Mounting structure of connector and method for mounting connector on substrate

Abstract

A mounting structure includes: a surface mounting connector including a housing and a plurality of terminals; a substrate including a plurality of lands, each of which is electrically connected to the terminal with a bonding member; a plurality of support portions for supporting the connector on the substrate; and a plurality of fixing members for positioning the connector on the substrate. Each fixing member is connected to the housing, and contacts a part of the substrate, which is different from a surface portion of the substrate contacting the support portion. Each terminal is positioned on the substrate with a predetermined distance between the terminal and the substrate by the support portions and the fixing members.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description made with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is an exploded view showing an electronic controller before assembly;

FIG. 2A is a side view and FIG. 2B is a front view showing a connector in the electronic controller;

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing arrangement of a support portion and a fixing pin with respect to a print board;

FIGS. 4A to 4C are typical views showing a mounting method of the connector to the print board, wherein FIGS. 4A and 4B show a positioning fixation process, and FIG. 4C shows a joining process;

FIGS. 5A to 5C are typical views showing a mounting method of a connector to a print board in accordance with a second embodiment mode, wherein FIGS. 5A and 5B show a positioning fixation process, and FIG. 5C is a view showing a joining process;

FIGS. 6A and 6B are views for explaining the construction of a fixing pin in accordance with a third embodiment mode;

FIGS. 7A to 7C are typical views showing a mounting method of a connector to a print board in accordance with the third embodiment mode, wherein FIGS. 7A and 7B show a positioning fixation process, and FIG. 7C is a view showing the positioning fixation process and a joining process;

FIGS. 8A and 8B are views for explaining the construction of a fixing pin in accordance with a fourth embodiment mode;

FIGS. 9A to 9C are typical views showing a mounting method of a connector to a print board in accordance with the fourth embodiment mode, wherein FIGS. 7A and 7B are views showing a positioning fixation process, and FIG. 9C is a view showing the positioning fixation process and a joining process;

FIGS. 10A to 10C are typical views showing a mounting method of a connector to a print board in accordance with a fifth embodiment mode, wherein FIGS. 10A and 10B are views showing a positioning fixation process, and FIG. 10C is a view showing a joining process;

FIG. 11 is a typical view showing a bending direction of a bending part;

FIG. 12 is a view for explaining the construction of a fixing pin in accordance with a sixth embodiment mode;

FIGS. 13A to 13C are typical views showing a mounting method of a connector to a print board in accordance with the sixth embodiment mode, wherein FIGS. 13A and 13B are views showing a positioning fixation process, and FIG. 13C is a view showing a joining process;

FIG. 14 is a view for explaining the construction of a fixing pin in accordance with a seventh embodiment mode;

FIGS. 15A to 15C are typical views showing a mounting method of a connector to a print board in accordance with the seventh embodiment mode, wherein FIGS. 15A and 15B are views showing a positioning fixation process, and FIG. 15C is a view showing a joining process;

FIGS. 16A to 16C are typical views showing a mounting method of a connector to a print board in accordance with an eighth embodiment mode, wherein FIGS. 16A and 16B are views showing a positioning fixation process, and FIG. 16C is a view showing a joining process;

FIGS. 17A and 17B are views for explaining the construction of a support portion and a fixing means in accordance with a ninth embodiment mode, wherein FIG. 17A is a side view seen from the longitudinal direction of a connector, and FIG. 17B is a front view.

FIG. 18 is a typical view showing a mounting structure of the connector to a print board in accordance with the ninth embodiment mode; and

FIG. 19 is a view showing an arrangement example of a dummy land.

Claims

1. A mounting structure comprising: a surface mounting connector including a housing and a plurality of terminals, wherein each terminal extends from the housing;a substrate including a plurality of lands, each of which corresponds to the terminal, wherein each land is disposed on the substrate, and wherein each land is electrically connected to the terminal with a bonding member;a plurality of support portions for supporting the connector on the substrate, wherein each support portion protrudes from the housing toward the substrate, and contacts a surface portion of the substrate; anda plurality of fixing members for fixing and positioning the connector with respect to the substrate, wherein each fixing member is connected to the housing, and contacts a part of the substrate, which is different from the surface portion of the substrate contacting the support portion, whereineach terminal is positioned on the substrate with a predetermined distance between the terminal and the substrate by the support portions and the fixing members.

