The present invention relates to a surface mount connector, in particular, to a multipole surface mount connector with terminals arranged in two rows.
Known surface mount connectors to be mounted on a surface of a printed board include a connector of the type which includes: a box-shaped substrate side housing formed of an electrically insulating material with an opening on one side, the housing including a rectangular (oblong) terminal mount wall and four side walls standing from respective sides of the terminal mount wall; multiple metallic terminals provided to the terminal mount wall; and plate-shaped reinforcement metal pieces to be mounted on the side walls of the substrate side housing and soldered to a printed board at their outer edges, and where the connector can be used in the two types of mounting forms: one is a straight type (vertical type) mounting form (hereafter “straight mounting form”) in which the opening (inlet for a plug housing) of the connector opens upwards from the printed board, and the other is a right-angle type (horizontal type) mounting form (hereafter “right-angle mounting form”) in which the opening of the connector opens sideways with respect to the printed board. (Examples are disclosed in Patent Documents 1 to 3).
In such a surface mount connector, the size of a reinforcement metal piece is substantially the same as that of a side wall of a substrate side housing in which the terminals are arranged in one row, and when the surface mount connector is used either in the straight mounting form or right-angle mounting form, one outer edge of the reinforcement metal piece which abuts surface of a printed board is soldered to the printed board.
Patent Document 1: JP2000-268905A
Patent Document 2: JP2014-165091A
Patent Document 3: JP2014-165093A
Some surface mount connectors include terminals arranged in one row, and others include terminals arranged in two rows. Naturally, a side wall of a substrate side housing of a two-row terminal type connector has substantially twice as great a width as that of a one-row terminal type connector. In cases of a two-row terminal type connector in which a reinforcement metal piece (reinforcement plate) used for its substrate side housing has substantially the same size as that of a side wall of the substrate side housing with terminals arranged in two rows, when the surface mount connector is used either in the straight mounting form or in the right-angle mounting form, one outer edge of each reinforcement metal piece abuts a surface of a printed board and is soldered to the printed board in the same manner as a substrate side housing of a one-row terminal type connector. However, in cases of a two-row terminal type in which a reinforcement metal piece (reinforcement plate) used for the substrate side housing with terminals arranged in two rows has substantially the same size as that of a side wall of a substrate side housing with terminals arranged in one row, with an aim to reduce material costs and use a common reinforcement metal piece when the surface mount connector is used in the different mounting forms, when the surface mount connector is used in the right-angle mounting form, the reinforcement metal piece to be soldered to the printed board needs to be mounted on the side closer to a surface of a printed board (the lower side).
In cases where the substrate side housing is provided with a lock part for detachably locking a plug housing in an inserted position, when the surface mount connector is used in the right-angle mounting form, the lock part needs to be located on the upper side of the substrate side housing so that the lock part can be manipulated from above the lock part in order to unlock the lock part. Thus, in the case that the surface mount connector is used in the right-angle mounting form, even when the reinforcement metal piece is disposed on the side closer to the surface of the printed board, the plug housing can be locked in position with a sufficient locking strength against an unlocking operation force and a force of tension exerted by a cable connected to a plug connector.
However, in the case that the surface mount connector is used in the straight mounting form, when the reinforcement metal piece for a one-terminal terminal type connector is disposed in the same way, the reinforcement metal piece is located on a rear side remote from the lock part, which is provided on a front side of the substrate side housing, which means that, on the side of the lock part, the substrate side housing is not fixed to the printed board through the reinforcement metal piece, thereby making it difficult to lock the plug housing in position with a sufficient locking strength against an unlocking operation force and a force of tension exerted by a cable connected to a plug connector. As a result, it becomes necessary to increase an area to be soldered to the printed board by using a thicker reinforcement metal piece, which results in failure to attain the intended effect of reducing material costs.
A primary object of the present invention is to achieve a reduction in material costs and a sufficient locking strength provided by a reinforcement plate at the same time in a connector with terminals arranged in two rows.
