Patent Application
20250047022
The invention relates to an electrical connector for electrically interconnecting two or more circuit elements within an electronic system and, in particular, to an electrical connector for electrically interconnecting rigid or flexible printed circuits.
Complex electronic devices such as computers, laptop computers, workstations, servers, tablets, mobile phones, printers, routers, and other devices require electrical interconnections between subcomponents within the device. For example, in mobile phones and tablets, electronic device modules such as a camera module or a fingerprint sensor module or a memory module are frequently interconnected to the phone's mother board or main logic board (MLB), being the main printed circuit board (PCB) within the system, using flexible printed circuits (FPCs). External connectors such as USB ports are also frequently interconnected to the mother board using a flexible printed circuit. Flexible printed circuits are used for interconnection of many other electronic elements, including, but not limited to, PCB to PCB, module to PCB, socket to PCB, and IC Package to PCB, in a wide variety of electronic and electrical devices.
Flexible printed circuits, by the nature of their flexibility, have advantages over other printed circuit types. FPCs are able to accommodate variations in the distance between circuit elements or electronic components which they are interconnecting, where those variations may be due to mechanical tolerances or to design modifications from product generation to product generation or from initial product design to final product launch. FPCs can be bent, curved, wrapped, folded, twisted, or otherwise shaped to interconnect components located remotely from each other, and/or located on different planes and in different orientations. FPCs can also facilitate fitting circuit elements into constrained volumes within an electronic device whereby the FPCs are folded, bent, or flexed repeatedly, such as the flexible circuit that interconnects the folding display to the mother board in the chassis of a laptop, or those used to interconnect the read head assembly of hard disk drives.
FPCs can be attached to electronic elements, components, subcomponents, modules, PCBs, and other electronic circuit elements either separably or permanently. Examples of permanent electrical interconnections of FPCs to electronic elements can include soldered interconnections, such as hot bar soldering, as well as those formed using electrically conductive adhesives. Examples of separable interconnections can include separable electrical connectors such as zero insertion force (ZIF) connectors and two-piece mezzanine connectors. In the case of rigid-flex printed circuits, one end of a flexible printed circuit is embedded within or laminated upon a rigid PCB, and interconnected using plated through holes (PTH), plated vias, or by other permanent means. As such, the flexible circuit can be considered, with the associated rigid region of the PCB, as a unitary body with the rigid PCB.
There are instances where it is useful and/or beneficial to form electrical interconnections directly between two separate flexible printed circuits (FPCs), or between an FPC and the flexible circuit portion of a rigid-flex printed circuit, or between the flexible circuit portions of two rigid-flex printed circuits. For example, connecting two separate flexible printed circuits may aid in simplification of system design, facilitate system design changes, and simplify product assembly.
The present disclosure discloses an electrical connector, substantially as shown in and/or described below, for example in connection with at least one of the figures, as set forth more completely in the claims.
In some embodiments, an electrical connector for electrically interconnecting a first circuit element to a second circuit element includes a housing having a first insertion slot with an associated first bearing surface and a second insertion slot with an associated second bearing surface, the first and second insertion slots being provided on opposing ends of the housing; and an interconnection member provided in the housing, the interconnection member having a first set of contact elements and a second set of contact elements, at least one contact element in the first set of contact elements being electrically connected to at least one contact element in the second set of contact elements. The electrical connector is configured to receive a first circuit element in the first insertion slot and to receive a second circuit element in the second insertion slot. The first bearing surface applies a force normal to the first circuit element to compress the first circuit element against the first set of contact elements and the second bearing surface applies a force normal to the second circuit element to compress the second circuit element against the second set of contact elements.
These and other advantages, aspects and novel features of the present invention, as well as details of an illustrated embodiment thereof, will be more fully understood from the following description and drawings.
Various embodiments of the invention are disclosed in the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings. Although the drawings depict various examples of the invention, the invention is not limited by the depicted examples. It is to be understood that, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate like structural elements. Also, it is understood that the depictions in the figures are not necessarily to scale.