2. The mounting structure according to claim 1, each terminal does not directly contact the land so that the terminal is coupled with the land through the bonding member.

3. The mounting structure according to claim 1, wherein each fixing member is a fixing pin, which is integrated with the housing,the substrate further includes a plurality of through holes, each of which penetrates the substrate,the substrate has a first surface and a second surface,each support portion contacts the first surface of the substrate, andthe fixing pin penetrates the through hole so that the fixing pin contacts the second surface of the substrate.

4. The mounting structure according to claim 1, wherein each fixing member is a fixing pin, which is integrated with the housing,the substrate further includes a plurality of through holes, each of which penetrates the substrate, and has an inner wall,the substrate has a first surface and a second surface,each support portion contacts the first surface of the substrate, andthe fixing pin is inserted into the through hole, and the fixing pin only contacts the inner wall of the through hole.

5. The mounting structure according to claim 3, wherein each fixing pin has a rod shape or a plate shape,the fixing pin further includes a straight portion and a bending portion,the straight portion penetrates the through hole, andthe bending portion is bent along with the second surface of the substrate so that the bending portion of the fixing pin contacts the second surface of the substrate.

6. The mounting structure according to claim 5, wherein the bending portion is bent toward the connector.

7. The mounting structure according to claim 6, wherein the bending portion is bent toward a mass center of the connector.

8. The mounting structure according to claim 4, wherein the fixing pin has a tapered portion, which expands a diameter of the through hole, andthe tapered portion is disposed from a top of the fixing pin to a predetermined position of the fixing pin.

9. The mounting structure according to claim 8, wherein the tapered portion includes a plurality of protrusions.

10. The mounting structure according to claim 3, wherein the fixing pin has a spring portion, which is elastically deformable, andthe spring portion is disposed from a top of the fixing pin to a predetermined position of the fixing pin.

11. The mounting structure according to claim 3, wherein the fixing pin is made of shape-memory alloy.

12. The mounting structure according to claim 1, wherein each fixing member is a screw having a head and a column,the head connects to the column,the substrate further includes a plurality of through holes, each of which penetrates the substrate,each support portion further includes a screw hole corresponding to the through hole of the substrate and the screw,the substrate has a first surface and a second surface,each support portion contacts the first surface of the substrate, andthe column of the screw penetrates the through hole, and the head of the screw contacts the second surface of the substrate, so that the screw screws on the housing.

13. The mounting structure according to claim 3, wherein each fixing member has a part, which is fixed on the support portion.

14. The mounting structure according to claim 1, wherein each support portion has a metal part, which is connected to a part of the housing,the fixing member is connected to another part of the housing, the another part being different from the part of the housing,the substrate further includes a plurality of dummy lands corresponding to the support portions, andeach support portion is connected to the dummy land through the bonding member.

15. The mounting structure according to claim 14, wherein the housing has a rectangular solid shape with two sides disposed in a longitudinal direction of the rectangular solid shape,at least one support portion is connected to one of two sides of the housing,the substrate further includes a wiring, which is disposed between the support portion and the lands on the substrate, andthe wiring is electrically connected to one of the lands.

16. The mounting structure according to claim 15, wherein two lands on the substrate corresponding to two of the terminals nearest the sides of the housing provide power lands, respectively, andthe wiring is electrically connected to one of the power lands.

17. The mounting structure according to claim 1, wherein each terminal is prepared by punching a metal plate.

18. The mounting structure according to claim 1, further comprising: a casing for accommodating the substrate with the surface mounting connector, whereinthe casing is capable of mounting on an automotive vehicle, andthe casing provides an electronic control unit.

