JP2018181798A - Electrical connector - Google Patents

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to obtain good electrical connectivity while avoiding an increase in the size of a contact member. The contact portion of the contact member is extended by extending the contact portion of the contact member in the insertion direction of the flat signal transmission medium so that the actuator is moved. When 13f contacts the surface of the flat signal transmission medium F, the contact portion 13f of the contact member 13 slides well with respect to the surface of the flat signal transmission medium F, and the flat signal transmission medium F On the other hand, the contact member 13f of the contact member 13 has a configuration in which the contact member 13f is surely bitten. [Selection] Figure 8

Description

  The present invention relates to an electrical connector.

  Generally, in various electric devices etc., a flat signal transmission medium (hereinafter referred to as a flat signal transmission medium) such as a flexible printed circuit (FPC) or a flexible flat cable (FFC) is electrically Various electrical connectors are widely used as a means for connecting to For example, in an electric connector mounted and used on a printed wiring board as in Patent Document 1 below, a flat signal transmission medium made of the above-mentioned FPC or FFC etc. is an opening of an insulating housing (insulator) The actuator (connection operation means), which is inserted into the inside through the valve and at that time in the "standby position (open position)", is the "active position (closed position)" on the front or rear side of the electrical connector It is configured to be moved toward the

  Then, when the actuator (connection operation means) is moved to the “working position (closing position)” where the flat signal transmission medium is held, the contact member is moved by the cam action of the medium pressing cam provided on the actuator. A portion of the elastically displaced contact member abuts against the surface of the flat signal transmission medium inserted into the insulating housing, whereby the flat signal transmission medium is pressed and flat signal transmission The contact portion of the contact member abuts on the circuit pattern provided on the surface of the medium to make an electrical connection, and a signal is transmitted.

  And, as described above, when bringing a contact member into contact with a flat signal transmission medium (FPC, FFC, etc.), it is conventional to adopt a so-called sharp edge structure in which the contact part of the contact member is sharpened. It has been done since. For example, Patent Document 1 below discloses a structure in which a protrusion (sharp edge) sharpened at the tip of a contact member is made to bite into a flat signal transmission medium.

  However, the sharp edge structure disclosed in the prior art document 1 aims at preventing the flat signal transmission medium (FPC, FFC, etc.) from coming off, and has a configuration in which the protrusion of the contact member bites into the reinforcing plate In the case where the contact portion having the same sharp edge structure is brought into contact with the circuit pattern of the flat signal transmission medium, the circuit pattern is scraped to cause problems such as disconnection. There is a fear.

  Further, in Patent Documents 2 and 3 below, a plurality of (two) contact members (contact arms) elastically displaced independently of each other are provided in the height direction from the wiring substrate to be mounted, A configuration is disclosed in which the electrical connectivity is improved by contacting the flat signal transmission medium with the contact portions provided on the contact members arranged at a plurality of locations (two locations) as a whole. There is. However, in the configuration provided with a plurality of contact members as described above, in particular, the contact members increase in size in the height direction, and there is a possibility that the demand for downsizing of the electrical connector can not be met.

Unexamined-Japanese-Patent No. 2007-227302 Patent No. 4192203 gazette Patent No. 4541428 gazette

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector capable of obtaining good electrical connectivity while avoiding an increase in size of the contact member.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the invention according to claim 1, an insulating housing into which a flat signal transmission medium is inserted, and multipoles arranged in a direction orthogonal to the insertion direction of the flat signal transmission medium A plurality of contact members, and an actuator provided on the insulating housing so as to be reciprocally movable between a standby position and an operating position, each of the contact members extending along the insertion direction of the flat signal transmission medium. Of the metal member which has a thickness in the arrangement direction of the multipole shape and which is elastically displaceable in a direction perpendicular to the direction of the thickness, and the actuator moves toward the acting position A medium which presses the surface of the flat signal transmission medium inserted into the inside of the insulating housing while elastically displacing the contact member when being moved. The contact portion of the contact member, which has a pressure cam portion and is elastically displaced by the medium pressing cam portion of the actuator, is electrically connected in a state where the contact portion is in contact with the surface of the flat signal transmission medium. In the electrical connector, the contact portion of the contact member extends along the insertion direction of the flat signal transmission medium, and the width of the contact portion in the multipole arrangement direction is the contact The configuration set smaller than the thickness of the member is adopted.

  According to the invention of claim 1 having such a configuration, since the contact portion of the contact member is configured to extend along the insertion direction of the flat signal transmission medium, the actuator is moved. When the contact portion of the contact member contacts the surface of the flat signal transmission medium while causing elastic displacement in the contact member, the width is smaller than the thickness of the contact member with respect to the surface of the flat signal transmission medium. As a result that the extended contact portion slides well and the contact portion of the contact member bites into the flat signal transmission medium with certainty, a plurality of contact portions are provided in the height direction, etc. Good electrical connectivity can be obtained while avoiding an increase in size of the contact member caused by the

  Further, as in the invention according to claim 2, the contact portion is provided in the shape of a sharp edge on the top of a contact base whose width decreases toward the surface of the flat signal transmission medium. desirable.