In embodiments of the present invention, a single piece electrical connector for connecting two circuit elements incudes a housing and an interconnection member provided therein with an array of electrically conductive and elastic spring contact elements provided on the interconnection member to interconnect the two circuit elements electrically and mechanically in a stacked or coplanar configuration. In some embodiments, the single piece electrical connector connects to interconnection terminals of each circuit element by the application of a force normal to the surfaces of the circuit elements. In some embodiments, the housing of the connector is configured to apply and maintain the normal force between the elastic spring contact elements of the connector and the interconnection terminals of the circuit elements to form low resistance interconnections therebetween. In some embodiments, the connector housing has an internal bearing surface opposite the clastic spring contact elements which forces the circuit elements to make contact with and compress against the elastic spring contact elements to form the low resistance connections with the interconnection terminals of the circuit elements. In some embodiments, a retention clip is provided to retain the circuit elements within the connector housing. In further embodiments, the electrical connector receives the circuit elements from opposing ends of the body of the housing.
The single piece electrical connector of the present invention can be applied to electrically interconnect various types of circuit elements, including interconnecting two flexible printed circuit (FPCs), a FPC and a flat flex tail or flat flex cable (FFC) (such as copper strips), a FPC and the flexible portion of a rigid-flex printed circuit, between the flexible portions of two rigid-flex circuits, or two ultra-thin rigid printed circuit substrates. In one example, the electrical connector is applied to connect a modular subsystem, such as a cell phone camera or a sensor, which is mounted on a flexible printed circuit, to a mating circuit element such as an FPC.
In embodiments of the present invention, the electrical connector is a floating connector. In the present description, the single piece electrical connector is a ‘floating’ connector in that the connector is not mounted on a rigid printed circuit substrate, and does not require mounting or attachment to another structure in an electronic device, such as the housing or support member of a mobile phone. As such the connector may be thought of as being analogous to a wire nut used to connect two electrical wires in a junction box in home wiring, in that the wire nut forms an electrical interconnection between two flexible conductors but can be moved with those conductors to any position desired within the junction box, such as the box surrounding an electrical switch. In some examples, the floating single piece electrical connector of the present invention can be used to connect two FPCs in an electronic device such that the connector can be moved with the FPCs within the housing of the electronic device.
The electrical connector of the present invention realizes many advantages over conventional connectors. First, the electrical connector of the present invention provides a low profile, high performance and reliable electrical interconnection between two circuit elements in an electronic system or device. In particular, the electrical connector enables interconnection to be made without the use of high temperature processing, such as without solder reflow. In one example, the electrical connector of the present invention can be applied to interconnect flexible printed circuits having different thicknesses or having the same thickness. In some further examples, the electrical connector of the present invention can be applied to electrically interconnect two ultra-thin rigid printed circuit substrates, for example printed circuit substrates with overall thickness in the range of 25 to 100 μm and more commonly from 35 to 75 μm. In another example, the electrical connector of the present invention is applied to electrically interconnect an FPC to an ultra-thin rigid printed circuit substrate.
Second, the electrical connector of the present invention is tolerant of shock and vibration, without permanent or intermittent loss of electrical continuity through the interconnection. In particular, the electrical connector includes elastic spring contacts having a high degree of mechanical and electrical compliance, thereby providing reliable interconnection with a high tolerance of mechanical shock and vibration without suffering transient or permanent opens.
Third, the electrical connector of the present invention facilitates low cost assembly and enables high volume manufacturing with and high yield.
Fourth, the electrical connector of the present invention enables permanent or semi-permanent assembly to a mating circuit element without requiring complex and costly tooling. The electrical connector facilitates miniaturization and cost-reduction of the interconnection members in an electronic device. In particular, the electrical connector of the present invention is capable of surviving multiple mating and de-mating operations in order to facilitate test, rework, validation and repair of electronic devices and components.
Unless defined otherwise, all terms of art, notations and other technical terms or terminology used herein have the same meaning as is commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs. All patents, applications, published applications and other publications referred to herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety. If a definition set forth in this section is contrary to or otherwise inconsistent with a definition set forth in the patents, applications, published applications, and other publications that are herein incorporated by reference, the definition set forth in this section prevails over the definition that is incorporated herein by reference.
