Patent Application
20090011636
The present invention is a flexible flat cable connector, and more particularly to a flexible cable connector having a switch terminal block for detecting whether or not the flexible cable is correctly positioned.
A common flexible flat cable (FFC) is a product which wraps the signal lines in the plastic insulating film The feature of the flexible flat cable is bendable, light-weightness, and thinness, and can be deployed associate with the size and the shape of the electrical products, and suitable for thinness and smallness electrical products, such us notebooks, optical disk drives, floppy drives, printers or mobile phones. Generally, the flexible flat cable does not connect to the circuit board directly, but via a connector fixed on the circuit board. Such connectors are called flexible flat connectors.
The flexible flat cable connectors of prior art, as disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 7,134,891, comprises an insulating body a movable cover and a plurality of conductive terminals. The conductive terminals are inserted into the insulating body having a containing space. By the above-mentioned structure, the flexible flat cable can insert into the containing space from the front end of the insulating body, then the movable cover is pressed on the surface of the flexible flat cable to force the flexible flat cable being hold between the movable cover and the conductive terminal, so that the contact point of the of the flexible flat cable and the conductive terminal can conduct with each other.
However, the flexible flat cable deflects easily during the installing. Because the conventional flexible flat cable do not equip the function of detecting correct position, the user can not ensure whether the flexible flat cable is correctly positioned. Even thought the movable cover press on the surface of the flexible flat cable, the flexible cable can not conduct electrically, and most people often mistake the problem is caused by the damage of the flexible flat cable, and this causes unnecessary trouble.
So how to solve the problem described above is concerned by the related manufacturers.
In view of the foregoing drawbacks of the prior art, the inventor of the present invention based on years of experience to conduct extensive researches and experiments, and finally invented an flexible flat cable connector to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art.
The purpose of the present invention is to provide a flexible flat cable connector capable of detecting whether or not the flexible flat cable is correctly positioned after the flexible flat cable is inserted in slot.
The present invention provides a flexible flat cable connector comprising an insulating body, a plurality of conductive terminals and a cover. The conductive terminals are inserted in the terminal grooves of the insulating body, and the cover is assembled on the top of the containing space of the insulating body. A first switch terminal and a second switch terminal are disposed in the insulating body. The first switch terminal is arranged on the top of the second switch terminal When a flexible flat cable which has a lobe on one side is inserted in the containing space, the lobe of the flexible flat cable can contact against the first switch terminal for detecting whether or not the flexible flat cable is positioned correctly, and enabling the flexible flat cable and the conductive terminal to conduct with each other.
The subject matter regarded as the invention is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of the specification. The invention, both as to device and method of operation, together with features and advantages thereof may best be understood by reference to the following detailed description with the accompanying drawings in which:
To make it easier for our examiner to understand the present invention, the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings of embodiments are given for example, but such preferred embodiment is not intend to limit the scope of the present invention. For simplicity, like numerals are used for like elements as described in the specification of the present invention.
The insulating body 1 is formed a shape of flattened rectangle and has a containing space 11 concaved inside and a plurality of terminal grooves 12 penetrating through the insulating body 1. An upper groove 13 and a bottom groove 14 are disposed on the one side of the insulating body 1. Two positioning grooves 15 having opening bottom are disposed respectively on the two side of the opening of the containing space 11, and two slots 16 are disposed respectively on the two side of the inner surface near to front end of the insulating body 1.
A plurality of conductive terminals 2 are inserted respectively in the terminal grooves 12 from the rear end of the insulating body 1. Each of the conductive terminals has a main body portion 21 which extends forwardly an upper arm 22 and a lower arm 23 being parallel to each other. A pivoting groove 221 is disposed on the front end of the upper arm 22, and a convex contacting portion 231 is disposed on the front end of the lower arm 23. The bottom of the rear end of the main body portion 21 outwardly extends a solder portion 24 which is used for soldering with the circuit board (not shown).
