This application claims the benefit of the filing date under 35 U.S.C. §119(a)-(d) of Japanese Patent Application No. 2015-091238, filed Apr. 28, 2015.
The present invention relates to an electrical connector, and more particularly, to an electrical connector provided with a circuit board having a plurality of contact pads.
As is known in the art, some electronic apparatuses used in high-performance applications, such as medical devices, are required to transmit and receive signals of considerably numerous channels. In such apparatuses, multichannel connectors suitable for transmitting and receiving multichannel signals are used.
JP 2001-351747A discloses an example of such a multichannel connector. The connector disclosed in JP 2001-351747A is provided with a circuit board having a plurality of contact pads formed on a first face thereof and arranged in a two-dimensional fashion. This circuit board is fixed to a housing surface from a mating connector side, having the first face facing the mating connector.
In the case of the connector disclosed in JP 2001-351747A, the positioning of the circuit board within the housing is dictated by a second face opposite to the first face, which contacts the housing. Variations in thickness or warping of the circuit board may cause the position of the contact pads formed on the first face to fluctuate relative to the mating connector. The variations of this position also cause a contact pressure with the mating connector to fluctuate, resulting in an unstable contact and corresponding connection. Moreover, a connector having this structure is unadaptable to a circuit board having a different board thickness.
An object of the invention, among others, is to provide improved positional precision of a first face of a connector having contact pads formed thereon. The disclosed connector comprises a circuit board having a plurality of contact pads arranged in a two-dimensional fashion on a first face facing a mating connector side, the plurality of contact pads configured to make contact with a plurality of contacts of a mating connector, and a housing having a locating portion in contact with the first face of the circuit board, the locating portion locating the first face with respect to a direction of mating with the mating connector.
The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying figures, of which:
The invention is explained in greater detail below with reference to embodiments of an electrical connector. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete and still fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.
The electrical connector according to the invention, as shown generally in
The first connector 10, as shown in
The frame 11 may be made of metal, and is provided with a plurality of lock grooves 111 and shield contact portions 112 on an outside face thereof. As shown in
The cap 12, as shown in
The circuit board 13 has a plurality of contact pads 133 arranged in the circuit board 13 in a two-dimensional fashion on a lower face 132, as shown in
Further, the circuit board 13 has tongue portions 134 projecting at left and right sides, and locating holes 135 and 136 provided in the tongue portions 134. The tongue portions 134 correspond to and are positioned on the stand portions 113 of the frame 11. The circuit board 13 is placed in such a state that the tongue portions 134 have been placed on the stand portions 113 of the frame 11 and the locating pins 114 of the frame 11 have been pushed into the locating holes 135 of the circuit board 13. Thereby, the circuit board 13 is positioned within the frame
Two locating holes 135 and 136 are provided in each of the left and right tongue portions 134. On one hand, the number of locating pins 114 provided on these stand portions 113 is one per each of the respective left and right stand portions 113. The locating pins 114 provided on these stand portions 113 are inserted into respective one left and right locating holes 135 of the two locating holes 135 and the two locating holes 136 in the two left and right tongue portions 134, respectively, so that locating of the circuit board 13 to the frame 11 is performed. The contact pads 133 on the lower face 132, shown in
The retainer 14 is a frame-shaped member having a through-hole at a central portion thereof. The retainer 14 makes contact with the upper face 131 of the circuit board 13 supported by the frame 11 and fixes the circuit board 13 to the stand portions 113 of the frame 11 when the retainer 14 is pushed on to the stand portions 113. Thereby, the circuit board 13 is fixed in a state where it has been securely pushed on to the stand portions 113 of the frame 11.
Fixing of respective parts constituting the first connector 10 may be performed by four short screws 15 and four long screws 16. The short screws 15 are screwed to the frame 11 from the side of the retainer 14, as shown in
In the assembled first connector 10, shown in
In the aforementioned embodiment, a configuration obtained by combining the frame 11 and the retainer 14 is referred to as an example of the housing, and the stand portion 113 of the frame 11 is referred to as an example of the locating portion. Further, the retainer 14 corresponds to one example of the fixing portion of the housing.
The second connector 20, as shown in
A plurality of contact blocks 21 is provided. The exemplary embodiment of
The base housing 22 is formed in a rectangular shape, and is surrounded by a wall and is recessed at a central portion thereof. The base housing 22 may be made of metal. Long holes 221 are formed on a recess-shaped bottom face along with bottom holes 224 positioned on the bottom face outside of the long holes 221. Each contact block 21 is press-fitted into each long hole 221 from a back face side of the base housing 22, and the contacts 211 are arranged inside the base housing 22 through the long hole 221. The base housing 22 also has shield member arrangement portions 222 disposed along the wall of the base housing 22 and top hole 223.
