TWI699932B - Connector and electrical connector assembly - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a connector and an electrical connector assembly. The connector includes a housing and a flexible circuit board assembly retained in the housing. The housing has a base, a mating portion extending from the base and a fixing cavity extending through the base and the mating portion along a front-to-back direction. The mating portion defines a opening portion on one side of the fixing cavity and a pair of limition portion at two sides of the opening portion. The flexible circuit board assembly includes a flexible circuit board and a strenghthen board bonded on the flexible circuit board. The flexble circuit board has a mating section and an extension section connecting with the mating section. The strenghthen board is set on the mating section. The mating section is provided with a number of golden fingers at a surface depart from the strenghthen board. The mating section with the strenghthen board is retained in the fixing cavity to make the golden fingers exposed outwardly from the opening portion. The limition portions limit the mating section with the strenghthen board from deformation.

Description

Socket and electrical connector assembly

The present invention relates to the field of electrical connection, in particular to a plug and electrical connector assembly that is convenient for plugging.

With the rapid development of the electronics industry, electrical connectors have been widely used as a connecting device for transmitting digital signals, audio signals, and image signals. The electrical connector usually includes a plastic body and a plurality of conductive terminals fixed to the plastic body. According to different applications, the configuration of the conductive terminals of the electrical connector is different. The conventional conductive terminals are provided with solder feet for soldering with the circuit board. However, when the number of conductive terminals is large, or the space is limited or the circuit board structure is limited, the welding operation between the conductive terminals and the circuit board is difficult to perform. In addition, compared to soldering, it is more convenient and more efficient to directly use a mechanical structure to locate and connect the conductive terminals and the circuit board in the manufacturing process. However, corresponding to the flexible circuit board, it is not easy to adopt a mechanical connection setting because of its overall softness and thin thickness.

In view of this, it is indeed necessary to further improve the plug-in design of the conventional flexible circuit board to solve the above-mentioned problems.

The object of the present invention is to provide a plug-in connector and an electrical connector assembly that can connect flexible circuit boards without welding.

In order to achieve the above objective, the present invention provides a connector, which includes a connector seat and a flexible Sexual circuit board assembly; the socket has a base and a socket extending forward from the base, the base and the socket are provided with a fixed cavity along the front and rear directions, and the socket has a fixed cavity connected along its thickness direction One side and the outside open part and the limit part formed on both sides of the open part; the flexible circuit board assembly has a flexible circuit board and a reinforcement board arranged on the flexible circuit board, the flexible circuit board has a plug-in section at one end And an extension section connected to the plug-in section, the reinforcing plate is arranged on the plug-in section, and a gold finger is provided on the side of the plug-in section away from the reinforcing plate; wherein, the plug-in section penetrates In the fixed cavity, the golden fingers of the plug-in section are exposed outward from the open portion, and the limiting portions on both sides of the open portion form a limit for the plug-in section in the thickness direction of the plug-in portion .

As a further improvement of the present invention, the plug connector also has a backstop structure provided behind the base to prevent the flexible circuit board assembly from being detached from the fixing cavity backward.

As a further improvement of the present invention, the backstop structure includes a first plastic part and a second plastic part cooperatingly arranged on the rear side of the base along the thickness direction of the flexible circuit board, and both sides of the flexible circuit board and/or reinforcement board A protruding part extending to the outside of both sides is formed, and the first plastic part or the second plastic part is provided with a limiting block limitedly located behind the protruding part.

As a further improvement of the present invention, a waterproof pad is also provided between the inner walls of the first and second plastic parts and the flexible circuit board assembly, and the flexible circuit board assembly is clamped by the waterproof pad Fix tightly.

As a further improvement of the present invention, the first plastic part and the second plastic part respectively have a main body portion located on the rear side to fix the flexible circuit board assembly and a positioning connected to the front side of the main body portion for positioning and matching with the base portion The two sides of the main body of the first plastic part and the second plastic part are respectively provided with fixing buckles for fixing the two.

As a further improvement of the present invention, the socket also has a connection to the base and A ring wall arranged around the plug-in portion, and a plug-in cavity formed between the ring wall and the plug-in portion, the plug-in portion and the flexible circuit board assembly are arranged in a tongue-like shape inside the ring wall.

As a further improvement of the present invention, one of the outer sides of the ring wall is provided with a locking structure for matching with the mating element.

