Electrical connector having contacts with connecting portions formed obliquely in a direction of the aligned contacts

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6814614
  • Patent Number
    6,814,614
  • Date Filed
    Wednesday, October 29, 2003
    21 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, November 9, 2004
    20 years ago
Abstract
In a connector member, each of contacts has a contact portion to be connected to a counterpart connector, a retention portion retained by an insulator, and a connecting portion to be connected with a cable. Each connecting portion is connected with the cable by soldering and projected from the insulator in an axial direction of the contact. Each connecting portion is formed obliquely in a contact pitch direction of the connector. A plug connector is provided with a shell on an upper surface of the connector member, and covered with a hood so as to expose a fitting portion.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




The present invention relates to a connector, and more specifically, to a narrow-pitch connector mounted in a portable personal digital assistant (PDA) or the like as an interface, and further to a shape of a contact thereof.




Conventionally, an electrical connector of this type includes an insulator and a plurality of contacts retained in array by the insulator.




Each contact is formed near one end thereof with a connecting portion extending in a direction substantially perpendicular to a thickness direction of the contact for soldering a cable or a lead wire thereto. A forward end of the connecting portion formed near the one end of each contact is located with a clearance in a contact pitch direction of the connector from the adjacent contact near the other end thereof.




For enabling mounting of the conventional bent-shaped contacts, interference between the contacts is prevented by deviating the positions of the connecting portions outside the maximum width of the contact. However, the whole connector is enlarged in size corresponding to the deviation of the positions of the connecting portions, and therefore, it has been difficult to achieve reduction in size of the whole connector.




Further, conventionally, the shape of the connecting portion of each contact that becomes necessary, for example, upon soldering a cable or a lead wire, is formed by perpendicular bending of one end of the contact. With respect to the bent shape of the connecting portion of the conventional contact, when applied to a narrow-pitch connector, a range corresponding to a distance from a forward end of the connecting portion formed near the one end of each contact interferes with the adjacent contact, and therefore, it has been difficult to mount the contacts in the insulator.




Moreover, since distances each between the connecting portions of the adjacent contacts increase, respectively, and become asymmetric to each other, there is a drawback in a connector for use in high-speed differential transmission that an impedance changes depending on a combination of terminals to which differential signals are fed.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a narrow-pitch plug connector including contacts each having a cable connecting portion, which has been improved in size reduction and high-speed transmission characteristic.




It is another object of the present invention to provide a plug member that is used in the foregoing plug connector.




According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a connector which includes a plurality of contacts arrayed in a contact pitch direction, and an insulator fixedly retaining the contacts. In the connector, each of the contacts includes a contact portion to be connected to a counterpart connector, a retention portion retained by the insulator, and a terminal portion to be connected with a cable or a lead wire. The terminal portion includes a connecting portion to which the cable or lead wire is soldered, and is projected from the insulator in an axial direction of the contact. The connecting portion is formed obliquely in the contact pitch direction.




Here, in the present invention, it is preferable that the connecting portions are formed zigzag in the contact pitch direction in the foregoing connector.




Further, according to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a connector member includes a plurality of contacts arrayed in a contact pitch direction being a second direction crossing a first direction being a fitting direction, and an insulator fixedly retaining the contacts. In the connector member, each of the contacts includes a contact portion to be connected to the counterpart connector, a retention portion retained by the insulator, and a terminal portion to be connected with a cable or a lead wire. The terminal portion includes a connecting portion to which the cable or lead wire is soldered, and is projected from the insulator in an axial direction of the contact. The connecting portion is formed obliquely in the contact pitch direction.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1A

is a perspective view showing one example of a conventional connector, seen from the connection side thereof as the front;





FIG. 1B

is a front view seen from the connection side of the connector shown in

FIG. 1A

;





FIG. 1C

is an enlarged view of a circled portion in

FIG. 1B

;





FIG. 2A

is a front view showing another example of a conventional connector, seen from the connection side thereof;





FIG. 2B

is an enlarged view of a circled portion of the connector shown in

FIG. 2A

;