  According to the invention of claim 2 having such a configuration, the sharp edge contact portion of the contact member bites into the flat signal transmission medium more securely, and the electrical connectivity is further improved. Is obtained.

  Furthermore, as in the invention according to claim 3, the contact member can slide on the surface of the flat signal transmission medium before the contact portion in the insertion direction of the flat signal transmission medium. It is desirable that a wiping unit having a curved surface be provided.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, the wiping portion is brought into contact with the surface of the signal transmission medium before the contact portion of the contact member comes into contact with the surface of the signal transmission medium. The foreign matter such as dust adhering to the surface of the flat signal transmission medium is made to be scraped off beforehand by the wiping unit, and the electrical connectivity of the contact portion of the contact member to the flat signal transmission medium is further enhanced.

  Furthermore, in the invention according to claim 4, the contact portion and the wiping portion in the contact member can be provided continuously or discontinuously in the insertion direction of the flat signal transmission medium. It is.

  On the other hand, as in the invention according to claim 5, it is desirable that the contact portion be disposed in a state of facing the medium pressing cam portion of the actuator.

  According to the invention of claim 5 having such a configuration, the contact pressure of the medium pressing cam portion of the actuator is directly applied to the contact portion of the contact member, so that the electric connection is further improved. Sex is obtained.

  Furthermore, in the invention according to claim 6, the width of the contact portion can be constant or fluctuate in the insertion direction of the flat signal transmission medium.

  Furthermore, in the invention according to claim 7, a part of the contact portion can be protruded toward the surface of the flat signal transmission medium.

  As described above, in the electrical connector according to the present invention, the actuator is moved by extending the contact portion whose width is smaller than the thickness of the contact member along the insertion direction of the flat signal transmission medium. Thus, when the contact portion of the contact member contacts the surface of the flat signal transmission medium, the contact portion of the contact member slides favorably against the surface of the flat signal transmission medium, and the flat signal transmission medium On the other hand, since the contact portion of the contact member is firmly bitten into the contact member, it is possible to prevent the upsizing of the contact member caused by providing a plurality of contact portions in the height direction, etc. Connectivity is obtained.

An electrical connector according to an embodiment of the present invention, which is an appearance showing from the front side the overall configuration in an open state in which the actuator is maintained at the standby position with the flat signal transmission medium not inserted. FIG. It is plane | planar explanatory drawing of the electrical connector in the open state shown by FIG. It is front explanatory drawing of the electrical connector in the open state shown by FIG.1 and FIG.2. FIG. 4 is a side view of the open electrical connector shown in FIGS. 1 to 3; FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional explanatory view taken along the line V-V in FIG. 2, which is an enlarged view of a state in which the flat signal transmission medium is inserted into the open state electrical connector shown in FIGS. is there. It is an external appearance perspective explanatory drawing which expanded and represented the electrically conductive contact member concerning 1st Embodiment of this invention used for the electrical connector shown by FIGS. 1-5. It is side explanatory drawing of the electrically conductive contact member shown by FIG. FIG. 7 is a partial external perspective view for illustrating a portion indicated by a symbol VIII in FIG. 6 in an enlarged manner. In the electrical connector according to one embodiment of the present invention shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the overall configuration in the closed state where the actuator is tilted to the acting position with the flat signal transmission medium not inserted is shown from the front side It is the external appearance perspective explanatory drawing. FIG. 10 is a plan view of the electrical connector in the closed state shown in FIG. 9; FIG. 11 is a side view of the electrical connector in the closed state shown in FIGS. 9 and 10; In the electrical connector according to one embodiment of the present invention shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, FIG. 10 is an enlarged view of a closed state in which the actuator is tilted to the acting position in a state where the flat signal transmission medium is inserted. It is cross-sectional explanatory drawing along the XII-XII line in FIG. When the flat signal transmission medium is inserted into the electrical connector in which the actuator is in the open position, it is an explanatory side view showing a portion where the contact portion of the conductive contact member is provided in an enlarged manner. FIG. 14 is an explanatory side view showing, in an enlarged manner, a portion where the contact portion of the conductive contact member is provided in the electrical connector in which the actuator is pivoted to the closed position from the state shown in FIG. 13; It is an appearance perspective explanatory view which expanded and expressed the conductive contact member concerning a 2nd embodiment of the present invention. It is side explanatory drawing which expanded and represented the near-field area of the contact point part provided in the front-end | tip part of the electrically conductive contact member shown in FIG. It is the external appearance perspective explanatory drawing which expanded and represented the site | part in which the contact part of the electrically conductive contact member concerning 3rd Embodiment of this invention was provided. It is the external appearance perspective explanatory drawing which expanded and represented the site | part in which the contact part of the electrically conductive contact member concerning 4th Embodiment of this invention was provided. It is the external appearance perspective explanatory drawing which expanded and represented the site | part in which the contact part of the electrically conductive contact member concerning 5th Embodiment of this invention was provided.