Unless otherwise indicated or the context suggests otherwise, as used herein, “a” or “an” means “at least one” or “one or more.”
This description may use relative spatial and/or orientation terms in describing the position and/or orientation of a component, apparatus, location, feature, or a portion thereof. Unless specifically stated, or otherwise dictated by the context of the description, such terms, including, without limitation, top, bottom, above, below, under, on top of, upper, lower, left of, right of, in front of, behind, next to, adjacent, between, horizontal, vertical, diagonal, longitudinal, transverse, radial, axial, etc., are used for convenience in referring to such component, apparatus, location, feature, or a portion thereof in the drawings and are not intended to be limiting.
Furthermore, unless otherwise stated, any specific dimensions mentioned in this description are merely representative of an exemplary implementation of a device embodying aspects of the disclosure and are not intended to be limiting.
In embodiments of the present invention, the single piece electrical connector is applied to interconnect two flexible printed circuits to form an interconnection assembly. In the following description, the interconnection assembly including the electrical connector is first described and then the construction of the electrical connector will be described. In particular, the interconnection assembly including the electrical connector of the present invention will be described with reference to
Referring to
The first FPC 3 has a first surface 4 and an opposing second surface 5. The second FPC 6 has a first surface 7 and an opposing second surface 8. In typical flexible printed circuits, interconnection terminals are provided on one of the surfaces of the FPC. In the present example, the first FPC 3 has interconnection terminals 13 (
Electrical connector 2 includes the housing 9 with the interconnection member 11 provided therein. In the present embodiment, the interconnection member 11 is a two sided, single piece, normal force connector. As will be described in more details below, the interconnection member 11 includes an array of elastic, conductive contact elements emanating above a substantially planar first surface and a second array of elastic, conductive contact elements emanating above a second, opposing surface. In the interconnection member 11, a given contact element emanating above the first surface is electrically connected to one or more respective contact elements emanating above the opposing second surface.
The electrical connector 2 is configured so that the first FPC 3 and second FPC 6 are to be inserted from opposite ends of the housing 9. An interior bearing surface within the housing 9 forces the interconnection terminals 13 on first FPC 3 downward against the contact elements provided on the first surface of the interconnection member 11. In other words, as FPC 3 is inserted into the connector housing 9, the interior bearing surface of the housing 9 compresses the at least some of the contact elements of the interconnection member 11 against the interconnection terminals 13, resulting in a low resistance electrical interconnection therebetween. On the other hand, the second FPC 6 is inserted into the opposite end of the connector housing 9, and a second internal bearing surface in the housing 9 compresses the interconnection terminals 12 on second FPC 6 upward against at least some of the contact elements provided on the second surface of the interconnection member 11, resulting in a low resistance electrical interconnection therebetween.
In embodiments of the present invention, the housing 9 applies a normal force between the conductive interconnection terminals 13 provided on the second surface 5 of the first FPC 3 and the conductive contact elements provided on the first surface of the interconnection member 11 to form the low resistance electrical interconnection. The housing 9 also applies a normal force between the conductive interconnection terminals 12 provided on the first surface 7 of the second FPC 6 and the conductive contact elements provided on the second surface of the interconnection member 11 to form the low resistance electrical interconnection. In this manner, in the interconnection assembly 1, the first FPC 3 is electrically interconnected to the second FPC 6 in a region where the two FPCs overlap and interconnect through the separable interconnection member 11. In some embodiments, the housing 9 may be an injected molded housing. The housing 9 may be made of a polymer, such as a liquid crystal polymer, or it may be a composite material, such as a liquid crystal polymer filled with glass fibers or with silica particles, or may be formed of other polymers, composites, or metals. The retention clip 10 is provided over housing 9 to maintain the electrical connections of the FPCs to the interconnection member 11. The retention clip 10 may be made of a metal, such as a spring steel or stainless steel. In one embodiment, the retention clip 10 may be made of SUS 304 stainless steel. In another embodiment, the retention clip 10 may be made of SUS 301 stainless steel.