As a further improvement of the present invention, the ring wall has a transverse wall arranged in parallel with the plug-in part, and the locking structure is arranged on the outer side of the transverse wall, and includes an elastic locking buckle extending backward and upward from the front end of the transverse wall Arm, a floating space provided below the elastic locking arm, and a limiting structure that extends above the elastic locking arm and restricts the elastic locking arm from over-expanding upwards. The elastic locking arm has an operating portion arranged at the rear end and The lock part between the operating part and the front end.

To achieve the above objective, the present invention also provides an electrical connector assembly, which includes a socket body and the above-mentioned plug; the socket body has an insulating body and a plurality of conductive terminals fixed on the insulating body, and the insulating body is formed with a butting cavity The docking portion, the conductive terminal has an elastic contact arm protruding into the docking cavity; the plug-in portion of the plug is mated with the docking cavity, and contacts the elastic contact with the gold finger The arms abut to form an electrical connection.

As a further improvement of the present invention, the socket body further has a sealing ring arranged around the front end of the butting portion, a sealing member installed on the butting portion and extending into the butting cavity, and the sealing member is ring-shaped, And a part of the structure extending into the docking cavity is provided with protruding ribs that space the elastic contact arms two by two.

In the present invention, the flexible circuit board is combined and arranged in the socket to form the connector, which can further make the mechanical docking of the flexible circuit board possible, and facilitate the insertion operation of the flexible circuit board without welding, so that the flexible circuit The board connection is simpler and more convenient; in addition, combined with the arrangement of the socket body, a set of simple, convenient and well-sealed electrical connector components can be formed.

100: Connector

1: Socket

2: Flexible circuit board assembly

11: Base

12: Socket

13: Ring wall

14: Plug cavity

10: Fixed cavity

111: Extension

121: Open Department

122: limit part

123: top wall

124: Bottom Wall

125: sidewall

112: fixed channel

21: Flexible circuit board

22: Reinforcement board

211: plug-in section

213: Extension

212: Golden Finger

23: Projection

15: Lock structure

131: Transverse Wall

151: Elastic lock arm

152: Floating Space

153: limit structure

1511: Operation Department

1512: lock part

3: stop structure

31: The first plastic part

32: The second plastic part

33: limit block

30: main body

34: positioning part

311: Buckle Block

321: Lock Arm

3211: Buckle hole

312: Give way

4: Waterproof pad

35: cavity

500: Socket body

5: Insulating body

6: conductive terminal

50: Docking cavity

51: Docking Department

61: Elastic contact arm

612: Support arm

52: body part

521: terminal hole

62: fixed part

63: Solder foot

53: protective wall

54: Containment Chamber

531: Locking Block

5311: lock slot

5312: keyhole

7: Sealing ring

8: Seal

81: The first seal

82: second sealing part

821: protruding rib

The first figure is a perspective view of the connector of the present invention.

The second figure is a perspective view of the connector shown in the first figure from another angle.

The third figure is a three-dimensional exploded view of the connector shown in the first figure.

Figure 4 is a perspective exploded view of the connector shown in Figure 3 from another angle.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the electrical connector assembly of the present invention.

Figure 6 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view of the electrical connector assembly shown in Figure 5.

Figure 7 is a perspective view of the socket body in the electrical connector assembly in Figure 5.

Figure 8 is an exploded perspective view of the socket body shown in Figure 7.

Figure 9 is an exploded perspective view of the socket body shown in Figure 8 from another angle.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the specific embodiments shown in the drawings. However, these embodiments do not limit the present invention, and the structural, method, or functional changes made by those skilled in the art based on these embodiments are all included in the protection scope of the present invention.

In addition, the terms "front", "rear", "upper", "lower" and other terms that indicate relative positions in space used in this article are all for the purpose of ease of description to describe a unit or feature as shown in the figure. Relative to another unit or feature. For example, in the related description of the connector 100 and the socket body 500 in the following specification, "forward" refers to the mating front in the mating direction when the two are mated with each other.

Please also refer to the first to fourth figures which show the first preferred embodiment of the connector 100 of the present invention. The socket 100 includes a socket 1 and a flexible circuit board assembly 2 fixed on the socket 1.

Wherein, the socket 1 has a base 11 and a socket 12 extending forward from the base 11. Preferably, in the present invention, the plug-in portion 12 protrudes forward from the front surface of the base portion 11 in the shape of a tongue, and the plug-in socket 1 further has a connection to the base portion 11 and surrounds the plug-in portion The ring wall 13 provided at 12 and the plug cavity 14 formed between the ring wall 13 and the plug portion 12.