  In the following, an electrical connector mounted on a printed wiring board for connection of a flat signal transmission medium comprising a flexible printed circuit (FPC), a flexible flat cable (FFC) or the like An embodiment to which the present invention is applied will be described in detail based on the drawings.

[About the entire structure of the electrical connector]
The electric connector 10 according to one embodiment of the present invention shown in FIGS. 1 to 5 has a connector front side portion (FIGS. 4 and 5) into which a flat signal transmission medium (FPC or FFC etc.) F is inserted. An electrical connector having a so-called front-flip structure in which an actuator 12 as a connection operation means is attached to the left side portion), and the actuator (connection operation means) 12 is raised as shown in the figure It is configured to be pivoted so as to be pushed down toward the connector front side (left side in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5).

  The electrical connector 10 has an insulating housing 11 formed of a hollow frame-like insulating member extending in an elongated shape, and the longitudinal direction of the insulating housing 11 is hereinafter referred to as "connector longitudinal direction". . The terminal portion of the flat signal transmission medium (FPC or FFC, etc.) F is inserted from the “connector front” to the “connector rear” with respect to the electrical connector 10, and the flat signal transmission medium F The insertion direction of is referred to as "medium insertion direction". Furthermore, although the terminal portion of the flat signal transmission medium F is pulled out from the “connector backward” toward the “connector forward”, the direction in which the flat signal transmission medium F is removed is referred to as “medium removal direction” Do.

  The electrical connector 10 according to the present embodiment has a left-right symmetric structure in the “connector longitudinal direction”, but the same components as those arranged in the left-right symmetric arrangement are given the same reference numerals. The description will be mainly made on only one member, and the description on the other member will be omitted.

  A plurality of conductive contact members 13, 13,..., Which are formed of thin plate-like metal members having an appropriate shape, are attached to the hollow inside of the insulating housing 11 described above. The plurality of conductive contact members 13, 13, ... are arranged in a multipolar shape with an appropriate interval along the "longitudinal direction of the connector", and the inner space of the insulating housing 11 is Each conductive contact member 13 is to be described later with respect to each of a plurality of contact attachment grooves 11a, 11a,... Formed at predetermined intervals in the connector longitudinal direction on the bottom inner wall surface being formed. Is attached. Hereinafter, the direction in which the plurality of conductive contact members 13, 13,... Are arranged in a multipole shape will be simply referred to as "multipole arrangement direction".

  Each of the conductive contact members 13 is used as either signal transmission or ground connection, and is mounted by, for example, solder bonding on a conductive path formed on a printed wiring board (not shown). .

  Further, as described above, the actuator 12 as the connection operation means is attached to the front side area (the left side area in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5) of the insulating housing 11. From the state of standing up, as shown in FIG. 9 to FIG. 12, it is configured to be turned to the state of being pushed down to the front side. Further, the actuator 12 in a state of being pushed down to the front side is turned so as to be lifted upward again, and the front region of the insulating housing 11 is opened over substantially the entire length in the connector longitudinal direction, The end portion of the flat signal transmission medium F comprising a flexible printed circuit (FPC), a flexible flat cable (FFC) or the like from the front region of the insulating housing 11 in the open state is the insulating housing 11. It is configured to be inserted into the hollow internal space.

  In the rear end portion (right end portion in FIGS. 4 and 5) of the insulating housing 11 described above, a plurality of component mounting ports 11b, 11b,... For mounting the conductive contact member 13 and the like inside the insulating housing 11. Are provided in parallel at regular intervals along the “connector longitudinal direction”. Each of the component mounting ports 11b corresponds to the rear end opening of each of the contact mounting grooves 11a described above as shown in FIG. The conductive contact member 13 inserted into the inside of the insulating housing 11 from the "connector backward" to the "connector forward" through the component mounting port 11b is made to slide along the contact attachment groove 11a to a predetermined position. Fixed in the inserted state.

[About contact members]
As described above, the conductive contact members 13 are mounted over a plurality of bodies so as to form a multipolar shape in the “longitudinal direction of the connector”, but each of the conductive contact members 13 is At a position corresponding to the wiring pattern (not shown) of a flat signal transmission medium (FPC or FFC or the like) inserted in the hollow internal space, it is arranged to extend along the “medium insertion direction”. The wiring pattern formed on the flat signal transmission medium F is such that conductive paths for signal transmission (signal line pads) or conductive paths for shield (shield line pads) are arranged at an appropriate pitch interval.

