JP2002025664A - connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reliably connect a flexible wire, and to maintain an excellent connection condition thereof. SOLUTION: In this connector, an end of the wire 40 is maintained so that a conductor thereof is brought into contact with the terminal 10 by pressing in a slider 30 with the terminal of the flexible wire 40 inserted in a housing 20. A projecting part 34b is provided on the slider 30, and the projecting part 34b is allowed to abut on a reinforcing plate 42 of the terminal of the flexible cable wire in the inserting direction to regulate the movement of the flexible wire 40 in the direction opposite to the inserting direction.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an FFC (flexible flat cable) in which a plurality of conductors are arranged in a width direction, and an FPC in which a circuit is printed on a flexible base material.
The present invention relates to a connector to which a terminal of a flexible wiring material such as (flexible printed circuit) is connected.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Hitherto, as a means for connecting a terminal of a flexible wiring member to, for example, a circuit board, a connector in which a connector connectable to the terminal is mounted on a substrate is known. In such a connector, in consideration of the fact that the flexible wiring material to be connected is easily bent and difficult to insert, the terminal of the flexible wiring material is inserted into the housing with almost no resistance, and the slider is inserted into the housing after the insertion. The flexible wiring member is pressed in a direction parallel to the insertion direction of the flexible wiring member to restrain the flexible wiring member at a connection position.

FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 show an example of such a connector. In the illustrated housing 80, a large number of terminal receiving chambers 82 are formed in a row in the lateral direction, and a terminal 84 is stored in each terminal receiving chamber 82. At the tip of each terminal 84, a connection bending piece 83 that can be bent and displaced up and down is formed.

In order to make connection using the board connector C 1, first, the housing 80 is fixed to the circuit board side by the holder 86, and the legs 85 of the terminals 82 are fixed.
Is connected to a land on the substrate (not shown) by soldering or the like. On the other hand, in the flexible wiring member 40, the terminal is processed to expose the terminal of each conductor 41 to the upper side, and furthermore, the reinforcing plate 42 for controlling the bending of the end of the flexible wiring member 40 is provided.
On the back surface of the end. Then, FIG.
After the terminal of the flexible wiring member 40 is loosely inserted into the housing 80 as shown in (b), the slider 90 having the tongue piece 92 is inserted from the insertion side. When the insertion of the slider 90 is completed ((c) in the figure), the tongue piece 92 pushes up the end of the conductor 41 of the flexible wiring member 40, whereby the end of each conductor 41 is connected to the connection bending piece 83 of the terminal 82. Contact By this contact, the flexible wiring member 40 is connected to the circuit on the circuit board via the terminal 82.

[0005]

In the connector C1, the flexible wiring member 4 is connected to the housing 80.
It is difficult to check how much the terminal of 0 has been inserted. Therefore, when the slider 90 is pushed in while the flexible wiring member 40 is in the half-inserted state, a connection failure may occur. Further, even if the connection work is performed well, the restraint of the flexible wiring member 40 is performed only by the sandwiching between the tongue valve 92 and the bending piece 83 for connection. For example, if the flexible wiring member 40 is pulled with a relatively strong force, The position of the terminal in the housing may be shifted to cause a connection failure.

[0006] In view of such circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a connector that can reliably connect a flexible wiring member and can maintain a good connection state.

[0007]

As described above, the terminal of the flexible wiring member is generally provided with a reinforcing plate for suppressing its bending, and the reinforcing plate is provided on the surface of the flexible wiring member by the thickness thereof. It is in a state protruding from.

The present invention has been made by paying attention to such a structure, and is a connector to which the terminal of a flat flexible wiring member having a reinforcing plate fixed to the terminal is connected,
A housing into which a terminal of the flexible wiring member can be inserted, a plurality of terminals provided in the housing, and having a conductor contact portion that comes into contact with each conductor in the terminal of the flexible wiring member inserted into the housing; A slider for restraining a terminal of the flexible wiring member at a position where a conductor of the flexible wiring member contacts a conductor connecting portion of the terminal by being pushed in a direction including an insertion direction component of the flexible wiring member; A restricting portion is provided for restricting the movement of the flexible wiring member in the direction opposite to the insertion direction by abutting the flexible wiring member on the board in the direction of insertion of the flexible wiring member. When the slider is pushed into the housing with the plate positioned, the slider is pushed into the housing. Those that are configured conductors Kishiburu wiring member terminal is held in a position in contact with the conductor contact portions of the terminals.