Referring to
In the present embodiment, the retention clip 10 aligns with and fastens to indentations 6B on the edges of the inserted end 6A of the FPC 6, and concurrently aligns with and fastens to indentations 3B on the edges of the inserted end 3A of the FPC 3. As thus configured, the retention clip 10 prevents the FPCs 3, 6 from being pulled out or from being pushed further in, and further maintains the interconnection terminals on the FPCs to be in alignment with the contact elements of the electrical connector 2. A stiffening element on the interconnection ends 3A and 6A of FPCs 3 and 6 respectively may help facilitate both insertion of the FPCs into the connector 2, and the retention of the FPCs by the retention clip 10. Appropriate dimensions of the connector housing 9 ensure that the interconnection terminals 12 on the FPC 6 and the interconnection terminals 13 on the FPC 3 apply a normal force on the elastic spring contact elements on the interconnection member 11 within the housing 9 to achieve the desired low resistance electrical interconnection. In addition, in some embodiments, the retention clip 10 applies both a lateral force to retain the FPCs in their inserted positions via the indentations 6B and 3B, respectively, but also may apply normal force on the housing 9 which, if sufficiently compliant, may transfer that force through the FPCs and onto the elastic spring contact elements of the connector.
A salient feature of the electrical connector 2 in embodiments of the present invention is that the electrical connector 2 can be used as a “floating” connector, in that it is not required for the functionality for the connector to be mounted on a printed circuit board, or on a housing or other structural element of an electronic device. Alternately, the electrical connector 2 can be affixed as needed to the electronic device or the mother board of the electronic device for case of integration or reliability but the electrical connector can function without being affixed as such.
In some embodiments, the electrical connector 2 has a housing that forms a watertight seal. In other embodiments, the electrical connector 2 has a housing that forms a hermetic or near-hermetic seal.
In the illustration provided in
As thus configured, at least one of the contact elements 17 on the first surface 14 of the interconnection member 11 is electrically connected to at least one of the contact elements 18 on the second surface 15 of the interconnection member 11. In practice, each contact element 17 provided on the first surface 14 is electrically connected to at least one corresponding contact element 18 provided on the second surface 15 of the interconnection member 11. In another example, two or more contact elements 17 on the first surface 14 of the interconnection member 11 are electrically connected to each other and to two or more contact elements 18 on the second surface 15 of interconnection member 11. Through the side to side interconnection using the contact elements of the interconnection member 11, the electrical connector of the present invention enables the interconnection of two circuit elements.
In embodiments of the present invention, the contact elements 17 and 18 are formed as compliant spring contact elements. In some embodiments, the contact elements are cantilever beam-like elastic conductive contact elements. In the present embodiment, each contact element is formed as metal flanges extending from a base portion. Furthermore, in some embodiments, each contact element, when engaged, provides substantial wipe to remove resistive contaminants that may be present on the surfaces to be contacted. In other embodiments, other types of contact elements can be used depending on the components to which the connector is to be connected. The contact elements used for the interconnection member in the connector is selected based on the type of contact structures of the circuit elements to which the connector is to be coupled. In one embodiment, the elastic spring contact elements are formed of a copper alloy such as copper-beryllium or copper-nickel-tin.