The base portion 11 and the plug-in portion 12 are provided with a fixing cavity 10 extending through in the front-to-back direction. Furthermore, in this embodiment, an extension part 111 is further extended backward at a position corresponding to the insertion part 12 on the rear side of the base part 11, and the fixing cavity 10 penetrates the extension part 111. The plug-in portion 12 has an open portion 121 connecting one side of the fixed cavity 10 and the outside along its thickness direction, and a limiting portion 122 formed on both sides of the open portion 121, that is, in the present invention, the open portion 121 The side of the fixing cavity 10 is not completely open, so that the limiting portion 122 on the side of the open portion 121 is still blocked and limited.

Specifically, in this embodiment, the plug-in portion 12 has a top wall 123, a bottom wall 124, and two side walls 125 formed around the fixed cavity 10 and opposed vertically, and the opening portion 121 is provided on the bottom wall 124. The bottom wall 124 is not completely penetrated by the bottom wall 124 in the width direction of the socket 12, so that the bottom wall 124 is formed at the position where the two side walls 125 are respectively connected.述Limiting section 122. The limiting portion 122 is opposite to the top wall 123 and forms an insertion guide and limiting groove with the top wall 123 and the side wall 125 together. In general, the two sides of the plug-in portion 12 are barb-shaped.

The flexible circuit board assembly 2 has a flexible circuit board 21 and a reinforcing plate 22 provided on the flexible circuit board 21. The flexible circuit board 21 has a plug-in section 211 at one end and an extension section 213 connected to the plug-in section 211. The reinforcing plate 22 is disposed on the plug-in section 211, and the plug-in section 211 faces away from the reinforcing plate. A gold finger 212 is provided on one side of 22, thereby increasing the hardness of the plug-in section 211 and avoiding deformation as much as possible. Wherein, the plug-in section 211 and the reinforcing plate 22 are fitted and fixed to penetrate through the fixing cavity 10, and the reinforcing plate 22 is located between the plug-in section 211 and the top wall of the plug-in portion 12 and makes the The golden fingers 212 of the insertion section 211 are exposed from the opening part 121 to facilitate the docking of the golden fingers 212. In addition, both sides of the open part 121 The limiting portion 122 limits the insertion section 211 in the thickness direction of the insertion portion 12, so that the top wall 123 of the insertion portion 12 abuts the reinforcing plate 22 downward, and the limiting portion 122 abuts upward The plug-in section 211, the two side walls 125 form barriers and limits to the flexible circuit board assembly 2 from both sides, so that when the plug-in member 100 of the present invention is plugged, when the plug-in section 211 is resisted by an external force, the upper side The positions of the top wall 123, the lower bottom wall 124, and the two side walls 125 are limited in each direction, so that the insertion section 211 of the flexible circuit board assembly 2 and the reinforcing plate 22 cannot be displaced relative to each other, and thus not only can the insertion section 211 Protection is formed on both sides to prevent the side edges connected to the reinforcing plate 22 from being resisted and delaminated. It also allows the insertion section 211 of the flexible circuit board assembly 2 to be limited up and down during docking to avoid occurrence of Bending deformation. The plug-in portion 12 cooperates with the flexible circuit board assembly 2 and is provided in a tongue shape inside the ring wall 13.

In addition, in order to facilitate the insertion, one of the outer sides of the ring wall 13 is provided with a locking structure 15 for matching with the mating element. Specifically, the ring wall 13 has a transverse wall 131 arranged parallel to the insertion portion 12, and the locking structure 15 is arranged outside the transverse wall 131 and includes elasticity extending backward and upward from the front end of the transverse wall 131. The locking arm 151, the floating space 152 provided below the elastic locking arm 151, and a limiting structure 153 that extends above the elastic locking arm 151 and restricts the elastic locking arm 151 from being excessively expanded upward. The elastic locking arm 151 has an operating portion 1511 provided at the rear end and a locking portion 1512 provided between the operating portion 1511 and the front end.

Please refer to the third and fourth figures in combination with the sixth figure. The connector 100 of the present invention also has a retreat structure 3 arranged behind the base 11 to prevent the flexible circuit board assembly 2 from being removed. The fixed cavity 10 is detached backward.

Specifically, in this embodiment, the anti-return structure 3 includes a first plastic part 31 and a second plastic part 32 cooperatingly arranged on the rear side of the base 11 along the thickness direction of the flexible circuit board 21. The flexible circuit board 21 and/or the reinforcement board 22 are formed with protruding portions 23 extending to the outside of both sides, and the first plastic The member 31 or the second plastic member 32 is provided with a limiting block 33 limited to the rear side of the protrusion 23.

