the accompanying drawings.
The four plug contacts 13 are arranged in two rows parallel to each other in such a manner as to protrude perpendicularly to the sheet-like conductive member 15.
Here, for the sake of convenience, it is assumed that the reinforcing sheet 14 and the sheet-like conductive member 15 extend along an XY plane, the arrangement direction of the four plug contacts 13 is referred to as a Y direction, and the direction in which the four plug contacts 13 protrude is referred to as a +Z direction. The Z direction is a fitting direction in which the connector 11 is fitted to a counter connector.
The four plug contacts 13 are held in the top insulator 16, the reinforcing sheet 14 is placed on the back surface on the −Z direction side of the top insulator 16, and the sheet-like conductive member 15 is placed on the −Z direction side of the reinforcing sheet 14. Four inner contacts 18 are placed on the −Z direction side of the sheet-like conductive member 15, and the bottom insulator 17 is placed on the −Z direction side of the inner contact 18. The four inner contacts 18 correspond to the four plug contacts 13.
As shown in
As shown in
A plurality of through holes 17D corresponding to the plurality of bosses 16C of the top insulator 16 are formed in the flat plate portion 17A.
Each of the four plug contacts 13 is formed of a conductive material such as metal, and is connected to the corresponding contact of the not-illustrated counter connector when part of the counter connector is accommodated in the recess 16A of the top insulator 16.
As shown in
The fitting axis C is an axis passing through the center of the cylindrical portion 13A and extending in the fitting direction of the connector 11 and the counter connector.
While the cylindrical portion 13A has a circular cylindrical shape, the cross-sectional shape thereof is not limited to a circular shape and may be various cross-sectional shapes such as an ellipse and a polygon as long as the cylindrical portion has the recess 13C in its interior.
Each of the four plug contacts 13 can be used as a terminal for transmitting an electric signal.
The sheet-like conductive member 15 has a multilayer structure in which a plurality of wiring layers each formed of a flexible conductor and a plurality of insulating layers are stacked.
As shown in
A plurality of cutouts 15D penetrating the sheet-like conductive member 15 in the Z direction are formed in the four contact placement regions 15A. Since the cutouts 15D penetrate the sheet-like conductive member 15 in the Z direction, as shown in
On the back surface oriented in the −Z direction of the sheet-like conductive member 15, a wiring layer 15E is exposed toward the −Z direction in each of positions corresponding to the four contact placement regions 15A, and an insulating layer 15F is exposed in the region other than the contact placement regions 15A.
As shown in
As shown in
The first constituent portion 18A has a flat shape extending along the YZ plane, and has a pair of cantilever portions 18D separately on both sides of the fitting axis C across the fitting axis C, which cantilever portions 18D extend in the −Z direction and of which the distal ends extend in opposite directions to each other in the Y direction.
The second constituent portion 18B has a pair of arm portions 18E that extend from the connection portion with the coupling portion 18C while bending or curving in the −X direction to face each other in the Y direction in the XY plane in such a manner as to form a substantially cylindrical shape surrounding the fitting axis C. Distal end portions of the pair of arm portions 18E are close to each other and face each other in the Y direction.
The coupling portion 18C is inclined in the X direction with respect to the fitting axis C and couples the first constituent portion 18A and the second constituent portion 18B such that the second constituent portion 18B is located on the −Z direction side of the first constituent portion 18A.
The distal ends oriented in opposite directions to each other of the pair of cantilever portions 18D of the first constituent portion 18A form a pair of contact portions P1 that are elastically displaceable in the Y direction orthogonal to the fitting axis C.
Further, the outer surfaces of the pair of arm portions 18E of the second constituent portion 18B form a plurality of pressing portions P2 that are elastically displaceable in the XY plane orthogonal to the fitting axis C. Specifically, as shown in
Here, the first constituent portion 18A and the second constituent portion 18B are placed to be apart from each other in the Z direction via the coupling portion 18C, and the four pressing portions P2 of the second constituent portion 18B are configured to be elastically displaceable independently of the elastic displacement of the pair of contact portions P1 of the first constituent portion 18A. That is, one of the elastic deformation in the contact portion P1 and the elastic deformation in the pressing portion P2 does not affect the other.