The slider 23 has a projecting portion 233 projecting in its longitudinal direction, and the projecting portion 233 is formed with a cam hole 234. Further, an upper face 231 (a face on the side of the lift plate 24) of the slider 23 constitutes a convex cam face having a plurality of projecting portions 235.
The slider 23 and the lift plate 24 are arranged in the recessed portion of the base housing 22 from above the base housing 22, and the upper housing 25 is further placed on the lift plate 24. The slider 23 and the lift plate 24 are formed with a plurality of holes 232 and 242 for allowing penetration of a plurality of contacts 211. A plurality of holes 252 for allowing penetration of the contacts 211 are also formed in the upper housing 25. Uppermost portions of the contacts 211 enter the holes 252 on the mating face 251 of the upper housing 25. However, in a state where a force is not applied to the contacts 211, the uppermost portions of the contacts 211 enter the holes 252 of the upper housing 25 and do not protrude above the upper housing 25.
The lift plate 24 overlaps with the slider 23. A lower face (a face on the side of the slider 23) of the lift plate 24 constitutes a cam reception face having a recessed shape with a plurality of recessed portions 244 corresponding to projection portions 235 on the upper face 231 of the slider 23, as shown in
The lock plate 26 is arranged further above the upper housing 25. The lock plate 26 has a frame shape surrounding a large opening 261, and it is provided with a projecting portion 262 in its longitudinal direction. A cam hole 263 is formed in the projecting portion 262 at a position at which the first cam 361 of the cam member 36 enters. Further, a plurality of lock projections 264, as shown in
The shell 27 is arranged so as to enter the opening 261 of the lock plate 26. The lock projections 264 of the lock plate 26 enter the L-shaped lock grooves 271 provided in the shell 27. Each lock groove 271 has a first portion 271a extending in the mating direction (facing a depth of the recess) and a second portion 271b extending laterally so as to be wholly formed in an L shape. However, the second portion 271b is formed on an upper end side of the first portion 271a to be opened upward (on the side of the first connector 10). The shell 27 also has a shell hole 272 as shown in
Further, as shown in
The shield members 31 are arranged on the base housing 22 so as to take an attitude along the shield member arrangement portions 222 provided on the side of an inner wall of the wall surrounding the base housing 22.
The ball plunger 32 is plugged into the hole 223 of the base housing 22. The ball plunger 32 makes contact with a back face of the projecting portion 262 of the lock plate 26 after assembled. As described above, the lock plate 26 is slid according to rotation of the cam member 36. Recesses (not shown) are formed in the back face of the projecting portion 262 of the lock plate 26 at two positions at which the ball plunger 32 contacts, the two points constituting a starting point and an end point of the sliding of the lock plate 26. The ball plunger 32 slightly locks the lock plate 26 at the two positions of the starting point and the end point of the sliding of the lock plate 26 and provides a clicking feeling to a user rotationally operating the lever 37 described later.
The two post pins 33 are plugged into the bottom holes 224. In addition, the post pins 33 penetrate two holes 272 provided in the shell 27, and they are put in a protruded state from the mating portion 202 of the second connector 20, as shown in
The lock block 34 and the lock block spring 35 are arranged on the base housing 22. The lock block 34 is pushed by the lock block spring 35 so that a distal end portion 341 of the lock block 34, shown in
The cam member 36 has the first cam 361 and a second cam 362. The first cam 361 is located in the cam hole 263 of the lock plate 26 and it slides the lock plate 26 according to rotation of the cam member 36. Further, the second cam 362 is located in the cam hole 234 of the slider 23 and it slides the slider 23 according to rotation of the cam member 36. When the lift plate 24 is at a lowered position, the projection portions 235 on the upper face 231 of the slider 23 enter recess portions 244 in the lower face 243 of the lift plate 24. When the cam member 36 is rotated, the slider 23 is slid laterally according to an action of the second cam 362. Thereby, the projection portions 235 on the upper face 231 of the slider 23 make contact with projection portions on the lower face 243 of the lift plate 24 to lift up the lift plate 24. The lift plate 24 lifts up the plurality of contacts 211 simultaneously.
The lever 37 is screwed to the cam member 36. The lever 37 is rotationally operated by a user. When the lever 37 is rotated, the cam member 36 is also rotated integrally with the lever 37.
A plurality of screws 38 fix the shell 27 to the base plate 22. Thereby, respective parts arranged so as to be sandwiched between the shell 27 and the base plate 22 are fixed.
In the second connector 20, a configuration obtained by combining the base housing 22 and the shell 27 in the aforementioned exemplary embodiment is referred to as the housing. Further, the slider 23 corresponds to an example of the slide plate. The lift plate 24 corresponds to an example of the moving plate.
A mating operation of the first connector 10 and the second connector 20 will now be described in greater detail.
