1. Field of the Invention
The disclosures herein relate to a connector.
2. Description of the Related Art
Connectors are used to establish electrical connection. A contact of a first connector and a contact of a second connector are brought in contact with each other to establish electrical connection. The first connector may be a plug connector, and the second connector may be a jack connector. The first connector and the second connector are then engaged with each other for electrical connection. In so doing, one or both of the first connector and the second connector may need to be moved in the direction of engaging movement, thereby requiring a certain extent of space for coupling the connectors.
If the space required for connecting the first connector and the second connector with each other can be reduced, the coupling of connectors can be performed in reduced space. When the number of contacts provided on a connector increases, the size of connector also increases, which tends to result in larger space being required for coupling. It is thus desired to reduce the space required for coupling connectors that have a large number of contacts.
Accordingly, it may be preferable to provide connectors each having a plurality of contacts for which coupling can be easily performed while requiring reduced space for coupling the connectors.
According to an embodiment, a connector includes a first connector and a second connector, wherein the first connector includes first contacts made of a conductive material, and a first movable part made of an insulating material, wherein the first contacts have respective first contact portions of a convex shape, and the first movable part is connected to the first contacts to be movable together with the first contact portions, wherein the second connector includes second contacts made of a conductive material, and a second movable part made of an insulating material, wherein the second contacts have respective second contact portions coming in contact with the first contact portions, and the second movable part is connected to the second contacts to be movable together with the second contact portions, and wherein the first contact portions and the second contact portions are configured to come in contact with each other, thereby electrically coupling the first connector and the second connector.
According to at least one embodiment, connectors having a plurality of contacts for which coupling can be easily performed while requiring reduced space for coupling the connectors are provided.
Other objects and further features of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
In the following, embodiments will be described by referring to the accompanying drawings. The same elements throughout the drawings are referred to by the same numerals, and a description thereof will be omitted.
[First Embodiment]
In the following, a description will be given of a connector according to a first embodiment. The connector of the present embodiment includes a first connector 100 and a second connector 200.
<First Connector>
The first connector 100 will be described first. As illustrated in
The plug contacts 110 have a spring property. With the plug-contact fixing parts 112 at both ends being fixed, the plug-side contact portion 111 is configured to move vertically, i.e., in a direction perpendicular to a plate on which the plug contacts 110 are mounted, due to the spring property of the plug contacts 110 at the portions between the plug-contact fixing parts 112 and the plug-side contact portion 111. Specifically, the plug-side contact portion 111 is configured to move substantially in a direction perpendicular to a contact plane that is tangent to the plug-side contact portion 111 at the point where the plug-side contact portion 111 comes in contact with a socket-side contact portion 211, which will be described later.
As illustrated in
The plug-contact fixing parts 112 of each of the plug contacts 110 are fixed to plug-side fixing parts 130 situated at both ends. Specifically, each of the plug contacts 110 is fastened to a printed circuit board or the like serving as a substrate by the plug-side fixing parts 130. With this arrangement, the plug-side contact portions 111 move vertically together with the plug-side movable part 120 due to the spring property of the plug contacts 110. The plug-side fixing parts 130 are made of an insulating material such as a resin material.
<Second Connector>
The second connector 200 will be described in the following. As illustrated in
The socket contacts 210 have a spring property. With the socket-contact fixing parts 212 at both ends being fixed, the socket-side contact portion 211 is configured to move vertically, i.e., in a direction perpendicular to a plate on which the socket contacts 210 are mounted, due to the spring property of the socket contacts 210 at the portions between the socket-contact fixing parts 212 and the socket-side contact portion 211. Specifically, the socket-side contact portion 211 is configured to move substantially in a direction perpendicular to a contact plane that is tangent to the socket-side contact portion 211 at the point where the socket-side contact portion 211 comes in contact with the plug-side contact portion 111.
As illustrated in
The socket-contact fixing parts 212 of each of the socket contacts 210 are fixed to socket-side fixing parts 230 situated at both ends. Specifically, each of the socket contacts 210 is fastened to a printed circuit board or the like serving as a substrate by the socket-side fixing parts 230. With this arrangement, the socket-side contact portions 211 move vertically together with the socket-side movable part 220 due to the spring property of the socket contacts 210. The socket-side fixing parts 230 are made of an insulating material such as a resin material.
<Coupling of Connectors>
According to the present embodiment, as illustrated in
Through such movement, the plug-side contact portions 111 of the plug contacts 110 slide on the surfaces of the socket contacts 210, thereby removing dusts and corrosive substances from these surfaces. This ensures that electrical connection be reliably established between the plug contacts 110 and the socket contacts 210.
[Second Embodiment]
In the following, a second embodiment will be described. The present embodiment is directed to a configuration in which guides are provided to assist sliding movement of the first connector 100 and/or the second connector 200. Specifically, as illustrated in
<Coupling of Connectors>
In the following, a method of coupling connectors according to the present embodiment will be described. According to the present embodiment, as illustrated in
In such a configuration, the plug-side contact portions 111 of the first connector 100 are arranged substantially in parallel to the printed circuit board 160. Also, the socket-side contact portions 211 of the second connector 200 are arranged substantially in parallel to the printed circuit board 260. With this arrangement, coupling between the first connector 100 and the second connector 200 can be established by moving the first connector 100 in a direction indicated by an arrow E and/or by moving the second connector 200 in a direction indicated by an arrow F. Namely, coupling can be established by moving at least one of the first connector 100 and the second connector 200 in substantially parallel to the printed circuit board 160 and the printed circuit board 260, respectively. It may be noted that both the direction indicated by the arrow E and the direction indicated by the arrow F are parallel to the contact plane CP1 (
In the present embodiment, further, sliding movement for establishing coupling is performed such that the plug-side guides 131 situated at both ends of each of the plug-side fixing parts 130 of the first connector 100 fit into the socket-side guides 231 situated at both ends of each of the socket-side fixing parts 230 of the second connector 200. This arrangement ensures that the plug contacts 110 and the socket contacts 210 are reliably connected to each other.
Configurations other than those described above are the same as or similar to those of the first embodiment.
Further, although a pair of connectors each having a plurality of contacts for which coupling can be easily performed has been described by referring to the embodiments disclosed herein, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, but various variations and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.
The present application is based on Japanese priority application No. 2011-144952 filed on Jun. 29, 2011, with the Japanese Patent Office, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2011-144952 | Jun 2011 | JP | national |
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Number | Date | Country |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20130005187 A1 | Jan 2013 | US |