The inner contact 18 further has a fixing portion 18F protruding in the −Z direction from the second constituent portion 18B.
Such an inner contact 18 can be easily produced by, for example, bending a metal plate cut in a predetermined shape.
The spacing in the Y direction between the pair of contact portions P1 is set slightly larger than the inner diameter of a portion of the recess 13C of the plug contact 13, with which portion the pair of contact portions P1 come into contact when the inner contact 18 is inserted into the recess 13C.
Therefore, when the inner contact 18 is inserted into the recess 13C of the plug contact 13, the pair of contact portions P1 come into contact with the inner surface of the recess 13C with a predetermined contact pressure while being elastically displaced in directions toward the fitting axis C.
The distance between the fitting axis C and each pressing portion P2 in the XY plane is set to be slightly larger than a value obtained by subtracting the thickness of the sheet-like conductive member 15 from ½ of the inner diameter of a portion of the recess 13C of the plug contact 13 with which portion the four pressing portions P2 come into contact when the inner contact 18 is inserted into the recess 13C.
Therefore, when the inner contact 18 is inserted into the recess 13C of the plug contact 13 while pushing the sheet-like conductive member 15 therein, each of the four pressing portions P2 is elastically displaced in a direction toward the fitting axis C, and presses the sheet-like conductive member 15 against the inner surface of the recess 13C with a predetermined contact pressure.
As shown in
The four contact through holes 16B of the top insulator 16, the four plug contacts 13, the four contact placement regions 15A of the sheet-like conductive member 15, the four inner contacts 18, and the four recesses 17B of the bottom insulator 17 are placed to be aligned with each other in the Z direction.
Further, the plurality of bosses 16C of the top insulator 16, the plurality of notches 14B of the reinforcing sheet 14, the plurality of through holes 15G of the sheet-like conductive member 15, and the plurality of through holes 17D of the bottom insulator 17 are placed to be aligned with each other in the Z direction.
When assembling the connector 11, first, as shown in
Next, the plurality of bosses 16C of the top insulator 16 are inserted into the plurality of notches 14B of the reinforcing sheet 14. At this time, the four contact through holes 16B of the top insulator 16 are located in the opening 14A of the reinforcing sheet 14.
Further, the cylindrical portion 13A of the plug contact 13 is inserted into the corresponding one of the four contact through holes 16B of the top insulator 16 from the −Z direction, and the bottom insulator 17 is pressed in the +Z direction toward the top insulator 16 with the sheet-like conductive member 15 being interposed therebetween.
At this time, the flange 13B of each plug contact 13 is located on the corresponding contact placement region 15A of the sheet-like conductive member 15, and each inner contact 18 held on the bottom insulator 17 is inserted into the recess 13C of the corresponding plug contact 13 while pushing the contact placement region 15A of the sheet-like conductive member 15.
Since the plurality of cutouts 15D are formed in each of the four contact placement regions 15A of the sheet-like conductive member 15, each of the four inner contacts 18 is inserted into the recess 13C of the plug contact 13 while opening the plurality of cutouts 15D of the corresponding contact placement region 15A.
By pressing the bottom insulator 17 against the top insulator 16, the plurality of bosses 16C of the top insulator 16 sequentially penetrate the plurality of notches 14B of the reinforcing sheet 14, the plurality of through holes 15G of the sheet-like conductive member 15, and the plurality of through holes 17D of the bottom insulator 17. Then, the distal ends of the plurality of bosses 16C protruding on the −Z direction side of the bottom insulator 17 are thermally deformed, whereby the top insulator 16 and the bottom insulator 17 are fixed to each other; thus, the assembly of the connector 11 is completed.
Each plug contact 13 is fixed to the top insulator 16 and the bottom insulator 17 by the flange 13B being sandwiched between the top insulator 16 and the bottom insulator 17.
As shown in
Further, as shown in
Specifically, as shown in
Here, as shown in
Therefore, the wiring layer 15B on the front surface of the sheet-like conductive member 15 comes into contact with the inner surface of the recess 13C of the plug contact 13 with a predetermined contact pressure, and the wiring layer 15E on the back surface of the sheet-like conductive member 15 comes into contact with the pressing portion P2 of the inner contact 18 with a predetermined contact pressure.