In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a surface mount connector includes:
a box-shaped electrically insulating substrate side housing (12) with an opening (24) on one side, the substrate side housing (12) including a rectangular terminal mount wall (14), and four side walls (16, 18, 20, 22) standing from respective four sides of the terminal mount wall;
a plurality of electrically conductive terminals (30, 32, 34, 36) provided on the terminal mount wall (14); and
a plug connector (70) including a plug housing (72) configured to be detachably inserted into the substrate housing (12),
wherein the substrate side housing (12) is capable of being mounted on a printed board (100) such that the surface mount connector is used either in a straight mounting form in which the opening (24) opens upwards from the printed board, or in a right-angle mounting form in which the opening (24) opens sideways with respect to the printed board,
wherein the terminal mount wall (14) is a wall extending in a plane defined by mutually orthogonal X and Y axes,
wherein the terminals (30, 32, 34, 36) are arranged in two rows, the rows being apart from each other in an X axis direction, such that the terminals in each row are in alignment with one another in a Y axis direction,
wherein the four side walls of the substrate side housing consist of two first side walls (16, 18) which are separated from each other in the X axis direction, and two second side walls (20, 22) which are separated from each other in the Y axis direction,
wherein a lock part (60) is provided on one of the two first side walls for detachably locking the plug housing (72) in an inserted position,
wherein, on each of the second side wall (20, 22), a first reinforcement plate mount part (46) and a second reinforcement plate mount part (48) are provided at two different positions apart from each other in the X axis direction, and a reinforcement plate (62) is allowed to be mounted to each of the two first and the two second reinforcement plate mount parts (46, 48), and
wherein the reinforcement plates (62) mounted to the two first reinforcement plate mount parts (46) and/or the two second reinforcement plate mount pans (48) have respective outer edges which abut and re fixed to the printed board.
In this configuration, by choosing the two first or the two second reinforcement plate mount parts (46, 48) to which the reinforcement plates (62) are mounted depending on whether the surface mount connector is used in the straight mounting form or in the right-angle mounting form, the reinforcement plates (62), whose outer edges abut the printed board (100) and are fixed thereto, can properly reinforce the fixation of the surface mount connector (10) to the printed board (100) in the both cases of the straight mounting form and the right-angle mounting form. Moreover, the reinforcement plates 62 may have a smaller width than that of the substrate side housing (12) measured in the X axis direction, thereby achieving a reduction in material costs for the reinforcement plates (62).
In one preferable embodiment of the above-described connector, each reinforcement plate (62) has a width of approximately half the size of outer surfaces of the second side walls (20, 22) in the X axis direction.
In this configuration, the reinforcement plate (62) can be commonly used as both reinforcement plates for the two first and the two second reinforcement plate mount parts (46, 48).
In another preferable embodiment of the above-described connector, the surface mount connector is a single in-line type connector in which the terminals (34, 36) are electrically connected to the printed board (100) at connection points arranged in a single row, the row being located on one side of the printed board in the X axis direction, the terminals in the row being located at regular intervals in the Y axis direction,
wherein each terminal (34, 36) is configured to extend through the terminal mount wall (14) into an inside of the substrate side housing (12), and includes: a contact (34A, 36A) configured to be electrically connected to a terminal on the plug housing (72); a substrate side extension part (34B, 36B) including having one end connected to the contact (34A, 36A) and extending along the terminal mount wall (14); and a substrate side connection part (34C, 36C) provided at the other end of the substrate side extension part (34B, 36B) and configured to be electrically connected to a terminal connection land (106) formed on the printed board,
wherein, in each of the terminals (34) in one of the two rows (34B, 36B) located closer to the connection points, the substrate side extension part (34B) only includes a liner part extending linearly in the X axis direction, and
wherein, in each of the terminals (36) in the other of the two rows (34, 36) located remote from the connection points, the substrate side extension part (34B) includes: an X axis direction part (34Ba) extending linearly in the X axis direction; and a Y axis direction part (34Bb) extending in the Y axis direction and having a length corresponding to an interval at which an adjoining pair of the connection points are located, the X axis direction part and the Y axis direction part forming a book shape.