According to this configuration, even if the slider is pushed in without the flexible wiring member being completely inserted into the housing, the restricting portion provided on the slider inserts the reinforcing plate provided on the terminal of the flexible wiring member. When the slider is finally pushed, the terminal of the flexible wiring material is in the proper connection position (the position where the terminal conductor contacts the conductor contact part of the terminal).
Will be introduced. In addition, in the state where the slider is completely pushed in, the restricting portion located on the rear side in the insertion direction of the reinforcing plate restricts the retrograde movement of the reinforcing plate and thus the entire flexible wiring member, so that some tension is applied to the flexible wiring member. Even if it acts, the flexible wiring member terminal is prevented from deviating from the connection position due to this.

[0010] Further, the housing is provided with a locking portion for locking the pushed-in slider and restricting the backward movement of the slider, and the reinforcing plate is positioned in front of the restricting portion in the flexible wiring material insertion direction. The locking position of the slider by the locking portion is set such that the slider is locked to the locking portion so that the conductor of the flexible wiring material terminal is held at a position where the conductor contacts the conductor contact portion of the terminal. With such a configuration, since the backward movement of the slider itself is also restricted by the locking portion, the connection state between the flexible wiring member and the connector terminal is more reliably maintained.

The restricting portion may be any member as long as it restricts its movement by abutting against the reinforcing plate from the rear side in the flexible wiring member insertion direction. For example, a reinforcing plate of the flexible wiring member is provided. In a configuration in which the side of the flexible wiring member is inserted into the housing with the side surface facing the slider, the slider may be provided on the surface of the slider facing the flexible wiring member as the restricting portion. The movement of the flexible wiring member can be effectively restricted by a simple structure in which only a protruding portion that protrudes from the surface toward the flexible wiring member is provided.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

The illustrated connector includes a large number of terminals 10, a housing 20 for holding the terminals, and a slider 30 mounted on the housing 20.

Each terminal 10 is made of a conductive material such as metal, and has a substantially L-shaped leg 12 mounted on a substrate, an upper horizontal portion 14 extending horizontally from the upper end of the leg 12, and
A lower horizontal portion 16 that branches downward from the base end of the upper horizontal portion 14 and extends in parallel with the upper horizontal portion 14, and a conductor contact portion 18 that is turned at an acute angle from an end of the lower horizontal portion 16. The lower surface of the front end portion of the upper horizontal portion 14 is an inclined surface that becomes higher as it goes forward.

The entire housing 20 is integrally formed of an insulating material such as a synthetic resin. Specifically, it has a main body 21 extending left and right, and a top wall 22 extending in parallel with the main body 21 above the rear half of the main body 21, and the main body 21 and the top wall 22 are provided in a housing. They are integrally connected via a rear connecting portion 23 and left and right side walls.

The main body 21 is formed with a terminal receiving groove 21a in the front-rear direction for receiving the lower horizontal portion 16 of each terminal 10. The terminals 10 are fixed in the terminal accommodating grooves 21a, and the conductor contact portions 18 protrude upward from the terminal accommodating grooves 21a. On the other hand, on the lower surface of the top wall portion 22, the terminal fitting groove 2 in the front-rear direction in which the upper horizontal portion 14 of each terminal 10 is fitted.
2a is formed.

The left and right ends of the top wall portion 22 are longitudinally projecting ridges 24 protruding outward from the left and right side surfaces of the housing 20, and a projection 24a projecting downward is formed at the front end of each ridge 24. Have been. The projection 24a also serves as a restraining portion and a stopper according to the present invention, and has a tapered surface on the front side of the projection 24a in which the amount of projection increases rearward (to the right in FIG. 3A). Have been.

Similarly, on the left and right side front portions of the main body portion 22,
A pair of upper and lower ridges 25, 25 'extending in the front-rear direction is formed. Rear end of ridge 25 (right end in FIG. 3A)
25a is formed with a tapered surface 25b that becomes lower toward the rear.

The slider 30, like the housing 20, is integrally formed of an insulating material. Specifically, a pair of left and right side walls 32 extending in the front-rear direction and a connecting portion 34 connecting the both side walls 32 in the left and right direction are integrally formed.
The interval between the two is set substantially equal to the dimension of the housing 20 in the left-right direction. On the rear end face of the connecting portion 34, a wiring member pressing piece 35 extends rearward from a portion excluding the left and right ends, and the rear end upper surface of the wiring material pressing piece 35 has a lower direction toward the rear. Is formed.