Accordingly, the wiring layer 15B exposed on the front surface of the sheet-like conductive member 15 is directly electrically connected to the plug contact 13, and the wiring layer 15E exposed on the back surface of the sheet-like conductive member 15 is electrically connected to the plug contact 13 via the inner contact 18. That is, both the wiring layers 15B and 15E are connected to the plug contact 13.
Thus, in the connector 11, by using the inner contact 18, both the wiring layer 15B made of a flexible conductor placed on the front surface side of the sheet-like conductive member 15 and the wiring layer 15E made of a flexible conductor placed on the back surface side can be electrically connected to one plug contact 13.
Therefore, when the connector 11 is connected to a sheet-like conductive member in which a flexible conductor is exposed only on the front surface side, the plug contact 13 can be electrically connected to the flexible conductor on the front surface side of the sheet-like conductive member, and when the connector 11 is connected to a sheet-like conductive member in which a flexible conductor is exposed only on the back surface side, the plug contact 13 can be electrically connected to the flexible conductor on the back surface side of the sheet-like conductive member.
Further, when the connector 11 is connected to a sheet-like conductive member in which a flexible conductor is exposed on each of the front surface side and the back surface side like the sheet-like conductive member 15 in Embodiment 1, the plug contact 13 can be electrically connected to both the flexible conductor on the front surface side and the flexible conductor on the back surface side of the sheet-like conductive member. For example, in a case where the connection target is a sheet-like conductive member of a multilayer structure in which a flexible conductor forming a shield layer is exposed on each of the front surface side and the back surface side, and a flexible conductor forming a signal wiring layer is stacked between the shield layers while being insulated from both the shield layers, the plug contact 13 connected to the shield layers on the front surface side and the back surface side is connected to the ground potential, whereby a shielding effect is exerted on the signal wiring layer, and high-accuracy signal transmission can be performed with the influence of disturbance due to electromagnetic waves or the like being suppressed.
While in the connector 11 of Embodiment 1, the reinforcing sheet 14 is placed between the bottom insulator 17 and the top insulator 16, the reinforcing sheet 14 can be omitted when it is not necessary to reinforce a mounting target such as a garment to which the connector 11 is attached.
The second constituent portion 28B has a pair of arm portions 28E that extend from both end portions in the Y direction of a connection portion connected with the coupling portion 28C while curving in the same rotational direction in the XY plane in such a manner as to form a substantially circular cylindrical shape surrounding the fitting axis C.
The outer surfaces of the pair of arm portions 28E of the second constituent portion 28B form a pair of pressing portions P2 that are elastically displaceable in the XY plane orthogonal to the fitting axis C.
The coupling portion 28C has a flat plate shape along the YZ plane, and couples the first constituent portion 18A and the second constituent portion 28B such that the second constituent portion 28B is located apart from the first constituent portion 18A on the −Z direction side.
In this manner, the pressing portion P2 of the second constituent portion 28B is configured to be elastically displaceable independently of the elastic displacement of the pair of contact portions P1 of the first constituent portion 18A.
When the inner contact 28 of such a configuration is inserted into the recess 13C of the plug contact 13 while pushing the sheet-like conductive member 15 therein, the pair of contact portions P1 of the first constituent portion 18A are pressed against the inner surface of the recess 13C of the plug contact 13 and the inner contact 28 is electrically connected to the plug contact 13, and the sheet-like conductive member 15 pushed into the recess 13C is pressed toward the inner surface of the recess 13C of the plug contact 13 by the pair of pressing portions P2 of the inner contact 28.
Therefore, also when the inner contact 28 shown in
While in
The first constituent portion 38A has two pairs of cantilever portions 38D that are arranged to face each other with a space therebetween in the X direction with each cantilever portion 38D extending along the YZ plane. The two pairs of cantilever portions 38D are coupled to each other via a curved portion 38G curved in a U-shape to open in the −Z direction, and each pair of cantilever portions 38D has a similar structure to the pair of cantilever portions 18D of the first constituent portion 18A of the inner contact 18 in Embodiment 1.
The distal ends of the two pairs of cantilever portions 38D of the first constituent portion 38A form two pairs of contact portions P1 that are elastically displaceable in the Y direction orthogonal to the fitting axis C.