In this configuration, a single in-line type connector can be formed in both the straight mounting form and the right-angle mounting form even when the connector has terminals arranged in two rows therein.
According to the present invention, in a connector with terminals arranged in two rows, a reduction in material costs and a sufficient locking strength can be achieved at the same time by using a reinforcement plate which can be commonly used for connectors in different mounting forms.
Embodiments of the present invention are described in the following with reference to
Reference numeral 10 generally denotes a surface mount connector of an embodiment of the present invention. The surface mount connector 10 is a connector mounted on a printed board 100 and includes a box-shaped substrate side housing 12 with an opening on one side. The substrate side housing 12 is made of an electrically insulating plastic material. A plug connector 70 is connected to the surface mount connector 10 as shown in
The printed board 100 includes a metal layer which forms a conductor pattern(s) 104 and terminal connection lands (connection points) 106 for connecting with terminals on a surface of an insulated substrate 102.
The surface mount connector 10 can be mounted on the printed board 100 such that the surface mount connector is used in a straight mounting form or in a right-angle mounting form. When the connector 10 is used in the straight mounting form, the plug connector 70 (see
The substrate side housing 12 is commonly used for both a dual in-line type surface mount connector and a single inline type surface mount connector. In the dual in-line type surface mount connector, terminals of the surface mount connector 10 (dual in-line terminals 30, 32) are electrically connected to the printed board 100 at connection points (terminal connection lands 106) arranged in two single rows on the both sides in an X axis direction (which will be described later) and at regular intervals in a Y axis direction (which will be described later), respectively, as shown in
The substrate side housing 12 is a plastic molded product which includes a rectangular terminal mount wall 14, four side walls 16, 18, 20, 22 standing from the respective sides (four sides) of the terminal mount wall 14 (see
When the surface mount connector 10 is used in the straight mounting form as shown in
As shown in
Each plug housing 72 includes an integrally formed plastic elastic deformation plate 74 with a double-supported beam structure, such that, when the plug housing is inserted in the surface mount connector used in the straight mounting form, the elastic deformation plate 74 is located on the front side with respect to the printed board 100, and when the plug housing is inserted in the surface mount connector used in the surface mount connector used in the right-angle mounting form, the elastic deformation plate 74 is located remote from the upper side of the printed board 100. The elastic deformation plate 74 includes an integrally formed engaging projection 76 at an intermediate position thereof. When the plug housing is inserted in the surface mount connector, the engaging projection 76 is displaced because the elastic deformation plate 74 is elastically deformed in such a manner as to have an arcuate cross section, and then detachably engages in a lock opening 60 defined through the side wall 16 of the substrate side housing 12.
In this way, the substrate side housing 12 is provided with a lock part configured such that the plug housings 72 are allowed to engage in the lock openings 60 for detachably locking the plug housings 72 in an inserted position. The lock part is formed in one (16) of the two side walls 16, 18 which are separated from each other in the X axis direction (described later).
A detach tab 78 protrudes from the upper part of the elastic deformation plate 74. The detach tab 78 is pressed to deform the elastic deformation plate 74 to have an arcuate cross section, thereby disengaging the engaging projection 76 from the lock opening 60.
