The present invention relates to a connector, particularly to a connector connecting a conductor portion of an electric wire to a conductive portion exposed on a surface of a substrate.
In recent years, attention has been drawn to so-called smart clothes that can obtain user's biological data such as the heart rate and the body temperature only by being worn by the user. Such smart clothes have an electrode disposed at a measurement site and constituted of a flexible conductor, and when a wearable device serving as a measurement device is electrically connected to the electrode, biological data can be transmitted to the wearable device.
The electrode and the wearable device can be interconnected by, for instance, use of a connector connected to the flexible conductor.
However, when the wearable device is situated away from the measurement site, it is necessary to provide an electric circuit connecting the electrode disposed at the measurement site to the place where the connector is attached, and if such an electric circuit is formed from a flexible conductor, this causes higher electric resistance and higher cost.
To connect an electrode constituted of a flexible conductor to a wearable device by use of an electric wire that has low electric resistance and is inexpensive, it has been desired to develop a small-sized connector connecting the electric wire to the flexible conductor disposed on a garment.
For instance, JP 2007-214087 A discloses a connector shown in
However, the first connector 2 and the second connector 4 that are separately attached to the end of the substrate 1 and the tips of the electric wires 3 need to be fitted to each other in order to connect the electric wires 3 to the flexible conductor of the substrate 1, and this causes a larger size of a device; and there is a separatable connection portion between the first connector 2 and the second connector 4, which impairs the reliability of electric connection.
The present invention has been made to overcome the conventional problems as above and aims at providing a connector that can have a small size while reliably connecting a conductor portion of an electric wire to a conductive portion exposed on a surface of a substrate.
A connector according to the present invention is one connecting a conductor portion of an electric wire to a conductive portion exposed on a surface of a substrate, the connector comprising:
a first insulator disposed on the surface of the substrate and having a recess portion;
a second insulator disposed to be able to be fitted to the first insulator and having a protrusion portion corresponding to the recess portion; and
a contact having conductivity and retained by both the first insulator and the second insulator,
the contact including:
wherein the first retained portion includes a recessed bent portion that is accommodated in the recess portion and extends along an inner surface of the recess portion,
the first insulator and the second insulator are fitted to each other such that the conductor portion of the electric wire is sandwiched between the recessed bent portion of the contact and the protrusion portion of the second insulator, and
the conductor portion of the electric wire makes contact with the recessed bent portion between the recess portion and the protrusion portion, whereby the conductor portion of the electric wire is electrically connected to the conductive portion of the substrate via the contact.
Embodiments of the present invention are described below based on the accompanying drawings.
The substrate 11 is constituted of a sheet type conductive member, and the connector 10 is mounted on a surface of the substrate 11.
The coated electric wires 12 are aligned in a predetermined alignment direction and each extend in a direction perpendicular to the alignment direction in parallel to the surface of the substrate 11. Each coated electric wire 12 has a structure in which the outer periphery of a conductor portion 12A is covered with an insulating coating portion 12B. With the use of the connector 10 according to Embodiment 1, the conductor portions 12A of the plurality of coated electric wires 12 are electrically connected to a plurality of conductive portions to be described later of the substrate 11. The conductor portion 12A of the coated electric wire 12 may be either a so-called solid wire constituted of one conductor or a so-called stranded wire constituted of plural conductors being stranded.
The housing 13 extends along the alignment direction of the coated electric wires 12.
For convenience, the substrate 11 is defined as extending along an XY plane, the alignment direction of the coated electric wires 12 is referred to as “X direction,” the direction in which each coated electric wire 12 extends toward the housing 13 is referred to as “+Y direction,” and the direction perpendicular to an XY plane is referred to as “Z direction.”
As shown in
The first insulator 15 has a first flat surface 15A facing the +Z direction and extending in an XY plane. The first flat surface 15A is provided with a plurality of electric wire insertion grooves 15B aligned in the X direction to correspond to the contacts 14 and each traversing the first insulator 15 in the Y direction, and each electric wire insertion groove 15B is provided at its intermediate portion with a recess portion 15C recessed from the bottom of the electric wire insertion groove 15B toward the −Z direction. The recess portions 15C of the electric wire insertion grooves 15B are joined together in the X direction to form a fitting groove 15D extending in the X direction over the entire X directional width of the first insulator 15.
The bottom surface, facing the −Z direction, of the first insulator 15 is provided with a projection portion 15E extending in the X direction over the entire X directional width of the first insulator 15 and projecting in the −Z direction.