The coupling portion 38C couples the first constituent portion 38A and the second constituent portion 18B while being inclined in the X direction with respect to the fitting axis C such that the second constituent portion 18B is located apart from the first constituent portion 38A on the −Z direction side.
In this manner, the two pairs of contact portions P1 of the first constituent portion 38A are configured to be elastically displaceable independently of the elastic displacement of the four pressing portions P2 of the second constituent portion 18B.
When the inner contact 38 of such a configuration is inserted into the recess 13C of the plug contact 13 while pushing the sheet-like conductive member 15 therein, the two pairs of contact portions P1 of the first constituent portion 38A are pressed against the inner surface of the recess 13C of the plug contact 13 and the inner contact 38 is electrically connected to the plug contact 13, and the sheet-like conductive member 15 pushed into the recess 13C is pressed toward the inner surface of the recess 13C of the plug contact 13 with the four pressing portions P2 of the inner contact 38.
Therefore, also when the inner contact 38 shown in
When the inner contact 38 in Embodiment 3 is used, the four contact portions P1 formed in the two pairs of cantilever portions 38D of the first constituent portion 38A come into contact with the inner surface of the recess 13C of the plug contact 13, and therefore the reliability of the electrical connection between the inner contact 38 and the plug contact 13 is improved.
The second constituent portion 48B has one arm portion 48E that extends from an end portion in the +Y direction of the connection portion connected with the coupling portion 48C while curving in the XY plane in such a manner as to form a substantially circular cylindrical shape surrounding the fitting axis C.
The outer surface of the one arm portion 48E of the second constituent portion 48B forms a pair of pressing portions P2 that are elastically displaceable in the XY plane orthogonal to the fitting axis C.
The coupling portion 48C has a flat plate shape along the YZ plane, and couples the first constituent portion 18A and the second constituent portion 48B such that the second constituent portion 48B is located apart from the first constituent portion 18A on the −Z direction side.
In this manner, the pressing portion P2 of the second constituent portion 48B is configured to be elastically displaceable independently of the elastic displacement of the pair of contact portions P1 of the first constituent portion 18A.
When the inner contact 48 of such a configuration is inserted into the recess 13C of the plug contact 13 while pushing the sheet-like conductive member 15 therein, the pair of contact portions P1 of the first constituent portion 18A are pressed against the inner surface of the recess 13C of the plug contact 13 and the inner contact 48 is electrically connected to the plug contact 13, and the sheet-like conductive member 15 pushed into the recess 13C is pressed toward the inner surface of the recess 13C of the plug contact 13 with the pair of pressing portions P2 of the inner contact 48.
Therefore, also when the inner contact 48 shown in
While in
The first constituent portion 58A has a flat shape extending along the YZ plane, and has one cantilever portion 18D that extends in the −Z direction on the +Y direction side of the fitting axis C with the distal end thereof extending in the +Y direction and a flat plate portion 58G extending along the YZ plane on the −Y direction side of the fitting axis C.
The cantilever portion 18D is the same as the cantilever portion 18D of the first constituent portion 18A of the inner contact 28 used in Embodiment 2 and has its distal end extending in the +Y direction, and the flat plate portion 58G has its distal end extending in the −Y direction at the −Z directional end.
A contact portion P1 is formed at each of the distal end extending in the +Y direction of the cantilever portion 18D and the distal end extending in the −Y direction of the flat plate portion 58G. Due to elastic deformation of the cantilever portion 18D having a shape extending in the −Z direction, the pair of contact portions P1 formed at the distal end of the cantilever portion 18D and the distal end of the flat plate portion 58G can be elastically displaced mutually in the Y direction orthogonal to the fitting axis C.
The coupling portion 58C has a flat plate shape along the YZ plane, and couples the first constituent portion 58A and the second constituent portion 28B such that the second constituent portion 28B is located apart from the first constituent portion 58A on the −Z direction side.
In this manner, the pressing portion P2 of the second constituent portion 28B is configured to be elastically displaceable independently of the elastic displacement of the pair of contact portions P1 of the first constituent portion 58A.