In some embodiment, the contact elements provided on the surfaces of the interconnection member 11 are aligned with the interconnection terminals of the circuit elements to facility mating of the circuit element to the electrical connector. In one embodiment, a set of one or more contact elements is configured to align to one finger of the interconnection terminals of the circuit element. For example, in
Referring to the cross-sectional view in
In embodiments of the present invention, the conductive spring contact elements 17 and 18 are cantilever beam-like contact elements, with a proximal end attached to the body 16 and a distal end emanating above surfaces 14 and 15, respectively. In the present example as shown in
In the example shown in
In some embodiments, the contact elements of the electrical connector of the present invention are formed using the contact elements and connector structure described in U.S. Patent Publication No. US 2016/0344118. More specifically, U.S. Patent Publication No. US 2016/0344118, entitled “Separable Electrical Connector and Method of Making It” discloses a low profile connector element where the connector includes electrical contacts having a unitary structure. The unitary contact elements can be formed by a stamped or a stamped and formed process to form contact elements with a unitary structure while protruding on opposing surfaces. The '118 patent application is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
In other embodiments, the contact elements of the electrical connector of the present invention are formed using the contact elements and connector structure described in the following U.S. patents: (1) U.S. Pat. No. 7,371,073, entitled “Contact Grid Array”, issued May 13, 2008; (2) U.S. Pat. No. 7,056,131, entitled “Contact Grid Array System”, issued Jun. 6, 2006; and (3) United States U.S. Pat. No. 7,758,351, entitled “Method and System for Batch Forming of Spring Elements”, issued Jul. 20, 2010. The disclosures of the aforementioned U.S. patents are incorporated by reference in their entireties.
Furthermore, the interconnection member 11 has a second surface 15 from which emanate an array of cantilever beam-like conductive spring contact elements 18. Each contact element 18 has a proximal end 22 and a distal end 23. The proximal end 22 of the contact element 18 is attached to or embedded below the second surface 15. Meanwhile, the distal end 23 of the contact element 18 emanates above the second surface 15. Compressing contact elements 18 in a direction normal to the second surface 15 of the interconnection member 11 requires a normal force whose magnitude is proportional to the spring constant of the spring contact elements 18, and which is designed to be great enough to provide a low electrical resistance interconnection between contact elements 18 and the interconnection terminals 12 on the FPC 6 to be mated. Contact elements 18 on the second surface 15 are all oriented in substantially the same direction with one another, in that the distal ends 23 of contact elements 18 are oriented on the left side of the proximal ends 22 of contact elements 18 as shown in
In interconnection member 11, at least one of the contact elements 17 on the first surface 14 is electrically connected to at least one of the contact elements 18 on the second surface 15. In the present embodiment shown in
In the example shown in
The first FPC 3 is inserted into the housing of the electrical connector between the inner bearing surface 26 and the first surface 14 of the interconnection member 11, in a direction 3D generally from left to right as shown in
Similarly, the second FPC 6 is inserted into the housing of the electrical connector between the inner bearing surface 27 and the second surface 15 of the internal interconnection member 11, in a direction 6D generally from right to left as shown in
In the present example, the orientation of contact elements 17 relative to contact elements 18 of 180 degrees enables the two FPCs which are being interconnected to be inserted from opposite sides of the electrical connector, without damaging the spring contact elements during insertion.
In the embodiment shown in
Referring to
In the above-described embodiments, the electrical connector is configured to interconnect two circuit elements in a stacked configuration where the two circuit elements are inserted into the housing of the electrical connector to overlap each other and an interconnection member is provided in the overlap region to interconnect the interconnection terminals of the two circuit elements. In the stacked configuration, the interconnection member includes contact elements emanating from two opposing surfaces of the member to make the electrical connections to the circuit elements disposed on the two opposing surfaces. In alternate embodiments of the present invention, an electrical connector is configured to interconnect two circuit elements in a coplanar configuration where the two circuit elements are inserted into the housing of the electrical connector in a side-by-side arrangement and an interconnection member is provided to overlap the interconnection terminals of the two circuit elements to form the electrical interconnection therebetween. In the present description, the electrical connector described above with reference to
Referring to
As thus configured, the first group of contact elements 43, 44 are provided to connect to an FPC that is inserted from the insertion slot 53 in a direction 55 and the second group of contact elements 45, 46 are provided to connect to an FPC that is inserted from the insertion slot 54 in a direction 56. At least one contact element in the first group is electrically connected to at least one contact element in the second group. In this manner, an FPC inserted into the slot 53 is interconnected to an FPC inserted into the slot 54 through the interconnection member 62.