  Each of the conductive contact members 13 has a rear end base portion 13a fixed so as to be sandwiched between the inner wall surfaces of upper and lower wall portions forming the component mounting port 11b of the insulating housing 11 as shown in FIG. The lower end portion of the rear end base portion 13a is continuously provided with a board connection portion 13b extending in a step-like manner toward the outer side of the rear of the connector. The substrate connection portion 13 b is connected to a conductive path (not shown) on the printed wiring board by solder bonding, whereby the electrical connector 10 is mounted.

  Further, at the upper end portion of the rear end base portion 13a constituting each of the conductive contact members 13 described above, the support beam 13c extends substantially horizontally toward "the connector front" (left side in FIG. 5). The support beam 13c extends to a substantially central portion in the connector longitudinal direction in a state of being in contact with the inner surface of the upper wall portion forming the internal space of the insulating housing 11, and the extension side of the support beam 13c A front end portion (front end portion) is exposed upward through a central opening 11 c (see FIG. 5) provided in the insulating housing 11.

  The central opening 11 c of the insulating housing 11 described above is formed by cutting out a region on the front side from the central portion in the connector longitudinal direction of the upper wall portion of the insulating housing 11, “connector longitudinal direction” It is provided in the shape opened in the front side over the full length except the side wall parts 11d and 11d (refer to FIGS. 1-3) provided in the both ends of these. And while the actuator (connection operation means) 12 mentioned above is arrange | positioned in the space part formed of this central opening part 11c, the electroconductive contact member 13 mentioned above in the back side area | region of the said central opening part 11c. The front end portion of the supporting beam 13c is arranged to be exposed upward.

  Here, at the front end portion of the above-described support beam 13c, a bearing portion 13d having a substantially arc-like notch shape is formed to open downward in a concave shape. The rotary shaft 12a provided on the actuator (connection operation means) 12 is disposed so as to slidably contact with the bearing 13d provided on the support beam 13c from the lower side of the bearing 13d. ing. Then, the whole of the actuator 12 is configured to be turned about the turning shaft 12a. The configuration of the actuator 12 will be described in detail later.

  Furthermore, from the lower end portion of the rear end base 13a of each conductive contact member 13, an elastic beam 13e formed of a cantilevered beam-like member extends substantially horizontally toward the "connector front". The elastic beam 13 e extends from the above-described rear end base portion 13 a toward the “connector front” in a diagonally upward direction in a state of being in contact with the inner surface of the lower wall portion forming the internal space of the insulating housing 11. It is extended. That is, the front side portion (the left side portion in FIG. 5) of the elastic beam 13e has a cantilever shape extending obliquely upward while being continuously separated from the lower wall portion of the insulating housing 11 toward the connector front. The front side portion (left side portion in FIG. 5) of the elastic beam 13e is configured to be elastically displaced so as to swing in the vertical direction.

  A contact portion 13f located below the above-described bearing portion 13d is provided at the tip portion (left end portion in FIG. 5) of the cantilevered elastic beam 13e which is elastically displaced in the vertical direction in this manner. . The contact portion 13f provided at the tip end portion of the elastic beam 13e is formed to have an upward protruding shape, and the protruding top portion of the contact portion 13f is inserted into the inside of the insulating housing 11. The wiring pattern (not shown) of the flat signal transmission medium (FPC or FFC or the like) F is arranged to face from the lower side.

  Then, as described below, when the flat signal transmission medium (FPC or FFC, etc.) F is pressed downward by the rotation operation of the actuator (connection operation means) 12, The wiring pattern of the flat signal transmission medium F is pressed against the contact portion 13 f of the conductive contact member 13 from the upper side. Further, the support beam 13c is elastically displaced so as to be pulled up together with the bearing portion 13d of the conductive contact member 13 by the turning operation of the actuator 12, and along with that, the lower elastic beam 13e is also pulled up. As a result, the contact portion 13f of the conductive contact member 13 is abutted against the wiring pattern of the flat signal transmission medium F so as to be pressed from below. This point will be described in detail in a later stage together with the specific configuration of the contact portion 13f.

[About the actuator]
Here, as described above, the actuator (connection operation means) 12 rotated about the rotation shaft 12a has the operation main body portion 12b formed of a plate-like member extending in the “connector longitudinal direction”. There is. The plate-like member constituting the operation main body 12b is disposed in a state in which the direction orthogonal to the "longitudinal direction of the connector" is the plate width direction, and the vicinity of the one end edge portion in the plate width direction The above-mentioned pivot shaft 12 a extends along the direction of Shaft end portions 12e and 12e (see FIGS. 1 and 2) on both sides in the longitudinal direction of the rotation shaft 12a are formed at both ends in the “connector longitudinal direction” in the operation main body portion 12b. It is slidably supported from the lower side by the upper edge portion of the holding fixture 14 disposed below 12e.