Guide portions 36 are formed on the inner side surfaces of the side walls 32. The guide portions 36 are ridges projecting inward. The guide portion 36 is arranged in order from the rear end (the right end in FIG. 3A).
A lower horizontal portion 36a extending in the horizontal direction, and an inclined portion 36b extending obliquely upward from the front end of the lower horizontal portion 36a to the front side.
And an upper horizontal portion 36c extending horizontally from the front end of the inclined portion 36b to the front side, and each of the portions has a projection 24a of the housing 20 and a projection 25
And has a height dimension that can be fitted with almost no gap between the rear end portion. That is, the guide portion 36 has a width dimension (that is, a vertical dimension) that is restricted from above and below by the projection 24a and the rear end portion 25a of the projection 25 while being allowed to slide in the longitudinal direction.

The shape of the guide portion 36 is set so as to guide the slider 30 so that the slider 30 performs a specific movement when the slider 30 is pushed in. The specific movement will be described later.

A locked portion 36d projecting upward is formed on the upper surface of the lower horizontal portion 36a of the guide portion 36, and the locked portion 36d hits the projection 24a to move forward from the housing 20. Of the slider 30 is prevented. In addition, the lower horizontal portion 3
A vertical portion 36e extends downward from an appropriate position of 6a.

On the other hand, on both sides of the housing 20,
The state where the slider 30 is completely pulled out (FIG. 3)
In the state (a), a protrusion 27 is formed at a position adjacent to and behind the vertical portion 36e, and the protrusion 27 and the vertical portion 36e are formed.
The slider 30 is restricted from moving inadvertently in the pushing direction (rightward in FIG. 3A) (that is, temporarily locked). Also, housing 2
0 are formed on both side surfaces of the slider 30 with engaging projections (engaging portions) 28 which engage with the projections 36d in a state where the slider 30 is completely pushed in (the state of FIG. 6A). As a result, the backward movement of the slider 30 in the pull-out direction is restricted (that is, fully locked).

At the terminal of the flexible wiring member 40 inserted into the housing 20, the insulating layer on the lower surface side is peeled off so that the conductor inside is exposed downward, while the upper surface of the terminal is reinforced. The plate 42 is fixed by means such as bonding.

The material and thickness of the reinforcing plate 42 can be appropriately set, and the reinforcing plate 42 according to this embodiment is
It has the same material (synthetic resin) and substantially the same thickness as the main body of the flexible wiring member 40 (for example, about 0.2 mm).

On the other hand, on the lower surface of the front end of the connecting portion 34 of the slider 30, a protruding portion (restriction portion) 34b is formed which protrudes downward with a protruding amount substantially equal to that of the reinforcing plate 42. Abuts against the reinforcing plate 42 from the rear side (left side in FIG. 3B) of the flexible wiring member insertion direction, whereby the forward movement of the flexible wiring member 40 with respect to the slider 30 (that is, the Movement in the opposite direction) is regulated.

The dimensions of the connector in the front-rear direction are set as shown in FIG. That is, as shown in the figure, when the slider 30 is completely pushed into the housing 20, the distance from the front end (left end in the figure) of the slider 30 to the rear end of the conductor contact portion 18 is a, B is the distance from the rear end of the flexible wiring member 40 to the insertion end of the flexible wiring member 40,
The dimension of the reinforcing plate 42 fixed to the wiring material insertion direction is c,
Assuming that a dimension in the flexible wiring material insertion direction of a region of the flexible wiring material terminal where the insulating layer on the lower surface side is peeled off (that is, a region where the conductor is exposed downward) is b <d <c <(a + b). Are set to satisfy the relationship. In summary, at the position where the slider 30 is completely pushed in, with the reinforcing plate 42 in front of the protruding portion 34b, the conductor exposed on the back side of the reinforcing plate 42 Each dimension is set so as to surely make contact with 18.

Next, the operation of this connector will be described.

First, as shown in FIG. 3A, the slider 30 is completely pulled out from the housing 20 toward the user. At this time, the protrusion 36d formed on the guide portion 36 of the slider 30 comes into contact with the protrusion 24a formed on the protrusion 24 on the housing 20 side from the rear, thereby preventing the slider 30 from falling out of the housing 20 ( Temporarily locked state).

In this state, the flexible wiring member extends from the lower side of the connecting portion 34 and the wiring member pressing piece 35 of the slider 30 toward the space between the upper horizontal portion 14 of the terminal 10 in the housing 20 and the conductor contact portion 18. Insert 40 terminals.