The housing of the electrical connector 28 includes an upper body region 47 and a lower body region 50. The upper body region 47 forms internal planar bearing surfaces 48 and 49. The lower body region 50 includes the interconnection member 62 with associated elastic spring contact elements (e.g. contact elements 43, 44, 45, 46) formed thereon. The electrical connector 28 includes insertion hard stops 51, 52 to limit the insertion distance of the FPCs to be interconnected. As thus configured, an FPC inserted into the slot 53 of electrical connector 28 is forced downward against the contact elements 43 and 44 by the bearing surface 48, whereby the insertion distance is limited by the hard stop 51. A mating FPC into the slot 54 of electrical connector 28 is forced downward against the contact elements 45 and 46 by the bearing surface 49, whereby the insertion distance is limited by the hard stop 52.
In some embodiments, the elastic spring contact elements are cantilever-beam like springs, and are oriented generally parallel to the direction of insertion of the FPCs, such that the interconnection terminals on the FPC slide from the proximal ends of the contact elements (e.g. proximal end 58 for contact element 46) toward the distal ends of the contact elements (e.g. distal end 57 for contact element 46). In this manner, insertion of the FPCs into the insertion slots of the electrical connector 28 minimizes the risk of insertion difficulties or damage to the FPC or to the elastic spring contact elements of the electrical connector. In the present embodiment, the elastic spring contact elements on opposite ends of the electrical connector 28 are oriented in a direction 180 degrees from each other to accommodate the opposing insertion directions 55 and 56 for the FPCs being interconnected. The height of the bearing surface 48 above the contact elements 43 and 44 and the height of the bearing surface 49 above the contact elements 45 and 46 are designed to enable full working range compression of these contact elements against the FPC interconnection terminals, taking into account the thickness of the FPC including any stiffeners or other support structures on the FPC ends.
In embodiments of the present invention, the interconnection member 62 of the electrical connector 28 includes a body formed from printed circuit board laminate materials, molded polymer or composites or other suitable materials. The cantilever-like elastic spring contact elements of member 62 can be formed in the manner as described above with reference to the electrical connector 2. In the present embodiment, the interconnection member 62 includes conductive traces formed in or on the body to connect at least one of the contact elements in the first group to at least one of the contact elements in the second group. In particular, the conductive traces extend laterally from one end of the member 62 to the other end of the member 62 to connect respective contact elements formed in the two groups.
The bearing surface 211 applies a normal force to a circuit element, such as FPC 205, inserted into the housing of the electrical connector to be electrically connected to the interconnection member 200. The bearing surface 212 applies a normal force to a circuit element, such as FPC 207, inserted into the housing of the electrical connector to be electrically connected to the interconnection member 200. The FPC 205 and the FPC 207 are inserted into the electrical connector at opposite ends with their respective interconnection terminals 206, 208 facing the interconnection member 200. In some embodiments, the bearing surface 211 is designed to be a distance 252 from the top of the conductive spring contact elements 203 in their uncompressed state. The distance 252 can be less than the thickness of the FPC 205 inclusive of the interconnection terminals 206 and any other associated structures on the FPC 205, such as a stiffener, but greater than or equal to the thickness of the FPC 205 plus the elastic working range of contact elements 203. Similarly, the bearing surface 212 is designed to be a distance 253 from the top of the conductive spring contact elements 204 in their uncompressed state. The distance 253 can be less than the thickness of the FPC 207 inclusive of the interconnection terminals 208 and any other associated structures on the FPC 207, such as a stiffener, but greater than or equal to the thickness of the FPC 207 plus the elastic working range of contact elements 204. In this manner, insertion of the FPC 205 in a direction 209 into the electrical connector, or insertion of the FPC 207 in a direction 210 into the electrical connector, causes the interconnection terminals 206, 208 to contact and compress contact elements 203, 204 in order to form a low resistance, reliable electrical interconnection, but does not over compress the contact elements such that they may be plastically deformed.