  That is, the holding fixture 14 described above is disposed in the “medium insertion direction” along the inner surface in the plate thickness direction (connector longitudinal direction) in the side wall portions 11 d and 11 d of the insulating housing 11. The shaft end portions 12 e on both sides of the above-described rotation shaft 12 a are rotatably held by the holding fixture 14. As a result, the entire pivot shaft 12 a is supported in a state where it does not drop downward from the bearing portion 13 d of the conductive contact member 13. And while the operation main-body part 12b is arrange | positioned so that rotation is possible centering on the rotational axis 12a, the rotation operation force of an operator with respect to the outward side part of the rotation radius in the said operation main-body part 12b Is made to be given a configuration.

  In addition, the lower end edge part of the holding fixture 14 mentioned above is mounted on the printed wiring board which abbreviate | omitted illustration, and it is comprised by the structure mounted by solder joining.

  Furthermore, the operation main body 12b of the actuator (connection operation means) 12 described above closes the central opening 11c of the insulating housing 11 described above in a substantially horizontally lowered state as shown in FIGS. As shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 5, it is disposed from the “active position (closed position)” which is disposed and pushed down horizontally by such pivoting operation of the actuator 12 in the closing direction. The opening and rotating operation of the actuator 12 is performed until the "standby position (opening position)". The actuator 12 operated to open to the “standby position (open position)” is stopped rotating by coming into contact with a part of the insulating housing 11 in a state of being slightly returned to the rear side from the upright state.

  In a state (see FIGS. 1 to 5) in which the opening turning operation is performed such that the actuator (connection operation means) 12 is lifted to the “standby position (opening position)”, the front region of the insulating housing 11 is And the end portion of the flat signal transmission medium (FPC or FFC, etc.) F is inserted obliquely from the upper side to the front region of the insulating housing 11 which is open in the upper side and is in the open state. And is inserted into the internal space of the insulating housing 11.

  The end portion of a flat signal transmission medium (FPC or FFC or the like) F inserted in the inner space of the insulating housing 11 has a support beam 13c and an elastic beam 13e of each conductive contact member 13 described above as shown in FIG. In the area between them, it is inserted in the “connector rear” (rightward in FIG. 12) and is stopped in a state of being in contact with the wall of the insulating housing 11. At this time, positioning locking plates (not shown) are provided on both side edges of the end portion of the flat signal transmission medium F so as to protrude outward on both sides, and the positioning locking plates on both sides are The movement of the flat signal transmission medium F in the extending direction is restricted by abutting on the lock plates 11e and 11e (see FIG. 1) disposed opposite to the longitudinal both side portions of the insulating housing 11, and thereby the flat Positioning of the insertion operation of the signal transmission medium F is performed.

  As described above, the terminal portion of the flat signal transmission medium (FPC or FFC, etc.) F is inserted into the internal space of the insulating housing 11, and the actuator (connection operation means) 12 at the "standby position (open position)" When the closing rotation operation is performed so as to be pushed down toward the connector front, it is turned to the “operating position (closing position)” as shown in FIGS. 9 to 12. A medium pressing cam portion 12c (see FIG. 5) described later is formed on the surface corresponding to the lower surface of the actuator (connection operation means) 12 rotated to the “working position (closing position)”. Then, the flat portion of the medium pressing cam portion 12 c presses the upper surface of the flat signal transmission medium F downward, and the wiring pattern provided on the flat signal transmission medium F becomes the conductive contact member 13. It is configured to be pressed against the contact portion 13f. This point will be described in detail later.

  Further, in the operation main body 12b of the actuator (connection operation means) 12 described above, as shown in FIG. 12, a bearing accommodating portion comprising a space for accommodating the bearing 13d of the support beam 13c which is a part of the conductive contact member 13. 12d is formed to penetrate the operation main body 12b of the actuator 12 over a plurality of bodies so as to form a comb shape. Each bearing accommodating portion 12 d is disposed at the same position as the conductive contact member 13 described above in the “longitudinal direction of connector” (multipolar array direction), and the bearing accommodating portion 12 d of the actuator 12 is provided with the support beam 13 c. It arrange | positions so that the bearing part 13d may be inserted. The rotary shaft 12a of the actuator 12 is disposed in contact with the bearing portion 13d of the support beam 13c as described above so as to be pressed from the lower side, whereby the actuator 12 is rotatably held. Are configured.