Ideally, this insertion is performed deeply to the position where the insertion end of the flexible wiring member 40 abuts on the rear end of the housing 20, ie, the front end 23a (FIG. 3 (b)) of the connecting portion 23, or a position close thereto. However, in the illustrated connector, a downward projecting portion 34b formed at the front end of the slider 30 is
0 has a function of pushing the reinforcing plate 42 of the flexible wiring member 40 from the near side to the back side, as shown in FIG.
Even if the insertion is very shallow, the flexible wiring member 40 can be finally inserted to a regular connection position.

On the other hand, in the side walls 32 of the slider 30, the guide portions 36 are restrained from above and below by the projections 24a on the housing 20 side and the rear end of the ridge 25, as shown in FIG. In the slider pulled-out state shown in b), since the lower lower straight portion 36a of the guide portion 36 is restricted, the slider 30 is held at the highest position relative to the housing 20. Therefore, the insertion opening on the lower side of the slider 30 is wide, and the flexible wiring member 40 can be easily inserted into the housing 20 therefrom.

After the insertion of the flexible wiring member 40, the slider 30 is pushed into the housing 20 toward the rear end while the protrusion 27 is moved over the vertical portion 36e of the slider 30. With this pushing, the portion where the guide portion 36 is restrained by the projection 24a and the rear end portion of the ridge 25 gradually changes, but when the inclined portion 36b approaches the restrained portion (see FIG. )), The slider 30 slides obliquely downward at an angle equal to the inclination angle. That is, it slides in the first direction that is inclined (downward) toward the conductor contact portion 18 of the terminal 10 with respect to the insertion direction (horizontal direction in the figure) of the flexible wiring member 40.

FIG. 5 shows the oblique sliding operation.
As shown in FIG. 2B, the wiring member pressing piece 35 of the slider 30 goes under the upper horizontal portion 14 of the terminal 10 and presses the terminal of the flexible wiring member 40 against the conductor contact portion 18 of the terminal 10. As a result, the exposed portion of the conductor of the flexible wiring member terminal is brought into pressure contact with the conductor contact portion 18 so that the two are electrically connected.

Further, as shown in FIG.
6, the slider 30 slides in the second direction parallel to the insertion direction of the flexible wiring member 40 from the time when the upper horizontal portion 36 c is restrained. When the slider 30 is pushed to a predetermined depth, the locked portion 36d rides over the locking projection 28 on the housing 20 side (ie, is fully locked) as shown in FIG. 6A. Then, the backward movement of the slider 30 is regulated, and the completely connected state is maintained.

Here, as shown in FIG. 3B, even if the insertion of the flexible wiring member 40 is incomplete at the beginning of the pushing of the slider 30, the lower surface of the slider 30 is accompanied by the pushing of the slider 30. Since the protrusion 34b protruding from the rear pushes the reinforcing plate of the flexible wiring member 40 from the rear side in the insertion direction (left side in FIGS. 3 to 6), the terminal of the flexible wiring member 40 finally has a conductor whose conductor contact portion 18 will be reliably introduced to the proper connection position. Therefore, connection failure due to incomplete insertion of the flexible wiring member 40 is reliably prevented.

Further, in the state of FIGS. 6A and 6B where the connection is completed, the contact between the protruding portion 34b and the reinforcing plate 42 prevents the flexible wiring member 40 from moving backward with respect to the slider 30. Even if a slight tension acts on the member 40, the terminal position is prevented from being deviated from the connection position due to this.

In particular, as shown in FIG. 6 (a), when the slider 30 is completely pushed in, the locked portion 36d is locked by the locking projection 28 on the housing 20 side, thereby restricting the backward movement. With the structure, the connection state can be more reliably maintained. Further, by the sound or the touch generated when the locked portion 36d and the locking projection 28 are engaged, the operator can confirm that the slider 30 has been completely inserted into the housing 20 and, consequently, the terminal of the flexible wiring member 40. Can be confirmed to be electrically connected to the terminal 10.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but may take the following embodiments, for example.

(1) In the present invention, the flexible wiring member 4
Regardless of the insertion direction of 0, for example, a flexible wiring member terminal may be inserted into the housing from top to bottom. Also in this case, it is sufficient if the restricting portion of the slider contacts the reinforcing plate from the rear side (that is, the upper side) in the insertion direction.

