JP2000100500A - Intermediate electric connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an intermediate electric connector with a contact piece largely elastically deformed with a contact section even by a small contact pressure and having a large wiping effect at a contact section. SOLUTION: A contact piece 3 is bent and molded with a raw material, and it is integrally provided with at least two arm-like flexible sections 5 elastically displaced to pass each other practically in parallel directions and a high- rigidity fixed section 4. The flexible sections 5 are provided with at least bend sections 5A, 5B respectively at the middle sections, and the fixed section 4 is locked and held on the inner wall face of a slot 2 when the contact piece 3 is inserted to the prescribed position in the slot 2 of a housing 1. At least two flexible sections 5 are protruded in opposite directions from the opposite openings of the slot 2, protruded portions form contact sections 7A, and two flexible sections 5 are made flexible in the changing directions of the protruded quantities of the contact sections 7A from the slot openings.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an intermediate electrical connector located between two mating connectors such as two connectors for electrically connecting these mating connectors.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An intermediate electrical connector of this kind is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,653,598.

In this electrical connector, a slot is formed through which a plate-shaped insulating housing penetrates in the thickness direction, and a contact is inserted into this slot. The contact is formed in a substantially V shape by stamping a metal plate, and both ends on the open side protrude from upper and lower openings of the slot, respectively, and form a contact portion here.

The mating connectors are respectively disposed on both surfaces of the housing, and are resiliently pressed on contact portions protruding from the openings of the slots, and are electrically connected to each other through contacts.

[0005] The two contact portions of the contact are slightly displaced in the thickness direction of the metal plate serving as the material, and when in a free state, they come into close contact with each other in the slot and come into elastic contact with the side surfaces. Thus, the contact portions form a short circuit path.

[0006]

However, in the above-mentioned known connector, the so-called wiping effect of slidingly cleaning the contact portion when the contactor comes into contact with the mating connector is low, and the connection is poor. When elastic deformation occurs, the rigidity increases sharply, which not only impairs the feel when mating with the mating connection body, but also requires that the connection part must be pressed against the connection part with extremely large force. It is inadequate in that it is difficult to secure a large amount of elastic displacement.

First, with respect to the wiping effect, a contact portion is formed at the open end of the contact having a substantially V-shape, and the contact portion is displaced with the connection side as a fulcrum.
The distance between the fulcrum and the contact portion is lengthened to secure the amount of elastic displacement. However, since the line connecting the fulcrum and the contact portion is nearly parallel to the contact surface, the contact portion is displaced in a direction perpendicular to the contact surface, and the wiping effect is reduced without sliding the contact surface. .

[0008] Regarding the contact pressure, after the two contact portions come into contact with each other, the contact portion moves toward the inside of the slot and the displacement in the plate thickness direction increases. Increase in rigidity. Usually, one connector has a large number of contacts and presses these contacts at the same time.Therefore, not only does the touch at the time of mating with the mating connection body be impaired, but also the connection portion must be pressed with an extremely large force. Must.

Further, regarding the amount of elastic displacement, since the upper and lower springs are present on the same plane, the space for forming the springs is limited, resulting in a rigid spring. Therefore, in order to realize the optimal contact pressure for contact, under a constant spring constant,
The amount of elastic displacement must be set small. As a result, a sufficient amount of elastic displacement cannot be obtained, and the contact reliability as a contact is lacking. That is, since the amount of elastic displacement is small and the amount of displacement varies among a large number of contacts, the warpage and unevenness of the mating connector cannot be absorbed, and the contact and self-inductance become unstable.

The present invention provides an intermediate electrical connector provided with a contact which can solve the problems associated with the above-mentioned known connectors, can expect a wiping effect, and can obtain a sufficient amount of elastic displacement even with a small force. The purpose is to:

[0011]

According to the present invention, there is provided an intermediate electrical connector in which a plurality of slots are formed in a plate-shaped insulating housing so as to penetrate in a thickness direction thereof, and the contact is formed by processing a metal plate as a material. Are inserted into the respective slots, and the displaceable contact portions provided on the contacts protrude from both surfaces of the insulating housing.

In use, by disposing the mating connectors on both sides of the insulating housing, the corresponding connecting portions of the mating connectors come into elastic contact with the contact portions to connect both mating connectors. .