The second insulator 16 has a second flat surface 16A facing the +Z direction and extending in an XY plane in the state where the contacts 14 each linearly extend in the Y direction such that the first and second insulators 15 and 16 are developed, as shown in
The first insulator 15 and the second insulator 16 are configured such that, by deforming the contacts 14 to insert the fitting portion 16B of the second insulator 16 into the fitting groove 15D of the first insulator 15, the first insulator 15 and the second insulator 16 are fitted to each other and the second flat surface 16A makes contact with the first flat surface 15A.
As shown in
The first retained portion 14B is provided at its intermediate portion with a recessed bent portion 14E that is bent to be dented in the −Z direction.
The joint portion 14D is formed to be deformable so as to be curved in the thickness direction of the contact 14; when the connector 10 is assembled, the joint portion 14D is deformed into a U-shape opening toward the −Y direction such that the second retained portion 14C is situated on the +Z direction side of the first retained portion 14B.
The joint portion 14D is provided at its intermediate portion with a connection portion 14F and an inspection hole 14G. The connection portion 14F is formed to project in the −Z direction by lancing the metal plate constituting the contact 14, and the inspection hole 14G is situated on the +Y direction side of the connection portion 14F and penetrates the metal plate constituting the contact 14 in the thickness direction of the contact 14.
As shown in
The connector 10 having the thus-configured contacts 14 and the first and second insulators 15 and 16 that are integrally formed is fabricated by, for instance, insert molding.
As shown in
Although not shown in
In insert molding, it is necessary to inject resin with the +Y directional ends of the contacts 14 to be embedded in the second insulator 16 being held from the top and bottom by use of holding pins or other means in a molding die, so that a plurality of insertion holes 16D corresponding to the contacts 14 are formed in the second insulator 16 as a trace of removal of such holding pins or the like after molding as shown in
As shown in
The depression 11C has a size allowing the projection portion 15E projecting in the −Z direction from the bottom surface of the first insulator 15 to fit therein.
The inside of the connector mounting region 11A is provided with a plurality of conductive portions 11D aligned in the X direction on the +Y direction side of the depression 11C to correspond to the contacts 14 of the connector 10. The conductive portions 11D are formed from part of one wiring layer of the substrate 11 and connected to a plurality of wiring portions (not shown) covered with the insulating layer 11B.
Meanwhile, a plurality of fixing portions 11E aligned in the X direction to correspond to the contacts 14 of the connector 10 are formed on the −Y direction side of the depression 11C in the connector mounting region 11A. While the fixing portions 11E can be formed from part of one wiring layer of the substrate 11 as with the conductive portions 11D, the fixing portions 11E are disposed only in the connector mounting region 11A without being connected to a plurality of wiring portions (not shown).
The conductive portions 11D and the fixing portions 11E are separately aligned in the X direction with the same pitch as the alignment pitch P1 of the contacts 14. The distance between the depression 11C and the conductive portions 11D in the Y direction is substantially the same as the distance between the projection portion 15E of the first insulator 15 and the connection portions 14F of the contacts 14 of the connector 10 in the Y direction, and the distance between the depression 11C and the fixing portions 11E in the Y direction is substantially the same as the distance between the projection portion 15E of the first insulator 15 and the mounting portions 14A of the contacts 14 of the connector 10 in the Y direction.
Accordingly, when the projection portion 15E of the first insulator 15 of the connector 10 is fitted in the depression 11C of the substrate 11 as shown in
In this state, the connection portions 14F and the mounting portions 14A of the contacts 14 are respectively connected to the conductive portions 11D and the fixing portions 11E of the substrate 11 by soldering or other methods, whereby the connector 10 is mounted on the substrate 11.
When the connector 10 is assembled, first, the coated electric wires 12 are aligned in the X direction, and the conductor portions 12A drawn from the coated electric wires 12 are inserted into the first insulator 15 of the connector 10 from the −Y direction, as shown in
At this time, each conductor portion 12A is inserted into the corresponding electric wire insertion groove 15B of the first insulator 15 as shown in
The inspection hole 14G formed in the joint portion 14D of the contact 14 is situated on the +Z direction side of the connection portion 14F in the connector 10 in the pre-assembly state where the joint portion 14D of the contact 14 is deformed in a U-shape such that the second flat surface 16A of the second insulator 16 obliquely faces the first flat surface 15A of the first insulator 15. Thus, it is possible to visually check the +Y directional end of the conductor portion 12A through the inspection hole 14G from the +Z direction side of the connector 10, as shown in
When the insertion length of the conductor portion 12A of the coated electric wire 12 is excessively small with respect to the electric wire insertion groove 15B of the first insulator 15, the reliability of electric connection between the conductor portion 12A and the contact 14 may decrease; when the insertion length of the conductor portion 12A is excessively large, one conductor portion 12A may be short-circuited with a contact 14 corresponding to an adjacent conductor portion 12A. Thus, the reliability of connection of the coated electric wires 12 can be improved by checking the +Y directional ends of the conductor portions 12A inserted up to the proper positions.