With the FPCs 205 and 207 inserted and connected to the interconnection member 200, the interconnection terminals 206 on the FPC 205 is electrically interconnected to the interconnection terminals 208 on the FPC 207 through the interconnection member 200. More specifically, the FPCs 205 and 207 are interconnected by one or more elastic spring contact elements 203 and 204 formed on the interconnection member 200 where conductive vias or other internal connections connect one or more contact elements 203 to one or more contact elements 204. In the stacked electrical connector illustrated in
Referring now to
The bearing surface 233 applies a normal force to a pair of circuit elements, such as FPC 225 and 227, inserted into the housing of the coplanar electrical connector to be electrically connected to the interconnection member 220. In the present configuration, the FPC 225 and the FPC 227 are inserted into the coplanar electrical connector at opposite sides with their respective interconnection terminals 226, 228 facing the interconnection member 200. When assembled in the coplanar electrical connector, the FPC 225 and the FPC 227 are further arranged on the same plane, without any overlapping region. In some embodiments, the bearing surface 233 is designed to be a distance 236 from the top of the conductive spring contact elements 223, 224 in their uncompressed state. The distance 236 can be less than the thickness of the FPC 225, 227 inclusive of the interconnection terminals 226, 228 and any other associated structures on the FPC 225, 227 such as a stiffener, but greater than or equal to the thickness of the FPC 225, 227 plus the elastic working range of contact elements 223, 224. In this manner, insertion of the FPC 225 in a direction 209 into the electrical connector causes the interconnection terminal 226 to contact and compress contact elements 223 in order to form a low resistance, reliable electrical interconnection, but does not over compress the contact elements such that they may be plastically deformed. Similarly, insertion of the FPC 227 in a direction 210 into the electrical connector causes the interconnection terminal 228 to contact and compress contact elements 224 in order to form a low resistance, reliable electrical interconnection, but does not over compress the contact elements such that they may be plastically deformed.
With the FPCs 225 and 227 inserted and connected to the interconnection member 220, the interconnection terminals 226 on the FPC 225 is electrically interconnected to the interconnection terminals 228 on the FPC 227 through the interconnection member 220. More specifically, the FPCs 225 and 227 are interconnected by one or more elastic spring contact elements 223 and 224 formed on the interconnection member 220 where conductive traces or other internal connections connect one or more contact elements 223 to one or more contact elements 224. In the coplanar electrical connector illustrated in
In the above-described embodiments, the electrical connector of the present invention is configured as a floating connector that provides separable connections to a pair of circuit elements. In alternate embodiments, the electrical connector of the present invention is configured to provide a separable connection for a circuit element, such as an FPC, to interconnect to a rigid PCB or an electronic device module. In some embodiments, the electrical connector has a first end that is affixed or attached to a circuit element (such as a rigid PCB or an electronic device module) and a second end that provides a separable electrical connection. The first end of the electrical connector may be attached to the circuit element by solder connections, ball grid array solder connections, conductive adhesive interconnections, or other suitable fixed connection methods. In the present description, an electrical connector that has a first end mounted on a circuit element and a second end providing a separable connection is sometimes referred to as a “surface mount electrical connector.”
In this detailed description, process steps described for one embodiment may be used in a different embodiment, even if the process steps are not expressly described in the different embodiment. When reference is made herein to a method including two or more defined steps, the defined steps can be carried out in any order or simultaneously, except where the context dictates or specific instruction otherwise are provided herein. Further, unless the context dictates or express instructions otherwise are provided, the method can also include one or more other steps carried out before any of the defined steps, between two of the defined steps, or after all the defined steps.
In this detailed description, various embodiments or examples of the present invention may be implemented in numerous ways, including as a process; an apparatus; a system; and a composition of matter. A detailed description of one or more embodiments of the invention is provided above along with accompanying figures that illustrate the principles of the invention. The invention is described in connection with such embodiments, but the invention is not limited to any embodiment. Numerous modifications and variations within the scope of the present invention are possible. The scope of the invention is limited only by the claims and the invention encompasses numerous alternatives, modifications, and equivalents. Numerous specific details are set forth in the description in order to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. These details are provided for the purpose of example and the invention may be practiced according to the claims without some or all of these specific details. For the purpose of clarity, technical material that is known in the technical fields related to the invention has not been described in detail so that the invention is not unnecessarily obscured. The present invention is defined by the appended claims.