In the intermediate electrical connector according to the present invention, the contact is formed by bending a material after punching, and is elastically displaced so as to rub against each other in a direction substantially parallel to the inner wall surface of the slot. At least two arm-shaped flexible portions and a highly rigid fixed portion. When the contact is inserted to a predetermined position in the slot,
The fixing portion is adapted to be held by locking the inner wall surface of the slot.

The at least two flexible portions project in opposite directions from the opposing opening of the slot so that the projecting portions form a contact portion, and the two flexible portions reduce the amount of projection of the contact portion from the slot opening. Flexible in changing directions.

In the connector of the present invention having the above-described structure, the contact is inserted into each slot of the insulating housing to a predetermined position and assembled. The fixed portion of the contact is engaged with the inner wall surface of the slot and held. In this state, the contact portions provided on the two flexible portions respectively project in opposite directions from the facing openings of the slot.

In use, mating connectors are arranged at predetermined positions on both sides of the insulating housing, and the positions are fixed. The two mating connectors press the corresponding contact portions at which the contacts protrude at the connection portions such as the circuit portion, and the two flexible portions of the contacts are elastically displaced in a direction in which the contact portions approach each other. Thus, both connectors are electrically connected via the contacts.

The displacement of the flexible portion occurs such that the two flexible portions pass each other with at least the base of the flexible portion as a fulcrum. Therefore, the displacement is extremely easy, and a sufficient displacement can be obtained even with a small force. Since the displacement with the fulcrum as the fulcrum closest to the contact portion is the largest, and the line connecting the fulcrum and the contact portion makes an obliquely large angle with respect to the contact surface, the contact portion is connected to the mating connector. And in the direction in which the contacts slide. By this sliding contact, effective wiping is performed.

In the present invention, the contact is bent so that the surface of the material has a portion substantially parallel to and overlaps with the inner wall surface of the slot, and the fixed portion is formed at the bent portion. The formed flexible portion may be flexible along the surface. Further, the contact has a flexible portion formed by bending at least two leg portions formed on the material in the thickness direction of each other, and a connecting portion between the leg portions serves as a fixed portion. You can also do so.

Further, the contact may have a sliding contact portion in which at least two flexible portions press against each other. By doing so, the transmission path passing through the sliding contact portion is shortened, and the speed is improved.

Further, if the contact is provided with a flat portion parallel to the flexible portion in an area overlapping with the flexible portion, and the flexible portion has a sliding contact portion which presses against the flat plate, The self-inductance electric resistance can be further reduced in the flat plate portion having a wider width than the flexible portion.

[0021]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In FIG. 1, a plurality of slots 2 are formed in a plate-like housing 1 made of an insulating material. Each slot 2 penetrates in the thickness direction of the housing 1,
The housing 1 is open on both upper and lower surfaces.

A contact 3 is inserted and held in the slot 2. The contact is made by bending a metal plate after punching, and has a fixed part 4 and a flexible part 5.

The contact 3 is formed by cutting a metal plate into a shape as shown in FIG. 2 and then bending it into a form as shown in FIG. In FIG. 2, a central band-shaped portion is a fixed portion 4, and a flexible portion 5 extends in a curved state to the left and right. The two flexible portions 5 are point-symmetric with respect to the center 6 of the fixed portion 4. The flexible portion 5 has two U-shaped portions in the illustrated example, that is, two curved portions 5A and 5B. The present invention has at least one such curved portion. A movable portion 7 extending in parallel with the fixed portion 4 is provided at a distal end portion of the flexible portion 5. One end of the movable portion 7 (the upper end in the case of the right movable portion) is rounded to form a contact portion 7A. The distance H in the height direction between the contact portions 7A of the two movable portions 7 is larger than the plate thickness h of the housing 1 by a predetermined amount. Bent at the position of the boundary line 8 between the flexible portion 5 and the fixed portion 4 in FIG.
A contact 3 as shown in FIG. 1 is obtained. The maximum width D near the fixed portion 4 after bending is the width d between the inner wall surfaces of the slot 2 of the housing 1.
Slightly larger than. In the case of the present embodiment, the bending is performed to such an extent that the movable portions 7 at the tips of the two flexible portions come into contact with a light contact pressure. That is, in the contact 3 shown in FIG. 1, the distance between the two flexible portions 5 in the plate thickness direction is the largest at the position of the base near the fixed portion 4 and is narrow at the position of the movable portion 7 and is twice the plate thickness. ing. In this case, the plane configuration of the flexible portion 5 can be variously set between the base portion and the movable portion 7 and, for example, changes in a stepped manner as shown in FIGS. It is possible to change incline. or,
As shown in FIG. 3B, a hemispherical projection 8 can be formed on the movable portion 7 of one flexible portion 5 to stabilize the contact between the movable portions 7.