FIG. 3A

is a perspective view showing a contact of a conventional connector of still another example;





FIG. 3B

is a perspective view seen from the connection side of the connector having contacts each as shown in

FIG. 3A

;





FIG. 3C

is a front view seen from the connection side of the connector shown in

FIG. 3B

;





FIGS. 3D and 3E

are sectional views, respectively, of a circled portion in

FIG. 3C

;





FIG. 4A

is a perspective view of a contact of a plug connector, seen from the side of a connecting portion thereof, according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;





FIG. 4B

is a perspective view showing a connector body of the plug connector having contacts each as shown in

FIG. 4A

, seen from the side of connecting portions of the contacts;





FIG. 4C

is a front view seen from the connection side of the plug connector body;





FIG. 4D

is an enlarged view of a circled portion in

FIG. 4C

;





FIG. 5A

is a perspective view showing the whole of the plug connector according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention;





FIG. 5B

is a perspective view showing the connector body of the plug connector shown in

FIG. 5A

, seen from the side of contact portions of the contacts as the front;





FIG. 5C

is a perspective view showing the connector body shown in

FIG. 5B

, seen from the side of the connecting portions of the contacts;





FIG. 6

is a perspective view showing the plug connector of

FIG. 5A and a

portable personal digital assistant (PDA) provided with the receptacle connector of

FIG. 7

in the state before connection therebetween; and





FIG. 7

is a perspective view of a receptacle connector adapted to receive the plug connector shown in

FIGS. 5A

to


5


C.











DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT




Prior to describing a preferred embodiment of the present invention, conventional connectors will be described with reference to

FIGS. 1A

to


3


E for facilitating understanding of the present invention.




In

FIGS. 1A

to


1


C, contacts are shown by hatching for better understanding. Referring to

FIGS. 1A

to


1


C, a connector


7


is a narrow-pitch connector having a contact pitch of, for example, 1.1 mm. The connector


7


comprises an insulator


9


and fourteen contacts


11


retained in array by the insulator


9


.




Each contact


11


is formed near one end thereof with a connecting portion


13


extending in a direction substantially perpendicular to a thickness direction of the contact


11


for soldering a cable thereto. A forward end of the connecting portion


13


formed near the one end of each contact


11


is located with a clearance C


1


in a contact pitch direction of the connector from the adjacent contact


11


near the other end thereof.




In another example of the conventional connector shown in

FIGS. 2A and 2B

, contacts are also shown by hatching.




Referring to

FIGS. 2A and 2B

, a connector


15


is a narrow-pitch connector having a contact pitch of 0.7 mm. The connector


15


includes an insulator


17


and fourteen contacts


19


retained in array by the insulator


17


.




As best shown in

FIG. 2B

, each contact


19


is formed near one end thereof with a connecting portion


21


extending in a direction substantially perpendicular to a thickness direction of the contact


19


for soldering a cable thereto.




Referring to

FIG. 3A

, a conventional contact


23


of still another example includes a tip portion


25


, a retention portion


27


that is press-fitted into an insulator to be retained thereby, a terminal portion


29


having a width in a thickness direction of the contact


23


and extending in a longitudinal direction thereof. The terminal portion


29


is provided with a connecting portion


31


that is curved semicylindrically for soldering a lead wire thereto.




As shown in

FIGS. 3B and 3C

, a connector


33


comprises an insulator


61


and the contacts


23


each press-fitted into a retaining portion of the insulator


61


from a contact hole


62


so as to be retained thereby.




Referring to

FIGS. 3D and 3E

, when mounting the contacts having two kinds of shapes of the connecting portions, it is necessary to provide a clearance


39


so that the connecting portion of either one of the contacts is prevented from interfering with a width


38


of the adjacent contact.




In any of the conventional examples shown in

FIGS. 1B

,


2


B, and


3


D, for enabling mounting of the conventional bent-shaped contacts, interference between the contacts


23


is prevented by deviating the positions of the connecting portions outside the maximum width of the contact. However, the whole connector is enlarged in size corresponding to the deviation of the positions of the connecting portions, and therefore, it has been difficult to achieve reduction in size of the whole connector.