  On the other hand, as described above, the operation body 12b of the actuator (connection operation means) 12 is a medium pressing cam for pressing the upper surface of the flat signal transmission medium F (FPC or FFC etc.) inserted inside the insulating housing 11. A plurality of portions 12 c (12 c 1 and 12 c 2) are provided at positions corresponding to the conductive contact members 13. The plurality of medium pressing cams 12 c are arranged at equal intervals in the “connector longitudinal direction”, which is the multipolar alignment direction of the conductive contact members 13. That is, the bearing housing portion 12d described above is disposed between the pair of medium pressing cams 12c and 12c adjacent to each other in the multipolar array direction (connector longitudinal direction), and a plurality of medium pressing cams are provided. The portions 12c, 12c, ... and the plurality of bearing housing portions 12d, 12d, ... are alternately arranged in a comb-like shape.

  Each of the medium pressing cams 12c extends substantially in the vertical direction along the front end face of the operation main body 12b described above in a state where the actuator (connection operation means) 12 is in the "standby position (open position)". It has an extending flat surface portion 12c1 and a lower projecting portion 12c2 formed to have a curved surface shape from the flat surface portion 12c1 to the lower end surface of the operation main body 12b. Among them, the lower projecting portion 12c2 is formed to have a side surface substantially arc shape so as to hang slightly downward, and the upper surface of a flat signal transmission medium (FPC or FFC, etc.) F inserted inside the insulating housing 11. Are arranged in a pressure contact state from above.

  Then, when the operation main body 12b of the actuator (connection operation means) 12 located at the "standby position (open position)" is rotated toward the "active position (closed position)", the medium pressing cam portion described above The lower projecting portion 12c2 is configured to slide while pressing the upper surface of a flat signal transmission medium (FPC or FFC or the like) downward. In addition, when the actuator 12 is rotated to the “working position (closed position)” and pushed down substantially horizontally, the flat planar portion 12c1 of the medium pressing cam portion 12c described above is a flat signal transmission medium The flat signal transmission medium F is maintained in the state of being pressed downward by the pressing contact with the upper surface of the F, thereby keeping the whole flat signal transmission medium F pressed. Thus, the flat signal transmission medium F pressed downward by the actuator 12 has the wiring pattern (not shown) provided on the lower surface side of the flat signal transmission medium F, the contact portion of the conductive contact member 13 described above. 13f is in a pressure contact state and can be pressed.

[About the contact portion of the contact member]
As described above, the contact portion 13f of the conductive contact member 13 in the present embodiment is disposed to be directly opposed to the medium pressing cam portion 12c of the actuator (connection operation means) 12 in the vertical direction. According to this arrangement, the contact pressure of the medium pressing cam portion 12c of the actuator 12 is directly applied to the contact portion 13f of the conductive contact member 13 through the flat signal transmission medium (FPC or FFC, etc.) F. Good electrical connectivity can be obtained.

  On the other hand, the conductive contact member 13 provided with such a contact portion 13f extends along the insertion direction (the right direction in FIGS. 5 and 12) of the flat signal transmission medium (FPC or FFC, etc.) as described above. The thin plate-like metal member constituting the conductive contact member 13 is formed by the existing thin plate-like metal member, as particularly shown in FIG. The sheet thickness T1 is provided in the direction orthogonal to the direction, more specifically, in the multipole arrangement direction (the direction perpendicular to the sheet of FIG. 5 and FIG. 12). Similarly, the contact portion 13f provided at the tip of the cantilevered extension of the elastic beam 13e having the thickness T1 is, as particularly shown in FIG. 8, an upper portion from the tip of the elastic beam 13e. On the top of the contact base 13f1 projecting in the form of a narrow, it is formed in a sharp edge shape extending in the insertion direction.

  This point will be described in detail. The contact base 13f1 described above has a shape in which a triangular prism is disposed to be horizontally long, and the plate thickness of the contact base 13f1, that is, a flat signal transmission medium (FPC or FFC Etc.) The width T of the multipole arrangement direction orthogonal to the insertion direction of F decreases continuously in the upward direction toward the surface of the flat signal transmission medium F. The contact portion 13f provided in the shape of a sharp edge on the top of the contact base 13f1 whose width T has been reduced upward in this manner has a width T2 as its thickness which is essentially the same as that of the conductive contact member 13. Is set to be extremely small compared to the width (plate thickness) T1 (T2 << T1), and is elongated along the insertion direction of the flat signal transmission medium F while maintaining the small width T2 It exists.

  With respect to such a sharp edge contact portion 13f, the front end side portion of the conductive contact member 13, that is, the front side in the insertion direction of the flat signal transmission medium (FPC or FFC, etc.) F (left in FIG. 5 and FIG. A wiping portion 13g having a curved surface which can slide on the surface of the flat signal transmission medium F is provided in the area of the side).

  The wiping portion 13g has a width in the multi-pole arrangement direction orthogonal to the insertion direction of the flat signal transmission medium (FPC, FFC, etc.) F relative to the original width (plate thickness) T1 of the conductive contact member 13 described above. It is maintained the same, and is provided on the upper end position of the tip end edge portion of the elastic beam 13 e so as to form a side arc substantially in a circular arc shape.