19. A method for mounting a surface mounting connector on a substrate, the method comprising: positioning and fixing the connector having a plurality of terminals on the substrate having a plurality of lands in such a manner that each terminal of the connector is disposed on a corresponding land of the substrate through a bonding member; andbonding each terminal to the corresponding land through the bonding member by heating and melting the bonding member.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein in the positioning, each terminal does not contact the land so that the terminal is coupled with the land through the bonding member.

21. The method according to claim 19, wherein the connector further includes a housing, a plurality of support portions and a plurality of fixing members,each support portion protrudes from the housing toward the substrate,each fixing member has a part connected to the housing,the positioning includes: contacting each support portion on a surface portion of the substrate so that the connector is supported on the substrate with the support portions; andcontacting each fixing member to a part of the substrate, which is different from the surface portion of the substrate, andthe connector is positioned and fixed on the substrate with the support portions and the fixing members.

22. The method according to claim 21, further comprising: integrating the fixing members with the housing, wherein each fixing member is a fixing pin; andforming a plurality of through holes on the substrate, wherein each through hole penetrates the substrate and corresponds to the fixing pin, whereinthe substrate has a first surface and a second surface,each support portion contacts the first surface of the substrate, andthe fixing pin penetrates the through hole so that the fixing pin contacts the second surface of the substrate.

23. The method according to claim 21, further comprising: integrating the fixing members with the housing, wherein each fixing member is a fixing pin; andforming a plurality of through holes on the substrate, wherein each through hole penetrates the substrate and corresponds to the fixing pin, whereinthe substrate has a first surface and a second surface,each support portion contacts the first surface of the substrate, andthe fixing pin is inserted into the through hole, and the fixing pin only contacts the inner wall of the through hole.

24. The method according to claim 22, further comprising: penetrating the fixing pin through the through hole, wherein the fixing pin has a rod shape or a plate shape, and further includes a straight portion and a bending portion; andbending the bending portion along with the second surface of the substrate so that the bending portion of the fixing pin contacts the second surface of the substrate.

25. The method according to claim 22, wherein the fixing pin has a tapered portion, which expands a diameter of the through hole, andthe tapered portion is disposed from a top of the fixing pin to a predetermined position of the fixing pin.

26. The method according to claim 25, wherein the tapered portion includes a plurality of protrusions.

27. The method according to claim 25, further comprising: forming a groove having a predetermined depth on a top of the fixing pin; andinserting a jig into the groove after positioning the connector on the substrate so that the tapered portion is expanded and contacts an inner wall of the through hole.

28. The method according to claim 22, wherein the fixing pin has a spring portion, which is elastically deformable, andthe spring portion is disposed from a top of the fixing pin to a predetermined position of the fixing pin.

29. The method according to claim 28, further comprising: bonding a part of the spring portion with a adhesive in order to be inserted into the through hole, whereinin the bonding each terminal to the corresponding land, the adhesive is melted so that the spring portion contacts the substrate.

30. The method according to claim 22, further comprising: deforming the fixing pin, which is made of shape-memory alloy;inserting the fixing pin into the through hole; andrestoring the fixing pin to an original shape before the melted bonding member is hardened so that the fixing pin contacts the substrate.

31. The method according to claim 21, wherein each fixing member is a screw having a head and a column,the head connects to the column,the substrate further includes a plurality of through holes, each of which penetrates the substrate,each support portion further includes a screw hole corresponding to the through hole of the substrate and the screw,the substrate has a first surface and a second surface,each support portion contacts the first surface of the substrate, andthe column of each screw penetrates the through hole, and the head of the screw contacts the second surface of the substrate, so that the screw screws on the housing.

32. The method according to claim 21, wherein each fixing member has a part, which is fixed on the support portion.

33. The method according to claim 21, wherein each support portion has a metal part, which is connected to a part of the housing,each fixing member is connected to another part of the housing, the another part being different from the part of the housing,the substrate further includes a dummy land corresponding to the support portion, andthe support portion is connected to the dummy land through the bonding member.

34. The method according to claim 19, wherein each terminal is prepared by punching a metal plate.