As shown in

FIG. 1B

, in the conventional example, the shape of the connecting portion of each contact that becomes necessary upon soldering the cable is formed by perpendicular bending. With respect to the bent shape of the connecting portion of the conventional contact, when applied to the narrow-pitch connector shown in

FIG. 2B

, a range corresponding to a distance C


2


from a forward end of the connecting portion


21


formed near the one end of each contact


19


interferes with the adjacent contact


19


, and therefore, it has been difficult to mount the contacts


19


in the insulator


17


.




As shown in

FIG. 3E

, since distances


41


and


43


each between the connecting portions of the adjacent contacts increase, respectively, and become asymmetric to each other, there is a drawback in a connector for use in high-speed differential transmission that an impedance changes depending on a combination of terminals to which differential signals are fed.




Now, the preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.




As shown in

FIG. 4A

, a contact


51


is in the form of an elongate metal plate and comprises a contact portion


53


at one end thereof, a retention portion


55


extending from the contact portion


53


in a longitudinal direction, and a terminal portion


57


stepped upward from the retention portion


55


and extending in the longitudinal direction. The retention portion


55


is press-fitted into a receiving portion of an insulator


61


so as to be retained thereby. The terminal portion


57


has a connecting portion


59


formed into an arc-like or semiannular shape in cross section and inclined at substantially 45° relative to a thickness direction of the contact (a contact pitch direction of a connector).




As shown in

FIGS. 4B and 4C

, a plug connector body


65


comprises the insulator


61


and thirty contacts


51


retained in array in the receiving portion provided in the insulator


61


. The contacts


51


are disposed in the contact pitch direction so as to be inverted alternately. An arrow


69


represents an axial direction of the contact


51


.




Referring to

FIG. 4D

, the connecting portion


59


formed on a free end side of the terminal portion


57


of the contact


51


is disposed so as to confront the connecting portion


59


located on the upper left side thereof and formed near one end of the adjacent contact


51


on the left, with an interval


71


defined therebetween, while confront the connecting portion


59


located on the upper right side thereof and formed near one end of the adjacent contact


51


on the right, with an interval


73


defined therebetween. Incidentally, numeral


68


denotes a width (height) of the contact.




As described above, since it is configured that the connecting portion


59


of each contact


51


is inclined at substantially 45° relative to the contact pitch direction, it is possible to prevent interference between the adjacent contacts


51


upon mounting the contacts


51


, with the minimum distance between the adjacent contacts


51


. Further, since the intervals


71


and


73


each between the connecting portions


59


of the adjacent contacts


51


are substantially symmetric to each other, it is possible to prevent occurrence of a difference in impedance depending on a combination of the contacts


51


, and therefore, to achieve impedance matching of the connector for high-speed transmission.




Further, since an interval (height)


75


between the connecting portions


59


of the contacts


51


in a vertical direction can be shortened, the height of the connector can be lowered.




As shown in

FIG. 5A

, in a plug connector


77


, the plug connector body


65


is covered with a shell


81


on an upper surface of the insulator


61


on the fitting side thereof. The insulator


61


other than the fitting side thereof and the contacts


51


are wholly covered with a hood


83


.




As shown in

FIGS. 5B and 5C

, the contact portions


53


of the thirty contacts


51


on the fitting side are retained on one side of the insulator


61


of the plug connector


77


, while the terminal portions


57


of the thirty contacts


51


having the connecting portions


59


exposed to the exterior on the connection side are retained on the other side of the insulator


61


of the plug connector


77


. Each contact


51


includes, as shown in

FIG. 4A

, the contact portion


53


to be connected to a counterpart connector, the retention portion


55


to be retained by the insulator


61


, and the terminal portion


57


provided with the connecting portion


59


to be connected to a cable.