(2) In the above-described embodiment, the connector in which the wiring material terminal is inserted into the housing 20 from the lower side of the pulled-out slider 30 has been described.
May be inserted from above.
In this case, since the reinforcing plate 42 is fixed to the upper surface of the flexible wiring member 40, a restricting portion that can contact the reinforcing plate 42 may be provided on the upper surface of the slider 30.

(3) In the above-described embodiment, the protrusion 34b is formed at the front end (the rear end in the flexible wiring material insertion direction) of the slider 30, but the position of the protrusion 34b is smaller than that of the flexible wiring material. Insertion front side (Fig. 3 ~
6 (right side in FIG. 6).

(4) In the above embodiment, the slider 30 slides in an oblique direction (first direction) and then in a direction (second direction) parallel to the flexible wiring member insertion direction. The present invention is not limited to this, and the slider 30 may be moved only in the first direction or only in the second direction.
A similar effect can be obtained also in a connector that slides by providing the slider with the restricting portion.

(5) In the present invention, the flexible wiring member 40
Regardless of the specific shape and structure of the FFC, FPC,
The present invention can be applied to various other flat and flexible wiring members.

[0045]

As described above, according to the present invention, the slider pushed into the housing is provided with the restricting portion, and the restricting portion is brought into contact with the reinforcing plate of the terminal of the flexible wiring member so that the slider can be moved in the direction opposite to the insertion direction of the flexible wiring member. The movement of the flexible wiring member is regulated, and the slider is pushed into the housing in a state where the reinforcing plate is located on the front side of the flexible wiring member insertion direction with respect to the restricting portion. Since it is designed to be held at a position where it contacts the conductor contact part of
There is an effect that the connection of the flexible wiring member can be reliably performed, and the connection state can be maintained in a favorable state.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a connector according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional perspective view of the connector.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are cross-sectional front views showing a state in which a slider in the connector is completely pulled out.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are cross-sectional front views showing a state when a slider in the connector starts sliding in a first direction.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are cross-sectional front views showing a state at the time when a slider in the connector has finished sliding in a first direction.

FIGS. 6A and 6B are cross-sectional front views showing a state at the time when sliding of a slider in the connector is completed.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing an example of a connector for connecting a terminal of a flexible wiring member to a circuit board.

FIGS. 8A, 8B, and 8C are cross-sectional views illustrating a process of inserting and fixing a terminal of a flexible wiring member into the connector.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Terminal 18 Conductor contact part 20 Housing 28 Locking projection (locking part) 30 Slider 34b Projection 40 Flexible wiring material 42 Reinforcement plate

Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Takuya Inoue 1-7-10 Kikuzumi, Minami-ku, Nagoya-shi, Aichi F-term in Harness Research Institute, Inc. (reference) 5E023 AA04 AA13 AA16 AA18 BB01 BB08 BB22 BB23 BB25 CC23 CC26 DD08 DD25 EE07 GG09 HH01 HH02 HH22

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A connector to which a terminal of a flat flexible wiring member having a reinforcing plate fixed to the terminal is connected, wherein a housing in which the terminal of the flexible wiring member can be inserted is provided. A plurality of terminals having a conductor contact portion that comes into contact with each conductor in a terminal of the flexible wiring member inserted into the housing, and the flexible wiring member is pushed into the housing in a direction including an insertion direction component of the flexible wiring member. And a slider for restraining the terminal at a position where its conductor contacts the conductor connecting portion of the terminal, and abutting the slider against the reinforcing plate in a direction in which the flexible wiring member is inserted, so that the terminal is in a direction opposite to the insertion direction. There is a regulation section that regulates the movement of the flexible wiring material to the The conductor of the terminal of the flexible wiring member is held at a position where the conductor of the terminal of the flexible wiring member is in contact with the conductor contact portion of the terminal by pushing the slider into the housing in a state where the reinforcing plate is located on the front side in the wiring material insertion direction. Connector. 2. The connector according to claim 1, wherein the housing is provided with a locking portion that locks the pushed-in slider and restricts backward movement thereof, and is provided on a front side of the restricting portion in the flexible wiring material insertion direction. The slider is locked to the locking portion with the reinforcing plate positioned so that the conductor of the terminal of the flexible wiring member is held at a position where it contacts the conductor contact portion of the terminal. A connector in which a locking position of a slider is set. 3. The connector according to claim 1, wherein the flexible wiring member is inserted into the housing so that a surface of the flexible wiring member on which a reinforcing plate is provided faces the slider. The connector is characterized in that a projection is provided on the surface of the slider facing the flexible wiring member, the protrusion protruding from the surface toward the flexible wiring member as the restriction portion.