Wherein, both sides of the rear end of the base 11 are formed with fixing grooves 112 that are opened upward or downward. The first plastic part 31 and the second plastic part 32 are respectively installed and fixed to the rear side of the base 11 along the fixing channel 112 downward or upward, and are fixed to each other on both sides of the first plastic part 31 and the second plastic part 32. Specifically, the first plastic part 31 and the second plastic part 32 respectively have a main body portion 30 located on the rear side to fix the flexible circuit board assembly 2 and a fixing channel connected to the front side of the main body portion 30 to be connected to the base portion 11. 112 The positioning portion 34 for positioning and matching. Both sides of the main body 30 of the first plastic part 31 and the second plastic part 32 are respectively provided with fixing buckles for fixing the two. The fixed buckle includes buckle blocks 311 provided on both side walls of the first plastic part 31, and locking arms 321 protruding from the second plastic part 32 toward both sides of the first plastic part 31, so The locking arm 321 is formed with a locking hole 3211 which is locked with the locking block 311 to lock the two. The limiting block 33 is formed by protruding from the rear end of the second plastic part 32 toward the first plastic part 31. Accordingly, a relief is formed on the first plastic part 31 at a position corresponding to the limiting block 33 Bit slot 312.

Further, a waterproof pad 4 is also provided between the inner wall surface of the main body 30 of the first plastic part 31 and the second plastic part 32 and the flexible circuit board assembly 2, and the waterproof pad 4 protects the The flexible circuit board assembly 2 is clamped and fixed. Specifically, a cavity 35 is recessed inside the first plastic part 31 and the second plastic part 32, and the waterproof pad 4 is fixed in the cavity 35.

Referring to the fifth and ninth figures, the present invention also provides an electrical connector assembly, which includes the aforementioned plug 100 and a socket body 500 mated with the plug 100.

The socket body 500 has an insulating body 5 and a plurality of conductive terminals 6 fixed on the insulating body 5. The insulating body 5 is formed with a mating portion 51 provided with a mating cavity 50, the conductive terminal 6 has an elastic contact arm 61 protruding into the mating cavity 50; the insertion portion 12 of the plug 100 is connected to the mating cavity 50 is mated with each other, and an electrical connection is formed by abutting the golden fingers 212 with the elastic contact arm 61.

Specifically, referring to FIGS. 7 to 9, the insulating body 5 is formed with a body portion 52, and the mating portion 51 is formed to protrude forward from the body portion 52. The main body 52 is formed with a plurality of terminal holes 521 penetrating forward and backward. The terminal hole 521 communicates with the mating cavity 50 front and back. The conductive terminal 6 has a fixing portion 62 fixed in the terminal hole 521, and a solder foot 63 extending from the fixing portion 62 backwards out of the insulating body 5. The elastic contact arm 61 extends forward from the front end of the fixing portion 62 and then is folded back to form a support arm 612.

In this embodiment, the insulating body 5 also has a protective wall 53 surrounding the periphery of the mating portion 51. A receiving cavity 54 is also formed between the protective wall 53 and the mating portion 51 to correspond to the ring wall 13 of the connector 100. Correspondingly, a locking seat 531 is provided on the top of the protective wall 53 to cooperate with the locking structure 15 of the connector 100. The locking seat 531 has a locking groove 5311 into which the elastic locking arm 151 can easily extend and a locking hole 5312 for locking with the locking portion 1512.

The socket body 500 also has a sealing ring 7 arranged around the periphery of the front end of the mating portion 51. When the socket body 500 and the connector 100 are mated, the sealing ring 7 is radially sealed between the mating portion 51 and the ring wall 13 to seal the electrical connection between the two.

Further, in this embodiment, the internal height and width of the docking cavity 50 of the docking portion 51 are both larger than the corresponding size of the plugging portion 12 of the plug 100. Thereby, the socket body 500 of the present invention further has a sealing element 8 installed on the docking portion 51 and extending into the docking cavity 50. Before the seal 8 is installed, the elastic contact arm 61 is suspended in the docking cavity 50.

The sealing element 8 has a ring shape and has a first sealing portion 81 covering the front end surface of the mating portion 51 and a second sealing portion 82 protruding into the mating cavity 50. The second sealing portion 82 surrounds and adheres to the inner wall of the docking cavity 50, and a plurality of protruding ribs 821 are provided at intervals on one side adjacent to the supporting arm 612. The protruding ribs 821 support the plurality of The arms 612 are spaced apart from each other, that is, it can be understood that the seal 8 extends into the A part of the structure of the docking cavity 50 is provided with protruding ribs 821 that separate the elastic contact arms 61 in pairs. Therefore, in conjunction with the sixth figure, it can be seen that when the connector 100 and the socket body 500 of the present invention are plugged, a better seal can be formed around the electrical connection part, effective waterproof, etc., to ensure that the two are plugged in. stability.