In

FIG. 7

, when the plug connector


77


is fitted into a receptacle connector


79


, the contact portions of the contacts


51


of the plug connector


77


on the fitting side are connected to contact portions of contacts (not shown) of the receptacle connector


79


on the side of a fitting portion


87


, respectively.





FIG. 6

is a perspective view showing the plug connector


77


of

FIG. 5A and a

portable personal digital assistant (PDA)


85


provided with the receptacle connector


79


of

FIG. 5D

in the state before connection therebetween. When the plug connector


77


is fitted into the receptacle connector


79


provided on a lower end surface of the PDA


85


, the contact portions


53


of the contacts


51


of the plug connector


77


on the fitting side are connected to the contact portions of the contacts of the receptacle connector


79


on the side of the fitting portion


87


.




In this embodiment, the thirty contacts


51


, each after having been pressed into the shape having the contact portion


53


, the retention portion


55


, and the terminal portion


57


having the connecting portion


59


, are simultaneously press-fitted into the insulator


61


in a lump.




As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide the narrow-pitch plug connector including the contacts each having the cable connecting portion, which has been improved in size reduction and high-speed transmission characteristic.



Claims
  • 1. A plug connector comprising a plug connector body to be fitted to a counterpart connector in a first direction, a shell covering at least one surface of said plug connector body, and a hood covering said plug connector body along with said shell while exposing one end side thereof in said first direction;said plug connector body comprising a plurality of contacts arrayed in a second direction crossing said first direction, and an insulator fixedly retaining said contacts, each of said contains comprising a contact portion to be connected to the counterpart connector, a retention portion retained by said insulator, and a terminal portion to be connected with a cable or a lead wire; said terminal portion comprising a connecting portion to which said cable or lead wire is soldered, and is projected from said insulator in said first direction, said connecting portion being formed obliquely in said second direction; wherein said retention portion is press-fitted into said insulator to be fixedly retained thereby, such that a thickness direction of said contact agrees with said second direction, and a width direction of said contact agrees with a height direction being a third direction crossing said first and second directions.
  • 2. The plug connector according to claim 1, wherein said connecting portions are staggered alternately in said second direction.
  • 3. The plug connector according to claim 1, wherein each of said connecting portions is oriented in the same direction and is inclined at substantially 45° relative to said second direction.
  • 4. The plug connector according to claim 1, wherein the mutually adjacent contacts are formed such that a distance between said connecting portions is greater than an interval between said connecting portions in said third direction, and less than a length of said contact in the height direction.
  • 5. A portable personal digital assistant comprising said first counterpart connector according to claim 1, wherein said first counterpart connector receives an interface comprising said plug connector according to claim 1.
  • 6. An electrical connector member comprising a plurality of contacts arrayed in a second direction crossing a first direction being a fitting direction, and an insulator fixedly retaining said contacts;each of said contacts comprising a contact portion to be connected to a counterpart connector, a retention portion retained by said insulator, and a terminal portion to be connected with a cable or a lead wire; said terminal portion comprising a connecting portion to which said cable or lead wire is soldered, and is projected from said insulator in said first direction; said connecting portion being formed obliquely in said second direction; wherein said retention portion is press-fitted into said insulator to be fixedly retained thereby, such that a thickness direction of said contact agrees with said second direction, and a width direction of said contact agrees with a height direction being a third direction crossing to said first and second directions.
  • 7. The connector member according to claim 6, wherein said connecting portions are staggered alternately in said second direction.
  • 8. The connector member according to claim 6, wherein each of said connecting portions is oriented in the same direction and is inclined at substantially 45° relative to said second direction.
  • 9. The connector member according to claim 6, wherein the mutually adjacent contacts are formed such that a distance between said connecting portions is greater than an interval between said connecting portions in said third direction, and less than a length of said contact in the height direction.
  • 10. A portable personal digital assistant comprising said counterpart connector of claim 6, wherein said connector member receives an interface comprising said second connector member according to claim 7.
Priority Claims (1)
Number Date Country Kind
2002-322549 Nov 2002 JP
Parent Case Info

This application claims priority to prior Japanese patent application JP 2002-322549, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

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Entry
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