Patent Application
20250149809
The present invention relates generally to an electronic apparatus and more particularly, to an electrical connection structure used in an electronic apparatus, such as a toner cartridge for an electronic image-forming apparatus.
In conventional electrical connection structures, the soldering method is used to connect the terminals with the circuit traces of the circuit board. This conventional structure is reliable. However, in certain circumstances, such as the terminal sizes are small or the terminals are arranged crowded, the terminals may not be easily and accurately positioned at desired locations of the circuit board by jigs, resulting in labor-intensive and time-consuming soldering tasks and poor yield rate, which will greatly increase the manufacturing cost. Therefore, developing a convenient and reliable electrical connection way has become a challenge that the industry is striving to overcome.
The present invention has been accomplished in view of the above-noted circumstances. It is an objective of the present invention to provide an electrical connection structure, which can be quickly assembled, and has a stable structure, good yield rate, and low manufacturing cost.
To attain the above-mentioned objective, the present invention provides an electrical connection structure comprising a substrate and a terminal. The substrate includes at least one through hole and at least one electrical contact provided at a wall of the through hole. The terminal includes two elastic arms spaced from each other, and a connection portion connected with the two elastic arms. The two elastic arms are abutted against the wall of the through hole and electrically connected with the at least one electrical contact. As a result, the electrical connection structure provided by the present invention is not only stable in structure and positive in electrical connection, but also quick in assembly without the need of soldering, thereby achieving a high yield rate to reduce the manufacturing cost.
The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given herein below and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the present invention, and wherein:
Hereunder two embodiments will be detailed described with accompanying drawings for illustrating technical features and structure of the present invention.
The substrate 10 is provided with a plurality of circuit traces 12 and four through holes 14. The inner peripheral wall of each of the through holes 14 is provided with two electrical contacts 16 electrically connected with the circuit traces 12. Further, a memory 18 is provided on one side of the substrate 10 and electrically connected with the circuit traces 12. The memory 18 stores relevant information about the toner cartridge 2. In another embodiment, one or more electrical contacts 16 may be provided at the wall of each through hole 14.
The four terminals 20 are formed by sheet pieces and each include two elastic arms 22 spaced from each other, a connection portion 23 connected with the two elastic arms 22, two suspension arms 25 extending outwardly from the ends of the two elastic arms 22, and two contact ends 26 respectively provided at terminal ends of the two suspension arms 25 for being electrically and mechanically coupled with an electronic image-forming apparatus. The two elastic arms 22 are abutted against the inner peripheral wall of the through hole 14 and electrically connected with the electrical contacts 16. The connection portion 23 has an arched shape, and the two elastic arms 22 extend parallel to each other from the two ends of the connection portion 23, such that the two elastic arms 22 can be deformed to approach each other under force. The outer edges of the two conjunctions, to which the connection portion 23 and the two elastic arms 22 are connected, have two first arc guiding portions 24 to enable that the two elastic arms 22 can be inserted into the through hole 14 smoothly. Since the first distance D1 between the outer edges of the two elastic arms 22 is slightly larger than the second distance D2 between two opposite sides of the wall of the through hole 14, when the two elastic arms 22 are inserted through the through hole 14, the two elastic arms 22 and/or the connection portion 23 are slightly deformed, so that the two elastic arms 22 can be elastically pressed against the electrical contacts 16 by an elastic rebounding force. With this structural design, the electrical connection structure 1 of the present invention may have a stable structure, a positive, precise electrical connection without the need of soldering, and an enhanced yield rate. In another embodiment, one or more suspension arms 25 or contact ends 26 of the terminal 20 may be provided, or the structure of the terminal 20 may be modified, e.g., by omitting the two suspension arms 25.
The terminal mount 30 includes a base plate 31, two extension plates 34 extending parallel to each other from the base plate 31, a plurality of receiving grooves 35 provided at the two extension plates 34 and the base plate 31 to accommodate the suspension arms 25 of the terminals 20, and three elastic hook arms 38 extending parallel to each other from the base plate 31 in the direction opposite to the two extension plates 34. The terminal mount 30 fixes the relative positions of the terminals 20. When the terminal mount 30 approaches the substrate 10, the connection portions 23 of the terminals 20 can be correctly inserted through the through holes 14 and electrically connected with the electrical contacts 16. This not only enables rapid assembly but also eliminates the need to individually align and weld each terminal 20 with the through holes 14 and the electrical contacts 16 of the substrate 10, respectively. Since the actual alignment and welding processes are time-consuming and labor-intensive in the prior art, the present invention can effectively reduce manufacturing costs and enhance the yield rate.
The retaining mount 40 is sleeved onto the front end of the toner cartridge 2 and has a receiving space 42 for accommodating the substrate 10. When the terminal mount 30 is anchored with the retaining mount 40 by the elastic hook arms 38, the retaining mount 40 is connected to the terminal mount 30 in such a way that the substrate is sandwiched between the retaining mount 40 and the terminal mount 30. In this way, it can ensure that the elastic arms 22 of the terminals 20 positively extend through the 10 through holes 14 to achieve the electrical connections between the terminals 20 and the substrate 10. As such, the electrical connection structure 1 of the present invention may be more stable, and may be made with enhanced yield rate. In another embodiment, the terminal mount 30 can be connected to the retaining mount 40 by adhesive, snapping, or other means.
Based on the above-mentioned technical features, various modifications to the structure of the electrical connection structure 1 may be made. For example,
More modifications to the structures of the electrical connection structures 1 and 1a may be made. For example, the first and second arc guiding portions 24 and 28a and the stop portions 29 may be omitted. The terminal mount 30 and the retaining mount 40 are used to assist positioning and alignment of the substrate 10 to the terminals 20, such that the structures of the terminal and retaining mounts 30 and 40 may be modified and the terminal and retaining mounts 30 and 40 may be omitted. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims.