  More specifically, the front end portion of the elastic beam 13e mentioned above extends obliquely upward along the insertion direction of the flat signal transmission medium (FPC or FFC etc.), but the front end of the elastic beam 13e The wiping portion 13g continuously extending from the upper end of the edge portion extends in a curved shape while maintaining its original width (plate thickness) T1 in the horizontal direction along the surface of the flat signal transmission medium F. ing. Then, from the substantially central portion in the width direction of the wiping portion 13g, the contact portion 13f having the above-described sharp edge shape continuously extends with a predetermined width T2 in the insertion direction of the flat signal transmission medium F. The configuration is made.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the flat signal transmission medium (FPC or FFC or the like) F is inserted into the hollow internal space of the insulating housing 11 in the open state (see FIG. 5) of the actuator (connection operation means) 12 Thereafter, the contact portion 13f of the conductive contact member 13 is brought into pressure contact with the wiring pattern provided on the flat signal transmission medium F by turning the actuator 12 toward the closed state (see FIG. 12). However, the contact portion 13f of the conductive contact member 13 at that time has a sharp-edge configuration extending in a slender shape with a width T2 smaller than the original plate thickness T1 along the insertion direction of the flat signal transmission medium F. There is. Therefore, when the contact portion 13f of the conductive contact member 13 contacts the surface of the flat signal transmission medium F, the contact portion 13f of the conductive contact member 13 reliably bites into the flat signal transmission medium F. . As a result, good electrical connectivity can be obtained while avoiding enlargement of the conductive contact member 13 by providing a plurality of contact portions 13f in the height direction from the printed wiring board on which the electrical connector 10 is mounted. .

  At this time, in the present embodiment, as particularly shown in FIG. 13 and FIG. 14, before the contact portion 13 f of the conductive contact member 13 contacts the surface of the flat signal transmission medium (FPC or FFC etc.) F , And the wiping unit 13g is in contact. Then, the contact position of the wiping portion 13g with respect to the flat signal transmission medium F at that time is the insertion of the flat signal transmission medium F as the conductive contact member 13 is elastically displaced downward as the actuator 12 rotates. It moves relatively toward "the connector front" which is the direction opposite to the direction. That is, the wiring pattern of the flat signal transmission medium F from the position where the contact shown in FIG. 13 is started to the wiping part 13g provided on the conductive contact member 13 to the position where the contact shown in FIG. 14 is completed. It will slide on the top. As a result, foreign matter D such as dust adhering to the wiring pattern of the flat signal transmission medium F is scraped off by the wiping portion 13g, and the contact portion 13f of the conductive contact member 13 to the flat signal transmission medium F The electrical connectivity of is further enhanced.

  On the other hand, in the second embodiment according to FIGS. 15 and 16, “1” which is the tens digit of the reference numeral attached to each member in the above-described first embodiment is replaced with “2” and the corresponding member is replaced. It represents. That is, although the structure itself of the contact portion 23f and the wiping portion 23g provided in the conductive contact member 23 in this embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment described above, the contact portion 23f is adjacent to the wiping portion 23g. The recess 23 h is provided in the portion where The recess 23h has a shape in which the end of the contact portion 23f is cut out in a side view substantially U-shape, and the contact portion 23f and the wiping portion 23g are made discontinuous through the recess 23h. ing.

  According to the second embodiment having such a configuration, in addition to the functions and effects of the above-described embodiment, foreign matter such as dust scraped off by the wiping portion 23g falls into the recess 23h, so that a flat plate is obtained. The electrical connectivity of the contact portion 23f to the signal transmission medium F is further improved.

  Further, in the third embodiment according to FIG. 17, “1” which is the tens digit of the reference numeral attached to each member in the above-described first embodiment is replaced with “3” to indicate the corresponding member . In the conductive contact member 33 in the present embodiment, the width of the contact portion 33 f is set to fluctuate in the insertion direction of the flat signal transmission medium F. More specifically, the width of the contact portion 33f extending from the wiping portion 33g is continuously reduced from the original width (plate thickness) T1 of the conductive contact member 33 in the extending direction. .

  According to the third embodiment having such a configuration, in particular, the strength of the bonding portion between the wiping portion 33g and the contact portion 33f can be increased, so that good electrical connection can be achieved while preventing damage to the contact portion 33f. Sex is obtained.

  Furthermore, in the fourth embodiment according to FIG. 18, “1” which is the tens digit of the reference numeral attached to each member in the above-described first embodiment is replaced with “4” to indicate the corresponding member. . The conductive contact member 43 in the present embodiment is not provided with a portion corresponding to the wiping portion 13g in the first embodiment, and only the contact portion 43f is provided at the tip edge portion of the elastic beam 43e.

