JP2000260505A - Connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent weakening in holding force of a contact, even when a device is accepted or removed in the inclined direction or in the horizontal direction by installing an engaging shoulder engaging with a housing in an elastic contact piece, so as to obstruct the movement of a contact in the direction opposite to the pressure-inserting direction. SOLUTION: When tensile force in the connection releasing direction (the left direction) is produced in an elastic contact piece 61 in the initial stage of connection release, a projection 65 is displaced in the horizontal direction by a slight deformation of the elastic contact piece 61, an engaging shoulder 71 installed in the end edge of the projection 65 is engaged with a shoulder 27, and acts so as to resist against tensile force. Therefore, the tensile force applied to the elastic contact piece 61 does not reach a pressure inserting part 51 and does not adversely affect the support of a contact 50. The shape of the projection 65 is set so that when the projection 65 is engaged with the shoulder 27, the engagement is not easily released, the whole engaging shoulder 71 is engaged with the shoulder 27, or only the vicinity of the tip of the projection 65 is engaged with the shoulder 27.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a connector for electrically interconnecting a pair of devices arranged in parallel in a height direction.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional example of this type of connector is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,358,411. The disclosed connector is shown in FIG. 3 for illustration. 3A is a perspective view, and FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view. The connector 105 has an elongated housing 110 and a plurality of contacts 150 that are press-fitted from the side thereof. Contact 150
At the center thereof, there is a press-fit projection 151 extending horizontally, and elastic contact pieces 152, 153 extending vertically from the center. The elastic contact pieces 152 and 153 are
The contact 150 is elastically deformed by being pushed inward by the contacted portions of the devices arranged on the upper and lower surfaces, so that the contact 150 is electrically connected to each device using the elastic force of the elastic contact pieces 152 and 153. Contact 150 to housing 110
Pressing in from the outer side of the connector 105 is advantageous for downsizing the connector 105.

[0003]

In the above-described connector 105,
The device is mounted on the housing 11 from above and below.
0 is pressed against the top surface 111 and the bottom surface 112. However, certain applications require that the device be moved in an inclined or horizontal direction to connect the device. When the above-described connector 105 is used for such an application, an excessive force may be applied in a direction opposite to the press-fitting direction of the contact 150, and the holding force of the contact 150 may be weakened.
This may cause poor connection. Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a small-sized connector which does not weaken the contact support force even when the device is received or removed from an inclined direction or a horizontal direction.

[0004]

According to the present invention, there is provided a contact which is press-fitted and fixed to a housing disposed between a pair of devices arranged in a height direction, and the contact is electrically connected to each of the pair of devices. Wherein the elastic contact piece includes an engaging shoulder which engages with the housing to prevent the contact from moving in a direction opposite to the press-fitting direction. I do.

Preferably, the engagement shoulder is formed at a position where the engagement shoulder does not interfere with the housing when the contact is pressed into the housing.

[0006] Preferably, the contact is formed by punching a single metal plate, and the engaging shoulder is provided on a protrusion protruding from the elastic contact piece.

[0007] Preferably, an inclined portion is formed on a side of the projecting portion facing the engaging shoulder.

Preferably, in the connector, a plurality of the contacts are arranged in the housing, and the plurality of the contacts are all press-fitted and fixed to the housing from an outer surface on the same side of the housing.

Preferably, the engagement shoulder and the press-fit portion of the contact are separated by a predetermined distance, and the engagement shoulder is relatively movable with respect to the press-fit portion in a direction opposite to the press-fit direction.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A connector according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a connector according to the present invention, showing a connection preparation state or a connection release state of the device. FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 1 and shows a state in which the connection of the device is completed.

The connector 10 has a top surface 21 and a bottom surface 22.
For interconnecting devices located on the side,
It has a housing 20 including a top surface 21 and a bottom surface 22 and contacts 50. In the figure, the device 10 connected to the top side is shown.
Only 0 is shown in the connection ready state. One example of a device is a printed circuit board. 1 and 2, the connector 10 is described as a vertical cross-sectional view. The connector 10 can accommodate a plurality of contacts 50 in a housing 20 like the conventional connector described above. To realize multi-pole interconnection between devices.

As shown, housing 20 has a substantially rectangular cross section. The contact 50 has one outer surface 23 thereof.
And is supported by the housing 20. At a substantially central position of the contact 50, a press-fit portion (or press-fit protrusion) 51 for press-fitting and fixing to the housing 20 is formed so as to extend in the horizontal direction. It is received in the cavity 24. The contact 50 is supported by the housing 20 only by locking at the press-fitting portion 51. Although not shown, it should be noted that in the present embodiment, the plurality of contacts 50 housed in the housing 20 are all pressed into the housing 20 from the outer surface 23 side.