The cover 3 is a structure of flat plate, and a plurality of pivots 31 are disposed equivalently along the rear end of the cover 3, and two buttons 32 corresponding to the slot 16 of the insulating body 1 are disposed on the two side of the front end of the cover 3.
The first switch terminal 4 has a flattened first positioning portion 41 which forwardly extends a first clamping portion 42 which is elastic deformable, and backwardly extends a first solder portion 43 which is used for soldering with the circuit portion.
The second switch terminal 5 has a flattened second positioning portion 51 which forwardly extends a second clamping portion 52, and backwardly extends a second solder portion 53 which is used for soldering with the circuit board.
In assembly process, the conductive terminals 2 are inserted respectively in the terminal grooves 12 from rear end of the insulating body 1. By embedding the main body portion 21 of the conductive terminal 2 in terminal groove 12, the upper arm 22 and lower arm 23 can expose in containing space 11 and the solder portion 24 can protrude out of the rear end of the insulating body 1. Then, the upper arm 22 is slightly bent downwardly so that the upper arm 22 and lower arm 23 can be smoothly placed in containing space 11, and the conductive terminal 2 can be firmly positioned in the terminal groove 12, and the solder portion 24 protrude out of the rear end of the insulating body.
The first switch terminal 4 and the second switch terminal 5 are assembled in the upper groove 13 and bottom groove 14 respectively, and the first positioning portion 41 and the second positioning portion 51 are inserted into the upper groove 13 and the lower groove 14 respectively, so that first clamping portion 42 and the second clamping portion 52 protrude in the two side of the containing space 11, and the first clamping portion 42 is located above the second clamping portion 52, and the first solder portion 43 and the second solder portion 53 protrude out of the rear side of the insulating body 1. After assembly process, the first switch terminal 4 and the second switch terminal 5 are aligned vertically and will not contact with each other. Then, the plurality of pivots 31 on the rear end of the cover 3 are pivoted into the pivoting groove 221 of the upper arm 22, so that the cover 3 can flip up and down on the top of the containing space 11. When the cover 3 flips down, the button located on the cover 3 can be wedged into the slot 16 for firm positioning of cover. Finally, the positioning plates are assembled into the positioning groove 15 located on the two side of the insulating body 1, so as to complete the assembly for the present invention.
The flexible flat cable 7 is inserted slantly into the containing space 11 from the front end of the insulating body 1. The lobe 71 of the flexible flat cable 7 is exactly located on the top of the first clamping portion 42 of the first switch terminal 4. By being flipped down, the cover 3 can press the surface of the flexible flat cable 7 so that the lobe 71 of the flexible flat cable 7 presses downwardly the first clamping portion 42 which is then elastic deformed to downwardly contact against the first clamping portion 52. The second switch terminal 5 then detect the flexible flat cable 7 correctly positioned, and the flexible flat cable 7 and the conductive terminal 2 conduct with each other.
The flexible flat cable connector of present invention utilizes a first switch terminal and a second switch terminal disposed on the insulating body, and the structure character provided with the flexible flat cable, when the flexible flat cable is correctly positioned, the lobe can press the first switch terminal which then contacts against the second switch terminal, so as to detect whether the flexible flat cable correctly positioned or not and form a conductive status. Therefore, when being inserted in correct position the flexible flat cable just can conduct electrically; this can prevent wrongly plug or electrical conduct failure and improve the usability of the flexible flat cable.
Besides, the first switch terminal and the second switch terminal are aligned vertically, such arrangement and the pressing direction of the flexible flat cable enable the flexible flat cable to contact with the switch terminals for conducting when the flexible flat cable is inserted and positioned. Therefore, the flexible flat cable connector also has an advantage that the length of the insulating body can be reduce. The first switch terminal and the second switch terminal are disposed on the one side of the conductive terminals so that the lobe structure located on the side of the flexible flat cable can easily press on the top of the first switch terminal, and achieve the function of detecting and conducting.
While the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of a preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto. To the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements and procedures, and the scope of the appended claims therefore should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements and procedures.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 096211106 | Jul 2007 | TW | national |