Turning beck to the description of the surface mount connector 10, the terminal mount wall 14 includes a wall member extending in a plane defined by mutually orthogonal X and Y axis. In the present embodiment, when the surface mount connector is used in the straight mounting form, the X axis extends in the front-rear direction and the Y axis extends in the left-right direction as shown in
Multiple terminal mount holes 28 are defined through the terminal mount wall 14 as shown in
Each set of the dual in-line terminals 30, 32 and the single in-line terminals 34, 36 includes quadrangular prism shaped contacts 30A, 32A, 34A, 36A, substrate side extension parts 30B, 32B, 34B, 36B having one ends connected to proximal ends of the contacts 30A, 32A, 34A, 36A, respectively, and substrate side connection parts 30C, 32C, 34C, 36C provided at the other ends (tip ends) of the substrate side extension parts 30B, 32B, 34B, 36B, respectively, all these elements being integrally formed with respective terminals. The quadrangular prism shaped contacts 30A, 32A, 34A, 36A are made of an electrically conductive material such as metal and configured to protrude into the connector introduction chamber 26 so as to be electrically connected to plug contacts (not shown) of the female terminal of the plug connector 70. The substrate side extension parts 30B, 32B, 34B, 36B have a rectangular cross sectional shape, and are configured to mate with terminal mount grooves 38, 40, 42 formed on a back surface (an outer surface opposite to a surface of the connector introduction chamber 26) of the terminal mount wall 14.
As shown in
As shown in
The dual in-line terminals 30 are disposed on the side of the side wall 16 of the substrate side housing 12 where the lock openings 60 are formed. Since the distance between the contacts 30A and the side wall 16 is longer than the distance between the contacts 32A of the other dual in-line terminals 32 and the side wall 18 in the X axis direction, the substrate side extension parts 30B are longer than the substrate side extension parts 32B.
The substrate side connection parts 30C and 32C of the dual in-line terminals 30 and 32 have a rectangular parallelepiped shape, and include surfaces 30D, 32D and surfaces 32E. When the surface mount connector is used in the straight mounting form, the surfaces 30D. 32D face the terminal connection lands 106 on the surface of the printed board 100 and are soldered thereto, whereas when the surface mount connector is used in the right-angle mounting form, the surfaces 32E face the terminal connection lands 106 on the surface of the printed board 100 and are soldered thereto. The surfaces 30D, 32D and surfaces 32E are on planes extending in mutually orthogonal directions, and each set of the surfaces 30D, 32D, and 32E constitute surfaces of a rectangular parallepiped shape.
As shown in
The substrate side connection parts 34C of the single in-line terminals 34 have a cube shape, and include surfaces 34D and surfaces 32E. When the surface mount connector is used in the right-angel mounting form, the surfaces 34D face e the terminal connection lands 106 on the surface of the printed board 100 and are soldered thereto, whereas when the surface mount connector is used in the right-angle mounting form, the surfaces 32E face the terminal connection lands 106 on the surface of the printed board 100 and are soldered thereto. The surfaces 34D and the surfaces 34E are on planes extending in mutually orthogonal directions, and the surfaces 34D and the surfaces 34E of each substrate side connection parts 34C constitute the cube shape.
Thus, a single in-line terminal 34 and a short size dual in-line terminal 32 are the same parts having the same shape and the same size. In other words, the same parts can be commonly used as both the dual in-line terminals 32 and the in-line terminals 34.
As shown in
The substrate side connection parts 36C of the single in-line terminals 36 have a rectangular parallelepiped shape, and include surfaces 36D and surfaces 36E. When the surface mount connector is used in the straight mounting form, the surfaces 36D face the terminal connection lands 106 on the surface of the printed board 100 and are soldered thereto, whereas when the surface mount connector is used in the right-angle mounting form, the surfaces 36E face the terminal connection lands 106 on the surface of the printed board 100 and are soldered thereto. The surfaces 36D and the surfaces 36E are on planes extending in mutually orthogonal directions, and each set of the surfaces 36D and 36E constitute surfaces of a rectangular parallelepiped shape.
As shown in
As shown in
The reinforcement plate 62 can be used in common with a reinforcement plate for a surface mount connector including terminals in one row, such as one disclosed in JP2014-165091A.