Next, the second insulator 16 is pressed against the first insulator 15 in the −Z direction and thereby fitted to the first insulator 15 as shown in
Thus, the assembling operation of the connector 10 is completed.
In the connector 10 thus assembled, the conductor portion 12A of the coated electric wire 12 and the recessed bent portion 14E of the contact 14 make contact with each other in the Y direction with a predetermined contact pressure between the inner lateral surface of the recess portion 15C and the outer lateral surface of the protrusion portion 16C, so that the conductor portion 12A is electrically connected to the recessed bent portion 14E of the contact 14. In addition, since the connection portion 14F of the contact 14 is connected to the corresponding conductive portion 11D of the substrate 11, the conductor portion 12A of the coated electric wire 12 is electrically connected to the conductive portion 11D of the substrate 11 via the contact 14.
It should be noted that the conductor portion 12A of the coated electric wire 12 is pushed into the recessed bent portion 14E of the contact 14 and thereby bent along the inner surface of the recessed bent portion 14E; accordingly, the +Y directional end of the conductor portion 12A is retracted in the −Y direction and accommodated within the electric wire insertion groove 15B of the first insulator 15. Thus, in the state where the second insulator 16 is fitted with the first insulator 15, an operator cannot visually recognize the +Y directional end of the conductor portion 12A even when looking in the inspection hole 14G of the contact 14 from the +Z direction, as shown in
In addition, as shown in
The recessed bent portion 14E of the contact 14 has a sufficient length in the Z direction such that the bottom of the recessed bent portion 14E is situated on the −Z direction side with respect to the mounting portion 14A and the connection portion 14F, and owing to this configuration, the contact area can be ensured between the inner lateral surface of the recessed bent portion 14E and the conductor portion 12A that make contact in the Y direction, thus making it possible to electrically connect the conductor portion 12A to the contact 14 with high reliability.
Furthermore, as shown in
While the second retained portions 14C formed at the +Y directional ends of the contacts 14 are embedded in the second insulator 16 in Embodiment 1 above, the invention is not limited thereto.
The contact 24 is formed from a band shaped metal sheet having conductivity as with the contact 14 shown in
As shown in
Accordingly, when the second insulator 16 is fitted to the first insulator 15 to assemble the connector 20, a middle portion of the conductor portion 12A inserted in the electric wire insertion groove 15B of the first insulator 15 is pushed into the recessed bent portion 24E of the contact 24 accommodated in the recess portion 15C of the first insulator 15 by the protrusion portion 16C of the second insulator 16 on which the protruding bent portion 24H of the contact 24 is exposed. The conductor portion 12A of the coated electric wire 12 is sandwiched between the recessed bent portion 24E and the protruding bent portion 24H of the contact 24 to make contact with both the recessed bent portion 24E and the protruding bent portion 24H with a predetermined contact pressure. This improves the reliability of electric connection between the conductor portion 12A and the contact 24, thus increasing the reliability of connection of the coated electric wires 12.
While the inner lateral surface of the recessed bent portion 14E, 24E of the contact 14, 24 makes contact with the conductor portion 12A of the coated electric wire 12 with a predetermined contact pressure in the Y direction in Embodiments 1 and 2 above, the recessed bent portion 14E, 24E may have a spring property that presses the conductor portion 12A in the Y direction.
While the connector 10, 20 is formed by insert molding in Embodiments 1 and 2, the connector 10, 20 may be formed by, for instance, press-fitting the contacts 14, 24 such that the contacts 14, 24 are retained by both the first insulator 15 and the second insulator 16.
In Embodiments 1 and 2, the substrate 11 is constituted of a sheet type conductive member, and either a flexible substrate or a rigid substrate may be used as the substrate 11. Furthermore, the substrate 11 is not limited to a sheet type conductive member as long as it has the connector mounting region 11A used for mounting the connector 10, 20.
While the depression 11C of the substrate 11 is formed from a through-hole penetrating the substrate 11 in the Z direction in Embodiments 1 and 2, the depression 11C may be constituted of a recess formed at the surface of the substrate 11 on the +Z direction side without penetrating the substrate 11 when the substrate 11 has a sufficient thickness.
While the connector 10 of Embodiment 1 and the connector 20 of Embodiment 2 are configured such that the plurality of coated electric wires 12 are connected to the substrate 11, the invention is not limited thereto, and a connector may be configured such that a single coated electric wire 12 is connected to the substrate 11 in the same manner.
While the coated electric wire 12 is used as an electric wire connected to the substrate 11, an electric wire constituted only of the conductor portion 12A whose outer periphery is not covered with the insulating coating portion 12B may be connected to the substrate 11.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2022-152679 | Sep 2022 | JP | national |