Each contact 50 has elastic contact pieces 61 and 62 extending vertically above and below the press-fitting portion 51. The resilient contact pieces 61, 62 are correspondingly
Are housed in the top and bottom cavities 25, 26, and only the arch-shaped contact portions 63, 64 protrude from the housing 20.

Regarding the structure of the connector 10, the most remarkable point is that the protrusions projecting inward in the height direction are formed at the inner ends of the elastic contact pieces 61 and 62 of the contact 50 manufactured by stamping a metal plate. Portions 65, 66 are formed, while cavities 25, 26 are formed by protrusions 65, 6 of contact 50.
6 is to have shoulders 27, 27 near. Hereinafter, the operation of these configurations will be described. In the embodiment, since the resilient contact pieces 61 and 62 and the top and bottom cavities 25 and 26 are symmetrical, the following description will be made only for the top side, but the same applies to the bottom side. It should be noted that

The device 100 is moved from the connection preparation position shown in FIG. 1 in a substantially horizontal direction (see arrow A) or in a direction in which it is slid while rotating (see arrow B) from a slightly inclined position, to the connector 10. Electrically connected. The connection completed state is shown in FIG. In the process of shifting from the connection preparation state of FIG. 1 to the connection state of FIG.
Is pressed inward and elastically deformed, and receives a pulling force in a direction away from the press-fitting portion 51 by a frictional force generated in the contact portion 63. Pull force is 50 contacts
, And does not affect the support of the contact 50. Since the cavity 25 has a sufficient space for the bending deformation of the elastic contact piece 61, the elastic contact piece 61 can be electrically connected to the device 100 with a sufficient elastic contact force.

When the connection is released, the device 100
Are moved in the direction opposite to the arrow A or the arrow B in FIG.
When the connection state shown in FIG. 2 shifts to the connection release state shown in FIG. 1, the elastic contact piece 61 returns to a normal shape due to its own elastic force. Subject to pulling force in the opposite direction.
However, it should be noted that, as shown in FIG. 2, when in the connected state, the protrusion 65 provided on the elastic contact piece 61 is arranged close to the shoulder 27 provided on the housing 20. That is, in the initial state of disconnection, the elastic contact piece 61
When a pulling force is generated in the disconnection direction (left direction in the drawing), the protrusion 65 is displaced in the horizontal direction by a slight deformation of the elastic contact piece 61 due to the pulling force.
The engaging shoulder 71 provided at the edge of the shoulder engages the shoulder 27 and acts to oppose the pulling force. Therefore, the elastic contact piece 61
Does not reach the press-fit portion 51 and does not adversely affect the support of the contact 50. The shape of the projection 65 is such that the entire engagement shoulder 71 abuts the shoulder 27 so that the engagement is not easily released when the projection 65 is engaged with the shoulder 27,
Alternatively, it may be set so that only the vicinity of the tip of the protrusion 65 is engaged with the shoulder 27.

It should also be noted that the edge of the projection 65 facing the engaging shoulder 71 is an inclined edge 72. The projecting portion 65 of the contact 50 can be set at a position that does not interfere with the housing 20 in the manufacturing process in which the contact 50 is press-fitted into the housing 20. However, even when the elastic contact piece 61 is slightly deformed in the process, Due to the presence of the edge 72, the press-fitting assembly process of the contact 50 can be performed smoothly.

As described above, the connector according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described. However, this is merely an example, and does not limit the present invention. Various modifications and alterations are possible by those skilled in the art. It is. For example, the contacts do not necessarily have to have the entire length within the surface of a single metal plate, but may be bent.

[0020]

According to the connector of the present invention, the elastic contact piece is provided with an engaging shoulder which engages with the housing so as to prevent the contact from moving in the direction opposite to the press-fitting direction. Even if the device is received or removed from the inclined direction or the horizontal direction, the supporting force of the contact is not weakened, so that a stable electrical connection with the device can be ensured even after the device has been inserted and removed a plurality of times.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a connector according to the present invention, showing a connection preparation state or a connection release state of an apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view similar to FIG. 1, showing a completed connection state of the device.

3A and 3B are views showing a conventional connector, in which FIG. 3A is a perspective view and FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Connector 20 Housing 50 Contact 61, 62 Elastic contact piece 71 Engagement shoulder 100 One device

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A contact which is press-fitted and fixed to a housing arranged between a pair of devices arranged in a height direction,
The contact comprises a connector having an elastic contact piece that makes electrical contact with each of the pair of devices, wherein the elastic contact piece engages with the housing to prevent the contact from moving in a direction opposite to the press-fitting direction. A connector comprising a mating shoulder.