When the inner contact 58 of such a configuration is inserted into the recess 13C of the plug contact 13 while pushing the sheet-like conductive member 15 therein, the pair of contact portions P1 of the first constituent portion 58A are pressed against the inner surface of the recess 13C of the plug contact 13 and the inner contact 58 is electrically connected to the plug contact 13, and the sheet-like conductive member 15 pushed into the recess 13C is pressed toward the inner surface of the recess 13C of the plug contact 13 with the pair of pressing portions P2 of the inner contact 58.
Therefore, also when the inner contact 58 shown in
While in
The first constituent portion 68A has a double supported beam portion 68G extending in both the Y direction orthogonal to the fitting axis C and the +Z direction along the fitting axis C in the YZ plane. The double supported beam portion 68G extends along the circumference of an opening 68H located in the fitting axis C such that the double supported beam portion 68G surrounds the opening 68H, and both ends of the double supported beam portion 68G are connected to the +Y directional end and the −Y directional end of a base portion of the first constituent portion 68A connected to the coupling portion 68C. A pair of contact portions P1 oriented in opposite directions to each other in the Y direction are formed in the double supported beam portion 68G. Each of the contact portions P1 is configured to be elastically displaceable in the Y direction with elastic deformation of the double supported beam portion 68G.
The coupling portion 68C has a flat plate shape along the YZ plane, and couples the first constituent portion 68A and the second constituent portion 28B such that the second constituent portion 28B is located apart from the first constituent portion 68A on the −Z direction side.
Thereby, the pressing portion P2 of the second constituent portion 28B is configured to be elastically displaceable independently of the elastic displacement of the pair of contact portions P1 of the first constituent portion 68A.
When the inner contact 68 of such a configuration is inserted into the recess 13C of the plug contact 13 while pushing the sheet-like conductive member 15 therein, the pair of contact portions P1 of the first constituent portion 68A are pressed against the inner surface of the recess 13C of the plug contact 13 and the inner contact 68 is electrically connected to the plug contact 13, and the sheet-like conductive member 15 pushed into the recess 13C is pressed toward the inner surface of the recess 13C of the plug contact 13 with the pair of pressing portions P2 of the inner contact 68.
Therefore, also when the inner contact 68 shown in
Although in
The first constituent portion 78A is configured such that an auxiliary coupling portion 78J is formed in the double supported beam portion 68G in the first constituent portion 68A of the inner contact 68 in Embodiment 6. The auxiliary coupling portion 78J extends along the fitting axis C to divide the opening 68H surrounded by the double supported beam portion 68G into two in the Y direction, and couples a base portion of the first constituent portion 78A connected to the coupling portion 68C and the +Z directional end of the double supported beam portion 68G.
A contact portion P1 that is elastically displaceable in the Y direction is formed in each of a portion of the double supported beam portion 68G located on the +Y direction side of the auxiliary coupling portion 78J and a portion of the double supported beam portion 68G located on the −Y direction side of the auxiliary coupling portion 78J.
Also when the inner contact 78 shown in
In Embodiments 1 to 7 above, the plug contact 13 placed in the contact placement region 15A of the sheet-like conductive member 15 is connected to both the wiring layer 15B exposed on the front surface side of the sheet-like conductive member 15 and the wiring layer 15E exposed on the back surface side of the sheet-like conductive member 15; meanwhile, for example, it is also possible to configure such that only the wiring layer 15E exposed on the back surface side of the sheet-like conductive member 15 is connected to the plug contact 13 placed in the contact placement region 15A.
While the sheet-like conductive member 15 used in Embodiments 1 to 7 above has a multilayer structure, the sheet-like conductive member is not limited thereto, and may have any structure as long as it has a flexible conductor exposed on at least one surface.
Further, while in Embodiments 1 to 7 above, the two layers of flexible conductors of the wiring layer 15B and the wiring layer 15E of the sheet-like conductive member 15 are connected to one plug contact 13, the configuration is not limited thereto, and three or more layers of flexible conductors may be connected to one plug contact 13.
Further, while the connector 11 according to Embodiments 1 to 7 above includes four plug contacts 13, the configuration is not limited to this number of plug contacts 13, and may be any configuration as long as it includes at least one plug contact 13 to be electrically connected to a flexible conductor exposed on at least one surface of the sheet-like conductive member 15.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2022-133968 | Aug 2022 | JP | national |