In the contact 3 made in this way, as shown in FIG. 1, the two flexible portions 5 face each other, and when subjected to an external force in the vertical direction, the two flexible portions 5 face each other. The two curved portions 5 mainly perform elastic deformation such that they mutually rub each other.
A, 5B. Even when this elastic deformation occurs, the movable parts 7 are always in contact with each other with a light contact pressure.

When the contact 3 is inserted to a predetermined position in each slot 2 of the housing 1, the contact 3 of the contact 3 is pressed into the opposed inner wall surface of the slot 2.
It is held here. However, since the distance between the two flexible portions 5 in the plate thickness direction gradually decreases toward the movable portion 7, a gap is formed between the inner wall surfaces of the slots 2. And does not touch the inner wall surface.

The contact portion 7A of one movable portion 7 is opened from the upper opening of the slot 2 and the contact portion 7A of the other movable portion 7 is opened.
A protrudes from the lower opening of the slot 2 by a predetermined amount.

The intermediate electrical connector obtained by incorporating the contacts into the housing in this manner is used in the following manner.

As shown in FIG. 4A, the contact portions 7 A of the two movable portions 7 are
Contact portion 7A of contact 3 projecting from upper and lower openings of
Then, the mating connector 11 is arranged from above and below the housing 1 so that the connecting portion 12 such as a circuit portion of the mating connector 11 such as a circuit board or a connector comes into contact.

Next, as shown in FIG. 4B, the mating connector 11 is brought close to the surface of the housing 1 and fixed at a position where the mating connector 11 is almost in contact. The two flexible portions 5 receive a force in the direction of being pushed into the slot 2 of the housing 1 at the contact portion 7A, and mainly elastically deform around the curved portions 5A and 5B. Even in this case, since the two movable parts 7 are lightly pressed against each other, the connection parts 12 of the two mating connection bodies 11 are
Is short-circuited via the contact 3, especially by a short transmission path passing through the movable part 7.

When the flexible portion 5 bends, the flexible portion 5 bends mainly with respect to the two curved portions 5A and 5B. Therefore, a line connecting the contact portion 7A and the fulcrum of the curved portion 5B is a contact surface. Against
It makes a large angle in the diagonal direction. Therefore, at the time of elastic bending, the contact position moves from the position of FIG. (A) to the position of FIG. (B), and the contact portion is subjected to wiping by sliding contact.

Further, since the elastic bending is performed not only on the position of the base of the flexible portion 5 but also on the two curved portions 5A and 5B, a large amount of bending can be obtained with a small force. That is,
Since a sufficient amount of deformation by press contact is obtained, stable contact is obtained without variation in the amount of deformation between a large number of contacts.

The present invention can be modified in addition to those shown in FIGS.

In the examples of FIGS. 1 to 4, the curved portion is formed in the flexible portion to further increase the elastic deformation. However, in the present invention, the curved portion is not necessarily required. Can also be simplified. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the flexible portion 5 connecting the fixed portion 4 and the contact portion 7A may be formed in a straight shape, and the two flexible portions 5 may intersect in an X shape. In this case, the flexible portion 5 bends and deforms with the boundary with the fixed portion 4 as a fulcrum.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the contact 13 is bent so that the material overlaps three times, and the slot 2 is provided between the two flexible portions 14 on both sides. It has a wide flat plate portion 15 covering almost the entire inner wall surface.
The flexible portion 14 has two curved portions as in the case of FIG. 1, but the movable portion 16 extends obliquely and has a contact portion 16 at the tip.
A is located substantially at the center of the slot 2 in the left-right width direction. The two flexible portions 14 are lightly pressed against the flat plate portion 15 at least at the movable portions 16 thereof.

In the connector of this embodiment,
When connected to the mating connector, the upper and lower two contact portions 16A
They form a transmission section through the above-mentioned wide flat plate section 15, and the self-inductance electric resistance is drastically reduced.