The recess-shaped mating portion of the second connector 20 is surrounded by the wall 201 on a side facing the first connector 10. The second connector 20 is fixed and connected to an apparatus. As shown in
The plurality of connection pads 133 arranged on a mating face of the first connector 10 face the side of the second connector 20 in a two-dimensional fashion. When the first connector 10 is mated with the second connector 20, the mating face of the first connector 10 faces a mating face 251 of the second connector 20 in a state approximately contacting with the mating face 251 of the second connector 20. The mating face 251 of the second connector 20 is a bottom face of the recess-shaped mating portion 202 whose periphery is surrounded by the wall 201.
When the first connector 10 is mated with the second connector 20, the two post pins 33 are put in a state where they have been plugged into locating holes 136, as shown in
The contacts 211 are arranged in the plurality of holes 252 of the mating face 251 on the same face as the mating face 251 or at a height slightly recessed from the mating face 251. The first connector 10 is mated with the second connector 20 so as to be put in a state shown in
The lever 37 is then rotationally operated. When the lever 37 is rotationally operated, the lock projection 264 moves laterally in a passage portion formed by the second portions 111b and 271b extending laterally in the L-shaped passage. The lock projection 264 first starts moving laterally according to an action of the first cam 361 when the cam member 36 is rotated. Thereby, the first connector 10 is locked to the second connector 20 in an immovable fashion by the lock projection 264.
Next, the contact rises from the hole 252 of the mating face 251 of the second connector 20. The contacts 211 are moved to project from a plurality of holes 252 formed in the mating face 251 of the second connector 20 to make contact with the contact pads 133 of the first connector 10. However, the contacts elastically deform when they make contact with the contact pads. Therefore, the contacts hardly project from the holes 252 and are put in a state where they make contact with the contact pads 133 with a predetermined contact pressure. The contact which has risen is pushed on to the contact pad 133 formed on the mating face of the first connector 10 at a position facing the mating face 251 of the second connector 20.
The shield member 31 is provided in the second connector 20 in a contacting state with the base housing 22. When the first connector 10 is mated with the second connector 20, the shield members 31 provided in the second connector 20 make contact with shield contact portions 112 of the frame 11 of the first connector 10. Thereby, the first connector 10 and the second connector 20 are shielded integrally.
In a state before the lever 37 is rotationally operated, which is shown in
As shown in
When the first connector 10 is detached from the second connector 20, the lock block 34 is pushed by the lock block spring 35. The distal end portion 341 of the lock block 34 is put in a projecting state into the recess-shaped mating portion 202, as shown in
The contact block 21 is press-fitted into a long hole 221 of the base housing 22 from below the base housing 22. The contact 221 constituting the contact block 21 is protruded upward. The contact 211 penetrates the hole 232 of the slider 23 and the hole 242 of the lift plate 24 and an upper end portion thereof extends up to inside of the hole 252 of the upper housing 25. The circuit board 13 of the first connector 10 is located just above the upper housing 25. The contact pads 133 are formed on a lower face of the circuit board 13 facing the upper housing 25.
In the state shown in
As shown in
As described above, the cam projections 264 are provided on the lock plate 26. The first cam 361 of the cam member 36 has entered the cam hole 263 of the lock plate 26. When the lever 37 is rotated, the cam member 36 is rotated integrally with the lever 37, so that the first cam 361 pushes a wall face of the cam hole 263 and the lock plate 26 is slid. That is, in the state where the lever 37 has been rotated halfway, shown in
As shown in
In a state where the lever 37 has been rotated up to an attitude shown in
As shown in this
When the lever 37 is rotated up to the final attitude, the cam member 36 is also rotated up to its final attitude. According to the rotation of the cam member 36, as shown in
When the lever 37 is rotated up to the final attitude shown in
Advantageously, variations of the contact pressures or the contact timings can be suppressed as compared with such a configuration that individual contacts 211 are individually lifted up by the cam faces of the members corresponding to the slider 23. The contacts 211 of the second connector 20 can thus be caused to make contact with the contact pads 133 on the circuit board 13 of the first connector 10 with a contact pressure which has been adjusted with high precision.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2015-091238 | Apr 2015 | JP | national |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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5940639 | Salvas | Aug 1999 | A |
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20130106287 | Savicki, Jr. | May 2013 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
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2001217040 | Aug 2001 | JP |
2001351747 | Dec 2001 | JP |
3332900 | Jul 2002 | JP |
2013027330 | Feb 2013 | WO |
2013157616 | Oct 2013 | WO |
Entry |
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European search report, dated Sep. 6, 2016, 7 pages. |
Abstract of JP2001217040, dated Aug. 10, 2001, 2 pages. |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20160322746 A1 | Nov 2016 | US |