The dual in-line terminals 30 and 32 are used in the surface mount connector 10 in the straight mounting form as shown in
Furthermore, when the surface mount connector is used in the straight mounting form, the reinforcement plates 62 are mounted to the first reinforcement plate mount parts 46 located on the side closer to the lock openings 60 so that the lower edges of the reinforcement plates 62 abut the surface of the printed board 100, respectively. Soldering parts 108 are formed of the same metal layer as the conductor pattern 104 on the insulated substrate 102 at locations where the lower edges of the reinforcement plates 62 abut the surface of the printed board 100. Thus, the lower edges of the reinforcement plates 62 are soldered to the soldering parts 108. As a result, the reinforcement plates reinforce the fixation of the surface mount connector 10 to the printed board 100.
When the surface mount connector is used in the straight mounting form, the reinforcement plates 62 can be fixed to the printed board 100 at their lower sides regardless of whether the reinforcement plates are attached to either the first reinforcement plate mount parts 46 or the second reinforcement plate mount parts 48. However, the fixation of the surface mount connector 10 to the printed board 100 should be reinforced on the side closer to the side wall 16 where an unlocking operation force and a force of tension (tensile force) are exerted by a cable (not shown) connected to the plug connector 70. For this reason, the reinforcement plates 62 are mounted on the first reinforcement plate mount parts 46 closer to the side wall 16 so as to reinforce the fixation of the surface mount connector 10 to the printed board 100 on the side closer to the side wall 16.
This configuration does not need to use a thick reinforcement plate 62, and uses a reinforcement plate 62 having a width of approximately half the size of the outer surfaces of the side walls 20, 22 in the X axis direction (a minimized reinforcement plate), which results in a reduction of material costs.
When the surface mount connector 10 is used in the right-angle mounting form, as shown in
Furthermore, when the surface mount connector is used in the right-angle mounting form, the reinforcement plates 62 are mounted to the second reinforcement plate mount parts 48 located on the side closer to the printed board 100 so that the lower edges (long sides) of the reinforcement plates 62 abut the surface of the printed board 100. Soldering parts 110 are formed of the same metal layer as the conductor pattern 104 on the insulated substrate 102 at locations where the lower edges of the reinforcement plates 62 abut the surface of the printed board 100. Thus, the lower edges of the reinforcement plates 62 are soldered to the soldering parts 108. As a result, even when the reinforcement plate 62 has a width of approximately half the size of the outer surfaces of the side walls 20, 22 in the X axis direction, the reinforcement plates can properly reinforce the fixation of the surface mount connector 10 to the printed board 100.
In the above described configuration, by choosing the two first or the two second reinforcement plate mount parts 46, 48 to which the reinforcement plates 62 are mounted depending on whether the surface mount connector is used in the straight mounting form or in the right-angle mounting form, the reinforcement plates 62 can properly reinforce the fixation of the surface mount connector 10 to the printed board 100 in the both cases where the surface mount connector is used in the straight mounting form and used in the right-angle mounting form. Furthermore, by configuring the reinforcement plates 62 to have a width of approximately half the size of the outer surfaces of the side walls 20, 22 in the X axis direction, the reinforcement plates 62 to be mounted to the first reinforcement plate mount parts 46 and those to be mounted to the second reinforcement plate mount parts 48 can be the same part having the same shape and the same size, which eliminates the need to prepare two or more different reinforcement plates. 62.
Not only the dual in-line type surface mount connector as described above but also a single in-line type surface mount connector may be used in the straight mounting form as shown in
In this way, by using the linear single in-line terminals 34 and the hook-shaped single in-line terminals 36, despite the terminals 34 arranged in two rows, the single in-line type connector can be realized both in the straight mounting form and in the right-angle mounting form.
The present disclosure has been described with reference to the specific embodiment. However, as will be understood by those skilled in the art, the invention is not intended to be limited to the particular details disclosed, and may be modified as appropriate without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, as shown in
All elements of the embodiments as described above are not necessarily essential, and one or more of them can be eliminated or selected as appropriate without departing from the scope of the present invention.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2016-112523 | Jun 2016 | JP | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/JP2017/019601 | 5/25/2017 | WO | 00 |