In summary, in the present invention, the flexible circuit board 21 is combined and arranged in the socket 1 to form the connector 100, thereby making the mechanical docking of the flexible circuit board 21 possible, and the flexible circuit is convenient without soldering. The insertion operation of the board 21 makes the connection of the flexible circuit board 21 easier and more convenient; in addition, combined with the arrangement of the socket body 500, a set of simple, convenient and well-sealed electrical connector components can be formed.

In particular, it should be pointed out that for those of ordinary skill in the art, equivalent changes made to the present invention under the teaching of the present invention should still be included in the claimed scope of the patent application of the present invention.

100: Connector

1: Socket

12: Socket

13: Ring wall

14: Plug cavity

15: Lock structure

122: limit part

2: Flexible circuit board assembly

212: Golden Finger

3: stop structure

Claims (8)

A plug-in piece, comprising a plug-in seat, with a base and a plug-in portion extending forward from the base, the base and the plug-in portion are provided with a fixed cavity extending in the front-to-back direction, and the plug-in portion has a communication along its thickness direction The open part on one side and the outside of the fixed cavity and the limiting part formed on both sides of the open part; the flexible circuit board assembly has a flexible circuit board and a reinforcing plate arranged on the flexible circuit board, the flexible circuit board has a The plug-in section and the extension section connecting the plug-in section, the reinforcing plate is arranged on the plug-in section, and the side of the plug-in section away from the reinforcing plate is provided with a gold finger; wherein, the plug-in section passes through It is arranged in the fixed cavity, and makes the golden fingers of the plug-in section exposed outward from the open portion, and the limit parts on both sides of the open portion face the plug-in section in the thickness direction of the plug-in portion Forming a limit; the plug-in member also has a retreat structure provided behind the base to prevent the flexible circuit board assembly from being detached from the fixing cavity; the retreat structure includes a direction along the thickness of the flexible circuit board The first plastic part and the second plastic part are matched with the first plastic part and the second plastic part arranged on the rear side of the base. A waterproof pad is also provided between the inner wall surface of the first and second plastic part and the flexible circuit board assembly, and by The waterproof pad clamps and fixes the flexible circuit board assembly. The connector according to the first item of the scope of patent application, wherein the flexible circuit board and/or the reinforcing plate are formed with protruding parts extending to the outside of both sides, the first plastic part or the second plastic part A limit block limited to the rear side of the protruding part is arranged on the upper part. As described in the first item of the scope of patent application, the first plastic part and the second plastic part respectively have a main body part located on the rear side for fixing the flexible circuit board assembly and connected to the main body The front side of the part is provided with a positioning part for positioning and cooperating with the base part. The two sides of the main body of the first plastic part and the second plastic part are respectively provided with fixing buckles for fixing the two. The connector described in the first item of the scope of patent application, wherein the connector socket further has a ring wall connected to the base part and arranged around the connector part, formed between the ring wall and the connector part The plug-in cavity, the plug-in part cooperates with the flexible circuit board assembly and is arranged in a tongue shape inside the ring wall. As for the connector described in item 4 of the scope of patent application, one of the outer sides of the ring wall is provided with a locking structure for matching with the mating element. As described in item 5 of the scope of patent application, the ring wall has a transverse wall arranged in parallel with the inserting part, and the locking structure is arranged outside the transverse wall and includes a front end of the transverse wall The elastic locking arm extending backward and upward, the floating space provided under the elastic locking arm, and the limiting structure that extends above the elastic locking arm and restricting the elastic locking arm from over-expanding upward, the elastic locking arm has The operation part at the rear end and the lock part arranged between the operation part and the front end. An electrical connector assembly includes a socket body with an insulating body and a plurality of conductive terminals fixed on the insulating body. The insulating body is formed with a butting portion provided with a butting cavity, and the conductive terminals have elastic contacts protruding into the butting cavity Arm; plug, set as described in any one of items 1 to 6 of the scope of the patent application, the plug portion of the plug is mated with the docking cavity, and by the golden finger Abuts against the elastic contact arm to form an electrical connection. The electrical connector assembly described in item 7 of the scope of patent application, wherein the socket body further has a sealing ring arranged around the front end of the mating portion, and a seal installed on the mating portion and extending into the mating cavity The sealing member has a ring shape and is on a part of the structure extending into the docking cavity There are protruding ribs that space the elastic contact arms two by two.

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