Next, in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, the contact 17 is formed so that the surface of the material is perpendicular to the inner wall surface facing the slot. The contact 17 is formed by forming a rectangular material into a fixed portion 18 at an intermediate portion in a longitudinal direction and a leg-shaped portion extending in the width direction on both sides of the rectangular material. The flexible portion 19 is formed by punching and then bending the two leg-shaped portions on one side with respect to the fixing portion 18 so as to bend in the opposite directions.
A gap 20 is formed between the two flexible portions 19. And, the two flexible portions 19 have their tip portions 22
Are wide and overlap and are in sliding contact with each other. The contact portion 21 for the mating connection body is formed in a curved portion near the distal end. In this embodiment, the two contact portions 21 form a short transmission path via the contacting tip portion 22.

[0038]

As described above, according to the present invention, the contact can be set long because the two flexible portions are located so as to overlap over a wide area of the space in the slot. At the same time, the intermediate portion can have at least one curved portion that provides flexibility. As a result, the contact portion can secure a large amount of elastic displacement even with a small force. The wiping effect can be improved by causing sliding contact on the surface.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view of a connector according to an embodiment of the present invention, showing a state before a contact is inserted into a housing.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a shape of a contact of FIG. 1 before bending molding.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a state in which the contact of FIG. 1 is inserted into a housing, and (A), (B) and (C) show various modifications thereof.

4A and 4B are cross-sectional views illustrating a state in which the contact of FIG. 1 is inserted into a housing. FIG.
Indicates a time when the mating connector is pressed to a predetermined position.

FIG. 5 is a front view of a contact according to another embodiment.

6A and 6B show another embodiment, wherein FIG. 6A is a cross-sectional view and FIG. 6B is a plan view.

7A and 7B show still another embodiment, wherein FIG. 7A is a plan view and FIG. 7B is a perspective view.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Insulated housing 2 Slot 3 Contact 4 Fixed part 5 Flexible part 5A, 5B Curved part 7A Contact part 11 Mating member 12 Connection part 13 Contact 14 Flexible part 15 Flat part 16 Contact part 17 Contact Child 18 Fixed part 19 Flexible part 21 Contact part

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Tsutomu Matsuo 5-5-23 Osaki, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo Hirose Electric Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 5E023 AA04 AA16 AA18 AA26 BB22 BB29 CC02 CC22 DD24 DD26 EE08 EE27 GG01 HH05 HH08 HH11

Claims (6)

[Claims] A plurality of slots are formed in a plate-shaped insulating housing so as to penetrate in a thickness direction thereof. A contact formed by processing a metal plate as a material is inserted into each slot and provided on the contact. The displaceable contact portions protrude from both surfaces of the insulating housing, and when a mating connector is disposed on each side of the insulating housing, the corresponding connecting portion of the mating connector comes into elastic contact with the contact portion. In the intermediate electrical connector in which both mating connectors are to be connected, the contacts are formed by bending the material after punching, and rub against each other in a direction substantially parallel to the inner wall surface of the slot. At least two arm-shaped flexible portions elastically displaced to each other, and a rigidly high fixed portion, and when the contact is inserted to a predetermined position in the slot, the fixed portion is moved to the inner wall surface of the slot. And at least two flexible portions project from the opposite opening of the slot in the opposite direction to each other, and the projecting portion forms a contact portion,
An intermediate electrical connector characterized in that the two flexible portions are flexible in a direction in which the amount of protrusion of the contact portion from the slot opening changes. 2. The intermediate electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein the flexible portion has at least one curved portion at an intermediate portion. 3. The contact is bent such that the surface of the material is substantially parallel to the opposing inner wall surfaces of the slot of the housing and has portions overlapping each other, and a fixed portion is formed at the bent portion and the overlapping portion is formed. 2. The intermediate electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein the flexible portion formed in the first connector is flexible along the surface. 4. The contact has a flexible portion formed by curving at least two leg portions formed on the material in the thickness direction of each other, and a connecting portion between the leg portions is a fixed portion. The intermediate electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein 5. The intermediate electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein at least two flexible portions or leg portions have sliding contact portions that press against each other. 6. The contactor has a flat portion parallel to the flexible portion in an area overlapping the flexible portion, and the flexible portion has a sliding contact portion for pressing the flat portion against the flat portion. 4. The intermediate electrical connector according to 3.