  According to the fourth embodiment having such a configuration, at least the biting action of the contact portion 43f of the conductive contact member 43 with respect to the flat signal transmission medium F can be obtained, so the enlargement of the conductive contact member 13 is avoided. However, good electrical connectivity can be obtained.

  Furthermore, in the fifth embodiment according to FIG. 19, “1” which is the tens digit of the reference numeral attached to each member in the above-described first embodiment is replaced with “5” to represent the corresponding members. There is. In the conductive contact member 53 in the present embodiment, a part of the contact portion 53f, more specifically, the rear portion of the contact portion 53f protrudes upward toward the surface of the flat signal transmission medium F.

  According to the fifth embodiment having such a configuration, in particular, the biting action of the contact portion 53f on the surface of the flat signal transmission medium F is enhanced, and thus the electrical connectivity is further improved.

  As mentioned above, although the invention made by the present inventor was concretely explained based on an embodiment, the present invention is not limited to the embodiment mentioned above, and it can be variously deformed in the range which does not deviate from the summary. Needless to say.

  For example, the contact base (13f1 or the like) in each of the above-described embodiments may be formed in a step shape so that the width T gradually decreases toward the flat signal transmission medium F.

  In each of the above-described embodiments, a flexible printed circuit (FPC) and a flexible flat cable (FFC) are adopted as the flat signal transmission medium fixed to the electrical connector. The present invention can be similarly applied to the case of using a signal transmission medium or the like.

  Furthermore, although the actuator according to the above-described embodiment is configured to be pivoted toward the connector front side, the actuator may be configured to directly reciprocate without pivoting.

  Furthermore, although a configuration in which conductive contact members having the same shape are arranged in a multipolar shape is adopted in the electrical connector according to each embodiment described above, conductive contact members having different shapes are used, The invention is equally applicable.

  The present invention can be widely applied to a wide variety of electrical connectors used in various electrical devices.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 electrical connector 11 insulation housing 11a contact mounting groove 11b component mounting port 11c center opening 11d side wall 11e lock plate 12 actuator (connection operation means)
12a rotation shaft 12b operation main body 12c medium pressing cam portion 12c1 flat surface portion 12c2 lower projecting portion 12d bearing housing portion 12e shaft end portion 13 conductive contact member 13a rear end base portion 13b substrate connecting portion 13c support beam 13d bearing portion 13e Elastic beam 13f contact point 13f1 contact base 13g wiping part 14 holding bracket F flat signal transmission medium (FPC or FFC etc.)
23 conductive contact member 23e elastic beam 23f contact portion 23f1 contact base 23g wiping portion 23h recess 33 conductive contact member 33e elastic beam 33f contact portion 33f1 contact base 33g wiping portion 43 conductive contact member 43e elastic beam 43f contact portion 43f1 contact base 53 Conductive contact member 53 e Elastic beam 53 f Contact portion 53 f 1 Contact base 53 g Wiping portion

Claims (7)

An insulating housing into which the flat signal transmission medium is inserted;
A plurality of contact members arranged in a multipole shape in a direction orthogonal to the insertion direction of the flat signal transmission medium;
An actuator provided on the insulating housing for reciprocal movement between a standby position and an operating position;
Equipped with
Each of the contact members extends along the insertion direction of the flat signal transmission medium, has a thickness in the multipole arrangement direction, and is elastic in the direction orthogonal to the thickness direction. While made of a displaceable metal member,
A medium pressing cam portion which presses the surface of the flat signal transmission medium inserted inside the insulating housing while elastically deforming the contact member when the actuator is moved toward the acting position. Have
In the electrical connector, the contact portion of the contact member elastically displaced by the medium pressing cam portion of the actuator contacts the surface of the flat signal transmission medium, and the electrical connection is performed.
The contact portion of the contact member extends along the insertion direction of the flat signal transmission medium,
An electrical connector, wherein a width of the contact portion in the multipole arrangement direction is set smaller than a thickness of the contact member.   The electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein the contact portion is provided in the shape of a sharp edge on the top of a contact base whose width decreases toward the surface of the flat signal transmission medium.   The contact member is provided with a wiping portion having a curved surface slidable with respect to the surface of the flat signal transmission medium before the contact portion in the insertion direction of the flat signal transmission medium. The electrical connector according to claim 1, characterized in that:   4. The electrical connector according to claim 3, wherein the contact portion and the wiping portion of the contact member are provided continuously or discontinuously in the insertion direction of the flat signal transmission medium.   The electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein the contact portion is disposed to face the medium pressing cam portion of the actuator.   The electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein the width of the contact portion is set to be constant or fluctuated in the insertion direction of the flat signal transmission medium.   The electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein a part of the contact portion protrudes toward the surface of the flat signal transmission medium.

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